[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1552 - May 11, 2007

Sun May 13 17:44:59 EDT 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1552 - May 11, 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1552 with a release date of 
Friday, April May 11th, 2007 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   

The following is a Q-S-T.  Ham radio aids residents of a Kansas town 
destroyed by a killer tornado, Motorola leaves the Access B-P-L 
business and some big news about the Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio 
Mentoring Program.  Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline 
report number 1552 coming your way right now.

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HAMS ON THE SCENE AFTER GREENSBERG TORNADO

Ham radio is once again a communications lifeline.  This, after an 
strong tornado tore apart the town of Greensburg, Kansas on Friday 
night, May 4th.  Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, reports:

--

The storm has been classified by the National Weather Service as an F-5 
which is the most severe on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  The twister cut 
a 22 mile long track that was one-point-seven miles wide.  Winds were 
estimated at 205 miles per hour.  Authorities say about 95 percent of 
Greensburg was destroyed and at least 8 people lost their lives.  

According to news reports, all wire-line and cellular telephone 
communications into the southwestern Kansas town of 1500 was destroyed 
by the twister.  A group of ham radio operators identified as being 
from the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service were sent into the area 
early on Saturday May 5th to set up an emergency communications network.  
Media stories did not identify the hams by name but did praise their 
efforts while noting that they were entering an area of total 
devastation.  A later report posted to the ARRL website said the team 
was under the direction of District 6 Emergency Coordinator Godfrey 
Flax, KC0AUH.

What they found when they arrived was an area of total devastation.  
More than 90 percent of Greensburg was destroyed or heavily damaged.  
Most buildings were blown off their foundations and blown away.  The 
ARRL says that other hams involved in disaster relief were monitoring 
3.920 MHz early Saturday morning in case there was a need for them to 
act.  

Meantime President Bush has declared all Kiowa County, Kansas, a major 
disaster area, making federal aid available to residents affected by 
the storm. 

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, reporting from 
Lima, Ohio.  

--

The last tornado of that strength was in Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999. 
That twister killed 36 people and left several hundred without homes.  
(ARNewsline(tm), ARRL, others)

**

THE BPL FIGHT:  MOTOROLA SUSPENDS POWERLINE LV BPL DEVELOPMENT

Less than two years after announcing its Powerline LV Access B-P-L 
product, Motorola has decided to suspend development and to devote its 
resources to more promising markets.  Motorola reportedly has decided 
to focus on a product called Powerline MU, which is for use within 
multiple-unit dwellings. 

According to the ARRL Letter, the decision to stop work on its Access 
BPL product reflects declining interest in residential broadband 
service delivery among utilities.  This, coupled with the more 
immediate demand for in-building BPL systems would provide Motorola a 
more lucrative market. 

Powerline LV united Motorola's Canopy wireless broadband Internet 
platform with enhanced ham band-notching HomePlug technology, 
drastically reducing BPL interference potential.  This, by restricting 
the application of high-frequency RF to the low-voltage side of the 
power transformers serving customers' homes, not the medium-voltage 
wires that line many residential streets. As a result, Powerline LV 
avoided the system architecture that poses the greatest risk of BPL 
interference to radio communication -- radiation from the medium-
voltage power lines.  Measurements and subjective listening tests on 
the ham bands showed that Powerline LV was Amateur Radio-friendly.

Powerline LV was developed by Motorola researcher Richard Illman, AH6EZ 
of St. Charles, Illinois.  As a result he was selected for the Dayton 
Hamvention 2006 Technical Excellence Award. (ARRL)

**

HAM RADIOS DIGITAL FUTURE:  IRA FIELDS DIGITAL MIGRATION PLAN FOR 
REPEATERS

The Illinois Repeater Association now has a proposed digital repeater 
plan.  Titled "The Digital Migration - A Proposed Path," the strategy 
was developed by Robert Shepard, KA9FLX, who serves as the 
organizations Technical Committee Chairman.

Shepard indicates that the plan was crafted so as to serve the needs of 
tomorrows digital relay systems in such a way as to minimize impact on 
to existing analog systems.  It also takes into account how to 
integrate digital systems into the existing analog environment, utilize 
spectrum efficiently and plan for the future.  In other words, nobody 
will be displaced when and if its implemented.  Rather, its goal is to 
make it possible for analog and digital to share opectrum with minimal 
impact on one another.  

This is believed to be the very first analog to digital repeater 
bandplan developed anywhere in the world.  Shepard has posted it on the 
Illinois Repeater Associations website as both a .pdf file as well as a 
full Power Point presentation.  You can find it on-line at www.ira.net.  (Via e-mail)

**

HAM RADIOS DIGITAL FUTURE:  NEW VERSION OF WSJT RELEASED

Still with digital ram radio news, word that a new version of WSJT 
program designated version 5.9.7 has been developed by Joe Taylor K1JT.  
This new rendition contains 8 updates from the latest past release 
version that appear to make the program a bit more friendly to use.  

For those not aware, WSJT is a computer program for VHF and UHF 
communication using state of the art digital techniques.  It can decode 
fraction-of-a-second signals reflected from ionized meteor trails, as 
well as steady signals more than 10 dB weaker than those required for 
conventional C-W.  One of its operating modes is particularly well 
optimized for amateur Earth-Moon-Earth communications.  

WSJT  is open source software licensed under the GNU General Public 
License and is free for any ham to use.  You can download it at:  
http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/WSJT597.EXE  (VHF Reflector)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  STOP USING THAT ANTENNA

A northern California resident has been issued an Official Citation by 
the FCC.  This, for using one of those self oscillating Weingard 
amplified TV antennas that we have reported on in the past.  

The FCC claims that an investigation by the Enforcement Bureau's San 
Francisco Office  revealed that on April 3, 2007, one William Cooley of 
Yuba City, California operated a defective Winegard antenna, which 
caused interference to the licensee of station KZF952.

The San Francisco Office says that it received the complaint of 
interference on several frequencies used by the Sutter County Sheriff 
Department communications system.  On April 3rd, an FCC investigator 
confirmed that a radio signal was drifting around 459.28 MHz was coming 
from a Winegard antenna mounted to a motor home parked in the side yard 
of Cooley's Yuba City residence.  The agent conducted an on-off test of 
the antenna's power supply to verify the source of interference.

The FCC citation to Cooley notes that these Winegard antenna amplifiers 
have been the source of radio frequency interference in a number of 
cases. As a result of this interference, Winegard has agreed to replace 
the defective units at no charge.  

Cooley was advised to contact Weingard to make the exchange.  He was 
also requested to send the defective antenna to the FCC for inspection.  
(FCC)

**

HAM RADIO EDUCATION:  QCWA TO CO SPONSOR ROY NEAL, K6DUE, AMATEUR RADIO 
MENTORING PROGRAM

The Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Program is expanding with 
the potential of up to 10,000 new teachers.  This as the Quarter 
Century Wireless Association's Board of Directors votes to have that 
organization become a co-sponsor of the three year old post licensing 
educational program created by Amateur Radio Newsline.  David Black, 
KB4KCH, is at our South-East bureau with the details:

--

In a joint statement issued by the leadership of Quarter Century 
Wireless Association and that of the  Amateur Radio Newsline, the two 
have announced that QCWA has become a co-sponsor of the Newsline 
created Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Program. This is a 
post-licensing educational service created by Amateur Radio Newsline in 
January 2004 and designed to pair new hams with veteran amateurs in 
hopes that some of the established ham operator skills can be passed 
down to new generations. 

The program is loosely based on a similar program created by Broadway 
choreographer and performer Ann Reinking through her own educational 
foundation, the Broadway Theater Project.  This is a Florida based 
training program connecting students with seasoned theater 
professionals. If we may quote Ms. Reinking:

"Its sort of an un-written law or rule in the world of dance that you 
pass on what you know. This particular craft is at its best when its 
passed from one person's hands to the next."

According to ARNewsline Producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, what Ann 
Reinking says about "dance" applies equally to the world of Amateur 
Radio:

--

Pasternak:  That's true and maybe more so for all of us...  That's because, for 
decades the knowledge and tradition of our hobby/service was passed 
down from seasoned operators to newcomers, one on one.  I know that's 
how I got my start thanks to the late K2IXN at his TV repair store back 
in Brooklyn."

--

According to Pasternak, the success of the program has been such that 
the number of people seeking post licensing assistance has risen far 
faster than the number of available mentors. This has meant long delays 
for some who have placed requests. The addition of the member base of 
the QCWA makes available close to 10,000 highly skilled radio amateurs 
as potential mentors, each with a minimum of twenty-five years of 
experience in the hobby. 

"This is a good deal for all of Amateur Radio," says Q-C-W-A President 
John B. Johnston, W3BE. 

Johnston, a retired career FCC employee and Dayton Radio Amateur of the 
Year award winner believes that it is important to keep ham radio 
traditions alive.  He says that we in the QCWA are the elder statesmen 
and stateswomen of Amateur Radio.  That they are the people who have 
spent a sizeable chunk of our lives learning the artistry that goes 
with being a radio amateur. We know how a radio works. We know how an 
antenna works. He says that most of all they know that Amateur Radio 
can only survive if it passes its combined knowledge on to the next 
generation of radio amateurs. 

Under the agreement, ARNewsline will continue to solicit those looking 
for assistance and maintain the database that matches those desiring 
assistance with a mentor willing to assist. Willing members of the QCWA 
will be asked to register by e-mail to mentor at arnewsline.org stating 
their name, call, location, contact information and area of expertise. 
As request for assistance are received the person asking will be 
referred to the person closest to him/her who holds the qualifications 
and knowledge to assist. John Johnston believes this to be a program 
that all in QCWA should be a part of:

QCWA Prtesident Johnston says that: "this is a chance for each of us to 
leave our own personal legacy within ham radio. If we do so, we assure 
the service of another generation of skilled and caring operators who 
will be a true asset to the service. I urge all of you to sign on."

Two large pools of Amateurs are needed to make mentoring work. First, 
there must be a group of volunteers who have a skill and are willing to 
share their time. The second group is made up of the large number of 
beginners who want to learn.

Newsline and QCWA are now seeking applicants for both groups.  To sign 
up, send an e-mail mentor at arnewsline.org.  Tell us your name, call 
letters, address with zipcode, phone number, when we can call and 
whether you want to be a student or a mentor.  Again, that e-mail 
address is mentor at arnewsline.org and I'm David Black, KB4KCH, at the 
South-East Bureau in Birmingham, Alabama.

--

The project's namesake, Roy Neal, K6DUE, was himself a prominent 
mentor. Aside from being the dean of aerospace commentators for the 
Nation Broadcasting Company, K6DUE is generally credited with bringing 
manned Amateur Radio into space.  This by convincing NASA to let 
astronaut hams take their gear on shuttle flights and to the 
International Space Station through the SAREX and ARISS educational 
programs.  He also produced a half dozen ham radio educational videos 
dealing with Amateur Radio and manned ham radio on-orbit.  More about 
the Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Program is on-line at 
www.arnrewsline.org (ARNewsline)
**

RESCUE RADIO:  A NEW GENERATOR FOR EMCOMMS

Hutchinson, Minnesota  Crow River Area Amateur Radio Club of has 
acquired a portable generator from Cummins Power Generation of 
Minneapolis.  The generator, valued at almost $3,000, will be modified 
to support emergency communications by local Amateur Radio operators in 
times of disaster and to assist in McLeod County Skywarn operations.  
The first full demonstration of  how the generator will be integrated 
into the club's emergency communications capability will take place 
Field Day weekend June 23 and 24 at the Hutchinson Municipal Airport.   
(Hutchinson-Leader)

**

RADIO SAFETY:  LOWER YOUR POWER PLEASE

A Seattle radio station has lowered its transmit power after it was 
discovered that its new location was a possible safety hazard to a 
near-by oil refinery.  

After losing its lease on a transmitter site on Harbor Island, KKOL AM 
which is operated by Salem Communications spent several years 
broadcasting from a ship moored off-shore with a low-power signal that 
hindered its reach across the region.  Eventually it found a new site 
and had signed a 10-year lease with the Port of Tacoma.

Late last year it announced it had gone to full power.  That  prompted 
U.S. Oil & Refining Co. to file a complaint with the FCC claiming that 
KKOL's transmitter has created a series of problems at its refinery 
less than a mile away.  Of particular concern, U.S. Oil claims that an 
electrical charge produced by the transmitter creates a safety hazard 
at the refinery's docks when crude oil is unloaded from tankers. The 
Coast Guard has also weighed in, calling for the FCC to order KKOL to 
change operations to eliminate the risk of a spark causing an 
explosion.

Salem, which operates its Seattle stations as Inspiration Media 
proposed lowering its power to 47,000 watts at times when U.S. Oil is 
unloading oil tanker ships.  The FCC in turn asked that KKOL operate at 
25,000 watts during the day and 47,000 at night until the issue is 
resolved.  Late word is that Salem said it has voluntarily complied 
with that request.  (CGC, SEATTLE POST)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  NY HAMS HONORED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Members of New Yorks' Oswego County Emergency Communicators were 
recently honored by the Oswego County Legislature's Public Safety and 
Emergency Services Committee and County Emergency Management Office 
staff.  This, when Emergency Management Director Patricia Egan 
presented the first-ever RACES Service Award to Brien Mathews, KA2AON.   

Mathews is Oswego County's Skywarn coordinator.  He has also been a 
member of the Oswego County Emergency Communicators group since 1980.  
Public Safety Committee chair Tom Bullard, District 14, and vice 
chairman Milferd Potter, District 2, joined Egan in congratulating 
Mathews and presented a certificate of appreciation to RACES Radio 
Officer John Darling, K2QQY.  (Palladium-Times.com)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  G3STG AWARDED RSGB RAYNET CUP

The Radio Society of Great Britain's Raynet Cup has been presented to 
Geoff Griffiths, G3STG.  Griffiths joined United Kingdom emergency 
communications service in 1957 and received the award in recognition of 
his long-standing service to RAYNET.   In his 50 years working with the 
group he has served as chairman of both the RSGB National RAYNET 
Committee and the Network's Committee of Management.  (GB2RS)

**

COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH:  NYC SUBWAY RIDERS PERIL HEARING

Riding the New York City subway system can adversely affect your long 
term hearing.  That's the just of a new report by researchers who have 
been looking at hearing loss among those who use the rapid transit 
system to get around the city.  

In a new survey of noise levels throughout the system, researchers at 
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that 
exposure to noise levels in subways have the potential to exceed 
recommended guidelines of the World Health Organization and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency. According to the research, as little 
as 30 minutes of exposure to decibel levels measured in the New York 
City transit system per day has the potential to result in hearing 
loss. 

The findings were published in the September issue of the Journal of 
Urban Health.  This is a publication of the New York Academy of 
Medicine.  (Journal of Urban Health)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  KD5PLA TO REPLACE KD5PLB ON THE ISS 

NASA has announced that astronaut Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, will succeed 
Suni Williams, KD5PLB, as International Space Station Expedition 15 
Flight Engineer later this spring.  According to NASA News, Anderson 
will arrive aboard the ISS aboard the shuttle Atlantis which is set to 
launch on 8th June. The same shuttle mission will carry Williams back 
to Earth.

 Suni Williams has been in space since early December. During her ISS 
stay, she set a record for spacewalks by a female astronaut, conducting 
four excursions for a total of 29 hours and 17 minutes. Upon her 
return, she will have accumulated more time in space than any other 
woman.  She has also logged numerous school contacts during her on-
orbit stay.  (ARISS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  SSETI-ESO LAUNCH DELAYED A YEAR

The launch date for SSeti ESEO, a European Space Agency led student 
satellite project intended for geostationary transfer orbit has been 
delayed by approximately one year.  It had originally been hoped that 
this satellite would be a secondary payload on Ariane  launch in late 
November of 2008 but it now seems that opportunity will not be 
available.  (ANS)

**

RADIO IN SPACE:  EU RADIO FROM SPACE

An advanced in-car multimedia system that could use recycled television 
satellites coming to the end of their working lives has been unveiled 
in Europe.  

The prototype system was developed by the European Space Agency.  It is 
Said to offer high-quality radio, video and data.  If commercialized, 
the system would offer the first in-car satellite radio service 
available to Europeans.  (Southgate)

**

WORLDBEAT - IRELAND:  ON THE AIR CELEBRATING FLIGHT

Irelands Limerick Radio Club has been invited by the Foynes Flying Boat 
Museum to operate a special Amateur Radio Station.  This, in 
conjunction with the commemorative Transatlantic Re-Enactment Flight 
1937 from Newfoundland Canada to Foynes Ireland.

The special event callsign has been issued to the club to operate as  
EI70FOY. The station will be on the air from the July 6th to the 8th.  On 
the High Frequency bands operation will be on 80 through 10 meters.   
EI70FOY will also operate on VHF / UHF as well.

A special QSL card, commemorating the flight reenactment will be sent 
to all stations worked over the three-day event.  All inbound QSL cards 
should be sent to the Club's QSL Manager Alan Cronin E-I-8-E-M at his 
callbook address.  More is on-line at www.qsl.net/ei4lrc.   (IRTS)

**

DX

In D-X, A52SW will be on the air  from Thimpu, Bhutan, from May 17th to 
the 22nd.  The operator is Steve Herman, W7VOA who will be on 80 through 
6 meters using CW, SSB and, possibly, PSK, as well as 10-meter FM.  
Steve is a news correspondent based in India covering South Asia.  He 
says this will be the first of numerous trips he plans to make to 
Bhutan over the next several years as 
A52SW.  The QSL manager for A52SW will be K2AU.

Also, word that DB5YB will be active as portable OZ from Bornholm 
Island, through the 18th May.  He plans to operate SSB on 20, 17 and 15 
meters.  QSL via his home call.

And Special event station IR1ALP will be active from Cuneo, Italy 
through May 31st.  A special postage stamp will be affixed on the cards 
confirming QSOs made on 12th and 13th May, during the 80th Italian 
Alpine troops gathering.  QSL via QSL via IK1AAS.

Also, special event station ON50EU is active until December 31st.  This, 
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.  QSL as 
directed on the air.

Lastly, some DX from space. WA7IRW says that he will be operating from 
the British Virgin Islands as VP2V and WA7IRW through May 18th.  He 
expects to try AO-51 ops typically in the afternoon and  evening hours 
passes using an  FT857 and an aArrow antenna from the sail boat.  QSL 
direct to WA7IRW.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  CB DOWN UNDER

And finally this week, we all know the story of how Class D, C-B at 27 
MHz in the United States was created from the old 11 meter ham band.  
But other nations have their story of how C-B came about and in some 
cases the tale is very similar.  Only the timeline differs.  Jim 
Linton, VK3PC, reports:

--

Rewind, a look back at history 

On a recent ABC radio program quiz segment this question was put: 'In 
what year was Citizens Band Radio legalized in Australia?" 

It was 1977, in fact July the 1st of that year after a Federal 
Government inquiry that received a large number of submissions in favor 
of the move, and intense lobbying by a number of CB radio groups. 

Initially CB was 18 channels at 27MHz, requiring operators to have a 
government issued callsign, pay an annual license fee and use type-
approved equipment. 

The big plan was that 27MHz, the amateur 11 meter band, was only to be 
a temporary allocation and all CB'ers would move to UHF in five years. 

However, 27MHz was retained and expanded in 1982, and the UHF band 
continues today.  Gone has the licensing requirement too, with CB radio 
now covered in 2002 by a fee-free Radiocommunications Citizen Band 
Radio Stations Class License. 

So radio amateurs can commemorate the loss of their 11 meter band, 
while CB operators can mark the 30th or Pearl anniversary of  legalized 
CB in Australia. 

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC for the Amateur Radio Newsline.  

--

Sounds like a rather familiar story, but this time that's a big 10-4 
from down-under.  (WIA News)

**

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 we have a new poll for the month of 
May. This one asks the question now that the Morse exam is part of ham 
radio history, do you plan to upgrade or remain the license class you 
are right now.  Of coarse this is unfair to Extra class licensees 
because they cannot go any higher so this poll kind of leaves them out 
in the cold.  To compensate, we added a third possible answer, but you 
will have to go to our website at www.arnewsline.org to see what it is.

Also, the nominating season for this years Amateur Radio Newsline Young 
Ham of the Year Award closes on May 30th.  That's less than 3 weeks 
away.  Any nominations received after that date will not qualify for 
this years award program.

The Young Ham of the Year Award is open to 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.  

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim 
Damron, N8TMW and I'm Jeff Clark, K8JAC, saying 73 and we thank you for 
listening.  