ARRL Letter excerpts - 11/29/96 issue

[frenaye at pcnet.com]

Full text can be found at http://www.arrl.org
(new NCJ editor - see article at end)

The ARRL Letter
Electronic Update
November 29, 1996
__________________________________

IN THIS UPDATE:

* Vanity program is back in business!
* ARISS: A permanent ham station in space
* OSCAR 13, SK
* Tests put Phase 3D closer to reality
* W0CXX returns to the airwaves
* W1AA to Marconi club
* Solar flux numbers soar!
* Army MARS to handle holiday greetings
* In Brief: Help wanted; Correction; Cover Plaque winner; Young hams up;
   624 Kits out of business; AVVid to handle Tucker service.
__________________________________

VANITY CALL SIGN PROGRAM BACK IN BUSINESS; PETITIONS DISMISSED

[long article not included here]

W0CXX BACK ON THE AIR

The Federal Communications Commission recently awarded Art Collins' 
long-time Amateur Radio call sign, W0CXX, to the Rockwell-Collins Employees 
Amateur Radio Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Collins, the company's founder, 
died in 1987.

On Sunday, November 24, in conjunction with the Collins Collectors 
Association Net, the club operated a special-event station on the CCA net 
frequency of 14.263 MHz to commemorate the reissuance of the historic call 
sign. Warren Bruene, W5OLY, one of the first Collins engineers and a 
long-time friend Art Collins had the honor being the first station worked by 
W0CXX (at 2016 UTC from KK5IM in Dallas). The operators in Cedar Rapids 
bestowed this honor on Warren after observing 15 seconds of silence in Art's 
memory. "There was not a dry eye in my shack as W0CXX's signals came to life 
on our vintage Collins amateur equipment," reports Jay Miller, KK5IM, author 
of The Pocket Guide to Collins Amateur Radio Equipment 1946 to 1980.

The station in Cedar Rapids was manned by Tom Vinson, NY0V, trustee of 
W0CXX, and Rod Blocksome, K0DAS. "Warren and the Collins family were 
instrumental in helping us obtain Art's call for our club station," said 
Vinson. "We are most honored that they did this for us." The station 
remained on the air until well past 6 PM Central Time, making nearly 200 
contacts with Collins collectors, former employees and many, many old-time 
hams who remembered working Art Collins in the 30s, 40s and 50s.

A special QSL will be available to all who worked W0CXX during the initial 
round of contacts.--Jay Miller, KK5IM

W1AA TO MARCONI CLUB

The FCC has assigned W1AA to the Marconi Radio Club, headquartered in 
Lakeville, Massachusetts. The club's Gate 2 vanity call sign application was 
held up for special processing. It was issued November 20.

"You can't believe how happy we are that the Marconi Radio Club got the W1AA 
call--it is most appropriate for the Marconi RC," said Whitey Doherty, K1VV, 
the club's president. The club's call sign had been KB1BOK, but Doherty said 
members didn't have much interest in using the call sign. He expects that to 
change now that the club has obtained W1AA. Doherty said members will use 
the call for contests, DXing and other activities. A separate database will 
track W1AA award progress toward WAS, DXCC and other awards.

"This whole new call sign activity is a great shot for Amateur Radio," 
Doherty said. "It will put all these calls back on the air as they should 
be--active!! The vanity call sign program has been very positive for the 
amateur community."

DAVE PATTON, KW9KW, TAKES OVER NCJ REINS

Dave Patton, KW9KW (ex-WX3N), of Colchester, Illinois, takes over as editor 
of National Contest Journal starting with the January/February 1997 issue. 
Patton, who competed in the recent World Radiosport Team Championship 
(WRTC-96) in California, said in an Internet posting that he's "living up to 
a commitment I made some time ago to 'do my part for the sport of 
contesting' and take my turn editing the NCJ." Patton takes over the 
journal's reins from Bruce Draper, AA5B, who's served as editor for two 
years. Draper said in an NCJ editorial in the November/December issue that 
he will help Patton with the first couple of issues to ensure a smooth 
transition.

Draper said he expects to be busy with family, home and ham radio projects 
and that he has "a bunch of songs in my head that need to be put on tape 
before they leak away!" Serving as the NCJ editor has been "a thrill."

Patton, who's very interested in VHF/UHF contesting, said he's hoping to 
expand the magazine's offerings into that arena of competition. "Many 
typical contesters have been bitten by the VHF bug lately and are 
discovering a new frontier where every QSO is an achievement on the par of 
working HS7AS long path on 40." he said in his posting.

Patton complimented Draper for "a great job," and he let it be known that 
he's on the lookout for new material for NCJ. Patton encouraged prospective 
authors to get in touch with him with ideas for articles. He predicted that 
the next sunspot cycle will bring "the best ever contest and general 
operating enjoyment" and that "all the contest records that mean anything 
will (in my opinion) be set--possibly forever, in the upcoming years." 
Patton encouraged his colleagues to "be a part of it!" Contact Patton via 
e-mail at KW9KW at contesting.com or mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu; tel 309-298-2141 
(W) or 309-652-3232 (H)

To subscribe to the National Contest Journal, write NCJ Circulation, ARRL, 
225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. ARRL members should include their 
membership control number or a QST mailing label. A year's subscription 
costs $12 (six issues) within the US ($20 for first-class mailing in the US, 
Canada and Mexico). For more information, visit the NCJ home page at 
http://www.waterw.com/~ncj/.


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Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444