Monster Media 1996 #15/Monster Media Number 15 (Monster Media)(July 1996).ISO/ham/arrl.zip/ARRL0524.TXT

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The ARRL Letter
Electronic Update
May 24, 1996
__________________________________

IN THIS UPDATE:

* Dayton Hamvention report
* Teen ham arrested on scanner charges
* Sunspots up
* Hams defend hobby
* Free messages to Bosnia
* SM election results
* Ham bug bites family
* Harry M. Neben, W9QB, SK
* J. Jerry Freeman, W4JJ, SK
* In Brief: Advise FCC of new address;
   Boy Scout Jamboree 1997; Net Directory
   registration open; No change to Mt Athos
__________________________________

DAYTON CROWD SMALLER BUT ENTHUSIASTIC

The 1996 Dayton Hamvention is history. This year's event took place three
weeks later than in past years, in part to avoid rainy, cold weather that
had plagued the Hamvention the past few years. (Another more pragmatic
reason was to avoid a possible conflict with the local hockey team's use of
Hara Arena and Convention Center if they made their league's playoffs.)
While some rain still fell the first day, Friday, May 17, it didn't seem to
trouble the opening day crowd. Weather during the rest of the weekend was
unseasonably hot and humid, however. Crowds of flea marketers took refuge in
the shade of the few trees around Hara Arena.

The official tally: 30,368, down some 6% from last year, according to Sheila
Markland, KF8YD, who was among those in the Dayton Amateur Radio Association
who helped to bring off this year's Hamvention. Officials blamed the lower
head count on the new date, where it conflicted with some graduations and
proms, and on the fact that May 17-19 turned out to be "the first good
weekend" of a wet spring, and some took advantage of the sunshine to plant
gardens and enjoy other outside activities.

Visitors turned out from all parts of the US and Canada, as well as several
other countries around the world. Badges bearing exotic call signs are not
uncommon among Dayton Hamventioneers, and this year was no exception.

While no major HF transceivers debuted at Dayton (perhaps a function of the
sunspot minimum), several manufacturers were promoting new products, some
not quite available. Among them were ICOM's IC-821 all-mode VHF/UHF
transceiver (an upgrade of the IC-820), Standard's C5900DA, a three-band
mobile (6 and 2 meters and 70 cm) and its C156 2-meter hand-held (to be
priced below $200), AEA's halo antenna for 6 meters and its IDR-96 440-MHz
9600-baud packet radio, MFJ "Travel Radios" for 75 and 40 meters (available
"soon"), Ten-Tec's new 811A amplifier, Kenwood's TM-261 2-meter mobile and
Yaesu's FT-3000M high-power 2-meter mobile. Yaesu celebrated 40 years in
Amateur Radio during the Hamvention. Sales were brisk of the ARRL's new
CD-ROM containing QST, QEX and NCJ for 1995, which was demonstrated for
hundreds of Hamventioneers.

Possibly also as a result of low sunspot activity, while DXCC applications
were about even with past years, the number of cards was down by about a
third, according to ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Kennamer, K5FUV. DX Forum
attendance was off too, he reports.

On the other hand, ARRL Repeater Directory Editor Jay Mabey, NU0X, says the
ARES forum drew 100 or so and "the discussion was energetic." Another 60 or
so attended the Repeater Coordination forum and got an overview of progress
toward establishing a single point of contact between the FCC and the
various coordinating entities in the US.

The ARRL forum on Sunday morning attracted a good crowd, including President
Emeritus George Wilson, W4OYI, who enjoyed seeing so many friends after a
stroke caused him to miss last year's Hamvention. WRC-99 was uppermost on
the minds of forum attendees, whose questions were ably answered by
President Rod Stafford, KB6ZV.

As the opening date of May 31, 1996, for the first gate of the vanity call
sign program approached, many hams stopped by the ARRL booth to pick up FCC
Form 610V packages. Judging from the number of requests, interest in the
program is high, and the FCC will have its hands full processing
applications for Gate 1 and subsequent gates, which the FCC has not yet
announced.

SETI League executive director Paul Shuch, N6TX, was the Hamvention banquet
"speaker" Saturday evening. Shuch entertained with songs and included
numbers about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, Carl Sagan and
the "Big Ear" antenna developed by John Kraus, W8JK, who was among those
being honored. AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, was named the Dayton
Hamvention's Ham of the Year. Kraus was a Special Achievement Award winner,
and Bill Orr, W6SAI, was named Technical Excellence Award winner. Neither
was able to attend, however. Bob Dixon, W8ERD, subbed for Kraus while Joe
Schroeder, W9JUV, spoke on Orr's behalf. More than 1000 attended the
banquet.

Our thanks to the many who visited the ARRL booth at Dayton to just chat,
pick up an FCC form or a League membership or award application, or to
expand their ham radio libraries. We enjoyed meeting all of you!

TEEN HAM ARRESTED ON SCANNER CHARGES

Greg Godsey, KF4BDY, a 16-year-old ham from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was
arrested May 11 by local police who charged him with carrying a scanner that
could receive police radio frequencies. His Radio Shack HTX-202 2-meter
transceiver was confiscated. At a court appearance May 14, he was bound over
for trial on June 4. The judge reportedly didn't hear any arguments
concerning whether the law was broken, possibly because the arresting
officer wasn't present.

According to reports, Greg, the ARES EC for Christian County, Kentucky, and
a ham since last summer, was detained by Hopkinsville Police. The officer
indicated that when he arrived, Greg "was talking on a radio that is capable
of receiving police frequencies. I verified this by keying my radio, which
broke the squelch on [Greg's] radio."

Greg denies the charges and says his radio has not been modified and cannot
receive or transmit outside of the 2-meter band. He has sought advice from
the ARRL in resolving the matter. ARRL Regulatory Information Branch
Supervisor Norman Bliss, WA1CCQ, says the Kentucky law exempts equipment
possessed by a licensed Amateur Radio operator that is capable of receiving
police frequencies.

SOLAR ACTIVITY UP

Solar observer Tad Cook, KT7H, in Seattle reports that solar activity was up
a bit during the period of May 9-15, with the average sunspot number about
20 points higher than the previous week's, and solar flux up less than three
points. The most disturbed days were May 13 and 14, when the A index was 13
and 15. Otherwise, conditions were stable.

Last fall we were excited to report sightings of the first sunspots from the
upcoming Solar Cycle 23. Now the NOAA Space Environment Service Center has
changed its report and is not expecting the new cycle to begin until later
this year.

Watch for the solar flux to dip below 70 in late May, then rise above 70
after June 2, peaking in the mid-70s around June 9. Conditions should be
very stable through May 27, then an active geomagnetic field is expected
around June 7 and 10.

Sunspot numbers for May 9 through 15 were 17, 33, 53, 35, 38, 30 and 26,
respectively, with a mean of 33.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 76, 77.5, 76.5,
73.6, 72.7, 71.8 and 70.9, respectively, with a mean of 74.1.

HAMS DEFEND HOBBY

A single sentence in the June issue of Ladies Home Journal that cast Amateur
Radio in a bad light prompted strong reaction as hams rallied to the hobby's
defense. The magazine has gotten the message and promised a correction for
the unintentional error. In case you missed it, here's what happened. In
LHJ's Consumer News department on page 86, an item regarding cordless
telephones states: "There is little you can do about static, except to
report those who cause it--illegal airwave users, such as amateur radio
stations--to the FCC."

Barbara Leeson, KK6QM, was among those who wrote the LHJ editor to set the
record straight on the "illegal airwave users" point. "It's important to
place the blame for interference where it properly belongs, on the
substantial portion of consumer electronic products sold in the US that are
designed with a cheap price rather than interference in mind," she wrote.
Leeson advised consumers to read the FCC's Interference Handbook. ARRL
Public Relations Assistant Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, also wrote the magazine to
say that the FCC has determined that cordless telephones and similar "poorly
designed devices" are "operating improperly as radio receivers." Hagy
pointed out that "if the interference is caused by problems in consumer
equipment, there is little that can be done to the transmitter to cause the
problem."

ARRL Laboratory Supervisor Ed Hare, KA1CV, comments that LHJ readers
referred to the FCC will be disappointed because the FCC recently made clear
that it no longer intends to respond to RFI complaints involving consumer
devices unless it knows the interference was a result of FCC rules
violations. Hare says the FCC will tell the complainant to contact the
manufacturer of the consumer equipment instead.

Ladies Home Journal explains it got its information during a telephone
interview with the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA).

FREE MESSAGES TO BOSNIA

Army MARS has announced that free MARSgram messages may now be sent to
military personnel deployed to Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia. These
Joint Endeavor addresses can receive messages from family and friends:

APO AE 09779, Zagreb, Croatia
APO AE 09780, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzagovina
APO AE 09781, Split, Croatia
APO AE 09782, Kiseljac, Bosnia-Herzagovina
APO AE 09789, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzagovina
APO AE 09793, Taszar, Hungary

For more information or to send a message, contact Lorraine S. Matthew,
AAA9PR, e-mail [e-mail] or any Army MARS member near you.

SECTION MANAGER ELECTION RESULTS

Ballots have been counted in the section manager elections for the Vermont
and Western Massachusetts sections. The terms of office begin July 1, 1996.
Here are the results:

In the Vermont section:

Justin C. Barton, WA1ITZ, 234
Ronni Stern, KA1NRR, 105
Barton was declared elected

In the Western Massachusetts section:

Mark Casey, N1LZC, 163
William C. Voedisch Jr, W1UD 232
Voedisch was declared elected

Eight other sections were not contested. The following were declared
elected.

In the Alaska section
Russell Ely, WL7LP (effective March 20, 1996)

In the Illinois section
Bruce Boston, KD9UL

In the Indiana section
Peggy Coulter, W9JUJ

In the Maine Section
Michelle Mann, WM1C

In the Northern Florida section
Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP

In the Oregon section
Randy Stimson, KZ7T

In the Santa Clara Valley section
Kit Blanke, WA6PWW

In the Wisconsin section
Roy Pedersen, K9FHI

HAM BUG BITES FAMILY AT SCIENCE MUSEUM

What do you do at a science museum? Get your ham license! Three-quarters of
the Miller family of LaBelle, Florida, did just that. When the family
visited the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, they wandered
into the ham radio station there. Everett Hale, KA4IQZ, showed them the
equipment and gave them ARRL literature for prospective hams. Bob, the dad,
and oldest son Frank, 16, started studying and became KD4VTL and AD4RD,
respectively. Mom, Janice and son Jim, 14, followed suit and got KD4ZIX and
KE4PQH, respectively. Recently, the two youngest children got their
licenses. Sarah , 11, earned KF4HCG and Peter, 9, became KF4HCF. They've
since encouraged two friends to get licensed, too. Twins Tim and Tom, 13,
have not yet gotten their tickets, but Janice says they keep trying to
encourage them.

As Bob put it, "If you don't want to get interested in ham radio, don't stop
at the ham shack in MOSI. But if you do, it might be the beginning of
something!" (Bob is now an ARRL volunteer examiner.)

By the way, there's another tale behind how the museum got its ham station.
When making a delivery to the museum, Clark Evans, WA4DLL, spotted a car
with Amateur Radio plates, and discovered Ed Artest, AD2K, worked at MOSI.
The two talked and decided the museum needed a ham station. They asked
former Sen Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, to write a letter to the museum, and
that, says Clark, "opened the door." Yaesu and local hams donated the needed
equipment and antennas for HF, packet, satellite and weatherfax. The MOSI
station recently got the call sign, KE4ZRS, and volunteers now teach
licensing classes on site.--Rosalie White, WA1STO

HARRY M. NEBEN, W9QB, SK

Harry M. Neben, W9QB, of Palm Harbor, Florida, died March 29, 1996. He was
77. Originally licensed during the 1930s as W9YVZ, Neben joined the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, in part as a result of his
ham radio experience. During the war, he set up radio stations throughout
Europe and carried a little suitcase HF radio, state of the art for its day.
Later, as an electrical engineer, he worked for Tucker Motor Cars
(dramatically chronicled in the film, Tucker) as well as for Amphenol
Corporation and Sunbeam Corporation. A life member of the ARRL, he authored
several QST articles on SSB developments, test equipment and antennas. Neben
also was active with the Quarter Century Wireless Association.

J. JERRY FREEMAN, W4JJ, SK

Jerry Freeman, W4JJ, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died May 18. He was 63.
Very well known in the Amateur Radio community, Jerry worked for the FCC for
35 years, many of them as engineer in charge of the FCC's Norfolk, Virginia,
Field Office. He retired in August, 1995. Among those who knew Jerry as a
friend was Dennis Terribile, WR4I, formerly of Norfolk. He called him "a
great ham radio advocate."
__________________________________

In Brief:

* Al Breiner, W3TI, of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, became the Eastern
Pennsylvania section manager on April 1. You can reach Al at 717-668-3098.

* The ARRL's Regulatory Information Bureau reminds hams who have changed
their mailing addresses to make sure they let the FCC know right away so
they can modify your license. The consequences of not taking that simple
step could be serious indeed. As the FCC regulations state: "Revocation of
the station license or suspension of the operator license may result when
correspondence from the FCC is returned as undeliverable because the person
failed to provide the correct mailing address." While you're at it, also let
us know here at ARRL HQ, so your QST, QEX or ARRL Letter subscription goes
to the right place. And send a new sase to your incoming QSL bureau, too.

* The summer of 1997 might seem a long way off, but planning already is
under way for the National Boy Scout Jamboree, July 30 to August 6, 1997.
Licensed amateur staff members who are also Scouts or Scouters 16 years and
older are needed to fill 40 positions. For more information, write Ray
Moyer, WD8JKV, BSA National Headquarters, 1325 West Walnut Hill Ln, PO Box
152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079.

* Registration for the 1997-1998 edition of the ARRL Net Directory is open
until September 16, 1996. Registration forms (FSD-85, available from HQ)
should be sent to ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. For
more information, call Steve Ewald, WV1X, 860-594-0265, e-mail
[e-mail].

* No Change to Mount Athos DXCC Status. The ARRL Membership Services
Committee (MSC, a standing committee of the Board of Directors), has
received a 9 to 7 recommendation from the DX Advisory Committee (DXAC) to
make no change in the status of Mount Athos (SV/A) on the ARRL DXCC
Countries List. The Awards Committee reported a unanimous vote to MSC in
support of the DXAC to make no change at this time. Since the DXAC and the
Awards Committee are in agreement, the matter is decided.

===========================================================
The ARRL Letter is published by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main
St, Newington, CT 06111; tel [phone]; fax [phone]. Rodney J.
Stafford, KB6ZV, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.

Electronic edition circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail
[e-mail].
Editorial, Rick Lindquist, KX4V, e-mail [e-mail].

The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest
to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be
disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate
and readable in our reporting.

Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any
form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that
credit is given to The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.