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********************************************
The ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League ********************************************

January 12, 2023

John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, Editor <news@arrl.org>

ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Letter Archive <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> IN THIS ISSUE

- Orlando HamCation Presents Its 2023 Award Winners
- HAARP Thanks Amateur Radio Operators for Help with Latest Experiment
- Amateur Radio in the News
- ARRL Podcasts
- Announcements
- In Brief...
- The K7RA Solar Update
- Just Ahead in Radiosport
- Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions

ORLANDO HAMCATION PRESENTS ITS 2023 AWARD WINNERS

Just a month ahead of its big event in Florida, Orlando HamCation® has announced the 2023 HamCation Award winners.

Ken Lyons, KN4MDJ, and Jim Storms, AB8YK, are the 2023 recipients of
the Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award. The award is given to
individuals who have made outstanding contributions to educating and
advancing youth in amateur radio. It was first awarded at HamCation
2019 to its namesake, Carole Perry, WB2MGP, in honor of her work as an
educator teaching students about ham radio.

Lyons is an ARRL Southeastern Division Assistant Director for Radio
Scouting, and is the trustee of WB4SA, the Central Florida Council's
Radio Scouting program, for activities and opportunities in both the
Boy Scout and Girl Scout programs covered by Division 2. The program
includes 30,000 scouts in nine counties. Lyons has been licensed since
2018 and now holds an Amateur Extra-class license. On receiving his
award Lyons said, "I was not expecting the award but I'm honored to
receive it."

Storms is a co-founder and a current team leader for the Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX Adventure. He co-founded the Youth DX Adventure in
2010 with Dave Kalter, KB8OCP, (SK). He has been licensed since 2007
and holds an Amateur Extra-class license. He is also an ARRL Member and
General Chairman of 2023 Dayton Hamvention®.

John Bigley, N7UR, is the 2023 HamCation recipient of the Gordon West Ambassador of the Year Award. This is the first time the award has been presented. The award honors its namesake, Gordon West, WB6NOA, in honor
of his contributions and inspirations to the amateur radio community.

Bigley is the ARRL Nevada Section Manager and was chosen as the 2014
ARRL Pacific Division Ham of the Year. He has been licensed since 2003
and holds an Amateur Extra-class license. Bigley's reaction to
receiving the award was, "Surprised? Absolutely!"

Orlando HamCation <https://www.hamcation.com/> has been sponsored by
the Orlando Amateur Radio Club since 1946, and is held annually on the
second weekend of February. HamCation has grown to become the second
largest hamfest in the world. 2023 HamCation is February 10 - 12 and
will host the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention at the Central
Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park in Orlando. Visit www.hamcation.com <https://www.hamcation.com/> for more information.

HAARP THANKS AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS FOR HELP WITH LATEST

EXPERIMENT

On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, the High-frequency Active Auroral
Research Program (HAARP) conducted its latest ionospheric experiment of bouncing radio signals off an asteroid passing near Earth's orbit (see
the ARRL News <https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-operators-invited-to-participate-in-asteroid-bounce-experiment>

story from December 23, 2022).

Amateur radio operators and radio astronomy enthusiasts were invited
to monitor the test and send their results to HAARP for analysis. While
the results of the experiment will take several weeks, Jessica
Matthews, HAARP Program Manager, said the help was greatly appreciated.
"So far we have received over 300 reception reports from the amateur
radio and radio astronomy communities from six continents who confirmed
the HAARP transmission."

HAARP officials say the results of the experiment could aid efforts to
defend Earth from larger asteroids that could cause significant damage.

"We will be analyzing the data over the next few weeks and hope to
publish the results in the coming months," said Mark Haynes, lead
investigator on the project and a radar systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. "This experiment was the first
time an asteroid observation was attempted at such low frequencies," he
said. "This shows the value of HAARP as a potential future research
tool for the study of near-Earth objects."

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) operates HAARP <https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/> under an agreement with the Air Force,
which developed and owned HAARP but transferred the research
instruments to UAF in August 2015.

AMATEUR RADIO IN THE NEWS

ARRL Public Information Officers, Coordinators, and many other member-volunteers help keep amateur radio and ARRL in the news <http://www.arrl.org/media-hits>.

"Ham radio operators 'still a thing' in this advanced technological
world <http://www.cbs58.com/news/ham-radio-operators-still-a-thing-in-this-advanced-technological-world>"

/ WDJT (Wisconsin), January 9, 2023. -- The Fond du Lac Amateur Radio
Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

"3 days of activities planned in January celebrating Orange [Amateur]
Radio Club's 75th Anniversary <http://www.orangeleader.com/2023/01/08/3-days-of-activities-planned-in-january-celebrating-orange-area-radio-clubs-75th-anniversary/>"

/ The Orange Leader (Texas), January 9, 2023. -- The Orange Amateur
Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

Share <newsmedia@arrl.org> any amateur radio media hits you spot with
us.

ARRL PODCASTS

On the Air
Sponsored by Icom <http://www.icomamerica.com/en/>
The latest episode of the ARRL On the Air
<https://blubrry.com/arrlontheair/> podcast includes an introduction to
the ARRL Field Organization and opportunities to get involved. Learn
more about this network of ARRL member-volunteers who give of their
time and knowledge to other hams, as well as to the Amateur Radio
Service itself.

ARRL Audio News
Listen to ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>,
available every Friday. ARRL Audio News is a summary of the week's top
news stories in the world of amateur radio and ARRL, along with
interviews and other features.

The On the Air podcast is available on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher
(Android). The On the Air podcast and ARRL Audio News are also on
blubrry -- On the Air <https://blubrry.com/arrlontheair/> | ARRL Audio
News <https://blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/>.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Next ARDC Community Meeting will take place on Saturday, January
21, 2023, at 1700 UTC. The Zoom meeting will cover Amateur Radio
Digital Communications' (ARDC) 2022 grants, introduce new advisory
committee members, and report on the recent assessment of 44Net usage
and technology. To register for the Zoom meeting, go to www.ampr.org/community-meeting-registration/ <https://www.ampr.org/community-meeting-registration/>. The Zoom
information will be emailed to everyone who has registered a day or two
before the event. ARDC <http://www.ampr.org/> is a California-based
foundation with roots in amateur radio and the technology of internet communication.

IN BRIEF...

Arnaldo de Jesús Coro Antich, CO2KK, passed away January 8, 2023.
Coro was born on July 2, 1942. He was a founding member, since 1966, of
the Federation of Radio Amateurs of Cuba [Federacion de
Radioaficionados de Cuba]. "At the age of 12, [Coro] joined what was
then the Radio Club de Cuba, the association that brought together
radio amateurs in the capital in the late 1950s," included a report <https://www.iaru-r1.org/2023/dx-unlimited-arnie-coro-co2kk-sk/> of his
passing from Horacio A. Nigro Geolkiewsky, CX3BZ, and International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 Emergency Communications
Coordinator Dr. Carlos Alberto Santamaria Gonzalez, CO2JC, with
translation from Tom Kamp, DF5JL. He was a journalist and university
professor, teaching at the Raúl Roa García Instituto Superior de
Relaciones Internacionales and at the José Martí International
Institute of Journalism. "...he was a member of the team of Radio
Habana Cuba until his death. His programme 'DXers Unlimited' in English
reached all corners of the world ... His radio station was always ready
to help in case of emergencies and disasters in our country and region.
At the time of his death, he was the Emergency Coordinator for Area C
of Region 2 of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU R2)." He
received the National Radio Award in 2017. A full story <https://www.iaru-r1.org/2023/dx-unlimited-arnie-coro-co2kk-sk/> has
been posted by IARU Region 2.

THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE

Tad Cook, K7RA, of Seattle, Washington, reports for this week's ARRL Propagation Bulletin, ARLP002:

Sunspot numbers are up and geomagnetic disturbances are down. What
could be better? Okay, maybe Cycle 19, but that was 66 years ago and by
far the all-time largest sunspot cycle.

But this is now, we are in Cycle 25, and this sunspot cycle is emerging
better than the consensus prediction. It is predicted to peak 30 months
from now in the summer of 2025. Solar cycles tend to ramp up quickly
and decline slowly, so we can look forward to great propagation for
years to come.

There were six new emerging sunspot groups in our reporting week,
January 5 - 11. The first two appeared January 5, the next on January
8, another on January 9, and two more on January 10.

The average daily sunspot number rose from 97 to 135.9, and the average
daily solar flux from 157.8 to 181.2, compared to last week.

The average daily planetary A index declined from 15.4 to 6.7, and the
middle latitude A index from 10.9 to 6.1.

Compare the solar numbers to last year. A year ago, in ARLP002, the
average daily sunspot number was only 42.4 (135.9 now), and the average
daily solar flux was 101.6 (181.2 now). Ten and 12 meters now have
openings every day.

The predicted solar flux is 196 on January 12 and 13; 198, 196, 194,
192, 190, 188, and 140 on January 14 - 20; 130 on January 21 - 22; 135
on January 23; 140 on January 24 - 26; 145 on January 27; 155, 155, and
160 on January 28 - 30; 170 on January 31 - February 2; 175 and 180 on
February 3 - 4; 185 on February 5 - 6; 180, 178, and 175 on February 7
- 9; 155 on February 10 - 12, and 145 on February 13.

The predicted planetary A index is 5 on January 12 - 17; 10, 18, 15,
and 8 on January 18 - 21; 5 on January 22 - 24; 8, 22, 12, and 8 on
January 25 - 28; 5 on January 29 - 31; 12 and 8 on February 1 - 2; 5 on February 3 - 5; 10, 12, and 8 on February 6 - 8, and 5 on February 9 -
13.

Jon Jones, N0JK, Editor for "The World Above 50 MHz <https://www.arrl.org/the-world-above-50-mhz>" column in QST, writes:

"There was a 6-meter F2 opening between Ecuador and North America on
January 6, 2023, around 1530 UTC, mostly between the southeast United
States and Ecuador. Solar flux was 154." (Actually, solar flux was
154.3 on January 5 and 172.4 on January 6).

"Later, there was some weak sporadic-E on 6 meters. I logged W4IMD
(EM84) 1942 UTC, and W7JW (EN82) on 6-meter FT8 via Es at 1954 UTC on
January 6. High solar activity this week."

Sunspot numbers on January 5 through 11 were 103, 101, 104, 117, 142,
201, and 183, with a mean of 135.9. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 154.3,
172.4, 178.9, 183.8, 190.9, 193, and 195.1, with a mean of 181.2.
Estimated planetary A indices were 8, 4, 6, 8, 5, 7, and 9, with a mean
of 6.7. Middle latitude A index was 6, 4, 5, 7, 7, 6, and 8, with a
mean of 6.1.

Send your tips, questions, or comments to k7ra@arrl.net.

A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted on Fridays on the ARRL
website. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit <http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals> the ARRL Technical
Information Service, read
<http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere> "What the Numbers
Mean..." and check out <http://k9la.us/> the Propagation Page of Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA.

A propagation bulletin archive <http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation> is available. For customizable propagation charts, visit the VOACAP Online for Ham Radio <https://www.voacap.com/hf/> website.

Share <k7ra@arrl.net> your reports and observations.

A weekly, full report is posted on ARRL News
<http://www.arrl.org/news>.

JUST AHEAD IN RADIOSPORT

- January 11 - 17 -- VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest (FT8)

- January 14 -- YB DX Contest (phone)

- January 14 - 15 -- UBA PSK63 Prefix Contest (digital)

- January 14 - 15 -- North American QSO Party (CW)

- January 15 -- RSGB AFS Contest, Data (digital)

- January 15 - 16 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)

- January 18 -- VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest (FT8)

- January 21 - 23 -- ARRL January VHF Contest
<http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf>

Visit the ARRL Contest Calendar <http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar>
for more events and information.

UPCOMING SECTION, STATE, AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS

- January 20 - 21 | Southwest Florida Regional Hamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/southwest-florida-regional-hamfest-arrl-southern-florida-section-convention>,

hosting the ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention, Fort Myers,
Florida

- January 20 - 21 | Cowtown Hamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/cowtown-hamfest-arrl-north-texas-section-convention-2>,

hosting the ARRL North Texas Section Convention, Forest Hill, Texas

- January 27 - 28 | Capital City Hamfest 2023 <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/jackson-ms-capital-city-hamfest-2023-arrl-mississippi-state-convention>,

hosting the ARRL Mississippi State Convention, Jackson, Mississippi

- January 28 | Winterfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/winterfest-arrl-midwest-division-convention-2>, hosting the ARRL Midwest Division Convention, Collinsville, Illinois

- February 10 - 12 | Orlando HamCation <https://www.hamcation.com/>,
hosting the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, Florida

- February 17 - 18 | LCARC Winter-Fest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/lcarc-winter-fest-arrl-arkansas-state-convention>,

ARRL Arkansas State Convention, Hoxie, Arkansas

- February 25 | HAM-CON <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/ham-con-arrl-vermont-state-convention-2>,
hosting the ARRL Vermont State Convention, Colchester, Vermont

- March 3 - 4 | BirmingHamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/birminghamfest-arrl-alabama-section-convention>,

hosting the ARRL Alabama Section Convention, Trussville, Alabama

- March 3 - 4 | Greater Houston HamFest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/greater-houston-hamfest-arrl-texas-state-convention>,

hosting the ARRL Texas State Convention, Rosenberg, Texas

- March 18 | MARC St. Patricks Day Hamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/marc-st-patricks-day-hamfest-arrl-west-texas-section-convention>,

hosting the ARRL West Texas Section, Midland, Texas

- March 24 - 25 | ARRL Maine State Convention and Hamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/arrl-maine-state-convention-and-hamfest>­, Lewiston, Maine

Search the ARRL Hamfest and Convention Database
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests> to find events in your area.

HAVE NEWS FOR ARRL?

Submissions for the ARRL Letter and ARRL News can be sent to
news@arrl.org. -- John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, ARRL News Editor
<news@arrl.org>

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