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The ARRL Letter

February 16, 2017
Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME

 *  ARES Volunteers Support Evacuation, Shelters, in Wake of Oroville,
    California, Dam Crisis
 *  FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Petition to Allocate New 5 MHz Band
 *  Campus Ham Radio Clubs Encouraged to Boost Vitality through Innovation
 *  Alaska's HAARP Facility Once Again Open for Business
 *  Amateur Radio Emergency Service Posts its 2016 Annual Report
 *  Nayif-1 CubeSat with Amateur Radio Transponder Launched from India
 *  "Mysterious Foghorn" is Chinese Over-the-Horizon Burst Radar
 *  National Museum to Mark 75th Anniversary of Voice of America
 *  In Brief...
 *  The K7RA Solar Update
 *  Getting It Right!
 *  Just Ahead in Radiosport
 *  Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

____________________________________________________________________________


ARRL Headquarters Closed on Presidents' Day: ARRL Headquarters will be closed
on Monday, February 20, for the Presidents' Day holiday. Headquarters will
reopen at 8 AM EST on Tuesday, February 21. We wish everyone a safe and
enjoyable holiday!

____________________________________________________________________________


ARRL Website, Store to be Offline: The ARRL website, the ARRL Store, and other
functions will be offline during maintenance on Sunday, February 19, within the
 period from approximately 2 AM until 4 AM EST (0700 to 0900 UTC). We apologize
 for any inconvenience.

____________________________________________________________________________


ARES Volunteers Support Evacuation, Shelters, in Wake of Oroville, California,
Dam Crisis

Sacramento Valley ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT,
reported this week that Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES(R)) volunteers
actively supported [ares(1).jpg] communication for the evacuation and
sheltering of nearly 200,000 people living below the damaged Oroville Dam in
rural California. The dam, on the Feather River east of Oroville, is the
tallest in the US. Following a period of heavy rain, a section of the
earthfill-embankment dam's spillway eroded, and authorities ordered residents
living below the dam to evacuate, in case the dam should fail. Crews have been
attempting to fill the eroded area with rock transported by helicopter. On
February 14, authorities lifted the mandatory evacuation order, but said it
could be re-imposed, if necessary. Residents returning home were advised to
remain vigilant, should the situation again become critical, and some ARES
activity continues.

"Things have really calmed down for now after the mandatory evacuation notice
was reduced to an evacuation warning," Kruckewitt told ARRL on February 15. "At
 this time, only the Butte County ARES group is deployed to the Chico
Fairgrounds to support the Red Cross -- possibly through the weekend." The
Chico shelter will remain open until the next storms pass.

FEMA reported that the Kelly Ridge Powerhouse located below Oroville Dam is
flooded and unsafe. "Any further flooding could result in the potential release
 of 500 gallons of turbine oil stored in tanks," the agency said on February
15.

Butte County ARES EC Dale Anderson, KK6EVX, was called out by the emergency
operations center (EOC) on the evening of February 12. Six members of the Butte
 County ARES team have been deployed to the Red Cross evacuation shelter at the
 Chico fairgrounds. "ARC still wants us at the Chico Fairgrounds," Anderson
told Kruckewitt on February 15. "We are down to one VHF unit and one operator
on watch for now."

On February 12, Yuba/Sutter ARES EC Steve Sweetman, K6TAZ, opened and managed a
 net to provide information and gather reports of road closures or problems
during the evacuation. The net received reports from radio amateurs who were
evacuating. Traffic was reported to be very heavy, with a trip that would
normally take 20 minutes extending into a "3-hour stop-and-go ordeal," Sweetman
 said. The net also gathered and disseminated information on where evacuees
could get fuel. "This became a critical need, as the thousands of people
evacuated their houses with 1-hour notice," Kruckewitt said. Sweetman provided
shelter for 17 evacuees.

The Sacramento County EC Vince Cracchiolo, KI6NHP, was called into the
Sacramento County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on February 13 as the Red
Cross opened a shelter at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Kruckewitt said the
Sacramento Valley Section received offers of help from hams outside of
California. As of February 15, FEMA was reporting 16 shelters open with 2,606
occupants.

"All ARES groups in the section are on standby, if help is needed. So far, the
dam is holding, and repair work is under way at last report," Kruckewitt said.

According to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), evacuation
orders were issued to residents surrounding Lake Oroville late Sunday
afternoon. "DWR has been monitoring conditions at Lake Oroville's main and
auxiliary spillways around the clock for signs of erosion that could threaten
the integrity of the emergency spillway and allow large, uncontrolled flows to
the Feather River," the agency says on its website.



FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Petition to Allocate New 5 MHz Band

The FCC has invited comments on the ARRL's January 12 Petition for Rule Making
to allocate a new, secondary contiguous band at 5 MHz to the Amateur Service.
The League also asked the Commission to keep four of the current five 60-meter
channels -- one would be within the new band -- as well as the current
operating rules, including the 100 W PEP effective radiated power (ERP) limit.
The federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. The FCC has
designated the League's Petition as RM-11785 and put it on public notice.
Comments are due Monday, March 20. ARRL plans to file comments in support of
its petition.

The proposed ARRL action would implement a portion of the Final Acts of World
Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that provided for a secondary
international allocation of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz to the Amateur Service; that
 band includes 5,358.5 KHz, one of the existing 5 MHz channels in the US. The
FCC has not yet acted to implement other portions of the WRC-15 Final Acts.

"Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency and
disaster relief communications, and especially those between the United States
and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more flexibly and more capably
conduct those communications [and preparedness exercises], before the next
hurricane season in the summer of 2017," ARRL said in its petition.

The League said that 14 years of Amateur Radio experience using the five
discrete 5-MHz channels have shown that hams can get along well with primary
users at 5 MHz, while complying with the regulations established for their use.
 "Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA is aware of a single reported instance of
 interference to a federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date,"
 ARRL said in its petition. NTIA -- the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, which regulates federal spectrum -- initially
proposed the five channels for Amateur Radio use. In recent years, Amateur
Radio has cooperated with federal users such as FEMA in conducting
communication interoperability exercises.

The League said in its petition that while the Amateur Radio community is
grateful to the FCC and NTIA for providing some access to the 5-MHz band, "the
five channels are, simply stated, completely inadequate to accommodate the
emergency preparedness needs of the Amateur Service in this HF frequency
range," ARRL said. Access even to the tiny 15-kHz wide band adopted at WRC-15
would "radically improve the current, very limited capacity of the Amateur
Service in the United States to address emergencies and disaster relief," ARRL
said.

The WRC-15 Final Acts stipulated a power limit of 15 W effective isotropic
radiated power (EIRP), which the League said "completely defeats the entire
premise for the allocation in the first place." ARRL said the FCC should permit
 a power level of 100 W PEP ERP, assuming use of a 0 dBd gain antenna, in the
contiguous 60-meter band. "To impose the power limit adopted at WRC-15 for the
contiguous band would render the band unsuitable for emergency and public
service communications," the League said.

The ITU Radio Regulations permit assignments at variance with the International
 Table of Allocations, provided a non-interference condition is attached.



Campus Ham Radio Clubs Encouraged to Boost Vitality through Innovation

ARRL Public Relations Committee Chairman Scott Westerman, W9WSW, believes
collegiate Amateur Radio clubs need to blow away the dust and cobwebs and
modernize, in order to attract new members. And he urges college and university
 ham radio clubs to seek common technological ground with younger generations,
in order to attract new Amateur Radio licensees.

"We really need to be thinking in terms of...state-of-the-art technology,
because that's what 'the kids' are looking for nowadays," Westerman told ARRL
Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, during a brief interview at the 2017
Orlando HamCation February 10-12, which hosted this year's ARRL Southeastern
Division Convention. "The big challenge is how to get them away from their cell
 phones."

Westerman, a Michigan State University (MSU) alumnus and executive director of
the MSU Alumni Association, recalled his own student days, when MSU Amateur
Radio Club (MSUARC), W8SH, had a Collins S-Line for a station. Founded in 1919,
 the MSUARC is one of the oldest collegiate ham clubs in the US.

Collegiate clubs need to tap into students' interest in "parallel"
technological realms, such as the Maker movement or those already experimenting
 with electronics, Westerman said. "At one time or another, we were all in that
 parallel universe, and there was something that brought us to ham radio," he
offered.

Westerman said the MSU club has come up with a program to get students on HF
via a remote base. "So, you can get into our state-of-the-art shack, you can
check out a control head, a Kenwood TS-480, take it back to your dorm, plug it
into the Wi-Fi network, and work the world!"

While access to opportunities for getting on the air is important, Westerman
said, the availability of Amateur Radio mentors -- what he called "our seasoned
 generation" of radio amateurs -- is also vital. "We're trying to encourage
them to reach out and adopt somebody, and to do the same for them that somebody
 did for us."

For Westerman, that person was his uncle, who took him into his ham shack and
got him fascinated with the world of Amateur Radio. "Why can't we be one of
those people for some kid in college?" he suggested. "That's the challenge."

The ARRL College Amateur Radio Initiative (CARI) enjoyed attention throughout
HamCation, Inderbitzen recounted. ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, wearing a
"Penn" sweatshirt for his University of Pennsylvania alma mater, welcomed
attendees to a Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative Forum, moderated by Andy
Milluzzi, KK4LWR. A graduate student in electrical engineering, Milluzzi
highlighted the value of Amateur Radio as a way to meet other people.

"We keep our alumni close," Milluzzi said, explaining how college ham radio
clubs help students develop professional networks in their field of study.
Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) Director Ken Simpson, W8EK, shared
information about applying for QCWA scholarships administered by the Foundation
 for Amateur Radio (FAR). Sterling Coffey, N0SSC, posted the forum on YouTube.
--Thanks to Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R



Alaska's HAARP Facility Once Again Open for Business

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Gakona, Alaska,
will soon undertake its first scientific research campaigns since the facility
was taken over by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical
Institute 18 months ago. Among the investigators is UAF Researcher Chris
Fallen, KL3WX, who will be working under a National Science Foundation grant,
"RAPID: Spatiotemporal Evolution of Radio-Induced Aurora." Fallen says the
HAARP transmissions will take place within the facility's transmitter tuning
range of 2.7 to 10 MHz and should be audible outside of Alaska, and may even
produce visible effects within the state.

"This time my experiments will largely focus on artificial radio-induced
airglow that potentially can be photographed from nearly anywhere in Alaska --
weather permitting," Fallen told ARRL. "I plan to start and stop each
experiment block with an audio Luxembourg-style broadcast -- transmitting two
amplitude-modulated carrier waves at different frequencies separated by about 1
 MHz, with the resulting skywave signal being a mix of both frequencies."

Fallen said that he has prior success reproducing the "Luxembourg effect" using
 two DTMF tones. "But this time, I have a short, simple musical composition
recorded by a local musician," he said. "It was composed specifically to take
advantage of the Luxembourg effect."

According to UAF, Fallen, an assistant research professor in space physics,
will create an "artificial aurora" that can be photographed with a sensitive
camera within Alaska. The phenomenon has been created in the past above HAARP
during certain types of transmissions.

Just which HF frequencies Fallen will use won't be determined until shortly
before he begins his research. "The specific frequency chosen during a
particular experiment depends on the experiment's objectives, FCC regulations,
and ionospheric conditions at the time," Fallen explained. He will use
ionosonde data to guide frequency selection.

In his explanatory Gakona HAARPoon 2017 blog, Fallen explains that HAARP
scientists use the ionosonde to estimate two important parameters: (1) the
amount of low-level ionosphere D-region HF radio absorption that frequently
occurs due to natural, but not well understood, processes that prevent HAARP
radio wave energy from reaching the higher ionosphere E and F regions; and, (2)
 the ionosphere vertical "critical frequency" [sometimes referred to as foF2],
above which any radio transmissions pass through the ionosphere into space
rather than being reflected or absorbed."

Fallen said experiment times and frequencies for his airglow and Luxembourg
experiments will be updated on his blog and on his Twitter account linked in
the blog. He encourages radio amateurs and SWLs to record the events they hear
and post reports to social media or e-mail him.

Built and operated by the US Air Force until August 2015, HAARP includes a
40-acre grid of antennas and a very high-power array of HF transmitters to
conduct ionospheric research. Later this month, scientists will use HAARP to
conduct other experiments that will include a study of atmospheric effects on
satellite-to-ground communications and over-the-horizon radar experiments.

Research funding agencies also include the US Department of Energy's Los Alamos
 National Lab and the Naval Research Laboratory. HAARP also has a Facebook
page.



Amateur Radio Emergency Service Posts its 2016 Annual Report

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) has posted its 2016 annual report.
The 2016 ARES Annual Report focuses on documenting the value that ARES provides
 to the nation, states, and localities in collaboration with partners at all
levels. The report features basic data drawn from Section Emergency
Coordinators' reports, a breakdown of ARES figures by state and FEMA region,
and a challenge for 2017. According to the report, ARES membership in 2016 was
27,754 -- up from 17,756 in 2015 -- and the Service was active in 42 states and
 US territories. ARES volunteers responded to 33,136 events last year.

"Sharing information about what ARES provides at all levels is critical to our
work overall, as hard numbers provide better detail about our work," ARRL
Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, said. "We all need to pitch in
 to ensure that our contributions are counted, and here at HQ, we will be sure
to do our part."

ARES volunteers will see changes in some reporting forms in 2017; all forms,
starting in January 2017, have been updated and renumbered. According to the
report, 76% of ARRL sections filed reports for 2016, a significant improvement
over past years. The report challenges ARRL Section Emergency Coordinators to
raise that number to 85% in 2017.

In addition to the annual ARES report, ARRL Field Services staffers will
produce their own monthly report, a link will appear in the ARES E-Letter,
showing monthly data for ARES, as well as information about ARRL Headquarters
emergency preparedness and Field Service activities.



Nayif-1 CubeSat with Amateur Radio Transponder Launched from India

AMSAT-UK reports the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) on February 15 successfully
launched the Nayif-1 Amateur Radio CubeSat, along with 103 other satellites --
a record for a single launch. The Nayif-1 1U CubeSat includes a full FUNcube
communication package. Nayif-1 carries a U/V linear Amateur Radio transponder
for SSB and CW and a telemetry transmitter. Nayif-1 started transmitting about
1 hour after launch, and radio amateurs on the west coast reported the first
signals.

Nayif-1 is a joint project of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and
American University of Sharjah (AUS). The United Arab Emirate's first
nanosatellite, Nayif-1 was developed by Emirati engineering students from AUS
under the supervision of a team of engineers and specialists from MBRSC. The
partnership between the two entities was aimed at providing hands-on
satellite-manufacturing experience to engineering students.

Telemetry is transmitted on 145.940 MHz, 1.2 kb BPSK (FUNcube standard). The
SSB/CW transponder uplink passband is 435.045-435.015 MHz, and the downlink
passband is 145.960-145.990 MHz.

A mission-specific telemetry dashboard is available. In a manner similar to
that of the FUNcube-1 dashboard, this one will be capable of uploading the
telemetry received to a central data warehouse. More information on the
telemetry dashboard is available, as is a test file.

Initial spacecraft operation will be in a low-power "safe" mode, with just the
telemetry transmitter activated.



"Mysterious Foghorn" is Chinese Over-the-Horizon Burst Radar

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) Monitoring System
newsletter reports a mysterious "foghorn" -- a Chinese over-the-horizon (OTH)
burst radar -- is operating in Amateur Radio bands.

"We observed the mysterious foghorn on 7, 10, and 14 MHz," the newsletter
recounted. "This is a Chinese OTH radar, which is often jumping, and sounding
like a foghorn." The signal is frequency modulation on pulse (FMOP) with 66.66
sweeps-per-second bursts.

Other intruders include a Russian frequency shift keying (FSK) signal from
Kaliningrad on 7,193 kHz and a Russian FSK signal on 7,193 kHz (50 baud, 200 Hz
 shift). German telecommunications authorities have filed another complaint.

The latest IARUMS newsletter also reports strong splatter from Radio France
International (RFI) on 7,205 kHz down to 7,186 kHz. The French REF has informed
 RFI and French telecommunications authorities.

Intruders still reported, and the subjects of complaints from German
authorities include Radio Hargeysa in Somaliland on 7,120.0 kHz; Radio Eritrea
with Ethiopian interference on 7,175.0 kHz; Radio Taiwan and a Chinese jammer
on 7,200.0 kHz, and a Radio Tajik harmonic (from 4765 kHz) on 14,295.0 kHz.



National Museum to Mark 75th Anniversary of Voice of America

The National Voice of America (VOA) Museum at the VOA-Bethany site in West
Chester, Ohio, will join in celebrating the 75th anniversary of the VOA. The
Voice of America marked its diamond jubilee on February 1. In 1942, not 2
months after the US officially entered World War II, a live, 15-minute
shortwave broadcast was transmitted into Germany from a small studio in New
York City. Introduced by "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," the voice of
announcer William Harlan Hale declared, "We bring you Voices from America.
Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war.
The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the
truth."

"We're planning a series of events and exhibits this year to celebrate the
VOA's commitment across America and the world to embrace best practices in
telling the truth in order to let the world decide," said Jack Dominic, the
museum's executive director. The West Chester Amateur Radio Club is a museum
partner and operates WC8VOA from the museum.

At the dedication of VOA-Bethany, FCC Commissioner Clifford Durr referred to
the forest of towers on the site as "siege guns of radio...that can hurl
explosive facts against the enemy's weapons of lies and confusion... They are
also potential guns of peace." Helped by an array of rhombic antennas,
VOA-Bethany station transmitted news to Europe during World War II and to South
 America during the Cold War. The federal government decommissioned the Bethany
 station in 1994.

Siege guns: VOA-Bethany's six transmitters were connected to dozens of large
antennas spread across a 1-square-mile area. Many people may recall seeing
these towers as they drove past on Interstate 75.

"The men and women who made up the VOA broadcasting system were our
journalistic beacons of light during the 20th century," said Ken Rieser,
president of the VOA Museum board. "Elmer Davis, John Houseman, Edward R.
Murrow, and Robert Bauer all had positions of leadership within the VOA."

Today the VOA is the world's largest international broadcaster, transmitting
news and information in 47 languages to 236 million people each week, according
 to the VOA website. The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting, located in the
art deco Bethany station building, houses three collections -- the Gray History
 of Wireless radios, VOA-Bethany station's Voice of America control room, and
the Media Heritage Cincinnati Museum of Broadcast History.

The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting is open on the third Saturday of each
month -- including February 18 -- from 1 to 4 PM Eastern Time. For more
information, visit the VOA Museum website.



In Brief...

Field Day 2017 Packet is Now Available: The Field Day 2017 packet now is
available from the ARRL website. Field Day 2017 is June 24-25 -- always the
fourth full weekend in June. There have been no significant rule changes from
2016. The Field Day packet contains everything you or your club will need to
succeed in June, including explanations, FAQs, articles from experts, and even
a log page template, if you log on paper for FD. For more information on Field
Day, contact the ARRL Contest Branch.


New Section Manager Appointed in Illinois: Ron Morgan, AD9I, of East Peoria,
Illinois, has been appointed ARRL Illinois Section Manager, effective February
16. He succeeds Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN, of
Sandwich, who stepped down for personal reasons. ARRL expressed its thanks to
Ciciora, who has served at the helm of the Illinois Field Organization for more
 than 10 years, since July 2006. ARRL Field Services Manager Dave Patton, NN1N,
 appointed Morgan in consultation with ARRL Central Division Director Kermit
Carlson, W9XA. Morgan, who has been an Assistant Section Manager in Illinois
since 2002, will complete the current term, which continues through June 2018.
He's also a Central Division Assistant Director. A retired electrical engineer,
 Morgan currently teaches technology at Illinois Central Christian School.


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