[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1338 April 4, 2003
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Sat Apr 5 00:55:44 EST 2003
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1338 April 4, 2003
The following is a Q-S-T. A day to honor ham radio operators world-wide
and a ham satellite on hold. These stories are first on Amateur Radio
Newsline report number 1338 coming your way right now.
**
RADIO HONORS: WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY
Amateur Radio Supporting Education' is theme for World Amateur Radio
Day. Its coming up real soon. RSGB newsreader Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, is
here with the details:
--
The theme of this year's IARU World Amateur Radio Day is to be 'Amateur
Radio supporting technology education in the classroom'.
World Amateur Radio Day is marked on the 18th of April each year to
commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur
Radio Union on that date in 1925.
Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, the Chairman of IARU Region 1 writes: "There is no
doubt that the future of amateur radio belongs to those that are now in
the classroom. In keeping with this theme, I would like to encourage
every society in the Region to let our young people know that amateur
radio is a unique hobby - simultaneously sport, scientific study,
personal pleasure and collective activity. And that radio amateurs today
are voluntary and selfless researchers in the technological field of
amateur radio, an important resource to every country, and something to
be proud of."
"But the 18th of April is not only a day to think about our future, it
is our day, a day for celebration. All of us, societies and individuals,
can celebrate in our various ways - organizing presentations, club
meetings, parties, honoring senior radio amateurs who go back to the
early years of IARU, or just putting our equipment on the air and making
just a single QSO on this day, so realizing how large our ham community
is."
Jeramy Boot, G4NJH
--
Again, the date for this years World Amateur Radio Day is Friday, April
18th. (GB2RS)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: PROJECT EAGLE ON HOLD
Plans to launch one of two new ham radio satellites have been put on
hold. The reason for the setback can be traced to one word: Funding.
The bird in question is named Project Eagle. It, along with the Project
Echo ham-sat is one of two birds that AMSAT had previously announced for
development.
According to AMSAT North America President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, the
current levels of contributions to the amateur satellite organization
are not enough to pay for building and launching both future satellites.
One of two projects has to be put on hold and furloughing Eagle has been
the decision.
Up until now AMSAT North America had been working on both new satellites
simultaneously. While ECHO is still on schedule for possible launch
later this year, the launch of Eagle has been delayed indefinitely.
(AMSAT)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: TWO-HAM CREW HEADED TO THE ISS
Just as ARISS Chaiman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, predicted a few weeks ago,
two ham radio operators will be replacing the current three man crew on
board the International Space Station. A NASA announcement identifies
the latest space adventures as U-S astronaut Ed Lu and Russian cosmonaut
Yuri Malenchenko.
Lu holds the call sign KC5WKJ while Malenchenko is RK3DUP. They will
comprise the Expedition 7 crew, replacing Expedition 6 astronauts and
Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, Don Pettit, KD5MDT, and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai
Budarin.
NASA and its partners decided on manning the ISS with two space
explorers instead of three as an interim measure until the U-S space
shuttles are flying again. A two man crew conserves on the amount of
vital supplies needed for on-orbit life.
Three person crews will resume when the Columbia disaster investigation
is concluded and the space shuttles take to the sky again. The three
remaining Shuttles in NASA's fleet Endeavour, Atlantis, and Discovery
have been grounded until the cause of the Columbia accident can be
determined and safety changes implemented.
NASA's Return to Flight team has been told to complete their initial
tasks in time to support the earliest possible launch date, which would
be this fall. But officials of the space agency say that it could take
months longer to prepare the shuttles to fly again. (From published
news reports)
**
HAM RADIO AT WAR: DOING BATTLE WITHIN
Ham radio is supposed to transcend international politics, but you would
never know this by the on-air antics of one unnamed Ukrainian radio
amateur and a few stateside hams.
Lets start with a post on the QCWA remailer by Bob Harvey, K2PI. Harvey
says that he heard the Ukrainian operating a contest on March 30th.
Thats not news in itself except that the Ukrainian was refusing to work
United States or U-K amateurs because of the war in Iraq.
Harvey writes that the Ukrainian said to call him only if you supported
his view that the United States was conducting an illegal and evil war.
Needless to he had no QSO's with any American or British hams.
But theres another side to it. John Sielke, W2AGN comments over the
same QCWA remailer on the plight of a French ham friend of his. W2AGN
says that the guy was harassed off of another ham radio remailer only
because he was French and the other hams did not agree with France's
anti-war stand. Sielke says that the unidentified French ham was truly
vilified even though he had made no comments concerning Iraq or
politics. He was just attacked purely because he was French. (QCWA
Reflector)
**
RADIO RULES: FCC CONSIDERS INTERFERENCE IMMUNITY FOR RECIEVERS
We predicted a month ago that it would happen. Now comes word that the
FCC has issued a Notice of Inquiry, seeking comments on possibly
requiring receiver manufacturers to build in a certain level of
interference immunity. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more:
--
As noted on the CQ Magazine website and elsewhere in cyberspace,
amateurs have been frustrated for years by trying to explain to
neighbors that interference problems were really the result of poor
design. Bad engineering in their TVs, stereos, cordless phones and
other receivers.
Now, because of the need to protect Digital Television transmissions,
the FCC is seeking comments on the current immunity performance and
interference tolerance of existing receivers. Its also looking at the
possibilities for improving receiver immunity in the not to distant
future.
The FCC says that it is soliciting input from the public on possible
approaches to achieving desired levels of receiver immunity. This runs
the gammit from better product warning labels to the possibility of
implementing mandatory standards governing the manufacture, import and
sale of consumer electronics reception gear.
It is all in FCC E-T Docket 03-65. You will find it on the web by using
the document search engine at www.fcc.gov.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
--
Again the inquirtey into interference immunity standards can be found in
FCC E-T Docket 03-65. (CQ Website, FCC)
**
FCC: VANITY FEES MAY BE GOING UP
If you are planning to go for a vanity call sign, do it now or be
prepared to pay a few cents more. The proposed hike to $16.30 for a
vanity call comes in an FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making dealing with
fee collection matters released on March 26th. Its all in M-D Docket
No. 03-83 and comments on it are due no later than April 25th. (From
FCC release)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC - YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEM
The FCC has told the operators of two competing repeaters that its not
going to solve the dispute between them. The agency's Daryl Duckworth,
NN0W, explains:
--
Duckworth: "The Enforcement Bureau has written to Grearal Gogue of
Conway Arkansas, David Stone of Morrelton, Arkansas and Tom Lee of
Jerusalem, Arkansas, regarding repeaters AC5RU and KD5CYA. In the
letter it was stated after reviewing the submissions of all relevant
information, we declined to intervene in this dispute. It is our
position, that in this case, both parties are responsible for solving
the interference and we urged them to so in the best interests of
Amateur Radio."
--
In this case, two repeaters sharing the same frequency claim mutual
interference. On May 24, 2000, the FCC opened an inquiry about
allegations that Lee's AC5RU system was causing harmful interference to
coordinated repeater KD5CYA, licensed to Gerald Hogue. The allegations
stated that Lee's repeater was uncoordinated because the coordination
had been forfeited by numerous changes in location.
On August 14, 2000, the FCC notified Lee that it was his responsibility
to prevent interference to KD5CYA inasmuch as it appeared to be the
coordinated repeater. On September 14, 2000, after reviewing Lee's
lengthy response, the FCC rescinded its requirement that Lee solve the
interference to the KD5CYA repeater. This is because it was unclear to
the FCC as to which repeater was properly coordinated. The Commission
said that it was not an appropriate matter for enforcement action. It
also urged the parties to take advantage of the mediation and dispute
resolution program of the ARRL but one declined.
Lee submitted additional information on January 5, 2001. On
February 8, 2001, after receiving additional documents from all parties,
the FCC stated that although it failed to see why mediation or
arbitration would not be a viable option, we nevertheless agreed to
review the matter once again. In response to allegations of deliberate
interference, we cautioned everyone involved to cooperate in the
resolution of this matter.
Now, almost two years later the FCC has again said its not going to act.
It says that after reviewing the submissions and all relevant
information, that it will not intervene in this dispute. The agency
says that in this case, both parties are responsible for solving the
interference and it urges them to do so in the best interests of
Amateur Radio. (FCC, RAIN)
**
AT THE FCC: MULETA NEW WTB CHIEF
John Muleta is the new Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau, which regulates amateur radio along with other two-way radio
services. According to the ARRL, Muleta worked for the FCC from 1994 to
1998 and his positions included Chief of the Enforcement Division. He
has also worked in the private sector since 1998. Muleta succeeds Thomas
Sugrue, who headed the bureau the last four years. (ARRL)
**
RADIO LAW: CONGRESS APPROVES DIFFERENT AMBER ALERT MEASURES
The United States House of Representatives has approved creation of a
nationwide Amber Alert network. The action came on Thursday, March 27th
after politicians on both sides of the aisle attached several additional
child protection measures to the bill.
The bill, approved by a 410 to 14 vote, now goes to the Senate, which
earlier approved legislation authorizing only the nationwide child
kidnapping alert network. President Bush has commended the House on
acting on legislation to help expand an Amber Alert system across the
nation. He says that he looks forward to signing a reconciled version
of the bill. (Published news reports)
**
RESCUE RADIO: UK POLICE ASK HAMS TO HELP SOLVE ROAD MURDER
Police in Surrey are asking U-K hams and C-B operators to help solve a
case of murder by road-rage. Just after midnight UTC, on Friday the
21st of March, a truck driver on the M3 motorway was driving northbound
when someone threw an object at the cab of his vehicle. It smashed the
windshield and hit the driver and fatally injuring him. He was able to
bring the truck to a safe halt before loosing conciousness. He died at
the scene.
Investigators belive that the object was thrown from a footbridge over
the highway. They are asking any ham or C-B operator who was driving in
the area that night to call in and let them know if they saw anything.
Surrey Police say that any leads would be appreciated. (GB2RS)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAMS HELP SAVE YOUNG BURN VICTIM IN HONDURAS
The ARRL Letter says that quick action on the part of a group of ham
radio operators may have saved the life of an young burn victim in
Honduras. The 8 year old girl was seriously burned late last month.
Amateur Radio operators and volunteers at the International Health
Service clinic in a remote village in southeastern Honduras and
stateside hams worked together on the air to bring needed treatment to
the child. With ham radio to coordinate the move, the youngster was
evacuated by air to the nearest town with a hospital. From there she
was taken to the capital city of Tegucigalpa, where the University of
Honduras Medical Center has a burn trauma unit. (ARRL)
**
WELCOMING THE YOUNG: W9SM AT THE WAUSAU CHILDRENS FESTIVAL
The Wisconsin Valley Radio Association will be sponsoring a special
event station W9SM, at the 30th Annual Children's Festival in Wausau,
Wisconsin.
The date is Saturday April 5th. The Children's Festival features hands-
on activities at numerous booths run by various community groups.
The special event station will operate between 1600 UTC and 2200 UTC on
April 5th. This, in the General portions of the 10, 15, 20 or 40 meter
bands both SSB and CW.
While in operation the station will demonstrate several aspects of
amateur radio to the children attending, including APRS and High
Frequecy operations. The kids who stop by will also have the
opportunity to get on the air.
The Festival is sponsored by the Children's Festival Committee and the
Wausau and Marathon County Parks and the Recreation and Forestry
Department. QSL via WB2TLQ at his callbook address. (WB2TLQ)
**
CONVENTIONS AND HAMFESTS: NAB HAM RADIO RECEPTION - APRIL 9
On the convention scene, the annual Amateur Radio Reception at the
National Association of Broadcasters Convention is slated for 6 to 8
p.m. on Wednesday April 9th. The venue is the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas
Nevada, right next door to the famed Las Vegas Convention Center.
This years hosts are again CQ Magazine and Kenwood Communications.
Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA and Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU will be there
representing CQ. Paul Middleton, K4NUH, will be on hand for Kenwood.
Between 800 to 1000 hams in the broadcast industry attend this yearly
ham radio social get together. Among them will be top ARRL officials
and some of the folks from Amateur Radio Newsline.
The National Association of Broadcasters Convention is one of the
largest held each year in Las Vegas. It typically draws over 100,000
attendees. More information is on the web at
www.nab.org/conventions/nab2003 (ARNewsline)
**
HAMFESTS AND CONVENTIONS: GO SEE THE TV COMMERCIAL
Ever see a television commercial for a ham radio convention? Well the
Rochester Hamfest has one and its now on-line so that you can see and
hear it.
The commercial comes courtesy of the Rochester Hamfest. That show is
slated for May 30th through June 1st at the Monroe County Fairgrounds in
Rocheter New York.
To view or download the T-V spot go to www.rochesterhamfest.org. Then
scroll down to the words "to see our new TV commerrcial."
And oh yes. A high speed connection is recommended. This is because it
is a 5.9 Mega Byte file that opens in most recent media players
including Apple Quicktime and Real Player One. (Rochester Hamfest)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: THE 2003 AMSAT-UK SPACE COLLOQUIUM
And the 18th AMSAT U-K Space Colloquium will be held from July 25th to
the 27th at Surrey University, Guildford in Surrey England. This year
speakers are a bit hard to find. So planners have relaxed the
requirement for a printed paper to accompany the talk. AMSAT says that
in 2003 this will not be mandatory.
Other changes this year include "Beginners' Sessions" on both Friday and
Saturday afternoons and an earlier start of talks. These will begin
right after lunch on Friday but alternate planned tours will be
available all day.
Full information about the 2003 Colloquium is on the AMSAT-UK web site.
You will find it in cyberspace at www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium.htm.
(AMSAT-UK)
**
INTERNATIONAL - UK: CB RULES AND FREQUUENCIES TO CHANGE
On the international freont, look for some major changes to happen to 11
meter Citizens Radio in the United Kingdom over the next several years.
This, as the result of the British equivlant of our Notice of Inquirey
being issued by their Radiocommunications Agency on March 25th.
The Consultation Document -- as it is known -- contains a proposal to
deregulate Citizens' Band radio in the United Kingdom and withdraw the
40 U-K only CB channels by 2010. It also proposes removing the need for
individual licensing in 2004.
Not changed would be the current technical equipment requirements and
the current operating rules. The deleted U-K only channels would be
replaced by the 40 pan-European C-B channels. A press release from the
U-K Radiocommunications Agency says that this deregulatory move is
intended to provide easier access to C-B and to enhance enjoyment of the
hobby. (GB2RS)
**
INTERNATIONAL - INDONESIA: WORLD-WIDE CB DIRECTORY
The Indonesian DX Club is inviting Citizen's Band operators around the
world to register their callsigns for the IDXC's C-B Radio Callsign
Directory. IDXC is the only one DX listeners club located in Indonesia,
and regularly listed in the World Radio TV Handbook. To learn more
about the club and register take your web browser www.idxc.org/callsign
and explore a rather interesting spot in cyberspace. (IDXC)
**
AWARDS: GET YOUR SWL CERTIFICATE
Duane Fischer, W8DBF, says that the beautiful Hallicrafters Ccollectors
International Short-Wave Achievement Certificate is still available.
You get it for verified reception of 25, 50, 75, 100 or more countries.
Proof of reception is not required as the award runs on the honor
system. You can see a low resolution copy and get more information on
line at the Hallicrafters Ccollectors International website. Irts in
cyberspace at www.w9wze.org (W8DBF)
**
DX
In DX, word from KA2AEV that a group from the recently formed Antigua &
Barbuda Radio Club will be traveling to their sister island of Barbuda
April 18th to the 21st. Plans call for stations on 160 through 10 mters
plus a 2 meter station for local contacts using the call sign V21BBQ.
Organizers say that to their knowledge, there has never been any ham
activity from Barbuda. In addition to racking up contacts the operators
hope to expose the islands residents to the magic of the hobby while
familiarizing the worlds ham community with Barbuda. QSL to the Antigua
& Barbuda Radio Club, P.O. Box 965, St.John's, Antigua, West Indies.
(KA2AEV)
Also, PS7AHR is the official station of The Brazilian Amateur Radio
Historical Archive . According to Ronaldo Reis, PS7AB, this is an
organization devoted to documenting and preserving the history of
amateur radio in Brazil. If you happen to contact it, please QSL via
the bureau or direct to P.O. Box 2021, Natal/RN, 59094-970, Brazil.
More information, in Spanish and English, can be found on the web at
www.ps7ab.com.br (PS7AB)
**
THAT FINAL "APRIL 1ST" ITEM: RADIO THAT CAN MAKE YOU SICK
And finally this week, it appears that some hams may be facing a new
health threat ... especially if they eat while operating the radio.
Roving correspondent Pierre Pullinmyleg is back from his self imposed
exile and filed this report on Tuesday, April 1st:
--
For decades, wives of radio amateurs have said that ham radio makes them
sick to their stomachs. Now, it seems that ham radio may actually DO
that.
The French Office of Oohs and Lalas, or FOOL, has been studying reports
of amateurs falling ill after eating while operating during certain band
openings on 6 and 10 meters. Officials at FOOL have determined that the
problem occurs only during periods of sporadic-E propagation and believe
that the radio waves carry with them into the shack of ham some of the
ionization from the E-layer of the ionosphere.
If food is present at the amateur's operating position, then the ions
apparently interact with bacteria present in the food to cause food
poisoning. The scientists have determined that this is a type of E-Coli
contamination which they have named Sporadic-E-Coli, both because it
occurs only sporadically and because it appears to be caused by
sporadic-E radio signals. They recommend using audio filtration in order
to "cleanse" the signals before they reach the speaker, which appears to
be the major medium of transmission.
Reporting from the E-layer, this is Pierre Pullinmyleg for Newsline.
--
Pierre says that another option, of course, is to eat in the shack only
during periods of F-layer propagation -- and then -- to only munch on
chocolate F2 layer cake. (A Pierre Pullinmyleg Annual April 1st
Exclusive Report)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, Amateur News Weekly, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC
Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio
Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB and Australia's Q-News, that's all from the
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline
@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's(tm) only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You
can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), P.O.
Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.
Don't forget that the nominating period for the 2003 Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. You will find all the
rules and a fill-in-the blank nominating form in cyberspace at
www.yhoty.org
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim
Damron, N8TMW, and I'm Jeff Clark, K8JAC, saying 73 and we thank you for
listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2003. All rights
reserved.
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