Anniversary gift guy idea

LOCATING LINE NOISE

First I would like to commend the ARRL for selecting "Locating Power Line Noise Using TV Waveforms" as an article for the February 2005 issue [pp 44-47].

I'm an RFI Investigator/Consultant and owner of RFI Services. I have worked in the electrical RFI field full time for over 25 years. It is articles like this one that send those with "less knowledge" in the right direction. The illustrations are great and explained very well.

Back in the mid '80s, after several years of looking for power line noise sources with little success, I was fortunate to read an article like this one, also written by Mr Loftness, that changed the course of my career. I contacted him and after learning from him the method described in QST, my success increased at a rate that was not imaginable. I eliminated the mistakes and time-consuming habit of making unnecessary repairs and was able to focus on the sources that were the actual cause of the complaints.

Obviously, interference problems caused by power companies are increasing as the utilities equipment ages. It's great to see an article that will assist QST readers with a problem so devastating to our hobby, yet so very few are successful at solving. Keep up the good work and your readers will keep reading.

MIKE MARTIN, K3RFI

Tracys Landing, Maryland

GOTA DAILY

A few months ago, you published a letter from a fellow ham suggesting that, if we each made at least one contact a day on the air, the ham bands would be alive with activity, thus protecting their assignment to amateur use.

Since reading that letter, I've endeavored to get on the air each day for my "one contact," and the amazing thing is, I've discovered the joy of ham radio all over again! The apathy that's plagued me for the past few years has vanished and the excitement of making new friends on the air has been rekindled.

What a simple, wonderful idea. Everyone should try it-it works!

BERNIE (BUD) MICHAELS, KB1OO

Agawam, Massachusetts

THE POWELL ERA ENDS

It appears that whoever replaces Michael Powell as chairman of the FCC, the course has been set. Hopefully, there will be more deliberation on these high-tech issues. Powell clearly embodied the spirit of the Bush Administration in his actions toward big companies. BPL is just one example of his zeal. At least former FCC Chairman William Kennard was more of a visionary, having brought about digital TV and low power FM stations.

DlCK TYLER, WA2EHL

Burlington, New Jersey

STILL POUNDING

Ninety-five years ago, some high school students in San Francisco formed a radio club and started trying to communicate with each other. They used the crudest of equipment. A typical transmitter consisted of a battery, a spark coil and a telegraph key. A receiver was a piece of galena and a pair of earphones. The antenna was a piece of wire hanging out the window.

Talk about broadband! These guys were on all frequencies at once. One of these fellows was my Dad, and his best DX was about four blocks. One of the boys was named Walter, and he had blocked out the CW characters for WALTER, COME HOME on his desk. Walter would learn about dinnertime via ham radio! My Dad's self assigned call was "NV."

Years later in 1932, we got our licenses together, and went on 80 meters. My Dad frequently thought he heard hams calling him-and then he learned they were just testing (on the air, TEST sounds a lot like NV)!

The point I'm making is that CW, one of our richest traditions, has been with us for over a century. I wonder if it will make it for another.

Still pounding brass,

ALAN MARGOT, W6FZA

Palm Desert, California

DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS

Your observation ["It seems to Us," Mar 2005, p 9] that the current atmosphere in Washington amounts to "death by a thousand cuts" is unfortunately very true for more than Amateur Radio. As an active ham for the past 44 years and a member of ARRL, I have watched with dismay the evolution of the regulatory attitude in Washington go from support of licensed services to one of carefree disregard for those very services.

I am a technical officer in a large TV station group. We have witnessed an FCC that is not only willing to promote unlicensed transmitters to become widely used by the public in the TV bands, but an attitude that encourages commercial enterprises with what appears to be a total disregard for legitimate licensed stations. The apparent dominance of non-technical authority at the FCC and their focus on promoting new commercial enterprises seems to be behind this new approach to regulation or the lack of same.

It has been my experience that hoping that the FCC will respond to technical arguments is a waste of time and effort. The lawyers at the Commission and the Commissioners themselves are so far removed from technical realities that such arguments fall on deaf ears. The laws of physics seem to be something that can be and are disregarded in any rule making these days.

The only recourse we may have is a political one that involves a massive response directly to Congress. Perhaps the ARRL can and should lead such a charge to protect Amateur Radio from becoming marginalized and a secondary service on all bands. Over-the-air TV is about to become a footnote in history, as the FCC seems to take every step possible to drive it off the spectrum it so wants to "sell" to new services. Can Amateur Radio afford to accept similar treatment?

NAT OSTROFF, W3JXY

Annapolis, Maryland

NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET...

Having passed the Elements 1 and 2 exams in February 2004, I realized in early January that time was running short if I wanted to upgrade to General without retaking the code test. Being a historically poor test-taker, I needed a strategy (other than memorizing the study guide). So, despite the fact that it could cost me as much as $42, I decided I'd give myself three chances to pass the Element 3 exam.

My plan was pretty straightforward-on January 30, I'd drive up to Hagerstown, Maryland (40 miles from my home QTH) where the Antietam Radio Association-sponsored VEs were holding an exam session. I concluded that if I flunked Element 3 in Maryland, I'd be too embarrassed to ever show up at an amateur event in that state again-even that great hamfest outside of Baltimore in Timonium. Instead, I'd drive over to Alexandria, Virginia (50 miles) on February 12 and give it a second shot. Ever the pessimist, if I didn't make it on the second try, I had one last chance-I'd drive over to Winchester, Virginia the next day, hoping (and praying) that none of the same VEs who witnessed my inability to correctly calculate 20 meter dipole dimensions were also testing there on Sunday.

With the plan set, I spent Saturday afternoon "cramming" and got a good night's sleep.

I woke up Sunday morning to find a few inches of freshly fallen snow on the ground-and wondering if the VEs had 4-wheel drive. They did. The first to arrive was Joe, WA3PTV, the VE Team Coordinator, who like me, had crossed state lines in the snow (Pennsylvania in his case) to see me fail Element 3!

A few minutes later, a second Tech Plus arrived who was also taking Element 3. He didn't make me feel very comfortable by saying how "ready" he was for the test. The "comfortable" guy finished the test long before I did-and I tried not to pay attention as one of the examiners approached him and whispered, "Congratulations!"

"Well," I said to myself, "it's now or never." So I handed in the exam and watched the three VEs look it over. Surprisingly, no one even chuckled at my answer about the 20 meter dipole. And then Joe approached me and said, "Congratulations!" Knowing that the other Tech-now-General' was fishtailing out of the parking lot on what remained of our snowfall, Joe had to be talking to me!

I thought to myself what a privilege it was for the students to be outnumbered by the VEs and the support staff 3 to 1-on a snowy, wintry Sunday afternoon. That says a lot about Amateur Radio-and more about those volunteers who show up in all kinds of weather and, with the gift of time and knowledge, give something to each of us.

Thanks again!

JEFF SLUSHER, KE5APC/AG

Round Hill, Virginia

35 YEARS

This month marks the 35th anniversary of my membership in the ARRL. A lot has happened in that time, and a lot of it hasn't been fun living through. Some said the change from incentive licensing to its present structure would kill Amateur Radio. It hasn't. Others have claimed the reduction in requisite code speed would spell disaster. It hasn't. Nor has the influx of less-technical persons to our ranks. Even BPL, our latest travail, will be hard pressed to affect Amateur Radio in the long haul. The major reason for our ability to withstand these onslaughts is simply the result of the efforts put forth by the ARRL, and its members.