We all may have noticed the "Doctor Is In" link on the ARRL web site, but not taken the time to listen to the excellent podcasts. Since March, sixteen podcasts have been produced on a wide range of subjects of interest to new hams (and some of us "previously licensed" hams). Take a look at the list below.

The podcasts are one of the best appreciated new media features produced by the ARRL, having over 120,000 downloads the first six months.

Title/Link	Date Released
HF Mobile Antennas	October 20, 2016
Bits vs Baud	October 06, 2016
Coping with the Solar Minimum	September 22, 2016
Coaxial Connectors	September 08, 2016
Software Defined Radio	August 25, 2016
Standing Wave Ratio	August 11, 2016
Magnetic Loop Antennas	July 28, 2016
HF Propagation	July 14, 2016
Are Linear Amplifiers Really Worthwhile	June 30, 2016
Grounding	June 16, 2016
All About Baluns	June 02, 2016
Hunting Down Interference	May 19, 2016
Open Wire Feed Lines	May 05, 2016
Does CW Really Get Through When Nothing Else Can?	April 21, 2016
HF Vertical Antennas	April 07, 2016
ARRL The Doctor is In Promo	March 24, 2016

The direct link to the "Doctor Is In" page is easy to remember - arrl.org/doctor. The page provides a way you to submit technical questions that may be used in future pod casts as well as audio links to archived podcasts.

The ARRL is covering Hawaii Amateur Radio activities more frequently since our new ARRL PIOs (Public Information Officers) Russell R. Roberts, KH6JRM and Darren (Stacy) Holbrook, KH6OWL began word smithing your reported doings.

http://www.arrl.org/news/big-island-ares-districts-activate-to-support-possible-hurricane-response-in-hawaii

http://www.arrl.org/news/battleship-missouri-serves-as-amateur-radio-licensing-class-testing-venue

http://www.arrl.org/news/hawaiian-islands-grid-madness-grows

News about Amateur Radio helps all of us by raising the awareness of Hawaii Hams' contributions to our communities. These three stories are a small part of what we are contributing.

Many of you and your ham friends frequently participate in events involving Amateur Radio.

Please take the time to share the information with us. Drop Stacy or Russ an email; they'll "flesh out the story".

This is a commercial for an African telecommunication corporation that Stacy (KH6OWL) found on Internet. They weren't trying to promote Amateur Radio but the one-minute video did a great job of it https://youtu.be/hxU1ZhINaHk

Eric Brundage (KH6EB) is on Kaho`olawe for 10 days every month operating the base camp that supports the State's efforts to restore the island.  He generally operates only when not working so that means evenings and mornings but can sometimes make exceptions for people with scheduling needs.  He's putting up a Hexbeam for 20M.

Special KH6EB QSLs celebrating this very rare island contact can be earned by QSOs with him on 14.265 SSB, some PSK31 (14.070) and JT65 (14.076).

Eric says he will accommodate folks who want to make a Kaho`olawe contact. Email him at wh6eey@gmail.com to arrange a schedule.

A more complete story is on the Hawaii ARRL blog at https://oahuarrlnews.wordpress.com/2016/11

Grid Madness is sponsored by the Aulani Hui Amateur Repeater Club and is sanctioned by the ARRL Hawaii. The Aulani Hui Amateur Repeater Club deserves special recognition for promoting this event promoting fun operating on all islands. Thanks for all your work guys.

The 2016 contest was a success well demonstrated by contact path maps published in their final report,

The map of all the islands shows increased inter-island activity. Clearly there is an unexplored place for VHF/UHF ARES emergency communications between islands!

The Map the event provided for Oahu shows active communications on the leeward side. Lack of documented QSOs on the windward side has more to do with missing logs than inactivity. There were confirmed contacts with windward stations.

Big Island activity shows paths interconnecting most communities, with some critical high points being activated by hams with mobile equipment. Great job guys!

If you are not familiar with Grid Madness, you'll find complete info on their blog at www.gridmadness.blogspot.com.

The results for the 2016 Hawaii QSO party are in. Thirty Hawaii stations that submitted logs are from among the 64 that appeared in station logs. Here are the all Hawaii rankings,

A special note about digital modes. QSOs were up, showing that PSK31 gets thru even in poor conditions. Harvey (AH6JA) and Jack (KH6DQ) battled it out with Jack recording more QSOs (77) but Harvey having a multiplier advantage with his Big Island propagation privilege.

Despite poor HF conditions, about 6000 QSOs were reported in the 113 logs submitted. Full results are available on the web site at http://hawaiiqsoparty.org/.

There is a lot of information on the ARRL web site and sometimes it is easy to overlook important programs. So, it is for me with the ARRL youth scholarships. There are 80 different programs available to licensed young Amateurs. I learned, despite modest application requirements, many are unused every year.

The ARRL web page that leads to the list of available scholarships is available at http://www.arrl.org/scholarship-program. It is one possible source of additional funds for your licensed young one heading to college in the near future.

At Pacificon I learned there is a lot of YL activity on the mainland. Propagation is of course a factor for Hawaii YLs being able to check into nets.

Here is some net information I got from the YLRL at Pacificon. There is a YL net on Thursdays on 14.288 or thereabouts at 0100 UTC now (DST) but will change to 0200 after Nov. 1. Net control is WB1ARU in MA but there are check-ins from across the US. Much depends on propagation!

An alternative is one of the Echolink nets for YLs. There is one on Thursdays at 0000 UTC which will change after Nov. 1 to 0100. It takes place on the ALARA Conference and IRLP Reflector 9509. There are YLs from around the world on that one. There are others available too. One source of information is the YLRL.org website.

Spread the word. The YL desk at Pacificon passed on they would welcome check-ins from Hawaii. Let me know of any Hawaii YL activity that develops and we will spread the word for others to join in. YLs in Hawaii might consider forming their own local net?

Nominations are open for the 2016 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. This award is conferred upon an individual radio amateur or Amateur Radio group that has demonstrated devotion to human welfare, peace, and international understanding through Amateur Radio. The League established this annual award to recognize Amateur Radio operators who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster.

A committee appointed by the League’s president recommends the award recipient(s) to the ARRL Board of Directors, which makes the final decision. The committee is now accepting nominations from Amateur Radio, governmental or other organizations that have benefited from extraordinary service rendered by an Amateur Radio operator or group.

Amateur Radio is one of the few telecommunication services that allow people throughout the world from all walks of life to meet and talk with each other, spreading goodwill across political boundaries. The ARRL International Humanitarian Award recognizes Amateur Radio’s unique role in international communication and the assistance amateurs regularly provide to people in need.

Nominations should include a summary of the nominee’s actions that qualify the individual (or individuals) for this award, plus verifying statements from at least two people having first-hand knowledge of the events warranting the nomination. These statements may be from an official of a group (for example, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, or a local or state emergency management official) that benefited from the nominee’s particular Amateur Radio contribution. Nominations should include the names and addresses of all references.

All nominations and supporting materials for the 2016 ARRL International Humanitarian Award must be submitted in writing in English to ARRL International Humanitarian Award, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 USA by December 31, 2016. If no nominations are received, the committee itself may determine a recipient or decide to make no award.

The winner of the ARRL International Humanitarian Award receives an engraved plaque and a profile in QST and other ARRL venues. 

At last report, a total of 265 Hawaii Amateurs had submitted letters to Senators Hirono and Schatz. Your effort on behalf of Amateur Radio is much appreciated by those affected by antenna restrictions.

So, where does HR-1301 stand? You all know that it passed the House by a vote of unanimous consent and moved to the Senate for action. Previously a version supported by the ARRL passed out of Senate committee for a vote by the full Senate. We had hoped that action in the Senate would occur before they went on recess. That didn’t happen but we know the House bill has received no objections from the Senate and we are hopeful that action will occur in the lame duck session.

What exactly will HR-1301 do for Amateurs living under HOA agreements. This situation is not unique to Amateur Radio. DISH Network and Direct TV have faced the same issue before. HOA restrictions on dish antenna installations affected the ability of many to get access to TV programming. In 1999 the FCC, after action by Congress, issued OTARD (Over-the-Air Reception Devices) rules that gave individuals a process that would allow them to request their HOA installation of a reasonable antenna to receive over the air TV broadcasts. HR-1301, when 0passed, will give Amateurs a similar process. It is not an absolute right, just a reasonable process that has worked for the TV satellite industry. Once HR-1301 passes, the FCC will publish rules documenting the process as they did for OTARD. If you are interested in the OTARD rules, the FCC as a good summary at http://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule. Remember these are OTARD rules and those published for Amateur Radio will be different.

The ARRL has expended a lot of effort on this important issue for Amateur Radio. In my recent visit to ARRL headquarters I found that every department head was up-to-date on the issue and fully supportive of this important legislation. Here is one Amateur appreciative of the ARRL on this issue!

There is a lot to cover about RFI noise floors. We have all experienced RFI problems over the years and it is good news that the FCC has taken notice of the problem - http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-encourages-comprehensive-noise-floor-study.

The RFI issue does not relate just to the Amateur Service. More and more critical services are moving to wireless and noise levels affect us all. The editorial on page 10 of the November issue of QST is a wakeup call to all and an example of kudos to be expressed to our ARRL volunteers who work on RFI issues. More on hat next month.

During my visit to ARRL, in an impromptu session with the ARRL Lab staff, I learned that they intend to conduct a study of RFI from solar power systems. Based on the lack of reports from Amateurs, it does not appear to be a major issue to the lab.

I asked if we could collect information from Hawaii, since we are leaders in the use of solar power. I got agreement. So here is our chance, a Hawaii RFI effort to collect information on solar power system RFI.

Solar Power Systems RFI From several sources, we’ve heard that some solar arrays in Hawaii are causing HF RFI problems for Amateurs. With Hawaii’s goal of expanding solar power the issue deserves attention. From what we’ve heard, some vendors’ systems are clean; others not. In at least one case reported from Hawaii, the issue was tied to the circuit monitoring the solar array via an Internet connection, not the solar array and battery charging system. So here is a challenge to those of you who know of solar installations causing problems. Drop me an email with a description of the problem and a contact so we can develop a Hawaii report on the issue. Our ARRL Hawaii team will follow up and report back to members.