[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline #1487 - February 10, 2006

Sun Feb 12 09:50:05 EST 2006

Amateur Radio Newsline 1487 - February 10, 2006

The following is a Q-S-T.  Suitsat is on-orbit, Peter One Island is on the 
air and another revision to Question Pool Element 2.  Find out the details 
on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1487 coming your way right now.

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  SUITSAT CAPTURES THE WORLD

Its called SuitSat and it is a ham radio experiment that's caught the 
imagination of the world.  We have more in this report:

--

If the SuitSat ham radio satellite could speak for itself, the bird would 
likely quote writer Mark Twain and say:  "The report of my death has been 
grossly exaggerated." But whats likely to be remembered as one of the 
strangest satellites in the history does have a pre-recorded voice and here 
is what it was saying on Tuesday, February 7th:

--

SuitSat Audio Here

--

SuitSat is really nothing more than a disgarded Russian spacesuit loaded 
with old clothing and some ham radio gear.  It was placed on-orbit on 
February 3rd when the astronauts onboard the International Space Station 
hurled it into space.  And from the moment its signal was heard on the 
ground, Suitsat captured the imagination of the world:

--

SuitSat Audio here

--

Soon, news agencies like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and others were tewlling the 
non ham radio world about the Amateur Radio satellite that they could tune 
in on any scanner radio, and likely some did to hear something like this:

--

Audio here

--

But sometime during the second orbit  there was a glitch.  For a while the 
satellite in a spacesuit was not heard and when it was audible again, its 
signal strength was very low.  And soon the Internet bloggers were having a 
field day speculating that SuitSat was dead and calling the entire project 
a failure.  But it was not very long before the bloiggers and nay sayers 
foumnd themselves with a lot of proverbial egg on their collective faces.  
SuitSat was alive and transmitting its mressages to the world:

--

Audio here

--

There are many theories floating around cyberspace as to why SuitSat has 
such a weak signal.  One of the more popular is that the cold of space 
reduced the output of the batteries in the Kenwood HT aboard the SuitSat.  
Yet another is that the connection from the radio to the antenna may have 
come loose.  Regardless of what caused the lowered power operation, as of 
airtime SuitSat is still on the air transmitting both voice and data, 
albeit you need a good antenna to hear it.  

To help you collect all of the voice messages, SSTV and telemetry Miles 
Mann, WF1F, of the  Manned Amateur Radio Experiment group has posted the 
voice message timing schedule at the www.marex.org website.  Miles says 
that there are seven different voice messages as well as one SSTV image and 
battery condition for you to snag and decode

So far, SuitSat has been running a bit longer than expected.  In fact, it 
is still on the air transmitting back to mother Earth on 145.990 MHz as 
this newscast is being prepared.   WF1F says that SuitSat might even make 
it through the February 11th and 12th weekend sending back signifigant data 
that will help in future ham in space operations.  

Fotr the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reporting.  
Don.

--

More on SuitSat in upcoming Newsline reports.  (AMSAT, ARIS, MAREX, VHF 
Reflector.  Audio from KC5TRB, KC5KBO, www.aj3u.com,  others)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  SUITSAT DESIGNATED AO-54

And some breaking news regarding SuitSat.  SuitSat is now the AMSAT-OSCAR 
54 ham radio satellite.  This, as former AMSAT North America President Bill 
Tynan, W3XO, announces the decision to give the odball ham-sat that's 
housed in a disguarded Russian spacesuit an official satellite designation.

In making the announcement on Monday, February 6th, Tynan noted that from 
the information provided to him regarding the SuitSat project, it is clear 
that the SuitSat spacecraft is qualified to receive an OSCAR number.  Based 
on this, and as the keeper of the Oscar satellite designations he was happy 
to provide SuitSat the designation AO 54.  

Tynan also had praise for Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR and 
the entire SuitSat team for mounting this exciting and attention-getting 
project. Tynan noted that it is seldom that an amateur radio event has 
captured the public's imagination and evoked so much positive news media 
coverage as SuitSat has.  (AMSAT)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS:  3Y0X IS ON THE AIR

The long awaited 3Y0X Peter I Island DXpedition is on the air.  The first 
reported contacts were reported on Tuesday February 7th UTC time.

--

DXpedition audio here

--

DX remailers indicate that the entire team is on the South-Arctic island 
transmitting on the normal Dxpedition calling frequencies and listening up 
and down the bands for calls.  They are reportedly not answering calls on 
their operating frequency so responding there is a waste of time.

Ralph Fedor, K0IR, and Bob Allphin, K4UEE, are the leaders of the 3Y0X 
DXpedition and have 20 other hams with them.  Cost of this operation is 
estimated at over a half million dollars.  For the latest information and 
logs take your wen browser to www.peterone.com   (3Y0X Team, WIA News.  
Audio from peterone.com)

**

THE BPL WAR:  HOUSTON BPL TRIAL EXPECTED TO FOLD

The Houston Chronicle reports that amother BPL trial is coming to an end 
with the electric supplier backing it likely to pull the plug.  This, as 
CenterPoint Energy' says that it is not likely to offer BPL to consumers as 
a means to surf the Web.  

The Chronicle article quotes experts outside the company as saying that 
CenterPoint is likely to continue to use its BPL system only to track the 
health of its equipment infrastructure.  It says that by using broadband, 
utility companies may prevent blown transformers and damage to their supply 
and distribution lines.  (Houston Chronicle)

**

THE BPL FIGHT:  CALIFORNIA'S SAN MATEO COUNTY TO GO WIRELESS NOT BPL

Meantime some seventeen cities in California's San Mateo County have 
decided to join an initiative to provide all of their residents free 
broadband access, but it will not be BPL .  The plan is for a wireless 
system to serve more than 1.5 million people including residents of 
unincorporated portions of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties where 
wireless reception is currently spotty or nonexistent. 

The project is being coordinated by the non-profit Joint Venture Silicon 
Valley Network and the San Mateo County Telecommunications Authority.  In 
making the announcement San Mateo joins neighboring cities including Palo 
Alto and San Jose in the region-wide initiative to get broadband wireless 
access to all residents.  (San Jose Ledger, others)

**

HAM RADIO TESTING:  NCVEC QPC RELEASES REVISED ELEMENT 2

A second and revised edition of the the 2006 Element 2 pool has been 
released to the public by the NCVEC Question Pool Committee.  The new 
version dated February 6th remedies a few additional errors that were 
discovered after the initial release.  

Because of this, the Committee says that previous versions of Element 2 
questions should not be used in any form, and should be discarded entirely. 
Only the version dated February 6, 2006 is to be used.  

The committee adds that they are hopeful that no additional errors will be 
discovered.  If any are, then any subsequent changes will be handled by 
deletion of the affected question only.  (NCVEC - QPC)

**

RADIO POLITICS:  MC DOWELL TO BE NOMINATED FOR FCC SEAT

The White House has said it intends to nominate attorney Robert McDowell to 
be an FCC commissioner.

McDowell is senior vice president and assistant general counsel with 
CompTel, which represents many Bell competitors, including Internet phone 
providers.  A spokesman said that McDowell has a wealth of knowledge in the 
communications arena, and that the White House will rely on his insight 
when evaluating the issues before us."

If confirmed by the Senate, The Republican would bring the agency back to 
its full complement of five commissioners. Chairman Kevin Martin applauded 
the action.  He said that McDowell would prove to be a great asset.  
(Published reports)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  EAS FOLLOW-UP - THE NAB POSITION

A follow-up on last weeks story concerning the Emergency Alert System and 
the view of the Society of Broadcast Enginners view that it needs to be 
completely redesigned.  Now comes word that the National Association of 
Broadcasters is urging the FCC to forgo any new regulations and to continue 
to work with the industry to implement voluntary measures for improving E-
A-S.  Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:

--

In comments to the commission, the National Association of Broadcasters 
says that it supports many of the agency's proposals to enhance public 
warning through the Emergency Alert System.  This includes incorporating 
digital technologies and the adoption of a common protocol language.  N-A-B 
also says that it applauds the Commission's continued efforts to ensure 
that all Americans, including those with hearing and visual disabilities, 
as well as non-English speaking persons, have access to emergency 
information.  

But the NAB is also urging the FCC to refrain from requiring audio 
transcription of E-A-S messages.  This is because the NAB views this as a 
de facto real-time captioning requirement that it believes would more 
likely impede the timely dissemination of emergency information.

Meantime the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the United 
Church of Christ and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council 
believe multilingual messaging should be included in any changes to the EAS 
system the FCC might make to analog and digital service providers. In their 
comments to the EAS docket, EB 04-296, the groups said that if where 
technically feasible, the commission should also incorporate multilingual 
E-A-S messaging in the development of any alert and warning system deployed 
on other technologies.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennat, K6PZW, reporting.

--

For its part, the National Association of Broadcasters says that this 
request raises several statutory and practical issues that need to be 
addressed.  It believes that the FCC should refrain from implementing those 
proposals at this time.  (RW)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  CLEAN UP THE REPEATER TO REPEATER INTERFERENCE

A Vista, California, ham has been told by the FCC to clear up the 
interference that his uncoordinated repeater is causing to a coordinated 
system.  This, in a  January 9th latter where the FCC tells Jeffrey Soouffer 
that his K6JSI repeater must clear up the impediment to the coordinated 
systems operation.  

By way of background, back on September 1st, 2005, the FCC  notified 
Stouffer that iit had received a complaint alleging that you he was 
operating an uncoordinated repeater on 441.650 MHz at Mt. St. Helena.  
Also, that his repeater was causing interference to the coordinated KD6FVA 
repeater on the same frequency.  The complaint indicated that Stouffer have 
been made aware of the interference and the apparent lack of coordination, 
but that he had have declined to resolve the interference.  

Stouffer responded to the FCC letter on October 7 and 17, 2005, but was 
unable to show that his repeater is coordinated.  As a result, Stouffer was 
given 20 days from his receipt of the latest FCC communication to detail 
what steps he is taking to resolve the interference to coordinated repeater 
KD6FVA.  He was also told that the information he  submits will be used to 
determine what further action if any that the FCC will take in this matter.  

In cases where two repeaters interfere with one another the FCC has deemed 
that the one that's uncoordinated has primary responsibility to clear away 
any interference it causes to a coordinated machine.  (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC UPHOLDS TOWER FINE

The FCC rejected a request by Cumulus Communications to reduce or dismiss a 
$10,000 fine.  This, regarding painting violations for two AM towers near 
Savannah, Ga.

In 2001, the agency issued a Notice of Violation, saying the towers needed 
to be cleaned and repainted. The company said it was getting bids and would 
repaint the towers. In 2002, it said it would move operations for WBMQ(AM) 
and dismantle the towers. In 2003, the commission fined the broadcaster, 
which did not contest the penalty, but asked for it to be reduced because 
of past good compliance. The commission upheld the fine in 2004 and said 
measures to correct the situation did not mitigate the fact that violations 
occurred. It denied the claim of past good compliance.

In 2005, Cumulus asked for reconsideration, citing "exceptional 
circumstances," saying it was caught between two government agencies with 
differing rules. Cumulus said it needed permission from the Army Corps of 
Engineers to dismantle the towers, and could incur liability of more than 
$100,000 if it did not wait for that okay. The broadcaster also hired 
consultants to evaluate environmental and safety issues and determine the 
best way to bring down the towers. The towers were dismantled in July of 
2005.

The FCC said the "exceptional circumstances" argument was flawed, that the 
cost and complexity of fixing a tower violation is not a basis to get 
relief from a penalty and it upheld the $10,000 fine.  (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  FCC REDUCES TOWER FINE

Meantime the FCC reduced by 50% a previously levied fine issued against 
Gresham Communications owner William Saunders.  The commission had said his 
tower in Walterboro, South Carolina, had no red obstruction lighting at 
night. 

During an inspection in 2000, a field agent discovered the tower was not 
registered with the agency.  Saunders told the FCC the red beacon was 
repaired and provided a copy of a registration application.

After receiving a complaint that the tower had not been lighted for two 
years, in 2002, the FCC re-inspected and found the same violations.  It 
eventually issued  Saunders a $10,000 Notice of Apparent Liability to 
Monetary Forfeiture.  In other words a fine.

In his defense, Saunders said vandals caused the tower damage and that the 
other lights on the structure worked.  The commission cut the fine in half 
after Saunders proved paying $10,000 would cause financial hardship.  (FCC)

**

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  RUPERT GOODSPEED, WA6QLE - S.K.

Unless you work in the broadcast industry, the name Rupert Goodspeed and 
the call sign WA6QLE likely do not mean much.  Especially to those living 
outside of Southern California.  But each time you turn on a television set 
and see a show that originates from CBS Television City in Hollywood, you 
are witnessing part of the legacy of WA6QLE. 

Rupe Goodspeed was a legend in Los Angeles broadcast engineering circles.  
Starting in radio in Oregon, he migrated south to Los Angeles and his first 
position as a camera operator at what was then KLAC TV.  From there he went 
on to become a respected design engineer and engineering consultant to such 
top name talent as Red Skelton and to corporations as C-B-S.  It was while 
with Skelton in the 1960's that he designed and built the first ever mobile 
videotape production operation known as Red-O-Tape.  He also had a hand in 
the design of Television City and numerous other production facilities in 
the Los Angeles area.  

Ironically, his last major mobile studio was built at the request of 
another ham.  In 1979 Producer Dave Bell, W6AQ, contracted with WA6QLE, to 
build one of the first ever mini production trucks.  It was used for 
several years to tape the USA Network show Alive and Well.

An avid sailor, Rupe got his Commodore's rating once he retired from the 
broadcast business.  He was also one of the first hams to bring computers 
into the hobby using an Apple 2 in the early 1980's.  And over the next 
quarter of a century these two interests consumed much of his time.

On Tuesday, January 24th, Rupert Goodspeed, WA6QLE, became a Silent Key at 
age 80. He is survived by his wife Betsy, two daughters and a son.  Per his 
request no formal memorial service is planned.  (ARNewslineT)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  BILL ROTHWELL, VE3FGW - S'K.

The Radio Amateurs of Canada Board of Directors regret to advise of the 
passing of Bill Rothwell, VE3FGW, in Ottawa, on Monday, January 30th.  An 
avid amateur for more than 55 years, Roithwell was a former Treasurer of 
Radio Amateurs of Canada and at the time of his death was active in in the 
organization as a weekly volunteer providing support in the RAC office.  
Funeral services for Rothwell were held in Ottawa on February 2nd.  (RAC)

**

TECH FILE:  L.A. SHERIFF SOON TO BEGIN TESTING R/C AERIAL SURVEILLANCE 
DRONE 

Call this a truly high tech model airplane with a special purpose.  The Los 
Angeles County Sheriff's Department has been working with Chang Industry 
for about three years developing an unmanned aerial vehicle capable to 
relaying video from an altitude of about 250 feet.  

The 4-pound drone has a wingspan of about six feet and can remain aloft for 
an hour before the battery must be replaced or recharged.  No word on how 
much has been spent developing the flying model but hams have been doing 
the same thing at very low cost for years.  (L.A.S.D. release)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  TWO HAMS AS NEXT SPACE STATION CREW

NASA and its International Space Station partners have announced that 
astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, 
will be the ISS Expedition 13 crew.  According to the ARRL Letter, the pair 
wuwillm arrive aboard the orbiting outpost in early April to relieve the 
current crew of ISS Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, and Valery Tokarev. 

Vinogradov will be the Expedition 13 commander, while Williams, a US Army 
colonel who's logged one space flight, will serve as ISS flight engineer 
and NASA ISS science officer.

Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes will join Williams and Vinogradov aboard 
the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will transport the new crew to the ISS.  
Vinogradov and Williams will spend six months on the station, while Pontes 
will spend eight days conducting research under a commercial agreement 
between the Brazilian Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency. 

Brazilian telecommunications authorities have granted Pontes the call sign 
PY0AEB for use on his space journey, and there are plans for him to do 
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station school group contacts 
during his mission.  He will return to Earth in April with McArthur and 
Tokarev, who have been in orbit since last October.  (ARRL Letter, ANS)

**

WORLDBEAT - UK:  RADIOFAX IS BACK

The legendary shortwave station Radiofax has been reincarnated as a 
website.  Launched by Andy Burham and Trevor Brookes who were the producers 
of the original Radiofax Sparks programs the web radio station will offer 
audio downloads in podcast style.

The internet radio station will feature remastered extracts from Radiofax's 
extensive archives, including detailed comment on the Crossed Field Antenna 
and a Desert Island Discs style program from Andy Bradgate of Radio 
Caroline fame.  You can read more, and listen, at www.radiofax.org   (RSGB)

**

DX

In DX, word that DJ5HD, is now active from Mauritius portable 3B8. Activity 
will be on 80-10 meters CW and SSB. He has already been heard on 40 meters 
CW after 1900 U-T-C and is expected to be there until February 15th. QSL 
via his home callsign.

And word that G4WFQ, is now active portable 6W from Senegal and will be 
until February 17th.  His activity is 160 through 10 meters mainly on CW
and RTTY with some SSB. QSL via G3SWH, by the bureau or direct with a self 
addressed envelope and adequate return postage.

Lastly, keep an ear open for Mauritania as 5T0JL.  He is in Nouakchott and  
continues to be very active on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 12 meters on CW.  QSL via 
ON8RA

(Above from various DX news sources.)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  TELEGRAMS NO MORE

And finally this week, a goodbye to an old friend.  Not a person.  Rather a 
thing.  After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending 
telegrams.

If you visit the company's web site and click on "Telegrams" in the left-
side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that says it all.  The message 
reads and we quote:   "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will 
discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services.  We regret any 
inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal 
patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer 
service representative."

According to an article by LifeSciences dot com, Western Union goes back to 
1851 as the Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company.  In 1856 it 
became the Western Union Telegraph Company after acquisition of competing 
telegraph systems.  By 1861, during the Civil War, it had created a coast-
to-coast network of lines.

So, why has the Telegram gone the way of hieroglyphics, smoke signals and 
other early means of messaging?  Blame it on phones and the Internet.  The 
decline of telegram use goes back at least to the 1980s.  That's when long-
distance telephone service became cheap enough to offer a viable 
alternative in many if not most cases. Faxes didn't help. E-mail was the 
final nail in the Telegram's coffin.

But the company behind the telegram is still with us.  LifeSciences says 
that years ago, Western Union refocused its main business to money 
transfers for consumers and businesses. Revenues are now $3 billion 
annually. It's now called Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and is a 
subsidiary of First Data Corp.

The world's first telegram was sent on May 24, 1844 by inventor Samuel F.B. 
Morse.  The message, "What hath God wrought," was transmitted from 
Washington to Baltimore.  

And, in a crude way, the telegraph was a precursor to the Internet in that 
it allowed rapid communication, for the first time, across great distances.  
Now the Telegram is a relic of a by-gone past and it looks as if the Morse 
code may not be to far behind.   (Western Union, LifeSciences, other 
published reports)

**

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. 