As usual, the full text is at www.arrl.org
(plus lots of other good stuff)
73 Tom
The ARRL Letter
Electronic Update
August 23, 1996
__________________________________
IN THIS UPDATE . . ..
* Vanity Gate 2 opens September 23!
* JAS-2 in orbit!
* ARRL questions NII/SUPERNet plans
* Hams help during Illinois floods
* Solar flux down
* FCC call sign update
* Legal seminars at ARRL conventions
* Eli Nannis, K4JMH, SK
* William J Stevens, W6ZM, SK
* In Brief: New OK SM; WN1I joins HQ staff; new ham astronaut;
__________________________________
VANITY FILING GATE 2 OPENS SEPTEMBER 23, 1996
The FCC has announced that vanity call sign filing Gate 2 will open
September 23. Under Gate 2, Amateur Extra class licensees may request a
vanity call sign on or after that date. File requests on FCC Form 610V.
Legibility is critical! If your application is not legible, you could
experience a delay in processing, lose the opportunity to obtain a requested
call sign or even obtain a call sign different from what you want.
[this is a long article, see the ARRL web site for more]
SOLAR FLUX DOWN
Solar observer Tad Cook, KT7H, in Seattle, Washington, reported August 16
that average solar flux was down about 5 points over the previous week. Flux
values are expected to rise above 70 starting around August 22. After that,
solar flux should peak around 76 on August 29, and be back to 70 around
September 4. No big upsets are expected, but there could be some minor
geomagnetic activity around August 27.
The fall equinox is about four weeks away, and the days are gradually
getting shorter. Forty meters is the best nighttime band for worldwide
propagation, while 20 is best during the day. We are still suffering from
very low solar activity at the bottom of the current solar cycle, so MUFs
are depressed. Expect big improvements over the next two years.
The September issue of QST includes an informative article by Dean Straw,
N6BV, on advanced propagation-prediction software. An interesting one is the
Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program or VOACAP, created for The Voice
of America. It's available free via the web at http://www.voa.gov. Click on
Other Services, and then Software Distribution after the opening screen. At
the Gopher menu, click on Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program.
Sunspot numbers for August 8 through 14 were 24, 20, 33, 30, 22, 16 and 30,
respectively, with a mean of 25. The 10.7-cm flux was 69.8, 70.2, 72.8,
72.9, 70.1, 69.6, and 68.8, respectively, with a mean of 70.6.
FCC ISSUED CALL SIGN UPDATE
The following is a list of the FCC's most recently issued call signs as of
August 1, 1996.
Dist Grp A Grp B Grp C Grp D
Extra Adv T/G Novice
[1->0 skipped}
HI # AH6OT # WH6DCN [** I hear KH7's will be issued soon]
AK # AL7QQ KL0AH WL7CTW [** Note: KL0]
VI WP2X KP2CJ NP2JK WP2AIE
PR KP3D KP3AG NP3EG WP4NMH [** Note: KP3/NP3]
# New prefixes are available for this block, but none have been issued.
++All call signs in this group have been issued in this area.
LEGAL SEMINARS AT ARRL CONVENTIONS
A Continuing Legal Education seminar, "Land Use Regulation of Federally
Licensed Communications Facilities and the Doctrine of Federal Preemption"
will be presented at two ARRL conventions during October.
ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, N3AKD, and Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, will
present the seminar at the New England Division Convention, October 4, at
the convention site, the Holiday Inn, Boxboro, Massachusetts. The seminar
will run from 9 AM until 3 PM.
Imlay and Phil Kane, K2ASP, will present a CLE seminar October 18, at
Pacificon '96, at the Hilton Hotel, Concord, California. The seminar will
run from 9 AM until 3 PM.
CLE credits will be available for both seminar sessions. The fee is $50 for
those seeking credit. Otherwise, the seminars are free. If you seek credit,
send a check and registration information to John Hennessee, KJ4KB, ARRL,
225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Include your name, address and bar
membership information. ARRL volunteer counsel members and other attorneys
are encouraged to attend one of these sessions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
>From jfunk@adams.net (jim funk) Fri Aug 23 00:23:58 1996
From: jfunk@adams.net (jim funk) (jim funk)
Subject: Unknown grid "squares"
Message-ID: <9608222323.AA22541@golden.adams.net>
You don't know your grid square? Estimate it as closely as possible.
He doesn't know his grid square? Ditto, and tell him so he can pass it to
the next contact. If it turns out you're off by one, *no one will rip out
your nails*. It's a game.
73, Jim N9JF
"The cow is of the bovine ilk. One end is moo; the other, milk.--Ogden Nash
>From donovanf@sgate.com (Frank Donovan) Fri Aug 23 00:44:30 1996
From: donovanf@sgate.com (Frank Donovan) (Frank Donovan)
Subject: CW incentive for HF
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.960822193246.5353A-100000@jekyll.sgate.com>
Yes, the early landline telegraph instruments (circa 1844-1850) did use
mechanical apparatus that embossed (not printed) the received Morse code
onto a paper tape. The telegraph operator then transcribed the embossed
dots and dashes into text. Recall that -- prior to the electric
telegraph -- long distance communication was by written means (other than
various optical and acoustic telegraphs). Telegraph companies believed
that recipients of telegraph messages would not trust telegraph messages
that were transcribed by human beings without a direct hard copy record of
the communication.
On Wed, 21 Aug 1996, Sandy Lynch wrote:
---- snip ----
>
> Important point: Remember our long-ago forefathers ... the original
> land line telegraphers. They were equiped with mechanical apparatus
> that would *print* the received Morse code ... on a ticker tape,
> or some such as I recall. What happened? They ALL realized that
> they could more readily copy the CW in their head than take the
> additional time/effort to read the code printed out. Why couldn't
> this happen again? They may even find that, although CW is NOT
> error-correcting, it IS possible to copy weak signals better in
> the head than by machine. So .......
>
> 73, Sandy WA6BXH
>From km9p@contesting.com (Bill Fisher, KM9P) Fri Aug 23 00:45:31 1996
From: km9p@contesting.com (Bill Fisher, KM9P) (Bill Fisher, KM9P)
Subject: Quad guys & AO guys
Message-ID: <199608222345.TAA16291@paris.akorn.net>
http://www.contesting.com/10mquad.html
I've been working on a 10M quad design for quite some time. I've been using
AO on a Pentium 133 system. It goes pretty fast. My design criteria were
that the antenna be a direct 75 ohm match, cover 1Mhz, and have GREAT F/B.
I didn't want any do-dads hanging off the driven element adding weight and
stress to the wires. The antenna is a 6 element on a 36' boom. Would be
interested in any comments or comparisons with any big yagis on the same
boom length.
Thanks
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