[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1415 - September 24, 2004

Sat Sep 25 10:26:35 EDT 2004

Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1415 -  September 24, 2004

The following is a Q-S-T.  Shortwave broadcasters say no to B-P-L,  big 
money awarded to put a pair of truly rare D-X locations on the air and a 
satellite broadcaster joins the rescue radio cause.  Find out the 
details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1415 coming your way 
right now.

**

THE BPL FIGHT:  SHORTWAVE VS. DIGITAL SHORTWAVE

Amateur Radio has another friend in its fight to stop the world-wide 
rollout of Broadband over Powerline technology.  This, as a  European 
short-wave broadcaster say that B-P-L and digital radio will have a lot 
of trouble co-existing.  Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, is here with an update on 
digital radio and an explanation of why the two do not mix.

--

Jacob Freedman, N2MPN, found an interesting story on BBC News Online and 
thought he would share this news with A.R. Newsline listeners.  In the 
link to the story, titled "Fears for new digital radio system" written 
by By Chris McWhinnie of BBC Monitoring in Amsterdam, the warning came 
from Peter Senger, the chair of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) at the 
International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam. 

DRM is a standard agreed by world broadcasters for a completely new 
short wave radio system.  The new internet power line distribution 
system has been evaluated by engineers, including the BBC, and has been 
found to affect short wave in particular. 

Short wave is mainly used to broadcast internationally and the AM bands 
have been used since radio first started in the 1920s.  The DRM system 
uses existing AM broadcast frequencies to deliver near-FM quality 
digital sound.  It uses compression to squeeze clear digital sound into 
the narrow radio channels that currently carry crackly analogue signals. 

The DRM technology has the potential to make digital radio available in 
places that Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) radio or even FM will 
probably never reach.  As for the hardware required to hear these 
stations, there will be a new consumer DRM radio in the shops by 
Christmas 2005 and a tiny PC-only DRM set is already on sale. 

DRM is not being used by many radio stations yet. However a number of 
radio stations have seen the potential for new cross-border radio 
stations. 

A Germany-based music station is believed to be in the planning stages. 
BBC World Service and its counterparts abroad already have some regular 
DRM programmes and are backing the system. 

DRM is being seriously considered in many countries where the FM radio 
band is full. China sees DRM as the answer to pushing digital radio 
across its vast territory. 

The UK is not planning to use DRM for domestic radio. The UK has pinned 
its digital hopes instead on DAB, which offers stations like BBC 1Xtra, 
6 Music, Oneword and Core. More digital radios have been sold in the UK 
than any other country. 

Switching-off analogue FM and AM may take years and making millions of 
much-loved analogue radio sets useless will no doubt be controversial. 
If power line internet transmission is introduced, then international 
broadcasting on shortwave may also be consigned to history due to the 
interference from data travelling over mains electricity cables. 

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU 

--

As we go to air, the proponents of Broadband Over Powerline have not yet 
challenged the Digital Radio Mondiale findings.  (W8HDU, N2MPN)

**

PRESERVING THE BANDS:  LEAGUE KICKS OFF 2005 SPECTRUM DEFENSE CAMPAIGN

Meantime, the ARRL has kicked off its 2005 Spectrum Defense Fund 
campaign and its slogan id that this is a lot more than just BPL.   
Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:

--

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, appears to be the point man in this 
important effort to preserve our operating bandspace.  He says that 
while interference from broadband over power line technology is the most 
prominent and immediate threat to amateur spectrum, donations from ARRL 
members and supporters make it possible for the League to face it and 
other spectrum challenges as well.  

According to the ARRL Letter, in 1985, the League spent perhaps $200,000 
on advocacy and spectrum defense. Today the annual outlay is close to 
$900,000.  

Haynie says that he is aware that this work is something that hams 
cannot see, touch or feel, but it's just as important as those things 
that they can.  This is because we would not have all those other things 
if it were not for the fact that we have a place to operate.

Haynie notes that not all of the ARRL's advocacy efforts necessarily 
involve taking defensive measures, such as with BPL, but all of them are 
essential.  The popular ARRL leader says that, as he sees it, the 
League's job is to look out for the best interests of all of Amateur 
Radio.  This includes making sure that we have places in the ether to go 
on the air.

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

--

The ARRL says that the Spectrum Defense Fund depends on membership 
support and is essential to the League's continued success in this AREA. 
Contributions can be made on-line at the ARRL's secure donor Website.  
You will find it at https://www.arrl.org/forms/fdefense/fdefense.htm   
Those contributing at or above the $50 level may request a gift as a 
token of the League's appreciation.  (ARRL)

**

BIG DX NEWS:  NCDXF MAKES $100,000 GRANT TO UPCOMING OPERATIONS

Some big news in the world of DX.  This as the Northern California DX 
Foundation announces some big money sponsorship grants for the 2005 D-
Xpedition season.  

The awards were announced at the recent W9DXCC DX Convention in 
Illinois.  The recipients are the upcoming Kerguelen Islands FT stroke X 
and the Peter One 3YZ0X operations.  These are two of the rarest and 
most wanted locations on every hams most wanted list.

Northern California DX Foundation president Len Geraldi, K6ANP, says 
that that these awards are substantially higher than normal amounts 
provided to aid major D-Xpeditions.  Together they exceed $100,000, and 
represent the largest made in the foundations history.

Geraldi noted that these exceptional grants made in light of the rarity 
of operations from these locations and the significant individual 
contributions being made by the participants.  He also noted the very 
high cost of mounting D-Xpeditions to such remote locations.  

The Northern California DX Foundation not only funds DX operations.  In 
cooperation with the IARU, the organization also maintains a worldwide 
network of high-frequency radio propagation beacons that help amateurs 
estimate the current condition of the ionosphere.

The Northern California DX Foundation was founded in 1972 to assist 
worthwhile amateur radio and scientific projects with equipment and 
funding.  More about the group is on-line at www.ncdxf.org and we will 
have more D-X news later on in this weeks newscast.  (N4GN)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HURRICANE IVAN IS BACK AND JEANNE ON THE WAY

A reincarnated tropical storm Ivan has made landfall a 2nd time.  This, 
near the Texas-Louisiana line on Thursday evening, September 23rd.   The 
one-time hurricane was expected to dump up to ten inches of rain over 
the coming weekend. 

The 22-day-old former hurricane broke apart after hitting the U-S, but a 
piece spun back out to sea and reformed as a separate tropical storm.  
It them made its way back into the Gulf of Mexico before again making 
landfall.

Forecasters say Galveston, Houston and College Station Texas will be 
under a flood alert.  C-Q Magazine's Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO quoting 
sources at the ARRL says the Texas Office of Emergency Management has 
requested activation of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service Net.  The 
net will switch between 7.285 and 3.873 MHz depending on propagation and 
time of day for as long as its needed.

Meantime, along the Eastern seaboard, ham radio operators are preparing 
for the arrival of Hurricane Jeanne.  This as the killer storm appears 
to be zeroing in on the southeast U.S. coast, with forecasts putting 
Florida firmly in the storm's sights with landfall possible on September 
24th or 25th. The Hurricane Watch Net  on 14.325 MHz announced plans to 
begin operations Friday, September 24, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern and 
continue till until 11:00 p.m. or until the 20 meter band closes .  

As we go to air news reports say that Jeanne is responsible for at least 
1,100 deaths in Haiti.  1,250 are still missing and the toll continues 
to rise.  More ham radio storm coverage next week.  (WA3PZO, CQ, ARRL, 
ARNewsline(tm), others)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HURRICANE IVAN IN NJ

Hurricane Ivan left its mark all along the Eastern U-S before it finally 
disappeared from that area.  From the Carolina's through New England, 
there were daily news stories about Ivan spawning tornadoes and severe 
flooding.  One area hit by the remnants of the storm was the state of 
New Jersey which is the home on Amateur Radio Newsline's Henry Feinberg, 
K2SSQ.

--

Mercer County, New Jersey, ARES and RACES was activated at about 5 PM on 
Saturday, September 18th.  This, to staff the radio room at the Mercer 
County Emergency Operations Center.  

Heavy rainfall caused by Hurricane Ivan remnants in the Catskill and 
Pocono Mountains Friday night was forecast to cause the Delaware River 
to reach flood stage in Trenton at 6 AM Sunday and to crest at record 
levels Sunday night.  

The original crest forecast was for 8 feet above flood stage which is 18 
feet above normal river level.  That was later reduced to 3 feet but was 
still the highest level on the Delaware River since the catastrophic 
floods of 1954.

In Mercer County, Amateur Radio Operators staffed the E-O-C radio room 
continuously in four hour shifts until Monday morning.  The radio room 
is licensed as W2MER and has H-F, 2 meter, 220, 440 and APRS ham gear  
permanently installed.  It also has capability on all public safety and 
Red Cross frequencies used in the county.   Extra radio amateurs were on 
call over the W2ZQ Mercer County ARES and RACES 146.67 Mhz. repeater. 
This,  if additional communications was needed at shelters and other 
locations.  

Hams used the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management's statewide 
NJ2EM 220 MHz repeater and the statewide 2 meter APRS digital messaging 
network to maintain links with the Hunterdon County and Warren County 
EOC's further up the river.  Per the Mercer County EOC protocol, the 
hams also were the operators of the public safety radios in the EOC to 
maintain contact with the sheriff officers coordinating the evacuations 
along the river.

Amateurs participating as EOC Radio Officers included N2GJ, N0YMV, K2GW, 
W2SRH, W2QOB, N2JV-P, and WA2KM.  

For he Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, in New Jersey.

--

Gary Wilson, K2GW, is the Section Emergency Coordinator for Southern New 
Jersey Section.  He says some 1500 people including 180 residents of a 
nursing home were evacuated to near-by shelters and hotels on Sunday the 
19th.  (K2GW) 

**

RESCUE RADIO: XM SATELLITE RADIO TO ISSUE EMERGENCY ALERTS

There will soon be yet another source of emergency alert information, 
and you might say that this one is out of this world.  Well kind of.  
Norm Seeley. KI7UP, has the details:

--

X-M Satellite Radio says that its getting into the emergency alert 
business.  This by making available the X-M Emergency Alert channel to 
its more than 2.1 million subscribers, nationwide.

According to a September 10th press release the satellite radio provider 
will dedicate its Channel 247 to what it calls X-M Emergency Alert.  The 
service will be dedicated to providing updated critical  information 
before, during and after natural disasters, weather emergencies and 
other hazardous incidents to listeners across the country. The channel 
will also provide key survival information such as evacuation routes, 
shelter locations and updated weather emergency information for  
impacted areas. 

Information sources of the broadcasts will include the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
the National Weather Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services and the American Red Cross.  Also included will be local police 
and fire departments and eyewitness reports making the service about as 
all encompassing and up to the minute as it can get. 

--

X-M hopes to have this new service fully operational fairly soon.  (XM)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC QUESTIONS 40 METER MORSE PRACTICE OPERATION

The FCC has some questions for a Missouri ham who claims to be running 
Morse Code Practice on 40 meters.  And in a September 2nd letter to Paul 
D. Westcott, KC0OAB, the regulatory agency also sets some pretty tough 
ground rules for him to carry on.  Amateur Radio Newsline's David Black 
reports from our South-East bureau in Birmingham Alabama:

--

The FCC contacted Paul D. Westcott, KC0OAB, on June 21st of this year.  
The Commission told Westcott it was receiving complaints about high 
speed one way Morse code transmissions from his station on the 40 meter 
band. The Commission says it has complaints alleging that the ongoing 
transmissions interfere with normal amateur communications.

Westcott replied July 11th, saying his transmissions are indeed code 
practice, and he indicated that they are computer controlled.  But the 
Commission now says Westcott's code transmissions are sent at an 
unvarying speed of about 30 words a minute.  That they are sent 
continually, 24 hours a day, on 7.030 MHz. The Commission says the 
constant speeds casts doubt on Westcott's claimed motive for sending the 
code transmissions.

The Commission reminds Westcott about amateur radio service rules 
requiring that a station be under the direction of a control operator 
during all transmissions. That means a control operator must be on duty 
at all the times Westcott's station is transmitting...and that he's 
responsible for preventing harmful interference to other stations.

The Commission tells Westcott to provide the dates, times and 
frequencies of all code practice sessions. And the FCC says that 
information is to be furnished by Westcott by either telephone or FAX at 
least one week in advance of any given transmission.

The Commission also wants Westcott to submit the name, address and 
telephone number of the control operator for all operation of KC0OAB 
when sending code practice. The FCC says the telephone number Westcott 
provides must be one at which the Commission can reach the control 
operator during the transmissions.

Finally, the Commission warns Westcott that enforcement action against 
him is coming if there are valid complaints that his transmissions 
continue to interfere with ongoing communications.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm David Black, KB4KCH, at the South-
East bureau in Birmingham Alabama.

--

Westcott was given twenty days from the date of the FCC's letter to 
respond with the required information.  (FCC)

**

INTRUDER WATCH REDUX:  STRANGE SIGNALS AT 7.238 MHZ DISAPPEARS

And that strange unidentified signal that Bob Gonsett W6VR reported to 
us on two weeks ago.  The one being heard by hams in Western states on 7 
point 238 Mhz?  Well guess what.  It has disappeared as mysteriously as 
it showed up and nobody is very sure of exactly what it was.

According to several Newsline listeners and our own monitoring, the last 
time the raspy buzz saw was heard it was late on Wednesday September 
15th.  By the 16th it was gone without a trace and has yet to pay the 40 
meter phone band -- or any other ham band for that matter -- a return 
visit.  (ARNewsline(tm) from listener reports)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE:  SWL'S MEET IN CALIFORNIA IN OCTOBER

Turning to the social scene. the 2004 Radio Fest gathering of SWL's is 
slated for Saturday, October 16th.   This, in the Community Room of the 
F&M Bank in Seal Beach, California.  

Radio Fest is sponsored by the Southern California Area DX'ers group.  
Doors open at 9:30 Pacific Coast time. This years speaker list include 
Radio School's Gordon West, WB6N0A,  plus representatives from the 
broadcast and short-wave sectors of the listening hobby.  

Interested?  Well, for more information please contact Stewart MacKenzie 
by e-mail to wdx6aa at earthlink.net or phone 714-846-1685 during normal 
business hours on the U-S west coast.  (SCADS)

**

WITH THE HANDIHAMS:  2005 CALIFORNIA RADIO CAMP ANNOUNCED

And the Handihams have announced that the 2005 California Radio Camp 
will be the week of February 27th through Sunday, March 6th.  If you are 
a member with a disability and want to attend, please contact Handiham 
headquarters for a camp application package.  You may either call the 
office toll-free at 1-866-426-3442, or e-mail hamradio at courage.org.  
(HandiHams)

**

RADIO EDUCATION:  ARRL TEACHERS INSTITUTE

And a quick note on the highly successful ARRL sponsored first Education 
and Technology Program Teachers Institute held the second week of 
August.  During the week long program Mark Spencer involved the teachers 
in hands-on activities for integrating wireless technology, Amateur 
Radio, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station and other space-
related activities into their math and science classroom curriculum.  
And word is that at the end of the week the teachers had enjoyed 
themselves so much that some said they weren't ready to go home.  (ARRL, 
ANS)

**

ALL POINTS BULLETIN UPDATE:  $25000 REWARD OFFERED TO CATCH TOWER 
ARSONIST

An update to our story three weeks ago about a fire bug who seems to 
hate radio.  A $25,000 reward is now being offered information leading 
to the arrest and conviction of the person setting fire to radio towers 
in the Clark County and Portland, Oregon during the past six weeks 
including a blaze that burned down a ham radio operators home.  

The most recent fires, set close together occurred on September 9th in 
Portland.  This, only 12 hours after a federally led task force asked 
for the public's help in finding the man they think might be a serial 
arsonist working alone.

John W. McMahon, a supervisor with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told the press that a task force was 
offering a top reward of $10,000 for information leading to the 
suspect's conviction.  Comcast, whose service was interrupted by one of 
the fires, added $15,000 to the reward. This raises the bounty on the 
fire bugs head to $25,000.

The fifteen member task force investigating the incidents has concluded 
they were linked to 12 communications tower fires set since July 29th.  
The most recent fires will raise the estimated damage done by the 
arsonist to more than $250,000.  The 11 previous fires had targeted 
communications towers or equipment and one private Amateur Radio tower.

As previously reported, the ham-radio tower fire, which was set August 
20th.  At that time it was the seventh incident and spread to an 
adjacent rental house, leaving it badly damaged. The resident, John 
Stein, AB7F, cut his hand trying to put out the blaze before 
firefighters arrived.

And a group of Public Safety organizations that is trying to help 
capture the serial arsonist has published a wanted poster complete with 
pictures.  You can find it as a PDF file of it at www.sbe124.org  
(Portland SBE, others)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  KE5AIT COMPLETS CONTACTS WITH 7 CONTINENTS  

Yet another ham radio record has been set .  On Saturday September 11th, 
Mike Fincke, KE5AIT became the first crew member of the International 
Space Station to talk to all 7 continents using amateur radio.  This, 
when he made contact with Palmer Research Station Amateur Radio station.

During the contact Fincke  spoke with Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ, while a 
packed radio room at the center listened in.  Fincke and Kimball 
compared life in the two stations, discussed time zone differences and 
the experiments involving fluids that Fincke was working with.  

Fincke is believed to be only the third astronaut to accomplish this all 
continent feat. The last such occurrence was in 1992 aboard STS-45 when 
astronauts David Leetsma and Kathryn Sullivan also talked to Palmer 
Station to complete their continent contact list.  

Fincke will be finishing his tour in the middle of October when 
Expedition 10 Astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, and Cosmonaut Salizhan 
Sharipov will come aboard.  (Courtesy of Kenneth Ransom, JSC)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  G3YJO NAMED VISIONARY AND INNOVATOR

And word that Space News International on the Space dot com website has 
honored a UK ham.   This as it names Professor Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, 
as one of the top space visionaries and innovators.   

In a recent article the news service said that Sweeting turned Surrey 
Satellite into the world's microsatellite builder.  Also that under his 
guidance this British company has trained a new generation of spacecraft 
builders throughout the world helping countries like Turkey, Thailand, 
Korea and Chile enter the space age.  (GB2RS)

**

HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE:  AMATEUR RADIO HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOONS

Attention East Coast hams.  The first SimSat engineering test balloon 
flights are targeted for launch on Wednesday, September 22, in the 
Maryland and Virginia area. These two experimental exercises are 
designated SimSat-1A and SimSat-1B. This is a good opportunity to show a 
local students how to receive the balloon's simple telemetry beacon.  
(ANS)

**

WORLDBEAT - CANADA:  NEW CALLSIGN OROPOSAL

The Canadian national ham radio society Radio Amateurs of Canada has 
submitted a proposal on Amateur Radio Call Signs to Jan Skora.  He is 
Industry Canada's Director Genera for the Radiocommunications and 
Broadcasting Regulatory Branch.

The Proposal, as approved by the Radio Amateurs of Canada Board of 
Directors, makes recommendations on changes to Call Sign Policy and 
Special Event Prefixes.  This, all comes as the result of the WRC-2003 
decisions amending the ITU International Radio Regulations to permit  
call signs in the Amateur Service to have up to four characters in the 
suffix.  (RAC)

**

DX

In D-X word that HA0HW and HA4DX are active as J45HW and J45DX 
respectively.  This, from the isle of Rhodes through the 3rd of October.  
Activity will be on 40 through 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31.  
QSL as directed on the air.  (GB2RS)

And TA3J will activate the special callsign TC2K4J.  This, from 
September 24th to November 2nd in memory of 40 Turkish Radio Amateur 
Silent Keys.  Activity is on 160 to 2 meters using all modes. (GB2RS)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  PART OF THE BEEB  ON THE BLOCK

And finally this week it look as if a piece of radio history may be up 
for grabs.  This with word that part of the world renowned B-B-C World 
Service is for sale.  

The United Kingdom's publicly funded British Broadcasting Corporation 
has reportedly approached Germany's Bertelsmann Corporation along with 
U-S media giants Time Warner and the Walt Disney Company as potential 
bidders for BBC Worldwide.  BBC executives expect the division, which 
includes BBC America, BBC Prime channels and 26 magazine titles could be 
worth up to 3.5 billion dollars of needed revenue. 

The U.K. government is currently reviewing the BBC's funding and 
license.  One report said that the broadcasters internal review of its 
options appears to be timed to coincide with the government's evaluation 
as well.   (W8HDU, Bob Ulm, WDOH-FM)

**

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 W-I-A 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, P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, 
California 91066. 