March 15, 1996

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IN THIS UPDATE . . ..

AT DEADLINE . . .

NEXT SHUTTLE FLIGHT TO INCLUDE SAREX

Shuttle mission STS-76, scheduled for launch March 21, is a SAREX flight, giving Amateur Radio operators around the world a chance to QSO the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. The 3:35 AM (Eastern) launch also will give East Coast hams and nonhams alike a rare opportunity to actually see the shuttle as it streaks up the coast into a high-inclination orbit for its nine-day Mir rendezvous mission. Weather permitting, earthbound viewers from Florida to Boston should be able to watch the shuttle during the launch, when its main engines will be bright enough to be seen from hundreds of miles away! The shuttle will rise from the southeast and travel north. Look roughly southeast a few minutes after launch for a bright, fast-moving streak low in the sky. Since this is a Mir rendezvous mission, the launch window will be very short. Atlantis must launch within a few minutes of 3:34 AM (Eastern) or NASA will scrub the launch.

Astronaut Richard A. Searfoss, KC5CKM, is the shuttle's pilot. Searfoss last operated SAREX from the space shuttle Columbia during mission STS-58 in October/November 1993. This will be his second shuttle flight. Linda M. Godwin, N5RAX, will serve as a mission specialist on this, her third shuttle flight. (Last December Linda Godwin married fellow astronaut Steve Nagel N5RAW, making them the first married astronaut-ham couple.) Mission Specialist Ronald M. Sega, KC5ETH, used SAREX from Discovery during the first joint US-Russian shuttle mission in February 1994. Remaining crew members include Commander Kevin P. Chilton, KC5TEU, and Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid and Michael R. Clifford.

Chilton only just passed his Amateur Radio license test, and Lucid has expressed an interest in getting her license. She and her husband hope to take their Technician tests before the launch. The mission will feature the first spacewalk by US astronauts while the shuttle is attached to the Mir and the first American woman, Shannon Lucid, to serve as a Mir station researcher. Lucid is scheduled to stay aboard the Mir orbital complex for five months.

This mission will use the SAREX-M configuration (voice only) using the VHF radio that's also used to talk to Mir. Amateur Radio has been flying aboard the shuttles since 1983.

NASA wants to make astronauts available for SAREX contacts to involve the largest possible number of people--especially students--in technology and the US space program with the help of Amateur Radio. Astronauts will typically make scheduled radio contacts with schools as well as random radio contacts with other hams and personal contacts with their families.

During the STS-76 mission, the space shuttle Atlantis will make its third of seven shuttle flights to Mir, an effort known as Phase 1, the precursor to building the International Space Station. Since this flight is a shuttle-Mir docking mission, and SAREX and Mir Amateur Radio stations usually share the same downlink frequency (145.55 MHz), the SAREX Working Group has designated the uplink frequencies as 144.45 and 144.47 MHz, and the downlink FM voice downlink frequency as 145.84 MHz. (Please do not transmit on the shuttle's downlink frequency! The downlink is your receiving frequency.) The crew will not favor either uplink frequency, so your ability to communicate with SAREX will be the "luck of the draw." Transmit only when the shuttle is within range of your station, and when the shuttle's station is on the air.

Reception reports and QSLs go to ARRL, EAD, STS-76 QSL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Include a large, stamped, self-addressed business-sized envelope. The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club in Massachusetts has generously volunteered to manage the cards for this mission.

You can find more STS-76 mission information from NASA on the World Wide Web at http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov. For additional information about SAREX or other general operating information, check out the ARRL SAREX World Wide Web site at http://www.arrl.org/sarex/.--AMSATNews Service/NASA

LAWRENCE NAMED NASA MANAGER IN RUSSIA

Astronaut Wendy B. Lawrence, KC5KII, Commander, USN, has been named to replace Charles J. Precourt, KB5YSQ, Lt Col, USAF, as the NASA manager of operational activities at Star City, Russia. As Director of Operations, Russia, Lawrence will support training and preparations of NASA astronauts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), Star City. She also will be the primary link between NASA and the Russian center's management, coordinating all training and other operations involving NASA or contractor personnel in Star City.

Lawrence, 36, is the sixth astronaut to serve in this rotating assignment. She leaves this month for Russia, where she will continue to establish operational and managerial relationships with Star City management and Russian cosmonauts. Precourt will return to the Johnson Space Center to begin training as commander of the sixth shuttle/Mir docking mission (STS-84).--NASA

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP SET

A workshop, Disaster Preparedness: Reducing Risk and Improving Response, is scheduled for June 24 in Asheville, North Carolina. It's sponsored by the Disaster Emergency Response Association, an ARRL-affiliated organization. All Amateur Radio operators and others involved with disaster planning and emergency response are welcome. Robert R. Dockery, WD4CNZ, a professor at Western Piedmont College, will chair the workshop, which plans to cover risk assessment, mass casualties, terrorism, hazard mitigation, incident command, communications and recovery. Those who attend will take part in a tabletop disaster exercise. A key discussion topic will be Amateur Radio's role in recent disasters and the need for ready, capable and reliable Amateur Radio emergency service during catastrophes, especially those affecting multi-state regions.

Among those scheduled to speak is Jerry VeHaun, WA4GTT, president of the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management and head of the Buncombe County (North Carolina) Emergency Management Agency.VeHaun will deliver a keynote address on state and local preparedness and emergency management. Others set to speak include Bascombe Wilson, N3DAK, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and DERA's executive director. Wilson will outline the Federal Response Plan and the national strategy for military support to civilian authorities during disasters. Also presenting will be Steve Keene, who directs experimental radio station KE2XOL. Keene will discuss the future of space-based communication and its impact on disaster response.

The workshop will be held in Simpson Auditorium at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. The first session runs from 9 AM until 5 PM; the second from 6 until 9 PM. Participants may attend either or both sessions. The registration fee is $65 if received before June 1, 1996, and $79 for late registrations. Amateur Radio operators active in any form of voluntary emergency service need only pay $12.50 if they register before June 1, however. Registrations are space-available.

To register or for more information, write: DERA Readiness Workshop, PO Box 6558, Asheville, NC 28816.

LAMBDA ARC HELPS ANGUILLA HAMS

The Lambda Amateur Radio Club, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has raised more than $1000 to help Anguilla hams Dave and Dorothea Mann (VP2EHF and VP2EE) in their recovery efforts in the wake of last year's devastating hurricane season. LARC members donated half of the money, while the rest came from the VP2EJA group: JA1VPO, JI1DCW/N2RYM, JL1MUT/N2XYF and JG1RXQ. The money will go to help the Manns buy tools and supplies and to help pay for equipment repair and replacement. The Manns, who are both LARC members, hosted a barbecue for a LARC OSCAR DXpedition to Anguilla in 1994 (see "LARC's Mode-S DXpedition," QST, Jul 1994). The Manns won the ARRL's International Humanitarian Award for 1995 for their hurricane relief efforts.

LARC--a public service-oriented ham radio club for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered hams and their friends--recently became an ARRL-affiliated club. For more information about LARC, write the club at PO Box 24810, Philadelphia, PA 19130, or e-mail LambdaClub@aol.com.--LARC

HARRISBURG-AREA HAMS LEND HELPING HAND IN FLOODS

Some 30 ham radio volunteers from the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Radio Amateur's Club answered a call in January from the Red Cross to help after the Susquehanna River overflowed its banks, flooding the capital area January 20. Initially, hams provided communication between Dauphin County Red Cross headquarters and two mass-care facilities that lacked telephone service. The following day, the Red Cross requested additional volunteers with vehicles for disaster-assessment training and reporting. Several hams were among those who reported. The club dedicated its February 14 meeting to recognize hams who answered the appeal for volunteers.--John Obradovich, W3IS, President, HRAC

FCC ISSUED CALL SIGN UPDATE

The following is a list of the FCC's most recently issued call signs as of March 1, 1996. 


District     Group A  Group B  Group C  Group D 
             Extra Advanced Tech/Gen Novice 

    0        AB0BA    KI0BM    ++       KB0VLN
    1        AA1PQ    KE1EE    N1WRE    KB1BWW
    2        AB2AG    KG2FT    ++       KB2YCU
    3        AA3NR    KE3WA    N3WXH    KB3BNP
    4        AE4RF    KT4LS    ++       KF4HFX
    5        AC5GR    KK5XL    ++       KC5TBY
    6        AC6SZ    KQ6EI    ++       KF6BSN
    7        AB7PE    KJ7VF    ++       KC7PLX
    8        AA8WE    KG8VF    ++       KC8CON
    9        AA9RK    KG9FO    ++       KB9MWF
  Hawaii     ++       AH6OL    ++       WH6DAE
  Alaska     ++       AL7QI    ++       WL7CRW
  Virgin Is  WP2W     KP2CJ    NP2JD    WP2AIC
 Puerto Rico ++       ++       ++       WP4NJY

++All call signs in this group have been issued in this area.

FCC ISSUES FEMA HAM CALL SIGNS

The FCC has issued Amateur Radio call signs to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA Frequency Manager Paul Reid, N4EKW, says FEMA will use the call signs only in emergencies to communicate directly with ARES, RACES and other Amateur Radio operations. The FEMA call signs all have the same format. For example, the Region I call sign is KF1EMA, while the FEMA Headquarters at Mt Weather in Berryville, Virginia, has been issued NF1EMA.

LAST CALL FOR 1996 MCGAN SILVER ANTENNA AWARD NOMINATIONS

If you're planning to nominate someone for this year's Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award, the deadline is May 31, 1996.

Each year, the McGan award goes to an individual ham who has achieved exceptional public relations success on behalf of Amateur Radio, exemplifying the volunteer efforts of Philip J. McGan, WA2MBQ (SK). The award is sponsored jointly by the New Hampshire Amateur Radio Association (NHARA) and ARRL.

For more information about the McGan Award program, see the detailed announcement in February QST on page 98. All nominations must be accompanied by an official entry form, available from ARRL's Public Relations department, tel 860-594-0328 or by e-mail request to jgagne@arrl.org.

WRTC-96 ANNOUNCES WILDCARD TEAM LEADERS

The Team Selection Committee of World Radiosport Team Championship, Inc (WRTC-96) has announced selection of the 10 wildcard team leaders. Each wildcard team leader now must pick an operating partner from anywhere on the team leader's same continent.

Wildcard team leaders are 9A9A, DJ6QT, I2VXJ, K4UEE, NP4Z, T93A, UN2L, UW3AA, WN4KKN and ZS6EZ. The WRTC, set to begin July 13, will pit 52 two-person teams comprised of some of the world's top contest operators in a head to head competition during the IARU HF World Championship contest. Teams will run the same power and operate from stations having similar terrain and antenna systems and in the same geographical area. A television crew plans to videotape the event with the hope of airing excerpts on network TV and to make a video available clubs and individuals. The first WRTC was held in 1990.

WRTC has received initial commitments of more than $50,000 in sponsorships from ICOM, Yaesu, Ham Radio Outlet, Shell Oil Company, the Northern California DX Foundation and CQ magazine.

For information about WRTC-96, contact Rusty Epps, W6OAT, at 651 Handley Trail, Redwood City, CA 94062, or e-mail epps@netcom.com.

ALBERT T. ROSS, K4CAW, SK

Al Ross, K4CAW, of Greensboro, North Carolina, died December 5, 1995. He was 86. Al was a well-known and active VHF, UHF and microwave operator. A New York native, he'd lived in the Greensboro area for 48 years and had retired from Western Electric. Al had been a ham for 50 years. In addition to his ham radio accomplishments, he was elected in 1967 to the North Carolina State Bowling Association's Hall of Fame. A daughter, Patricia Talton, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren survive.--Alex Regi, W4FSO

HENRY D. OLSON, W6GXN, SK

Hank Olson, W6GXN, of Menlo Park, California, died unexpectedly March 9. He was 64. Hank authored several articles for QST in the 1960s and 1970s. His wife, Jane, is among the survivors.--Frank Wyatt, N6FW

In Brief . . .

The ARRL Letter is published by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Rodney J. Stafford, KB6ZV, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.

Electronic edition circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.

Editorial, Rick Lindquist, KX4V, e-mail rlindquist@arrl.org.

The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate and readable in our reporting.

Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that credit is given to The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.