July 19, 1996

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IN THIS UPDATE . . .

KR0Y-K1TO TEAM TOPS WRTC-96

When the smoke cleared Sunday, July 14, the team of Jeffrey Steinman, KR0Y, and Dan Street, K1TO--operating as W6X--wound up at the top of the heap in the second World Radiosport Team Championship. The WRTC-96 event featured 52 team stations (plus two "wild-card" exhibition teams) operating 18 hours of the IARU HF World Championship contest July 13-14 from the San Francisco Bay area of California. Jeff and Dan operated from the QTH of WA6AHF. K1TO called the accomplishment "the highlight of my ham radio career."

All teams had similar 100-W stations and used comparable antennas. In the case of the winning pair at W6X in San Lorenzo, that meant a Hy-Gain TH6 at 50 feet and a pair of ICOM IC-765s. The 40-meter dipoles of at least the first three finishers were wire inverted Vs made by WRTC-96 for the host stations.

"This whole week has been one of the most fantastic parties ham radio has ever seen," said John Zapisek, K2MM, who posted the scores on the contest reflector for an anxiously waiting contest community.

WRTC-96 Treasurer Dave Leeson, W6QHS, offered "hearty congratulations to the top finishers, but also to all the champions that made up the 52 competing teams and the two demonstration teams."

Several other well-known contest call signs also were in the top 10. They included Georgians K4BAI and KM9P in the second spot as K6T, operating from NQ6X, and the W6R team of K6LL and N2IC in the number-three position, operating from AF6S. The winners of the first WRTC in Seattle in 1990, John Dorr, K1AR, and Doug Grant, K1DG, placed 13th this time around.

W1AW/3, operating from the QTH of Frank Donovan, W3LPL, in Glenwood, Maryland, handed out the official ARRL HQ multiplier to IARU contesters. The ARRL was among the sponsors of WRTC-96. W1AW racked up 5,139,207 points in the IARU event, which uses different scoring than WRTC. The W1AW/3 operation was a joint effort of the Frankford Radio Club and the Potomac Valley Radio Club. In addition to W3LPL, the operators were AA3NM, K3DI, K3NA, K3RA, KA2AEV, KJ4VG, N3ADL, N3QYA, N5OKR, ND3A, ND3F, W3MR, WA3WJD, WB4NFS, WM2H, WN3K, WR3E and WR3Z.

QSLs will be sent to all stations who worked W1AW/3. Send QSLs to W1AW, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

Here's the scoring rundown from WRTC-96: 

   CALL   OP 1    OP 2      JUDGE   QTH      SCORE     QSOs  MUL  UNIQ

 1. W6X   KR0Y    K1TO      UA6HZ   WA6AHF   761,829   2457  183  1.7
 2. K6T   K4BAI   KM9P      W6UM    NQ6X     678,132   2511  162  1.2
 3. W6R   K6LL    N2IC      WR3G    AF6S     655,720   2424  169  1.1
 4. K6P   VE3EJ   VE3IY     OH2KI   N6UUG    647,112   2343  177  2.0
 5. K6C   K4UEE   N6IG      BA1FP   WB6PCJ   644,059   2355  169  0.9
 6. W6T   K5ZD    WX3N      K6SSS   AB6CW    616,308   2170  174  1.2
 7. W6D   K1KI    K3UA      AA7FT   K6YT     606,550   2145  175  1.6
 8. W6Q   9A3A    S53R      W7NI    WA6GFY   598,272   2233  164  2.1
 9. W6V   KF3P    KR2J      N6RA    WB6YRN   577,575   2352  151  1.6
10. W6P   K8CC    K5GO      K7LXC   WB6WSL   568,435   2370  149  1.0
11. K6V   W2GD    W0UA      S59AA   KE6HUA   568,378   2465  146  2.4
12. K6W   N6TV    K7SS      N6KT    AB6DI    556,928   2261  152  1.5
13. W6I   K1AR    K1DG      S50R    KK6WP    547,404   2204  156  1.3
14. W6Y   DL1IAO  DK3GI     NB6G    AD6E     545,756   1993  167  1.7
15. K6D   DL5XX   DL1VJ     KJ4VH   NF6S     532,728   2183  147  2.3
16. K6R   LZ1SA   LZ2PO     OK2FD   N6BT     531,552   2256  147  2.1
17. W6F   OH2IW   OH1JT     KT3Y    AG6D     530,000*  2100  155  2.0
18. K6G   NP4Z    WC4E      K5MM    K6MA     527,592   2238  152  2.8
19. W6A   K3LR    WA8YVR    AB6NJ   KEOT     523,672   2478  134  2.2
20. K6X   UA3DPX  RZ9UA     AI7B    WB6UTY   518,666   1960  163  1.7
21. K6Z   JH4NMT  JE3MAS    W0UN    W6YX     512,535   2318  141  3.4
22. W6S   LY2IJ   LY1DS     S50A    AA6YQ    509,392   1958  158  1.9
23. W6B   S59A    S56A      I2UIY   AE0M     507,318   2257  141  1.7
24. K6Y   OK1CF   OK2PAY    W7RM    W6DU     499,796   2143  148  2.3
25. W6H   RW1AC   RV1AW     PY5EG   AI6V     497,965   1841  163  1.0
26. K6I   JH7PKU  JO1BMV    CT1BOH  KN6VO    488,940   2296  145  2.1
27. K6S   ON4UN   ON9CIB    W3ZZ    N6WFK    480,326   2120  154  2.4
28. W6U   EA1AK   EA4KR     N0AX    W6JD     470,744   1918  152  1.7
29. W6G   JE1JKL  JH7WKQ    OH2MM   N6OM     470,237   1984  139  2.0
30. K6U   SM3DMP  SM3CER    N7NG    AJ6V     465,075   2165  135  1.1
31. W6O   ZS6EZ   ZS6NW     VE7SV   KV6S     461,553   2093  137  1.7
32. K6O   N6TR    WN4KKN    WA7NIN  KW6C     454,476   2331  121  0.6
33. W6E   EA7TL   EA9KB     N2AA    K6XV     445,356   1871  139  1.6
34. K6N   YT1AD   YU1RL     K3ZO    WB6AFJ   440,358   2228  140  3.7
35. W6W   LU6ETB  LU/OH0XX  I0JBL   W6OPO    437,016   2319  131  3.3
36. K6J   N2NT    KZ2S      S57AL   KK6EK    426,656   1902  134  1.1
37. W6K   F6FGZ   F5MUX     K5RC    W6VG     418,375   2276  125  3.1
38. K6A   JH4RHF  JA8RWU    9A5W    K6SMH    412,388   1981  131  2.7
39. K6H   DJ6QT   DJ2YA     RW9UP   N6DA     411,376   2353  112  1.6
40. K6K   UT5UGR  UT4UZ     S59L    KG6FR    398,399   1863  127  1.3
41. K6F   IT9BLB  IT9VDQ    UA9BA   KM6OH    385,280   2000  128  3.1
42. K6B   9A9A    9A3GW     G3SXW   AB6YL    383,166   1886  126  1.2
43. K6Q   VE7NTT  VE7CC     K0KR    WM6R     362,440   1546  130  0.4
44. K6E   HA0MM   HA0DU     AA6XZ   KK6PH    357,885   1759  135  4.0
45. K6M   GI0NWG  G3OZF     K4XU    WB6JJJ   357,094   1884  132  3.0
46. W6Z   VK5GN   VK2AYD    RU1AA   W6NA     343,604   1822  124  2.2
47. W6J   SP6AZT  SP9FKQ    K6NA    K6LM     330,876   2023  117  2.4
48. W6L   UN4L    UN2L      W7YAQ   KM6AV    309,518   1796  121  4.9
49. K6L   SP9HWN  SP9IJU    JA7RHJ  W6ISO    298,178   2149  97   3.7
50. W6N   I4UFH   I2VXJ     KC7V    KE6KXO   269,028   1728  106  3.3
51. W6M   PY0FF   PY5CC     S56M    AB6CJ    231,066   1580  99   2.6
52. W6C   IN3QBR  IT9TQH    K8AZ    AA6LY    185,070   1615  93   5.0

*Approximate score; computerized log file was damaged.
The exhibition team of YL2KL and YL3DW, using AH3C at the station of WZ6Z, racked up 1591 and 140 multipliers; the BA1OK and BA4RC demonstration team, signing AH3D at the QTH of W6JZU, had 1913 QSOs and 120 multipliers.

SHUTTLE-MIR MISSION LAUNCH POSTPONED UNTIL SEPTEMBER

NASA managers have decided to replace the reusable solid-rocket motors on the space shuttle Atlantis, delaying until mid-September the planned July 31, 1996, launch to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir. STS-79 will carry the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment, or SAREX. Atlantis' motors are being replaced because technicians disassembling the motors of the previous shuttle mission, STS-78, observed that hot gas had seeped into J-joints in the field joints of the motors.

STS-79 now is set to take off early on the morning of September 15, 1996, for a nine-day flight. This, the fourth Mir docking mission, will use SAREX configuration "M," which is FM voice, using the shuttle-Mir 2-meter radio.

Three schools--two in the US and one in England--have been confirmed for SAREX QSOs during STS-79: Andover Middle School in Andover, Kansas; Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Celina, Ohio, and The Royal School for Girls in Surrey, England.

Three hams will be aboard STS-79. Jay Apt, N5QWL, a mission specialist, has flown on three previous shuttle missions and used Amateur Radio on each flight. Carl Walz, KC5TIE, participated in SAREX from Columbia during STS-65 in July 1994, before earning his ham ticket. Making his fifth shuttle mission is John Blaha, KC5TZQ, a mission specialist. During STS-79, Blaha will switch places with astronaut Shannon Lucid, and remain with the Mir space station for 5 months. Lucid has been aboard Mir since March 1996. Other STS-79 crew members include Commander William Readdy, Pilot Terrence Wilcutt and Mission Specialist Thomas Akers.

See the ARRL SAREX Web page at http://www.arrl.org/sarex/ for more information.

KEN CAMERON, KB5AWP, TO LEAVE ASTRONAUT CORPS

Shuttle astronaut and Marine Corps Colonel Ken Cameron, KB5AWP, will leave NASA on August 5 to pursue other career interests. Cameron--a three-time shuttle flight veteran who became an astronaut in 1984--will join Hughes Training Inc, as Executive Director of Houston Operations.

"Ken's contributions to the astronaut office and to NASA have been valuable," said David C. Leestma, director of Flight Crew Operations. "He was instrumental in setting up the support system for NASA astronauts training in Russia. We wish him well in his new career." Cameron first flew as pilot on STS-37 in 1991 and served as commander on two subsequent missions, STS-56 in 1993 and STS-74 in 1995.

BERTHA TESTS NORTH CAROLINA HAMS; GOVERNOR EXPRESSES APPRECIATION

Although North Carolina Hurricane Awareness Week was a week away, Bertha didn't wait. After dithering for a while in the Atlantic, threatening to visit Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and then appearing to break up, Hurricane Bertha picked up some steam, turned north and stormed up the North Carolina coast July 12. The storm caused considerable damage along the coast, and spawned tornadoes 150 miles inland in the Raleigh area.

Dozens of Amateur Radio Emergency Service operators took their customary places in Emergency Operation Centers in coastal counties and at the state EOC in the capital, Raleigh. The Tarheel Emergency Net--North Carolina's primary ARES net--went into continuous operation on 3923 kHz until midday July 13. Skywarn nets were activated along the coast and in Raleigh to update the National Weather Service on changing conditions.

Although power and telephones were knocked out over wide areas, state emergency communications systems held up well, and hams had only limited opportunities to assist. The Skywarn nets provided the most critical information, but even there, the hurricane-generated tornadoes were very short-lived and sporadic, making warnings useless. Bertha turned out to be more of a drill for amateurs than an actual emergency, but ham radio's efforts were recognized by North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt Jr, who sent this message: "Thank you for volunteering your time, equipment and expertise helping in the Bertha emergency. Your devotion to public service exemplifies the ideals that make this state great."--Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, NC Section Public Information Coordinator

W4O TO COMMEMORATE OLYMPICS

Jim Altman, N4UCK, in Atlanta, Georgia, reports that the special-event 1x1 call sign W4O has been issued as the official Olympics commemorative station. Altman, the call sign's trustee, says the call sign will remain in use by various clubs and groups until August 31. Among the clubs expected to use the call sign is the Sci-Trek Amateur Radio Society (STARS) operating from the Science Museum of Atlanta. He said the group or groups using the call sign--or one of the authorized Olympics alternatives, such as W400O, W96O or W26O--will determine the operating schedule and handle QSL chores.

Altman said to direct QSLs per the instructions of the operator on duty at the time of the contact. N4UCK has been giving the call sign an SSB workout on 20 meters and 10 meters.

FCC ISSUED CALL SIGN UPDATE

The following is a list of the FCC's most recently issued call signs as of July 1, 1996: 

District    Group A     Group B     Group C      Group D
            Extra       Advanced    Tech/Gen     Novice

0           AB0CI       KI0DP        ++          KB0WWW
1           AA1QH       KE1FL       N1XPG        KB1BYU
2           AB2BO       KG2HR        ++          KB2ZKI
3           AA3OP       KE3WW       N3XTT        KB3BPL
4           AE4VY       KT4SW        ++          KF4KQM
5           AC5IX       KM5BR        ++          KC5VEB
6           AC6WA       KQ6HP        ++          KF6EWW
7           AB7RL       KJ7YY        ++          KC7RTO
8           AA8XM       KG8XY        ++          KC8EIA
9           AA9SS       KG9HD        ++          KB9NZU
Hawaii        #         AH6OQ         #          WH6DCB
Alaska        #         AL7QM       KL0AA        WL7EKK
Virgin Is   WP2X        KP2CJ       NP2JI        WP2AIE
Puerto      KP3B        KP3AB       NP3CF        WP4NMF
Rico

# New prefixes are available for this block, but none have been issued.
++All call signs in this group have been issued in this area.
MORE FCC HAM APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE ON THE NET AND VIA FAX

FCC Forms 610A (Application for permit of an Alien Amateur Radio Licensee to Operate in the United States) and 610B (Application for an Amateur Club, RACES or Military Recreation Station License) now are available from the FCC's forms page on the Internet (http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/ or ftp to ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Forms) and via the FCC's fax-on-demand service, 202-418-0177. They join Forms 610 and 610V which have been available from these sources.

When requesting forms from the fax-on-demand service, callers must be calling from the handset of their fax machine, and must know the ID number of the form they want (an index of forms is available). The numbers for the amateur forms are: 

Form 610   000610
Form 610A  006101
Form 610B  006102
Form 610V  006108

LAST GASP FOR CYCLE 22?

Solar prognosticator Tad Cook, KT7H, asks: Is this a last gasp for Cycle 22? Solar activity recently took a big and unexpected jump, with solar flux peaking at 83.6 on July 9, and the average sunspot number up almost 6 points beyond the previous week.

Solar flares around the first of the month produced slow-moving protons which affected the A and K indices around July 3, 4 and 5. The highest K index was 4. A later flare disturbed conditions on July 12 and 13 during the IARU HF World Championship.

Cook predicts the solar flux will again rise above 70 after July 28. The next solar rotation will probably bring the current active region around again to bump the solar flux up around 80 after August 1.

Sunspot numbers for July 4 through 10 were 12, 12, 0, 27, 42, 44 and 36, respectively, with a mean of 24.7. The 10.7-cm flux was 69.1, 68.6, 68.2, 71.9, 81.6, 83.6, and 79.8, respectively, for a mean of 74.7.

AMATEUR RADIO AWARENESS DAY IS SEPTEMBER 21

Amateur Radio Awareness Day, September 21, 1996, offers the perfect opportunity to drum up media interest in local ham radio activities and spread the word in your community. Anything goes for this PR event.

What can you do? Well, you can write and distribute news release about Amateur Radio Awareness Day and invite the public to a ham radio demonstration. Set up your equipment in a classroom or on the town green or local shopping mall for maximum visibility. Press kits and other aids to help you promote ham radio for Awareness Day in your community are available from ARRL's Public Relations Office. Contact Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, Media Relations Assistant, 860-594-0328; e-mail jgagne@arrl.org.

DOVE-17 UPDATE

The ailing DOVE-OSCAR 17 (DO-17) satellite might be on the road to recovery. New software was installed early this month in DO-17. The spacecraft now is sending a few channels of ASCII telemetry every few seconds. DOVE was last on the air with its full complement of software for a brief time last Christmas. Subsequent attempts in January to update the DO-17 software were unsuccessful, and numerous efforts since then to load the normal operational software also failed. Various diagnostics programs checked hardware components, but test results were negative. A few months ago, the DO-17 team turned its attention to creating totally new software that would at least get the 2-meter transmitter on the air, provide some data usable for educational purposes and perhaps allow more complete hardware testing. The DOVE team also wanted to assure it could keep the S-band beacon on, and it hopes the new software is a step in the right direction.

DOVE now runs approximately 4 W AFSK on 145.825 MHz. Data format is an MBL (Microsat Boot Loader) header followed by seven channels of ASCII telemetry in hex. Data have not been verified for accuracy. S-band should be on, although this has not been verified. Further modifications are still in the works, so things could change at any time, however. The DO-17 team would appreciate positive reports of S-band reception. Direct reports to wd0e@amsat.org.--Jim White, WD0E

CLAYTON CLARK, AC7O, SK

Clayton Clark, AC7O (ex-W7FFV) of Logan, Utah, died June 7. He was 84. A ham for more than 60 years, Clark was a World War II veteran and a Stanford University graduate. He was a former professor of electrical engineering at Utah State Agricultural College and once served as director of the Engineering Experiment Station and the Aeronomy Center there. He also was active in emergency communication work, the Boy Scouts and the American Association of Retired Persons and as a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His wife, Helen, and two daughters, and several grandchildren--including Dennis Jacobson, KB7SCR--are among the survivors.

FRANK P. MAGGIORE, N3FGN, SK

Frank Maggiore, N3FGN (ex-K3GQC), president of Maggiore Electronic Lab in West Chester, Pennsylvania, died June 25. He was 59. His widow, Darina, KB3AJC, reports he suffered a fatal stroke after he was hospitalized for heart problems and had been scheduled for bypass surgery. At the time, she was recuperating from a broken hip in another hospital and was unable to attend her husband's memorial service. Maggiore Electronic Lab has been in the repeater business for 18 years and in the electronics business for 26 years. Darina Maggiore says the couple's son, Paul, will take over the business. Two other children also survive.

In Brief . . .

  • New call sign? No problem! Some hams sporting call signs newly acquired via the vanity call sign program have worried that the ARRL might lose track of them, especially for QST mailings and various League-sponsored awards programs like DXCC or VUCC. Rest assured, it's not a problem. We deal with changing call signs all the time as hams upgrade. Just let us know about your new call sign so we can list it correctly in membership and subscription records.

  • The Raymond Sarrio Co has a free ham radio classified advertising page on its Web site. Set your browser to http://www.csz.com/sarrio.html to check it out. Any ham can place a free classified ad by filling out the forms page and submitting it. The ad appears immediately. There's a search engine available to let you look for specific types of equipment and manufacturers. You can even make an offer on listed items on line. The Raymond Sarrio Co site also offers news, opinion polls and other information, including, of course, the company's catalogue. For more information, call Ray at 909-987-7761.

  • AMSAT-DL President Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, received the prestigious Horkheimer Prize this year at the Friedrichshafen, Germany, ham radio convention. The prize is awarded to members of an IARU Amateur Radio society by the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) for "merits of amateur radio, its further development and the goals of DARC." The award is named for Rudolf Horkheimer, one of the first radio amateurs in Germany. AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, sent Meinzer a congratulatory message.--AMSAT News Service

  • The vanity call sign program has been immensely popular. To date, the unofficial vanity receipt total is almost 3000. FCC statistics also show that as of the end of June, new licensees age 21 or younger totaled 372 more than a month earlier.--FCC

  • Icelandic Radio-Scouts will operate special-event station TF1SS, July 21-28, as part of the Icelandic National Jamboree 1996 at Lake Ulfljotsvatn (HP94mc), some 50 km east of Reykjavik. The name of this event is "On the Viking Trail," and its main theme is Viking culture. Scouts from Iceland and elsewhere in the world will take part. Operation will be on HF, VHF and UHF. QSL direct to the Icelandic Radio-Scouts: Radjoskatar (TF3BIS), Snorrabraut 60, IS-105 Reykjavik, Iceland.

The ARRL Letter is published by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Rodney J. Stafford, KB6ZV, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.

Electronic edition circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.

Editorial, Rick Lindquist, KX4V, e-mail rlindquist@arrl.org.

Visit the ARRL Web page at http://www.arrl.org/.

The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate and readable in our reporting.

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