[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1420 - October 29, 2004
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Sat Oct 30 09:59:40 EDT 2004
Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1420 - October 29, 2004
The following is a Q-S-T.
The ARRL Executive Committee meets to discus the future of
ham radio in the U-S-A and the next Solar Minimum may be a
lot closer than you think. Find out more on Amateur Radio
Newsline report number 1420 coming your way right now.
**
RESTRUCTURING: ARRL EC MEETS TO DISCUSS BANDWIDTH AND BPL
A draft of a petition to the FCC dealing with bandwidth
regulation and the latest on the B-P-L front dominated a
recent meeting of the ARRL Executive Committee held October
16 in Dallas, Texas. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce
Tennant, K6PZW, takes an in-depth look at what was
discussed:
--
At the Texas gathering, ARRL Executive Committee -- better
known as the E C -- devoted much of its fall session to a
discussion of comments received on the League's draft FCC
petition seeking regulation of subbands by bandwidth rather
than by emission mode. The E C also authorized the filing
of a Petition for Reconsideration in response to the
Broadband over Powerline Report and Order in ET Docket 04-
37, which the FCC adopted October 14. But the E C
acknowledges that the drafting and filing the petition must
await release of the actual Report and Order, which should
happen in a few weeks. It did however authorize ARRL
General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, to prepare to pursue
other available remedies regarding procedural and
substantive defects in the B-P-L proceeding.
Responding to a synopsis of the bandwidth petition and
proposed rule changes posted on the ARRL Web site, several
hundred League members and others in the ham radio community
offered comments and suggestions. The good news says ARRL
Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, is that the
Executive Committee found considerable support for the
concept of the petition. It also was happy to see some
constructive suggestions to reduce both the impact of the
changes on current amateur operations, as well as possible
unintended consequences.
By way of background, earlier this year, the Executive
Committee decided to make a synopsis and explanation of the
petition available before filing it with the FCC. At the
Dallas meeting, the E C agreed to submit several recommended
amendments to the proposed rules changes to the ARRL Board
of Directors for its consideration when they meet in
January. These include such items as retention of rules
permitting automatically controlled digital stations
including packet and other digital modes in narrow H F
subbands. The draft petition had proposed dropping these
provisions.
Also in the digital domain the E C addressed a rule
prohibiting so-called semi-automatic digital operation on
frequencies below 28 MHz where phone is permitted. This
addressed a concern that ''robot'' digital stations might
take over the phone bands. And a segment for 3 kHz
bandwidth with no phone emissions at 10.135 to 10.150 MHz to
accommodate existing and planned digital operations was
included.
Another item adopted was the deletion of the word
"continuous" from the description of test transmissions
authorized on most frequencies above 51 MHz. Lastly is
simplification of proposed changes to Part 97.309 of the
Commission rules. This, to clarify that FCC-licensed
amateur stations may use any published digital code as long
as other rules are observed.
The Leagues Dave Sumner emphasized that the recommendations
address major issues raised to date but are not necessarily
the last word on the draft petition.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in
Los Angeles.
--
The ARRL's bandwidth proposals take into account the
League's prior ''Novice refarming'' petition to expand some
High Frequency phone bands--included in the ''omnibus'' FCC
Notice of Proposed Rule Making in WT Docket 04-140. (ARRL)
**
RESTRUCTURING: UK HAMS GET EXPANDED 40 METER PRIVILEGES
Hams in the U-K have been granted expanded privileges on the
40 meter band. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, is in Nottingham,
England, with more:
--
Ofcom and the Radio Society of Great Britain are pleased to
announce that all necessary procedures required for early
access to the 7.1 to 7.2MHz spectrum for all UK radio
amateurs have been finalized and that access is allowed from
01.00 UTC on Sunday 31st October 2004. Early access is
granted on a Secondary (non-interference) basis using a
maximum of 26dBW (400 watts) PEP.
Notices of Variation for the U.K. Foundation, Intermediate
and Full licenses have been published on the Ofcom website
at http://tinyurl.com/4tuud. It is recommended that for the
time being only voice and Morse code modes are used between
7.1 and 7.2MHz. Band planning issues on MHz will be kept
under regular review and will be dependent on the number of
administrations granting early access to this band prior to
full Primary access on 29th March 2009.
Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
--
Thanks Jeremy. (GB2RS)
**
RESTRUCTURING: AUSTRALIA LOOKS AR VOIP RULES
The Australian Communications Authority -- the A-C-A -- says
that it is reviewing telecommunications regulations to cover
fast-emerging voice over Internet protocol services. In a
discussion paper released about a week and a half ago, the
A-C-A says that it aims to identify any regulatory
challenges resulting from the increased availability of VoIP
services and recommend to the government how those
challenges might be met. What affect any changes might have
to ham radio VoIP interconnects in Australia is to early to
assess at this time. (WIA News)
**
THE FUTURE: SCIENTISTS PREDICT EARLY SOLAR MINIMUM
And some possible god news for hams tired of the rather poor
High Frequency band conditions these days. It comes from
the GB2RS News Service which says that American physicist
David Hathaway believes that the next solar minimum could
arrive sooner than previously predicted.
GB2RS News quotes on an article on the 'Science at NASA'
website. It predicts that the next solar minimum could
occur in late 2006. That's about a year earlier than
previously thought
Dr. Hathaway bases his prediction on data from the last
eight solar cycles, which show that solar minimum follows
the first sunspot-free day on the sun by 34 months. In this
solar cycle, the first spotless day was on 28th January this
year and more recently, on 11th and 12th October, there were
two more spotless days.
Hathaway goes on to state that the next solar maximum might
also come early. He is quoted as saying that solar activity
intensifies rapidly after solar minimum. That in recent
cycles, the Solar Max has followed Solar Minimum by just
four years. If that is the case, the next solar maximum
could be not all that far away in 2010 and a Solar Max is
good news for D-Xing. (GB2RS)
**
A North Jackson, Ohio equipment retailer has been dinged
with a heavy fine. This for allegedly selling those illegal
11 meter amplifiers that the C-B crowd calls footwarmers.
The noted violations involve Paladen Communications sale of
external Citizens Band radio frequency power amplifiers. In
it's October 21st Forfeiture Order the FCC alleges that
Paladen, which does business as the CB Shop, did willfully
and repeatedly violate Section 302(b) of the Communications
Act of 1934 and Sections 2.815(b) and 2.815(c) of the
Commission's Rules by making these units available to the
general public.
Paladen was issued the $7,000 fine back on May 27th. The
FCC says the company never responded to the notice. Its now
been given 30 days to pay or face collection proceedings.
(FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: CB OPERATOR FINED $10,000 FOR UNLICENSED
OPERATION
And using an illegal C-B amplifier will cost a Washington
state operator some really big bucks. This as the FCC fines
Robert A. Spiry of Tacoma 10,000 for what the FCC say was
operating a radio station without Commission authorization.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the
details:
--
In its letter to Robert A. Spiry, the FCC claims that it
found the amplifier as part of a follow-up investigation.
This, after receiving numerous complaints from Spiry's
neighbors.
On March 13th, April 2nd, October 29th and November 5th of
2002, agents from the Commission's Seattle, Washington Field
Office concluded that the interference resulted from 11
meter transmissions originating from Spiry's residence and
from his mobile station in his vehicle. During station
inspections conducted on April 2nd and November 5th, 2002,
the Seattle Office agents determined that Spiry was
operating transmitters that were not FCC certified and that
he was operating with a linear amplifier attached to his CB
radio transmitter.
Spiry was advised that his use of unauthorized and non-
certified equipment voided his blanket authority to operate
his CB station. Nevertheless, the FCC says that he
continued to operate the unauthorized equipment at the
expense of his blanket authorization to operate his CB radio
station.
On December 30th, 2002, the Seattle Office issued a Notice
of Apparent Liability for Monetary Forfeiture in the amount
of $10,000 to Spiry. In other words, a $10,000 fine.
In his January 15, 2003 response Spiry did not dispute the
facts that lead to the fine. Instead he stated that he had
ceased CB radio transmissions and had obtained an amateur
radio license. The FCC database lists him as holding a
Technician class license with the call sign KD7TRB. He also
claimed to have removed his CB radio antenna and asserted
that he was unaware that the amount of the forfeiture could
be so high. He told the FCC that he was unable to pay that
amount.
But in affirming the fine the FCC refers Spiry to Section
301 of the Communications Act. It says that no person shall
use or operate any apparatus for the transmission of energy
or communications or signals by radio within the United
States without a proper license. The FCC says that Spiry's
2002 operation of his CB radio station with transmitters
that were not FCC certified and use of a linear amplifier
constitutes repeated violations. It also notes that his
taking down the C-B antenna and getting a ham radio ticket
are not sufficient actions to negate the punishment for the
original offenses.
The FCC says that Robert Spiry has not provided it with
adequate financial information from which to determine his
ability to pay the forfeiture. Based on this lack of
information cancellation or reduction of the $10,000 fine is
not warranted and that it stands as is.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Norm Seeley, KI7UP,
Scottsdale, Arizona.
--
Spiry was given the usual 30 days to pay. If he fails to do
so the FCC says that the matter may be turned over to the
Department of Justice for further action. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: BROADCASTER FINED
The FCC has also issued an $8000 monetary forfeiture to
Crown Communication, Inc. Cowner is the owner of an antenna
structure in Hobbs, New Mexico. The FCC says that the fine
is for willful and repeated violation of Section 17.50 of
the Commission's Rules involving Crown's failure to maintain
good visibility of the tower. The situation dates back to
August 13, 2002, when an agent from the Denver Office
inspected antenna structure and observed that unpainted
cables attached to it precluded good visibility . (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: NO LICENSE - STAY OFF THE AIR
The FCC has warned an unlicensed operator to stay off the
air or face some heavy consequences. This, in a September
30th letter to Travis Lee Dameron of Stuarts Draft,
Virginia.
In its warning to Dameron the FCC says that it has
information indicating that he has been operating radio
equipment without a license on the Two Meter Amateur Radio
Band. It tells him that transmitting without a license is a
violation of Section 301 of the Communications Act and will
subject him to fine or imprisonment, as well as seizure of
any non-certified radio transmitting equipment he may have
in his possession.
Dameron was also requested to call the FCC's Riley
Hollingsworth to discuss the matter. If Dameron fails to
stay off the air, the fine he could face would range from
$7,500 to $10,000. (FCC)
**
RADIO RULES: FRAUDULENT STATION APPLICATIONS FILED WITH FCC
Bob Gonsett's CGC Communicator reports that a number of
fraudulent Form 301 applications have been filed with the
FCC this month. CGC says that the agency has even accepted
for filing a number of these fake applications, and has
assigned them file numbers.
One application in question was for a conventional, non-
grandfathered Class B FM station. The petitioner was asking
for a transmitter power level of 105 kilowatts E-R-P. This,
in a Class B zone where only 50 kilowatts is allowed without
a waiver request. And says CGC, there was no waiver
request.
CGC adds that it appears as if the Commission is not
screening these incoming Form 301 applications. This, even
when there are blatant defects in some. (CGC)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: MOLLY SCHREIBER DEPARTS AES
Some names in the news. First is Molly Schreiber of Amateur
Electronic Supply graphic design and marketing department
who has announced her departure after 7 years with the
company. The reason. Molly says she is moving to what she
calls the lovely west coast adding that she will miss
everyone she has dealt with during her tenure at A-E-S.
October 29th was her last day with the company. (Via E-
Mail)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: W1BKR INDUCTED INTO BROADCASTING AD
CABLE HALL OF FAME
And congratulations to Bill Baker, W1BKR, on his election
into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. Bill is the
chief executive of New York Public Television, which
includes WNET Thirteen which is New York's flagship public
television station.
Bill Baker has been head of New York Public Television since
1987. During his tenure WNET has grown and prospered,
creating new program standards such as Charlie Rose, Wide
Angle, Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly, and the children's
math mystery series Cyberchase. Baker also established the
station's Educational Resources Center, which has become
America's most prolific teacher trainer in multi-media
techniques, and developed its first cable channel known as
MetroArts Thirteen.
Ham radio wise, W1BKR was a co-producer of the ARRL video
Amateur Radio Today and his article titled Amateur Radio is
Part of New Media Task Force appeared in the May issue of
QST. The induction ceremony honoring W1BKR will take place
on Monday, November 8th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New
York City. (Adapted from Shoptalk)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: N4MC "VANITY HQ" WEBSITE GOING AWAY
Also, Michael Carroll, N4MC, has announced that as of
Thursday, October 21st he is no longer supporting the Vanity
H Q website. Vanity H Q was, and for the moment still is, a
point in cyberspace where you can go to research
availability of United States vanity call availability or
simply find out the latest issued.
According to a posting at the site, at some point in the
near future the www.vanityhq.com domain will itself become
inactive. N4MC says that this is not an action based upon
lack of funding. Rather, its because of a shift in his
personal priorities. (K2GW)
**
HAM RADIO INDUSTRY NEWS: NEW QRZ CD-ROM AVAILABLE
The 24th edition of the Q-R-Zed C-D ROM Ham Radio Callsign
Database is about ready to start shipping. The disk
contains the same 1.2 million callsigns found on the QRZ.com
on-line database and you have the option of reading them
from the DC ROM or installing them on your hard disk for
lightning fast access. For ordering and shipping
information simply point your web browser to www.qrz.com and
click on the photo icon that says "New Q-R-Zed CD ROM"
(QRZ)
**
THE ARNEWSLINE SUPPORT FUND REPORT
Now with some good news here's Amateur Radio Newsline's
Support Fund Administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.
--
In the month of August we heard from monthly contributor
Joseph Bartzi, Jr, KC8DKF of Columbus, OH; From Indiana, the
Huntington County Amateur Radio Society, K9HC: The
Southwest Michigan Amateur Radio Team in Portage, K8KZO:
Dean Carothers from the W4HPL repeater in Cookville, TN;
Johnny Wallace, K5POP of San Antonio, TX; Albert Toering,
N6TEZ of Anza, CA; Monthly contributor William Walters,
WA2IBM, of San Jose; Monthly contributor Scott Hensley of
the Area Communications Team, also in San Jose; Harold
Hackman, W6HVH of Riverside, Brad Berryhill, WA6JJB of
Anaheim Hills, The Westside ARC of Marina Del Rey and the
Catalina Amateur Repeater Association, AA6DP.
A big thank you to everyone. Through your help we've been
able to take care of all of the Young Ham of the Year award
expenses, but of course, the newscasts go on. A reminder
that Newsline is a 501c 3 California non-profit corporation.
Information on how to support us is on our website at
www.arnewsline.org. That address will be repeated at the
end of the newscast.
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.
--
Thank you Andy. (ARNewsline™ Support Fund)
**
ON THE NET: JUNO FOLLOW-UP
An update now to our recent story on Internet provider Juno
cutting out most of its free services using off-line mail
handling software. And it comes thanks to some really
intensive digging by one of our listeners who happens to be
a Juno subscriber.
After hearing our story, John Vander Stel, WH6LY, of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, took it upon himself to find out more. He
says that contrary to our original story free account users
will not have to go through another ISP to access their Juno
E-mail after December 1st. He says that this was only made
clear to him by digging into the F-A-Q about this change and
then calling back to talk to another Juno phone rep. He
says that the even the first one he spoke with was not well
versed in this change and provided improper information.
But all of John's work paid off for those of you who use
Juno. The good news is that Juno access software will still
allow the free account user to access the Internet and go to
the Juno Webmail site to access their E-mail on-line.
However, the time using that connection will be counted
against their 10 free hours of connect time.
We have often said that you are all an important part of the
Amateur Radio Newsline team. Our sincere thanks to John
Vander Stel, WH6LY, who proves this once again. (WH6LY)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: WORLDS LARGEST NANOTUBES
The University of California at Irvine announced what it
calls a breakthrough engineering discovery that is expected
to have supercomputer and health care applications. This,
as researchers at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering
said they have synthesized the world's longest electrically
conducting nanotubes. Nanotubes that are ten times longer
than those previously created.
For those not aware, a nanotube is a memory unit made from
carbon and consists of a graphite sheet seamlessly wrapped
into a cylinder only a few nanometers wide. A nanometer is
one billionth of a meter or about the size of 10 atoms
strung together. The scientists who made them say that this
discovery may lead to the development of extremely strong,
lightweight materials and ultra dense nano-memory arrays for
extremely powerful computers, ultra low-loss power
transmission lines, and nano-biosensors for use in health
care applications. (Science OnLine)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ISS HAM STATION TEMPORARILY QRT
Ken Ransom, N5HVO confirms that the ham radio station on
board the International Space Station is back on thr air in
packet mode. It had been off for several days without
explanation but on Wednesday, October 19th, Astronaut Leroy
Chow, KE5BRW, was able to check on the radio first thing
today and resolved a minor setting discrepancy. Information
on its operation is on-line at www.ariss.net and
www.issfanclub.com. (M5HVO)
**
WORLDBEAT: FIRST STORE AND FORWARD IN UK
Turning to he internatioal desk, word from the United
Kingdom that its first unattended 'store and forward' single
frequency voice relay has become operationl. It as switched
on at 13.30 UTC on Saturday October 16th on 70.4375 MHz in
he Europen 4 meter band. Its call sign is M-B-7-F-M and it
has a maximum 'store' time of 120 seconds. The installation
is located in the Chiltern Hills with 10dBW Effective
Radiated Power from a dipole antenna 32 meters above ground.
(GB2RS)
**
WORLDBEAT: HAM RADIO SAILING THE ANTARCTIC
Call this one ham radio across the Antarctic. It started
back on September 14th, when the famed yacht "Apostol
Andrey" started out to circumnavigate the area while
carrying an operational ham radio station.
During the trip the yacht will travel around the shores of
the Antarctica without going further to the North beyond the
60th parallel which is the border of the Antarctic region in
accordance with the International Agreement. The crew will
try to establish a record for penetrating sailing yachts
crossing the 70th parallel of the south latitude.
And for ham radio here's the best part. The skipper of the
"Apostol Andrey" is Nikolay Andrey, R3AL. He plans to be on
the air from the Antarctic area starting this December and
continuing through March of 2005. Andrey has the QSL cards
already printed for this expedition and the ship also has an
official Russian postmark onboard and a special postal
stationary envelope for this expedition.
For details on the World-Wide Antarctic Program and the
expedition, go to the World-Wide-Web. The spot is in
cyberspace at www.ddxc.net/wap (Via E-mail)
**
DX
In D-X, word that VA6JWT is now in Somaliland. He says that
he expects to be there for at least six months and plans to
operate as 6O0JT. (RSGB)
And F5PSA is in Cameroon until February of 2006. He is
operating as TJ3SL in his spare time. (OPDX)
Lastly, G4JAG, is now active from Thailand as HS0ZFP. Chris
can be found on 20 meters most evenings and says the best
time for contacts back home to the U-K is around 18.00 UTC.
For all of these stations, QSL as directed on the air.
(RSGB)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: HAM RADIO HISTORY - A ZL MILESTONE QSO
And finally this week, a bit of history from right here,
down-under. Its the story of the first ever two-way radio
communication between New Zealand and England made on the
18th of October 1924 by Frank Bell of Shag Valley Station,
Otago.
Back then, Frank held the callsign Z4AA and on that date,
using some rather primitive home-brew ham radio equipment,
he made contact with Cecil Goyder, G2SZ at the Mill Hill
school in London. The CW QSO lasted for about 1 hour and
dealt mainly with issues of signal quality. It was also
the start of the first scheduled contact -- or sked --
between hams in the two nations. For several nights after
the historic contact the two radio amateurs kept in touch.
Further details of the activities leading to the historic
QSO can be found on pages 40-41 of the NZART publication Ham
Shacks, Brass Pounders & Rag chewers, A History of amateur
Radio in New Zealand. Detailed information on the actual
QSO, complete with a transcript, can be found on the web
pages of the Otago, Branch 30 of NZART. To read them, just
point your browser to www.qsl.net/zl4aa/ and follow the
index for more. (NZART News)
**
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(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.
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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