[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1306 August 23rd, 2002

Sat Aug 24 04:02:10 EDT 2002

The following is a Q-S-T.  Europe prepares for another ham in 
space and a technology called AMBER Alert finds another kidnapped 
youngster.  These stories and more are next on Amateur Radio 
Newsline report number 1306 coming your way right now.

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  BELGIUM TO LAUNCH HAM ASTRONAUT

Europe is about to launch another ham radio operator into space.  
He is from Belgium and the QSL cards are already being prepared 
as we hear from Jeramy Boot, G4NJH:

--
Belgium's second astronaut to go into space is a radio amateur.  
Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, will join the International Space Station 
at the end of October this year.  The exact timing of the flight 
is not yet available.

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, who is Chairman of ARISS-Europe, has 
organized an amateur radio contact with the Belgian air force 
Royal Technical School.  Bertels says that there may be other 
opportunities for operators to make contact with the mission as 
well. A full color QSL will be available.  QSL cards and listener 
reports should be sent either direct or via the bureau to ON7AQ.

Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.

--

More information will be made available as soon as a launch date 
is set.  (GB2RS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  BASS TO FLY

Another flight being watched is a Russian re-supply mission this 
October.  One that may carry a United States pop music star as 
the third space tourist to the ISS.

After weeks of squabbling, Russian authorities announced late 
last week that teen heart-throb Lance Bass of the boy-band 'N 
Sync will probably travel to the international space station 
after all.  Bass still has not paid any of the estimated $20 
million for his flight but a spokesman for Russia's  RKK Energia 
has also confirmed that plans for Bass' seat is being held for 
him and launch preparations are moving forward. 

If Bass makes the trip to the International Space Station, he 
will become the youngest person ever in space.  This title has 
been held since 1961 by former Soviet Union cosmonaut German 
Titov who  was only 25 when he made his first flight.  Bass was 
born in 1979 and is currently 23.

At airtime, Bass's sponsors have indicated that his every waking 
moment on orbit will be pre-planned.  This could mean no ham 
radio using the ARISS Amateur Radio station on board the ISS.  
(ARNewsline from published reports)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  UPS NOW NEUTRAL ON RFID TAGS

United Parcel Service now says it's neutral on a SAVI 
Technology's proposal to permit higher duty cycles than current 
Part 15 rules permit for Radio Frequency or RF ID tags.   These 
are tags used for tracking shipments and packages, among other 
applications. The ARRL has said that adopting SAVI's proposals 
would result in severe and harmful interference to Amateur Radio 
and has opposed the plan.

And the ARRL Letter now reports that UPS recently clarified its 
position in an ex parte filing to the FCC.  In its statement, the 
shipper said that it takes no position on the rule changes 
proposed in the SAVI Petition because they will have virtually no 
impact on U-P-S's shipping operations.  Also, that the requests 
are inconsistent with efforts to promote international standards 
for RF ID tags.  The change in position is highly significant 
because United Parcel Service has an equity interest in SAVI 
through its UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund.  (ARRL Letter)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  AMBER ALERT SAVES ANOTHER KIDNAPPED CHILD

Some hams in California are looking at ways to tie their 
repeaters in after the states new AMBER Alert system has helped 
to safely locate yet another kidnapped youngster.  Nichole 
Timmons vanished from her bedroom in Riverside California on 
Monday night August 19th.  She was found the following afternoon 
in rural Nevada based on tips called in by motorists who 
recognized the description of the girl, her suspected abductor 
and the truck they were in.  

A description was flashed on electronic road signs across several 
South-Western states as part of a multi-state alert.  At about 
2:40 p.m. on August 20th, Nevada police spotted the girl's former 
baby-sitter, Glen Park, and Nichole driving through the Walker 
River Indian Reservation north of Reno.  A tribal police officer 
stopped the pair and Park was taken into custody.  Riverside 
Police Chief Russ Leach told reporters that the arrest came about 
because Nevada state police used their AMBER Alert system and 
received a tip from a passing motorist. 

As previously reported, the AMBER Alert system 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.  It uses a combination of two-way radio, telephones, fax 
and data communications to quickly spread word of a child 
abduction.  In theory it could also be interfaced to ham radio 
repeaters and packet networking systems.  More important, with 
Nichole Timmons return, the AMBER Alert system is now credited 
with safely recovering at least eighteen children since 1997.  
(ARNewsline from news reports)

**

EMERGENCY COMMS:  REPORT SAYS NYC EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM FLAWED 
ON 911

Poor radio systems with no inter-operability contributed to the 
casualty count in New York City last September 11th.  This as a 
report on the aftermath of the terrorist attack targets the 
city's emergency radio system as not being adequate for the task 
that day.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, tells 
us what that report had to say:

--
The report was prepared by high ranking New York City department 
officials aided by the management consultant McKinsey & Co..  It 
found that the rescue effort while highly, successful was hurt by 
a failure of city departments to work together, poor organization 
and a faulty radio communications system.

The radio system caught a lot of criticism.  It was singled out 
as being the biggest problem after firefighters had entered the 
twin towers.  

The report found that once inside, radio communications problems 
left many commanders and firefighters unable to communicate with 
each other.  To make matters worse, the fire department's radios 
were incompatible with the police radio system and vice-versa.  
In other words, no inter-operability between police and fire and 
no direct radio communications between the two agencies.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has assured the city that 
the fire department's radios work properly in the future.  This, 
regardless of the cost of improving it.  Police are also 
considering opening the department's citywide system of repeaters 
to the fire department in order to help solve the communication 
problem for future joint efforts.  

Even with the radio problems an estimated 25,000 people were 
evacuated from the twin towers that day.  Mayor Bloomberg calls 
it the most successful urban emergency evacuation in modern 
history.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW.

--

As widely reported, ham radio operators were among the first on 
the scene in lower Manhattan.  They operated using an array of 
their own equipment and networks providing communications to all 
who need it.  Hams and their gear performed almost flawlessly in 
the hours, days and weeks following the September 11th terrorist 
attacks.  (ARNewsline from published news reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  TAKE THAT LINK OFF THE AIR

The FCC has ordered a Los Angeles area ham to get coordinated or 
remove a repeater link from the air.  Daryl Duckworth of the 
agency's Consumer and Governmental Affairs  Bureau explains the 
action taken:

--
Duckworth:  "We issued a letter to Leobardo Coronado, KC6PXL, of 
Sun Valley California, ordering that on receipt of this letter to 
KC6PXL, that an uncoordinated repeater link must be shut down 
until either coordination is obtained or a detailed plan is 
submitted that will prevent interference to a coordinated 
repeater operating on the link frequency."

--

Coronado was warned that his failure to shut down the 
uncoordinated link will result in enforcement action that could 
include license revocation and a monetary forfeiture of up to 
$7,500.  (FCC, RAIN)

**

WITH THE FCC:  FCC UNIVERSITY" LAUNCHED - CONTINUING  LEARNING 
FOR THE FCC STAFF

The Federal Communications Commission has launched  what it calls 
FCC University.  This is a new program to ensure that FCC staff 
members have the cutting edge knowledge and skills to respond to 
the challenges of the communications field in the 21st century.

According to the CGC Communicator, FCC employees can choose from 
a vast array of courses on generally applicable subjects.  There 
are also sections of FCC University that are specifically geared 
to meet the educational needs of engineers, economists and
lawyers working for the agency.  Complete information on FCC 
University is on the web at 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-225430A1.doc
(CGC Communicator, FCC)

**

CONVENTIONS & HAMFESTS:  BIG BUSINESS IN HUNTSVILLE

In news from the ham radio business world, last weekends 
Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama may have signaled a turn-around for 
those who make their living selling ham radio gear.  And that's 
good news for more than just Amateur Radio.  David Black, KB4KCH, 
reports:

--
While a great deal of the world's Amateur Radio equipment is 
manufactured in Pacific Rim countries, most of it is sold right 
here in the United States.  The majority of sales are by family-
run businesses.  And as the U-S economy sagged so did ham gear 
sales. Slow sales meant the end for some businesses.  Others 
struggled to survive.  Now, there appears to be a turnaround with 
word of a fantastic sales weekend at the Huntsville Hamfest in 
Alabama.  How good was it?  Chip Margelli, K7JA sells equipment 
for Vertex-Standard:

--
Margelli:  "Well, it has been a great show this weekend.  The 
crowd was very active, especially Saturday morning and early 
afternoon.  Sunday has been busier than normal and we have had 
great weather and a good turnout.  A lot of boxes have been going 
out there door and there has been a lot of interest in the new 
products."
--

Good sales aren't the only encouraging news at Huntsville.  Event 
organizers are thrilled at other figures_the number of people 
attending.  While the exact gate figure was not yet available, 
Hamfest General Chairman Scotty Neustadter, W4WW says it could be 
a near record year.

--
Neustadter:  "I was a little bit hesitant to think that myself.  
I try to error on the side of caution.  But I was very, very 
pleased and I am thinking that we are definitely up from last 
year and the year before.  The attendance would be a record for a 
Huntsville Hamfest with the exception of the year that we were 
the ARRL National."
--

Neustadter's enthusiasm is echoed by Todd Mowery.  He's with 
ATOC, the company distributing Alinco ham gear.  Mowery says 
Saturday was especially good.

--
Mowery:  "Oh, I thought it was a very good weekend.  Saturday was 
very crowded.  Very impressive." 

"I enjoyed it a lot.  The booth was busy.  We have quite a few 
new products over the last year that we put out -- mostly in the 
HT realm.  And they have done really well for us.  And the crowd 
that showed up yesterday enjoyed seeing those new radios."
--

The most succinct evaluation of Huntsville probably comes from 
Gary Green, N4CJX, of Ten-Tech, who needs few words to describe 
how he feels about this Hamfest:

--
Green:  "We love Huntsville."
--

Green says Ten-Tec will be back next year.  Just about everyone 
else is saying they will, too.