OSCAR Meeting
The next regular OSCAR meeting is 10-Dec: Ø9:ØØ AM (local time) at Hardees in Owatonna.

SKYWARN Recognition Day
The 7th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day special event will take place December 3rd. SKYWARN Recognition Day is an event co-sponsored by the National Weather Service and the ARRL and is the NWS's way of saying thank you to Amateur Radio operators for their commitment to helping keep their communities safe. During the 24-hour special event, amateur radio operators visit their local NWS office and work as a team to contact other hams across the world. To learn more, check out the web site at NOAA.

Kid's Day
Mark your calendar for Kid's Day, scheduled for 8-Jan. Kid's Day is intended to encourage young people (licensed or not) to enjoy Amateur Radio. It can give young people hands-on on-the-air experience so they might develop an interest in pursuing a license in the future. It is intended to give hams a chance to share their station with their children.

FCC FRN Services From AR Newsline
The FCC has announced two new online services that were implemented at the end of September. Online FRN Password Reset allows you to instantly reset their FCC Registration Number password on-line via the CORES or Commission Registration System. The online Call Sign / FRN Association system. provides FCC customers with self-service tools within the Universal Licensing System to help manage the relationship of call signs, antenna registration numbers and FRN's. More about both new services are also on-line at FCC.

ICE – In Case of an Emergency From CERT Newsletter
A standard for identifying who should be contacted in case of an emergency is gaining more widespread acceptance. The idea is to program the emergency contact number into you cell phone with the name ICE. Emergency response agencies are trained to look for ICE numbers on victim’s cell phones. This standard provides a quick notification using those emergency numbers that you’ve programmed.

Digital TV Deadlines From Multiple Sources
The FCC issued a Report & Order requiring that every new TV set (and VCR) sold in the U.S. - as of March 1, 2007 - be equipped with a DTV tuner. All TV receivers with screen sizes of 25 to 36 inches must include digital reception capability by March 1, 2006.

Senate Commerce Committee members passed a bill that calls for television broadcasters to stop transmitting analog signals in the 700 MHz band (channels 52 to 69) by April 7, 2009. The 700-MHz band will be set aside for public-safety emergency transponders and for bidding by wireless networks. Before the end of the year, the House is expected to consider a proposal to force the FCC to decide whether "white spaces"--empty broadcast-TV channels--should be made available for use by unlicensed wireless networks. The FCC has proposed a plan to allocate white space, but the broadcast industry is worried that propagation of unlicensed devices has not proved interference-free and may compromise communication among public-safety transponders.

NFL ID Waiver From CGC Commnicator
With regards to a radio system that is "used exclusively within football stadiums for communications between coaches on the sideline and their quarterback during professional football games." Seems that "transmission of the [station] identification can be distracting to quarterbacks and disrupt the game," so a waiver of the I.D. rules was requested, and granted.

Ham Radio "Wiki" From W5YI
A "Wiki" is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly. The most famous wiki is Wikipedia. There is now the HamWiki, Ham Radio's Wiki Elmer.

College Scholarships From FAR
The Foundation For Amateur Radio (FAR) plans to administer fifty-four (54) scholarships for the academic year 2006 - 2007 to assist licensed Radio Amateurs. Licensed Radio Amateurs may compete for these awards if they plan to pursue a full-time course of studies beyond high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical school. The awards range from $500 to $2500. Additional information and an application form may be requested by letter or QSL card, postmarked prior to April 30, 2006 from:

Diane Zimmerman, AA3OF
Chairman Scholarship Committee
FAR Scholarships
Post Office Box 831
Riverdale, MD 20738

ARRL Public Service Website From AR Newsline
A new "Public Service Stories" page now is open on the ARRL website. The League calls it a place where ham radio volunteers can tell the world about their public service contributions during recent events. Both text and photos can be entered and will appear on the Public Service Stories page for all to see. Submissions from ARRL members who are logged onto the League's Web site will be published immediately. Others' submissions will be reviewed before appearing at the site.

Who's Were? From AR Newsline
What to find a ham living in your Zipcode? You can search and download the database from the FCC or QRZ.com. An alternative is to go www.perconcorp.com/google_ham.html. The system can draw a map of the area with push pins showing the QTH. It was interesting to play with, but some of the locations were off.

Cell Phone Radiation From San Francisco Chronicle
The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider throwing out class-action lawsuits that accuse cell phone makers of failing to protect users from unsafe levels of radiation. The cell industry argued that because the phones comply with federal rules, the lawsuits should be dismissed. Lawsuits filed in multiple state courts seek to force manufacturers to make phones safer. At issue for the court is whether federal standards regulating wireless phones — including uniform national limits on radiation emissions — pre-empt the state law claims.

Cellular Repeater From CGC Commnicator
The following article recently appeared in the news for a southern California mountain community:

"[The fire chief] needed his cell phone to work at the cabin they bought and found this great solution. You can get them through the link he provided below.... Appreciate any feedback from others who try this option."

Protecting Personal Information From ARRL Contest Rate Sheet
Check the web site about an important shack accessory that foils the bad guys who might want to access your personal information. Be sure to check out the references as well, at MIT.

Emergency Alert System From CGC Commnicator
The FCC is expanding its Emergency Alert System ("EAS") rules to cover digital-everything in the broadcast world, including satellite radio and TV. With the exception of Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service, all affected entities must comply with the new requirements by December 31, 2006. DBS services must comply by May 31, 2007.

Microwave Ham Band Threat From AR Newsline
The European Radiocommunications Office announces plans to hold a public consultation into ultra wide band an technology that potentially poses a threat to the amateur radio microwave bands. U-K communications regulator Ofcom is keen for ultra wide band to use the 3.1- 10GHz spectrum, but this could interfere with the microwave bands used by radio enthusiasts. Amateur groups such as AMSAT-UK, the UK Microwave Group and the British Amateur Television Club are fighting Ofcom's proposals. So far no such threat exists here in the United States.

Digital Camera Image Chip From AR Newsline
Several consumer electronics companies are offering free repairs for more than 80 older models for defects that lead to either distorted or blank images on the viewfinder or display. The cause of the problem has been traced to a defective chip was made by Sony Corporation between 2002 and 2004. Camera models affected are from Canon, Fuji, Konica, Nikon, Olympus, Ricoh, and Sony. The companies say the repair offer is only valid if the problem For free, but only if it is conclusively linked to the imaging chip. Go to the various camera manufacturers websites for more.

Oscilloscopes From ARRL Contest Rate Sheet
The Web site of Nuts & Volts magazine offers a paper by Tektronix titled "The XYZ's of Oscilloscopes". Look in the Nov-2005 ftp listing for the 64 pages of info are full of great info about electronics' MVP instrument.

On The BPL Front From Various Sources
A United States company is reported to be proposing to use ultra wideband wireless signals using the pipes that carry natural gas. The company claims its yet to be tested technology could offer 100 megabits per second to every home - more than enough to provide voice, video and high-speed Internet access.