- IN THIS EDITION -

EVARC Upcoming Events/Announcements
Test Sessions
Hamfests/Conventions
ARRL Letter - November 12, 2009
      Late Season Tropical Storm Ida Comes Calling on Gulf Coast
      ARRL Sweepstakes Takes to the Phone Bands Next Weekend
      WRTC 2010 Organizers Announce Teams
      Atlantic Division to Host Webinar
      STS 129 -- Stocking the International Space Station
      Idaho School Incorporates ARISS into Curriculum
      ARRL Says "Thank You" to Veterans
      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, December 12, 2008
Time:  08:30 AM
Location:  Hy Vee West Meeting Room
 
This will be the annual Club Officer Election meeting.  It is important that all club members try to attend this meeting.

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 12,  2009 ARRL Letter

---

Late Season Tropical Storm Ida Comes Calling on Gulf Coast

With only weeks to go before the end of the 2009 hurricane season, Tropical Storm Ida formed off the coast of Nicaragua, making landfall as a hurricane in the morning hours of November 5. The storm lost significant strength as it moved through Nicaragua and Honduras, only to reemerge in the Caribbean a day later, impacting El Salvador and Mexico. Ida gained strength, becoming a Category 2 storm with winds peaking at 105 miles per hour in the Gulf of Mexico. The path for Ida at this point was clearly toward the Gulf Coast of the US, with a projected landfall somewhere between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. As Ida's path became more focused, Amateur Radio operators and ARES® groups concentrated on increasing their level of readiness should there be a need to respond.

On November 8, ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, began to obtain information from the Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Northern Florida Sections on their level of readiness and to set the stage for any necessary response coordination. The ARRL Headquarters Incident Management Team was also placed on alert to support this activity. "Fortunately, some of this coordination was made easier by the fact that Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, and Northern Florida Section Manager Paul Eakin, KJ4G, as well as ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, and all were attending the Stone Mountain Hamfest in Lawrenceville, Georgia," Dura said.

Section Summaries

Alabama

Alabama Section Manager Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, reported that the State Emergency Operations Center in Clanton was manned by amateurs for 24 hours supporting the coastal counties, along with the EOCs in Autauga, Baldwin, Calhoun, Cherokee and Covington counties. The State's D-STAR 2 meter repeaters were linked together; the Gulf Coast Weather Net was linked into the 440 D-Star sites to provide the bulk of the communications needs should they arise. The state emergency HF frequency of 3965 was utilized as a backup to the D-STAR system.

Louisiana

The Section went into a standby mode on November 8 and utilized a State Net on 3.873 MHz to update operational considerations as needed. Since this frequency is also used for emergencies in the ARRL's South Texas Section, they cancelled their regularly scheduled net to accommodate Louisiana's needs. The amateur station at the State Emergency Operations Center was available, but was not activated. While many parish EOCs were operational -- since Ida's track was to the east of the state -- communications needs requiring Amateur Radio resources and support did not occur.

Mississippi

Assistant Mississippi Section Manager Tom Hammack, W4WLF, provided the primary coordination for the Mississippi Section for Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX. The Section was placed on alert for possible responses on Sunday. Hammack reported amateur activities at County Emergency Operations Centers in Jackson, Pearl River and Stone Counties, as well as at his location in Harrison County; all of this was in addition to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency EOC in Jackson.

Hammock said that since there was only one antenna feed line and no mounted antennas on the roof that were usable due to construction, they faced "severe challenges" at the Harrison County EOC. "We managed the situation by temporarily -- but strongly mounting a 2 meter/70cm antenna that connected the operation to the D-STAR network," Hammock told the ARRL. "We also did a quick re-build of a G5RV antenna for any HF needs." In addition to the rapid repair and build work done, Jeff Smith, N9OKV, monitored nets from his home in Long Beach and relayed the information to the Harrison EOC. The Harrison County EOC was not the only EOC that faced challenges: At the State EOC, hams encountered hardware and other technical glitches with EchoLink.

Northern Florida

Section Manager, Paul Eakin, KJ4G, began the efforts by establishing contact with the Florida Division of Emergency Management in Tallahassee on November 8; by Monday morning, he activated the communications networks for any needs. Hams provided Amateur Radio support to the National Weather Service Office in Tallahassee utilizing HF and EchoLink; the State EOC was connected in also using EchoLink.

Section Net Managers set up a rotating schedule of 22 hams to cover 3950 MHz around the clock through Tuesday if needed, and the Southeast Weather D-STAR Network was made available along the Gulf Coast for any needs. Several County EOCs were manned through mid-day Tuesday. Eakin told the ARRL that this was the first chance to use the Section's resource database: "By using the database, we were successful in meeting and eliminating a duplicate mission request in Walton County."

National Nets

From a national perspective, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP Net) were operational at various times in the life cycle of Ida. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, did receive information on the storm from Robert Mills, KC4MQU, who is stationed on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The station was not operational when Ida made landfall due to the storm's strength and the fact that local NWS Forecast Offices and their SKYWARN spotters were providing data as needed. The National Traffic System Region 5 activated their emergency nets for a time during Ida's approach.

While Ida became extra-tropical shortly after landfall, Dura said its remnants could still cause flooding over parts of the Southeastern US, as upwards of 5 inches of rain or more could fall over the next two days accompanied by strong winds. Many areas have Flood and Flash Flood Watches and Warning in places, along with Wind Advisories. ARES® groups in those areas may still be playing a support role. "While the efforts of hams for the landfall of Ida have ended, Amateur Radio is likely playing an expanding role in those areas encountering the remains of the storm supporting the National Weather Service Forecast Offices through the SKYWARN program," Dura explained. "Even though hurricane season officially ends on November 30, Mother Nature pays no attention to the calendar. Tropical events can still be encountered and the remains of these that turn extra-tropical can cause significant damage and destruction to the areas they impact."

Dura said that the affected Sections all echoed the same thing in their reports: "It could have been much worse. At best, we had a good exercise."

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ARRL Sweepstakes Takes to the Phone Bands Next Weekend

The SSB portion of the ARRL November Sweepstakes -- the premier domestic HF contest -- takes place next weekend, running 2100 UTC Saturday, November 21 to 0300 Monday, November 23 (or 4 PM Saturday to 10 PM Sunday EST). According to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, the event -- first called "The January Contest" -- started back in 1929 as a competition for handling formal traffic messages. "Sweepstakes is one of the oldest traditions in Amateur Radio," Kutzko said. "The contest exchange contains more elements than usual, an homage to the traffic-handling days of yore. If you have never participated in Sweepstakes, you are really missing out on some serious fun!"

Kutzko said the phone portion of Sweepstakes differs a bit from the CW portion: "The phone bands are considerably more crowded than CW. First there's the bandwidth issue: A single phone QSO takes up more -- at least six times more -- bandwidth than a CW signal does. There also tends to be more casual (non-contest) phone operating, such as nets, rag chews and scheduled contacts with which you need to be aware and coexist." He advises those participating in radiosport events such as Sweepstakes be courteous to other band occupants, whether they are contesters or not.

QST Contributing Editor H. Ward Silver, N0AX, said that some hams have picked up the habit of using "the last two" to call a station, meaning using just the last two letters of your call. "Please use your entire call sign," he advised. "Nine times out of 10, the other station will copy all of it the first time." Use standard phonetics, such as the ones found here. A complete primer by Silver on how to participate in Sweepstakes can be found here.

Kutzko and Silver both agreed that signal quality is much more of an issue on phone. Their advice? Before the contest, have a friend check your signal at full power -- is the audio clear and splatter-free? If not, take steps to make it so -- you will make more contacts and have fewer problems on adjacent frequencies. And a tip -- having a noise blanker or preamp turned on will likely lead to severe intermodulation and overload problems in your receiver. Turn them off whenever possible. In fact, cranking in some attenuation or turning down the RF Gain control will improve receiver performance dramatically.

If you submit a score, Kutzko said to be sure to keep in mind the new deadlines for log submissions. The log submission deadline for the SSB Sweepstakes is 0300 UTC Tuesday, December 8. The preferred method of log submission is the Cabrillo electronic format. "We have several links on the ARRL Contest Branch Web page devoted to Sweepstakes tutorials, including how Cabrillo works and even templates for submitting an entry," Kutzko explained. "While the ARRL will never turn away a paper log, we are asking all entrants to submit their log electronically if possible; this will greatly help us to publish the scores in 60 days as many participants have requested. Contest clubs are encouraged to assist their club members with paper logs in the Cabrillo conversion process. The WA7BNM Cabrillo Web Forms site will walk you through creating a Cabrillo-formatted log."

Numerous certificates and plaques will be awarded, thanks to ICOM America, the principal awards sponsor of the November Sweepstakes. Special participation pins and Clean Sweep mugs will be available for purchase as always. Pins are available for $6 to any station that submits a log with more than 100 QSOs. Clean Sweep mugs will be available to any station that submits a log with all 80 Sections worked; mugs cost $12.

While the object of the November Sweepstakes is to work all 80 ARRL and RAC Sections, no one says you have to do so! Sweepstakes is a good time to get on the air for a couple of hours and see what you can do. Whether you are operating from a fixed station with stacked arrays for every band or a small rig and a dipole, you are bound to make QSOs and have fun at the same time. Sweepstakes has been a part of Amateur Radio for nearly eight decades. Don't sit this one out -- get on the air, have fun and take part of one of Amateur Radio's oldest and finest traditions."

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WRTC 2010 Organizers Announce Teams

Last month, after a grueling selection process, the organizers of the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC) selected the 44 team leaders who will compete in the event next year. These 44 team leaders, representing all six continents, have each chosen a partner. The rules state that while the leader's partner may be from a different call sign area, they must be from the country as the leader. WRTC, held every few years, takes place during the IARU HF World Championships, July 10-11. In 2010, WRTC will be held just outside Moscow.

Eleven Teams will come from North America, 21 teams will come from Europe, six from Asia, one from Africa, one from Central America, two from Oceania and two from South America. Another six teams -- the WRTC 2006 Champions (John Sluymer, VE3EJ, and James Roberts, VE7ZO), a host team and four sponsored teams -- will bring the total to 50 teams. The host and sponsored teams will be announced at a later date.

The 11 North American teams are as follows:

• Area 1 (W1, W2, W3 and the VA, NC, SC, FL and GA portions of W4): Randy Thompson, K5ZD, and Tom Georgens, W2SC; Jeff Briggs, K1ZM, and Krassy Petkov, K1LZ; Andy Blank, N2NT, and Tim Duffy, K3LR.
• Area 2 (the KY, TN and AL portions of W4 and W8 and W9): Terry Zivney, N4TZ, and Marvin Bloomquist, N5AW; Scott Robbins, W4PA, and Ken Widelitz, K6LA,
• Area 3 (W5, W0): Steve London, N2IC, Bob Wilson, N6TV; Kevin Stockton, N5DX, and Stan Stockton, K5GO.
• Area 4 (W6, W7, KL7): Daniel Craig, N6MJ, and Chris Hurlbut, KL9A; Mitch Mason, K7RL, and Kevin Lahaie, K7ZS.
• Area 5 (VE1, VE2, VE3, VE4, VE9, VY2 and VO2): Yuri Onipko, VE3DZ, and Yury Romanov, VE3XB.
• Area 6 (VE5, VE6, VE7 and VE8): Lee Sawkins, VE7CC, and Dale Green, VE7SV.

Michael Gibson, KH6ND, and John Hillyer, KH6SH, make up one of the two teams representing Oceania.

The 2010 WRTC will be held outside, "Field Day-style." According to organizers, the fields upon which WRTC will take place are located in a flat area about 35 kilometers south of Moscow in the Domodedovo district. Competitors will be located in clusters of 15-20 teams each in a total area encompassing about 40×30 kilometers. Height differences between teams will be no greater than 40 meters and each team will be separated by at least 500 meters. In order to prepare for this style of operation, organizers operated from these fields for the 2009 running of the Russian Radiosport Team Championship.

Each team will have antennas and power monitors supplied, along with a tent, generator (and gasoline), tables, chairs and water. To avoid team members spending time refilling the generator, organizers will have a person dedicated at each location to help keep it up and running during the contest period.

WRTC began in 1990 under the auspices of the Goodwill Games, the brainchild of Ted Turner of CNN fame. The first Games were organized in Seattle, Washington, and focused on areas of cultural exchange, arts and other unique subjects -- one of these being Amateur Radio and WRTC. Radio amateurs from around the world gathered in an Olympic-style event, joining in competition and camaraderie. In 1996, WRTC moved to San Francisco, then Slovenia in 2000, Finland in 2002 and Brazil in 2006. WRTC 2010 is supported by the Moscow Regional Government and the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF).

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Atlantic Division to Host Webinar

Periodically, the ARRL's Atlantic Division hosts a "webinar" -- an interactive Web-based seminar, designed to facilitate communication between a small number of presenters and a large remote audience using the Internet. On Friday, November 13 at 9 PM EST, Chuck Blocher, PhD, KC2IQV, will present a webinar entitled The Emotional Go Kit: Are You Prepared? "As hams serve as emergency and public service communicators, we prepare our Go Kits and necessary gear to provide essential communications," said webinar sponsor ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bill Edgar, N3LLR. "How prepared are you concerning your emotional wellness during one of these events? This webinar addresses the emotional well-being and preparedness for those Amateur Radio communicators who participate in emergency and public service situations." Please click here to register for this informative, interactive Internet meeting.

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STS 129 -- Stocking the International Space Station

Besides taking spare parts to the International Space Station (ISS) this coming Monday, the space shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) will deliver the module antennas for Columbus -- the laboratory built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and host of two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas.

"Lou McFadin, W5DID, a member of the AMSAT Board of Directors and a key volunteer for ARISS, showed the astronauts the best ways for them to safely unpack and assemble the antennas and associated cables once they and the hardware reach the ISS," said ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO. "They reviewed how to maneuver and install the antennas during the spacewalk. Lou also oversaw the re-packing of the antennas and the onboard flight kit that accompanies shipments going to the ISS."

Astronauts will install and deploy our ARISS antennas during the second spacewalk of STS-129. The ham team will monitor the spacewalk activity via a NASA real-time teleconference call. "The new antennas will increase opportunities for the many hams who covet making contacts with astronauts and cosmonauts," White explained. "Frequencies available for transmission to and from Columbus will be 2 meters, 70 centimeters, L-band and S-band. To start, the two Ericcson radios (2 meters and 70 centimeters) that are already on the ISS (but seldom used) will be moved and installed in Columbus."

The upcoming mission -- set to launch at 2: 28 PM (EST) on Monday, November 16 -- will be the last shuttle mission to bring personnel to the ISS. There will only be five more shuttle flights to the ISS after this one; the last shuttle flight on the launch manifest is STS-133, on board Discovery, with a launch target of September 16, 2010. STS-133 will be the 134th and shuttle flight and the 36th shuttle mission to the ISS. "You'll see this theme in some of the flights that are going to come after ours as well," said Brian Smith, the lead space station flight director for the mission. "This flight is all about spares -- basically, we're getting them up there while we still can."

NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, told the ARRL that the new VHF/UHF Amateur Radio antenna is currently stowed in the bay of the space shuttle Atlantis and will be installed during the second extravehicular activity (EVA) of the shuttle mission; EVA is NASA’s term for a spacewalk. "The antenna -- along with another VHF antenna -- was developed by ARISS in cooperation with the ESA to support an experiment involving the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS)," Ransom explained. "Both antennas will be installed on the Earth-facing starboard edge of the Columbus module. The AIS antenna will be forward and the ARISS antenna will be aft. The ARISS team is planning to migrate some stowed Amateur Radio gear to take advantage of the new antenna."

STS-129 will carry Commander Charlie Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore, Mission Specialists Bobby Satcher, Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin; Wilmore, Satcher and Bresnik will be making their first trips to space. Atlantis will bring back Mission Specialist/ISS Flight Engineer Nicole Stott, KE5GJN, who has been on board the ISS since August 2009.

Starting to Stock Spares

The space shuttle program is turning its attention to helping the space station build up a store of replacement parts. As the only vehicle large enough to carry many of the big pieces of equipment into space, several of the shuttle flights are devoted to the task. This is the first, however, and as the first this mission is dedicated to taking up the spares of the highest priority. "We're taking the big ones," Smith said. "And not only are they the big ones -- they're the ones deemed most critical. That's why they're going up first."

After the shuttle stops delivering parts and people to the ISS, smaller Russian spacecrafts will take over. ISS Program Deputy Manager Kirk Shireman compared the shuttle's delivery service to a tractor-trailer: "What you've done is take away the 18-wheeler and replace it with a bunch of small pickup trucks."

For STS-129, Atlantis' cargo hold will be full of spares to keep the ISS going after the shuttle stops making trips to the ISS. According to NASA, Atlantis will carry a spare control moment gyroscope, a spare nitrogen tank assembly and a spare ammonia tank assembly. A spare latching end effector for the ISS's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the rail car that the arm travels on, a spare antenna and a spare high pressure gas tank will also make the trip on Monday. In all, that's 27,250 pounds worth of spares to keep the ISS going long after the shuttles retire.

NASA said that some of those spares would be used to replace failed components of the systems that provide the station power or keep it from overheating or tumbling through space. Others, in the case of the latching end effector and reel assembly, are essential parts of the robotics system that allow the astronauts to replace the other parts when they wear out. "It was a long-term goal to have the full power production capability and all the international partners present and six person crew capability," said Mike Sarafin, the lead shuttle flight director for the mission. "These are the spares that will allow us to utilize the investment that we've put in."

In addition to the complex robotics work required to get the spares into place, there are three spacewalks scheduled to go on outside and a complicated rewiring project planned for the crew inside. The focus for the work inside, and object of several tasks inside, will be preparing for the STS-130 mission, during which the last US space station module will be delivered: The Tranquility node with its attached cupola. During the spacewalks, that will mean routing connections and preparing the berthing port on the Harmony node that it will attach to. On the inside, the work is a little more extensive; originally, Tranquility was to be installed on the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node, but it's since been decided that it would fit better on the port side of Harmony. And changing the plans requires significant changes to the hardware. Data, power, cooling lines, air flow -- all of those connections need to be rerouted to the new location, and with double the manpower normally available at the station, a shuttle mission is a good time to get that done.

While recent station assembly missions have lasted up to 17 days, NASA said that Atlantis has only 11 to get to the station -- and back. "All that in 11 days," Sarafin said. "It's a lot to package into a finite period of time; it's a challenging mission."

Atlantis' Commander Charles O. Hobaugh concurred: "There's been a lot of work put forth to make it all successful, and it's just incredible to see how much has been accomplished and how successful it has become. The space station has been a long hard road, but it's been an extremely productive road. We've really been able to bring together a diverse national and international background of cultures for one common cause. It's all science and exploration and cooperation."

Liftoff of Atlantis' flight to the International Space Station is set for 2:28 PM EST on November 16. The countdown to launch begins 1 PM EST on Friday, November 13. -- Thanks to NASA for some information

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Idaho School Incorporates ARISS into Curriculum

With more than 500 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts conducted, thousands of students have experienced intriguing science and technology lessons -- plus the thrill of speaking with an astronaut who was on the International Space Station (ISS). According to ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO, each school uses the ARISS events in different ways. From school to school, ARISS volunteers see a great range in the types of activities around the event, including integrating the activities into each grade level's curriculum. The lesson in common to all schools includes discussions on what Amateur Radio is, what ARISS is and how the worldwide ARISS Team works together.

White holds up Garfield Elementary School in Boise, Idaho as an example of how school administrators turned their September 2009 ARISS contact into a multi-faceted learning activity. "Students took part in a series of technology lessons, including an ARISS contact scheduled on September 24," she said. "The ARISS Team networked together for several weeks with a NASA team called WHEELS -- a NASA Exploration Experience traveling exhibit. The NASA team came to Boise to coach teachers with in-service technology workshops prior to the QSO."

Hundreds of students toured the hands-on traveling display, learning about space exploration and its benefits to society. The teachers wrote their lesson plans, applying the opportunities afforded by the ARISS coaches, to two Idaho Science Standards:

• Science Standard 1.8 -- Understand Technical Communication, where students learned to read and perform multiple-step technical directions.
• Science Standard 5.2 -- Understand the Relationship between Science and Technology, where students studied how technology helps us develop tools, plus some history lessons on technology having helped in developing tools.

Teachers also integrated the ARISS contact into studies meeting Idaho Social Studies Standard 5.1 -- An Understanding of Multiple Perspectives and Global Interdependence," where students explored connections between their community and other communities around the world.

White said that teachers also focused on wireless communication the lessons leading up to the QSO with the space station. Using curriculum supplied by ARRL's Education & Technology Program (ETP) through four "mini-units," students learned how communication is essential in our society and how it is aided through the use of technology, including the technology utilized to communicate with the astronauts:

• Where's the Remote? -- The objective was for students to explore how dependent we have become on Wireless Technology by temporarily hiding a remote control device and observing the reactions of people who want to use the affected device.
• Historical Review of Wireless Technology -- The objective was for students to determine the historical significance that Wireless Technology has played in our world and our culture.
• Wireless Communication and Careers -- The objective was for students to explore job opportunities that require use of wireless technology, and learn how lucrative these jobs are, the working conditions, self-fulfillment experienced by people in the field, education requirements, promotion and advancement opportunities. Cameron Eagans, KI4KLW, a recent graduate of the area high school, did a hands-on model rocketry demonstration with the students and talked about different ham radio operations. He emphasized the importance of science and math classes and how they relate to his college studies and career goals.
• Communication Through Codes (Symbols) -- The objective was for students to learn the fundamental concepts that are involved in developing codes to be used for communication, identify the major components of the wireless communication system and utilize codes students developed to communicate with other students.

Every student in the school observed the ARISS QSO, with several students from each grade level interviewing the astronauts. "Teachers reported that after they began using the planned ISS contact in previous weeks to focus on curriculum objectives, students showed an increased interest in technology, math and science," White said. "One told us that 'Preparing for the contact with the space station has been an excellent way to provoke students' discussions. Questions from the students have provided opportunities for the teachers to stress the importance of math and science in expanding our knowledge and horizons.'"

You can find information detailing the process of applying for an ARISS contact for your school on the ARISS Web site.

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ARRL Says "Thank You" to Veterans

On Wednesday, November 11, Veterans Day -- called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day outside the US -- was celebrated all over the world. Originally a holiday that marked the end of World War I -- the "War to End All Wars" -- has been set aside to honor all who have served their country. It was on November 11, 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, that Germany signed the Armistice, formally ending the hostilities that had been ongoing since 1914.

The ARRL would like to take this opportunity to thank our service veterans. Whether they served on active duty or reserve, during peace time or time of conflict, they served their county with honor. We also would be remiss if we did not remember the families of those veterans who kept the homefires burning bright; without their love and support, our veterans would have indeed been alone.

ARRL Headquarters has its share of service veterans: Contributing Editor Al Brogdon, W1AB (Army); Publications Sales Associate Mark Dzamba, KB1FMY (Air Force); Assistant VEC Manager Perry Green, WY1O (Army); Volunteer Archivist Charles Griffen, W1GYR (Air Force); Technical Editor Joel Hallas, W1ZR (Army); News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA (Coast Guard); DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L (Army); Reprints Specialist Tony Nesta, AA1RZ (Navy); Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N (Navy); Technical Relations Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA (Army); Field and Regulatory Correspondent Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG (Air Force); Education & Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME (Air Force), and Archivist Perry Williams, W1UED (Air Force).

Thank you for your service -- your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your fellow service members is not forgotten.

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IN BRIEF

• Norwegian Amateurs Receive New Privileges - On November 6, radio amateurs in Norway were granted privileges on three new bands, as well as primary status on the extended 40 meter band and a frequency extension on 12 meters. According to IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Norwegian amateurs received new secondary user privileges on 60 meters (5.260-5.410 MHz), the 600 meter band (493-510 kHz) and in five blocks in the 4 meter (70 MHz) band. Amateur Radio operators in Norway will also enjoy upgraded privileges on 40 meters, moving from secondary to primary users between 7.100-7.200 MHz and 1000 W output. They have also received a new secondary allocation from 24.740-24.890 MHz in the 12 meter band, expanding upon Norway's existing primary allocation of 24.890-24.990 MHz. Garpestad said that "minor adjustments" were also made in the SHF (3-30 GHz) and EHF (30-300 GHz) portions of the band. "Congratulations to our Norwegian colleagues," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "The new domestic allocations in Norway are consistent with the present and future spectrum requirements for the Amateur Service as determined by the IARU Administrative Council. We hope that other administrations will consider taking similar steps."

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