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http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2016-03-17

The ARRL Letter

March 17, 2016
Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME

 *  ARRL Urges FCC Not to Impose Overbroad Notification Requirement on 2200
    and 630 Meter Operation
 *  ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Respond to Heavy Rain, Flooding in Louisiana
 *  Southern Florida ARES Volunteers Support Biennial Nuclear Power Plant
    Drill
 *  National Parks on the Air Update
 *  ARRL Now on Instagram!
 *  RFinder -- The Worldwide Repeater Directory -- Now Includes Coverage
    Maps
 *  ARISS Marks its 1000th Contact!
 *  Over the Horizon Radars Becoming Routine Visitors on Amateur HF Bands
 *  National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Sessions to be Live Streamed
 *  Young Connecticut Ham Off to an Award-Winning Start
 *  Former DX QSL Manager Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP, SK
 *  In Brief...
 *  The K7RA Solar Update
 *  Just Ahead in Radiosport
 *  Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events


ARRL Urges FCC Not to Impose Overbroad Notification Requirement on 2200 and
630 Meter Operation

In an ex parte statement filed March 10 with the FCC, the ARRL has asked the
Commission not to adopt "an overbroad" requirement for notification of
utilities in advance of intended Amateur Radio operation on the pending 2200
(135.7-137.8 kHz) and 630 meter (472-479 kHz) bands. The statement, filed in
ET Dockets 12-338 and 15-99, supplemented the League's earlier comments in the
proceeding. The FCC is expected to provide Amateur Radio with access to both
bands and to spell out service rules and operational requirements sometime
within the first quarter of 2016. Regulatory provisions under consideration
have included a possible notification requirement by some radio amateurs to
utilities that operate PLC systems in that region of the spectrum, prior to
operating on either new band. Utilities use unlicensed, mostly LF PLC systems
to control parts of the electrical power grid.

"ARRL does not object to such a notification requirement, provided that it is
appropriately circumscribed, not overbroad in its applicability, and not
overly burdensome for radio amateurs to comply with," the League's statement
asserted.

The ARRL noted that comments filed by the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC)
called for a system of "quasi-coordination" by radio amateurs before
commencing operation on 2200 meters. In its remarks to the FCC, the ARRL
pointed out, however, that the UTC has not volunteered any information with
respect to how a notification process might work, nor offered any PLC database
information to the ARRL or to the amateur community so prospective users of
the band could determine if their operation might be problematic.

The ARRL expressed concern that "this vague reference" to a notification
procedure by UTC might lead the FCC to adopt an overbroad notification
requirement for radio amateurs intending to operate in either the 2200 or 630
meter band. The League further pointed out that PLC systems operating between
9 and 490 kHz are not subject to protection from licensed services.

The League reiterated its willingness to accept distance-separation criteria
between amateur stations operating on either band and PLC-carrying
transmission lines using frequencies in either band, and a notification
process in the few instances in which an amateur station intends to operate on
either band within close proximity to a transmission line with a PLC using the
same frequencies. The League said interference potential to PLC systems from
Amateur Radio operation on 2200 or 630 meters is very low, with the possible
exception of amateur operation within 1 kilometer of an existing transmission
line carrying co-channel PLC signals.

"It would be an unreasonable regulatory burden to require more than this, and
there is no record justification for a requirement that all radio amateurs who
wish to operate in these bands to have to participate in a notification
process," the ARRL said in its ex parte statement.

Any sort of blanket notification requirement prior to transmitting on 2200 or
630 meters "would be clear regulatory overkill," the ARRL concluded. Read more.


ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Respond to Heavy Rain, Flooding in Louisiana

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and SKYWARN volunteers in Louisiana
assisted the National Weather Service (NWS), as record-setting rainfall led to
severe and widespread flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
has approved a disaster declaration for the state. Region 7 District Emergency
Coordinator John Mark Robertson, K5JMR, in the Shreveport-Bossier City area,
said Amateur Radio involvement began on March 8, when the NWS-Shreveport
Office requested a SKYWARN activation during a tornado watch.

For the next 17 hours, Robertson reported, a group of volunteers handled
weather-spotting duties over linked repeaters, filing some 70 reports. Their
coverage included parts of Texas and Arkansas. The severe weather included
hail as well as major flooding that closed Interstate 20 in three Louisiana
parishes and inundated entire neighborhoods. On March 10, the ARES team in
Tangipahoa Parish in southeastern Louisiana was active for nearly 2 days in
response to heavy rain and flooding.

"Local hams operating [fixed, portable, or mobile] provided updates on local
conditions and were able to offer road reports to travelers on the state
highways and Interstate 12, which crosses all of the major rivers in our
area," ARES Region 9 DEC Bob Priez, WB5FBS, told ARRL. He said numerous
rivers, streams, and waterways were well above flood stage by the afternoon of
March 11.

"We were able to receive and send weather bulletins and flood conditions to
and from the NWS in Slidell, Louisiana, using our 147.000 repeater and the
Slidell 147.270 repeater. The 147.000 repeater also provided communication
with the EOC at Southeastern Louisiana University and Tangipahoa Parish EOC in
Amite, Louisiana," he said. Fixed stations used packet radio on VHF as well as
conventional e-mail to relay NWS weather bulletins and to forward local
reports to NWS.

Priez said the March activation was the third for his ARES crew since two
events in February, when the area was hit with heavy rain and wind. He said
that event gave the group the opportunity to test recently revised plans to
interface directly with the NWS Office in Slidell via repeaters in Tangipahoa
and St Tammany parishes, and via packet.

"This plan proved really effective in the February 23 event, which, in
addition to rains and winds, also spawned numerous tornadoes across the
southeast region," Priez said. "Our widespread ham radio observers
[SKYWARN.jpg] were able to send real-time reports of tornado activity in
Livingston, Montpelier, and Convent, and from Washington and St John parishes
in Louisiana, and also from southwestern Mississippi." The group also kept in
contact with the Southeastern Louisiana University EOC and the Tangipahoa
Parish EOC via the local VHF repeater.

On March 13, Robertson said three SKYWARN volunteers activated in response to
severe weather, posting 25 messages dealing with tornado watches and warnings,
reports of hail, and continued major flooding.

As the National Weather Service reported, the highest reported rainfall total
was "a whopping 26.96 inches!" southeast of Monroe. The NWS has posted
rainfall totals for the March 8-12 period. The flooding has led to road
closings over a wide area, and law enforcement personnel assisted by the
Louisiana National Guard used boats to reach and rescue stranded residents and
their pets.


Southern Florida ARES Volunteers Support Biennial Nuclear Power Plant Drill

ARES teams from five Florida counties took part in a February 24 exercise at
the St Lucie Nuclear Power Plant on Hutchinson Island in Jensen Beach. The
plant is required to hold an exercise every 2 years to [ares(1).jpg] test and
evaluate the responses of plant personnel, law enforcement, emergency
managers, and communication personnel in the event of an emergency, such as a
radiation release. The exercises are evaluated by personnel from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC). The 2016 scenario involved overloaded and unusable public
telecommunication systems. In a real emergency, ARES volunteers would provide
radio communication among the county emergency operations centers and other
critical entities and locations.

ARES teams participated from St Lucie, Palm Beach, Martin, Indian River, and
Brevard counties. Operators successfully employed the linked UHF
repeater-based Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) for most
communication, as well as an HF net on 7.245 MHz.

The dual nets provided for redundancy and reliability for the ARES mission to
support the EOCs. SARnet serves the State of Florida; it's interconnected by a
Florida Department of Transportation network.

All ARES communication tests and requirements were successfully passed and
met, and evaluators praised the use of dual nets for enhanced reliability.
Martin County ARES also had a display of go-kits. A FEMA representative
visited with ARES EC Steve Marshall, WW4RX, who discussed the kits and
answered questions about SARnet and its coverage. -- Thanks to the ARRL ARES
E-Letter


National Parks on the Air Update

ARRL has created a certificate for National Park Service employees who go the
extra mile in helping to promote or assist National Parks on the Air (NPOTA)
activity in their parks. The NPOTA Certificate of Appreciation is available to
any NPS employee or volunteer who is recommended by the NPOTA Activator
community for exceptional assistance in promoting NPOTA. Show your
appreciation for the NPS staffer who helped to make your activation a success;
nominate them for the NPOTA Certificate of Appreciation. E-mail the name,
title, and NPS unit of your nominee.

There are 52 activations scheduled for the week of March 17-23, including
Mammoth Cave National Park (NP39) in Kentucky, and the newest addition to the
National Parks System, Castle Mountains National Monument (MN82) in California.

Details about these and other upcoming activations can be found on the NPOTA
Activations calendar.

Keep up with the latest NPOTA news on Facebook. Follow NPOTA on Twitter
(@ARRL_NPOTA).


ARRL Now on Instagram!

ARRL now has a presence on Instagram, a social networking app made for sharing
photos and videos. Similar to Facebook or Twitter, everyone who creates an
account has a profile and a news feed. Photos or videos you post on Instagram
will be displayed on your profile. Other users who follow you will see your
posts in their own feed. Likewise, you'll see posts from other users who you
choose to follow. Instagram is available for free on iOS, Android, and Windows
phone devices. It can also be accessed on the web from a computer, but users
can only upload, share photos or videos, and create an account from their
devices.

Before you can start using the app, Instagram will ask you to create a free
account. You can sign up via your existing Facebook account or through the app
itself. After you sign up, you may be asked if you want to follow some friends
who are on Instagram in your Facebook network.

Instagram is all about visual sharing. Every user profile has a "Followers"
and "Following" count, representing how many people they follow and how many
users are following them. Every user profile has a button you can tap to
follow them. If a user has their profile set to private, they will need to
approve your request first. Interacting within posts is fun and easy. You can
double tap any post to "like" it or add a comment at the bottom. The @ sign
represents a link to your user profile. For example, if you choose your
username to be JaneDoe, other users can tag you in their posts by commenting
@JaneDoe, which, by clicking it, will bring them directly to your profile.

If you want to find more friends or interesting accounts to follow, use the
search tab (marked by the magnifying glass icon) to browse through posts
recommended to you. You can also use the search bar at the top to look for
specific users or #hashtag.

ARRL uses Instagram to promote current events, happenings at Headquarters, and
news. ARRL is on Instagram as @arrlhq. Follow us, and you'll have instant
access to all photos and videos that we post. It's an interesting and
entertaining collection that will only grow over time! -- Thanks to Erin Day


RFinder -- The Worldwide Repeater Directory -- Now Includes Coverage Maps

RFinder -- The Worldwide Repeater Directory -- now will include coverage maps
for all repeaters on Earth. In February, the ARRL established an agreement
with RFinder, the creator of a web- and app-based directory of Amateur Radio
repeaters worldwide, to serve as its preferred online resource of repeater
frequencies. RFinder has partnered with CloudRF.com to provide the maps.

"Our systems are busy rendering and indexing coverage maps, based on
ground-path loss using the Longley-Rice irregular terrain model," explained
RFinder Creater Bob Greenberg, W2CYK. "We have worked with Alex Farrant,
M6ZUJ, creator of CloudRF.com, to render coverage maps for nearly the entire
collection of repeaters in RFinder's database."

RFinder has downloaded and will serve as a host for KMZ (Keyhole Markup
Language Zipped) overlays for Google Earth. The resulting KMZ place marker
files will be viewable in Google Earth on Windows and Mac platforms (via
web.rfinder.net and routes.rfinder.net) and on Android and iOS versions of
RFinder. The Windows and Mac versions allow the viewing of multiple coverage
maps at the same time.

As part of this project, RFinder will provide free access to repeater
coordinators worldwide. As coordinators update repeaters with height above
average terrain (HAAT), power and gain, and latitude and longitude, maps will
be automatically re-rendered within a few minutes and made available to
subscribers. The sign-up procedure for the repeater coordinator program will
be announced later this month. The new capability is expected to ease the work
of repeater coordinators, as they will easily be able to see repeater coverage
maps side by side for both coordinated and uncoordinated machines --
information critical as simplex nodes for Internet linking, cross-band
repeaters, and homebrew repeaters crop up worldwide.

Users of the trial version of RFinder on Android will have access to coverage
maps for a limited time, after which only subscribers will have access. An
annual $9.99 RFinder subscription provides access to repeater data worldwide.

RFinder will be an ARRL EXPO exhibitor at Dayton Hamvention(R), May 20-22.


ARISS Marks its 1000th Contact!

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program has
celebrated a milestone -- its 1000th school radio contact. The first ARISS
contact with students on Earth took place a little more than 15 years ago. On
March 10, ISS crew member Tim Kopra, KE5UDN, did the honors for number 1000 --
a contact with students from schools in North Dakota and Minnesota gathered at
the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, organized by the North Dakota
Space Grant Consortium (NDSGC). The ARISS contact was the first to be hosted
in North Dakota, and some 500 students and visitors were on hand for the big
event. ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, congratulated the ARISS
team on what he called "this phenomenal accomplishment."

"With the outstanding support of NASA and the international space agencies
participating in ISS, the ISS on-orbit crew members encompassing all 48
expeditions and the hundreds of ARISS volunteers worldwide, the ARISS team has
reached a tremendous milestone: 1000 ARISS contacts between schools on the
ground and the ISS crews on orbit," he said. "Since our first contact in
December 2000 to today's contact in North Dakota, hundreds of thousands of
students have participated in the hands-on STEM learning that ARISS affords,
and many millions from the general public have witnessed human spaceflight in
action through an ARISS contact."

During the 10-minute ARISS contact Kopra answered 20 questions posed by young
people ranging from kindergarten to graduate school.

Veteran astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, marveled at the number of contacts
completed to date. "A thousand contacts. Who would have ever thought?" he said
in a NASA video marking the milestone. "That means a thousand times we've had
a chance to reach down to Planet Earth to make contact and to inspire the next
generation of explorers. So, I congratulate the ARISS program."

Astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI -- one of Kopra's crew mates on the ISS -- said in
another NASA video marking the milestone that talking to schools via Amateur
Radio has been "one of the most rewarding activities" of his time in space.

Ahead of the actual contact, a consortium team led youngsters at participating
schools in hands-on activities and learning about aerospace, priming them for
the interview with Kopra. The students, many from smaller rural communities,
built and launched rockets, crafted and tested parachutes similar to those on
NASA's Orion capsule, and designed and tested neutral buoyant objects. Read
more.


Over the Horizon Radars Becoming Routine Visitors on Amateur HF Bands

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (Europe/Africa) Monitoring
System (IARUMS) has reported a spate of over the horizon (OTH) radar signals
on various Amateur Radio HF bands -- exclusive and shared. Many of these
signals are being heard outside of the Region 1 confines.

A 50 kHz wide Russian OTH radar has been heard in the evening on 80 meters,
often in the CW part of the band. An "often long-lasting" Russian OTH signal
about 13 kHz wide is being heard on the 7000-7100 kHz segment of 40 meters,
while some digital traffic (FSK or PSK), and a "Codar-like radar from the Far
East" are being heard in the 7000-7200 kHz segment as well as non-amateur CW
transmissions.

The same OTH radar being heard on 40 meters also is appearing on 20 meters,
along with digital traffic in FSK or PSK and on CW and broadband OTH radar
signals from China. Some monitoring reports are intriguing, such as this one
on 14.280 MHz from IARU Region 1 Monitoring System Coordinator Wolf Hadel,
DK2OM: "Female voice with encrypted msgs -- figures -- 'SZRU' = Foreign
Intelligence Service of Ukraine in Rivne -- every Wednesday at 1005 UTC."

Broadband OTH radars from China, Australia, Cyprus, and Turkey have been
monitored in 15 meters. On 10 meters, radars from Iran with FM CW and
different sweep rates have been monitored, as well as fishery buoys on CW, and
taxi operations on voice from Russia.

Voice traffic from fishing operations has been heard on all or most HF bands,
as have a variety of broadcasters, including the third harmonic of Radio Tajik
(4765 kHz) on 14.295 MHz, Radio Taiwan and Myanmar Radio, both on 7.200 MHz,
and Radio Hargeysa in Somalia on 7.120 MHz.

The February 2016 IARU Region 1 Monitoring System newsletter offers more
details. There is an online archive of past issues. -- Thanks to the IARU
Region 1 Monitoring System


National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Sessions to be Live Streamed

Sessions focusing on the role of Amateur Radio in major weather events will be
a part the 2016 National Hurricane Conference, set for later this month in
Orlando, Florida. The goal of the annual conference is to improve hurricane
preparedness. Attendance is free to all Amateur Radio sessions, which will
take place Tuesday, March 22, from 1:30 until 5 PM ET (1830-2200 UTC). Amateur
Radio presentations will be live streamed via YouTube and recorded.

At the 1:30 PM session, National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb will
discuss the importance of Amateur Radio surface reporting. Other presenters
will include Bob Robichaud, VE1MBR, of the Canadian Hurricane Centre, who will
speak on hurricane meteorology and give a brief overview of his center's
operation, and WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Station Coordinator Julio
Ripoll, WD4R, who will talk about activities at WX4NHC, the National Hurricane
Center's Amateur Radio station.

The 2 PM session will feature presentations from Hurricane Watch Net (HWN)
Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, discussing the HWN, personal weather stations,
and back-up power and antennas; VoIP Hurricane Net director of operations and
ARRL ARES Eastern Massachusetts Assistant SEC Rob Macedo, KD1CY, on the VoIP
Hurricane Net and best practices in SKYWARN tropical systems, and ARRL
Assistant Emergency Preparedness Manager Ken Bailey, K1FUG, who will offer an
ARRL beginner's course in Amateur Radio hurricane preparedness.

A question-and-answer session will follow the presentations.

The National Hurricane Conference takes place March 21-24 at the Hilton
Orlando. Some 2000 attendees are expected.


Young Connecticut Ham Off to an Award-Winning Start

Fifteen-year-old Matt Shea, KC1DLY, had no Amateur Radio ticket 1 year ago.
Today, he's an Amateur Extra class licensee and already holds two of the
League's flagship operating awards -- DXCC and Worked All States (WAS). His
100 W station is quite modest, with a 35-foot end-fed wire in the attic for
his antenna (and he even operates on 160 meters!). He confirmed all of the
contacts necessary for the two awards using Logbook of The World (LoTW). ARRL
CEO-Elect Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, on March 7 congratulated Shea and presented
him with his awards.

"I play radio daily and absolutely love it," Shea, a high school sophomore in
Southington, Connecticut, said on his QRZ.com profile. In addition to ham
radio, he's on the Southington High School Robotics Team, and he's been busy
recruiting new radio amateurs among his friends at school. "I am hoping to get
a few more new hams on the air to keep the great hobby going!" he said. --
Thanks to Sean Kutzko, KX9X


Former DX QSL Manager Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP, SK

Well-known QSL manager for DX stations and a former manager of the Third Call
Area QSL Bureau Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP, of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, died on
March 12 after a period of failing health. An ARRL member, she was 91. DX
chasers during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s likely received QSL cards from DX
stations for which she handled QSLing duties.

In 2005, the ARRL Executive Committee voted unanimously to name Crider the
recipient of ARRL President's Award for her contributions to the cause of
international goodwill through her long service as a QSL manager and as
manager of the ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau. When she stepped
down, the National Capitol DX Association (NCDXA) took over the bureau, with
noted DXer Fred Laun, K3ZO, at the helm. At the time, Laun cited Crider's
"encyclopedic knowledge of DXCC entities and call sign prefixes...built by her
work in the trenches, as illustrated by her DXCC confirmed total of 360
entities."

Before she became the bureau's manager, Crider served as a sorter for 11
years. Among the DX operators she served as QSL manager was King Hussein of
Jordan, JY1, and she made several trips to Jordan to visit him.

Crider was licensed as a Novice in 1967. Her late husband was W3GE (ex-W3HTO).

A service is set for Saturday, March 19. -- Thanks to Glenn Kurzenknabe,
K3SWZ, Kay Craigie, N3KN, and to The Daily DX


In Brief...

ARRL 2016 August UHF Contest Cancelled: The ARRL August UHF Contest for 2016
has been cancelled, while the ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization Committee mulls
its future. The Contest Revitalization Committee fielded dozens of comments
from members concerning possible changes to this annual UHF operating event,
traditionally held on the first weekend of August each year. Many commenters
expressed dissatisfaction with the timing of the contest, occurring as it does
at the hottest time of the year, and that it was too close on the calendar to
other VHF/UHF events. In response to this member input, the Contest
Revitalization Committee recommended to the Programs and Services Committee
(PSC) that the 2016 August UHF Contest be cancelled, and the PSC agreed. The
ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization Committee continues to study the possibility
of redesigning the August UHF Contest or replacing it with a similar event at
another point in the calendar -- possibly in the spring -- for 2017. The
Committee will solicit member comments in the near future, as it weighs
several alternatives.

Boston Marathon Communications Committee Seeks Additional Amateur Radio
Volunteers: Registration for Boston Marathon Amateur Radio volunteers remains
open with assignments available for new volunteers with a passion for public
service as well as for experienced hands. The Boston Athletic Association
(BAA) sponsors the marathon, and preparations are in high gear for the April
18 Patriots' Day event. Each spring, some 300 trained Amateur Radio volunteers
staff the event, providing vital communication services over the entire
26-mile course. Amateur Radio volunteers are recruited, selected, and managed
by the BAA's Communications Committee. The marathon attracts approximately
30,000 runners and 10,000 volunteers. Registration is easy and one-stop. Visit
the Boston Marathon Amateur Radio Communications website for more information.
-- Thanks to Brett Smith, AB1RL, BAA Communications Committee Volunteer
Coordinator

Russian "Inventors of Telecommunications" Stations on the Air: Special event
stations in Russia will be on the air from March 16 until June 16 as part of
the international scientific-educational radio marathon called "Inventors of
Telecommunications," established by the Russian Geographical Society and
supported by radio clubs and Amateur Radio operators. There will be awards and
certificates. Each RT73-prefix station represents a historical figure in the
area of telecommunications or electronics. For example, RT73BA represents
Alexander Graham Bell, RT73EA represents Edwin Howard Armstrong, RT73VZ
represents Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin, and RT73NT represents Nikola Tesla
(photo). -- Thanks to The Daily DX


The K7RA Solar Update

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Solar indicators were lower this week, while
geomagnetic indicators were higher.

Compared to the previous 7 days, average daily sunspot numbers in our
reporting week (March 10-16) dropped by 12.7 points to 51.7, and average daily
solar flux was down by 3.2 points to 93.6. The average planetary A index was
up by 2.8 points to 15.7, and the average mid-latitude A index increased from
8.6 to 12.

The latest forecast has predicted solar flux at 95 on March 17-19; 90 on March
20-21; 85 on March 22-23; 95 on March 24-28; 100 on March 29-31; 95 on April
1-9; 93 on April 10; 90 on April 11-15; 95 on April 16-17, and 90 on April
18-19. Flux values then rise to 100 on April 25-27.

The predicted planetary A index is 14, 8, and 5 on March 17-19; 4, 6, and 8 on
March 20-22; 5 on March 23-31, and 8, 30, 25, and 8 on April 1-4. The
planetary A index rises to 25 on April 11, and to 30 on April 29.

Sunspot numbers for March 10 through 16 were 61, 48, 56, 43, 57, 44, and 53,
with a mean of 51.7. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 95, 94.2, 95, 92.6, 93.4,
94.1, and 91, with a mean of 93.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 10, 23,
13, 4, 14, 24, and 22, with a mean of 15.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices
were 7, 21, 11, 4, 11, 17, and 13, with a mean of 12.

Send me your reports and observations.

____________________________________________________________________________


Just Ahead in Radiosport

 *  March 19 -- AGCW VHF/UHF Contest (CW)
 *  March 19 -- Feld Hell Sprint
 *  March 19-20 -- SARL VHF/UHF Analog/Digital
 *  March 19-20 --F9AA Cup (SSB)
 *  March 19-20 -- Russian DX Contest (CW, SSB)
 *  March 19-20 -- Louisiana QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
 *  March 19-20 -- Virginia QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
 *  March 19-21 -- BARTG HF RTTY Contest
 *  March 20 -- UBA Spring Contest (SSB)
 *  March 21 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
 *  March 23 -- SKCC Sprint (CW)
 *  March 24 -- RSGB 80 Meter Club Championship (SSB)

See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth reporting on
Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest Update via your ARRL
member profile e-mail preferences.


Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events

 *  March 11-12 -- Louisiana State Convention, Rayne, Louisiana
 *  March 18-19 -- South Texas Section Convention, Rosenburg, Texas
 *  March 19 -- West Texas Section Convention, Midland, Texas
 *  March 19 -- MicroHAMS Digital Conference, Redmond, Washington
 *  March 25-26 -- Maine State Convention, Lewiston, Maine
 *  April 1-2 -- OzarkCon QRP Conference, Branson, Missouri
 *  April 2 -- Delta Division Convention, Fort Smith, Arkansas
 *  April 2 -- North Carolina Section Convention, Raleigh, North Carolina
 *  April 2 -- Wisconsin Section Convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 *  April 8-9 -- Oklahoma State Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma
 *  April 9-10 -- Communications Academy, Seattle, Washington
 *  April 15-17 -- International DX Convention, Visalia, California
 *  April 15-17 -- VHF Super Conference, Sterling, Virginia
 *  April 16 -- Delaware State Convention, Georgetown, Delaware
 *  April 22-24 -- Idaho State Convention, Boise, Idaho
 *  April 23 -- Aurora '16 Conference, White Bear Lake, Minnesota
 *  April 23 -- Nebraska State Convention, Lincoln, Nebraska
 *  April 29-May 1 -- Nevada State Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada
 *  May 7 -- South Carolina Section Convention, Spartanburg, South Carolina
 *  May 13-15 -- Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Keystone, Colorado
 *  May 14 -- Iowa State Convention, Boone, Iowa
 *  May 20-22 -- Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, Ohio

Find conventions and hamfests in your area.

____________________________________________________________________________


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)\/(ark

Always Mount a Scratch Monkey

... It doesn't have to make sense! It just has to work.
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 * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)