QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/files/arrl/hiram/ltr12n19.txt

Text File | 1994-11-27 | 22KB | 547 lines

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 12, No. 19
October 12, 1993

Support grows in Congress Joint Resolution continues to gain
momentum

     97 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 15 U.S.
senators have become co-sponsors of The Amateur Radio Service
Joint Resolution, which was introduced in the Senate on May 7 and
in the House on May 20.
     At its January 1993 meeting the ARRL Board of Directors
paved the way for the resolution, with a motion by New England
Division Director Bill Burden, WB1BRE, that read:
     "VOTED that our Washington team is 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."
     The task now, as always, is to line up more co-sponsors for
both S.J. Res. 90 (the Senate version) and H.J. Res. 199 (the
House resolution), as quickly as possible, through a letter-
writing campaign. Mail from constituents at home to senators and
representatives is especially important to the passage of a joint
resolution.
     U.S. senators and representatives are listed in the U.S.
Government section of local telephone directories.
     Rep. Mike Kreidler (D-WA), an original co-sponsor of the
House Resolution, lauded amateurs for their public service
communications work, especially in natural disasters, saying in
his introductory statement  "It is about time for the Congress to
recognize these achievements. With about 600,000 licensed amateur
radio operators licensed in the United States alone, I'm sure
that every Member of the House has had similarly favorable
experiences with the amateur community and will support this
resolution."
     Listed below are the joint resolution co-sponsors (as of
September 24), by state. For more information on this important
resolution see July *QST*, page 73.

[Joint Resolution co-sponsors]

     ALABAMA
Sen. Howell Heflin (D)
Sen. Richard Shelby (D)
Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-1)
Rep. Terry Everett (R-2)
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-6)

     ARIZONA
Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D)

     ARKANSAS
Rep. Tim Hutchinson (R-3)

     CALIFORNIA
Rep. John Doolittle (R-4)
Rep. George Miller (D-7)
Rep. Bill Baker (R-10)
Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-13)
Rep. Norman Mineta (D-15)
Rep. Don Edwards (D-16)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-17)
Rep. Richard Lehman (D-19)
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-23)
Rep. Edward Royce (R-39)

     COLORADO
Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-6)

     CONNECTICUT
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-6)

     DELAWARE
Sen. William Roth (R)

     FLORIDA
Sen. Bob Graham (D)
Rep. Pete Peterson (D-2)
Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-9)
Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-20)

     GEORGIA
Rep. Buddy Darden (D-7)

     HAWAII
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D)
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D)
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-1)
Rep. Patsy Mink (D-2)

     IDAHO
Sen. Larry E. Craig (R)

     ILLINOIS
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-12)
Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-14)
Rep. Thomas Ewing (R-15)
Rep. Lane Evans (D-17)
Rep. Glenn  Poshard (D-19)

     INDIANA
Rep. Frank McCloskey (D-8)

     IOWA
Rep. Jim Leach (R-1)
Rep. Fred Grandy (R-5)

     KANSAS
Rep. Pat Roberts (R-1)
Rep. Jim Slattery (D-2)
Rep. Jan Meyers (R-3)

     KENTUCKY
Rep. Jim Bunning (R-4)

     LOUISIANA
Sen. John Breaux (D)
Rep. Jim McCrery (R 5)

     MICHIGAN
Rep. James Barcia (D-5)
Rep. David Bonior (D-10)
Rep. Joseph  Knollenberg (R-11)
Rep. Sander Levin (D-12)

     MINNESOTA
Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-3)
Rep. Martin Sabo (D-5)
Rep. Collin Peterson (D-7)
Rep. James Oberstar (D-8)

     MISSOURI
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-4)

     NEW HAMPSHIRE
Sen. Judd Gregg (R)
Sen. Robert C. Smith (R)
Rep. Dick Swett (D-2)

     NEW JERSEY
Rep. Jim  Saxton (R-3)
Rep. Herbert  Klein (D-8)
Rep. Dean  Gallo (R-11)

     NEW MEXICO
Rep. Steven Schiff (R-1)

     NEW YORK
Rep. George Hochbrueckner (D-1)
Rep. Rick Lazio (R-2)
Rep. Gary  Ackerman (D-5)
Rep. Carolyn  Maloney (D-14)
Rep. Hamilton Fish, Jr. (R-19)
Rep. Michael McNulty (D-21)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-26)
Rep. John LaFalce (D-29)

     NORTH CAROLINA
Rep. Howard  Coble (R-6)
Rep. Bill Hefner (D-8)

     OHIO
Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-5)
Rep. James Traficant (D-17)

     OREGON
Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-1)
Rep. Mike Kopetski (D-5)

     PENNSYLVANIA
Rep. Tim Holden (D-6)
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-7)
Rep. John Murtha (D-12)

     RHODE ISLAND
Rep. Ronald Machtley (R-1)
Rep. Jack Reed (D-2)

     SOUTH CAROLINA
Rep. Arthur Ravenel (R-1)
Rep. Floyd Spence (R-2)
Rep. John Spratt (D-5)

     SOUTH DAKOTA
Sen. Larry Pressler (R)

     TENNESSEE
Sen. Harlan Mathews (D)
Rep. James Quillen (R-1)
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-4)
Rep. Bob Clement (D-5)
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-6)

     TEXAS
Rep. Charles Wilson (D-2)
Rep. John Bryant (D-5)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-6)
Rep. Jack  Fields (R-8)
Rep. Bill  Sarpalius (D-13)
Rep. Ronald Coleman (D-16)
Rep. Martin Frost (D-24)

     UTAH
Rep. James Hansen (R-1)

     VERMONT
Sen. James M. Jeffords (R)

     VIRGINIA
Sen. John Warner (R)
Sen. Charles Robb (D)
Rep. Lewis Payne (D-5)
Rep. James  Moran (D-8)
Rep. Leslie Byrne (D-11)

     WASHINGTON
Rep. James  McDermott (D-7)
Rep. Mike Kreidler (D-9)

     WEST VIRGINIA
Rep. Robert Wise (D-2)
Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-3)

     WISCONSIN
Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-3)
Rep. Tom Petri (R-6)
Rep. Toby Roth (R-8)

     WYOMING
Rep. Craig Thomas (R-AL)

     AMERICAN SAMOA
Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D)

     VIRGIN ISLANDS
Del. Ron de Lugo D

     * No co-sponsors yet: Alaska, Maine, Maryland,
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico.

IARU COUNCIL RECOMMENDS EASED CROSS-BORDER LICENSING

     The Administrative Council of the International Amateur
Radio Union held its annual meeting in Brussels, Belgium,
September 26-27, 1993, following the IARU Region 1 conference
that had been held in nearby during the previous week (see
"Amateur Radio World" in November *QST*).
     Among other actions, the Council encouraged IARU Regions 1
and 2 to continue their efforts to facilitate operation by
amateurs visiting other countries without the need for additional
licensing.
     The Council also adopted resolutions requesting member
societies to draw attention to their governmental
administrations, where applicable, to the undesirability of
imposing type approval and station inspection procedures on the
Amateur and Amateur Satellite Service; reviewed and approved
plans for Amateur Radio representation at upcoming conferences
and meetings of the recently restructured International
Telecommunication Union; and encouraged the promotion of the
development of Amateur Radio worldwide.
     The Council agreed to the renomination of incumbents Richard
L. Baldwin, W1RU, as IARU president and Michael J. Owen, VK3KI,
as vice president.

ARRL DIGITAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS RECENT PROGRESS

     The 12th ARRL Digital Conference (known as the Computer
Networking Conference in previous years) was held September 11 in
Tampa, with about 50 interested amateurs in attendance.
     ARRL's Jon Bloom, KE3Z, editor of *QEX*, observes in the
upcoming issue that papers presented at the conference "represent
what people are working on -- or at least writing about -- in
amateur digital communications today. But do they represent what
the amateur digital community should be working on?
     "The answer is yes," Bloom writes, "but only in part.
Conspicuous by their absence are substantial developments or
applications that don't relate directly to packet radio. Where is
the work on digital voice and image communications and/or
processing? Where are the advanced techniques for using digital
modes under poor propagation conditions? Where, in short, are we
going with digital communications in Amateur Radio?
     "Packet radio as we amateurs practice it is almost 15 years
old" (Jon says); "the Vancouver Area Digital Communications Group
packet developments on which our developments are based were in
1979! It's time -- past time -- to advance."
     A Proceedings collection of the papers presented at the
Conference is available for $12 (plus $3.50 shippping) from ARRL
HQ.

WIRE SERVICE REPORTS HAMS IN QUAKE RELIEF

     An Associated Press story following the recent earthquake in
India lauded Amateur Radio operators for providing the only
communications in remote areas. Here's how *The New York Times*
ran it:
     "In rural India, where the nearest working phone can be 25
miles away, amateur radio operators have cobbled together a
communications network to help earthquake victims.
     "Twenty-six ham radio operators have set up a network to
help coordinate relief efforts for the 120,000 people left
homeless by the earthquake on [September 30].
     "The first thing we need after any calamity is
communications, which are dismal in India," said Sirama Suri
[VU2MY -- ed.] of the National Institute of Amateur Radio.
     "In rural areas, the telephone system is primitive. From
Killari, a village of 15,000 people that was leveled, the nearest
long-distance phone line is 25 miles away in the town of Latur.
     "Police radios in the villages have a short range and often
do not work. Roads between many villages are just dirt tracks for
bullock carts.
     "Using a makeshift network powered by truck batteries and
stretched across several villages, the ham radio operators have
been able to relay requests from relief workers and refugee camps
to Latur and Umerga, staging areas where thousands of tons of
food, clothes and medicines are waiting."

MISSISSIPPI HAM/BALLOONIST WINS BIG PRIZE FOR FLIGHT

     Robert Vardaman, N5KBQ, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, may
just be in the market for some shiny new radio equipment. If not,
it's certainly not for a lack of ready cash.
     Vardaman, a skilled hot air balloonist, won the 'key grab'
in the 1993 Sky Parade, an aerial exposition held at the Jackson,
Mississippi International Airport over the Labor Day weekend. His
prize was $50,000.
     In the competition, pilots attempt to maneuver their
balloons into position to grab a key from atop a 30-ft pole. It
is a highly complex task involving precise measurement of
altitude, wind speed and wind direction. Although the contest is
a fixture at balloon events, it is very rarely won because of its
difficulty.
     More often than not, the prize is a new automobile; but at
Sky Parade, cash awaited the winner. That likely was just fine
with Vardaman, who is sales manager for an automobile dealership.
In addition to holding a balloonist certification, Vardaman, 35,
is a fixed-wing aircraft pilot and experienced skydiver.
     [From *The Magnolia Report*, Hank Downey, K5QNE, editor.]

STATION LOCATION DROPPED FROM FCC LICENSE FORMS

     Effective November 15, 1993, the FCC will no longer require
that a station location be shown on amateur license applications,
nor on applications for reciprocal operating permits.
     The Commission, in an Order adopted September 24, said that
because portable and mobile equipment is now so often used by
amateurs, a station's location often changes, sometimes even
daily.
     The FCC also said that deleting the station location
requirement would expedite the processing of license
applications.  They said that since this rule amendment is not
likely to be controversial and that it is a "nonsubstantive"
change in licensing procedures, no notice and comment period was
needed.
     The amended FCC Rule "Section 97.21 Mailing Address" will
be:
     "Each application for an amateur service license and each
application for a reciprocal permit for alien amateur licensee
must show a mailing address in an area where the amateur service
is regulated by the FCC.  The mailing address must be one where
the licensee can receive mail delivery by the United States
Postal Service."

4 AMATEURS RECEIVE FINES FOR MALICIOUS INTERFERENCE

     Four amateurs have received FCC Notices of Apparent
Liability for $2000 for malicious interference on the 2 meter
band.  In June the four gave responses to FCC Notices of
Violation but the FCC was not persuaded by their arguments.
     Those receiving the NALs are John B. Genovese, WB5LOC, of
Slidell, LA; Will T. Blanton Jr., N5ROC, of Carriere, MS; and
Joseph F. Richard III, N5JNX, and Vernon A. Paroli, KA5OWW, both
of New Orleans.
     All four had until October 10 to respond to the NALs.

10 years ago in *The ARRL Letter*

     This is an idea we should have had a year ago; the first
issue of *The ARRL Letter* came out in late October, 1982. The
*Letter* grew out of a desire to provide ARRL organizational
information to members more often and faster than through *QST*.
At that time the only vehicle for doing so was the "Director's
Letter," which was circulated to many Field Organization
volunteers and other League officials, but not offered by
subscription.
     So ... the October 13, 1983 *The ARRL Letter* reported on
the second ARRL Board of Directors meeting held in Houston
October 5 and 6. At that time board meetings were held in April
and October; today they are in January and July.
     The Board's primary concern at their October 1983 meeting
was to determine how the League would participate in the soon-to-
be implemented Volunteer Examiner program. Today, in the 10th
year of the volunteer examiners, the ARRL-VEC is the statistical
leader among VECs.
     At this point in 1983, before the program even was in place,
about a thousand hams had expressed interest in becoming
volunteer examiners.
     The Board also approved early preparation by the League for
the next major World Administrative Radio Conference (8 years
hence!), and changed the League's by-laws to permit Technician
class licensees to sit as Board members as well as hold other
elective offices previously restricted to General class or higher
licensees.
     *The ARRL Letter* Vol. 2 No. 21 also had a brief report on
the National Convention, held in Houston in conjunction with the
Board meeting. And a report on shuttle flight STS-9 (NASA has
launched 50 since then) included a tracking map; this was the
historic first shuttle flight to carry Amateur Radio, with
astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, to do the operating, using a 2-
meter handheld specially prepared by Motorola. The successful
flight took place in November.
     The FCC finalized the extension of amateur license terms
from five years to 10, with a renewal grace period of two years.
     And finally, most of these early *Letters* had a column of
DX information, excerpted from that provided by volunteers for
the weekly W1AW DX Bulletin. DX information was later dropped
from *The ARRL Letter*.
     Pete O'Dell, KB1N, was editor and Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, was
associate editor of the *Letter*.

BRIEFS

     * In September the ARRL DXCC Desk received 1,330
applications (95,212 individual QSL cards) for endorsements and
new DXCC awards, the largest number of QSLs received in a single
month since September 1990.

     * The Radio Society of Great Britain has picked 15-year-old
Tim Munn, G7OTO, as its Young Amateur of the year. Tim has been
interested in Amateur Radio since he was 10, the RSGB said. With
the help of the Isle of Wight Radio Society and RSGB Senior
Novice Instructor Alan Ash, G3PZB, Tim passed his Novice exam in
January 1992 and his licensing exam a year later. He then started
up a radio club in his school, becoming one of the youngest RSBG
Novice instructors.
     The RSGB said Tim's main interest is packet radio and
construction (including an 80-meter receiver and a 50 MHz
transmitter/receiver.
     Runner up for honors was Simon Kahn, G0STU, who passed his
licensing exam at age 11.

     * The countdown for SAREX shuttle STS-58 has begun as we go
to press, for an October 14 launch date. Pilot Rick Searfoss is
now KC5CKM, joining crewmembers KC5ACR and KC5AXA. Updates
following launch can be heard on W1AW bulletins.

     * The Amateur Radio News Service is once again soliciting
club newsletters for its annual competition. The contest, open to
all Amateur Radio organizations (except general circulation
magazines and professional journals), aims to recognize "superior
performance in Amateur Radio journalism." Editors who submit one
copy of any issue of their newsletter dated July 1992 through
December 1993 will not only be entered in the competition but
will receive a rating from the ARNS judges.
     Early submissions are encouraged; for more information on
the ARNS and to enter the contest, contact ARNS President Lee
Knirko, W9MOL, 11 S. LaSalle St., Suite 2100, Chicago IL 60603.

     * Upcoming ARRL meetings: Executive Committee, October 30;
Long Range Planning, November 6; Administration and Finance,
November 13; Volunteer Resources and Membership Services,
November 13; and ballot counting for Board of Directors
elections, November 19.

     * Correction: On page one of our last issue a photo caption
incorrectly identified two people. John Peters, K1ER, is on the
left in the photo and Steve Larson, N3SL, is on the right. And
the name of their Colorado town is Franktown, *not* Frankton.

Lucky day!

     Something unusual always seems to happen at the annual
Headquarters staff outing in early September. This year it
happened to Lab Engineer Mike Gruber, WA1SVF (smiling above). One
of the staff at the little park hosting the outing dragged out
some old radio equipment, figuring to peddle it to the "radio
people" there that day, or donate it to the ARRL museum. Among
the items was the gear shown in the photo with Mike, a vintage
Hallicrafters pair from the 1960s.
     In the course of negotiations among the owner, Mike, and
some of the other HQ hams, it suddenly dawned on Mike that not
only were the HT-40 transmitter and SX140 receiver the models
that made up the first WN1SVF station, these were the *exact
same* radios Mike had first hit the ham bands with!
     Mike had sold them to a local woman nearly 20 years ago; she
subquently stored them at her son's house, and he brought them to
the office outing.

25 and counting

     ARRL Publications Manager Mark Wilson, (center), holds an
October 1972, *QST* cover, showing a more hirsute Dave Sumner,
K1ZZ (left). Dave, now ARRL's Executive Vice President, was
honored recently with a surprise party for the 25th anniversary
of his starting to work at ARRL Headquarters.
     As a college student, Dave spent the summer of 1968 working
in the HQ Contest Branch. He joined the full-time staff in May
1972 following a brief stint in the ubiquitous Hartford insurance
industry and now has more than 22 years of League service under
his belt.
     That 1972 issue of *QST* recorded the results of the
February-March 1972 ARRL International DX Competition; Dave, then
K1ZND, was the top W/VE CW entry, operating from the station of
Dave Pietraszewski, K1THQ (now K1WA). A closely-guarded secret
until this very moment was that *QST* cover shot was a dummy, set
up in the ARRL Lab to approximate Dave's station. (K1TN photo)

At the Jamboree

     ARRL Senior Assistant Technical Editor Larry Wolfgang,
WA3VIL (left) poses at the Merit Badge Tent at the 1993 Boy Scout
National Jamboree     with Boy Scout National Liaison Ray Moyer,
WD8JKV. The Jamboree, held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia August 3-
11, attracted more than 30,000 scouts from around the country. A
demonstration station, K2BSA, featured modes from HF to packet to
ATV. More than 700 scouts worked on the radio merit badge, with
244 qualifying. Back home, Larry is a member of the Troop 60
Committee in Oakdale, Connecticut.

FCC ISSUED CALL SIGN UPDATE

The following is a list of the FCC's most recently issued call signs
as of September 1.

District       Group A        Group B        Group C        Group D
               Extra          Advanced       Tech/Gen       Novice

0              AA0OR          KG0HW          N0YJG          KB0LLM
1              AA1HG          KD1QU          N1QBM          KB1BDK
2              AA2PI          KF2QV          N2WEQ          KB2QOE
3              AA3FS          KE3JR          N3QAO          KB3AYE
4              AD4JB          KR4BL           ++            KE4FBE
5              AB5PD          KJ5PJ           ++            KC5CNE
6              AB6VY          KN6QI           ++            KE6AOT
7              AA7YG          KI7QS           ++            KB7YBV
8              AA8MD          KG8DQ           ++            KB8PKS
9              AA9ID          KF9RF          N9URQ          KB9IUZ
Hawaii           ++           AH6NC          WH6OQ          WH6CQV
Alaska           ++           AL7PF          WL7MO          WL7CHF
Virgin Is.     WP2B           KP2CC          NP2GQ          WP2AHU
Puerto Rico      ++           KP4VQ           ++            WP4MJF

++All call signs in this group have been issued in this area.

*eof