ARROW Communications Association

The ARRL Board of Directors holds their second meeting of 2008 July 18-19 in Windsor, Connecticut, with Directors, Vice Directors and ARRL Board officers in attendance. The meeting, which begins today and continues through Saturday, was preceded on Thursday with meetings of the Administration and Finance Committee and the Programs and Services Committee.

In the next step of developing a long-term procedure to mitigate interference to the Air Force PAVE PAWS radar site at Cape Cod Air Force Station in Massachusetts, the ARRL has brokered a deal that will allow new coordinations to be considered by the New England Spectrum Management Council (NESMC) on the 70 cm band.

If today is like yesterday and the day before that, it will be the 26th consecutive day with no sunspots. Think this is bad? At the last solar minimum, there were only four days showing any sunspots between September 5 and October 24, 2006.

This week, Surfin’ take a radio road-trip to Disney’s East and West Coast worlds.

Registration remains open through Sunday, August 3, 2008 for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, August 15, 2008: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 2 (EC-002); Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 3 (EC-003R2); Antenna Modeling (EC-004); HF Digital Communications (EC-005); VHF/UHF -- Life Beyond the Repeater (EC-008), and Radio Frequency Propagation (EC-011). Each online course has been developed in segments -- learning units with objectives, informative text, student activities and quizzes. Courses are interactive, and some include direct communications with a Mentor/Instructor. Students register for a particular session that may be 8, 12 or 16 weeks (depending on the course) and they may access the course at any time of day during the course period, completing lessons and activities at times convenient for their personal schedule. Mentors assist students by answering questions, reviewing assignments and activities, as well as providing helpful feedback. Interaction with mentors is conducted through e-mail; there is no appointed time the student must be present -- allowing complete flexibility for the student to work when and where it is convenient. To learn more, visit the Continuing Education course listing page or contact the Continuing Education Program Coordinator.

Earlier this month, ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, presented ICOM's Amateur and Receiver Products Division Manager Ray Novak, N9JA, and ICOM Sales Representative Pat Marcy, W7PZ, with a plaque, thanking ICOM for its support of ARRL stations W1AW and W1HQ throughout the years. ICOM recently donated an IC-756PROIII and an IC-746PRO to W1HQ, the ARRL's Laird Campbell Memorial HQ Operators Club station.

Robert Van Cleft Dickinson, W3HJ (ex-W2CCE), of Zionsville, Pennsylvania, passed away May 28. He was 79. A Fellow of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and a member of the IEEE, Dickinson, a long-time ARRL Technical Advisor, wrote the chapter on cable television interference in the second edition of The ARRL RFI Book. ARRL Lab Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, remembered Dickinson, saying, "In the early 1980s, as the cable industry was developing, the relationship between the cable industry and Amateur Radio was not good. Early systems were leaky and interference problems -- especially on 2 meters -- were common. Dickinson helped change that; he agreed to serve as a liaison between the ARRL and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). It took years, but over time -- as improvements in the construction of cable plants and firm guidance from NCTA to cable operators who did not promptly correct interference problems -- his work helped the cable industry flourish with good coexistence with licensed radio services. This has served as a model for ARRL's relationship with other industries." ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, echoed Hare's thoughts: "We are saddened by the loss of Bob Dickinson, W3HJ, a good friend of ARRL and Amateur Radio. Bob's keen interest in League activities on behalf of our Service was evidenced by his generosity as part of the ARRL Diamond Club for five years, as well as his financial support of the Spectrum Defense Fund and the Education & Technology Fund." Dickinson is survived by his wife Jessie, four children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

On July 9, ARRL officials -- President Joel Harrison, W5ZN; Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, and General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD -- met with members of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss the recent US Court of Appeals decision regarding broadband over power lines (BPL). In that case, the Court agreed with the ARRL on two major points and remanded the rules to the Commission. According to Imlay, the meeting was convened to discuss "a possible regulatory approach" to BPL with the FCC. Suggestions put forth by ARRL "would address the needs and concerns of Amateur Radio operators in avoiding harmful interference from [BPL systems] while imposing the minimum necessary regulatory obligations on BPL deployments." The ARRL understands, Imlay said, that "there are at this point rules that could be adopted which would, at once, (1) protect Amateur Radio communications from predictable harmful interference from BPL; and (2) permit broadband over power line systems to operate in the 3 to 80 MHz range without significant constraint and without substantial redesign or retroactive build outs."

A big key unlocks interest in ham radio.

While putting up backyard antennas on the afternoon of Sunday, July 13, Edward Thomas, KC0TIG, of Kansas City, Kansas, and his son Jacob were electrocuted. Edward, 65, was pronounced dead at the scene. Jacob, 27, was rushed to the hospital but died later that day. Initial reports suggest that the antenna they were installing came in contact with 7620 V power lines. Neighbors reported a "loud popping sound" and the electricity went out on the block.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ordered that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reimburse ARRL for the docketing fee and the cost of reproducing copies of briefs and appendices in the ARRL's successful challenge of the FCC's broadband over power line (BPL) rules. The Order, issued on July 9 following review of an opposition from the FCC and a reply from the ARRL, awarded the ARRL's full claim of $6,096.18. Commenting on the Order, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, observed: "While this is just a small fraction of the cost of our judicial appeal, the Order is significant because the Court did not buy the FCC's arguments that the ARRL had only achieved 'partial success' in its appeal and that our claim of costs was excessive. In addition, the FCC falsely claimed that the ARRL 'was unsuccessful in persuading the Court to vacate the rules it challenged.' In fact, the ARRL never sought to do so since the BPL rules adopted by the FCC, inadequate as they are, were still better than nothing. The award of these fees affirms that, contrary to the 'spin' the FCC has tried to put on the Court's remand, the ARRL substantially prevailed in its appeal."

We have received several reports from ARRL members with arrl.net e-mail accounts who have recently been contacted via e-mail asking for personal information, such as user names and passwords. Please be assured that these e-mails are fraudulent attempts at "phishing" and did not originate from ARRL. According to ARRL Information Technology Manager Don Durand, "This is a very crude attempt at phishing, using an easily determined spoof of the originating/return address. There is never a time when we would ask via mass e-mail for user names and passwords of arrl.net users. There is simply no need to ever do so." If you receive an e-mail asking for personal information and it looks like it originated from ARRL, please do not respond, just delete it.

The Maritime Radio Historical Society's ninth annual CW-only Night of Nights, commemorating the history of maritime radio, is scheduled for Sunday, July 13 at 0001 UTC (Saturday, July 12, 1701 PDT). Years ago, the maritime mobile bands were populated edge-to-edge with powerful coast stations that operated from virtually every country on every continent. The ships of world trade and the great passenger liners filled the air with their radiograms, as well as their calls for help when in danger on the sea. Now those bands are largely silent. But once a year, the MRHS returns stations KPH, KSM and KFS to the air. Other stations, including WLO, KLB, NMC, NOJ and NMN, often join in. Calls from ships at sea make the event seem like the golden age of maritime radio has returned. The MRHS's club station, K6KPH, will be on-the-air on several frequencies, receiving signal reports from other amateur stations. The K6KPH operators are seasoned commercial operators with years of experience "sitting the circuit" and will give amateur stations the experience of what it was like to work a real coast station. More information regarding the event, including suggested frequencies, is available on the Night of Nights Web page.

Another week and still no sunspots. The 3-month moving average for daily sunspot numbers that we began reporting toward the end of Solar Cycle 23 seemed to retrospectively suggest that solar minimum occurred last fall. The daily average for the 3-month period centered on last October was nearly 3 -- or 2.967 to split some hairs. This is an average of the 91 daily sunspot numbers from September 1-November 30.

This week, Surfin’ readers consider the user interface of Amateur Radio software.

The first rounds of Teachers Institutes for this summer have been completed at the Parallax facility in Rocklin, California and at Pueblo Magnet High School in Tucson, Arizona. According to Education and Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, there were a few specific goals and objectives that were tried during these two Teachers Institutes that were beyond the normal training curriculum: the new 24-hour clock kit for the Soldering 101 unit, the radio telescope unit and the BOT instructor's board.

Just 300 miles south of the Alaskan Arctic Ocean -- where the Arctic Circle crosses the Dalton Highway (66 degrees, 33 minutes north) -- W1AW/KL7 will be on the air (grid square BP56) July 26-August 10 on all bands from 160-6 meters. This ARRL 2008 Alaska State Convention Special Event Station plans to run two HF stations operating CW, SSB and digital, one satellite station and one station devoted to 146.52 MHz. The Alaskan summer skies are ablaze with gray line-enhanced propagation effects, providing six to eight hour spurts of activity to most of the ham radio world. W1AW/KL7 plans to be active from 0600 UTC-1400 UTC to maximize gray line propagation. From Alaska, signals will take off in both directions at the same time: Europe to the East on one side, with Asia to the West on the other side. For an illustration of how Arctic gray line propagation works, see page 21 in the August 2008 issue of QST. The 2008 Alaska ARRL Convention will run from August 1-4, 2008 in Anchorage.  -- Information provided by Bill Balzarini, KL7BB

Another Field Day has come and gone, and just like amateurs all over the country, those who activated W1AW not only took part, but had lots of fun during the 24 hour event. According to W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, W1AW made 1079 contacts using CW, SSB and RTTY on 160-2 meters. "The last time W1AW broke the 1000+ QSO mark on Field Day was back in 2005 when 1100 QSOs were made. But band conditions were slightly better then and we had more operators on hand," Carcia said.

With the California fires show little signs of lightening up, ARRL Sacramento Valley Section Manager Ron Murdock, W6KJ, says that ARES members in his Section are actively involved in supporting the agencies they serve. According to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), more than 330 fires covering almost 200,000 acres are active in the Sacramento Valley Section. While most fires are at least 50 percent contained, some are less than 30 percent under control.