N4LCD

The Phonetic Alphabet from a picture I took inside a Minuteman II Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile Launch Control Center just east of Wall, South Dakota

The Bands “Heat Up” for the 2010 ARRL UHF Contest

VHF/UHF weak-signal operators across North America are making the final tests on their stations in preparation for the ARRL UHF Contest, coming up the weekend of August 7-8. Most VHF+ weak-signal operation takes place on the two lowest bands of the VHF spectrum -- 6 and 2 meters; however, there is a lot of activity that takes place above 144 MHz in the UHF portion of the radio spectrum and beyo...

Government Agencies Introduce User-Friendly Federal Register

While the Federal Register may be the ultimate record of the business of the USA’s Executive Branch, it can be a difficult document to navigate. The Register publishes approximately 80,000 pages of documents each year in the form of Notices, Proposed Rules, Rules and Official Documents; this is where all new and amended rules to Part 97, the Amateur Radio Service, must be published before they ...

FCC Launches Consumer Help Center

Beginning July 28, those who have dealings with the FCC will have a new tool that the FCC claims will put them “within one click of all the information they want” from the Commission: a new “easy-to-use” Consumer Help Center.

“Our new Consumer Help Center makes it easy for consumers to learn about our work and take action,” said FCC Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Joel Guri...

Coming Soon: More ARRL 2010 Field Day Pins

After a higher than expected run on pins for Field Day this year, the ARRL has ordered more and expects them to arrive next month. “The pins were in stock until just before Field Day, but due to some exceptionally high interest, we were unable to fulfill a few final orders,” said ARRL Product Marketing Specialist Jackie Ferreira, KB1PWB. “We have ordered more pins, as many hams enjoy collecting...

The Amateur Amateur Fills-In

By Gary Hoffman, KB0H
ARRL Contributing Editor

My efforts to set up an APRS station (Automatic Packet Reporting System) had come to a standstill. I had installed a program called UI-View32. It was pretty slick, with volumes of data in its Help file, but there were still plenty of parts of it that I didn’t understand. It was time to find an Elmer.

I won’t go into the serendipitous events that led m...

John Robert Stratton, KE5ISX, Appointed West Gulf Division Vice Director

After review of eligibility by the ARRL Ethics and Elections Committee, President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed John Robert Stratton, KE5ISX, of Austin Texas, to serve as Vice Director of the ARRL’s West Gulf Division for the remainder of the current term that expires January 1, 2011. Stratton, an attorney, fills the vacancy created when John Thomason, WB5SYT, resigned the position earlier t...

Ubuntu Linux for Hams

This free operating system provides your PC with all of the usual features, including lots of ham radio applications.

ARDF Update: Radio Foxhunters Find Their Champions in Ohio

By Joe Moell, K0OV, Contributing Editor
ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding Coordinator
k0ov@homingin.com

No shack potatoes here! These radio-orienteering enthusiasts took to the beautiful woods of the Buckeye State in pursuit of transmitters and medals.

They came from 15 states and four foreign countries. In their suitcases were radio sets, antennas, sun block and running shoes, but they left som...

ARRL Argues that Oklahoma Town’s RFI Ordinance is “Null and Void”

Saying that only the Federal Communications Commission is empowered to regulate radio frequency interference (RFI), the ARRL has notified Midwest City, Oklahoma, that its local ordinance 27-3(9), seeking to regulate radio transmissions and RFI, is “null and void.” Midwest City is in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Midwest City’s Ordinance 27-3(9) reads: “In addition to other public nuisance...

The K7RA Solar Update

Sunspot activity increased recently, although it is foolish to call this a trend, since solar activity has great variability. Sunspot group 1087 was visible for 13 days over July 9-21. In millionths of a solar hemisphere, its size was 30, 100, 120, 130, 70, 100, 60, 50, 20, 10, 10, 10 and 10. On July 19, new sunspot group 1089 appeared over the eastern horizon, with a relative size of 130, 150,...

Surfin’: Searchin’

By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ searches the FCC database and finds more musical hams.

New FCC Database Search Tool

Mike Staines, WM1KE, asked me to check out his new FCC Database Search tool, so I did.

Mike says his online application “is a little different than your run-of-the-mill FCC database search.” It can search by call sign, ZIP code, within a specified radiu...

2010 Marks Ninth Year for ARRL Participation in Combined Federal Campaign

For the ninth year running, the US Office of Personnel Management has designated the ARRL to participate in the 2010 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). In the past, this campaign for federal government civilian employees, US Postal Service workers and members of the military has generated almost $140,000 for ARRL programs since it first became an option for giving by federal employees to the Leag...

QuickStats to Debut on Web and QST

Member polls have returned to the ARRL Web, but with a twist. Rather than a single weekly poll, the new QuickStats page at http://www.arrl.org/quickstats offers several polls at once with new questions every 30 days. The results will be published in QST beginning with the October issue.

Start by visiting the QuickStats page now. Be sure to bookmark it in your browser! Watch for poll results in ...

FCC: Vanity Call Sign Fees to Decrease August 17

On July 19, the FCC announced via the Federal Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will decrease 10 cents, from to $13.40 to $13.30. The new fees take effect 30 days after publication, making August 17, 2010, the first day the new fee is in effect. In FY2010, the FCC expects to grant 14,800 vanity call signs, bringing in $196,840 from the vanity call sign program. Earlier...

Connect with the National Scout Jamboree via Amateur Radio

The National Scout Jamboree takes place July 26-August 4 at Fort AP Hill, Caroline County, Virginia. A myriad of exhibits and activities await the close to 40,000 Scouts, leaders and staff. Coming from all 50 states, territories and foreign countries, they will have the opportunity to live, work and play together in an atmosphere of Scouting fellowship. And just like the National Scout Jamboree...