ARRL

On Friday, November 20, ARRL staff members started opening ballots for the Vice Director races in the Central and Roanoke Divisions. Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK; Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, and ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ served as Tellers. A representative from an independent auditor was on hand, as well. Sarratt and Mileshosky are members of the League's Ethics and Elections Committee; Sarratt is Chairman of the committee. After all the ballots were counted, both the Central and Roanoke Divisions gained new Vice Directors, with their three-year terms beginning at noon on January 1, 2010.

Signal Makers

I have been interested in island chasing ever since I can remember. After moving to Canada, I operated as VE3LYC and contacted 947 IOTA stations from the 1021 on the air. Why chase islands? Some of them are located so remotely, and are so difficult to access, that hams only rarely get there and for only very short periods of time. Under these conditions, it is more challenging to break the pileups and more rewarding to get into the log.

ARRL Headquarters will be closed November 26 and 27 in observance of Thanksgiving. There will be no W1AW bulletins or code practice transmissions those days. The ARRL Letter will be published a day early on Wednesday, November 25, but there will be no ARRL Audio News on Thursday, November 26. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Monday, November 30 at 8 AM Eastern Standard Time. We wish everyone a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving holiday.

Sunspot 1029 made its trip around the Sun and has re-emerged as sunspot 1032. A new sunspot 1033 has come over the Sun's eastern limb. This steady appearance of sunspots has raised the MUF over many paths, and 15 meters is beginning to open regularly.

This week, Surfin' revisits Radio Caroline and other pirate radio operations in the North Sea.

ARRL Audio News--OPEN--In this edition . . .; Is the End in Sight for “Third Battle of Bull Run”?; NCVEC to Release New Technician Question Pool in January; ARRL Audio News ID--Satellite Update--BREAK:; SKYWARN Recognition Day Set for December 5; Deadline Looming for Nominations for the Bill Leonard Professional Media Award and ARRL International Humanitarian Award; GAREC Returns to Region 2 for 2010; ARRL Audio News--News Briefs--CLOSE

ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH reports that the ARRL has raised $126,828 toward the goal $310,000 for the 2009 Spectrum Defense Fund. "The messages I receive from the ARRL members and hams who contribute to this much needed fund are heartening," she said, "expressing appreciation for all the work ARRL does for the Amateur Radio community to protect our frequencies. And we can all be proud of the successes that have come from the work of ARRL leadership -- the Board and staff here at HQ. But there is always more to do." Hobart said that year after year, ARRL members tell her that the League's representation of radio operators -- both in Washington and on the international stage -- is one of, if not the most important activities that the ARRL does. "The cost of that representation at meetings in Washington, at IARU gatherings and working party meetings to prepare for world telecommunications conferences is the key to the continued success of our defense efforts," she said. "Spectrum Defense is one of those areas that is not covered completely by member dues. So we ask ARRL members to do what they can to help cover those expenses." Amateurs wishing to make a contribution may do so easily online, via postal mail or by calling the ARRL Development Office at (860) 594-0397.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, once termed the battle of Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) in Manassas, Virginia as the "Third Battle of Bull Run." While the war against harmful interference to Amateur Radio via BPL is not yet over, the battle in Manassas might soon be coming to an end.

George Badger, W6TC, of Portola Valley, California, passed away on Sunday, November 15. He was 84. Originally licensed in 1939 as W6RXW when he was 14, Badger was a member of the ARRL for 67 of his 69 year amateur career. After World War II service with the 89th Infantry Signal Company in Europe, he graduated from the University of California with a degree in electrical engineering. Badger held seven patents on microwave tube and circuit design and was Marketing Director for EIMAC, was President of Svetlana and consulted for CPII Econco. Badger published many technical articles professionally and in the amateur press. First published in QST in 1981, Badger's most recent article, "The Pileup Buster," was published in October 2008; his next article, "Easy to Make Four-to-One Coreless Baluns," is scheduled to be published for a spring 2010 issue. Badger was a Fellow in the Radio Club of America. His Amateur Radio interests included building equipment, antennas and working DX. Badger held DXCC Top of Honor Roll (Mixed), DXCC Honor Roll (both Phone and CW), 5BDXCC (with endorsements on 160, 30, 17 and 12 meters), DXCC on all bands (160-10) and 5BWAZ. He also exceeded 2500 points on the DXCC Challenge. Contributions in memory of Badger can be made to the Stanford University Medical Center, Department of Immunology, 2700 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Funeral arrangements are pending.

The Question Pool Committee (QPC) of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) is due to release the new Technician class (Element 2) question pool to the 14 VECs on December 1, 2009; it will be released to the public in January 2010. Each question pool for the three Amateur Radio license classes -- Technician, General and Amateur Extra -- is reviewed on a four-year rotation. This new Technician class pool will become effective on July 1, 2010.

After a long bout with cancer, Harry Helms, W5HLH (ex-AA6FW), passed away Sunday, November 15. He was 57. Known for his witticism and geniality, Helms was known for his many books -- such as Shortwave Listening Guidebook: The Complete Guide to Hearing the World, All About Ham Radio, How to Tune the Secret Short Wave Spectrum and Handbook of Radio Communications Servicing and Maintenance -- and his monthly column "You Should Know: Interesting Thoughts and Ideas for Enjoying the Hobby" in Popular Communications.

The 2010 meeting of the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference ( GAREC ) will take place October 11-12 on the Dutch island of Curacao in the Caribbean. The theme of the conference will be Learning through Practicing. According to GAREC 2010 Organizing Committee Chairman Seppo Sisatto, PhD, OH1VR, GAREC's mission is two-fold: To help Amateur Radio operators be better prepared for emergency communications and to create emergency communications exercises at both the national and international levels. Exchanging information and experiences among all Amateur Radio operators and groups that are interested in emergency communications helps to promote GAREC's vision of having regular worldwide cooperation and understanding between governments and the Amateur Radio Service in the field of emergency communications. GAREC 2010 is organized in cooperation with the Dutch Amateur Radio Emergency Service ( DARES ) and Club for Experimental Radio Examination Netherland Antilles ( VERONA ). Sisatto said that details on the upcoming conference will be announced as they become available.

Registration remains open through Sunday, December 27, 2009, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, January 8, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

The 11th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) Special Event will take place Saturday, December 5, 2009. SRD is co-sponsored by the ARRL and the National Weather Service (NWS) as a way to recognize the commitment made by Amateur Radio operators in helping to keep their communities safe. According to SRD Coordinator David Floyd, N5DBZ, Amateur Radio operators can visit their local participating NWS office, working as a team to contact other hams across the world throughout the 24 hour event.

The late months of the year are characterized by football and leaves -- and great times for Amateur Radio. We are weeks into the contest season, with no end in sight. This is also a good time to start experimenting indoors as it cools down outdoors.

Sunspot region 1029 disappeared after October 30, but not because it faded away -- it was transiting over our Sun's western horizon on its trip around the back side. Six days after it was gone, a new region -- region 1030 -- appeared for several days, November 5-7. On November 8, this region had faded away and seemed like other weak spots we've seen over the past couple of years, except they appeared for one day with a sunspot number of 11. Sunspot region 1030 ran for three days with sunspot numbers of 15, 16 and 11. But then on November 9, the sunspot region re-emerged, with sunspot numbers of 14, 13, 11 and 11 through November 12.

This week, Surfin' visits the high seas where pirate radio once made its home.

ARRL Audio News--OPEN--In this edition . . .; Late Season Tropical Storm Ida Comes Calling on Gulf Coast; ARRL Sweepstakes Takes to the Phone Bands Next Weekend; ARRL Audio News ID--Satellite Update--BREAK:; WRTC 2010 Organizers Announce Teams; STS 129: Stocking the International Space Station; Idaho School Incorporates ARISS into Curriculum; ARRL Audio News--News Briefs--CLOSE

Besides taking spare parts to the International Space Station (ISS) this coming Monday, the space shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) will deliver the module antennas for Columbus -- the laboratory built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and host of two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas.