Regular readers will know that I've written several times over the past few months about powerline networking - that is, running part of your home or office data network over your mains electricity wiring.

NEW ALBANY: Clarence Foster Waller (Clancy a.k.a. Papa), 87, passed away August 9, 2009, at Mt. Carmel East Hospital after an extended illness.

He spent the last three and a half years living in New Albany with his daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Bob Marvin, where he enjoyed the company of his extended family and friends and conversed daily with his ham radio buddies on frequency 3805.

In July 2009, the ARRL Executive Committee reviewed grant applications for the ARRL's Education & Technology Program (ETP), awarding nearly $9000 to eight schools. More than 370 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.

WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, is featured in a 60 second radio spot for Duracell batteries. The commercial, which begins airing this month, highlights the efforts of an all-volunteer army of ham radio operators for WX4NHC. Narrated by actor Jeff Bridges, it describes the important role that radio amateurs play during severe weather conditions -- enabling communications with emergency medical teams, police and fire departments -- when the power goes out. The narration underscores the importance of a reliable battery to power the portable ham radios, which are crucial to WX4NHC's work.

When hundreds of runners descend on Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates for Saturday's Hills Are Alive 10K/5K, there will be one group operating on a different frequency.

Walt Ordway and his army of ham radio operators.

Dr. James D. Nicholas flipped the lid of a Sky Champion ham radio set from the 1930s on Saturday and began to poke around inside.

The vintage unit was one of dozens of old ham radio sets, replacement parts, tubes, capacitors, wires, microphones, antennas and other amateur radio paraphernalia on display at the Reading Radio Club's Hamfest Saturday morning in Sinking Spring's Heritage Park.

To ensure that Amateur Radio is not an unintended victim of the growing public debate over what to do about distracted drivers, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, has written a letter to the National Safety Council (NSC), highlighting issues regarding the use of Amateur Radio emergency communications devices in vehicles. Many states have outlawed the use of cell phones while driving; some states with these laws have ambiguous wording (such as "mobile communication devices" or "mobile electronic devices") concerning the use of Amateur Radio while driving.

When Dr. Barry G. Cohen (K2JV) proclaimed, "That's him," a bit past 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, the audience gathered at Jaycees Park erupted in excited applause.

It's almost impossible to be incommunicado these days.

Besides phones, fax machines, text messages and e-mail, there's YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and no doubt other methods of communication that I'm not acquainted with yet.

On the night of August 11 and well into the next day, Earth will make its annual passage through the bulk of the debris shed by a comet known as Swift-Tuttle. Much of the debris is composed of dust-sized grains, but when these fragments come plunging into our atmosphere they can create a dazzling meteor display. Not only are the meteors fascinating to watch, they also leave short-lived streams of ionized gas in their wake. As hams have known for years, these meteor trails are excellent reflectors of radio waves.