Free Republic

I know that there are a fair number of hams (amateur radio operators) that are Freepers. We are "represented" by the American Radio Relay League. The ARRL was founded in 1914 and is supposed to be representing the interests of the American ham radio community. Unfortunately, as is the case with many organizations, it has lost its way and has become a secretive club with its own agenda. It needs to be reformed. A set of recent unfortunate incidents have proven to the be the breaking point for many active hams. A petition to reform the ARRL has been launched....

ARRL Field Day Overview ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada.  Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate. ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity.  It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, most groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities.  It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to local elected community...

SNIPPET: "ARRL Field Day is June 26-27, 2010 ARRL Field Day is the largest on-the-air operating event in Amateur Radio. It draws tens of thousands to the airwaves each year, bringing new and experienced hams together for a weekend of fun!" SNIPPET: "ARRL Field Day Overview ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate. ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity. It is a time where many...

[H]am radio operators will test their emergency communications capabilities with amateur radio clubs across the nation this weekend. The field day, the culmination of National Amateur Radio Week, known as the Nationwide Emergency Communications Drill, is intended to give the public a glimpse of the services amateur radio operators provide and a chance to meet the operators themselves. "In a disaster, when phone lines, cellphones and the Internet are all down, ham radio operators will be on the job," said Jon Clark, president of the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club. The club will set up at the north end of...

When another disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina comes along, the League will be able to deploy "ham gear ready to go," thanks to manufacturers' donations of Amateur Radio gear, ARRL members' generous monetary contributions and a federal grant. The ARRL Ham Aid-sponsored "Go Kits" now being assembled at League Headquarters are the third leg of a program that's already reimbursed certain out-of-pocket expenses for ham radio hurricane zone volunteers and helped restore Amateur Radio backbone infrastructure along the US Gulf Coast. "To me, this is a first step in ramping up ARRL's ability to support Amateur Radio volunteers...

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, this week called on the Amateur Radio community to exercise patience as the Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans flooding relief and recovery efforts move into high gear. "I know many people would like to move now," Haynie said. "Please don't. I know many of you want to enter the fray, come to the coast and get involved. Please, not yet." Haynie instead advised hams eager to assist to make sure they're prepared, refresh their skills and knowledge of protocols and procedures. The ARRL now is seeking experienced Amateur Radio emergency volunteers to help supplement communication...

Editor's note: Typically, only ARRL members get to read the "It Seems to Us ..." editorials that run each month in QST. We're posting this editorial that appears in the March, 2005 issue of QST in the hope that both ARRL members and nonmembers might appreciate it and find it informative. Threats to radio amateurs' access to the radio spectrum come in several forms. We can lose allocations, either at the international or the domestic level. The ARRL and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) devote a lot of resources to the protection and expansion of our international allocations through...

Big Apple broadcaster amps up ARRL radio spot for Limbaugh network fill (Jan 13, 2005) -- ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says it's nice to have friends in high places. One of the friends of Amateur Radio public relations is Howard Price, KA2QPJ, of New York City's WABC-TV (Channel 7). Pitts says Price--acting president of the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS), the ham radio organization at ABC TV and Radio in New York City and an ARRL Special Service Club--heard the League's new radio public service announcement (PSA) and had an idea. "He passed it...

When four amateur radio operators headed to the Andaman and Nicobar islands a few weeks ago, armed with only basic equipment, backpacks and sun blocks, they had no idea that their fun hobby would soon become the islands' only lifeline. "They went because it's a `high value' country for hams (amateur radio operators) since you need special permission from the Government to operate there," says Gopal Madhavan, an avid ham and one of the members of the governing council of the Amateur Radio Society of India. "The last time a ham operated in the Andamans was about 25 years ago."...

FCC commissioners yesterday unanimously approved rules for broadband over power line (BPL) technology, which policymakers hope will provide the elusive third broadband access line into most U.S. homes and reduce—or eliminate—the need to regulate the broadband industry. Certainly the most outspoken opposition to BPL has come from the amateur radio community, which has claimed that BPL will create interference with its operations. FCC Chairman Michael Powell called amateur radio operators “an important resource” and expressed hope that the rules the FCC has created will protect them, but he said obstructing the deployment of BPL is not an option. “The potential...

A 21-member delegation represented the US and ARRL at the Amateur Radio Direction Finding 12th World Championship in the Czech Republic September 7-12. ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV, says this year's global competition attracted 327 competitors from 28 countries to the town of Brno--some 110 miles southeast of Prague. ARDF is sometimes called foxtailing or radio orienteering, and world championships take place in even-numbered years. Charles Scharlau, NZ0I, finishes the 80-meter course. "Yes, that is duct tape holding my head together," he said. "The look of pain probably came from seeing my time displayed ahead of me as I...

NASA International Space Station Science Officer Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, told youngsters at an elementary school in Japan September 17 that he's been so busy during his duty tour in space that it's hard to believe it's almost over. Fincke spoke via Amateur Radio from NA1SS aboard the space station with fifth and sixth-graders at Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School near Tokyo. The contact was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Fincke answered the youngsters' questions in both Japanese and English. "Because we are working so hard, it seems that the time goes by very, very...

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams were ready and waiting as Hurricane Ivan devastated entire sections of the US Gulf Coast early September 16. Packing 115 MPH winds as it made landfall, Ivan zeroed in on the Mobile Bay area of Alabama, but because of its huge girth, the storm wrought widespread death and destruction in the Florida Panhandle and also affected Mississippi. Below-sea-level New Orleans was spared major flooding, however. Alabama Section Emergency Coordinator Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, said ham radio has been helping relief agencies, especially in the hard-hit southernmost counties. "Right now the adrenaline's still up," he said...

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 16, 2004 One of the oldest radio amateurs in the US has become a Silent Key. Michael J. "Mike" Anuta, W8HKY, of Marinette, Wisconsin, died September 9 after suffering a severe stroke a week earlier. He was 103. After leaving school after the eighth grade and working as a Western Union delivery boy and a railroad telegrapher, he went on to study law by correspondence and become an attorney. He retired in 1996 after a 67-year law career in Michigan that included 10 years as prosecuting attorney and 10 years as a municipal judge. Alma College...

Space Station Field Day 2004 Operation Possible Possibly on for Field Day 2004: Mike Fincke, KE5AIT (left), and Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, with their Russian Orlan space suits, prepare for a space walk that's tentatively set for June 24. [NASA Photo] NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 17, 2004 The crew of the International Space Station--astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and Gennady Padalka, RN3DT--could be on the air for Field Day 2004. In 2001, astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, thrilled Field Day participants by showing up unexpectedly on the air and working several dozen stations. ISS crew members have participated in the event each year...

ARRL Takes Issue with Public Funding of New York BPL Project The ARRL Letter Vol. 23, No. 24 June 11, 2004 The ARRL has questioned the propriety of a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) grant from public funds to promote a broadband over power line (BPL) project. The project is believed to be the BPL field test now under way in Briarcliff Manor. The Westchester County community is just north of New York City. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, on June 10 faxed a strongly worded letter to NYSERDA President Peter R. Smith asserting that acknowledged...

The K7RA Solar UpdateSEATTLE, WA, Jun 11, 2004 Solar activity remains low. As the sunspot cycle declines, we are inevitably headed toward a year or two of quiet sun. The sunspot minimum still is several years away, however. This week average daily sunspot numbers were up slightly by more than 7 points to 68.3. Average daily solar flux was down nearly 10 points to 87.4. Geomagnetic conditions remained quiet to slightly unsettled. The chance of any geomagnetic upset this weekend seems very remote. The sun is nearly blank, but as of June 10, two sunspots were peeking around the edge...

Expedition 9 crew honors President Reagan from space (Jun 11, 2004) The International Space Station Expedition 9 crew paid tribute to former President Ronald Reagan June 10. Astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, rang the ISS ship's bell 40 times to commemorate the nation's 40th chief executive. Reagan died June 5 at the age of 93 of complications resulting from Alzheimer's disease. "We, the crew of the International Space Station, join millions of others in mourning the passing of President Reagan, who worked tirelessly to bring the world closer together," said Padalka, the Expedition 9 crew commander....

California clubs' Field Day operation to honor Reagan (Jun 10, 2004) -- On Field Day, the Ventura County Amateur Radio Society (VCARS) will join forces with the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) to operate as N6R. The special event call sign this year will commemorate President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5 at the age of 93. "We have been given approval to operate from the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library," said Pete Heins, N6ZE, a member of both clubs, He notes that 2004 marks the fourth year the two clubs have run an N6R ("Nancy 6...

FCC Extends BPL Reply Comments Filing Deadline NEWINGTON, CT, May 27, 2004--The FCC has extended the deadline to file reply comments in its broadband over power line (BPL) proceeding, ET Docket 04-37, from Tuesday, June 1, to Tuesday, June 22. The Commission released its BPL Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) February 23, and the initial comment deadline passed May 3. The FCC acted on a request from the National Antenna Consortium and the Amherst Alliance (NAC/Amherst) for a much longer filing deadline extension. The NAC/Amherst petition cited the anticipated release of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Phase...