April 5, 1996

IN THIS UPDATE . . ..

• At Deadline: Barrett quits FCC; new Delta Division vice director
• HR 3207 seeks to protect ham volunteers
• SAREX QSOs canceled; Lucid on the air
• Teachers see SAREX close-up at NSTA convention
• Good news, bad news on WI PRB-1
• Grand jury indicts in Teetson case
• Hams prepare for Boston Marathon
• In Brief: N4KSO resigns as VA SM, Wright named; DXCC Desk progress report; Palm attends NVOAD annual meeting; SETI League to kick off sky search.

At Deadline:

• FCC Commissioner Andrew Barrett has stepped down from the FCC after serving for seven years on the Commission. During his FCC tenure, Barrett was recognized for his role in Commission decisions involving personal communications services, universal service, price caps, equal employment opportunity, cable television rate regulation and broadcast ownership. He said he was leaving the FCC "with mixed emotions," but looking forward to "the new professional challenges that lie ahead." FCC Chairman Reed Hundt said Barrett's contributions "will be long remembered and long valued." Barrett was nominated by President Bush in 1989.-FCC

• Henry R. Leggette, WD4Q, of Memphis, Tennessee, has been named by ARRL President Rod Stafford, KB6ZV, to serve as vice director of the Delta Division through the end of 1997. He fills the vacancy created in January when Rick Roderick, K5UR, became director upon the election of Joel Harrison, WB5IGF, as an ARRL vice president. Henry, who's 56, is a supervisor electronics technician for the Federal Aviation Administration. His team of 13 technicians is responsible for repairing the equipment and software used by air traffic controllers. A life member of ARRL, he previously served as vice director from 1989 to 1991.

HR 3207 SEEKS LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR HAM VOLUNTEERS

Rep Bill Baker (R-CA) has introduced a bill to protect hams in the Volunteer Examination program and the Amateur Auxiliary of the FCC from frivolous lawsuits while they are doing their volunteer jobs. The bill, HR 3207, would afford amateurs engaged in statutorily defined activities with the VE program and with the Amateur Auxiliary the same liability as Federal workers enjoy under the Federal Tort Claims Act. When individuals who fall under such protection are sued for something they have done while performing their duties, the Federal government steps in to protect them. Baker introduced the measure, the Amateur Radio Volunteer Services Act of 1996 on March 29, 1996.

"While the bill would not afford absolute blanket immunity, it does offer a fairly rigorous body of legal protection from the kind of malicious litigation that tends to frighten volunteers away from these activities," said ARRL Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA. "This is an entirely non-partisan, non-controversial bill, but we're working against severe time pressure to get it passed before the end of the session."

Baker said that Amateur Radio volunteers "provide an invaluable service to all ham radio operators" by assisting in licensing and monitoring activities, thus saving taxpayer dollars. Those savings would dry up if volunteers "stay away for fear of lawsuits," Baker said in a letter to colleagues. Individuals and private organizations currently protected by the Federal Tort Claims Act include Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the Peace Corps and the Job Corps.

Baker has enlisted members of both parties as original cosponsors of the bill. These include: Charles Wilson (D-TX); Bob Wise (D-WV); Edolphus Townes (D-NY); Mike Parker (R-MS); Toby Roth (R-WI); Charles Taylor (R-NC); Ron Dellums (D-CA); David Funderburk, K4TPJ, (R-NC); Ed Royce (R-CA); Norman Dicks (D-WA); Vern Ehlers (R-MI); Chris Cox (R-CA); Andrew Jacobs (D-IN); Harold Rogers (R-KY); Dennis Hastert (R-IL); Dave Weldon (R-FL); Anna Eshoo (D-CA); Ken Calvert (R-CA); Doug Bereuter (R-NE); Gene Green (D-TX); George E. Brown (D-CA); Eva Clayton (D-NC); and Sam Farr (D-CA).

ARRL members are urged to write their Members of Congress, urging them to sign on as cosponsors of HR 3207.--Steve Mansfield, N1MZA

SAREX QSOs CANCELED; ASTRONAUT LUCID OPERATING R0MIR

Astronaut Shannon Lucid, aboard the Russian Mir orbital complex, has been heard--and worked--on 2 meters! The Russians have approved her use of the Mir radio and the R0MIR call sign. She's been using the Mir simplex frequency of 145.55 MHz. Three young Indiana amateurs, 11-year-old Jessica Buszkiewicz, KB9KVQ, 13-year-old Jimmy Buszkiewicz, KG9DL, and 15-year-old Keith Price Jr, KB9MQA, and their parents Jim Buszkiewicz, KF9EB, and Keith Price Sr, N9TJH, were among those who talked to Shannon Lucid Saturday, March 30 during its 7:36 AM (EST) pass. All are members of the Studebaker Hill Amateur Radio Club In New Carlisle, Indiana. As one of the dads, Jim Buszkiewicz, KF9EB, put it: "I think all will agree that these random contacts were more exciting than any rare DX could have possibly been." KF9EB said Shannon was copied from coast to coast, approximately 1500 miles downrange each way, using a simple four-element 2-meter beam and az-el rotor. The antenna was only 10 feet off the ground.

Lucid is a prospective amateur who has not yet taken her license test. KF9EB said she's welcome to chat with his family's station anytime. "Thank you Shannon, and if you ever get homesick--I know I would after 5 months--you'll always have friends down here to talk to," he said. Lucid will remain aboard Mir for the next four and a half months. QSL cards for QSOs with Shannon Lucid as a Mir crew member using the R0MIR club station go to David G. Larsen, N6JLH, PO Box 1501, Pine Grove, CA 95665. Include a business-size sase.

The STS-76 mission that brought Lucid to Mir officially ended March 31, but mission controllers landed the shuttle Atlantis at Edwards Air Force Base in California to avoid weather problems in Florida. The mission was to have ended March 30 as bad weather approached the primary landing site at Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately, the shuttle crew was too busy with primary payload activities to support scheduled SAREX operations. As a result, SAREX QSOs with five schools, planned for late in the mission, had to be canceled. Some individual, random QSOs were made, however. The SAREX team will work with these school groups to reschedule their contacts for a future flight. SAREX is a secondary payload aboard space shuttles, and primary payload concerns take precedence.--Jim Buszkiewicz, KF9EB; Frank Bauer, KA3HDO (SAREX Working Group)

TEACHERS TRACK SHUTTLE MISSION IN ST LOUIS

(Photo by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R) Teachers experienced SAREX and ham radio first-hand at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) national convention in St Louis, Missouri, in March. They spoke with volunteers from ARRL, including Ken Chaffee, WA1QXR (l), from Ashaway, Rhode Island, and Tom Bingham, K9ZYW (r), of Collinsville, Illinois. Tom is an electrical engineering professor at St Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. (His wife Laura [seated], an elementary school teacher, is "surfing the Web.") Ken, who is also a member of AMSAT, explained satellite-tracking techniques used by amateurs to communicate with the space shuttles and the Russian Mir orbital complex. ARRL Midwest Director Lew Gordon, K4VX, and his wife, Terry, a retired school teacher, also assisted with this year's exhibit, organized by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, from the ARRL Educational Activities Department. During the convention, teacher Sheila Perry, N0UOP, a recent ARRL Professional Educator of the Year, presented a workshop on including Amateur Radio and space-related science in the classroom. The exposition of science teaching materials at NSTA is the largest school exhibit in North America. The exhibit space was provided to ARRL by NASA's Education Division.--Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS ON WISCONSIN PRB-1

Two state lawmakers in Wisconsin have introduced legislation to codify the Federal preemption law, PRB-1, into Wisconsin law, but its future for this legislative session hangs by a slender procedural thread. Rep. Ben Brancel, a Republican, and Sen. Richard Grobschmidt, a Democrat, are sponsors of the identical companion bills. The good news is that the Senate bill, SB 544, was voted out of committee, brought to the Senate floor, and passed on a voice vote. The bad news is that the Assembly bill, AB 900, never made it out of committee. However, the Assembly can vote on the Senate bill because they were companion bills with identical language. An effort is under way among Wisconsin hams to convince the Rules Committee chairman, Rep. Scott Jensen, to bring the bill to the Assembly floor for a vote during a brief May floor session.

Brancel's office is said to be optimistic about the bill's success. If it is approved by the legislature, it still needs Gov. Tommy Thompson's signature to become law.--Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ

GRAND JURY INDICTS IN TEETSON MURDERS

A grand jury in Louisiana indicted 18-year-old Kevin Coleman March 28 on two counts of first-degree murder in the February 21 killings of Floyd Teetson, W5MUG, and his wife, Winnie, WN5YTR. The district attorney handling the case will ask for the death penalty against Coleman, who, authorities say, has confessed to the murders.

Although police have said robbery was the motive--some of the Teetsons' belongings were recovered from the accused man after the slayings--only jewelry and a few dollars were taken from the couple's bodies after they were beaten and stabbed.

The Teetsons' friend, Troy Ballard, W5AU, is among those having a hard time understanding why Coleman would turn on the Teetsons, whom he described as a high-school dropout. "They really had tried hard to help this young man," he recalled. "They both had stressed the importance of getting an education, and even offered to pay a tutor to help him get his GED (general educational development) diploma. They were probably the only true friends this person had."

Ballard and two other hams went ahead with plans--laid mostly by the Teetsons--to operate during the ARRL International DX Contest from Little Cayman Island. The group used Floyd's Caymans' call sign, ZF2FT. "Floyd had planned everything perfectly," Ballard said. "I felt we did well, considering that we had never operated the contest from the other side. I think Floyd and Winnie would have been proud, and we missed them a lot."

HAMS PREPARE FOR BIGGEST BOSTON MARATHON EVER

Steve Tolf, K1ST, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, says 250 hams are preparing to provide communication for this year's running of the Boston Marathon, April 15. "This year is bigger than ever," said Tolf. He reports 37,500 runners have signed up for the annual Patriots Day event, and the sponsoring Boston Athletic Association expects as many as 50,000 (including so-called "bandits" or unofficial entrants) to turn out. In addition, it's anticipated that 1.5 million spectators will line the 26-mile route. Tolf said three groups are handling communication tasks, each with different areas of responsibility. One group will handle the starting line, a second the marathon route and the third the finish line. Tolf is heading up the starting line communication team, which has 60 hams. The others include Bob Salow, WA1IDA, of Natick, Massachusetts, whose team will handle communication along the route, and Bob Taylor, NA1Q, of Hubbardstown, Massachusetts, whose team will work the finish line. Tolf said the hams will have links with fire and police department personnel and will play a crucial role in helping to maintain race and crowd safety.

In Brief . . .

• Edward "Ted" Dingler, N4KSO, of Chilhowie, Virginia, resigned March 22 as Virginia's section manager because of his increasing business commitments. ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, has appointed Assistant Section Manager Chris N. Wright, KD4TZN, of Rocky Mount, Virginia, to complete Dingler's term. Wright will serve until March 31, 1998. N4KSO became Virginia's section manager April 1, 1990.

• The ARRL DXCC Desk announces that the number of unprocessed applications at the end of March was 148 (12,392 QSLs). The desk received 326 applications (29,394 QSLs) for endorsements and new awards during the month. The DXCC Desk is now accepting cards for Scarborough Reef, BS7, and Pratas Island, BV9P. There are now 329 countries on the DXCC list. It now takes 320 current (ie, not deleted) countries to attain Honor Roll status.

• ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, represented the League at the National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) annual meeting March 25-26 in Washington, DC. During a meeting of the Communications Committee, Palm cited the League's success with its presence on the World Wide Web and proposed that that NVOAD develop a home page and post it on the Web, with links to individual member-organizations' home pages, FEMA, the National Hurricane Center and others. Palm offered the League's assistance to NVOAD members with their on-site radio-communication needs during disaster recoveries. Palm also attended the Atlantic Division cabinet meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 23-24, chaired by Director Kay Craigie, WT3P.

• The nonprofit, membership-supported SETI League Inc kicks off its long-awaited Project Argus survey of the heavens on Earth Day, April 21, 1996. Project Argus is a survey of microwave signals of possible intelligent, extraterrestrial origin. A special event station using the call sign of SETI League President Richard Factor, WA2IKL ("I keep listening"), will operate on 20-meter SSB starting at 1600 UTC. SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch, N6TX, describes Project Argus as "perhaps the most ambitious radio astronomy project ever undertaken without government equipment or funding." The effort will deploy and coordinate some 5000 small radiotelescopes around the world in an all-sky survey for microwave signals that could suggest intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. For more information, call 800-828-7384 (800-TAU-SETI).

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.

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