The ARRL Letter
August 8, 2019
* Cape Cod ARES and SKYWARN Provide Support in Rare Cape Cod
Tornado Event
* Arizona ARES Volunteers Support Communication during Arizona
Wildland Fire
* ARRL Member Had Role in Promising RF Treatment Device for
Alzheimer's
* So Now What? Podcast
* AMSAT and ARISS Designing Amateur Radio System for Lunar Gateway
* The K7RA Solar Update
* Just Ahead in Radiosport
* Global Institutions Support Amateur Radio Communication and
Experimentation
* Centenarian Mentor and Multiple Award Recipient "Fritz" Nitsch,
W4NTO, SK
* In Brief...
* Getting It Right!
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
Cape Cod ARES and SKYWARN Provide Support in Rare Cape Cod Tornado
Event
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, ARES, and SKYWARN Amateur Radio volunteers
were promptly pressed into action as a storm system on July 23
produced severe thunderstorms that spawned three tornadoes over the
Cape. Hurricane-force wind also resulted in significant tree and
utility wire damage across Cape Cod. Some pockets of wind damage also
occurred in the northwest corner of Martha's Vineyard.
Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters were the first to provide critical
ground truth information. Under the direction of Cape Cod District
Emergency Coordinator Frank O'Laughlin, WQ1O, and Eastern
Massachusetts SEC Rob Macedo, KD1CY, a SKYWARN net ran for several
hours on a Barnstable VHF repeater, receiving numerous damage
reports.
Amateur Radio operations shifted to an ARES net supporting
communication between a shelter at the Dennis-Yarmouth School and the
Barnstable County Emergency Operations Center, which serves as the
Multiagency Coordination Center (MACC).
"Dozens of reports of trees and wires down and some structural damage
reports were received during the SKYWARN net, and Amateur Radio
operators supported initial damage assessment in the hardest hit
areas and provided photos and videos that were shared via social
media and other outlets," Macedo said. "This provided critical
situational awareness and disaster information to the National
Weather Service (NWS), state emergency management, and local media
outlets, and helped to diagnose the areas for NWS meteorologists to
survey to determine whether a tornado or straight-line wind damage
occurred."
ARES support for the Dennis-Yarmouth shelter as well as Amateur Radio
operations at the Barnstable County MACC continued around the clock,
with six radio amateurs engaged in shelter and EOC communications
over the course of about 2 days. The severe weather knocked out power
for some 53,000 customers on Cape Cod, and it took utilities several
days to repair the damage and restore service.
"Traffic that was handled focused on the logistics of taking care of
people who stayed in the shelter until power restoration efforts were
near completion," O'Laughlin explained.
A NWS-Norton survey team consisting of several meteorologists
surveyed the damage and confirmed three tornadoes on Cape Cod in
addition to destructive straight-line winds. Since tornado records
have been kept, starting in 1950, only three tornadoes have been
recorded on Cape Cod up until last year. -- Thanks to Rob Macedo,
KD1CY
Arizona ARES Volunteers Support Communication during Arizona Wildland
Fire
Members of the Coconino County Amateur Radio Club (CARC) in Arizona
activated on July 21 as winds accelerated the Museum Fire beyond 50
acres, triggering the activation of the county's Emergency Operations
Center (EOC). Members of the club, many of them ARES volunteers,
staffed the EOC.
Smoke from the Museum
Fire is in the distance
as CARC members complete
a temporary radio setup
for more effective
communication. [Ken Held,
KF7DUR, photo]
"The club has a great working relationship with Coconino County,"
said CARC's Public Information Officer Dan Shearer, N7YIQ. "CARC's
ARES component has a dedicated position in the EOC structure and has
assisted on many incidents over the last few years, providing
communications to field personnel when cell and radio coverage is
limited or nonexistent."
Shearer said Amateur Radio equipment and antennas are stored at the
EOC, and CARC members have been trained to set it up and have
everything operational within an hour of activation.
The fire, of undetermined origin, soon grew larger than 500 acres and
became a top fire-fighting priority. A Type 1 incident management
team took over management of the fire-fighting effort late on July
22, and more than 12 Hotshot crews (teams highly trained in all
aspects of fire management), fire engines, water tenders, and
aircraft were engaged in suppressing the blaze. Residents in some
neighborhoods were ordered to evacuate, although no homes and
structures were lost. There were fears that the fire might overrun
communications sites on Mount Elden, which include public service,
private, and Amateur Radio repeaters.
"The loss of one or both of these complexes would have been
catastrophic," Shearer said. CARC members were prepared for the risk
and quickly assembled spare equipment, including extra radios and
repeaters.
A very large air tanker
completing its run
dropping retardant on the
radio complexes atop Mount
Elden. [CB Johnson, NQ9C,
photo]
Air tankers dropped many loads of fire retardant around the repeater
sites, and the exceptional work of the fire crews prevented the fire
from running up the slopes to the complexes, Shearer said.
A midweek change in the weather with substantial rain gave
firefighters a chance to keep the blaze from crossing a fire line
they constructed. ARES resources were released on July 26 and placed
on standby as the fire risk was substantially reduced.
Shearer said there is now a risk of flash flooding across the
burned-over areas from the region's summer rainy period, and the City
of Flagstaff and Coconino County are providing sandbags.
"CARC personnel provided well over 250 hours in support of the Museum
Fire in direct support of the joint EOC," Shearer said, adding that
the EOC team and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey expressed their
appreciation when the governor visited the fire operations.
The Museum Fire grew to nearly 2,000 acres before it was brought
under control.
ARRL Member Had Role in Promising RF Treatment Device for Alzheimer's
ARRL member Eric Knight, KB1EHE, played a role in the development of
an RF-based Alzheimer's disease treatment that now shows great
promise. A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
following a months-long FDA clinical trial of the treatment protocol
concluded that memory decline in most patients "appeared to have been
reversed to cognitive levels equivalent to 12 months earlier" after 2
months of treatment. The clinical trial concluded last December 31
and focused on the initial efficacy of what NeuroEM Therapeutics,
Inc. -- the company developing the device -- calls "transcranial
electromagnetic treatment" (TEMT), using a noninvasive head-worn
device called the MemorEMâ*¢.
An unidentified clinical trial
participant wearing the MemorEM
cap. [Photo courtesy of NeuroEM
Therapeutics]
"Results from the trial demonstrate that TEMT was safe in all eight
participating patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, and
enhanced cognitive performance in seven of them, as measured by
standard cognition scales," said a news release from NeuroEM
Therapeutics. Seven of the eight clinical trial patients agreed to
take part in a 4-month extension study, based on the findings and the
positive feedback from all participants.
"This pioneering study suggests that TEMT may be an entirely new
therapeutic intervention against Alzheimer's disease," said NeuroEM
CEO Dr. Gary Arendash. "Our bioengineering technology may be
succeeding where drug therapy against this devastating disease has
thus far failed. TEMT appears to be affecting the Alzheimer's disease
process through several actions directly inside neurons (brain
cells), which is where we believe the disease process needs to be
stopped and hopefully reversed." Arendash has explained that TEMT in
the 900 MHz range breaks down the small protein aggregates (amyloid
oligomers) in brain cells that are thought to initiate Alzheimer's
development.
Eric Knight, KB1EHE
Knight, of Unionville, Connecticut, is the president of Remarkable
Technolgies. He has no medical background, but several years ago, he
learned of experiments that Arendash had carried out on mice
specially bred to have Alzheimer's disease, in which the mice were
exposed to low levels of RF for therapeutic purposes. The effects
were dramatic, sometimes even reversing the disease's effects.
Borrowing some concepts from earlier experiments with small rockets
and avionics, Knight set about developing -- and later patenting -- a
wearable device that could deliver requisite low levels of RF to a
human head. NeuroEM was also developing a device, which it patented
as well, and NeuroEM has filed multiple patents since then, Knight
explained to ARRL. NeuroEM has an exclusive license to Knight's
patent, and his contribution is now part of the overall mix of
applied technology.
"As an inventor and entrepreneur, all you can hope for is to have a
positive impact on society, and this is about as important as it
gets," Knight told ARRL. Read more.
So Now What? Podcast
"SATERN'S involvement in the hurricane season using Amateur Radio"
will be the focus of the new (August 8) episode of the So Now What?
podcast for Amateur Radio newcomers.
If you're a newly licensed Amateur Radio operator, chances are you
have lots of questions. This biweekly podcast has answers! So Now
What? offers insights from those who've been just where you are now.
New episodes will be posted every other Thursday, alternating
new-episode weeks with the ARRL The Doctor is In podcast.
So Now What? is sponsored by LDG Electronics, a family owned and
operated business with laboratories in southern Maryland that offers
a wide array of antenna tuners and other Amateur Radio products.
ARRL Communications Content Producer Michelle Patnode, W3MVP, and
ARRL Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, co-host the podcast. Presented
as a lively conversation, with Patnode representing newer hams and
Carcia the veteran operators, the podcast will explore questions that
newer hams may have and the issues that keep participants from
staying active in the hobby. Some episodes will feature guests to
answer questions on specific topic areas.
Listeners can find So Now What? on Apple iTunes, Blubrry, Stitcher
(free registration required, or browse the site as a guest) and
through the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices.
Episodes will be archived on the ARRL website.
AMSAT and ARISS Designing Amateur Radio System for Lunar Gateway
Details are still being fleshed out, but AMSAT and ARISS are working
on the design of an Amateur Radio system for NASA's Lunar Gateway. As
NASA explains, the Gateway "will be a small spaceship in orbit around
the moon that will provide access to more of the lunar surface than
ever before with living quarters for astronauts, a lab for science
and research, ports for visiting spacecraft, and more." For NASA, the
Lunar Gateway is "a spaceport for human and robotic exploration to
the moon and beyond." For radio amateurs, the Lunar Gateway will
represent the next step in moving ham radio away from low-Earth orbit
and into deep space. Under the current timeline, initial sections of
the Gateway are scheduled to launch in 2022, with the Gateway in
lunar orbit by 2026.
"To make this happen, we are leveraging the work and expertise of the
worldwide AMSAT organizations and the international ARISS community,"
ARISS-International Chair and AMSAT Vice President for Human
Spaceflight Programs Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said. "We have an
international team working on this and are meeting twice a month to
mature the concept." The ARISS concept was presented to NASA in May
and got positive feedback, and was favorably received a few weeks
later at the ARISS-International meeting in Montreal from the
Canadian Space Agency's Gateway Program Manager.
"The Amateur Radio Exploration (AREx) team has done some really good
work," Bauer continued. "The challenge for amateurs will be on the
order of a 30 dB signal path loss as compared to LEO."
The Lunar Gateway will serve as a solar-powered communication hub,
science lab, short-term habitation module, and a holding area for
rovers and other robots that may be bound for the moon or for other
planets. NASA is leading the project in collaboration with commercial
and international partners, including all of the International Space
Station partners.
"We need to develop a block diagram of a system and subsystems and
find team members who want to work on each," Bauer said when the
ARISS-International team met in Montreal. "We must set up
requirements and interface documentation. We need to solidify the
frequencies to use, working with the International Space Frequency
Coordination Group."
ARISS ARRL Representative Rosalie White, K1STO, said that ARISS is
working to spread the word about the new initiative. She also hopes
the new project may inspire the generosity of the Amateur Radio
community. Read more.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: A new sunspot group from Cycle 24
appeared only briefly, August 7 - 8. Sunspot numbers on Monday and
Tuesday were 11 and 12. The average daily solar flux shifted slightly
from last week, from 67 to 67.2. The average planetary A index, an
aggregate geomagnetic indicator, more than doubled, from 5 to 10.3,
due to solar wind that raised the planetary A index to 35 on Monday.
Alaska's high-latitude college A index reached 61 on Monday and 24 on
Tuesday.
Predicted solar flux is 68 on August 8 - 12, and 67 on August 13 -
September 21.
Predicted planetary A index is 5 on August 8 - 9; 6 and 8 on August
10 - 11; 5 on August 12 - 16; 8 on August 17 - 18; 5 on August 19 -
25; 8 on August 26 - 28; 5 on August 29 - 30; 12, 25, 25, 16, and 8
on August 31 - September 4; 5, 8, and 8 on September 5 - 7; 5 on
September 8 - 12; 8 on September 13 - 14, and 5 on September 15 - 22.
Sunspot numbers for August 1 - 7 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, and 0, with
a mean of 3.3. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 66.8, 66.9, 65.7, 66.9,
68.1, 68.1, and 68, with a mean of 67.2. Estimated planetary A
indices were 8, 4, 3, 4, 35, 12, and 6 with a mean of 10.3. The
middle latitude A index was 8, 4, 4, 6, 20, 10, and 6, with a mean of
8.3.
A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL
website. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the
ARRL Technical Information Service, read "What the Numbers Mean...,"
and check out K9LA's Propagation Page.
A propagation bulletin archive is available. Monthly charts offer
propagation projections between the US and a dozen DX locations.
Share your reports and observations.
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Just Ahead in Radiosport
* August 10 -- QRP ARCI European Sprint (CW)
* August 10 - 11 -- WAE DX Contest, CW
* August 10 - 11 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (CW)
* August 10 - 11 -- Maryland-DC QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
* August 12 -- 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint (CW, phone)
* August 12 - 14 -- MMMonVHF/DUBUS 144 MHz Meteorscatter Sprint
(CW, phone, digital)
* August 14 -- NAQCC CW Sprint (CW)
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth
reporting on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest
Update via your ARRL member profile email preferences.
Global Institutions Support Amateur Radio Communication and
Experimentation
Former ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, has contributed to the latest
edition of ITU News Magazine -- published by the International
Telecommunication Union. The issue is devoted to "terrestrial
wireless communications," which includes the Amateur Radio and
Amateur Satellite services. Sumner's article, "Self-training,
intercommunication and technical investigations: the amateur service
in the 21st Century," discusses Amateur Radio within the context of a
global network of experimenters and communicators who, in Sumner's
words, "expand the body of human knowledge and technical skills that
are essential to development and offer a resource that can literally
save lives when natural disasters disrupt normal communications
channels."
"Amateur licensees are grateful that ITU member-states continue to
recognize the benefits of providing direct access to the radio
spectrum to qualified individuals," said Sumner, who now serves as
secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), an ITU
sector member.
Sumner points out that access to frequency bands "spaced throughout
the radio spectrum" is critical to Amateur Radio's future. He notes
that the initial pattern of ham allocations dates back to 1927 and
the International Radiotelegraph Conference. Allocations have been
expanded at subsequent conferences, most recently at World
Radiocomunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), when ham radio obtained a
tiny secondary band near 5.3 MHz. (An earlier WRC was responsible for
the Amateur Service's two lowest-frequency allocations, 135.7 - 137.8
kHz and 472 - 479 kHz.) The 1979 World Administrative Radio
Conference (WARC) extended terrestrial allocations above 40 GHz to
include amateur allocations.
"If a future World Radiocommunication Conference extends allocations
above 275 GHz, adequate provisions for amateur experimentation should
be made," Sumner observed.
The first item on the agenda for WRC-19, which takes place this fall
in Egypt, calls on delegates to consider an allocation at 50 MHz to
the Amateur Service in ITU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and the Middle
East) that aligns with existing allocations in Regions 2 and 3.
IARU Secretary David
Sumner, K1ZZ
Sumner notes that ITU "plays an essential role" in keeping the
spectrum clear of unwanted interference and emissions, an effort he
said is "especially vital to the Amateur Service, which uses
sensitive receivers to compensate for practical and regulatory
limitations on antennas and transmitter power levels."
Sumner also pointed to the role radio amateurs can play in developing
and refining communication protocols, including digital techniques,
to improve weak-signal performance. He noted that Joseph Taylor, K1JT
-- a codeveloper of such digital modes as FT8, FT4, and JT65 --
received an ITU Gold Medal in recognition of his outstanding
contributions to radiocommunication.
As Sumner explained, the IARU -- a federation of more than 140
member-societies --represents the interests of radio amateurs around
the world before ITU. IARU's contribution to the work of ITU began in
1932 with its admission to participate in the work of the
International Radiocommmunicaiton Consultative Committee (CCIR). IARU
is a member of the ITU Radiocommunication and Development sectors.
"The IARU is proud to be an active member of the ITU community,"
Sumner said.
Centenarian Mentor and Multiple Award Recipient "Fritz" Nitsch,
W4NTO, SK
ARRL Life Me
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