[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1456 - July 8, 2005
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Sat Jul 9 09:16:31 EDT 2005
Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1456 - July 8, 2005
The following is a closed circuit advisory and is not necessarily for air.
With a report on current finances, here is Amateur Radio Newsline's Support
Fund administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.
--
For the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to thank some of you who
contributed to the Newsline Support Fund earlier this year. They and many
others yet to be announced have made it possible for us to get this far
into the year without having to do very much begging. Unfortunately, the
flow of support has ebbed in the past month or so and that's why I am here
with you now.
Here are the simple facts. Amateur Radio Newsline has received only enough
financial support to keep the service going though mid July. Right now we
have a bit less than $75 in the account and close to $1000 is needed to pay
off the outstanding June bills so as to keep from loosing telephone and e-
mail service in mid summer.
But that's not all. Amateur Radio Newsline also needs to raise an
additional $1500 to cover our part of the cost involved in administering
the annual Young Ham of the Year Award. While our corporate underwriters
pay expenses for whomever is selected to be the award recipient, we still
incur the costs involved with the actual presentation which takes place
about 6 weeks from now in Huntsville, Alabama.
Remember. The Amateur Radio Newsline is a federally chartered 501(c)(3)
tax exempt corporation and a California state Not For Profit corporation.
This means that your donations are fully tax deductible.
The address help keep these newscasts coming your way is the Amateur Radio
Newsline Support Fund, Post Office Box 660937 in Arcadia California. The
zipcode is 91066. Again, that's the Amateur Radio Newsline Support Fund,
Post Office Box 660937 in Arcadia California. The zipcode is 91066.
Or you can donate instantly using Pay Pal. The account address is
n6tcq at arnewsline.org
I know I have said it before, but I will again. We, the volunteers on this
side of the microphone are here to serve you. But we can only continue
with your ongoing financial support. Please help. And as always, we say
thank you for your kindness and generosity.
For the support fund, Im Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
--
The following is a Q-S-T. Australia tries B-P-L telephone and the U-K
reports to hams on the future of the radio spectrum. All this and more on
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1456 coming your way right now.
**
THE BPL FIGFHT: BPL TELEPHONE TRIED IN AUSTRALIA
Australia has become one of the first nations to experiment with BPL
telephone service. Jim Linton, VK3PC reports:
--
Broadband over Powerlines technology has been trialled in Australia to
support VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol or internet telephone
capability.
Power utility Country Energy, and Australian broadband phone company
engine, are claiming to have achieved Australia's first use of VoIP over
powerlines. This is part of an extensive Broadband over Powerlines trial
being conducted at Queanbeyan in New South Wales.
In the recent VoIP experiment it combined the engin 'Voice Box' adaptor
product connected to an analogue telephone and a BPL modem. The experiment
demonstrated it was possible to make calls to both to landline and mobile
phones.
I'm Jim Linton VK3PC.
--
And for those of you who are not aware of how BPL transmissions work, we
have a short training course for you, compliments of the Wireless Institute
of Australia and Amateur Radio Newsline. Its this weeks audio special that
we call a 3 Minute Primer on BPL. Its hosted by Owen Duffy, VK1OD, and is
available as a Newsline Extra mp3 file on our download page at
www.arnewsline.org (WIA News)
**
RADIO LAW: UK SPECTRUM REVIEW RESULTS PUBLISHED
Ofcom - the United Kingdom's Office of Communications has published its
long awaited conclusions of its Spectrum Framework Review. The June 28th
report sets out the regulatory approach to the future management of radio
spectrum in the UK. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has the details:
--
The Spectrum Framework Review set out four key recommendations to achieve
Ofcom's duties and aims, and Ofcom now says that it will, over time, apply
this market-led approach to more than 70% of the radio spectrum. However,
the report also states that Ofcom will maintain existing regulatory
controls: where signals cross international boundaries; where international
mobility is critical, for example in aviation and maritime; and where the
UK has agreed to harmonize spectrum use in line with important
multinational accords.
Ofcom will continue to monitor and act against interference between
spectrum users. It will introduce trading and liberalization in a phased
way, intervening where necessary to make sure that these initiatives do not
result in excessive
harmful interference for other users.
I'm G4NJH, in Nottingham,
--
So far, no specific implementation dates have been announced and its yet to
be determined what effect the changes might have on ham radio in the U-K.
(RSGB News)
**
HAM NUMBERS: A DOWNWARD SHIFT IN THE USA
Back on this side of the Atlantic pond, and for the 12th straight reporting
period, all United States ham radio license classes except the Extra have
declined. So says George McCouch, K3UD, of Lexingtron, Kentucky, who
tracks licensing statistics and posts his findings to QRZ.com.
--
That's right Fred, and the numbers are not really all that bad. In fact,
in some ways they are pretty good. Heres why.
As of June 2005, K3UD says that there were 28,151 Novice Class operators,
317,655 Technicians, 136,435 holding a General, 75,812 Advanced and 106,852
Extra Class. That makes for a grand total of 664,905 United States license
holders as of June 30th. And while a respectable figure, it is down by 550
license holders since the last reporting period.
So where have we lost and where have we gained? 211 Novice's are gone as
are 37 Technicians, 135 Generals and 301 Advanced class. Only the Extra
has seen any significant growth. There are now 134 more of them than there
was a month ago.
Looking at the numbers one of the most interesting items is that Technician
class category showed the least attrition. Again as noted, only 37 Tech's
opted out and these could easily have been upgrades rather than people
abandoning the hobby. This however is hard to know as the numbers
presented do not track the changes due to upgrades from one class to
another.
None the less, the overall stability in the number of Technicians flies in
the face of the doom-sayers. Those who prophesized that many Technicians
would quickly tire of life on repeaters and not bother to renew or upgrade.
The numbers seem to indicate just the opposite.
The other good news is in the growth of the Extra class. This says that
there is still a good deal of interest in the ham community in the highest
license standard. One which is not very easy to attain. Even though the
20 word per minute Morse test is gone, the written exam is still a reach
scorcher, as anyone who has taken it lately will attest.
And even more good news: McCouch says that the latest decline was less than
half the average monthly loss. He says that the base totals that these
figures are derived from are the month-to-month totals beginning back in
May of 2000. This is the implementation of the then new licensing changes.
K-3-U-D says that he has been measuring the changes since September 6th of
2004.
I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles for the Amateur Radio Newsline.
--
By way of reference, The peak number since the last restructuring was hit
in April 2003. (QRZ.com)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ANOTHER SPACE TOURISAT TO VISIT THE ISS
Another space tourist will soon be headed to the I-S-S. Will he be on the
air from the orbiting outpost? Mark Abromovich, NT3V, says that there is a
chance:
--
United States entrepreneur Gregory Olsen will be the third tourist to visit
the International Space Station. According to the Interfax News Agency, a
contract has been signed between Olsen and Russia's Roscosmos federal space
agency. This has resulted in Olson being added to the crew of the ninth
expedition to the I-S-S.
Olsen is a technology innovator based in New Jersey and is considered an
expert on lasers and crystal growth. According to news reports he had been
hoped to visit the I-S-S this past April but was rejected due to health
concerns. With those issues no longer relevant a spokesman for the Russian
launch agency says that Olsen could fly to the orbiting station as early as
October. This is when the next Soyuz mission is scheduled to bring
supplies and a new crew to the orbiting outpost.
There have been two previous visitors to the I-S-S who have operated the
ARISS ham radio station during their stay. American Dennis Tito, KG6FZX
and South African Mark Shuttleworth. Both used Amateur Radio to share
their space experience with school children world wide In the case of
Shuttleworth is was using the special temporary South African ZSRSA call
sign. And as training in ham radio is a part of the space tourism program,
there is every reason to hope that Olsen will obtain his license and do the
same. We will let you know.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.
--
In addition to supplies, Russian Soyuz spacecraft also carry three-man
crews making it possible to fill the third seat with a paying client.
Reportedly, a week-long trip into space costs in the area of $20 million.
(RSA)
**
ENFORCEMENT: ANOTHER HAM ORDERED OFF ANOTHER REPEATER
The FCC has told yet another ham to stay off of a repeater where the owner
r does not seem to want him. This time the letter went to Anthony L.
Basile, N3HFB, of Cherrytree, Pennsylvania. The repeater he is required to
stay off of is the KB3KWD system on 147.150 MHz in the city of Altoona.
The KB3KWD repeater is operated by the Blue Knob Repeater Association. On
April 25th its licensee of record wrote to Basile requesting that he refrain
from use of the repeater. That letter is reported to have been a follow up
to a previous verbal request that N3HFB to not use the system. A request
the FCC says that Basile ignored.
Now the FCC is directly involved. Its letter to Basile is a warning to
stay off the machine. It says that if he again uses the KB3KWD repeater
after receipt of its letter, the agency will initiate enforcement action
against his license. The FCC says that this include revocation or a fine
ranging from $7,500 to $10,000. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: HIT TV SHOW INTERFERES WITH NYPD
Its not only hams who are getting notices of Apparent Liability to Monetary
Forfeiture from the FCC these days. A big one has been handed to the
producers of a top T-V cop drama. And the reason might just astound you.
Jim Dameron, N8TMW, has the details:
--
Producers of the hit crime series Law and Order have been hit with a
$10,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission. This, a month
after the agency learned the show's crew was using unlicensed walkie-
talkies that disrupted transmissions of the New York Police Department.
According to the New York Post, the FCC said the popular police drama
caused interference on the city's public-safety radio pool. This is
described as a vital communications network used by New York City's
police, fire and other emergency departments. The offending signal took a
real police detective to the Chelsea Studio on Pier 62 on Manhattan's West
Side. This is where NBC Universal films the show and where crew members
were apparently using the transmitters to communicate during the filming of
an upcoming episode.
Universal Television issued a statement saying that it takes seriously its
obligations to comply with FCC requirements and is proud of its record.
Universal pledged its cooperation with the FCC , but a spokesman said the
company disagrees with the current outcome. Translated: Its likely to
appeal the fine.
--
As is the case with most proposed fines, the producers of the show were
given the customary 30 days to pay or to file an appeal. (Shoptalk, NY
Post)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FAX LAW ON HOLD
The FCC has delayed until January 9, 2006, the effective date of the it's
July 2003 decision that anyone sending an unsolicited advertising fax first
obtain a prior signed, written statement as evidence of the recipient's
permission to receive the fax. Until January 9, 2006, such faxes may be
sent without prior written consent to people with whom the advertiser has
an existing business relationship, but to nobody else.
The reason for the delay dates back to July 3, 2003. That's when the
Commission revised its telemarketing rules including those concerning
advertising faxes, and reversed the original rule, adopted in 1992. That
rule said that an existing business relationship provided companies with
the necessary express permission to send facsimile advertisements to their
customers.
To give companies time to secure the new and required written permissions
and to have time to consider any petitions for reconsideration of these
rules, the Commission extended the effective date until January 1, 2005.
The effective date was subsequently extended to June 30, 2005 and now to
the new date of the 9th of January, 2006. (FCC)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC EXPLAINS GARAGE DOOR RFI
People living near certain military installations have recently reported
that they have experienced interference to their garage door opener
controls that may reduce the operating distance or cause the device to stop
operating. Now, the FCC has taken interest and has issued a public notice
to explain the cause of the interference and the steps being taken to
alleviate this problem. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has
more:
--
As explained in the FCC release, garage door openers operate, legally under
Part 15 of the Commissions rules. This means that they are very low power
and are unlicensed. As unlicensed devices, there is no right to protection
from interference. However, because of this limited use, the risk of
interference was similarly limited, so manufacturers of garage door openers
chose these frequencies for their transmit and receive devices. They have
been permitted to operate on these reserved federal government frequencies
since the end of World War 2.
But that was yesterday and this is 2005. A lot has changed and in response
to the increased needs of homeland security. And now, the Department of
Defense now must make more use of these frequencies to deploy new mobile
radio systems on and around certain military bases. As a result, some
consumers near these installations may experience interference to their
garage door openers that can reduce operating range or cause the remote
control to cease functioning.
The FCC explains that the interference will not cause the garage doors to
open or close on their own. Nor will it affect the operation of the hard
wired, wall-mounted push buttons that manually operate a garage door
opener.
So what can the consumer do if the new military radio system interferes
with an existing garage door opener? The FCC advises those people
experiencing interference contact the manufacturer of the door opener
control unit or their local installer for information on available
immediate solutions. The FCC adds that it is working with the garage door
opener industry to minimize the impact to consumers.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting
--
The FCC says that due to national security concerns that it is not possible
to predict in advance which specific users or locations near military bases
may experience interference. It also says that those in need of further
information on this problem should contact the FCC Call Center at 1-888-
225-5322. (FCC)
**
HAM HOLIDAYS: INAUGURAL TAKE YOUR HANDHELD TO WORK DAY A SUCCESS
The ARRL says that its first ever take your handheld to work day was a huge
success. The League says that the Southeastern area of the USA was the
most active on June 21 when hams were encouraged hams to share their
enthusiasm with others during lunch hour. ARRL says that it is clear from
a sampling taken from across the country that more than a few hams were
caught doing something nice for Amateur Radio. (ARRL)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: GOOGLE PERSONAL VIDEO
The worlds most popular Internet search engine is about to make some major
improvements. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, is in Auckland, New Zealand with the
details:
--
The Google search engine website plans to put out a call for personal video
clips as it moves to further expand the reach of its Web search business.
This, according to company co-founder Larry Page who says that the company
plans on accepting video submissions from people in the near futture.
Back in January Google rolled out the test version of its video search
service that allows users to find content in television programs from such
providers as Fox News, the NBA and PBS. The service, called Google Video,
allows users to see still images from the video clips and associated
closed-captioning.
Google has search relationships with numerous content and broadband
providers and hopes to extend those into new areas. Comcast Corporation
already uses Google search on its site and also creates its own content.
If fully implemented, the new service envisioned by Page will permit video
clips from other sources as well.
Im Jim Meachen, ZL2BJF.
--
Page made the announcement at a recent industry conference held in San
Francisco. (Google)
**
TECH-TALK: NEW LINKING SOFTWARE FROM EQSO
The eQSO VoIP network, which is one of several link protocols used by radio
amateurs to link radio and PC users via the Internet, has now released new
software and moved to a full registration system. The main Dallas Server
has been updated to accept only connections from registered users. New and
existing users need to log on to the eQSO website at www.eqso.org to
register and download a newe version of the software. This update will not
affect radio only users, providing that their local RF gateway has
installed the new software package. (VHF Reflector)
**
WORLDBEAT - CANADA: THE FRIDAY NIGHT TECH NET
Ontario, Canada's "Friday Night Technet" meets on the Internet and on the
air weekly. The purpose of this conclave is to provide a place for hams to
discuss topics pertaining to the hobby. Net Control is Reg Bagshaw VE3BQQ.
More information and on-line access is at www.hamtechnet.com (VE3RXM)
**
WORLDBEAT - UK: CELEBRATE THE
The 11th Island Games will be held in Shetland, the U-K, from 9th to 15th
July. To mark the event, Lerwick Radio Club is operating special event
station GB2IGS. The station may also be heard on other days through the
28th July and active on all bamds from 80 through 6 meters. More info is
on line at www.shetland.2005.info (GB2RS)
**
ON THE AIR: LET THERE BE LIGHT
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend 2005 takes place on 20th
and 21st August. Last year 376 lighthouse and lightship stations were
active during the weekend and the target for this year is to have 400
stations on from around the world. As of June 15th there were 154 stations
in 31 countries have confirmed their participation. More is on line at
http://illw.net/2005_list.htm (GB2RS)
**
ON THE AIR: SPECIAL EVENT STATION TO CELEBRATE THE FIRST A-BOMB BLAST
And you can literally call this one a true blast from the past. This, as
New Mexico hams will spend July 16th commemorating the worlds first atomic
bomb explosion.
Albuquerque's Sandia National Laboratories Amateur Radio Club will take to
the air as special event station W5MP from the Trinity Site as part of the
events 60th anniversary activities. Operating from "ground zero" takes
place on Saturday, July 16th from 1100 to 2100 UTC on 14.330 and 21.330 Mhz
SSB and QRP CW on 7.040 and 14.060 MHz.
If you make contact with W5MPZ a special event certificate will be
available for a stamped, self addressed #10 envelope. The Q-S-L address is
the Sandia National Laboratories Amateur Radio Club in care of N5ZGT, 1021
Dakota South East, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87108 (N5ZGT)
**
DX
In D-X, F5INL, will be on a 2 year assignment in Papeete, French Polynesia
starting August 8th. His callsign will be FO5INL. Fred believes that this
s the first time a three letters suffix has been issued in FO5 area.
During his stay he is scheduled to make a visit to Easter Island and
possibly another location in New Zealand. More information as it is made
available. (OPDX)
And K5LBU has told the Ohio Penn D-X newsletter that all systems are go for
a D-Xpedition to Swaziland. Frosty says that hem and his group hope to
take to the air on July 8th at about the time this newscast goes to air.
K5LBU will be operating as 3DA0CF and 3DA5HQ. QSL as directed by the
operators. (OPDX)
Also, GB4ON, commemorating Operation Neptune, is on the air through July
28th. If you hear and work this one, also QSL as directed on the air.
(RSGB)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: THE INTEL WI-FI SURVEY RESULTS
And finally this week, were you aware that Seattle and San Francisco are
the two hottest hot spots with the most wireless Internet activity in
America. In other words, they are the top places for wireless computer
users to surf the Web while on the move. Evie Simons uses her Wi-Fi
equipped Apple Power Book to tell us more:
--
Metropolitan Seattle jumped past the San Francisco Bay area this year
thanks to an abundance of Starbucks Corp. outlets, which have wireless hot
spots. These are places where patrons can linger over both their coffee
and their laptops according to Intel Corp.'s annual ranking.
The survey says that it was not just Starbucks that put Seattle on top. It
also benefited from wireless access at its Pike Place Market and the Space
Needle.
San Francisco finished second. This, thanks to wireless hubs at bars,
convention centers, office parks and strip malls from Oakland to San Jose.
Even more interesting is that hundreds of area residents have installed
wireless access antennas on their roofs, providing free connections for
neighbors.
Also in the top 10 are Austin, Portland, Toledo, Atlanta, Denver; the
Research Triangle area of North Carolina; Minneapolis; and Orange County,
California. And more expansion is expected within the next 12 months.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons on a Wi-Fi connection in New
York.
--
Intel corporation in Santa Clara, California ranked cities based on the
number of commercial or free "Wi-Fi" points from January to April 15th.
Surveyed were the 100 largest urban regions in the United States. (Intel)
**
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 Fred Vobbe,
W8HDU, in Lima, Ohio, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur
Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
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