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ARRL Sections Current Feature Articles   Oct 26 Another "Island On The Air" from India   Oct 25 The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler   Oct 22 Surfin': Joe Rudi, NK7U and Red Sox Mania   Oct 19 QRP Community: I Just Bought a Multimode QRP Rig. Now What?   Oct 15 Surfin': Cool Tools   Oct 10 Six Degrees of Separation for Club Meeting Programs   Oct 09 The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler   Oct 08 Surfin': Still Googling After All These Years   Oct 06 Success Tips for Using the ISS Voice Repeater   Oct 03 Building Strong Relationships Builds a Strong Club ARRL Products: What's New (More) Passport to World Band Radio -- Now Shipping! -- Edition 2005. Includes a channel-by-channel guide to World Band Schedules. Great for SWL-ers! Build Your Own Low-Power Transmitters -- Now Shipping! -- Projects for the Electronics Experimenter CQ Calendars -- Now Shipping! -- 15 Month 2005/2006 calendars. International Antenna Collection Volume 2 -- Shipping in late-November. Pre-order Now! -- A wealth of antennas covering 136 kHz to 2.4 GHz. LF Today -- Shipping in November. Pre-Order Now! -- A step-by-step guide to success on the 160-190 kHz Experimenter's Band. ARRLWeb Survey Do you keep your station log in local time or UTC? UTC local time I don't keep a station log View results

Attention All Amateurs... ARRL holiday toy drive for Florida youngsters in full swing (Oct 22, 2004) -- Ham radio clubs and individual amateurs across the US have indicated they'll be taking part in ARRL's recently announced nationwide holiday toy drive to benefit children in Florida displaced or left homeless in the wake of recent hurricanes. Full Story ARRL Repeats Call for Shutdown of Arizona BPL Field Trial (Oct 21, 2004) -- The ARRL again has asked the FCC to immediately shut down a broadband over power line (BPL) field trial in the Cottonwood, Arizona, area that it says is interfering with Amateur Radio communication. The League's second shutdown request, sent October 11, accuses the FCC of doing "absolutely nothing" to enforce its rules or to protect licensed services from interference. Full Story FCC Acknowledges Interference Potential of BPL as it Okays Rules to Deploy It (Oct 14, 2004) -- As expected, the FCC has approved revised Part 15 (unlicensed services) rules to specifically regulate the deployment of broadband over power line (BPL) technology. The Commission adopted a Report and Order in ET Docket 04-37 when it met in open session today. Full Story

Feature: Another "Island On The Air" from India (Oct 26, 2004) -- An account of the first activation in the Maharashtra State Group--Elephanta Island, IOTA AS-169.
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ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration (Oct 26, 2004) -- Registration for the ARRL RFI (EC-006) and Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009) courses remains open through Sunday, October 31. Classes begin Friday, November 12. Antenna Design and Construction students will, among other things, learn about basic dipoles and ground planes, and how to assemble combinations of these into more complex antennas. Students also learn about transmission lines, standing wave ratio, phased arrays and Yagis. Students participating in the RFI course will learn to identify various interference sources. Radio Propagation students will study the science of RF propagation, including the properties of electromagnetic waves, the atmosphere and the ionosphere, the sun and sunspots, ground waves and sky waves, and various propagation modes--including aurora and meteor scatter. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (C-CE) Web page or contact the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Program Department, cce@arrl.org.

USTTI Course Students Show Special Interest in Amateur Radio (Oct 26, 2004) -- ARRL Headquarters played host to seven international students October 18-22 for the 2004 United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) Amateur Radio Administration course. This year's group of participants included three radio amateurs.
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Expedition 9 Crew Back on Earth; Expedition 10 Enjoying Short Respite (Oct 26, 2004) -- The International Space Station Expedition 9 crew of Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, is back on Earth after spending nearly 188 days in space and traveling more than 78 million miles through space.
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Club commissions for membership renewals are back! (Oct 26, 2004) -- Responding to the wishes of many ARRL-affiliated clubs, the League has reinstated the Club Commission Membership Recruitment Program, which benefits affiliated clubs by helping them to bolster the bottom line. For the past couple of years, ARRL-Affiliated clubs have earned $15 commissions for each new or lapsed (over two years) membership they submit. Effective immediately, affiliated clubs now will also earn $2 for each ARRL membership renewal they send in. This program applies to regular and senior membership dues. (Commissions do not apply to family or blind memberships, and this program may not be combined with any other special offer or discount program.) The program is just one of the many benefits of ARRL club affiliation. Affiliated clubs might consider taking advantage by scheduling an ARRL membership recruitment/renewal night. For full details, see the ARRL Club Commission Membership Recruitment Program Web page.

Ham-author wins book award (Oct 26, 2004) -- Robert Zimmerman, KB3IWD, has been awarded the American Astronautical Society's (AAS) Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award for his book Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel. The Emme Award was established to recognize the truly outstanding book published each year serving public understanding about the positive impact of astronautics upon society. Published by Joseph Henry Press in 2003, Leaving Earth is a history of manned space exploration since the Apollo lunar landings. It describes the efforts by engineers and astronauts in both the US and the Soviet Union to build the first interplanetary spaceships. A formal presentation will be held in November during the AAS Annual Meeting in Pasadena, California. An award-winning science journalist and historian, Zimmerman has written two additional books about the history of space exploration. Genesis, the Story of Apollo 8, published in 1998, and The Chronological Encyclopedia of Discoveries in Space, published in 2000. Zimmerman's articles on science, history, technology and culture appear regularly in many different publications, including Astronomy, Air & Space, Natural History, The Wall Street Journal and Fortune. For further information about Zimmerman's work, visit his Web site.

Digital broadcast troublesome to some, experimental opportunity for others (Oct 26, 2004) -- A digital broadcast signal on 3995 kHz has prompted some members of the amateur community to contact ARRL to say it's QRMing the top 10 kHz of 75 meters and asking what can be done about it. Not much. The signal, from Deutsche Welle in Germany, is legal since radio amateurs share that part of the band with broadcasters in Region 1 (which includes Europe). The international Radio Regulations do leave the door open to request that the station reduce power or change its antenna pattern, however. Although the station has been broadcasting for some time on the same frequency in conventional AM, it's attracted more notice from hams since July, when it began testing using digital format--also referred to as "DRM," (Digital Radio Mondiale, French for "Digital Radio Worldwide"). Programming originates from Deutsche Welle's brand-new, all-digital broadcast center in Bonn (photo). Of course, the vagaries of propagation will be a big factor as to the amount of interference US hams experience at any given time. "Digital shortwave will revolutionize cross-border broadcasts and will initiate a worldwide renaissance of radio," Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann said this month during a panel discussion at Munich Media Days. Bettermann says Deutsche Welle plans to gradually shut down its analog shortwave transmissions as DRM receivers became more available globally--something not anticipated until late 2005. Meanwhile, radio amateurs have been experimenting with programs such as HamDream, a DRM program adapted for Amateur Radio use by HB9TLK. It enables digital voice and data transmissions using bandwidths on the order of 2.3 to 2.5 kHz.

Comments filed during BPL "Sunshine Agenda" period not part of the record (Oct 25, 2004) -- The FCC says comments and presentations filed before the Commission releases its BPL Report and Order in ET Docket 04-37 (and ET Docket 04-104) will not become part of the official record but only be associated with the proceeding. An FCC public notice noted that the Commission recently has received "written prohibited presentations" regarding the BPL proceeding. A Commission rule (§1.1203) "prohibits the making of any presentation, whether ex parte or not, to decision-making personnel concerning any matter listed on the Commission's Sunshine Agenda until the Commission releases the text of a decision or order relating to that matter or removes the item from the sunshine agenda," the FCC said. At least a half dozen comments from members of the Amateur Radio community, among others, have been posted via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) since the FCC "Sunshine Agenda" comment deadline went into effect. "This submission has a status of 'Sunshine,'" the ECFS indicates on each. "Not for staff inspection. Submission was received during the Sunshine Agenda period, and is associated with, but not made part of the record." The BPL Report and Order the FCC adopted October 14 is not expected to become publicly available for at least two weeks.

Feature: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler (Oct 25, 2004) -- "Where the Heck Is That?"
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Feature: Surfin': Joe Rudi, NK7U and Red Sox Mania (Oct 22, 2004) -- This week, your Surfin' editor goes off the deep end with Red Sox mania and takes you along for the ride.
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Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration (Oct 22, 2004) -- Seats are still available for the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level III on-line course (EC-003). Registration will remains open through the October 23-24 weekend. Amateurs aged 55 and older are strongly encouraged to participate. Class begins Friday, November 5. Thanks to our grant sponsors--the Corporation for National and Community Service and the United Technologies Corporation--the $45 registration fee paid upon enrollment will be reimbursed after successful completion of the course. During this registration period, seats are being offered to ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page. For more information, contact Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, dmiller@arrl.org; 860-594-0340.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some... (Oct 22, 2004) -- Those visiting ARRL HQ October 22 might have been taken aback at the sight of several staff members in (very) "dress-down Friday" attire.
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