*************** The ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 28 July 13, 2007 *************** IN THIS EDITION: * + FCC Releases Post-Katrina Order, "Final Rule" * + ARRL EXPO at 2007 National Convention in Huntsville * + Amateur Radio Now Legal in all Texas Public Schools * + FCC Dismisses Three Amateur Station Identification Change Requests * + ARES Members Serve Firefighting Efforts in California * + Oklahoma ARES Members Assist with Floods * Solar Update * IN BRIEF: + ARRL Board Meets July 20-21 This Weekend on the Radio ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Course Registration + VE2XPO on the Air Again 40 Years Later DXCC Honor Roll, DX Phone Contest Coverage in QST ARRL Membership Newsletters, Bulletins and Notifications Field Day a PR Success Howard Lester, W2ODC (SK) Let Us Know +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: S. Khrystyne Keane, <k1sfa@arrl.org> =========================================================== ==> FCC Releases Post-Katrina Order, "Final Rule" On July 11, the FCC released their Order regarding the recommendations of the independent panel reviewing the impact of Hurricane Katrina on communications networks (the Katrina Panel). It contained their conclusions following a review of the comments filed in response to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The Commission asked for comments a week after the release of the report and recommendations of the Katrina Panel and directed the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) to implement several of the recommendations. The FCC also adopted rules requiring some communications providers to have emergency/back-up power and to conduct analyses and submit reports on the redundancy and resiliency of their 911 and E911 networks. The FCC's actions are to go into effect August 10. The Commission noted that "the amateur radio community played an important role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters," and instructed the PSHSB to "include the amateur radio community in its outreach efforts." The FCC invited comments on the Katrina Panel's recommendation that the FCC "act to enhance the public safety community's awareness of non-traditional emergency alternative technologies that might be of value as back-up communications systems in a crisis." Several commenters suggested that the public safety community be educated about the applicability of Amateur Radio in a crisis. The FCC agreed with these comments, saying that improving the public safety community's knowledge of, and training in, alternative technologies would improve preparedness for future crises. They directed the PSHSB to "develop and implement an awareness program to educate public safety agencies about alternative technologies and to encourage agencies to provide regular training on any alternative technologies to be used," including educating public safety agencies about alternative technologies. The recommendations said that several Amateur Radio operators recommended changes to Part 97 of the FCC's rules; Part 97 is the section that covers Amateur Radio. Many of the suggestions, the report said, have already been implemented, and as such, require no further action. For example, "the Commission recently eliminated Morse Code proficiency as a license qualification requirement, an action supported by several commenters in this proceeding." The FCC once again made clear that Part 97 "does not prohibit Amateur Radio operators who are emergency personnel engaged in disaster relief from using their amateur radio bands while in a paid duty status." This changed this past December in WT Docket 04-140, the "Omnibus" Amateur Radio Report and Order (R&O). The Commission also previously decided to phase out RACES station licenses, "making proposed changes to rules relevant to these licenses moot." ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, notes that the FCC "is not phasing out the RACES program, just the RACES station licenses." In his comments to the Katrina Panel, W. Lee McVey requested that the FCC initiate a rulemaking to create a new radio service in the 148-150 MHz band "to facilitate interoperability between different first responders during and following a national emergency." The FCC noted that the 148-149.9 MHz band is allocated on a primary basis for the federal mixed, mobile and mobile satellite (Earth-to-space) service, and the 149-150.05 MHz segment is allocated on a co-primary basis for federal and non-federal mobile satellite (Earth-to-space) and radio navigation. The FCC's report said "[This] petition does not address this use nor does it explain what rules would be necessary to govern access to this spectrum. Given the potential impact of McVey's proposal to spectrum allocated for federal use, we direct PSHSB, together with the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), to seek feedback from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on this petition." The FCC said that when it receives the feedback, they will direct PSHSB and OET to make a determination on the appropriate action to be taken on McVey's petition. ==> ARRL EXPO at 2007 National Convention in Huntsville Join the ARRL in Huntsville, Alabama the weekend of August 18-19, 2007 for the ARRL National Convention, held at the Huntsville Hamfest, in the all air-conditioned Von Braun Center. The Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Conference (GAREC) will meet in Huntsville prior to the hamfest on Thursday and Friday, August 16-17. This year, the ARRL is pulling out all the stops in planning the National Convention. According to ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, "ARRL will have a big exhibit on the convention floor for ARRL EXPO 2007. The ARRL EXPO was first introduced as a major component of the 2005 National Convention in Dayton, Ohio. We're excited to bring this exposition to Huntsville." This special exhibit area will feature ARRL program representatives, activities, presentations and the huge ARRL bookstore. Get a free gift when you join or renew your ARRL membership at the ARRL EXPO. Plan on picking up a free 2007 National Convention button and frequency chart, as well as free copies of QST, NCJ and QEX (while supplies last). See live presentations every half hour at the ARRL Stage, and hear from ARRL volunteers and staff on a variety of topics. ARRL EXPO is equipped with wireless Internet. Any laptop or device equipped for wireless will enjoy Internet access within the ARRL EXPO vicinity. ARRL EXPO will also include a small Internet cafe with computers set up to browse. Access your e-mail and the Internet. Surf away -- compliments of ARRL. Last year, more than 4000 people attended the Huntsville Hamfest; organizers expect 2007's attendance to top 5000, with more than 40 vendors displaying their Amateur Radio wares. Almost 400 tables will be available for rental. Unlike many other hamfests, the flea market is in an air-conditioned building, something much appreciated in Alabama in August. An exciting forums schedule is in store. Dr David Hathaway, a nationally known and well-respected expert on Sunspot activity and solar cycles, will be speaking. Also, Dr Monte Bateman will return to the hamfest this year. He's NASA's "Go-to Guy" when it comes to weather, specializing in lightning strike predictions and prevention. In the past, his forums have been standing-room only as he discusses lightning prevention as a it applies to Amateur Radio. Along with, and in conjunction with the National Young Ham of the Year awards, Rebekah Dorff, WG4Y (2006's National YHOTY), will host Alabama's YHOTY activities, including a youth lounge for young hams, and prospective or new hams. The YHOTY for 2007, Grant Morine, W4GHM, is expected to be on hand to receive his award. On Saturday, August 18, The ARRL Alabama Section will host a reception for Southeastern Division Director Frank M. Butler Jr, W4RH, honoring Frank's dedication and longtime service to ARRL and Amateur Radio. There will also be a D-STAR users' meeting and reception on Saturday evening from 6-8, hosted by the Alabama D-STAR Group. New and experienced D-STAR users are invited to attend to learn about D-STAR networks and to meet other users and digital technology experimenters. A DX Banquet is also planned for Saturday at 6:30 PM. Bob Allphin, K4UEE, will speak on the VU7 Lakshadweep DXpedition. Tickets are $29 per person. For more information on the ARRL National Convention, please see <http://www.arrl.org/announce/nc/2007/huntsville.html>. To find out more about the Huntsville Hamfest, please see <http://www.hamfest.org/>. ==> Amateur Radio Now Legal in all Texas Public Schools In what can only be termed a huge victory for the future of Amateur Radio in Texas, Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 11 (SB11) into law in June. Among many disaster response specifications, the new law contains two important Amateur Radio-related provisions: State employees who are ham radio operators may to take up to 10 days of paid leave while participating in a disaster response or training exercise, and Amateur Radio is now allowed in all Texas public schools. A single sentence in Article 2 of SB11 modifies the legal definition of a banned paging device by adding the following ham radio exception: "The term does not include an Amateur Radio under the control of an operator who holds an Amateur Radio Station License issued by the Federal Communications Commission." Texas is the first state to enact such a sweeping change allowing school-based ham radio programs statewide. It is hoped that similar measures will be enacted in other states. Local clubs in Texas are urged to contact their school boards and encourage them to bring school policies regarding student possession of RF devices into compliance with the new law. A decades-old provision in the Texas Education Code (Section 37.082) long ago granted Texas schools blanket authority to ban student possession of all RF devices, including ham radios. The old law was originally enacted with the best of intentions, but had unintended negative consequences both for student safety and for the cause of Amateur Radio. More than 20 years ago Texas -- like many states at the time -- passed a law granting schools sweeping authority to ban student possession of "paging devices." The original intent of the law was to prevent on-campus drug dealers from communicating with one another using now-obsolete numeric pagers. Cut off their communication, the logic went, and drugs on campus would be seriously curtailed. The old law broadly defined a prohibited "paging device" as any RF device which had the ability to vibrate, emit a sound, display a message, or in any way convey a communication to the possessor. There was no exception for school-based Amateur Radio programs or clubs. Practically all Texas schools immediately exercised their newly granted right by banning all RF devices to the maximum extent allowed by law -- and sometimes to a greater extent than the law allowed. The result of the old law was that in most Texas schools, starting a ham radio club was simply out of the question. Existing ham radio programs were even removed from some San Antonio area schools as a direct result of the old law. Although schools can still have basic rules of classroom decorum to insure that ham radio activities do not disturb academic instruction, SB 11 effectively puts ham radio programs on the same legal footing with all other student-initiated clubs and activities. Texas school teachers are now free to start ham radio programs. Students are now free to form school-based ham radio clubs. Individual students who have a ham license are even legally allowed to possess ham radios at school regardless of whether a club exists yet. SB11 takes effect on September 1. -- James Alderman, KF5WT ==> FCC Dismisses Three Amateur Station Identification Change Requests On July 10, the FCC dismissed three separate petitions to Section 97.119 of the Commission's Rules. These petitions requested changes to the way amateur stations are identified. Two of the petitions requested that the time interval between required identification announcements be changed, while the third petition requested that certain combinations of letters be reserved for use by current or former members of the armed forces when identifying their amateur service stations. The FCC said that "[b]ecause the petitioners seek to amend the rules to permit activity that the current rules already permit, or do not present sufficient evidence to justify altering the current rules, we are dismissing all three petitions." Section 97.119(a) of the Commission's Rules provides that an amateur station "must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every 10 minutes during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making the source of the transmissions from the station known to those receiving the transmissions." Murray Green, K3BEQ, of Cheverly, Maryland, filed a Petition for Rulemaking (PRM) asking the FCC to amend Section 97.119(a), requesting the FCC to reduce the required frequency of station identification to every 30 minutes, rather than once every 10 minutes. Green's petition received approximately 100 comments, with the majority of those commenting in opposition to the petition. The FCC, on finding that the present rule has not been shown to be burdensome or unreasonable, said they were not persuaded by comments that support expanding the interval between required identification to 15 or 20 minutes. The FCC's response went on to say "that requiring a station receiving another station's transmission to listen for up to 30 minutes to determine the call sign of the transmitting station would compromise the ability of the amateur service to self-police, especially in light of the fact that other methods of identifying the station, such as looking up the station call sign based on the operating frequency, are not available because amateur stations do not operate on specifically assigned frequencies. It therefore is reasonable to require amateur station identification more frequently than is required of stations in other services." The Commission noted that "a hallmark of enforcement in the amateur service is 'self-policing,' which depends on an amateur station hearing a message being able to determine the call sign of the transmitting station." The FCC concluded that "proposing to increase the time between required station identification transmissions would not improve or enhance the operation of amateur service stations or otherwise be in the public interest," and dismissed Green's petition. Glen Zook, K9STH, of Richardson, Texas, filed a separate PRM, requesting that the Commission amend Section 97.119(a) to require that the call sign be transmitted at the beginning and end of each single transmission, as well as at the beginning and end of a series of transmissions between stations having established communications when each transmission is less than three minutes in duration. He also requested that the FCC amend the rule to require that the call sign be preceded by the words "this is" or "from" when voice communication is being transmitted, and require that the call sign be preceded by the prosign "de" when telegraphy is being transmitted. The FCC agreed with the majority of commenters in the Zook petition, calling the proposed rules change "unnecessary and...burdensome." Saying that identifying before every transmission could "lead to congestion, such as during a contest when many amateur operators are trying to contact a distant station," the petition "does not demonstrate that so revising the station identification requirement would address the primary concern expressed by the petitioner -- that many Amateur Radio operators do not identify their station timely or at all." The FCC said they agreed with the comments that say, in various ways, "that the problem of station operators not complying with the present rule is better addressed by enforcement of the present rule, rather than a rule change. Finally, we note that while the current rule does not require identification at the beginning of a communication, many amateur stations already routinely begin a transmission with their call sign." As such, the Zook petition was dismissed. The Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) filed a PRM requesting that Section 97.119(c) be amended to permit an Amateur Radio operator who is a "current or honorably discharged member of the United States military to include a unique indicator with the station's call sign identification announcement." Section 97.119(c) of the Commission's Rules permits the inclusion of indicators with the call sign during station identification, provided that no self-assigned indicator conflicts with any indicator specified by the Commission's rules or with any prefix assigned to another country. The QCWA, in support of their proposal, noted that "many Amateur Radio operators are serving or have served in the United States military, or became Amateur Radio operators during or following their military training in communications and electronics, and it states that this proposal would afford those individuals the option to advise others of their military service when they identify their amateur stations on the air." Specifically, QCWA requested that the indicators AF, AA, NA, NM and ACG be reserved for use by current or honorably discharged members of the United States Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, respectively. The FCC dismissed this petition, saying that "Amateur Radio operators who are current or honorably discharged members of the United States military already are permitted to identify their stations in the way QCWA suggests." The Commission went on to say that the QCWA "seeks to regularize the use of its proposed indicators to increase their recognition, the amateur community may do so without any change to the amateur service rules." As such, the FCC deemed such a rule change unnecessary and dismissed the QCWA's petition. ==> ARES Members Serve Firefighting Efforts in California Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members are assisting firefighters on the Zaca Fire, in Los Padres National Forest. More than 6500 acres of the forest are affected. The forest stretches across almost 220 miles from the Big Sur Coast in Monterey County to the western edge of Los Angeles County. ARES members from Santa Maria, in Santa Barbara County, are staffing roadblocks at the intersection of Figueroa Mountain Road and SR 154 and at the intersection of Happy Cyn and Baseline Roads. The roadblocks were established at the request of Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The fire, which began July 4, is believed to be human caused, according to the US Forest Service. As of now, it is 37 percent contained. The fire has now burned into the San Rafael wilderness, with the north flank of the fire currently burning in heavy, 40 year old fuels with a high dead to live ratio. Fuel moisture levels are extremely low and at a point that is usually not seen until late summer. Humidity is high, hovering at around 78 percent. According to Donna Tooth of the US Forest Service, the fire is continuing to back down to the Sisquoc River. Plans are in the works to contain this portion of the fire, preventing it from spreading into areas that have not been burned since 1966. On its eastern side, the fire is burning along the Manzana Creek and has hit a portion of the Marre Fire of 1993. Firefighters are taking advantage of the younger vegetation and are attempting to "turn the corner" by applying direct line construction techniques. Firefighters are holding the fire on the north side of the San Rafael Ridge, south of the Sisquoc River and east of School House Canyon. The fire is threatening the Cody Cabin and the historic Manzana School House. Fire commanders say the fire could grow significantly larger in the next 12-24 hours, and project containment will require 14 days or more. ==> Oklahoma ARES Members Assist with Floods Due to record rainfall in June and July in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, many rivers and streams were already swollen or flooding. On July 2, nearly 15 inches of rain fell in southern Kansas, causing widespread flooding and damage and sending torrents of floodwater downstream into northeastern Oklahoma. On July 5, the American Red Cross requested the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) to provide communications support for their damage assessment teams in those flooded areas of Northeast Oklahoma. The Caney River, which flows through the city of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 60 miles north of Tulsa, overflowed its banks, causing flood damage to homes and businesses within the city, as well as widespread flooding in the farm lands in other parts of Washington County. In Miami, Oklahoma, 70 miles east of Bartlesville, the Neosho River crested as it snaked in and around the community. Water up to 10 feet deep filled homes and businesses and blocked roads and highways. ARES set up a Net Control Station, and Amateur Radio operators equipped with handheld transceivers and magnet mount antennas rode along with each Red Cross Damage assessment team as they surveyed the flood damage in Northeastern Oklahoma. An ARES Rapid Response Team (RRT) from Tulsa, led by Larry Holden, KC5KLM, began the operation and the primary group assisting with the response. Operations to survey to damage began on July 6 in Bartlesville and continued July 7 in Miami. The ARES team used the Bartlesville Amateur Radio Club's repeater and set up a temporary repeater in Miami to aid with communications between the teams in the field and the Net Control Station. Jeff Lawson, American Red Cross team leader for the damage assessment teams, praised the ARES team's professional communication work. ==>SOLAR UPDATE Tad "Sun(spot) on My Shoulders" Cook, K7RA, this week reports: The average of daily sunspot numbers for this reporting week, July 5-11, were about the same as the previous seven days, declining slightly by less than two points. We've seen no zero sunspot days since an 11-day spotless period ended on June 25. If sunspot numbers continue at this level and higher, it will become easier to convince ourselves that the sunspot minimum is already behind us. Predicted planetary A index for July 13-19 is 8, 10, 8, 8, 8, 15 and 20. For the same period, Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet to unsettled conditions for July 13, unsettled July 14, quiet July 15-17 and unsettled July 18-19. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>. __________________________________ ==>IN BRIEF: * ARRL Board of Directors to Meet July 20-21: The ARRL Board of Directors will be in Windsor, Connecticut for the second 2007 meeting. ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said that the Board will be looking at the progress toward achieving the League's legislative objectives, among other things. On Thursday, July 19 at 1900 UTC, there will be a brief and informal dedication of the ARRL Diamond Terrace at ARRL HQ. ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, and Sumner will be on hand to assist with a ribbon cutting ceremony. * This weekend on the radio: This weekend, the big event is the IARU HF World Championship, from 1200 UTC July 14-1200 UTC July 15. On July 13, the NCCC Sprint Ladder is on the air, and on July 14, look for the FISTS Summer Sprint. The Colorado QSO Party is on July 15-16, while the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is on July 16. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint and the RSGB 80 Meter Club Championship (Data) are on July 19. Next week, look for the NCCC Sprint Ladder on July 20 and the VK/Trans-Tasman 160 Meter Contest (CW) on July 21. The North American QSO Party (RTTY) and the CQ World Wide VHF Contest are July 21-22. On July 22, the SKCC Weekend Sprint and RSGB Low Power Field Day are on the air. See the ARRL Contest Branch page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/>, the ARRL Contester's Rate Sheet <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet/> 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, July 22 for these online courses beginning on Friday August 3: 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). To learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the Continuing Education Program Coordinator <cce@arrl.org>. * VE2XPO on the Air Again 40 Years Later: Forty years ago, in April 1967, more than 50 million people from five continents visited the Universal and International Exhibition (Expo 67), the World's Fair, in Montreal, Quebec Canada. Roland Masse, VE2PX, and the Radio Amateurs of Quebec (RAQI) set up and operated Amateur Radio station VE2XPO from Ste-Helene Island at the exhibition. Their first contact was with W1AW. More than 6000 contacts were made during the exhibition. Now, 40 years later, VE2XPO will be on the air again on all bands from July 13-29 using CW and SSB. It is planned for the first contact to be W1AW, just as it was 40 years ago. Masse, now 85 years old, and VE2XPO are looking to contact many US Amateur Radio stations. There will be a special QSL card -- QSL via Jacques Dube, VE2QK, 875 St-Severe, Trois Rivieres, Quebec G9A 4G4, Canada. * DXCC Honor Roll, DX Phone Contest Coverage in QST: The DXCC Honor Roll listing, which normally appears in the August issue, will be in the September 2007 issue of QST. In addition, the ARRL International DX Phone Contest Results that normally appear in the September issue will instead appear in October. * ARRL Membership Newsletters, Bulletins and Notifications: Did you know the ARRL offers more newsletters than just The ARRL Letter? One of the many ARRL membership benefits includes other newsletters, such as the ARRL Contest Rate Sheet (a bi-weekly contest newsletter), the ARES E-Letter (sent monthly, containing public service and emergency communications news), the ARRL Club News (monthly club news), the ARRL Instructor/Teacher E-Letter and the IARU E-Letter. You can also elect to receive news and information from your Division Director and Section Manager (keep in mind that not all Divisions/Sections send notices), as well as W1AW bulletins that relate to DX, propagation, satellites and Keplerian reports. The ARRL also offers a free notification service to members, letting them know when their membership and license are due to expire. Sign up for these newsletters, bulletins and notifications on the Member Data page of the ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html>. * Field Day a PR Success: If you happen to be familiar with ARRL HQ, you may remember a very large bulletin board in the downstairs hallway. It is currently wallpapered with listings of Field Day media hits -- not even the items themselves, just lists of them: newspapers, radio, TV, blogs, Web sites, videos and special Public Service Announcements. ARRL Media and PR Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, said "The problem is that there is not enough space to put everything up because there are even more pages of listings to post and they are still coming in! In addition, not only were there more hits than ever, the quality of the hits was significantly improved. Articles and stories were longer, and had pictures and better information. The credit for this avalanche goes directly to the hundreds of Public Information Officers and club members who took the time to advocate Amateur Radio for us all. It seems that clubs and groups were out for more than just the FD publicity points -- they wanted real PR this year, and they got it!" * Howard Lester, W2ODC (SK): Howard Lester, W2ODC, died on April 16, 2007, in Alplaus, New York. He was 83. A Fellow of the Radio Club of America, he was one of the inventors of color television at RCA, and one of the inventors of tracking radar that locks onto moving targets. He worked with General Electric and Ericsson of Sweden to develop the basis of much of today's cellular telephone networking technology. A US Navy veteran, Lester taught radio and radar classes at the Navy Pier in Chicago during World War II. Lester was a member of the Schenectady Amateur Radio Association and the ARRL; he had an Amateur Extra class license and a First Class Radiotelephone license from the FCC. Lester was a 51-year member of the Alplaus Volunteer Fire Company, and served for many years as a firefighter, as well as on the Fire District Board of Commissioners and in the Fire Police. He frequently consulted on radio communications for the fire service in and around Schenectady County. Lester is survived by his wife Ruth; his brother Donald and sister Margaret Dalheim; sons, Carl, David, Donald and Eric; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. * Let Us Know: What's your favorite part of The ARRL Letter? What kind of stories would you like to see in the Letter? Would you prefer the Letter in an HTML format? This is your Letter and your chance to let your voice be heard. Please send your suggestions to ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, at k1sfa@arrl.org, with the subject line "ARRL Letter Suggestions." All messages will be read and discussed, and we look forward to implementing positive suggestions into the ARRL Letter. =========================================================== 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. ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a weekly "ham radio newscast" compiled and edited from The ARRL Letter. It's also available as a podcast from our Web site. Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given to The ARRL Letter/American Radio Relay League. ==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!): letter-dlvy@arrl.org ==>Editorial questions or comments: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, k1sfa@arrl.org ==>ARRL News on the Web: <http://www.arrl.org/> ==>ARRL Audio News: <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> or call 860-594-0384 ==>How to Get The ARRL Letter The ARRL Letter is available to ARRL members free of charge directly from ARRL HQ. To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your address for e-mail delivery: ARRL members first must register on the Members Only Web Site <http://www.arrl.org/members/>. You'll have an opportunity during registration to sign up for e-mail delivery of The ARRL Letter, W1AW bulletins, and other material. To change these selections--including delivery of The ARRL Letter--registered members should click on the "Member Data Page" link (in the Members Only box). Click on "Modify membership data," check or uncheck the appropriate boxes and/or change your e-mail address if necessary. (Check "Temporarily disable all automatically sent email" to temporarily stop all e-mail deliveries.) Then, click on "Submit modification" to make selections effective. (NOTE: HQ staff members cannot change your e-mail delivery address. You must do this yourself via the Members Only Web Site.) The ARRL Letter also is available to all, free of charge, from these sources: * ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>. 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