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ARRL News
March 23, 2009

FCC Clarifies What Constitutes an Amateur Radio Repeater

In December 2007, Gary Mitchell, WB6YRU, President of the Northern California Packet Association (NCPA), filed a Petition with the FCC, asking for the Commission to clarify the definition of a repeater. According to Part 97, Section 3(a)(39), A repeater in the amateur service is “[a]n amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels.”

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60th Annual International DX Convention

Date:
April 17-19, 2009

Location:
Visalia Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center
9000 W. Airport Drive
Visalia, California 93277

Contact:
www.dxconvention.org

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EMCOMM West/Pacificon 2009

Overview:

1. Pacificon’09, the ARRL Pacific Division Convention, is part of EMCOMMWEST this year! The Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club has decided to not sponsor the Pacificon Convention this year.
2. The banquet speaker at EMCOMMWEST/PACIFICON’09 will be none other than Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH, who was in charge of Amateur radio enforcement at the FCC when he retired.
3. Our ARRL keynote speaker will be Steve Ewald, WV1X, Public Service Coordinator from ARRL Headquarters in Newington CT, who brings a wealth of knowledge from headquarters and the latest buzz on whats happening in amateur radio. Steve was here in 2002, so welcome back Steve!
4. Special event station N7V will be active from EMCOMMWEST/Pacificon’09
5. There will be a a special ” HAM CRAM” followed by VE testing for those who want to get an Amateur radio license.
6. While registration is required to attend convention activities, limited registration for admission to the vendor area ONLY will be FREE
7. Mark Spencer WA8SME will be presenting a special “Train the Trainers” course. This will be an advanced course on how to create and present training. The class will be small and intense and available to a very limited number of pre-enrolled students (no walk-ins). Contact Mark at mspencer@arrl.org for more information and to enroll in the class.

Date:
May 1-3, 2009

Location:
CircusCircus Hotel
Reno, Nevada

Website:
http://www.pacificon.org

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ARRL News
March 19, 2009

FCC Denies Petition to Increase Size of Amateur Radio Question Pools

In April 2008, Michael Mancuso, KI4NGN, of Raleigh, North Carolina, filed a petition with the FCC, seeking to increase the size of the question pools that make up the Amateur Radio licensing exams. Mancuso sought to increase the question pool from 10 times the number of questions on an exam to 50 times more questions. On March 19, 2009, the Commission notified Mancuso that it was denying his petition.

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KSL.com
March 19, 2009

Man uses Ham Radio to Rescue Woman

Hal Whiting of St. George was driving in the Arizona desert between the Grand Canyon and the Utah border, looking for an old plane wreckage with his two sons and some friends when they were flagged down by a group of people.

The group said a woman was injured by an ATV rollover and asked for a satellite phone. Whiting didn’t have one but, lucky for them, he’s an amateur ham radio operator.

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ARRL Letter
Volume 28, Number 11
Marh 20, 2009

Burghardt to No Longer Sell Amateur Radio Equipment

On March 16, Jim Smith, W0MJY, owner of Burghardt Amateur Center in Watertown, South Dakota, announced that the company will no longer sell Amateur Radio transceivers and accessories. The company, now called Burghardt Radio Repair, has canceled all backorders. In an e-mail, Smith blamed the current economic conditions for the change that forced the company “to re-evaluate our goals and direction. We will continue to provide radio repair service as it has become a very busy business. Our technicians are very experienced and parts inventories are good. Thank you for your support in the past and we look forward to continuing our relationships through our servicing facility.” Jim Smith’s son, Mike Smith, KC0FTM, told the ARRL that even though the company has had to lay off employees in the past couple of months, “Burghardt will concentrate on service, just like we have been doing since 1973.” Burghardt was founded in 1937 by Stan Burghardt, W0IT (SK), as Burghardt Radio Supply. He sold the company to Smith in 1982, remaining active in the company until January 2002. Burghardt passed away in 2004 at the age of 93.

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ARRL Letter
Volume 28, Number 11
Marh 20, 2009

ARRL YOUTH EDITOR: YOUNG PEOPLE CAN HELP WITH EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS, TOO!

ARRL Youth Editor Duncan MacLachlan, KU0DM, of Prairie Village, Kansas, says many young hams want to help out with  Emergency Communications and ARES activities, but really don’t know where to start. “One disadvantage of being younger hams is the fact that legal guardians are a must for most situations,” MacLachlan said. “While a young ham may not be able to go out and save the day with a handheld transceiver after a large storm, there are many ways they can aid in emergency operations.”

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ARRL Letter
Volume 28, Number 10
March 13th, 2009

Hams to Activate Midway Atoll as K4M in October 2009

Earlier this year, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that they would open Midway Atoll <http://www.fws.gov/midway/> to Amateur Radio operations for two weeks only, from October 5-19, 2009 <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/01/27/10596/>. Tom Harrell, N4XP, of Monroe, Georgia, and Dave Johnson, WB4JTT, of Aitkin, Minnesota, have put together a team of 19 operators from all over the world to activate Midway Atoll for a 10 day period as K4M <http://www.midway2009.com/>. This the first time that USFWS has allowed amateurs to operate from the wildlife refuge since 2002.

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Arizona Daily Star
by: Howard Fischer – Capitol Media Services
March 15th, 2009

Radio ‘hams’ get dialed in against homeowner rules

PHOENIX — Randy Malick knew when he moved into his subdivision seven years ago that the homeowner rules did not allow amateur radio towers.

But he decided to buy a house anyway in the Rancho Vistoso subdivision in Oro Valley, north of Tucson.

Now Malick, who has had a “ham” license since 1991, is at the forefront of a move to persuade state lawmakers to force homeowner associations to allow these towers, regardless of whether his neighbors want them or not.

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Computerworld
by: Mary K. Pratt
March 16, 2009

Future shock: The PC of 2019

For those of you who want the world at your fingertips, the wait is almost over.

The future PC promises to put nearly everything you could need or want right in your palm.

Think of a souped-up version of today’s smartphone, with a monitor that unrolls into a larger screen and a biometric security system that lets you access everything in your professional and personal life from anywhere, with all the data residing in the cloud. Wave it at your car to unlock the door. Order and pay for your morning coffee with a touch of a button. Plug it into a docking station and project that big presentation to your clients. Book a weekend getaway with just a few clicks.

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