*************** The ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 02 January 12, 2007 *************** IN THIS EDITION: * +ARRL Board meets January 19-20 * +FCC puts new vanity processing on hold * +Scouts, fifth graders speak via ham radio with ISS * +Radio amateur involved in rescue at sea * +IARU focuses on World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 preparations * +FCC asks two utilities to try harder to eliminate power line noise * +Wayne Mills, N7NG, leaving ARRL HQ * Solar Update * IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio: The North American QSO Party (CW) ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration +CubeSats get OSCAR numbers +FCC fines retailer for selling non-certified CBs VU7RG Lakshadweep Islands DXpedition set to start January 14 Southeastern VHF Society issues call for papers DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit Special event to commemorate "Project Diana" moonbounce experiment +Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> =========================================================== ==>Delivery problems: First see FAQ <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/faq.html#nodelivery>, then e-mail <letter-dlvy@arrl.org> ==>Editorial questions or comments only: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, <n1rl@arrl.org> =========================================================== ==>ARRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO MEET The ARRL Board of Directors will meet Friday and Saturday, January 19 and 20, in Windsor, Connecticut, for its first meeting of the new year. ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, will preside at the gathering. Among the agenda highlights, the Board will receive and consider recommendations of the National Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC), chaired by ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN. The Board established the ad hoc panel at its January 2006 meeting "to appropriately prepare for future large-scale disasters." The Board charged the committee with developing a comprehensive recommendation for ARRL responses to national, regional and international disasters. The 12-member committee includes ARRL section managers and section emergency coordinators. Among other things, the NERPC has been evaluating responses and actions of the ARRL and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) during Hurricane Katrina, including lessons learned. Given the unprecedented scope and devastation of the 2005 hurricane season in general and of Hurricane Katrina in particular, ARRL Headquarters was placed into a leadership coordination role through national-level requests for help from served agencies such as the American Red Cross. The NERPC recently invited input from clubs or groups on their emergency communications vehicle capabilities. The Board's January 2006 resolution establishing the committee noted that the emergency communications resources and organization needed for national and international disasters "are markedly different" from what's required at the regional and local level. The Board will also consider its roster of legislative objectives for the 110th Congress. Past ARRL legislative initiatives have addressed the issues of deed covenants, conditions and restrictions and the replacement of lost or compromised Amateur Radio spectrum. Board members will elect members to the ARRL Executive Committee and ARRL Foundation directors and make appointments to committees. Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) President Earle Smith, VE6NM, will attend the meeting as a guest of the Board. ==>FCC SUSPENDS NEW VANITY CALL SIGN PROCESSING The FCC has put new Amateur Radio vanity call sign processing on hold while it modifies the software that handles vanity applications. The suspension is a result of a rule change that went into effect December 15 to discourage the filing of multiple applications by one individual for the same call sign. The FCC is still processing vanity call sign renewal applications. "The Commission continues to accept [new] vanity call sign applications," says a brief announcement on the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS) Web page <http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/>. "However, these applications will not be processed until software changes in accordance with the recent rule making have been fully implemented." Just when that might happen is not known. As revised in the FCC's recent Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 04-140, §97.19(d)(1) stipulates that if the FCC receives more than one application requesting a vanity call sign from a single applicant on the same receipt day, it will process only the first application entered into the ULS. "Subsequent vanity call sign applications from that applicant with the same receipt date will not be accepted," the rule concludes. The FCC says that when processing resumes, it will handle pending applications for new vanity call signs "consistent with the date order in which they were received." This suspension affects new vanity call sign applications submitted on December 18 or later. Typically, it takes 18 days from the time the FCC receives a vanity application until the call sign is issued -- or the application is denied. The FCC granted the last Amateur Radio vanity call signs on January 4 for applications received December 15. All vanity call sign renewal applications, including those for club stations, must be filed via the ULS. The current vanity call sign fee, payable for new applications as well as renewals, is $20.80 for the 10-year license term. ==>SPACE CONTACTS COMPETE WITH ROCK BAND, BRING SCIENCE TO LIFE Scouts at Australian Jamboree 2007 (AJ2007) applied their ingenuity January 7 when an on-site rock concert threatened to drown out a scheduled Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with the campers. They responded by piling bales of hay to create an insulating bunker around the building where the contact with ISS Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, took place. As a result, the 20 scouts who won a "What would you ask an Astronaut?" competition were able to ask their questions in comparative quiet. One Scout asked Williams to comment on the possibility of life elsewhere in our solar system. "I would think with all the stars . . . all the billions of stars out there that there's got to be life somewhere out there," Williams replied from NA1SS. "So I think we'll be able to find evidence of life at some point in time." She told another Scout that the ISS crew hadn't seen any aliens in space, adding, "but maybe we will. I'll be up here for another six months." The contact marked Williams's debut in handling an ARISS educational contact from NA1SS. Williams noted that she had been in Girl Scouts. Responding to another question, Williams said it takes more than a month for ISS crew members to accommodate fully to Earth's gravity after spending an extended time in the microgravity environment of space. "We go through about a 45-day rehabilitation program when we get back, and you're pretty much back to normal after about a six-month stay," she said. "However, really being able to work out -- like being able to run the way you did before you left -- is probably going to be about a one day-for-one day time, so probably about six months." Philip Adams, VK3JNI, organized the event, which attracted upward of 400 onlookers. Earth station for the AJ2007 contact was Bill Lynd, VK4KHZ. A Verizon Conferencing teleconference link provided two-way audio between the Jamboree site in Elmore and VK4KHZ. ARISS-Australia Coordinator Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, the Wireless Institute of Australia and Amateur Radio Victoria assisted. AJ2007 is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting. It concludes January 13. At Sherman Elementary School in Henrietta, New York, the possibility of a human space flight to Mars has been the focus of teacher Andrea Catena's fifth grade science pupils. The youngsters expanded their knowledge of life in space when they spoke via ham radio January 8 with Suni Williams. ARISS arranged the direct VHF contact between W2SKY at the school and NA1SS. Responding to one question, Williams explained that it takes more than a day to get ready for a spacewalk from the ISS. "Part of the reason is that we breathe pure oxygen, so we don't want to get 'the bends' when we go out into space, so, we have to start 'pre-breathing' the oxygen the day before" Williams told the youngsters. "And then, to get all the tools together it takes a good four or five hours." Williams, who joined the Expedition 14 space station crew in December, said the most exciting part of her mission so far was her first spacewalk. "Actually coming out the door and seeing the world in your face for the first time, it was absolutely exhilarating!" she recounted. Williams, 41, said she first thought about becoming a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps "later in life," after she'd become a test pilot. Members of the Rochester Amateur Radio Association (RARA) set up the necessary Earth station equipment at the school to make the QSO possible. "We had an excellent ARISS experience at Emma Sherman Elementary School yesterday," said RARA Education Committee Chairman Pete Fournia, W2SKY, who loaned his call sign for the occasion. "The school took full advantage of this opportunity making it a very memorable experience for the entire school and a very gratifying experience for the teams that participated," he said. The youngsters squeezed 16 questions into the nearly 10-minute ISS pass. The ham radio event attracted generous media attention from newspapers and television stations. ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA. ==>CALIFORNIA RADIO AMATEUR HAS ROLE IN RESCUE AT SEA A radio amateur from California played a significant part in an international effort to rescue a US sailor attempting to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. Miguel "Mike" Morales, KC6CYK, of Riverside, told ARRL he was able to contact fellow radio amateurs in Chile to obtain and relay reassuring information to the family of Ken Barnes, whose 44-foot ketch Privateer was foundering off South America. A Chilean trawler, Polar Pesca 1, rescued Barnes from his disabled vessel on January 5. Upon learning of Barnes's predicament on January 2, Morales said he contacted the sailor's fiancée, Cathy Chambers, offering to see if he could make radio contact with Chile. "She mentioned that the satellite telephone was dying on him over there, so their communication was 30 to 60 seconds at a time," Morales recounted. "I was lucky enough, I got in touch with some of the Charlie Echo [CE-prefix] stations until I got to someone in Punta Arenas, and then Polar Pesca, the vessel that did the rescue." Morales speaks fluent Spanish and has visited Chile and knew "the way things operate down there." As a result, he says, he was able to obtain credible reports via his 10-meter contacts as to what was happening. Morales said he gathered information from the Polar Pesca 1 via his Chilean ham radio contacts. "I . . . relayed information as to when he [Barnes] was going to be rescued, the latitude and longitude he was at that particular time." Morales said he felt it was important for the family to know Barnes's situation and how the rescue plans were playing out. Barnes, who's 47, left Long Beach, California, late last October, hoping to be the first person to sail around the world from the West Coast. A severe storm dismasted and badly damaged the vessel and soaked his supplies. Morales maintains the Chilean Navy wasn't eager to send a military vessel to retrieve Barnes because of the potential costs involved, and, in any case, wanted to put off the rescue until January 7. Even so, the Chilean Navy did dispatch one of the CP3 Orion aircraft Chile uses to patrol its 200-mile-offshore territorial claim. The plane spotted the foundering vessel, photographed it and even attempted to drop a life raft that missed its mark. The Chilean Navy coordinated the operation and recruited the Polar Pesca 1 to undertake the actual rescue, although the US Coast Guard reportedly has agreed to cover the expense, Morales says. At that point he was able to pass along news to the family that the trawler was en route to Barnes's location. "The main thing is, Ken Barnes is back, is alive," Morales said. "What I did was on behalf of the US ham radio community, I believe. That's what you're there for." Barnes returned home to California this week, and Morales was among those on hand to welcome him. The City of Riverside has announced plans to honor Morales, who says he's "a very low-key type of person" and not fond of being in the media spotlight. Barnes's family and friends, armed with information Morales provided, tipped off the news media, and Morales was interviewed, photographed and videotaped by reporters from the Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS, NBC and Telemundo. ==>WRC-07 PREPARATIONS DOMINATE INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION CALENDAR Preparations for World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07) dominate this year's International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) calendar. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) gathering will get under way in Geneva on October 22 and continue through November 16. Some items on the WRC-07 agenda have the potential to directly or indirectly impact Amateur Radio. "Agenda items of particular interest to the Amateur Services involve allocations in the 4-10 MHz range, a possible secondary allocation to the Amateur Service at 136 kHz, the modification of footnotes to the Table of Frequency Allocations, and the selection of agenda items for future WRCs, the next of which is tentatively slated for 2011," reports IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ, in the latest edition of the IARU E-Letter <http://www.iaru.org/e-letter/>. WRC-07 agenda item 1.13 will review allocations to all services between 4 and 10 MHz, excluding allocations from 7.0 to 7.2 MHz -- settled to the advantage of Amateur Radio during WRC-03. Starting in March 2009, radio amateurs will enjoy a worldwide 200 kHz segment on 40 meters. WRC-07 agenda item 1.15 will consider establishing a secondary Amateur Radio Service allocation in the band 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. Several countries already have allocated that LF spectrum to Amateur Radio, although the FCC several years ago turned away an ARRL proposal to create a sliver band there for ham radio. The next major WRC-07-related event is the Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) in Geneva February 19 through March 2. "The CPM will finalize the technical report that will guide the WRC delegates' work," Sumner says. He explains that drafting of the CPM Report has occupied several ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) working parties for the past three years. The report provides background information on each WRC-07 agenda item, various methods of addressing the agenda items and the advantages and disadvantages of each. "The inclusion or exclusion of single words in the draft CPM Report has been the topic of spirited debate, which no doubt will continue at the CPM." Representing the IARU at the CPM will be IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, and Technical Representative Ken Pulfer, VE3PU. Other Amateur Radio representatives will be part of national delegations. Regional and national preparatory meetings leading up to WRC-07 continue. The IARU's three regional organizations are responsible for participating in the work of the regional telecommunications organizations, including but not limited to CEPT (Europe), ATU (Africa), CITEL (the Americas), and APT (Asia-Pacific). Domestic preparations are the responsibility of the IARU member-societies in the respective countries. The triennial conference of IARU Region 2 is another major 2007 IARU event. It takes place September 9-14 in Brasilia, Brazil. ==>FCC PRESSES TWO UTILITIES TO RESOLVE POWER LINE NOISE COMPLAINTS The FCC has asked utilities in Oklahoma and Illinois to try harder to resolve longstanding power line noise complaints from Amateur Radio licensees. Special Counsel in the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Riley Hollingsworth recently contacted Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) Company and Exelon Corporation (ComEd) in Chicago to follow up on the unrelated cases. "In your response on behalf of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, dated January 30, 2006, you indicated that you were responding to [the radio amateur's] complaints," Hollingsworth wrote Oklahoma Gas and Electric's Senior Attorney Patrick D. Shore. "However, [the complainant] states that the power line hardware noise continues." Hollingsworth customarily does not identify RFI complainants in public correspondence, but the Oklahoma radio amateur involved -- ARRL Member Hal Dietz, W5GHZ, of Bethany -- agreed to let the League make his name public. Dietz has sought the ARRL's assistance in resolving the problem. The League has been working with the FCC for several years to address power line noise complaints from Amateur Radio licensees. Dietz says the power line noise he's experiencing on occasion has approached 20 dB over S9 on some bands, but it's typically between S5 to S9. "I experience line noise interference on frequencies as high as 444.100 MHz -- a local repeater that I monitor -- and on all TV channels through 14," he reports. "The interference is not present on all bands at all times, but it is present on one or more bands all of the time, except when it's raining." An OG&E has representative visited Dietz but was unable to pin down the interference source. "I have also offered to go with them when they are trying to locate the interference, but they have declined my help," Dietz added. On December 8, Hollingsworth wrote John W. Rowe, chairman and CEO of Exelon Corporation, the parent company of utility ComEd. "We have reviewed your letter dated July 10, 2006, in which you state that you have not been able to locate the source of radio interference because the noise as reported by [the complainant] is intermittent. [The complainant] disputes that claim, however, stating that the noise is constant and that the only time that it is not present is during a heavy rain." The Amateur Radio licensee experiencing the interference has told the ARRL that the noise from ComEd's equipment is nearly always present and 60 dB over S9 on 160 meters, wet weather excepted. Adding to the mix, the ham recounted last fall, is new noise from a neighbor's Part 15 electronic device. ARRL Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineer Mike Gruber, W1MG, says the complainant for several months has been reporting persistent noise from 160 to 6 meters from ComEd's system and can even hear it on his car's broadcast radio. Hollingsworth advised both utilities to review the radio amateurs' complaints and advise his office regarding steps being taken to locate and remediate the RFI. ==>ARRL MEMBERSHIP SERVICES MANAGER WAYNE MILLS, N7NG, ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE Noted DXer Wayne Mills, N7NG, has announced he'll leave the ARRL Headquarters staff on January 16. He's been ARRL Membership Services Manager since 2000. "We appreciate Wayne's dedication and effort on behalf of ARRL since his arrival six and a half years ago," said ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, "and we wish him success in his future endeavors." ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, commented, "I am grateful to Wayne for coming to Newington and applying his encyclopedic knowledge of DXing and the DXCC program for the betterment of the ARRL." During his tenure at HQ, Mills oversaw the design and implementation of Logbook of the World (LoTW) <http://www.arrl.org/lotw/>, a repository of QSO records from users around the globe that can provide ARRL award credit electronically. Licensed since 1953, Mills previously served as the Rocky Mountain Division representative to the ARRL DX Advisory Committee, which he chaired from 1997 until 2000. He was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 1999. Mills is best known for his various DXpeditions, and he's the author of DXpeditioning Basics, available for downloading <http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/dx-basics.pdf>. Mills expressed his appreciation to the worldwide Amateur Radio community for its support. "In particular, I offer special thanks our volunteers -- advisory committee members, log checkers and advisors," he said. He plans to return to his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but did not rule out "another DXpedition or two" in the future. ==>SOLAR UPDATE Sun gazer Tad "Shining Star" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled this reporting period as compared with the previous seven days, rising 24 points to 43.4. This is a nice number for what should be the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Currently sunspots 930 and 937 are disappearing off the visible solar disk. Sunspot numbers should be lower over the next few days, but geomagnetic conditions should be stable. We probably won't see unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions until January 16-17, and later a bit more active around January 30. Sunspot numbers and solar flux should run higher again from January 27 through February 7. Sunspot numbers for January 4 through 10 were 36, 43, 47, 46, 52, 41 and 39, with a mean of 43.4. 10.7 cm flux was 89.4, 89.4, 87.3, 86.7, 88, 92.2, and 86.2, with a mean of 88.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 16, 9, 3, 2, 4, 4 and 7, with a mean of 6.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 13, 6, 2, 1, 2, 3 and 4, with a mean of 4.4. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>. __________________________________ ==>IN BRIEF: * This weekend on the radio: The North American QSO Party (CW), Hunting Lions in the Air, the 070 Club PSKFest, the Michigan QRP January CW Contest, the SPAR Winter Field Day, the Midwinter Contest (CW = January 13; SSB = January 14), the NRAU-Baltic Contest (CW = January 13; SSB = January 14) and the DARC 10-Meter Contest are the weekend of January 13-14. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint is January 18. The ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes, the North American QSO Party (SSB), the LZ Open Contest, the UK DX Contest (RTTY), the Hungarian DX Contest and the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest are the weekend of January 20-21. 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 remains open through Sunday, January 21, for these ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) online courses with classes beginning Sunday, February 4: Technician License Course (EC-010), Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1 (EC-001), Radio Frequency Interference (EC-006), Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009), Analog Electronics (EC-012) and Digital Electronics (EC-013). These courses will also open for registration Friday, January 19, for classes beginning Friday, March 2. To learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the CCE Department <cce@arrl.org>. * CubeSats get OSCAR numbers: AMSAT OSCAR coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO, has announced that the RAFT-1 and ANDE Amateur Radio CubeSats have been issued OSCAR numbers. Both spacecraft were placed into Earth orbit from the space shuttle Discovery on December 21 and are projects of US Naval Academy Satellite Lab. RAFT-1 has been designated as NAV-OSCAR-60 or NO-60. ANDE has been designated as NAV-OSCAR-61, or NO-61. The RAFT-1 and ANDE ham radio payloads digipeat 1200 bps packet on 145.825 MHz. When it's enabled, RAFT-1 has a PSK31 uplink from 28.117 to 28.120 MHz with the downlink also on 145.825 MHz. For more information, visit the ANDE, RAFT, NMARS & FCAL Operations Web page, <http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/ande-raft-ops.html>. * FCC fines retailer for selling non-certified CBs: The FCC has fined Gambler's CB & Ham Radio Sales & Service of Pinconning, Michigan, $7000 for "willfully and repeatedly" violating the Communications Act of 1934 and its rules by offering for sale non-certified Citizens Band (CB) transceivers. The case, which dates back to early 2004, when the FCC first cited the retailer for marketing non-certified CB transceivers in violation of §302(b) of the Act and §2.803(a)(1) of its rules. In affirming the fine in a Forfeiture Order (NoF) released December 21, the Commission turned away Gambler's attorneys' claims that the Galaxy transceivers offered for sale did not require certification because they weren't CB transmitters as defined in §95.603(a). That rule, the retailer argued, does not specifically require certification of "Amateur Radio" equipment that's easily modifiable to operate in the Citizens Band. The FCC, however, cited an Office of General Counsel interpretation that determined just the opposite. "We therefore find no merit to Gambler's request for cancellation of the forfeiture on this basis," the FCC concluded. The Commission also denied Gambler's claim that whether a transceiver can be "easily modified" is one of degree and that such a standard is so vague as to be unconstitutional. The NoF <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-2549A1.pdf> is one of several in recent months involving similar violations by other retail outlets. * VU7RG Lakshadweep Islands DXpedition set to start January 14: The VU7RG DXpedition <http://www.vu7.in/> to Lakshadweep Islands, sponsored by the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), is scheduled to get under way Monday, January 14, at 1830 UTC. The DXpedition will continue until January 31. Plans call for having up to 14 stations on the air from four islands. Operators on Agatti, Bangaram and Kadmat islands (all AS-011 for IOTA) will use VU7RG, while a separate all-Indian team will operate as VU7MY from Minicoy Island (AS-106). The VU7RG/VU7MY DXpedition has permission from India's telecom authorities to operate on 30 meters. A DXpedition to Lakshadweep Islands sponsored by the Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) concluded in late December. Lakshadweep Islands has been the second most-wanted DXCC entity. * Southeastern VHF Society issues call for papers: The Southeastern VHF Society has issued a call for papers and presentations for its 11th annual conference April 27-28 in Atlanta, Georgia. Topics may focus on both the technical and operational aspects of "weak-signal" VHF, UHF and microwave work. Suggested areas include: Transmitters, receivers, transverters, RF power amplifiers and low-noise receiving preamps; antennas, satellites; test equipment and station accessories; station design/construction; contesting and DXpeditions; EME; Amateur TV; propagation, and digital technology and modes. The deadline to submit papers and presentations is March 2. All submissions should be in MS-Word or Adobe Acrobat format, with black-and-white photos and graphics and 8-1/2 by 11-inch pages with a 1-inch bottom margin and 3/4 inch margins elsewhere. Those submitting papers and presentations should indicate if they plan to present their papers at the conference. Papers and presentations will be available from the ARRL in the conference Proceedings. Direct questions, comments and submissions to Technical Program Chair Jim Worsham, W4KXY <w4kxy@bellsouth.net>. See the SVHFS Web site for more information <http://www.svhfs.org/>. -- AMSAT News Service * DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit: The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved this operation for DXCC credit: 5X1RI (Uganda), operation May 5, 2005-February 3, 2006. For more information, visit the DXCC Web page <http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/>. "DXCC Frequently Asked Questions" can answer most questions about the DXCC program. * Special event to commemorate "Project Diana" moonbounce experiment: The Ocean Monmouth Amateur Radio Club (OMARC) will sponsor a special event operation Sunday and Monday, January 14-15, to commemorate "Project Diana," the first successful moonbounce experiment undertaken by the US Army Signal Corps in January 1946. Using the club's N2MO call sign, the special event station will go on the air from the historic Project Diana site at the InfoAge Learning Center at Camp Evans, off Marconi Road in Wall Township, New Jersey. Several radio amateurs were members of the Project Diana team. The OMARC operation will include ALE, CW, PKS31, RTTY and SSB on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. The OMARC Web site <http://www.omarc.org/> has more information and photos relating to Project Diana (click on the "Diana site + directions" link). An article on Project Diana appeared in the May 1946 QST. =========================================================== The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League: ARRL--the National Association For Amateur Radio, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259; <http://www.arrl.org/>. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President. The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential and general news of interest to active radio amateurs. Visit the ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/> for the latest Amateur Radio news and news updates. The ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/> also offers informative features and columns. 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