[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1440 - March 18th, 2005

Sat Mar 19 10:01:00 EST 2005

Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1440 -  March 18th, 2005

FROM NEWSLINE:  SOME THANK - YOU'S

Ladies and gentlemen, Amateur Radio Newsline's support fund 
administrator Andy Jarema, N6TCQ:

--

In the month of November we heard from W. Scott Neustadter of 
Huntsville, AL; Monthly contributor Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF of 
Columbus, OH; The Joplin, MO ARC; Monthly contributor William Walters, 
WA2IBM, of San Jose; Monthly contributor Scott Hensley of the Area 
Communications Team, also in San Jose; The Inland Empire Council of 
Amateur Radio Organizations in Norco, CA and our friends at the Santa 
Clarita Amateur Radio Club 

Week-in, week-out, the gathering of the news takes funds.  It doesn't 
come to us- we have to go get it.  Check out our website at 
arnewsline.org for information on how to support us, or you can write us 
at Newsline Support Fund, PO Box 660937, Arcade, CA  91066, or there is 
our new PayPal account that some of you have already taken advantage of.  
The address for that is: N6TCQ at arnewsline.org.  I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ 
for Newsline.  Now to this weeks up-to-the-minute news on Amateur Radio

--

Thanks Andy.  And now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1440 with a 
release date of Friday, March 18th, 2005 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   

The following is a Q-S-T.  

Michael Powell leaves the FCC, Norway opens the 5 MHz band and ham radio 
tries to help save the final frontier.  All this and more on Amateur 
Radio Newsline report number 1440 coming your way right now:

**

WITH THE FCC:  CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL STEPS DOWN

The man who has run the FCC the past four years and served as a 
Commissioner four years prior to that has stepped aside.  Amateur Radio 
Newsline's Mark Abramovich, NT3V, has more on the last days work of now 
former FCC Chairman Michael Powell.  

--

FCC Chairman Michael Powell's legacy - at least among the amateur radio 
community - will be Broadband Over Powerline Internet Access.

The son of retired Secretary of State Colin Powell served under 
democratic president Bill Clinton and Republican George Bush - who 
elevated him to the chairman's job in 2001.

Powell was and still is a big proponent of Internet access for America. 
During his tenure as chairman, he certainly made it clear that broadband 
access would be a top priority.

Many key officials in the American Radio Relay League, however, felt 
Powell lost sight of his role as a regulator, became a cheerleader for 
the BPL proponents and didn't want to be bothered with the technical 
data showing the harm it caused to the radio spectrum.

Powell refused to back down on BPL and pressed hard for FCC adoption. 
And, even as the ARRL and others seek reconsideration, Powell's parting 
words aren't ambiguous at all. He says - paraphrasing here - it's okay 
to disagree civilly, but the welfare of the nation's citizens is first.
That's pretty clear - amateur radio and other interests - aren't the 
ones driving the bus. 

If you're a fan of digital TV, you can thank Powell for pressing that 
case and putting heat the on the industry to develop a standard.

And, you may also remember Powell took on rock shock jock Howard Stern 
and CBS parent company Viacom for the so-called Janet Jackson wardrobe 
malfunction during the Super Bowl half-time show. Viacom and its 
stations got hefty fines.

Now Powell is gone and at last count there are at least three contenders 
vying for the White House appointment to succeed him.  Amateur Radio 
internet boards are buzzing with chatter about a successor. Many say 
they hope for a person more supportive of the Part 97 regulations, 
especially when it comes to B-P-L interference.

Watching the FCC from Philadelphia, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, reporting 
for Amateur Radio Newsline. 

--

And this late word. President Bush has chosen Kevin Martin, a member of 
the Federal Communications Commission, to replace Michael Powell as the 
agency's chairman.  The new FCC chairman will oversee issues from the 
nations continuing conversion to digital broadcasting, the rollout of 
new technologies including those involving Internet telephony, and 
further changes in the broadcast and telecommunications industries.  He 
will also face continuing opposition from the ham radio community on the 
issue of interference caused by the introduction of B-P-L.  (ARNewsline™ 
from published news reports)

**

RADIO LAW:  NW ANTI-SMUT LEGISLATION INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE

As Michael Powell leaves the FCC, United States Senators Jay Rockefeller 
of West Virginia and Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas have introduced 
legislation that would raise the cap on broadcast indecency fines from 
$32,500 to $500,000.  The measure would also extend the government's 
oversight of off-color programming to cable and satellite while clearing 
the way for the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on 
violent programming, whether on broadcast, cable or satellite.  Another 
provision would double a broadcaster's weekly obligation to provide 
educational and informational programming for children from three hours 
to six.   (Adapted from ShopTalk)

**

RESTRUCTURING:  NORWAY GIVES HAMS LIMITED 5 MHZ ACCESS

Norwegian ham clubs will soon have limited access to the 5 MHZ band.  
Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, has the details:

--

Norway's Post and Telecommunications Authority has granted permission to 
Norwegian amateur radio club stations to operate on eight spot 
frequencies in the 5 MHZ-band. This, for the period beginning April 1st 
of this year and running until December 31st of 2007.

According to reports, the operation will be fairly restricted. The 
permitted modes are upper sideband and CW, with a maximum transmitter 
power of 100 watts. The center frequencies of the eight channels are 
5.280, 5.290, 5.332, 5.348, 5.368, 5.373, 5.400 and 5.405 MHz, with the 
upper sideband 'dial frequency' being 1.5kHz lower in each case. 

With this action Norway is added to ,the growing list of nations 
offering their ham radio community at least a taste of operation at or 
near 5 MHz. 

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks, WB6MQV. 

--

Norways' Post and Telecommunications Authority also says that Norwegian 
hams must operate on a non-interference basis with current spectrum 
users.  (GB2RS via NRRL HF Traffic Manager, Tom Segalstad, LA4LN)

**

RADIO LAW:  ECHOLINK AND IRLP NOW LEGAL IN SOUTH AFRICA 

Echolink and IRLP are now legal to use by radio amateurs in South 
Africa.  This, with the  Minister of Communication's announcement on 
Voice over the Internet Protocol, Echolink, and other systems using VoIP 
technology. 

While many Zed S stations have been using Echolink there was always 
doubt about its legality in terms of the South African 
Telecommunications Act. That doubt was removed on February 1st when the 
Minister issued his decree.  (WIA News)

**

RADIO MYSTERY:  FORTH MAN CHARGED WITH MURDERING KD7VWJ AND KD7VWK

Another arrest in the case of the still missing Thomas and Jackie Hawks, 
KD7VWJ and KD7VWK.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, 
reports:

--

Long Beach, California, police have arrested a fourth person for 
investigation of the murders of a retired Arizona ham radio couple who 
disappeared after showing their yacht to prospective buyers.  John 
Fitzgerald Kennedy -- no relation to the former president -- was stopped 
by police while driving.  He was booked into the Newport Beach jail on a 
double-murder arrest warrant with no bail on Thursday, March 3rd.

Kennedy is the fourth person in custody in the alleged deaths of Thomas 
and Jackie Hawks, KD7VWJ, and  KD7VWK.  As reported last week, Myron 
Gardner, Alonso Machain and Skylar Deleon had already been charged with 
two counts each of murder with special circumstances.

Authorities did not disclose Kennedy's alleged role in the case. The 
Hawks were last seen in mid-November and became the object of an intense 
search after they failed to return from showing their 55-foot cabin 
cruiser, the Well Deserved. Prosecutors charged Gardner, Machain and 
Deleon three men with murdering the couple in a scheme to steal the boat 
and other financial assets. 

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

--

Under California law, a special circumstance charge makes Gardner, 
Machain and Deleon eligible for the death penalty or life in prison 
without parole if convicted.  Investigators say that at least one more 
arrest in the case is expected.  (NBPD, Published News Reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FINE FOR AIRING PHONE CALL UPHELD

The FCC says that it will not reconsider a $4,000 fine that it issued 
against Infinity-owned radio station WBLK FM in Buffalo, New York.  
This. for airing a caller without first telling the person that the 
conversation might be broadcast. 

Infinity appealed the fine, which the commission levied for a call that 
aired in 2002.  The FCC rejected Infinity's claim that the broadcast was 
an isolated incident by citing another proceeding against another 
Infinity station for the same violation. 

Infinity protested the commission's use of the other case, because it 
has not been paid nor settled. The group also pointed out the commission 
has canceled or reduced other fines for similar violations if the 
licensee has made a good faith effort to comply with the rules. 

The FCC rejected both arguments.  It said that the only thing Infinity 
Broadcasting had done prior to its investigation was to maintain a 
written policy, which the regulatory agency claims had not been 
adequately brought to the attention of all its employees.   Infinity was 
given the customary 30 days to pay.  (Adapted from RW ON-LINE)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC FINES THREE STATIONS IN HEARING IMPAIRED VIOLATION

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to fine three San 
Diego television stations for failing to provide closed captioning or 
other visual information for the hearing impaired in a timely manner 
during the October 2003 wildfires.  The commission's enforcement bureau 
proposes to fine KGTV and KFMB $20,000 each and KUSI $25,000 for their 
broadcasts on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, 2003, the first and second days of 
the firestorms.  The bureau cited 12 instances in which KGTV provided 
critical information on evacuations, road closures and safety tips but 
failed to provide the same information in a visual manner for the 
hearing impaired or did not do so for 30 minutes or more.  For KFMB, the 
bureau cited 11 such instances. KUSI drew the largest proposed fine 
based on 22 instances.  (FCC)

**

RADIO RUBBLE:  TOWER COLLAPSES IN GEORGIA

A brand new 1,766 foot tower belonging to WSWS Television fell to the 
ground on February 28th near Cusseta in southwest Georgia.  The National 
Weather Service says at the time of the fall, winds were blowing to the 
east at 20 miles per hour with gusts as high as 32 miles per hour, but 
authorities say they are not certain what caused the tower to fall.  
Thankfully, no one was hurt and no  surrounding property was damaged.

The station was scheduled to make the switch from its current 300-foot 
tower, nine miles east of Opelika, Alabama, to the new tower by early 
May.  Now, that move will likely have to wait for yet another new tower 
to be put up.  Authorities are investigating the cause of the towers 
collapse.  (KB4KCH)

**

HAM HELP WANTED:  NEW SCOUT COORDINATOR FOR USS SALEM NEEDED

The scouting activities aboard the USS Salem in Quincy, Mass. are in 
danger of collapse. This, according to Harold Pugh, K1RV, in the wake of 
the resignation of USS Salem Scout Coordinator "JC" Cunningham, W1AI. 

Despite numerous pleas for ham assistance, Cunningham and company have 
been unable to recruit any new volunteers.  Cunningham says that despite 
numerous appeals, he has not had anyone volunteer.  Because of this he 
has cancelled all K1USN activities on the USS Salem and tendered his 
resignation as Scout Coordinator. 

Pugh says the USS Salem now has an immediate need for someone to step 
forward to become the new Scouting Coordinator.  He added that the ships 
ham radio support  group can give the next coordinator all the training 
he or she needs to get started.  If you are a ham living in Eastern 
Massachusettes information on how to volunteer is on-line at 
http://ema.arrl.org  (K9HI, K1RV, USS Salem ARC)

**

HAM HELP WANTED:  THE SACRED SUMMITS BICYCLE TOUR

The Second Annual Sacred Summits Bicycle Tour will be held September 9th 
to the 11 on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Blowing Rock near to Lake Logan 
North Carolina.  Amateur Radio operators are needed for safety and 
coordination radio support at rest stops, in cars, and at start and end 
points.  For more information, contact David Houser by e-mail to 
WA9OTP at arrl.net.  More information is on-line at www.sacredsummits.org.  
(qrz.com)

**

RADIO AWARDS:  CQ DX FIELD AWARD

CQ Amateur Radio magazine has announced the introduction of a new 
operating award called the "CQ DX Field Award."  Its purpose is to 
recognize achievements in contacting at least 50 of the world's 10x20-
degree "grid fields." 

The CQ DX Field Award is based on the Maidenhead Grid Locator system, 
already popular among VHF DXers and contesters. Contacts made on or 
after January 1, 1980 will count toward the new award.  That's the year 
in which the grid system was adopted for amateur radio use.  

CQ says that this is the first of three new programs to be announced 
over the next several months aimed at revitalizing ham radio's core 
activity of D-X'ing.  Complete details and rules will be published in 
the April 2005 issue of CQ magazine and posted on the magazine's website 
at www.cq-amateur-radio.com  (CQ)

**

HAMVENTION 2005:  RELATED AMSAT OUTINGS

If you are planning to attend the Dayton Hamvention and are into 
satellites, these two items are for you.  First, the annual AMSAT "Pizza 
n' Suds" party will be held Thursday, May 19th at Marion's Pizza on 
North Fairfield Rd.  Festivities  will begin at 6:30 PM and go until the 
last slice of pizza is gone.  If you plan to attend please contact Dave 
Misek in advance and let him know how many will be in your group.   
Dave's e-mail address is N8NPX at AMSAT.ORG

And the annual AMSAT Banquet will be held Friday evening, May 20th at 
the Amber Rose Restaurant in old north Dayton. As with past years the 
meal will be a buffet and served at 7:30 with a happy hour beginning at 
6:30.  Price for the dinner is $27.50 per person.  Reservations are 
required and the banquet is strictly limited to 90 people.  If you are 
planning to attend please contact Nancy Makley via e-mail at 
KC8GYW at amsat.org to reserve a spot.  More on both these happenings is on 
line at www.amsat.org  (N8UNY)

**

ON THE RAIN REPORT:  RADIO AMATEUR OF THE YEAR ALAN KAUL, W6RCL

And this quick programming note.  2005 Dayton Radio Amateur of the Year 
Alan Kaul, W6RCL, will be this weeks guest on the RAIN Report.  This 
will be part 1 of a two part interview.  Its on line right now at 
www.rainreport.com.  Those of you who don't have internet access can 
hear it on the phone at 847-827 RAIN.  Thats 847-827-7246.  (RAIN)

**

RADIO LAW:  P-2-P RAIDS IN TEXAS-NY AND WISCONSIN

More crackdowns on file sharing of copyright material.  Jim Davis, 
W2JKD, reports:

--

Agents of the U-S Attorney have raided the homes of five people who were 
allegedly involved in an illegal form of communications.  That of 
trading hundreds of thousands of songs, movies and other copyrighted 
material over the Internet.  

It happened in late January at residences in Texas, New York and 
Wisconsin.  That's  where federal and state  investigators seized 
computers that they suspect were involved in a nationwide file-trading 
network. 

The raids marked a sharp escalation of the years-long legal battle 
surrounding unauthorized copying over peer-to-peer networks. Until now, 
the Justice Department has only pursued elite groups of hackers who 
steal and distribute movies, music and software before their official 
release dates.  No arrests were made during the raids but charges are 
expected to be filed at some latter date.

I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD

--

Media companies are also expected to file civil copyright infringement 
suits against those caught in the raid.   (Published news reports)

**

RADIO NEWS:  NRCDXAS AT 20

April will be the 20th Anniversary of the National Radio Club's "DX 
Audio Service.  This is  a monthly cassette delivered magazine from the 
National Radio Club that is much like audio  DX News magazine  This is 
because each broadcast contains a number of segments such as the AM 
Switch, the Travellog, The Bandscan, Marketscope, Musings, and a lot 
more.  Here's a sample:

--

Sample audio:  Hear it in the mp3 version of this newscast.  Download it 
at www.arnewsline.org

--

Now, heres the best part.  If you work in radio, are a radio talk show 
host, a DJ, or just the stations engineer you are invited to send an 
audio congratulations to the program.  Keep it short.  30 seconds at the 
most.  Audio can be sent on a CD to NRCDXAS, 706 Mackenzie Drive, Lima 
OH 45805.  Or you can e-mail an MP3 file to fredv at nrcdxas.org. If 
possible, please use an MP3 bit rate of 64 or higher.  (W8HDU, NRCDXAS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  TRACKING CUBESATS

Hams interested in space telemetry reception are invited to participate 
in a world-wide effort to support student groups that have designed and 
made CubeSats.  These are satellites measuring 10 centimeters cubed and 
weighing less than 1 kilogram.  A discussion group and a new website 
have been created to provide information on these educational CubeSats.  
They are at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/CubeSat and 
http://users.crosspaths.net/wallio/CubeSat.htm respectivrelly.  (GB2RS)  

**

WORLDBEAT - CANADA:  REPORT ON NATIONAL ANTENNA POLICY RELEASED

Industry Canada has announced the release of a new Report on the 
National Antenna Tower Policy Review.  This review was led by David A. 
Townsend, a Professor of Law at the University of New Brunswick, with 
the support and assistance of the National Antenna Tower Review Advisory 
Committee.  Input for this study was received from Radio Amateurs of 
Canada, as well as numerous Amateur Operators across Canada. For more 
information and pointers to sites where the documents can be found, 
please visit the www.rac.ca  (RAC)

**

DX

In D-X, word that the  'Microlite Penguins DXpedition Team' will 
activate Kerguelen Island through the 2nd April.  The call sign being 
used is  FT5X.  QSL this one as directed on the air.  (GB2RS)

Also EA9CP and EA1BT will operate in their spare time as S09A from the 
Western Sahara between March 19th and the 26th.  (GB2RS)

And GM0ULK, is working in Nigeria and is active as 5N0GDS most evenings 
and weekends. He is mainly active on CW on the bands 20 to 10 metres. 
QSL him also as directed.  (GB2RS)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  HAMS WORKING TO SAVE "STAR-TREK ENTERPRISE"

And finally this week, the story of some hams who want to save the final 
frontier.  That is, save it from going off television.  Confused?  So 
were we but Amateur Radio Newsline's Evi Simons appears to have sorted 
it all out:

--

When the United Paramount Television Network announced two weeks ago 
that it was canceling the latest incarnation of the classic sci-fi show 
Star-Trek, fans worldwide were outraged.  Star Trek Enterprise was 
ending its 4th season and there were hopes that U-P-N would keep it 
going for at least a fifth.  Fans said that the show was really evolving 
and the latest writers were among the best ever.  The cancellation 
notice was a shock to many.  Included in that group were some ham radio 
operators who credit the show with stimulating their interest in science 
and technology.  One of them is  Paul Vinoski, KR8ZZY:

--

Vinoski: "There are three founding members of our local Amateur Radio 
club which is the Potomic Highlands Amateur Radio Club.  They are 
myself; John Sherman, N8VAA, and Donald Kreitz, N8LNW, among a few other 
local hams who are not really members but who did help to establish the 
club.  We are all Star Trek fans and we all sort of attribute our 
interest in ham radio and electronics in general to watching Star Trek 
in our youth."

--

Vinoski believes that he and his friends are not alone.  He feels that 
there are others in the ham radio community whose lives were positively 
impacted by one or more of the many Star Trek series.  He says that 
these radio amateurs can assist the many other fans who are trying to 
change the mind of the top network brass:

--

Vinoski: "The easiest thing to do would be to go to the 
saveenterprise.com website.  There are some addresses there that you can 
write to which is the Save Enterprise letter writing campaign.  Of 
coarse enough letters being written to several key figures there would 
show enough interest that it could save the show."

--

Vinoski also has some advice for any broadcaster who might eventually 
pick up the Star Trek Enterprise series:

--

Vinoski: "Sci-Fi (channel) runs a show on Friday night which is called 
Star-Gate and they have spun off other Star-Gate series from it.  And it 
has about the same viewership and they consider their show to be highly 
successful.  Yet U-P-N considers its show with 3,000,000 estimated 
viewers to be unsuccessful.  They can also attribute that their ratings 
are down to the start of the show when they had 12,000,000 viewers for 
the first show and it steadily declined.  So they brought in some new 
writers but they moved the show from a good night which was a Wednesday 
to a Friday night which in the television industry generally kills every 
television show because people do not want to stay home on Friday night 
to watch television.  They want to go out and do things."

--

The big question is whether or not the involvement of a ham radio 
operator or two can help sway corporate bean counters and network 
programmers.   That may have already been answered back in the late 
1960's when the original Star Trek series was slated to be canceled.  
Among the many fans who took to the streets getting signatures were 
radio amateurs from the Big Apple.  They were part of the first Save 
Star Trek campaign, covering the five boroughs and getting several 
thousand people to sign on.  We all know what has happened over the four 
decades since then.  

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons, in New York.

--

There are currently two websites that seem to be devoted to keeping Star 
Trek Enterprise in production and on the air.  They are 
www.saveenterprise.com and www.trekunited.com.  Both seem to update 
daily if not hourly with news of whats happening on the save Enterprise 
front.  So far, we have not yet found a ham radio only website devoted 
to the same cause.

**

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. 

A reminder that the nominating period for the 2005 Amateur Radio 
Newsline Young Ham of the Year Awaed is now open.  Full details along 
with downloadable and on-line nominating forms are at the awards website 
at www.yhoty.org.  Just click on 2005 Nominations at the top of the 
page.  