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ARRL Letter

 

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 32
August 19, 2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +One Texas town rejects BPL, while another embraces it
* +CW subbands, privileges will remain unaffected by any FCC Morse decision
* +Next "space tourist" is now KC2ONX
* +Icom to sponsor ARRL November Sweepstakes plaques
* +U5MIR sets new space endurance record
* +Radio Amateurs of Canada plans response to BPL consultation
* +7100-7200 kHz to become available to Region 1 and 3 FCC licensees
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF:
     This weekend on the radio: NA QSO Party (SSB)!
     ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
     Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration
    +Ham gets the good news through!
     New contest "Printable Line Scores" version available
     Space, shrimp boil, swamp tour and more await AMSAT Symposium visitors
     Long-distance 911 call gets help for ailing radio amateur
     CQ kicks off "iDX" Award program next January 1
     Bird® marking manufacturing milestone with auction
     California State Fair special event set

+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
===========================================================

==>BPL TALES OF TWO TEXAS TOWNS: ONE SAYS "NO," NPR CITES SUCCESS ELSEWHERE

An informational and lobbying campaign by local radio amateurs has headed
off a broadband over power line (BPL) technology deal with a small Texas
town that owns and operates the local electric utility. The city council in
Castroville--a town of about 3500 inhabitants--voted 3-2 August 8 not to go
into the BPL business with Broadband Horizons.

"For now, at least, BPL is a dead issue in Castroville, Texas," said ARRL
member Ray Martinez, N5VRE, who credits the Amateur Radio community with
researching BPL and helping inform decision makers and town residents of
their concerns regarding its interference potential. Martinez says their
message in letters to the editor and in contacts with city council members
was that, while radio amateurs tend to support and embrace new technology,
their collective opposition to the BPL proposal was "related solely to the
interference issue."

But while hams in Castroville were successful, the same BPL purveyor was
able to chalk up a victory in the City of Flatonia, which also owns its own
utility system. The town's BPL experience was the focus of a very upbeat
report August 16 on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" program. NPR
had contacted ARRL while producing the BPL segment, and the report that
aired included a brief comment by ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI,
addressing BPL's interference potential.

"BPL that operates at the FCC limits can and does cause strong local
interference problems on any spectrum it's using," declared Hare, who got
approximately eight seconds in the approximately six-minute NPR piece.

But the BPL industry, NPR's Wade Goodwyn went on to assert, "has come up
with a technological fix" to BPL interference to radio amateurs in the form
of notching. Hare contends that what the network neglected to include from
the much longer interview he gave NPR were his further observations that
notching in and of itself is "not sufficient" to reduce interference to
Amateur Radio or other HF users.

"We stressed several times and in several ways that notching helps, but it
still leaves some interference to Amateur Radio," Hare recounted, "and that
in system after system we have seen, international shortwave broadcast
spectrum was not notched." Based on notching efforts in earlier BPL field
trials, Hare says the BPL industry "is far from demonstrating that notching
is a practical and effective way to address interference."

Included in the NPR report were BPL-flattering interviews with Flatonia
Mayor Lori Berger, who called the $200,000 BPL deal "critical to the town's
future." Also featured was a local woman who lauded the system's ability to
quickly download e-mailed photos of her great grandchildren. Located midway
between Houston and San Antonio, Flatonia boasts a dozen ham radio licensees
among its some 1500 residents. The BPL system has been in operation since
early August.

ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says he was
especially dismayed to hear Goodwyn's report, particularly after he and Hare
had expended considerable effort communicating their concerns about the
technology to Goodwyn. "I find it deeply disappointing to hear his sales
pitch, in which major known flaws in BPL schemes are given one passing
comment," he reacted. "NPR has a history of presenting fair, whole and
balanced information on topics, but this piece lacked all of those
qualities."

In its own 2003 comments to the FCC in the BPL proceeding, National Public
Radio urged the FCC to "ensure that any use of BPL technology will not
disrupt existing services," and, in particular, interfere with radio
receivers. NPR's comments even cited an ARRL study that concluded BPL poses
"a significant threat to Amateur Radio operations (and broadcasting) in the
HF and low-VHF (TV channels 2-6) region."

Meanwhile, Texas Gov Rick Perry is mulling whether to sign Senate Bill 5 (SB
5), legislation that promotes and encourages BPL in the Lone Star State. The
measure includes provisions to shut down interfering BPL systems. More
information is on the Web site of ARRL North Texas Section Manager Tom
Blackwell, N5GAR <http://www.n5gar.info/>.

==>FCC MORSE CODE DECISION WOULD NOT AFFECT CW SUBBANDS, PRIVILEGES

Any FCC decision to eliminate the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for HF access
would have no impact on either the current HF CW subbands or on the CW
privileges of Amateur Radio licensees.

"There seems to be a lot of confusion on these points, judging by the
questions I've been getting," said John Hennessee, N1KB, of the ARRL
Regulatory Information Branch. He emphasizes that the proceeding does not
put forward or recommend any changes in CW allocations or privileges.

The FCC is currently accepting comments on its Notice of Proposed Rule
Making and Order (NPRM&O) in WT Docket 05-235, released July 19, which
proposes to do away with the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for all license
classes.

Hennessee further notes that the FCC also has not proposed to extend HF
privileges to current Technician licensees who have not passed a Morse code
examination. The Commission's NPRM&O suggests that in a no-Morse-requirement
regime, such Technician licensees would be able to gain HF access by taking
the Element 3 General class written examination.

To file on-line comments on the FCC NPRM&O in WT Docket 05-235 or to view
others' comments in the proceeding, visit the ECFS site
<http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/> and click on "Submit a Filing" or "Search for
Filed Comments."

In either case, type "05-235" in the "Proceeding" field, being careful to
include the hyphen but not the quotation marks. Directions for filing
comments, which can be in the form of an attached document, are on the ECFS
site. Click on "Getting Started" to learn more.

As of week's end, more than 1700 comments had already been filed. The FCC
has not yet established a closing date for comments in this proceeding, and
it's not likely to release a Report and Order in WT Docket 05-235 until
early next year.

In a separate--and unrelated--Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT
Docket 04-140, the FCC agreed with an ARRL proposal to reallocate the
current Novice/Tech Plus CW subbands to create additional room on certain
'phone subbands. If the FCC goes ahead with that proposal, Novice and Tech
Plus licensees would have CW privileges in the current General class CW
bands.

==>NEXT ISS "SPACE TOURIST" GETS AMATEUR RADIO TICKET

The next "space tourist" to visit the International Space Station is, once
again, an Amateur Radio licensee. The FCC issued the call sign KC2ONX to
Greg Olsen of Princeton, New Jersey, on August 16. Thanks to three volunteer
examiners from the 10-70 Repeater Association in Northern New Jersey,
Olsen--who held a ham ticket many years ago--was able to take and pass his
Technician examination during a brief vacation window in his busy pre-flight
training schedule. VE team member (and ARRL Hudson Division Vice Director)
Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF, says extra-heavy summertime traffic slowed the
team's journey to Princeton, and the August 12 exam session almost didn't
happen.

"Dr. Olsen suggested that due to the volume of traffic we were in, that we
move the location of the meeting," she said, recounting a desperate cell
phone conversation with Olsen as the traffic jam tightened further. With
cell coverage crashing, however, the team members, traveling in two
vehicles, regrouped via a local ham radio repeater, arranged to meet Olsen
at a Princeton hotel that was closer, and announced the location change to
comply with FCC regulations. The test would take place in the hotel's lobby.

Birmingham reports that Olsen zipped through the examination in about 10
minutes. Set to head to the ISS October 1, Olsen has indicated he'd like to
conduct some Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school
group contacts from NA1SS while he's there. Having his ham radio license was
the first step in making that happen. The ARRL VEC orchestrated the
last-minute examination session for Olsen.

The day Olsen took his test was his last in the US until after his space
mission. He took off the next day for Russia to undergo further cosmonaut
training for his approximately 10-day ISS visit, which is being arranged
with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) by Space
Adventures. Like Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth before him, Olsen is
believed to have paid in the vicinity of $20 million for the privilege of
being the third civilian "space explorer," as Space Adventures called Olsen
in late July when it announced his pending voyage of a lifetime.

Olsen, who's co-founder and chairman of the board of Sensors Unlimited Inc
in Princeton, said he's looking forward to finalizing the remote sensing and
astronomy research projects he plans to conduct while in space. He is
scheduled to fly from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS aboard a
Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 12 crew members Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, and
Valery Tokarev. A third Expedition 12 crew member, Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, was
to have launched aboard the shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-121 on September
22. NASA announced this week, however, the shuttle fleet will remain
grounded at least until next March.

Olsen was accepted as a space explorer candidate in 2004, but several weeks
into his training, a routine medical evaluation turned up a health
issue--since remedied--that kept him from continuing his training, Space
Adventures says. Following a reevaluation, Olsen got clearance last May to
resume his training.

According to Space Adventures, Olsen, 60, is a native of Brooklyn, New York
and holds a PhD in materials science. He founded Sensors Unlimited in 1991
and sold it five years ago for $700 million.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, Space Adventures
<http://www.spaceadventures.com/> is the only company to have launched
private space explorers to the ISS. Several former NASA astronauts serve on
the company's advisory board.

==>ARRL, ICOM COMBINE FORCES TO EXPAND CONTEST PLAQUE PROGRAM

A new cooperative arrangement between the ARRL and Icom will make it
possible to expand the League's contest awards program at no cost to
participants. Icom has agreed to serve as the principal sponsor for nearly
150 currently unsponsored contest plaques recognizing various levels of
operating achievement in the annual ARRL November Sweepstakes Phone and CW
events.

"This ARRL-industry partnership enables us to do something for our members
that we alone could not do previously under our present dues structure,"
said ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B. "No longer will those
who qualify for unsponsored plaques have to pay for them out of their own
pockets, but the generosity of Icom will let the League recognize the
accomplishments of many more of our contest participants--not just the very
top scorers."

Contest award plaques lacking club or individual sponsorship typically cost
their winners $60 to $70 apiece.

Commented Icom Amateur Radio Products National Sales Manager Ray Novak,
N9JA, "We are happy to take part in an arrangement that is mutually
beneficial and enhances the contesting experience for everyone." In return
for its sponsorship, Icom will receive promotional consideration in QST and
on the ARRL Web site.

Kramer says the ARRL-Icom pact marks the first-ever corporate sponsorship
for ARRL November Sweepstakes awards. He also assured members--in
particular, regular ARRL contest participants--that the Icom sponsorship
will not in any way affect the integrity of the League's overall program of
operating events. Individuals and non-commercial organizations already
sponsor many plaques, he noted, and ARRL and Icom encourage their continued
participation in the awards program.

==>ISS COMMANDER SETS NEW SPACE ENDURANCE RECORD

International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev,
U5MIR, this week set a new record for the most days a human being has spent
in space. As of August 16, Krikalev had logged a total of nearly 748
days--more than two years--living in space. He'll exceed that figure before
he's back on Earth: Krikalev, 46, and crewmate and NASA ISS Science Officer
John Phillips, KE5DRY, are scheduled to remain aboard the ISS until October.
ISS Mission Control Houston called Krikalev to congratulate him.

"Fly on, Sergei," spacecraft communicator Ken Ham said. Mission Control
Moscow also saluted the achievement, and Krikalev joked, "You'll have to
congratulate me every day from now on."

The previous space endurance record, held by fellow cosmonaut Sergei
Avdeyev, was 747 days, 14 hours, 14 minutes, and 11 seconds.

Krikalev made his first trip into space in 1988. During the span of his
20-year career as a cosmonaut, he has done two duty tours on the ISS (he was
a member of the first ISS crew) and spent time living aboard the now-defunct
Russian Mir space station. He was the first Russian to fly on a US shuttle.
He's also been into space aboard Russian Soyuz transporters.

On August 18, Krikalev and Phillips ventured outside the ISS to remove,
replace and photograph experiments and relocate equipment. The spacewalk was
the eighth for Krikalev and the first for Phillips.--some information from
NASA

==>RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA TO REPLY TO BPL CONSULTATION PAPER

Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) is planning to respond to an Industry Canada
(IC) public consultation process that will determine how BPL will be
introduced in Canada. The proceeding, spelled out in Canada Gazette Notice
SMSE-005-05, dated July 19, will include the development of a new
certification standard for medium-voltage power line carrier systems.

"The intent of this consultation paper is to seek comment on the deployment
and regulation of BPL systems, including the specific equipment standards
and operational requirements which address potential interference to radio
services," IC explained. A consultation paper is roughly the equivalent of
an FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

RAC will reply to the consultation directly to IC and through the Radio
Advisory Board of Canada (RABC), an association of Canadian radio spectrum
user associations to which RAC belongs. RAC Vice President of Regulatory
Affairs Jim Dean, VE3IQ, a member of the RABC Executive, will chair a
working group preparing RABC's response. Joe Parkinson, VE3JG, will serve as
the working group's RAC delegate.

"RAC is not against BPL," the organization said in a statement. "It is
against the interference to radio services created by BPL, and looks forward
to this consultation process as an opportunity to have an input into the
certification standard."

The RAC pledged to "aggressively push to ensure the concerns of the Amateur
Service are addressed in the RABC response."

Canadian amateurs are invite to address all comments on questions in the
consultation to Joe Parkinson, VE3JG, RAC, 720 Belfast Rd, Suite 217, Ottawa
ON K1G 0Z5, ATTN: BPL Team, or via e-mail to ve3jg@rac.ca or
jgparkinson@rogers.com. The working group expects to wrap up its work in
early November.

RAC will update the process in the "Latest News" section of its Web site
<http://www.rac.ca/>. The consultation paper is available on the IC Web site
<http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf08432e.html>.

==>FCC REALIGNS AMATEUR PRIVILEGES FOR REGION 1 AND 3 LICENSEES

The FCC has realigned Amateur Radio allocations for Commission licensees
living or operating within Regions 1 and 3. The changes to Part 97, which
reflect decisions made at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003, make the
band 7100-7200 kHz available to amateur operators in Regions 1 and 3
effective September 9.

Under the revised regime, Novice and Technician Plus licensees may operate
7.100-7.150 MHz, CW only, 200 W output; General licensees may operate
7.100-7.150 MHz, CW/RTTY/data, 200 W output; Advanced and Amateur Extra may
operate 7.100-7.150 MHz, CW/RTTY/data, 200 W and 7.150-7.200 MHz,
CW/phone/image, 1500 W output. The special segments below 7.100 MHz are also
retained.

The changes to Part 97 affect approximately 1250 FCC licensees as well as
Commission-licensed stations operating portable or mobile within Regions 1
and 3.

After March 29, 2009, the 7.1-7.2 MHz segment will be allocated to the
Amateur Service on a primary and exclusive basis throughout the world, with
some exceptions.

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Sun watcher Tad "You Are My Sunshine" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington,
reports: Not much solar activity occurred over the past week. A few days ago
Earth entered a solar wind stream which raised geomagnetic activity, but not
to the level of a storm.

Sunspot numbers and solar flux are expected to remain low but rise
moderately again around August 26 and through the end of the month.
Geomagnetic conditions should stay mild, with unsettled conditions returning
around August 23-26.

Sunspot numbers for August 11 through 17 were 35, 47, 33, 34, 49, 48 and 42,
with a mean of 41.1. The 10.7 cm flux was 75.9, 76.2, 75.4, 74.8, 75.8, 75.8
and 77, with a mean of 75.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 6, 16,
10, 8, 19 and 18, with a mean of 11.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were
2, 3, 14, 6, 6, 12 and 11, with a mean of 7.7.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The North American QSO Party (SSB), the ARRL 10
GHZ and Up Contest, the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend, the
SARTG WW RTTY Contest, the Keyman's Club of Japan Contest, the New Jersey
QSO Party and the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest are the weekend of August
20-21. The NCCC Thursday Sprint is August 26 (UTC). JUST AHEAD: The ALARA
Contest, the Ohio, Kentucky and Hawaii QSO parties, the SCC RTTY
Championship, the YO DX HF Contest, the SARL HF CW Contest and the CQC
Summer VHF/UHF QSO Party are the weekend of August 27-28. The NCC Thursday
Sprint is September 2 (UTC). 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 for the ARRL HF Digital Communication (EC-005), ARRL
VHF/UHF--Beyond the Repeater (EC-008) and ARRL Digital Electronics (EC-013)
courses remains open through Sunday, August 21. Classes begin Friday
September 2. HF Digital Communication students will learn to use a variety
of HF digital modes. Students taking VHF/UHF--Beyond the Repeater (EC-008)
will enjoy exploring some of the lesser-used and more intriguing aspects of
VHF/UHF operation. Students participating in the Digital Electronics course
will learn about Boolean essentials, basic gates, latches, buffers and
drivers, encoders and decoders, serial interfaces, input devices, displays,
logic families, microprocessor basics, interfacing with analog devices,
understanding data sheets and design resources. To learn more, visit the
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/> or contact the ARRL C-CE Department cce@arrl.org.

* Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration: Registration
for the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level III on-line course
(EC-003) opens Monday, August 15, at 1201 AM EDT and will remain open until
all available seats have been filled or through the August 20-21
weekend--whichever comes first. Class begins Friday, September 2. Thanks to
the United Technologies Corporation (UTC), the $45 registration fee paid
upon enrollment will be reimbursed to students who complete the course
requirements and are upgraded by their mentor to "Passed" within the 8-week
course period. During this registration period, seats are being offered to
ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, visit the
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce>. For more information, contact Emergency
Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, cce@arrl.org; 860-594-0340.

* Ham gets the good news through! As the shuttle Discovery entered Earth's
atmosphere on its return trip, the father of astronaut Andy Thomas,
KD5CHF/VK5MIR, anxiously awaited word that his son was safe. Reporters were
all around him with their monitoring gear, but it was a ham radio friend of
Thomas's dad who first called to report that the shuttle was on the ground
and all aboard were okay.

* New contest "Printable Line Scores" version available: An auto-updating
HTML-version of the contest "Printable Line Scores" now is available on the
ARRL Contest Results Web page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/>. The
new line scores document also automatically reflects any corrections,
formerly entered manually by HQ staffers. "The idea is to give you exactly
what used to be in QST," says ARRL Contest Branch Manager Dan Henderson,
N1ND. "The new system interactively uses the current on-line database to
generate the scores. When a change is made in the database, the line score
document will reflect it immediately." ARRL members and non-members alike
can access the line scores. Henderson says the HTML Printable Line Scores
for a given contest become available once the PDF of the contest writeup has
been posted. "Click on "Printable Line Scores," and voíla, it's there!" he
says. Because it's an HTML document, viewers no longer will have to use
Adobe Reader to view or print their scores, and the type font is a bit
larger and easier to read, although it might take a couple of more pages to
print. Printable Line Scores are available for any ARRL contest that
includes an on-line database for members. That's most ARRL Contests starting
with the 2001 ARRL November CW Sweepstakes. For more information, contact
Henderson, <n1nd@arrl.org>;.

* Space, shrimp boil, swamp tour and more await AMSAT Symposium visitors:
There's still "space" available to attend the 2005 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium
and Annual Meeting this fall at the Holiday Inn Central in Lafayette,
Louisiana--in the heart of Cajun Country and just 35 miles north of the Gulf
of Mexico. Educational and technical sessions start Friday, October 7, with
technical, field operations and the IARU forum to follow through Sunday
October 9. Enjoy Friday's authentic Creole shrimp boil, the Saturday banquet
featuring regional cuisine and great prizes, and Sunday's swamp tour too.
Register on line! The conference fee, which includes a copy of the
Proceedings, is $45 for those who register by September 15. The shrimp boil,
banquet and swamp tour are additional. Details and a link to on-line
registration are on the AMSAT-NA Web site
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/>.

* Long-distance 911 call gets help for ailing radio amateur: Dave Wiesen,
K2VX, says a call from a fellow National Traffic System (NTS) participant in
upstate New York to 911 in Reston, Virginia, may have saved his life. On
July 10, Wiesen--just home in Reston following extensive back surgery--was
on a CW traffic net he often frequents. But after listening to Wiesen's
sending, Anne Fanelli, WI2G, in Elma, New York, got concerned. "Anne heard
me on the air and felt that I didn't sound right, in terms of my Morse and
also the confused content," Wiesen recounts. "She asked me what was wrong,
and when I didn't reply she called 911." Wiesen says the rescue squad
arrived, and he wound up spending three days in the hospital, where doctors
determined that he'd had an adverse reaction to one of his pain medications.
Fanelli is the manager of the New York State Net, and Wiesen says the two
have communicated extensively over the years, mostly on CW. Both Wiesen and
Fanelli are ARRL members, and Wiesen holds an appointment as an ARRL
Official Relay Station.

* CQ kicks off "iDX" Award program next January 1: CQ Amateur Radio
magazine's new "iDX Award" program will start for contacts made on or after
January 1, 2006. The iDX Award will recognize contacts made using voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) systems. It's the final component of the magazine's
"Waking Up DXing" program to encourage more DXing activity. "The iDX Award
brings back and updates an old concept of introductory-level awards to help
bring newer hams into the sport and mindset of DXing," explained CQ Editor
Rich Moseson, W2VU. The CQ iDX Award recognizes confirmed contacts with 25
to 100 different countries--or entities--made using remote bases or
repeaters linked with VoIP networks such as IRLP or EchoLink. "Because
virtually all new hams today come into Amateur Radio as Technicians
operating VHF and UHF, Novice awards have been largely discontinued,"
Moseson noted. "The iDX Award brings the concept of the Novice award to
where newer hams are operating today." CQ DX Awards Manager Billy Williams,
N4UF, says the CQ iDX Award "recognizes the changing landscape and its
inevitable effect on where Amateur Radio will be in 2020." Contacts must use
radio on at least one end of the link to count for the award.
Computer-to-computer contacts, while possible on such systems as EchoLink,
will not count. Complete details are on the CQ Web site
<http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/>.--CQ Magazine

* Bird® marking manufacturing milestone with auction: Bird Electronic
Corporation has announce that it will mark the production of its 300,000th
Model 43 Thruline Wattmeter by auctioning a gold-plated version of the unit.
The auction is planned to close on August 31. Hosted by AuctionFire, the
on-line event will be open to any individual or business interested in
bidding on and owning a piece of electronics history. Better yet, Bird will
donate the auction proceeds to a charitable organization of the winner
bidder's choosing. Bird began producing the Model 43 in 1952, and it soon
became an industry standard. Bird says its Model 43 is the first device
manufactured on a production scale that allows RF to flow through the
device--hence the "Thruline" label. Bird called the production of its
300,000th Model 43 "a significant event for this trusted and dependable
technology." To put in your bid, visit the Bird Electronic Corporation Web
site <http://www.bird-electronic.com/>.

* California State Fair special event set: Special event station N6S will be
on the air Thursday, August 25, in front of the Pavilion at the California
State Fair in Sacramento. The Amateur Radio Emergency Communication
Volunteers is sponsoring the event. Operation will be 40 and 20-meter SSB
(on or about 7.250 and 14.250 MHz) as well as VHF FM simplex (146.52 and
147.555 MHz) and FM repeaters on 147.195 MHz (123.0 Hz) and 145.250 MHz
(162.2 Hz). Visitors are welcome. N6S will QSL all contacts.--Patrick
Schamun, N6ARO

===========================================================
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
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<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a weekly "ham radio newscast"
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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

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The ARRL Letter

The ARRL Letter offers a weekly summary of essential news of interest to active amateurs that is available in advance of publication in QST, our official journal. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely, accurate, concise and readable.

Much of the ARRL Letter content is also available in audio form in ARRL Audio News.

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.

Back issues published since 2000 are available on this page. If you wish to subscribe via e-mail, simply log on to the ARRL Web site, click on Edit Your Profile at the top, then click on Edit Email Subscriptions. Check the box next to The ARRL email newsletter, the ARRL Letter and you will receive each weekly issue in HTML format. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!): letter-dlvy@arrl.org

Editorial questions or comments: John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, at news@arrl.org.

Plain-Text

The ARRL E-Letter e-mail is also available in plain-text version:

Outlook Express

1. From the Inbox view, select the Tools menu and the Options selection.

2. Click the Read tab

3. Check the Read All Messages In Plain Text box.  When you open the e-mail, it will be in plain text without images. Other e-mail programs may be able to make a Mail Rule for e-mail received from the address memberlist@www.arrl.org so that the plain-text-only display is selected automatically.

Outlook 2007

Use the same procedure as for Outlook Express, although the global option is under "Tools/Trust Center/E-mail Security".

Thunderbird

Use the menu item "View/Message Body As/Plain Text" or "View/Message Source" options.

OS X Mail (Mac)

Use the "View/Message/Plain Text Alternative" menu item.

GMail

Use the "Message text garbled?" link in the drop-down menu at the upper right of the displayed message block. pine, alpine Set "prefer-plain-text" in your ~/.pinerc configuration file: feature-list=..., prefer-plain-text, ...

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