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The ARRL Letter

September 14, 2017
Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME

 *  Amateur Radio Volunteers Respond to Historic Hurricane Irma
 *  Help the Ham Aid Response Effort in Florida and the US Virgin Islands
 *  Emergency Net Activated in Wake of Earthquake in Mexico
 *  The Doctor Will See You Now!
 *  QST Announces 2017 Antenna Design Competition Winners
 *  Collegiate Amateur Radio Symposium Holds Second Annual Meeting
 *  Not All "Intruders" on Ham Bands are Illegal -- But a Lot of Them Are
 *  Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, Tapped as New NCJ Editor
 *  In Brief...
 *  The K7RA Solar Update
 *  Just Ahead in Radiosport
 *  Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

____________________________________________________________________________


Amateur Radio Volunteers Respond to Historic Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma is history, but the recovery continues. ARRL West Central
Florida (WCF) Section Manager Darrell Davis, KT4WX -- who is also Hardee County
 Emergency Coordinator -- reported that the storm's eye passed over the Hardee
County emergency operations center just before midnight EDT on September 10.
The storm, which left death and destruction in its wake, eventually moved
inland, carrying with it heavy rainfall and consequent additional flooding. By
mid-week, FEMA had flagged most of the Florida peninsula for "significant river
 flooding," imminent or occurring. Irma also has left many in Florida without
electrical power.

Davis said he was grateful for the Ham Aid equipment -- four hand-held
transceivers and one mobile transceiver -- that ARRL sent to Florida as Irma's
arrival was imminent. The once-powerful and persistent Category 5 hurricane
made landfall near Naples, Florida, on September 10 as a Category 2 storm,
after raking the Florida Keys.

Thirty Florida counties were under mandatory evacuation orders, and thousands
took advantage of Red Cross shelters.

SKYWARN nets activated in the West Central Florida Section and elsewhere to
gather severe weather information, and Florida's Statewide Amateur Radio
Network (SARnet) conducted a coordination and assistance net to help
communicate between the county EOCs and the State EOC and to provide assistance
 to Amateur Radio operators in other ways, time permitting. The priority during
 the weekend was tactical shelter communication, EOC communication, and SKYWARN
 nets as Hurricane Irma approached.

"At our own EOC, the data from APRS stations was very important to our decision
 makers in the EOC to allow Fire and EMS back on the road, post storm," Davis
reported. "Our repeater went off the air due to power failure. I went to
reverse and listened to the repeater input and transmitted on the output, and
we maintained communications through the storm."

Davis said the Ham Aid mobile transceiver went to the area's special needs
shelter, primarily due to the fact that a handheld's signal was hampered by the
 building.

Northern Florida SM and Florida Emergency Support Functions 2 (ESF2 --
communications) Liaison Steve Szabo, WB4OMM, said on September 13 that the
Florida EOC may need Amateur Radio operators to provide communication support
in the Florida Keys. Volunteers will need a dual-band handheld with
earphone/headset, external gain antenna, spare batteries, and a charger. Food
and sleeping quarters are available, but responders must be self-sufficient for
 other personal needs. Deployment requests will vary.

"Do not self-deploy," Szabo stressed. "These missions will be filled through
the State of Florida EOC ESF2 Liaison." Interested hams should register,
selecting "Casework/Recovery" under Type of Work, and "Amateur Radio" under
Volunteer Skills. Potential volunteers will be notified and can accept or
decline an assignment. Volunteers may be required to pass a background check.

The Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN) was on extended monitoring
status from September 6 until September 13 for Hurricane Irma.

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) stood down on September 11 after more than 6 days
 of activation for Irma as well as for hurricanes José and Katia. "Once Irma
was downgraded to a Tropical Storm, our focus shifted to collecting post-storm
reports and handling emergency and priority traffic only," HWN Manager Bobby
Graves, KB5HAV, said. He anticipated that nets such as the HWN would "be busy
for days" handling health-and-welfare, emergency, and priority traffic. At
mid-week, the HWN was at at Alert Level 2 -- Monitoring Mode, keeping an eye on
 now-Tropical Storm José.

As if Earth's weather was not bad enough already, an X-class solar flare at
around midday on Sunday, September 10, hobbled the HF bands. The widespread
communication blackout lasted for nearly 3 hours and "could not have happened
at a worse time," Graves said. "But," he added, "we cannot control Mother
Nature, only work around her." Earlier solar flares also had affected HF
propagation.

The VoIP Hurricane Net activated over the weekend to track the impact of Irma
as well as of Hurricane Katia, which made landfall on the coast of southeastern
 Mexico. The activation continued until September 11. A listing of reports
received from Amateur Radio operators on the VoIP Hurricane Net, weather
stations monitored across the region, and relayed reports from social media are
 on the VoIP Hurricane Net viewer.

Puerto Rico fared better than had been expected. "We were lucky that all we got
 were tropical storm winds," said Puerto Rico Section Public Information
Coordinator Angel Santana-Diaz, WP3GW, adding that the storm did down some
trees on the island. While electrical power was up, there was still no water,
Santana said on September 11.

"Some repeater systems did operate without problems," Santana-Diaz said. "Our
Section Emergency Coordinator remained in contact with the Red Cross," he said,
 and on September 9, ham volunteers went to the island of Culebra to establish
HF communication there to keep in touch with the Red Cross office in San Juan,
where ARRL Puerto Rico Section Manager Oscar Resto, KP4RF, was stationed. More
than 350 Puerto Rico residents took advantage of Red Cross shelters, while
another 150 or so evacuated to shelters in the US Virgin Islands. Santana-Diaz
said the Friendly Net and Caribbean Emergency Weather Net (CEWN) were active
too.

In Cuba, Irma caused destruction from one end of the island to the other. Cuban
 Amateur Radio Federation (FRC) information officer Joel Carrazana Valdés,
CO6JC, said some 1,200 radio amateurs from all over Cuba "were active at the
disposal of the defense councils, providing one of the more valuable and
necessary services."

Radio Miami International (WRMI) reported on its Facebook page that Hurricane
Irma did extensive damage to the station's studio/transmitter site in
Okeechobee, Florida.

"Two antenna towers are down and many poles holding transmission lines are also
 down. Power went out at around 2030 UTC Sunday, and it may not be restored for
 days. Meanwhile, all transmitters are off the air," WRMI reported.

"We are off the air since Sunday night," WRMI Manager Jeff White told ARRL.
With internet service also out, the station doesn't even have a livestream
outlet. The Okeechobee site includes 14 transmitters (most of them 100 kW) and
23 antennas beamed in 11 different directions around the globe.

As Irma stormed the Caribbean, Amateur Radio was a crucial link in the US
Virgin Islands. Section Manager Fred Kleber, K9VV, was in contact with the Red
Cross and getting considerable help from FEMA, the National Guard, and US Navy
vessels. He told ARRL on September 7 that responders were in search-and-rescue
mode on St. Thomas, St. John's, and St. Croix -- all of which were severely
impacted. Work continued on evacuating people from the islands in St. Thomas
Harbor, damaged hospitals, and other buildings, and providing shelter. Traffic
was being passed from Kleber's location to stations in Puerto Rico and to the
Hurricane Watch Net, but solar flares compromised communication.

W1AW at ARRL Headquarters was in monitoring mode through last Saturday and
activated on Sunday.

In Irma's wake, radio amateurs in the Eastern Caribbean have been passing
information into and out of the affected area, Eric Mackie, 9Z4CP, told ARRL on
 September 12. The Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net (CEWN) has been using
7.162 MHz, 7.188 MHz, and 3.815 MHz, and has requested clear frequencies.

____________________________________________________________________________


Help the Ham Aid Response Effort in Florida and the US Virgin Islands

Due to this busy hurricane season, ARRL's inventory of Ham Aid kits has been
severely depleted. ARRL's Ham Aid program loans Amateur Radio equipment kits to
 established ARES and partner agencies during disaster response, in order to
establish Amateur Radio communications support.

ARRL has been supplying Ham Aid kits for the Hurricane Irma emergency response
efforts in Florida and the US Virgin Islands. Thanks to Tim Duffy, K3LR, of DX
Engineering, for quickly processing ARRL's purchase of six HF transceivers,
which enabled Ham Aid to respond within 24 hours to an equipment request from
the US Virgin Islands. ARRL used FEMA resources for shipping, and the gear is
on its way via contracted courier to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it will be
staged for deployment.

More Ham Aid equipment is needed for future requests. Please help ARRL in this
effort by contributing to the Ham Aid Fund, which is used to purchase new
equipment as well as to refurbish/repair previously deployed equipment. Your
contributions to Ham Aid are 100% tax deductible. To make a donation online, go
 to https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form and select "Ham Aid" from the ARRL
donation form. To donate by mail, follow the instructions on the web page,
noting "Ham Aid" on the memo line of your check.

____________________________________________________________________________


Emergency Net Activated in Wake of Earthquake in Mexico

The National Emergency Net of the FMRE -- Mexico's national Amateur Radio
association -- activated on 7.060 MHz (the net also operates on 3.690 and
14.120 MHz) to handle any emergency traffic after a late-evening earthquake
occurred off Mexico's coast on September 7. Radio amateurs not involved in the
earthquake disaster should avoid those frequencies, if active.

The potent magnitude 8.2 earthquake off Mexico's Pacific Coast -- the strongest
 in 100 years -- resulted in multiple fatalities. The tremor was felt around
Central America. At 0500 UTC, Jose Arturo Molina, YS1MS, reported feeling a
strong temblor within a few minutes of the earthquake in Chiapas, near Mexico's
 border with Guatemala. In Honduras, Antonio Handal, HR2DX, located on the
North Coast, also reported feeling the quake. A state of emergency continues in
 southern Mexico, and new aftershocks occurred this week, raising the
possibility that the National Emergency Net (RNE) could reactivate on 7.060 and
 14.120 MHz. -- Thanks to IARU Region 2 Coordinator Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P, for
 some information

____________________________________________________________________________


The Doctor Will See You Now!

"How High is High Enough" -- a discussion on the effects of antenna height --
is the topic of 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.

____________________________________________________________________________


QST Announces 2017 Antenna Design Competition Winners

QST has announced the winners of its 2017 Antenna Design Competition.

Following a solicitation for entries earlier this year, members submitted
nearly 100 antenna designs in three categories: 160 Meters and Lower
Frequencies, 80 Through 10 Meters, and 6 Meters and Higher Frequencies.

Winners will receive certificates and cash prizes. The winning designs are also
 eligible for publication in QST and other ARRL media.

160 Meters and Lower Frequencies

First Prize: Theodore P. Algren, KA6W, "A Linear-Loaded Low-Angle Radiating
Delta Loop for 160"

Second Prize: Joseph H. Reisert Jr., W1JR, "160 Meter Unipole Implementation"

Third Prize: Dave Ahlgren, K1BUK, "A Super Slinky Antenna for Top Band"

80 Through 10 Meters

First Prize: Alan Christman, K3LC, and Joseph Johnson, K3RR, "A Three-Element
Reversible 80-Meter Vertical Moxon Yagi"

Second Prize: Jacek Pawlowski, SP3L, "Cat's Whiskers -- A Broadband Multi-Loop
Antenna"

Third Prize: Herb Allred, N4HA, "A 20-Meter Two-Element Wire 'IV' Beam"

6 Meters and Higher Frequencies

First Prize: John Portune, W6NBC, "A Low Profile 2-Meter Mobile Antenna"

Second Prize: David P. Finell, N7LRY, "A 2-Meter Quadrifilar Helix Antenna"

Third Prize: Paul J. Kiesel, K7CW, "A 16-Element 6-Meter Collinear Array"

Honorable Mentions

The judges also selected several entries for Honorable Mentions. While these
individuals will not receive prizes or certificates, their designs will be
eligible for publication in QST.

80 Through 10 Meters

Donald P. Crosby, W1EJM, "A Mechanically Adjustable Flagpole Inverted L"

Roger Posthumus, WB2YQA, "An 80-10 Meter Vertical with Inductive Isolation"

Richard Kiefer, K0DK, "A 40-Meter Rotatable Dipole on a 24 Foot, 20 Meter Yagi
Boom"

Bernard Wehrli, HB9ALH, "An Optimum Height Inverted V for 20, 15, and 10
Meters"

Andrew Siegel, N2CN, "A Two-Element 40-Meter Wire Yagi"

Robert Perkins, W0JEE, and Bud Hammers, W5RPU, "A 1,200-foot Horizontal Loop
Antenna for MF through HF"

6 Meters and Higher Frequencies

Scott McCann, W3MEO, "A Portable Two-Element 6-Meter Yagi"

Yasuhiro Kawai, JH1KOJ, "Half Vivaldi; A Wide-Band Exponential Antenna"

Axel H. Lehmann, DG3AL, "A Compact, Lightweight Moxon Array for 2 Meters and 70
 Centimeters"

Hans E. Heyn, KB9MFQ, "A Horizontally Polarized 6-Meter Squalo for SSB"

____________________________________________________________________________


Collegiate Amateur Radio Symposium Holds Second Annual Meeting

The Amateur Radio Club at Yale University (W1YU) was the host for the 2nd
annual Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative (CARI) forum at the ARRL New England
 Division Convention, September 8-10, in Boxboro, Massachusetts. ARRL CEO Tom
Gallagher, NY2RF, who -- in light of the increasing number of reactivated and
newly formed radio clubs at colleges and universities -- has been a prime mover
 behind the League initiative, opened the session. Four presentations by
participating institutions followed.

Sean Barnes, N3JQ, of Harrisburg Academy, a prep school in Pennsylvania, led
off the presentations by sharing how ham radio fits into the curriculum at his
small private school, where all physics students earn their Technician licenses
 while studying electromagnetics. Barnes said he recently compiled a matrix of
329 collegiate Amateur Radio stations for CARI, and he spent a portion of his
presentation explaining the methods he used to create the database, as well as
plans for its use and future maintenance.

Scott Westerman, W9WSW, from Michigan State University, outlined simple
promotional approaches for collegiate radio clubs to increase membership.
Undaunted by the fact that Hurricane Irma caused the cancellation of his travel
 plans, Westerman addressed the forum via Skype. Westerman's own website is
dedicated to Amateur Radio club growth.

Captain Matthew Sherburne, KF4WZB, and a contingent of appropriately attired US
 Military Academy cadets, took the stage to recount the revitalization of the
West Point Amateur Radio Club. Sherburne emphasized the importance of
installing cutting-edge technology when setting up a new station, and making
sure there's plenty of power available for present and future needs. He also
discussed the delicate issue of installing antennas at historical properties
such as West Point.

West Point Club members and cadets Jonathan Morton, KE8EBT; Logan Leahy,
KD2MWT; Michala Wyrsch, and Christina Harris shared their experiences as
members of the club, including remote operations.

Case Western Reserve University Amateur Radio Club Faculty Advisor David
Kazdan, AD8Y, Treasurer Nathaniel Vishner, KB1QHX, and Vice President-Secretary
 Rachel Boedicker, AC8XY, discussed the University's Amateur Radio activities.
Amateur Radio at Case is intertwined with the electrical engineering
curriculum, and Kazdan spoke about the role of the faculty advisor in the
collegiate club and the importance of working collaboratively with the
engineering faculty to promote and grow a collegiate club.

The forum concluded with a round table discussion about the state of college
Amateur Radio, moderated by W1YU President Scott Matheson, N3NFP, who earned
his Amateur Extra-class license at the convention. Participants shared
challenges and ideas regarding what works and what doesn't when rebuilding a
collegiate club.

____________________________________________________________________________


Not All "Intruders" on Ham Bands are Illegal -- But a Lot of Them Are

The monthly newsletter of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1
Monitoring Service (IARUMS) typically makes for some interesting reading. While
 the reports that come from more than 2 dozen contributors can be a bit
visually dense, the content conveys the impression that that there are myriad
intruders on the Amateur Radio bands. However, not all of them are illegal, as
IARUMS points out, but a lot of the signals heard are not supposed to be where
they were monitored. The individual reports can be a bit humorous too.

"Get the grub, and I'll talk to you later this evening," was a snippet of a
conversation between two fishermen -- identified as Mick and Jack -- that an
Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) monitor overheard on 3.570 MHz and
reported to the IARUMS. The IRTS said the chatter was accompanied on both sides
 by "loud motor noise," and, if that were not sufficient detail, it pointed out
 that both men had Galway accents. Intruding signals from fishing crews
throughout IARU Region 1 are commonplace.

More blatant are the repeat offenders, such as the "Chinese foghorn" heard by
over-the-horizon (OTH) radars on several frequencies in the exclusive Amateur
Radio 20-meter allocation, as well as on 15 and 40 meters. IARUMS Region 1
Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, said the signals, 10 kHz wide and with 50 and
66.66 sweeps per second, transmit in burst mode and often jump frequencies.

Some signals from military stations on non-exclusive Amateur Radio allocations
are legal. For example, the latest IARUMS newsletter cites the STANAG-4285
military signal that showed up for a few days in August on 5,361.8 kHz. The
STANAG-4285 transmissions, coming from a Navy facility in Aarhus, quit on
August 28. "Many thanks to the Danish Navy for leaving this frequency!" Hadel
added, noting that the Danish Navy is a primary user, and "We have to respect
primary users!"

Adding a little mystery and intrigue to the compilation was a report from a
radio amateur in the UK citing a "female voice with encrypted messages" on
14.212 MHz, believed to originate with the Ukraine Foreign Intelligence Service
 in Rivne.

In the "miscellaneous or bad news" category were some repeat offenders, such as
 Radio Hargaysa in Somalia on 7,120.0 kHz; Radio Eritrea and white noise
interference from Radio Ethiopia persisting on 7,140.0 kHz and 7,180 kHz; a
third harmonic of Radio Tajik on 4,765 kHz, showing up on 14,295.0 kHz; the
Sound of Hope from Taiwan on 18,080 kHz; the Russian Navy's CW on 21,438.0 kHz,
 and Radio Iran "in burst mode" on 28,960.0 kHz daily.

True intruders are those appearing on exclusive Amateur Radio frequency
allocations. Some domestic Amateur Radio HF allocations outside Region 2 (the
Americas), such as 7.200 to 7.300 MHz, are either shared with other services or
 not available to radio amateurs.

____________________________________________________________________________


Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, Tapped as New NCJ Editor

Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, of Rochester, Minnesota, will assume the helm of
National Contest Journal (NCJ) starting with the January/February 2018 issue.
He will succeed Pat Barkey, N9RV, who has served as NCJ's editor since 2015.
Licensed as a teenager in 1977, Wright is a very active contester and operator.

"I started contesting actively in 2006 and enjoy all types of contests," Wright
 said. "I've designed my home contest station to perform well in the DX
contests -- CQ WW, CQ WPX, ARRL DX, and others." He has set up his station for
SO2R (single operator, two radio), or multi-one or multi-two contesting. He's
also an active DXer, with more than 315 DXCC entities to his credit.

An ARRL Life Member and Maxim Society member, Wright will become the magazine's
 16th editor. He is a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and three
of his four children are radio amateurs. Wright has contested from outside the
US, logging 10 years of activity from Turks and Caicos Islands (VP5H on SSB and
 VP5S on CW) with Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, and other members of the Minnesota
Wireless Association (MWA), where he's a member. He also has operated from
Chile as CE2/K0MD, and from China's B1Z club station.

[NCJ_logo.jpg] Wright organized the 2008 and 2009 W0DXCC meetings, which
largely focused on contest station development. He founded the Rochester DX and
 Contest Club to promote radiosport involvement in southern Minnesota and
northern Iowa. He also belongs to several DX clubs, prefers CW, and is a
lifetime CWOps member.

Wright said Barkey will continue as an NCJ advisor and contributor. Published
by ARRL, NCJ is mailed to subscribers six times a year.

____________________________________________________________________________


In Brief...

Two Radio Amateurs are Among Three New ISS Crew Members: After a 6-hour flight,
 astronauts Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, and Joe Acaba, KE5DAR, and cosmonaut
Alexander Misurkin arrived at the International Space Station on September 12.
The trio launched aboard the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from Kazakhstan, orbited
Earth four times, and then docked at the space station. The hatches between the
 spacecraft and station opened early on September 13. The arrival of Vande Hei,
 Acaba, and Misurkin restores the station's crew to six. They join Expedition
53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryazanskiy and Paolo
Nespoli, IZ0JPA. Once they've settled in, Acaba and Vande Hei are expected to
averate one or two -- and possibly as many as four -- Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contacts a week. That rate will drop when
Nespoli leaves in December with Bresnik and Ryazanskiy. Vande Hei, Acaba, and
Misurkin are slated to return in February.


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