• 2 The ARRL Letter for March 15, 2018

    From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to all on Sat Mar 17 09:03:16 2018
    Radio amateurs around the world will celebrate Saint Patrick's Day on the air during the St. Patrick Award activity. The activity starts at 1200 UTC on March
    16 and continues until 1200 UTC on March 18. (St. Patrick's Day is March 17.) Radio amateurs or SWLs are invited to take part. Awards will be in four categories: SPD Station Award (for registered stations); Fixed Station Award; Mobile Station Award, and Short Wave Listener Award. Register to be an official
    participating station. Visit the event's Facebook page. -- Thanks to Bobby Wadey, MI0RYL

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    Getting It Right

    The article "History-Related Events Will Operate from Rare Grid in Cape Cod National Seashore," in The ARRL Letter for March 8 contained an error in the day of the week that the W1MGY Titanic memorial operation begins. It should have said, "Operation will begin on Thursday, April 12, at 9 AM ET..."

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    The K7RA Solar Update

    Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: The blank sun continues, with no sunspots observed since March 2, so the average daily sunspot number dropped from 1.6 to
    zero this week, and average daily solar flux rose fractionally from 67.6 to 67.7. Geomagnetic indicators were up slightly, with planetary A index increasing from 5.1 to 7.1, and mid-latitude A index rose from 4.6 to 5.7.

    Predicted solar flux is 69 on March 15-22; 72 on March 23-29; 70 on March 30; 68 on March 31-April 11; 70 on April 12; 72 on April 13-25; 70 on April 26, and
    68 on April 27-28.

    Predicted planetary A index is 18 on March 15; 15 on March 16-18; 10, 5, 7, and
    5 on March 19-22; 10, 5, 8, and 20 on March 23-26; 5 on March 27-29; 8 on March
    30-31; 5 on April 1-9; 8, 10, 14, 16, and 20 on April 10-14; 5 on April 15-16; 12, 18, 10, 5, 8, and 20 on April 17-22; 5 on April 23-25; 8 on April 26-27, and 5 on April 28.

    Sunspot numbers for March 8 through 14, 2018 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with
    a mean of 0. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 66.6, 67.5, 67.7, 67.8, 68.1, 68.6, and 67.7, with a mean of 67.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 12, 12, 6,
    3, 4, and 9, with a mean of 7.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 3, 10, 9, 7, 2, 3, and 6, with a mean of 5.7.

    Send me your reports and observations.

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    Just Ahead in Radiosport

    * March 17 -- Feld Hell Sprint
    * March 17 -- AGCW VHF/UHF Contest (CW)
    * March 17-18 -- Russian DX Contest (CW, phone)
    * March 17-18 -- Louisiana QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
    * March 17-18 -- All Virginia QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
    * March 17-19 -- BARTG HF RTTY Contest
    * March 18 -- UBA Spring Contest (SSB)
    * March 19 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
    * March 19 -- Bucharest Contest (CW, phone, digital)
    * March 22 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
    * March 22 -- RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (SSB)

    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 e-mail preferences.

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    Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

    * March 16-17 -- South Texas Section Convention, Rosenberg, Texas
    * March 17 -- Southern Florida Section Convention, Stuart, Florida
    * March 17 -- West Texas Section Convention, Midland, Texas
    * March 24 -- Utah Digital Communications Conference, Sandy, Utah
    * March 24 -- MicroHAMS Digital Conference, Redmond, Washington
    * March 24 -- West Virginia Section Convention, Charleston, West Virginia
    * March 30-31 -- Maine State Convention, Lewiston, Maine
    * March 31 -- North Carolina State Convention, Raleigh, North Carolina
    * April 6-7 -- OzarkCon QRP Conference, Branson, Missouri
    * April 13-14 -- Oklahoma State Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma
    * April 14-15 -- Communications Academy, Seattle, Washington
    * April 21 -- Delaware State Convention, Georgetown, Delaware
    * April 21 -- Aurora '18 Conference, White Bear Lake, Minnesota
    * April 28 -- Mentorfest Convention, Garland, Texas

    Find conventions and hamfests in your area.

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    )\/(ark

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    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Better latte than never.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)