If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2017-08...

The ARRL Letter

August 17, 2017
Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME

 *  Solar Eclipse QSO Party Will Facilitate Real Science
 *  Amateur Radio Communication Resources to be Available during Eclipse Day
 *  Amateur Radio Administration Course (ARAC) Presented in Mexico for
    Second Year
 *  Plane Crash Drill Turns to Major Fire Response
 *  The Doctor Will See You Now!
 *  ARRL Repeater Directory is Sold Out
 *  ARRL Audio News Announces New Extra Edition Service
 *  Radio Eritrea and Radio Ethiopia Still Battling on 40 Meters
 *  Ham Hoping to Crowdfund Experimental Time at HAARP Facility
 *  In Brief...
 *  The K7RA Solar Update
 *  Just Ahead in Radiosport
 *  Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

____________________________________________________________________________


Solar Eclipse QSO Party Will Facilitate Real Science

Amateur Radio will be in the service of science on Monday, August 21, as a
total solar eclipse causes the shadow of the Moon to traverse the US from
Oregon to South Carolina in a little more than 90 minutes, obscuring the sun
completely for a few minutes at any given location along the way. The sudden
absence of sunlight -- and especially of solar ultra-violet and x-rays -- is
expected to briefly change the properties of the upper atmosphere.

A few hundred radio amateurs already have registered as participants in the
Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP), a special operating event organized by the Ham
Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), which will contribute to the
study of the eclipse's impact on the ionosphere. HamSCI's Nathaniel Frissell,
W2NAF, said those taking part in the SEQP do not have to be in the path of
totality to contribute to the research.

"It is very important for people outside of eclipse totality to participate,
because one of the questions we have is how large is the effect on the
ionosphere," Frissell told ARRL. "So, we actually need people well outside of
where totality is occurring to identify those boundaries."

Frissell, an assistant research professor at the New Jersey Institute of
Technology (NJIT), said it's easy to be a citizen-scientist. Just getting on
the air during the SEQP is a first step. Systems such as the Reverse Beacon
Network (RBN), WSPRNet, and PSKReporter will automatically hear digital and CW
transmissions and report back to their respective databases.

Despite more than 60 years of research, "open questions remain regarding
eclipse-induced ionospheric impacts," Frissell explained in a paper, "HamSCI
and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse," that he'll deliver at the ARRL-TAPR Digital
Communications Conference this year. He feels that radio amateurs' advanced
technical skills and inherent interest in ionospheric science make them "ideal
for contributing to -- and participating -- in large-scale ionospheric sounding
 experiments."

Actually, three HamSci-coordinated Amateur Radio experiments have been designed
 to study the 2017 solar eclipse. In addition to the SEQP are the HF Wideband
Recording Experiment and the Eclipse Frequency Measurement Test (FMT).

The HamSCI Wideband Recording Experiment will aim to capture all Amateur Radio
HF spectrum from locations across North America during the SEQP. The
recordings, according to Frissell's paper, "will allow for the study of
eclipse-induced propagation changes use signals generated by the SEQP, as well
as examine changes in noise floor measurements throughout the time of the
eclipse." The experiment was developed with input from the TAPR community.

The FMT experiment will provide information as to how much and how fast the
ionosphere changes in height along a particular path. According to research
cited in the paper authored by Frissell and others, rapid changes in
ionospheric electron density caused by the motion of an eclipse shadow "cause
Doppler shifts on HF ray paths propagating through the eclipsed region."

"Joe Huba and Doug Drob at the Naval Research Laboratory have calculated a
prediction of what the ionosphere will look like using their physics-based
SAMI3 model," Frissell pointed out.

ARRL Contributing Editor Ward Silver, N0AX -- a contributor to "HamSCI and the
2017 Total Solar Eclipse" -- said the SEQP is simply a great way to experience
the magic of radio.

By mid-week, more than 600 hams had registered their intention to participate
in the SEQP. Registration is not required to participate.

"If you're a longtime HFer, you will hear the day-night cycle compressed and
accelerated into a few hours, plus maybe some subtle things you've never heard
before," Silver said. "If you are new to HF, you can clearly experience the
bands changing, opening, closing very quickly. You can literally hear the world
 turning during this eclipse. All you have to do is turn on the radio and make
contacts. Listening or operating, it will be a thrill that you can only get
through ham radio."

It is not necessary to register for the SEQP in order to participate, Silver
pointed out, and many more stations than those who have signed up are likely to
 be on the air on August 21. Multiple Amateur Radio special events also will be
 on the air along the path of totality on August 21.

____________________________________________________________________________


Amateur Radio Communication Resources to be Available during Eclipse Day

ARRL, the American Red Cross, and The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio
Network (SATERN) will partner on Monday, August 21, to provide a nationwide
communication link for local and regional American Red Cross units should a
communications failure occur during the solar eclipse.

"Concern has been expressed by public safety, emergency management, and others
that the large number of people -- over 7.5 million nationwide -- flowing into
the relatively narrow path of totality may overload and disrupt the normal
communication infrastructure in some local areas," SATERN said in its August 17
 newsletter.

If that happens, the Red Cross will use local Amateur Radio Emergency
Service(R) (ARES) units to provide local back-up communication. The Red Cross
is interested in regional and national HF communication capability and the
ability to pass traffic to its Digital Operations Coordination Center (DOCC) at
 its national headquarters. At ARRL's request, SATERN will activate its net on
14.265 MHz on an extended monitoring status, from 1400 until 2200 UTC on August
 21. The SATERN Net also may be used as a clearing house for voice traffic if
the Red Cross requires long-range or nationwide communication capability.

Stations checking into the SATERN net will be asked to report any local
conditions that provide The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, or ARRL with such
"ground intelligence" as telecommunications infrastructure outages associated
with the eclipse, special preparations being made by communities for handling
large crowds, and any ARES, RACES, or other Amateur Radio public service
communications activated to assist during the eclipse.

In addition, W1AW will activate to provide WinLink connectivity to the Red
Cross DOCC, monitor HF channels with federal partners, and provide coordination
 assistance between national partners and the field organization.

____________________________________________________________________________

FEMA Region 10 will be monitoring and conducting a net, as necessary, on the 5
MHz/60-meter band frequencies in support of the upcoming solar eclipse on
August 18-23. The following suppressed carrier reference frequencies, also
known as dial frequencies or window frequencies, 5330.5 kHz, 5346.5 kHz, 5357.0
 kHz, 5371.5 kHz, and 5403.5 kHz, will be used as part of the event.

FEMA Region 10 will be using call sign WGY910 from its regional office in
Bothell, Washington. FEMA Region 10 will also be using amateur call sign KF0EMA
 from Redmond, Oregon. Other stations that may be monitoring and/or
participating as necessary in support of this event. The FEMA point of contact
is Dave Adsit, KG4BIR, FEMA Spectrum Manager, (540) 272-4605.

____________________________________________________________________________

Contingency plans were discussed during an August 15 conference call that
involved ARRL staff, American Red Cross headquarters staff and regional
disaster officers, the SATERN national liaison, and ARRL Section Managers and
Section Emergency Coordinators.

Most ARRL Sections have already been working with the Red Cross and will be on
standby. Several shared ICS 205 Communications Plans with ARRL, SATERN, and Red
 Cross, indicating that they plan to use nets on 40, 60, and 80 meters to
handle traffic, mostly between the field and state emergency operations centers
 (EOCs).

____________________________________________________________________________


Amateur Radio Administration Course (ARAC) Presented in Mexico for Second Year

For the second year in a row, ARRL, IARU Region 2, and the Federación Mexicana
de Radioexperimentadores (FMRE) have presented the Amateur Radio Administration
 Course (ARAC) in Mexico City. The course was held August 7-9 at Mexico City's
World Trade Center. The ARAC is aimed at the people in charge of administering
the Amateur Radio and Amateur Satellite Services within the participants'
respective countries. Participants were from the Instituto Federal de
Telecomunicaciones (IFT) from México; Ministerio de Tecnologías de la
Información y las Comunicaciones (MINTIC) from Colombia;
Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones (MICIT) from Costa Rica,
 and from the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL) of Honduras.

Among other topics, the course covered the legal framework for Amateur Radio in
 the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Amateur Radio spectrum,
reciprocal licensing, emergency communication, and the IARU and its member
societies.

Other topics of less institutional and regulatory import included DXpeditions,
contests, digital communication, and Earth-Moon-Earth (moonbounce)
communication. The ARAC concluded with a visit to an Amateur Radio station,
where course participants could gain a better understanding of what they had
learned in class. They also had the opportunity to get on the air and make
contacts.

ARRL and IARU collaborated in developing the ARAC curriculum. -- Thanks to
Joaquín Solana, XE1R, IARU Region 2 News Coordinator

____________________________________________________________________________


Plane Crash Drill Turns to Major Fire Response

Over the course of a single day, ARES(R) Los Angeles (ARES LAX) Northwest
District operators on July 8 pivoted from a plane crash mass-casualty drill to
a real major fire response. With the area suffering under record 108° heat, the
 ARRL Los Angeles Section's ARES Northwest District Emergency Coordinator Roozy
 Moabery, W1EH, had no idea that an actual emergency would erupt just 6 hours
after his ARES team finished a full-scale mass-casualty drill that morning.

The mass-casualty drill scenario involved numerous hospitals and agencies
responding to a private plane crash at a busy freeway junction in the Encino
area. ARES LAX-Northwest members deployed to their assigned hospitals by 7 AM
for the drill, prepared to handle back-up communication on hospital utilization
 and bed availability. Moabery said the drill provided an excellent example of
how ARES interfaces with other disaster-focused Amateur Radio organizations.

The real emergency happened about 12 hours later -- an explosion and fire at a
City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 230 kV receiving station in
the San Fernando Valley's Northridge area. While firefighters fought flames,
electric power was cut for up to 11 hours to some 147,000 homes and businesses,
 already suffering from the searing heat.

Five hospitals ARES LAX-Northwest serves, including major trauma center
Northridge Hospital Medical Center, switched to emergency back-up power. ARES
LAX-Northwest quickly established a net, and Moabery immediately deployed to
the 409-bed Northridge Hospital, remaining there until nearly 6 AM the next
day. Assistant DEC Marty Woll, N6VI, served as net control while Assistant DEC
Dean Cuadra, WA6P, and Emergency Coordinator David Goldenberg, W0DHG, kept in
contact with other hospitals to determine their operational status.

Although ARES only physically deployed to Northridge Hospital, other ARES
members were on standby throughout the incident. The reduced electric power
available at Northridge Hospital combined with the extreme heat resulted in
numerous patients being relocated to unaffected hospitals.

Moabery reviewed lessons learned from the drill and the emergency during his
August ARES LAX-Northwest meeting. Read more. -- Thanks to ARRL Los Angeles
Section Manager Diana Feinberg, AI6DF

____________________________________________________________________________


The Doctor Will See You Now!

"S-Units" is the topic of the the latest episode of the "ARRL The Doctor is In"
 podcast. Listen...and learn!

Sponsored by DX Engineering, "ARRL The Doctor is In" is an informative
discussion of all things technical. Listen on your computer, tablet, or
smartphone -- whenever and wherever you like!

Every 2 weeks, your host, QST Editor-in-Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and the
Doctor himself, Joel Hallas, W1ZR, will discuss a broad range of technical
topics. You can also e-mail your questions to doctor@arrl.org, and the Doctor
may answer them in a future podcast.

Enjoy "ARRL The Doctor is In" on Apple iTunes, or by using your iPhone or iPad
podcast app (just search for "ARRL The Doctor is In". You can also listen
online at Blubrry, or at Stitcher (free registration required, or browse the
site as a guest) and through the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android
devices. If you've never listened to a podcast before, download our beginner's
guide.

____________________________________________________________________________


ARRL Repeater Directory is Sold Out

The 2017-2018 edition (46th ed.) ARRL Repeater Directory(R), introduced in
April, has sold out. Some ARRL publication dealers and online resellers may
have remaining copies of the current edition, which was the first edition to
use data supplied from "crowdsourcing" technology. Crowdsourcing is a means of
using data gathered from public resources. Data for the Repeater Directory was
supplied by ARRL partner RFinder, the creator of a web- and app-based directory
 of Amateur Radio repeaters worldwide. RFinder's data is provided by users,
repeater owners, and volunteer frequency coordinators.

"This is a great milestone for the Repeater Directory," said ARRL Marketing
Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. "We know users still value having a printed,
portable copy of the directory in-hand, and we've given them a better and more
complete snap shot of the repeaters that are on the air." The 2017-2018 edition
 has 31,000+ listings -- 10,000 more than the previous edition.

Produced annually, The ARRL Repeater Directory includes listings for Amateur
Radio repeaters throughout the US and Canada, organized by state/province,
city, and operating mode. Analog and digital repeater systems are included: FM,
 FUSION, D-STAR, DMR, NXDN, and P25 systems.

The next edition will be introduced in 2018 (no additional details at this
time). An annual subscription to RFinder provides immediate access to its
worldwide database of repeater frequencies and related data.

____________________________________________________________________________


ARRL Audio News Announces New Extra Edition Service

ARRL Audio News is proud to announce the debut of our Extra Edition service.
Extra Editions are longer, uninterrupted audio segments devoted to particular
topics. They will be posted on the ARRL Audio News web page. Just go to the
page and then scroll down to Audio News Extra Edition. You can listen to the
audio online, or download the Extra Edition to your computer or other device.

Our first Extra Edition is an interview with radio amateurs in Williamson
County, Texas, who have constructed a microwave backbone system to link several
 local hospitals and key ARES sites.

More Extra Edition segments will be posted as time allows, so check the page
occasionally for new items.

____________________________________________________________________________


Radio Eritrea and Radio Ethiopia Still Battling on 40 Meters

It was a now-familiar story in the July edition of the International Amateur
Radio Union Region 1 (IARU R1) Monitoring System (IARUMS) newsletter, which
reports that Radio Eritrea and Radio Ethiopia are still slugging it out within
the 40-meter amateur band. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle
East, and northern Asia.

"The hostile brothers were daily active on 7,150 and 7,175 kHz," said IARUMS
Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM. "Earlier complaints were not regarded. No
change." Radio Ethiopia has been deliberately interfering with Radio Eritrea on
 both frequencies by transmitting white noise, Hadel said.

Elsewhere on 40 meters, Radio Hargaysa in Somalia has been transmitting on
7,120 kHz, and is audible daily in Australia and Japan. On 7,200 kHz, the
"Firedrake Jammer" in the People's Republic of China has been transmitting on
top of a broadcaster in the Republic of China (Taiwan). The PRC considers
Taiwan a province. The Firedrake (or Fire Dragon) jammer, which has been
interfering with Amateur Radio signals on 40 and 20 meters over the past decade
 or longer, also disrupts broadcasts from the Voice of America, Radio Free
Asia, and the BBC. The jammer's designation derives from the name of a lengthy
Chinese folk tune that the jammer transmits.

So-called "cluster beacons" from Russia have become another issue reported on
the 80- and 40-meter CW/digital segments. These CW signals are showing up on
several frequencies above 3,590 kHz and in the vicinity of 7,039 kHz and
identify with three-letter, R-prefix call signs. They're operated by the
Russian Navy, according to IARUMS.

Over the Horizon (OTH) radar signals also continue to intrude on the exclusive
Amateur Radio 40-, 20-, 15-, and 10-meter allocations.

____________________________________________________________________________


Ham Hoping to Crowdfund Experimental Time at HAARP Facility

Another Luxembourg Effect experiment could take place at Alaska's
High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility during its
September research campaign. Jeff Dumps, KL4IU -- a self-described construction
 worker, electronics technician, and radio enthusiast -- wants to purchase 12
minutes at the HAARP controls to carry out his investigation, which he's hoping
 to fund with donations. Dumps told ARRL that if he doesn't meet his funding
goal, he'll donate whatever money has been contributed to the Arctic Amateur
Radio Club (KL7KC) and HAARP.

"My experiment will attempt to answer some questions about how audio
frequencies transfer between radio stations during the Luxembourg Effect
(Ionospheric Cross Modulation)," Dumps explained in describing his proposed
experiment.

The super-power ionosphere research facility is owned and operated by the
University of Alaska-Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. The HAARP site includes a
 huge array of transmitting antennas, transmitters and amplifiers, and
computerized controls. In the past, it has been used for experiments that
involve ionospheric heating.

Dumps concedes that his is an amateur's approach to a science experiment. "It
may not be in a typical fashion one would see from a physics student or a
scientist," he said. "Even if my experiment doesn't provide any insightful
information, as happens quite often in real scientific experiments, it will be
a great opportunity to test a hypothesis."

Dumps said he hopes his experiment will inspire and motivate others to pursue
their own scientific interests.

UAF Space Physics Group Assistant Research Professor Chris Fallen, KL3WX, who
conducted is own Luxembourg Effect experiment earlier this year, said he wishes
 Dumps well in his efforts. Fallen transmitted some music during his own
Luxembourg Effect experiments last February. In addition to tones, he
transmitted a dance track, an arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon, and a variation
 of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Dumps composed some of the music, and he
arranged and performed all of it.

"Generally, any scientist with funds can conduct experiments with HAARP,
provided the experiment conforms with technical limitations of the facility and
 with federal regulations," Fallen told ARRL. "I think it is exciting to see
public citizen-scientist interest in performing -- and funding -- HAARP
experiments. There are many new science opportunities when the collective
creativity, knowledge, and resources of radio enthusiasts are unleashed."

Fallen said UAF's Geophysical Institute is operating HAARP with a "user fee
model," in which fees paid for HAARP time by scientists -- typically with
federal grant support -- fund the operations and maintenance of the facility.
Currently, that fee is $5,000 per hour, to cover such expenses as generator
fuel, compensation of year-round support staff, and heating the facility
throughout the winter. "Short experiments consisting of a few hours or less are
 typically bundled together in 'experiment campaigns' for cost efficiency,"
Fallen explained.

If the crowdfunding campaign is successful, Fallen said he plans to help Dumps
in constructing an experiment they can perform.

____________________________________________________________________________


In Brief...

Youth DX Adventure Wraps Up: The Dave Kalter 2017 Youth DX Adventure (YDXA) is
over for another year, after logging more than 3,100 contacts from Costa Rica
"under difficult band conditions." The young radio amateurs attending the
summertime adventure -- Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO; Austin Harris, WA8CCS, and
Chris Brault, KD8YVJ -- signed off on August 8. Chris Brault was the 2015
recipient of the Hiram Percy Maxim Award, the League's top youth honor. Bryant
Racoll was the winner of The Dave Kalter Youth DX Adventure essay contest. "We
lost almost an entire day of operating due to thunderstorms and lightning,"
said 2017 team leader Jim Storms, AB8YK. He said team members "worked hard and
used their tourism day to operate, since once day was lost." Storms said the
final day of YDXA 2017 was the best for band conditions. The QSL card is
currently being designed, and requests should be routed to the individual
operator's home call sign. Byron Swainey, TI5/WA8NJR, in San Ramon, hosted the
group, which consisted of three young operators, three parents, and two team
leaders. Applications to take part in YDXA 2018 will be available soon. --
Thanks to The Daily DX


ARRL Announces Colvin Award Grant to Bouvet Island 3Y0Z DXpedition: The ARRL
has granted a Colvin Award to help support the upcoming 3Y0Z DXpedition to
Bouvet Island, the second most-wanted DXCC entity. The DXpedition is scheduled
to get under way early next year. "This is a great team, putting forth a
complicated DXpedition to the most remote island on Earth and one of the rarest
 of the rare DXCC entities," said ARRL Field Services Manager Dave Patton,
NN1N. The Colvin Award is funded by an endowment established by Lloyd Colvin,
W6KG (SK), who, with his wife Iris, W6QL (SK), logged more than 1 million
contacts during their world travels, and assembled one of the largest QSL
collections in the world. The Colvin Award is conferred in the form of grants
in support of Amateur Radio projects that promote international goodwill in the
 field of DX. Applicants must be groups with a favorable track record in the
field of DX and with experience that is directly related to the project being
proposed. Proposed projects must have as a goal a significant achievement in
the field of DX.


---
 * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)