April 2020 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:29223] Set An Example
by k5ur＠aol.com 30 Dec '21

30 Dec '21

Hi all: As we close the year,I'd like to ask for those who have not made a monetary donation to the League thisyear to please do so. As volunteers, we already contribute our time and effort,but it’s also important for our development efforts to be able to say that allBoard members have made a monetary donation. Oftentimes when seeking donations,especially from major donors, one of the first questions asked is whether allBoard members have given. I've made my annualdonation. I am asking you to please do the same. To make a donation, click onthe link below: https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form Please help us achieve100% ARRL Board participation. Take a few minutes this weekend and help set anexample. Let's all donate something! Thanks. 73 Rick - K5UR

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[arrl-odv:30226] PPP Loan Update
by Shelley, Barry, N1VXY (CEO) 01 May '20

01 May '20

THE INFORMATION THAT FOLLOWS SHOULD BE CONDSIDERED "CONFIDENTIAL", FOR BOARD ONLY. Good afternoon: This morning we received an email from the loan processor that the ARRL application for an SBA Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan has been accepted. The loan amount, calculated by formula, is $1,048,000. We are awaiting the loan documents to review and sign and will do this as quickly as possible once they are in our possession. Once that is completed we expect to receive the funds. This widely publicized program, which was recently re-funded by Congress, was fraught with confusion and frustration, not surprising for a law that was a bit of a political football and was passed without a lot of detailed guidance. It took hours and hours of Diane Middleton's time and patience to shepherd this through the process to get us to this result. I strongly urge that this be treated as confidential financial information because, as you are aware, there are many people who think they are better suited to decide which companies are "worthy" of receiving these funds, even if all requirements have been met. In short, I'm not going to make this a story on the ARRL web site as I don't want this to become a talking point on social media. It will likely be disclosed eventually in our audited financial statements for the year but hopefully, this situation and its ramifications will have cooled off somewhat by then. Diane and I are available to answer any questions if we are able. 73, Barry, N1VXY

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[arrl-odv:30225] FCC confirms that amateur exams can be held remotely
by rjairam＠gmail.com 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

See today’s digest. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-467A1.pdf 73 Ria N2RJ

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[arrl-odv:30224] ARISS contact
by Mark J Tharp 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

It's starting in a few FYI currently 1330 zulu Live stream is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu8I9ose4Vo&feature=youtu.be Mark, HDX

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[arrl-odv:30223] Stuck at home on the 30th? ARISS to the rescue
by Mark J Tharp 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

Well for ten minutes or so anyway. An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Northern Virginia Schools Group, Woodbridge VA on 30 April. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 13:35 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a Multi-Point Telebridge between NA1SS and AB1OC. A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. The contact should be audible over the state of New Hampshire and adjacent areas. U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/Cu8I9ose4Vo <https://youtu.be/Cu8I9ose4Vo?fbclid=IwAR28degjgxntr7Qktq9dJ_scrGOR4TsuTRZHQ…> Mark, HDX Mark J, Tharp KB7HDX ARRL-ARISS Committee

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[arrl-odv:30220] Clash Between PSC Keep-Same-Rules Decision on Field Day and Staff Pronouncements?
by Richard Norton 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

It doesn't seem that the League is gaining public relation points with Field Day this year. The PSC has voted not to change the rules. Staff has put out information: “Due to the unique situation presented this year, this can be an opportunity for you, your club, and/or group to try something new,” ARRL Contest Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE, said. “Field Day isn’t about doing things the same way year after year. Use this year to develop and employ a new approach that is in line with the current circumstances.” It doesn't appear there is any defined way to report "something new" or to show how it will be reported in QST or on the ARRL web-site. Will the "something new" be listed only on a hard-to-detect web page? I suggest that the League put out a detailed list of the "something new" possibilities, explain how to report the activity to the League, and indicate how it will be published. For example, here are a couple of possibilities: ------------------- Distributed Operation - To permit social distancing, a club may operate a number of stations at different locations using the same callsign. This type of operation would not pass the 1000-foot circle rule, but is certainly "something new." The group of stations should should compute a score as if they are together, but indicate their distributed status. For example, if there are three stations at three locations, all using emergency power, they should enter as 3A, with a note about being distributed. If the stations are linked through the Internet, they should note that as well. They will be listed as as either 3A-D or 3A-I in the final results in QST. Individual Station Operation - If the club decides to have all members make contacts from their own home stations, each member should submit an entry as either 1A, 1B, 1C, or 1E, as appropriate, determined by their power source. All individual club members' scores will be listed in the appropriate category. The club can also submit a group entry indicating that their members participated individually, and the club name and club callsign will be listed in a new category, Suspended-Operation entries. Others - There are other possibilities that should be listed. If staff needs help, ask the CAC, even if Field Day is not a contest. ---------------------------- The examples above are only suggestions. I do not set policy. I do hope that we make a better effort at communicating what is happening with Field Day to our members. For an example of member comment, the following exchange was recently on the Southern California Contest Club reflector. I particularly don't like it when a leader of the largest Field Day in the Southwestern Division suggests sponsoring an alternative. I have also had other communication, and suspect most of you have as well. I do not know how to respond. 73, Dick, N6AA [SCCC] Would SCCC like to sponsor an alternative contest to Field Day? Seems to me that Field Day is going to be a big flop this year, with the ARRL not bending on the rules. How can we turn around this situation so that some fun operating event could be done here locally, while preserving the outdoor aspect of FD and the FD exchange. How about some competition between clubs? Think of alternative scoring systems, like the percentage of a club roster that gets on the air to make contacts? Some kind of event to get new Technicians to take their handhelds to the nearest hilltop to make some simplex QSOs? Just thinking out loud here. 73, Tim N6GP Hi Tim, I've been pondering the FD issue, too.We, the W6KA (Pasadena) leadership, have more or less resigned ourselves to the idea that it will be inappropriate for us to gather in person for FD. Instead we will encourage each member to be safer-at-home making valid FD exchanges using their own calls.Participation in our event will NOT require following all of ARRL's rules - just enough so the contacts make sense. We will encourage entries or check logs as appropriate. Marty's success getting ARES and ACS members to participate in the recent 70 cm Sprint gives me hope that VHF can reclaim its respect in FD. [We used to get about the same scores from the cw station, the ssb station, and the vhf station.] I hope attractive advertising, frivolous prizes, and peer pressure will encourage participation. Perhaps the club will accept my proposal to call our event HAPPY Field Day, the *H*ouse *A*rrest *P*arty, *P*ortable in the *Y*ard. Also just thinking out loud here, but looking to be a little silly. 73 Paul | | B Anderson bryce2001(a)gmail.com via contesting.com | | Sun, Apr 26, 3:08 PM (20 hours ago) | | | | | to Jess, N6LL, SCCC | | Glad to know others have been wondering about FD this year I like the suggestions 10 years ago, when we were just starting out, we made LOTS of contacts on UHF/VHF. In recent years the lack of contacts on UHF/VHF have caused us to question the effort vs the reward in that segment. Bryce K6TI | | Dave Hachadorian k6ll.dave(a)gmail.com via contesting.com | | Sun, Apr 26, 4:01 PM (19 hours ago) | | | | | to Reflector, reflector | | W6RW, N7TY and myself have been operating from my station for the past few years as a home station on emergency power, operating one radio in shifts. It will be the same this year, except that W6RW and N7TY will be operating the station remotely, and I will be operating in person. It's a simple remote setup, using Teamviewer to control N1MM Logger, and Skype for 2-way audio. It was a snap to set up, and worked right out of the box. We tested it for a short time in the Florida QSO Party this weekend, and it worked great. Dave Hachadorian, K6LL Yuma, AZ

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[arrl-odv:30213] K2RIW SK
by Kermit Carlson 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

Hello ALL -- IT is unusual that I would post to the ODVupon the passing of a fellow ham. It is with deepestregrets that I must inform my colleagues on ODV that I have just learned of the passing of Richard "Dick" Knadle, K2RIW of Dix Hills, New York. Unless you are a long-time VHF/UHF enthusiastyou might not recognize the call, but going backinto the late 70's and early 80's Dick's designsfor antennas and amplifiers were well recognizedand the foundation of a rapid growth in VHF/UHFweak signal activity. As a young ham I was fortunate enough to havebuilt the 432 MHz stripline amplifier following thedetails in his QST article which were published in the early 70's. For many of us, his designwas behind much of the weak-signal and EME activityin the 70's and 80's. Owing the the high efficiency of his strip-line plate resonator design, I remember getting 750 watts from a pair of 4cx250's on 432.The use of those tubes were affordable at the timewhich made UHF QRO a reality for those of us on a budget... His antenna design that used elementsinsulated from the boom were at the time consideredrevolutionary with a gain figure and clean patternthat was easily duplicated by many home-brewers. For decades the RIW-16's were to be found in widespread use on 432 weak-signal. Dick was widely recognized as and engineer'sengineer and a friendly, approachable sort who ran a weekly technical net on the LIMARS repeater, back in the day. From what I have been able to learn so far,there are no published arrangements. 73, Kermit W9XA

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[arrl-odv:30204] Commission Acts on Satellite Debris
by david davidsiddall-law.com 26 Apr '20

26 Apr '20

ODV, Following up on the Joint ARRL-AMSAT filing of April 9, today the FCC adopted significant changes to its satellite rules that govern orbital debris. AMSAT and ARRL’s main concerns with the FCC staff proposals related to indemnification and maneuverability requirements that in the context of amateur satellites would have presented barriers to the Amateur Satellite Service in particular. An unusually large number of other affected parties expressed multiple concerns with the staff proposals on a large number of issues. At its meeting this morning, the Commission moved a number of proposed decisions from the Report and Order to an accompanying Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, including the two identified by AMSAT that would have affected the amateur satellites negatively. The net effect is that the Commission will take further comment on modified proposals on these issues of concern to amateur satellite enthusiasts. Regards Dave David R. Siddall Managing Partner DS Law, PLLC 1629 K St. NW, Ste 300 Washington, DC 20006 direct: +1 202 559 4690 Unauthorized Disclosure Prohibited. This e-mail is intended solely for the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is proprietary, confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, it is prohibited to disclose, copy, distribute, or use the contents of this email and its attachments. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all electronic and physical copies of the e-mail message and its attachments. Unintended transmission shall not constitute waiver of attorney-client or any other privilege. Thank you. From: "david(a)davidsiddall-law.com" <david(a)davidsiddall-law.com> Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 5:00 PM To: ODV <arrl-odv(a)arrl.org> Subject: ARRL and AMSAT Joint Filing re Satellite Debris ODV, Last Thursday the FCC released a draft Report and Order addressing satellite debris, and the item will be on the FCC’s April 23 meeting. A year ago we filed comments with the FCC in support of AMSAT’s positions on the issues raised. AMSAT has several issues with the proposed rules changes. Their representative, Paul Stoetzer (N8HM), and I had a good (virtual) discussion with the relevant FCC staff yesterday afternoon and filed the attached ex parte letter today. Let me know if any questions. 73, Dave David R. Siddall Managing Partner DS Law, PLLC 1629 K St. NW, Ste 300 Washington, DC 20006 direct: +1 202 559 4690 Unauthorized Disclosure Prohibited. This e-mail is intended solely for the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is proprietary, confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, it is prohibited to disclose, copy, distribute, or use the contents of this email and its attachments. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all electronic and physical copies of the e-mail message and its attachments. Unintended transmission shall not constitute waiver of attorney-client or any other privilege. Thank you.

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[arrl-odv:30210] IN Newsletter April 24 2020
by Pereira, Carla, KC1HSX 24 Apr '20

24 Apr '20

Please see this week's IN Newsletter for updates from your colleagues. Have a great weekend!

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[arrl-odv:30209] Illinois extends stay-at-home until the end of May
by Kermit Carlson 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

Hello All - Governor Pritzker has extended the stay-at-homeorder for Illinois until the end of May just an hour ago. Please be safe and stay well.... 73, Kermit W9XA

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