[SAARC-general] Fwd: The ARRL Letter for October 13, 2022

Mike Dominy kd5urw at gmail.com
Thu Oct 13 13:27:16 PDT 2022 

The ARRL Letter for October 13, 2022


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: ARRL Web site <memberlist at arrl.org>
Date: Thu, Oct 13, 2022 at 3:18 PM
Subject: The ARRL Letter for October 13, 2022
To: <kd5urw at gmail.com>


If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2022-10-13

[image: The ARRL Letter]
October 13, 2022
John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, Editor <news at arrl.org>
ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/> *ARRL Letter* Archive
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/> Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> [image: Ad]
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   - Florida Amateur Radio Operators Activate for Hurricane Ian
   <#m_5259675178970620266_toc01>
   - Ian, Julia, and Karl - The Latest Storm Updates
   <#m_5259675178970620266_toc02>
   - San Angelo Amateur Radio Club Celebrates 100 Years
   <#m_5259675178970620266_toc03>
   - Amateur Radio in the News <#m_5259675178970620266_toc04>
   - ARRL Podcasts <#m_5259675178970620266_toc05>
   - Announcements <#m_5259675178970620266_toc06>
   - In Brief... <#m_5259675178970620266_toc07>
   - The K7RA Solar Update <#m_5259675178970620266_toc08>
   - Just Ahead in Radiosport <#m_5259675178970620266_toc09>
   - Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions
   <#m_5259675178970620266_toc10>


Florida Amateur Radio Operators Activate for Hurricane Ian

As Hurricane Ian was making its way to Tampa, Florida, in late September,
the Sheriff's Tactical Amateur Radio Communications (STARC), W4HSO, was
preparing for activation. ARRL member Tony DeAngelo, N2MFT, said STARC was
activated on Monday, September 26, and continued operations through
Thursday, September 29, 2022.

Tony DeAngelo, N2MFT, President of the Sheriff's Tactical Amateur Radio
Communications (STARC) in Hillsborough County, Florida.

STARC has amateur radio equipment in five of the Hillsborough County
Sheriff's Office (HCSO) locations, as well as a Homeland Security office.
"It's a great working arrangement with all of the equipment provided for
us," said DeAngelo. "Our volunteers staffed those locations and the
remainder worked from their homes."

Over the course of the 4-day activation, 16 STARC volunteers worked 24
hours a day passing information for aid and assistance through the
sheriff's office using WebEOC, a web-based emergency management information
system.

DeAngelo emphasized that STARC is not a club, but a service organization.
STARC volunteers are required to undergo an extensive background
investigation, including fingerprinting by the HCSO. STARC volunteers are
civilians and employees of various Hillsborough County government agencies,
Verizon, Tampa Electric, St. Joseph's Hospital, Tampa Police Department,
and other public and private agencies. In the event of a disaster, radio
operators provide communications between participating agencies if normal
means of communications are lost.

DeAngelo is a retired police officer, and has been a licensed amateur radio
operator for 30 years. He will continue to monitor weather information in
case another activation is needed.
Ian, Julia, and Karl - The Latest Storm Updates

Cleanup and damage assessment from Hurricane Ian continues. Power outages
peaked at 2.7 million customers, but new reports indicate power has been
restored for 99% of the outages leaving less than 5,000 residents and
businesses still off line. All power is expected to be restored by Friday,
October 14, 2022.

Hardee County Emergency Management in West Central Florida lost power and
all communications, but Hardee County Public Information Officer Alicia
Woodard said it was amateur radio that stepped in to help.

"Our amateur radio operators here began relaying information to our county
agencies," said Woodard.

"A special thanks to Mike Douglas, W4MDD, ARRL West Central Florida Section
Manager and ARRL Assistant Section Manager/ Technical Coordinator Darrell
Davis, KT4WX, for their assistance during the storm."

Hardee County received 27 inches of water. Normal flooding for the area is
16 inches and most power is now back on.

Hurricane Julia made landfall this past weekend over Nicaragua with winds
of 85 miles per hour. Now downgraded, the storm has moved out to the
Pacific Ocean but is till able to bring heavy rains to parts of Central
America.

In Nicaraguan there were reports of power outages and 10,000 residents were
moved to shelters. Officials there, report 25 casualties with over 50
people missing.

Hurricane Watch Net <https://hwn.org/> (HWN) Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV,
reported late Wednesday morning that Karl is still a tropical storm.
Although it is currently moving to the north-northwest, it is expected to
make a sharp left-hand turn and head south-southwest on Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is currently forecasting Karl to make
landfall near Veracruz, Mexico late Friday or possibly early Saturday
morning as a tropical storm, possibly even a tropical depression.

"The Hurricane Watch Net is closely monitoring the track and intensity of
Karl," said Graves. "Should environmental conditions change allowing it to
become a hurricane and threaten landfall as such, HWN will of course
activate."
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San Angelo Amateur Radio Club Celebrates 100 Years

The San Angelo Amateur Radio Club <https://www.w5qx.org/> (SAARC), based in
San Angelo, Texas, will celebrate their 100th anniversary on October 15,
2022. The club has engaged in a century of community service, science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, emergency
preparedness, and disaster response.

Founded in 1922, SAARC held their first meeting on June 14 of that year,
and membership today has grown to 40 members. The celebration will take
place at their clubhouse located at 5513 Stewart Lane in San Angelo. It
will include a tailgate swap meet starting at 9 AM, amateur radio operators
working to make contacts with 100 stations, and the Boy Scouts
Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA).

The club call sign, W5QX, honors Carl Brinegar, who originally held the
call sign of 5QX before the "W" prefix was added. He was one of the
earliest members of SAARC.

SAARC is currently working in partnership with Angelo State University's
Mayer Museum <https://www.angelo.edu/community/mayer-museum/>, located on
the campus of Angelo State University, to create an exhibit that will tell
the story of local radio pioneers. Topics will include amateur radio
operators, retail radio businesses, public safety radio innovators, and
broadcast radio stations that formed in the Concho Valley area in the 1920s
and 1930s.

Club member Mike Dominy, KD5URW, said SAARC is the only club within a
70-mile radius of San Angelo, Texas. "Our club and Amateur Radio Emergency
Service® volunteers, cover 14,000 square miles with a population of
165,000," said Dominy. "With cell phone coverage only along major roads and
highways amateur radio is the only communication during storms and
tornadoes."

Dominy added that there are only 381 licensed amateur radio operators in
the area, and the club is working on grants to add and upgrade repeaters
under a 5-year plan.

The SAARC is an ARRL Affiliated Club.
------------------------------
Amateur Radio in the News

ARRL Public Information Officers, Coordinators, and many other
member-volunteers help keep amateur radio and ARRL in the news
<http://www.arrl.org/media-hits>.

"Amateur Radio Club returns, helps members obtain FCC licenses
<https://baylorlariat.com/2022/10/04/amateur-radio-club-returns-helps-members-obtain-fcc-licenses/>."
/ The Baylor Lariat (Texas), October 4, 2022.

"Local ham radio club receives grant."
<https://www.dailyastorian.com/life/community/local-ham-radio-club-receives-grant/article_bfbe55a0-41ce-11ed-9970-9770420e9926.html>
/ The Astorian (Oregon), October 6, 2022. -- *The Sunset Empire Amateur
Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.*

"Project 425 Hosts Amateur Radio Operators
<https://gotowncrier.com/2022/10/project-425-hosts-amateur-radio-operators/>."
/ The Town-Crier (Florida), October 7, 2022. --

*Thanks to ARRL member Mike Bald, K4MIA, of Loxahatchee, Florida, for
sharing his call sign in support of National POW/MIA Recognition Day.*Share
<newsmedia at arrl.org> any amateur radio media hits you spot with us.
------------------------------
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ARRL Podcasts

The latest episode of the ARRL On the Air
<https://blubrry.com/arrlontheair/> podcast includes *On the Air* and *QST*
contributor Dino Papas, KL0S. Papas provides insight into the construction
and tuning of a J-pole antenna, which he built for *On the Air* from a
design by John H. Unrath, K6JHU.

Listen to ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>, available
every Friday. ARRL Audio News is a summary of the week's top news stories
in the world of amateur radio and ARRL, along with interviews and other
features.

The On the Air podcast is available on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher (Android).
The On the Air podcast and ARRL Audio News are also on Blubrry -- On the Air
<https://blubrry.com/arrlontheair/> | ARRL Audio News
<https://blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/>.
------------------------------
Announcements

*October 15 - 16 is session three of the ARRL EME Contest, for frequencies
between 50 MHz and 1296 MHz. *It's never been easier to complete the
Earth-moon-Earth circuit. Lance Collister's, W7GJ, "6 Meter EME Array
<http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/>" document from 2010 talks about the
minimum frequency you'd need to decode signals from the moon, which can be
boiled down to a good antenna, reasonable radio, and appropriate software.
Activity also helps. With a "regular" 6-meter antenna, it should be
possible to copy signals from the moon at moonrise, taking advantage of
ground gain. -- *Thanks to ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque,
N1SFE, for this information.*
------------------------------
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In Brief...

*Dayton Hamvention® has announced that the Ramada Inn in Xenia, Ohio, is
closing. *The Dayton Daily News
<https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/xenia-to-take-possession-of-ramada-inn-property-to-be-incorporated-into-xenia-towne-square-project/DMC4HDLENJG6DEHSDI7N6KYJYM/>
is reporting that the city of Xenia will take full possession of the Ramada
Inn on November 1, 2022. The land will be incorporated into the Xenia Towne
Square revitalization project. Hamvention, the largest annual ham radio
convention in the US, will be held May 19 - 21, 2023, at the Greene County
Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia. A list of other accommodations can be
found on the Hamvention website at
https://hamvention.org/travel-parking/accommodation/.
------------------------------
The K7RA Solar Update

Tad Cook, K7RA, of Seattle, Washington, reports for this week's ARRL
Propagation Bulletin:

Average daily sunspot numbers and solar flux increased this week. Sunspot
numbers went from 111.4 to 114.9, and flux values went from 149.2 to 155.3.

A feel-good exercise is to compare these numbers with those from a

Solar disk image taken October 13, 2022, courtesy of NASA SDO/HMI.

year ago, when the sunspot reading in bulletin 41 was only 30.7, and flux
was 86.9. Cycle 25 progression is better than predicted.

October 9 saw a planetary A index reading of 25. On that day,
Spaceweather.com warned that sunspot AR3112 had a delta-class magnetic
field with energy for strong solar flares.

The next day, they posted movies of two flares, seen here
https://bit.ly/3T82fQS and here https://bit.ly/3evItjp.

Predicted solar flux from USAF and NOAA shows values peaking during the
first week of November, at 160.

The forecast shows flux values of 140 on October 13 - 19; 138 on October 20
- 22; 140 on October 23 - 25; 145, 145, and 150 on October 26 - 28; 155,
155, and 152 on October 29 - 31; 160 on November 1 - 8; 150, 140, and 135
on November 9 - 11, and 130 on November 12 - 13.

Predicted planetary A index is 5 on October 13 - 14; 8 on October 15 - 16;
5 on October 17 - 19; 12 on October 20 - 21; 5 on October 22 - 26; 12, 15,
12, and 20 on October 27 - 30; 15 on October 31 through November 1; 18, 15,
and 12 on November 2 - 4; 20 on November 5 - 6; 8 and 12 on November 7 - 8;
5, 5, 12, and 10 on November 9 - 12, and 5 on November 13 - 15.

Below is another of the many articles about the scary Carrington Event.
This is the first time I have seen the claim that the flare was so powerful
that telegraph messages could be sent through the aurora! 1859 was long
before the invention of radio.

https://bit.ly/3CQEveO

Sunspot numbers for October 6 through 12, 2022, were 139, 146, 137, 114,
134, 72, and 62, with a mean of 114.9. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 155.7,
159.7, 157.2, 160.5, 163.2, 150.3, and 140.6, with a mean of 155.3.
Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 15, 12, 25, 10, 7, and 6, with a
mean of 13.3. Middle latitude A index was 14, 12, 10, 18, 8, 7, and 4, with
a mean of 10.4.

Send your tips, questions, or comments to k7ra at arrl.net.

A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL website.
For more information concerning radio propagation, visit
<http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals> the ARRL Technical Information
Service, read <http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere> "What the
Numbers Mean..." and check out <http://k9la.us/> the Propagation Page of
Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA.

A propagation bulletin archive
<http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation> is available. For
customizable propagation charts, visit the VOACAP Online for Ham Radio
<https://www.voacap.com/hf/> website.

Share <k7ra at arrl.net> your reports and observations.

A weekly, full report is posted on ARRL News <http://www.arrl.org/news>.
------------------------------
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Just Ahead in Radiosport

   -

   October 15 - 16 -- ARRL EME Contest (CW, phone, digital)
   -

   October 15 - 16 -- JARTS WW RTTY Contest (digital)
   -

   October 15 - 16 -- 10-10 International Fall Contest (CW)
   -

   October 15 - 16 -- New York QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
   -

   October 15 - 16 -- Worked All Germany Contest (CW, phone)
   -

   October 15 -- Feld Hell Sprint (digital)
   -

   October 15 -- Argentina National 7 MHz Contest (phone)
   -

   October 16 -- Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint (CW)
   -

   October 16 -- UBA ON Contest, 2 Meters (CW, phone)
   -

   October 16 - 17 -- Illinois QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
   -

   October 16 -- RSGB RoLo (CW)
   -

   October 16 - 17 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
   -

   October 17 - 21 -- WARC ARRL School Club Roundup (CW, phone, digital)
   -

   October 17 -- RSGB FT4 Contest (FT4)


Visit the ARRL Contest Calendar <http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar> for
more events and information.
------------------------------
Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions

   -

   October 14 - 16 | Pacificon
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/pacificon-arrl-pacifc-division-convention>,
   hosting the ARRL Pacific Division Convention, San Ramon, California
   -

   October 15 | Wisconsin ARES/RACES Conference 2022
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/wisconsin-ares-races-conference-2022-arrl-wisconsin-state-convention>,
   hosting the ARRL Wisconsin State Convention, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
   -

   October 29 | CopaFest
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/copafest-arrl-arizona-state-convention>,
   hosting the ARRL Arizona State Convention, Maricopa, Arizona
   -

   November 5 - 6 | Stone Mountain Hamfest
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/stone-mountain-hamfest-arrl-georgia-section-convention>,
   hosting the ARRL Georgia Section Convention, Lawrenceville, Georgia
   -

   November 12 | Montgomery ARC Hamfest
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/montgomery-arc-hamfest-arrl-alabama-state-convention-1>,
   hosting the ARRL Alabama State Convention, Montgomery, Alabama
   -

   November 12 | Rock Hill Hamfest
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/70th-annual-rock-hill-hamfest-arrl-south-carolina-section-convention>,
   hosting the ARRL South Carolina Section Convention, Rock Hill, South
   Carolina
   -

   December 9 - 10 | Tampa Bay Hamfest
   <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/tampa-bay-hamfest-arrl-west-central-florida-section-convention-1>,
   hosting the ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention


Search the ARRL Hamfest and Convention Database
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests> to find events in your area.
------------------------------
Getting it Right...

In last week's edition of *The ARRL Letter*, the *In Brief* about the
Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC) included an
incorrect email address for Program Manager Kay Savetz, K6KJN. The correct
email address is kay at archive.org.

Also in that edition, in the story "Amateur Radio Active During 2 Weeks Of
Hurricanes," a quote from Hurricane Watch Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV,
was mistakenly attributed to another manager.

*The ARRL Letter* regrets these errors.
Have News for ARRL?

Submissions for *The **ARRL Letter* and ARRL News can be sent to
news at arrl.org. --

*John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, ARRL News Editor <news at arrl.org>*
------------------------------


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

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