eHam.net News

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Just Ahead In Radiosport:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:21 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35932


Just Ahead In Radiosport:


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ARRL Board Of Directors to Elect New President, Officers at January Meeting

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:21 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35931


The ARRL Board of Directors' annual meeting in mid-January will mark
the start of a changing of the guard at the League. After serving three
2-year terms, ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, of Blacksburg,
Virginia, is stepping aside, and the Board will choose her successor --
and the League's 16th president -- when it convenes on January 15. The
Board also will elect other officers, as well as vice presidents,
Executive Committee members, and ARRL Foundation directors.


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National Parks On the Air (NPOTA) Event Gets Off to a Strong Start!

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:20 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35930


ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long event got off to a
strong start on New Year's Day, with
considerable activity reported on the HF bands and even some on the
SO-50 satellite over the first weekend of the new year. Throughout
2016, Amateur Radio will be helping the National Park Service (NPS) to
celebrate its 100th anniversary. Hams will activate NPS units, promote
the Park Service, and showcase Amateur Radio to the public. During the
first 3 days of NPOTA, "Activators" were on the air from 78 of the 483
NPOTA Units.


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ARRL Complains to FCC: Illegal Marketing of Electronic Lighting Ballasts:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:20 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35929


The ARRL has again complained to the FCC to allege illegal marketing of
electronic RF lighting ballasts, operating under Part 18 of the
Commission's rules, on the part of two major retailers. Letters went
out in late December to the FCC Enforcement Bureau and its Office of
Engineering and Technology, claiming Part 18 marketing regulations
violations by Lowe's and by Walmart stores. At issue is the sale of
non-consumer RF lighting ballasts to consumers who, in several
instances, were told by store personnel that it was okay to install
these in a residential setting. In addition, non-consumer and
residential-class ballasts are being intermixed in store displays with
inadequate signage to direct consumers to the correct choice. Both
letters asked the FCC to investigate and commence enforcement
proceedings with respect to the two stores' marketing and retail sale
of RF lighting devices in the US.


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FCC Website Makes It Easy for Hams to File Interference Complaints:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:20 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35928


The FCC has made it easier for hams to file RF interference and other
complaints, thanks to a new feature of the FCC's recently redesigned
website. The addition was made at ARRL's request.
Hams have always been able to file such complaints, but when a new
complaint system geared largely to consumers came online a year ago,
they lost the ability to do so via e-mail to a dedicated address. The
change made it less clear how amateurs should file such complaints and
what, if anything, would result.


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'Official' P5/3Z9DX North Korea Activation Now Set for this Summer:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:19 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35927


Following an unexpected "demonstration" operation from North Korea --
officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- just
before Christmas, Polish DXer Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, now expects to be back
in the DPRK -- the most-wanted DXCC entity -- for his "official"
activation by late this summer, according to The Daily DX. He initially had
anticipated returning this
month or next.


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Palmyra, South Sandwich/South Georgia Will Help Kick Off 2016 DXpeditions:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:18 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35926


Let the 2016 pileups begin! Two major January DXpeditions will be among
other smaller efforts, with all aimed at providing a new one to the
madding crowd. Look for the Palmyra Island and South Georgia
Island/South Sandwich Islands activations, starting around mid-month.


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ARRL Education and Technology Program Announces School Grants:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:18 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35925


The ARRL Executive Committee has voted unanimously to approve ARRL
Education and Technology Program (ETP) grant awards for
equipment and other resources to seven schools for the 2015-2016
academic year.


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Dishtronix Purchases TEN-TEC Assets:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:16 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35924


Dishtronix, an electronics design and
manufacturing company, has purchased the assets of Amateur Radio
equipment manufacturer TEN-TEC from RKR Designs. Headquartered in
Bellefontaine, Ohio, Dishtronix manufactures and markets the
"Prometheus" solid-state Amateur Radio amplifier, among other products.
No formal announcement has been made by either company, and details of
the purchase are still being finalized. RKR Designs announced last
April 2 that it had acquired the assets of TEN-TEC and Alpha Amplifiers
from RF Concepts, less than 1 year after the two lines had merged under
the RF Concepts brand in an asset sale. Dishtronix owner Steven M.
"Mike" Dishop, N8WFF, told ARRL that, while TEN-TEC has had different
owners over the years, he is in it for the long haul.


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CQ World Wide Participants Favor Limiting Operating to Less Than 48 Hours:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:17 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35923


According to Part 2 of the 2015 CQ
World Wide Contests survey results, contesters want to see a
time-limited category for single operators. In September, the CQ WW
Contest Committee surveyed everyone who had submitted a log in the 2014
CQ WW SSB and CW events, and issued a public invitation on the
cq-contest e-mail reflector. CQ WW Contest Director Randy Thompson,
K5ZD, said the committee received 5117 responses from contest operators
around the world to Part 2 of the survey, which addressed possible rule
changes. A vast majority of respondents answered "yes" to the question,
"Do you support limiting the operating time of single operator entrants
to less than 48 hours?" Currently, single operators may operate for the
entire 48-hour contest period.


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Commemorative EME Transmission Set from Dish on 'Project Diana' Site:

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:15 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35922


Radio amateurs will attempt a 23 centimeter Earth-Moon-Earth (EME, or
"moonbounce") transmission on January 10, using the 60-foot-diameter
TLM-18 dish on the former "Project Diana" site, now part of the InfoAge
Science History Museum in New Jersey. This
month's event marks the 70th anniversary of Project Diana. It was on
the InfoAge site, then a part of Fort Monmouth, that the US Army's
Project Diana team on January 10, 1946, first received radio signals
bounced from the moon.


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Contester, DXpeditioner William Vanderheide, N7OU, (SK):

Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:14 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35921


Well-known contester and DXpeditioner William "Bill" Vanderheide, N7OU
(ex-AA7KF), of Portland, Oregon, died December 31 after a lengthy
illness. He was 70. A member of ARRL and the Willamette Valley DX Club,
he had operated from a dozen islands in the South Pacific as well as
from several in the Caribbean, often combining Amateur Radio with
service in the Global Volunteers organization, helping out in local
classrooms. Licensed in Michigan at 13,
Vanderheide was an avid CW operator, a regular and high-scoring
participant in ARRL November Sweepstakes, Field Day, and other
operating events -- always running QRP or low power with wire antennas,
said his friend Bob Norin, W7YAQ, who called him "an outstanding
contester, DXpeditioner, and ambassador" for Amateur Radio.


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Winter Field Day, Sat and Sun, Jan 30-31:

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 04:00 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35915


If you enjoy ARRL's summer Field Day,
you're gonna' love Winter Field Day.
Originally sponsored by the SPAR
organization in 2007 it got off to a good
start, but then fell on hard times in 2015
when the aging/ailing leadership of SPAR
could no longer cope with scoring the
entries and publicizing the event. That's
changed... There's now a new team that's
taken over (with SPAR's blessings) and
we've been working hard to publicize the
contest, re-write/redefine a few rules,
change the exchange and garner more
participation.


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USS Indianapolis CV35 Needs Another Transmitter:

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 04:00 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/35907


Here I am again. We are in need of a TDE Transmitter. We are the USS
Indianapolis CV35 Radio Room volunteers. Working to preserve a working WW2
Radio Room. Back at the end of WW2 this transmitter was I guess plentiful.
Well with all of the Museum Ships trying to get all of their equipment.
Also a lot of Amateurs saw the Transmitter as being good.