HNY Delta Members and Amateurs,
Happy new year to all. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas or
Hanukah season with family and friends. 2022 is over and now we are in
to 2023 as time rapidly marches on. 2023 is special the ARRL observes
the Year of the Volunteer. You, the ARRL volunteer, are heart and soul
of our organization and amateur radio moreover. The ARRL relies heavily
on your great efforts whether it is ARES with emcomm, giving classes as
a volunteer instructor, conducting exam sessions as a volunteer examiner, working with the Section manager and his appointed staff or simply being
an Elmer, you are the focus of this year's activities in recognition of
your worthwhile and essential efforts. Indeed your efforts are essential
as they nurture and grow the ranks of amateur radio operators. Vice
Director Hudgens and I want to sincerely thank each of you for your great
work in Delta Division and let’s grow the greatest hobby in the world
and our beloved amateur radio SERVICE this year!
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VOTA! 2023's ARRL Centennial Style Operating Event is Underway!
ARRL's yearlong operating event, Volunteers On the Air, or VOTA, began
January 1, 2023. The event is organized as part of ARRL's 2023 theme,
"Year of the Volunteers," which recognizes the contributions of ARRL
member volunteers, and offers opportunities to become more active and
involved in amateur radio and ARRL.
VOTA encourages participants to make contacts with ARRL members and
volunteers, earning points for each contact. Point values have been
assigned (see the Points Table at vota.arrl.org). All scoring is
automatically calculated through ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW, www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world). If you are already an LoTW user,
continue to upload your QSOs there to participate. If you're a new LoTW
user, visit Getting Started with LoTW.
As part of the event, there will be week-long activations by W1AW
portable stations operating in all US states and territories. W1AW/#
portable operations are worth 5 points for each contact, and they can be contacted on all bands and modes. There's also an opportunity to earn
the W1AW Worked All States Award. There will be two week-long W1AW
operations from each of the 50 states.
Later in the event, an on-line scoreboard, the VOTA Leaderboard, will be activated, allowing each participant to see how their score measures up
with other participants throughout the year.
Only two-way contacts qualify for points (cross-band, cross-mode, and
repeater contacts are not valid), using any mode (CW, phone, or digital)
- including EME and satellite operations - on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10,
6, 2, and 1.25 meters, as well as 70 centimeters, VHF/UHF/SHF, and
microwave bands available to US amateurs above 2 meters (2190-, 630-,
60-, 30-, 17-, and 12-meter band contacts are not counted for credit in
this event).
Join the fun! Visit the official VOTA website for further details: vota.arrl.org.
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I should also mention that 2023 celebrates the 50th year of the ARRL Foundation. The Foundation has grown the last year with the addition of
ADRC Scholarships and the new Club Grants Program. We look forward to
repeating both programs in 2023. Happy Birthday ARRL Foundation! As
President of the ARRL Foundation, I am extremely pleased with the way
things are progressing.
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The K7RA Solar Update
01/10/2023
Two new sunspot groups emerged on December 29, one more on December 30
and another on January 1, then two more on January 5.
Solar activity was a little higher, with average daily sunspot
number rising from 96.1 to 97, and solar flux averages rose 14
points to 157.8.
On Thursday, January 5 the sunspot number rose to 103, above the
average of 96.1 over the previous seven days.
Predicted solar flux is 154 on January 6, 152 on January 7-8, 150 on
January 9, 148 on January 10-11, then 146, 148 and 145 on January
12-14, 140 on January 15-16, 145 on January 17-19, 150 and 155 on
January 20-21, 160 on January 22-23, 165 on January 24-26, then 160,
155, 155, 158 and 155 on January 27-31, 150 and 148 on February 1-2,
145 on February 3-4, 140 on February 5-6, 150 on February 7-9, 145
on February 10, 140 on February 11-12, and 145 on February 13-15.
Predicted planetary A index is 12 and 8 on January 6-7, 5 on January
8-16, then 8, 12, 25, 20 and 10 on January 17-21, 5 on January
22-24, then 8, 28, 15 and 10 on January 25-28, and 5 on January
29-30, 18 on January 31 through February 1,15 and 10 on February
2-3, and 5 on February 4-12.
OK1HH wrote in part:
"Solar activity increased so rapidly in recent years that earlier
last year it already reached the level predicted for July 2025, the
predicted peak of the current 25th solar cycle. The year 2022 ended
with the highest monthly sunspot count in 7 years.
"Solar flares are already routinely of moderate magnitude (M-class
in X-rays), while geomagnetic disturbances are so far only very
rarely in a higher class than G1 (minor). In the G1 class was also
the disturbance on 30 December, which was triggered by a CIR
(co-rotating interaction region) impact, as predicted.
"This week the Earth is in the impact zone of possible eruptions in
the AR3176 sunspot group directly opposite our planet, which
produces M-class solar flares. The strongest so far, on December 30
at 1938 UTC, was class M3.7, which sent a CME toward Earth with an
expected arrival on January 4 - and the prediction proved correct -
the disturbance began at 0254 UTC.
"The CMEs filled the space between the Sun and Earth, and clouds of
solar plasma shielded the incoming cosmic rays enough to reach a
six-year low.
"Thus, since 26 December, we can observe the 'Forbush Decline,'
named after the American physicist Scott Forbush, who studied cosmic
rays in the early 20th century and first noticed the relationship
between them and solar activity. With more CMEs hitting Earth, the
cosmic ray decline will grow.
"On January 3 at 1058 UTC, something exploded on the far side of the
Sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) detected a bright
CME sweeping across the southeastern limb of the Sun. The source of
the outburst was likely the old sunspot AR3163, which has been on
the Sun's far side for the past two weeks. We are now starting to
see it on the solar disk as AR3182, and we might tentatively expect
an X-class flare from it.
Send your tips, reports, observations, questions, and comments to
k7ra@arrl.net.
For more information concerning shortwave radio propagation, see
http://www.arrl.org/propagation and the ARRL Technical Information
Service at
http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals . For an
explanation of numbers used in this bulletin, see
http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere .
An archive of past propagation bulletins is at
http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation . More good
information and tutorials on propagation are at
http://k9la.us/ .
Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL
bulletins are at
http://arrl.org/bulletins .
Sunspot numbers for December 29, 2022 through January 4, 2023 were
113, 121, 82, 94, 94, 89, and 86, with a mean of 97. 10.7 cm flux
was 162.8, 178.3, 164.9, 152.6, 146.4, 148.5, and 151, with a mean
of 157.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 11, 31, 16, 14, 8, 7,
and 21, with a mean of 15.4. Middle latitude A index was 8, 22, 10,
9, 5, 5, and 17, with a mean of 10.9.
NAQP CW is this weekend! Get on the air and make some QSO's!
It is from 1800Z, Jan 14 to 0559Z, Jan 15, 2023!
Go to
https://www.contestcalendar.com/fivewkcal.html for more
information.
CU on the air!
***
Upcoming events:
Jan 19 - Jan 21, 2023 Annual (January) ARRL Board of Directors meeting
- please forward your concerns.
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SELARC - 41st Annual - Hammond HamFest
01/21/2023
Location: Ponchatoula Community Center
300 N. 5th St., Ponchatoula, La. 70454
Ponchatoula, LA 70454
Website:
http://www.selarc.org
Sponsor: Southeast Louisiana ARC (SELARC)
Talk-In: 147.000 / -600 khz / 107.2 pl
Public Contact: Tyrone Burns , N5XES
POB 1324 Hammond, LA 70404
Phone: 985-687-2139
Email:
n5xes@arrl.net
Jackson MS Capital City Hamfest 2023,
*****ARRL Mississippi State Convention****
Start Date: 01/27/2023
End Date: 01/28/2023
Location: Mississippi Trademart
1200 Mississippi St.
Jackson, MS 39201
Website:
http://www.msham.org
Sponsor: Jackson Amateur Radio Club
Talk-In: 146.76- 77hz
Public Contact: Jim Armstrong , AK5J
1103 Pinehurst Place Jackson, MS 39202
Phone: 601-709-6740
Email:
ak5j@arrl.net
******* Don't miss Friday evening's big DX Program! *******
***
LCARC Winter-Fest, *******ARRL Arkansas State Convention*****
02/18/2023
Location: Hoxie Service Center
500 S.W. Lawrence St.
Hoxie, AR 72433
Website:
http://www.w5wra.org
Sponsor: Lawrence Co Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
Talk-In: 147.045 (no tone)
Public Contact: Dale Stratton , K5ZXH
111 N.E. Dorothy Dr. Walnut Ridge , AR 72476
Phone: 870-759-2067
Email:
dales@suddenlink.net
Note: Setup after 3pm Feb. 17, Doors open 8am on Feb. 18.
***
Arkansas River Valley Hamfest
03/04/2023
Location: Dardanelle Community Center
2059-2099 State Hwy 22
Dardanelle, AR 72834
Website:
http://www.arvarf.com
Sponsor: Arkansas River Valley Amateur Radio Foundation
Talk-In: 146.82 131.8
Public Contact: Michael McAllister, KE5EIY
10420 Buckeye Road Dardanelle, AR 72834
Phone: 479-692-9970
Email:
mikemac20002003@yahoo.com
Note: Onsite parking is VERY LIMITED - carpooling strongly recommended.
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We will see you on the air for VOTA – and at Jackson MS and Hoxie, AR
for the two State Conventions!
73 ES DX
DE K5UZ WB4RHQ
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ARRL Delta Division
Director: David A Norris, K5UZ
k5uz@arrl.org --------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)