[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1377 - January 2, 2004

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Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1377 - January 2, 2004

The following is a QST.  V-K hams welcome 2004 with new spectrum.  P-29 
hams enter the new year with no-code and the FCC ends 2003 embracing 
smart radios.  All this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 
1377 for the first week of 2004 coming your way right now.
 
**

RESTRUCTURING:  EXCLUSIVE SPECTRUM DOWN UNDER

Hams in Australia start 2004 with an unexpected gift.  Some exclusive 
spectrum in the 75 meter band.  From Brisbane here's Q-News Graham Kemp, 
VK4BB, with the rest of the story:

--

As of January 1st amateur radio operators in Australia have gained 
exclusive access to 24 kHz of HF spectrum at 3776-3800 kHz for high 
frequency amateur radio communications between continents.

The new Australian spectrum allocation for the amateur service is made 
under footnote AUS8 of the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan  2002 
published by the ACA. It aligns well with international arrangements, 
which means intercontinental communications for Australian amateur radio 
operators will be improved at these frequencies.

This domestic change has affected other spectrum users. More than 40  
government bodies, community groups and commercial organizations were  
previously licensed for HF communications within this 24 kHz of 
spectrum, with amateur operators having lower priority access to 6 kHz.

For Q-News Australia, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, for the Amateur Radio 
Newsline.

--

A very nice way to start the year 2004.  (Q-News)

**

RESTRUCTURING:  P29Z CALLS GIVEN HF GIFT

Australia is not the only nation in the Southern hemisphere to have some 
ham radio rules changes with the new year.  A report out of Papua New 
Guinea says that the tiny nations has welcomed 2004 by going no-code.  

According to Rick Warnett, P29KFS, in Port Morsby, the nations 
telecommunications regulator PANGTEL has issued an opinion confirming 
that P-N-G hams holding a Limited Amateur Operator's Certificate of 
Proficiency now have access to all High Frequency  bands granted by 
PANGTEL.  As a result, from 0000 P-N-G time on December 31st hams 
assigned P29Z series calls have full High Frequency access in the ham 
bands from 165 KHz thru 28MHz in addition to their 430 MHz to the multi 
Ghz allocation.  (Q-News)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  IRELAND PREPARES FOR POWER OUTAGES

Meantime on the other side of the world, what amounts to a mini Field 
Day exercise took place in Ireland December 6th and 7th.  This when that 
nations ham radio rescue service known as  AREN took part in a twenty-
four hour simulated test to help prepare members for a possible power 
failure such as those experienced recently in the US and in the United 
Kingdom.

The test had several goals.  Among them was to establish that AREN 
members could operate without mains power and to have members ready for 
activation during a sustained standby period.  Also important was 
maintaining discipline by politely and firmly holding control of a 
working frequency for the duration of the exercise.

According to assessment reports, the AREN members demonstrated a keen 
and effective will to efficiently operate such a service.  They also 
held the primary exercise frequency of 3.660 MHz without incident for 
the duration of the watch period.  (IRTS)

**

RADIO LAW:  S.C. INDICTMENT IN BPL RELATED SCHEME

Back here at home, it looks as if the first scam associated with 
Broadband over Powerline technology has surfaced.  Amateur Radio 
Newsline's Jim Davis, W2JKD, tells us the who, the what, the why  and 
the where:

--

News reports say that two Texas businessmen have been indicted on wire 
fraud and money laundering charges.  This in a scheme that defrauded a 
South Carolina electric utility out of $1 million.  

Prosecutors in Columbia, South Carolina say that the two convinced the 
utility to invest the money in research they said would allow voice, 
video and data to be sent to homes and businesses through power lines.  
According to the documents filed on Thursday, December 18th, the could 
not deliver on the promises they had made.

Jim Davis, W2JKD, reporting.

--

No trial date has been announced in this case.  (Published news reports)

**

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  Joe Knight, W5PDY, - S.K. 

Some truly sad news to report.  One of the nicest people ever to hold a 
ham radio license, Joe Knight, W5PDY, the recently retired New Mexico 
ARRL Section Manager, died on December 28th.  Knight  was in declining 
health when he passed away in Albuquerque at age 76.  

For those not aware, Joe Knight held the honor of  the longest tenure of 
any Section Manager in history.  He was elected to the post in the mid 
1970's and only stepped down last July after his health began to fail.  
In all he served as New Mexico Section Manager close to 27 years.  A 
record never before matched.

Knight was the subject and chief narrator of an article, "The Luckiest 
Man Alive," which appeared in the January 2003 issue of QST Magazine. In 
it,  Knight said that Amateur Radio will exist as long as there are 
people who love the art and science of communicating by radio.   The 
article also outlined the vast emergency communication resources that 
Knight and hundreds of other dedicated volunteers built up over the 
years in New Mexico.

John Stuart,  AC5ZO, the president of the Albuquerque DX Association, 
visited Knight on December 22nd.  At that time Stuart presented Knight 
with an honorary membership certificate in that group.

Survivors include his wife, Lois, KC5CXO, who often accompanied Knight 
on his hamfest and convention visits and was a tireless recruiter for 
new ARRL members.  (ARRL, W7AS, N7US, others)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  Emmanuel G. Papandreas, W4SS, - S.K.

And former ARRL Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator, Emmanuel 
G. Papandreas, W4SS, of Lake Worth, passed away, Friday, December 26th 
at age 80.  Manny as he was better was Southern Florida was SEC for 20 
years.  A record longer than any of his predecessors. And during his 
tenure, Papandreas oversaw the amateur emergency communications effort 
following Hurricane Andrew in 1992 including the staging area at the 
South Florida Fairgrounds in Palm Beach County.

W4SS was a life member of the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Club and 
served numerous terms as President.  He also taught amateur radio 
classes and was an ARRL Volunteer Examiner in Palm Beach county.  And, 
over the years, W4SS was the recipient of many awards and honors from 
the South Florida agencies served by Amateur Radio.  (WA4AW)

**

RADIO RULES: FCC OPENS SMART RADIO PROCEEDING

Turning to the regulatory scene, the FCC has adopted a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking and Order that sets out proposals and seeks comments 
on the uses and applications for "smart" radio systems.  This, In light 
of the ever increasing demand for wireless transmitters.

Smart radios have the ability to adapt their use of spectrum to their 
environments.  For example, a smart radio system could use geolocation 
and table lookups to determine whether certain frequencies are 
candidates for use in a particular area.  Then, those frequencies could 
be scanned, idle spectrum identified, and the best frequencies and power 
levels selected for a particular link. 

More is at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-242312A1.doc   
and   
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-322A1.doc on 
the World-Wide-Web.  (CGC, FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  YOU CAN FLY BUT YOU CAN'T USE THAT RADIO

The FCC has asked more groups representing hang glider enthusiasts to 
tell their members to stay off the ham bands unless they hold Amateur 
Radio licenses.  The agency's Daryl Duckworth, N-N-Zero-W, has more 
details:

--

Audio report only.  Hear it at www.arnewsline.org

--

Hang gliding zealots who fail to heed the FCC warning could face  some 
pretty severe penalties.  (FCC, RAIN)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  COMPANY FINED $8,000 FOR FAILING TO PAINT TOWER CABLES

The FCC has issued an $8,000 fine against Tower Properties of Florida, 
Inc. for having unpainted cables attached to their tower structure.  
Cables that the regulatory agency says precluded good visibility of the 
orange and white aviation-painted structure.

Section 17.50 of the FCC's Rules provides that antenna structures such 
as this one that require painting will be cleaned or repainted as often 
as necessary to maintain good visibility.  Further, as incorporated by 
reference, alternate bands of aviation orange and white are normally 
displayed on coaxial cable, conduits, and other cables attached to the 
face of a tower.  (CGC, FCC)

**

COMMUNICATIONS LAW:  JUDGE RULES ISP'S DO NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE INFO TO 
MUSIC INDUSTRY

Meantime, back here in the United States, a major setback for the music 
industry's anti-piracy campaign.  This, a federal appeals rejects 
efforts by the music producers to compel the nation's Internet providers 
to identify subscribers accused of illegally distributing music on-line.  
Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:

--

It happened on Friday December 19th and it's being called a substantial 
setback for the entertainment industry.  This, as a three-judge panel 
from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a 
ruling by the trial judge to enforce a copyright subpoena.

Earlier a trial judge had authorized the use of the subpoenas forcing 
Verizon Communications Inc. to turn over names and addresses for at 
least four Internet subscribers.  Verizon complied but instructed its 
lawyers to challenges the ruling.

In its decision, the appeals court not only sided with Verizon.  It went 
a step further.  This, by declaring one of the crucial arguments used by 
the Recording Industry Association of America to obtain the original 
order as -- quote -- bordering upon the silly.  The judges words-- not 
ours.

What does this mean to those artists and companies wanting to protect 
their intellectual copyright?  It won't stop the entertainment industry 
from suing those who continue to swap music and video files peer to 
peer,  but it will make them a lot harder for the industry lawyers to 
locate.