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Current Feature Articles   Nov 17 The Amateur Amateur: Radiomobile   Nov 17 Handy Reference   Nov 14 Surfin': Tying Ham Radio Together with Twine   Nov 07 Surfin': How We Got Here   Nov 03 Amateur Radio Quiz: A Spare Hour's Entertainment   Nov 03 ARRL In Action: What Have We Been Up To Lately?   Nov 01 It Seems to Us: The Next Time Could Be Different   Oct 31 The Canaries in the Mine   Oct 31 Surfin': I Phone, Therefore I Ham   Oct 28 North Fulton Amateur Radio League Field Day 2008 -- A Phoenix Rises from the Ashes in Georgia ARRL Products: Operating (More) The ARRL DXCC Handbook -- Worldwide ham radio operating and the ARRL DXCC Award! The ARRL Repeater Directory (Pocket-sized Edition) -- Now Shipping! -- 2008/2009 Edition. Find it F A S T E R with the newly improved ARRL Repeater Directory! US Amateur Radio Bands - ARRL Frequency Chart (50 pk) -- 50 pack. Full color, size 8.5 x 11 inches. Getting Started with Ham Radio -- Get on the air now! A guide to your first Amateur Radio station. TravelPlus CD-ROM -- Now Shipping! -- Locate repeaters along your travel route. Detailed maps and current repeater data.

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

The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) Web page provides all the details concerning Amateur Radio’s “premier technical conference of the year.”

The 2008 installment of the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) will take place in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, six miles from O'Hare International Airport (ORD). The dates of this event are September 26-28, so mark your calendar and start making plans for the "premier technical conference of the year."

The schedule of the three-day conference calls for technical and introductory sessions all day Friday and Saturday, a Friday evening social, a Saturday evening banquet with an invited speaker that concludes with award presentations and prize drawing, as well as a Sunday seminar titled "Software Radio Through the Looking-Glass" by Phil Harman, VK6APH, who is one of the brains behind High Performance Software Defined Radio (HPSDR).

You can find everything you need to know about DCC at the ARRL and TAPR DCC Web page.

Over the years, I have attended DCCs in various locations on the East and West Coasts, and have always been impressed by the quality of the conference in terms of the people I met and what they had to say. The nearly central US location (population-wise) of this year's conference assures more of the same, so if you can make it to the DCC, you will not be disappointed.

Until next time, keep on surfin'!

Editor's note: Laurie and Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, celebrate 25 years of marriage during DCC weekend. To communicate with Stan, send him e-mail or add comments to his blog. By the way, every installment of Surfin' is indexed here, so go look it up.

Previous: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler

Next: See You Next Year! 2008 ARRL Teachers Institutes a "Great Experience"