 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
 Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending April 19, 2002 |  Next: Florida Youngsters Quiz Astronaut Via Ham Radio |
Apr 24, 2002
(In alphabetical order: ) AMSAT seeks design,
development help with new satellite project; ARRL added to 2002 Combined Federal Campaign;
AMSAT seeks design, development
help with new satellite project: AMSAT-NA is seeking assistance in four areas of
design and development for its two new satellite projects. The "Echo" satellite
is being designed to be a LEO EasySat with voice and data capabilities. "Eagle"
will be placed in an elliptical orbit and be equipped with linear transponders.
AMSAT-NA's Rick Hambly, W2GPS, says that, in addition to the standard
complement of transponders, there is room on both satellites for optional
payloads. One such payload under consideration is a transponder to support the
development of ADCARS--Advanced Data Communications for the Amateur Radio
Service. This project involves the use of a very high-speed, wideband data
communications channel to simultaneously carry multiple voice, data and video
signals. Four areas of design and development are needed to put such a payload
on the new satellites. These include transmitter and receiver design, CPU
design and payload integration. W2GPS is appealing to the AMSAT membership at
large. Here is your chance to design something that will actually fly in space.
For more information, contact Rick Hambly, W2GPS, w2gps@cnssys.com.--AMSAT News Service
ARRL added to 2002 Combined Federal Campaign: The ARRL now is participating in the 2002 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a program that supports and promotes philanthropy by federal employees. The CFC is the only authorized solicitation of employees in the federal workplace on behalf of charitable organizations. ARRL now appears in the listing of "National/International Organizations" published in each local CFC campaign brochure. Federal employee donors should use the CFC identification number 9872 in designating their contributions to ARRL. For more information, visit the Combined Federal Campaign Web site.
 A recent lightning strike literally melted some components on this PC controller card that accesses the computerized audio file for the ARRL Audio News telephone dial-up system. |
ARRL Audio News telephone system zapped, fixed: If you've been among those trying to call the ARRL Audio News telephone hotline--860-594-0384--this week and been greeted by a busy signal or an out-of-order message, blame it on Mother Nature. A recent nearby lightning strike took out the PC controller board that accesses the weekly Amateur Radio audio news feed. Thanks to prompt service by Henry Engineering, a new board now has been installed, and the system is back on line. ARRL Audio News continues to be available on the ARRL Web site.
ARRL will process members' license renewals, address changes: ARRL members daunted by the FCC's Universal Licensing System can ask Headquarters to file their license renewal or change-of-address applications free of charge. ARRL members wishing to take advantage of this service should download Form NCVEC 605 (that's the form used by volunteer exam coordinators) from the ARRL Web site, print it, fill it in and mail it to ARRL VEC, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111. The response of those wanting ARRL to process renewals has been very positive. For the first three months of 2002, ARRL handled 1721 applications for members--up from 514 for the same period in 2001. The ARRL VEC staff now can process any member's FCC license application request, except for a vanity call sign application. Remember: Renewal applications may only be filed within 90 days of your license expiration date.
DXCC elder statesmen nail P5 for number 391: An update: Steve Adell, KF2TI, of the North Jersey DX Association, now reports that old timers Howard Wolfe, W2AGW, and Ben Stevenson, W2BXA, now have put North Korea (P5) into their logbooks for number 391. Each op was successful in working Ed Giorgadze, P5/4L4FN. Wolfe turns 95 this month, and Stevenson is 88. "We should only live so long to work that many!" Adell commented.
FCC investigation leads to arrest of unlicensed FM radio operator: The FCC has arrested a Brooklyn, New York, man, Paul Dorleans, for operating an unlicensed FM radio station on 87.9 MHz. Working in conjunction with FCC agents and the Office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the US Marshal's Service arrested Dorleans April 15. The FCC said prior enforcement action had failed to deter Dorleans' unlicensed FM operation. The FCC said it already had directed Dorleans to cease operation of the unlicensed station, and authorities seized his radio equipment on one previous occasion. Operators of illegal unlicensed broadcast stations may be subject to monetary penalties of up to $11,000 per violation plus seizure of all radio equipment involved in the operation and court order directing that they cease operation of the unlicensed station. Unlicensed operators, if convicted, also face possible criminal sanctions, including fines and imprisonment. Investigations of unlicensed broadcast operations by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau have resulted in the shutdown of more than 20 unlicensed stations.--FCC
International Missing Children's Day special event set: An Amateur Radio special event operation will mark the observance of the second International Missing Children's Day in Massachusetts, sponsored by the Association of Missing and Exploited Children's Organizations (AMECO). This year's theme is "Searching All Four Corners of the World." The event takes place May 19, 11 AM to 5 PM, on the grounds of Lyceum Press & Gifts and Hebert Candies, 1 River Rd, Sturbridge, Massachusetts. KB1HGK, Radio Operators for Missing Children, will coordinate the event and suggest ways that ham radio operators can help to find missing children. Sheree Greenwood, KB1HLZ, said she, her husband Jerry Stiles, KB1BKK and Ron Lucier, W1AAE, organized the first special event last year because of the abduction of teenager Molly Bish of Warren, Massachusetts. Lucier was among those who searched for the missing girl after her disappearance. Greenwood said she and her husband have known the Bish family for many years and that Molly Bish went to school with her son. Authorities believe she was abducted, and her story has been dramatized on TV's America's Most Wanted. Molly Bish's parents, John and Magi Bish, plan to be at the special event site. Operation will be in the General 40, 20 and 15-meter bands. Certificates will be available. More information is available on the Radio Operators for Missing Children, KB1HGK and AMECO Web site.
 Bdale Garbee, KB0G, at the Dayton 2001 AMSAT forum. [ARRL Photo] |
KB0G elected Linux Debian project leader: Prominent AMSAT-NA member Bdale Garbee, KB0G, has been elected Debian Project Leader. Debian Gnu/Linux is among the best-known Linux "distributions"--packagings of the Linux kernel, utilities and other applications packages through which most Linux users obtain and use the free Linux operating system. Garbee has been closely involved in the AO-40 project and helped to develop the satellite's RUDAK digital communications processor. He's also project leader for the AO-40 GPS receiver experiment. Garbee is an AMSAT Life Member, an ARRL member and a past vice president of TAPR.
Kolibri-2000 satellite transmitting on 2 meters, 70 cm: The Russian-Australian scientific-educational Kolibri-2000 microsat--has been launched into space from the International Space Station (see "Space&Beyond: Kolibri-2000 Shows Youngsters That Space is Vital to Mankind," by Tony Curtis, K3RXK). Now known as RS-21, the satellite has been sending telemetry on 435.835 and 145.825 MHz. Scientific equipment aboard includes a ternary flux-gate magnetometer and electric field and high-energy particle analyzer. Data are being processed by a ground control station in Kaluga and by scientists at the Moscow Institute for Space Research as well as by specialists in Tarus, Moscow, St Petersburg, Korolev, Omsk and elsewhere, whose institutions are participating in this project. Scientific data also are being processed by schoolchildren in several Russian cities and in Australia, where ground stations have been deployed in Sidney. The micro-sat was delivered the ISS aboard a Russian Progress cargo rocked launched last November 27. Prior to jettisoning the rocket, ISS Crew Commander Yuri Onufrienko, RK3DUO, positioned a transport/launch container holding the satellite in the Progress vehicle's hatch. After the transport cargo vehicle separated from the ISS March 20 and reached a specified distance, the satellite was launched following a radio command from Earth. For additional information, visit the Kolibri 2000 Web site (in Russian) or e-mail Aleksandr Papkov, plis@kaluga.ru.
New Extra class question pool effective July 1: The new Amateur Extra class (Element 4) question pool takes effect July 1, 2002, for all volunteer examination sessions. All question pools are available on the ARRL Web site.
Second "space tourist" ready for ISS visit: The second "space tourist" to visit the International Space Station--Mark Shuttleworth of South Africa--will head into space April 25 aboard a Russian Soyuz taxi mission. Described as an "Internet tycoon," Shuttleworth reportedly will pay Russia some $20 million in installments for his space travel experience. Shuttleworth, 28, has been issued a "temporary, honorary Amateur Radio station license" by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. The license, good for three months, bears the call sign ZS RSA--not an amateur configuration. Shuttleworth has submitted to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program a list of schools in South Africa, Italy, US, Russia that he hopes ARISS can fit into its list of scheduled school QSOs. Traveling with Shuttleworth will be Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori. Gidzenko was a member of the ISS Expedition 1 crew skippered by Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL. After the visit of the first space tourist, businessman Dennis Tito, KG6FZX, almost a year ago, NASA, Russia and the other international partners established some guidelines for future visits of that type. According to media accounts, Shuttleworth has rankled at being described as a "space tourist." He trained for eight months for the trip, and he and Gidzenko plans to carry out stem-cell experiments in space. He's expressed hopes that his trip will inspire youngsters to become interested in space as well. Shuttleworth also has hired a marketing firm to promote his adventure and has put several hundred thousand dollars into an educational campaign.
Still testing after all these years: ARRL VEC volunteer examiner Merrill "Rich" Richardson, K1SIV, of Orrington, Maine, remains active despite having turned 93 in January. Richardson has been with the ARRL VEC program for more than 10 years and has served at more than 60 exam sessions so far, with no indication of slowing down much. "You will see Rich's signature on hundreds of application forms and dozens of test session reports over the years from Bangor and surrounding areas where the Pine State Amateur Radio club administers exams," said fellow VE Bill Sullivan, K1AG. "He is always accompanied by his wife Eva, KA1TAG, also an extra class VE, who is in her mid-80s." Sullivan said that at a recent VE session, Richardson not only fully participated in the monitoring and grading of exams, he took time to chat with a new ham after the session, answering questions "with enthusiasm and wisdom."
 National featured the Kon-Tiki adventure and the NC-173 in a 1947 QST ad |
Thor Heyerdahl of Kon-Tiki fame dies at 87: Noted Norwegian explorer and ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl died April 18. He was 87. In 1947, Amateur Radio played a critical role in the success and safety of Heyerdahl's 101-day Kon-Tiki raft expedition, which used the call sign LI2B on the amateur bands. Heyerdahl was attempting to prove that it was possible for South American tribes to have crossed the Pacific from east to west to settle the Polynesian islands. Two former World War II Norwegian underground radio operators, Kurt Haugland, LA3KY, and Torstein Raaby, operated LI2B aboard the Kon-Tiki. The receiver was a National NC-173. All ham gear was powered by dry batteries. LI2B kept a schedule with W1AW and other US stations during the historic voyage. The gear was soaked upon landing on Raratonga. In his book Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl described how the NC-173's maximum operating frequency slowly rose as the unit dried out--finally reaching the frequency of 13,990 kHz, where the crew had been forced to move its 20-meter operation because of a crystal failure. The crew used a hand-cranked emergency transmitter to send out an "all well, all well" message via LI2B just in time to head off a massive rescue attempt. The call sign LI2B was reissued to Heyerdahl's later expeditions of Ra & Ra II. The 1997 PBS documentary Across The Sea Of Time by ARRL member Charlie Cotterman, KA8OQF, showed Haugland sending CW from LI2B.
 |
Trekkie ham club offering certificate: The USS Jurassic NCC-3500 Star Trek and Amateur Radio Club is offering a handsome certificate to amateurs who work both USS Jurassic stations--K8SSJ and VE7SSJ--on any band and any mode. To obtain yours, send QSL cards for both contacts along with a 9x12-inch self-addressed, stamped envelope to Carolyn Donner, N8ST, PO Box 158, Hamersville, OH 45130 or Garry Cameron, VE7ACM, 3528 11th Ave, 3529 Port Alberni, BC V9Y 4Y7 CANADA. There's more information on the USS Jurassic NCC-3500 club Web site.
YHOTY nomination deadline nears: Nominations close May 30 for the Amateur
Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award for 2002. Created in
1986, the award recognizes one young radio amateur under the age of 18 in the
continental US for his or her contributions to society through Amateur Radio.
Nominating forms and additional information are available at the Amateur Radio Newsline Web
site. All nominations and materials required by the official rules must
be received by Amateur Radio Newsline by May 30, 2002.
| Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending April 19, 2002 | Next: Florida Youngsters Quiz Astronaut Via Ham Radio |
