[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1347 - June 6, 2003

Sat Jun 7 02:32:09 EDT 2003

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1347  - June 6, 2003

The following is a Q-S-T.

HIPPA affects ham radio and update on a harmonized 40 meter band.  These 
stories and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1347 coming your 
way right now.

**

FEDERAL LAW VS. HAM RADIO:  THE CONFUSION OVER HIPPA

A new federal healthier law with the acronym HIPPA is affecting Amateur 
Radio.  Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, takes a look at the recent implementation of 
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its impact on 
the hobby.

--

If you are a ham with a disability and are a member of a group any other 
organization that has knowlege of your problem, then listen up.  In order 
to continue receiving most benefits from such a group you are now required 
under Federal law to fill out and return the new Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act privacy guidelines forms that you may 
have already recieved or will recieved from each group.

Its the Federal government that requires the paperwork, and signing it will 
allow groups that must disclose disability information in the course of 
routine business to continue to serve you.  For hams with disabilities it 
means that groups like the Handi Hams can continue to provided direct 
assistance with license renewal or license changes, publish news of 
individual license upgrades, and even send a birthday greeting by the ham 
radio's National Traffic System.

What about individuals who do not sign the forms?  They will still be able 
to receive some services offered by these groups, but limited to those 
which do not involve releasing information about their physical 
condition.  However, in the case of the Handi Hams, a disabled ham  could 
no longer be connected with the groups assistance community of other 
members and volunteers because of the new federal privacy regulations.

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

--

Full information on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
is on-line at http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/  (Tnx HandiHams, others)

**

INTERNATIONAL:  40 METER CHANGE LOOKS GOOD

ARRL Executive Vice President Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, says that prospects for a 
harmonized worldwide 40 meter ham band are starting to look good.  Speaking 
at a recent Dayton Hamvention forum, Sumner says it may all hang on what 
the United States proposes for the upcoming World Radio Communications 
conference later this year:

--

Sumner Here

--

Even if a large number of delegations come up with similar proposals, 
Sumner says that caution is still the by-word until all the voting has been 
done:

-- Sumner Here --

You can hear more of what Dave Sumner has to say regarding 40 meters and 
other issues on this weeks RAIN report.  Its in streaming audio  at 
www.rainreport.com.  Those without web access can her it by dialing up 
847-827-RAIN.  Thats 847-827-7246   (RAIN, ARNewsline™)

**

HAM SPECTRUM:  5 MHZ SPOT FREQUENCIES AVAILABLE MIDNIGHT JULY 3

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW IN HAM RADIO?  WELL, HERE'S  NEWS JUST IN FROM 
THE FCC AND THE ARRL.  I'M  ROY NEAL, K6DUE,  WITH A LATE BREAKING STORY 
THAT HAMS HAVE BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME TO HEAR.   60 METERS. 5 MEGAHERTZ 
_SOON WILL BE AVAILABLE WITH

5 CHANNELS  FOR YOUR PLEASURE AND INVESTIGATION.  A SECONDARY FIVE CHANNEL 
DOMESTIC HAM RADIO ALLOCATION WILL BECOME AVAILABLE STARTING AT MIDNIGHT, 
THURSDAY THE THIRD OF JULY.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USERS ARE PRIMARY IN THE 5 MHZ BAND.  AMATEURS GET FIVE 
CHANNELS, 2.8 KHZ WIDE,  WITH CENTER FREQUENCIES OF 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, 
AND 5405 KILOHERTZ.

GENERAL AND HIGHER CLASS LICENSE HOLDERS WILL BE PERMITTED TO OPERATE UPPER 
SIDEBAND PHONE, WITH A MAXIMUM OF 50 WATTS EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER.

USERS ARE BEING ADVISED TO SET THEIR CARRIER FREQUENCY ONE AND A HALF 
KILOHERTZ  LOWER THAN THE CHANNEL CENTER FREQUENCY.  THE ARRL ALSO SUGGESTS 
RESTRICTING AUDIO BANDWIDTH TO 200 HERTZ ON THE LOW SIDE AND 2800 HERTZ ON 
THE HIGH END  TO KEEP THE TOTAL BANDWIDTH WITHIN THE 2.8 KHZ IMPOSED BY THE 
FCC.

THE REPORT AND ORDER GRANTING THE NEW SPOT FREQUENCY ALLOCATION AT 5 MEGS 
WAS PUBLISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER ON JUNE THIRD.  LOOK FOR LOTS MORE ON 
THE SUBJECT IN THE NEAR FUTURE HERE ON THE AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE.

NORM.  ( ARRL, FCC)

**

INTERNATIONAL - SOLOMON ISLANDS:  LICENSING CONFUSION

Meantime, in the Southern Hemisphere, some questions and some possible 
answers regarding the confused state of ham radio licensing in the Solomon 
Islands.  Q-News Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details:

--

Sam Voron, VK2BVS, spoke to QNEWS from an Internet kiosk at Dubai 
airport.  Sam was  en route to Somalia, but paused just long enough to 
answer a few rumors regarding the Solomon Island H44 prefix  licenses.

According to Voron, there had been no way for people to get a license in 
the Solomons because there are no exams there.  So in 2002 the H44 national 
radio regulatory body called Spectrum printed 21 novice licenses with the 
call signs chosen by students at a radio school.  These are people took the 
Unrestricted level license class of ham radio training.

But Spectrum said that it first wanted to issue Novice licenses because it 
felt new operators should start with an entry level ticket before moving on 
to a full license.  But Voron admits that at least two of these licenses 
may have been issued with Unrestricted privileges.

According to Voron, the Secretary of the H44 national ham society has now 
drawn up an Unrestricted exam.  Students not happy being forced into the 
novice license when they spent 6 months studying for the Unrestricted will 
be able to take the exam.  If they pass, they will go directly to the 
Unrestricted instead of the Novice class operating privileges.

In further news just in and unsubstianted as yet, the real exam is 
ready.  Spectrum has directed the candidates to sit for it.  The school and 
candidates are said to be dealying because they are frightened that it may 
be to hard.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of Q-News, 
down-under, in Brisbane, Australia.

--

No matter when that first upgrade test is held, it appears as if a method 
is at least now in place for native born Solomon Islanders to take an 
Amateur Radio exam.  (Q-News)

**

FCC:  KILLS RULES FOR LIGHTING DEVICE EMISSION LIMITS AT 2400-2500 MHZ

Remember a few years back when hams became very worried about degradation 
to the 2 point 4 Gigahertz band?  This,  after the FCC adopted a First 
Report and Order that relaxed the emission limits for R F lighting devices.

That was on June 9th of 1999 and at that time the Commission deferred to a 
future date action on changes to the rules to permit such devices to 
operate from 2400 to 2500 MHZ.

Now, with no apparent remaining interest by the lighting industry to 
produce RF lighting devices in that spectrum, the FCC has decided to forego 
any further rule change.  Well, at least for the moment it has.

The whole story is 
at   http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-123A1.doc on 
the World Wide Web.  (CGC)

**

RADIO LAW:  FCC ACTS TO EASE MEDIA OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS

Federal regulators have acted to relax rules that restrict media 
ownership.  The change will permit companies to buy more broadcast 
properties and own a newspaper as well as a radio or television station in 
the same city.

On Monday, June 2nd the Federal Communications Commission announced that it 
voted 3 to 2 to adopt a series of changes favored by media companies.  It 
now says that a single company can now own TV stations that reach 45 
percent of United States households instead of the previous 35 percent 
limit.  The agency also eased rules governing local TV ownership so one 
media conglomerate can own two television stations in more markets and up 
to three stations in the largest markets like New York or Los Angeles.

More controversial was a decision to end an age-old ban on joint ownership 
of a newspapers and broadcast stations in the same city. The revised rule 
lifts all 'cross-ownership' restrictions in markets with nine or more TV 
stations.  Smaller markets still face some limits and cross-ownership is 
still  banned in city's and towns with three or fewer television outlets.

And even these rule changes are expected to face court challenges.  Some 
media companies already indicate wanting more wide spread 
deregulation.  Meantime consumer advocates will be seeking to reverse the 
deregulatory trend in favor of more local control over the print and 
broadcast media.

Not approached in this latest round of broadcast deregulation was the 
subject of direct foreign ownership of U-S broadcast properties.  Currently 
foreign entaties and governments are banned from such ownership.  But over 
the years there has been intensive lobbying by foreign interest groups to 
do away with this ban which requires an act of Congress to lift.   Most 
annylists say its not likely to happen in the near future.  (Published news 
reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  LOCAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST OHIO CB  OPERATOR

Complaints from a group of neighbors experiencing interference on household 
appliances from phones and TV sets to baby monitors have resulted in a 
court case against a citizens band radio operator.  Amateur Radio 
Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH, takes a look at a most interesting case:

--

On the CB airwaves, he's said to go by the name Sugar Bear. James A 
Disbennet, of Lancaster, Ohio, faces first degree misdemeanor charges of 
operating a CB radio exceeding 4 watts.  He also faces two counts of 
operating a CB radio without certification.  The Lancaster Eagle Gazette 
says  Disbennet was released on bond after answering a summons in Fairfield 
County Municipal Court May 20th.

The Lancaster City Council was the first such group in the U-S to pass an 
ordinance allowing the City to enforce rules set by the FCC governing the 
strength of CB radios.  On April 10th, an assistant superintendent of the 
City's Electrical, Communications and Signals Department went on a 
transmitter hunt.  The interfering signals were traced to Disbennet's home. 
The City then obtained a search warrant, with Lancaster police serving the 
warrant the following day. Officers seized four pieces of CB radio 
equipment worth more than a thousand dollars.

A trial date has yet to be set. If convicted, Disbennet could be hit with a 
1,000 dollar  fine and 180 days in jail. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, 
I'm David Black, KB4KCH.

--

According to the law under which Disbennet was charged, the definition of 
CB radio "includes all private, two-way, short-distance voice 
communications service for personal or business activities of the general 
public.  Citizens filing complaints must keep an accurate log of the 
interference for a minimum of four weeks and there has to be more than one 
complainant in order to file charges.  The only exclusions to the law are 
for emergency communications services like police, fire and FCC licensed 
radio amateurs.

The complete story is in cyberspace at 
http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20030521/localnews/339596.html. 
(N6RU)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC WITHDRAWS LETTER IN ENHANCED SSB OPERATION

Remember a stir created on April 3rd the FCC sent advisory letters several 
hams who run enhanced or so-called high fidelity single sideband?  The FCC 
told those operating the mode that the agency had received complaints from 
other radio amateurs alleging that the enhanced mode transmissions were 
using bandwidth wider than necessary.  The FCC termed this as being 
contrary to good engineering practice.

One of those hams receiving such a notice was Anthony G. Latin, W4NSG, of 
Ocala Florida. Now, a month later the FCC has withdrawn its original letter 
to Latin, stating that it was issued to him in error.  The regulatory 
agency also apologized to W4NSG for whatever inconvenience that letter may 
have caused him.  No specific reason for the withdrawal of the letter was 
given.  (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC ISSUES ANOTHER ENHANCED SSB WARNING

But its not over yet.  This is because the FCC has issued another ham a 
similar warning regarding the use of enhanced SSB on the Amateur Service 
bands.

The May 12th letter went to Tyler Stampfli, KA0KA.  Like those issued back 
in April, it tells the La Grange, North Carolina ham that use of enhanced 
Single Sideband emission with a bandwidth wider than necessary is contrary 
to good engineering practice.  It also notes that no spectrum in the 
Amateur Service is designated specifically as "wideband audio" frequencies, 
either by Commission rule or in any informal band plans.

The FCC did not cite Stampfli.  It did however request that he fully review 
the relevant Amateur Service rules and to make certain his station conforms 
to them.  Also that he operate in the best interests of the Amateur Radio 
Service as a whole.  (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  BIG CELLULAR FINE

The FCC has issued Western Wireless Corporation and WWC Holdings two 
Notices of Apparent Liability to Monetary Forfeiture in the amount of 
$200,000 each.  The companies are the licensee of Cellular Radio Station 
KNKN343 in  North Dakota.  The FCC says that the the companies are 
operating radio transmitting equipment from an unauthorized location 
resulting in the first fine.

The second $200,000 is the result of what the FCC says was Western Wireless 
for operating radio transmitting equipment from another unauthorized 
location.  The two NAL's wewre issued on May 5th and the companies were 
given the customary time to appeal.

More is on the web at 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-109A1.doc and 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-234290A1.doc  (FCC)

**

HAM RADIO AND THE LAW:  CA HAM FILES FOR COURT COSTS

Mark Abrams, WA6DPB, the ham who recently triumphed over the city of Rancho 
Palos Verdes California in an antenna zoning case is headed back to 
court.  In an e-mail to Amateur Radio Newsline, Abrams says that his 
attorneys have recently completed our briefing in the 9th Circuit Court of 
Appeals on the issue of damages.  Abrams says that he is now waiting for a 
court date which he expects will be  around the end of August or early 
September. After the hearing, Abrams says that he expects to wait another 
60 days for a written decision from the Court.  If the Court decides in his 
favor he wins the right to have another trial on the amount of attorney's 
fees, court costs and damages.  If he looses Abrams says that it will be 
unlikely that he will take the matter of reimbursement for his legal fees 
any further.  (WA6DPB)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  FRANK SCHWAB, W8OK, - S.K.

Some sad news to report.  The changing of the guard in ham radio 
continues.  This with word that Frank Schwab, W8OK, has passed away.

As we reported last week, Schwab, who helped to craft the Dayton Hamvention 
over a half century ago suffered a heart attack a few hours prior to this 
years event.  At the time, the 77 year old Schwab was also fighting cancer 
and several other ailments.

While best known for his work in creating the Hamvention, W8OK was also a 
world-class D- X'er and heavily involved in public service 
activities.  Services were held Monday June 2nd at St. Christopher's 
Church  in Vandalia, Ohio.  A page long tribute to Schwab appeared recently 
in the Dayton Daily News.  (W8ILC)

**

TIME TO RETIRE:  WISCONSIN SCHOOL CLUB GOING QRT

After over 25 years in operation, Andrew Martin, KB9ZLL, reports over 
qrz.com website that the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin High School's ham radio 
club is dissolving.  This, due to the retirement of it's trustee Jeffry 
Hoeft, K9NC.

The club had its beginnings in the old high school building in 1972.  Back 
then it consisted of a wire antenna and CW transciver.  Today the group has 
operations on the high frequency bands as well as two meters and 440 
Mhz.  More important, the Fond du Lac club has been responcible for the 
licensing of nearly two dozen new hams over the years it has 
operated.  (KB9ZKK, QRZ.COM)

**

NET NEWS:  NEW ECHOLINK VHF CONFERENCE

Ron Pastterson,  W6FM, reports the creation of a new conference on Echolink 
devoted to the discussion of all aspects of VHF and UHF weak signal 
operating. The name of the on-line gathering is *VHF_TALK* and it was 
created to assist in coordinating skeds, discussing band openings and 
anything else related to operations in the world above 50 Mhz.

For those who aren't familiar,  Echolink is a voice over I P system 
available to licensed amateurs.  For more information on it and the new 
conference take your web browser over to www.echolink.org.  Ron adds that 
the conference will hopefully soon be avail over the world wide Internet 
Repeater linking Project as well.  Information on IRLP is in cyberspace at 
www.irlp.net .  (VHF Reflector)

**

ON THE WEB:  AMATEUR REPEATER BUILDERS HOME PAGE GOES QRT

The Amateur Repeater Builders Home Page appears to have gone QRT and its 
owner is blaming the attitudes of some hams for its demise.  In a posting 
to the website, its administrator says in part that due to an unfortunate 
series of events resulting from this groups actions the Amateur Repeater 
Builders Page page will no longer be maintained.

Whats involved appears to be a dispute over universal recognition and 
acceptance of the the Northern California Amateur Radio band plan and what 
the board administrator terms as intentional interference to coordinated 
420 links with an ATV transmitter.  He says that the FCC's lack of time 
and/or interest in addressing the issue has caused him to become thoroughly 
disgusted and that he is -- quote -- `Gone fishing!'

But all might not be lost.   Kevin Custer, W3KKC, says that he plans to 
contact the Amateur Repeater Builders Home Page owner to try to obtain the 
rights to the website and host it himself.  He says he will let everyone 
know what happens over the Yahoogroups based Repeater Owners 
remailer.  (W3KKC, VHF Reflector)

**

RADIO PICTURES FROM SPACE:  THE EARTH FROM NEAR MARS

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft turned away from the red planet for 
a while on May 8th and took a unique picture of Earth from 
Mars-orbit.  This first-ever image of its kind not only shows our home 
planet as a tiny alien world in the vast darkness of space, but also 
includes Earth's moon and a view of the giant planet Jupiter. Go see 
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/22may_alienearth.htm?list913324 for 
more. (NASA)

**

INTERNATIONAL - CUBA:  FIRHAV 2004

Oscar Moroles, CO2OJ, says that the Federation of Radioamateurs of Cuba is 
organizing an international gathering of hams to be held next 
March.  Called FIRHAV 2004, it will include sessions on all aspect of 
operation used on the bands above 50 Mhz including the new digital 
techniques.  More information about FIRHAV 2004 and how to participate is 
on the web at http://frc.co.cu  (CO2OJ)

**

ON THE AIR:  COOKEN IN JUNE

Turning to on-the-air operations, the Central Ohio Operators Klub Extra - 
Novice is sponsoring special event station WW8OH June 21st 1200 to 2000 
UTC.  This, to coincide with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources 
Cranberry Bog open house.

Look for WW8OH  in the General portion of the 40m band and QSL as directed 
on the airr. More inforrmation is at www.cooken.org and the word Klub is 
spelled with a "K."  (E-mail)

**

DX

In D-X, word that a group of five Greek operators will sign SX9G  from 
Gavdos Island through the 15th of June. QSL via SV2DGH.  (GB2RS)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  THE OWLS ARE BACK

And finally this week, its time to get ready to T-Hunt down those ever 
elusive Burrowing Owls.  And this year there's another creature to look for 
-- bats.  Heres Joe Moell, K0OV, with all the details:

--

For five years, ham operators and scanner listeners in western states have 
monitored VHF frequencies to help researchers in Saskatchewan and 
Washington state study the migratory behavior of Western Burrowing Owls, a 
species of concern.  Now three more monitoring projects are beginning, and 
this time we need volunteers in south-central and southeastern states.

A biologist at the University of South Florida at Tampa (USF) is studying 
Florida Burrowing Owls.  That's a slightly different subspecies from the 
Western Burrowing Owl. It is thought that their range is limited to Florida 
and the Keys, but there is one 40- year-old report of a sighting in North 
Carolina.  Researchers have banded the legs of these birds in the past, but 
none of the banded owls have been recovered after leaving their Florida 
homes.

For the new study, some Florida Burrowing Owl chicks are being radio-tagged 
right now. Local researchers are tracking them as they leave their nests, 
learning to forage.  In the summer, the young owls are expected to take off 
for parts unknown.  USF wants volunteers throughout the southeast to listen 
for the VHF radio tags in an attempt to determine their routes and final 
destinations.

That's project #1.  Number two involves Mexican Long-nosed Bats.  For about 
a month beginning in mid-June, Bat Conservation International wants 
volunteers to join a team that will track their movements in and around Big 
Bend National Park in Texas as they pollinate century cactus 
plants.  Physically fit hikers are especially wanted, but a few vehicle- 
based monitors will also be helpful.  And there may be opportunities for 
some home monitors.  Hams with VHF radio direction finding equipment are 
particularly needed.

Project #3 is a study of orphaned Great Horned Owls.  It's being done by 
the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas, 
along with the University of North Texas.  After being raised at the 
sanctuary, up to two dozen of these owls will be released into the wild 
this summer, with radio tags attached to help determine their dispersal 
patterns and survival rates.  Volunteers are needed to monitor for the 
radio tags, especially in the Denton and Collin County areas.  Great Horned 
Owls are territorial and do not migrate long distances.

My Web site on radio direction finding carries the latest details, 
frequencies, and contact information for all three projects.  Point your 
browser to www.homingin.com HomingIn is one word --- homingin.com

Thanks in advance for your help!  From southern California, where Burrowing 
Owls are diminishing but still can be seen in the farmlands, this is Joe 
Moell, Kay-zero-oscar- victor, for Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

Again, that website is www.homingin.com.  (K0OV, ARNewsline™)

**

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 at 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.

Before we go, we want to tell you that a talk by our producer Bill 
Pasternak, WA6ITF, dealing with the problems facing ham radio and some 
possible solutions is this months Newsline Extra audio feature.  The 
presentation was recorded at the 2002 Joplin Hamfest banquet and is 
available as an MP3 file on the same webpage where you find the weekly 
newscast.  Go to www.arnewsline.org/quincy and click on ARNewsline Extra at 
the bottom of the page.