*************** The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 26 July 8, 2005 *************** IN THIS EDITION: * +ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund appeal under way * +League Board to mull bandwidth recommendations, strategic planning * +Kids and pets not allowed on ISS, students learn during space QSO * +Approach of Hurricane Dennis prompts net activation * +SDR, cognitive radio technologies impress FCC commissioner * +ISS crew gets on for Field Day * +New ARRL Digital Electronics course debuts * Solar Update * IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio: IARU HF World Championship ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration W1AW, NU1AW to be HQ multipliers for IARU event Post Field Day, ARRL contest experiences on ARRL's contest "Soapbox" AO-51 satellite appears back on track after software reset +Screenwriter Ernest Lehman, K6DXK, SK +Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> =========================================================== ==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!): letter-dlvy@arrl.org ==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org =========================================================== ==>TENTH ANNUAL SPECTRUM DEFENSE APPEAL UNDER WAY The League has kicked off its 10th annual appeal to members seeking support for the ARRL Fund for the Defense of Amateur Radio Frequencies--also known as the Spectrum Defense Fund. The fund fuels League efforts and activities that focus on fending off threats to amateur spectrum access. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, says the current telecommunications environment is more complex and challenging than ever. "Year after year, ARRL members tell us that representation in Washington and internationally to protect and strengthen our service is their number one priority," Sumner says in a fund appeal letter thanking members for their past contributions that have helped the League confront spectrum challenges head on. "The results are seldom instantaneous," he pointed out. "Challenges arise that must be addressed patiently, month after month, year after year." Citing one major victory, Sumner pointed to the 40-meter band improvements won during World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) that, by 2009, will lead to a wider harmonized band worldwide. Such wins are possible, he said, because the League has "a long-range perspective, developed from protecting, promoting and advancing Amateur Radio for more than 90 years." Up until the mid-1990s, the ARRL managed to meet the costs of spectrum defense through a combination of regular revenue sources, including dues and publication sales. But as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) began scheduling more frequent WRCs and the domestic telecommunications climate grew more competitive, the League had to ratchet up its efforts. That meant devoting a bigger piece of the revenue pie toward spectrum defense. The goal of the current fund drive is $230,000 to meet just a part of the demands of representing members' interests in 2005 alone. In response to the changed environment, the ARRL opened its Technical Relations Office in Washington, DC, with three full-time professional technical specialists and increased its support for qualified volunteers working through the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) to represent Amateur Radio at ITU meetings around the world. On the domestic front, the emergence of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) as an interference threat has upped the workload for the ARRL Laboratory. As Sumner's appeal points out, Spectrum Defense Fund donations--among other things--enable IARU volunteers to participate in US preparations for WRC-07, where spectrum between 4 and 10 MHz is on the agenda. Because the ARRL is the largest Amateur Radio association in the world, he says, it takes on the lion's share of the financial burden to support the attendance of IARU volunteers at such international gatherings. In addition, IARU volunteers are working to develop support for Amateur Radio in Africa and the Arab States, teaching Amateur Radio administration to telecommunications regulators, representing Amateur Radio at ITU telecommunications exhibitions, maintaining the IARU Monitoring System and Beacon Project, and coordinating the Amateur Satellite program. They also enable active participation in CITEL--the telecommunications arm of the Organization of American States--which has a growing influence on ITU decisions. Closer to home, Spectrum Defense Fund contributions cover the costs of technical studies and evaluations for ARRL filings with the FCC, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and other federal agencies. Further, they help the League to maintain peer relationships with the IEEE and other organizations. "Whatever your personal area of interest in Amateur Radio, I hope you will respond with the most generous donation you can manage," Sumner concludes. "The financial commitment of every ARRL member in our continuing effort to build a strong presence in Washington and around the world will benefit you today and in the future." The ARRL is asking contributors to donate by July 31 via mail or the League's secure donations Web site <https://www.arrl.org/forms/fdefense/>. ==>REGULATION-BY-BANDWIDTH PROPOSALS, STRATEGIC PLANNING TOP ARRL BOARD AGENDA When it meets July 15-16, the ARRL Board of Directors will consider recommendations that could result in a petition calling on the FCC to regulate the use of amateur spectrum by emission bandwidth rather than by emission mode. The ARRL Executive Committee reached consensus on a set of regulation-by-bandwidth proposals <http://www.arrl.org/announce/bandwidth.html> April 9, and the League has received more than 500 comments from the amateur community since the latest version of the draft recommendations went public. The ARRL will file nothing with the FCC until the Board gives its go-ahead, however. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, says the Board essentially has four options. "The Board can adopt them, adopt them in modified form, decline to adopt them or postpone the item pending further study," he said. "The ARRL has heard the amateur community's concerns and suggestions and made changes to its draft proposals as a result, and we're still listening." The Board began work on the bandwidth concept in 2002, and the League has sought members' comments on specific concepts at several steps along the way. Many amateurs have expressed concern about interference between incompatible modes in the most popular HF bands. The EC has advised against asking the FCC to segregate digital and analog emissions by rule. Instead, the Committee believes, the FCC should simply set out band segments in which amateurs may employ bandwidths of up to a specific limit and leave any further subdivision up to band planning. The EC has acknowledged, however, that band-planning mechanisms will have to be improved for its approach to work well. The EC's proposals take into account the ARRL's prior "Novice refarming" petition that includes expansion of some HF 'phone bands, incorporated in the FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making in WT Docket 04-140. Sumner has discussed various facets of the regulation-by-bandwidth concept and has detailed the evolution of the ARRL Executive Committee's recommendations in his "It Seems to Us . . ." editorials in the September 2004, April 2005 and June 2005 issues of QST. The other top Board meeting agenda item is a review and revision of the League's Strategic Plan. The 15 directors will review the status of strategies selected for implantation during 2005 and will decide upon strategies for 2006. The Board also will receive or hear reports and consider recommendations from its officers and from various committees and coordinators. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, will wield the gavel for this month's Board meeting, which will take place in Windsor, Connecticut. Radio Amateurs of Canada President Earle Smith, VE6NM, will be a guest of the Board at the gathering. ==>NO KIDS, NO PETS ALLOWED IN SPACE, TEXAS YOUNGSTERS TOLD Students in Texas peppered US astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY, with questions about life in space during two separate Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school group contacts in late June. Youngsters at Hockaday School in Dallas spoke with Phillips June 20, while a group of students at Baylor University's Mayborn Museum visited with Phillips by radio a week later. One Hockaday student wanted to know about any "cool science experiments" the astronaut might be working on in space. "One that's pretty cool is that every month or so I get to put on a weird-looking suit with instruments all over it," Phillips said. "Then during a normal day, the suit measures the motions of my knees, hips and ankles and the electronic impulses in my arms and legs." Phillips allowed that the getup "looks pretty strange" but added, "it's a good experiment." In past interviews, Phillips has said that the ISS crew members are the "guinea pigs" for scientific research into how well humans will fare during longer space missions. Another student wanted to know if pets would ever be allowed aboard the space station. Phillips said he hopes not. "I don't have any pets here, and they're not allowed right now, and, as you know, taking care of a pet can be pretty messy," he responded. "So, I don't mind not having one, and I think it would also be very confusing for the pet to find he was just flying around all the time." Another cool thing about being in space is that the crew doesn't have to care which way is up or down, Phillips told the kids at Mayborn Museum the following week. "If I want to work on the ceiling or sleep standing on my head, I can do that--no problem," he said. "But if I want to see where Earth is, I just look out the window." He told another Mayborn visitor that it's possible to use a compass in space because Earth's magnetic field is nearly as strong in space as it is on the ground. The ISS is equipped with magnetic sensors to help determine which way the station is pointing, he said. The astronaut also said it feels "great" to be aboard the ISS. "You can fly like a bird, your feet never get sore and you never catch a cold," he explained. One downside is some swelling of the face during the first month or so in space, "sort of like when you're standing on your head," he said. "We call that 'pumpkin head,' but after that, the pumpkin head goes away and you just feel great." One student at the Mayborn Museum also wanted to know why kids can't go to outer space. Phillips said there are lots of reasons. "For one thing, kids don't have the education or the experience or the physical strength to do the work we do up here," he explained. "But also, nobody knows how it would affect their bodies." Phillips predicted that children eventually would be able to go into space, "but we're not ready for it yet." Youngsters managed to fire off at least 20 questions during each QSO. The contact between NA1SS and W5IU at Hockaday School was direct via 2 meters, while the QSO with Mayborn Museum was routed via WH6PN in Honolulu. MCI donated a teleconferencing link between the school and Hawaii for that event. ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/> is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA. ==>"DANGEROUS DENNIS" KEEPS HURRICANE WATCH NET, WX4NHC ACTIVE The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz and WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/> at the National Hurricane Center remained active at week's end to gather ground-level weather data for forecasters as Hurricane Dennis approached the US. HWN participants gather measured and observed ground-level storm data from the affected area and relay these to the volunteer-staffed WX4NHC to aid forecasters in determining a storm's behavior. "Currently, Hurricane Dennis is a very dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale," HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, said July 8. He said the net would remain active as long as required. The net likely would take a break July 9, as Dennis clears Cuba and moves into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, then reactivate Sunday, July 10, as Dennis approaches the northern Gulf Coast "possibly as a very dangerous major hurricane." Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, at WX4NHC, said he anticipates his volunteers to be busy through the weekend as well. Per usual, WX4NHC will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net. The NHC also will monitor EchoLink and IRLP via the WX_Talk Conference Room. HWN Assistant Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, asked stations not directly involved in the net to not transmit unless requested to do so or in case of an emergency. He said the net will attempt to handle all communications within its members' capabilities and will only ask for additional assistance when needed. Graves also pointed out that the net does not handle health-and-welfare traffic. "That traffic will be handled by the SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) net on 14.265 MHz, whenever activated, as well as via their Web site." The SATERN Web page <http://www.satern.org/> includes a link for health-and-welfare inquiries. Graves says the HWN also will remain available to back up conventional lines of communication as needed. It will also collect and report significant damage assessment data to FEMA officials at the National Hurricane Center. The HWN may announce other frequencies set up by local emergency nets in affected areas and will announce storm-related advisories and updates as they become available. The HWN Web site <http://www.hwn.org/> includes regularly updated forecasts and weather graphics. Visitors to the site also may subscribe to receive regular weather updates via e-mail <http://www.hwn.org/home/subscriptions.html>. ==>FCC'S ADELSTEIN "IMPRESSED" WITH SDR, COGNITIVE RADIO TECHNOLOGIES FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein helped to kick off the Global Regulatory Summit on SDR [software-defined radio] and Cognitive Radio last month in Washington, DC. Speaking June 20, Adelstein concluded that the "right kind" of spectrum management policy can promote SDR and cognitive radio development by pushing boundaries to accommodate new technologies and services. "As policy makers, we always need to consider the latest technologies in managing the spectrum," said Adelstein, one of the Commission's two Democratic appointees. "And it is my hope that software-defined and cognitive radio technologies will open new avenues for innovation and service to improve the quality of communications for people the world over." Adelstein says he's been "very impressed by the advancing capabilities of software defined and cognitive radio technologies." FlexRadio Systems <http://www.flex-radio.com/> introduced the first software-defined Amateur Radio product at Dayton Hamvention 2004--the SDR-1000. In his review of the unit in last April's QST, Steve Ford, WB8IMY, said the SDR-1000 "opens a new chapter in the history of Amateur Radio." He pointed out that the unit is the first off-the-shelf HF/6 meter transceiver that uses software to define its functionality. The ARRL honored FlexRadio founder Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG, with the 2002 Doug DeMaw, W1FB, Technical Excellence Award, for his groundbreaking SDR articles in QEX, which describe the development of the SDR-1000. Youngblood is a member of the ARRL SDR Working Group. The FCC approved the first SDR-enabled base station--a cellular transmitter--last fall. An FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making, ET Docket 03-108, is pending to further streamline SDR requirements. The ARRL has told the FCC that Amateur Radio is "a fertile testing ground" for SDRs and that the technology would be especially valuable to facilitate disaster communications. Adelstein would appear to agree. One of the more promising benefits, he suggested, lies in SDR's potential to facilitate communication among various groups of emergency responders. "Here in the US, it is not unusual for police in one city to have difficulty communicating with the local fire department, the police in the next county, or with federal agencies covering similar jurisdictions," Adelstein pointed out. SDRs also can improve flexibility and dramatically cut operational costs, he noted. Cognitive radio technology, which Adelstein called "the so-called next generation of software defined radio," adds a new dimension to SDR technology--the ability to recognize the world around it and learn from experience. "Some wireless local area network devices already integrate cognitive capabilities in order to sense spectrum use and adjust power output in order maximize spectrum efficiency," he said. "These technologies have the capability to literally leapfrog the technical and legal problems that currently hamper many of today's spectrum access opportunities," Adelstein said. ==>SPACE STATION CREW ON THE AIR FOR FIELD DAY The International Space Station Expedition 11 crew of John Phillips, KE5DRY--operating as NA1SS--and Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR--operating as RS0ISS--thrilled a number of ARRL Field Day 2005 operations by handing out contacts from space over the June 25-26 weekend. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, reports Phillips was active over the US while Krikalev worked stations in the Americas and elsewhere around the globe--including non-FD stations in South Africa and Thailand. Phillips, meanwhile, managed about two dozen Field Day contacts over North America. "The call signs reflect contacts in Alaska, Canada and the West Central US," Ransom said. Bob Wertz, NF7E, says his grandson's QSO with RS0ISS was the high point of the Get On The Air (GOTA) station at the Northern Arizona DX Association/Coconino Amateur Radio Club Field Day site in the Coconino National Forest. As time for the pass came around, Wertz's 11-year-old grandson Mike called the ISS, while Mike Key, K0MDK--aided by a compass--aimed skyward a 2-meter beam that he and his daughter Julie, KE7DEX, had cobbled together from PVC pipe and coat hangers. An anxious seven minutes into the pass, success: "NF7E this is RS0ISS, over!" Once the GOTA team regained its composure, the younger Wertz returned with a "2A Arizona" report. "Once again RS0ISS repeated our call and then went on to a California station as he was starting to fade out," Bob Wertz says. "It was quite a thrill for all of us. It made our day!" ARRL Contest Branch Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, said it was great news to learn that the ISS crew was able to get in some on-air activity during Field Day. "My personal thanks to Sergei and John for keeping a great tradition going!" he said. ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA. ==>ARRL DEBUTS NEW "DIGITAL ELECTRONICS" COURSE The League this month debuts the latest in the growing series of ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (C-CE) on-line courses. Registration for "Digital Electronics" (EC-013) will remain available through Sunday, July 24. The course is aimed at the beginner with an interest in electronics and who's already familiar with electricity and electronic component fundamentals as well as with simple schematics. Participants will learn the basic building blocks of digital electronics comprising the controllers and computers that make modern life hum. In 16 learning units students will learn Boolean essentials, basic gates, flip-flops, counters and shift registers, latches, buffers and drivers, encoders and decoders, parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, input devices, displays, logic families, microprocessor basics, digital-to-analog interfacing, and understanding data sheets and design resources. Students will need to know Ohm's Law--the relationships among power, voltage, current and resistance--and be able to handle simple algebraic equations. Since this is an on-line course, basic computer, Internet, and e-mail navigational skills are essential. Most lessons include a design problem and an optional construction project. The course runs 12 weeks, and students can earn two continuing education units (CEUs) for completing the class. While EC-013 has no specific textbook, course designers for starters suggest The ARRL Handbook as a basic resource and The CMOS Cookbook by Don Lancaster as a desk and workbench reference. The course introduction <http://www.arrl.org/cce/intro-013.pdf> contains many more details regarding course content, required equipment and additional reference materials. The tuition fee for Digital Electronics (EC-013) is $65 for ARRL members and $95 for nonmembers. Registration and additional information are available via the ARRL C-CE Web site <http://www.arrl.org/cce>. ==>SOLAR UPDATE Propagation guru Tad "Seasons in the Sun" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: The Earth-facing disc of the sun went through a tremendous change over the past couple of weeks, ranging from a sunspot number of zero on June 26 to a reading of 192 on July 4. Along with this, geomagnetic conditions were very stable, an ideal combination for HF operators. The average daily sunspot number for the previous reporting week was only 19, but it jumped to more than 154 this week--a huge change. Average mid-latitude A index was lower by two points, with the planetary A index down by nearly five. The July 4 sunspot number of 192 was the highest reading since November 26, 2003. On July 7, an explosion near sunspot 786--currently aimed squarely toward Earth--hurled a coronal mass ejection that's expected to cause a mild geomagnetic storm. Predicted planetary A index for July 8-11 is 25, 30, 25 and 15. Solar flux peaked on July 3 at 129.8 (highest solar flux reading since January 19, 2005) and for July 8-11 solar flux is predicted at 120, 120, 115 and 110. Flux values are expected to remain above 100 until mid month. Sunspot numbers for June 30 through July 6 were 96, 122, 168, 179, 192, 181 and 143, with a mean of 154.4. The 10.7 cm flux was 102.5, 114.6, 123.8, 129.8, 123.7, 126.8 and 123, with a mean of 120.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 8, 16, 13, 11, 7, 5 and 5 with a mean of 9.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 12, 12, 9, 5, 3 and 3, with a mean of 6.9. __________________________________ ==>IN BRIEF: * This weekend on the radio: The IARU HF World Championship, The VK/Trans-Tasman 160-Meter Contest (Phone), the FISTS Summer Sprint, the ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint are the weekend of July 9-10. JUST AHEAD: The RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (SSB) is July 13. The NCCC Thursday Sprint is July 15 (UTC). The CQ Worldwide VHF Contest, the North American QSO Party (RTTY), RSGB Low Power Field Day, are the weekend of July 16-17. The RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (Data) is July 21. The NCCC Thursday Sprint is July 22 (UTC). See the ARRL Contest Branch page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info. * ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration: Registration for the Technician Licensing course (EC-010) remains open through Sunday, July 10. Classes begin Friday, July 22. With the assistance of a mentor, EC-010 students learn everything they need to know to pass the FCC Technician class license examination. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/> or contact the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Program Department <cce@arrl.org>. * Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration: Registration for the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level II on-line course (EC-002) opens Monday, July 11, 1201 AM EDT, and will remain open until all available seats have been filled or through the July 16-17 weekend--whichever comes first. Class begins Friday, July 29. Thanks to a grant from United Technologies Corporation (UTC), the $45 registration fee paid upon enrollment will be reimbursed to students who complete the course requirements and are upgraded by their mentor to "Passed" within the 8-week course period. During this registration period, seats are being offered to ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page <http://www.arrl.org/cce>. For more information, contact Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, <cce@arrl.org>; 860-594-0340. * W1AW, NU1AW to be HQ multipliers for IARU event: ARRL Maxim Memorial Station W1AW and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) club station NU1AW will be on the road and on the air as Headquarters (HQ) multipliers for the 2005 IARU HF World Championship <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/iaru.html> Saturday and Sunday, July 9-10 (UTC). Both will be very active on all HF bands and modes. W1AW/5 will be on the air from Arkansas with multi-multi contest station K5GO as the flagship host station. NU1AW/3 will operate from Pennsylvania multi-multi contest station K3LR. Experienced contest ops from several states will staff both stations during the 24-hour contest period that runs from 1200 UTC July 9 until 1200 UTC July 10. W1AW/5 will have a complement of 12 CW and 15 SSB operators, while 6 CW and 6 SSB operators will handle things at NU1AW/3. QSL: W1AW, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; NU1AW, PO Box 310905, Newington, CT 06131-0905.--Tim Duffy, K3LR * Post Field Day, ARRL contest experiences on ARRL's contest "Soapbox": The ARRL contest "Soapbox" <http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/> is a great way to let the rest of the ham radio world know about your experiences during ARRL Field Day or other ARRL operating event. The best part is that it's a free service. Not only can you post your own writeup, but you can add photos as well. A few guidelines do apply. The site is for participants in ARRL contests to post their comments and impressions on the most recent contest. These may include extended soapbox comments, photographs or a narrative of the contest from a participant's perspective. Soapbox users are asked to keep comments focused on their involvement in the event. The forum is open to ARRL members and nonmembers alike. It's also available for those who might be learning about contesting or new to Amateur Radio in general. Keep in mind that the potential audience that may be reviewing your posts is broad, so we encourage you to exercise decorum in your postings. The ARRL reserves the right to edit or decline posts that may be inappropriate to this forum. Responsibility for the content of all posted material rests exclusively with the item author. ARRL staff assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, and accuracy of items posted, and readers should direct any and all questions and comments to the item's author. If you have questions or comments about the Soapbox, contact the ARRL Contest Branch <contests@arrl.org>. Check it out! * AO-51 satellite appears back on track after software reset: The AO-51 Command Team says the satellite will remain in V/U FM repeater and FM 9k6 digital, V/U Pacsat Broadcast Protocol BBS (PBP BBS) mode "for a number of days" while the team monitors its operation. On June 26 Echo experienced a software reset, and, following some analysis, the Command Team reloaded the software. "I spent a good deal of my holiday time this week and weekend at home in order to download the data and then reload the satellite software to get it back up and running asap," said the AO-51 Command Team's Mike Kingery, KE5AZN. He said the AO-51 Software Team reviewed data downloaded from the satellite memory after the reset but found nothing out of the ordinary. AO-51 went into orbit June 29, 2004.--AMSAT News Service * Screenwriter Ernest Lehman, K6DXK, SK: Noted screenwriter Ernest Lehman, K6DXK, died July 2 after a lengthy illness. He was 89. Lehman had been a ham for some 70 years. The six-time Oscar nominee's film credits include North by Northwest, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Sound of Music. Some of his other screenwriting credits include The King and I, Hello, Dolly!, The Sweet Smell of Success and Portnoy's Complaint--which he also directed and produced. In 2001, Lehman received a honorary Oscar--a lifetime achievement award--from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "in appreciation of a body of varied and enduring work." Presenting the Oscar to Lehman was famed actress Julie Andrews (photo). In announcing the award, then-Academy President Robert Rehme called Lehman "not only a prolific screenwriter, but an accomplished novelist, journalist and motion picture producer, whose films rank as genuine classics." In a July 6 National Public Radio interview with North by Northwest star Eva Marie Saint and her husband producer-director Jeffery Hayden, Hayden mentioned Lehman's involvement in Amateur Radio. The interview is available on the NPR Web site <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4732134>. =========================================================== The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259; <http://www.arrl.org/>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President. The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential news of interest to active amateurs. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely, accurate, concise, and readable. Visit ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org/> for the latest news, updated as it happens. The ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/> offers access to news, informative features and columns. ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a weekly "ham radio newscast" compiled from The ARRL Letter. 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