The ARRL Letter for November 5, 2015

[ARRL Web site]

********************************************
The ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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November 5, 2015

Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME <ww...@arrl.org>

ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Letter Archive
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> IN THIS ISSUE

- Amateur Radio Parity Act Continues to Gain Traction in US House
- World Radiocommunication Conference 2015: The Deliberations Have
Begun
- ARRL 10th Anniversary On-Line Auction Attracts Nearly 300 Bidders
- Applications for ARRL CEO Position are Due by November 15
- Hawaii Launch of Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads Fails
- Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Hopes to Motivate Youth in
India via Amateur Radio
- January VP8 DXpedition to Incorporate "Youth and Community
Participation"
- SKYWARN Recognition Day is Saturday, December 5
- Putting Contesting to Work for Your Public Service Team
- In Brief...
- The K7RA Solar Update
- Just Ahead in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events

==> AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT CONTINUES TO GAIN TRACTION IN US HOUSE

It's full steam ahead for the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015, as the
House version of the bill, H.R. 1301
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:H.R.1301:>, now has 112
cosponsors and counting. The House bill and its identical US Senate
measure, S. 1685 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:S.1685:>,
call on the FCC to amend its regulations to extend the limited PRB-1
federal preemption regarding Amateur Radio antennas to include private
land-use restrictions such as deed covenant, conditions, and
restrictions (CC&Rs). Homeowners associations would need to apply the
minimum practicable restriction to accommodate Amateur Radio
communication. ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, said the League is
continuing to receive and forward stacks of letters generated at
hamfests and conventions and destined for members of the US House and
Senate.

"All members are encouraged to go ahead and write their own letters to
be sent via ARRL Headquarters," President Craigie said. "They don't
have to wait for a hamfest or convention. Get the letters done now,
before the holidays take over everyone's time and attention. Members'
letters are absolutely essential to the success of this legislation.
Everything you can do to drum up letters from your local area is an
important part of the overall advocacy program. As I've said before,
this is a full-team effort, and every member's action makes a
difference."

ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, said the
League has delivered another 3000 member letters urging lawmakers to
support the bills to its team in Washington, bringing the total to
nearly 14,000. "We have delivered letters to all 100 members of the
Senate and 430 of the 441 members and non-voting delegates in the
House," Henderson said. And those letters matter.

"Our DC team walked into a congresswoman's office a couple of weeks ago
with our strong arguments and 30 letters from constituents," he said
"She signed on to the bill last week. They do care about what their
constituents say is important to them."

ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said he and ARRL
General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, visited about 40 lawmakers' offices
on Capitol Hill during 4 days in October, and he's very confident in
how the grassroots campaign is going. "The response we've been getting
overall is very positive across the board," Lisenco said. "We feel very
good about it."

Henderson explained that the next stage would be to schedule the draft
legislation for "markup," during which various committee members will
have an opportunity to "fine tune" the bill into the form that will be
actually considered for a vote.

There is still only the original cosponsor on the US Senate bill, but
Henderson said the Senate operates a bit differently from the House
with respect to cosponsors. Lisenco said he anticipates at least one
Senate member to sign on to the bill soon. President Craigie stressed
that it's important for members to write their US Senators as well as
their US Representatives, to gain support from members of the upper
chamber.

"Letters have been received by every Senator, but we would like to see
offices on that side of the Hill stacked high so high with letters that
the workers can scarcely find their desks," President Craigie said. She
suggested a "Senate letter-writing party" at the next club meeting.

Lisenco said that in addition to writing a letter, ARRL members should
consider e-mailing or even calling their US House and Senate lawmakers
to urge their support. If the Member of Congress already has signed on
to the bill, he said, members should contact their lawmakers to express
their thanks.

Visit <http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act> the Amateur Radio
Parity Act page for more information and to learn how you can help.

==> WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE 2015: THE DELIBERATIONS HAVE
BEGUN

The more than 3000 delegates and observers attending World
Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15
<http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/2015/Pages/default.aspx>)
have gathered in a huge hall at ITU Headquarters in Geneva for the
nearly month-long event. WRC-15 officially got under way on November 2.
It will close on November 27. Chairing the conference is Festus Daudu
of Nigeria, the first African elected to chair a WRC.

An Amateur Radio contact on November 3 between students at the ITU
Headquarters club station and two crew members of the International
Space Station helped to kick off WRC-15. ITU Amateur Radio club station
4U1ITU is using the call sign 4U1WRC for the duration of the
conference. Students from Institut Florimont
<http://www.florimont.ch/en/> spoke <https://youtu.be/ahdDiuFk2-Y> with
astronauts Kjell Lindgren, KO5MOS, and Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH, who were
using the Amateur Radio station in the ISS Columbus module, OR4ISS.

Delegations at WRC-15 are considering several issues of importance to
the Amateur and Amateur Satellite services. International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU <http://www.iaru.org/>) President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA,
and Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, are heading the organization's
18-member team. The ITU has acknowledged its close cooperation with the
IARU, which was founded in Paris in 1925, and it recognizes that IARU
speaks for the Amateur Radio community. Other radio amateurs are parts
of national delegations or in observer roles. ARRL Chief Technology
Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, is part of the US delegation to WRC-15.

Of prime Amateur Radio interest is Agenda Item 1.4, which calls for
allocating an appropriate amount of spectrum to the Amateur Service on
a secondary basis within the band 5250-5450 kHz. The IARU has called
the new band as "a high priority for the Amateur Service" but is not
overly confident of getting the new secondary allocation. Ellam said
the IARU team will put forth its best effort toward gaining a possible
allocation near 5 MHz and will follow other developments that may
impinge on the Amateur and Amateur Satellite services.

Deliberations on agenda item 1.4 are taking place in a sub-working
group chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, of Australia. While more
administrations than not have expressed support for some sort of
allocation, the methods proposed vary greatly, the opposition to any
allocation is spirited, and a number of uncommitted administrations
could still sway the prevailing consensus.

Last week's Radiocommunication Assembly at ITU Headquarters approved a
new resolution calling on the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) to
develop appropriate educational materials on the regulatory aspects of
small satellites.

Some already are looking ahead to the next WRC in 2018 or 2019. IARU
Region 1 is hoping for further worldwide harmonization of bands
allocated to the Amateur and Amateur Satellite services. These would
include a 160 meter allocation at 1800-2000 kHz to align with the
Region 1 and 2 allocations, and an allocation of 50-52 MHz to the
Amateur and Amateur satellite services in Regions 1 and 3. IARU Region
1 also wants to further harmonize the Amateur Radio microwave
sub-bands, especially 3400-3410 MHz in Region 1 with the allocations in
Regions 2 and 3. It is proposing a secondary allocation to the Amateur
and Amateur Satellite services.

The IARU will host a function on November 10 for all attending WRC-15.
On display will be an emergency communications mobile unit, which will
be available for viewing November 8-14, with IARU International
Coordinator for Emergency Communications, Hans Zimmermann, HB9AQS,
attending. The trailer-mounted display will have equipment showing the
voice, text and image mode capabilities for emergency communications,
plus a mobile antenna. Emergency Radio Germany supplied the mobile unit
for the exhibit.

==> ARRL 10TH ANNIVERSARY ON-LINE AUCTION ATTRACTS NEARLY 300 BIDDERS

The 10th Annual ARRL On-Line Auction went off without a hitch October
22-27. In addition to hundreds of browsers, the auction saw 284
individual bidders vying for product review equipment, vintage books,
one-of-a-kind finds, and even "mystery junque boxes" from the ARRL Lab.
ARRL Sales Manager Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ, said 1383 bids were recorded.

"A number of items dramatically finished in overtime bidding," she
said. "After all was tallied, this year's auction grossed more than
$41,000."

Proceeds from the yearly On-Line Auction benefit ARRL education
programs. These include activities to license new hams, strengthen
Amateur Radio Emergency Service training, offer continuing technical
and operating education, and create instructional materials.

Jahnke said the QST "Product Review" equipment, always the most popular
items, were in great demand. The premier item was a FlexRadio Systems
Flex-6700 transceiver, which fetched a winning bid of $6953. In a
distant second-place was the Beko-Elektronik HLV-1100 70 centimeter
amplifier, which brought $3900. These were followed in order

by an ACOM 600S 160-6 meter linear amplifier at $2649; an Apache
Labs ANAN-100D SDR HF/6 meter transceiver at $2500, and a FlexRadio
Systems Flex-6300 transceiver at $2310.

"But our vintage books category was not to be left behind," Jahnke
said. "We had a substantial number of titles from ARRL and also many
contributed by anonymous donors. Picking up the top-dollar bid in this
category was a copy of Henley's Workable Radio Receivers from 1924. It
garnered $625. A copy of Modern Radio Operation by J.O. Smith,
published in 1922, brought $410.

"As always, we would like to express our appreciation to the donors who
provided such a diverse mix of items, and we look forward to our 11th
auction in 2016," Jahnke said.

==> APPLICATIONS FOR ARRL CEO POSITION ARE DUE BY NOVEMBER 15

The League is accepting applications for the position of ARRL Chief
Executive Officer. The deadline to submit an application is November
15. The complete position description
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Employment/CEO%20Employment%20Op
portunity(2).pdf>
is available on the ARRL website. The position is at ARRL Headquarters
in Newington, Connecticut.

The CEO ensures the day-to-day management of the League and its fiscal
operation. An undergraduate degree and 10 years of management and
supervisory experience are required. A candidate who is an active radio
amateur is preferred.

To apply submit a cover letter and resume via e-mail to Monique
Levesque <mlev...@arrl.org> at ARRL Headquarters.

==> HAWAII LAUNCH OF SATELLITES CARRYING AMATEUR RADIO PAYLOADS FAILS

The November 4 inaugural launch of an experimental US military vehicle
carrying several satellites with Amateur Radio payloads into orbit
failed in mid-flight shortly after taking off at 0345 UTC from Hawaii.
The experimental Super Strypi launch vehicle, carrying a collection of
small satellites into orbit as part of the ORS-4 mission for the
Department of Defense, was fired from a truss-mounted rail system from
the Pacific Missile Range Facility, off Barking Sands on Kauai.
According to Spaceflightnow.com, the Super Strypi rocket is designed
for low-cost, quick-reaction satellite launches. Destroyed in the
demonstration flight were 13 small research spacecraft clustered on the
mission for NASA researchers and university students.

None of the satellites carried Amateur Radio transponders, but
several were equipped to transmit beacon signals and telemetry on 2
meter, 70 centimeter, and 13 centimeter amateur frequencies. The
satellites lost included Argus, EDSN, HawaiiSat-1, ORS-Squared,
PrintSat, STACEM, STU-1, and Supernova-Beta. PrintSat carried a 3D
printed structure and was designed to measure the performance of the
material over the course of its 3 year mission.

Spaceflightnow.com said the experimental launcher apparently lost
control and broke up downrange from the launch site. The November 4
maiden flight took place following several delays. The test flight was
one of two planned demonstrations of the launcher.

==> MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES SOCIETY HOPES TO MOTIVATE YOUTH IN
INDIA VIA AMATEUR RADIO

The IEEE's Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S
<http://www.mtt.org/>) will take advantage of its flagship conference,
being held this year in India, to demonstrate Amateur Radio and its
role in disaster communication, and to motivate students there to
pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical
(STEM) fields. The IEEE-sponsored International Microwave and RF
Conference (IMaRC <http://imarc-ieee.org/>) in Hyderabad, India, will
focus on RF and offer considerable exposure to Amateur Radio. Hams at
IMaRC also will mount a special event station leading up to and
continuing through the conference. MTT-S member Jim Rautio, AJ3K, says
the IEEE in general and the MTT Society in particular have taken an
active role in the Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology
(SIGHT
<http://www.ieee.org/special_interest_group_on_humanitarian_technology.html>)
,
with an emphasis on Amateur Radio as a motivating tool. SIGHT aims to
motivate high school students, young engineers, and professionals to
apply low-cost, innovative microwave technology to address disaster
readiness and humanitarian need.

"Back when I was in college, getting a job was the big motivator,"
Rautio -- a software entrepreneur (Sonnet Software) -- told ARRL. "That
is still important, but from what I have seen, other things, especially
like doing good for humanity, are now as big or even bigger motivators.
And the side-effect is that a strong STEM base is absolutely needed for
any society to develop a strong economy and a strong middle class."

Given the opportunity the December 10-12 conference provides, the MTT-S
has decided to concentrate on India for much of its efforts, Rautio
said. "Most of the conference is intended for RF and microwave
professionals," he said, "but a portion of the conference is dedicated
to SIGHT."

SIGHT will sponsor a 2 hour Amateur Radio conference session,
attended by area university students, to promote interest in ham radio
in general and in disaster communication in particular. Chairing the
session will be G.L. Rao, VU2GL, of the Engineering Staff College of
India. Rautio said he will work in collaboration with some US
colleagues to help "get the ball rolling."

"The National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR <http://www.niar.org/>)
and Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, have taken the lead, and things are
proceeding well." Prasad was the leader of the 2004 Andamans Island
DXpedition that quickly turned into a disaster response after a
disastrous Indian Ocean tsunami.

Special event station AU2MTT will be operating for 2 weeks in
conjunction with the conference. "The special event is intended to draw
attention to ham radio, STEM, and MTT, both from conference
participants and any and all active hams in India," Rautio said.
Students also can take part in various competitions during the
conference.

MTT-S is a technical society comprised of more than 11,000 members
worldwide. Its core purpose is to foster the advancement and
application of RF and microwave theory and techniques.

==> JANUARY VP8 DXPEDITION TO INCORPORATE "YOUTH AND COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION"

When a team from The Intrepid DX Group <http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8>
embarks on its South Sandwich/South Georgia VP8SGI/VP8STI DXpedition in
January, it will incorporate a youth and community participation aspect
into the adventure, as it has done since the 1990s. During the South
Sandwich/South Georgia Island DXpedition, the team's honorary school
will be one it's worked with since 2011 -- Dorothy Grant Elementary
School in Fontana, California. VP8SGI/VP8STI team co-leader Paul Ewing,
N6PSE, said the 4th grade class of Bev Matheson, WA6BK, has prepared a
school flag that will travel to the islands and back to the US.

"In addition, the students have prepared a small weather-tracking
experiment for the DXpedition to participate," Ewing said. "We hope to
continue to ignite the interest of these students in Amateur Radio."

Matheson, an elementary school teacher since 1997, was licensed in
2011, inspired by her participation in the W3AO Field Day outing in
Maryland earlier that year. She has also attended an ARRL Teachers
Institute session. Dorothy Grant Elementary has an Amateur Radio club,
K6DGE <http://www.k6dge.com/>, with nearly 40 after-school
participants, and the students have been active working DX as well as
domestic contests. VP8 DXpedition co-leader David Collingham, K3LP, is
the K6DGE club license trustee and an alumnus of the school.

Ewing has said the team will depart the Falkland Islands on January
9, arriving on South Georgia about 5 days later, where it will take
part in a safety and biodiversity briefing with government officials.
The DXpeditioners then will sail another 3 days to Southern Thule
Island in the South Sandwich Islands, arriving on January 17, weather
and sea conditions permitting.

The team will spend 10 days on South Sandwich, operating as VP8STI
before sailing to South Georgia Island to start operations as VP8SGI
about February 1.

"Our main priority is to make a great impact to the need for South
Sandwich contacts, and we will sacrifice our time at South Georgia to
ensure that we make that impact from South Sandwich," Ewing said.

South Sandwich Islands is No 3 on ClubLog's Most Wanted DXCC List
<http://www.clublog.org/mostwanted.php>; South Georgia is No 8. --
Thanks to VP8 Team Co-Leader Paul Ewing, N6PSE

==> SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY IS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

The 17th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD
<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/>) on-the-air event is set for
Saturday, December 5, from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC. Cosponsored by ARRL
and the National Weather Service, SKYWARN Recognition Day pays tribute
to Amateur Radio operators for the vital public service they perform.
Registration is now open for stations planning to participate from a
National Weather Service (NW) Forecast Office; a list
<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/participating_offices.php> of NWS
participating offices is on the NWS SKYWARN Recognition Day web page.
During the 24 hour event, Amateur Radio operators set up at NWS offices
contact other hams across the country. This event is also aimed at
strengthening the bond between Amateur Radio operators and local NWS
offices.

SKYWARN Recognition Day is not a contest. During SKYWARN Recognition
Day amateur stations exchange contact information with as many National
Weather Service-based stations as possible on SSB, FM, CW, RTTY, and AM
on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and 2 meter bands plus 70 centimeters.
Repeater contacts are permitted.

Stations exchange call signs, signal reports, location, and a one or
two-word description of the weather (eg, sunny, partly cloudy, windy,
rainy). Procedures
<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/opsprocedures.php> are detailed
on the NOAA SRD web page.

The volunteer SKYWARN program comprises nearly 290,000 trained severe
weather spotters -- many of them radio amateurs -- who identify severe
storms and provide NWS forecasters with reports of local weather
conditions during severe weather events.

To learn more <http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/>, visit the
SKYWARN Recognition Day website.

==> PUTTING CONTESTING TO WORK FOR YOUR PUBLIC SERVICE TEAM

ARRL November Sweepstakes <http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes> is just
ahead, and the ARRL 10 Meter Contest <http://www.arrl.org/10-meter>
isn't far behind. All are ideal opportunities to gain or hone Amateur
Radio operating skills that can be put to use during an emergency
response or a public service event. In short, contesting isn't just for
contesters anymore, and you don't have to wait for Field Day to get --
or stay -- up to speed.

"Operating skill is not something that can be tested on a license
exam or learned from a book," said ARRL Contributing Editor Ward
Silver, N0AX, an active contester as well as a member of his local ARES
team. "Emergency managers know that practice -- lots of it -- is
required for operators to be sharp when they are really needed." Silver
pointed to an article <http://www.socalcontestclub.org/tips.php> on the
topic by ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director Marty Woll, N6VI,
that appeared recently on the Southern California Contest Club (SCCC)
website.

"[C]ontesting helps prepare us for demanding communication tasks, such
as might be encountered during a major disaster," Woll said in his
article. "You don't have to be in it to win it; just take part, and
have fun while you're learning to enhance your and your station's
performance."

Silver says that repetitive emergency drills are fine but can get old.
Contesting offers an enjoyable way to give your equipment a good
shakedown and build on-the-air knowhow. "Just as sports keep you
physically fit, 'radiosport' -- or contesting -- can serve as a
training ground while having fun at the same time," he said. Silver
points out that a huge, multi-tower station isn't necessary to
participate. Even a low dipole will let you work lots of stations --
and in SS, all of the stations are in the US.

Sweepstakes (SS) was conceived as a traffic-handling event that uses
traffic-handling terms. Participants share their "precedence"
(operating category) and "check" (the last two digits of the operator's
birth year) as part of the exchange.

Local events are another option. "You can start simple with any of a
number of regional FM simplex contests that encourage the use of mobile
and handheld FM radios for an afternoon or evening," Silver suggests.
"This is a great way to learn about squelch management, copying weak
signals, using phonetics, and the effectiveness of good locations and
antennas."

ARES and RACES groups can participate as teams, and a contest can be a
terrific opportunity to dust off that communications van or even to get
some practical experience in an emergency communications center (EOC).

"If you have enough interest, divide your group into two or
three-person teams that operate in shifts with an experienced operator
to mentor," Silver said. "Better yet, put the teams at different
stations and let them go head-to-head in a short challenge. No one says
you have to operate the entire contest, either. Pick times that work --
maybe about as long as your regular drills -- and get together
afterward for a little socializing over pizza."

Silver said a contesting Elmer can help those new to contesting with
scripts that guide the newbies through a QSO as well as some
instruction on how to take best advantage of your equipment. Start each
team of operators with a period of listening. "Once your team gets up
to speed," Silver said, "emphasize the reasons why we have contests in
the first place: To reinforce accurate, effective operating practices.
Place a special emphasis on copying call signs and exchanges 100
percent correctly."

"The hours will fly by, and when it's over, you'll have some operators
eager to do it again," Silver said. "Regardless of how many contacts
you make, when interspersed with regular drills and exercises,
contesting offers a great change of pace while advancing everyone's
abilities at little or no cost." -- Thanks to ARRL Contributing Editor
Ward Silver, N0AX

==> IN BRIEF...

ARRL Seeking Contest Branch Manager: The ARRL is accepting applications
for the position of Contest Branch Manager at League Headquarters in
Newington, Connecticut. This is a full-time position, and salary is
commensurate with experience. This individual is responsible for all
aspects of the ARRL's Contest program, including the receipt and
processing of contest entries, quality of results, awards fulfillment,
public outreach, program development, and volunteer coordination and
management. Among primary duties, the Contest Branch Manager ensures
the accurate reporting of ARRL contest results while meeting web and
print publishing deadlines. The Contest Branch Manager will oversee a
team of approximately 20 volunteer log adjudicators, results authors,
and data entry assistants, inside and outside of ARRL Headquarters. An
undergraduate degree is preferred. The successful candidate will have
at least 5 years as an active Amateur Radio contester, and be highly
proficient in Microsoft Office applications. Full details are on the
ARRL Employment Opportunities
<http://www.arrl.org/employment-opportunities> page. Submit an
application
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Employment/ARRLEmployment_Applic
ation.pdf>,
resume, and cover letter via e-mail to Monique Levesque
<mlev...@arrl.org> at ARRL Headquarters.

It's "K" for Kernow Starting in 2016: UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has
announced
<http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/amateur-radio/lice
nsing-updates/RSL-K-cornish-amateur-radio/>
that starting in 2016, radio amateurs in Cornwall will be able to use
the Regional Secondary Locator (RSL) of K (for "Kernow," the Cornish
word for Cornwall) to identify their location. This is similar to the
use of "M" by stations in Scotland, "W" by stations in Wales, and "I"
by stations in Northern Ireland. The prefixes GK, MK, and 2K during
2016 will indicate a station operating from Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly. Representatives of Radio Amateurs in Cornwall approached Ofcom
to request temporary use of the K locator following recognition of the
Cornish people under the Framework Convention on National Minorities.
Ofcom agreed to the request and will permit hams having a main station
address in Cornwall to incorporate the letter K into their call sign
prefix through 2016. It will be available for all classes of Amateur
Radio licensees, including stations participating in contests.
Licensees must apply for a Notice of Variation (NoV) to use the K
locator via the RSGB website starting in December. Variations will all
expire on December 31, 2016. The RSL may therefore not be used beyond
these dates.

FOC Presents Awards: The First Class CW Operators Club (FOC
<http://www.g4foc.org/>) presented its Al Slater, G3FXB, Memorial Award
on October 31 to Bob Allphin, K4UEE, as "a superb practitioner of the
art of Morse Code and an enormously influential and proactive member of
world-renowned Amateur Radio organizations," and for "amazing feats
leading major DXpeditions to many of the rarest and most inhospitable
locations on the Earth." A second Al Slater, G3FXB, Award went to the
CW Academy, citing its 600 graduates to date. The FOC's "Unsung Hero
Award" this year went to Puck Motley, W4PM, for administering the
Windle Memorial Award for many years. He received an engraved Begali
paddle.

ARU Society VERON Expresses Concern over News of BPL Trials: The Dutch
IARU member society VERON <https://www.veron.nl/> has expressed concern
<https://www.veron.nl/nieuws/zorgen-over-proef-met-internet-over-elektricitei
tsnet/>
to telecommunications regulators over reports that energy network
operator Enexis is planning to start trials in Stadskanaal of powerline
communcations technology (PLT or BPL) for fast Internet access. "VERON
is concerned about these tests, because of their impact on radio
communications," the IARU member society said, adding that the power
grid "is not suitable" for such applications. "The PLC adapter, in
combination with house wiring acting as an antenna, is a persistent
jammer," VERON said. -- Thanks to Southgate ARC

.

==> THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Solar activity increased over last
week, with the average daily sunspot number rising from 77.6 to 90.3,
and average daily solar flux from 110.9 to 118.3. A high speed solar
wind caused aurora on November 3-4 and the high planetary A index of 32
and 33 on those days.

Predicted planetary A index is 18, 12, and 8 on November 5-7; 18 on
November 8-10; 8 on November 11-12; then 12, 20, 5, 8, and 12 on
November 13-17; 5 on November 18-21; 10, 5, 8, and 12 on November
22-25, and 10 on November 26-27. Planetary A index then jumps to 50 and
40 on November 30 and December 1, when the same region causing aurora
the past few days rotates back into view.

Predicted solar flux is 115 on November 5; 110 on November 6-9; 105 on
November 10; 100 on November 11-12; 105 and 110 on November 13-14; 115
on November 15-16; then 120, 115, and 110 on November 17-19, and 105 on
November 20-24. Flux values dip below 100 on November 27 through
December 8, reaching a low of 85 on November 30 through December 5.

Sunspot numbers for October 29 through November 4 were 101, 88, 73, 88,
94, 95, and 93, with a mean of 90.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 112.9, 112.1,
118.5, 124.3, 122, 124.2, and 113.8, with a mean of 118.3. Estimated
planetary A indices were 5, 9, 6, 11, 7, 32, and 33, with a mean of
14.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 6, 6, 9, 5, 23, and 31,
with a mean of 12.

In the Friday bulletin look for an updated forecast, reports from
readers, a look ahead to this weekend's ARRL November Sweepstakes CW,
plus a look at our moving averages of daily sunspot numbers.

Send <k7...@arrl.net> me your reports and observations.

==> JUST AHEAD IN RADIOSPORT

- November 7 -- IPARC Contest (CW)

- November 7-8 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (CW)

- November 7-8 -- Ukrainian DX Contest (CW)

- November 7-9 -- ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW)

- November 7-9 -- NA Collegiate ARC Championship (CW)

- November 8 -- IPARC Contest (SSB)

- November 8 -- EANET Sprint (CW, SSB, digital)

- November 8 -- DARC 10 Meter Digital Contest

- November 11 -- RSGB 80 Meter Club Sprint (SSB)

See the ARRL Contest Calendar <http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar>
for more information.

==> UPCOMING ARRL SECTION, STATE, AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS

- November 7 -- Fall TechFest <http://na0tc.org/>, Lakewood, Colorado

- November 7-8 -- Georgia Section Convention
<http://www.stonemountainhamfest.com/>, Lawrenceville, Georgia

- November 14 -- HamJam Convention <http://hamjam.info/>, Alpharetta,
Georgia

- November 14-15 -- Indiana State Convention
<http://www.fortwaynehamfest.com/>, Fort Wayne, Indiana

- December 11-12 -- West Central Florida Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-central-florida-section-convention-tampa-b
ay-hamfest-5>,
Plant City, Florida

- January 9 -- TECHFEST <http://www.gars.org/>, Lawrenceville, Georgia

- January 10 -- New York City-Long Island Section Convention
<http://hamradiouniversity.org/>, Bethpage, New York

- January 15-16, Southern Florida Section Convention
<http://swflhamfest.info/>, Fort Myers, Florida

- January 15-16, North Texas Section Convention
<http://cowtownhamfest.com/>, Forest Hill, Texas

- January 17-23, Quartzfest <http://quartzfest.org/>, Quartzsite,
Arizona

- January 29-30, Mississippi State Convention
<http://hamfest.msham.org/>, Jackson, Mississippi

- January 29-31, Puerto Rico State Convention <http://www.arrlpr.org/>,
Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Find conventions and hamfests in your area
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>.

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