• Vanity program is back in business!
• ARISS: A permanent ham station in space
• OSCAR 13, SK
• Tests put Phase 3D closer to reality
• W0CXX returns to the airwaves
• W1AA to Marconi club
• Solar flux numbers soar!
• New NCJ editor
• Army MARS to handle holiday greetings
• In Brief: Help wanted; Correction; Cover Plaque Award winner; Young hams up; 624 Kits out of business; AVVid to handle Tucker service.

Happy Thanksgiving! The FCC has granted approximately 700 new vanity call signs after turning down several petitions for reconsideration that had held up the program for a few weeks. Several hams whose Gate 2 applications arrived too early and were dismissed had petitioned the FCC to reinstate their applications. The petitions were dismissed, according to an FCC spokesman. The latest call signs issued are from applications received by the FCC between September 24 and 27--after the Gate 2 opening of September 23. An estimated 20% of the applications ended up in the WIPS, or "works in process," stack for special handling--in some cases because the FCC was unable to grant any of the applicant's call sign choices, in others because there was a problem with the application.

An FCC spokesman in the Private Wireless Division said the petitioners failure to get their applications to the FCC on the correct date was a matter for resolution between the petitioners and the courier service involved (the same in all cases) and not the FCC. The Memorandum of Opinion and Order said the petitioners did not show that either Mellon Bank, the FCC's fiscal agent, or the FCC itself was in error in how it handled the applications. The Commission also cited a 1984 public notice that stated the FCC would not consider any claims of this type where a delivery service was blamed for an application's not being filed on time.

Applicants can check for new call signs using the FCC Transaction Engine on the ARRLWeb page, http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fccld.html.

The FCC now gives equal weight to all vanity applications from any of the vanity gates opened to date. This means that a Gate 1 applicant trying to regain a former call sign who applied after the September 23 opening day for Gate 2 could miss out if that call sign already has been issued to a Gate 2 applicant. The FCC considers all vanity applications from all open gates in order of day received.

Meanwhile, the FCC also has worked its way through the estimated 550 first-day Gate 2 applications that ended up in WIPS. Following the initial wave of Gate 2 vanity call signs on November 4 (released to the public the following day) and before the most recent wave, the FCC granted another 176 call signs in all vanity categories, most, if not all, among the estimated 550 Gate 2, day-one applications that ended up in the WIPS stack at the FCC.

Those whose applications are dismissed must apply for a refund of the $30 processing fee in writing (the FCC does not spell this out when applications are dismissed and returned). When requesting a refund, include your Social Security Number and the FCC file number that's stamped on your application. No special FCC form is required.

Applications for vanity call signs continue to show up at the FCC. From October 21 through November 7, the FCC had received an additional 459 vanity program applications. The FCC reports that 210 were hard-copy applications, while the other 249 were filed electronically. A spokesman in Gettysburg advised hams filing new or modified applications to be extremely careful in completing their paperwork. "We are seeing a lot of errors," he said. Among the common ones are a name that does not agree with the FCC's database, call sign incorrect, or a license that expires within a year and the renewal box is not checked. "Please double check before you submit," he advised. "It creates a lot of extra work for us and delays the issuance of the license if you don't."

The FCC has not announced when it plans to open Gates 3 and 4 of the vanity program.

As the FCC call sign update tapes are received and uploaded, new call sign information is inserted into ARRL membership records that can be matched against the corresponding FCC record. Your mailing label should reflect your new call sign by the February issue of QST.

A foundation has been laid to give Amateur Radio a permanent presence in space. Earlier this month, Amateur Radio delegates from eight countries--Russia, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, France and the US--met at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to map plans to include a permanent ham radio station aboard the International Space Station, to be tended by station crew members.

From the United States, members of the SAREX Working Group, officials from NASA, US representatives of the Russian Mir Amateur Radio experiment and members of the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club attended the meetings November 4 and 5, chaired by Roy Neal, K6DUE. ARRL Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN (ex-WB5IGF), represented the League at the gathering. SAREX Working Group member Rosalie White, WA1STO, of the ARRL Headquarters staff, was among those on hand. The delegates jointly developed a draft memorandum of understanding to promote the development of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station--to be known as ARISS.

The ARISS group will provide for the planning, coordination and performance of Amateur Radio projects on the space station, similar to the way the SAREX Working Group currently coordinates Amateur Radio activities on many space shuttle missions. AMSAT and IARU organizations in each of the eight countries are to review and consider approving the memorandum of understanding. In the US, this includes AMSAT-NA and the ARRL.

The AMSAT-NA Board unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding at its November 11 Board of Directors meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Once the memorandum is finalized, AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, has been given authority by the board to sign it. AMSAT-NA Vice President for Manned Space Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, congratulated the international ARISS team for a job well done. "We look forward to a truly cooperative international venture on the International Space Station," he said. --AMSAT News Service

OSCAR 13 has been declared dead. Early in the weekend of November 23-24, OSCAR 13's solar panels began to fail as the satellite's degrading orbit brought it into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere (the satellite's perigee is approximately 110 km). System voltages began to plummet, and at 0538 UTC on Sunday, November 24, the satellite ceased to function. OSCAR 13 no longer responds to ground commands, and it is expected to re-enter and burn up in Earth's atmosphere on December 5 or 6.

Graham Ratcliff, VK5AGR, of the AO-13 command team, reports that the satellite's engineering beacon ceased transmitting on orbit 6481 after the satellite had spent just over 8 years in space. Ratcliff confirmed this loss of signal with VK5ED who was also monitoring the telemetry when the transmission stopped. Further attempts to command AO-13 were unsuccessful!

"Therefore, it is with great sadness that we must assume that AO-13 is dead!!!!" the AO-13 team announced via the Internet.

As the weekend approached, stations monitoring the progress of OSCAR 13's demise reported increasing internal temperatures--approaching 100 degrees C. Before it quit altogether, the satellite was down to one operational solar panel.

Before it died, AO-13 broadcast a "birth announcement" to welcome the pending Phase 3D satellite. The message, on November 20, said: "My child, P3D, began 'thinking' today when its IHU was activated. I'm glad I lived long enough to learn of this wonderful event. I wish P3D a long, functional live. Do not grieve for me when I'm gone. I'm only metal, plastic, and sand. My 'life' came from enriching the lives of those who built, commanded and utilized me, and it's been a good 'life'." Danke, Karl [Meinzer, DJ4ZC], et al. No regrets. The baton will soon be passed. AO-13 signing off."--Amsat News Service

The Phase 3D specific bearing structure (SBS) and spacecraft moved one step closer to launch after apparently surviving preliminary dynamic testing. AMSAT-DL's Konrad Mueller, DG7FDQ, and AMSAT-NA's Vice President, Engineering, Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, journeyed to Les Mureaux, France, in early November to conduct the first dynamic tests of AMSAT's Phase 3D spaceframe and launch structure while mated with an Ariane 5 vehicle test stand. The tests, conducted at Aerospatiale's facilities in Les Mureaux, used the flight model SBS that will carry Phase 3D on the upper stage of the Ariane 5 during launch. In these tests, the engineering model of the Phase 3D spaceframe, built in Germany in 1993, was also used to simulate a "full-up" Phase 3D spacecraft.

During the tests, Mueller was able to add the required mass to the spacecraft model by mounting wooden blocks in the equipment bays of the model to simulate electronic modules. He also installed large, plastic, water-filled jugs to the model to simulate "full"fuel tanks.

At the start of these tests, the now-550-kg spacecraft model was placed very carefully inside the flight model SBS. Next, the completed structure was fitted with adapter rings to mate it to the test stand. Jansson reports that during this procedure, the alignment of all 244 holes on both the top and bottom of the SBS with the Ariane 5 test hardware was so perfect that a special measurement test ring was not needed.

The actual dynamic tests were then conducted by placing a portable vibration exciter at various points on the combined structure to see at which frequencies (if any) the structure resonated. This information is critical to the flight, because unknown or undampened resonances in the hardware could tear the Phase 3D spacecraft or the SBS apart during launch vibrations, possibly causing damage to other launch passengers or even to the upperstage of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

Mueller and Jansson report that, by all indications, the Phase 3D SBS and spacecraft "passed with flying colors," as the resonances and intensities were well within ESA's required (and AMSAT's predicted) tolerances. A final report on these tests will be released in December.

The next major hurdle for the Phase 3D SBS and spaceframe occurs later this month and in early December, when both the separation support structures holding the Phase 3D spacecraft in the SBS and the SBS itself will be subjected to static loads of nearly 5 metric tons (5.5 tons). These tests will simulate the stresses expected on the Phase 3D hardware during the Ariane 5 launch. --AMSAT News Service

The Federal Communications Commission recently awarded Art Collins' long-time Amateur Radio call sign, W0CXX, to the Rockwell-Collins Employees Amateur Radio Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Collins, the company's founder, died in 1987.

On Sunday, November 24, in conjunction with the Collins Collectors Association Net, the club operated a special-event station on the CCA net frequency of 14.263 MHz to commemorate the reissuance of the historic call sign. Warren Bruene, W5OLY, one of the first Collins engineers and a long-time friend Art Collins had the honor being the first station worked by W0CXX (at 2016 UTC from KK5IM in Dallas). The operators in Cedar Rapids bestowed this honor on Warren after observing 15 seconds of silence in Art's memory. "There was not a dry eye in my shack as W0CXX's signals came to life on our vintage Collins amateur equipment," reports Jay Miller, KK5IM, author of The Pocket Guide to Collins Amateur Radio Equipment 1946 to 1980.

The station in Cedar Rapids was manned by Tom Vinson, NY0V, trustee of W0CXX, and Rod Blocksome, K0DAS. "Warren and the Collins family were instrumental in helping us obtain Art's call for our club station," said Vinson. "We are most honored that they did this for us." The station remained on the air until well past 6 PM Central Time, making nearly 200 contacts with Collins collectors, former employees and many, many old-time hams who remembered working Art Collins in the 30s, 40s and 50s.

A special QSL will be available to all who worked W0CXX during the initial round of contacts. --Jay Miller, KK5IM

The FCC has assigned W1AA to the Marconi Radio Club, headquartered in Lakeville, Massachusetts. The club's Gate 2 vanity call sign application was held up for special processing. It was issued November 20.

"You can't believe how happy we are that the Marconi Radio Club got the W1AA call--it is most appropriate for the Marconi RC," said Whitey Doherty, K1VV, the club's president. The club's call sign had been KB1BOK, but Doherty said members didn'thave much interest in using the call sign. He expects that to change now that the club has obtained W1AA. Doherty said members will use the call for contests, DXing and other activities. A separate database will track W1AA award progress toward WAS, DXCC and other awards.

"This whole new call sign activity is a great shot for Amateur Radio," Doherty said. "It will put all these calls back on the air as they should be--active!! The vanity call sign program has been very positive for the amateur community."

Solar prognosticator Tad Cook, KT7H, in Seattle reports: The recent rise in solar flux continued over the weekend to an unexpected level. On November 24, WWV reported that the solar flux was 100, a level which we have not seen since September 1994!

In the last solar report, I asked if the recent rise might be the end of the doldrums and the start of significant activity in Cycle 23. I'm not certain, but I believe the areas that are causing all the activity are near the Sun's equator, which suggests that they might be some improbable last gasps from the waning cycle.

The flux numbers given in this weekly bulletin are always the noon measurements from the Penticton, British Columbia, observatory, but there are actually three per day. Below is a table of each flux value for every day since the last bulletin:

11/21/96 1800 UTC: 74.2
11/21/96 2000 UTC: 74.4
11/21/96 2200 UTC: 75.5
11/22/96 1800 UTC: 79.5
11/22/96 2000 UTC: 82.6
11/22/96 2200 UTC: 82.3
11/23/96 2200 UTC: 95.0
11/23/96 2000 UTC: 91.0
11/23/96 1800 UTC: 90.6
11/24/96 1800 UTC: 103.5
11/24/96 2000 UTC: 99.8
11/24/96 2200 UTC: 104.2
11/25/96 1800 UTC: 103.6

The latest forecast from NOAA SESC is for a flux around 105 for November 25.

Thanks to Cary Oler for the above data. Cary has a very interesting and informative Web page with solar data and current solar images at http://holly.cc.uleth.ca/solar/index.html.

Dave Patton, KW9KW (ex-WX3N), of Colchester, Illinois, takes over as editor of National Contest Journal starting with the January/February 1997 issue. Patton, who competed in the recent World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC-96) in California, said in an Internet posting that he's "living up to a commitment I made some time ago to 'do my part for the sport of contesting' and take my turn editing the NCJ." Patton takes over the journal's reins from Bruce Draper, AA5B, who's served as editor for two years. Draper said in an NCJ editorial in the November/December issue that he will help Patton with the first couple of issues to ensure a smooth transition.

Draper said he expects to be busy with family, home and ham radio projects and that he has "a bunch of songs in my head that need to be put on tape before they leak away!" Serving as the NCJ editor has been "a thrill."

Patton, who's very interested in VHF/UHF contesting, said he's hoping to expand the magazine's offerings into that arena of competition. "Many typical contesters have been bitten by the VHF bug lately and are discovering a new frontier where every QSO is an achievement on the par of working HS7AS long path on 40." he said in his posting.

Patton complimented Draper for "a great job," and he let it be known that he's on the lookout for new material for NCJ. Patton encouraged prospective authors to get in touch with him with ideas for articles. He predicted that the next sunspot cycle will bring "the best ever contest and general operating enjoyment" and that "all the contest records that mean anything will (in my opinion) be set--possibly forever, in the upcoming years." Patton encouraged his colleagues to "be a part of it!" Contact Patton via e-mail at KW9KW@contesting.com or mudcp3@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu; tel 309-298-2141 (W) or 309-652-3232 (H)

To subscribe to the National Contest Journal, write NCJ Circulation, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. ARRL members should include their membership control number or a QST mailing label. A year's subscription costs $12 (six issues) within the US ($20 for first-class mailing in the US, Canada and Mexico). For more information, visit the NCJ home page at http://www.waterw.com/~ncj/.

The Army Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) is sponsoring its fifth annual Operation Holidays program. Every Amateur Radio operator--and especially MARS members--are requested to encourage the public to exchange holiday greetings via ham/MARS radio messages. In particular, Army MARS members are encouraged to let the public know that MARSgrams are still being sent to and received from military personnel all over the world. For a MARSgram, either the sender or the recipient must be active or retired military or a MARS member. The receiving operator needs the full name and address of the sender, the full name and mailing address of the recipient, and a message text in 50 words or less (an increase in word allowance over last year). If either address is in the US, a telephone number also should be included. Army MARS members are encouraged to post the colored holiday posters and to place news releases into the local newspapers and other media. --LorraineS. Matthew, N4ZCF/AAA9PR

• Help wanted: A ham radio operator who has excellent written and verbal communication skills, experience with teaching in the classroom, a knowledge of the space program and skills with personal computer and electronic communication is needed in Newington, Connecticut, for the ARRL Educational Activities Department. Please send resumes to EAD Manager Rosalie White, WA1STO, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

• Correction: In The ARRL Letter, Vol 15, No 11 (November 8, 1996), we incorrectly indicated the location of the Lake County ARC. The club meets in Highland, Indiana, and its mailing address is in Griffith, Indiana. The club helps sponsor the Herb Brier Instructor of the Year Award. --Jim Harney, KF9EX

• Cover plaque winner: Joel L. Dryer, N0GHT, of Oelwein, Iowa, won the QST Cover Plaque Award for the October 1996 issue for his article "The ABCs of CC&Rs." Congratulations!

• Young hams up: FCC statistics as of the end of October, show that the number of licensees age 21 or younger rose by 341 from the previous month.

• 624 Kits out of business: 624 Kits of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is out of business. Owner Pat Bunn, N4LTA, is telling customers he is no longer able to furnish technical support and the company is "pretty much history." The company had been advertising its 5-W transceiver kit as recently as September QST.

• AVVid to handle Tucker service: The Amateur Radio service department of the former Tucker Electronics has been purchased by AVVid, owned by Clif Holland, KA5IPF. The new owner says that it has been re-established as a Kenwood Authorized Service Center. AVVid received approval as an ICOM authorized service center last week. AVVid was an Authorized Kenwood Service Center from 1992 to 1995 when it was sold to Tucker Electronics. The AVVid name was re-established in mid-October after Tucker closed its doors. Call AVVid at 800-214-5779; e-mail avvid@onramp.net. --ThisWeek in Amateur Radio

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, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org.

Visit the ARRLWeb 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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