CQ Magazine Launches Streamlined Website Posted: Sep 01, 2010 CQ magazine has launched a new, easy-to-navigate website, and is celebrating with a special web-only discount offer. The updated site, which features a clean new look and a streamlined user interface, completes a company-wide website upgrade for all four magazines published by CQ Communications, Inc. The site features highlights of the current issue and links to selected content, as well as hamfest & special event listings, easy links to the CQ Writer's Guide, award and contest information, a comprehensive links section, special information for new and prospective hams, and direct links to advertisers' websites, as well as a direct link to CQ's Facebook page. Callsign lookup and a link to the online CQ archive are also included. New material posted includes September issue highlights, expanded results of the 2009 CQWW CW Contest (as well as complete SSB results), a link for pre-ordering CQ's 2011-2012 Amateur Radio Calendar, and a special web-only offer for $5 off any order of $25 or more, including subscriptions (new or renewal) to all CQ publications. The new CQ website may be accessed at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com.

Prison Escapees Charged in Murder of Ham, Wife Posted: Sep 01, 2010 Federal authorities have charged two Arizona prison escapees and their alleged accomplice with killing a ham and his wife in New Mexico. According to news reports, John McCluskey, Tracy Province and Casslyn Welch have been charged with carjacking and murder in connection with the deaths of Gary Haas, N5VGH, and his wife, Linda. The couple, from Tecumseh, Oklahoma, was traveling in New Mexico. Authorities said they encountered the fugitives at a highway rest area, and that McCluskey shot and killed them in their travel trailer. McCluskey, Province and Welch then allegedly drove the couple's truck and trailer to a remote area where they unhitched the trailer and set it on fire. McCluskey and Province had escaped from a prison in Arizona on July 30. All three have since been apprehended.

Hams in Pakistan Aid in Flood Relief - Frequencies Set Aside Posted: Sep 01, 2010 Hams from the Pakistan Amateur Radio Society have teamed up with members of two other private organizations -- the Islamabad Jeep Club and the Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians -- to help deliver food, tents and medical services to areas of the country hard-hit by flooding from monsoon rains. The flooding has left at least 1500 people dead and millions homeless or displaced. According to the ARRL, the group of hams, Jeep owners and doctors, set up two relief teams, one to help bring support to northern cities and the other for the central part of the Asian nation. Several HF, VHF and UHF frequencies have been set aside for relief communications. The HF frequencies are 7.070, 14.200 and 14.300 MHz.

Florida Looks Into Narrowband Repeaters Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The Florida Repeater Council has formally proposed adopting a narrowband repeater bandplan for 2 meters and 70 centimeters, in order to make more frequency pairs available for repeaters. It is proposing adding repeater pairs with 7.5 kHz separation on the part of the 2-meter band that currently has 15-kHz separation between channels, and 10-kHz separation on lower frequencies that currently have 20-kHz separation. The new pairs would be used to accommodate narrow-band modes such as D-Star and P-25. The council is seeking comment on the proposals. Complete details are available online at www.florida-reapeaters.org.

City Backs Down on RFI Ordinance Posted: Sep 01, 2010 A city in Oklahoma that had cited a local ham for violating a local RF interference ordinance has backed off from enforcing it but has decided to leave it on the books. According to "Newsline," Midwest City retracted the Notice and Order originally issued to David Box, K5DBX, after the ARRL notified officials that only the FCC has authority to regulate interference matters. While the City Attorney says any future citizen complaints will be directed to the FCC, the city council has opted - at least for now - against formally repealing the ordinance.

ARRL Comments on FCC Proposal for 5 MHz Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The ARRL has filed formal comments on the FCC's proposal to do a channel-swap on the 60-meter band, along with permitting increased power and additional modes. Currently, hams may use five specific channels at 5 MHz with upper sideband only and 50 watts effective radiated power, on a secondary, non-interference basis. The FCC proposal, which came in response to an ARRL petition, would substitute 5358.5 kHz for 5368.0 kHz, which is frequently occupied by its primary (government) user; would permit the requested power increase and permit CW, PSK31 and Pactor in addition to USB. According to the ARRL Letter, the League's comments were generally supportive, recommending only a few further tweaks to the FCC's proposal.

Phone Bands and Identity Theft Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The FCC has denied two petitions from hams seeking changes in Part 97 of its Rules. Richard Ebeling, K2UTC, of White Plains, New York, wanted the Commission to restore the General Class phone band on 15 meters to where it was before the FCC's "incentive licensing" decision of 1967. Newsline reports that the Commission declined, noting that it had recently expanded General Class phone subbands on several HF bands, including 15 meters, and said Ebeling presented no evidence that the current allocation is inadequate. The second petition was filed by Eric Hilding, K6VVA, of Morgan Hill, California. He wanted the rules to declare that unauthorized use of an amateur radio callsign was a form of identity theft and was prohibited even beyond the amateur radio bands, such as on the internet. The FCC said that Part 97 regulates only the amateur service, and as such, its rules cannot apply to the internet, cellphones, etc. In addition, it noted that the rules already prohibit stations from transmitting false identification, and that any problems with misuse of callsigns could be dealt with under the current rules.

Amateur Space News - ARISSat, SRMSAT & UNITEC-1 Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The ARISSat-1 amateur satellite is now scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station next January, aboard a Progress supply rocket. ARISSat is an outgrowth of the SuitSat experiment, in which a surplus Russian spacesuit was outfitted with ham gear before being pushed out into orbit from the space station, to eventually be destroyed on re-entry to the earth's atmosphere. A second surplus suit had to be disposed of before the next SuitSat was ready, so the project morphed into what is now called ARISSat. According to the AMSAT News Service, four functional models of the satellite have been produced by AMSAT, two of which are scheduled to be sent to Russia in September for additional testing and eventual launch. At least one would then be hand-launched from the space station. A ham satellite being built by students in India was scheduled for launch in September. SRMSAT will have a 2-meter uplink and 70-centimeter downlink. It is being built by students at the SRM University in Chennai. NASA reports that Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter satellite is approaching that planet and is on schedule to go into orbit around it in December. It will study Venus's climate and weather, in hopes of learning lessons that can be applied here on Earth. The satellite carries an amateur radio payload as well, currently known as UNITEC-1. However, its beacon was heard for only two days after launch and has been silent ever since.

ARDF World Championships This Month in Croatia Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The seventh biennial Amateur Radio Direction-Finding (ARDF) World Championships are scheduled to be held between September 13 and 18 in Opatija, Croatia. Teams from countries around the world, including the U.S., are to compete in separate events on 2 meters and 80 meters, according to USA ARDF Coordinator and CQ WW Foxhunting Weekend Director Joe Moell, K0OV. This year, the event will also include the first ARDF World Championship for the Blind, with competition taking place on 80 meters only, in an open area with no obstacles. It is to operate under rules developed in 1998 by the Croatian Amateur Radio Association for competitions among clubs for the blind.

ARES Marks 75th Anniversary Posted: Sep 01, 2010 The emergency communications arm of the ARRL is celebrating its 75th anniversary between September and December of this year. According to the ARRL Letter, the anniversary date is based on the first mention of an organized amateur radio response organization within the ARRL, which first appeared in QST in September, 1935. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) has gone through several variations on its name and initials over the years, but its mission has always been the same - providing communications during emergencies and disasters when normal means of communicating are either disabled or overloaded.

FCC Okays Employee Participation in Emergency Drills Posted: Jul 15, 2010 Moving with unaccustomed speed, the FCC adopted a Report and Order on July 14, allowing hams who are employed by both government agencies and non-government agencies such as hospitals, to participate in emergency and disaster drills on behalf of their employers. The ruling was based on a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, WP-10-72, issued this past March, in response to petitions arising from a strict interpretation by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau of the prohibition on amateurs communicating on behalf of their employers. The decision came just more than a month after the reply comment deadline. The ruling added a new paragraph to Section 97.113(a)(3) of the FCC rules, which reads as follows: (i) A station licensee or control station operator may participate on behalf of an employer in an emergency preparedness or disaster readiness test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such test or drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test or drill. Tests or drills that are not government-sponsored are limited to a total time of one hour per week; except that no more than twice in any calendar year, they may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours. There is no specific effective date given in the Report and Order, so it will presumably become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. The complete text of the report and order may be accessed online at http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2010/db0714/FCC-10-124A1.pdf.

FCC Proposes Massive Overhaul of Part 95 Posted: Jun 25, 2010 The FCC in early June released a 92-page Notice of Proposed Rule Making aimed at streamlining and reorganizing the rules for the personal radio services covered under Part 95 of the Commission's rules. These services include CB, GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service), FRS (Family Radio Service), MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service) and others. Highlights of the proposal include a recommendation to eliminate individual station licenses for GMRS, allow transmission of GPS location information on GMRS channels and ban the inclusion of FRS capability on radios intended for use in public safety services. The NPRM also asks for comments on whether the widely-ignored distance restriction on CB contacts is still necessary and whether the rules should specifically permit the use of hands-free microphones for CB transceivers. The complete NPRM may be found on the FCC's website. It is WT Docket 10-119.

CQ Introduces "Reflections III" by Walt Maxwell, W2DU Posted: Apr 21, 2010 (Hicksville, NY – April 16, 2010) – CQ Communications, Inc. today announced the upcoming publication of Reflections III: Transmission Lines and Antennas, an expanded, revised and updated edition of this authoritative work by M. Walter Maxwell, W2DU. "This is not a 'how to' book," explains the author, saying that rather, "its theme is 'how it works.' It is about the care and feeding of antennas, with special emphasis on dispelling some of the prevalent myths and misconceptions surrounding the mismatched antenna and its feed line in routine operations… It explains in great detail how the antenna tuner at the input terminals of the feed line provides a conjugate match at the antenna terminals and an impedance match for the output of the antenna, and tunes a non-resonant antenna to resonance." The book is built around a series of seven articles entitled "Another Look at Reflections" that were published in QST magazine in the 1970s. The information from those articles and the theory behind it has been expanded, revised and updated into what is now a 424-page reference book, with many updates and additions beyond the first two editions, Reflections and Reflections II, published in 1990 and 2001, respectively. Highlights of the third edition include further discussions of the conjugate match, the origin of the W2DU ferrite-bead balun, a simple introduction to the Smith Chart, and some personal history of the author's work in designing antennas for very early earth-orbiting satellites. A new chapter also "exposes and corrects some new myths and misconceptions that have crept into recent literature," according to the author. Reflections III will be available as of May 10, 2010. Suggested retail price is $39.99. Pre-publication orders are being accepted via the CQ webstore at http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Detail.bok?no=183. The book's ISBN # is 0943016436.

CQ Expands Web Presence Posted: Jan 26, 2010 CQ's presence on the World Wide Web is growing. In addition to the long-standing websites for each of our magazines, we now have Facebook pages for CQ, CQ VHF and Popular Communications (tnx to NW7US, who is posting regular propagation updates), to be followed soon by one for WorldRadio Online as well. In addition, the CQ WPX Contest website at www.cqwpx.com now has all line scores going back to 1991 (for CW) and 1985 (for SSB), with additional years to follow, as well as contest rules in 14 languages. Finally, CQ Public Service Editor Richard Fisher, KI6SN, has set up a website for material that would not fit in his monthly print column. "CQ Public Service on the Web" may be found at www.CQPublicService.blogspot.com.

New Tech Class Question Pool Released Posted: Jan 26, 2010 The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coodinators (NCVEC) has released the new pool of questions from which Technician Class license exams will be assembled for the next four years. The new pool contains roughly 400 questions, of which 35 will be selected for each Tech exam. For the first time since volunteer examining began in the 1980s, the Element 2 exam will contain questions based on graphics and diagrams. These questions will be used between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2014.

FAR Offers Four Dozen Scholarships Posted: Jan 26, 2010 Applications are due by March 31 for the 48 scholarships administered by the Foundation for Amateur Radio. Most of these awards range upwards from $1000, and are available to licensed amateurs attending college or graduate school. Some awards have restrictions on geographic locations and/or courses of study. There is a master application for all scholarships. For more information, see the March issue of WorldRadio Online (online Feb. 20) or go to the FAR website at www.farweb.org.

Generals Now Have Limited Privileges in Europe Posted: Sep 30, 2009 U.S. General Class licensees have been granted limited operating privileges in member countries of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). Since early 2008, Generals and Technicians have been excluded from the automatic reciprocity granted to Advanced and Extra Class licensees by CEPT member countries. That limitation was recently amended to grant CEPT Novice privileges to US General Class hams, in those countries that have an equivalent license class. In early September, the FCC issued a Public Notice implementing those changes as they apply to U.S. amateurs. The ARRL Letter reports that countries in which U.S. Generals will have limited operating authority include: Belgium, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), German, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.

CQ to Accept eQSL Confirmations for Award Credit Posted: Jan 15, 2009 (Hicksville, NY and Bedford, TX, January 13, 2009) - CQ magazine will accept contact confirmations made on the eQSL.cc electronic confirmation system for its operating awards effective immediately, CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, and eQSL Founder and Webmaster Dave Morris, N5UP, announced today. There will be certain limitations and procedural differences for different awards, at least to start. Only confirmations from "Authenticity Guaranteed" members of eQSL will be accepted, and in accordance with existing eQSL policy, a membership level of bronze or higher is required in order to participate in award programs via eQSL. "This is the first time that CQ has formally accepted anything other than traditional paper QSL cards for its awards," said Moseson. "We have been working with Dave Morris and his team for several months to assure that the integrity of our awards programs will be protected and to create mechanisms to make it easy for both award applicants and award managers to use eQSL credits toward our awards. All of our award managers have been involved in this process and support this action." "We want to express our great appreciation to Dave and his team for their willingness to do whatever was necessary to make this agreement possible," Moseson added. "It has been a pleasure working with them and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship." "We are pleased to be adding CQ to the top of our list of amateur organizations that accept electronic QSLs," said Morris. "CQ has some of the most highly sought-after awards, and we have been working behind the scenes for years to create credit submission mechanisms that would ensure the integrity of their programs without introducing any additional labor for the award managers. We believe the electronic QSL can drastically reduce costs, and the award application mechanisms we have developed will provide for more efficient processing at reduced cost for both the applicant and the award manager." Applicants for the CQ DX and CQ DX Field Awards must print out their eQSLs and submit them along with their traditional QSLs to a CQ checkpoint or to CQ DX Awards Manager Billy Williams, N4UF. eQSL has an automated process in place for applicants for CQ's Worked All Zones, WPX and USA-Counties awards. N5UP explains how that will work for the applicant: "The applicant goes to the My Awards screen. He clicks on the particular award he wants to apply for. This brings up a list of the credits our system 'thinks' he is entitled to. There are checkboxes that allow him to check which ones he wants to use, and we automatically pre-fill one credit per category so he doesn't have to do anything if he wants to take the defaults. At the bottom of the screen are two buttons: 'Submit to CQ' and 'Print Paper Application'." The "submit" button will place all the selected QSOs into a file for the award manager to access, while the "print" button will generate a printed list to be submitted along with the traditional application. PLEASE NOTE that ALL applicants must send the award fee payment to the CQ Award Manager, regardless of how the application is submitted. Some CQ award managers are now accepting PayPal; see individual award web pages for details. All awards will continue to accept traditional QSLs as well as eQSLs. For the USA-Counties Award (USA-CA), applicants must note on their record books (or printouts) whether each county has been confirmed traditionally (with an "X" to the right of the entry) or electronically (with an "E" next to the entry). For more information on eQSL, visit http://www.eQSL.cc. For more information on CQ awards, visit the awards page on the CQ website at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com. Please note that the award rules posted on the website have not yet been updated to reflect the acceptance of eQSLs. This will be done as soon as possible, but the policy takes effect immediately.