[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1394 - April 30, 2004
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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1394 - April 30, 2004
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A Very Important Note: We urge all readers of this report to also download
the audio version of this report at http://www.arnewsline.org/quincy and
listen to it. Please pat special attention to the words of ARRL President
Jim Haynie, W5JBP, and the urgency in his voice as he discusses the latest
developments in the fight to keep Broadband Over Powerline technology from
encroaching into the Amateur Service bands. There is no way to express in
print the very grave nature of this situation. Only by listening for
yourself can you truly understand the extreme gravity of the circumstances
that our service faces if BPL is introduced nationwide.
The ARNewsline Production Team
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The following is a Q-S-T.
The ARRL takes on the White House over BPL, a power provider says BPL
interference to mobile operations has to be tolerated and a ham radio name
change. Its called the Dayton Hamvention once again. Find out the details
on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1394 coming your way right now.
**
THE BPL FIGHT: PRES BUSH VS. PRES HAYNIE AND THE ARRL
The ARRL and its president has expressed what they call deep concerns
about a speach by United States President George Bush. One where where the
leader of the free world says that standards need to be changed to
encourage the delivery of Internet access using Broadband Over Poweline
technology. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, is here with
more:
--
In the boldest and most dramatic move yet in the BPL debate, the ARRL's
president Jim Haynie W5JBP, directly appealed to President Bush to abandon
his support for BPL technology.
Haynie says Bush's speech last week during the American Association of
Community Colleges convention in Minneapolis prompted him to action. In
that speech, President Bush stated directly:
"...power lines can be used for broadband technology. So the technical
standards need to be changed to encourage that."
"I faxed a letter to the White House cause I wanted to make sure they got
it and we followed it up again with the regular U.S. Mail," Haynie says.
"And, it'll be curious to see what kind of reaction that we get. I think,
like I said, it's ill-advised.
"It's so much hype that the broadband industry has been putting out and I'm
sorry to say it looks like the president has been suckered into it a little
bit."
Haynie says amateur radio has reached a defining moment in its history and
he is issuing a call to arms.
"This is the time that amateur radio is going to have to pull together and
speak with one big voice," Haynie says. "And, on our website, we put the
contact information and I want everybody to go there and look at it
(www.arrl.org) and you can write the president, you can write your
congressman, you can write your senators you can call 'em.
"Anything like that is helpful because amateur radio has been around for a
lot of years and I'd hate to see it end based on a technology like this
that any engineer worth their salt would be able to say, 'Well, this sounds
fun but it's just not going to work.' "
Haynie says he wasn't blind-sided by President Bush's remarks, but has
questions about his fellow Texan's true understanding of the issue.
"If you go back and read his speech he made in New Mexico, I think it was
Albuquerque, he alluded to broadband then just as a general term," Haynie
says. "Since that time, the actual term broadband over power line has come
into his speech and I know he doesn't write his own speeches, other people
do."
Haynie says its likely Bush administration advisers believe BPL is an issue
that may have some mileage.
"This is an election year and anything that would seemingly stimulate the
economy and create jobs is going to be a real political football and this
has just got caught up in it," Haynie says.
Haynie says he is now working with the ARRL's Washington staff to arrange a
personal meeting with President Bush to lay out the issue for him. And
Haynie says he's hopeful that if Bush sees the damaging effect BPL has on
radio spectrum - occupied not by just amateur radio - but police, fire, and
government services - he may reconsider.
Haynie says he'll also go in with the findings of the National
Telecommunications and Information Agency - the president's own advisory
arm on radio frequency spectrum management - to make his case.
"When you get into the actual and engineering report, there's some good
stuff there," Haynie says. "And I'm glad to see it. I'm also glad to see
that they corroborated a lot of stuff that we said in our data.
"And, it gives us more credibility because NTIA has quoted ARRL in there a
number of times in this report. But some of their measurements were even
more - for lack of a better word - devastating to the industry than ours.
They're talking as much as 200 meters. That's a long way!"
Haynie says BPL threatens the future of amateur radio as we know it and
it's time to step up and be counted:
"I've been a ham for 32 years, 33 years or something like that and this is
the worst, most difficult situation I've ever seen amateur radio in,"
Haynie says. "And I think whether you're interested in licensing
restructuring or you're interested in somebody not identifying every 10
minutes on 75 meters or whatever the case, that all pales. It is
insignificant to this particular issue.
"So we need to set all these differences aside in the amateur radio
community and come together. This is the time."
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.
--
Since before the first test installations went into operation, the ARRL has
been warning the public about the potential for massive radio disruption to
vital radio communications that BPL has the potential to cause. More
information is on line daily at the ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org
(ARNewsline(tm))
**
THE BPL FIGHT: NTIA RELEASES ITS BPL IMPACT REPORT
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has issued
its long-awaited report on the interference potential of Broadband over
Power Lines. Despite a generally-glowing news release, the report itself
identifies significant interference risks from BPL and concludes that the
methods currently used for measuring BPL noise levels are inadequate and
that more study is needed on such areas as ionospheric propagation of BPL
signals.
The full report may be downloaded, either in full or chapter by
chapter,from the NTIA website at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html (CQ)
**
POWER PROBLEMS: INVESTIGATION INTO BLACKOUT FAULTS ENERGY
COMPANIES
Power companies may be interested in reeping huge profits by selling high
speed Internet access using BPL technology, but a report says that they
disregarded voluntary rules that were intended to ensure the flow of
electricity. This is what opened the way for last summer's blackout in
eight states and Canada, the report says.
The investigators who prepared the report say that there was a clear
understanding long before the blackout last August that the Ohio region was
highly vulnerable to power distribution grid instability. Ohio is where
the problem began.
The report continues that had the situation been properly addressed, the
cascading blackout that sped across states from Michigan to New York and
into Canada probably would have been averted. In fact, investigators said
that something as simple as shutting off 200 megawatts of power an hour
prior to the blackout might have kept the problem from spreading.
This is the final report by investigators who looked into the cause of last
summers electrical breakdown. They are urging Congress to impliment
strict government standards to ward off future outages. (Published
reports)
**
THE BPL FIGHT: NC POWER COMPANY MAKE INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
Meantime, a North Carolina power company says that the interference coming
from its BPL system is not harmful to ham radio operations. As reported
last week, Progress Energy claims it has solved almost all of the problems
to the Amateur bands created by its test installation near the city of
Raleigh. But local hams have a different view. Newsline's Gary Pearce,
KN4AQ, takes an in-depth look at the claims being made by Progress Energy
and what the ham radio community has to say:
--
The FCC has received its first reply from a BPL system operator to a
complaint about BPL interference. Progress Energy, which operates three
BPL trials near Raleigh, North Carolina, says that they are in full
compliance with Part 15. Their letter attempts to set a mark for "harmful
interference" to home stations, and makes a claim that BPL doesn't cause
harmful interference to mobiles because they drive by so quickly.
When the Progress Energy trial began in January, Amperion, the equipment
vendor, set the hardware up with signals on the overhead lines that covered
the 10 and 12 meter ham bands, and most of the spectrum in between. The
signals appear as a series of carriers, 1.1 kHz apart, covering 6 MHz of
spectrum for each 2000 feet of power line.
Hams complained to the FCC, and Amperion moved the spectrum used. They
attempted to operate in spectrum between the 20 and 15-meter bands, with a
notch blocking BPL signals across the 17-meter band. They missed the mark
a little, with BPL signals starting at 14.3 MHz, 50 kHz inside the 20-meter
band. And while the notch at 17 meters did reduce the signal strength, the
BPL carriers were still audible, and might be heard by home stations for a
block or two, if there were any hams living in the trial area_ but there
are no hams living there.
In addition, the BPL signals don't end with a "brick wall" filter at the
edge of their spectrum block. They trail off slowly. And those "fringe"
signals were still falling inside several ham bands, again expected to be
audible to a ham within a block or two of the power line.
After giving Amperion time to correct the apparent errors, hams complained
again to the FCC. The result was a meeting between Raleigh hams and a
Progress Energy engineer in the trial area on April 6th to review the
complaint and the spectrum used. Bill Godwin, the Progress Energy
engineer, had arranged to be able to talk to an Amperion technician to make
adjustments to the spectrum used in real time - but, the technician was a
no-show on the telephone.
On April 13th, hams checked the spectrum used again, and still no changes
had been made.
On April 20th, Len Anthony, Regulatory Affairs attorney for Progress Energy,
sent e-mail to the James Burtle, Chief of the FCC's Experimental Licensing
Division, claiming that after moving the BPL signals off the ham bands,
their system "is not causing any harmful interference and is in full
compliance with the FCC's Part 15 rules."
Referring to the April 6th observation with Bill Godwin, Anthony says,
"These tests revealed a small level of interference at the fringes of
certain frequencies. Since that time, further modifications have been made
to address this fringe interference. It is Progress Energy's position and
interpretation of the FCC's rules with regard to `harmful interference'
that any interference that may still exist is not `harmful' as that term is
defined by the FCC's rules. This level of interference does not seriously
degrade ham radio operation or transmissions or cause repeated
interruptions. Importantly" he continues, "since Progress Energy can make
modifications to completely eliminate any interference with fixed ham
operators, the only impact of any kind upon ham operations is upon mobile
operators."
As for mobiles, Anthony continues, "Given that any interference experienced
by a mobile operator only occurs within close proximity to the BPL
facilities, such interference would be very short lived. Thus, Progress
Energy is not causing any harmful interference and is in full compliance
with the FCC's Part 15 rules."
An observation of the trial area on April 21st, the day after the e-mail was
sent to the FCC, revealed that there had been no changes to the spectrum
used. The overhead line was still emitting a full-strength signal on the
top 50 kHz of the 20 meter band; signals were still audible in the notch at
17 meters, and the "fringe" carriers were still encroaching on the bottom
50 kHz or so of the 15 meter band.
This is the first claim by a BPL operator that weak BPL signals do not
create "harmful" interference by the FCC's definition, interference that
"seriously degrades, obstructs or repeatedly interrupts a
radiocommunication service." Ham operators, of course, routinely tune
through quiet spectrum looking for weak signals, and a series of carriers
one kHz apart covering the band might be considered to seriously degrade,
obstruct or repeatedly interrupt that activity.
And a mobile driving 35 miles per hour along a BPL-carrying power line can
be in the interference zone for a minute or more - and much longer in stop-
and-go traffic, waiting at signal lights, or stopping in a driveway or
parking lot.
Frank Lynch W4FAL, an ARRL Technical Specialist for North Carolina who has
been concentrating on the Progress Energy BPL trial, says that he will be
filing another complaint with the FCC, responding to the Progress Energy e-
mail. He also says that hams are not opposed to BPL per se, just the
interference it causes. And he notes that it should be easy to clear up
interference in a small trial area. It's BPL signals buzzing around every
power line in town that have him worried.
Reporting for Newsline, this is Gary Pearce KN4AQ in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
--
Once the new interference complaint is filed it will be up to the FCC to
investigate it and to take whatever action it deems necessary.
(ARNewsline(tm), KN4AQ)
**
RADIO LAW: PETITION TO PROHIBIT BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS ON FRS
FAILS
A Petition for Rulemaking to prohibit daily business communications in the
Family Radio Service has been dismissed by the Commission. Amateur
RadioNewsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:
--
On August 22, 2002, the Industrial Telecommunciatons Association, Inc. --
or ITA -- filed a petition for rulemaking requesting that the Commission
amend Section 95.401(b) of the Commission's Rules. This, to prohibit
daily business communications on the Family Radio Service frequencies.
In making its case for the prohibition the ITA said that it was concerned
about the unlicensed mix of business and personal users. The ITA said that
traditional businesses were using FRS units for daily business needs and
thereby limiting the ability of others to engage in the personal
communications that the Commission envisioned for FRS.
One of those challenging the ITA petition was the Personal Radio Steering
Group. This is an advocacy group for General Mobile Radio Service users
who share part of the spectrum with the Family Radio Service. According to
the PRSG filing, the FCC specifically indicated in the Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis for creating the Family Radio Service that small
businesses may use the FRS to conduct their affairs. Also, while FRS
congestion does exist in and near sports and recreational facilities, theme
parks and shopping malls, little of this congestion is attributable to
recurrent business or commercial communications.
Based on this and other information provided by the public, the FCC has
concluded that day to day business communications is a valid use of the
Family Radio Service. That this was intended in the Report and Order
creating the service and that there is little merit to the Industrial
Telecommunications Association rules change request.
Reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.
--
In other words, it is okay to continue to use FRS channels for routine
business as well as personal communications needs. The full story is on-
line at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-
1035A1.doc (CGC, FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: OFFERING NON CERTIFIED CB'S FOR SALE BRINGS CITATION
The FCC has gone after yet another purveyor of non certified CB radio gear
capable of operating in the ham radio bands. The agency's Daryl Duckworth,
NN0W, explains:
--
Duckworth: "The FCC's Altanta Office has issued a citation to Jim
Norton, the owner of CB Sales and Service in Anniston, Alabama for the sale
of non certified CB equipment. Noted in the citation were six different
models of non certified exquoipent, five of which had been modified to
transmit on Amateur frequencies."
--
The FCC alleges that an investigation by its Atlanta Office revealed that
on March 11, 2004, Norton offered for sale at his retail store up to eight
models of non-certified Citizens Band transceivers all bearing the Galaxy
trade name. According to Commission's records, none of these devices have
received an FCC equipment authorization which is required for Citizens Band
transmitters marketed in the United States. CB Sales was charged with
violation of Section 302(b) of the Communications Act, and Section
2.803(a)(1) of the F-C-C's Rules. (FCC, RAIN)
**
RESCUE RADIO: CA HAMS SUPPOERT MS WALK
Members of the Huntington Beach California Radio Amateur Civil Emergency
Service supported the early morning 2004 MS Walk event on Sunday April
18th. The Huntington Beach volunteer radio operators were on hand at each
rest stop along the five and 10 kilometer courses, to provide
communications and assist state beach rangers and event management in case
an emergency occurred.
There were over 1200 walkers on the beach path taking part in the fund
raisuing event. Peter Shores, AD6TN, brought his communications van that
is fully equipped with communications gear and emergency supplies. It
served as a mobile command post. Another volunteer patrolled the entire
course on bicycle.
The communications effort continued until about noon. There were no
incidents or injuries reported during the event. (KH6WZ)
**
HAMVENTION NEWS : DARA RETURNS TO THE DAYTON HAMVENTION NAME
When thousands of hams return to Dayton, Ohio for Hamvention 2004, they
will find that the "Dayton" has returned to the Hamvention. This, with word
that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association which sponsors the yearly event
has again remamed the gathering the Dayton Hamvention.
According to General Chairman Gary Des Combes, N8EMO, the change is in
keeping with the Hamvention's 'going back to the future' theme. It also
goes along with the pledge made to return Hamvention to its roots as the
biggest and friendliest hometown hamfest, found anyplace in the world.
Des Combes says that for more than half a century the event has been known
to the world, and to the world of Amateur Radio as the Dayton Hamvention.
He says that Hamvention's ties are to the entire Dayton metropolitan area,
to its economy and to the ham radio community of the region.
The 33rd annual Dayton Hamvention opens on Friday, May 14th and runs until
Sunday 16th. During those three days the event is expected to draw about
25,000 people from around the world and bring millions of dollars of sales
and business to the Dayton area. (Dayton Hamvention)
**
HAMVENTION NEWS: THE HAM RADIO TOWN MEETING
And since we are talking the Dayton Hamvention, let me take a moment to
invite you to join our producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, and an all-star
group of guests as we take a trip through time to look at the "traditions"
that have made Amateur Radio the great hobby and service that it is today.
This, as we at Amateur Rasdio Newsline present the 6th annual Dayton
Hamvention "Ham Radio Town Meeting."
This years topic is "IT'S MORE THAN RADIOS -- Keeping The Traditions of
Amateur Radio Alive." Bill will be your host and moderator. Joining him
will be a whose who group including our leynote speaker Bob Heil, K9EID, of
Heil Sound Ltd. Other presenters include Radio School's Gordon West
WB6NOA, Worldradio Magazine Editor Nancy Kott WZ8C, Producer/Director Dave
Bell W6AQ, Philadelphia newsman Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, to name only a few.
Also, if time permits, we will present a screening of the 1990 Icom
produced motion picture titled "More Than Radios." This is the story of an
"old time ham" who rather reluctantly becomes the Amateur Radio "Elmer" for
a teenager thrust into his life on summer.
The festivities begin at 1 P.M. EDT on Saturday, May 15th in Hara Arena
Meeting Room 3 and as usual we will have lots of door prizes. If you have
the time, we promise you a most entertaining and illuminating two hours
reliving the traditions of the hobby and learning that being a ham truly
is a lot more than radios. (ARNewsline(tm))
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: CREW CHANGE ON THE ISS
For a time last week there were five astro-hams on board the International
Space Station. This as Expedition 9 crew members Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and
Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, arrived at the space outpost on April 21st The
trip was made to the Iss using a Russian built Soyuz launcher.
Making the voyage with them was European Space Agency explorer Andr‚
Kuipers, PI9ISS. The three joined Expedition 8 crew members Mike Foale,
KB5UAC, and Sasha Kaleri, U8MIR, who along with Kuipers are on their way
back to Earth as this newscast goes to air.
Kuipers may have only spent a bit more than a week on-orbit, but he wasted
little time in getting on-the-air. PE1SCW in Deventer in the Netherlands
reported hearing PI9ISS in QSO with PI9ESA at 7:50 hours UTC on Saturday
May 24th. Bas says that Kuipers signal was very strong signal that was
reading 40 db over S-9. A few minutes later Kuipers was in range of
Francisco Costa, CT1EAT, in Beja, Portugal. He said that he heard PI9ISS
in a scheduled ARISS QSO also at well over S-9.
During their six-month stay on the ISS, Russian Cosmonaut Padalka will
serve as the ISS Commander while Fincke will be the science officer and
flight engineer. Both are expected on the air before they return home in
late October. (ARISS, VHF Reflector, published news reports)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: K6DUE ISS OPERATING EVENT CERTIFICATES
Certificates for those who took part in the K6DUE International Space
Station Commemorative Operating Event held earlier this year have been
distributed to the international delegates at the ARISS Meeting in the
Netherlands on March 26th and 27th. Those picking them up were to forward
the certificates to their national Q-S-L distributors who would then
distribute them locally.
ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says that approximately
130 hams will be receiving certificates. The event was held to honor the
memory of the late Roy Neal, K6DUE who founded both the SAREX and ARISS
programs. Neal, who also served as the Vice President of Amateur Radio
Newsline and as a frequent news anchor passed away last August due to
complications following heart valve replacement surgery. (ARISS, AMSAT BB)
**
WORLDBEAT: NEW ZEALAND TO ARGENTINA COMMEMORATIVE
ZL1AWW is working on plans for a commemorative station to celebrate the 80
th anniversary of the first New Zealand to South America two way contact.
This, by Ivan O'Meara Z2AC and Carlos Braggio, RCB8.
The proposed date is May 22nd or 23rd. This original 10,300 kilometer
Morse code conversation took place in 1924 and established a world distance
record for two-way radio for that era. (GB2RS)
**
DX
In D-X, word that the Rodrigues Island 3B9C operation finally went QRT on
Monday, April 12th. In their time on the air, the operators racked up a
very impressive 153,000 QSO's. QSL this one as you were directed on the
air. (OPDX)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: THE NAB 2004 HAM RADIO RECEPTION
And finally, as most of you know, it was Heil Sound Limited hosted the
National Association of Broadcasters ham radio reception on Wednesday night
April 21st. It was literally a star studded event. Newsline's Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, and his tape recorder were there:
--
When Bob Heil, K9EID, and his wife Sarah throw a party, everyone with a ham
radio license shows up. And thats exactly the way it was on Wednesday,
April 21st when Heil Sound Limited hosted the annual National Association
of Broadcasters Ham Radio Reception at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas,
Nevada. There was food music and lots of prizes. Some were even
personalized:
--
Bob Heil Audio: Hear it at www.arnewsline.org
--
That was Bob Heil presenting only one of over a hundred prizes given out
over the three hours of the gathering. We finally were able to corner Bob
Heil and we asked him how this all came about:
--
Bob Heil Audio: Hear it at www.arnewsline.org
--
Somewhere between 800 to 900 radio amateurs attending the National
Association of Broadcasters Convention literally had a hamfest of their own
thanks to Bob and Sarah Heil. Thats up by an estimated 40% over past
years. Sarah Heil says that for her husband, putting this reception
together was a labor of love:
--
Sarah Heil Audio: Hear it at www.arnewsline.org
--
The 2004 NAB Ham Radio Reception sems to have set several records. More
important -- a good time was had by all.
Reporting from near the Convention Center in Las Vegas, I'm Bill Pasternak,
WA6ITF, for the Amateur Radio Newsline.
--
For those not aware, the annual Natrional Association of Broadcasters
Convention in Las Vegas is the largest gathering of broadcasting and
teleproduction professionals in the world. (ARNewsline (tm))
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, 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.
A reminder that the nominating period for the 2004 Amateur Radio Newsline
Young Ham of the Year Award is now on. This program is open to any FCC
licensed young radio amateur age 18 or younger residing in the contiguous
48 states and who has made a significant contribution to the community, the
nation or ham radio though the United States Amateur Radio Service.
More information and a downloadable on-line nominating form is at our
website. That's in cyberspace at www.arnewsline.org. The cutoff for
nominations this year is midnight on Tuesday, June 31st.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Meachen,
ZL2BHF, in Auckland, New Zealand saying 73 and we thank you for
listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2004. All rights
reserved.
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