[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1513 - August 11, 2006
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Sat Aug 12 09:25:19 EDT 2006
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1513 - August 11, 2006
Dedication:
Ladies and gentlemen. This weeks newscast is dedicated to the memory
of our friend and colleague Roy Neal, K6DUE, who became a Silent Key on
August 15, 2003.
--
The following is a QST. Ionizing radiation fears bring restrictions to
Israeli hams, New Zealand radio amateurs vow to fight government
imposed repeater fees and the latest from around the world on the BPL
front. All this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1513
coming your way right now.
**
WORLDBEAT - ISRAEL: RF EXPOSURE FEARS MAY TAKE MANY 4X HAMS QRT
Fear of R-F exposure could take many Israeli hams off the air in early
2007. RSGB news-reader Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, is here with the details:
--
The Israeli authorities have imposed draconian new rules on radio
amateurs.
>From January 2007, many of the country's radio amateurs will not be
able operate their radio equipment unless it has been checked and
authorized by government inspectors. This follows the ratification of a
new law that aims to prevent harmful radiation from radio equipment.
The only amateurs who are exempt from the new law are those who use
only VHF and UHF equipment with an output of below 20 watts. Amateurs
will also have to obtain a permit for the erection of antenna and
towers. Permits will only be granted if the installation can be proven
not to cause harmful radiation.
Operation of amateur radio equipment without the proper permits will be
considered a criminal offence.
According to a spokesman for Israeli amateurs, the harsh new rules were
pushed through by government following public concern over the safety
of mobile phone masts.
He said: "It seems that all this has come about from the public near-
hysteria over the presence of cellular telephone installations in
residential areas."
Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.
--
According to the spring edition of the on-line Israeli ham radio
newsletter Hagal International, the government ministry involved with
the Non-Ionized Radiation Law was supposed to have been working towards
an across-the-board exemption for Amateur Radio stations. It now seems
that effort has failed. (GB2RS)
**
WORLDBEAT - NEW ZEALAND: NZART TO FIGHT NEW REPEATER FEE
Meantime, here in New Zealand, the national ham radio society -- the
NZART -- has voted to refuse payment of a new government imposed fee on
repeaters, beacons and link transmissions.
Telecommunications regulators had imposed the $50 annual per license
fee to recoup the costs of administering the Amateur Service. As it
turns out, nearly all of the licenses subject to the fee are held under
the name of the NZART. The cost to the organization and its members is
approximately $16 000 in New Zealand currency each year.
But NZART members make up only around 39% of New Zealand's ham radio
population. This means NZART would be carrying the load for the
remaining 61% of the nations Amateur Radio community with no way to
recoup the ongoing loss. As a result, during the society's recent
Annual General Meeting held in Christchurch, NZART members unanimously
voted a resolution not to pay any billing when it arrived.
The NZART has since received the first of the repeater invoices for the
2006 to 2007 fiscal year. In accordance with the instructions from the
membership NZART says that it will advise the government that the
payment will not be made and the society will dispute the invoice.
NZART is also preparing an updated submission on this matter to bring
before the appropriate members of the New Zealand Parliament. (NZART
News)
**
WORLDBAT - AUSTRALIA: FOUNDATN CLAASS SUCCESS
Good news on licensing figures from V-K land. There now seems little
doubt that the Wireless Institute of Australia's examination service
will process over 1000 successful candidates in the first full year of
that nations new Foundation Class license. It is also apparent that an
increasing number of people are upgrading from Foundation Class to the
Australian Standard and Advanced licenses as well.
According to the WIA News Service, feedback from examiners and
And from a number of clubs offering training confirms the trend. Most
feel that it will continue to accelerate over the coming months.
Clubs also say that membership and meeting attendance is also growing
as a result of new interest in ham radio as a result of the Foundation
Class ticket. And both these items are good news for ham radio in
general but especially for the hobby, down-under. (WIA News)
**
WOPRLDBEAT - AUSTRALIA: REPEATER RECEIVER STOLEN DOWN-UNDER
Still in Australia, word hat as repeater has been vandalized and part
of it stolen. The victim is the VK2ZTV Westlakes Repeater housed on
premises owned, maintained and operated by Peter Sturt, VK2ZTV.
The system first suffered malicious damage when the brick building was
vandalized by leaving two great holes in the wall. Apart from the
seemingly senseless destruction nothing else appeared to have been
tampered with. A least that's how it looked at the time. But that may
have been a prelude to Friday, July 28th when the Westlakes repeater
suddenly went off air. An investigation by Sturt found that the
repeaters GM-300 receiver had been taken. Other equipment was left
intact.
Pete advises that it may be some time before he can have the system
operational as his first priority is securing the site against similar
attacks.
It may just be coincidental but a few weeks ago on the morning of
Westlakes Field Day it was discovered that the clubs shipping container
had been broken into and their prized Ride On mower taken. (WIA News)
**
THE BPL FIGHT: FCC REFUSES TO CONTAIN BPL
The BPL saga continues in the U-S-A. this after the FCC acts on
Thursday, August 3rd to make what it terms as some upgrades to its rules
for Access Broadband over Power Line systems. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW,
has more:
--
While maintaining what it says are safeguards against harmful
interference to existing radio services the Commissioners turned down a
request by the Amateur Radio community to prohibit BPL operations in
ham radio spectrum. Rather, it insists that current standards are more
than reasonable and any interference to ham radio, it will be looked at
on a case by case basis.
But hams were not the only losers in this latest BPL action. The agency
denied a request by the aeronautical industry to exclude BPL operating
on low-voltage lines from frequencies reserved for certain aeronautical
operations. The commission also turned down a request by the
television broadcast industry to exclude BPL from frequencies above 50
MHz.
The changes that were adopted came in response to a number of petitions
for reconsideration of the initial BPL rules established in 2004. In
its decision the FCC re-emphasized that the Part 15 rule changes were
made to ensure that powerline broadband operations do not become a
source of interference to licensed services. If harmful interference
does occur the commission said it would take appropriate action to
remedy the situation.
The FCC also affirmed its rule regarding BPL emission limits and said
reducing emissions to 20 dB below the normal Part 15 limits will
provide adequate interference protection for mobile operations. It
also told the BPL industry that all aspects of its deployment must be
kept in the public domain
For the Amateur Radio Newsline. I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.
--
The FCC told the BPL industry that information regarding system
placement must be provided in a public database at least 30 days before
deployment begins. It also said that all BPL equipment must be
certified. (RW, CGC)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW BOSTON HIGH SPEED INTERNET EXCLUDES BPL
Boston, Massachusetts, is considering an unusual approach to creating a
citywide, low-cost wireless Internet network that will not include BPL.
But it will try something new by putting a nonprofit organization,
rather than a private service provider, in charge of building and
running the system.
Although Boston's strategy depends on the willingness of foundations
and businesses to come forward with cash donations, officials believe
having a nonprofit organization in charge is the best way to ensure the
project meets its civic goals and steers clear of special interests.
Boston is one of more than 250 communities nationwide that are
preparing or have deployed high speed Internet service. Other cities
have generally relied on a single private contractor to assume up-front
costs and financial risk in exchange for a chance to expand business.
Those planning the Boston initiative have no estimate when they will be
able to bring wireless coverage to the city's 590,000 residents spread
across 49 square miles
As of airtime, the Boston proposal uses only Wi-Fi connections to bring
high speed Internet to consumers. The use of Broadband Over Powerline
distribution is not a part of the Boston Internet access plan.
(Published reports)
**
THE BPL FIGHT: VK INDUSTRY SAYS ITS NOT A PANACIA
Meantime, the BPL industry in Australia is beginning to admit that the
technology may not be the end all in broadband access. In fact, the
Aussies now admit that its potential may be very limited. Phil Wait,
VK2DKN of the WIA National News has the latest:
--
Recently the WIA delivered a major presentation, "BPL and Amateur
Radio", to an IIR conference on BPL held in Sydney. The WIA
presentation discussed the interference potential of BPL to both the
amateur radio service and HF radio communications generally.
The conference was attended by high level decision makers from the
power and utility industries, the Department of Defense, the
Australian Communications and Media Authority, ISPs, and others
interested in providing access and in-house BPL equipment and
services.
Some interesting general themes emerged from the presentations:
Firstly, BPL is no longer considered a magic bullet providing universal
broadband services. The technical difficulties of BPL are now well
understood and the greatest market opportunities for access BPL appear
to be fringe areas and niche markets where existing Telco's are not
strong.
Secondly, BPL may be used extensively for electricity network
management and demand side management, such as automatic meter reading
and dynamic electricity pricing and load shedding.
The WIA presentation was very well received and we believe has
increased delegates awareness of both the amateur radio service, and
the interference potential of BPL technologies.
This is Phil Wait, VK2DKN.
--
The Australians are not alone in this new view of the lack of potential
for BPL. Now-a-days it appeals that only the United states business
model seems to think that powerline broadband can outpace cable,
satellite and DSL. (WIA News)
**
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW: U.S. VANITY CALL SIGN FEE TO DROP SEPTEMBER 6
The ARRL Letters says that the regulatory fee to obtain or renew a
United States Amateur Radio vanity call sign will drop slightly. This,
starting with applications received by the FCC on or after Wednesday,
September 6th.
According to the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau the new fee
will be $20.80 for the 10-year license term. And the next 12 months
promises to be a big one for vanity call sign renewals, since the
initial round of vanity grants under the current system occurred in
1996.
License holders who want to retain vanity call signs that were issued
under the current, post 1995 system must pay the regulatory fee when
renewing. (ARRL)
**
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW: LATEST SPECTERUM AUCTON
The FCC has auctioned off rights to the largest portion ever of
broadband friendly spectrum. The sale on Wednesday, August 9th was
expected to bring in as much as $15 billion to the U.S. Treasury and
lead to an expansion of advanced services for mobile wireless
customers, like super-fast internet access.
Companies bid for 1,122 licenses to use the spectrum for an initial
term of 15 years. The top qualifier from an earlier auction posing was
Wireless D-B-S which is an alliance that includes satellite telecasters
Echo Star and the DirecTV. The new spectrum access could allow the
satellite companies to offer wireless broadband access to customers
along with their usual video services. (Future Tech)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC TURNS DOWN PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION THAT RAISES
NO NEW FACTS
The FCC has turned down a Petition for Reconsideration filed by Arcom
Communications and ordered the company to pay a $2400 fine. This, for
what the regulatory agency terms as Arcom's willful and repeated
violation of the Commission's Rules in regard to the company's failure to
register its antenna structure.
The antenna structure in question is located on St. Croix, in the
United States Virgin Islands. In its appeal, Arcom argued what it had
when it first replied to the violation notice, That being the
forfeiture is barred by the statute of limitations. Also, that the
violation was a good faith misunderstanding of the Commission's
confusing tower registration requirements. Lastly, that that the
Commission's refusal to grant an evidentiary hearing deprives Arcom of
due process.
In its order denying Arcom, the FCC stated that reconsideration of a
penalty is appropriate only where the petitioner either demonstrates a
material error or omission in the underlying order or raises additional
facts not known or not existing until after the petitioner's last
opportunity to present such matters. It also said that a petition for
reconsideration that reiterates arguments that were previously
considered and rejected will be denied.
Noting that Arcom raised no new arguments or facts that have not been
previously considered and rejected in the Forfeiture Order, it was
dismissing the reconsideration petition. It was also giving the
company the normal 30 days to pay the fine or to file a further appeal.
(FCC)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: IBOC TENTATIVELY IDENTIFIED AS INTERFERING SIGNAL
IBOC digital radio is making it all but impossible for listeners in
some areas to hear their favorite stations in another near-by city or
town. Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, reports:
--
IBOC stands for In Band On Channel broadcasting. It's a system that
permits broadcasters on the medium wave and VHF FM bands to add digital
audio without removing their analog signal,. This is done by adding
the digital on the same frequency as the analog. The theory is that a
digital receiver will decode the digital signal and ignore the analog
one. On the other hand, the digital signal will only sound like off
channel noise on an analog radio.
The hypothesis is a correct one, but it does not take into account the
large number of folks who want to hear F-M stations in a near-by city
or town that the IBOC digital sidebands drown out. In one example, a
listener wrote to the CGC Communicator saying that ever since San Diego
station KUSS, on 95.7 MHz added IBOC, his reception of KLOS has been
wiped out. KLOS operates on 95.5 MHz and broadcasts from Mt. Wilson in
the Los Angeles area. KUSS, although licensed to Carlsbad, California
actually transmits from Mt. Soledad about 23 miles to the south.
The addition of IBOC has effectively killed reception of KLOS in
northern San Diego county as it has for listeners of other stations
from outside of their normal reception areas, nationwide.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks, WB6MQV.
--
While radio hobbyists see IBOC as an annoyance in D-Xing distant
broadcast band signals, broadcasters reportedly like the idea because
of the potential for increased revenue that higher quality audio will
bring. (CGC)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: JOHN GLENN RECOVERING FOLLOWING TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
85 year old former Ohio senator and astronaut John Glenn, and his wife
Annie are recovering after being involved in a car accident near
Columbus on Friday night, August 4th. The couple were returning home
from a fundraiser when Glenn tried to make a left turn onto a highway
ramp and struck another car.
Glenn, who served in the Senate from 1974 to 1999, piloted the first
U.S. manned orbital mission in 1962. He went back into space from
October 29 to November 7, 1998 at the age of 77 during the STS-95
mission on the space shuttle Discovery. That was a 9 day mission
during which the crew supported a variety of research including
Glenn's own investigation on space flight and the aging process.
A longtime supporter of Amateur Radio, Glenn was a close friend of the
late Roy Neal, K6DUE. In 1986 he appeared in a segment of the Neal
produced ARRL documentary video "The New World of Amateur Radio."
Later that same year he surprised the Neal by showing up at the Dayton
Hamvention Banquet the evening that Neal was honored as Radio Amateur
of the Year. (Published reports, ARNewslineT)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: NASA HONORS N5VHO
NASA has honored ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO,
with its prestigious "Silver Snoopy" Award. Ransom was named to
receive the award for his role in helping International Space Station
Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, complete and confirm
Worked All States and Worked All Continents including Antarctica, as
well as logging some 130 DXCC entities. McArthur's duty tour ended in
April. (AMSAT)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: HEIL MICS TO BE USED AT MLB
Heil Sound PR-40 microphones developed by Bob Heil, K9EID, have been
picked in a recent improvement project at the Alan Freed Radio Studio
at the Rock Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. The studio's
programming is heard on Sirius Satellite Radio and is used by visiting
station remotes.
Heil has also announced that Major League Baseball is now using the
Heil PR-30 mic for new uplink studios in New York City. This facility
is used to broadcast games directly to MLB.com subscribers.
Heil is also offering a commemorative Classic Pro mic, which was issued
to celebrate the opening of the Heil Sound exhibit dedication at the
Rock Hall. It is a limited-edition reproduction of the RCA 74B that was
used on the air by legendary New York City disk jockey Alan Freed. See
it on-line at www.heilsound.com (RW)
**
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: HAM RADIO SATELLITE PIONEER CLIFF
BUTTSCHARDT, K7RR - SK
The changing of the guard in Amateur Radio continues with the sad news
that Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR became a silent key July 30th.
The former W6HDO, Buttschardt was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1931.
He graduated from California's San Jose State University with a degree
in electrical engineering after which he joined the Navy where he
worked as a Radioman. He later took employment at S-R-I International
in Palo Alto. While at S-R-I he became a member of the original
Project OSCAR Radio Club that was involved in the construction of
OSCAR-1.
Over his lifetime K7RR supported many of the amateur satellites that
were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. While teaching at Cuesta
College in San Luis Obisop in 2001, Cliff, along with Ed English ,W-6-
W-Y-Q, began work on the CubeSat project. Cliff then moved over to
California Polytechnic State University where he and Ed continued to
mentor students who were just starting up the initial CubeSat designs.
In March of 2006 the Project OSCAR Board of Directors voted to award
Cliff the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to amateur
satellites, amateur radio and the CubeSat program. The award was to
Cliff personally this past July 26th.
Cliff Buttschardt was a lifetime member of both AMSAT and the ARRL, and
an original member of Project OSCAR. He was age 75 when he died
quietly in his home in Morro Bay, California, after battling inoperable
cancer of the esophagus for many months. He is survived by his wife
Mabs, who was with him when he passed on. In lieu of flowers its asked
that contributions to AMSAT be made in Cliff Buttschardt's name.
(AMSAT)
**
WORLDBEAT: AN UPDATE ON THE PROPOSED BAND AT 500 KHZ
An update now on efforts by ham radio national societies to obtain a
world-wide allocation at or near 500 Kilohertz. Glenn Dunstan, VK4DU,
of the WIA News has a wrap up on where it all stands today:
--
Over the past few months, news has reported moves by amateurs to secure
an allocation in the vicinity of 500 kHz, the old maritime Morse Code
distress channel.
Of course, 500 kHz was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and
Safety System, or GMDSS, in February 1999. Ships are no longer
required to monitor or use 500 kHz for distress calls.
The ARRL, the RSGB and now the Irish amateur radio society have
submitted proposals to their radio regulators for a small amateur
allocation in the region of 500 kHz. The UK radio regulator has
indicated that they are considering the issue.
However, many former Merchant Navy Radio Officers are strongly opposed
to amateur operation on 500 kHz. Their view is that 500 kHz must be
preserved as a museum or historic frequency. The UK and the German
Radio Officer associations have published papers to this effect.
At the moment, the international radio regulations still designate the
band 495-505 kHz exclusively for distress and safety use. This status
can only be changed by a world radio conference.
Interestingly, there are still some coast radio stations monitoring 500
kHz. Chinese and Indonesian stations maintain a distress and calling
watch on 500.
So, in summary, there may be scope for a small experimental Amateur
allocation either above or below 500 kHz, but this could be some time
off yet.
I'm Glenn Dunstan, VK4DU, for the national WIA.
--
>From all indications, the U-K seems to be ahead of everyone else in
pushing for such a low frequency allocation near 500 Khz. (WIA News)
**
WORLDBEAT - KOREA: SAMSUNG EXPLORES WORLDWIDE ANTENNA
The GB2RS reports that South Korean electronics giant Samsung is
looking at the possibility of using the ionosphere as a medium for long
distance communication. This, without the need for launching expensive
satellites.
Rather than bouncing signals off the ionosphere as amateurs do, Samsung
scientists are considering turning the ionosphere into a giant antenna.
According to a recent patent the company filed, this could be achieved
by launching UHF signals behind a 1GHz carrier signal to create an
alternating current in the ionosphere. The alternating current could
then be modulated at a particular frequency to create an antenna of
global proportions. (GB2RS, Samsung)
**
WORLDBEAT - SRI LANKA: NO GUESTS OPS AND NO HAM GEAR INTO THAT COUNTRY
If you are planning to visit Sri Lanka soon, you had best leave all of
your ham gear at home.
The WIA News reports that hams planning to travel to Sri Lanka have
been advised by the nations telecommunications regulatory body not even
to bother to put in application for a Guest Operator License. None are
being issued at this time.
Also, ham radio equipment and even satellite phones are not being
permitted to be brought into Sri Lanka for the foreseeable future. All
of these restrictions are reportedly due to security concerns. (WIA
News)
**
DX
In D-X, word that DS4DRE, will be active as portable from Hong Island
from now until the end of the year. He plans to operate on 80 through
10 meters on SSB and CW. QSL as he directs on the air.
And G4BYB, is active as GM3PPG stroke P from South Uist until the 13th
of August. He also plans participate in the IOTA Contest on all bands
using SSB.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
ON THE AIR: N7HG SPONSORS NAVAJO CODE TALKER DAYS
And word that Herb Goodluck, N7HG, will be commemorating the Navajo
Code Talkers with an on the air event. Herbs father was one of the
original Navajo Code Talkers. Using their native language the Code
Talkers developed a shorthand verbal code which was used by the
military during World War 2 and never broken by the Axis powers.
Now, each year N7HG tries to commemorate the Navajo Code Talkers with
an on the air event. This year the dates are August 13th and 14th from
1400 to 23:59 UTC each day. Operation will be on 7.265 and 14.265
MHz. QSL to Navajo Code Talkers Days in care of Herb Goodluck, N7HG,
PO Box 3611, Window Rock, Arizona, 86515 (N7HG)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: DEAD MN TELL NO TALES AND DON'T FILE PEITIONS WTH THE
FCC
And finally this week, the story of a dead man filing a petition for
reconsideration with the FCC. Well at least he's allegedly dead
because the guy has yet to respond from the other side of the great
ethereal abyss. Amateur Radio Newsline's non-expert on the occult,
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is here with the rather strange details:
--
This is a story that comes from a newsletter published by the law firm
Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth. It's the story of a Florida AM radio
station whose renewal was granted earlier this year.
It seems that an objector - that's a person who did not want to see the
stations renewal granted - well - he had argued that that application
shouldn't be granted because of an alleged usurping of control of some
other station by the renewal applicant. The Commission rejected that
objection because it didn't have anything to do with the station whose
license renewal was the subject of the application.
Never saying die - literally - the objector sought reconsideration with
a petition supposedly signed on April 3, 2006by the objector himself.
We say 'literally' there because, in its opposition to the petition,
the renewal applicant demonstrated that the objector had in fact died
in June, 2004. Thats almost two years before his 'signature' appeared
on the reconsideration petition.
Since the evidence established that the objector's death predated the
filing of the petition, the Commission summarily dismissed it. What
else could it do.
For he Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the
Newsline studios in Los Angeles.
--
So far the allegedly deceased objector has not respond to the charge
that he is in fact, very dead. (CGC, RW, others)
**
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
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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 Jim
Meachen, ZL2BHF, saying 73 from Auckland, New Zealand, and we thank you
for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
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