March 30, 2007 by kb3ljm.

TANZANIA, 5H.

Sigfrido is QRV as 5H/7Q7RS for one year while on work assignment. He has applied for a 5H callsign. QSL via IT9YVO.

BHUTAN, A5.

Kunio, JA8VE is QRV as A52VE from the capital city of Thimphu while on a two- year work assignment. Activity will be on all HF bands, including 6 meters, using SSB, various digital modesand some CW. QSL via JF1OCQ.

ANTARCTICA.

Mirko, DG9BHQ is QRV as DP0GVN from Neumayer 2 Stationuntil February 2008. QSL via DL5EBE.

BELGIUM, ON.

Special event station ON50EU is active until December31 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. QSL via ON7YX.

http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/2007-arld013.html

Posted in ARRL DX BULLETIN | Comments Off

March 28, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The Daily DX editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, says his paid subscription DX newsletter’s Web site now offers a Google-powered search engine. Open to all, the search engine scours back issues of The Daily DX. “I am still in the process of uploading issues and hope to have this completed by the end of April,” McClenny says. “When completed it will have up until the last 6 to 8 weeks.” So far, McClenny says, he’s uploaded back issues from March 17, 1997, through May 2006. Issues of The Weekly DX are not included. The “Google Custom Search” box is in the middle of The Daily DX home page. McClenny advises users to include as many key words as they can when initiating a search. He also suggests starting with one search word then adding more words to narrow down the subject.

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7328

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March 28, 2007 by kb3ljm.

In the wake of recent changes in the Part 97 Amateur Radio rules, the ARRL has revised its “regulation by bandwidth” proposals to match the new reality, avoid some unintended consequences and temper some of the controversy the original petition had aroused. In a November 2005 Petition for Rule Making (RM-11306), the League asked the FCC to establish a regulatory regime that would segment bands by necessary bandwidths ranging from 200 Hz to 100 kHz rather than by emission mode. The ARRL now is urging the FCC to adopt a “subset” of the rules contained in its original petition that largely affects only the amateur bands at 28 MHz and above.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/03/23/101/?nc=1

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March 28, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The ARRL has announced some changes in the DXCC, WAS and VUCC card checking program rules. Effective immediately, the 10-year rule has been dropped for DXCC card checking. ARRL DXCC card checkers now have been authorized to check cards for current entities only, dating back to November 15, 1945. Card checkers still may not verify cards for 160-meter contacts nor cards confirming contacts with deleted entities. In addition, DXCC card checkers now may check applications for Worked All States Award (WAS) and VHF/UHF Century Club Award (VUCC), if they agree to do so. For more information, contact DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L.

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7323

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March 26, 2007 by kb3ljm.

For the past 10 days we’ve observed no sunspots at all! Periods like this — or longer – are expected at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. As mentioned in a recent “Solar Update,” the latest projection for smoothed sunspot numbers from the NOAA Space Environment Center puts the solar minimum at February through April 2007, with a smoothed sunspot number of 11. You can see the table on page 10 of the Preliminary Report and Forecast. Another way to look at it is that the minimum is projected between December 2006 and July 2007, with a smoothed sunspot number of 12 or lower.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/03/23/100/?nc=1

Posted in K7RA Solar Update, ARRL Web Extra | Comments Off

March 26, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The FCC has again refused to consider extending the limited protections for amateur antennas that it has imposed on local and state governments to private homeowners’ associations. In rejecting a petition from a group known as Hams for Action (HFA) for the Commission to override covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) that prevent amateurs from installing antennas, the FCC repeated its stand from a 2001 decision that state and local laws are different from CC&Rs in that the latter are agreed to voluntarily. “We conclude that HFA has not presented grounds for the Commission to revisit this policy,” said a letter from Scot Stone, Deputy Chief of the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau’s Mobility Division. The letter also reiterated the FCC’s stand that if hams are able to persuade Congress to mandate the inclusion of CC&Rs under the limited pre-emption policy commonly known as PRB-1, then the Commission would “expeditiously act to fulfill its obligation thereunder.”

Posted in CQ News Service | Comments Off

March 26, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The FCC’s decision to drop Morse code tests from all classes of amateur licenses is apparently prompting thousands of people to join the amateur service for the first time, even though there has been no code test for the Technician license since 1991. The ARRL reports a huge upsurge in the number of new Technician Class licensees — sometimes 60 or 70 from a single test session, according to the ARRL Letter, with large numbers of upgrades as well. The number of exam session is way up as well. The ARRL VEC, which normally sponsors about 450 test sessions a month around the U.S., reported nearly 800 sessions had been scheduled for March, with another 600 on tap for April. And, according to VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, “it doesn’t look like test session activity will be slowing down anytime soon.”

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March 26, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The government of Iraq has shut down amateur radio operations in the country until the security situation there improves. Diya Sayah, YI1DZ, President of the Iraq Amateur Radio Society, reported in an e-mail that “all activities of amateur radio in Iraq will be suspended for unknown date or time,” and that the shutdown applies both to Iraqi citizens and to foreign hams who have been operating with YI9 callsigns. Sayah told the ARRL he had requested a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to try to clear up any “possible misunderstanding on the part of government officials as to the nature and purpose of Amateur Radio.”

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March 26, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved these operations for DXCC credit: DX0JP (Spratly Islands, 2007 operation), 9M4SDX (Spratly Islands, 2007 operation), 9U9Z(Burundi, 2007 operation), YW0DX (Aves Island, 2007 operation) and 1A4A (Sovereign Military Order Of Malta, 2007 operation). For more information, visit the DXCC Web page. “DXCC Frequently Asked Questions” can answer most questions about the DXCC program. ARRL DX bulletins are available on the W1AW DX Bulletins page.

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7315

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March 23, 2007 by kb3ljm.

Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, reports that a total of 16 participating stations have been active on the air since the experiment got under way in late 2006. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology granted the WD2XSH experimental license to the ARRL last September. Raab says the low-frequency investigation has demonstrated ground-wave communication at distances of 100 miles in New England, in the Gulf Coast states and in Colorado.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/03/22/100/?nc=1

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