[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1346 - May 30, 2003
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Fri May 30 23:48:19 EDT 2003
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1346 - May 30, 2003
The International Amateur Radio Union postpones a meeting due to SARS
and fifteen are inducted into the C-Q Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Find
out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1346 coming your
way right now.
**
IARU REGION 3 MEETING ON HOLD DUE TO SARS
An important meeting of the International Amateur Radio Union has been
put on hold due to SARS. Q-News Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details:
--
The tri-annual International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 Conference has
been postponed due to to SARS -- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome --
epidemics that have broken out in several Asian countries.
IARU Region 3 Directors have acted on a request by the Chinese Taipei
Amateur Radio League President, Bolon Lin BV5AF, that the conference
not go ahead as scheduled on 1-5 September in the capital of Taiwanese
capital of Taipei. IARU Region 3 secretary, Keigo Komuro JA1KAB said a
rescheduled conference will be announced at least four months in advance
of the new date.
CTARL President Bolin Lin is also a member of ROAR the Rotarians of
Amateur Radio and many ROAR members from around the globe have
curtailed their pans to visit Brisbane during the 94th World Rotary
Convention again due to SARS.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, from Brisbane australia, this is VK4BB.
--
No word yet as to a date for the rescheduled meeting. (Q-News)
**
SPECTRUM ISSUE: POSSIBLE 5 GHZ REALLOCATION PROPOSED
The FCC has proposed making 5.470 to 5.725 Ghz available for unlicensed
use. Amateur Radio Newslines' Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:
--
According to the ARRL, the possible reallocation of 255 MHz of 5-GHz
spectrum for non licensed use comes in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
titled ET Docket 03-122. In it, the FCC suggested that the additional
spectrum be made available for use by unlicensed National Information
Infrastructure devices, including Radio Local Area Networks, operating
under Part 15 of the FCC's rules.
The FCC's action comes in response to a petition for rule making filed
by the Wi-Fi Alliance and it will impact on hamsd. This is because
Amateur Radio has a secondary allocation at 5.650 to 5.925 GHz, which it
shares mostly with government and nongovernment radar systems. If
implemented, hams will be left with a 25-MHz segment from 5.825 to 5.850
Ghz that's not already earmarked for unlicensed services.
The FCC's proposal represents an 80% increase in the amount of 5-GHz
spectrum that would become available to unlicensed devices. Some
observers believe that this is just the beginning of what may turn out
to be further petitions for more radio space for unlicensed wireless
use.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.
--
In the past the ARRL has opposed industry efforts to expand the 5 GHz
franchise for unlicensed users. It says that it plans to comment on the
latest NPRM once it has time to digest the entire text. (ARRL)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: CQ INDUCTS 15 INTO ITS AR HALL OF FAME
Amateur Radio Newsline's Roy Neal, K6DUE has been inducted into the
prestigious CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. This, in recognition of his
work in persuading NASA to allow manned amateur radio operation from
Earth orbit. Roy was one of fifteen people honored for 2003 and Don
Wilbanks is here with information on some of the others:
--
CQ magazine announced its 2003 inductees on Friday, May 16th and timed
to coincide with the opening of Hamvention 2003. In addition to K6DUE,
fourteen other radio amateurs were similarly honored. This included
such well known ham radio public servants as Lou van de Nadort, PAZ0LOU,
who served as chairman of IARU Region 1 from 1975 to 2002. Another
honoree was Noel Eaton, VE3CJ, the president of IARU.
Also inducted was Dick Baldwin, W1RU. Baldwin was responsible for much
of the behind-the-scenes building of international support for new
amateur bands at the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference. His
work lead to what hams today call the WARC frequencies.
Pat Hawker, G3VA, was also selected. Amateurs in the United Kingdom
know Hawker as the ham who wrote the 'Technical Topics' column in the
Radio Society of Great Britain's Radio Communications magazine beginning
way back in 1958.
Another honoree is Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD, the retired managing editor
of CBS Evening News who recently hosted the ARRL video Amateur Radio
Today.
And less we forget, there is ham radio teacher and motivator Gordon
West, WB6NOA. For those not aware, Gordo is personally responsible for
licensing thousands of new amateurs through his training classes,
license manuals, club talks and articles for various magazines.
A listing of all the winners appears at the CQ website. Its in
cyberspace at www.cq-amateur-radio.com. We say congratulations to Roy,
Gordo and everyone who was selected by CQ to be this years inductees.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, in New Orleans.
--
The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame was established in 2001 to recognize
those individuals, whether licensed radio amateurs or not, who
significantly affected the course of ham radio. Its also given to those
radio amateurs who, in the course of their professional lives, had a
significant impact on their professions or on world affairs. (CQ)
**
CAVIAT EMPTOR: HAM GEAR SALES SCAM UNCOVERED
You know those unsolicited scam letters purportedly from Nigerian
royalty asking your help in getting money out of that nation? The ones
that offer you a percentage if you Are willing to help. Well listener
Bill Whitney, N7CD, passes along word of a similar hoax now running
around our world of Amateur Radio.
N7CD read about it in a posting on eham dot net by Mark Stennett, NA6M.
Stennett's post warns everyone to watch out for offers to buy your gear
with a cashiers check from someone who claims they are owed money above
and beyond the price of your sale and has a chaseers check in that
higher amount.
The person offers to send you the check if you will wire back the
difference. This, while he or she arranging for someone to pick up the
equipment you want to sell.
You receive the cashiers check. It looks real so you deposit it and
send the purchaser the difference. Within days you are informed that
the check is forged and the lending institution holds you responsible
for the entire amount. You are not only stuck with the gear you were
trying to sell but a big bill owed to some bank as well.
Caviat Emptor. That means buyer beware. (N7CD, NA7M, QRZ.COM)
**
ENFORCEMENT: OHIO HAM FACES MASSIVE FINE
An Ohio ham has been hit with a massive fine for jamming a net. The
FCC's Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, explains:
--
Duckworth: "Ronald Sauer, WE8E, of Bedford Heights Ohio, has been fined
$12,000 for malicious interference, transmitting music and failure to
identify on 7.055 Mhz. An agent from the Detroit DF'ed the music and
deliberate interference to the precise location performed a station
inspection on January 31st of this year."
--
Sauer is accused of jamming the Canadian Trans Provincial Net which
operates on that frequency. He was given the customary 30 days to pay
the fine or to file an appeal. (FCC, RAIN)
**
ENFORCEMENT: ALLEGED PIRATE BROADCASTERS FINED
The FCC has issued $10,000 monetary forfeiture to a pair of alleged
pirate broadcasters. One of the fines went to Fernado Alejandro for
allegedly operating a radio station on the frequency of 95.1 MHz without
Commission authorization.
Also issued a similar forfeiture notice was Emmanuel Frederic. He is
accused of operating an unlicensed radio station on the frequency of
87.9 and 89.7 MHz. Both notices went out on Thursday, May the 8th.
(FCC)
**
BROADCAST RADIO: INDUSTRY SURVEY SAYS LISTENERS ARE HAPPY WITH
CONSOLIDATION
Still with regulatory news, a recent listener survey has given credence
to a claim by major radio chains that industry consolidation has
provided more local flavor and diversity in programming. The report by
Arbitron Inc. found that most listeners were very pleased with the
programming choices available to them. In fact, about 79 percent said
they get more or the same amount of programming choices from
consolidated radio than they did five years ago. Skeptics say the
report is biased as it comes from a company whose business is
perpetuated by the growth of big radio company profits. (Via e-mail)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: THE AMAZING DVD PLAYER
Six years ago a DVD player cost close to $2000 and was out of reach of
all but the wealthiest of videophiles. Today, a far improved DVD
machine costs less than $100 and is a fixture in half the households in
the United States.
According to research from the DVD Entertainment Group, an industry
association, manufacturers had sold 54 million players into U. S.
households by the time 2002 drew to a close. Those involved in
compiling the statistics say that the rate of consumer adoption has set
an all-time record by outpacing sales of home computers, CD players and
even television sets. In fact, the DVD player is the fastest growing
consumer item in history and sales are continuing at a brisk pace even
in these economically depressed times. (Technology)
**
HAMFESTS AND CONVENTIONS: KNOXVILLE TN IN JUNE
Still with convention news, the 37th annual Knoxville Hamfest and
Electronics Exposition takes place June 13th and 14th at the Cokesbury
Conference Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. This is also the ARRL
Tennessee State Convention and the overall theme of the event is "United
in Service and Fun for Amateur Radio."
This years event is sponsored by the Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville,
which is also celebrating its 50th Anniversary. More information on
this fun gathering is on the web at www.W4BBB.org.
(K4PZT)
**
GATHERINGS: HAM RADIO SOCIAL AT IEEE
Rein Smit, PAZ0ZN reports over the VHF Reflector that Alan Katz, K2UYH,
has arranged for the first "Ham Social" at this year's IEEE
International Microwave Symposium in Philadelphia. The reception is
slated for Sunday June 8th from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in room 307 A B of the
Conference Center. Among the corporate sponsors for the gathering are
Linearizer Technology, Sonnet Software, Synergy Microwave Corp., and
High Frequency Electronics Publishing. (VHF Reflector)
**
HAM RADIO HONORS: THE W. SANDY LYNCH MEMORIAL AWARD
The Tokyo International Amateur Radio Association is accepting
nominations for the first W. Sandy Lynch Memorial Award. This award has
been created to honor the memory of the late W7BX and 7J1ABV who died
earlier this year.
The W. Sandy Lynch Memorial Award award will be presented annually to a
licensed radio amateur that the sponsoring club feels to be a person who
embodies Sandy's personality and his dedication to the hobby. The
judging criteria includes being an active radio amateur with
enthusiastic participation in a radio club, an ability to bridge
international cultures, involvement in education or "Elmering" of new
hams, enthusiasm for new technology and fraternity with those around
him.
The recipient of this honor will be announced in December of each year
at the TIARA holiday party in Tokyo Japan. Nominations may be submitted
electronically by any amateur radio operator or organization before
October 31st to tiara at bosai.org . You can also send them by mail to
TIARA, P.O. Box 119, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8799, Japan.
A memorial web page for Sandy Lynch can be found in cyberspace at
www.w7bx.org (TIARA)
**
INTERNET REPEATER LINKING: THE VK VIRTUAL PUB
Look up the word pub in a dictionary and you will find that it not only
means a bar or tavern. Its also a synonym for the term public meeting
house. And thats exactly what some hams in Australia are doing. They
are using are using the Internet Repeater Linking Project to create a
weekly town meeting on the air in their own virtual pub. Again, Q-News
Graham Kemp, VK4BB, with the details:
--
Yes, The Virtual Pub Night is back! What is the virtual pub? Well, it
is where various IRLP nodes around Australia are connected together into
one big repeater.
The Virtual Pub is run each Friday night commencing at 8.00 PM Australia
Eastern time. Someone locally needs to connect their node to reflector
9500 and then all can take part.
Most Friday nights there are stations from Sydney, Darwin, Adelaide,
Melbourne along with our National Capital. Discussions of late are of a
technical nature and various discussions on Amateur Radio in Australia
and the proposed entry level license takes place.
So there it is: The IRLP virtual pub night on reflector 9500. Wherever
you are if you have an IRLP repeater just connect that node to reflector
9500, and its down to the pub.
--
Truly a sign that internet repeater linking has gone well beyond the
novelty stage and is coming of age. (Q-News)
**
COMPETITION: IARU WORLD CW RESULTS
The results of the latest IARU Mose Code competition is in. We welcome
reporter Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, to the Newsline family. He has word on
who won:
--
The fifth International Amateur Radio Union World Championship for High
Speed Telegraphy took place recently near Minsk in Belarus. 13 national
teams entered the contest and a number of new world records were set for
the reception and transmission of mixed texts and in practical
operations exercises.
Andrei Bindasov of Belarus successfully beat the Guinness record for the
transmission of letters. He did 271 characters or just over 54 words
per minute. And in mixed texts Bindasov managed 216 characters or just
over 43 words per minute.
Ironically, the overall winner of the event was the host nation of
Belarus. Russia was in second place and Romania in third.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.
--
Obviously, interest in Morse is far from dead and competition at this
contest was reportedly quite intense. (CQ)
**
INTERNATIONAL: MEDIA ACCESS IN IRAQ GROWS
As some stability returns to Iraq, media access in that nation continues
to grow. And according to the Amsterdam based Media Network electronic
newsletter, there have been a number of important developments in recent
weeks.
Most of the stations coming to the air appear to be foreign sponsored.
For instance, Libya has begun a new Arabic radio service for listeners
in Iraq and the British Broadcasting Company's Arabic service now has an
FM transmitter in Baghdad on 89.0 MHz.
Possibly more signifigant is that a Swedish born Ahmad al-Rikabi is to
become the new head of Iraqi state television. Also, access to the
World Wide Web in Baghdad will be resumed shortly through one of the
main Internet centres in the city. (Media Network)
**
INTERNATIONAL - IRELAND: FIRST ATV REPEATER ON THE AIR
Northern Ireland's first amateur television repeater is now on the air.
GB3TX has been built and installed by the Amateur Repeater Group of
Northern Ireland at 1000 feet above sea level. The repeater receives on
1249mhz, transmits on 1310MHz and and reverts to beacon mode when not
repeating. Coverage should extend to south-west Scotland and northern
parts of the Isle of Man. (GB2RS)
**
INTERNATIONAL - UK: JAIL FOR VIRUS WRITER
A United Kingdom man who admitted creating three global computer
viruses, including one rated as the world's third most prolific, was
sentenced to two years in prison. Twenty-Two year old Simon Vallor, a
website designer from Wales, had previously pleaded guilty to creating
and sending the "Gokar," "Redesi" and "Admirer" e-mail viruses which
seriously affected computers in forty-six countries. Vallor was
arrested in February 2002 by British police following a tip from the
FBI. (Published news reports)
**
ON THE AIR: NEW NET ON THE MAGIC BAND
Interested in the "Magic Band?" Of cioarse we are talking about 6
meters and if your answer is yes then this one is for you.
Doug Adair, M8WWM, reports the creation of a SSB net on 50.260 based in
Toledo Ohio, Toledo is grid square EN81 and the net mets every Thursday
at 9 p.m. Eastern time. (VHF Reflector)
**
DX
Do you want to take part in a DXpedition to the Arctic this summer?
Well, LA3OHA is organizing a second DXpedition to Prins Karls Forland,
which is part of the Spitsbergen Archipelago, and is looking for more
operators. LA3OHA's group put on a very successful DXpedition to the
island in 2001, when they operated as JW0PK. This summer's operation is
scheduled to take place between the 11th and 25th of July. Contact
LA3OHA direct if this trip interests you. (GB2RS)
In other DX news the RSGB reports that a large group of Italian and
Albanian operators are active as 'ZA3 stroke their home calls through
June 8th. Operation will be on all of the High Frequency bands using
SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK 31. Also look for some six meter operation near
the end of their stay. QSL as directed on the air. (RSGB)
And the ARRL's Logbook of the World electronic confirmation system was
formerlly introduced to the ham public. At the Hamvention DX forum on
May 17, the ARRL's Wayne Mills, N7NG, explained how the secure server
system allows participating operators to upload logs and confirm
contacts for ARRL operating awards such as DXCC and WAS. The system
will remain open for public beta testing through July 15, Mills said.
(ARRL)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: "MR. HAMVENTION" HOSPITALIZED FOLLOWING HEART ATTACK
And finally this week we salute a person that the Dayton Daily News has
dubbed a ham radio hero. Others call him Mr. Hamvention. We are
talking about Frank Schwab, W8OK, who is credited with getting the
Dayton Hamvention started 52 years ago.
But as this years activities were getting underway at the HARA Arena,
the 77 year old retired printer was fighting for his life. This, in a
hospice hospital on the grounds of the Dayton Veterans Affairs
Administration Center.
For several years, W8OK has been battleing cancer. Then, just days prior
to the gates opening for Hamvention 2003, Schwab suffered a a heart
attack. He's also dealing with pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
For the first time since he got the annual event off the ground, Schwab
was unable to attend. His wife Carolyn, a retired nurse, told the
Dayton Daily News on Sunday May 25th that her husband really wanted to
be at Hamvention, but he just didn't have the strength to go. Carolyn
Schwab told the newspaper that Frank is alert at times but is under
medication.
Frank Schwab, W8OK, is a legend in Amateur Radio circles. He has been
honored in various aspects of the hobby and was presented the top DX
Hall of Fame award 10 years ago. When he was honored, Schwab lead the
world with contacts to 376 countries.
But his involvement transcends the Hamvention and DXCC Honor Roll.
After a tornado ripped through the Ohio town of Xenia in 1974, it was
Schwab who set up the ham radio emergency communications network that
kept the stricken town in touch with the outside world. And Schwab also
is credited with helping establish the Skywarn program, which uses ham
radio operators to report conditions to the National Weather Service
during severe outbreaks.
Frank and Carolyn Schwab have seven dauhghters and six sons. All are
spending time at their father's bedside in support of their mother who
has been there around the clock. The Schwabs also have 30
grandchildren. Get well wishes should be sent to W8OK at his callbook
address. (Adapted from Dayton Daily News article supplied by W8ILC)
**
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.
This final note. The nominating period for the 2003 Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now closed. In the coming weeks
the judging committee will look at all of the materials submitted and
make their selection. As soon as they notify us we will let you know
who this years winner is.
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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