Subj : The Weekly ARRL Letter
To   : All
From : Sean Dennis
Date : Fri Nov 20 2020 09:05 am

  The ARRL Letter
  November 19, 2020

    * ARRL Seeks Waiver of Proposed FCC Amateur Application Fees
    * Arizona Congresswoman Introduces National Amateur Radio Operators
      Day Resolution
    * International Broadcast Station Interference Overwhelms Hurricane
      Watch Net
    * Academic Paper Predicts Sunspot Cycle 25 Could be Among the
      Strongest Ever
    * ARRL Podcasts Schedule
    * SpaceX Dragon Capsule Resilience Ferries Four Radio Amateurs to the
      ISS
    * SKYWARN Recognition Day 2020 justs for COVID-19
    * ARRL Learning Network Webinars
    * Announcements
    * Time to Try for an SS "Clean Sweep" on Phone
    * The K7RA Solar Update
    * In Brief...
    * Just Ahead in Radiosport
    * Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  Note: The ARRL Letter will not be published on November 26 because of
  the Thanksgiving holiday, and ARRL Audio News will be on hiatus. The
  ARRL Letter will return on December 3, and ARRL Audio News on December
  4. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  ARRL Seeks Waiver of Proposed FCC Amateur Application Fees

  ARRL has urged the FCC to waive its proposed $50 amateur radio
  application fee. The Commission proposal was made last month in a
  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD 20-270. The proposal has
  already drawn more than 3,200 individual comments overwhelmingly
  opposed to the plan. The fees, directed by Congress and imposed on all
  FCC-regulated services, are to recover the FCC's costs of handling and
  processing applications.

  "Amateur radio applications were not listed when the Congress adopted
  its 1985 fee schedule for applications, and therefore amateur license
  applications were excluded from the collection of fees," ARRL said on
  November 16 in its formal comments on the proposal. "Similarly, a
  decade later when regulatory fees were authorized, the Amateur Service
  was excluded, except for the costs associated with issuing vanity call
  signs." The new statutory provisions are similar. Amateur radio license
  applications are not addressed in the application fees section and
  explicitly excluded from regulatory fees," ARRL said, and there is "no
  evidence of any intent by Congress to change the exempt status of
  amateur applications and instead subject them to new fees."

  ARRL argued that the FCC has explicit authority to waive the fees if it
  would be in the public interest, and should do so for the Amateur Radio
  Service. Unlike other FCC services, the Amateur Radio Service is all
  volunteer and largely self-governing, with examination preparation,
  administration, and grading handled by volunteers, who submit licensing
  paperwork to the FCC, ARRL pointed out.

  "Increasingly, the required information is uploaded to the Commission's
  database, further freeing personnel from licensing paperwork as well as
  [from] day-to-day examination processes," ARRL said.

  The Communications Act, ARRL noted, also permits the FCC to accept the
  volunteer services of individual radio amateurs and organizations in
  monitoring for rules violations. In 2019, ARRL and the FCC signed a
  memorandum of understanding to renew and enhance the ARRL's Volunteer
  Monitor program, relieving the Commission of significant time-consuming
  aspects of enforcement.

  These volunteer services lessen the regulatory burden -- including the
  application burden -- on the Commission's resources and budget in ways
  that licensees in other services do not, ARRL said.

  Amateur radio's role in providing emergency and disaster communication,
  education, and other volunteer services also justifies exempting radio
  amateurs from FCC application fees.

  ditionally, amateur radio has also motivated many students to develop
  critical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
  skills. ARRL noted that the Amateur Radio Service contributes to the
  advancement of the radio art, advances skills in communication and
  technology, and expands the existing reservoir of trained operators,
  technicians, and electronics experts -- all expressed bases and
  purposes of the Amateur Radio Service.

  "Accomplishing these purposes entails working with young people, many
  of whom may have difficulty paying the proposed application fees," ARRL
  said.

  ARRL concluded that the FCC should exercise its authority to exempt
  amateur radio from application fees generally. If the FCC cannot see
  its way clear to waive fees altogether, it should waive them for
  applicants age 26 and younger. Read more.

  Arizona Congresswoman Introduces National Amateur Radio Operators Day
  Resolution

  US Representative Debbie Lesko of Arizona has introduced a resolution
  to designate April 18, 2021, as National Amateur Radio Operators Day,
  to recognize the important contributions of amateur radio operators.

  "Amateur radio operators are critical in times of crisis and our
  communities are safer thanks to their dedication to sharing important
  information with the public," Lesko said. She was approached to
  introduce the resolution by 12-year-old Raymond, N7KCB, from Peoria,
  Arizona.

  "I started Long Distance Responders so I can help prepare the community
  for emergencies with amateur radio," said Raymond. "There might be a
  price for a radio, but the ability and knowledge to help someone is
  truly priceless."

  As Lesko's resolution notes, World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is
  celebrated annually on April 18 to commemorate the founding of the
  International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in 1925, and she said her
  resolution recognizes the amateur radio community with a national day
  in the United States in 2021. The resolution cites the Amateur Radio
  Emergency Service (ARES^A(R)) for providing "invaluable emergency
  communications services following recent natural disasters, including
  but not limited to helping coordinate disaster relief efforts following
  Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Maria and other extreme weather
  disasters."

  International Broadcast Station Interference Overwhelms Hurricane Watch
  Net

  As Category 4 Hurricane Iota neared landfall in Central America on
  November 16, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) was forced to suspend
  operations at 0300 UTC because of what HWN Manager Bobby Graves,
  KB5HAV, described as "deafening interference from a foreign AM
  broadcast station that came out of nowhere at 0200 UTC." At the time,
  the net had shifted to its 40-meter frequency of 7.268 kHz, collecting
  real-time weather and damage reports via amateur radio.

  "This was heartbreaking for our team, as the eyewall of Iota was just
  barely offshore," Graves said. "The storm had weakened slightly to a
  Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 MPH." After activating
  at 1300 UTC, the net was able to collect and forward reports from
  various parts of Nicaragua and Honduras via WX4NHC throughout the day
  for relay to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
  Iota was the most powerful storm on record to make landfall this late
  in the hurricane season.

  Graves said the very strong AM signal was on 7.265 MHz. "From my
  location, it was S-9," he told ARRL. "You could not hear anything but
  the BC station." Graves noted that other foreign broadcast stations
  were heard from 7.265 to 7.300 MHz and splattering close by.

  The offending signal appeared to be from a 500 kW broadcaster in
  Turkey. Graves said the HWN has a long history on 7.268 MHz, but that
  the net is now considering a 40-meter frequency below 7.2 MHz.

  Stations handling emergency traffic during the response to Category 5
  Hurricane Iota had requested clear frequencies on November 16 to avoid
  interfering with the HWN and with WX4NHC, as well as with a Honduran
  emergency net operation on 7.180 MHz and a Nicaraguan emergency net
  operating on 7.098 MHz. It's not known if those nets were also affected
  by interference from the numerous broadcasters on 40 meters.

  "Thank you to all who allowed us a clear frequency," Graves said on
  behalf of the HWN.
  Academic Paper Predicts Sunspot Cycle 25 Could be Among the Strongest
  Ever

  A research paper, "Overlapping Magnetic Activity Cycles and the Sunspot
  Number: Forecasting Sunspot Cycle 25 Amplitude," by Scott W. McIntosh,
  Deputy Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in
  Boulder, et al., has concluded that Solar Cycle 25 could be among the
  strongest sunspot cycles ever observed, and will almost certainly be
  stronger than the just-ended Solar Cycle 24 (sunspot number of 116).
  The scientists say it will also most likely be stronger than Solar
  Cycle 23 (sunspot number of 180). As the abstract explains:

  Sunspot cycle graph dating to 1700.
  [SILSO Graphic]

  "The sun exhibits a well-observed modulation in the number of spots on
  its disk over a period of about 11 years. From the dawn of modern
  observational astronomy, sunspots have presented a challenge to
  understanding -- their quasi-periodic variation in number, first noted
  175 years ago, stimulates community-wide interest to this day. A large
  number of techniques are able to explain the temporal landmarks,
  (geometric) shape, and amplitude of sunspot 'cycles;' however,
  forecasting these features accurately in advance remains elusive.

  "Recent observationally motivated studies have illustrated a
  relationship between the sun's 22-year magnetic cycle and the
  production of the sunspot cycle landmarks and patterns, but not the
  amplitude of the sunspot cycle. Using (discrete) Hilbert transforms on
  more than 270 years of (monthly) sunspot numbers, we robustly identify
  the so-called 'termination' events that mark the end of the previous
  11-year sunspot cycle, the enhancement/acceleration of the present
  cycle, and the end of 22-year magnetic activity cycles. Using these, we
  extract a relationship between the temporal spacing of terminators and
  the magnitude of sunspot cycles.

  "Given this relationship and our prediction of a terminator event in
  2020, we deduce that Sunspot Cycle 25 could have a magnitude that
  rivals the top few since records began. This outcome would be in stark
  contrast to the community consensus estimate of Sunspot Cycle 25
  magnitude."

  McIntosh's recorded presentation of the paper is available. Use
  passcode z7qCn@3G.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------


  ARRL Podcasts Schedule

  The latest episode of the On the Air podcast (Episode 11) discusses how
  to choose the right antenna for your station, considering several
  aspects that go beyond cost and complexity.

  The latest episode of Eclectic Tech (Episode 21) features a discussion
  about undersea homes for data servers, and a chat with Nigel Vander
  Houwen, K7NVH, about HamWAN networks.

  The On the Air and Eclectic Tech podcasts are sponsored by Icom. Both
  podcasts are available on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher (Android), as well
  as on Blubrry -- On the Air | Eclectic Tech.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  SpaceX Dragon Capsule Resilience Ferries Four Radio Amateurs to the ISS

  A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying four radio amateurs autonomously
  docked on November 17 at 0401 UTC with the International Space Station
  (ISS). A SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher carrying the precious payload went
  into space on Sunday, November 15, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
  They comprise the ISS Expedition 64/65 crew.

  "Well, the ISS is loaded with hams now," Amateur Radio on the
  International Space Station (ARISS) US Delegate for ARRL Rosalie White,
  K1STO, said on Tuesday. "These four arrived very early this

                                     From left to right: Shannon Walker,
                                     KD5DXB; Victor Glover, KI5BKC; Mike
                                     Hopkins, KF5LJG, and Soichi Noguchi,
                                     KD5TVP.

  morning Eastern Time: NASA astronauts Victor Glover, KI5BKC; Mike
  Hopkins, KF5LJG, and Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, as well as Japan Aerospace
  Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP." This marks
  Glover's first time in space. The others all are ISS veterans.

  Earlier this year, NASA ISS Ham Project Coordinator Kenneth Ransom,
  N5VHO, held amateur radio licensing study sessions for Glover, who
  passed the Technician-class exam on August 20.

  The four will remain on station until next spring. They joined
  Expedition 64 Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey
  Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on the ISS.

  White said all but Noguchi likely will take part in ARISS contacts with
  schools. White said the first school contact is tentatively scheduled
  for

  Three members of the Expedition
  64/65 crew on board Resilience.

  December 4 with Tecumseh High School in Oklahoma, home of the Tecumseh
  High School Amateur Radio Club, K5THS. She said the students have
  earned their ham licenses, and the club has built an antenna and is
  learning about satellites and circuits. Members of the South Canadian
  Amateur Radio Society of Norman, Oklahoma, are providing support and
  mentoring assistance.

  The Sunday launch from Kennedy Space Center marked only the second
  crewed-flight for the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which became the first
  commercial vehicle to put humans into orbit when astronauts Doug Hurley
  and Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, launched in May, and NASA gave SpaceX the go
  for future such launches.

  "The return of human spaceflight to the United States with one of the
  safest, most advanced systems ever built is a turning point for
  America's future space exploration," SpaceX claimed, "and it lays the
  groundwork for missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond."

  SKYWARN Recognition Day 2020 justs for COVID-19


  the long relationship between the amateur community and the National
  Weather Service (NWS). SKYWARN Recognition Day 2020 will take place
  from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC on December 5. Amateur radio operators
  comprise a large percentage of SKYWARN volunteers across the country.

  The purpose of the event is to recognize amateurs for the vital public
  service they perform during times of severe weather and to strengthen
  the bond between radio amateurs and local NWS offices. The event is
  cosponsored by ARRL and the NWS.

  Normally, each year, radio amateurs participate from home stations and
  from stations at NWS forecast offices with the goal of making contact
  with as many offices as possible. This year, due to COVID-19
  restrictions, participation from NWS forecast offices is expected to be
  minimal, so the focus will shift this year to contacting as many
  trained SKYWARN spotters as possible.

  During the event, operators are encouraged to exchange their name, home
  station, SRD number, and current weather conditions with other
  participating stations. The event website provides complete operating
  guidelines.

  Radio amateurs may sign up for a SKYWARN Recognition Day number by
  completing a participant sign-up form. A SKYWARN Recognition Day
  Facebook page has been created and will host a variety of live and
  recorded segments throughout the day.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  ARRL Learning Network Webinars

  Visit the ARRL Learning Network website (a members-only benefit) to
  register for upcoming sessions and to view previously recorded
  sessions. The schedule is subject to change.

  Amateur Radio's Role at the Boston Marathon Bombing: Steve Schwarm,
  W3EVE

  Amateur radio has played a significant role in public service
  communications for  the Boston Marathon for several decades. That role
  was put to the test in 2013 when two bombs were exploded near the
  finish line. This presentation will describe the role that ham radio
  played at the Marathon and how that role changed due to the bombing.

  Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST (1800 UTC)

  Learn and Have Fun with Morse Code: Howard Bernstein, WB2UZE, and Jim
  Crites, W6JIM

  Morse code, or "CW," is a popular ham radio operating mode. Learning CW
  does not have to be an arduous or lonely experience. Learn, practice,
  and enjoy CW with the methods used by the Long Island CW Club.

  Thursday, December 17, 2020, 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST (0100 UTC on Friday,
  December 18)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------


  Announcements
    * ARISS has posted a special anniversary message and a video
      celebrating its 20th anniversary on the ARISS website.
    * Open Research Institute (ORI) has announced that it will formally
      sponsor M17, an open-source digital radio protocol, code, voice
      codec, and hardware project. The designs and technology are highly
      useful for digital radio uplinks for a wide variety of amateur
      satellite projects.
    * The FCC has announced that funding through the Connect USVI Fund
      Stage 2 Competitive Process will bring 1 Gbps fixed broadband
      service to all locations in the US Virgin Islands. All of Puerto
      Rico will now have access to fixed voice and broadband service with
      speeds of at least 100 Mbps as a result of Stage 2 of Uniendo a
      Puerto Rico Fund, with nearly one-third of locations to have access
      to fixed broadband at speeds of at least 1 Gbps.
    * [IMG]HamSCI is looking for radio amateurs around the world to help
      collect propagation data during the December 14 eclipse. Data
      collection requires an HF radio connected to a computer.
      Twenty-four-hour practice runs will be on November 21 and December
      5. The data recording will run from December 9 until December 16.
      Details of the HamSCI 2020 Eclipse Festival of Frequency
      Measurement are on the HamSCI website. Those interested may sign up
      online, or contact Kristina Collins, KD8OXT.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  Time to Try for an SS "Clean Sweep" on Phone

  The ARRL November Sweepstakes (SS) phone weekend is upon us, and this
  year, participants will have to search out an additional Section. The
  SSB event is from November 20 - 22 (UTC), getting under way at 2100 UTC
  on Saturday and continuing through 0259 UTC on Monday. Stations may
  operate 24 of the available 30 hours. The SS Operating Guide package,
  available for download, includes all rules and examples of log
  formatting. The deadline to submit SS phone entries is November 29.

  The number of ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) sections rose to
  84 earlier this year with the addition of Prince Edward Island (PE) as
  a separate entity. The objective of SS -- or "sweeps" -- is to work as
  many stations in as many of the 84 sections as possible within 24 hours
  of operating. The number of sections worked is a score multiplier, and
  working all of them is a "clean sweep."

  The SS contest exchange has deep roots in message-handling protocol and
  replicates a radiogram preamble. In SS, stations exchange:
    * A consecutive Serial Number. Operators do not have to add zeros
      ahead of numbers less than 100.
    * Operating category (Precedence) -- Q for Single Op, QRP; A for
      Single Op, Low Power (up to 150 W output); B for Single Op, High
      Power (greater than 150 W output); U for Single Op, Unlimited,
      regardless of power; M for Multioperator, regardless of power, and
      S for School Club.
    * Your call sign.
    * Check -- the last two digits of the year of first license for
      either operator or station.
    * Section -- ARRL/RAC Section.

  Direct questions to the ARRL Contest Program.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  The K7RA Solar Update

  Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Solar activity declined dramatically
  over the past week, with average daily sunspot numbers going from 31.3
  to 12. On November 15 and 16, no sunspots appeared, greatly affecting
  the decline in this week's average. Solar flux weakened from a weekly
  average last week of 90, to 79.8 this week.

  Predicted solar flux over the next 45 days is also relatively weak, at
  75 on November 19 - 21; 73 on November 22; 70 on November 23 - 26; 72
  on November 27; 75 on November 28 - December 8; 72 on December 9 - 10;
  70 on December 11 - 12; 75, 72, and 72 on December 13 - 15; 70 on
  December 16 - 22; 72 on December 23 - 24, and 75 on December 25 -
  January 2, 2021.

  Predicted planetary A index is 5, 8, 12, and 8 on November 19 - 22; 5
  on November 23 - December 2; 8 on December 3 - 4; 5 on December 5 - 17;
  8, 12, 8, 10, and 12 on December 18 - 22; 5 on December 23 - 29; 8 on
  December 30 - 31, and 5 on January 1 - 2, 2021.

  Sunspot numbers for November 12 - 18 were 27, 24, 11, 0, 0, 11, and 11,
  with a mean of 12. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 85.1, 81.9, 80.2, 78.7,
  76.6, 79.1, and 77.3, with a mean of 79.8. Estimated planetary A
  indices were 3, 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, and 4, with a mean of 3.1. Middle
  latitude A index was 3, 2, 2, 2, 0, 3, and 3, with a mean of 2.1.

  A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL
  website. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the
  ARRL Technical Information Service, read "What the Numbers Mean...,"
  and check out K9LA's Propagation Page.

  A propagation bulletin archive is available. For customizable
  propagation charts, visit the VOACAP Online for Ham Radio website.

  Share your reports and observations.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  In Brief...

  A new "Multi-Transmitter Distributed" category is being added to the CQ
  World Wide WPX contests. The change is to better accommodate operators
  who wish to compete as a team without all operators being in the same
  physical location. According to CQ WPX Contest Directors Bud Trench,
  AA3B, and Ed Muns, W0YK, the new category will permit up to six
  separate stations in different locations (but all within the same DX
  entity and CQ zone) to operate as a single contest entry. This was
  inspired by innovations being made in response to the coronavirus
  pandemic, but the new category will be permanent. In addition,
  contact-alerting assistance will now be permitted in all
  single-operator categories except for the Classic categories, which
  must be unassisted. Classic overlay stations will now have a maximum
  operating time in each contest of 24 hours, rather than 36 hours. The
  rule changes take effect with the 2021 running of the WPX contests:
  RTTY on February 13 - 14; SSB on March 27 - 28, and CW on May 29 - 30.

  Colorado ARES Group Thanked for Wildfire Support Boulder County,
  Colorado, Director of the Office of Emergency Management Mike Chard
  thanked Boulder County ARES (BCARES) for its contributions in support
  of the recent wildfire emergency response. Chard told BCARES Emergency
  Coordinator Allen Bishop, K0ARK, that with the fire's lack of expansion
  and the fact that the snow has significantly lowered the fire danger,
  he feels BCARES can take a breath for the foreseeable future. As
  temperatures begin to return to normal and with the possibility of
  winds increasing, however, the danger has not gone away, and the need
  for BCARES services may return at any time. -- Thanks to Boulder
  Amateur Television Club TV Repeater's Repeater

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  Just Ahead in Radiosport
    * November 20 -- YO International PSK31 Contest
    * November 21 -- All Austrian 160-Meter Contest (CW)
    * November 21 -- Feld Hell Sprint
    * November 21 -- RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest (CW)
    * November 21 - 22 -- REF 160-Meter Contest (CW)
    * November 21 - 22 -- LZ DX Contest (CW, phone)
    * November 21 - 23 -- ARRL November Sweepstakes (SSB)
    * November 23 -- K1USN Slow Speed Test (CW Max 20 WPM)
    * November 24 -- Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
    * November 25 -- SKCC Sprint (CW)
    * November 25 -- UKEICC 80-Meter Contest (CW)
    * November 26 -- RSGB 80-Meter Autumn Series (CW)
    * November 29 -- ARRL EME Contest (CW, phone, digital)
    * November 28 - 29 -- CQ Worldwide DX Contest (CW)
    * November 30 -- K1USN Slow Speed Test (CW Max 20 WPM)
    * December 1 -- QCX Challenge (CW)
    * December 2 -- VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest
    * December 3 -- QRP ARCI Topband Sprint (CW)
    * December 3 -- NRAU 10-Meter Activity Contest (CW, phone, digital)
    * December 3 -- SKCC Sprint Europe (CW)
    * December 4 - 6 -- ARRL 160-Meter Contest (CW)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

  Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

  Note: Many conventions and hamfests have been canceled or postponed due
  to the coronavirus pandemic. Check the calendar of canceled events on
  the ARRL website.
    * November 21 -- Alabama State Convention, Montgomery, Alabama
    * December 11 - 12 -- Florida State Convention, Plant City, Florida

  Find conventions and hamfests in your area.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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