| In January, the Question Pool Committee (QPC) of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) released the
2010 Technician (Element 2) Question Pool. Upon further review of the pool, members of the QPC found and corrected more than 50 minor typographical errors and clarified the questions and answers, making them easier to understand.These adopted changes are now incorporated in a revised question pool. The errata list, as well as the revised Technician question pool, is available on the NCVEC Web site at, http://www.ncvec.org/.The previously released pool dated January 4, 2010 is invalid for use. The newly revised Technician question pool will become effective for all examinations administered on or after July 1, 2010; it will remain valid until June 30, 2014.
The current Technician question pool that became effective July 1,2006 will expire June 30, 2010. The new Technician pool contains approximately 400 questions, from which 35 are selected for an Element 2 examination; it will contain graphics and diagrams, something new for this element.
The current General class question pool was effective July 1, 2007 and is valid through June 30, 2011. The current Amateur Extra class pool was effective July 1, 2008 and is valid until June 30, 2012.
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Wed 13 Jan 2010 |
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Written by Loyd C. Headrick
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When the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program began coordinating ISS-to-school contacts in 2001, only one school -- Luther Burbank Elementary School in Burbank, Illinois -- participated. Ten years later, more than 120 schools participated in the ARISS program in 2009 alone.
The number of ARISS-coordinated ISS-to-school contacts has climbed dramatically since that first contact in 2000. In 2001, there were 42 contacts, and in 2002, there were 40 contacts. During the first five years of the program -- 2000-2004 -- there was an average of 31.4 QSOs between the ISS and schools. In 2004, ARISS only conducted 35 contacts -- the lowest in its 10 year history -- but in 2005, 55 schools had contacted the ISS through the program. In 2006, there were 47 QSOs, 75 QSOs in 2007 and 62 in 2008. The 121 QSOs in 2009 show a jump of 95 percent over the 2008 numbers -- setting an ARISS record for the number of contacts.
Of the 517 ARISS QSOs through 2009, 313 were direct (a radio link between an Amateur Radio station set up in a school and the amateur station onboard the ISS), while 202 were via telebridge (a dedicated ARISS Amateur Radio ground station located somewhere in the world establishes the radio link with the ISS; voice communications between the students and the astronauts are then patched over regular telephone lines). Two contacts were a combination of direct and telebridge means.
"We saw a surge in interest from schools in all parts of the globe," said ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO. "The number of schools in Europe and Canada peaked this past year, thanks to Frank DeWinne, ON1DWN, and Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA, who were onboard the ISS for six-month stints; previously, most Canadian and European ham-licensed crew members were onboard for only a few weeks."
ARISS has coordinated contacts between the ISS and schools in the 38 countries: USA, Canada, Russia, Finland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, France, South Africa, Germany, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Thailand, Slovenia, Turkey, Spain, Poland, Ireland, Brazil, Switzerland, Kuwait, Greece, India, Portugal, Hungary, China, Malaysia, Reunion Island, Croatia, South Korea, Ecuador, New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, Mali and Senegal. There have already been two ISS contacts to schools in 2010 -- Italy and Taiwan -- with more to come.
White said that during the last quarter of 2009, ARISS saw an uptick in the number of US educators sending queries about how to get involved in ARISS --and in the number of ARISS applications received from areas of the US: "It seems that students are not jaded about the space program!"
For information on how to get your school involved in the ARISS program, please consult the ARISS Web site. |
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Wed 03 Feb 2010 |
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Written by Loyd C. Headrick
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 June 1, 2009 marked the culmination of a project that had begun over 2 years earlier. In a truly impressive display of cooperation between federal, state, commercial and ham radio organizations the means to provide timely communication from trained weather spotters in the field back to the NWS in Peachtree City, Georgia has been restored.
Over 3 years ago, the Fayette County Amateur Radio Club (FCARC) learned they would lose the use of their 190 foot tower, which stood on private property. The tower supported the FCARC flagship repeater and the hub repeater for the Peachtree City NWS SKYWARN linked repeater system. Numerous hours were spent scouting viable sites to relocate these critical repeaters. The hard work of David Benoist, AG4ZR, Fayette-Coweta County Emergency Coordinator (EC); Robert Burton, KD4YDC, District EC, NWS, Peachtree City, Georgia, and Captain Pete Nelms, Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator, paid off.\
Location, Authorization and Capitalization
A site was found on Ellis Road just north of the previous location and would provide the necessary coverage for the NWS. Initial efforts to put private Amateur Radio equipment on a state owned tower met with resistance due to the unprecedented nature of the request. To get the project rolling, Lans Rothfusz, KD5EJN, Meteorologist in Charge (MIC) of the Peachtree City office of the NWS, reframed the request as a collaboration between the federal (NWS) and state (Georgia Technology Agency, GTA) entities. That request was approved and, working closely with Jim Mollohan and Ralph Bevins of GTA, we were successful in obtaining permission to put SKYWARN and ARES® repeaters on a 300+ foot state tower.
Having secured permission, we now had to find a way of financing this project. At the suggestion of Captain Nelms, Assistant EC Lynn Bianco, KN4YZ, wrote a grant request for $10,000. We secured letters of support from the federal level (Lans Rothfusz), state level (Charlie Dawson, Director of Operations, Georgia Emergency Management Agency) and the county level (Captain Nelms). Our first try met with failure. A little disappointed, we tried again. This time, we were successful. The Coweta-Fayette EMC Trust came through for the full amount requested.
The next step was actually planning what hardware to install, where on the tower and what incidentals would be necessary. A planning committee was formed consisting of David, AG4ZR; Robert, KD4YDC; Lynn, KN4YZ; Huey Kenmar, KI4NGD; Assistant DEC Jim Burchfield, W4JB; RF Spectrum Engineer Jim Burchfield, W4JB; Brian Haren, FCARC President, and Chuck Federonis, KD4VW, our tower expert. After much discussion and careful planning by Chuck a formal plan was developed. Since it was a state tower, a professional crew was hired for the job. We now have a total of six antennas located at the 200, 250 and 300 foot levels.
Opening Day
A ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially opened the new site on June 1, 2009 was attended by many of the individuals who made this all possible. These new repeaters and associated hardware provide the necessary communication for numerous activities. Most important is the hub repeater for the SKYWARN program. This repeater links 22 other Amateur Radio repeaters to provide storm spotter reports from north and central Georgia to the NWS. These repeaters also support numerous local events, including The March of Dimes Walk America, Peachtree International Triathlon, Tri-PTC Triathlon, American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure and the Peachtree City Classic Road Race.
Service to the community does not end there. SKYWARN and ARES members stand ready to provide backup communication under the direction of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA). We used part of the SKYWARN network to provide emergency communications in 2008 for the American Red Cross (ARC) during the Hurricane Gustav evacuation by linking their Atlanta headquarters with shelters in LaGrange and Gwinnett counties and welfare centers on I-20 and I-85. Locally, we have Amateur Radio backup in the Emergency Operations Center, 911 Center and Piedmont Fayette Hospital.
“SKYWARN is a vital component of the severe weather operations for the National Weather Service,” said NWS Meteorologist in Charge Lans Rothfusz “and this repeater will extend our effective reach throughout the state, helping us keep more citizens better protected from the ravages of severe weather. I commend all the partners for realizing this and working together to make Georgia a safer place.”
For more information about the Georgia SKYWARN Linked Repeater System, please visit www.georgiaskywarn.com. More photos can be seen at fcaresrepeaters.tk. |
Wed 13 Jan 2010 |
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Written by Loyd C. Headrick
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 In 2009, the FCC issued more than 30,000 new Amateur Radio licenses -- an almost 3 percent increase in the number of new licenses issued in 2008. At the end of 2009, there were 17,084 Novices, 334,245 Technicians, 150,970 Generals, 60,795 Advanced and 119,403 Amateur Extra class licensees.
This past year was a banner year for new Amateur Radio licensees. According to ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, the FCC issued more than 30,000 new ham radio licenses. "In 2009, the demand for Amateur Radio exam sessions remained elevated and is still running at a higher rate than before the FCC's restructuring of the license requirements in 2007," Somma said. "This high level of exam session activity has produced an elevated influx of new applications, far outpacing recent years."
A total of 30,144 new licenses were granted in 2009, an increase of almost 7.5 percent from 2008. In 2005, 16,368 new hams joined Amateur Radio's ranks; just five years later, that number had increased by almost 14,000 -- a whopping 84 percent! The ARRL VEC is one of 14 VECs who administer Amateur Radio license exams.
"When looking at the statistics over the last 10 years, these are some the highest numbers we've seen," Somma explained. "Additionally, our total number of licensees across all three classes has grown each year." Currently there are 682,500 licensed Amateur Radio operators in the US, an almost 3 percent rise over 2008. In 2008, there were 663,500 licensed amateurs; there were 655,800 in 2007. Broken down by license class, at the end of 2009 there were 17,084 Novices, 334,245 Technicians, 150,970 Generals, 60,795 Advanced and 119,403 Amateur Extra licensees.
"The ARRL VEC has been busy meeting the needs of the Amateur Radio community by helping people to become radio amateurs or upgrade their existing licenses," Somma said. "In 2009, ARRL VEs administered 44,595 exam elements at 6369 ARRL VEC-sponsored exam sessions. The number of amateurs who want to be Volunteer Examiners and who want to teach Amateur Radio classes is also going up -- we've seen a spike in the number of applications from General and Extra class radio amateurs who want to give back to their community by serving as ARRL examiners and instructors."
Somma applauded all the volunteers whose "hard work and contribution of countless hours of time helps to ensure the future of Amateur Radio. The ARRL VEC thanks our 32,411 VEs from around the world whose dedication and service helped to contribute to the success of Amateur Radio. I am delighted by these important achievements. 2009 was a very good year for Amateur Radio and I am excited by the promise of 2010." |
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