Volume 16, Number 36 (September 12, 1997)

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

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

IN THIS EDITION:

ALL VANITY APPLICATIONS TO REQUIRE FORM 159

The ARRL has learned that when the vanity application fee jumps to $50 on Monday, September 15, the FCC also will start requiring everyone filing a paper Form 610V Amateur Station Vanity Call Sign Request to include FCC Form 159, FCC Remittance Advice, with their application -- no matter the method of payment. Applications received on or after September 15 and lacking a Form 159 will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant.

Previously, the FCC only required an Form 159 with a hard-copy Form 610V if the applicant was paying with a credit card or money order -- or for a single remittance to cover multiple applications.

The change came on very short notice, and the FCC has yet to issue a formal public notice to address it. But the FCC appears ready to stand firm on the requirement starting September 15. A spokesperson at the FCC in Gettysburg said that on or after September 15, Mellon Bank--the FCC's fiscal agent--will not cash or deposit any fees which are not accompanied by a Form 159. Applications received at Mellon Bank that lack a Form 159 will be forwarded to Gettysburg for handling (the fee will not be deposited), and Gettysburg will return the entire application and the fee to the applicant with a blank Form 159 and instructions to refile.

When completing Form 159, all applicants must include a taxpayer ID number (your Social Security number) in Item 1 (FCC Account Number). In Items 14A and 14 B, Payment Type Code, applicants should write "WAVR."

FCC Form 159 can be obtained by writing ARRL/VEC, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. An SASE is appreciated. Form 159 also is available from the FCC via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html or ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Forms/Form159/. You can also get the form by return fax by calling 202-418-0177 and requesting Form 000159. The FCC Forms Distribution Center also accepts orders at 800-418-3676.

If you need assistance completing Form 159 or need filing information contact the FCC National Call Center at 888-225-5322.

The FCC still has given no indication of when it will begin processing Gate 3 vanity call sign applications. It's estimated that more than 1000 applicants filed on the opening day, August 6. The FCC also has not said when it plans to open vanity Gate 4. --Bart Jahnke, W9JJ

SUNSPOT NUMBER TOPS 100 FOR FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS!

Sun watcher Tad Cook, K7VVV, in Seattle, Washington, reports: The rise in solar activity continues, and on Monday, September 8, solar flux values peaked at 119.4. The last time the solar flux was above this value was January 27, 1994. On the same day the sunspot number was 101, which has been unequaled since September 3, 1994. We are definitely through the minimum and on the upswing of the next solar cycle!

The average solar flux for the previous 90 days rose another two points this past week (to 77), as it had the previous week. September 11 was the 38th consecutive day that the flux was above the 90-day average. This greatly increased activity has brought along some geomagnetic disturbances. The most disturbed period over this past week was around 0600 to 0900 UTC on September 9. Recent projections from the NOAA Space Environment Service Center show the solar flux dropping below 100 after September 17, then rising to above 100 around September 26, and above 115 after October 4. These estimates are based upon the previous solar rotation, so new active regions on the Sun could send these numbers higher.

This new activity means that DX now is possible on the higher HF bands. Prior to now, 20 meters was the primary band for worldwide propagation. Check 15 and even 10 meters, where openings are now possible, especially over north-south paths. Combined with the progression toward the Fall equinox, conditions now and over the next month should be the best seen in several years!

Sunspot numbers for September 4 through 10 were 56, 79, 85, 84, 97, 101 and 95, with a mean of 85.3. The 10.7-cm flux was 93, 96, 97.6, 102, 119.4, 116.1 and 114.9, with a mean of 105.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 19, 5, 7, 3, 9, 19, and 19, with a mean of 11.6.

PHASE 3D LOOKING FOR A NEW RIDE

Now that it's clear that the Phase 3D Amateur Radio satellite definitely will not be aboard the Ariane 502 rocket later this month, AMSAT has begun angling with the European Space Agency (ESA) for a new launch opportunity. It's also asking hams to hold their tongues.

This week, AMSAT made official what most observers had already figured out for themselves--that the Phase 3D payload would not be going up at month's end. In late July, AMSAT announced that it would have to structurally modify the Phase 3D spaceframe to bring it up to new mechanical standards made necessary by a late change in ESA launch environment specifications. But, making the changes put Phase 3D out of sync with the Ariane 502 launch schedule. As a result, ESA concluded that Phase 3D would not be able to fly on the Ariane 502 mission as initially hoped. The soon-to-be-completed structural changes also added $25,000 to Phase 3D's cost.

ESA's action did not go over well with some hams who posted what AMSAT called "several derogatory comments regarding ESA" on the AMSAT bulletin board. This week, AMSAT defended ESA against the critics and declared that ESA "has been very supportive of AMSAT for almost 20 years."

AMSAT pointed out that, while the first Phase 3 satellite "was a passenger on an Ariane vehicle which, unfortunately, ended in a launch failure in 1980," ESA has since "made amends" by using Ariane vehicles to launch AO-10, AO-13, the four Microsats and two UoSats, KO-23, KO-25, IO-26 and AO-27. AMSAT says it's in AMSAT's best interests that the Ariane 502 launch goes well "even without Phase 3D aboard."

Similar sentiments were expressed August 30 during a Phase 3D Program Board meeting at the Orlando Phase 3D Integration Lab. Participants in that meeting were Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, AMSAT-DL president and Phase 3D project leader; Werner Haas, DJ5KQ, AMSAT-DL vice president; Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, representing the Command Station Team; Ron Broadbent, G3AAJ, AMSAT-UK Secretary; Joel Harrison, W5ZN, ARRL vice president; Keith Baker, KB1SF, AMSAT-NA executive vice president; and Bill Tynan W3XO AMSAT-NA president.

The Program Board called on hams to "do everything we can to promote the successful launch of Phase 3D, particularly being especially careful of what we say on public forums such as AMSAT-BB or in letters to the editors of various magazines." Meinzer is continuing negotiations with ESA representatives regarding a launch vehicle for Phase 3D. The Board's statement stressed that "all of us should avoid doing anything that could possibly hinder" those talks.

MIR OVERCOMES MORE PROBLEMS

US astronaut Mike Foale, KB5UAD, hardly had a chance to decompress from his space walk last weekend when the primary onboard Mir computer crashed Monday--the third such failure in as many months. As a result, the space station lost its orientation toward the sun and was unable to aim its solar arrays. However, this latest computer crash was not being considered as serious as the others. Past computer crashes had left Mir in uncontrolled orbit, requiring the crew to shut down all nonessential systems and plunging the space station into near darkness. But Foale told NASA's Matt Bordelon, KC5BTL, on Monday that the crew took this latest computer failure in stride. "Mike says this is the least serious problem that he's encountered while on Mir," Bordelon said. The computer module was replaced earlier this week, and things have returned to what passes for normal aboard Mir these days. By week's end, however, the Mir crew was powering up the Priroda science module, down since June 25, when the Spektr module was damaged after the space station collided with an unmanned cargo rocket.

Early last Saturday, Foale became only the second American to share spacewalking duties with a Russian crewmate aboard Mir. Foale and Anatoly Solovyov ventured outside the space station to examine the exterior of the damaged Spektr module. But the pair was unable to locate the leak in Spektr. The crew now believes the leak is at a point where a motor that drives a damaged solar array is attached to Mir's "pressure hull." In a packet message following the space walk to MIREX President Dave Larsen, N6CO, the British-born Foale noted that he and Solovyov did their space walk "while most of the world was occupied with the sad loss of Princess Diana and her funeral, about which we are also very sad." Foale said that he would remember forever " the views of the Earth and Milky Way, and station, in the light of a sickle moon."

Concluded Foale: "I hope more people in the future, and many more supporters of human space flight, will one day get the chance to have such experiences as I have been lucky to be granted."

Meanwhile, the experimental 70 cm ham radio frequency for Mir seems to be working out well, according to early reports. Tom Daniels, N3CXP, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, apparently was Foale's first voice contact on the new 437.650 MHz frequency. Daniels reports he had a very successful FM voice contact with Foale on September 7, and said he was able to easily program in the Doppler shift corrections necessary. Foale remarked during the QSO that on the 2-meter frequencies, "it was getting to the point that I didn't work voice at all because it was getting frustrating for me."

The temporary Mir frequency swap experiment is scheduled to end by September 29.

NEXT SAREX FLIGHT NOT UNTIL AUGUST 1998

The next Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) flight is nearly a year away. The SAREX payload will be aboard STS-93, scheduled to launch August 27, 1998. This five-day mission is the only SAREX mission scheduled during the next year, but another flight is under consideration, according to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT vice president for Manned Space Programs. While the shuttle will be involved in construction of the International Space Station (ISS), the SAREX Working Group decided last year to not fly SAREX aboard ISS construction or shuttle/Mir docking flights. This is because of the heavy astronaut workload involved on these missions (and the need to swap antennas during Mir docking flights). The silver lining here is that the shuttle activity on behalf of the ISS lays the groundwork for a permanent Amateur Radio presence aboard the International Space Station when it is completed and occupied.

Regarding Mir International Amateur Radio EXperiment (MIREX) opportunities: the ARRL has obtained waivers from the FCC so that Mike Foale, KB5UAC; David Wolf, KC5VPF; and Wendy Lawrence, KC5KII, have permission to operate the Mir radio and engage in third-party communications with nonhams on Earth. This is the good news. But no official MIREX/SAREX school group contacts with these astronauts are planned at this time due to the tenuous situation on Mir, where power still is at a premium. The SAREX and MIREX teams do not plan to restart the school group contacts with the astronauts until the Mir problems are corrected and until the Phase 1 Office (NASA's Mir Office) clears the way for the team to officially perform contacts with the astronauts again. In the meantime, hams are encouraged to talk to KB5UAC when he is on the air.

Anyone wishing to apply for a school group contact for future shuttle missions or with Mir should request an application. Write to ARRL-EAD, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. There is quite a long waiting list for schools to be selected for SAREX or MIREX contacts.

To request electronic versions of the ARRL SAREX Bulletin and the SAREX school application via e-mail, send an e-mail message to info@arrl.org. Leave the subject line of the message blank. In the body of the message, type:

    SEND SAREXFAQ.TXT

    SEND SAREX-AP.TXT

    QUIT

Then, send the message. The ARRL's automated information server will automatically send two documents via return e-mail. For more SAREX and Mir information, see the ARRLWeb page, http://www.arrl.org/sarex/ and http://www.arrl.org/sarex/mir.html.

IARU REGION 3 CONFERENCE CONCLUDES IN BEIJING

Representatives of Amateur Radio organizations in 20 Asia-Pacific countries have spent the past week reviewing proposals and papers submitted by member societies at the 10th Regional Conference of IARU Region 3 in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. The Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA) hosted the week-long conference, which just wrapped up. Representatives of the ARRL were on hand for the event, September 8-12.

Only a fortunate few in North America were able to hear -- or even work -- special event station BT1IARU, the on-air emblem of the Region 3 gathering. Although conditions were not favorable to this part of the world, the station made many QSOs elsewhere. Things also went well at the conference itself.

The conference's three working groups developed recommendations for consideration by the full conference. Recommendations adopted by the conference dealt with subjects as diverse as preparations for future ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences, strategic planning for the regional organization, electromagnetic compatibility issues, the IARU monitoring system, beacons, Amateur Radio direction finding, and many others.

Among conference highlights was the participation of representatives of the Vietnam Amateur Radio Club, which hopes to join the IARU.

David Rankin, 9V1RH, retired as a director after 24 years of service as Regional Secretary and Director, half of that time as Chairman of Directors. The other incumbent directors, HL1IFM, JJ1OEY, ZL2AMJ, and 9M2SS were re-elected. Former Director David A. Wardlaw, VK3ADW, was returned to office. Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, was re-elected as Regional Secretary. Fred Johnson, ZL2AMJ, continues as Chairman of Directors.

The more than 100 conference attendees complimented the CRSA for the arrangements, which included excellent logistical support of the conference plus a visit to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace in Beijing.

Representing the ARRL at the Beijing conference were ARRL President Rod Stafford, KB6ZV, assisted by First Vice President Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, and staff members David Sumner, K1ZZ, Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, and Naoki Akiyama, NX1L. International Affairs Vice President Larry Price, W4RA, attended in his capacity as IARU Secretary.

The next IARU Region 3 conference will be held in Australia in 2000. --David Sumner, K1ZZ

AMATEUR RADIO AWARENESS DAY IS SEPTEMBER 20

September 20 marks Amateur Radio's annual Awareness Day event, a special opportunity for you to raise public awareness about Amateur Radio in your community.

Typical Awareness Day activities have included demonstrations, talks to school groups and working with local news representatives to publicize the day on TV, radio or in a local newspaper. Have an idea that's a bit out of the ordinary? Give it a shot! Anything you can do to positively promote our hobby and our service is what Awareness Day is all about.

Contact ARRL's Media Relations Manager Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, for your publicity kit today! Call 860-594-0328 or e-mail jgagne@arrl.org. Check out http://www.arrl.org/pio/ for Awareness Day materials and other information that can help you promote Amateur Radio all year long. --Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY

N4XKG PLUGS HAM RADIO ON THE TODAY SHOW

Persistence paid off for Jackie Forbes, N4XKG, of Punta Gorda, Florida, who wanted to top off her visit to New York City by getting a chance to plug ham radio, the ARRL, and--not incidentally--her 70th birthday on NBC Television's The Today Show. She succeeded. Forbes wrote to the show's director and even pulled a trump card, sending along a photo of herself and Bill Miller, who worked on Today in the early days, when Dave Garroway was the host.

Still not knowing if she'd be granted a few fleeting seconds of fame on national TV, Forbes arrived outside NBC on the morning of her birthday, August 4. Only then did she learn that Today personality Al Roker would give her a live shot at 7:35 AM. During her interview, Forbes greeted ham radio operators. The Tech Plus licensee also told a Punta Gorda newspaper that she wanted to be on The Today Show to draw attention to the ARRL's efforts to protect ham radio frequencies from incursions by commercial interests. --thanks to Larry Brown, KD4KVE

IN BRIEF:

  • This weekend on the radio: The ARRL September VHF QSO Party and the Second Annual American and Canadian Islands Contest are this weekend. Also on tap is the Worked All Europe Contest, SSB event.

  • SAREX video wins award: A video that focused on a successful SAREX contact during the STS-94 mission earlier this summer has won an award. The video about Center Street School in El Segundo, California, won the "Community Spirit" award during the South Bay Producers Guild Media Arts Awards. The awards were presented August 27 to honor individuals who had produced programs for local cable systems.

  • Ham-teacher authors journal article: "Is This Frequency in Use?" is the title of an article on technology and Amateur Radio in the classroom, authored by ARRL registered teacher Michelle "Missy" Hollenbeck, AA0OF, of Andover, Kansas. It has been accepted for the November issue of Educational Leadership magazine, published by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. The article lists ARRL's Educational Activities Department as a source of information. Hollenbeck also has recently written items for QST, CQ and 73, and she told EAD's Glenn Swanson, KB1GW, recently that she's "real proud to be an Amateur Radio operator today." --Glenn Swanson, KB1GW

  • Volunteers sought to monitor Falcon Gold experiment: Cadets and faculty of the United States Air Force Academy -- in cooperation with University of Colorado-Colorado Springs -- have designed a small space payload that will be launched on an Atlas rocket the last week in October. Named Falcon Gold, the mission will sample the Global Positioning System (GPS) signal from behind the GPS constellation and downlink spectrum samples to ground stations for post processing. Due to its short (three-week) lifespan and a limited number of ground stations, the researchers are looking for volunteers around the world to collect telemetry and mission data from the satellite and forward electronic copies to the Air Force Academy. The satellite will transmit on 400.175 MHz, accessible from many scanners and Amateur Radio equipment. The data will be at 9600 using the AX.25 protocol used by hams. For more information, see http://www.pcisys.net/~mork/ or e-mail Brian Mork, morkbj.dfc@usafa.af.mil. --Brian Mork

  • New version of STSPLUS available: Dave Ransom has updated the popular STSPLUS shareware program used to track the shuttle and the Mir space station. The latest version, a maintenance update "to correct a few bugs" is version 9736. Ransom says the file names on his BBS and home page are now sop9736a.zip and sop9736b.zip. Users can download the new files from http://www.dransom.com or from the BBS at 520-282-5559 (8, N, 1).

  • Western States Weak Signal Society Technical Conference set: The 1997 Western States Weak Signal Society Technical Conference will be held October 3-5 at the Montecito-Sequoia Lodge, Sequoia National Forest, California (between Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, 65 miles east of Fresno). Among other things, the conference will feature presentations on VHF amplifier design; 6-meter EME and large array engineering; VHF DXpeditions; VHF contesting; designing power dividers, and regulatory issues of interest to weak-signal enthusiasts. There also will be antenna gain measurements and noise figure testing, equipment testing and tuneup, and ARRL/VEC license exams. For rates and reservations, call Montecito-Sequoia at 800-227-9900. Conference registration is $15 ($20 at the door). For more information visit http://www.qsl.net/n7stu/ or contact Robert Brown, N7STU, e-mail wswss@contesting.com.

  • Southeastern VHF Society confab set: The second annual Southeastern VHF Society Technical Conference will be held April 3 and 4, 1998, at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Hotel near Marietta, Georgia (same location as the 1997 conference). The program includes technical presentations, antenna range measurements, preamplifier noise-figure testing, vendor displays and presentations, flea market, SVHFS auction and Saturday evening banquet. Information updates are available on the SVHFS web page, http://www.akorn.net/~ae6e/svhfs/. If you are interested in presenting a technical paper or other presentation at the 1998 Conference, contact James Worsham, WA4KXY, Conference Chairman, at wa4kxy@bellsouth.net. --Tad Danley, K3TD

  • AMSAT on vacation: The AMSAT office in Silver Spring, Maryland, will be closed from September 15 until September 19.

The ARRL Letter

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.

Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that credit is given to The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

How to Get The ARRL Letter:

The ARRL Letter is distributed directly from ARRL HQ only to elected League officials and certain ARRL appointees and to paid subscribers of the now-defunct hard-copy edition of The ARRL Letter . For members and nonmembers alike, The ARRL Letter is available free of charge from these sources:

  • The ARRLWeb page (http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/). This version of The ARRL Letter includes any photographs.

  • The HIRAM BBS: 860-594-0306.

  • The ARRL Technical Information Server (Info Server): Send an e-mail message to info@arrl.org. The subject line should be blank. In the message body, type send ltrmmdd.txt, where mm represents two digits for the month and dd represents two digits for the day (The ARRL Letter is published every Friday). For example, to request The ARRL Letter file for Friday, January 3, 1997, you'd type send ltr0103.txt. Then, on a separate line, type quit.

  • CompuServe and America Online subscribers, as a downloadable text file in the services' ham radio libraries

  • The Netcom server, run by the Boston Amateur Radio Club and Mike Ardai, N1IST: Send e-mail to listserv@netcom.com (no subject needed). The body of the message should say subscribe letter-list.