Homeland Security Plan includes Ham Radio

The US Department of Homeland Security’s 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) has incorporated Amateur Radio in its mix of media that could support and sustain communications in a disaster or emergency 

The ARRL reports the 2014 NECP is the first update since the original plan was released in 2008. The NECP is “the nation’s overarching strategic plan for enhancing emergency communications capabilities and interoperability nationwide,” DHS said in announcing the updated plan during November 2014.

“[A]mateur radio operators…can be important conduits for relaying information to response agencies and personnel when other forms of communications have failed or have been disrupted,”

— National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP)

The NECP also describes changes that lie ahead for emergency communication systems, such as 9-1-1 systems. “In the future, Next Generation 9-1-1 will enhance the capabilities of current 9-1-1 networks, allowing the public to transmit pictures, videos, and text messages that will provide additional situational awareness to dispatchers and emergency responders,” the NECP says.

Read the full ARRL story - 
http://www.arrl.org/news/homeland-security-s-2014-national-emergency-communications-plan-incorporates-amateur-radio

Homeland Security’s 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) -
http://www.dhs.gov/necp

Four New ARRL Radio Ham Section Managers to Start in the New Year

ARRL members in the Western Pennsylvania Section have elected elite contester Tim Duffy, K3LR, as their new Section Manager.

Tim Duffy, K3LR, New Section Manager - Western Pennsylvania Section

In a three-way race, Duffy polled 545 votes, Cynthia L. Rushton, WB3CNJ, received 83 votes, and Paul Plants, W3PLP, 62 votes.

Ballots were counted Tuesday 18 November 2014, at ARRL Headquarters. Western Pennsylvania Section Manager John Rodgers, N3MSE, of Butler decided to not run for another term after serving since October 2007. He also was Section Manager from 2000 to 2003.

Duffy, who lives in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, has been an ARRL member and radio amateur for 42 years. He has served for 4 years as the Atlantic Division representative to the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee. Duffy also has been an active member of ARES and RACES and has extensive net and traffic-handling experience.

Three other ARRL Sections also will begin the New Year with new Section Managers.

In Eastern Massachusetts, Tom Walsh, K1TW, of Bedford, will take the helm of that ARRL Section on 1st January 2015. Walsh has been an Assistant Section Manager and was the only candidate for the Section Manager's job.

Current SM Phil Temples, K9HI, who has served as Eastern Massachusetts SM since 2011, decided not to run for a new term of office. Temples also served as Section Manager from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.

Thomas Arey, N2EI, New Section Manager - Southern New Jersy

Taking over the top leadership role in the Southern New Jersey Section on 1 January 2015 will be Thomas J. "Skip" Arey, N2EI, of Beverly. He was the only nominee for the position. Arey has been the Affiliated Club Coordinator in Southern New Jersey. Incumbent SM George Strayline, W2GSS, opted not to run for another term after serving since 2009.

In the West Central Florida Section, Darrell Davis, KT4WX, of Fort Meade, will be the new SM starting in the New Year. He was the only candidate for the position. Davis brings to the office his experience as an Assistant Section Manager, ARES Emergency Coordinator, and Technical Specialist. He will succeed Dee Turner, N4GD, of Pinellas Park, who chose not to run for another term after serving since 2005.

The following incumbent Section Managers faced no opposition in the fall election cycle, and they will continue with new terms of office starting 1 January 2015: Dale Bagley, K0KY (Missouri); Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ (Nebraska); Jim Mezey, W2KFV (New York City-Long Island); Tom Dick, KF2GC (Northern New York), and Marc Tarplee, N4UFP (South Carolina).

Two-year terms for all successful candidates will begin on 1 January 2015.

Ham Radio Launches to Deep Space

ARTSAT2:DESPATCH was launched on a mission into deep space on 30 November 2014 carrying a 7 watt CW transmitter on 437.325 MHz

Ham Radio Launches to Deep Space

It will fly with the asteroid mission Hayabusa 2 and another amateur radio satellite Shin'en 2.

The satellite will have an elliptic orbit around the Sun and travel to a deep space orbit between Venus and Mars. Its inclination will be almost zero, which means Shin’en 2 will stay in the Earth’s equatorial plane. The distance from the Sun will be between 0.7 and 1.3 AU. An Astronomical Unit (AU) is 149,597,871 km.

The team have released the following information:

1. Despatch CW Format is now available!

Yesterday, we opened a wiki which explains how to join the "Cooperative data reconstruction," the main mission of Despatch.  In this wiki, you can find the CW format as well as how to report the data you received - http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Cooperative_Data_Reconstruction

2. Despatch Tracking page is opened!

Since Despatch is injected into an Earth escape trajectory, TLE is unavailable. Instead, we opened a web-page for the spacecraft tracking (both antenna-pointing and receiver-tuning) - http://api.artsat.jp/pass/

By visiting the webpage and entering your geographic location, and you will get nearby passes and a table with 1 minute steps that gives you AZ, EL, Frequency, and so on. As the apparent movement and the change of the Doppler shift are slow, manual pointing of the antenna and tuning of the receiver every 10 minutes or so will do.

3. Reception Report page is opened!

We opened a web page in which you can report the data you received - http://api.artsat.jp/report/

ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Web - http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Main_Page
ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artsat
ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Twitter https://twitter.com/DESPATCH_ARTSAT