ARRLSBCLUBS - Helping Your Club Grow and Prosper.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOW is the time to get that "Extra" before the door closes.
Check for an examination site near you on the ARRL Section
Web site http://www.qsl.net/arrlsb
A more difficult and expanded number of questions will make
up the Extra Class examinations to begin in July.
The new question pool becomes effective July 1st, and must
be used to generate all Extra class written examinations
administered on or after that date. It replaces the Extra class
question pool released April 15, 2000--the day Amateur Radio
''restructuring'' became effective.
The new Element 4 pool expands the number of questions by more than
20 percent--806 questions--as opposed to 665 in the current Extra
class pool, and it contains more technical material. More than half
of the questions cover electrical principles, circuits, signals and
emissions.
The 50 questions in an Extra class examination are drawn from the
question pool consistent with FCC rules and according to a formula
that specifies the number of questions to be asked from each of nine
topic areas. Applicants must correctly answer at least 37 questions
to pass.
The new Element 4 question pool is available on the ARRL Web site,
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html. The just-released Extra
class question pool will remain valid through June 30, 2005.
Subject: [cq-l] Condo Antenna Bill Introduced, FCC Proposes 2 New
Ham Bands
From the CQ Newsroom:
Condo Antenna Bill Introduced in Congress
A New York Congressman has introduced a bill intended to offer
residents of condominiums and others affected by private land
use regulations the same right of "reasonable accommodation" of
amateur antennas currently afforded
to hams without such restrictions. The bill, titled the ''Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications Consistency Act,'' was introduced
by Long Island Congressman Steve Israel. It would treat private
land use rules as if they were local ordinances, for the
purposes of FCC amateur antenna regulations.
This means they would be subject to the restrictions commonly
known as PRB-1.
FCC Proposes New LF and HF Ham Bands
The FCC is proposing two new amateur allocations in the low
frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) portions of the spectrum,
along with added protection for amateurs at 2.4 GHz. All three
proposals are in response to ARRL requests. In a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) released last week, the Commission
is proposing a 2.1-kHz wide "sliver band" between
135.7 and 137.8 kHz; a secondary amateur allocation between 5,250
and 5,400 kHz; and upgrading the amateur allocation at 2400-2402
MHz from secondary to primary, closing a gap between existing
primary amateur allocations at 2390-2400 and 2402-2417 MHz. The
OSCAR-40 satellite downlink is in the 2400-2402 segment.
Details on both stories are available on the news page of the CQ
website at
<http://news.cq-amateur-radio.com>.
If you're coming to Dayton, please be sure to stop by the CQ
booth and say hi! We'll be in our usual spot at Booths 579-581
in the East Hall.
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***** Remember, an out of tune piano makes noise, not music! *****
call, (805) 966-7060 .
E-MAIL: dennis(a)rain.org .
*** Bye from the Paradise Playground of the Pacific Beaches.
*** Dennis Schwendtner *** WB6OBB ***
*** http://www.rain.org/~dennis ***
*** Schwendtner Piano and Service ***
WB6OBB repeater web-site ***
If you are a QRPer (or even not), you will want to check it out at -
www.elecraft.com
73,
Paul
------------------------------------------------------------
"One of the most embarrassing problems for the nineteenth-century champions
of the Christian faith was the fact that not one of the first six
presidents of the United States was a Christian. They were Deists."
(1968, vol. 2 p.420, "The Annals of America: Great issues in American Life:
A Conspectus")
Paul Sheffield
W6VLM
NAR #72716 L2 Insured
I just got an email from someone telling me their ESP had failed, and
they needed to know the date of this event. National Orienteering Day
(NOD) is this Saturday, May 4, 2002. The notice was written for the
orienteering community, and NOD to them is like Field Day to us :).
In case the URL at the end of the notice doesn't work for you, it
redirects to the actual location of the Los Angeles Orienteering Club
(LAOC) web site at http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/trails/6320/. Also
more information about NOD and orienteering is available at the US
Orienteering Federation at http://www.us.orienteering.org/.
****************
National Orienteering Day
Lake Los Carneros is not just for turtles and ducks! This county park
located in Goleta, just west of Santa Barbara, is also an outstanding
area for beginner and intermediate orienteers. The park is highly
recommended for first-timers and beginners, to have some fun both
learning and using map and compass skills. And thanks to our national
sponsors, Brunton and Maptech, all entrants will eligible for a prize
drawing consisting of five compasses and a "Terrain Navigator 2001"
CD-ROM!
Orienteering club regulars are also invited to come and enjoy this
beautiful park, with a new, color map by Sergei Zarubin. White, Yellow,
and Orange courses will be offered. Entrants are encouraged to try a
second course if they desire.
Instructional sessions will be provided throughout the morning by
veteran orienteers. New skills can be learned by adults and children
alike.
There will also be a demonstration of radio orienteering after the event
for those who like to mix in some electronics and homebuilt gadgetry
with their flag hunting skills. This is a fun variation of the sport
that requires a radio receiver to locate a hidden transmitter, based on
the direction and strength of the transmitter signal. Equipment and
instruction will be provided by expert radio-orienteers to help
interested persons test their skills!
Courses: Easy 1.5 - 2.6 miles white, yellow, and orange courses with a 2
hour time limit
Registration: 9am to Noon
Cost: $3.00 per individual, $2.00 extra for groups (includes one extra
map), or free to those that join LAOC at this event
Directions:
>From Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Gila Bend, Arizona:
North on US 101, 7 miles west of Santa Barbara. Exit north on Los
Carneros
road.
>From Buellton, Santa Maria, and Salinas:
South on US 101, 20 miles east of Gaviota. Exit north on Los Carneros
road.
>From Highway 101, Los Carneros Road exit:
Proceed 1/8 mile north on Los Carneros past Calle Real and the park will
be on your right. Park rangers have asked us to leave the parking lot
for museum visitors, so please park along Los Carneros road.
The park entrance is on the right, another 1/8 mile past Calle Real.
Just follow the orange and white orienteering signs to the registration
area. Registration and the Start/Finish will be at the picnic table area
just south of the train station.
More information: Visit http://go.to/laoc or call Marvin Johnston at
805-687-8881.
National Orienteering Day
Lake Los Carneros is not just for turtles and ducks! This county park
located in Goleta, just west of Santa Barbara, is also an outstanding
area for beginner and intermediate orienteers. The park is highly
recommended for first-timers and beginners, to have some fun both
learning and using map and compass skills. And thanks to our national
sponsors, Brunton and Maptech, all entrants will eligible for a prize
drawing consisting of five compasses and a "Terrain Navigator 2001"
CD-ROM!
Orienteering club regulars are also invited to come and enjoy this
beautiful park, with a new, color map by Sergei Zarubin. White, Yellow,
and Orange courses will be offered. Entrants are encouraged to try a
second course if they desire.
Instructional sessions will be provided throughout the morning by
veteran orienteers. New skills can be learned by adults and children
alike.
There will also be a demonstration of radio orienteering after the event
for those who like to mix in some electronics and homebuilt gadgetry
with their flag hunting skills. This is a fun variation of the sport
that requires a radio receiver to locate a hidden transmitter, based on
the direction and strength of the transmitter signal. Equipment and
instruction will be provided by expert radio-orienteers to help
interested persons test their skills!
Courses: Easy 1.5 - 2.6 miles white, yellow, and orange courses with a 2
hour time limit
Registration: 9am to Noon
Cost: $3.00 per individual, $2.00 extra for groups (includes one extra
map), or free to those that join LAOC at this event
Directions:
--------- Forwarded message ----------
ARRLSB - The Official ARRL Santa Barbara Section Mailing List
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
FCC mandates "911-only phone" changes
Federal regulators have set down rules to solve a problem for 911
call centers and
people who use special cell phones to call them.
Phones that are programmed to do just one thing--call 9-1-1--don't
have a telephone number,
so they can't get a return call. That leaves police without the
ability to call back if a panicked
crime victim hangs up or the connection gets disrupted before the
caller gives his or her
location, for example.
So on Monday, the Federal Communications Commission put in place new
regulations and
made other decisions that ended nearly two years of work on the
subject.
The commission will require manufacturers to create an alert for
emergency call center
operators that the caller is dialing from a 911-only phone. For
instance, the FCC will ask
manufacturers to program the 911 phones to send a specific code
number, instead of a phone
number, to dispatchers of emergency call centers. This way, when
emergency operators see
that code--which will be 123-456-7890--they will know to ask the
caller for his or her location.
The FCC also wants manufacturers to make it very clear to customers
that these cell phones
cannot receive incoming calls. The manufacturers will have to affix
labels on the phones telling
users to "convey the exact location of the emergency as soon as
possible," according to the
FCC statement.
However, the FCC spared makers of these phones from creating a way
to give police a
callback number.
"It is still technically infeasible to require carriers and
manufacturers of 911-only phones
to...provide (call centers) with a callback number," the commission
said in a statement about
the new rules.
The special cell phones come from wireless carriers, which refurbish
used, regular cell phones
from their customers after a contract expires or when the customer
moves to another plan.
Some of the more damaged phones are cleaned up and stripped of their
assigned telephone
number.
Carriers like Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS and VoiceStream Wireless
donate many of these
phones to at-risk populations like battered women. Other refurbished
phones are sold to
security-minded companies like a Knoxville, Tenn.-based SecureAlert,
which sells a variety of
security products.
Some carriers have taken a different tack with their emergency
phones. Before the FCC
regulations were drafted, Verizon Wireless and VoiceStream Wireless,
which will change its
name to T-Mobile this summer, made adjustments to the phones they
were giving out.
The two carriers assign telephone numbers to the cell phones they
donate to women's shelters
or other locations, making them able to get incoming calls,
according to FCC records. But
outgoing calls are restricted to one phone number and 9-1-1.
Carriers Sprint PCS and Cingular
Wireless both told the FCC that they also donate phones that have
phone numbers.
By Ben Charny, Staff Writer, CNET News.com, April 30, 2002
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