On August 19, members of the ARRL's Membership and Volunteer Programs Department counted ballots for contested Section Manager races in Idaho and Western New York. Section Managers serve two year terms.

On August 13, Matt Strelow, KC1XX, and Andrew Toth of XX Towers installed a new 40 foot tower on top of the ARRL Headquarters building for use at W1HQ, the Laird Campbell Memorial HQ Operators Club. This new tower supports the 3 element SteppIR 20-6 meter Yagi antenna that was moved from the old tower; the antenna was placed on the old tower in November 2007. The antenna also received modifications, allowing operations on 30 and 40 meters. Both the antenna and the 30-40 meter modification kit were donated by Mike Mertel, K7IR, of SteppIR.

While Tropical Storm Fay made landfall over Key West, Florida at 3 PM EDT on August 18, Amateur Radio operators throughout Florida were prepared "just in case." As Fay crossed Key West, Florida Emergency Management officials noted that while "Fay is no Hurricane Charley," it is following the same general path as 2004's Charley, a Category 4 hurricane and one of the most destructive hurricanes in recent history for the area; at least 13 people were killed in that storm. A tropical storm warning is still in effect for the Florida Keys and the majority of Florida's Atlantic coast. All hurricane warnings have been discontinued.

ARRL Lab Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, will chair a Technical Session at this year's Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). It will be held at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, August 18-22. Mark Steffka, WW8MS, a member of the ARRL EMC Committee, invited Hare to chair the session due to Hare's involvement with a number of international committees on EMC standards. The session, covering the topic of EMC emissions and immunity, will take place on Thursday afternoon, August 21.

In May, the ARRL Executive Committee reviewed grant applications for the ARRL's Education & Technology Program (ETP), awarding nearly $14,000 to nine schools. More than 300 schools across the country have received support from the ETP in the form of grants for equipment, curriculum and resources, as well as teacher in-service training through the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology. The Executive Committee reviews applications for equipment and resource grants twice each year, in December and May.

Since 2004, Amateur Radio operators in Bangladesh have not been able to get an Amateur Radio license or sit for an examination. But thanks to the efforts of the Bangladesh Amateur Radio League (BARL) -- that country's IARU Member-Society -- the Bangladeshi government will once again issue ham licenses; exams will also be given on a monthly basis beginning August 13, 2008.

Our Sun is still not producing any sunspots. As mentioned in previous bulletins, the peak of the last Solar Cycle was a double peak, so perhaps we are in the midst of an extended bottom. Sunspot numbers for August 7-13 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0 with a mean of 0. The 10.7 cm flux was 66.1, 65.5, 65.5, 65.6, 65.7, 65.2 and 65.3 with a mean of 65.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 4, 18, 13, 7, 6 and 5 with a mean of 8.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 3, 3, 16, 9, 6, 6 and 3 with a mean of 6.6.

During a record six ARRL Teachers Institutes this summer -- Tampa, Florida; Rocklin, California; Tucson, Arizona; Dayton, Ohio, as well as two sessions at ARRL HQ in Connecticut -- instructors and participants tried new ways of bringing the excitement of wireless technology to classrooms across the country.

This week, Surfin’ plugs the annual meeting of the movers and shakers of the digital Amateur Radio world.

Alphas and IOTAs