| June, 2008 |  |
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New Apparel Items Now Available from ARRL
Show off your ham radio pride with ARRL's new line of HAM apparel. The new
shirt, sweatshirt and ball cap feature the very popular oval Euro design with "HAM" emblazoned in the center and
the ARRL Web site address centered underneath it. The T shirt is a pre-shrunk black Hanes beefy-T with white
contrast stitching. The HAM oval is screenprinted on the left chest. This trendy T shirt comes in unisex sizes
from small to 3X for only $12.95 each. The heavyweight black sweatshirt features a quarter-zip neckline with a
brass metal zipper and leather pull. The HAM oval is embroidered on the left chest. This sweatshirt is perfect
for the still chilly nights of spring and comes in unisex sizes from small to 3X for only $34.95 each.
The black ballcap features the HAM oval embroidered in the center of the cap.
With an adjustable Velcro tab closure, this cap is sure to fit just about anyone. Get yours for only $12.95.
Receive a free HAM Euro sticker (a $2 value) when you order one of these three
HAM items before May 31, 2008.
FCC Looks to Raise Vanity Call Sign Fees
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM) on May 8 seeking to raise fees for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a vanity call sign costs $11.70 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $12.30 for 10 years, an increase of $.60. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new term. Instructions on how to comment on this NPRM are available on the FCC Web site.
Satellite Shorts from All Over
- Yuta Araki, JQ1YGV at Nihon University says an updated version of the SEEDS cubesat telemetry analysis software is available from http://cubesat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/english/download_e.html. This will be Ver.2.0.2 of Downlink Code for Distribution.
- Spaceweather.com's simple Satellite Tracker has gone global. The tool now works not only for US and Canadian readers, but also for sky watchers in countries around the world. This development comes as the International Space Station is making bright and frequent nightly apparitions over Europe, Africa, the Middle East, parts of Asia and Australia. If you live in those areas, give it a try: http://spaceweather.com/flybys [via SpaceWeather.com]
- Art Feller, W4ART has posted photos from AMSAT/ARISS participation at Space Day at the National Air and Space Museum to: http://picasaweb.google.com/oojimoe/2008SpaceDayNASM
- The AO-27 Satellite Scheduler program which has been available from http://www.cs.rit.edu/~cjh9783/programs/satsched.php is now also available from http://home.earthlink.net/~ka3hsw/ao27/ as well.
- The W3HZU Beacons located on Grid FM19qv on 2.4GHZ and 1.2GHZ have been temporarily taken off the air in preparation to add a third beacon on 5.76GHZ. A message on the amsat-bb will advise when the beacons are back on the air. (via Charlie, K3VDB)
- The Houston AMSAT Net Podcast has now been picked up by iTunes. You can do a search on iTunes for "Houston AMSAT Net", "KK5DO", or "Bruce Paige" and will be offered the opportunity to subscribe to the Podcast.
- Google Earth now offers tools to Visualize the Ionosphere in 4D. See:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/30apr_4dionosphere.htm?list958901
http://terra1.spacenvironment.net/%7eionops/es4dintro.html
You will be able to use Google Earth © applications such as:
- Radio Availability
- Total Electron Content
- Maximum Useable Frequency
- foF2
- Past 24 hours TEC movie
- Past 24 hours MUF movie
| June, 2008 | |
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