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NEWSLETTER

 

WINTER 2010

Well it has been some time since we have had a News Letter out to our members along with none members. As we are in the winter months of 2010 it looks like we are going to have a cold winter and a lot of snow at least the first few weeks of winter shows it so far.

I hope every one got there antennas in good shape for the cold weather. Although there has not been a lot of  DX on the bands these days the sun spots haven’t been very plentiful  but there is some you can pick up now and then. They claim another two or three years we should have sun spots like back in the 70’s & 80”s.

We want to thank the people at the RILLTON VFD for allowing  the club to have our Field Day and JOTA on there grounds. As you know we have been holding our Wed. two meter nets on repeater 147.225 which we are very glad to be able to use the Monessen ARC (W3CSL) repeater for our nets. Please remember on Tue. Nights at 8:00 or 20000hrs the Monessen club holds there net on 147.225 feel free to check in on there net they will glad to have you on there listing.

We want to thank all the club members that help out with the VE and the NRE testing each month or when needed. It looks like the GROL testing has picked up the past few months. Although there has been new testing that came out for January 1st 2010. This is only Element 1—3--&-8 there are new study books out for 2010 you can call W5YI to get the study manuals . If you know anyone who might be interested you can let them know.

All the members who attended Xmas luncheon at K-VAYS restaurant sure didn’t go home hungry. We had plenty to eat and a joyful afternoon. Those who could not make it we all missed you. We hope to see you next year or before.

As we said before the North Huntingdon Emergency Center up and running. But we are still waiting for the long wire for HF bands to get approved and get it up in the air. There is a lot going on in Westmoreland County with repeaters among other things.

ARES & RACES is getting things up and running at the Westmoreland County Command Center.
The last thing on the list is Membership in the club. As you know some of us are getting up in age and can’t do what we use to do. But we are hanging in there trying to do what we can. If you know of any Amateur young or old would like to be part of the club please bring them along. If the they are not Amateurs and would like to hold a amateur license we will work with them to make sure they become a amateur and in joy the hobby. Along with all said we sure miss the Amateurs that have strayed away from the club hopefully we will see you back soon. We understand some have jobs that they can’t make it to the meetings and that’s fine as long as we have you as member of our club.

One last thing please go the club website and see how it has been up dated. If you have any thing you might think should be on it you can get to BRYAN N3WJY and he will see that it gets on the site.
The WEBSITE is (www.qsl.net/w3tcw)  Along with that our club is listed on SKYVIEW ARC, BREEZESHOOTERS, along with our VE testing dates each month. Thanks to the clubs that do this.

PLEASE HELP THE CLUB TO GROW WE NEED YOUR HELP

THANK YOU
73 for now good DX  W3QH

Atlantic Division News
May 31, 2009
Bulletin 2009-04


Atlantic Division Award Recipients Announced

The Atlantic Division Awards Committee is pleased to announce that following awards have been named.

AMATEUR OF THE YEAR

The Atlantic Division Amateur of the Year is awarded to George Brechmann N3HBT. George was the moving force behind Pennsylvania becoming the 27th state having a PRB-1 law on the books. The PRB-1 antenna legislation was presented by George's state senator, Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf.

Several people played very key parts in this effort besides George:
Eric Pauley, Senator Greenleaf's Assistant, Dave Eckman WA3YVR, Eric Olena WB3FPL, EPA-Section Manager, John Rodgers N3MSE, WPA-Section Manager and Chris Imlay W3KD, ARRL General Counsel. And last, but certainly not least were the number of amateur radio operators in Pennsylvania who took the time to contact their state senator and state representative.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

The Technical Achievement Award this year was shared by two individuals working together on making digital emergency communication easier and more reliable. They have been active in making presentations across the Atlantic Division. The awardees for this category are Dave Kleber KB3FXI and Harry Bloomberg W3YJ.

KEITH FREEBERG N2BEL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR

This award is named after Keith Freeberg N2BEL who was very involved in amateur radio and amateur radio training in the Western New York Section. Keith had a unique ability to teach amateur radio to people of all ages. He had an affinity for working with young people and was very involved with one of the few Radio Coaches programs. It is very fitting that this award is dedicated to his memory and that the successful candidate demonstrate an ability to successfully train people in amateur radio. The emphasis is on quality of training and not pure number of people trained.

This is the first year for this award and the first recipient is Pete Fournia W2SKY. Pete had worked very closely with Keith over the years in developing, organizing and teaching amateur radio topics to scores of people.

Please join us in congratulating these Atlantic Division Award winners for this year!


ATLANTIC DIVISION CONVENTION

This year's Atlantic Division Convention and the Rochester Hamfest 75th anniversary held this past Saturday was nothing short of awesome. This club's membership changed the hamfest format and venue successfully.

They used 16 acres for flea market vendors - Traffic was stacked up from attendees waiting to get into the hamfest/convention grounds and attendance was up from last year.

Dan Henderson N1ND, ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist attended the convention from ARRL HQ and was well received.

Positive comments from attendees were heard all day long.


Atlantic Division Cabinet Meeting

The Atlantic Division leadership held the Cabinet Meeting in Gettysburg on May 2nd. Some very good discussion on club affiliation, membership issues and EmComm issues were discussed.

The keynote speaker was Laura Smith, FCC's Special Counsel. Laura talked about amateur enforcement and what she is working with. After her talk attendees were glad to hear that Amateur enforcement remains in good hands.

We also had ARRL's General Counsel, Chris Imlay W3KD do a live presentation and webinar from Gettysburg to give information to clubs about issues that amateur radio clubs need to keep in mind from a legal standpoint.

New Division Working Committee Formed

The Atlantic Division has formed a new working committee with Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH as its Chairman. This committee has been tasked with identifying prospective new amateur radio operators and then developing ways we can reach these prospective hams.

This committee is looking for some good committee members who are willing to be working members. If you would like to be a part of this committee, please send an email with your name, call sign and a brief statement with your qualifications for this committee to [email protected].


73,

Bill Edgar N3LLR
Atlantic Division Director

Tom Abernethy W3TOM
Atlantic Division Vice Director

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Space Bulletin 004 ARLS004
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT June 2, 2009
To all radio amateurs


SB SPACE ARL ARLS004
ARLS004 NASA Releases New Predictions for Solar Cycle 24

An international panel of experts -- led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and sponsored by NASA -- has released a new prediction for the next solar cycle: Solar Cycle 24 will peak in May 2013 with a below-average number of sunspots. "If our prediction is correct, Solar Cycle 24 will have a peak sunspot number of 90, the lowest of any cycle since 1928 when Solar Cycle 16 peaked at 78," said panel chairman Doug Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). This report clarifies a NOAA report from earlier this month that stated that Solar Cycle 24 would bring "90 sunspots per day on average."

The latest forecast revises an earlier prediction issued in 2007. At that time, a sharply divided panel believed solar minimum would come in March 2008 followed by either a strong solar maximum in 2011, or a weak solar maximum in 2012. "It turns out that none of our models were totally correct," said Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and NASA's lead representative on the panel. "The Sun is behaving in an unexpected and very interesting way."

In 2007, experts varied in their predictions on when the solar cycle would peak and how strong it would be. In April of that year, NOAA, in coordination with an international panel of solar experts, predicted that the next 11-year cycle of solar storms "would start in March 2008, plus or minus six months, and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012." In the cycle forecast issued in April 2007, half of the panel predicted a "moderately strong cycle of 140 sunspots, plus or minus 20, expected to peak in October 2011. The other half predicted a moderately weak cycle of 90 sunspots, plus or minus 10, peaking in August 2012. An average solar cycle ranges from 75 to 155 sunspots.
The late decline of Cycle 23 has helped shift the panel away from its earlier leaning toward a strong Cycle 24. The group is evenly split between a strong and a weak cycle."

At a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December 2007, David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center , along with colleague Robert Wilson, said that Solar Cycle 24 "looks like it's going to be one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400 years ago." They said they believe the next solar maximum should peak around 2010 with a sunspot number of 160, plus or minus 25. "This would make it one of the strongest solar cycles of the past 50 years -- which is to say, one of the strongest in recorded history." Four of the five biggest cycles on record have come in the past 50 years. "Cycle 24 should fit right into that pattern," Hathaway said.

Right now -- June 2009 -- the solar cycle is in a valley, the deepest of the past century. In 2008 and 2009, the Sun showed some of the lowest sunspot counts on record, as well as weak solar winds and a low solar irradiance, going more than two years without a significant solar flare. "In our professional careers, we've never seen anything quite like it," Pesnell said. "Solar minimum has lasted far beyond the date we predicted in 2007."

In recent months, however, Pesnell said that the Sun has begun to show some small signs of life: Small sunspots and "proto-sunspots" are popping up with increasing frequency. Enormous currents of plasma on the Sun's surface are gaining strength and slowly drifting toward its equator. Radio astronomers have detected a tiny but significant uptick in solar radio emissions. All these things are precursors of an awakening Solar Cycle 24 and form the basis for the panel's new, almost unanimous forecast.

Pesnell cautioned optimism, telling the ARRL that there is an "error bar of +/- 20." This means Solar Cycle 24's sunspot number could be as high as 110, or as low as 70. "Based upon my own personal research, I don't think we'll see 90 [sunspots in Solar Cycle 24],"
he said.

When asked if such a low number foretold the beginnings of a Maunder Minimum, Pesnell said that a Maunder Minimum takes several cycles to appear: "Sunspots [in solar cycles] leading up to the Maunder Minimum took several cycles to disappear. I really can't predict what will happen in Solar Cycle 25. What we're seeing now is something that look likes a sunspot, but it looks as if someone has come along and 'stomped' on it, creating a multitude of little things. We don't have a name for this and we've never seen anything like it before."

There could be more surprises, panelists acknowledge -- and more revisions to the forecast. "Go ahead and mark your calendar for May 2013," Pesnell said. "But use a pencil."

 

 

 


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