Ham Elected Serbian Prime Minister

(Courtesy Wikimedia
Commons)

 Ivica Dacic, YU1YU, is the new Prime Minister of Serbia. Dasic, who had been First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, was elected to the government's top position in late July. According to the ARRL Letter, Dasic has been an active supporter of amateur radio in his country and is a member of its national ham radio association, the Amateur Radio Union of Serbia.

IARU Supports ".radio" Internet Domain

A South African media publication reports that the International Amateur Radio Union is throwing its support behind an effort by the European Broadcasting Union to manage a new top-level internet domain of ".radio." ScreenAfrica reports that IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, wrote on behalf of the organization to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that the EBU's proposal "provides a unique opportunity to standardize radio domain names on the Internet" and that the IARU recommends that the union's proposal be approved. A public comment period is open through September 26.

New Prefix for Niue

Niue (blue box) - now with the E6 prefix - is about 1700 miles
northeast of New Zealand. (CIA World Factbook map)

The island nation of Niue has been assigned the E6 prefix block by the International Telecommunication Union. According to the ARRL Letter, Niue has been "in free association with New Zealand" - some 1700 miles away - since 1974 and until now has used the ZK2 prefix.

Multi-CubeSat Launch Postponed

Atlas V launch pad at
California's Vandenberg
Air Force Base
(USAF photo)

Range instrumentation problems at the Vandenberg Air Force Base space launch complex have delayed the planned August 2 launch of an Atlas 5 rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office as well as 11 cubesats from several universities and other federal agencies. Several of the cubesats will operate in the amateur radio bands. The <www.spaceflightnow.com> website announced the delay as well as a new target launch date of September 6. Check here on the CQ Newsroom for updates.

Vanity Callsign Fees Inch Up

The fee to apply for or renew an amateur radio vanity callsign will increased slightly as of September 4, rising by 80 cents from $14.20 to $15.00 for a ten-year license term. The FCC adjusts the fees annually as part of its budgeting process, and they have gone both up and down over the years.

Hams Respond to Emergencies in India, Philippines

(Maps courtesy CIA World Factbook)

When a huge part of India's electric power grid failed at the end of July, cutting off power to 700 million people, hams in and around the affected areas were able to stay on the air and provide emergency communications. Newsline quotes India's National Coordinator for Disaster Communication, Jayu Bhide, VU2JAU, as saying all voice repeaters in the affected area - which included 20 of the nation's 28 states - stayed on the air using backup power. 

 A week later, when monsoon rains caused massive flooding in and around the Philippine capital of Manila, hams in that country also responded. Newsline reports that members of the Philippine Amateur Radio Association's Ham Radio Emergency Operations group were active for three days, from August 6-9, running nets on 2 meters and 40 meters, in the wake of flooding from a 48-hour deluge. Authorities estimated it would take about a month to clean up all the damage from the storm.

RAC Ontario Section Split in Four

The Radio Amateurs of Canada has split its Ontario Section into four new sections, effective September 1. They are: Ontario North (ONN), Ontario East (ONE), Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ontario South (ONS). The ARRL Letter reports that the change was made for administrative purposes. The new regions will change the total number of possible sections for ARRL contests that use ARRL/RAC sections as multipliers (Sweepstakes and the ARRL 160-Meter Contest) or as part of the exchange (SS, 160 and Field Day). A "clean sweep" in the November Sweepstakes will now require 83 multipliers.

It's Official: No More Heathkit

Heathkit's highly-publicized efforts to return to the electronic kit business have failed. A local newspaper in Michigan reported in late July that the company had defaulted on its lease, declared bankruptcy and closed its doors. A bank was reportedly selling off some of the company's assets in online auctions. Once a major player in the amateur radio equipment market, Heathkit left the ham radio kit business in 1992. A new owner tried to revive its kit business in 2011 to replace business lost in the education market as financially-strapped school districts around the country cut back on purchases. However, he told the Herald-Palladium newspaper that the kit business couldn't grow quickly enough to keep the company afloat.

FCC Says No to Nationwide Emergency Frequency

The FCC has denied a petition by two hams to designate 146.55 MHz as a national emergency calling frequency, essentially saying their proposal was a solution in search of a problem. The Commission said the current flexibility in frequency use serves the amateur service well, and noted that the ham community - if it wished - could designate an emergency calling frequency through voluntary band planning without official FCC action.

Mauna Loa Beacons May Stay On the Air

Mauna Loa may remain home to several ham radio beacons.
(USGS photo)

The VHF and UHF beacons on Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano that alerted US West Coast hams to band openings may be able to stay on the air, despite the recent passing of their owner, Paul Lieb, KH6HME. Newsline reports that the beacons share space with Hawaii Public Radio and other amateur gear. It quotes the site manager as saying the beacons are welcome to stay as long as the ham club already operating at the mountainside location takes over their operation and maintenance.

Printable HF Transmitter

New advances in technology will allow HF radio transmitters operating on 13 MHz to be printed using electronic ink at a cost of about a penny apiece. That's a report from the BBC, as relayed by Newsline. The very low power transmitters are seen as possible replacements for QR (Quick Response) codes, those blocks of dots and squiggles that can take you to a company's website if you point your smartphone camera at them. Shouldn't take too long for hams to move them up from 13.560 MHz into the 20-meter amateur band! More details are available at <www.tinyurl.com/printed-transmitter>.

Names in the News

WB6ACU's latest album, "Analog Man." Might that become
"Analog Congress Man"?

Is Joe Walsh running for Congress? The iconic guitarist for the Eagles, who also goes by WB6CAU, recently told a Washington, DC radio station that he's thinking about it. According to Newsline, Walsh said he thinks he can represent the concerns of real people better than politicians who live in a different world. We'll leave that determination to the voters when, if and where he decides to run.

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, is returning to AMSAT
(AMSAT photo)

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, is back at AMSAT as the amateur satellite organization's Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs. Frank held down that volunteer position for many years before his work responsibilities at NASA forced him to step down in 2009. The AMSAT News Service reports that Bauer retired from the space agency last year and, now that a one-year period in which he was prohibited from working with his former colleagues has passed, he has returned to his volunteer role with AMSAT. He has been a key player in the growth and success of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, as well as SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) in the past.

Morse Code on Mars?

Curiosity's tire tracks on Mars (NASA photo)

When the Curiosity rover drives around Mars, it reportedly will leave tracks of squares and rectangles on the red planet's surface. Officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built the rover, say the patterns serve as odometer markers. But, reports Newsline, those small and large blocks look a lot like dots and dashes and indeed, spell out "JPL" in Morse code! However, photos of Curiosity's first "test drive" don't seem to show anything except tire tracks.

Azores 9 Islands Hunt, Sept. 29-30

 

(U.S. government map)

Hams from around Europe and North America will be taking part in the Azores 9 Islands Hunt at the end of September, activating stations on all nine of the chain's islands during a 24-hour period from 1200 UTC September 29 to 1200 UTC September 30. One of the operators, noted DXpeditioner Martti Laine, OH2BH, says there is an added incentive to get on and work those stations: Everyone contacting at least five different CU islands during the event will be entered into a lottery for a free trip to visit and operate from the Azores. Plus, there will be a second lottery (with a second trip as the prize) for the first 25 operators to contact all nine CU islands. Details are available online at <http://azores-islands-hunt.com/>.

QST Managing Editor Killed in House Fire

Joel Kleinman, N1BKE (SK)
(Photo by Harold Kramer, courtesy ARRL)

Joel Kleinman, N1BKE, Managing Editor of QST magazine, died in a fire at his Connecticut home on Saturday, August 18, according to the ARRL and news reports. His wife, Jayne, was rescued from the fire and is hospitalized. Neither the cause of the fire, the extent of Jayne's injuries, nor the specific cause of Joel's death are certain at this time. Condolences may be sent c/o ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111.

All of us at CQ extend our condolences to the Kleinman family and to the ARRL family as well. 

Updated CQWW SSB Results Posted on CQ Website

Updated and corrected SSB results for the 2011 CQ World Wide DX Contest have now been posted on the CQ magazine website. They may be accessed from the CQ home page (under current issue highlights), from the highlights page for the August issue and from the CQWW DX Contest page. The update resulted from the discovery of a programming error after the results went to press. Only one SSB certificate and one CW certificate (out of approximately 2600 awarded) were affected by the error, and with the new, corrected, results, all affected stations' scores went up, not down.

Corrected CW results will be posted to the CQ website around September 1, coinciding with release of the digital edition of the September issue of CQ. Subscribers to CQ's digital edition will have the corrected results in the September digital issue.

Software Glitch Results in CQWW Scoring Errors; Corrected Results to Be Posted Online

 

Announcement from CQ magazine…

(Hicksville, NY, August 9, 2012) -- A glitch in the software used to analyze logs submitted for the CQ World Wide DX Contest has resulted in errors in final scores for some participants in the 2011 CQWW DX SSB and CW competitions. These errors were discovered after the results of both competitions were sent to the printer, so some results published in the August and September issues of CQ will be incorrect. However, only one SSB certificate (out of approximately 1300) was affected by the error, and with the new, corrected, results, all affected stations' scores went up, not down. CW results were still being worked on as this is written, but a similarly small impact is expected.

According to the CQWW Contest Committee, "approximately one QSO in a thousand was marked as a bad call in error. This occurred when two similar calls, for example W1GD and W1GQ, were logged within three minutes of each other and only one of the stations submitted a log." The problem came about as part of a recent software upgrade, so no previous CQ contests are affected. It has now been fixed, so future contests also should not be affected.

Corrected scores for the SSB weekend will be posted on the CQ website as soon as possible. Corrected scores for the CW weekend will be planned to coincide with the release of the September digital edition, on or around September 1, 2012.

We will make additional announcements when the corrected results have been posted online.

CQ regrets any inconvenience resulting from these errors.

CQ TO REVAMP PUBLICATION SCHEDULE FOR CONTEST RESULTS; MAJOR RESULTS TO APPEAR FOUR MONTHS EARLIER

      (Hicksville, NY August 1, 2012) -- CQ magazine will embark on a major reorganization of its editorial content in order to publish contest results significantly sooner, Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, announced today. On average, contest results will appear four months sooner than at present. The new schedule will be phased in over the course of 2013 and will be fully in place by 2014.
      "The phase-in is necessary because of new and old dates overlapping," Moseson explained, "as well as scheduling needs for non-contest articles including our special focus issues and Dayton new product reports. As a result, some contest results will be temporarily relocated in 2013 and some specials will be rearranged as well.
      "In addition, there will be two sets of CQ WPX Contest results published in 2013 -- the 2012 scores in January (SSB) and February (CW), followed by the 2013 results in September (SSB) and November (CW). The CQ World Wide DX Contest results, which currently appear in the August (SSB) and September (CW) issues, will be published as of 2013 in the April and May issues, respectively. For one year only (2013), the CQ World Wide VHF Contest results will be published in CQ VHF magazine, and will return to CQ as of 2014, appearing in the January issue."
      This schedule change has been made possible by the fact that the vast majority of contest entrants submit their logs online, as well as advancements in technology for log-checking, earlier log submission deadlines announced last month and advances in publishing technology.
      "For years, both participants and contest directors have been asking us to publish the results sooner," Moseson explained, "and at last, all of the pieces have fallen into place to make it possible. The new schedule represents the minimum amount of time needed to not only collect and process the logs, but to resolve issues with problem logs and take the necessary steps to assure the ongoing integrity of our contest results."
      A complete calendar of contest results issues for 2013 and 2014 will be posted on the CQ website at <www.cq-amateur-radio.com>.

CQ Adopts 5-Day Contest Log Deadline

Participants in CQ-sponsored contests will now have five days after the end of a contest to either upload or mail their logs. Previously, the contests had a four-week window for log submissions. 

"Our goal is two-fold," explained CQ magazine Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU. "This is the first step in an effort to speed the processing and reporting of CQ contest results, and it is one more step in our ongoing efforts to help ensure the integrity of submitted logs. Shortening the deadline reduces the time available for those who might be tempted to 'cleanse' their logs after the contest."

The change takes effect with this fall's CQ World Wide DX Contest and will apply to all future CQ-sponsored contests.

Erin King, AK4JG, Named 2012 Young Ham of the Year

 Seventeen-year-old Erin King, AK4JG, of Columbus, Georgia, has been selected as the Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year for 2012. She was recognized for promoting amateur radio through a video she made of launching the mailing tube in which her acceptance letter to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) arrived as an amateur radio high-altitude balloon payload. The award was scheduled to be presented at the Huntsville (Alabama) Hamfest in August. CQ is a corporate co-sponsor of the Young Ham of the Year Award. For more on Erin, see September's "Zero Bias" editorial.

ARRL: Executive Order Poses No Threat to Ham Radio

Despite speculation on the internet, President Obama's executive order of July 6 addressing the federal government's national security and emergency preparedness communications needs does not pose a threat to the Amateur Radio Service or to ham radio participation in emergency response. That's the conclusion of the ARRL after closely reading the order, which creates a new Executive Committee on National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications, with representation from eight federal departments and agencies. ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, says nothing in the order directly affects everyday amateur radio operations and says that based on ham radio's "ongoing, positive relationship" with the Department of Homeland Security, it is "hard to envision" any new management plan that would exclude amateur radio.

Good News, Bad News, on Antenna Restrictions

Hams in Illinois now have a state law granting them the same protections as FCC rules regarding municipal ordinances restricting amateur radio antennas. Governor Pat Quinn signed the "PRB-1"-based bill into law in early July. Extending the FCC's protections to state law removes any question of federal pre-emption in terms of compliance by municipal governments. The new law does not, however, extend to private land use regulations such as homeowner association rules and so-called CC&Rs (conditions, covenants and restrictions).

Speaking of CC&Rs, the FCC has turned down a petition by Len Umina, W7CCE, to extend the provisions of PRB-1, the limited federal pre-emption of state and local antenna ordinances, to private land use regulations. The Commission said it specifically exempted private rules from its original ruling back in 1985 because they were part of contract agreements, not laws, and in a 2001 ruling, said it would not change that position unless ordered to do so by Congress. The FCC also noted that it is in the midst of conducting a Congressionally-mandated study of the effects of private land use regulations and other "impediments to enhanced Amateur Radio Service communications," and would not consider taking any action in this area until Congress reviews its conclusions and decides whether to require any changes via legislation.

CQ WPX Award Now Supported by LoTW

The ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW) online confirmation system now supports CQ's WPX Award, and early activity levels suggest that the combination will be very popular. WPX is the first non-ARRL award supported by the system and the first step in eventually permitting hams to use LoTW credits toward all CQ operating awards. 

WPX accounts have been automatically created on the award pages of LoTW participants, and instructions are posted on the Logbook of the World website. Standard ARRL Logbook and CQ award fees apply. A timetable has not yet been set for adding other CQ awards, or in what order they will be added.

Anniversaries of Note in the Ham Media

Popular Communications, one of CQ's sister magazines, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with its September issue. The magazine began publication in September, 1982, under the leadership of the legendary Tom Kneitel, K2AES/W4XAA (SK), and has been covering the broad world of hobby communications ever since. From international broadcasting and CB to pirate broadcasters and mysterious "numbers" stations, if it could be tuned in on a radio, Pop'Comm has covered it … and continues to do so. 

This year also marks the 35th anniversary of the Amateur Radio Newsline, a weekly audio news service that first aired on amateur radio repeaters in 1977 under the name of Westlink Amateur Radio News. Produced by Jim Hendershot, WA6VQP, and Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, "Newsline" has since become an institution in amateur radio media, with more than 1800 consecutive newscasts over three and a half decades.

Congratulations to our colleagues at Pop'Comm and our friends at "Newsline."

N8BJQ New CQ VHF Contest Director

John Lindholm, W1XX, has stepped down as director of the CQ World Wide VHF Contest after ten years at its helm. During his tenure, participation in the annual July competition quintupled. Lindholm said he felt it was time for "new blood" to lead the contest in the future. John is also campaigning for a seat in the Rhode Island state legislature.

Steve Bolia, N8BJQ, has agreed to step into John's shoes. In addition to his current responsibilities as WPX Award Manager, Steve has already been helping John with VHF Contest log-checking for the past several years, so he is well-equipped to hit the ground running, starting with the 2012 contest this coming weekend.

We thank both John and Steve for their many contributions to CQ and to amateur radio.

Maxwell, Baldwin and Lieb are Silent Keys

Three longtime leaders in the amateur radio community have become Silent Keys… 

Walt Maxwell, W2DU, was a renowned expert in antennas and transmission lines and was the author of Reflections, an authoritative text on the subject (the most recent edition of which was published by CQ). He was 93.

Dick Baldwin, W1RU, joined the staff of the ARRL in 1948. He rose through the ranks and - after leaving the League briefly in the 1950s - returned and held down positions of increasing responsibility before becoming General Manager in 1975. Starting in 1976, he served concurrently as Secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). After "retiring" in 1982, Baldwin was elected IARU President and held that position until 1999. Dick was 92.

Paul Lieb, KH6HME, held down the Hawaii end of summertime California-to-Hawaii ducts on VHF and UHF. His beacon on the Mauna Loa volcano alerted VHF DXers to openings and he regularly drove up the mountain during these events to make contacts with hams on the mainland on bands as high as 10 GHz. He was the holder of numerous VHF and UHF DX records and his beacon helped generate a tremendous amount of data about propagation in the northern Pacific.

OSCAR-7: 10 Years Back on the Air

A QSL card from 2004, commemorating the 30th anniversary
of the launch of OSCAR-7. (Courtesy AMSAT)

It's an amazing story that just keeps getting more amazing. OSCAR-7, part of the first generation of amateur radio satellites, was launched in 1974 and operated until its batteries short-circuited in 1981. Twenty-one years later, in 2002, the satellite incredibly came back to life. AMSAT officials speculate that the batteries somehow went from a short-circuit condition to open-circuit, allowing the satellite's solar panels to power its radios when in sunlight. 

Ten years after returning to the air, AO-7 is still going strong, with uplinks on 2 meters and 70 centimeters and downlinks on 10 meters and 2 meters, respectively. It switches between bands randomly each time it starts up on re-entering sunlight, and is currently the only amateur satellite providing really long-range communications. In fact, the AMSAT News Service reports that two new distance records were recently set via AO-7, with contacts 7849 kilometers (4877 miles) and then 7903.55 km (4911 mi), just short of the satellite's theoretical maximum range of 7907 km (4913 mi).

College Students Design Supercapacitor for ARISSat

Penn State students Jacob Sherk, Kathleen Nicolas and David Jesberber (all now graduated) with the supercapacitor they designed for the next ARISS launch. John Fontecchio photo/Courtesy Penn State University

The next time an ARISSat (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station satellite) is launched, it will likely be powered by a supercapacitor designed by students at Penn State University. The students, all electrical and computer engineering majors, designed the power system as their senior project. "Newsline" reports that the battery is able to handle 16 charge/discharge cycles in a 24-hour period, and will power the satellite when its solar panels are not in sunlight. Supercapacitors are gaining interest as orbital power sources because they are not subject to failure as easily as traditional batteries. More information on this project is available online at <http://live.psu.edu/story/60125>.

UK Hams to Share 2 Meters During Olympics

Hams in London are being required to temporarily share portions of the 2-meter band with officials of the 2012 summer Olympic Games. According to Newsline, the small block of channels between 144.0125 MHz and 144.1375 MHz was temporarily allocated to the Olympics, for use only by handheld equipment operating no more than 5 watts. The reallocation was only for the period between July 27 and August 28.

Clyburn Nominated to Full Term on FCC

 President Obama has nominated Mingon Clyburn to a full five-year term as an FCC Commissioner. A Democrat, Clyburn was appointed to the commission in 2009 to fill out the unexpired term of Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, who had resigned. According to the ARRL Letter, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called Clyburn's renomination "an outstanding choice for the Commission and for the American people." Clyburn's nomination requires Senate confirmation.

House Committee Calls for Unified Oversight of MARS

(Courtesy Architect of the Capitol)

A committee report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013 calls on the Pentagon to "clarify and maintain policy oversight of MARS within the Office of the Secretary of Defense" and to appoint one person to coordinate the policies and activities of volunteer group across the Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps. Currently, the Military Auxiliary Radio System operates independently in each service. The ARRL Letter says the report from the House Armed Services Committee recognized MARS as "an important back-up" to government communication systems but noted that oversight is unclear due to a recent Pentagon reorganization and that there is a lack of standardization among the three MARS branches.

Ohio Gets State "PRB-1" Law

Ohio has joined me roster of states that have incorporated into state law federal restrictions on zoning laws that involve amateur radio antennas and towers. Significantly, reports the ARRL Letter, Ohio's new law requires any agency that denies an amateur's antenna application to state the reasons for the denial and - on any appeal - the agency has the burden of proof, not the amateur.

Welsh Ham Carries Olympic Torch

A Welsh ham who has been actively involved in charity work for years was honored for his efforts by being allowed to carry the Olympic torch on its journey toward the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London games. According to Newsline, William Williams, GW8TGS, carried the torch through the city of Aberystwyth for about a half hour on May 27th.

The Strange Case of DJ6SI

CQ DX Hall of Fame member Baldur Drobnica, DJ6SI, has endured a bizarre series of events that started when he tried to operate his portable ham radio while on vacation in Greece. According to reports on Newsline and other sources, a police officer suspicious of the "strange noises" coming from Baldur's computer placed him under arrest. Initial reports were that he was charged with espionage, but Baldur said that did not happen. 

He was, however, charged with making radio transmissions without permission from the Greek government (both Greece and Germany are signatories to the CEPT treaty which permits amateurs from any one member country to operate in any other member country without special permission), operating a radio that covered more spectrum than only the Greek amateur bands, and refusing to turn over his equipment to the arresting officer.

According to Baldur's attorney, the first two charges were dropped by the court after determining that Baldur was a properly licensed radio amateur. However, he was convicted on the third charge, which the attorney said would be appealed. Meanwhile, if you're visiting Greece, it might be best to leave your ham gear at home.

Building Satellites With Video Game Technology

AMSAT-UK is part of a group planning to build a set of cubesats that will test an autonomous on-orbit docking system based on XBOX Kinect video game technology. The group also includes SpaceRef.com and Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd., and is based at the University of Surrey in England, home of the UOSAT amateur satellites of the 1970s and '80s. AMSAT News Service reports that the project - named STRaND-2 - will consist of two twin satellites that will be separated after launch. After each one is checked out, ground controllers will command them to dock with each other. They will then use components from a Kinect game controller scan the area around them and provide the satellites with 3-D spatial awareness to align with each other and dock. If successful, it could open a whole new way of building and maintaining satellites, including the potential for changing out modules in orbit or using multiple small cubesats to link up in orbit and build a large satellite by themselves.

ICOM Inks Deal With Boy Scouts for 2013 Jamboree

ICOM America has agreed to be the amateur radio transceiver supplier for the national Scout Jamboree next year at Summit, West Virginia. The company will also supply three permanent repeaters for the new Jamboree site, one 2-meter analog repeater, a 70-centimeter analog machine and a 70-cm D-STAR repeater. In addition, ICOM will supply ten loaner stations for use by Boy Scout councils around the country to use in promoting amateur radio. Details of the stations, and of the planned setup for the Jamboree, are still being worked out.

Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, SK

VHF weak-signal authority and CQ Contest Committee member Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, became a Silent Key in early June. Gene was responsible for reorganizing the CQ World Wide VHF Contest into its current format and was a major behind-the-scenes player in the launch of CQ VHF magazine in the mid-1990s. From 2002-2011, he was QST magazine's VHF columnist. Professionally, Gene was a microbiologist with a long career at the National Institutes of Health, both as a researcher and administrator. For more on Gene, see this month's "Zero Bias" and "VHF-Plus" columns.

New Extra Class Question Pool Effective July 1

July 1 is the effective date for the new Element 4 question pool ... the questions that make up the Amateur Extra Class license exam. Each exam is made up of 50 questions selected from the pool of just over 700 possible questions. The new question pool will be used through June 30, 2016. Next up for replacement is the Technician Class (Element 2) pool in 2014, followed by the General Class (Element 3) pool in 2015.

ARISS Looking for Volunteers

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program (ARISS) is looking for hams interested in volunteering as ground support crew members and technical mentors. According to the AMSAT News Service, ground support teams set up actual contacts between schools and other selected locations for contacts between students and astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Technical mentors serve as liaisons between NASA and the ground support teams.  More information is available online at <http://www.arrl.org/ARISS-volunteers>. Hams interested in volunteering may e-mail <ARISS.Recruit@verizon.net>.

Dayton Attendance Up, Plano Power Down

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association says that over 24,000 people attended the 2012 Dayton Hamvention (R), and that both attendance and vendor sales were up over 2011.

Meanwhile, the Ham-Com hamfest in Plano, Texas in early June was plagued with two power outages, a short one on Friday and a longer one on Saturday. Many attendees went home and many vendors started packing up during the second outage, which began around 2 PM and lasted about an hour and a half.

CQ Launches Industry e-Newsletter

CQ Communications, Inc. has launched an online newsletter for and about the amateur radio industry. Named the "CQ IndustryInsider," it is edited by Jason Feldman, who currently works with both Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online. The newsletter reports on news and trends in the hobby radio marketplace, as well as company news and marketing tips. Anyone who works in the amateur radio, scanning or monitoring industry and is not currently receiving the "IndustryInsider" may contact CQ Advertising and Marketing Director Chip Margelli <ads@cq-amateur-radio.com> to ask to be added to the mailing list.

WRO-Pop'Comm Live Internet Chat Tonight

Join WRO-Pop'Comm Editor Richard Fisher, KPC6PC/KI6SN, for our live, monthly Internet chat session this evening, Sunday, June 3, at 8 p.m. Eastern time (0000 UTC) at <http://www.WorldRadioOnline.blogspot.com>. Hope to see you there.