Address Changes: Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.

Editorial: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org.

• End of an era for Radio Amateur Callbook
• League files RACES petition
• Phase 3D comes alive!
• Shuttle hams enthused about SAREX
• Hams have role in US space milestone
• ATV-bearing "rockoon" launch set
• Eimac sells glass-tube division
• Operations approved for DXCC credit
• Solar update
• In Brief: Ham hospitality at NAB; Hams in the media; NASA TV moves; Henry Radio closes ham retail store

It's the end of an era for The Radio Amateur Callbook. Publisher Bob Hughes announced March 17 in a letter to Callbook distributors that the comany is phasing out its telephone-book-size paper North American and international editions in favor of its CD-ROM product. The 1997 Callbook--the 75th edition--will be the last hard-copy version available. The letter cited "rising costs and increasing demand for electronic publishing" as the reasons for the company's decision to concentrate on the CD-ROM version, which includes worldwide listings. North American and international editions of the paper Callbook, a staple for years in many active ham shacks, sell for around $40, while the CD-ROM sells for around $50. The Callbook began publishing in 1920. Radio Amateur Callbook is produced by Watson-Guptill Publications.

The spring CD-ROM edition of the Callbook will be available at the Dayton Hamfest, Hughes' told distributors.

According to Hughes' letter, the company has "a limited supply of the printed edition" and anticipates that demand will be great once the word gets out. The last printed version will carry a label indicating "Last Edition of the Callbook." (For orders, call 800-278-8477; e-mail 103424.2142@compuserve.com.)

The ARRL is seeking a change in FCC rules to relax regulations regarding the Amateur Radio Service and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). The League wants the FCC to allow hams actively supporting emergency or disaster communication or involved in drills and tests to communicate "between and among" RACES stations and those stations registered with civil defense organizations operating under RACES. The League also wants the FCC to relax time limitations on RACES emergency drills and tests. This would permit stations operating under RACES (organized under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and operating under local civil defense agencies) to communicate, as necessary during emergencies, tests and drills, with stations operating under the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, or ARES (begun by the ARRL in 1935) or with other non-ARES or non-RACES-stations also engaged in emergency communication or drills. Right now, RACES and ARES operate independently of each other, although some hams participate in both organizations.

Relaxing the rules "would permit intercommunication with other amateurs active in emergency communications, and enable a form of 'mutual aid' in the Amateur Service," the League said in its filing. "It is time that the Commission permit, but not require, communications between RACES participants and non-RACES amateurs during emergencies or emergency drills and preparedness exercises." The League said the Commission has an opportunity to eliminate a restriction that "arguably should never have been enacted in the first place," and that has "outlived whatever utility it may ever have had."

The League also seeks to increase the time limit on RACES training drills and tests from one hour per week to up to five hours per week.

"Phase 3D is alive and doing very well!" says AMSAT-DL Vice President Werner Haas, DJ5KQ. In late February and early March, members of a combined international team working at the P3D Lab in Orlando, Florida, completed major integration milestones for assembly and checkout of the Phase 3D satellite.

The combined team installed, powered-up and extensively tested the satellite's main power and internal housekeeping computer (IHU) systems as well as transmitters for X-band, V-band and U-band. All performed without problem. In addition, all of the spacecraft's many communication receivers have been built into the satellite and thoroughly tested and are working well. The SCOPE camera experiment--built by JAMSAT, the Japanese AMSAT group--was successfully installed and powered up while in the spacecraft.

Phase 3D's IF switching matrix, which will allow almost any receiver to be cross-linked to any transmitter was successfully brought on line aboard the spacecraft, along with the LEILA experiment (strong signal attenuator). And a major milestone was attained on March 4, when team members Haas, Peter Guelzow, DB2OS; Keith Baker, KB1SF; Stan Wood, WA4NFY; and Lou McFadin, W5DID, completed the first QSOs via Phase 3D's configuration U/V "transponder." For this test, P3D's U-band receiver was cross-linked to the V-band transmitter through the IF Matrix.

What's more, the distinctive "warble" warning tone and notch capabilities of P3D's LEILA were clearly demonstrated when Wood deliberately overpowered his SSB "uplink" signal, thus triggering LEILA to superimpose its warning tone on his "downlink" signal. When Wood persisted in overpowering the uplink, team members then watched in amazement as the LEILA cut his downlink signal via P3D's V-band amplifier from some 140 W to about 2 W!

Team members report that Phase 3D's final integration and checkout is on schedule for its anticipated launch in July.--AMSAT News Service

At a NASA press conference on March 18, several of the astronauts scheduled for shuttle mission STS-83 talked about their planned Amateur Radio activities. "It would be my privilege to do a number of SAREX contacts," said Jim Halsell, KC5RNI, the mission commander. Eighteen schools are on the list for SAREX contacts during the mission, set to launch April 3. Janice Voss, KC5BTJ, said she got her license because she's in the shuttle program. "I think the SAREX program is a great chance to connect the flights with people on the ground," she said. "I wanted to make sure that, at least when I flew, there would be a chance for SAREX to fly because I would know that there was one ham radio operator on board."

Calling himself a strong supporter of SAREX, Donald Thomas, KC5FVF, lauded the objectives of the SAREX program to educate youngsters and get them involved in math and science. "It's just amazing how the kids get so excited and enthused about the passes we have." During the average eight to ten-minute pass, Thomas said, the kids "just fire questions off to us, and you can just hear and feel the enthusiasm they have." Thomas said he's glad to share in their excitement with SAREX.--Philip Chien, KC4YER

Saturday, March 22, marks the first anniversary of a continuous US presence in space, which began with the launch of astronaut Shannon Lucid aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-76 mission to the Mir space station. Since Lucid arrived on Mir, astronauts John Blaha, KC5TZQ, and Jerry Linenger, KC5HBR, have followed in her footsteps, conducting continuous scientific experiments aboard the Russian complex as a precursor to the development and occupancy of the International Space Station.

Linenger assured students at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas, this week that all aboard the space station are in good shape after a fire aboard Mir late last month. About three dozen students got to chat with Linenger March 17 and posed more than a dozen questions during the ten-minute contact. Linenger also discussed the effects of the fire on experiments and described the escape arrangements available to those aboard Mir.

On March 11, students at United South High School, Laredo, Texas, successfully spoke with Linenger via ham radio. Other Mir school QSOs are tentatively scheduled to happen between now and April 20, 1997. --NASA

A small group of space enthusiasts--including several hams--will attempt to make space history March 22 by sending the first amateur rocket--and the first hybrid rocket into space ever--into space from a spot off the coast of southeast North Carolina. The rocket will carry ATV and APRS systems.

The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5)--a chapter of the grassroots National Space Society (NSS)--has spent the past two years developing and testing components for a "rockoon"--a rocket launched from a high-altitude balloon, which will be released from an inland site. The HAL5 program is called Project HALO, for High Altitude Lift-Off. Rockoons were first flown by James Van Allen in the 1950s as part of a joint Navy-university project. This approach allows a small rocket to obtain a very high altitude because there is little air to limit acceleration during launch. The command to launch the rocket will be sent only once the balloon is safely over open ocean and the rocket is pointed away from land.

According to Bill Brown, WB8ELK, the balloon gondola will carry an amateur television (ATV) camera to record the launch live and transmit the color video back to Earth. Brown, who calls himself the "Balloonmeister" built the launch platform ATV station, which will transmit on 434.00 MHz--cable-ready TV channel 59. The rocket itself also will carry an ATV camera--a smaller B&W model--with a transmitter on 1280 MHz (FM), plus a packet station on 441.050 MHz FM with APRS GPS location-altitude formatted data. Ed Myszka, KE4ROC, designed the rocket nose cone electronics section and installed the 1280-MHz ATV transmitter built by Richard Goode W8RVH and Hank Cantrell W4HTB. The group estimates that the 1280-MHz ATV transmitter will have a 750-mile-wide footprint at the rocket's peak altitude of 450,000 feet. HF nets will convene on 3.820 and 7.155 MHz.

The solid fuel used for the HALO rocket is asphalt, the same material used on streets and roofs. The liquid oxidizer used for the rocket is nitrous oxide (the same "laughing gas" used by dentists). If it successfully exceeds an altitude of 50 nautical miles (300,000 feet), the garage-built HALO hybrid rocket will become the first of its kind to ever make it into space.

Altitude verification for the rocket will be primarily based on signals from an onboard GPS receiver. Backup will come from the B&W TV camera, which is oriented so that the curvature of the Earth can be viewed, recorded, and later measured to estimate the altitude. The team hopes to recover both the rocket and the balloon gondola.

Other hams involved in the project include: Gene Young, K4ZQM, who helped with final integration and wiring of the rocket system; Gene Marcus, W3PM, John Fox WB2LLB, and Barry Lankford, N4MSJ, who will set up the ground station for the event; Ben Frink, KD4BFG, who arranged the launch site and will operate the talk-in frequency on 2 meters; and Dick Goodman, WA3USG, and Hank Cantrell, W4HTB, who will operate the HF net during the event.

The balloon launch is set for 6:30 AM Eastern Time on March 22. In case of windy or rainy weather, the launch will be postponed until March 23 or March 24. For more details check the HALO Web site at http://iquest.com/~hal5/HALO/SL-1/ or e-mail hal5@iquest.com.

Eimac is out of the glass-tube business. The former Eimac glass-tube manufacturing facility has been sold and relocated from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Easton, Pennsylvania. The new company, Triton, moved the former Eimac plant "lock, stock and barrel" from Utah to Pennsylvania, said Mark Hoffman, a senior scientist at Triton. In all, it took 16 tractor-trailer loads to move the plant's manufacturing equipment and inventories across the country. For now, Triton is manufacturing 46 different Eimac and Westinghouse tube types, including the popular 3-500Z, 4-400A and 4-400C. Right now, Triton does not make the 6146, 572B, 811A or 4-1000A, but Hoffman did not rule out the possibility that the company may tool up to manufacture those tubes in the future. Triton also makes glass tube chimneys and sockets.

Hams interested in obtaining small quantities of Triton tubes should contact the company's distributor, Richardson Electronics, Lafox, Illinois; tel 800-323-1770.

Eimac--recently purchased by an investment group, Communications and Power Industries--continues to make and rebuild ceramic external-anode tubes. It has been relocated to Palo Alto, California.

The ARRL DXCC Desk reports that documentation from the following operations now has been received and approved for DXCC credit: 3A/IK1QBT, 3A/JH1NBN, 3B8/DK1RP, 3CØDX, 3C1DX, 3C5A, 3D2/DL7RAG, 3D2HW, 3D2MN, 3DAØMA, 3W5RS, 4L6PA, 4X/DL3JSW, 5H1HW, 5R8EO, 5T5U, 5V7HR, 5V7ML, 5V7LB, 5WØAN, 5WØHW, 5X1D, 5X1K, 5X1T, 6W1/N2WCQ, 6W1QV, 6Y5/I5JHW, 6Y5/W4JKC, 7P8FS, 7P8MA, 8Q7BC, 8Q7YV, 8Q7ZR, 9G5BQ, 9J2AE, 9J2PI, 9L1MG, 9L1PG, 9MØZ, 9M2RY, 9M6P, 9M6TE, 9M6TF, 9M6TG, 9M6TI, 9M6TJ, 9Q5BB, 9U/EA1FH, 9U5CW, 9U5DX, and 9U/F5FHI.

Also, A35HB, A35MN, AA4NC/CYØ, BY1QH/G3SWH, BY1QH/W5ZPA, C6A/AF1U, C91CO, CYØ/WA4DAN, CYØAA, CYØXX, D68SE, DK8FS/C91, E3A3Ø, EM1KA, F/G3SWH/P, FJ/I4ALU, FOØDI, FOØSUC, FR/DL1DA, HI8/DL1DA, HI9/I4LCK, HSØ/7L1MFS, HSØ/IK4MRH, J28TC, J56CK, J56DY, J6/DK1RP, KC6GB, KH8/IK2GNW, KH8AL/HKØ, KP2/KX8N, LA1TV, OD5RY/OD5/N4ISV, PJ8/WB2GAI, SØ1RSF, S21XX, S21XY, S21XZ, S79UAA, T7/IK6RUM, T98JWV, TG9IDK, TI5/JH1NBN, TI9X, TE9RLI, TJ1GB, TJ1GD, TJ1RA, TL8MR, TT8AM, TT8DJ, TT8HG, TT8PG, TT8SS, V31VI, V63CO, V73C/CYØ, VK2BEX/CYØ, VK2IFB, VK4LF/VK9M, VK9CT, VP2MEY, VP2V/KC2QF, VR2/I1RBJ, W6RJ/Z2, WB6RZK/Z2, XRØY/Z, XT2DM, XU2FB, Z2/9J2AE, Z21KM, ZA1AJ, ZB2/DL1BX, ZB2/DL5JAB, ZB2/DL5JAN, ZF2GS, ZF2WY, ZK1FAN, ZK1HW, ZK1LIA, ZK1NJX, ZK1PYD, ZK1RAG, ZK1WTS, ZK2RA, ZK2ZE, ZL3FAN, ZL7BTB, ZVØMB, ZVØMV, and ZYØZGD.

Sun watcher Tad Cook, KT7H, Seattle, Washington, reports: The biggest news this week is that we are at the equinox, and hours of daylight are about equal between the northern and southern hemispheres. Look for improved worldwide conditions on HF bands as we head into spring. Otherwise, there has been no improvement in solar activity, with conditions last week showing no significant change over the previous week. Solar flux and sunspot numbers were only slightly higher, and on four days the solar flux was just slightly above the average of 75 for the previous 90 days.

The outlook for the next few weeks has solar flux remaining in the mid-70s, with a rise in geomagnetic disturbances centered around March 26 and 27. The March 1997 issue of the magazine Scientific American has a remarkable article about the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which is held in the point where the Earth's and Sun's gravitational pulls are equal, some 1 million miles toward the Sun from Earth. There is an extensive gallery of images from the data transmitted from the satellite on the Web at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov.

Sunspot numbers for March 13 through 19 were 18, 43, 42, 25, 15, 24 and 0, respectively, with a mean of 23.9. The 10.7-cm flux was 74.1, 75.5, 75.8, 75.7, 75.1, 74.3 and 73.7, respectively, with a mean of 74.9. Estimated planetary A indices for the same period were 7, 4, 6, 8, 5, 6, and 4, respectively, with a mean of 5.7.

• Ham hospitality at NAB: Broadcasters visiting Las Vegas for the 1997 National Association of Broadcasters Convention April 7-10 are invited to use the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club's repeaters. The 2-meter repeater is at 146.94 MHz and the 70-cm machine is at 449.7 MHz (standard offsets). The Amateur Radio operators' reception is April 9, 6-8 PM. For more information, contact Steve Scott, KD8S, tel 702-382-2121; e-mail kd8s@skylink.net.

• Hams in the media: Marque Marriott, N7LWQ, of Astoria, Oregon, and his ham shack were prominently displayed on the front page of The Daily Astorian for February 17. The feature article, "Calling all Hams . . . trouble's brewing," talks about how hams help out when disaster cuts off conventional means of communication. The City of Astoria designated February as Volunteer Radio Operators Appreciation Month to recognize the contributions hams made during flooding in 1996. Another ham, Alene Linehan, KA7CXP, is also quoted in the article.

• NASA TV moves: On March 15, NASA Television (NTV) began broadcasting via a new satellite that will allow reception by a wider audience throughout the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii. NTV now is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 W, vertical polarization, at 3880 MHz, and audio at 6.8 MHz. NASA Television provides real-time coverage of agency activities and missions as well as resource video to the news media, and educational programming to teachers, students and the general public. --AMSAT News Service

• Henry Radio closes ham retail store: Citing competitive pressures, veteran ham radio retailer Henry Radio has closed its Los Angeles retail store. Ted Henry Jr, W6YEY, said Henry will continue its amplifier and commercial lines, but--with the closing of the LA store--no longer has a "storefront" retail operation. He said Henry Radio will continue to sell some ham radio equipment via mail order. Henry said ham radio retailing was "not a profitable business for us and has not been for a number of years." The store closing eliminated eight jobs. Henry Radio opened in Butler, Missouri, in 1927.

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.

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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