The full ARRL Letter can be found on the ARRL web site at:
http://www.arrl.org
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 16, No. 24
June 13, 1997
__________________________________
IN THIS EDITION:
* Seventeen schools on STS-94 SAREX list
* FCC suspends ticket in interference case (N2WNF)
* New NL section official for 97 Sweepstakes
* RS-10 silence explained
* Blaha to visit Oklahoma Field Day
* CyberHam Magazine QRX
* Ham Radio & More goes shortwave only
* NY Amateur Radio Month Proclamation presented
* Solar Update
* Thomas O'Malley Moore, K3LTV, SK
* IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio;
ARRL requests 7100-7300 kHz for American
Samoa; DXCC Processing Status; N6TX goes
full-time with The SETI League; QSTs for Amateur
in Scouting; AEA Division announces appointments;
CIB chief quitting FCC; FCC makes 47-GHz band
spectrum available; Mir SAFEX 70-cm repeater
operational; AO-27 frequency drift
NEW SECTION UPS THE ANTE ON SS CLEAN SWEEP
Keep an ear out for VO1 and VO2 call signs during this fall's ARRL
Sweepstakes! Canada's new Newfoundland-Labrador (NL) Section will be among
those that SS participants will have to snag this November on their way to
that coveted Clean Sweep Award. The ARRL received formal notification of the
change last week from Radio Amateurs of Canada President J. Farrell "Hoppy"
Hopwood, VE7RD, although the addition of the NL section actually was
approved last year. Some NL hams gave NL as their section in last fall's SS,
although the change had not yet been incorporated into the list of SS
sections. Joe Craig, VO1NA, of Torbay, Newfoundland, is the Section Manager
in NL. RAC Vice President and General Counsel Tim Ellam, VE6SH, said the new
section was created "primarily as it was hard to service VO1/2 from the MAR
(Maritimes) section due to geography."
The addition of a new section could prove to be a significant challenge for
those hoping to work all ARRL and RAC sections, plus VE8/VY1 (a total of 79
multipliers) in the popular fall event. Some Canadian sections already are
among the more difficult ones to find and work. (A heads up: Ellam says RAC
has also explored the possibility of creating additional new sections north
of the border, but no decisions have been reached yet.) The change also
means that those who use computerized logging programs will have to add the
new section to their program's list of SS sections--just as they had to do
last fall with the addition of the Northern New York section.
This year's ARRL Sweepstakes weekends are November 1-2 (CW) and November
15-16 (SSB).
__________________________________
IN BRIEF:
* This weekend on the radio: ARRL June VHF QSO Party (see May QST, page
111), Asia Pacific Sprint, West Virginia QSO Party, Portugal Day, WW South
America CW Contest and the TOEC WW Grid Contest are all on tap for this
weekend. See June QST, page 103 for details.
* ARRL requests 7100-7300 kHz for American Samoa: The League has asked the
FCC to amend its Amateur Service rules to permit ham use of 7100 to 7300 kHz
in the Territory of American Samoa on a non-interference basis to
broadcasters "as a domestic exception to the International table of
Frequency Allocations." American Samoa, in ITU Region 3, is an
unincorporated, unorganized territory of the US some 2100 miles from New
Zealand. The current 40-meter band in Region 3 extends from 7000 to 7100
kHz. The ARRL said the absence of ham access to the entire 7000 to 7300 kHz
band impedes communication "because the emergency communications stations
that would otherwise be accessible to American Samoa amateurs are
established above 7100 kHz." The petition notes that Western Samoa,
Australia and New Zealand all permit domestic use of the entire 7000 to 7300
kHz allocation by hams as long as harmful interference is not caused to the
primary occupant of the 7100 to 7300 segment in Region 3, the broadcasting
service.
* DXCC Processing Status: The DXCC Desk reports that the number of
unprocessed applications at the end of May 1997 was 350 (28,738 QSLs). The
DXCC Desk received 443 applications (32,928 QSLs) for endorsements and new
awards during the month. This compares with 313 applications (25,423 QSLs)
for April and 322 applications (23,897 QSLs) for March. Applications being
sent out at the end of May were received about two weeks earlier. A few
applications received prior to that time were in the process of being
audited, and so had not yet been completed.
How to Get The ARRL Letter:
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alike, The ARRL Letter is available free of charge from these sources:
* The ARRLWeb page (http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/). This version of The
ARRL Letter includes any photographs.
* The HIRAM BBS: 860-594-0306.
* The ARRL Technical Information Server (Info Server): Send an e-mail
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body, type "send ltrmmdd.txt", where mm represents two digits for the month
and dd represents two digits for the day (The ARRL Letter is published
every Friday). For example, to request The ARRL Letter file for Friday,
January 3, 1997, you'd type "send ltr0103.txt". Then, on a separate line,
type "quit".
* CompuServe and America Online subscribers, as a downloadable text file in
the services' ham radio libraries
* The Netcom server, run by the Boston Amateur Radio Club and Mike Ardai,
N1IST: Send e-mail to listserv@netcom.com (no subject needed). The body of
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E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
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