The Illuminator

April Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Carbon Amateur Radio Club will be held on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center in Nesquehoning. See you there!

ARRL DX Bulletin

DX Bulletin 15 ARLD015

From ARRL Headquarters

Newington CT April 4, 2002

To all radio amateurs

This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by Tedd, KB8NW, the OPDX Bulletin, 425DXnews, DXNL, QRZ DX, The Daily DX, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all.

MALAWI, 7Q. Chris, EC3ADC plans to be QRV as 7Q7DX from Lilongwe from April 7 to 17. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, including 12 meters. QSL via EA5IQ.

MALDIVES, 8Q. Igor, RN3OA is QRV as 8Q7OA from San Island, IOTA AS-013, until April 10. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call.

BOTSWANA, A2. John, G3HCT will be QRV as A25/G3HCT from April 7 to 20. Activity will be on the newer bands using CW. QSL to home call.

IRAN, EP. Abdullah, EP2FM has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 0300 to 0400 and 1600z.

SWITZERLAND, HB. Diethelm, DJ2YE is QRV as HB9AON until April 12 from the rare Kanton Obwaldenin. Daily activity is on 40 meters using CW from 0800 to 1000z. QSL to home call.

FRANCE, F. Special callsign TM5PDG is in use until April 7 from the Gard Bridge. Activity is on 40 to 15 meters using CW, SSB, SSTV and PSK31. QSL via F6KQK.

SOUTH KOREA, HL. Han, HL1VAU, Han, DS2GOO and Chae, DS5BSX are QRV as homecalls/4 from Taehuksan Island in the Huksan Islands Group, IOTA AS-093, until April 7. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL HL1VAU/4 to home call. All others via DS2GOO.

LEBANON, OD. Max, IW0GXY is QRV as OD5/homecall and has a license to operate on 6 meters. He can be found on 50155 kHz, plus or minus QRM, until June or possibly September. QSL to home call.

NORTH KOREA, P5. Ed, P5/4L4FN has been QRV on 15 meters around 1100 to 1200z. QSL via KK5DO.

BANGLADESH, S2. Jan, OK1FWC is working in Khulna until July, and is usually QRV on 10 meters as S21/OK1FWC. QSL via the OKDXF.

MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Jim, KC7OKZ and Carol, KC7TSX are QRV as V73KZ and V73SX, respectively, from Majuro, IOTA OC-029. QSL via operators' instructions.

ANGUILLA, VP2E. Bill, W5SJ is QRV as VP2EJ until April 8. Activity is on the HF bands using CW. QSL to home call.

CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Jesse, AB5RY is QRV as VQ9J for the next few months. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via K5QM.

MACAO, XX9. Cheang, XX9AU has been QRV on 15 meters around 1300z.

ARRL Propagation Forecast Bulletin

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 14 ARLP014

From Tad Cook, K7VVV

Seattle, WA April 5, 2002

To all radio amateurs

Average daily solar flux rose last week by 27 points, and average sunspot numbers by over 9 points. We've had active geomagnetic conditions this week caused by a stream of high speed solar wind, yielding aurora displays at high latitudes. Saturday through Wednesday were very active, with a number of three-hour periods when the planetary K index was 4.

Solar flux for the short term is expected to peak around 215 for Friday and Saturday, then drift below 200 after Tuesday. Geomagnetic conditions could become slightly active or unsettled on Saturday.

Currently there is a large complex of sunspots crossing the visible solar disk. A helioseismic image also shows a pair of large sunspots on the sun's far side.

Kenzo Nose, JA3EGE wrote in about some great recent 6-meter openings he observed in Japan. On March 17 from 2035 to 2300z he worked stations in the South Pacific, and long path into Europe and the Caribbean. He said it was the most unusual propagation he has observed in 30 years. He worked 9H1, EH3, IS0, IT9, EH6, FJ5, FM5, FG5, PJ2, YV5 and P49.

You can reach Kenzo via email at [email protected]. You can reach the author of this bulletin at [email protected].

The beginning of April marked the end of the first quarter of 2002 so it is time to look at some of the numbers.

Average daily sunspot numbers for the last five quarters, from January 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 were 147.3, 164.8, 170.4, 198.1 and 178.3. Average daily solar flux for the same five periods was 164.4, 166.7, 175.5, 219.1 and 203.9. Both solar flux and sunspot numbers were higher this past quarter than the first three quarters of 2001, but lower than the last quarter of last year, which had a lot of activity.

Average sunspot numbers for the past five months, November through March, were 178.6, 217.5, 189, 194.5 and 153.1. Average daily solar flux for the same five months was 215.8, 236.5, 227.3, 205, and 179.5.

We can definitely see the peak that occurred around December, and that January of this year had more activity than November of last year. But March solar flux and sunspots were definitely down.

Sunspot numbers for March 28 through April 3 were 144, 189, 171, 133, 189, 262 and 162 with a mean of 178.6. 10.7 cm flux was 176.2, 181.3, 188.7, 204.4, 207, 206 and 209.4, with a mean of 196.1, and estimated planetary A indices were 6, 7, 17, 14, 16, 15 and 13 with a mean of 12.6.

Don't QSL

by Larry, N3CR

When is the last time you heard that from me! I still try to QSL stations wishing to have my card and info usually with my "Old Dutch" picture QSL. Some say I am trying to look like K3II but that is not so. I cannot help my PA Dutchman side comes thru every so often! Or is it that late night DJ Syndrome (disk jockey) coming around again. That was 30 years ago, wow! Anyway, I always take pride in all the many happy QSOs that have gone by and the stories behind them. That card on the wall is more than just a spot in time.

However, don't give me this, "I am sending you an electronic QSL via...wxyz.com. It will be available in 10 minutes and will give you an area to reply with one." Who started this electronic QSL stuff? That is one step too far for me! I am into electronic stuff but if a QSO was good enough to warrant a QSL, then one of the old paper ones is due. I have black and white ones on colored stock that I cherish. My original ones were blue/black on fluorescent orange made by "Brownie," W3CJI in Allentown, PA. I couldn't keep them in stock! I also couldn't afford to keep buying them at the rate I was operating.

Back to electronic QSLs, a subject that is very abrasive to me. First you have to visit the eQSL site and then zoom the view to see your brand new QSL. Now what do you do with it? Ah, let's try download. Well, now that works well. Ok, now you soon have a full hard drive because every new ham with a "personal" has an eQSL site. This becomes a problem. Now you have to print them out; that doesn't sound so hard. Forget it! Each eQSL site prints at a different size! Now you have to play with the printer to get all the eQSLs the same size! So now I have wasted dozens of sheets of paper trying to save these &*_#^$*# eQSLs! About this time, that QSO doesn't mean a darn thing anymore. Not only are a lot of stateside stations doing this, the DX station is bypassing the QSL Manager and getting on the eQSL bandwagon too!

But is this so bad? The postal service has announced that as soon as possible postal rates will increase to 37 cents, an increase of 3 cents per ounce. From past experience, when the mail went up 2 cents, mail to Europe went from 60 cents to 80 cents! Now we are probably looking at one dollar to send one QSL to Europe to that fine gentleman you just spent 20 minutes talking to. I have a problem with that. I am going to need a second job for personalized QSL service! Looks like I will be looking for an outgoing QSL service real soon. Hey Jim, K3II, do you have an ideas on this? I need help!

Perhaps this eQSL service isn't so bad after all. The price is right and what is another 20 pieces of advertising in my email box. After all, I only get 40 advertisements a day now and I am sure my 20 Megs of ISP space is barely touched. Now all I have to do is find out how to design an eQSL format and drop in the callsign! That sounds easy enough. I will start on that tomorrow. Maybe someone out there will appreciate their electronic QSL the way I enjoy my paper ones! Until then, 73s and your QSL is in the email at qsl.box under your callsign. Color it any way you please. 73s de Larry N3CR

Reflections

by Larry, N3CR

QRZ? QRZ? Those words keep me awake nights! Winter propagation and DX contests were a match made in heaven. Though it was hard to stay at home weekends during our rather mild winter, the contests provided some of the nicest numbers I have seen in some time. In one SSB contest, over 100 countries were worked the first day! I have never seen so many new prefixes in any contest. Several countries, Canada, UK, and Russia authorized the use of special prefixes for brief periods or for the whole year. That looks awfully impressive on the wall. The quality of QSLs received has improved as well. Instead of seeing more black and white QSLs, many multicolor ones are showing up in numbers. I actually received two envelopes from the W3 bureau over winter. The best ones have come direct from my friends who I meet over 10 meter FM.

Instead of chasing DX on 10m and 20m, I spend many hours on 10m FM with a vertical antenna of one sort or another. I even formed a 10m quad for favoring vertical operation hoping my European friends would hear me better. As it turns out, Ari, PA3AR, Jan, PA3FAO, and I were like beacons to each other. We heard each other almost daily between 10 am and 1 pm on 29.600 MHz, the listening frequency. Of course, the Southeastern Texas link system with inputs on 6m, 2m, and 440 MHz was a daily visitor to the frequency working Europe and coast to coast. Must be nice being able to work the world with an HT. Anyway, we formed a warm friendship kidding each other on a daily basis, "what, did you actually raise the antenna off the ground today? I can hear you!" I also worked my share of California stations and the Florida mobile stations using similar 25 watt radios. It sure filled my logbook over Winter and continues into Spring. Denver, Colorado is also a regular visitor heard from this area. It pays to be high and sure changed my opinion of vertical antennas. There were times one antenna was dominant over the other. Signals bounce so much, using the same polarization meant little as to which one antenna was better. It paid to have both and the signal difference could have been 2 S units.

For 2002, I plan to operate more 15 meter openings. This is one band I often avoided much in part because of TVI complaints early in my ham experience. At the time, I did not fully understand how to deal with it and didn't realize how important a good ground connection was to clean operation. Johnson Rangers (remember those boat anchors) were known TVI machines and the 40 watts didn't seem to travel as far with receivers of the times. A TVI filter alone was not the cure all I figured. Today, with all the sensitive receivers out there, that same 40 watts would "travel" a lot further. A two element short mono beam and two element tribander should improve that band total in a hurry. Working all modes, SSTV and PSK should make for some interesting possibilities. I may need to order another bunch of QSLs! Should propagation allow, it could be a long time until I get back on 10m and 20m! Stay tuned and keep your finals warm. 73s de Larry N3CR.

Ducie Island DXpedition is a Wrap

(From The Daily DX)

The inaugural VP6DI DXpedition to the newest DXCC entity – Ducie Island – came to an end March 26. A 2.5-square-mile Pacific atoll, Ducie was approved for DXCC credit last

November, but it took three trips, many months of planning and a big budget to make this operation a reality. The DXpedition was sponsored by the Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association. The VP6DI team was on the air for just over nine days, logging something on the order of 40,000 contacts. VP6DI HF QSLs go via VE3HO, and 6-meter QSLs go to JA1BK. More information is available on PIARA's DXpedition to Ducie March 2002 Web site http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/ducie.htm.

DXCC Credit for P5/4L4FN QSLs

DX Bulletin 14 ARLD014

From ARRL Headquarters

Newington CT April 2, 2002

To all radio amateurs

The ARRL has announced it will accept SSB contacts with P5/4L4FN in North Korea (Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea) for DXCC credit. Operator Ed Giorgadze of the Republic of Georgia, has been active from the capital city of Pyongyang since early last November. Valid SSB contacts from the onset of the P5/4L4FN operation last fall may be submitted for DXCC credit, effective immediately.

ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, said the ARRL now has received adequate evidence that the P5/4L4FN operation was being conducted with the knowledge and approval of North Korean telecommunications officials. Giorgadze has been operating with oral permission from North Korean authorities, but Mills said the ARRL is satisfied on the basis of written information submitted that the P5/4L4FN operation conforms with DXCC rules and should be accepted for credit.

Mills cited DXCC Rule 7, which states ''Any Amateur Radio operation should take place only with the complete approval and understanding of appropriate administration officials.'' The rule continues, ''In any case, credit will be given for contacts where adequate evidence of authorization by appropriate authorities exists.''

Mills said the ARRL Awards Committee met and concurred that the operation should be accredited.

The P5/4L4FN operation is not a DXpedition. Giorgadze is employed by the United Nations World Food Program and often spends as much as 12 hours a day on the job, operating in his off hours. It's expected that he will be in North Korea at least until July and possibly longer. A favorite hangout has been 21.225 MHz (he works split and listens up). He's also been a frequent visitor to 10 meters.

While P5/4L4FN has been doing some RTTY operation in addition to SSB, those contacts are not yet acceptable for DXCC credit.

Bruce Paige, KK5DO, has been acting as QSL manager and liaison for P5/4L4FN. Additional news and information about the operation is on his AMSAT Net Web site, http://www.amsatnet.com. Click on the "P5 North Korea" link.

Comments in SAVI Proceeding Bolster ARRL Position

(From ARRL Letter)

The ARRL says the large number of comments filed by amateurs in opposition to SAVI Technology's plans to operate RF identification (RFID) tags on 70 cm support the League's position that the proposed rules are flawed and should not be adopted. The ARRL took note of the amateur community's response in its reply comments filed in the proceeding, ET Docket 01-278, on March 12. SAVI wants the FCC to authorize operation of the RFID system at 425-435 MHz at much higher field strengths and duty cycles than current Part 15 rules permit for such devices.

"There were approximately 132 comments filed by radio amateurs or Amateur Radio organizations in this proceeding," the ARRL pointed out, "all of which are opposed to the proposal to allow high-power, continuous-duty RFID tags and interrogators in the weak-signal portion of the most popular and heavily-occupied UHF amateur band."

RFID tags are used for tracking shipments and packages, among other applications. The ARRL said that while package tracking using RFID technology "is a beneficial application as a general matter," it belongs elsewhere. The ARRL maintained that if the proposed rules were enacted as proposed, the inevitable result would be severe and harmful interference. Some commenters from the amateur community predicted interference from – and to – the RFID tags as a result of amateur TV operation in that portion of 70 cm. Others worried about the tags' effects on weak-signal work.

"The only way to mitigate the interference in this case would be for SAVI to select another band and abandon its plan for high-power, high-duty-cycle operation at 425-435 MHz," the ARRL declared.

The ARRL admonished the FCC to "not create Part 15 rules to accommodate a single company's product or even one type of RF device." The League also asserted that FCC approval of SAVI's proposal would undermine the regulatory philosophy underlying the current Part 15 rules governing unlicensed intentional radiators. The ARRL reiterated its argument that the RFID tags cannot be operated in the US under current Part 15 rules for unlicensed devices, and in numerous European and Asian countries they cannot be operated at all.

The ARRL's reply comments also characterized SAVI's tests and interference studies as "flawed" and not representative of real-world conditions.

Concluded the League, "Operation of near-continuous duty devices at Section 15.231(a) power levels at 433.92 MHz and the surrounding band segment is fundamentally incompatible with incumbent amateur operation and cannot be permitted." The ARRL again urged the FCC not to adopt the proposals.

The ARRL's reply comments include a summary of the League's ex parte presentation in the proceeding delivered to FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff members February 26. The ARRL submitted a third ex parte rebuttal presentation on March 22.

Check out http://incolor.inetnebr.com/n0ujr for other cartoons and to purchase N0UJR’s book, “N0UJR and His Friends.”

April 2002

ARRL DX Bulletin