RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XL, Number 3	March, 1999

10-10 International, Stan Reinke, Bldg. 222; 73 Magazine, Loren Thompson, Bldg. 212; CQ and Club newsletters, Bruce Epperson, Bldg. 222; Electronics Now and W5YI Report, Dick Konecny, Bldg. 362; Popular Communications, Fred Propper, Bldg. 212; Popular Electronics and Worldradio, Dale Travis, Bldg. 222; QST, and QEX, Ron Scharping, Bldg. 208.

Hollingsworth said he told those gathered for the net "where we've been, where we're going, and what we're trying to accomplish" in terms of ham radio enforcement. He said he expects to return to the airwaves from time to time and welcomes invitations from other organized nets. (His e-mail address is rholling@fcc.gov.) Hollingsworth's unannounced and unexpected appearance on 3894.5 MHz January 13 to discuss compliance and enforcement created a stir within the Amateur Radio community.

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska, will conduct a second HAARP Listening Test in mid-March, seeking reports from hams and SWLs in Alaska and in the "Lower 48." Exact times and dates are not known at this time, but will be announced as soon as they are available. Transmissions will be on or near 3.4 MHz and 6.99 MHz. HAARP will send a CW message and request signal strength reports. QSLs will be available only for reports mailed to HAARP, PO Box 271, Gakona, AK 99586.

But not a word about ham radio. I guess that didn't fit the macho picture they were trying to paint.

Plans for the Skywarn Meeting on February 24 are well underway. There was a good article publicizing the event in the Argonne News. Joe said that he had heard the event announced on NOAA Weather Radio with credit being given to our club. Bill was given authorization to purchase cookies and/or other snacks and be reimbursed from club funds. Stan will handle video and sound setup. Dick will call Dennis to check exactly what the meteorologist will need for his presentation and let the appropriate people know.

Dick will ask Gary to announce in the newsletter the magazines that members may sign up to have routed by them.

The board decided to establish a standing rule as to when the newsletter items are due and when the newsletter is issued. Members can then expect their newsletter at a specific time and contributors know when items are due to the editor. Newsletter items will be due two Fridays before the first Tuesday of each month. The newsletter will be printed on the following Monday and in most cases, mailed the next day (Tuesday). The only exceptions to this schedule will be made on a case-by-case basis when a holiday interferes.

Based on this decision, the deadline dates for 1999 are: February 19, March 26, April 23, May 21, June 25, July 23, August 27, September 24, October 22, November 26 and December 24. The December date may need to be modified due to Christmas. Members should expect to receive their newsletters within about a week after these deadline dates.

There was some discussion about e-mailing the newsletter to members who prefer it that way and thus save paper and postage. We might also be able to place it on the Web in a more timely manner and announce via e-mail that the new newsletter is posted. Joe volunteered to research this issue involving the appropriate people and report back to the board next month with a proposal.

Jim mentioned that the Argonne Open House is being held on April 30 and May 1. Jim volunteered to write an article for the newsletter to possibly recruit volunteers to set up an AARC booth or demonstration for the open house.

Dick mentioned that there was apparently a problem with our tax exempt number and the vendor he had selected for the UPS to be used with the repeater. Dick will follow up on this problem and hopes to obtain the UPS in the near future.

Bob Zolecki and perhaps others will talk about a QRP kit at the March 2 meeting.

Stan will resume activity on the QSL cards and report back to the board within the next few months with some recommendations.

Dick will ask Fred if he is willing to investigate and then procure some club patches.

Dennis announced that Field Day is June 26-27. He has begun to make the arrangements.

87% of the full members and 74% of the associate members have signed up for 1999. The full member sign-ups are lower than last year, and the associate member sign-ups are about 15% lower than last year. Included with this issue of the newsletter is a roster, sorted by call suffix, of the current members. It contains all of the members names that I show paid for 1999 as of February 16, 1999. If someone wants a roster sorted by name or any other field, just ask me for it and I'll do my best to get it for you.

• *#813nn Set code speed to nn words per minute.
• *2580 Send 3 minutes of random 5 letter char groups.
• *2587 Send 3 minutes of random words.

Please remember that you must ID before accessing the repeater for code practice. You don't have to say what you are going to do, just your call will do. eg. 1) Key your transmitter, 2) wait for 3 to 4 seconds for the repeater to come up, 3) give your call, 4) issue the code to do what you want to do, & 5) unkey and listen for the acknowledgment (K).

JY1, SK from ARRL Members-only web site

AMMAN, JORDAN, Feb 8, 1999–Radio amateurs around the world joined in mourning the death over the weekend of Jordan's King Hussein, JY1. Hussein, 63, died Sunday morning. The Middle East's longest-reigning ruler, he'd been Jordan's king for 47 years, taking the throne when he was just a teenager. His son, Abdullah, 37, succeeds him.

Hussein had earned a reputation as a catalyst for peace and as a conciliator in the Middle East. In a move considered unusual following the death of a foreign head of state, President Clinton ordered the flag at the White House flown at half-staff. President Clinton is among the heads of state from around the globe gathered in Jordan today for King Hussein's funeral.

Hussein was a life member of the ARRL. ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, called him "an enthusiastic radio amateur whose support was invaluable to us in obtaining new amateur bands at the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference." Sumner recalled that in May 1979, International Amateur Radio Union President Noel Eaton, VE3CJ, was invited to Amman to meet with King Hussein. "Jordan's support of the Amateur Service was much in evidence at the conference that fall, and was a crucial element in our success," Sumner said. The WARC-79 resulted in Amateur Radio's gaining the 30, 17, and 12-meter bands. That same year, JY1 was featured in the film, "The World of Amateur Radio." Hussein regarded his 1983 contact with Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on board the Space Shuttle Columbia, as a high point in his Amateur Radio activity.

King Hussein also participated in the historic 1995 joint Israel-Jordan JY74X operation on Mt Nebo, where hams from both countries participated in a Field Day-like operation. The King put in appearances both on the air and in person, much to the delight of the participants and those waiting to work him and JY74X.

Hussein's friend Bruce "Blackie" Blackburn, W4TA/JY9BB, of St Petersburg, Florida, called him "one of the world's most respected amateurs" and recounted many stories about King Hussein as a person and an avid Amateur Radio operator. "He was a wonderful guy, interested in everything and everyone," he said.

Blackburn first met King Hussein in 1973 when he traveled to Jordan after retiring from a position with the US government. Blackburn had heard that the King was interested in radio and decided to approach him about setting up a communications system for royal communications. Blackburn says that, at that time, the only radio system in place was HF and a means for reliable, local communications was needed. Blackburn got an appointment with the King and worked with him to develop a microwave backbone system. Blackburn later moved his family to Jordan and lived there until 1980, becoming Hussein's friend and an advisor in various areas of communications.

"One of the things that first struck me when I met King Hussein," says Blackburn, "was the modest Drake radio equipment he was using." Blackburn recalls that JY1 upgraded his equipment over the years, and laughing says "but he didn't enjoy that newer stuff nearly as much."

Blackburn said King Hussein "promoted Amateur Radio to the hilt in Jordan" and saw to it that Amateur Radio classes were instituted in elementary schools. King Hussein also dropped in on meetings of the Royal Jordanian Radio Amateur Society in Amman. King Hussein also was involved with the early satellite experiments.

Hussein had been active in recent months from the US while seeking cancer treatment at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. A QSO with JY1 was considered by many hams to be both an honor and a privilege. His elegant QSL card was prized.

Pat Kilroy, WD8LAQ, says he enjoyed a three-minute contact on 20 meters with King Hussein in the fall of 1995. "JY1 was traveling aeronautical mobile, en route to the United Nations. He insisted on me addressing him simply as 'Hussein'," he said. In one of the oldest traditions in Amateur Radio, Hussein upheld that this kinship transverses not only age and nationality, but also between citizen and head of state!

Kilroy said his QSO with Hussein came right after a launch of the shuttle Columbia, and Hussein was monitoring the WA3NAN space shuttle retransmission frequency. "Recalling his historic two-way contact with Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on STS-9 in 1983, I struck up a conversation on the latest educational benefits of SAREX [Space Amateur Radio EXperiment]," he recounted. "Hussein was indeed interested in the program and was pleased to see it develop."

Kilroy says that after he yielded the frequency for others to get a chance, he was impressed with how JY1 handled the emerging pileup. "Even through the hobby of Amateur Radio, one could detect King Hussein's heartfelt commitment to human dignity and peace," Kilroy concluded.

Former US Ambassador to Lebanon and Iran Armin Meyer, W3ACE, also recalled Hussein today in a letter to The Washington Post. Meyer said JY1 "has for decades been promoting peace and good will among quite ordinary people." As Meyer put it: "For the king, ham radio was a different world, a community of diverse people." He said those in the US State Department counted on Hussein "as a voice for fairness and realism. He was always upbeat."

All members of the Jordanian royal family automatically have Amateur Radio privileges in Jordan. Although the new king does not appear to have a call sign, King Hussein's widow—the American-born Queen Noor—is JY1NH. King Hussein's brother, the former Crown Prince Hassan, is JY2HT, while his cousin, Prince Raad, JY2RZ, is chairman of the Royal Jordanian Radio Amateur Society.

Friday will be for schools and scheduled tours, hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday will be open to the general public from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

AARC will be given a 10'X10' tent, tables and chairs to set up a display station. We will use the Club equipment. Now all we need are volunteers to man it.

Further details will be in the April issue of Radioactivities, but keep the weekend open. I will be setting up to take names and schedule people soon.

• Doltergeist: A spirit that decides to haunt someplace stupid, such as your septic tank.
• Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high, such as on the CN Tower.
• Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it.
• Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
• DIOS: The one true operating system.
• Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you REALLY need a pick me up.
• Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like a serious bummer.
• Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

The license-modification letter February 16 from the FCC's Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, came in the wake of an earlier warning letter to W2YEE. Hollingsworth alleged that W2YEE's 75-meter operation on the evening of February 4 was contrary to the Amateur Service Rules. Hollingsworth said Miller violated Section 97.1, basis and purpose of Amateur Radio; Section 97.101(a), good engineering and good amateur practice; and Section 97.119, identification requirements. The alleged operation took place on 3901 and 3950 kHz, the FCC said.

"Specifically, you were apparently broadcasting and talking to no particular station for several hours, during which time you prevented the use of the frequencies by others and maliciously interfered with other stations attempting to use the frequencies," Hollingsworth wrote. He said the Commission also had information indicating similar behavior occurred the next evening on 75.

"Such operation endangers the basis and purpose of Amateur Radio as a service, degrades it for other licensed operators and cannot be tolerated," Hollingsworth wrote.