The ARRL Letter for February 1, 2018

[ARRL Web site]

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

Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************

February 1, 2018

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

- ARRL Hudson Division Director Promotes Amateur Radio Parity Act
Before Senate Committee
- ARRL Comments on Technological Advisory Council Spectrum Policy
Recommendations
- ARRL to Offer Expanded Orlando HamCation® Presence February 9-11
- The Doctor Will See You Now!
- Nominations Sought for Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award
- Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, Appointed ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director
- Anticipated New Building Won't Be Ready for Hamvention 2018, but Flea
Market Could Expand
- Work Progressing to Incorporate CQ Magazine's WAZ Award Program into
LoTW
- Canadian Radio Amateur Finds Resurrected NASA Satellite
- In Brief...
- The K7RA Solar Update
- Just Ahead in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

==> ARRL HUDSON DIVISION DIRECTOR PROMOTES AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT
BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE

ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, testified
<https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/36d0878e-3013-43a8-a353-6fc2a84864cb/1102B2664A9DC444D0F995CB891083F8.lisenco-testimony.pdf>

on January 25 before a session of the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation regarding Amateur Radio's readiness to
respond in an emergency. The session, "This is not a Drill: An
Examination of Emergency Alert Systems," was called in the wake of an
incoming missile warning erroneously released in Hawaii in January.
Lisenco said Amateur Radio played a role not only in responding to the
warning but in disseminating word that the missile alert had been
issued by mistake.

Lisenco said the Hawaii Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
activated on UHF and via a VHF inter-island repeater network, and
amateur stations monitored the alert and cancellation activity, which
came less than 1 day after RACES had completed an Amateur Radio
communication exercise at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
In his written testimony, Lisenco recounted that the situation after
the missile warning in Hawaii was chaotic.

"The phone lines into the State EOC were soon overwhelmed and
congested, and the website was overwhelmed with public inquiries," he
said. Lisenco said that in such situations, Amateur Radio volunteers
are typically present at state or county EOCs and at the State Warning
Point, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. He pointed out that the
cancellation of the false warning circulated on various information
outlets 13 minutes after the missile warning went out.

"That was picked up and relayed through the Amateur Radio networks," he
told the Committee in written testimony. "The cell phone alert system
could not be used for the cancellation notice until prior FEMA approval
was obtained. Once that was obtained, the cancellation alert went out
to the cell phone network after 38 minutes from the initial alert."

"Many people had received the warning first on their cell phones
through the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, but a cancellation
on that same system was substantially delayed," Lisenco said. "The
result was that Amateur Radio networks disseminated validated
cancellation information long before the cellular networks were able to
do so."

Lisenco took the opportunity to address how private land-use
regulations can preclude Amateur Radio disaster response capabilities.

"There is no substitute for the ready availability of a residential
Amateur Radio station in daily operation from a licensee's residence,"
he said. "The licensee cannot be expected to have the ability to
communicate into or from a disaster site unless he or she has a station
with an effective outdoor antenna capable of operation on multiple
frequency bands at once, which is ready to be pressed into service from
the licensee's residence at a moment's notice."

Lisenco reminded the panel members that the Amateur Radio Parity Act of
2017 is now pending before the Committee. "We are in desperate need of
this legislation, and without it, the volunteer emergency
communications services provided by Amateur Radio will be precluded. We
urge the Committee in the strongest terms to please approve and send
this legislation forward without delay," Lisenco said.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, a cosponsor with Connecticut Senator
Richard Blumenthal, of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, attended the
hearing. Responding to a question from Wicker at the hearing, Lisenco
pointed out that an early US Coast Guard warning cancellation notice
was relayed to Amateur Radio networks and disseminated quickly, while
the State Warning Point waited to obtain FEMA authorization to rescind
the warning via cellular phones. As a result, Amateur Radio networks
were able to disseminate validated cancellation information long before
the cellular networks could. Wicker issued a statement
<https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2018/1/wicker-amateur-radio-essential-to-emergency-response>

noting Lisenco's testimony and posted a video clip of his exchange with
Lisenco. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-hudson-division-director-promotes-amateur-radio-parity-act-before-senate-committee>.


==> ARRL COMMENTS ON TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISORY COUNCIL SPECTRUM POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS

In comments
<https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10131291865923/2017%20ARRL%20COMMENTS%20on%20TAC%20Spectrum%20Policy%20Recommendations%20FINAL.pdf>

to the FCC on a series of Technological Advisory Council (TAC) spectrum
management policy recommendations, ARRL said that while some of the
Council's recommendations are valid, it would be "highly inappropriate"
to generalize about applying them broadly in all radio services. The
comments, filed on January 31, were in response to a December 1, 2017,
Public Notice in ET Docket No. 17-340. ARRL took the opportunity to
strongly urge the FCC to reinstate a 2016 TAC noise floor study, which,
ARRL asserted, was apparently terminated before it even got started.

"Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how the Commission can
now...suggest the adoption of specific spectrum management principles,
incorporating such concepts as receiver immunity, HCTs [harm claim
thresholds], and interference temperature determinations without
having...a firm grasp on ambient noise levels in basic RF environments
and geographical areas," the League told the FCC.

ARRL reiterated its encouragement for the FCC to incorporate receiver
performance specifications into US spectrum policy on a broader basis.
"ARRL accepts...that increased spectrum user density is the inevitable
result of new wireless services," the League said. "Given that this
intensification of the use of the radio spectrum will necessitate new
overlays of dissimilar radio services...in increasingly shared
spectrum, it is necessary to depart from the traditional regulatory
model that the Commission has utilized for spectrum allocations."

That model, ARRL said, has, almost without exception, placed limits
only on transmitters, while the inability of some receivers to reject
out-of-band signals "constrains new allocations in adjacent bands."
This calls for what ARRL called "a 'holistic' approach to transmitter
and receiver performance."

"Requiring better performance from receivers or RF-susceptible devices
is a valid, reasonable, and long overdue requirement," ARRL said, "but
the major goal of doing so should be to prevent instances of
interference, not solely to allow the overlay of otherwise incompatible
sharing partners in deployed spectrum to the detriment of incumbents."

ARRL argued, however, that the Amateur Service should not be subject to
receiver immunity standards, because licensees employ a wide range of
propagation, emissions, bandwidths, power levels, receivers, and
antennas, making any receiver performance standards arbitrary, and
compromising the Service's experimental nature. They are also able to
differentiate between interference from nearby spurious or out-of-band
signals and that caused by receiver deficiencies.

"Receiver immunity is not an intra-service issue in the Amateur
Service," ARRL said. "The issue...is, rather, protection from spurious
and out-of-band emissions from other services."

ARRL said that while the TAC's allocation principles include
over-generalizations, the Council is "very much on the right track"
with such concepts as receiver immunity standards for certain radio
services and, especially, for consumer electronics "and the initiation
of necessary and urgent programs, such as interference-hunting teams,
to supplement the Commission's meager enforcement resources." ARRL said
it looks forward to working with the FCC in developing an
interference-tracking corps. ARRL also supported the creation of a
public database of past radio-related enforcement activities. What
little FCC enforcement is necessary in the Amateur Service must be
timely and visible, ARRL said.

But, ARRL returned to its assertion that a knowledge database regarding
ambient noise levels in certain environments must be in place before
adopting any next-generation spectrum management techniques.

"No system of spectrum management incorporating [harm claim thresholds]
and receiver immunity levels can be accurately implemented" without the
noise study data, ARRL said. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-comments-on-technological-advisory-council-spectrum-policy-recommendations>.


==> ARRL TO OFFER EXPANDED ORLANDO HAMCATION® PRESENCE FEBRUARY 9-11

ARRL will be represented in force and with an expanded presence at
Orlando HamCation <https://www.hamcation.com/> on February 9-11. The
event, which is also the 2018 ARRL Florida State Convention, takes
place at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park. Team ARRL will
include Headquarters staff and volunteers. ARRL concessions at
HamCation will support membership, publication sales (ARRL store), the
ARRL Southeastern Division, the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio
Initiative, and QSL card checking for DXCC and other ARRL Awards. The
League will offer special incentives for visitors who join or renew
ARRL membership at the booth.

Among the new books HamCation attendees can purchase are the 2018 ARRL
Handbook <https://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Handbook-2018-Softcover/>,
ARRL's Hands-On Radio Experiments
<https://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-s-Hands-On-Radio-Experiments-Volume-3/>
Volume 3, The ARRL Repeater Directory
<https://www.arrl.org/shop/The-ARRL-Repeater-Directory-2018/>® 2018
edition, ARRL's Best of The Doctor is In
<https://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRLs-Best-of-The-Doctor-is-In/>, and such
bestsellers as Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur
<https://www.arrl.org/shop/Grounding-and-Bonding-for-the-Radio-Amateur/>,
by Ward Silver, N0AX.

Expected to be on hand are ARRL Puerto Rico Section Manager Oscar
Resto, KP4RF, and US Virgin Islands Section Manager Fred Kleber, K9VV.
At HamCation, Resto and Kleber will accept the 2018 International
Humanitarian Award
<http://www.arrl.org/international-humanitarian-award> on behalf of
radio amateurs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, who aided in
relief and recovery after a punishing Atlantic hurricane season.

ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, will head the ARRL team at
HamCation.

An ARRL Membership Forum, moderated by ARRL Southeastern Division
Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, will take place on Saturday, while Andrew
Milluzzi, KK4LWR, will lead the Collegiate Amateur Radio forum,
discussing topics related to ham radio clubs at colleges and
universities. Topics will include activities, recruitment, connecting
with alumni, and social media.

"Bring your school colors to hang in the ARRL exhibit area," Milluzzi
said. "We'll display your college pennant, flag, or banner to show off
the representation of college and university radio clubs."

ARRL Volunteer Examiners will administer license examinations
<https://www.hamcation.com/amateur-radio-exams> given on Friday and
Saturday. Advance registration is required. Contact
<tes...@hamcation.com> Val Jacyno, AK4MM. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-to-offer-expanded-orlando-hamcation-presence-february-9-11>.


==> THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW!

"Automatic Gain Control" is the topic of the latest (February 1)
episode of the "ARRL The Doctor is In <http://www.arrl.org/doctor>"
podcast. Listen...and learn!

Sponsored by DX Engineering <http://www.dxengineering.com/>, "ARRL The
Doctor is In" is an informative discussion of all things technical.
Listen on your computer, tablet, or smartphone -- whenever and wherever
you like!

Every 2 weeks, your host, QST Editor-in-Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and
the Doctor himself, Joel Hallas, W1ZR, will discuss a broad range of
technical topics. You can also e-mail your questions to
doc...@arrl.org, and the Doctor may answer them in a future podcast.

Enjoy "ARRL The Doctor is In" on Apple iTunes
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arrl-the-doctor-is-in/id1096749595?mt=2>,

or by using your iPhone or iPad podcast app (just search for "ARRL The
Doctor is In"). You can also listen online at Blubrry
<https://www.blubrry.com/arrl_the_doctor_is_in/>, or at Stitcher
<https://www.stitcher.com/> (free registration required, or browse the
site as a guest) and through the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or
Android devices. If you've never listened to a podcast before, download
our beginner's guide <http://www.arrl.org/doctor>.

==> NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR PHILIP J. MCGAN MEMORIAL SILVER ANTENNA
AWARD

Nominations are open for ARRL's annual Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver
Antenna Award, which recognizes and honors the efforts of individuals
who create greater awareness and understanding of the services and
benefits that Amateur Radio provides to the general public. The
deadline to submit a nomination is May 19, 2018.

Every day, Public Information Coordinators, Public Information
Officers, and other public relations volunteers strive to keep Amateur
Radio visible in their communities by publicizing and promoting special
events to the media, by maintaining good relations with local news
outlets, creating content for social media, as well as many other
valuable activities. These efforts benefit us all.

The award is named for journalist Philip J. McGan, WA2MBQ (SK), the
first chairman of ARRL's Public Relations Committee, who helped
reinvigorate the League's commitment to public relations.
Unfortunately, McGan never got to see how well his efforts paid off. To
honor him, his friends in the New Hampshire Amateur Radio Association
joined with the ARRL Board of Directors to pay a lasting tribute to the
important contributions he made on behalf of Amateur Radio.

The McGan Award will go to the radio amateur who has demonstrated
success in Amateur Radio public relations and who best exemplifies
McGan's volunteer spirit. Activities for which the McGan Award is
presented include efforts specifically directed at focusing the media's
and the general public's attention on the value of Amateur Radio. This
may include traditional methods, such as generating media coverage of a
specific event, or non-traditional methods, such as hosting a radio
show or being an active public speaker.

A candidate's work must fit the definition of public relations, i.e.,
getting a message out to people. (public service is about providing a
service.) The McGan Award recognizes the promotion of Amateur Radio to
the non-amateur community, not for work within a club or organization
that primarily benefits the Amateur Radio community.

The award is given only to an individual, who must be a full ARRL
member in good standing at the time of nomination. The nominee must not
be compensated for any public relations work involving Amateur Radio
(including payment for articles) and may not be a current officer,
Director, Vice Director, paid staff member, or a member of the current
selection committee.

The specific criteria for nomination
<http://www.arrl.org/phil-mcgan-award> and the nomination form
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Media%20&%20PR/PR%20Awards/McGan_Form_2017.pdf>

(in PDF format) are posted on the ARRL website, or e-mail Dave Isgur
<dis...@arrl.org> at ARRL Headquarters and ask for a McGan Award entry
form. Read mor
<http://www.arrl.org/news/nominations-sought-for-philip-j-mcgan-memorial-silver-antenna-award>e.


==> KRISTEN MCINTYRE, K6WX, APPOINTED ARRL PACIFIC DIVISION VICE
DIRECTOR

Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, of Fremont, California, has been appointed
Pacific Division Vice Director, ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, has
announced. The appointment came upon the recommendation of Director Jim
Tiemstra, K6JAT, who succeeded longtime Pacific Division Director Bob
Vallio, W6RGG, upon Vallio's election as ARRL Second Vice President.

McIntyre, who has served as ARRL Technical Coordinator for the East Bay
Section, says on her QRZ.com profile that she's been interested in
radio since she was about 5 years old. She got her Technician license
in the late 1970s while a student at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. After letting her license expire, she re-licensed and
obtained her Amateur Extra-class license.

She is also licensed in Japan, her second home, as JI1IZZ. She is
president of the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association and is currently a
senior software engineer at Apple.

==> ANTICIPATED NEW BUILDING WON'T BE READY FOR HAMVENTION 2018, BUT
FLEA MARKET COULD EXPAND

Due to circumstances beyond their control, Hamvention
<http://www.hamvention.org>® 2018 organizers are reluctantly walking
back an earlier announcement that a new building would be available for
this year's event at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in
Xenia, Ohio.

"Despite all of the best efforts and intentions by Greene County, the
Greene County Agricultural Society, and Hamvention, we have learned the
anticipated new building will not be constructed in time for Hamvention
2018," Hamvention General Chair Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, said. "The prefab
sections bid on and architecturally required are currently backlogged.
We expect construction to be delayed until after our show and the
Greene County Fair." Cramer said construction should be completed this
year in time for Hamvention 2019. "We regret this; however, it is well
out of our control," Cramer said.

On the plus side, he continued, Hamvention 2018 will have more room for
inside exhibits, with the addition of the vacated Furniture Building,
and the Flea Market may gain new space as well.

"After consultation with professionals, we are in the process of
solving the mud issue in the Flea Market area," Cramer said. "We
anticipate work to start as soon as weather allows. We are rearranging
the soccer field parking to eliminate use of the low areas where we had
problems last year."

A revised exit plan and additional off-site parking are also in the
works, along with easy-to-use maps to help visitors navigate. Parking
and shuttles will be free. Talk-in also has new equipment and a taller
tower to extend its reach.

"There are many new ideas we are working on to make your stay with us
more enjoyable," Cramer added. "Keep watching our website
<http://www.hamvention.org> for updates." -- Thanks to Hamvention
General Chair Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ

==> WORK PROGRESSING TO INCORPORATE CQ MAGAZINE'S WAZ AWARD PROGRAM
INTO LOTW

Beta testing for bringing CQ Magazine's Worked All Zones (WAZ) award
program into ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW) system continues to
move forward, officials from CQ and ARRL assured this week.

Some problems in the implementation were discovered by testers and have
since been corrected; the documentation has also been improved by
feedback from the testers. In parallel, the LoTW server has been
executing a background task that creates and populates a WAZ account
for each LoTW user.

Beta testing will continue until this background task completes. When
all WAZ accounts have populated, LoTW-WAZ will be made available to
everyone.

"The goal is for Amateur Radio operators to be able to directly submit
LoTW confirmations for WAZ credit," ARRL and CQ said in a joint
statement. "Standard LoTW credit fees and separate CQ award fees will
apply."

Logbook of The World is ARRL's electronic confirmation system for
Amateur Radio contacts. It provides a confirmation when both stations
in a contact submit their logs to the system and a match between the
logs is confirmed. LoTW has supported the CQ WPX Award program since
2012.

==> CANADIAN RADIO AMATEUR FINDS RESURRECTED NASA SATELLITE

When he's not on ham radio, Scott Tilley, VA7LF, an amateur astronomer,
hunts spy satellites. Using an S-band radio from his home in Roberts
Creek, British Columbia, Tilley routinely scans the skies for radio
signals from classified objects orbiting Earth, according to a recent
article
<https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2018/01/28/long-dead-nasa-spacecraft-wakes-up/>

on Spaceweather.com <http://www.spaceweather.com/>. Earlier this month,
he saw the signature of IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global
Exploration), a NASA spacecraft believed to have died in December 2005.
The discovery
<https://skyriddles.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/nasas-long-dead-image-satellite-is-alive/>

has delighted space scientists.

Artist's conception of IMAGE over the North Pole.

"The long gone and nearly forgotten IMAGE spacecraft has come back
to life and been detected by an amateur astronomer," said Mission
Manager Richard J. Burley at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),
which confirmed that what Tilley spotted is, indeed, IMAGE. Amateur
observer Paul Marsh, M0EYT, in the UK, provided the first independent
confirmation of the IMAGE signal.

NASA said
<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/attempting-to-contact-nasa-s-image>

on January 29 that observations from five sites were consistent with
the RF characteristics expected of IMAGE.

But just to make certain beyond a shadow of a doubt, scientists at
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab collected telemetry from the
satellite that identified the spacecraft as IMAGE. A NASA team has been
able to read some basic housekeeping data from the spacecraft and will
continue to analyze data from the spacecraft to learn more about its
condition. This will require adapting old software and information
databases to more modern systems.

IMAGE tracks a 2002 eclipse that was visible from a narrow corridor in
southern Africa, the Indian Ocean, and southern Australia.

After the spacecraft went silent, an unsuccessful 2007 effort was
made to track IMAGE in the hope that a "long shadow encounter" would
drain the battery enough to cause IMAGE to reset its control hardware.
When that effort failed, the mission was declared to have ended. Space
scientists now theorize that an even longer eclipse -- or other event
-- did reset the system and bring the transmitter back to life.

Launched in 2000 on a mission to monitor space weather, IMAGE mapped
plasma patterns around Earth, keeping tabs on the planet's
magnetosphere as it responded to solar activity; on-board ultraviolet
cameras shot images
<https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6226> of Earth's
auroras. "It had capabilities that no other spacecraft could match --
before or since," said Patricia Reiff, a member of the original IMAGE
science team at Rice University.

Reiff said UC Berkeley still has a ground station that was used for
real-time tracking and control and is scrambling to find the old
software to see it they can get the spacecraft to respond.

"[IMAGE's] global-scale auroral imager would be fantastic for
nowcasting space weather," Reiff said. "Fingers crossed!" -- Thanks to
Alex Schwarz, VE7DXW; Spaceweather.com; NASA

==> IN BRIEF...

AMSAT Vice President-Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, has declared
that Fox-1D <https://www.amsat.org/fox-1d-integrated-ready-for-launch/>
(AO-92) is now open for general Amateur Radio use. That word followed
an announcement from AMSAT Vice President-Engineering Jerry Buxton,
N0JY, that AO-92 had been commissioned and formally turned over to
AMSAT Operations. Initially, the U/v FM transponder will be open
continuously for 1 week. After that, operation will be shared among the
U/v FM transponder, L-Band downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the
University of Iowa's High-Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI).
AMSAT News Service, AMSAT-BB, AMSAT's Twitter account (@AMSAT), the
AMSAT-NA Facebook group, and the AMSAT website
<https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/> will report any updates.
AO-92 was launched from India on January 12. Testing has shown that
both the U/v FM transponder and L-Band Downshifter are working well.
The Virginia Tech camera has returned photos
<http://www.arrl.org/news/camera-aboard-fox-1d-satellite-returns-photos-of-earth>

of Earth, and data from HERCI has been successfully downlinked. Read
more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fox-1d-ao-92-now-commissioned-open-for-amateur-use>.

-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service

China's "Zhou Enlai" CubeSat, launched on January 19, is the country's
first to involve primary and middle school students. Named in honor of
the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, the
CubeSat was developed in Huai'an Youth Comprehensive Development Base
in Jiangsu Province. The 2 kg, 2U CubeSat carries an Amateur Radio FM
transponder and has SSTV capability, in addition to a high-definition
optical camera. An SSTV beacon will post date, time, temperature, and
location information on an SSTV frame. The launch was the 100th orbital
launch attempt from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Amateur
Radio transponder has a downlink at 436.950 MHz, and an uplink at
145.930 MHz. Telemetry will be 9.6 k BPSK on 437.350 MHz. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/china-students-zhou-enlai-cubesat-launches-with-ham-radio-payload-on-board>.


The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS
<http://www.ariss.org/>) APRS packet system is currently not working.
This is due to an as-yet unidentified anomaly involving the radio
serving the system on board the ISS. A similar problem has occurred in
the past, and steps taken to resolve the problem have proven to be only
temporary. "The system may return to service as it has in the past, or
it may have finally failed completely," ARISS said in a statement.
"ARISS sees the delivery of the interoperable radio system as the true
solution to securing our ARISS packet operation." The target for
delivery and installation of the replacement system is this coming
fall. In the meantime, ARISS said it's continuing to investigate the
problem and attempting to fix it.

==> THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Low solar activity continues, with no
sunspots seen January 20-29, and a sunspot number of 13 for January
30-31. Average daily solar flux declined marginally from 70 to 69.1.

Predicted solar flux is 69 on February 1-3; 68 on February 4-7; 70 on
February 8-22; 69 on February 23-March 4, and 70 on March 5-17.

The predicted planetary A index is 5 on February 1-3; 10 and 8 on
February 4-5; 5 on February 6-8; 8, 12, and 8 on February 9-11; 5 on
February 12-14; 8, 12, 8, 10, 5, 8, 10, and 8 on February 15-22; 5 on
February 23-March 2; 8 on March 3-4; 5 on March 5-7; 8, 12, and 8 on
March 8-10; 5 on March 11-13, and 8, 12, 8, and 10 on March 14-17.

Joe Flamini, W4BXG, in Virginia wrote to report his surprise at hearing
-- and working -- two mobile stations on 10 meters on January 27 at
about 1500 UTC. "I reached out and had a 45-second QSO with them both
before the link faded," he said. "That'll never happen again!"

Sunspot numbers for January 25-31 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 13, and 13, with
a mean of 3.7. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 70.3, 69.8, 68.8, 68.5,
68.2, 68.9, and 69.2, with a mean of 69.1. Estimated planetary A
indices were 10, 8, 6, 4, 4, 5, and 7, with a mean of 6.3. Estimated
mid-latitude A indices were 9, 7, 5, 2, 3, 3, and 5, with a mean of
4.9.

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

==> JUST AHEAD IN RADIOSPORT

- February 1 -- NRAU 10 Meter Activity Contest (CW, phone, digital)

- February 2-4 -- YLRL YL-OM Contest (CW, phone, digital)

- February 3 -- FYBO Winter QRP Sprint (CW, phone, digital)

- February 3 -- Minnesota QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)

- February 3 -- AGCW Straight Key Party

- February 3 -- FISTS Winter Slow Speed Sprint (CW)

- February 3-4 -- Vermont QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)

- February 3-4 -- 10-10 International Winter Contest (SSB)

- February 3-4 -- Black Sea Cup International (CW, phone)

- February 3-4 -- F9AA Cup (CW)

- February 3-4 -- Mexico RTTY International Contest

- February 3-4 -- British Columbia QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)

- February 4 -- North American Sprint
<http://ncjweb.com/Sprint-Rules.pdf> (CW)

- February 5 -- RSGB 80 Meter Club Championship (SSB)

- February 6 -- ARS Spartan Sprint (CW)

- February 7 -- 3.5 UKEICC 80 Meter Contest

See the ARRL Contest Calendar <http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar>
for more information. For in-depth reporting on Amateur Radio
contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest Update
<http://www.arrl.org/contest-update-issues> via your ARRL member
profile e-mail preferences.

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

- February 3 -- South Carolina State Convention <http://wa4usn.org/>,
North Charleston, South Carolina

- February 3 -- Virginia State Convention <http://frostfest.com/>
(Frostfest), Richmond, Virginia

- February 9-11 -- Florida State Convention <http://www.hamcation.org/>
(HamCation), Orlando, Florida

- February 16-17 -- Southwestern Division Convention
<http://www.yumahamfest.org/>, Yuma, Arizona

- February 24 -- TECHCON Conference <http://www.arrlwcf.org/>, Winter
Haven, Florida

- February 24 -- New Mexico TechFest
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/2017-new-mexico-techfest>, Albuquerque,
New Mexico

- February 24 -- Vermont State Convention <http://www.ranv.org/>, S.
Burlington, Vermont

- March 2-3 -- Alabama State Convention <http://www.w4cue.com/>,
Irondale, Alabama

- March 3 -- Arkansas State Convention <http://www.arvarf.com/>,
Russellville, Arkansas

- March 9-10 -- Louisiana State Convention
<http://www.w5ddl.org/hamfest/>, Rayne, Louisiana

- March 9-10 -- North Carolina Section Convention
<http://www.rarsfest.org/>, Concord, North Carolina

- March 10 -- Nebraska State Convention <http://www.k0kkv.org/>,
Lincoln, Nebraska

- March 16-17 -- South Texas Section Convention
<http://houstonhamfest.org/>, Rosenberg, Texas

- March 17 -- Southern Florida Section Convention
<http://www.stuarthamfest.com/>, Stuart, Florida

- March 17 -- West Texas Section Convention
<http://hamfest.w5qgg.org/>, Midland, Texas

- March 24 -- Utah Digital Communications Conference
<http://www.utah-dcc.org/>, Sandy, Utah

- March 24 -- MicroHAMS Digital Conference <http://microhams.com/mhdc>,
Redmond, Washington

- March 24 -- West Virginia Section Convention <http://www.w8gk.org/>,
Charleston, West Virginia

- March 30-31 -- Maine State Convention <http://w1npp.org/>, Lewiston,
Maine

- March 31 -- North Carolina State Convention
<http://rars.org/hamfest>, Raleigh, North Carolina

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

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