The ARRL Letter Vol. 12, No. 2 January 27, 1993 Board Backs Continued D.C. Initiative, Status of CW; Shelves Name Change Idea At its annual meeting January 15 and 16 the ARRL Board of Directors tackled several important items, including recommendations for rules regarding HF autoforwarding of digital data, suggestions that the name of the ARRL be changed, and directing initiatives in Washington to make national legislators more aware of Amateur Radio. For the first time in several years the meeting was held in a locale other Connecticut, namely in Jacksonville, Florida. The board subsequently voted to ask the president to investigate holding the 1994 January meeting somewhere other than Connecticut. In addition to all directors and officers and the usual Headquarters staff members, a large number of vice directors -- 15 of 18, attended as observers. Two new vice directors, Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, for the Roanoke Division, and Art Goddard, W6XD, for the Southwestern, were welcomed. Morse code backed The board passed a resolution for continued support for Morse code proficiency for amateurs operating below 30 MHz, as presently required by international law. Citing the code's longevity as a license requirement and its ability to overcome language barriers, the board not only went on record as supporting the existing international regulation regarding CW but instructed "all ARRL representatives to continue to insist before all national and international bodies that there be no modification of the present Morse code proficiency [requirement] below 30 MHz." In the matter of a possible name change, the board simply abandoned further consideration of the idea. Voting *not* to abandon the study were Directors Mark, Mendelsohn and Heyn. The League's Washington group was "authorized to seek formal recognition by the 103rd Congress of the role played by the Amateur Radio Service as a national resource in preparation for and relief from disasters, and for technical progress in electronics." A decision on whether to pursue the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act in the new Congress was deferred for the time being. HF autoforwarding The Board considered recommendations of the ARRL Digital Committee regarding the matter of HF autoforwarding (December *QST*, page 90). 12 of 15 directors favored the committee's recommendations, with the following changes: 1. Eliminate the proposed 160 meter subband; 2. Narrow the proposed 40 and 15 meter subbands to reduce the impact on Novice and Technician licensees; 3. Delete provisions for so-called "semi-automatic operation" which, under the committee's recommendations, would have been permitted anywhere that digital operation was authorized. The Board instructed the League's general counsel to file a petition for rule making with the FCC, combining the IARU Region 2 band plan adopted last September with the Digital Committee's (modified) recommendations. Directors Butler, Heyn, and Comstock vote in opposition to the proposal. ARRL officers reported on their activities the past year, virtually all of which were summarized in the last issue of *The ARRL Letter*. EVP Sumner noted that strong *QST* advertising revenues have recently permitted larger, more colorful issues of the journal, including the largest issue ever, November, with 256 pages, and the debut in February of "New Ham Horizons." (The number of amateurs aged 7-17 has increased 31% in just one year, to 21,000, Sumner said). In the area of membership services, mechanisms now are in place to eliminate the DXCC backlog in 1993 and the enhanced W1AW bulletin program originated 324 bulletins in 1992, more than twice previous years' totals. In Field Services, a major restructuring of the amateur auxiliary is underway, in response stepped-up enforcement by FCC. Chief Financial Officer Barry J. Shelley said that lower- than-expected (book sales were offset by increased membership income and advertising. Growth in Foundation funds The ARRL Foundation's funds have increased by more than $51,000, 10 per cent over the previous year. The Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary in 1993. The Board created a contingency Building Fund to provide for future repair and maintenance of the Headquarters building and facilities, with an initial funding from 1992 revenues of $50,000. In a change to field organization procedures, disputes over the "qualifications, campaign, balloting or ballot-counting pertaining to a Section Manager election" will be adjudicated by the Board's Election Committee. The National Convention Committee will continue plans for the first League-conducted national convention, scheduled for 1995. So far the Committee has endorsed using outside contractors to manage the conventions, using staff personnel for conducting educational programs; and rotating the sites of ARRL national conventions between three or four cities. The 1993 National will be held in Hunstville, Alabama; the 1994 in Arlington, Texas. Elected to the League's Executive Committee for one-year terms were Directors Mendelsohn, Harrison, Quiat and Mark. Gene Hastings, W1VRK, John Kanode, N4MM, and Paul Grauer, W0FIR, were elected as Directors of the ARRL Foundation. Appointments for 1993 were made to the following committees: Administration and Finance; Membership Services; Volunteer Resources; Election; Ad Hoc Committee on Spectrum Management; Ad Hoc Committee on Amateur Auxiliary; Ad Hoc Committee on National Conventions; SAREX Working Group; RFI Task Group: Bioeffects; Public Relations; Long Range Planning; Digital; Future Systems; Industry Advisory Council: Contest Advisory; DX Advisory; Public Service Advisory; VHF Repeater Advisory; ad VHF/UHF Advisory Committee. Eligibility for the offices of League director, vice director, president, vice president, and treasurer was clarified to require full League membership (and an amateur license) for a continuous period of at least four years immediately preceding nomination and throughout the subsequent term of office. This amended Article 11 of the League's by-laws. An ad hoc committee will be appointed to analyze current computer usage and requirements at Headquarters and will report its findings to the Board in July. Bill Tynan, W3XO, and Jerry Hall, K1TD, were honored. Tynan wrote *QST*'s "World Above 50 MHz" column for 18 years, retiring in November, 1992, and Associate Technical Editor Hall retired in November after 25 years as a Headquarters staff member. And the ARRL-VEC was instructed to develop a plan for ensuring adequate volunteer examination opportunities in Alaska in time for the July meeting. NATIONAL CONTEST JOURNAL TO SEE CHANGE OF EDITORS A change of editors is in the works for the ARRL's *National Contest Journal*. Stepping down effective with the July/August issue after four years is current editor Tom Taormina, K5RC, of Bellville, Texas. He will be replaced by Trey Garlough, WN4KKN, who lives in Santa Cruz, Calif. Trey, who is 29, got his Novice license in 1974 at age 10. His parents were both amateurs, although inactive. Local hams took Trey under their wings, especially long-time DXer and contester Tom Russell, N4KG, who loaned the young Trey a rig in time for the ARRL Novice Roundup. Trey still signs the same call today! After getting a bachelors degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin, Trey worked at the UT-Austin Computation Center for nine years as a systems analyst. He then journeyed west to join the technical staff of TGV, Inc., a vendor of networking products for Digital's VAX and Alpha computers. In 1987 Trey joined the *NCJ* as a contributing editor, managing the North American Sprint (CW) contest, among other jobs. Asked what his goals will be as editor of the *NCJ*, Trey said, "I hope to contribute to the continued success the *NCJ* has experienced under the stewardship of Tom Taormina, K5RC (paid subscriptions up 25 per cent in the past four years - ed). "I want to broaden the scope of the magazine to include more items also of interest to readers beyond the U.S. and Canada, and to encourage more foreign readers to share their perspectives with us." Trey doesn't have a station of his own, but he gets around, operating from N5AU, W6QHS, K1AR, 9V1YC, ZP0Y, or HC8N in recent years. Typical of many contesters, he gets his radio in massive weekend fixes. "Contests act as a focal point for on-the-air amateur activity, much like 'activity nights' on the UHF bands," he said. "As such, they permit me to enjoy the magic of wireless while minimizing the amount of time spent indoors." Tom Taormina, meanwhile, will stay busy with his new business, Productivity Resources, as well as operating from home and helping in the construction of a new "super station" nearby. COMMISSION FINES AMATEUR $10,000 FOR INTERFERENCE The FCC's Kingville, Texas office, has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to an amateur for a whopping $10,500. Richard L. Whiten, WB2OTK, 46, of Taylors, South Carolina, was cited for "willful and malicious interfering transmissions" monitored by the FCC on September 26, 1992, on 14314.7 KHz. Whiten, a General class licensee, was issued the NAL two days later. In his reply to the FCC he did not, according to the Commission, dispute making the transmissions, but he "denied that his signals constituted willful, malicious interference, because, he says in his letter, if he truly wanted to willfully and maliciously interfere he could have done so to such an extent that communications between other amateur radio operators would have been impossible; that his comments were not disruptive; that his statements were innocuous, that he was recognized and spoken to by the other amateur operators, and that he was the victim of entrapment by the other operators." The FCC did not buy this argument, and noted that Whiten already had received two previous NALs, on January 28, 1991 and July 12, 1991, for the same rules violation. The FCC's "base amount" fine for willful interference is $7,000; in this case the fine was raised 50 per cent "in view of Mr. Whiten's repeated violations." Hams Help Bail Out Remote California Town During the recent rains in California the tiny community of DeLuz, north of Fallbrook and midway between San Diego and Los Angeles, lost all power, telephones, water and all major roads were blocked by flooding. Only those with 4-wheel drive vehicles making their own roads as they went were able to get in and out. Many individuals left their DeLuz homes in the morning to go to work and found it impossible to return in the evening. Many were concerned about the spouses and children they had left behind, and about their homes. The San Diego *Union* called DeLuz "An island of chaos," where "every access road was demolished by flooding." DeLuz lost dozens of roads, and had no electricity or water for five days beginning January 15. Fortunately, an amateur in DeLuz, George Shippey, N6YMH, activated his 2-meter station and began running emergency traffic via the Fallbrook repeater autopatch, the only 2-meter repeater that can be reached from DeLuz. This repeater belongs to 61- year-old Art Rideout, WA6IPD, a self-employed electrical engineer, who home-brewed the repeater after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake "because I was concerned that in the event of an emergency the community would not have communications. In this area we could not reliably access any 2-meter repeaters. I also provided an autopatch, all free for local amateurs," Rideout said. Soon, Marv Druskoff, K2VIV, took control from the Fallbrok end and, because of the large volume of communications, established his base of operations at the Fallbrook Fire Station. The *Union* reported that "With DeLuz cut off from the rest of the world, the sole communication has come from George Shippey's ham radio." On the hour and sometimes on the half hour, communicatons were established with Shippey to confirm that loved ones were safe and that people on medication had adequate supplies. Where necessary, helicopters were directed in to provide necessary supplies. Numerous other amateurs were involved with the emergency communications but Druskoff continuously manned his station for 72 hours, handling communications originating from the Fallbrook Fire Department and the sheriff's station. "Since Sunday," said the *Union*, "Shippey has manned the radio from morning until night, providing a crucial link between stranded residents and the outside world. "The 69-year-old retired salesman has braved washed-out roads and mudslides, checking on residents in need of drinking water, food or medicine. In many cases, he simply checked on folks whose friends and relatives have relayed messages via his radio," the paper said. "Because of Shippey and another ham, Marv Druskoff, residents in need of insulin received some, thanks to a sheriff's helicopter," the *Union* said. "Another resident, requiring kidney dialysis treatment, was to be flown to a hospital because of information relayed between Shippey and Druskoff." Fallbrook sheriff's Sgt. Derek Cook told the Oceanside *Blade-Citizen* that "Without [Shippey], we wouldn't know anything about anything." North County Fire Protection District Capt. Milt Davies gave his view of radio amateurs to the *Blade Citizen*: "Once again, the hams come through and save the day. They're the ones to rely on when all the copper wires and cell phones go down." Amateur Radio participation in the DeLuz rescue effort came to a close on Friday, January 22, according to Rideout, after telephone service was finally established. Amateur Radio had been the main means of communications for eight days, most of that time the only means of communications for the remote community. Amateurs established communications for RACES, the local fire department, the sheriff's office, Red Cross, the U.S. Forestry Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). All of the communications were handled over the WA6IPD 2- meter repeater in Fallbrook, since no other reliable communications systems were available. Some cellular telephones were used but without a.c. power to charge the batteries they were of limited use. Helicopters were in short supply, according to Rideout. "Our next door neighbor, the Marine base at Camp Pendleton, usually responds to local emergencies, but they experienced major flooding and most helicopters had been under water," Rideout said. Finally on Friday the Air National Guard came in with their helicopters and dropped water tanks, medical supplies, and food. At the height of the rescue effort nine amateurs were helicoptered into DeLuz to provide communications. One amateur, Ellen Utschig, N6UWW, who is active in RACES, established a base station at a DeLuz Forestry Station that had been closed for the winter. She stayed for several days and operated her station 24 hours a day. She was finally evacuted with her radio equipment on Friday afternoon. George Shippey summed up the amateurs' spirit: "The only thing I want to do is to make sure people are OK," he told the *Union* in an interview via his ham radio. BRIEFS * The ARRL Eductional Activities Department now has an 800 number for prospective new amateurs: 800-32NewHam (800-326-3942). Staff members will answer calls and questions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST Monday-Friday; an answering machine will be on the line at other times. The number is *excludively for the use of prospective amateurs. * "220 Notes," a periodical for afficianados of the 222 MHz band, is looking for new management. Editor/publisher Art Reis, K9XI, and Walt Altus, AA9AW, looking for a breather, have put out the four-times-per-year newssheet for 11 years; "That's four times longer than the average lifespan for Amateur Radio newsletters like ours," Reis, 44, says. "Ideally," Reis says, "we would like to see "220 NOTES" be carried on by someone (or several someones) who is active on the 222 MHz band, who will have the time to devote to this enterprise, and who has the Amateur Radio savvy to produce or improve the quality of product our readership has come to expect. We can be there for a little time after a transfer to help with the technical production questions, and I personally might be able to contribute an occasional article or two to help fill the pages, but I simply cannot continue with the grind of putting a newsletter together anymore." If you're interested, contact AA9AW at W6539 Birch St., Onalaska, WI 54650. * Nominations are being solicited for the Pacific Division Amateur of the Year award. Send a SASE to Director Chuck McConnell, W6DPD, for nomination guidelines. Deadline for nominations is September 1, 1993. * Although the DX Advisory Committee has yet to recommend DXCC status for the new Czech and Slovak Republics, the two will count as separate multipliers in the upcoming ARRL International DX Contest. Czech use the prefixes OK and OL; Slovaks sign OM. The move to reconfigure multipliers in the Contest before DXCC recognition is a precedent. According to Membership Services Manager Chuck Hutchinson, K8CH, the unresolved question before the DXAC is is whether to make two new DXCC entities (deleting Czechoslovakia) or to retain Czechoslovakia and add one. In other DXCC news, the "start date" for 5-band DXCC has been moved back from its original January 1, 1969, to November 15, 1945, the start date for Mixed and Phone DXCC and for single band awards (10, 40, 80, 160, 2 meters). "A change in the start date for CW DXCC is not planned for the forseeable future," the ARRL said in a news release. Finally, the board at its meeting voted to implement field checking of DXCC endorsements at the "earliest appropriate time." (currently only initial DXCC applications may be checked in the field). * The Foundation for Amateur Radio has opened nominations for its 1993 scholarships (for the 1993-'94 academic year). 47 scholarships are planned, five of them funded by FAR and the remaining 42 by various donors and administered by the Foundation. The awards range from $500 to $2,000, and clubs are encouraged to pass the word among their younger licensed amateur members. For application forms write before April 30 to FAR Scholarships, 6903 Rhode Island Ave., College Park MD 20740. * The Tucson Amateur Packet Radio group will hold its annual meeting March 6 and 7 in Tucson. ARRL Senior Engineer Jon Bloom will present a workshop on digital signal processing, a short course bridging the gap between complex (modulated) signals and computer programming. The meeting will be held at the Tucson Airport Best Western motel. For more information, contact the TAPR office, PO Box 12925, Tucson AZ 85732; 602-749-9479 (10-3, Tue-Fri) or fax to 602-749-5636. * A story about SAREX in the December 24, 1992 issue of *The ARRL Letter* had the scheduled launch date for STS-55 wrong. It's February 25, 1993. * The South African Department of Posts and Telecommunications has scrapped a long-standing rule that amateurs must complete 200 contacts or a year of CW before receiving radiotelephone privileges. Now amateurs there get 'phone privileges immediately after passing their 12 wpm exams. The government acted on a petition by the South African Radio League. * Australia has completed its first year of using volunteer examiners to administer amateur exams. More than 400 examiners have been accredited and more than 3,000 exams have been given to some 2,000 candidates. 68 per cent of the examiners were found to be members of the Wireless Institute of Australia (the national organization); the average pass rate was 51.4 per cent. * ARRL will again this year have a booth at the National Association of Broadcasters convention (Las Vegas, April 19-22). Last year more than 600 "radio and TV hams" stopped by to say hello, according to ARRL Public Information Officer Steve Mansfield, N1MZA. * And the Amateur Radio Industry Advisory Committee journeys to south Florida again this year for their annual meeting (February 5, at the Miami Marriott, site of the Miami Hamboree that weekend). If you'd like to make a presentation to the group, contact Mike Forsyth at 913-422-4646 (fax 913-422-4648). * Best-selling author and television documentary star Cliff Stoll, K7TA, will be the featured speaker at the 1993 Dayton HamVention banquet. Stoll, who wrote *The Cuckoo's Egg" in 1989 and later portrayed himself in an episode of Public Television's "Nova," also was the subject of a *QST* profile in 1990. Stoll has a PhD in planetary science. In his spare time he "pieces quilts, works 40 meter CW, and squeezes lumps of bituminous coal into diamonds" (according to his Internet announcement). * The board of directors of the German amateur society, the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) has elected three interim officers, to serve until regular elections are held in May, 1993. The three, Horst Ellgering, DL9MH (president) and Jodi Elbers, and Rolf Kadau, DJ3XV and DJ7CH (vice presidents), fill posts vacant since last October, when the three officers then serving were asked by the board to resign in a dispute over the handling of proposed changes in Amateur Radio regulations in Germany. 13-year-old Rick Cabral, KA1YZE, of South Dartmouth, Mass., as he appeared in the *Standard Times* of New Bedford last month. In December Rick received a letter from Coast Guard Rear Admiral J.D. Sipes, commending him for his role in a sea rescue October 30. "Without your rapid response," Sipes said, "darkness and deteriorating weather combined with the lack of communications could have produced a much different outcome." While talking to his father, Richard, who is KA1YZF, Rick heard a distress call from Dave Dextrader, KD1GH, one of three people on Aeolian II with a dead engine. Young Rick patched the boaters to the Coast Guard, who effected the rescue, the *Standard Times* reported. "There's really not too many emergencies," Rick told the newspaper. "I'm just glad I could help." *eof