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 ARRL has become aware of a mail delivery problem affecting the ARRL Board of Director election ballots sent to members in part of the West Gulf Division. Recent flooding has affected some US Postal Service distribution centers in the Houston region of the state, damaging some sorting machines. This is delaying delivery to many members in that area. They are processing mail out, but there are delays in processing out bulk mail, which include the ballots. We are aware that ballots are being processed as part of their work flow, but they cannot give us a definitive date of when they will all be out for delivery.All ballots were mailed from Hartford on Monday, September 30, as required by the Articles of Association/By-Laws. Ballots to most of the West Gulf Division were delivered in the usual time frame, which is generally 10 to 14 days.
We have received numerous requests for
…Continue reading Mail Delivery Problem Affecting Delivery of Board Election Ballots in West Gulf Division
 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations — individually or working together — to host an Amateur Radio contact with a member of the International Space Station crew. The deadline to submit a proposal is November 30. Proposal information and documents are on the ARISS website.ARISS anticipates that contacts would take place between July 1 and December 31, 2020. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine specific contact dates. To make the most of these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
Crew members aboard the International Space Station routinely conduct scheduled Amateur Radio contacts throughout the year. These contacts are approximately 10 minutes long and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.
Amateur Radio organizations around the world — with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia,
…Continue reading ARISS Invites Proposals to Host Ham Radio Contacts with Space Station Crew
Ham Radio 2.0
This was recorded from a Facebook livestream by Ham Radio 2.0 on Sept 28, 2019, between the 2 candidates running for West Gulf Division Director. Thanks to Mike, N5VCX for arranging this meeting.
N5AUS’ Election Page: https://votewestgulf.org
W5MJ’s Election Page: https://www.qrz.com/db/w5mj
Click this link for the video of the interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7c7vUXwOTY
 Hurricane Dorian, which sat nearly stationary over the Bahamas for several days – causing massive destruction there – before moving toward the U.S. east coast, resulted in a new record for hours activated during a single storm by the Hurricane Watch Net. According to the ARRL Letter, the net’s volunteers were activated for 159 hours, 139 of them continuously, eclipsing the previous record of 151 hours last year for Hurricane Matthew. Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, noted that during the activation, net members collected and forwarded countless surface reports to the National Hurricane Center. After devastating the Bahamas, Dorian made a second landfall in North Carolina, then clipped the New England states and Maritime Canada before finally heading out to sea.
Another hurricane – Lorenzo – posed no threat to the western Atlantic but was threatening the Azores as of the last week in September. As a result, amateurs there asked AMSAT
…Continue reading Dorian Sets New Record for Hurricane Watch Net
Jamboree-on-the-Air, or JOTA, is the largest Scouting event in the world. It is held annually the third full weekend in October. JOTA uses amateur radio to link Scouts and hams around the world, around the nation, and in your own community. This jamboree requires no travel, other than to a nearby amateur radio operator’s ham shack. Many times you can find the hams will come to you by setting up a station at your Scout camporee, at the park down the block, or perhaps at a ham shack already set up at your council’s camp.
Tell Me More
Scouts of any age can participate, from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and Venturers, including girls. Once at the ham radio station, the communication typically involves talking on a microphone and listening on the station speakers. However, many forms of specialized communication may also be taking place, such as video communication, digital
…Continue reading Jamboree on the Air 2019
By now you should have received your green ballot and envelope. Please return your ballot in the green envelope. If more than one family member received a ballot, please submit them in their separate envelopes.
If you have not received your ballot, please contact the undersigned or ARRL directly. ARRL will send you a ballot by first class mail.
Historically there has been a very low voter turn-out.
Please vote!
73,
Dale W5WI
Hams in California are being urged not to write angry letters to state legislators or other officials in response to a viral internet post claiming that “California declares ham radio no longer a benefit.” The post resulted from a letter sent by CalFire, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to the owner of a repeater located at one of its tower sites. The letter states that the repeater may no longer be housed there free of charge and, if it is to remain, will be subject to several thousand dollars in fees plus annual rent.
From what we have been able to learn as of press time, this letter was sent to only one repeater owner whose equipment is located in a CalFire facility. Authoritative sources in the California emergency communications community say the letter does not represent a change in policy or in the state emergency management agency’s inclusion of amateur radio in its communications plans. CQ will continue to follow this story
…Continue reading Confusion in California Over Viral Internet Post
 A New York City ham has been hit with a Notice of Apparent Liability proposing s $17,000 fine for
deliberately and repeatedly interfering with a repeater. The ARRL reports that the FCC took the action against Harold Guretsky, K6DPZ, noting that “(g)iven his history as a repeat offender, this violation warrants a significant penalty.” ‘
The case dates back to complaints received in 2017, followed by an FCC warning letter, a visit from an Enforcement Bureau agent and a phone conversation between Guretsky and the FCC’s regional director, in which it was noted that the Commission was continuing to receive complaints. The Notice called Guretsky’s actions “a deliberate disregard for the Commission’s authority and the very spirit of the Amateur Radio Service by continuing to interfere with the local repeater” after receiving multiple warnings.
 The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has published changes to the Amateur Radio license conditions, effective on September 21. According to the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), all restrictions on emission modes have been removed for all licensees, and restrictions on permitted transmission bandwidths have been lifted for all licensees on all bands allowed for each license class, with the exception of 2200 and 630 meters, which only Advanced-tier licensees may use.The WIA says the impact of these two changes is that all licensees are permitted to use any mode, including those not yet invented, provided the transmission remains within the band being used. ACMA is retaining the three-tier licensing structure of Foundation, Standard, and Advanced. No changes were made regarding bands and power limits permitted for each license class.
All restrictions on Foundation licensees have been removed, however, and Foundation operators may now build and use their own transmitters and transceivers, use computer control and automatic modes, and explore digital modes. —
…Continue reading New Amateur Radio License Conditions in Effect for Australian Radio Amateurs
The FCC has turned down three petitions for rule making filed by hams. According to the ARRL, two of them asked the Commission to limit vanity call options to those available in the call area in which the applicant lives. The third sought FCC pre-emption of state and local distracted driving laws as they apply to using amateur radio transceivers while driving.
On the call sign petitions, the FCC said it has considered the matter more than once in the past and continues to see no real problem that would justify regulatory changes. Regarding distracted driving laws, the Commission said it sees no conflict between those laws and its rules, and that a driver “can comply with these laws by using a hands-free attachment or by parking the vehicle prior to using a handheld device, both of which are contemplated by our rules regarding two-way radios.”
 Members of the ARRL Ad Hoc Legislative Advisory Committee met in September with several members of Congress to “reacquaint the lawmakers with Amateur Radio’s most-pressing issues,” request their continuing support and “seek their input on the best ways to achieve ARRL’s objectives in Congress,” according to the ARRL Letter.
The committee had previously made a comprehensive review of perceived deficiencies in the Amateur Radio Parity Act, a bill aimed at reducing limitations on amateur radio operation in private land use regulations, and discussed its proposed changes with the members of Congress. At press time, there had been no updates on the results of those meetings.
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ARRL has become aware of a mail delivery problem affecting the ARRL Board of Director election ballots sent to members in part of the West Gulf Division. Recent flooding has affected some US Postal Service distribution centers in the Houston region of the state, damaging some sorting machines. This is delaying delivery to many members in that area. They are processing mail out, but there are delays in processing out bulk mail, which include the ballots. We are aware that ballots are being processed as part of their work flow, but they cannot give us a definitive date of when they will all be out for delivery.All ballots were mailed from Hartford on Monday, September 30, as required by the Articles of Association/By-Laws. Ballots to most of the West Gulf Division were delivered in the usual time frame, which is generally 10 to 14 days.
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