IN THIS EDITION:

• +Amateur Radio spectrum protection bill introduced
• +Hams respond following Minnesota tornado
• +Vanity fee could drop drastically
• +New York-Long Island SM ousted in recall
• +League to host media forum at Dayton
• +Wireless privacy bill passes US House
• Andy Thomas continues Mir-school QSOs
• Solar update
• In Brief: This weekend on the radio; Correction; New Maine SM; Franklin Institute's W3AA to remain on the air; FEMA offers on-line courses; AMSAT seeks net info; Mir-APRS program available;

+Available on ARRL Audio News

AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM PROTECTION BILL INTRODUCED

At the request of the ARRL, a bill has been introduced in Congress to ensure the availability of spectrum to Amateur Radio operators. The bill, HR 3572, the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 1998, would protect existing Amateur Radio spectrum against reallocations to or sharing with other services unless the FCC provides "equivalent replacement spectrum" elsewhere. The bill was introduced March 27 by Rep Michael Bilirakis of Florida, a Republican, with the cosponsorship of Rep Ron Klink of Pennsylvania, a Democrat.

If approved, the measure would amend Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 to preclude reallocation of any primary Amateur Radio allocations or diminution of any secondary allocations, and would block any additional allocations within such bands that would substantially reduce their utility to Amateur Radio, unless the Commission at the same time provides "equivalent replacement spectrum" to the Amateur Service.

The bill points out that a basic purpose of Amateur Radio is to provide "voluntary, noncommercial radio service, particularly emergency communications," and that Amateur Radio has "consistently and reliably" provided emergency communication during and after disasters. The measure notes that the FCC has "taken actions which have resulted in the loss of at least 107 MHz of spectrum to radio amateurs."

HR 3572 has been referred to the House Commerce Committee. An effort is under way to enlist additional cosponsors for the measure. Amateurs are encouraged to contact their Representatives and urge them to support the bill or to sign on as cosponsors. The full text of the bill is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.3572:

HAM RADIO EASES TORNADO RECOVERY IN MINNESOTA

Ham radio operators from across Minnesota provided a link with the outside world this week after tornadoes struck two towns in the southern part of the state. Tornadoes flattened Comfrey, a farm community of about 500, and badly damaged the City of St Peter, population 9000 and the home of Gustavus Adolphus College. Electricity and telephone service were knocked out by the storm on March 29. At least two people were killed.

For Minnesota Section Manager Randy "Max" Wendel, N0FKU, this was more than a disaster that required the helping hand of ham radio. St Peter is his hometown, and the place where his parents still live. Wendel and Minnesota SEC Gary Peterson, N0ZOD were among dozens of ARES members who responded--after getting word from Mike Langer, WQ0A, in St Peter via ham radio of "unbelievable devastation." Wendel reports Langer went silent as soon as he realized that his own house was among those that no longer existed.

Wendel and Peterson alerted other ARES members to be prepared to assist with communication, then headed for St Peter. ARES members from Rochester and the nearby Mankato area were among the others who turned out. Wendel himself arrived in St Peter after nightfall, using his ARES identification to get past state police barricades. Wendel found his parents safe and their home damaged. Others, including their neighbors, found themselves suddenly homeless.

Wendel said hams already had situated themselves at key locations, including the Nicollet County Emergency Operations Center, a shelter for victims, and at a sports arena. The ARES team set up an emergency base station at Gustavus Adolphus College. While most students were out of town for spring break, 28 students remained on campus and had no contact with the outside world.

During the next day or so after the tornado struck, ham radio was the only communication out of the city and the primary means to coordinate supplies into the city from the Red Cross in Mankato to the shelters in St Peter. The morning after the tornado, the Salvation Army arrived to distribute food. Hams provided logistical support for that effort as well. Other hams shadowed disaster assessment officials who went door to door throughout the city or handled net control duties at the EOC. Still others simply made themselves available as needed to cooperate in the recovery effort.

"This event once again set a clear example of the importance of Amateur Radio during an emergency," Wendel said. Both he and Peterson stressed the importance of planning. Fortunately, the local government officials and agencies were aware of Amateur Radio as a resource. "When it comes to the unexpected, there is no time to explain who we are and why and how we can help," he added.

With typical ham ingenuity, Dave Kleindl, KA0BFP, scrounged enough materials to construct a temporary dipole to put a local broadcast station back on the air after its towers had been downed in the storm. With help from other hams, Kleindl coordinated with the city's public works department to get a generator to a water tower that was still standing and reactivated the local VHF/UHF amateur and public safety repeaters and also provide power for the water tower itself. Wendel says the police and public works antennas were blown off the water tower, but Kleindl switched the transmitters over to the ham antennas which withstood the estimated 200 mph winds, allowing local government communications to resume. The amateur VHF and UHF repeaters temporarily were put over onto mag mount antennas.

Wendel says the personal impact of the tornado disaster has increased his appreciation for the necessity of helping. "Until you've been in a disaster situation and have had friends and family faced with uncertainty, it's difficult to understand the importance of lending a helping hand, even if it's just handing out sandwiches to victims," he said. "Any of those victims could have easily been me."

On April 1, Wendel said that snow was falling in the stricken area. He said he expected ham radio involvement to wind down by next week as normal communications systems are restored.

For a look at the devastation in St Peter, see http://www.sigmamaps.com/StPeter/stpindex.htm

On April 2, Wendel reports, Peterson was asked by the Salvation Army to provide communication support at Comfrey. He reports that Peterson and his wife, Gladys, KB0TUT, managed to haul a FEMA radio communications trailer to Comfrey (with a breakdown along the way).

"Additional hams and ARES members are being solicited to assist in Comfrey for the Salvation Army," Wendel said. Hams were expected to shadow two Salvation Army feeding centers in Comfrey while keeping in touch with the Salvation Army warehouse in Minneapolis. He adds that Brown County ARES EC Harvey Stadick, WI0D, who lives on a farm near New Ulm lost all of his outbuildings in the tornado outbreak, but still has his house.

VANITY FEE COULD DROP DRASTICALLY

The fee to obtain an Amateur Radio vanity call sign would drop drastically under the FCC's proposed fiscal year 1998 fee schedule. If adopted, the new fee will be $12.90 for the ten-year term, payable at the time of application for a new, renewal or reinstated license.

The new fee is contained in an FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MD Docket 98-36, Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1998, released March 25.

The current vanity call sign fee is $50 for the ten-year term. The FCC says it has no plans to refund the difference between the current fee and the new fee for applicants who submit applications before implementation of the FY 1998 fee schedule.

The FCC has calculated the new fee based on an expected 10,000 applicants during FY 1998. The FCC says it will announce the effective date for the new fee either in the Report and Order that terminates the fee schedule rulemaking proposal or by a public notice.

NEW YORK-LONG ISLAND SECTION MANAGER RECALLED

Members of the New York City-Long Island Section have recalled Section Manager Leonard Buonaiuto, KE2LE, in a special election. The committee of tellers on April 2 counted 699 yes votes and 347 no votes in answer to the single question on the ballot--should the Section Manager be recalled, yes or no. More than 2900 ballots were sent to ARRL members in the New York-Long Island section. The successful recall marks only the second time in League history that a section manager has been removed from office by a vote of the section members.

George Tranos, N2GA, of Bellport, New York, was immediately appointed to complete the remainder of the section manager's term, which runs until January 1, 1999. "I look at it as an opportunity to rebuild," Tranos said during a brief visit to ARRL Headquarters. Tranos is immediate past president of the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club--LIMARC--an ARRL Life Member, and an Assistant Director.

Tranos already has restored to office some of the field appointees dropped by his predecessor, including SEC Mario Maltese, WF2T, Official Observer Coordinator Rob Todaro, N2JIX, Section Government Liaison Mark Nadel, W2UFO, and Nassau County DEC George Gluck, WA2WKV. He said he'd be making additional appointments in the very near future and expressed hopes that ARRL members in the section would work together to build a greater League presence.

The first call for nominations in the regular Section Manager election will appear in the July 1998 issue of QST.

LEAGUE TO HOST MEDIA FORUM AT DAYTON HAMVENTION

All hams active or interested in promoting Amateur Radio in their communities should make plans to attend the ARRL's first-ever Media Relations Forum at the Dayton Hamvention. The event is set for Saturday, May 16, from 3 until 5 PM.

The program will cover various media relations how-to topics such as working with your small community newspaper, promoting Amateur Radio on TV, and adding appeal to your story ideas.

Media professionals set to participate as panelists include Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, Reinhardt and Reinhardt Advertising Inc, Agoura Hills, California, and an ARRL Public Relations Committee member; Armond Nobel, N6WR, publisher of Worldradio; David Greer, N4KZ, publisher of The Kentucky Standard and a member of the PRC; Alan Kaul, W6RCL, Senior News Producer for NBC in California; and Jim McDonald, KB9LEI, Indiana Public Information Coordinator.

Participants will learn more about the League's media relations program, meet staff members, hear from news professionals and visit with fellow public relations volunteers. Some participants will get a chance to "practice pitch" stories to members of the ARRL's PR committee or to ask questions of news representatives on the panel or in the audience! You'll come away with great ideas--including ways to spice up your news releases and tips for working with your local news media.

If you are a PIC or PIO appointee--or if you're at all active in promoting Amateur Radio to the general public in your community--you won't want to miss this opportunity.

For more information, contact Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0328; e-mail jgagne@arrl.org.

WIRELESS PRIVACY BILL PASSES HOUSE, HITS SENATE

In a resounding 414-to-1 floor vote HR 2369, the Wireless Privacy Enhancement Act of 1998, passed the US House of Representatives in March and now awaits action in the Senate. The house-passed bill includes a report that specifically resolves concerns that the ARRL raised with the staff of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee.

When HR 2369 was first introduced, the League feared that it unintentionally could have outlawed all out-of-band operations including MARS and Civil Air Patrol, as well as most scanning and short wave listening. These fears--also voiced by scanner enthusiasts, volunteer fire departments and others--were addressed by the bill's sponsor, Louisiana Republican Billy Tauzin, when the bill was amended last fall. However, the League continued to be concerned that certain provisions in the bill could be interpreted as forbidding the modification of linear amplifiers for 10 and 12-meter operation, as well as the modification of transceivers for MARS and CAP use.

In the days before the bill went to the floor, subcommittee staff worked with the League and with other involved parties to craft a committee report that would put our fears to rest. Committee reports are the official statement of "Congressional intent" on important legislation. The House voted on the bill and the report as a single package.

In part, the report made it clear that the Committee did not intend the legislation to prohibit hams from modifying linear amplifiers after purchase, as permitted by FCC rules, for use on 12 or 10 meters, or from building or modifying one amplifier per year to enable this capacity.

The report also said that the Committee did not intend that the proposed law be interpreted to discourage manufacturers from providing MARS and CAP modification information. The report also clarified other concerns raised by scanner enthusiasts, short wave listeners and manufacturers. The report's full text can be found at ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp105/hr425.txt.

During the house debate on the bill, Tauzin and Florida Republican Cliff Stearns both took time to praise the volunteer work of Amateur Radio operators in the wake of natural disasters.

There is no word on what the Senate plans to do about this legislation.--Steve Mansfield, N1MZA

ANDY THOMAS CONTINUES MIR-SCHOOL QSOs

Students at Seaford, Delaware, Middle School got a chance to speak to US astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF, on April 2, albeit only briefly. Apparently because of confusion over which frequencies were to be used, the contact began late--after Mir was already well into its pass over the VK5AGR telebridge station--and lasted only three minutes. Despite the brevity, students at the Delaware school got to ask seven questions.

The contact continued a largely successful string of Mir-school QSOs. Earlier in the week, however, students at Farmington High School in Connecticut were disappointed when South African ground station ZS6BTD was unable to make contact with Thomas for that telebridge contact. As it turned out, the school contact had fallen victim to the Mir crew's very busy schedule. An effort will be made to reschedule the QSO.

Other Mir-school contacts are scheduled with schools in New Mexico, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

On April 1, Thomas filmed the activities as his cosmonaut crewmates Talgat Musabayev, RO3FT, and Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB, left the Russian space station for a six-hour space walk. The two attached handles to the ship's exterior to help in repairing a solar panel that is in danger of breaking away and possibly damaging Mir. The panel was damaged when it was struck by a Progress supply rocket last summer. Another space walk is scheduled for April 6.

Thomas will be aboard Mir until June. He reportedly has been active on 2 meters while Mir is over the US and over his native Australia. Thomas also holds a special event call sign, VK5MIR.

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar seer Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity has dropped back a bit, but still remains fairly high. We have reached both the end of a month and the first quarter of 1998, and the average solar flux trend looks good. The last three quarters of 1997 had an average solar flux of 73.6, 82 and 94.3 and solar flux for the first quarter of 1998 averaged 98.8. Average solar flux for January and February was 93.4 for each month and for March it was 109.1.

For April look for solar flux to rise over the next week, peaking around 125 on April 9 and 10, then dropping back below 110 by April 18, then peaking below 120 around April 22 and 23. Active geomagnetic conditions may result in disturbed propagation around April 7 and again around April 17.

The author welcomes questions or comments via email at tad@ssc.com.

Sunspot numbers for March 26 through April 1 were 77, 80, 81, 82, 66, 71, and 90, with a mean of 78.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 110, 108.1, 103.9, 100.3, 107.5, 108.1, and 105.7, with a mean of 106.2. The estimated planetary A indices were 10, 13, 14, 17, 10, 10, and 5, with a mean of 11.3.

NOTE: After what he calls "a long and exciting bachelorhood," our solar singleton Tad Cook, K7VVV, will marry April 4, and plans to be honeymooning in Hawaii with his new bride, Carmen, later in the month. As a result, Lee Wical, KH6BZF, will provide the solar/propagation bulletin on April 24, 1998. Our best wishes to Tad and Carmen!--Ed

In Brief:

• This weekend on the radio: The European EME Contest, the EA RTTY Contest, the Elettra Marconi Contest, and the SP DX Contest are on the roster this weekend. Just ahead: The QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party (CW), the MARAC SSB County Hunter's Contest, and the Japan International DX Contest (CW).

• Correction: Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year Andy Feldman, WB2FXN, has been appointed an assistant director of communications, New York wing, Civil Air Patrol, according to NY Wing Commander Col Joy Nelson. Feldman's CAP appointment was reported incorrectly in The ARRL Letter, Vol 17, No 13.

• New Maine SM: Michelle Mann, W1GU, has resigned as Section Manager of Maine. Completing the few months remaining in her term will be the new Section Manager-elect William "Bill" Woodhead, N1KAT, of Auburn. Woodhead ran unopposed for the Section Manager's position for a full term starting July 1.

• Franklin Institute's W3AA to remain on the air: Thanks to efforts of the Phil Mont Mobile Radio Club, the Franklin Institute Station W3AA, in Philadelphia, likely will remain on the air and not become an inactive exhibit, as had been announced previously. According to Club President Russ Stafford, W3CH, discussions have been taking place, and the station likely will remain available to visitors at the science museum. The upper floor currently has the astronomy and ham radio display. Originally licensed in 1952 as W3TKQ, the continuously active Amateur Radio exhibit has demonstrated the hobby to thousands of visitors over the years. Following its total renovation in 1991, the station was rededicated by the late Gioia Marconi Braga, the daughter of Guglielmo Marconi. A team of club volunteers keep the station on the air during museum hours. For more information, see the W3AA Web site, http://www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/w3aa.html.--Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO

• FEMA offers on-line courses: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a series of self-taught courses that might be of interest to amateurs involved in public service disaster response. Course titles include Emergency Program Manager: An Orientation to the Position; Emergency Preparedness, USA; Radiological Emergency Management; Hazardous Materials: A Citizen's Orientation; A Citizen's Guide to Disaster Assistance; and Basic Incident Command System. Course materials are provided as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. See http://www.fema.gov/emi/ishome.htm for details on how to enroll.

• AMSAT seeks net info: Attention all AMSAT Net managers! Andrew Reynolds, WD9IYT, and AMSAT Journal are looking for you. Actually, they're looking for information on your net. The AMSAT Journal editorial staff is working with AMSAT-NA Vice President for Electronic Publishing, Paul Williamson, KB5MU, to put together an up-to-date list of all operational AMSAT nets. The Journal hopes to publish this list on a regular basis, so that all satellite operators will be aware of net activity in their area, as well as help keep the AMSAT Web page information current. Forward date, time, and frequency information of your net operation to Andrew Reynolds, WD9IYT, wd9iyt@amsat.org.--AMSAT News Service

• Mir-APRS program available: Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, reports the MIRMON program, designed to simplify the monitoring of downlink packets from the Mir space station during special MIREX school experiments, now is available for downloading. It includes a demonstration of the recent Mir-APRS experiment, showing students the potential for future, similar tests using UI packet frames. The program is available from the TAPR FTP site at ftp://ftp.tapr.org/tapr/SIG/aprssig/files/dosstuff/APRSdos. Bruninga reports the program is a test version and has not been thoroughly tested on the air. Users are cautioned to use it only for receive monitoring and for familiarization with the user interface. Any transmit testing at this time should be done locally on a simplex digital frequency.--AMSAT News Service