IN THIS EDITION:

• +Swatch beats eleventh-hour retreat; cancels Beatnik launch
• +Cincinnati hams respond as tornado strikes
• +Emergency effort gets national TV coverage
• +Retesting, short-term renewals are part of enforcement arsenal
• +FCC denies extension in malicious interference case
• +Two state PRB-1 bills move closer to adoption
• First-ever PSK-31 contest set
• Special events set for International Marconi Day
• Former Pacific Division Vice Director Ron Martin, W6ZF, SK
• Solar update
• In Brief: This weekend on the radio; The ARRLWeb Extra features now available; Ham contact with Kosovo? W9QA to join ARRL HQ staff; E-mail forwarding service now available for ARRL affiliated clubs; Wisconsin proclaims Amateur Radio Awareness Day; March QST Cover Plaque Award

+Available on ARRL Audio News

SWATCH BEATS AWKWARD RETREAT: SPUTNIK WON'T FLY

Swatch Watch says the "Beatnik" satellite will not be sent into space today from the Russian Mir space station as planned. The watchmaker says "a virtual Beatnik" will carry the messages in cyberspace instead and invited "Beat" fans to "stay tuned and join the first cybermission!"

At the same time, both the Associated Press and Reuters are reporting that a satellite was launched by hand from Mir during a space walk by ESA astronaut Jean-Pierre Haignere, FX0STB, and Russian cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev. If the reports are accurate, it's not clear whether the satellite launched was the planned "Beatnik" spacecraft or a spare mini-Sputnik that's been aboard Mir since 1997. Reuters said the satellite was one "built by French amateur radio enthusiasts." The report quotes Russian space center spokeswoman Vera Medvedkova as saying, "It is finished. They launched the satellite."

AP said the satellite put into space was one "made by Russian and French schoolchildren" that contained "a recording of their voices." The spare mini-Sputnik aboard Mir--a duplicate of the one launched in 1997 to mark the 40th anniversary of the original Sputnik--is believe to contain only a 2-meter beacon transmitter.

As of April 16, there have been no monitoring reports.

Swatch announced early April 16 on its Web site, http://www.swatch.com/beatnik/frameset.html, that the controversial messages the satellite was to have transmitted on the 2-meter amateur band would instead be read by a Russian cosmonaut aboard Mir during an April 22 videoconference, to be broadcast via the Internet.

The controversial messages, gathered via the Swatch Web site, related to the Swatch company's campaign to establish the "Swatch Beat" as a new "global concept of time." Swatch had solicited more than 5000 messages--including voice and text files--for possible transmission on the new satellite. Messages selected for use were supposed to include a reference to the "beat" theme.

But Amateur Radio operators around the world, citing international regulations, protested the plans because of their commercial connection.

Swatch pinned the blame for cancellation of its Beatnik satellite on the recent failure of the Luch 1/Gelios satellite the Mir crew uses for communication with Earth. "Swatch has decided to assist the Spaceflight Control Centre and donate the batteries supporting the Beatnik satellite to the Mir cosmonauts, thus cancelling the possibility of any radio transmission from space," Swatch said in a brief statement on its Web site.

Full-page Swatch ads in today's New York Times and Los Angeles Times to announce the change in plans expand on the battery swap explanation. According to the Times ads, cosmonauts will use the batteries to run an onboard printer "which is the lifeline to earth through which the Cosmonauts receive their daily instructions and key operations points."

The Luch-1/Gelios, the only geostationary satellite available for Mir communications, suffered a technical failure April 12. Just how the nonrechargeable batteries now in the mini-Sputnik aboard Mir would remedy the Luch-1/Gelios satellite failure was unclear from the Swatch posting.

The ARRL weighed into the Beatnik satellite controversy April 7 by suggesting to Swatch Group CEO Nicolas E. Hayek that the Swiss firm cancel the launch and use a commercial satellite for its project instead. Sumner noted that international regulations define the amateur service as one engaged in by "duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest."

Although Swatch asserted the messages were not advertising, Sumner pointed out to Hayek that the commercial nature of the arrangements to transmit the messages on amateur frequencies was contrary to international law. "I think this was a new thought to him, frankly, because this is not the way they had been viewing it," Sumner said.

It's not yet known what will become of the mini-Sputnik itself. The satellite had arrived on Mir aboard a Progress rocket April 4 and was set for launch April 16 during a space walk.

CINCINNATI HAMS RESPOND AS TORNADO STRIKES

The Cincinnati Section SKYWARN Weather Amateur Radio Net was in operation April 9 when a killer tornado struck the Blue Ash/Montgomery area of the city around 6 AM. Six people died as a result of the storm, which caused heavy damage and power outages. WARN, with its W8NWS net control site at WLW radio, quickly reported weather conditions and damage as it occurred and alerted police and emergency crews.

As a result, WARN Public Information Officer and ARRL PIO Michael Nie, KB8VMX, ended up as the live lead story on the 6 o'clock news on April 15 on Cincinnati's WKRC-TV Channel 12. The station's Chief Meteorologist, Tim Hedrick, interviewed Nie live on the value of severe weather spotters and especially ham radio spotters.

"I was shocked," said Nie. "All the press releases and business cards finally paid off." During the interview, Nie told how two local spotters used Amateur Radio to relay the first reports of a tornado on the ground, as they dove for cover in a ditch. Despite the close call, the spotters were not injured. (For more information on this event and on WARN operations, visit the WARN Web site, http://www.warn.org.)

The Queen City Emergency Net provided communication support on VHF with operators at various emergency operating centers, command posts, shelters, and disaster relief agency headquarters. QCEN is affiliated with the Cincinnati Red Cross and typically provides damage assessment and communication support for the agency. The storm also affected parts of Indiana and Kentucky.--Fred Stone, W8LLY; Mike Nie, KB8VMX

EMERGENCY EFFORT GETS NATIONAL TV COVERAGE

An effort to obtain health-and-welfare information via Amateur Radio from Yugoslavia war zone got some national media attention recently. Thanks to efforts by the ARRL, Diane Ortiz, K2DO, and Stephan Anderman, K2SMA, a TV news crew from Fox News Channel spent about two hours April 10 at the Long Island home of Mid-Island Amateur Radio Club President Mike Christopher KG2M, where this operation is taking place. A three-minute feature aired the following day on FNC.

On April 9, Christopher, who's also ARRL New York-Long Island Section Bulletin Manager, activated MIARC's International Emergency Assistance Unit for the purpose of passing health-and-welfare traffic from refugees in the Yugoslavia war zone to family and loved ones in the United States. This is being accomplished with the help of Drago, T94GB, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the only country in the Balkans with which the US has a third-party traffic agreement.

T94GB will be QRV daily on 80 meters with the war zone and refugee areas, gathering health and welfare traffic, then passing that to the IEAU on 15 meter SSB for forwarding to the National Traffic System.--The Hudson Loop via Mike Grant, N2OX

RETESTING, SHORT-TERM RENEWALS ARE ENFORCEMENT TOOLS

The FCC's top amateur enforcer, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, says he plans to make judicious use of both the short-term renewal and retesting to boost amateur compliance.

Hollingsworth employed a short-term renewal as a sanction in a recent amateur case where a newly licensed teenaged ham was found to be transmitting music on a police frequency using a modified hand-held. On April 14, Hollingsworth reinstated the ham's Technician license--which had been suspended--but imposed a one-year renewal. Local police in New Jersey had reported to the FCC that Mike Mustachio, now KC2EUT, had transmitted music on a police frequency for about 12 minutes on March 16--just days before his ham ticket was granted.

Hollingsworth said he spoke with the 14-year-old licensee and his parents before making a judgment call in the case to go with a short-term renewal. He expects the sanction might come in handy in other pending enforcement cases as well, but he still expects to use it only "in rare cases where there are mitigating circumstances and a good likelihood of compliance."

He said short-termed licensees may appeal, but then the case goes to a hearing, and the process can get much more formalized and complicated. "It just tells them we're watching them," he said.

Retesting is another administrative prerogative that Hollingsworth has been taking advantage of. The FCC has the authority to request that any amateur who obtained a license through the Volunteer Examiner program retest either at an FCC office or using another Volunteer Examiner Coordinator.

Earlier this year, Hollingsworth notified a Delaware ham that she had to retake her Extra class examination or lose her ticket. More recently, the FCC asked a Michigan ham to retake his General and Advanced class examinations. Hollingsworth said this week that other retesting requests will be going out soon in several cases where licensees either have not responded to a written Warning Notice or where something about the licensee's actions or responses might have raised questions about the individual's qualifications.

He also says that in situations where the FCC has received "substantiated or well-founded complaints," the FCC may decide to investigate either by asking questions about how the exam was administered or by retesting.

Hollingsworth says recent testing "recalls" should not give rise to speculation that the Commission intends to institute routine retesting calls. He said examination irregularities need at least some attention "just as reviews of operating violations," but he said the Commission won't be calling in hams on a wholesale basis to retake their tests.

"We're going to use this very carefully," Hollingsworth said. "We don't want to scare everybody into thinking that they could get a recall in the mail."

FCC DENIES EXTENSION IN MALICIOUS INTERFERENCE CASE

The FCC has denied Extra licensee Kornwell Chan, W3CI, of Dresher, Pennsylvania, an extension of time to reply to a March 10, 1999, Notice of Apparent Liability to Monetary Forfeiture. Chan sent his request for extension via the office of US Sen Richard Santorum. FCC Legal Adviser for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth noted April 6 that Chan was visited by FCC personnel February 21 and did not request an extension until March 29.

Chan and Technician licensee Michael E. Gallagher, KB1DTA (ex-KB3DHX), of W Concord, Massachusetts, each received $7500 fines from the FCC in connection with malicious interference to the Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club VHF and UHF repeaters. Following up on complaints from the Phil-Mont club, FCC personnel monitored interfering signals which included transmissions of classical music and a person talking with a disguised voice. In February, FCC personnel tracked the signal to a vehicle in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, occupied by Chan and Gallagher, and equipped with amateur gear.

The FCC cited both licensees for failing to operate "in accordance with good amateur practice," failing to identify as required, transmitting music on amateur frequencies, and willfully impeding legitimate amateur communications. Chan and Gallagher reportedly told FCC officials that Chan used Gallagher's station to transmit music on amateur frequencies. The FCC said Gallagher "is equally responsible" for transmissions made using his station.

TWO STATE PRB-1 BILLS MOVE CLOSER TO ADOPTION

Lawmakers in Texas and Maine inched closer to passage of legislation to incorporate the federal pre-emption known as PRB-1 into state lawbooks. The bills would require localities to make reasonable accommodations for Amateur Radio communication, including antennas and towers, and minimize local regulation.

The Texas bill, HB-1345, passed a major milestone April 7 when the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations passed the bill by a 3 for-2 absent vote and now is set for a final Senate vote April 19. About 20 amateurs attended the April 7 hearing. Testimony was limited to two witnesses, Karl Silverman, N0WWK, and Alan Wormser, N5LF.

An amendment was placed on the bill that improves the amendment added in the House and should not cause any major problems for the bill, according to Silverman. "The Committee was impressed by the testimony and is keeping the bill on a fast track," Silverman said, adding that it appears the bill can avoid a Senate floor vote. The bill has been placed on the "local and uncontested calendar," meaning it will become a housekeeping measure that is passed before normal business. At that point, the bill, with the Senate amendment, will go back over to the House, where a challenge is unlikely and it should be approved by a voice vote.

Silverman exhorted all Texas Amateurs to continue writing letters to the governor urging him to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.

In Maine, the Joint Standing Committee of the 199th Maine Legislature was scheduled to vote April 16 to recommend passage of LD 1800 with an amendment. Steven Thing, W1ZW, reports that instead of citing "PRB-1," the Committee has asked the staff to change it to refer to "Federal law," but Thing says the measure still will clearly reference the federal preemption.--Karl Silverman N0WWK; Steven Thing, W1ZW

FIRST-EVER PSK31 CONTEST SET

The hottest new HF mode, PSK31, now has its own contest, and the sponsor hopes to make it an annual event. The first-ever TARA PSK31 Rumble, sponsored by the Troy Amateur Radio Association, will take place Saturday, April 17, 0000 until 2400 UTC.

PSK31 is a keyboard-to-keyboard communication mode that operates in a very narrow bandwidth, so it's very easy to tune past a QSO in progress and never notice. Operationally, it's much like traditional 45-baud RTTY, so you can do everything from just monitoring to getting in a roundtable. PSK31 also has shown itself to be a real trouper in weak-signal situations.

To get up and running on PSK31 you need a PC that runs Windows and that is equipped with a sound card, PSK31 software (available via the Web), and a stable HF SSB transceiver. Several versions of PSK31 software are available as zipped files on the Internet. The latest PSK31 software includes a couple of tuning aids that make finding and tuning signals much simpler. The "official" PSK31 Web site is http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html, operated by Eduardo Jacob, EA2BAJ.

Participating PSK31 Rumble stations should exchange name and state or province. DX stations should send their DXCC entity prefix. The only entry category is single-transmitter, single-operator. Novice, Technician, and Tech Plus stations should add a "/X" suffix. There are three power categories: Normal (100 W max), Great (20 W max), and Super (5 W max). Frequencies: 3.600-3.675; 7.080-7.100; 14.100-14.150; 21.100-21.150; 28.100-28.300, and 50.100-54.000 MHz. Stations are asked to leave the regular PSK-31 calling frequencies clear for noncontest activity.

Stations may be worked once per band for points. Each QSO counts one point. Novice/Tech stations may multiply QSO points by 5. Multipliers are all DXCC entities and call areas of the US, Canada, Japan and Australia on each band. Category "Great" multiply by 2; category "Super" multiply by 5. Your score is QSO points times multipliers.

Participants should post band and number of QSOs for each band plus claimed score via e-mail to psk@n2ty.org by May 1, 1999. Include your category, name, call sign, and comments. Certificates/Awards will be made to the first, second, and third stations in each category as well as the first, second, and third in the Novice/Technician category plus an award for making a clean sweep of US states.

For more information on PSK31, see "PSK31--Has RTTY's Replacement Arrived?" in the May issue of QST.

SPECIAL EVENTS SET FOR INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY

Hams at various locations will stage special event operations to commemorate International Marconi Day, April 24. The annual event--held on the Saturday nearest to Marconi's April 25 birthday--will include operation on HF from the Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Marconi transmitting station site in South Wellfleet, by the Marconi Radio Club, W1AA.

Marconi also used several New Jersey sites to introduce wireless. 100 years ago, the first practical radio transmissions in America took place between Twin Lights in Highlands, New Jersey, ships in New York Harbor, and the New York Herald newspaper. On International Marconi Day, the Ocean-Monmouth Amateur Radio Club, N2MO, will operate on 20 meters from Marconi's former receiver site at Wall, New Jersey. The Marconi Chapter of the QCWA will operate from the MARS station at Ft Monmouth in Eatontown, New Jersey using WA2GM. The Morristown Amateur Radio Club, W2YD, will operate from Historic Speedwell Village, Morristown, New Jersey, where the telegraph and Morse code Marconi used were developed. Another station, WJ2DX, will be on the air from Somerville, New Jersey.

In all, some 60 stations in the US and elsewhere are expected to mount special event operations to mark International Marconi Day. Guglielmo Marconi, the man credited with inventing practical wireless, was born in 1874. He died in 1937.

RON MARTIN, W6ZF, SK

Former ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director Ronald G. Martin, W6ZF, of Napa, California, died March 16. He was 91. An ARRL Life Member, Martin served as Pacific Division Vice Director from 1958 until 1968. He was first licensed in the early 1920s as 9AHU, and became 6AYC when he moved to California. He worked as shipboard operator and later at KUP, the Press Wireless station, and for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph. During WWII, he served in the US Army and helped design and construct the worldwide Army Airways Communication Service system for the Army Air Force. He later transferred to the US Air Force from which he retired as a colonel.

He was a past ARRL East Bay Section Communications Manager and, at the time of his death, an Assistant Director in the Pacific Division. He was also a contributor to QST. During the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, W6ZF produced and transmitted simultaneously on 80 and 40 meters the weekly Pacific Coast Bulletin consisting of ARRL news and propagation forecasts.

His wife, Fran, and two grown children survive. A memorial services was March 29. --Brad Wyatt, K6WR

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar sage Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity was up this week, but only slightly, with the average solar flux rising less than 13 points over last week. Average sunspot number was up about 30 points.

More mail came this week from folks convinced that this solar cycle is not only a big disappointment now, but may continue to be. Unfortunately there is really no method of forecasting except to look at previous cycles, which tell us to expect more activity in the future. The big difference between this solar cycle and previous ones is that we are not seeing the great conditions on 10 and 12 meters that we expect at one year from the solar maximum.

The big worry is that the predicted peak in solar activity--believed to be about a year from now--keeps getting closer, and the sunspot numbers and solar flux are not where we expect them to be.

At least geomagnetic conditions have been stable, but over the next few days that should change. Planetary A index for April 16-18 is predicted at 20, 20 and 15, indicating active and unsettled geomagnetic conditions. Another predicted period of geomagnetic instability is April 25 and 26. The predicted solar flux for today through Sunday is 118, 115 and 112, and it is expected to remain around 105 from April 22-30.

Another peak is predicted for May 4-5 with flux values around 140. This is all based on the previous solar rotation, and could change any time now activity surfaces.

Sunspot numbers for April 8 through 14 were 125, 139, 129, 103, 113, 122, and 107 with a mean of 119.7. The 10.7-cm flux was 139.1, 136.2, 136.3, 130.7, 130, 129.6, and 120.2, with a mean of 131.7. The estimated planetary A indices were 9, 5, 11, 9, 7, 5 and 7, with a mean of 7.6.

IN BRIEF:

• This weekend on the radio: The DXYL-NAYL Contest (CW), the Holyland DX Contest, the Michigan QSO Party, and the TARA PSK-31 Rumble (see above) are the weekend of April 16-18.
  Just ahead: the DXYL-NAYL Contest (SSB), the Six Meter Sprint, the Florida, Nebraska, and Ontario QSO parties, the Helvetia Contest, and QRP to the Field are April 23-25. See April QST, page 100, for details.

• The ARRLWeb Extra features now available: "Hamming Swedish Style" by Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF; "YL Sets New HSCW Speed Record," by Shelby Ennis, W8WN; and Romie's Ramblings, commentary by Romie Miller, KG0ER, now are available on the Features page of The ARRLWeb Extra. Also, First Looks takes brief looks at both the ICOM IC-T81 quad-bander H-T and the new Yaesu FT-100 HF/VHF/UHF subcompact transceiver. There's H&K Lite and FotoGallery too. Visit http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ and click on "The ARRLWeb Extra." From the "Current News" page, click on "Feature Stories." Previously published features are available by clicking "Archive" in the ARRLWeb Extra box.

• Ham contact with Kosovo? Have you or someone you know recently been in contact via Amateur Radio with an amateur in Kosovo? If so, ARRL's PR department wants to hear from you. Please contact Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, at 860-594-0328 or send e-mail to jhagy@arrl.org.

• W9QA to join ARRL HQ staff: ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, has announced that David C. Patton, W9QA, will join the ARRL staff April 26 as Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President. A former editor of the National Contest Journal (1997), Patton holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Western Illinois University. Prior to college he served as a Navy radioman. He was first licensed as WD9DCL in 1977 at age 12 and has held quite a long list of call signs since then. He is perhaps best known for contest operations from such stations as K4VX, HC8N, VS6WO, and 6Y2A. He and his wife, Carol, will relocate to the Hartford area from Illinois. "I'm looking forward to tapping his training, skills, experience, and creative thinking as a member of the HQ team," Sumner said.

• E-mail forwarding service now available for ARRL affiliated clubs: Effective immediately, clubs affiliated with the ARRL can sign up for the League's new E-Mail Forwarding Service. The forwarding--or alias--service is available at no additional charge for ARRL affiliated clubs. It will provide clubs with a uniform "call sign@arrl.net" e-mail address that remains the same even if the user changes e-mail service providers. To sign up: (1) Send an e-mail (no text required) to subscribe@arrl.net. In return, you'll get a form to complete; (2) Send the completed form to clubregistration@arrl.net. That will send the form to ARRL HQ for processing. Your club's alias will be available within a day or so after you send it. To change your club's address, simply repeat this two-step procedure. The service does not affect usability of your original e-mail address. If your club does not have a club call sign, the system will generate an address based on the club's initials and a random three-digit number. Address comments regarding this service to clubs@arrl.org.

• Wisconsin proclaims Amateur Radio Awareness Day: Wisconsin Gov Tommy Thompson has proclaimed April 22 "Amateur Radio Operator Awareness Day." The proclamation, originated by Duane "Mack" Brophy, N9NTB, honors Wisconsin hams for providing emergency communication at no cost to taxpayers, "and especially SKYWARN operations at the northeast end of 'tornado alley," says Wisconsin PIO Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ. The proclamation also recognizes the contributions of ARES and RACES and ham radio classes, as well as Amateur Radio's role in publicizing Wisconsin's sesquicentennial last year, the Circus World Museum, the Great Circus Train, and the Great Circus Parade. Thompson signed the proclamation last month. ARRL Wisconsin Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Kaplan, WB9RQR, was among those attending.

• March QST Cover Plaque Award: George Maier, K1GXT, has won the March QST Cover Plaque Award for his article "The Collins Collectors Association." Congratulations, George!