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W4JAX > LETTER 18.09.04 14:33l 239 Lines 12469 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 23, No. 37
September 17, 2004
***************
IN THIS EDITION:
* +Ham radio volunteers again aid hurricane relief, recovery
* +ARRL kicks off 2005 campaign for Spectrum Defense
* +No shower, no bath, no problem, astronaut tells students
* +ARRL plays role in Maryland antenna victory
* +FCC swaps ham's license for big fine
* +Registration opens for new ARRL Propagation course
* +Mike Anuta, W8HKY, SK
* Solar Update
* IN BRIEF:
This weekend on the radio
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration
ARRL seeks Community Education Program Coordinator
+Cayman Islands emergency traffic exempt from third-party traffic
rules
==>AMATEUR RADIO SWINGS INTO ACTION IN STORM-STRICKEN GULF REGION
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams were ready and waiting as
Hurricane Ivan devastated entire sections of the US Gulf Coast early
September 16. Packing 115 MPH winds as it made landfall, Ivan zeroed in on
the Mobile Bay area of Alabama, but because of its huge girth, the storm
wrought widespread death and destruction in the Florida Panhandle and also
affected Mississippi. Below-sea-level New Orleans was spared major
flooding, however. Alabama Section Emergency Coordinator Jay Isbell,
KA4KUN, said ham radio has been helping relief agencies, especially in the
hard-hit southernmost counties.
"Right now the adrenaline's still up," he said September 16 of volunteers
staffing a statewide ARES communication network--an HF net with liaisons
to local repeaters and including all of the state's emergency operations
centers. "Most everybody south of us is operating on emergency power."
In Baldwin and Mobile counties--which straddle Mobile Bay--telephone
service was out, so ham radio was providing a substantial communication
link, Isbell said. "We're giving their messages priority." Most traffic
has been logistical--requests for shelter cots, tarpaulins and
generators--"but they've also asked for three four-wheel drive vehicles
and a helicopter for search and rescue as well as damage assessment," he
said.
ARES teams along the Gulf have been providing communication support for
the Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
organization. ARES already is assisting with damage assessment activity,
for the first time using Global Positioning System units and computerized
mapping as an aid.
ARRL Alabama SM Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, praised Isbell's efforts and said
he's proud of Alabama's radio amateurs. "Many amateurs stepped up to
provide communications and assistance," he said. "Several amateurs
traveled to Southern Alabama before Ivan to help get ready for the
hurricane." He said others traveled to the Mobile area to help emergency
managers "and people they don't even know."
In Northern Florida, Western Panhandle ARES District Emergency Coordinator
Bill Hayden, WY8O, reported damage assessment was under way in Okaloosa
County, where the storm took out several repeaters and telephone service.
In southern Santa Rosa County, massive flooding and several fatalities
were reported, and refugees were forced to take shelter. In Escambia
County, five shelters and four hospitals sustained storm damage, and
several people died. The hurricane destroyed the Interstate 10 bridge
connecting Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, cutting off residents and
relief workers alike.
At week's end, Northern Florida Section Traffic Manager Dale Sewell,
N4SGQ, was working up a list of relief personnel and waiting on how to get
them into the affected area. "Having lived in Pensacola for 35 years, I
know the complications of being surrounded on so many sides by water,"
Sewell said. "I just never imagined that all the routes would be cut off
simultaneously." He said Escambia County was left virtually without power,
which utilities say could take three weeks to restore.
In Mississippi, ARRL SM Malcolm Keown, W5XX, reported that outside of some
"significant interference" the West Gulf ARES Net operation went smoothly.
Most traffic was tactical, he said, to help the Red Cross with needed
equipment and supplies. The net, on 7285 and 3873 kHz, operates in
accordance with a memorandum of understanding among the ARRL Louisiana,
Mississippi and South Texas sections.
Keown says ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, stepped in to restore the
fallen dipole antenna of West Gulf ARES Net National Traffic System
Coordinator Carolyn Womack, KC5OZT, who's also North Texas Section Traffic
Manager. "He went over and fixed it, and by 4 o'clock she was back on the
air, so chalk one up for the ARRL president!" Keown said.
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) <http://www.hwn.org> on 14.325 MHz secured
operations for Hurricane Ivan September 16, but only to take another
breather before an anticipated reactivation for Hurricane Jeanne in a few
days. The nearly continuous activations over the past four weeks have
taken a toll on HWN members, HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, told ARRL,
and several were affected by storm-related damage.
The HWN coordinates its activities with WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org> at
the National Hurricane Center to gather real-time ground-level weather
data and damage reports from Amateur Radio volunteers in a storm's path
and relay these to forecasters. This hurricane season WX4NHC has been
taking advantage of IRLP and EchoLink via the new VOIPWX Net
<http://www.voipwx.net/>, which also provides streaming audio.
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN)
<http://www.satern.org> on 14.265 MHz has been handling health-and-welfare
inquiries in the wake of the recent round of hurricanes. The net also
handles emergency communications from storm-affected areas. SATERN also
takes health-and-welfare inquiries via its Web site.
The National Weather Service was warning areas still in the path of the
remnants of Hurricane Ivan that they could be in for heavy rainfall and
possible tornadoes.
==>"MORE THAN JUST BPL!" LEAGUE KICKS OFF 2005 SPECTRUM DEFENSE CAMPAIGN
The ARRL this week kicked off its 2005 Spectrum Defense Fund campaign with
the slogan "more than just BPL!" ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, says
that while interference from BPL--broadband over power line--technology is
the most prominent and immediate threat to amateur spectrum, generous
donations from ARRL members and supporters make it possible for the League
to face it and other spectrum challenges. Haynie says that not all of
ARRL's advocacy efforts necessarily involve taking defensive measures,
such as with BPL, but all of them are essential.
"Forty meters, Little LEOs some years back, the work that the League's
Technical Relations Office in Washington does--all this makes the spectrum
available to us," Haynie said. "And without spectrum, the license that we
have in our pocket or hanging up on the wall is pretty much useless."
Haynie says that, as he sees it, the League's job is to look out for the
best interests of Amateur Radio and make sure that we have spectrum to
operate on. "And that's a big job, it's a huge job that we've undertaken.
It becomes very important because spectrum is so precious."
It's also a job whose cost and complexity have risen considerably in the
past decade, as new technology-driven demand for spectrum has put
increasing pressure on Amateur Radio frequencies. World Radiocommunication
Conferences, at which ARRL and International Amateur Radio Union personnel
represent Amateur Radio's interests, now occur every two or three years
instead of once a decade. As ARRL CEO David Sumner pointed out in a
fundraising letter <https://www.arrl.org/forms/fdefense/> to League
members, in such an environment, the League no longer can cover the cost
of its operations and advocacy efforts with dues revenue and the sale of
publications and QST advertising.
"The whole philosophy of spectrum management is being rethought, with the
objective of easing access for new products for consumers and industry,"
Sumner wrote. "But as the rules for their introduction and use are
developed, we in the Amateur Radio Service need an advocate to ensure that
our interests are safeguarded. With your help, the ARRL will continue to
be that advocate, for ourselves and for future generations of radio
amateurs."
In 1985, the League spent perhaps $200,000 on advocacy and spectrum
defense. The League's Washington office at the time consisted of one staff
member. As 2005 looms, it's a much different picture.
"Today we spend close to $900,000, and I know it's something that hams
can't see, touch or feel, but it's just as important as those things that
they can--like QST and the Handbook," Haynie said, "because we would not
have all those things if it were not for the fact that we have a place to
operate."
The 2005 Spectrum Defense Fund depends on membership support and is
essential to the League's continued success. Radio amateurs may contribute
online via the ARRL's secure donor Web site
<https://www.arrl.org/forms/fdefense/fdefense.html>. Those contributing at
or above the $50 level may request a gift as a token of the League's
appreciation.
For more information about the 2005 Spectrum Defense Fund or to discuss
other ways you can support the ARRL's continuing work on behalf of Amateur
Radio, contact ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH.
<k1mmh@arrl.org>; 860-594-0397.
==>SIX MONTHS WITHOUT A SHOWER OR BATH? NO PROBLEM, ASTRONAUT TELLS
YOUNGSTERS
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, told students at Kingston Community
School in South Australia that keeping oneself clean in space is not that
much of a problem, despite the lack of a shower or bathtub. During a
September 10 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
school group contact, Fincke suggested that no one will run the other way
when he and ISS Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, return to
Earth--even though neither will have had a real bath or shower during
their six-month stay. The ISS crew washes up instead using wet towels and
special shampoo, Fincke explained.
"We have some special space shampoo that doesn't require water, and it
does a pretty good job," Fincke said. "So at the end of the mission, even
though it's six months without a bath, we're still pretty good, and we
don't smell too bad." Fincke said keeping clean is important, but the crew
doesn't really get that dirty to start with. He also said he keeps his
hair very short to make it easy to shampoo.
As for space food--it's "pretty good," he said, responding to another
favorite question. But the astronauts can't just pop into the kitchen when
they feel hungry and grab a cold drink from the fridge or whip up
something on the stove. "Now, we don't have a refrigerator, and we don't
have any kind of oven or a microwave, but we can warm up our food," he
explained. Meals--there's both American and Russian cuisine aboard--come
dehydrated, and the astronauts just add water and wait a few minutes for a
food warmer to do its job. Fincke said he and Padalka also take advantage
of mealtime to discuss their activities.
"We certainly enjoy three meals a day, and that's the time when the
commander and I, we have a chance to talk about our day and go over our
plans," Fincke said, "so mealtime is one of my favorite times."
One topic they've likely been discussing the past few days has been
recurring problems with the space station's primary oxygen-generation
system. Russian engineers on the ground spent last weekend analyzing the
intermittent problem. NASA says the crew is in no danger, however. The
Elektron oxygen system initially shut down September 8. It works by
separating water into oxygen for ISS use and hydrogen, which is vented
overboard.
International Space Station Amateur Radio Club NN1SS in Greenbelt,
Maryland, served as the Earth station for the contact with NA1SS in space.
A two-way teleconference link, donated by MCI, made it possible for the
students to ask questions and hear Fincke's replies. Dave Taylor, W8AAS,
served as the control operator at NN1SS. ARISS International Chairman
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, and Mark Steiner, K3MS, assisted. ARISS veteran Tony
Hutchison, VK5ZAI, worked with Kingston Community School to make
arrangements for the contact.
ARISS is an international educational outreach with US participation from
ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
end p1
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