*************** The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 49 December 16, 2005 *************** IN THIS EDITION: * +Hurricane volunteers may apply again for "Ham Aid" reimbursements * +ARRL/Salvation Army 2005 Toy Drive convoy hits the road * +Astronaut seeking WAC, WAS and maybe DXCC from space * +League experimenting with D-Star digital technology * +ARES and SKYWARN activate for Massachusetts nor'easter * +Missouri dam break prompts ARES emergency net * +On the ultra-highs: Another new 134 GHz DX record * Solar Update * IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration +Pennsylvania ARRL member honored Vintage receiver becomes musical instrument for tribute song W8STX is 2005 Allan Severson, AB8P, Memorial Award winner +Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> =========================================================== ==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!): letter-dlvy@arrl.org ==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org =========================================================== ==>ADDITIONAL "HAM AID" REIMBURSEMENTS AVAILABLE FOR HURRICANE VOLUNTEERS Limited "Ham Aid" reimbursement funds remain available to help cover out-of-pocket expenses both for prior and new applicants who provided emergency communication support in communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The Ham Aid funding is due to expire at year's end, and ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, urges all eligible ham radio volunteers to request a reimbursement as soon as possible. "If you haven't applied at all previously or even if you've already applied for and received the maximum $100 reimbursement," Hobart said, "we urge you to take advantage of the generosity of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which is providing these Ham Aid funds." Anyone filing an initial or additional application for the maximum $25 per day reimbursements must follow the reimbursement procedures available on the ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/cncs/>. Hobart acknowledges that accepting a Ham Aid reimbursement is a personal decision. Even so, she encourages those who served in the wake of the three storms to put in for the reimbursement anyway--if for no other reason than to honor those who have volunteered before them throughout the history of Amateur Radio. "These volunteers should consider applying and then donate the reimbursement to their club or to another emergency communication-related project," she said. "I'd like to see this money support ARES and our emergency response capabilities in the field." Hobart called the CNCS grant "a tangible expression of the value that the federal government puts on Amateur Radio as an emergency communication asset." In addition, Hobart says, CNCS grant funds are still available to help replace Amateur Radio communication infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the three devastating storms earlier this year. "We have seven grant requests totaling approximately $20,000 so far to replace backbone equipment from the Gulf Coast to Florida," she said. "We'd like to have all applications by the end of the year." Hobart says the goal is to restore critical Amateur Radio emergency communication systems in hurricane-prone areas--and especially in cases where equipment damage has compromised Amateur Radio's disaster-response capability. Contact Hobart <k1mmh@arrl.org>, 860-594-0397 for complete application details and requirements. CNCS has provided the League with $170,000 in grants to Ham Aid. Hobart says there's still adequate funding to support the hundreds of hams who traveled to the US Gulf Coast. The program will cover per-diem reimbursements incurred between September 1 and December 31, 2005. In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers and individual radio amateurs supplied or supplemented the communication needs of emergency management and relief agencies, including the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. Hobart points out that Amateur Radio volunteers will not be breaking FCC rules by accepting the reimbursements. §97.113 prohibits "Communications for hire or for material compensation, direct or indirect, paid or promised . . ." Hobart says Ham Aid reimbursements are not for providing "communications" but to help with costs such as travel, meals, lodging and necessities. "These out-of-pocket expenses can be a hardship for some Amateur Radio volunteers," Hobart said. "If we can help one ham to serve where badly needed, that's what this grant is intended to do." "I hope people take advantage of the helping hand CNCS has extended," Hobart says. "Let's put this funding to work as CNCS intended." The CNCS grant is an extension of the ARRL's three-year Homeland Security training grant, which has provided certification in emergency communication protocols to nearly 5500 Amateur Radio volunteers over the past three years. Cash donations from individuals are also being accepted from ARRL members to support hams who volunteer for disaster relief and recovery activities. To donate, go to the ARRL general donation form <https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/basic/> and select "Ham Aid" (this is a secure site). ==>IT'S A CONVOY! 2005 HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE TRUCKS HIT THE HIGHWAY A convoy carrying contributions to the ARRL/Salvation Army Holiday Toy Drive set off December 15 from the Memphis warehouse where the toys have been collecting for several weeks. Seeing them off were representatives of the ARRL and The Salvation Army, country music singer Patty Loveless, KD4WUJ, Amateur Radio volunteers, the news media, dignitaries and, of course, Santa Claus. Loveless, who served as national chairperson for the campaign, expressed her thanks to Amateur Radio clubs and individual hams who gave to the drive. "I think it's just amazing! For those who couldn't be here, I'm sure they're here in spirit and giving from their hearts, and I just want to thank them--from all around--for collecting," Loveless told ARRL. "Love is a word that truly everybody knows." It took three trucks to contain the 4500 toys bound for youngsters along the US Gulf Coast displaced or left homeless as a result of this year's devastating hurricanes. ARRL Delta Division Vice Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, The Salvation Army's Bill Feist, WB8BZH, and Loveless headlined a send-off ceremony as ham radio volunteers wearing Santa hats, coordinated by Joe Lowenthal, WA4OVO, packed up the trucks for the late-afternoon departure. Lowenthal says the Holiday Toy Drive received donations from upward of three dozen states plus the US Virgin Islands. At the warehouse, Delta Amateur Radio Club members began a W1AW/4 special event operation December 15. That was expected to continue for another day, possibly longer. A W1AW mobile station also is on the air from a vehicle shadowing the truck convoy, first headed to The Salvation Army's Gulf Area headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi, which will serve as the distribution center--and then to Biloxi. The convoy may be trackable via APRS. The ARRL partnered with The Salvation Army for this year's campaign. Feist, The Salvation Army's disaster services director for the Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi division, said it was an exciting occasion and he was glad to see ham radio get some positive publicity too. "As The Salvation Army's representative, we are certainly very appreciative of what all the Amateur Radio operators around the country and the ARRL have done for the people of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi," Feist said. League members gave more than $4000 in cash donations to purchase even more toys--especially for older youngsters--and transport them to the Gulf Coast. Impressed by an electronics experimenter's kit that one radio amateur contributed, Pitts purchased 150 more. "The kits not only are appropriate for older children, but they may well spark a greater interest in electronics," he remarked. The ARRL thanks everyone who contributed to--and who volunteered to assist--in making the 2005 Holiday Toy Drive a success. ==>ISS COMMANDER SHOOTING FOR WAC, WAS AND MAYBE DXCC FROM SPACE ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, has proven to be one of the more active Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) operators among ham radio operators who have occupied the space station. Early in his ISS duty tour, McArthur got on the air from NA1SS for Scouting's Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) event in October, but he's also been available during his off hours to make some quick, casual QSOs on 2 meters as well. In fact, McArthur's having so much fun operating from space that he's hoping to complete Worked All Continents (WAC), Worked All States (WAS) and maybe even DXCC from space. "Bill McArthur continues to be active on voice and now has a couple of personal goals he is trying to achieve," says ARISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO. "He is trying to talk to someone in every state in the United States. According to his log, he has managed to work 37 states so far." In addition, Ransom says, McArthur wants to work as many countries as he can. "He's off to a good start with 28 DXCC entities in his log as of December 12," he said. "These contacts have been with amateur stations on every continent with the exception of Antarctica." That contact could happen this weekend, however. Although the IARU does not require WAC applicants to have worked Antarctica, Ransom says that ARISS tradition calls for an Antarctica QSO to achieve WAC from space "since the astronauts seem to have an unfair advantage." Expedition 9 astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, became the first ISS crew member to contact all seven of the world's continents via Amateur Radio from NA1SS. Fincke worked KC4AAC at Antarctica's Palmer Research Station for his last contact. States on McArthur's most-needed list are Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. "The list of DXCC entities is just starting to grow, so he needs a lot right now," Ransom conceded this week. "I figure he can get it if we are able to add a handful of smaller entities." Ransom says he hasn't included ARISS school group contacts in his counts and hopes McArthur will achieve his goals without them. "We won't know the official results for months after the mission," he added. McArthur is about halfway through his approximately six-month duty tour aboard the ISS. He and crewmate Valery Tokarev will return to Earth in April. During Thanksgiving week, McArthur reportedly made some three dozen casual contacts, most of them over North America and a few over Europe and New Zealand. Nine-year-old Mattie Clausen, AE7MC, of Oregon recently enjoyed her third QSO with McArthur, and the two now are on a first-name basis. McArthur made contacts with stations in the US on December 6. He also had QSOs with Australia, New Zealand and the US on December 11. The NA1SS worldwide voice and packet downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz. In Regions 2 and 3 (the Americas, and the Pacific), the voice uplink is 144.49 MHz. In Region 1 (Europe, Central Asia and Africa), the voice uplink is 145.20 MHz. The worldwide packet uplink is 145.99 MHz. All frequencies are subject to Doppler shift. The Science@NASA Web site provides location information for the ISS <http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html>. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> program is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA. ==>ARRL EXPERIMENTING WITH ICOM D-STAR DIGITAL SYSTEM Thanks to the generosity of Icom, MFJ and NCG (Comet), the ARRL has embarked on a project to learn firsthand what D-Star <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/techchar/> digital technology has to offer and to assess its capabilities in a real-world Amateur Radio environment. Icom, so far the only ham radio manufacturer offering D-Star equipment, has donated a D-Star voice repeater, data repeater and controller to W1AW. Eight model ID-1 D-Star 10 W mobile transceivers are on loan from the manufacturer. "We appreciate Icom's cooperation and support as we explore D-Star's capabilities and learn more about digital radio systems," ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said in expressing the League's gratitude. MFJ donated an MFJ-1532N Pulsar, which is serving as the transmitting antenna, while NCG contributed a pair of Comet GP21 antennas to receive digital data and voice for the 1.2 GHz (23 cm) multipurpose D-Star system. The antennas have been installed on two of the W1AW antenna support structures. Although still in the early phase, the project plans to exercise the technology's digital voice and data capabilities as well as its capability to become part of a wider D-Star digital repeater network via an Internet gateway. Icom Amateur Products Division Manager Ray Novak, N9JA, says the D-Star standard, first published four years ago, resulted from government-funded research in Japan administered by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) to investigate Amateur Radio digital technologies. Novak emphasizes that D-Star is an open protocol that's available for implementation by anyone, and Icom is working with other manufacturers to get more D-Star compatible gear on the market. "Amateur Radio is again out there in the forefront of technology," Novak says. Although he concedes there's a steep learning curve ahead, he predicts Amateur Radio users will invent new ways to put D-Star technology to work as they get better acquainted with its possibilities. At this stage, the D-Star 23-cm repeater is up and running in digital voice mode, and W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, and ARRL Web and Software Development Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, enjoyed the first contact through the repeater on November 30. In the meantime, Bloom has been working to interface the D-Star system with a Linux server, which will serve as an Internet gateway, to check out that aspect of the system. Novak says the digital voice stream can simultaneously handle voice at 3600 bps with error correction and data at up to 1200 bps. Since a D-Star voice signal occupies only 6.25 kHz, Novak says, the potential is there to make more efficient use of available spectrum on 2 meters by squeezing up to four D-Star repeaters into the same space as two analog channels. New repeater modules are in development for 2 meters and 70 cm. Working through a D-Star repeater is a bit different than using an analog repeater. Your call sign is the key to a D-Star system, since it's incorporated into every transmission you make. "Because of D-Star's call sign-routed system," Novak explained, "registered users are able to cross-communicate with stations registered on another network's D-Star repeater, wherever it may be." Novak says the 1.2 GHz D-Star system's high-speed (128 kbps) data capability is another exciting feature. With the Ethernet jack on the Icom ID-1 transceiver, you now have the functionality of an ISDN (integrated services digital network) line available in your vehicle," Novak said. "We'll have to find new ways of using this technology," he continued. "That will be where ham radio changes. This opens up an unbelievable array of features for repeater systems--including graphics, schedules, tables, photos, you name it!" A D-Star Last Heard Report Web page <http://www.dstarusers.org/> lists stations heard, their location and the date and time and, sometimes, type of transmission. The K5TIT Dallas D-Star Web site <http://www.k5tit.org/> includes a repeater listing and a discussion forum, and a promise of more to come. ==>EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES AND SKYWARN ACTIVATE FOR MAJOR NOR'EASTER Near-blizzard conditions and high winds December 9 in Eastern Massachusetts prompted ARES and SKYWARN teams to activate in Eastern Massachusetts December 9. The New England "nor'easter," initially predicted to drop only moderate amounts of snow across the region, quickly and briefly turned ugly, says Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, who also serves as SKYWARN Coordinator for the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Taunton. "We had a nor'easter intensify rapidly and bring hurricane-force winds to Southeast New England with Cape Cod and the Islands hardest hit, causing an ARES activation for shelter operations," Macedo told ARRL. "The storm also brought near-blizzard conditions to the region and caused major travel disruptions during the Friday evening commute." Macedo says that as the storm made its closest approach to Eastern Massachusetts, it strengthened rapidly, leading to widespread thunderstorms coupled with extremely heavy snowfall over the region and whiteout conditions. A plane arriving in Boston's Logan Airport from Baltimore was struck by lightning, but the aircraft landed safely, and no one was injured. "Portions of Eastern Massachusetts had snowfall rates in the 5 to 7-inch-per-hour range," he said, "resulting in up to 17 inches of snow in the hardest-hit areas of the region." The National Weather Service said the 8.6 inches of snow that fell December 9 at Boston's Logan Airport exceeded the previous record for that date--4.6 inches set in 1978. NWS Taunton said the nor'easter became a severe short-term winter storm affecting both eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "The extreme rapid intensification of low pressure as it moved through Buzzards and Cape Cod bays between 1 PM and 3 PM, then out to sea, created a short-term near-blizzard scene during mid-afternoon like no other in recent memory with damaging wind, whiteout conditions and about an hour of thunderstorms for many within and just east of the Interstate 95 corridor," the weather summary said. SKYWARN operations at NWS Taunton got under way at 3:30 that afternoon following reports of hurricane-force winds and excessive snowfall rates. "Reports from Cape Cod ARES-SKYWARN told of downed trees, power lines and utility poles," Macedo said. "Minor structural damage to homes was also reported along with coastal flooding." Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters on Cape Cod and the Islands reported winds as high as 96 MPH in Eastham--before the wind instrument was struck by a fallen tree. SKYWARN teams measured wind gusts of 50 to 70 MPH elsewhere in Southeastern New England with damage to trees and power lines. Power outages lasted between 18 and 36 hours over a good portion of Cape Cod and the Islands. At the peak of the storm, 150,000 people were reported without electricity on Cape Cod and the Islands and along Massachusetts' South Shore. Up to 75,000 people remained without power for much of the following day. The foul weather caused huge traffic delays and dangerous travel conditions during the Friday afternoon commute. But high winds posed the greatest hazard. Because of the hurricane-force winds on Cape Code, Cape Cod ARES activated at the request of the American Red Cross to provide support for Red Cross shelters there. ARES members established communication paths between the Cape Cod Red Cross chapter headquarters in Hyannis and shelters Chatham, Eastham and Brewster through the next morning. In Brewster, cell phone and landline phone coverage was spotty, and Amateur Radio operators provided communication between that shelter and the Red Cross headquarters from late Saturday morning through mid-morning Sunday. Amateur Radio volunteers handled requests for cots, blankets and food. By the evening of December 10, a temporary base station was set up at the shelter to provide easy communication between the shelter and Red Cross headquarters via the 146.955 repeater in Barnstable. About a dozen repeaters across Eastern Massachusetts played a role in the operation, including EchoLink and IRLP-linked repeaters and stations through the use of the New England Network. "The quick-hitting nature of the storm tested the ability of Eastern Massachusetts ARES and SKYWARN to react quickly to a rapidly intensifying winter storm that brought hurricane force winds and near blizzard conditions to the region," Macedo said. "ARES and SKYWARN in Eastern Massachusetts came through by providing timely severe-weather reporting to NWS Taunton for the protection of life and property and support for Cape Cod Red Cross in shelter operations." The National Weather Service, which included several reports from radio amateurs in its forecast summaries, extended its appreciation to SKYWARN spotters among others. ==>ARES EMERGENCY NET ESTABLISHED AFTER MISSOURI DAM BREAK When millions of gallons of water breached the wall of a mountaintop hydroelectric reservoir in rural Reynolds County, Missouri, December 14, an ARES emergency net was quickly established on the Van Buren repeater. The deluge washed down the mountainside, sweeping away homes and vehicles and flooding the valley below. A dwelling occupied by a park superintendent, his wife and three children was among those washed away. The family was found a half-mile away, and the children all were hospitalized, at least one of them in serious condition. The town of Lesterville was under a voluntary evacuation order. ARRL District G Emergency Coordinator Dave Hannigan, KN0D, reports stations checked into the net from Poplar Bluff, Piedmont, Eminence, Elsinore, Van Buren, Redford and Koshkonong. The net also heard from mobile stations near Leper, Piedmont, Van Buren and Ironton. The reservoir breach reported occurred after a pump failed to shut down at utility Ameren UE's Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant, which stores water from the Black River in an upper reservoir, releasing it to a lower reservoir to generate electricity. Hannigan said HF and VHF stations activated at emergency operations centers in Shannon and Carter counties. "I was contacted by the Shannon County sheriffs dispatcher through the NPS [National Park Service] dispatch," Hannigan said. "The various net controllers kept me updated as I was working but had a 2 meter [equipment] with me. No emergency traffic was passed but it was a good exercise, and I was really proud of the rapid wide-area VHF radio coverage." In all, 16 stations responded to the emergency callup.--Missouri SM Don Moore, KM0R ==>MICROWAVE RECORD-BREAKER TOPS OWN NEW RECORD; 134 GHZ VUCC CLAIMED No sooner had microwave enthusiast Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, set a new world DX record on 134 GHz than he topped it less than a week later. "Several of you must have seen this coming," quipped Justin, who'd reported his earlier 134 GHz world distance record of 60.1 km (approximately 37.3 miles) on December 8. "I'd like to claim what should be a new and latest world DX record of 79.6 km [approximately 49.35 miles] for the 134 GHz band as well as the very first ARRL VUCC claim." Justin says his latest DX record QSO occurred December 14 (UTC) between W2SZ/4 and WA1ZMS/4. WA1ZMS/4, roving alone at the time in EM96wx, worked W2SZ/4 (with Pete Lascell, W4WWQ, operator) in FM07fm--both in Virginia. "The gear was the same equipment that was used for last week's former 134 GHz DX record," Justin explained, "but this time the noisy Gunn source was cleaned up, and the resulting improvement in phase noise allowed us to copy the FSK CW signals down into the noise floor by ear." At the same time, W2SZ/4 picked up the last three needed grids for the first ARRL VUCC claim on the 134 GHz band. "I'd like to really thank Pete, W4WWQ, for pushing me to 'go for it' last night in an attempt to get the VUCC effort completed during the cold night air," Justin said after all was said and done. "It was a long and late night." Justin received the 2003 ARRL Microwave Development Award, for his pioneering work in developing the Amateur Radio microwave bands above 30 GHz. ==>SOLAR UPDATE Solar flash Tad "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average daily sunspot numbers were down more than 18 points for the week (compared to the previous seven days), and average solar flux values were down nearly six points. Geomagnetic indices indicate quiet for the most part, although the days of the contest were unsettled. Don't expect any big changes over the next week. Solar activity should stay about the same. RWC Prague expects geomagnetically quiet conditions December 18 and 19, quiet to unsettled conditions December 17, 20 and 21, and unsettled December 16 and 22. Sunspot numbers for December 8 through 14 were 51, 61, 55, 51, 41, 67 and 55, with a mean of 54.4. The 10.7 cm flux was 89.6, 89.1, 91.4, 93.1, 88.3, 87.9, and 89.6, with a mean of 89.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 1, 4, 12, 22, 9, 5 and 2, with a mean of 7.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 3, 17, 10, 7, 4 and 2, with a mean of 6.3. __________________________________ ==>IN BRIEF: * This weekend on the radio: The MDXA PSK DeathMatch, the OK DX RTTY Contest, the RAC Winter Contest, the Croatian CW Contest, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, the International Naval Contest and the ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint are the weekend of December 17-18. The Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is December 19, the RAEM Contest is December 25 and the DARC Christmas Contest is December 26. See the ARRL Contest Branch page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info. * ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration: Registration remains open through Sunday, December 25, for these ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (CCE). Program on-line courses: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1 (EC-001) Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009), Technician Licensing (EC-010), Radio Frequency Interference (EC-006), Digital Electronics (EC-013) and Analog Electronics (EC-012). Classes begin Friday, January 6. To learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the CCE Department <cce@arrl.org>. * Pennsylvania ARRL member honored: Carl Stevenson, WK3C, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, has been named by Scientific American magazine a policy leader within the 2005 "Scientific American 50." The magazine's annual list, which appears in each December's issue, recognizes outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology during the past year. An ARRL Life Member, Stevenson is president and CTO of WK3C Wireless LLC, which provides consulting services in the areas of wireless standards, regulatory affairs and design. His designation as a policy leader stemmed from his work in developing improved wireless networking standards. Stevenson also was named a recipient of the 2005 IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) International Award, which he received in a December 4 presentation. The honor goes annually to an IEEE-SA member for extraordinary contributions to the advancement of the association's goals. Stevenson was recently elected to the IEEE Standards Association's Board of Governors for a two-year term that begins January 1. A fellow of the Radio Club of America and a senior IEEE member and chair of the IEEE 802.22 Working Group on Wireless Regional Area Networks, Stevenson has been involved in RF communications systems design and development for more than 35 years. * Vintage receiver becomes musical instrument for tribute song: Dave Glawson, WA6CGR, "played the radio"--a military surplus BC-348-Q--for the recording of "Johnny's Gone Away, a Tribute to John Lennon." Audio from the vintage radio was "acoustically coupled" to the microphone. The CW in the song was produced by an MFJ keyer and a Bencher paddle. The musical tribute was featured December 8 in front of Capitol Records in Hollywood at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the death of the former Beatles member who was shot and killed by a deranged fan in December 1980 in New York City. The gathering concluded with a visit to Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More information is available on the Tribute to John Lennon Web site <http://www.lennontribute.com/>. * W8STX is 2005 Allan Severson, AB8P, Memorial Award winner: He had to wear a chef's hat like a dunce cap, hold a rubber chicken and suffer repeated assaults with a squirt gun, but Ohio Assistant Section Manager John Haungs, W8STX, took it all in stride. Haungs was first "roasted" then honored as the 12th recipient of the Allan Severson, AB8P, Memorial Award for 2005. Organizer of the ribbing, Ohio Section Manager Joe Phillips, K8QOE, presented the plaque to Haungs during the Cincinnati FM Club Christmas party. Named for the late Great Lakes Division Director, the Severson award formerly was known as the "Ohio Ham of the Year." Haungs was honored for his nearly 40 years of service to Cincinnati-area ham radio clubs, the Cincinnati Hamfest and the Great Lakes Division conventions held in the area. He also served a term as Ohio Section Manager, and in 1983 he was inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Association Hall of Fame. =========================================================== The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259; <http://www.arrl.org/>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President. The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential news of interest to active amateurs. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely, accurate, concise, and readable. Visit ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org/> for the latest news, updated as it happens. The ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/> offers access to news, informative features and columns. ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a weekly "ham radio newscast" compiled from The ARRL Letter. Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given to The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League. ==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!): letter-dlvy@arrl.org ==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org ==>ARRL News on the Web: <http://www.arrl.org/> ==>ARRL Audio News: <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> or call 860-594-0384 ==>How to Get The ARRL Letter The ARRL Letter is available to ARRL members free of charge directly from ARRL HQ. 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