TWIAR News Feed

///////////////////////////////////////////
Advisory: Requests for Information from the Public and the Press

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:55 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2g0b92L

Many individuals have loved ones in Puerto Rico, and they are
understandably hopeful that Amateur Radio operators can relay messages to
them. As a result, some are contacting amateurs with requests to pass
message traffic to the island.

At the same time, individual amateurs and clubs have reported that local
media representatives have contacted them to request information about
Amateur Radio involvement in Puerto Rico. This is likely to increase as
word spreads in the national media about our activities.

For inquiries from the public, ARRL advises that these individuals should
be informed that amateurs traveling to the island to support the American
Red Cross effort will be tasked with handling outbound traffic only. With
that in mind, members of the public should access the American Red Cross
Safe and Well System. Status information from friends and relatives in
Puerto Rico will be entered into the system as it arrives from amateurs
stationed there.

For press inquiries, please ask reporters to contact ARRL directly at
860-594-0200, or via email at . A system has been
established at ARRL Headquarters to respond to media inquiries in a timely
and accurate manner.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via the ARRL: SSB Sprint Postponed

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2fnxgzx

The North American SSB Sprint Contest, originally scheduled for October 1
(Saturday, September 30, in US time zones), has been postponed, and will be
rescheduled for a later date this fall.

“Our thoughts and wishes for an effective and orderly recovery from the
recent weather events in the Caribbean and southern US, and the earthquake
activity in Mexico have prompted us to postpone this weekend’s contest,�
said NA SSB Sprint Committee Chairman Bob Hayes, KW8N. “As much as many
enjoy this contest and were looking forward to participating in it this
weekend, it is necessary and appropriate to give wide berth to the
health-and-welfare communications now taking place on the amateur bands. We
encourage all Amateur Radio operators to assist or donate to the recovery
efforts through appropriate aid organizations.�

A new date for the NA SSB Sprint has not yet been determined.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Amateur Radios Force of Fifty Answers the Red Cross Call in Puerto Rico

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2yrxTzn

Fifty of the nation’s most accomplished Amateur Radio operators responded
within 24 hours to the call of the American Red Cross to deploy to Puerto
Rico and provide emergency communications. At the behest of Red Cross, ARRL
rallied the US Amateur Radio community to provide up to 25 two-person teams
of highly qualified hams. The group’s principal mission will be to move
health-and-welfare information from the island back to the US mainland,
where that data will be entered in the Red Cross “Safe & Well� website.

The group will deploy the middle of this week and remain on the island for
up to 3 weeks.

ARRL will equip each two-person team with a modern digital HF transceiver,
special software, a dipole antenna, a power supply and all the connecting
cables, fitted in a rugged waterproof container. In addition, ARRL is
sending a number of small, 2,000-W portable generators as well as
solar-powered battery chargers of the variety the US military uses on
extended deployments. The hams and their equipment will be sent to Red
Cross shelters extending from San Juan to the western end of the island.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Amateur Radio Volunteers Aiding Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2yBYj2d

Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands both suffered substantial damage from
Hurricane Maria, although Puerto Rico took the bigger hit, and it is there
that Amateur Radio has begun to fill a huge telecommunications gap.
According to the FCC, service is out for 96% of the cellular telephone
sites in Puerto Rico — and it’s out completely for sites in 78 Puerto Rico
counties. In the US Virgin Islands, the overall percentage is 66%.

“The situation in Puerto Rico is very devastating across all the island,�
Puerto Rico SM Oscar Resto, KP4RF, said over the weekend. “Communications
via land phone or mobiles are almost null.� Repeaters are down, he said,
and hams have been using the 2-meter simplex frequency of 146.52 MHz,
although he hoped to have a few local ham radio repeaters “working
partially with damaged antennas.� With police repeaters also down, law
enforcement has been using 2 meters as well.

American Red Cross Headquarters suffered the loss of its emergency
generator due to flooding. A temporary ARC headquarters has Internet and
cell service, he said.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Round-the-World Flyer Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN, Recruiting Pilots for Dominica
Airlift

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2wU0P1I

Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN, the Texas aviator who recently circumnavigated the
globe following Amelia Earhart’s path, is spearheading “Dominica Airlift —
Angels to Eden� to aid residents of the storm-stricken Caribbean island
nation. The Category 5 Hurricane Maria slammed into Dominica on September
18, leaving the population of about 70,000 without power or viable
telecommunications, in addition to wreaking severe damage to homes and
infrastructure, including the island’s port, but sparing at least one
usable airstrip. Lloyd learned this week, however, that the relief
situation on Dominica is improving.

“Our help is needed, but new information came in last night,� Lloyd said in
a September 25 Facebook post. “We established contact with the emergency
operations center (EOC) on Dominica late last night. We now know that the
port is open again, and other relief materials are starting to flow into
Dominica. We are not going to be the sole-source of material flowing to
Dominica as we originally thought.�

But, he added, even with international relief from NGOs starting to come
in, the EOC asked Lloyd and his airlift volunteers to come to Dominica to
help.

///////////////////////////////////////////
FalconSAT-3 Now Open for Amateur Radio Use

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2xuFLDA

The Air Force Academy satellite FalconSAT-3 is now open for Amateur Radio
use as a digital store-and-forward system. Built in 2005 and 2006 by cadets
and faculty in the Space Systems Research Center at the US Air Force
Academy in Colorado Springs, FalconSAT-3 was launched in 2007.

The satellite has completed its scientific and training missions, and the
Academy now is making it available for Amateur Radio use. The Packet
Bulletin Board System operates at 9,600 baud with a 145.840 MHz
uplink/435.103 MHz downlink. Output power is 1 W, and the downlink is
continuously on. Digipeating is enabled for live QSOs, but unattended
digipeating operation is not authorized at this time.

Additional information is on the AMSAT website.

///////////////////////////////////////////
ALE Operators Needed to Support Disaster Relief Flights in the Caribbean

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2yaFkPy

Ham radio volunteers living in areas having good signal propagation into
the Caribbean region are being asked to activate their home ALE (automatic
link establishment) HF stations. The call is going out to ALE-equipped
radio amateurs in the Caribbean islands, eastern and southeast US, Central
America, and northern South America.

The activation will support the Dominica Airlift — Angels to Eden disaster
relief initiative spearheaded by Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN, the Texas aviator who
recently circumnavigated the globe following Amelia Earhart’s path. If you
can volunteer some time to put your ALE station on the air, even on a
single frequency, e-mail HFLINK.

Volunteers will be using the HFL (voice) and HFN (text/data/sounding)
channel sets, with 14,346.0, 7,296.0, and 5,371.5 kHz likely to be the most
active. — Thanks to Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFLINK International Coordinator

///////////////////////////////////////////
via HACKADAY: The Hackers and the Hurricane

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2xD7lyi

When natural disasters strike, particularly if they are in some of the less
remote parts of the world, we see them unfolding in real-time on our
television screens. They become a 24-hour rolling news exercise in disaster
titillation, each fresh horror ghoulishly picked over by breathless
reporters live-telecasting from windswept streets, and endlessly rehashed
by a succession of in-studio expert guests.

Then once the required image of a dusty child being pulled from the rubble
or a tearful mother describing her daughter being swept away is in the can,
a politician somewhere is found in bed with a model or a tinpot dictator
rattles his sabre, and the world moves on. The BAFTA or the Emmy is a
certainty for this one, did you see the anguish!

Meanwhile on the ground, the situation remains the same. There is no power,
no sanitation, no communications, no food, and help seems very far away. In
the wake of the recent hurricane season across the Caribbean, there are
millions of people whose worlds have been wrecked, and several
international governments have faced significant criticism for their
lethargic response.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via the ARRL: Revised ARRL Frequency Chart Now Available

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2fEmjxa

An updated ARRL frequency chart is now available for printing and
downloading at http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations. The
chart has been updated to include our new bands at 2,200 and 630 meters.

The new chart is available in the following PDF formats:

- 8.5 X 11 grayscale

- 8.5 X 11 black and white

- 8.5 X 11 color

- 11 X 17 color

///////////////////////////////////////////
via the ARRL: Salvation Army Seeks Amateur Radio Operators for Possible
Caribbean Deployment

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2fA3eIX

The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has been asked to
recruit SATERN Amateur Radio operators for potential deployment to TSA’s
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Division. SATERN National Liaison Bill
Feist, WB8BZH, emphasizes that this is a recruitment request to be on
standby only.

“This will not be an easy deployment so operators interested in deploying
on behalf of The Salvation Army should carefully read and ensure that they
can meet the conditions and requirements,� Feist said.

SATERN is seeking Communications Specialists who can provide their own
radio gear and be able to handle at least a 2-week deployment in the
Caribbean under “hardship� conditions. Deployment could be as early as next
week.

Full information is available on the SATERN website.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Enter the RSGB Construction Competition

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2hCbkot

The RSGB annual Construction Competition is still open for entries.

The aim of the competition is to encourage home construction,
experimentation, design and innovation.

The competition can be entered by individual members or groups of members
where the build team will be treated as a single entrant.

The closing date has been extended to 6 October 2017 and any project that
you have built, other than one that was a previous winner in this
competition, may be entered.

Judging will take place at the RSGB Convention on 14 October 2017—find out
more and register your entry.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via the ARRL: Secure Forms on the ARRL.org Website

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2xETvcl

The security of your information on the ARRL website is extremely important
to the League. ARRL has taken steps to encrypt/secure all forms on the site
that contain personal or account information by using Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol Secure (HTTPS).This includes the Shopping Cart checkout, the ARRL
Donation Form, the site Login form, the Edit your Profile form, and New
User registrations.

To verify that a web page is secure, look for the green closed padlock icon
near the web address at the top of the browser window.

Beginning in October 2017, the Google Chrome (v 62) web browser will
display a “Not Secure� warning when users enter text in a form on an
unencrypted/insecure web page (HTTP). (Chrome already marks HTTP pages as
“Not secure,� if they have password or credit card fields.). The ARRL
website does have numerous user-input forms on the site that are currently
not encrypted. These include the site search, license class and exam
searches, and several others. These forms do not contain any sensitive
information and can be filled out safely, despite the updated warning from
Chrome.

ARRL is working toward securing all forms to provide a better visitor
experience in the future. Contact the ARRL Circulation Department with any
questions or concerns.

///////////////////////////////////////////
via HACKADAY: Military Satellite Goes Civilian

Posted: 30 Sep 2017 12:34 PM PDT
http://ift.tt/2ywS7rq

Space may be the final frontier, but that doesn’t mean we all get to
explore it. Except, perhaps by radio, as the US Air Force has just demobbed
a satellite and handed it over to the public to use. FalconSAT-3 was built
and used by students at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA) as part of their
training, then launched into orbit in 2007. It’s still going 10 years
later, but the USAFA is building and launching more satellites, so they
don’t need FalconSAT-3. Rather than trash it, they have turned off the
military bits and and are allowing radio amateurs to use it.


FalconSAT-3 is a 120-pound satellite that is in a 469 km high orbit. It was
one of the first to use a gravity gradient boom, where a weight on the end
of a pole uses the gravity of earth to keep the antennas pointing towards
earth. Although all of the really interesting military stuff is now turned
off, it is now working as an ARS digipeter with a 145.840 Mhz uplink and a
435.103 MHz downlink. The receiver is, by all accounts, quite sensitive,
and the transmitter has a 1.25 W continuous power rating, so it should not
be too difficult to hear and talk to. Several amateurs have already
reported successful communications, so it looks like it is open for
business. Amsat also has a good guide to the basics of getting in touch
with this satellite.