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

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

December 1, 2022

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

- Quarter Century Wireless Association to Celebrate 75 Years
- Youth/Youngsters on the Air Month-Long Event Begins December 1
- Nova Scotia Students Contact Astronaut Via Ham Radio
- Amateur Radio Club Provides Communications Support for Thanksgiving
Day Race
- Amateur Radio in the News
- ARRL Podcasts
- Announcements
- In Brief...
- The K7RA Solar Update
- Just Ahead in Radiosport
- Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions

QUARTER CENTURY WIRELESS ASSOCIATION TO CELEBRATE 75 YEARS

The <>Quarter Century Wireless Association <https://www.qcwa.org>
(QCWA) will celebrate its 75th anniversary on December 5, 2022.

Founded in 1947, QCWA's mission includes promoting "friendship and
cooperation among Amateur Radio (Wireless) operators who were licensed
as such at least a quarter of a century ago."

Today, QCWA has 230 chapters in the US. During the organization's 75
years, it has had nearly 40,000 members. The Cleveland, Ohio, chapter
was the first chapter chartered in 1951, and now has over 100 members.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the QCWA Special Event Station,
W2MM, will operate from 0001 UTC December 3 to 2359 UTC December 10,
2022. Only QCWA members in the US and its territories will have an
opportunity to activate W2MM for this event. More information is
available at https://qcwa.org/w2mm-special-event.htm <http://qcwa.org/w2mm-special-event.htm>.

QCWA is also hosting the members-only Worked 75/75 Members Contest from December 5, 2022, through February 18, 2023. The contest encourages
QCWA members to contact a minimum of 75 QCWA members during the contest
period. All contest entrants will receive a special certificate.
Additional information is available at https://qcwa.org/1-worked-75-75-members-contest.htm.

YOUTH/YOUNGSTERS ON THE AIR MONTH-LONG EVENT BEGINS DECEMBER 1

On December 1, 2022, YOTA begins a month-long, special event to
celebrate young amateur radio operators -- YOTA Month 2022 <https://events.ham-yota.com/>. YOTA is Youth or Youngsters on the Air.
Amateur radio operators aged 25 and younger will be on all bands using
all modes throughout the month to make contacts around the world. In
2021, YOTA participants worldwide made 119,516 contacts, surpassing
their goal of 100,000 contacts.

In the United States, the call signs for the event will be K8Y, K8O,
K8T, and K8A <https://youthontheair.org/yota-month/>. Argentina will be
active as LR1YOTA, Canada as VC3YOTA and VB7YOTA, El Salvador as
YS1YOTA, and Honduras as HQ2YOTA. Amateur radio operators are
encouraged to listen for and contact these stations, as well as all
call signs ending in the letters "YOTA" across the globe.

In addition to the month-long celebration, on December 30 from 1200 to
2359 UTC, round three of the YOTA Contest
<https://www.ham-yota.com/contest/> will be active.

Various YOTA activities and events are organized throughout the world.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Youth in Amateur Radio web
page includes additional information and links at https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/youth-in-amateur-radio <https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/youth-in-amateur-radio/>.

NOVA SCOTIA STUDENTS CONTACT ASTRONAUT VIA HAM RADIO

Students at Five Bridges Junior High School in Stillwater Lake, Nova
Scotia, Canada, finally had an opportunity to talk with an astronaut
onboard the International Space Station (ISS) via ham radio.

On Wednesday, November 23, 2022, the students were able to talk with
Astronaut Josh Cassada, KI5CRH, for about 11 minutes as the ISS passed
over northern Europe.

The students were anxious to ask questions ranging from curiosities
about the astronauts' work schedules to concerns about radiation in
outer space. Astronaut Cassada was asked about his favorite part of
training for his ISS mission, and he replied, "All of it!"

The contact was made possible with amateur radio volunteers at the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ground station
in Casale Monferrato, Italy, using the call sign IK1SLD, and was the
1,495 contact made since the ARISS program began.

In the US, ARISS <http://ariss.org/> includes support from ARRL <http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station>,
AMSAT, NASA, NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN)
organization and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
(CASIS).

AMATEUR RADIO CLUB PROVIDES COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FOR THANKSGIVING

DAY RACE

The BEARS of Manchester Amateur Radio Club in Manchester, Connecticut,
spent Thanksgiving Day providing amateur radio communications support
for the 86th Manchester Road Race.

The race, a 4.748-mile course that begins and ends on Main Street in
downtown Manchester, has been a Thanksgiving Day tradition since 1927.
This is the 30th consecutive year the BEARS of Manchester Amateur Radio
Club has provided communications support, with more than 10,000 runners participating and over 30,000 spectators lining the course.

Radio operators began arriving at 6:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning.
Fifty-five operators staffed 39 positions around the course and were
stationed every quarter mile to provide safety communications and
report the lead male and female runners to the public address
announcer.

Shadow operators helped 10 race officials stay in communications.
Operators also started and ran four clocks around the course to help
pace runners, and a station operated in the public safety Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) to relay safety-related information to
representatives of various agencies. Ham radio operators also provided communication for a shuttle bus operation that brought runners and
spectators from a remote parking area to Main Street and then returned
them at the end of the race. Check-in and check-out were accomplished
through a net control station to maintain accountability.

Communication for the event was made on six repeater and simplex
frequencies, and three cross-band repeaters were used for signal
quality to avoid interference.

The BEARS of Manchester Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

Thanks to Phil Crombie, Jr., K1XFC, Race Communications Coordinator,
for providing information for this story.

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>.

"Amateur radio club joins county for emergency communications exercise <http://dailytimes.com/news/local/article_3cad3b62-6b91-11ed-805e-4b0b4f3cb52d.html>"

/ The Kerrville Daily Times (Texas), November 25, 2022. -- The Hill
Country Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

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

ARRL PODCASTS

The latest episode of the ARRL On the Air
<https://blubrry.com/arrlontheair/> podcast features details from avid satellite operator Sean Kutzko, KX9X, about how to get started on the
amateur satellites -- an activity that's available to hams of all
license classes.

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

Dr. Kristina Collins, KD8OXT, earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering
from Case Western Reserve University on November 18, 2022. Dr. Collins'
thesis, Development of a Low-Cost Meta-Instrument for Distributed
Observations of Ionospheric Variability, focuses on the development of
the HamSCI Grape Personal Space Weather Station Network. Ham Radio
Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) serves as a means for fostering collaborations between professional researchers and amateur radio
operators. Dr. Collins currently serves on the HamSCI advisory board,
leads the HamSCI Eclipse and Frequency Measurement Festivals project
and WWV/H Scientific Modulation <https://hamsci.org/wwv> team, and
served as chair of the local organizing committee for the 2019 HamSCI
Workshop. She has been interviewed on ARRL's Eclectic Tech podcast <http://www.arrl.org/eclectic> and has peer-reviewed papers published
in the American Geophysical Union's Eos magazine and the IEEE
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. She's excited to be joining the
Space Science Institute
<https://www.spacescience.org/bio.php?emp=KCOLLINS>in the spring of
2023 as a postdoctoral research fellow through the National Science
Foundation Office of Polar Programs. Dr. Collins was first licensed in
2010 and now holds an Amateur Extra-class license. --Thanks to HamSCI
for information contained in this story.

IN BRIEF...

Through the generous contributions of donors, ARRL exceeded our
#GivingTuesday goal, raising over $25,000. This support will extend
ARRL's reach to grow and encourage our community of young radio
amateurs. Giving Tuesday was November 29, 2022, and is a growing annual movement encouraging individuals and organizations, like ARRL, to come
together to unleash the power of radical generosity. Many ARRL programs
and services are not covered by membership fees alone. Contributions
have a tremendous impact on ARRL's ability to promote and protect
amateur radio and better serve its members. For more information about
making a donation to ARRL, visit https://www.arrl.org/donate.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Ham Radio Club is
reporting that project OMOTENASHI, an amateur radio mission to the
moon, is lost and not operating. Controllers were not able to receive
radio communication from OMOTENASHI as of November 21, 2022.
OMOTENASHI, technically known as Outstanding MOon Exploration
TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor, was a small
two-part spacecraft onboard NASA's Artemis I mission. Launched on
November 16, 2022, the payload contained an orbiting module and a
surface probe. After landing on the surface of the moon, it was going
to transmit a beacon in the amateur 70-centimeter band, UHF 437.41 MHz,
while the orbiting module transmitted digital telemetry on UHF 437.41
MHz. Engineers will investigate the cause of the incident and proceed
with future operation plans while consulting with mission managers.
JAXA Ham Radio Club reports, "We were very encouraged by the warm
support we received as a team. It's such a shame that it can't live up
to expectations. Although we were not able to land on the moon, the
opportunity to travel beyond the moon is valuable, so we would like to
continue working on recovery and realize some of our mission." Amateur
radio operators can continue to listen for the orbiting module downlink
using the following information:

Frequency: 437.31 MHz

Antenna: SRR antenna

Polarization: Linear

Modulation: Beacon, PSK31 Sync Word C1 (ASCII code)

Power: 30 dBm

Project updates are periodically posted at https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/omotenashi/JHRCweb/jhrc.html.

Thanks to AMSAT, the JAXA Ham Radio Club, and paralink.com <https://paralink.com/> for information contained in this story.

THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE

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

No new sunspots appeared over the past reporting week, November 24 -
30. But sunspots were visible every day.

Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined, with the average daily sunspot
number dropping from 66 to 46, and average daily solar flux from 116.5
to 108.3.

Solar wind streams from coronal holes kept geomagnetic indicators
active, with average daily planetary A index jumping from 5.1 to 18.6,
and middle latitude A index from 3.4 to 14.

On Wednesday, November 30, the magnetometer at Fairbanks, Alaska,
showed the college A index at 54, which is the highest value over the
past month. No doubt this produced aurora.

The current prediction from Wednesday night has solar flux reaching a
peak of 130 on December 12, rather than the 135 recently predicted.

Look for flux values of 115, 115, and 120 on December 1 - 3; 125 on
December 4 - 10; 130, 115, and 110 on December 11 - 13; 105 on December
14 - 17; 100 on December 18 - 23; 95, 105, and 110 on December 24 - 26;
115 on December 27 - 30, and 120 on December 31.

The planetary A index prediction is 25, 20, 10, 12, and 8 on December 1
- 5; 5 on December 6 - 7; 8 on December 8 - 9; 5 on December 10 - 16;
10 on December 17 - 18; 5 on December 19 - 21; 20, 15, 12, and 10 on
December 22 - 25; and 15, 18, 10, 18, and 10 on December 26 - 30.

Solar wind news:

https://bit.ly/3EVkeUW

Sunspot numbers for November 24 through 30 were 61, 55, 60, 56, 52, 25,
and 12, with a mean of 46. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 109.7, 108.5,
107.1, 107.2, 107, 107.9, and 111, with a mean of 108.3. Estimated
planetary A indices were 6, 20, 16, 15, 24, 25, and 24, with a mean of
18.6. Middle latitude A index was 6, 15, 12, 10, 18, 20, and 17, with a
mean of 14.

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

A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted 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

- December 1 -- QRP ARCI Topband Sprint (CW)

- December 1 - 2 -- Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)

- December 1 -- CWops Test (CWT) (CW)

- December 1 -- CWops Test (CWT) (CW)

- December 2 -- K1USN Slow Speed Test (CW)

- December 2 - 4 -- ARRL 160-Meter Contest (CW)

- December 3 -- Wake-Up! QRP Sprint (CW)

- December 3 - 4 -- PRO CW Contest (CW)

- December 3 - 4 -- FT Roundup (digital)

- December 5 -- K1USN Slow Speed Test (CW)

- December 6 -- 50 Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest (phone)

- December 6 -- ARS Spartan Sprint (CW)

- December 6 -- RTTYops Weeksprint (digital)

- December 7 -- Phone Weekly Test (phone)

- December 7 -- CWops Test (CWT) (CW)

- December 7 -- VHF-UHF FT8 (digital)

- December 7 -- CWops Test (CWT) (CW)

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

UPCOMING SECTION, STATE, AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS

- December 9 - 10 | Tampa Bay Hamfest <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/tampa-bay-hamfest-arrl-west-central-florida-section-convention-1>,

hosting the ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention, Plant City,
Florida

- January 7 | Ham Radio University <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/online-ham-radio-university-arrl-new-york-city-long-island-section-convention-1>,

hosting the ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Convention, an
Online Event

- 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 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 <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/orlando-hamcation-arrl-southeastern-division-convention>,

hosting the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, Florida

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

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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