[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1310 - September 20, 2002

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Amateur Radio Newsline 1310 - September 20, 2002

The following is a Q-S-T.  Out of the tragedy of 911 comes a new way for 
hams to be prepared.  Find out more on Amateur Radio Newsline report 
number 1310 coming your way right now.
 
**

EMERGENCY COMMS:  NEW DATABASE BEING CREATED

A new ham radio volunteer database is about to become a reality. Amateur 
Radio Newsline's Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, has the story of how an act of 
terror lead to its creation:

--

A year ago, when al-Quida terrorists hit in New York City, Pennsylvania 
and Washington D-C, it was Joe Tomasone, AB2M, who put together an 
Internet based volunteer registration system.  This strategy permitted 
ham radio volunteers to be quickly credentialed and dispatched to the 
various disaster sites where they were needed.  Last May at the Amateur 
Radio Newsline sponsored Ham Radio Town Meeting in Dayton Joe explained 
that the database came about because he wanted to do somthing to help in 
the wake of the attacks:

--
Tomasone:  "Not knowing what else to do I sent an e-mail to Tom Caruba, 
KA2D, who is the Section Emergency Coordinator for the New Yourk City 
and Long Island.  I said that I know there is nothing that is nothing I 
can do to help, but let me know if there is somthing I can do to help.  

And I expected that maybe he would request for me to make some phone 
calls or do some health and welfare traffic outside the area because the 
phones were in scetchy status in the New Yoork City ares.  A short time 
later a request came back that I wasn't sure how to answer.  They asked: 
`...can yoiu make a databse that will track the hudreds of requests we 
are getting [from hams] to come down and volunteer and can we put that 
up on the Internet so that it can be accessed.'  

I thought about it for a few minutes and I said yes, I think we can do 
that."

--

Joe Tomasone did do it.  The result was a steady flow of volunteers 
being dispatched when and where they were needed.  

--
Tomasone:  "On the registration page as many of you were able to see, it 
asked for basic information such as your name, your call sign, your 
address, contact information, what ARRL Section you were from and what 
your availability was.  Now once that was put into the database, it was 
able to be queeried by a number of people who were given access to that 
portion of the siute.  That enabled them to do searches based on a 
number of criteria." 
--

During his Dayton presentation, Joe mentioned his desire to grow what 
became known as the World Trade Center Volunteer Database into a general 
event activation management program for ARES, RACES and SKYWARN 
activities.   Now Joe is about to get that project off the ground.  But 
to do it he needs your help.

Joe tells Amateur Radio Newsline that making it happen will take people 
and new ideas.  To that end, he has created an e-mail mailing list to 
solicit concepts and volunteers for this project. Anyone who is 
interested can either sign up directly by sending an e- mail to volreg-
request at lists.ab2m.net or by visiting wtc.ab2m.net on the World Wide 
Web.  Please note that their is no w-w-w in that U-R-L.  Its simply 
wtc.ab2m.net.  

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, in New York.

--

Dont worry if you missed that U-R-L.  We are putting a link to it from 
our website at www.arnewsline.org.  (ARNewsline)

**

RADIO LAW:  CC&R BILL HR 4720 ATTRACTS ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS

Good news on the legislative front.  Five more cosponsors now have 
signed aboard HR 4720.  This is a bill in Congress aimed at providing 
relief to amateurs faced with private deed covenants, conditions and 
restrictions when they want to put up antennas. 

According to a story in the ARRL Letter, the list of cosponsors is now
up to 23 members of the U-S House of Representatives who have agreed to 
sign on to the measure.  This includes two radio amateurs: They are 
Oregon Republican Greg Walden, WB7OCE and Arkansas Democrat Mike Ross, 
WD5DVR.  Walden was one of the two original cosponsors of HR 4720 with 
Texas Republican Pete Sessions.  Walden and Ross are believed to be the 
only Amateur Radio licensees in the U-S House of Representatives.

It was New York Democrat Steve Israel introduced HR 4720 back on May 
14th. The measure would require private land-use regulators such as 
homeowners' associations to "reasonably accommodate" Amateur Radio 
communication consistent with the PRB-1 limited federal preemption. PRB-
1 now applies only to states and municipalities.  (ARRL)

**

RADIO RECORDS:  24 GHZ RECORD BROKEN

The ham radio distance record for a contact on the 24 Gigahertz band has 
been broken again.  Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, is here to tell us who did it 
and how:

--
On the 7th of September Dave Robinson, G4FRE, operating as WW2R/5, and 
Al Ward, W5LUA, made a record-breaking contact on 24,192MHz. Dave  was 
operating portable in EM41HC near Natchez, Mississippi, and W5LUA was 
operating from his home in EM13QC, at Allen in Texas. 

CW signals of  549 were exchanged. The distance, based on six-digit to 
six-digit grid squares, is 337.3 miles or 542.8 kilometres. 

The sked was set up earlier in the week via e-mail with no liaison on 
any band, including cellular. Attempts to repeat the contact over the 
same path 12 hours after the initial QSO resulted in no signals being 
identifiable either way on 10GHz, suggesting the morning QSO was under 
enhanced tropo conditions. 

Jeramy Boot, G4NJH
--

No signals were heard on 2 meters or 70 centimeters at the time of the 
24 Gigahertz contact was completed.  Previous experiments on 10 
gigahertz last July also resulted in no signals being identified.  
(GB2RS)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  20 METER NET INTERFERENCE

Interference to nets on 20 meters in the South Pacific.  Q-News Graham 
Kemp, VK4BB, reports from Brisbane Australia:

--
20 Meter interference.  The Maritime nets on 14.315 MHz are having 
problems with interference.  Chris VK2UW says the ACA have been notified 
and are monitoring,  but a bit of help from Hams re locating the source 
of the Interference would be appreciated.

It is Man made and is regular both by making noises and CW type  
transmissions. The nets involved  are the  Pacific InterIsland Net on 
14.315 MHz 0800 Z each night and  Tony's Net on 14.315 MHz 7.00am EST 
each day.