Around Town

• Kris KCØREO has his tower assembled, but it remains horizontal. A valient effort was made to upright it, but the tower won. Not wanting to work only "ground waves", Kris is now working on a lift system to make the lifting task easier.
• So far, 11 QSLs were received as a result of the Special Event Station last month. Certificates were printed up and are being sent as QSLs are received.
• Minnesota SEC Don Franck ADØF recently returned from Florida after several weeks assisting the Red Cross. Don was in Florida after Hurricane Charley moved through, while Frances moved over the state, and just returned home for a rest just as Hurricane Ivan threatened the west coast of Florida. Don lives in the Rochester area and is a mentor for the ARRL Level I Emergency Communications course.

MD Tower Approval From ARRL Letter
And Kris thought he had problems ... N3HBX says he'll go forward with plans to erect four 192-foot towers on a 44-acre farmland tract he owns near Poolesville, Maryland. During a 09-Sep hearing, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction brought by Evans' neighbors in an effort to have his building permits for the structures rescinded.
There's always another side of the story ... The county granted Evans a building permit to construct the towers as accessory use structures on June 23. Evans reportedly purchased the property in March on the condition that a building permit for the towers be approved. Neighbors have strenuously opposed the towers, contending the tower project will destroy the "rural character of the area".

New MN Section Manager From MN Section News
As a result of the elections held last month, Skip Jackson KSØJ takes over the position of ARRL Section Manager for Minnesota. Skip's term begins 01-Oct-2004.

Jamboree On The Air From ARRL
Jamboree On The Air is October 16-17. JOTA is an annual event in which Boy and Girl Scouts and Guides from all over the world speak to each other via Amateur Radio to share experiences and ideas. This year the focus will be on achieving the radio merit badge. If you hear W1AW, WA1BSA or any other participating JOTA stations on the air, be sure to make a contact--and don't forget to QSL. If you hear W1AW or any other participating JOTA stations on the air, be sure to make a contact--and don’t forget to QSL.

New ARRL CCE Course From ARRL Letter
A new course, Radio Frequency Propagation, is the latest in the League's catalog of Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) courses. The course curriculum has 15 learning units. The course covers the science of RF propagation, including the properties of electromagnetic waves, the atmosphere and the ionosphere, the sun and sunspots, ground waves and sky waves, and various propagation modes--including aurora and meteor scatter. Over the course of participants engage in various listening and logging activities and visit several Web sites that deal with solar phenomena related to radio wave propagation. To learn more, visit the ARRL CCE Web page

FCC Kid's Zone From MN Section News
The FCC kids' zone is a safe place for children of all ages to learn fun facts about the telephone, satellites, fax machines, computers, television, radio and much, much more. Guided by our mascot "Broadband" you can learn about the FCC, find out how things work, check out rumors, find out what some tough words mean, and learn how things we use everyday were invented. In addition to all the above, the Web site contains lots of interactive games and puzzles, surveys, telecom factoids and much more. It provides a useful tool for children to learn about the FCC and let the FCC know what's on their minds and the site will reflect their input. Check it out at: http://www.fcc.gov/kidszone

Amateur Radio on BBC From ARRL Letter
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a documentary on Amateur Radio's involvement in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The half-hour program, Unsung Heroes was broadcast Saturday, 04-Sep. It will remain available on the BBC's archives for one month after that. Unsung Heroes reveals the little-known story of the 9/11 ham radio operators who provided vital communication networks for the rescue agencies," the BBC program listing says. "Hams, often mocked for their obsessive hobby, believe that September 11th became Amateur Radio's finest hour. Stephen Evans, the BBC's North American Business Correspondent, witnessed the attacks that day and meets with ham operators who witnessed the terrorist attacks or lost friends and relatives on September 11th and still helped to support the search-and-rescue operation." The program is also be available in MP3 format at www.g7ltt.com

Direct Digital Synthesis From ARRL Contester's Rate Sheet
With most new radios going "full digital" as much as possible, the new technology is something we all need to follow. If you're really interested in Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS), the latest issue of Analog Devices' Analog Dialogue is on DDS and can be read at Austin ARC The Austin ARC reports in their newsletter that an amateur radio emergency station is all set up and ready to be operated at the Austin Medical Center. Work still needs to be done as far as testing the range of transmissions, programming frequencies and learning all the functions of the radio.

XM Radio Emergency Information Channel FromARN Newsline
XM Satellite Radio has launched a new channel, XM Emergency Alert, dedicated to providing critical, updated information before, during and after natural disasters, weather emergencies and other hazardous incidents. The satellite radio provider will dedicate its Channel 247 to what it calls X-M Emergency Alert. The service will be dedicated to providing updated critical information before, during and after natural disasters, weather emergencies and other hazardous incidents to listeners across the country. The channel will also provide key survival information such as evacuation routes, shelter locations and updated weather emergency information for impacted areas.

TVI TO Amateur Radio??? From ARRL Letter
In a seeming turnabout-is-fair-play situation, the FCC has contacted a Mattawan, Michigan, resident to follow up on complaints that the individual's TV set was causing harmful interference to the Amateur Radio operations of Robert Lawson, KG8QD. Sharon Bowers, deputy chief of the FCC's Consumer Inquiries and Complaint Division, noted that Part 15 obliges the TV set's owner to resolve the interference promptly. Under Part 15, a TV set or a computer monitor is considered an "unintentional radiator."

Rag Chewers' Club Reactivated From SPAR
One of the most popular ham activities is simply chatting about nothing in particular. In other words, chewing the fat, or in ham jargon, "Rag Chewing." For anyone not familiar with the term, rag chewing isn't just contacting someone. It involves actually conversing, talking and listening for more than a few minutes. The Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio (SPAR) is pleased to offer the ever popular Rag Chewers' Club award. This prestigious award is available to all amateur radio operators who submit evidence of having "chewed the rag" using amateur radio. To qualify for the Rag Chewers' Club award, you need to submit a report of having had a 2 way QSO (not a net) using amateur radio that lasted at least 30 minutes. See the SPAR web site for additional details.

On the BPL Front From Multiple Sources
The Rochester ARC reports a couple of activities on their web site. They completed additional monitoring on 03-Sep and 07-Sep, after notching of amateur band frequencies by the BPL system. They report that no significant reduction in interference levels was observed. The RARC web site has a detail summary of multiple measurements taken since late May. Audio files of BPL interference are also posted.

The ARRL has an interesting summary about an industry meeting on BPL. The summary pretty well follows what you probably have read already ... minimal or no interference from industry reps and the ARRL refuting all of the claims.

Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CEVC) has announced the completion of testing of a BPL system in Nelson County, VA and are now serving customers in Nelson County on 40 miles of operational lines. (qrz.com)

Progress Energy Corporation (PEC) shut down its BPL field trial in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area and began removing system hardware.

Short wave is mainly used to broadcast internationally and the AM bands have been used since radio first started in the 1920s. DRM is a standard agreed by world broadcasters for a completely new short wave radio system. The DRM system uses existing AM broadcast frequencies to deliver near-FM quality digital sound. It uses compression to squeeze clear digital sound into the narrow radio channels that currently carry crackly analogue signals. In a BBC news article, the chair of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam indicated the new internet power line distribution system has been evaluated by engineers, including the BBC, and has been found to affect short wave in particular. (AR Newsline)