[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1486 - February 3, 2006

Sat Feb 4 15:24:21 EST 2006

Amateur Radio Newsline 1486 - February 3, 2006

CLOSED CIRCUIOT ADVISORY - AUGUST CONTRIBUTOR THANK-YOU'S

I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ with some thank-you's. 

In the month of August we heard from the Mt. Beacon ARC of Wappingers 
Falls, NY; the Greensboro, NC Amateur Radio Association, W4GSO; regular 
contributor Benton Bonney, W4PE of Orlando; the Tampa Bay ARC; Dean 
Carothers representing the W4HPL repeater of Cookeville, TN; monthly 
contributor Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF of Columbus, OH; the Dupage, IL ARC, 
W9DUP; another nice gesture from the Hualapai ARC of Kingman, AZ; monthly 
San Jose contributors William Walters, WA2IBM, and Scott Hensley of the 
Area Communications Team, and our old friend Dave Bell, W6AQ of Hollywood, 
who also paid for this yearƒ?Ts Young Ham of the Year presentation plaque.

Lastly, this thank you is a little out of order as it happened this month, 
but a MAJOR thank you to the Anchorage, AK ARC, KL7AA, where Newsline is 
heard twice a week.

Well follow up next week with our PayPal friends.

Month in and month out Newsline takes an average of $1000 to put the latest 
news of Amateur Radio on the air- it doesn't come to us- we have to go get 
it.  With no advertising, we depend on you- our loyal listeners. 

Our website- arnewsline.org has all the info you need to contribute, 
including a quick link to PayPal. Or there is our address: The Newsline 
Support Fund, PO Box 660937, Arcadia, CA 91066. That address will be 
repeated at the end of the newscast. 

Thanks for your help.  I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.

**

The following is a Q-S-T.  V-K hams go on brushfire alert, U-K hams worry 
that a museum closure will mean the loss of some historic call signs, a B-
P-L win in Idaho and an update on Suit Sat.  All this and more on Amateur 
Radio Newsline report number 1486 coming your way right now.

**

RESCUE RADIO:  VK HAMS ON FIRE ALERT

Hams in Australia are on alert as wildfires ravage parts of that nation.  
Robert Broomhead, VK3KRB, of the WIA News spoke to one ham very much 
involved in the ham radio emergency effort:

--

Audio report only.  To hear it please download the audio version of this 
report at www.arnewsline.org

--

WICEN is the Australian version of our Amateur Radio Emergency Service.  
According to VK3UB, the hams will remain ready until they are told to stand 
down.  (WIA News)

**

HAM HERITAGE:  MUSEUM TO CLOSE AND CALLS TO BE LOST

A bit of ham radio is about to become history.  This as a U-K maritime 
museum closes and three historic call signs appear destined to be lost.  
Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, is in Nottingham with more:

--

The Historic Warships Museum, Birkenhead, is due to close to the public 
next month with the potential loss of three unique Amateur Radio callsigns 
operated from the museum.  One of these stations, GB2PLY, is based in the 
main communications office aboard HMS Plymouth. The other stations under 
threat are GB0NYX and G0TON.

All three stations will be in operation on CW and SSB from 10.30-14.30 on 
the 40/17/15m bands on the 4th and 5th of February.  This could be the last 
time that 
the stations are on air from the museum, and radio amateurs are urged to 
try to make contact.

The Historic Warships Museum looks after four vessels at Birkenhead Docks, 
Wirral, including one of the last surviving German U-Boats and historic 
Royal Navy Falklands frigate HMS Plymouth.  The museum is being forced to 
relocate because the land is needed for a car park for a nearby development 
of flats.

The museum is therefore set to close on 5th February, but as yet a decision 
has not been made on what to do with the ships.  The cost of moving the 
collection of ships and artifacts in the museum is estimated at œ250,000.

I'm G4NJH, in Nottingham.

--

A group of former sailors has launched a petition calling for all parties 
responsible for the closure of the museum to guarantee the preservation of 
the ships for future generations.  Hams are encouraged to visit the group's 
website and add their names to the petition. In so doing, they might help 
safeguard the historic GB2PLY, GB0NYX and G0TON callsigns.  The URL is http://mylostoppos.com/forum/ (GB2RS)

**

THE BPL WAY:  IDACOMM DROPS OUT OF BPL BUSINESS

Back in the USA, another player in the Broadband over Powerline business 
has pulled stakes and dropped out.  This with word that IdaComm, a 
telecommunications subsidiary of Boise, Idaho based electric supplier 
IdaCorp Inc., is literally pulling the plug on its BPL operation.  

Jan B. Packwood is IdaCorp's chief executive officer.  In a January 27th 
Idaho Statesman news story he is quoted as saying that the company 
abandoned BPL after seeing that electric utilities were not immediately 
embracing the technology.  

IdaComm would not disclose the dollar amount it had invested in BPL, saying 
that was proprietary information.  It did however say that it has good 
assets in three of the West's fastest growing cities and believes that 
concentrating on its core products of voice and fiber optic transport will 
achieve profitability much more quickly than with BPL.  (Idaho Statesman)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  A PREVIEW OF SUIT SAT

If all goes as planned Suit Sat should be put into orbit on Friday, 
February 3rd.  What's on board this unique bird and what will it sound like?  
Graham Kemp, VK4BB, is here with a preview:

--

Simulated audio:  "This is SUITSAT-1, Amateur Radio Station RS0RS!! 145.990 
MHz"

 These words will echo from space in the near future, inspiring students,  
exciting ham radio operators and touching the world.

 VU2LOC, Shailesh Deshmukh, says if all goes as planned, a unique Extra-
Vehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk will be conducted on the International 
Space Station early February and during this spacewalk, the
 ISS crew will push a Russian spacesuit overboard, with no humans in it, of 
course!  But this Spacesuit holds the hopes, dreams and creativity of 
students around the world. And for a week or two, this Suit-robotsatellite
 will take on a life of its own parroting students voices from around the 
world, voicing down suit health telemetry and sending a special 
commemorative picture to all who want to receive it.

 Students, scouts, teachers, ham radio operators, and the general public 
are encouraged to track the space suit, hear the conversations from space, 
copy the suit telemetry and capture the picture. A special certificate will 
be
 distributed to those who receive the voice signals and those who capture 
the picture.

 A special award is available for those students who receive the "special 
words" that are embedded in the messages from SuitSat student "crew 
members." These special words are in different languages, English,
 French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese.

 Also included in this spacesuit is a computer Compact Disk (CD) with 
images of over 300 items collected from schools and educational 
organizations around the world. These include creative works of art from 
students as well as student signatures, school or scout logos, and class or 
group pictures.  Students, schools and educational organizations that 
participated in the development of this disk earlier this year will all be 
part of the SuitSat
 spacewalk---as their creative works, signatures and pictures all float in 
space!

I'm VK4BB.

--

If you hear Suit Sat, you can file a report at 
http://suitsat.org/results.cgi  More on Suit Sat in future Amateur Radio 
Newsline reports.  (WIA News, Shailesh Deshmukh,  vu2loc)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  RAMSAY ELECTRONICS ISSUED NAL OVER TRANSMITTERS

A name well known to ham radio operators has been told its in violation of 
rules regarding the sale of certain transmitting gear.  This as the he FCC 
has issues a $25,000 Notice of Apparent Liability against Ramsey 
Electronics of Victor, New York, for allegedly marketing two models of 
unauthorized FM broadcast transmitters, and two external RF power 
amplifiers.  Ramsey says that the FCC is wrong.  Amateur Radio Newsline's  
Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, has more:

--

Following up on a complaint, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau says it 
investigated Ramsey's marketing activities and equipment catalog.  R-W on-
line reports that the agency found Ramsey selling two of what the agency 
contends as unauthorized models of assembled FM transmitters.  These they 
identified as the models FM35WT and FM100BWT.  Also two RF amplifiers 
designated as models PA100 and LPA1WT.

The FM35WT FM transmitter outputs 1 watt of power and FM100BWT power output 
varies between 5 æW and one watt. The RF amplifier PA100 varies between 2 
and 40 watts of power output while the LPA1WT outputs one watt. The first 
three devices operate in the FM band while the LPA1WT operates in the 300 
kHz to 1,000 MHz range.

In its response to the charges, Ramsey reportedly told the FCC it does not 
require equipment certification for the FM35WT and FM100BWT transmitters.  
This is  because the company requires U.S. buyers to sign statements saying 
those devices will be exported.  Also, that certification doesn't apply to 
the PA100 and LPA1WT because those devices are not intentional radiators.

But in its January 23rd notice of the proposed fine, the FCC rejected all of 
Ramsey's arguments.  It said in its decision the company doesn't export all 
the transmitters sold.  It noted that Ramsey does not explicitly state in 
its literature or buyers agreement that the FM100B and FM35 Series FM 
Transmitters must be exported away from the from the United States and its 
possessions.  In fact, the company does not even mention exportation at 
all.  The agency also says that the amplifiers in question are classified 
as intentional radiators and therefore need to be certified prior to sale.

The commission fined Ramsey $7,000 for each of the four models, then 
knocked off $3,000 for past good compliance for a total of $25,000.  Ramsey 
was given the usual 30 days to pay, or seek a reduction or cancellation of 
the fine.  

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, reporting.

--

In addition to the proposed fine, the FCC has also directed that Ramsey 
also submit a report within that 30 day time frame describing what steps it 
has taken to come into compliance in this matter.  (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  UNLICENSED AM BROADCASTER FINED $10,000

Usually we hear about unlicensed broadcasters taking to the air on the F-M 
band.  Now comes word that the FCC has affirmed a $10,000 fine against a 
clandestine station in the A-M broadcast band.

According to an FCC release, back on July 25th of 2005 the agency issued 
Sylvane Simon of mattapan, Masachusettes, a Notice of Apparent Liability to 
monetary forfeiture for willful and repeated violation of Section 301 of 
the Communications Act.  Specifically, for operating radio transmission 
equipment without a license on 1640 KHz in the A-M band.

The FCC says that Simon never responded to the notice of the proposed fine.  
In affirming the action the regulatory agency gave Simon the customary 30 
days to pay or to file an appeal.  (FCC)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  SOCIETY OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS CALLS FOR EAS OVERHAUL

The Society of Broadcast Engineers says the Emergency Alert System needs a 
complete overhaul.  It made its position known In comments to the FCC, 
where it listed numerous recommendations for changes and improvement to the 
EAS.

Clay Freinwald, K7CR, is Chairman of the SBE's EAS committee.  He says that 
it is the organizations view that the EAS has reached a point where simple 
modifications or band-aid approaches are no longer applicable. 

According to Freinwald, the most recent Report and Order augmenting the EAS 
is a clear call for the application of additional technology to not only 
correct existing issues, but make changes in the way the systems works.  
This, in order to enable the EAS to move forward and serve more U.S. 
citizens via an ever-growing number of electronic communication systems."

Among the S-B-E's suggestions is the creation of point-multipoint 
distribution systems for the dispersal of E-A-S messages from their sources 
to those systems that transmit emergency messages to the public.  It also 
wants to see the   elimination of the Emergency Broadcast System era daisy-
chain information distribution system.  And based on the critical need to 
provide text messages to existing television-based systems and a growing 
array of non-broadcast EAS participants, the society has also called for 
the adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol as the method for the 
distribution of emergency messages from their sources.  (RW)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HAM RADIO AND THE EAS

Over the years some hams have suggested that Amateur Radio and specifically 
F-M repeaters be brought voluntarily into the EAS plan.  So far there has 
been little interest on the part of system owners to do so.  The biggest 
obstacles to ham radio participation appear to be the high cost of an EAS 
decoder that sells for several thousand dollars.  Also, the demand by the 
company that owns the copyright to the automation software that makes it 
work for royalties from all who use it.  There may be other ways to get ham 
radio involved in the EAS program and we will explore these in future 
Newsline reports.  (AFRNewslineT)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  VERIZON DONATES PHONES TO CURB DOMESTIC VIOLANCE

And a major communications company's donation of hundreds of cellular 
telephones should help local domestic violence victims.  This, through a 
program called the San Diego, California "Hope Line." 

The phones were provided to the program by Verizon Wireles.  San Diego 
police and firefighters will distribute the handsets to those most in need.  
Each of the 250 telephones will come with 3,000 minutes of prepaid airtime 
to help victims more easily stay in touch with family members,  counselors, 
physicians and attorneys, according to organizers. 

But that's not all.  Verizon also awarded a grant of $35,000 to the 
downtown Family Justice Center to pay for medical and forensic equipment 
needed to document evidence in domestic violence investigations.  Experts 
say that this type of information can be crucial in getting a conviction 
when a case goes to trial.  (Press release)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  MINE DISASTER SURVIVOR KC8VKZ IMPROVING

Some good news to tell you about injured miner Randal McCloy, KC8VKZ.  
According to news reports, doctors brought McCloy out of a medically 
induced coma that he has been in since the Sago Mine disaster that killed a 
dozen of his co-workers.  Doctors then determined that he had improved to a 
point where he could be moved to a rehabilitation center in Morgantown, 
West Virginia.  There he will under go long term treatment.  The latest 
medical reports note that McCloy's fever has broken and that he no longer 
requires kidney dialysis for life support.  Get well wishes should be sent 
to KC8VKZ at his callbook address.  (Published news reports)

**

RARIO EDUCATION:  LAFD ACS OFFERS HAM RADIO MENTORING PROGRAM

The Los Angeles Fire Department's Amateur Communications Service  has 
developed a comprehensive Mentoring Program.  One that's designed to appeal  
to prospective, new and established hams in the Los Angeles area. 

Under the program, prospective licensees are prepared to pass the FCC 
Technician Class no-code Ham Exam via a series of classes.  New and 
existing licensees are assisted through the Equipment Mentoring or Class 
Upgrade services.  More is on-line at http://lafdacs.blogspot.com/  
(LAFDACS)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  MIAMI TV PRODUCER GETS LEONARD AWARD

Some names in the news.  First up is Marilu Lozada, of WPBT Channel 2 in 
Miami.  She has been named to receive the ARRL's 2005 Bill Leonard, W2SKE, 
Professional Media Award.

According to the ARRL Letter, Lozada is a the coordinating producer at the 
South Florida Public Broadcasting station.  She is being honored for her 
work in producing a show segment about the 2004 ARRL Holiday Toy Drive for 
the weekly TV magazine "New Florida."  The feature incorporated coverage of 
the role local Amateur Radio operators played during the very active 2004 
hurricane season.  (ARRL)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  ARRL BOD NAMES DXPEDITION TO RECEIVE HUMITERIAN AWARD

The ARRL Letter also reports that the League's Board of Directors has named 
members of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands DXpedition team to receive the 
2005 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. The International Humanitarian 
Award recognizes truly outstanding Amateur Radio operators in areas of 
international humanitarianism and the furtherance of peace.  This 
Dxpedition turned its attention to disaster relief efforts following the 
December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed hundreds of 
thousands across the region.  (ARRL)

**

HAM HAPPY TIMES:  EXCITED ABOUT HAM RADIO

A new United States radio amateur hopes to some day work the folks down-
under.  Ronnie Meachen, VK4CO, has the story of Linda Shell, W5LSS:

--

W5LSS is in Corpus Christi, Texas and really excited about incorporating
 her new found "hobby" in her day to day job as Communications Manager of
 Driscoll Children's Hospital, South Texas's largest Children's Hospital.   
 Especially since she discovered her hospital has a ham radio station
 "in house".

 As a "first responder" W5LSS is in charge of communications in all 
disasters.

 Currently General minus Code Linda is working with a co-worker who is
 Technician Plus developing a Amateur Radio club for kids in the area to 
get
 involved, learn and have something worthwhile to do. 

 Linda told us "   With my General I am in hopes of getting into HF to
 connect  with all you guys DownUnder!!. I am working on code".

>From Townsville, I'm Ronnie Meachen, VK4CO.

--

With her dedication, it likely won't be all to long before W5LSS makes her 
dream QSO with V-K land, come true before all to very long.  (WIA News)

**

RADIO HERITAGE: PROJECT DIANA FIRST EME

Wednesday 25th January marked the 60th anniversary of the first successful 
attempt to bounce radio signals off the moon. 

In January OF 1946, engineers at Camp Evans achieved this feat, once 
thought impossible.  This, when they punched through the ionosphere with 
powerful radio  waves and bounced the waves off the surface of the moon.

Called Project Diana after the Roman goddess of the moon, the experiment 
gave birth to radar astronomy and paved the way for satellite 
communications.  (VHF Reflector)

**

WORLDBEAT - PAKISTAN:  RESCUE RADIO STATION UPDATE

Jampro manufacturing has donated an FM antenna to help set up a relief 
broadcast station in the aftermath of last fall's killer earthquake in 
Pakistan. The supplier said the antenna is for Volunteer Radio Service, the 
organization coordinating the project.  As reported earlier, Broadcast 
Electronics has already donated a transmitter to the reliref project.  The 
station will encourage public participation in rescue and relief 
operations.  (RW)

**

WORLDBEAT - CHINA:  LOWER COST FLAT PANEL SETS ON THE WAY

Look for increased number of high tech video displays coming to our shores 
from China in the coming months.  This as some of that nations biggest 
television manufacturers go all out to replace your CRT based television 
and monitor with a plasma otr an LCD.  Jim Damron, N8TMW, reports:

--

Two of China's top four TV makers say that they were planning major export 
drives for this year.  This, as they seek to offset thin profit margins by 
boosting volume and selling more high-end models. 

Sichuan Changhong Electric Appliance Co. Ltd., China's number-two TV maker.  
It saw its exports slump to $200 million last year from $70, is aiming to 
boost its exports to $400 million this year from $250 million in 2004. 

Shenzhen Konka Group Co. Ltd., the nation's number-three TV maker, is 
targeting a 60 percent increase in exports, as it seeks to build itself 
into a specialist making O-E-M sets for other manufacturers brands. 

Chinese manufacturers are heavily promoting flat-panel TVs, mostly made 
using liquid crystal display or plasma based technology. China churned out 
nearly 4 million LCD and plasma TVs in the first three quarters of last 
year. 

--

Some observers believe that the retail price of the China made displays 
will be considerably lower than their Japan built counterparts.  (Published 
reports)

**

DX

In DX, word that special event call 8S30JC will be aired throughout 2006.  
This, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Western Blekinge County 
Radio Amateurs in Sweden.  The club holds the call sign SK7JC.

And F4BQO is operating stroke TR8FC from Libreville, Gabon until May 2006. 
He is mainly be on air beginning at 18.00 UTC in the evenings on 14.190 MHz 
USB and 24.900 MHz on CW.

Lastly, the St Dunstan's Amateur Radio Society has been granted athespecial 
event station callsign GB30STD.  This, to celebrate the organizations 30th 
anniversary. The club will operate the callsign though the 31st December.  

Last and by no means least, the long awaited 3Y0X operation from Peter One 
Island should be on the air on the 2nd of February.  Keeop an ear on the 
usual DX frequencies for them.  QSL all four of these operations as 
directed on the air.

(Above items from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  ARNEWSLINET YHOTY AWARD EXPANDS

And finally this week, some big news about the Amateur Radio Newsline Young 
Ham of the Year Award.  Its not only now open to receive 2006 nominations 
but it is expanding as well.  It also has a new judge.  With the details 
here's the Awards Committee Chairman, Mark Abramovich, NT3V:

--

There is, indeed, a major change in the rules for Newsline's Young Ham of 
the Year Award in 2006. We are now expanding nominations to all 50 states - 
yes, we're adding Alaska and Hawaii. And, we're also opening it to nominees 
from the Canada provinces and Puerto Rico. 

In the past, nominees were strictly limited to the 48 continental states of 
the United States. But, after a discussion at Newsline's annual board 
meeting in December 2005, all agreed it was time to expand the pool. The 
move also got the thumbs up from our corporate underwriters for the award 
Vertex-Standard (Yaesu) and CQ Publishing. 
So, we are now accepting nominations for the 2006 Young Ham of the Year. 

Have somebody in mind? 

Here are some of the things you should be thinking about it in a nominee. 

It should be a young person up to the age of 18 who has done something 
outstanding as an amateur radio operator. Perhaps it was something special 
he or she did for his community through the amateur service. Maybe it was 
some outstanding achievement that led to an improvement in the amateur 
radio service or hobby in his or her area. 

If you're looking at what makes a good candidate, let me suggest you check 
out our special Young Ham of the Year website and look at the credentials 
of past award winners. You'll hear the web address at the end of this 
report. 

It's important that you, as a nominator, fill out the on-line or 
downloadable and printable application as required. If you're sending it by 
way of the regular mail, please make sure it reaches us at Amateur Radio 
Newsline by May 30. That's the deadline for all applications. 

And, we need as much documentation as you can provide us so the committee 
can carefully evaluate each nominee. 

When I say documentation, I'm talking about letters, emails and other kinds 
of endorsements that would accompany the application. In the past, we've 
even had photos emailed with some of the applications. 

Remember, this is a unique achievement for a young person. And, the award 
founder, Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, hopes that the winner will represent the 
high ideals we all hold as amateur radio operators. When Bill conceived 
this award in 1986, he did so with the hope of recognizing a young person 
who might one day lead other young hams into technology-based careers, or 
exploring science, or even becoming a future educator. 

That's right, the award is 20 years old! And we look forward to many more 
years. 

How is the winner selected? 

As chairman, I preside over an independent panel of judges who review all 
the nominations. It's a process that involves lots of communication and 
discussion before the winner emerges. 

When the committee selects the winner, we notify Bill, who has the pleasure 
of calling the winner and informing him or her of the award. Then, 
arrangements are made for the presentation which has been taking place at 
the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama, each August. 

Speaking of a winner for our committee, it is with regret we report one of 
our veteran members - the American Radio Relay League's Rosalie White K1STO 
- is leaving us because of family committments. 

Rosalie has been an outstanding member of the judging panel for more than 
10 years and we're sorry to see her go. We thank Rosalie for her many years 
of service and her valuable contributions. 

Coming on board to fill the seat is the ARRL's Larry Wolfgang WR1B, the new 
managing editor of QEX, and the man who's been behind the league's license 
manuals and associated publications for some 20 years. 
Larry is also contributing writer/editor for QST. 

Larry is active in the Boy Scouts and promotes amateur radio and Radio 
merit badge. He's been involved on the staff of K2BSA at four national BSA 
jamborees, including the last one held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, last 
summer. He's also a big promoter of the annual Jamboree on the Air event in 
October of each year and has introduced thousands of boys and girls to what 
amateur radio is. Larry also is the trustee of WA1BSA of the Connecticut 
Amateur Radio Scouters. 

As you can see, Larry brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of young 
people and their activities to the committee. We look forward to his 
contributions. 

In Philadelphia, for the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, 
chairman of the Young Ham of the Year committee. 

--

More information along with on-line and downloadable nominating forms are 
on-line at www.yhoty.org.  (ARNewslineT)

**

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. 