- IN THIS EDITION -

EVARC Upcoming Events/Announcements
Test Sessions
Hamfests/Conventions
ARRL Letter - November 5, 2009
      Ham Radio Operators Assist in Catalina Island Rescue
      George E. Smith, AA2EJ, Wins Nobel Prize
      Fall Frequency Measuring Test This Month
      More Cosponsors for HR 2160
      Three Amateurs Inducted into Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame
      What Have We Been Up to Lately?
      MARS Cuts Ribbon on New Pentagon Station
       In Brief
Education and Training
Closing Items

EVARC Upcoming Events/Announcements

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Next monthly meeting of the Elkhorn Valley Amateur Radio Club
Date:  Saturday, November 14, 2008
Time:  08:30 AM
Location:  Hy Vee West Meeting Room
 
Minutes from the October 10 meeting are available and can be read on the EVARC Web page

Visitors are always welcome to the meeting.
Bring a Guest to the Meeting

For more Information see the EVARC Web Page

Annual Membership Dues for 2010 are due. Dues are: $30 - Family, $20 - Individual, and $15 Associates. Send your membership dues to Club Secretary, Monty Wilson, NR0A, c/o EVARC, P.O. Box 1033, Norfolk, NE 68702 1033.  A membership form is available at the EVARC Web site

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Test Sessions within 100 miles of Norfolk, NE

For more testing locations see the ARRL Testing Web page

19-Nov-2009

     Sponsor: LINCOLN ARC

     Time: 7:00PM (Walk-ins allowed)

     Contact: JOHN P HAUNER

                   (402)486-1400

     Email: K0IH@ARRL.NET

     VEC: ARRL/VEC

     Location: HAVELOCK CHRISTIAN CHURCH

                    6520 COLFAX AVE

24-Nov-2009

     Sponsor: AK-SAR-BEN ARC INC

     Time: 6:30 PM (Walk-ins allowed)

     Contact: GERALD F GROSS

                    (402)895-7367

     Email: WA6POZ@ARRL.NET

     VEC: ARRL/VEC

     Location: AMERICAN RED CROSS

                    2912 S 80TH AVE

                    NEAR 84TH AND CENTER

04-Dec-2009

     Sponsor: SIOUXLAND ARA

     Time: 6:30 PM (Walk-ins allowed)

     Contact: PAUL A PATTERSON

                   (712)276-4493

     Email: PAULAP6181@AOL.COM

     VEC: ARRL/VEC

     Location: AMERICAN RED CROSS

                    4200 WAR EAGLE DR

12-Dec-2009

     Sponsor: BELLEVUE ARC

     Time: 1:00PM (Walk-ins allowed)

     Contact: ROBERT F MCCOY

                   (402)292-8501

     Email: BOB@MCCOY.NET

     VEC: ARRL/VEC

     Location: ALEGENT HEALTH MIDLANDS HOSPITAL

                    11111 S 84 STREET

                    OGRAM SUITE

17-Dec-2009

     Sponsor: LINCOLN ARC

     Time: 7:00PM (Walk-ins allowed)

     Contact: JOHN P HAUNER

                   (402)486-1400

     Email: K0IH@ARRL.NET

     VEC: ARRL/VEC

     Location: HAVELOCK CHRISTIAN CHURCH

                     6520 COLFAX AVE

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Type Key:
* = ARRL Convention
** = ARRL Convention pending Executive Committee approval
+ = ARRL Hamfest
x = non-ARRL Hamfest

From the November 5,  2009 ARRL Letter

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Ham Radio Operators Assist in Catalina Island Rescue

Around 9:45 on the night of October 23, while attending an overnight event at the Boy Scouts' Camp Emerald Bay on Santa Catalina Island, Karl Tso, KI6PCW, and his wife, Deborah Ava, KJ6CRZ, of Topanga, California, decided to climb a hill to check out the view -- and to see if they could get into the repeater on the island with their handheld transceivers. As they climbed the hill, the two radio amateurs heard a sound; Tso turned his high-powered flashlight on the source, only to discover a man who had fallen 48 feet to the rocks below, bleeding and severely injured.

According to Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service (LADCS) Recruiting Officer Norm Goodkin, K6YXH, Tso and Ava were on Catalina for an overnight Cub Scout event. While on the 26 mile boat ride to the island, the couple turned on their radios and got on the local repeater; a fellow ham passed them the frequency of the repeater on Catalina Island and they programmed it into their radios. "Just the weekend prior, both Karl and Deborah attended one of our classes and in that class, we showed them how to program frequencies in their radio. They are members of the Topanga Disaster Radio Team (DRT), part of the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (T-CEP)," Goodkin told the ARRL.

That evening on their walk up the hill, they discovered Peter Koll, 61, had fallen, crashing down to the rocks below. At the accident scene, Tso and Ava got on their radios and quickly made contact with Scott Bastian, KD6QZX, of Fullerton, who called emergency services. Joyce Wood, KD6HYO, of Costa Mesa, who stood by in case further assistance was required. Koll was evacuated by Bay Watch and airlifted to St Mary's Hospital in Long Beach. According to the LA County Sherriff's office, his current condition is unknown.

"It was a surreal experience that Deborah and I will never forget," Tso told the ARRL. "We were horrified, yet very happy that we were there for the gentleman that was injured. At the same time, we strangely felt empowered, knowing that the ham radio system works. As we hoped, the ham community is for the most part made up of people who want to be helpful to others in times of need. Deborah and I are new to the ham community, but we would encourage others to become involved."

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George E. Smith, AA2EJ, Wins Nobel Prize

Around 5:30 on the morning of October 6, George E. Smith, AA2EJ, of Barnegat, New Jersey, got a phone call that changed his life: He had just found out he had won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit -- the CCD sensor." Smith will share the prize money with two other recipients: Charles K. Kao, of Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in the United Kingdom and Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Willard S. Boyle, of Bell Laboratories. Each recipient will receive a diploma, a medal and a document confirming their share of SEK 10 million (about $1.4 million); Kao will receive 50 percent, while Smith and Boyle will each receive 25 percent of the monetary award.

Kao was recognized by the prize committee for his "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." His discoveries paved the way for optical fiber technology, used for almost all telephony and data communication today. Boyle and Smith invented a digital image sensor -- the CCD -- that has become an electronic eye in almost all areas of photography.

"My wife Janet, AA2EI, and I sailed around the world for 17 years," Smith told the ARRL. "While we were on our boat, we used Amateur Radio, especially in the South Pacific. Janet was the principal radio operator. With our radio, we could keep track of other boats in the area. Over in the Southwest Pacific, there are shore stations there that provide weather forecasts every day on the ham radio. We would listen for these, as it was such a tremendous help for us as sailors."

This very first CCD prototype was pieced together months after Smith and Boyle laid out its working principles.

The CCD -- invented in about an hour over lunch when Smith and Boyle worked at New Jersey's Bell Labs -- was, according to Wired Magazine, the first practical way to let a light-sensitive silicon chip store an image and then digitize it. In short, it is the basis of today's digital camera. According to Wired, the "most amazing thing about the invention" is that Boyle and Smith came up with the design so quickly. With Bell Labs threatening to take the funds from their department and transfer the money to other research, Boyle had to come up with a competing semiconductor design. He got together with Smith, and within an hour, they came up with the idea and sketched it all out on a blackboard.

"One morning in October, 1969," Boyle wrote on his Web site, "I was challenged to create a new kind of computer memory. That afternoon, I got together with George Smith and brainstormed for an hour or so on a new kind of semiconductor device, drawing a few sketches and equations on a blackboard. We called it a charge-coupled device: A 'CCD.' When we had the shops at Bell Labs make up the device, it worked exactly as expected, much to the surprise of our colleagues."

When asked by the ARRL how he felt about winning the Nobel Prize, he exclaimed, "I feel great! Even though there's a lot of nonsense to go through with it, it's worth it and winning it does wonders for your ego. Aside from the initial shock and having to go through piles of mail, e-mail and returning telephone calls, I know that will calm down. As for the long-range future, I'm getting many invitations to give talks. Next year, I've been invited to speak at a major conference in Seoul, South Korea, another in Portland Oregon and another in Switzerland. I've been invited to France to give a talk, China, too. We need to sit down with a calendar and figure it all out. Having a Nobel makes a big dent in your lifestyle."

Smith told the ARRL that he knew the CCD was under consideration for the Nobel Prize, "but we didn't know exactly if, or when, it would happen. Research that wins the Nobel is often done many years beforehand. In my case, this was 40 year old research. The Prize Committee wants to make sure the research has stood the test of time.

Without CCDs, this image -- taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2002 showing "light echos" illuminating the dust around supergiant star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) -- would not be possible. V838 Mon is located 20,000 light-years away on the periphery of our Galaxy. In early 2002, it increased in brightness temporarily to become 600,000 times brighter than our Sun.

"Amateur Radio has always attracted individuals who want to understand and exploit nature's laws," fellow Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, told the ARRL. "These are essential characteristics for first-rate scientists, as well. The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics honors the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit -- the CCD sensor used in digital cameras, the Hubble Space Telescope and many other scientific and consumer devices. It was no great surprise to learn that one of the Laureates, George Smith, is also a radio amateur." Taylor was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 "for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation."

Next month, Smith will travel to Stockholm, Sweden for the award ceremony on December 10. It is certain that his picture will be taken scores of times by the international media, made possible through the technology that he and Boyle pioneered. Click here for more information, including how a CCD works.

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Fall Frequency Measuring Test This Month

The W1AW Frequency Measuring Test (FMT) has taken several different formats over the past few years. This year, we return to the "classic" FMT -- measuring the frequency of an unmodulated carrier. Accurate frequency measurement is required of all hams for both regulatory compliance -- "stay in the band!" -- and operating convenience, particularly on the new digital modes. The W1AW FMT will run on November 12, 2009 at 0245 UTC (this is Wednesday evening, November 11, 2009 at 9:45 PM EST). It will replace any W1AW bulletin normally scheduled for that time. It is recommended that participants listen to W1AW's transmissions prior to the event to get an idea of conditions to see which band (or bands) will be best for measurement purposes.

The basic techniques for making carrier frequency measurements are the same as described back the October 2002 issue of QST. According to QST Contributing Editor H. Ward Silver, N0AX, you don't need a basement full of sophisticated lab equipment to make a surprisingly accurate measurement. "The frequency accuracy of most radios sold in the past decade is specified as ±10 ppm or better," he explained. "By calibrating your radio to a known frequency reference such as WWV or CHU and letting it reach an even, stable temperature, your measurements can be within 1 ppm or even better." The 2006 FMT announcement includes a sidebar on calibrating your receiver to an over-the-air frequency reference.

Format and Schedule

The FMT will begin with a general W1AW (QST) call beginning exactly at 0245 UTC sent simultaneously on two amateur frequencies. The test will consist of 20 second key-down transmissions, followed by a series of Vs, followed by station identification. W1AW will identify before, during and after the transmissions. The test will last for a period of approximately 5 minutes total. The approximate frequencies for the carriers will be as follows: 80 meters near 3597 kHz and 40 meters near 7097 kHz

Thanks to volunteer Mike Fahmie, WA6ZTY, a 40 meter-only West Coast run will follow the W1AW transmissions by 15 minutes, beginning at 0300 UTC and will follow the same format as W1AW. The approximate frequency will be 7096 kHz.

Connie Marshall, K5CM, in Oklahoma will make additional transmissions on 160 and 80 meters following the transmissions of West Coast station WA6ZTY, at approximately 0315 UTC. The approximate frequencies for the carriers will be as follows: 160 meters near 1845 kHz and 80 meters near 3578 kHz. According to W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, K5CM's central location should provide a much stronger signal in mid-continental areas.

All transmissions -- no matter which station they originate from -- will consist of a call-up/QST transmission lasting for approximately 3 minutes, followed by three 20-second key-down periods of unmodulated carrier.

Reporting and Results

Your report should be submitted via the FMT Report form on the FMT Reporting and FMT Results Web site no later than 2359 UTC on November 15. Along with your call sign and e-mail address, enter your most accurate frequency measurements on each band and indicate whether you measured the W1AW, WA6ZTY or K5CM's signal. There will be a window to list your equipment, describe the method you used to make the measurements and enter any Soapbox comments. After the entry page has been closed, the Web site will then automatically calculate the measurement error of each report and display the actual transmission frequencies. The information entered by each reporting station will also be displayed as in previous FMTs. (The results for recent FMTs are on the W1AW FMT page.)

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More Cosponsors for HR 2160

Earlier this week, two more Congressional Representatives -- Andre Carson (D-IN-7), and C.W. Bill Young (R-FL-10) -- pledged their support for HR 2160, The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 31, including original sponsor Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18). HR 2160 is also sponsored by W. Todd Akin (R-MO-2), Michael Arcuri (D-NY-24), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD-6), John Boozman (R-AR-3), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), Geoff Davis (R-KY-4), Bob Filner (D-CA-51), Scott Garrett (R-NJ-5), Bart Gordon (D-TN-6), Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY-22), Michael Honda (D-CA-15), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH-15), Tom Latham (R-IA-4), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-9), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI-11), Charlie Melancon (D-LA-3), Candice Miller (R-MI-10), Dennis Moore (D-KS-3), John Olver (D-MA-1), Bill Posey (R-FL-15), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-46), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-2), Michael Turner (R-OH-3), Peter Welch (D-VT), David Wu (D-OR-1) and Don Young (R-AK). On the Senate side of Capitol Hill, S 1755 -- also called The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 -- cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with a favorable recommendation by voice vote. It now proceeds to committee staff to prepare the report for the full Senate. Click here for information on how to encourage your Congressional representative to sponsor HR 2160.

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Three Amateurs Inducted into Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame

Earlier this year, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) named 13 men -- including three radio amateurs -- to the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. The honorees were inducted last month at CEA's Industry Forum in Phoenix, Arizona. Former ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director Walt Stinson, W0CP, of Englewood, Colorado; Former ARRL Vice President and Central Division Director R.H.G. Mathews, W9ZN (ex-9ZN) (SK), and Karl Hassel, W9PXW (ex-8AKG) (SK).

Walt Stinson, WØCP

Stinson, president and co-founder of a Denver-based audio/video specialty retail chain, was honored for his leadership as a businessman and as co-founder and president of the Professional Audio Video Retailer's Association (PARA), the trade association for more than 250 professional audio, video, home theater and custom electronics specialty dealers.

In the early '80s, Stinson helped to launch the compact disc (CD) in the US, serving as a delegate to the Compact Disc Group. Returning from Japan in 1983, he was questioned by US Customs about "the shiny discs" in his luggage.

"This is a very rare honor," Stinson told the ARRL, "as the list of inductees includes legends like Armstrong, Edison and DeForest, as well as more current leaders such as Intel co-founders Andrew Grove and Gordon Moore, Amar Bose and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen."

Stinson served on the ARRL Board of Directors from 1998-2004.

Ralph Mathews, W9ZN, and Karl Hassel, W9PXW

Mathews, along with Karl Hassel, W9PXW (ex-8AKG), founded what we know today as Zenith Electronics Corporation. In March 1916, Mathews was appointed Trunk Line Manager for the Central Division in the then-new American Radio Relay League; a year later, he was appointed to the ARRL Board of Directors (back then Directors were appointed, not elected). Known by other Amateur Radio operators as "Matty," Mathews changed his radio call letters from 9IK to 9ZN -- the origin of the famous Zenith trademark.

Mathews and Hassel met while serving in the Navy during World War I. After the War, both men stayed in Chicago and together started Chicago Radio Laboratory (CRL) -- and jointly operated 9ZN. The two focused on manufacturing a more developed version of Mathews' spark gap disk, as well as other Amateur Radio gear. They built these on the kitchen table of Mathew's family's Chicago home.

Since its equipment was built for the radio amateur, CRL placed its earliest advertisements in QST; the first was in June 1919. According to Harold Cones and John Bryant, authors of Zenith Radio -- The Early Years, 1919-1935, it was at the suggestion of an employee that QST advertisements soon began listing the 9ZN call followed by a small "ith," thus providing the famous trade name Z-Nith.

Although literally a tabletop operation, CRL owned a valuable Armstrong regenerative receiver patent license, negotiated by Mathews in 1920. Such a license was necessary to manufacture any radio equipment. CRL had no inventory -- they manufactured product as orders came in. Along with three workmen, they built 12 radios at a time (which took two to three weeks) with oak ply cabinets made by a local cabinet maker.

CRL grew, and the pair moved their operations into a two-car garage located a few blocks away. Half of the garage was devoted to manufacturing, the other half to Mathews' Amateur Radio station, 9ZN. Mathews and Hassel erected a large antenna, and with the big synchronous rotary spark-gap transmitter, 9ZN was soon heard worldwide. Their station was part of the first post-war transcontinental message relay on December 4, 1919 -- 1AW to 9ZN to LF to 6EA. In January 1921, 9ZN was involved in setting the cross country record of 6.5 minutes for a round trip message -- 1AW to 9ZN to 5ZA to 6JD -- and return on the same route with help from 9LR. 9ZN was a featured visitation site during the first National ARRL Convention held August 31-September 3, 1921 in Chicago. Mathews was the Director General (chairman) of the convention and toastmaster of the banquet.

CRL was further expanded in 1923 by an investment by Eugene F. McDonald, Jr, and began producing up to 15 "Z-Nith" brand 2-component regenerative receivers per day -- the Amplifigon detector and amplifier, and the Paragon tuner. By 1921, CRL moved into a 3000-square foot factory in Chicago. Zenith Radio Corporation was officially incorporated on June 30, 1923 -- with capital of $500,000 and with an exclusive sales and marketing agreement with CRL; Mathews and Hassel signed 10-year contracts with CRL. Two years later, Zenith acquired CRL's assets, creating one unified company. In late 1924, the company moved again to a larger factory in Chicago. Along with the size of the company, the volume of radios manufactured also increased. By the mid-1960s, the company had more than 15,000 employees.

Mathews left Zenith in 1928 to establish an advertising agency. He re-joined the Navy during World War II, assisting with recruiting. From 1937-1941, he also rejoined the ARRL Board as its Central Division Director. In 1954, he joined Magnavox and then worked for Westinghouse starting in 1957. After stints at several other companies during the next decade, he retired in 1967 to Mexico. Ralph Mathews died in 1982.

Hassel retired from Zenith in 1966 and served on its board until 1972. He passed away in 1975.

According to the CEA, the CE Hall of Fame "is an opportunity to honor the visionaries who have paved the way for the products and services that are changing the way we live. Individually, and in some cases together, these leaders have made significant contributions to their industry." The inductees for 2009 include Irwin Jacobs, the creator of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA); Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple; and Richard E. Wiley, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

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ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?

ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson N1ND, presented a webinar on the League's recent report concerning Amateur Radio and pecuniary interests.

The Fourth Annual ARRL On-Line Auction was held October 22-29.

The ARRL Contest Branch reminded amateurs about the changes, including log submission deadlines, for the 2009 November Sweepstakes. The point of the change is to publish the result faster.

The ARRL hosted five international participants for the USTTI's Amateur Radio Administration Course. This is the League's 25th year sponsoring this course.

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, hosted a Global Emergency Radio Coalition meeting at ARRL HQ. Participants included representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Emergency Communications, SATERN, the National Weather Service and the Mobile Maritime Service Network. Dura also attended the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency/Department of Public Safety's 2009 Crisis Communications Conference.

Twelve newly elected Section Managers came to ARRL HQ for a weekend of orientation and training.

The IARU Administrative Council held its annual meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand. The ARRL is the IARU International Secretariat. While in Christchurch, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, represented the League at the IARU Region 3 Conference; ARRL Chief Executive Officer and former IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ, was also in attendance.

Newington Scouts activated W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, for the 52nd Jamboree on the Air (JOTA).

ARRL Technical Relations Manager Brennan Price, N4QX, traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to represent the IARU at ITU Telecom World 2009.

The ARRL Development Office announced that the US Office of Personnel Management has designated the League to participate in the 2009 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This campaign for federal government civilian employees, US Postal Service workers and members of the military has generated more than $160,000 for ARRL programs since it first became an option for giving by federal employees to the League.

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for October is John E. Portune, W6NBC, for his article "The Quadrifilar Helix as a 2 Meter Base Antenna Station."

The December issue of QST and the November/December issues of NCJ and QEX were released to the printers.

The ARRL DXCC Desk approved the FT5GA operation on Glorioso Island and D2QMN operation in Angola for DXCC credit.

The ARRL Contest Branch sent out certificates for the 2009 runnings of the ARRL 160 and ARRL 10 Meter Contests.

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MARS Cuts Ribbon on New Pentagon Station

A military institution designed to provide emergency communications has moved to new quarters in the Pentagon. On October 21, John G. Grimes, the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration, cut the ribbon on the new Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) station, now located on the fifth floor of the Pentagon. The facility -- manned by the Pentagon Amateur Radio Club (PARC) -- is packed with amateur radios, radio-telephone patches, computers and data links. "This is a great facility, manned totally by volunteers," Grimes told the crowd who came to see the new station. "It's a crucial capability for our country."

MARS, which began in the early 1950s, started as a worldwide network of shortwave radio enthusiasts who would spring into action in the event of a nuclear war or natural disaster. Thousands of civilian and military ham radio volunteers manned the system. With service members deployed far from home, or even overseas, MARS provided health and welfare messages called MARSgrams, allowing soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to keep in touch with their families back home. Today, those shortwave broadcasts have been superseded by the Internet; many service members use cell phones and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to speak with loved ones.

In the event of an emergency, high-frequency communication is generally the first to recover, and even the most modern technology can get overloaded. At the ribbon cutting ceremony, PARC member Allan Hubbert, KH6ILR, noted that there were communication problems during President Barack Obama's inauguration earlier this year: "During the inauguration, there were so many people on cell phones that it system was overloaded. We [hams] could still operate, and we helped back up the system down on the [National] Mall." More than 60 volunteers help to man the Pentagon MARS station.

With more than 6000 volunteers worldwide serving Army MARS, Air Force MARS and Navy-Marine Corps MARS, the system now backs up the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "There have been many crises or disasters that have struck where the first word out of an area is via [Amateur Radio], and someone has their little gas generator going," Grimes said. "That's not likely to change any time soon." -- Thanks to the Department of Defense for some information

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IN BRIEF

• Hiram Percy Maxim and the W1AW Station: More than 1000 visitors come to see ARRL and operate W1AW each year. Each visitor has a chance to tour ARRL HQ and meet and talk with staff, and see all that the League does to promote the Amateur Radio Service. When they go over to W1AW, some guests want to know if the station was once the home of Hiram Percy Maxim, cofounder and first President of the ARRL. In February 1936, when Maxim died of pneumonia on his way back from visiting Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton in San Jose, California, the ARRL HQ station -- W1MK -- was located at Brainard Field in Hartford. In March 1936, the Connecticut River flooded and the building where the station was housed was destroyed by the flood waters. The League's Board of Directors decided that a new station be built on a more suitable site in memory of Maxim. In December 1936, the FCC -- in the first action of its kind -- assigned the call W1AW to ARRL in memoriam. The ARRL purchased a 7 acre site in Newington, about 5 miles southwest of Brainard Field. From the flood until September 1938, W1MK operated from ARRL Headquarters, then on LaSalle Road in West Hartford. On September 2, 1938 -- what would have been Maxim's 69th birthday -- W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, was dedicated, with the ceremony broadcast across the country by CBS Radio. So, no, the building where W1AW is located was never home to Hiram Percy Maxim; in fact, he never saw it. But even so, we know that his spirit lives on every time we sit down at a radio. Now you know!

• A Trivia Answer for Our Readers: Last week, ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, told ARRL Letter readers about the long and proud history of the ARRL Sweepstakes, mentioning that at one point, The Philippines was a multiplier in the Sweepstakes, as was Cuba (as part of the West Indies Section). We wondered what years that The Philippines and the West Indies Sections ceased to be multipliers in Sweepstakes. Unfortunately, we didn't receive any correct answers. The Philippines was no longer a Section as of 1946 and in August 1988, two new Sections -- Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands -- replaced the West Indies Section (Cuba disappeared from the West Indies Section in 1940). Thanks to everyone who sent in answers. Look for another trivia question in a future edition of The ARRL Letter.

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Education and Training