[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1304 August 9th, 2002

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Amateur Radio Newsline 1304 August 9th, 2002

The following is a QST.  U.K. hams take to 5 MHz in a big experiment.  
Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1304 coming 
your way right now.
 
**

ON THE AIR:  BIG UK 5MHZ EXPERIMENT

If you tune around 5 MHz and hear what sounds like ham radio QSO's, your 
ears are not playing tricks.  A major study of 5 MHz propagation has 
begun in Great Britain and some hams are already on the air.  Jeramy 
Boot, G4NJH, reports from Nottingham in the U.K.:

--

The 5 Mhz experiment has begun.  The Radio Society of Great Britain has 
announced that permission has been granted by the Ministry of Defence 
and the Radiocommunications Agency for the allocation of five spot 
frequencies in the range of 5250 to 5450kHz. The frequencies will be 
made avbailable in the form of a 3 kilohertz bandwidth channel by way of 
a Notice of Variation to the UK Amateur License.  Because it is a 
controlled experiment applicants are required to report their findings 
and results to the RSGB.

The purpose of the experiment is to carry out propagation and antenna 
investigations aimed at improving the understanding of Near Zenithal 
Radiation or NVIS - Near Vertical-Incidence Skywave - communications via 
the ionosphere. The frequencies assigned are 5260, 5280, 5290, 5400 and 
5405kHz. It's expected that this experiment will run for about 4 years.

Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.

--

Here in the United States, Charles Harpole, K4VUD, one of the permitted 
operators of the American WA2XSY 5 MHz-band test stations invites U-K 
hams to contact him to set up a sked.  The 5 point 260 MHz channel would 
be the best frequency for him.  He is available for all times and days 
until the 20th of August and his e-mail is k4vud at hotmail.com  (GB2RS)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FIVE LICENSES CANCELED BY FCC

Five hams who participated in a September 2001 testing session in 
Yucaipa California and who declined to be retested have lost their ham 
radio licenses.  The FCC's Riley Hollingsworth says that in this case it 
was the VEC who brought the matter to his agency:

--
Hollingsworth: "Now the W5YI-VEC really did its homework on this one.  
They picked up some comments and complaints on an Internet News Group 
about the examination session; did a little homework and further 
research and found some very good reasons to refer the matter to us."
--

On April 30, the FCC wrote all five requiring them to  re-take their 
Amateur Examinations before June 30th.  All five failed to appear.  
Again the FCC's Riley Hollingsworth:

--
Hollingsworth:  "Those licensees were Eddie Bartolome - Extra Class 
N6YAG of Los Angeles; Camito Lopez KG6GJC a Technician of Los Angeles; 
Marcial Rivas - General Class KG6HCP of Salem Oregon; Manuel M. Vega, 
KG6GSP - General class of Anaheim California and Marcelino Llanes, 
KG6HBR of Oxnard California."
--

Hollingsworth adds that the FCC is continuing its investigation of other 
examinations given by the Volunteer Examination team involved in the 
September 1st 2001 session in Yucaipa.  Also that his office really 
appreciates the vigilance of the W5YI-VEC.  (FCC, RAIN)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC MAY RETURN FORMER KV4FZ TO THE AIRWAVES

An ex-ham from the US Virgin Islands who was forced off the air a year 
and a half ago by the FCC may soon be back on, courtesy of the FCC.  
This as the agency indicates that it may act to reinstate the amateur 
license of Herbert L. Schoenbohm, the former KV4FZ.  Amateur Radio 
Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH, has been following this story and has 
the latest:

--
Herbert L. Schoenbohm's name shows up a lot in FCC records.  He's the 
former ham who used to hold the callsign KV4FZ.  That was before he lost 
his license.  

In December, 1992, Schoenbohm was convicted of fraudulently using a 
counterfeit access device to obtain long distance telephone service.  He 
was sentenced to two months of house arrest, two years probation and 
fined $5000.  That left the FCC feeling that a felony conviction 
disqualified Schoenbohm from continuing as a Commission Licensee.

Two years later, Schoenbohm filed with the Commission to renew his 
amateur radio license.  The Commission answered -- but not with what he 
wanted to hear; instead, the FCC designated his application for a 
hearing.  Two encounters took place--one in 1995, the other in '97.  At 
that  point, the Commission told Schoenbohm he should no longer be 
allowed to have an FCC license.

He was allowed to operate until he exhausted all avenues of appeal.  
That happened in October of 2000.  In January, 2001, Schoenbohm ceased 
on-air operations.

Before leaving the airwaves, 'though, Schoenbohm vowed that he would one 
day return to the airwaves as a licensed radio amateur.  That day may be 
soon--based on findings presented at an FCC Administrative Law hearing 
earlier this year.

The hearing was held to determine if Schoenbohm now meets the 
requirements to once again become a Commission license holder in the 
Amateur Radio Service. The finding is complex and covers nearly two 
dozen pages.  But it appears that the government may be ready to give 
Schoenbohm a second chance as a licensed ham.

The Commission says in part there is sufficient evidence in the record 
to support a finding that Schoenbohm has rehabilitated himself.  The 
Commission notes that -- based on the evidence --it appears unlikely he 
would engage in any future misconduct.  The Commission's Enforcement 
Bureau Investigations and Hearings Division endorses Schoenbohm's return 
to the amateur radio airwaves.

Schoenbohm took and passed a new exam in March, 2001.  But the 
Commission again threw in a delay, designating his application for a 
hearing on the basis of character issues.   This is the application that 
an Administrative Law Judge has been reviewing.  Now that the 
recommendations are in, the Administrative law judge could issue a final 
opinion and recommendation within the next few months.  That means 
Herbert Schoenbohm could possible be on the air again sometime this 
year.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm David Black, KB4KCH.
--

In the end, it is going to be up to the Commission to make a final 
resolution as to whether or not the former KV4FZ returns to ham radio.  
Nobody can predict what that decision will be.  And if he is permitted 
to return, will it be with his old KV4FZ call sign?   (ARNewsline™ from 
FCC Publiic Files)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY HELPS SAVE KIDNAPPED GIRLS

Two kidnapped California teenagers are alive thanks in part to a newly developed 
law enforcement communications technology.  Mert Garlick, N6AWE, has the 
details:

--
It happened on Thursday August 1st when two teenage girls from the 
Quartz Hill area of Southern California were abducted at gunpoint.  
Using the newly established AMBER child abduction alert system, the 
names of the teens and a description of the car they were in was 
immediately distributed to law enforcement agencies and broadcast 
outlets statewide.  Shortly thereafter the California Transportation 
Authority was displaying information on it's 316 electronic signs on 
freeways.  

Sheriff's deputies in Kern County soon received several calls from 
people who saw the white Ford S-U-V.  A sheriff's helicopter crew used 
the information to direct a ground unit that made the felony arrest 
stop.  When he resisted and brandished a weapon, deputies shot and 
killed Roy Dean Ratliff and freed the girls.

The rescue took place only six days after Governor Gray Davis directed 
the installation of the AMBER system.  AMBER uses a combination of two-
way radio, fax, e-mail and other communications technology to quickly 
spread word when a child is abducted.  It is based on a program 
developed by Dallas-area broadcasters and named in memory of nine year-
old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996.  

In this latest case it took less than 4 hours to get the AMBER alert on 
the two missing girls circulated to the road signs.  California's 
Governor Davis says that his states AMBER system will now be refined to 
make it react more swiftly.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Mert Garlick, N6AWE.
--

Today, there are forty-one AMBER Alert programs across the country.  The 
system is credited with safely recovering at least seventeen children 
since 1997.   (Published news reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  PLEASE FIX THE INTERFERENCE

A pair of utility companies have received letters from the FCC regarding 
unresolved interference complaints from area amateurs. According to the 
W5YI Report Lakeland Electric Company in Florida and Commonwealth Edison 
in Illinois both were sent notes reminding them of their 
responsibilities to prevent interference to radio stations including 
radio amateurs.  The letters gave the electric companies 90 days to 
either resolve the problems or contact the FCC with a specific timetable 
for making the fix. (FCC from W5YI Report)

**

HAM RADIO POLITICS:  NEW DIRECTORS FOR THE NFCC

Turning to the ham radio political arena, word that Ken Chilton, KA1TIH; 
Alex Harvilchuck, N3NMN and Vincent Bardsley, KB3OM have been elected to 
the Board of Directors of the National Frequency Coordination Council.  
They replace outgoing Directors Dick Isely, W9GIG, Owen Wormser, K6LEW, 
and Dave Baughn, KX4I, who helped form the NFCC at a meeting in St. 
Charles Missouri back in 1995.  

Chilton, Havilchuck and Bardsley also join Nels Harvey, WA9JOB and Clay 
Freinwald, K7CR as the duly constituted National Frequency Coordinators' 
Board.  This for the twelve month period starting on September 1st.  
(ARNewsline)

**

HAM RADIO POLITICS:  NEW SACRAMENTO SM IS OLD SACRAMENTO SM 

California's former Sacramento Valley ARRL Section Manager has become 
the new Sacramento Valley Section Manager following the resignation of 
the current Sacramento Valley Section Manager.  Confused?  Well, here's 
what happened.

According to an ARRL Bulletin, Jettie Hill, W6RFF, of Roseville, 
California, has been appointed to succeed Jerry Boyd, K6BZ, as the 
Sacramento Valley Section Manager.  This is because Boyd is moving out 
of the section. 

Boyd was appointed in 2000 to replace Hill.  Hill continued to serve the 
section as the regions Affiliated Club Coordinator and as an Official 
Relay Station.  W6RFF previously served as Santa Clara Valley Section 
Communications Manager from 1978 until 1982 and as ARRL Pacific Division 
Vice Director in 1982 and 1983.  The appointment of Hill, who had 
previously served for more than 10 years as Sacramento Valley S-M became 
effective on August 1st.  Got that?  (ARRL)

**

FUTURE TECHNOLOGY:  HIGH TECH WORKERS NEEDED 
 
Still in California, word that lack of qualified workers is costing 
Silicon Valley billions of dollars annually.  The management consulting 
firm A.T. Kearney says that this is threatening the regions position as 
a global high technology center.  The region's shortage of high-tech 
workers means that one in  three jobs requires special recruitment 
efforts, or goes unfilled, leading to a loss of over $3 billion a year.  
(ProPeople.com)
 
** 

RADIO REGULATIONS:  PERMANENT CELL NUMBERS ON HOLD

Mobile phone users who want to keep their numbers after switching 
wireless companies will have to wait until late next year for that 
option. This after the  Federal Communications Commission gives cellular 
phone companies until November of 2003 to offer customers the choice. 

The new date, one year later than the previous deadline to implement the 
service.  It is the third extension granted by the FCC.  Most wireless 
companies oppose the idea, arguing it would cost billions of dollars and 
drain resources needed to improve and lower the cost of wireless 
services.  (FCC)
   
**

WITH THE HANDI-HAMS:  EXTRA CLASS MANUAL IN AUDIO

The Handi-Hams have announced that the latest ARRL Extra Class License 
Manual is now available to it's blind members in adapted audio format.  
At the present time Handi Hams only digital media available but the 
audio is being re-mastered onto tape.  When the cassette version is 
available Handi Hams will let us know so that we can let you know.  
Meantime keep an eye at Book and Tape Catalog area at www.handiham.org 
for updates.  (Handi Hams)

**

THE SUPPORT FUND REPORT WITH ANDY JAREMA, N6TCQ

Its time for a report from the Amateur Radio Newsline Support Fund.  
Here's our Administrator -- Andy Jarema, N6TCQ:

--
There are two items to cover this week. I'll start with our poll 
regarding credit cards. Three weeks ago we asked those interested in 
supporting Amateur radio Newsline using a credit card to write the 
single word YES in the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us. We 
have tallied the results and there were only 17 who said yes. And of the 
17, all but one said that only a Pay Pal account was acceptable to them. 

Well, statistically speaking, you don't have to know how to do linear 
regression to know that 17 people out of the 10's of thousands who 
listen in each week is not a very good response. What it says is that 17 
people have Pay Pal access and would use it to help support Amateur 
Radio Newsline. Even so, we looked into creating a Pay Pal service for 
those who wanted to use it. Without wasting a lot of time, suffice it to 
say that the costs involved versus the return would not warrant the 
expenditure. So at present the credit card issue is dead. For now at 
least, the Support Fund will remain as it always has. Just the P.O. Box 
where donations can be sent. Get a pencil and paper ready. I'll give it 
in a few moments.

The other item I want to touch on briefly is the current state of the 
checking account. Thanks to your generosity, we made it through June and 
July. What that means is the bills from May were paid in early June and 
those from June went out on schedule in July. Now it's early August. The 
July bills have come due, unfortunately at the same time that our folks 
are off to Huntsville, Alabama to present the 2002 Young Ham of the Year 
Award. So that you get a better understanding of the costs involved, 
I've done a rough breakdown.

First of all, our corporate underwriters Vertex Standard and C-Q 
Magazine cover almost all the costs of the young person selected for the 
award. They pay their airfare. They pay their lodging. Vertex-Standard 
provides an additional gift of Yaesu brand ham radio gear. C-Q treats 
the winner to a week at Spacecamp. When you add that up, it's probably a 
gift package with a retail price tag of close to $5000. 

Obviously, they do their part and we have to do ours. It costs about 
$300 a year for a round trip ticket to get one of our people from Los 
Angeles to Huntsville. Actually, we have our people fly to Birmingham 
and drive up to Huntsville because this saves quite a bit of money. Yes, 
it takes them out of their way and adds a few hours of travel time.  But 
the savings in airfare make this added time worthwhile.

The wonderful folks at the Huntsville Hamfest provide us with a free 
room. We do have to pay our people's expenses like food, hotel, 
telephone service and a rental car when necessary. We also pay for the 
plaque presented to the winner and for the mini-banquet we hold for him 
or her on the Friday night prior to the actual Saturday presentation. 
The total this year will be somewhere between $1000 to $1100. So we need 
to raise that in addition to our normal $800 to $1000 it costs monthly 
to keep the Amateur Radio Newsline newscasts coming your way. And that's 
where you come in.

Amateur Radio Newsline is a federal 501 (C) (3) not for profit 
corporation.  Donations to it are tax deductible. The address - you've 
heard it before - is Post Office Box 660937, Arcadia California. Our 
Zipcode is 91066.

OK. `Nuf said.  But I'll be back next week with the latest thank-you 
list. For now, from Arcadia, in sunny Southern California's San Gabriel 
Valley, I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.
--

If you missed the address given by Andy it will repeated at the end of 
this weeks newscast.  (Newsline Support Fund)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  KD5MDT REPLACES  KC5FVF ON ISS EXPEDITION 6 CREW

Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT, has been named to replace Don Thomas, 
KC5FVF, as a member of the Expedition 6 International Space Station 
crew.  According to the ARRL Letter, Pettit had been training as backup 
flight engineer for the increment six team and was ready to step in. 

NASA said the reassignment resulted from a medical issue that affects 
Thomas' long-duration space flight qualifications.  According to 
Astronaut Office Chief Charlie Precourt, KB5YSQ, the demanding nature of 
long-term space flight requires a conservative approach to crew health 
issues, especially this early in the program.  Pettit will join 
Expedition 6 Commander Kenneth Bowersox, KD5JBP, and Russian cosmonaut 
Nikolai Budarin, RV3DB.  (ARRL Letter)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  THE METEORS ARE COMING

Weak Signal operators -- listen up.  The Perseid meteors are on their 
way. 

Lee Wical, KH6BZF, says over the QCWA remailer that from midnight to 
dawn, on Monday August 12th and Tuesday August 13th about 60 to 70 
meteors per hour will enter Earth's atmosphere. This particular meteor 
shower is created by the Earth passing through the debris field left 
from the Swift-Tuttle comet.  The grain-like particles enter Earth's 
atmosphere, burn up and create what most people call shooting stars.
       
The Perseid Meteor shower is not expected to be as spectacular as the 
Leonid Meteor shower that occurs each November. But, if viewing is good, 
people will not be disappointed.  And if the ionized tails are good, ham 
radio meteor scatter D-Xers and WSJT users will be happy as well.  
(KH6BZF)

**

INTERNATIONAL - UK:  LONG WAVE GOODBYE

As predicted by Media Network, the loss-making sports station TEAMtalk 
252, which broadcast to the UK on 252 kHz Long Wave from a transmitter 
in Ireland, has closed down.  This, after less than 6 months on the air.  
The station ceased broadcasting at 1300 UTC on July 31st.  (Media 
Network)

**

INTERNATIONAL-CANADA:  NEW RAC QUEBEC SM

Claude Paquet, VE2OCP has been elected as Radio Amateurs of Canada 
Section Manager for Quebec.  This, for a two year term that will begin 
on November 1st.  Paquet ran unopposed, eliminating the need for a 
balloted election. He has also agreed to complete the term of  Richard 
Desaulniers, VE2DX who resigned for personal and professional reasons on 
August 1st.  (RAC)

**

DX

In D-X, G0TQJ he has now gone QRT from Afghanistan where he operate 
slash YA.  During his say in Kabul Chris made 1950 QSOs on SSB and 
another 850 on RTTY.  He is getting his QSL cards printed.  He has also 
sent his documentation to the ARRL DXCC desk for approval.  (GB2RS)

And the FISTS newsletter reports on the apparent pirating of callsign 
ZD7CW. The pirate is using CW and not very active.  In fact, he was last 
heard in November of 2001.  But the real ZD7CW has been inactive for 
several years.  (Q-News)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  A TRUE CAPTIVE AUDIENCE!

And finally this week the story of an interesting call sign operating 
from a rather unusual place in Ireland.  Here's Q-News Graham Kemp, 
VK4BB;

--