• + ARRL Board of Directors Convenes in New Orleans for 2013 Annual Meeting
• + NASA to Honor Fallen Astronauts this Friday
• + FCC Denies Missouri Ham's Petition Regarding CC&Rs
• Solar Update
• + Silent Key: Former ARRL New England Division Director John Sullivan, W1HHR (SK)
• This Week in Radiosport
• Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events

+ Available on ARRL Audio News.

ARRL First Vice President Rick Roderick, K5UR, and ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, prepare to start the 2013 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors.[Harold Kramer, WJ1B, photo]

The ARRL Board of Directors held its 2013 Annual Meeting January 18-19, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the chairmanship of President Kay Craigie, N3KN. The Board welcomed two newly elected members to the Board family: Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, and Northwestern Division Vice Director James Pace, K7CEX; Lisenco and Pace were elected in November 2012. At its meeting, the Board set its legislative objectives for the 113th Congress, approved the organization's amended financial plan, elected members to the Executive Committee and ARRL Foundation, bestowed awards and more. Read more here.

On Friday, February 1 -- the 10th anniversary of the Columbia accident -- NASA will pay tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia with a Day of Remembrance. Flags across the agency will be flown at half-staff in their memory.

On January 27, 1967, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed in the Apollo 1 fire during a launch pad test. On January 28, 1986, Greg Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee and Christa McAuliffe were killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds into its flight. On February 1, 2003, Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, KD5ESI, David Brown, KC5ZTC, Laurel Clark, KC5ZSU, and Ilan Ramon -- were killed when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated. According to ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Chawla served as the Astronaut Interface -- the liaison between NASA and the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program -- before being selected for her mission on board Columbia.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other NASA senior officials will hold an observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday morning, while NASA Television will provide live coverage of a wreath-laying ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial, located in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, beginning at 10 AM (EST). You can watch live online on the NASA TV Public and Media channels, or on your television. Contact your local provider for the NASA TV channel in your area.

On January 28, the FCC denied a Petition for Reconsideration (PFR) filed by James E. Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, Missouri. Whedbee filed the PFR in May 2012 in response to the FCC denying his Petition for Declaratory Ruling (PDR) filed in April 2012 that urged the FCC to address covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs).

In his PDR, Whedbee argued that CC&Rs restrict Amateur Radio facilities in violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. He also asserted that there is a "controversy of CCR enforcement against Amateur Radio operators," and "requested a declaratory ruling terminating the controversy by holding that such CC&Rs are unenforceable."

The FCC concluded that the Mobility Division "properly acted" on Whedbee's PFR: "Given the opportunity for public comment already afforded by the Public Notice and the opening of GN Docket No. 12-91, and in light of the pendency (and later release) of the Commission's report to Congress and the statutory purpose of that report, your Petition was moot, premature, repetitive and frivolous." Read the FCC's letter to Whidbee here.

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, January 31, 2013 from NASA's SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. This MDI (Michelson Doppler Imager) image was taken in the continuum near the Ni I 6768 Angstrom line. The most prominent features are the sunspots. This is very much how the Sun looks in the visible range of the spectrum.

Tad Cook, K7RA, reports: The sunspot numbers and the solar flux barely changed this past week: The average daily sunspot numbers were 55.7, down slightly from 56.4 the previous week, while the average daily solar flux was 98.7, down from 110.7. Geomagnetic conditions continued their quiet spell. The most active day was Saturday, January 26, when both the mid-latitude and planetary A index were 18, and Alaska's College A index was 46. The predicted solar flux is 100 for January 31-February 1, 105 on February 2-5, then 110, 120, 130 and 125 on February 6-9, 120 on February 10-11, then 115, 110 and 105 on February 12-14, 110 on February 15-18, and back down to 105 on February 19-23. The predicted planetary A index is 5 on January 31-February 4, 8 on February 5-6, 5 on February 7-8, 8 on February 9-10, 5 on February 11-18, 8 on February 19, 5 on February 20-21, then 15, 10 and 8 on February 22-24. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday, February 1. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page.

John "Sully" Sullivan, W1HHR, of Columbia, Connecticut, passed away November 12, 2012. He was 83. An ARRL Life Member, Sullivan served as ARRL New England Division Director from 1975-1985. He was a veteran of the US Navy. A private service was held November 16 in Willimantic, Connecticut.

This week:

• February 1 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
• February 2 -- Minnesota QSO Party; AGCW Straight Key Party
• February 2-3 -- Vermont QSO Party; Mexico RTTY International Contest; 10-10 International Winter Contest (SSB); Black Sea Cup International; EPC WW DX Contest
• February 2-4 -- Delaware QSO Party
• February 3 -- North American Sprint (CW)

Next week:

• February 8 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
• February 8-10 -- YLRL YL-OM Contest
• February 9 -- Asia-Pacific Spring Sprint (CW); FISTS Winter Sprint
• February 9-10 -- New Hampshire QSO Party; Louisiana QSO Party; CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest; YL-ISSB QSO Party (CW); KCJ Topband Contest; Dutch PACC Contest; OMISS QSO Party; RSGB First 1.8 MHz Contest; AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO Party
• February 10-11 -- Classic Exchange (Phone)
• February 11-15 -- ARRL School Club Roundup
• February 13 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
• February 13-14 - CWops Mini-CWT Test

All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest Branch page, the ARRL Contest Update and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar for more information. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the ARRL Special Event Stations web page.

• February 2 -- ARRL South Carolina State Convention, North Charleston, South Carolina; ARRL Virginia State Convention, Richmond, Virginia
• February 8-10 -- ARRL Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, Florida
• February 15-16 -- ARRL Arizona State Convention, Yuma, Arizona
• February 16 -- ARRL Arkansas State Convention, Hoxie, Arkansas
• February 23 -- ARRL Vermont State Convention, South Burlington, Vermont
• March 8-9 -- ARRL Oklahoma Section Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma; ARRL Louisiana Section Convention, Rayne, Louisiana
• March 16 -- ARRL Nebraska State Convention, Lincoln, Nebraska; ARRL West Texas State Convention, Midland, Texas
• March 23 -- ARRL South Texas State Convention, Rosenberg, Texas
• March 29-30 -- ARRL Maine State Convention, Lewiston, Maine
• March 30 -- ARRL North Carolina State Convention, Raleigh, North Carolina
• April 13-14 -- Communications Academy, Seattle, Washington
• April 19-20 -- Southeastern VHF Society Conference, Cocoa Beach, Florida
• April 19-21 -- International DX Convention, Visalia, California
• April 20 -- ARRL Louisiana State Convention, Monroe, Louisiana
• April 26-28 -- ARRL Idaho State Convention, Boise, Idaho
• May 31-June 2 -- ARRL Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, Oregon

To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here.

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