[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1550 - April 27, 2007

Sat Apr 28 08:26:03 EDT 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1550 - April 27, 2007

The following is a Q-S-T.  Hams down-under prepare to face another B-P-
L trial as radio amateurs in the United States North East respond as 
the skies open up.  Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline 
report number 1550 coming your way right now.

**

THE BPL FIGHT:  ANOTHER BPL TRIAL DOWN-UNDER

Another BPL trial has been announced in Australia.  If this one proves 
out it could grow into one of the biggest access BPL installations 
down-under and be a major problems for that nations hams.  Felix 
Scerri, VK4FUQ, is in New South Whales not far from where the test will 
be run:

--

Full details have now emerged about the latest BPL trial in Queanbeyan, 
NSW. The trial was announced by Country Energy on the 15th March and is 
expected to be operational for at least 6 months from May this year. 

The BPL trial plans to pass 300 households in the Queanbeyan CBD and 
Jerrabomberra areas, and will provide both access broadband and 
electricity network management information. 

Freshtel will provide an Internet Telephony service to participating 
customers who, in addition to receiving a modem and access to the 
broadband service, will receive a free Binatone cordless phone and $30 
per month of Freshtel call credit. Country Energy have been "trialling" 
BPL in Queanbeyan for several years using the older generation 45Mb/s 
DS2 chipset based Mitsubitishi equipment, producing emission levels 
measured up to 55dB above the expected ambient noise levels on the 7MHz 
amateur band. This new trial will use Schneider Electric (Ilevo) 
equipment using the later generation 200Mb/s chipset, as used in the Mt 
Beauty BPL trial. 

Country Energy, which is owned by the NSW State Government, has around 
195,000 kilometres of powerlines and 1.4 million power poles, and 
offers retail electricity in five states and territories. It employs 
more than 3,900 employees serving more than 870,000 customers.

I'm Felix, VK4FUQ

--

The results of this latest Australian BPL trial hopefully will be known 
by the end of the year.  (WIA News)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  THE GREAT NOR'EASTER OF APRIL 2007

The weekend of April 14th were a couple of dark days for the North East.  
That's when the worst rainstorm in over 100 years hit the tri-state 
area of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and then worked its way up 
into New England.  And in many cases hams associated with the Amateur 
Radio Emergency Service were called out as city's and towns prepared to 
face Mother Natures wrath.  No place was the pre planning more apparent 
that in the New York City and Long Island areas.  Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, 
is the areas Section Emergency Coordinator:

--

Lisenco:  "At 8 a.m., New York City ARES was asked to staff  9 
shelters.  The District Emergency Coordinator for New York City, John 
Healy, KA2ABV, got in touch with his 5 Emergency Coordinators -- one 
for each Borough -- and within the city they were able to staff for the 
next 24 hours the 9 shelters.  They actually put together a staff of 
about 30 people working in shifts throughout the day."

--

As the storm intensified, over 8 inches of rain fell in New York City.  
As luck would have it, the expected 50 mph wind gusts did not 
materialize and the danger to the City passed by midnight.  At that 
time, New York City District ARES was able to stand down and secure. 

In Nassau County New York the District Emergency Coordinator Jim Mezey, 
W2KFV.  He said that Nassau ARES ramped up for the storm on with a 
check of its communication systems at the Nassau Red Cross Chapter.  
Members were asked to double check their equipment and make sure their 
"Go Bags" were ready.  Rain totals were three to five inches in Nassau 
County and wind speeds estimates were up to 40 mph sustained with 
higher gusts. There was a good amount of coastal flooding causing 
roadway damage and many trees came down. There were also scattered 
power outages but normal communications were not interrupted.

But New Jersey and upstate New York were not as lucky.  According to 
Lisenco, there was some fairly severe damage in those regions:

--

Lisenco:  "Unfortunately, New Jersey and some of the counties in 
upstate New York were hit very hard with flooding.  In fact a number of 
people were displaced in those regions and the (ham radio) operations 
was ongoing for a number of days."

--

Meantime, the ARRL Letter reports that in Massachusetts winds gusting 
between 60 and 75 MPH brought down trees and power lines, leaving some 
45,000 customers without power.  Trees and tree limbs also fell on cars 
and houses, in some instances causing significant damage.  

During the storm, SKYWARN operations at the Taunton Ntional Weather 
Service office's WX1BOX, were active  from 8 AM Sunday through midnight 
Tuesday.   The SKYWARN team provided some 500 to 600 reports of 
snowfall, rainfall, flooding, wind damage and wind-speed measurements. 
More than a dozen repeaters served as formal and informal SKYWARN 
gathering spots.

Meantime, at the Massachusetts State Emergency Operations Center, 
RACES' was activated from 6 PM Sunday through 7 PM Monday.  Mot only 
were they monitoring the storm but the Boston Marathon as well. That 
race went on despite the rough weather with over 200 Amateur Radio 
volunteers deployed to keep it moving along. Even as Eastern 
Massachusetts ARES went on standby to support storm related operations.

Similar support operations were also reported in portions of 
Connecticut, New Hampshire and adjoining states.  (NYC ARES, ARRL, 
ARNewsline)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  KE7KDP RETURNS TO EARTH

Space tourist Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP, and two members of the 
Expedition 14 crew have returned to Earth.  Dr. Simonyi along with 
Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK, and Flight 
Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, RZ3FT, landed safely southwest of Karaganda in 
Kazakhstan at 8:31 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, April 21st.

The world's fifth space tourist paid around $25 million for pre-flight 
training and his scheduled 14 day stay on the International Space 
Station.  During his time on-orbit he took to the airwaves using the 
NA1SS station and made numerous individual and school contacts like 
these:

--

Actual Contact Audio - Hear it in the audio version of this newscast 
downloadable at www.arnewsline.org

--

The return to Earth of the Expedition 14 crew members was originally 
scheduled for Friday, April 20th. Inclement weather at the primary 
landing site meant the date and location had to be changed.  This 
effectively gave KE7KDP a free extra day in space.  

After landing, KE7KDP was quoted as saying that it had been a terrific 
trip and that he felt fine.  Russian space chief Anatoly Perminov 
echoed those remarks by saying that all three of the returning space 
travelers were feeling well but Dr. Simonyi clearly feels the best of 
all.  Welcome home.  (ARNewsline and various published reports.)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  ISS AUTOMATIC PACKET REMAINS IN LIMBO

The automated ham radio packet system on board the International Space 
Station will remain in a state of limbo for a while longer. The ARISS 
control team had been hopeful that space tourist Charles Simonyi, 
KE7KDP, would have been able to restore the Kenwood radio system to 
full functionality after an accidental reprogramming of the radio 
occurred near the end of Expedition 13.   

To accomplish this, the ARISS team worked with the Simonyi people to 
get him prepared to perform the Kenwood reprogramming.  Unfortunately, 
a few weeks before the launch it was learned that additional software 
certification steps were required to allow the reprogramming software 
to be used on the I-SS computers.  This certification was completed 
only a few days before KE7KDP returned from space.  As a result, there 
was insufficient time for him to complete the restoration. 

The ARISS team says that at this point in time, it appears as if a full 
restoration will require a concerted effort with full cooperation from 
the Russian and US space agencies.  This will likely take several 
months to accomplish.  In the meantime,  requests for some 
investigative analysis by the crew will be made.  This will enable the 
ARISS team to determine if the radio can be partially restored to 
provide some of the unattended operations that it once provided.  
(ARISS)

**

REGULATORY NEWS:  FCC PROPOSES TO LOWER THE VANITY CALL FEE

Some good news about license fees courtesy of the ARRL.  It reports 
that the FCC has proposed reducing the regulatory fee to obtain or 
retain an Amateur Radio vanity call sign by more than 40 percent 
starting later this year. 

In a Notice of Proposed Rule Making released April 18th,  the Commission 
is proposing to cut the fee from its current $20.80 to $11.70. If 
ultimately adopted, that would mark the lowest fee in the history of 
the current vanity call sign program. 

The actual designation of the proposal is titled  "Assessment and 
Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2007." In it, the FCC 
proposes to collect a total nearly $290.3 million in Fiscal Year 2007 
from all of its combined regulatory fees.  (ARRL)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  UNLICENSED TAMPA BROADCASTER FINED $10000

Turning to enforcement news, the FCC has fined Jean-Harry Pierre-
Francois $10,000 for operating an unlicensed broadcast transmitter in 
the Tampa, Florida area.  Back on February 13th the Commission's Tampa 
Office of the Enforcement Bureau issued Pierre-Francois a Notice of 
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $10,000.  Pierre-
Francois never filed a response to the N-A-L.  The FCC has now affirmed 
the forfeiture making it a fine that has to be paid within 30 days of the 
April 23rd release date unless Pierre-Francois decides to file an appeal.  
(FCC)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  IARU EMCOMMS PRESENTATION AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

A report developed by the Regional Conference on Disaster Relief and 
Management is now available for on-line viewing.  The Power Point 
presentation is from an address given by the IARU Region 1 Emergency 
Communications Coordinator Seppo Sisatto, OH1VR. 

The conference was held April 14th to thr 16th  in Alexandria, Egypt.  
The report is on-line at www.iaru-1.org/Alexandria%20presentation.ppt  
(IARU Region 1 News via Southgate News)

**

RADIO LAW:  COMPANY SUES FCC IN BID TO LEGALIZE SALE OF FREQUENCY 
JAMMERS

Cell Antenna Corporation, of Florida has filed suit against the FCC 
claiming rules that prohibit the sale of radio frequency jamming 
devices to state and local governments impair first responders' ability 
to fight terrorism.  The suit, filed in the US District Court of the 
Southern District of Florida challenges a law enforced by the Federal 
Communications Commission to prohibit the use of cellular and radio 
frequency jamming equipment by state and local governments.

Cell Antenna argues that several sections of the Communications Act of 
1934 violate the 14th amendment of the Constitution and conflict with 
both the public interest and the wishes of Congress.  Additionally, the 
suit claims that the FCC rules put at risk the lives of first 
responders and the public in the event of a terrorist attack using a 
remote controlled improvised explosive device.  

In support of its argument, Cell Antenna claims that with increasing 
regularity, insurgent groups in Iraq and terrorist cells abroad have 
begun to turn to cellular-triggered explosives as a means of attacking 
civilian and military targets.  The company says that the FCC is 
responsible for the commercial licensing of radio waves, and should not 
be responsible for the determination of whether state and local 
officials can use technology to fight terrorism.  

It should be noted that one of Cell Antennas primary products is signal 
jamming devices that are sold to federal government agencies throughout 
the world.  The complete press release detailing this law suit is on 
line at http://cellantenna.com/pressreleases/CellAntenna-FCC4.pdf   
(CGC, Cell Antenna Website)

**

ON THE AIR:  HAM RADIO INVITED ON CROSS COUNTRY PATRIOTIC RIDE

A 15-day Patriotic Ride Across America is being planned as part of the 
May 2007 National Military Appreciation Month.  Organizers would like 
Amateur Radio support for communications along the route.  

The 6000 mile round trip ride begins on May 20th in Sacramento, 
California and goes cross country to Washington D.C. before returning 
to the California state capital.  More information is on-line at 
www.nmam.org.  Just click on the Capital Ride Across America graphic at 
the top of the page.  

Also, as reported last week, the next "Ham It Up For The Troops" 
operating event takes on May 26, beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern time .  
Its also a part of National Military Appreciation Month  but sponsored 
by the Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day organization.  

ARMAD as it is better known  has conducted this special event for the 
past three years. It's primary purpose is to let those that sacrifice 
know that we support them. More about ARMAD and the "Ham It Up For The 
Troops" event is on line at www.armad.net  (ARMAD)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  NEW MANAGING EDITOR AT RADCOM

Some names in the news.  First to the United Kingdom where Giles Read, 
G1MFG, has been named Managing Editor of Radio Communications Magazine.  
He succeeds Alex Kearns who left the magazine back in  January.  

Read previously served as Rad Com's Technical Editor.  In his new 
position, G1MFG will be responsible for overall editorial control and 
technical content of the monthly U-K publication.

The RSGB which publishes Rad Com has also announced that Tracey Treanor 
has joined the staff.  She is taking on the job in bringing to members 
the most up to date news as well as in-depth features.  (GB2RS)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  ASTRONAUT BILL MC ARTHUR TO BE AT HAMVENTION 2007

Back on this side of the Atlantic, the Dayton Hamvention and ARRL have 
announced that Space shuttle veteran and International Space Station 
Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, will be attending the 
2007 Dayton Hamvention.  

McArthur will be the League's guest Hamvention.  He will first be the 
featured speaker during a private ARRL reception on Thursday, May 17th.  
He will be on hand all day Friday, May 18th to greet and talk with 
visitors to ARRL EXPO 2007 area at the Hamvention. 

Hamvention 2007 takes place May 18th to the 20th at Hara Arena near 
Dayton, Ohio.  More about the event and what's happening this year is 
on-line at www.hamvention.org.  (Dayton Hamvention, ARRL)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  SAARO TURNS 20 IN MAY

And congratulations to the Salem Area Amateur Radio Operators club of 
Salem, Ohio, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in May.  The group 
describes itself as an association of radio amateurs organized for the 
promotion of amateur radio communication and experimentation that 
provides communications during disasters, emergencies and community 
events.

The club has about 30 members from Salem and the surrounding area.  It 
is usually in attendance at large public functions like parades and 
works with the Patriotic Society on Memorial Day.  The club has 
assisted in many emergency operations over the years, and has gained 
national recognition as a Special Service Club. It's well-known for its 
24-foot long red trailer that appears during emergencies and emergency 
drills throughout the area.   (SalemNews.net)

**

RADIO NEEDED:  HAM RADIO STILL DOMINANT

Radio in general is still one of the most dominant form of 
communication despite major technological advancements.  This, 
according to the International Amateur Radio Union. 

Commenting, Graham Hartlett, ZS6GJH, of the South African Radio League 
notes that despite the internet and cellular phones, Amateur Radio 
continues to attract people world-wide.   Hartlet says that it does 
this by providing free international communications and friendships and 
because ham radio does not need pre-established supporting 
infrastructure that all other services do.   (SARL)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ELSEEMORE HELPS BLIND OPS USE ECHOLINK

Australia's NERG News reports a program called ElseeMore - EchoLink for 
Blind Operators has been developed by Tony Wakefield, VK3ZTR.  This 
program assists Blind and Visually Impaired radio amateurs in operating 
the popular EchoLink Internet linking program.

Normally EchoLink requires the use of the keyboard and mouse, and the 
ability to read menus and text displays.  ElseeMore is simplifying the 
user interface.  Large screen fonts and simplified text displays can be 
used by partially sighted operators, while voice prompts are use by 
totally blind operators to navigate through the EchoLink controls.  
Amnd best of all, ElseeMore can be configured by either locally or over 
the Internet so that the blind operator can easily access pre-set 
favorite EchoLink nodes.  

According to its developer, ElseeMore the program has been quite 
popular not only with blind operators but also operators having 20-20 
vision.  They find the large font display and speech announcements are 
great for monitoring operations from across a room.  More is on-line at 
www.tonywakefield.com.au  (WIA News)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD INTERNET ACCESS

The U.S. Department of Defense has named Intelsat General Corp. to 
proceed with initial testing of what is expected to lead to Internet 
Routing in Space. In early 2009, a space-hardened Cisco router will be 
launched into geostationary orbit to support the voice, data and video 
needs of the armed forces, first responders, and others who need 
seamless and instant communications.  You can read more about it at 
www.telecomweb.com/tnd/22650.html  (CGC)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  AMSAT-NA SPACE SYMPOSIUM IN PITTSBURG OCT 26 - 28

The 2007 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium will be held at the Pittsburgh 
Airport Marriott Hotel from October 26 through the 28th.   This years 
keynote speaker is Sy Liebergot, a former NASA spaceflight controller 
and part of the team that guided Apollo 13 back to Earth following the 
explosion which crippled the spacecraft.  

AMSAT is also focusing efforts to attract local middle and high school 
students to the Saturday sessions by providing special programs. As 
part of this there will be a fully operational satellite station on 
site for demonstrations and use. 

This years symposium is being hosted by the Wireless Association of 
South Hills Amateur Radio Club.  More information is on-line on the 
symposium page at www.amsat.org  (AMSAT)

**

WORLDBEAT - AUSTRALIA:  6 METER BEACON BACK ON AIR

In nrews from around the worls, word that the Australian  6 meter 
propagation beacon on 50.295 MHz is back on air.  This, with a 10 watt 
horizontally polarized omni-directional CW signal.   

The VK3RMH beacon was established to provide signals to indicate band 
openings to and across V-K land.  It also provides signals necessary 
for receiver alignment of stations within its local groundwave coverage 
area.  (WIA News)

**

WORLDBEAT - CHINA:  THE INTERLOPERS ARE BACK

If you are trying to hold a QSO on the 17 meter band and you are 
suddenly trampled by two shortwave stations fighting one another then 
you have been jammed by a pair of broadcasters vying for the minds of 
the people of China.  More accurately, one is trying to express its 
views to listeners in the Peoples Republic of China while the other is 
trying to jam it out. No matter as neither the "Sound of Hope" which 
broadcasts from Taiwan nor the music station jamming it from the city 
of Hainan are supposed to be on 18.160 MHz nor anywhere in the Amateur 
exclusive world wide 18 MHz allocation.  But they are and its not the 
first time that either has showed up in an Amateur Radio allocation.  
And while several nations Intruder Watch operations have logged the 
stations and complaints have been filed, it remains to be seen if 
anything can be done to chase the interlopers away.  (RN, Listener E-
Mail)

**

ON THE AIR:  THE IARU REGION 1 EMCOMM PARTY - MAY 5

On the air, word that Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union 
will be sponsoring its second EmCom Party on the Air on Sunday May 5th. 
The IARU says that this is not a contest but an emergency 
communications exercise. The aim for participants is to contact I-A-R-U 
Region 1 headquarters station OF3F in Finland and also as many other 
national HQ and emergency communication group stations as possible 
using SSB.  The information gathered will give the sponsor a good idea 
as to range and accessibility of stations in the region.  

The event runs from 11.00 to 15.00 UTC on the 40, 20 and 15 meter 
bands.  More information on the exercise can be obtained at www.raynet-
hf.net.  (GB2RS)

**

DX

In D-X, the international N8S DXpedition to Swains Island led by Hrane 
Miloshevic,YT1AD of Serbia and David Collingham, K3LP of the USA, is 
over.  Radio Bulgaria reports that racked up a a record breaking 
117,205 QSO's by operating around the clock on all bands from April 3rd 
to the 15th.  QSL cards is due to start after May 15th.  Direct QSL's 
require a self-addressed return envelope and proper funds to cover 
return postage.  Those go to Hrane Miloshevic, YT1AD, 36206 Vitanovac, 
Serbia.  QSL's sent via the bureau require only your card.

On the air, keep your ears open for DL9MWG active from Malta as 9H3RT 
through May 11th.  Activity will be on HF mainly using CW.  QSL to 
DL9MWG at his callbook address.

Last but by no means least, word that DS4DRE, is currently active slash 
4 from Hong Island. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters on CW and SSB.  
He plans to be there until June 30th.  QSL as directed on the air.  

(Above from various DX news outlets)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS:  ITS T-HUNT TIME

And finally this week, as the weather warms up, it's time to think 
about taking ham radio outside.  Newsline's Joe Moell K0OV tells about 
some opportunities for foxhunting fun in the coming months.

--

It's going to be a busy spring and summer for fans of hidden 
transmitter hunting.  May 12 and 13 is the annual CQ Worldwide 
Foxhunting Weekend.  You may have heard me call it the National 
Foxhunting Weekend before, but the name has changed because it's become 
an international event.  Fans of direction-finding contests will take 
to the roads and to the forest to track down hidden transmitters on two 
meters, and other bands too, in cars and on foot.  Start planning a 
Foxhunting Weekend activity for your club.  You can get some ideas by 
reading about it in the April and May issues of CQ Magazine.

Then a week later, a very special foxhunting event takes place at 
Sinclair Park in Dayton on the Sunday of Hamvention 2007.  This will be 
the first ARDF event just for the blind to be held in the USA.  It's 
being put on by the OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Club, headed up by Dick 
Arnett WB4SUV and Bob Frey WA6EZV.  Anyone who is blind or sight-
impaired can participate; no ham radio license is required.  How can 
one walk or run through a park to find radio transmitters without being 
able to see?  Go to OH-KY-IN's special Web site to find out.  The URL 
is www.ardfusa.com

While you're at the Hamvention, be sure to take in the Foxhunt Forum, 
which will be Saturday at 1145 hours in Room 5 of Hara Arena.

The big finish for 2007 foxhunting activity will be the ARDF 
Championships of the USA and IARU Region 2, which will be September 14 
through 16 in the forest near South Lake Tahoe, California.  That's 
near the Nevada border in the Sierras.  The championships are open to 
anyone of any age, and even if you've never done this sort of thing 
before, it's a chance to learn from the best.  Registration will open 
soon.  Read all about it, and other foxhunting news, at 
www.homingin.com.  Spell HOMINGIN as one word.

>From southern California, this is Joe Moell K-zero-Oscar-Vicror for 
Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

Again, Joes website is www.homingin.com.  (K0OV, ARNewsline)

**

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, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all 
from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  Our e-mail address is 
newsline at arnewsline.org.  More information is available at Amateur 
Radio Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.  
You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, P.O. 
Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. 

Two reminders before we go.  First about our on-line poll regarding 
your position on the concept of Regulation by Bandwidth.  To take part,  
take your web browser to  www.arnewsline.org. Scroll down and watch for 
the word "Polls" on the left hand side of the page.  Then click on the 
box that is closest to your view.  As soon as you cast your vote you 
will see the current results.  

Also, the nominating season for this years Amateur Radio Newsline Young 
Ham of the Year Award is now open.  Any radio amateur age 18 or younger 
residing in all 50 United States, plus Puerto Rico and all 13 Canadian 
Provinces can qualify.  Full details and nominating forms are on our 
special website at www,yhoty.org.  Also see the Vertex-Standard 
sponsored ad  on page 8 of the March issue of QST Magazine.  

And this final word.  It was 1,550 weeks ago, in the summer of 1977 
that the Amateur Radio Newsline was born.  That was almost 30 years ago 
and back then, we called ourselves the Westlink Radio Network with our 
very first newscast dedicated to reporting on repeater deregulation.  
That was a hot topic back then and there have been hundreds if not 
thousands of hot topics since.  And as we end our third decade of 
service and head toward our fourth, we want to pause for a moment and 
say thanks to all of you who have listed to us all these years and who 
have given us the financial support so that we can continue.  

In reality, you are just as important as any of us because without you 
the listener, we would have no reason to exist.  And as we say goodbye 
for this week we renew our pledge first made 30 years ago to do our 
best to bring you the most timely and up to date information that you 
need to be a modern day radio amateur.  

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim 
Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 from all of us here at the Amateur Radio 
Newsline and we thank you for listening.  