[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1428 - December 24, 2004
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Sat Dec 25 11:05:49 EST 2004
Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1428 - December 24, 2004
The following is a Q-S-T.
The mystery of the missing Arizona ham radio couple continues and
another illegal high power cordless phone is taken off the air in
Philadelphia. These stories and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report
number 1428 coming your way right now.
**
RADIO MYSTERY: HAM COUPLE STILL MISSING - VEHICLE FOUND
The mystery deepens as to the whereabouts of Thomas Hawks, KD7VWJ, and
his wife Jackie, KD7VWK. This with the finding of their missing Honda
CR-V south of the border after checks with crossing guards showed that
it had never legally entered Mexico. And now the man who bought the
Hawkes' boat has been arrested on money laundering charges. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:
--
A 25-year-old Long Beach, California man who purchased a yacht from a
pair of Arizona ham radio operators who vanished soon afterward was
arrested Friday, December 17th for investigation of money laundering.
According to police spokesman Steve Schulman, Skylar Julius Deleon paid
more than $400,000 in cash for the vessel that authorities allege that
he obtained from unspecified illegal activities.
Police said Deleon bought the 55-foot yacht named "Well Deserved" from
the Hawks. After closing the deal, Thomas Hawks planned to return to
the craft, moored at Newport Harbor, to retrieve his fishing and scuba
gear. News accounts say that he never showed up.
Deleon was arrested at at his Long Beach home and was jailed in lieu of
$250,000. He claims that he had nothing to do with the Hawkes
disappearance. Police say that the couple's credit and bank cards have
not been used since their disappearance just before Thanksgiving.
Another interesting turn in the case came on Thursday, December 16th
when the Hawkes missing 1999 Honda C-R-V was recovered Ensenada, Mexico.
How the car got there is a mystery in itself. As reported here on
Newsline last week, one ham who works at the U.S./Mexico border had
Customs check the license plate readers from November 10th through to
the December 13th. He reports via the QRZed dot com website that
Arizona plate matching the Hawkes vehicle had registered as going south
into Mexico at either the San Ysidro or Otay Mesa ports of entry. Both
of these are in the San Diego, California area.
Detective Shulman says that Newport Beach police have taken possession
of the couple's car and are searching it for evidence. Police said the
vehicle was in the possession of an Ensenada resident when it was
recovered, but provided no other details. And as we go to air, the
whereabouts of Thomas Hawks, KD7VWJ, and his wife Jackie, KD7VWK, remain
unknown.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.
--
Newport Beach police said Mexican state authorities and the California
Highway Patrol's Mexican Liaison Unit were instrumental in assisting
detectives with interviews, and in seizing the Hawks' vehicle. More on
this story in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline(tm)
from published news reports.)
**
ENFORCEMENT: BIG RETEST IS HAPPENING
A major retest of hams who took exams at several California test
sessions is underway. The FCC's Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, has the details:
--
Duckworth: "Twenty-six Technician examination retest letters were
issued in the W5YI VEC Yucaipa, California, test sessions of July 31st,
August 28th, September 25th of 1999 and February 26th of 2000.
Approximately 190 additional letters for examination retests will be
issued over the next three months."
--
The retests are the result of questions raised concerning the way tests
were administered at these sessions. This also appears to be the
largest retest call-up since the VEC testing program began. (FCC, RAIN)
**
PROBLEM SOLVED: FCC ACTS ON LONG-RANGE CORDLESS TELEPHONE COMPLAINT
An illegal long range telephone has been taken off the air in the
Philadelphia area. This, following a complaint by the Holmesburg
Amateur Radio Club regarding interference on 2 meters from the device.
According to the ARRL Letter, FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth
forwarded information from the club to the agency's Philadelphia
District Office on November 22nd. The club claimed that the cordless
telephone system was causing interference on its repeater's 146.080 MHz
input frequency.
On November 27th, an agent from the Philadelphia District Office
investigated the complaint and determined that a resident of Glassboro,
New Jersey, was operating a model SN-358 Senao cordless telephone. The
base unit appeared to transmit on 146.080 MHz, while the handset
appeared to be putting out R-F on 228.960 MHz. This despite
specifications listed on Senao's Web site saying that the model SN-358
handset operates on 268 MHz and the base on 394 MHz.
During an on-site inspection, the telephone's owner voluntarily
surrendered the unit to the FCC agent. The telephone owner stated that
he'd purchased the system, which reportedly did not display an FCC
certification notice, from an advertiser on the eBay auction website.
The FCC's Philadelphia District Office is continuing to investigate.
(ARRL)
**
ENFORCEMENT: A NAL GROWS IN BROOKLYN
The FCC has issued a $4000 Forfeiture Order to Joselyn Gordon of
Brooklyn, New York. Gordon is the owner of Rescue Car Service, Inc. and
licensee of station WPTH937. Gordon was issued the N-A-L for Rescue's
failure to operate radio transmitting equipment in a permissible manner
by operating on the unauthorized frequency of 151.605 MHz. The
forfeiture was issued on December 3rd. Gordon and Rescue Car were given
the usual 30 days to reply. (FCC)
**
RADIO ACCIDENTS: PLANE CRASH FELLS KFI-AM TOWER
A historic Southern California radio landmark came crashing down on
Sunday, December 19th. This, after a single engine Cessna 182 airplane
en route to Fullerton Municipal Airport from El Monte accidentally
struck the KFI A-M tower in La Mirada at about 9:50 in the morning. We
have more in this report:
--
According to news reports Jim Ghosoph of Temple City California was
flying the Cessna when it's wing may have clipped the top of the 750
foot high antenna structure. The tower came down in folded pieces. The
structure and its guy wires missed moat buildings with the tower falling
completely within the stations parking lot. A small fire ensued but was
quickly extinguished. According to information from Forbes News
Service, he pilot Jim Ghosoph, was a ham. Callsign KG6LPA. He and his
wife Mary who was a passenger in the ill fated Cessna were both killed.
KFI was off the air for about an hour, before engineer Tony Dinkel,
WB6MIE could make his way into the site. He manually switched the
station to its 200 foot auxiliary tower and brought power to the 5000
watt level. Thats where he left it for the next 24 hours as the old
tower was removed and damage assessments made. Reports indicate that
the 50 kilowatt tuning house was seriously damaged, if not completely
demolished.
While the cause of the accident is yet to be determined, local pilots
say that the KFI tower is nearly invisible from above on bright sunny
mornings. This is particularly true when wind conditions require that
planes land from the West instead of following the standard Eastern
approach. That was the case when the accident occurred.
According to news reports, local authorities are quoted as saying that
numerous requests have been made in recent years to Clear Channel
Communications which owns KFI. They wanted the company illuminate the
tower with flashing strobe lights easily seen in the daytime. So far
these requests have yielded no response.
Clear Channel, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, issued a statement
on Monday, December 20th. It said that the tower was in full
compliance with current Federal Communications Commission rules.
--
The National Transportation safety board has been called to investigate.
At airtime, KFI is back on the air on the auxiliary tower on 640
kilohertz but only running 25,000 watts. (CGC Communicator, Forbes News
via W6OBB, K7CD, others)
**
RADIO LAW: RULE AMENDMENT FOR ULTRA-WIDEBAND DEVICES
The FCC has adopted a Second Report and Order and Second Memorandum
Opinion and Order to further facilitate the introduction of new
unlicensed wideband devices in the 6, 17 and 24 GHz bands. These
devices will include radar systems to improve automotive safety, and
tracking systems for personnel location, such as hospital patients and
emergency rescue crews, as well as for functions such as inventory
control. (CGC)
**
RADIO LAW: PROTECT US FROM DAB THEFT
Recording artists' groups are calling on the Federal Communications
Commission for protection as digital audio broadcasting emerges in the
radio marketplace. The American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, the American Federation of Musicians, the Future of Music
Coalition, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the
Recording Artists' Coalition collectively filed reply comments August
2nd with the FCC regarding radio's transition from analog to digital.
While the groups acknowledged the potential for increased access to the
airwaves, greater musical diversity and more localism, they voiced
concern over digital radio's ability to allow listeners to rewind,
buffer and record radio broadcasts and songs. These digital options,
they say, will undermine existing revenue from CD sales as well as
emerging cyberspace based digital-music providers. As a result, the
organizations have asked the FCC to conduct a full "Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking" before allowing full rollout of digital audio broadcasting
emerges takes place. (Published reports)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: DIGITAL CAMERA SALES HIT RECORD LEVELS
Digital camera sales worldwide will reach $24 billion by the end2004 and
rise 29 percent to reach $31 billion in 2009. This, according to a
research group that studies consumer electronics trends,
According to a study by market research firm InfoTrends/CAP Ventures.
the top three regions for digital camera sales in the world in 2004 are
Europe, the United States and Japan. The study also said that sensor
resolution, represented in megapixels, remains the top specification
relied on by consumers when choosing which camera to buy. (InfoTrends
Release)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: 25% OF EARTH'S INHABITANTS ARE WIRELESS TELEPHONE
SUBSCRIBERS
Science On-Line reports that the worldwide population of wireless
telephone subscribers in now estimated to be almost 1.5 billion. That's
roughly about one quarter of the world's population. Subscribers have
doubled in the past five years, and the fastest growth is now occurring
in China, India and Russia. (Science OnLine)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: COLORADO IN JANUARY
Turning to the ham radio social scene, word that the Northern Colorado
Amateur Radio Club will sponsor the Winterfest 2005 Swapfest. This, at
the McMillen Building in the city of Loveland on January 15th. Talk in
is on the 145.115 MHz repeater using a 100 hertz access tone or tone
free on 146.52 MHz simplex. For more information please e-mail Willis
Whatley, WA5VRL to whatley at frii.com. (Worldradio)
THE SOCIAL SCENE: PENNSYLVANIA IN JANUARY
Meantime back East, mark down January 12th at 7 p.m. for the 9th annual
Phil Mont Radio Club Ham Radio Auction. The venue is the Masonic
Village in Lafayette Hills, Pennsylvania. Lots more about this event is
on line at www.phil-mont.org. (Worldradio)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: WHERE IS DR. WAYNE S. GREEN, W2NSD
And if you have been wondering what became of Wayne Green W2-Never-Say-
Die now that his 73 Magazine is gone, wonder no more. Wayne is alive,
well and speaking his mind in print. This in on-line article titled
"Wise Up With Wayne Green" written by Will Stewart for Hippopress.
The article is really a cyberspace question and answer session where in
Dr. Green shares his knowledge and opinions on topics ranging from human
longevity to the world of business and finance. About the only subject
he does not talk about is ham radio. Then again, with all he has to
say on a myriad of other subjects, you probably won't miss it because
this is once again Wayne Green at his very best.
HipoPress is a New Hampshire based news and public event specialty
publisher. The article featuring ham radio's own W-2-Never-Say-Die can
be found at http://www.hippopress.com/041209/waynegreen041209.html (Ed
and Ellie Cagal)
**
WORLDBEAT: 40 METER ACCESS EXAPANDS ACROSS EUROPE
Ham radio access across Europe to an expanded 40 meter band will swing
into high gear with the new year. Denmark has already published a plan
to allow amateur radio in the band 7.1 to 7.2 MHz as of the 1st January
2005. And now the Polish regulatory authority has agreed that the same
spectrum is to become available to Polish amateurs on a secondary basis
as well. This, effective bringing into force a new National Frequency
Allocation Table expected in January.
But Poland and Denmark are not alone. Other countries where I-A-R-U
member societies have approached their authorities for early access to
the extended band include Belgium, the Czech Republic and the
Netherlands. (GB2RS)
**
WORLDBEAT: UK HAMS FACE CHALLANGE IN MICROWAVE REGION
Hams in the U-K stand to loose if a reallocation take place in the
Gigahertz range. This as another consultative document -- the equivlant
of an FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making -- is published on Great
Britain's Office of Communications website.
This document is titled 'Notice of Ofcom's proposal to exempt automotive
short range radar users at 79 Gigahertz from wireless telegraphy
licensing. In short, it proposes to use 77 to 81 Gigahertz for license
free car radar use.
United Kingdom hams currently have a Primary allocation from 77.5 to
78.0GHz. The document states that designating the 79 Gigahertz band
for license exempt use by this equipment does not result in any
exclusion of other uses of this band in the future. In other words, the
spectrum could be shared at some future date between hams and the 70
Gigahertz vehicle radar service.
On 24GHz, the consultation document says that the European Commission,
Member States and the automotive industry are also currently considering
allowing limited use of the 24GHz band, covering 21.5 to 26.5GHz for S-
R-R equipment. A final decision on the that spectrum has not yet been
reached. (GB2RS)
**
WORLDBEAT - SA: PRETORIA RADIO AMATEUR REWARDED FOR ASSISTING THE BLIND
South Africa's Nico du Toit, ZR6AFJ, has been awarded the Amateur Radio
Community Service Award for the development of a device that turns
antenna measurements into audible speech. In this way a visually
handicapped person does not only prevent damage to the transmitter, but
also prevents the transmissions from causing harmful interference to
other users of the spectrum.
The South African Amateur Radio Development Trust introduced the new
award program ago to encourage meaningful community service. It
encourages projects like du Toit delivered or public service
communication support. The Amateur Radio Community Service Award is
bestowed annually. (SARL)
**
ON THE AIR: ANTARCTIC ACTIVITY WEEK
Turning to happenings on the air, I-Zed-8-B-R-I, reports via the Ohio
Penn D-X newsletter that the second annual Antarctic Activity Week takes
place February 21st through the 27th of 2005. The entire week will be
dedicate to the hams worldwide celebrating the scientists and
researchers who are workin in Antarctica. More information is on-line
at www.ddxc.net/wap (OPDX)
**
ON THE AIR: UK TO UKRAINE ON 70 CM
Also, word that the Ukraine has been worked on 70 centimeters from
England during a recent spectacular Tropo opening. GB2RS reports that
a stable high pressure system over the UK and Europe made it possible
Reg Woolley, G8VHI, to contact US5WU on 70 centimetres SSB on December
9th. G8VHI sent a 53 report and received 55 from the Ukrainian station
who was located in grid square KO-20. (GB2RS)
**
DX
In D-X, a note from our old friend Kris Partredge, G8AUU, says that he
is back in Baghdad and active as YI9AU. Chris is a broadcast engineer
by profession. Look for him on the 20 meter band and also over Kieth
Lamonica's the YI9DXX remote base. (G8AUU)
Also, VA6JWT is now active as 6O0JT from Galkayo, in the Puntland
autonomous area of Somalia. He should be there for at least six months.
QSL as directed on the air. (RSGB)
And KL7JR has been active on most of the High Frequency bands portable
KP2 from St. Croix in the U-S Virgin Islands. He's been there since
late October and will remain until the end of April, 2005. (Various DX
sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: A PRIMER ON ECHOLINK
Abd finally this week, if you have been thinking of trying to get on
Echolink but felt setting it up on your computer might be beyond your
expertise, has the just out January 2005 issue of Q-S-T Magazine got a
present for you. Its actually an article by Jeff Brone, WB2JNA titled
Echolink for Beginners that takes you step by step through the process.
Brone, who is described in the article footer as holding a PhD in
Theater is a very good communicator. He is also a teacher and performer
and users these skills to present the Echolink process using simple, non
technical language. In the end this makes installing Echolink on your
P-C and making your first cyberspace contact as easy as 1-2-3.
Echolink for Beginners is just one of the many features in the jam
packed January QST. To get it by mail you have to become a member of
the American Radio Relay League. To find out how, take your favorite
web browser to www.arrl.org and click on the words join or renew. Again
that's www.arrl.org on the World Wide Web. (ARRL/QST)
**
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 @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 Burt
Hicks, WB6MQV, wishing you a very Merry Christmas, 73 and we thank you
for listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2004. All
rights reserved.
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