[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1496 - April 14, 2006
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Sun Apr 16 09:49:16 EDT 2006
Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1496 - April 14, 2006
CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY WITH ANDY JAREMA, N6TCQ
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ with some thank yous.
In the month of October we heard from The Kings County Repeater Association
of Brooklyn, New York; monthly contributor Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF of
Columbus, OH; The Rio Hondo ARC of Whittier, CA; and fro26 miles across the
sea, the Catalina (Island) Amateur Repeater Association, AA6DP ; SOARA,
the South Orange Amateur Radio Association of Mission Viejo, CA and monthly
contributors William Walters, WA2IBM and Scott Hensley of the Area
Communications Team, both in San Jose.
>From PayPal we heard from Neil J. Nitzberg, Lou Ann Kough, KB6HP of
Sacramento, CA and and Radio Source, WD0JIM of Castle Rock, CO.
Thanks to everyone.
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
**
The following is a Q-S-T. The B-P-L battle heats up in the United States
and also down-under, another move to get 500 Kilohertz declared a C-W
memorial frequency and an explanation of the FCC's Red Light Rule. All
this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1496 coming your way
right now.
**
BPL: THE BATTLE CONTINUES DOWN-UNDER
A ham down-under has concluded a survey that shows radio and B-P-L do not
make very good tenants in the same spectrum, Owen Duffy, VK1OD, is in
Ainslie, Australia, with the rest of the story:
--
By now many listeners will have heard the spate of press announcements
early last month of intended BPL trials in several locations in South
Australia, Melbourne and rural Victoria, and Canberra. These trials are in
addition to the long running trials in Hobart, Burnie, and Queanbeyan.
VK7TW, re-visited the Hobart trial sites again in March, making
measurements of the background noise level adjacent to the trial sites, and
the level of emissions at several locations within the trial area. He also
performed a series of measurements at one site where "notching" technology
is employed to reduce emissions across the 20 meter band.
Justin's report notes that BPL emissions raise the ambient noise power
density in the trial precincts by between 15dB ( or 32 times ) and 41dB (
or 12,600 times ) in the absence of apparent notching. That means an
ambient noise level on 20m in excess of S9 at some of the locations.
Notching is a filtering technique used to reduce emissions in specific
frequency bands. The reduction is limited in depth at the source, and
expert opinion is that there will be some dilution of notches due to inter-
modulation inherent in devices attached to the power lines.
Justin's measurements of the notch performance at Mount Nelson show a
reduction in emissions within the 20m band compared to emissions on the
adjacent frequencies, by up to 20dB ( or 100 times ), but the notch does
not reliably deliver better than 10dB ( or 10 times ) reduction in
emissions. BPL emissions raise the ambient noise power density on the 20m
band where the notch was deployed by between 5dB ( or 3 times ) and 15dB (
or 32 times ).
Justin's reports are available online at the REAST website, reast.asn.au
and follow the BPLWATCH link at the top of the home page at
http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php#emissionmeasurements
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, from Australia, I'm Owen Duffy, VK1OD.
--
VK7TW's report of the analysis and the conclusions clearly demonstrates BPL
to be spectrum polluting and a serious interference risk to just about any
high frequency radio communications service. (WIA News)
**
THE BPL STRUGGLE: ARRL AGAIN ASKS NY EXPERIMENT BE TERMINATED
On this side of the Pacific comes word that the ARRL has again has called
for the immediate shutdown of the BPL pilot project in Briarcliff Manor,
New York. In a March 29 letter that takes both BPL operator Ambient
Corporation and the FCC to task, the League documented continued
interference on amateur frequencies at various points of the Westchester
County system.
The ARRL Letter says that says that the system operates under an FCC Part
5 experimental license. The League has filed five previous interference
complaints about the system with the first one submitted way back in
October of 2004. (ARRL)
**
BPL: HENDERSON NEVADA CHOOSES CLEAN WIFI
Sprint Nextel Corporation's local phone unit is partnering with the city of
Henderson. This, to test a non interfereing wireless broadband network.
A spokesman for the telecommunications combine says the new WiFi system
will be used primarily by emergency personnel and other city employees who
need information in the field. Residents and businesses within the area
will also be able to use the hot spots for free to get online at speeds
that are comparable to DSL.
he trial will continue through the end of May. At that point, Sprint says
that it will determine how the service was used and whether it should be
sold on a subscription basis.
No BPL connections are being employed in this try-out. The no interference
using Wi-Fi system and the system is designed to cover two square miles of
Nevada's second largest city. (Sprint)
**
CALIFORNIA SET TO ADOPT ORDER PERMITTING BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE
California could be the next state to say yes to B-P-L. According to Bob
Gonset, W6VR, of the CGC Communicator, although only the smallest of the
state's three primary electric utility providers has expressed an immediate
interest in offering Broadband over Power Line service, the California
Public Utilities Commission appears ready to consider a proposal intended
to encourage its development. San Diego Gas & Electric Company is backing
the idea which would allow separate entities to sell the high-speed
Internet service. (Los Angeles Times, CGC)
**
RESCUE RADIO: AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY TEAM GETS $5000 DONATION
Some good news for a ham radio emergency communications group. The
Kentucky District 7 Amateur Radio Emergency Team has received a foundation
donation of $5,000. This, in a March 20th gift from the John E. and Betty
J. Meyer and Family Foundation.
The is Kentucky District 7 Amateur Radio Emergency Team is made up of over
100 amateur radio operators living in the nine county area in District 7 of
Northern Kentucky. The money will be used to help support their efforts in
providing emergency communications to served agencies in times of manmade,
natural or chemical disasters. The agencies served by the group include
police, fire, the National Weather Service and emergency management
operations.
The is groups thid such award this year. Team has received two other cash
donations. One came from Carol Hughes for $500 and the other for $1,000
from Cinergy. (Cincinatti Community Press)
**
RADIO HERITAGE: 500 KHZ SOUGHT AS "MEMORIAL FREQUENCY"
Yet another move is underway to get 500 Kilohertz declared as a special
memorial frequency. This time it has international support. Glen Dunston,
VK4DU, of the WIA News has the details:
--
There is a growing move amongst maritime groups world wide to preserve 500
kHz as a memorial frequency. Of course, 500 kHz was replaced by the Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS in 1999. The frequency has
fallen silent these days.
Whilst official operation on 500 kHz has been discontinued since 1999, the
frequency is still designated as a distress channel in the International
Radio Regulations. It is likely that this status will remain for some
time.
The distress and safety status of 500 kHz will eventually be removed from
the International Radio Regulations. The frequency will then be 'up for
grabs' by other interests, perhaps not even maritime related.
The US based Marine Radio Historic Society is championing the cause of 500
kHz preservation. Given the frequency's august history, marine groups are
lobbying o have 500 kHz designated as a "memorial frequency." This, they
say, would prevent the spectrum being reallocated by the International
Telecommunication Union and keep 500 kHz open for future commemorative
maritime events
Amateur radio operators have expressed an interest in seeking a new
frequency allocation in the vicinity of 500 kHz - this should be
encouraged, however it is fitting that the actual frequency of 500 kHz be
preserved for historic maritime stations.
--
By way of a historic note, 500 Kilohertz was the frequency used by the ill-
fated RMS Titanic to request help after it hit an iceberg in the North Seas
on April 15th of 1912. For almost the next 90 years that frequency was used
by maritime interests to signal their plight in times of distress. (WIA
News)
**
ENFORCEMENT: OPERATORS OF UNCOORDINATED REPEATERS RECEIVE LETTERS FROM THE
FCC
Two hams who run uncoordinated repeater have been asked by the FCC to
justify their systems operation and explain why they are causing
interference to coordinated machines. The agency's spokesman Daryl Duck,
NN0W, has more:
--
"WP4OF, Eduardo Torres, of Morovis, Puerto Rico, has been asked about
interference to a coordinated repeater system WP4NQR, on 448.825 MHz and
to provide coordination documentation.
Yet another inquiry into repeater coordination went to KP4PC, Francisco
Cordero, Jr., of Tampa Florida, concerning interference to the Sarasota
Emergency Amateur Radio Club N4SER operation on 145.130 MHz.
This has been Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, reporting."
--
The FCC says that in both cases the licensees of the uncoordinated
repeaters have been contacted numerous times about the problem but both
have refused to address it. The FCC gave each 20 days from the mid March
date of its notification to respond. That date is now past. (FCC, RAIN)
**
RADIO LAW: EXPLAINING THE RED LIGHT RULE
Last week in our coverage of the K1MAN situation we mentioned that the FCC
has a relatively new regulation. One that permits it to withhold action on
applications when the person applying owes the FCC any sort of debt. Some
of you wrote in asking more about the "red light" rule, so we did a bit of
web surfing to learn more. Amateur Radio Newsline's Evi Simons reports:'
--
Rebecca Adams is with the Holland Knight law firm. She's quoted on-line as
writing that under the Red Light rule, the FCC will withhold action on
applications and other requests for benefits when the applicant is shown in
the FCC's database as being delinquent in non-tax debts owed to the
Commission. This means if a delinquent debt appears in its database, the
FCC will no longer accept applications, process pending applications, or
bestow other benefits on the applicant until the delinquency is resolved.
There are three limited exceptions to the Red Light rule. The Commission
will ignore it and process applications for emergency or special temporary
authority involving safety of life or property. Nor will the FCC consider
debt if the automatic stay provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code
are applicable in a given situation.
Lastly, the Red Light rule cannot be invoked if the applicant files a
timely administrative appeal or has contested the existence or amount of
the debt. In these instances the debt will not be considered delinquent
under the red light rule until the order in question is final.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline. I'm Evi Simons in New York.
--
In the K1MAN matter, the final order was issued in March 27th giving the FCC
the ability to invoke the Red Light rule if it so desires. This, does not
mean that it will but that it now has the authority to use the rule even if
K1MAN decides to fight the actual fine itself in the Federal courts.
(ARNewslineT)
**
ENFORCEMENT: WI-FI ARREST AND CONVICTION
An Illinois man has been convicted of piggybacking on someone else's Wi-Fi
connection without authorization to do so. , The Rockford Register Star
newspaper reports that thirty-two year old David M. Kauchak recently plead
guilty in Winnebago County to remotely accessing a computer system without
permission.
A police officer arrested Kauchak in January after spotting him sitting in
a parked car with a computer. Kauchak was fined $250 and sentenced to one
year of court supervision. (Published Reports)
**
RADIO LAW: COURT SAYS YES TO ROVING BUGS
Ham radio has roving operators but law enforcement now has the right to use
roving bugs. This, as a federal judge finds the government was within
constitutional boundaries when it put a powerful eavesdropping device in a
cell phone, turning a suspected mobster into what one defense lawyer called
a "human microphone."
In his ruling, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said the government got proper
approval from other judges as it steadily increased the scope of audio
surveillance in an effort to destroy the leadership of the Gambino crime
family during a three-year probe. The eavesdropping was initially limited
to a cell phone and a restaurant but was eventually expanded so the
recording device could be used in any location and even when the cell phone
was not on.
The judge noted that the government did what was necessary as targets of
the investigation tried to evade detection by dodging areas where they
believed government surveillance might occur. Defense lawyers had argued
that information gained through the cell phone intercepts should be tossed
out. (Radio)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY" MICROSOFT VISTA OS DELAYED
Microsoft says that it will not have the consumer version of its new
Windows Vista operating system Windows Vista, ready for sale to the general
public by the crucial 2006 holiday selling season. The company says tweaks
to the system's security functions have built several extra weeks into the
product's expected completion. That makes it too late for many PC makers
and retailers to be ready for the 2006 holiday season. Large corporate
clients will get some versions of the new system in November, but consumers
can expect a huge launch for Vista in January of 2007. (Microsoft)
**
PROMOTING HAM RADIO: NEW "HELLO" VIDEO PROMO NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE ARRL
A 30-second video television public service announcement to promote the
"Hello" public relations crusade has been released by the American Radio
Relay League. According to the ARRL Letter, Richard Lubash, N1VXW, of 2K-
Plus Video in Atlanta, Georgia, produced the new P-S-A. Musical help from
Emory Gordy, W4WRO, with well known air personality Johnny Donovan of New
York City radio station WABC narrating the spot.
The video includes clips from the world over taped especially for the PSA,
plus video of radio amateurs from IARU member-societies in Italy and Japan.
The campaign's architect at ARRL headquarters, Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says the
spot is available on disk in either DVD format which plays on standard
players or in two larger broadcast-quality Digital Video formats. More
information and a low resolution screening version is on the web at
www.hello-radio.org (ARRL)
**
RADIO HAPPENINGS: HAM RADIO CLUBES UNITE TO COMMEMORATE THE TRIPLE CROWN
Two Eastern U-S radio clubs are teaming up to help celebrate the triple
crown in horse racing. This, with word that the Carroll County Contesters
and Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club will host special event stations
to commemorate the running of this years Kentucky Derby, Preakness and the
Belmont Stakes
The Derby station will be operating from Kentucky and the Preakness station
will be operating from Maryland. Both of these stations will be operated
by members of the Carroll County Contesters. The Belmont Stakes station
will be operating from New York by members of LIMARC.
Special event call signs will be used at each location. They are K4D for
the Kentucky Derby, K3P for the Preakness and K2B at the Belmont Stakes.
Commemorative QSL cards will be available for contacting each individual
Triple Crown station. (QRZ.com)
**
HAMVENTION 2006: AMSATS FUN GATHERINGS
AMSAT has announced two events in conjunction with Hamvention 2006. , The
Sixth Annual Pizza n' Suds event will be held Thursday evening, May 18th at
6:30 PM at Marion's Pizza at 1320 North Fairfield Road in Beavercreek,
Ohio. Beavercreek is a suburb just East of Dayton. This event is open to
any ham interested in Amateur Radio Satellite operations.
Also, the Eleventh Annual AMSAT Banquet will be held Friday evening, May
19th. The venue for this is the Amber Rose Restaurant, 1400 Valley Street
in old North Dayton. The banquet will open with a with a happy hour at
6:00 PM. Dinner will beserved at 7:30 PM. Attendance is limited to 90
people.
Reservations are required for both events. Contact Nancy Makley by e-mail
to kc8gyw at amsat.org to reserve space now. More information is on line at
www.amsat.org (AMSAT, N8UNY)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: AMATEUR RADIIO MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY IN MAY - URL
CORRECTION
A URL correction for the upcoming Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day
to be held on May 27th. The coorect web address for more information in
www.armad.net. (W8NEW)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: N6OX SHARES PETER I TRIP WITH CALIFORNIA KIDS
A California DX'er has brought the wold of a full scale operation to a
group of school students. On March 17th Robert Grimmick, N6OX, was greeted
with a "welcome home" banner and applause from the students of the Iowa
Street School Amateur Radio Club in Fallbrook, California.
Grimmick had just returned from a record-setting Ham Radio adventure to
Peter I Island. He had earlier adopted the school for the DX'padition.
During the Peter I operation, Grimmick had worked with teacher Phil
Leonelli, WF6L, to prermit students to become a part of the operation by
using both Amateur Radio and e-mail. When he made his March 17th personal
appearance at the school, Grimmick was barrageed with questions ranging
from "What was your favorite meal" to "How difficult was it to set up tents
during a blizzard?" After answereing many, N6OX presented Leonelli and the
students with an autographed Peter I banner that was hanging in one of the
expedition tents.
N6OX had travelled to Peter I with a group of DX'ers to put the highly
sought after island on the air. Operating for two weeks in February, the
group made over 86,000 contacts with hams all over the world, including the
station at Iowa Street School. (W6VR, Village News)
**
RADIO IN SPACE: NEW RADIOTELESCOPE WILL LOOK BACK 13 MILLION YEARS
The United States and Mexicio are partnering on a new project to advance
the exploration of space. This, with word that the two nations will join
forces to build a new radio-telescope atop the Sierra Negra volcano in
central Mexico.
The new instrument will use a 165 foot dish antenna supplied by the United
States Department of Defense. When completed and in operation, the scope
will allow astronomers to gaze back as far as thirteen billion years in
their search for secrets about the creation of the universe. (Space &
Science)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW HEAVY METAL FREE GLASS FOR LCD DISPLAYS
A heavy metal-free glass developed by Corning Inc. will trim production and
recycling costs. This, at a time when prices for the super-thin screens
used in liquid-crystal-display televisions are falling more sharply than
ever.
Corning uses a proprietary "fusion draw" process for making the unvaryingly
flat, chemically stable glass. Two sheets separated by a layer of liquid
crystals make for high-resolution monitors
found in TVs, computers and digital phones as well as video cameras, Palm
Pilots, watches, medical imaging devices and aircraft navigation panels
Corning says that its Eagle XG glass is the first in the LCD industry to be
completely free of arsenic as well as other heavy metals such as barium and
antimony and halides like chlorine and fluorine. Those can produce
potentially harmful byproducts during manufacturing.
According to Peter Bocko, who is Corning's director of display-technology
research, the new glass reduces the overall cost all the way from digging
stuff out of the ground to the end of life of the display.
Corning, the world's largest maker of liquid-crystal-display glass, created
the first LCD glass free of barium and antimony in 2000. (Corning)
**
WORLDBEAT - INDIA; 100 KILLED IN ELECTRONICS TRADE FAIR FIRE
At least 100 people were reported to have been killed when flames tore
through giant electronics and communications fair in northern India on
Monday, April 10th. Scores more suffered serious burns after becoming
trapped inside the smoke filled tents which were hosting the Brand India
exhibition in the city of Meerut.
The blaze broke out at 12:30 GMT when there were an estimated 2,000
shoppers attending the last day of the event. By the time it had been
brought under control all that remained of the three 100 meter long tents
were their blackened steel frames.
The cause of the blaze was not clear. One theory is that it may have
started when plastic sheeting hanging over an air-conditioning unit caught
fire.
India's trade fairs are a place where manufacturers and retailers set up
stalls to exhibit their products. They are usually held in elaborate cloth
tents set up over interconnected bamboo poles. (Published reports)
**
WORLDBEAT - SPAIN: AMATEUR RADIO MULTIMEDIA 2006 COMPETITION
Spain's Union de Radioaficionados Espa¤oles and the Union de
Radioaficionados de Estella ia sponsoring its 1st Amateur Radio Multimedia
Contest. The object of the competition is to promote amateur radio through
audiovisual artistic works. There are two catigories for submittal. They
are documentaries and fictional works in either Spanish or English. Three
trophies will be awarded. More information in Spanish is on-line at
http://usuarios.lycos.es/urde_estella/URE/2006/videos/videoseng.htm
(URDE)
**
WORLDBEAT - UK: HAM RADIO GOES VIDEO ON ITV LOCAL
A group of hams has taken advantage of the new British Internet television
service called ITV Local. This, to help raise the profile of amateur
radio.
ITV Local is a streaming network thatcan be viewed on any modern P-C with a
high speed broadband connection. Its on for a trial period and it allows
viewers to upload their own videos to the site. These shows can then be
viewed free of charge by anyone who visits the ITV Local website.
The group producing the ham radio material posted to ITV Local include Jeff
Harris, G3LWM, his grandsons Josh Harris, M3LWM, and Daniel Wales, M3NKA.
With them were renowned island activator GM3VLB, and GM0DHZ who recently
visited the Scottish island of Pabay. To view the show, visit
www.itvlocal.tv on the World-Wide-Web and follow the instructtions on-
screen. (GB2RS)
**
ON THE AIR: MUSEUMS WEEKEND SPECIAL EVENT
The sixth International Museums Weekend special event will take place on
the weekend of June 17th to the 18th. Hams around the worls are being
encouraged to participate in this event by setting up stations in their
local museums.
Harry Bloomfield, M1BYT, in Leeds England is the organizer of this years
Museums event. He is asking who that all those intending to join in should
register their museum via the International Museums Weekend website. Its
in cyberspace at www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/imw. (GB2RS)
**
DX
In D-X, word that DL2AWG, will be in Port Villa between 19th April and the
1st May. He has requested the callsign YJ0AWG. His operation will be on
40 through 10 meters on SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL direct to DL2AWG.
M0BOX will be activating Kuredu Island, Maldives through the 20th of April
with the callsign 8Q7BO. Operation will be on 40 through 10 meters on
SSB. There will also be special emphasis on digital modes such as PSK 31
and RTTY.
DL5YWM, will be in Peru through April 30th and will operate CW and SSB
portable OA4 from Lima. He plans to focus on the 160 and 80m bands. QSL
both of these as directed on the air.
Above from variois DX news sources.
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: THE EASY SATS
And finally this week, were you aware that you can talk worldwide using
your H-T and without Echolink or an IRLP repeater? Well you can, and Jim
Linton, VK3PC, is here to tell you how:
--
Using amateur satellites has become easier in recent years due to so-called
'Easy-Sats' that are FM satellites that act like an orbiting voice
repeater.
They need little or no extra equipment than most already have for the VHF
and UHF bands.
A dual band FM transceiver which has cross-band transmit capabilities, or
separate transceivers for 2m and 70cm can do it.
Satellites are configured with uplink and downlink bands, such as 2m up and
70cm down.
There are some basic things to learn about satellites. How to know they're
going to be within communication range. The Doppler Shift that causes an
apparent frequency change during an orbit pass. The operating style to
allow maximising the number of contacts during a pass.
The first step is to listen for a satellite's continuous beacon that will
be heard as it comes into range, getting louder and then minutes later
fading away as it drops out of range.
I'm Jim Linton VK3PC
--
For more on the Easy-Sats take your web browser to www.amsat.org (VK3PC)
**
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.
A reminder that the nominating period for the 2006 Amateur Radio Newsline
Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. This award seeks to honor hams age
18 or younger for their outstanding contributions through Amateur Radio.
The cuttoff date for entries this year is May 30th. Full information on the
award along with on-line and downloadable nominating forms are at the
awards own wesite created and maintained at Web Designs by Kevin by our
1993 recipient Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH. Its in cyberspace at www.yhoty.org.
Again. that's www.yhoty.org
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
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