January 19th 2010 PROBABLY at La Paloma in Solomon.

Again EAARS is holding a drawing for a gift certificate from among all the members who have paid their dues for 2010 by December 15th, 2009. Larry will be at the next meeting to accept dues or mail your $24 to the club address. The letter MUST be postmarked by December 15th to get in the drawing. There is only one prize.

Milt and Larry went up and install the repeater and antennas with a little help from Murphy. The brand new antenna was bad and the power supply smoked. As soon as the can get back with the replacement parts, the repeater will be on the air.

We are almost done with the printed newsletters. If you have email, please let us send your newsletter via email. The email recipients also receive the ARRL Contest Update, ARRL Letter, and another Ham Mag I receive from F5SLD
The emailed newsletter arrives immediately after it's completed, The print copy arrives after I get to the printer and the post office which is a minimum of 3 or 4 days later

From Amateur Radio Newsline

HAM HAPPENINGS: ANNUAL VOIP CONFERENCE IN LAS VEGAS

The 2010 Voice over Internet Protocol Conference will take place on Saturday, April 10th at the Circus-Circus Conference Area in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is sponsored by Nevada Amateur Radio Repeaters, Inc. which began it in 2002 as the Internet Radio Linking Project or IRLP was starting to grow world wide. Nowadays the conference is open to all forms of VOIP communications, including IRLP, Echo link, D-Star, All Star Link, and various other associated applications. The conference starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs until to 5 p.m. local Las Vegas time. Those interested in presenting a topic should let that be known as they register. Questions to w7aor(at) narri (dot) org. More information about the event along with registration forms are on-line at www.narri.org/voip_registration.html (W7AOR, others) **

Controllers of the SO-67 SumbandilaSat ham radio transponder are looking for input on the best way to utilize the ne ham radio bird. This, because it is a shared payload that cannot be in operation all of the time. In an effort to make this as painless as possible, SO-67 controller Jan Albert, ZR1AJK, is requesting comments on the possible use of regional coordinators to schedule access to SumbandilaSat. Coordinators would be responsible for setting up agenda's in advance for their specific regions. This, while taking into account the pool of possible satellite passes, as well as the need of the bird for local events. The SO-67 Command Station would then simply load the schedules on a weekly basis. Initial focus has on Europe, the Republic of South Africa, South and North America including Canada, Japan and Australia, and New Zealand. Now, ZR1JAK is inviting suggestions for amateur radio use of the SumbandilaSat as it flies over other regions as well. Interested satellite operators are invited to e-mail responses to the AMSAT bulletin board, or if you prefer, to ZR1JAK's work address: jak "at" sunspace "dot" co "dot" za. Amsat News, ZR1JAK) **

To celebrate the launch of China's first amateur satellite called XW-1, AMSAT-China has set up a special event station using the callsign BT3WX. Operations at BT3WX have already commenced and the special event station will remain active until XW-1 is launched. The station plans to operate on all High Frequency amateur bands from 10 to 160 meters and on VHF and UHF amateur satellite bands. On satellites the modes include FM, SSB, CW, RTTY and PACSAT. A specific launch date for XW-1 has not been released as but is expected in mid-December. The satellite's communications payload will include a beacon and three cross band transponders operating in FM, linear, and digital modes. Meantime stations completing two-way communications with BT3WX on 9 different bands and modes can apply for the BT3WX H-F Communications Award. Stations completing two-way communications with BT3WX through at least two different modes of transponders can apply for the BT3WX Satellite Communications Award. (ANS) **

AMSAT is inviting hams worldwide to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2010. Taking part in this event is both fun and quite easy. Just operate CW through any OSCAR satellite between 0000 and 2400 UTC on January 1st 2010, using a straight hand key. There are no other rules, no scoring and no need to send in a log. In keeping with the friendly nature of this event.

In D-X word that Willis Island is back on the air. David Burton reports that he has been assigned to the Bureau of Meteorology station on Willis for the next 6 months and will be operating with the call- sign VK9WBM. His station consists of a Icom IC-718 and an Alinco DX70. He will be activating the HF bands and 6 meters using a 2 element quad. QSL via VK4DMC.

K7WZB and K9WZB will be operating as K2V from the island of St. Croix from December 2nd to the 14th. They will use 160 through 6 meters and will be monitoring 6 most of the time for openings to the United States and Europe. Modes available will be SSB, RTTY, CW and PSK-31 on all bands. QSL via K9WZB, direct only. Further info at QRZ.com under the callsign K2V.

M0JAX is looking for 22 people with a full amateur radio license privileges to join a DXpedition to Bahrain in Leaving in February 2011. He is planning a two week trip based at the InterContinental hotel with eight stations on the air 24 hours a day. Operators will be working in three shifts t keep the stations on the air for the two weeks. I you are interested, send your details and why you think you would be an asset to this DXpedition to the Radio Society of Great Britain and attention RadCom Magazine. Your letters will be passed-on to M0JAX.

The S2DX team is preparing for another DXpedition to St. Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal. The scheduled dates are February 21st to the 25th depending on the dates the licenses that they receive carry. This is the second DXpedition carried out by the group to the same location. They made over 3000 QSO's from there last January.

Purposes: To promote public awareness of ham radio and lighthouses; to contribute to the recognition that lighthouses, lightships, and their keepers deserve; to foster camaraderie within the ham fraternity; and to provide fellowship amongst the members of the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society

Dates & Times: 0001 hrs UTC on Dec. 19, 2009, through 2359 hrs UTC on Jan. 3, 2010.

from ARRL Web

Both MF and HF offer a lot of breathing room for all interests in Amateur Radio. As the 2009-2010 Contest Season continues, two single-band events in December will highlight the magic of the opposite ends of the shortwave spectrum: the ARRL 160 Meter Contest and ARRL 10 Meter Contest

Until relatively recently, operations on 160 meters in the US were limited to certain portions of the band -- as well as different day/night power levels -- due to the LORAN radio-navigation operations that occupied 1.8-2 MHz. Today, amateurs are allowed to run full legal power anywhere on the band.

According to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, many operators have never tried 160 meters -- often called topband -- due to the size requirements of full-size antennas. "A dipole for 160 meters would be around 245 feet long -- not too many hams have that kind of real estate," he explained. "Fortunately, verticals and inverted-L antennas will allow you to make plenty of QSOs on that band. In fact, try loading up anything you can -- many a 160 meter QSO has been made with a 40 meter dipole through an antenna tuner. You'll be able to work stations all night long, after the ionosphere's D layer dissipates along with its absorption of MF signals."

The 160 Meter Contest is a CW-only event. Participants need to work as many ARRL/RAC sections as possible, as well as listen for DX stations. US stations send a signal report and their ARRL/RAC section, while DX stations only send a signal report. DX stations may work stations in offshore and non-contiguous US states and possessions (KH6, KL7, Pacific and Caribbean US prefixes) in the contest.

At the top of the HF spectrum lies 10 meters. Even though 10 meters has been rather flat as of late -- due to our being near the bottom of the solar cycle -- there are still plenty of opportunities for QSOs, thanks to winter sporadic-E propagation. "Any 10 meter operator will tell you the band has a funny way of opening up during this contest when many stations are calling CQ," Kutzko said.

Antennas are much smaller for 10 meters than for 160; a dipole for 10 meters can be built in a couple of hours and is only 16.5 feet long. Kutzko advises Technician class licensees not to forget that they have SSB operating privileges on 10 meters from 28.3-28.5 MHz: "This is a good weekend to try your hand on this band and make some QSOs."

In the ARRL 10 Meter Contest, US and Canadian stations exchange a signal report, as well as their state or province; DX stations send a signal report and a serial number. "Lots of people will be on for this event," Kutzko said. "Last year, we received 1892 entries from all over the world. That's not too bad for being at the bottom of the sunspot cycle."

The ARRL 160 Meter Contest runs from 2000 UTC Friday, December 4 through 1559 UTC Sunday, December 6. The ARRL 10 Meter Contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday, December 12 through 2359 UTC Sunday, December 13.

It Seems to Us: Appropriate Use: Guidelines and Waivers

By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Chief Executive Officer

December 01, 2009

For the final time this year, we again take up the issue of the appropriate use of Amateur Radio: the extent to which radio amateurs may (and should) provide communications on behalf of others, particularly their employers.

The Amateur Radio Service has a well-deserved reputation for taking the FCC rules seriously, so it is not surprising that the subject of "pecuniary interest" has attracted a lot of attention and discussion. The relevant rules have not changed since 1993, but recent years have seen growing interest in the use of Amateur Radio as an alternative, supplemental, or backup communications medium by commercial, non-profit and government entities. When those rules changes were adopted, that was not the expectation.

In 1993 the FCC concluded that, while it is important to avoid exploitation of the amateur service, "[t]he capabilities of modern mobile communication services have all but eliminated the incentive to use the amateur service instead of those services." The Commission found that the rules then in effect "hamper amateur operators from serving the public as well as diminish the value of the amateur service in satisfying personal communication needs." Accordingly, the rules were amended to give amateur licensees greater flexibility. The FCC declined the ARRL's request for anecdotal examples of permitted and prohibited communications, preferring to "rely on the amateur service's traditions of self-regulation and cooperation between licensees, the cornerstone of the amateur service, to determine whether specific communications should be transmitted on amateur service frequencies."

In September 1993 we editorialized that the rules changes "remove the ambiguities that have plagued public-service communications for the past two decades and have generated endless hair-splitting discussions about whether particular communications were permitted." That proved to be the case for a decade and a half until -- in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina -- Amateur Radio came to be viewed as a communications solution by a growing number of businesses and other organizations. On this page in April we noted that "there are limits to what an amateur can do on behalf of his or her employer" but did not go into detail since the rules seemed rather clear, as did the FCC's desire not to answer questions about exactly what is permitted and what is not.

By the time of the July 2009 meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors, the FCC had been asked enough questions by amateurs -- and had given answers that apparently were unexpected -- that quite a controversy was developing about the appropriate uses of Amateur Radio. As explained on this page in September, an ad-hoc committee was put to work to develop suggested guidelines. The committee delivered the guidelines and recommendations for further ARRL action to the ARRL Executive Committee, which made some edits and scheduled a conference call of Board members to discuss the nine-page document. By subsequent mail vote the Board adopted the guidelines and recommendations and approved the release of the document, which was put on the ARRL Web site on September 25 (see www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL_AppropriateUseGuidelines.pdf).

The main purpose of the document, entitled Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues, is to educate amateurs and the organizations we serve about what the FCC rules permit us to do and to assist amateurs in making reasoned decisions about the appropriateness of services we may offer to organizations in our communities. While there are only two narrow exceptions to the "no communications on behalf of an employer" rule, neither of which applies to disaster relief, the guidelines note that "paid emergency personnel who are licensed amateurs and who find themselves needing to use Amateur Radio in disaster relief operations can rely on the Commission's statements that they may do so." However, this applies only to actual disaster relief operations and not to training exercises or drills.

On the subject of what communications are appropriate for volunteers to provide on behalf of businesses and other organizations, the guidelines note that such communications by volunteers are legal as long as they are not conducted on a regular basis and otherwise comply with the rules. Organizations that envision using Amateur Radio volunteers on a regular basis should be referred instead to other radio services and communications systems. A good rule of thumb for other requests is, "Who benefits?" If the public is the principal beneficiary, then the basis and purpose of the Amateur Radio Service is being fulfilled. If the entity itself and not the general public is the principal beneficiary, then the use of other services should be encouraged.

In introducing the guidelines, ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN -- who chaired the ad-hoc committee -- observed that they "are not intended to be the last word on the subject, and surely will not be." Little more than three weeks later the FCC fulfilled that prophecy by issuing a Public Notice, DA 09-2259, to emphasize that the rules prohibiting communications on behalf of an employer apply to emergency preparedness and disaster drills. The Public Notice entertains waiver requests from government entities (and only government entities) conducting such drills. The requests must be in writing and must include the information listed in the article on page 59 of this issue. Use the following address: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, 445 12th St SW, Washington, DC 20554, Attn: Scot Stone. The government entity may send a copy of its request by e-mail to Scot.Stone@fcc.gov, but we have been advised that this is not a substitute for submission of the waiver request on paper.

We understand there are petitions for rulemaking being drafted to address perceived shortcomings in the existing rules. The ARRL Board has taken no position on possible rules changes, but the subject is likely to occupy the Board's attention between now and its January 2010 meeting. As always, your own Division Director (see page 15) will be interested in your thoughts.

From Amateur Radio Newsline

RADIO LAW: ARRL VS MUSTANG OKLAHOMA ON TRANSMISSION BAN

Mustang, Oklahoma officials have yet to respond to a letter from ARRL Attorney Christopher D. Imlay, W3KD. This, regarding the city's attempt to keep a ham radio operators from transmitting. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the details: -- The Mustang News on-line newspaper says that back on November 6th, ARRL General Counsel Christopher D. Imlay sent a seven page letter to Mustang city officials In it he urged the city to rescind a certified letter officials sent to Mustang Heights resident John Ripley, KD5WFT on October 30th. That letter told Ripley to stop transmitting from his radio tower. The city claimed that it has jurisdiction over transmissions made by hams based on an ordinance that it enacted in 2000. That law states that any tower, or antenna, not more than 70 feet in height can be owned and operated by a federally licensed amateur radio station operator if it is used exclusively as a receive only facility. But that law appears t be in direct conflict with the Federal Communications Commission's long standing concept of Federal preemption. That's the mandate that it and only it has jurisdiction over radio transmission. In his letter Imlay noted that all radio and telecommunications are regulated by the Communications Act of 1934 and cited a half dozen federal cases supporting this position. One was a 1936 lawsuit titled Fisher's Blend Station vs. Tax Commission of the State of Washington. In that action the Supreme Court held that by its very nature broadcasting transcends state lines and is national in its scope and importance. This characteristics said the court brings it within the purpose and protection, and subject to the control, of the commerce clause. In his letter Imlay wrote that if no action was taken by Mustang that the ARRL would seek a "declaratory ruling" from the Federal Communications Commission. According to the news article Imlay said that if he does not receive a response from Mustang city officials that plans tosend another before filing with the FCC. City Manager Mike Rutledge told the on-line newspaper that he had received Imlay's letter and had referred it to Mustang's attorney. He said any response to the letter is up to the city's legal counsel.