New Extra Class Question Pool Released

The Question Pool Committee of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators has released the updated question pool that will be used for Amateur Extra Class license exams between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2020. Committee chair Rol Anders, K3RA, told the ARRL Letter that the new pool “place(s) more emphasis on digital communications, digital test equipment, software defined radios and propagation/space weather.” The new questions also cover some additional topics, including antenna types commonly used by amateurs. The new question pool may be downloaded from <http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=365>.

AMSAT’s Fox-1E Likely to Get a Lift from NASA

Courtesy AMSAT.org

NASA has accepted the Fox-1E cubesat – a joint effort between AMSAT and Vanderbilt University – to be part of its CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) program. The satellite, also known as RadFxSat-2, will carry a radiation effects experiment developed by Vanderbilt as well as a 30-kHz wide amateur radio linear transponder with an uplink on 2 meters and a downlink on 70 centimeters. This will be in place of the FM repeater carried by most amateur cubesats. The project received a #1 priority out of 20 accepted proposals and has been offered a launch date by NASA. This is the second collaboration between AMSAT and Vanderbilt. The first – RadFxSat/Fox-1B – is also part of NASA’s  CSLI program and is scheduled for launch next January.

Popular Science Archive Online

(From Popsci.com website)

Popular Science magazine has placed its entire 140-year archive online with free access browsing, according to Southgate Amateur Radio News. The magazine worked with Google to make the entire collection searchable. A search on “ham radio” returned 380 results (a search on “amateur radio” returned 190, with considerable duplication). The earliest is from 1916 and the most recent is from 2008. Visit <http://www.popsci.com/archives>.

Pair of Ham Satellites Launched from Space Station

LONESTAR Mission Control at Texas A&M University
(NASA Johnson Space Center Photo)

A pair of student-built satellites testing technology to rendez- vous, dock and undock without human intervention was hand- launched from the International Space Station on February 1. The satellites, built independent- ly by students at Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin, both have transponders in the 70-centimeter amateur band.
 

According to the ARRL, Texas A&M's AggieSat 4 is carrying UT's smaller Bevo-2 cubesat and will release it about a month after launch, once both craft have moved far enough away from the space station. Once separated, the two satellites are supposed to establish communication with each other and then perform unguided docking and undocking maneuvers. This capability is seen as vital for future building projects in space. The two experiments are jointly known as LONESTAR, for Low-Earth Orbit Navigation Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking, and to reflect their roots in Texas. They were part of the cargo on a December 6 resupply mission to the ISS.

AggieSat-4 is transmitting FSK telemetry on 436.250 MHz; Bevo-2, once separated, is expected to transmit its own telemetry on 437.325 MHz CW and FSK. Reception reports are encouraged and should be e-mailed to <aggiesat@tamu.edu>.

Milestones: Tropical Hamboree Co-Founder Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, SK

Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR
(ARRL Photo)

2/4 UPDATE: Evelyn's family has provided details on services. See below.

ARRL Honorary Vice President Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, became a Silent Key on January 31, just days before her 87th birthday. Best-known as co-founder of the Miami Tropical Hamboree hamfest and its chairman for 45 years, Gauzens was also a longtime ARRL Southeastern Division Vice Director, and was active in a variety of other organizations, including the amateur radio group at the National Hurricane Center. Gauzens was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. Details follow on visitation and services:

Visitation: Monday, February 8th, 5 - 9 pm with Rosary recitation at 8 pm

       Van Orsdel Coral Gables Chapel and Family Funeral Home

         4600 SW 8th St.

         Coral Gables, FL 33134

          (305) 446-4412

Funeral: Tuesday, February 9th, 10 am

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church

2987 W Flagler St.

Miami, FL 33135

Interment and graveside prayer immediately following funeral

Woodlawn North Cemetery

3260 SW 8th St.

Miami, FL 33135

Changes at the Top at ARRL

ARRL President Rick
Roderick, K5UR
(ARRL Photo)

The ARRL Board of Directors in January elected a new president for the organization and hired a new Chief Executive Officer. Rick Roderick, K5UR, of Little Rock, Arkansas, is the League's new president, succeeding Kay Craigie, N3KN, who did not seek re-election to a fourth two-year term. Roderick had been First Vice President prior to his election to the top spot.

 

Incoming ARRL
CEO Tom Gallagher,
NY2RF. (ARRL Photo)

In addition, the board voted to hire Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, of West Palm Beach, Florida and New York City, to be the ARRL's new Chief Executive Officer. He will succeed Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, who is retiring in April after more than four decades on the ARRL staff. Gallagher is an investment banker and financial services executive, according to the League's announcement. He has been a ham since 1966 and calls himself "an incurable HF DXer and inveterate tinkerer."

Finally, former ARRL/VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, is returning to the League staff as Contest Branch Manager. He fills a vacancy created last year by the resignation of Matt Wilhelm, W1MSW.

Still to come: A successor to ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, who is retiring as of March 1.

ARRL Seeks to Shrink 75-Meter Phone Band

The ARRL has filed a petition for rule making with the FCC to move the bottom end of the 75-meter phone band from 3600 kHz to 3650 kHz in order to free up more space for RTTY and data communications. 
According to the ARRL Letter, the petition represents a "minimal but necessary change" intended to correct an FCC error made when it expanded the 75-meter phone band a decade ago. The petition also calls for moving the automatically-controlled data subband to 3600-3615 kHz from its current 3585-3600 kHz allocation, and for allowing Novices and Technicians to operate CW (but not RTTY or data modes) in the expanded General Class CW/RTTY/data subband.

Congressman Prods FCC Chair on QRM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
is going to bat for hams
and public safety officials.
(Courtesy Rep. King website)

New York Congressman Peter King has written to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, urging him to take enforcement action against a jammer "well-known to your Enforcement Bureau" who is allegedly responsible for ongoing interference problems on various repeaters in the New York City and Long Island area, as well as a prison frequency and an NBC radio network remote pickup frequency. 

The letter followed a meeting between King - a longtime supporter of amateur radio - and ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Liscenco, N2YBB and General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD. According to Liscenco, repeated requests through normal channels for enforcement action "have consistently fallen on deaf ears."

Progress on Amateur Radio Parity Act

The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing in January on HR 1301, the bill that would hold homeowners associations to the same standard of "reasonable accommodation" of amateur radio antennas that currently applies to state and municipal governments. 

According to the ARRL Letter, both subcommittee chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), W7EQI, and bill sponsor Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) testified in favor of the bill. The report did not indicate whether there was any testimony in opposition, or whether any action was taken on the bill at the conclusion of the hearing.
 

In related news, the ARRL Board of Directors in January approved creating an ad hoc Legislative Advisory Committee to coordinate strategies for securing passage of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, oversee lobbying efforts on behalf of the bill and make recommendations regarding future legislative goals and strategies.

Ten-Tec Now Part of Dishtronix

Amateur radio amplifier manufacturer Dishtronix has purchased the assets of Ten-Tec from RKR Designs, which had acquired the company just last year. 

According to the ARRL Letter, Dishtronix owner Mike Dishop, N8WFF, says his plans for the company are "strictly long-term," and that Ten-Tec production will remain in Tennessee, at least for now. 

His early plans for the Ten-Tec product line include firmware upgrades for various models and to start up manufacture of updated Omni VII+ transceivers. Dishop also instituted a minimum $140 fee to troubleshoot a radio returned for service, noting that it was necessary in order to "bring Ten-Tec back to a sustainable state." More information is available on the Ten-Tec website at <www.tentec.com>.

Bad Weather and Iceberg Interrupt VP8 DXpedition

South Thule and South Georgia
Islands are both located in the Southern
Ocean off Antarctica. (Map courtesy
Wikimedia Commons)

The operators of a DXpedition to Southern Thule (VP8STI) and South Georgia (VP8SGI) Islands had to cut short the first part of their operation in late January after a severe storm caused a large ice floe on Southern Thule to break away and threaten to block access to bay where they were camped. 

The ARRL reported that the captain of their transport vessel declared an emergency on January 25 and ordered everyone back on board the ship. The crew was able to secure the station equip- ment from the island the next day before setting sail for the second part of the operation on South Georgia. The ops logged more than 50,000 QSOs from VP8STI before being forced to shut down.

EmComm: Hams Pitch in for Floods, Blizzard and Water Emergencies

Hams in Washington State and Missouri provided emergency communications during floods in December, while amateurs on the east coast stood by to help during a massive blizzard in January and hams in Ohio put down their radios to help distribute water to a town in need.
 

Flooding like this scene in St. Mary, Missouri, was common
throughout southwestern Missouri and central Illinois after
unusually heavy rains in December. (FEMA photo by
Steve Zumwalt)

According to the ARRL, 75 ARES members deployed after massive rains in early December caused flooding in the Centralia area of Washington State. They drove to selected high-water points and reported in on how rapidly the water was rising. In late December, some two dozen St. Louis area hams worked with the American Red Cross in serving meals and helping to relocate people who were displaced by floods in southwestern Missouri and central Illinois. 

Amateurs up and down the east coast were on standby to provide communications during January's big blizzard, but thankfully, all normal communication systems remained operational.

In addition, ARES members in Ohio joined other volunteers in late January in distributing clean water to more than 8000 families in Sebring, which had problems with elevated levels of lead in drinking water. No radio communication was needed, but the ARRL says the ARES members' efforts to help move and distribute water were greatly appreciated by emergency management and Red Cross officials.