[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1572 - September 28, 2007

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Sat Sep 29 09:37:32 EDT 2007



Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1572 - September 28, 2007

The following is a Q-S-T. The National Frequency Coordinators' Council 
asks the FCC to declare all digital voice repeaters follow the same 
rules as analog F-M repeaters, Australia makes ready for digital voice 
operations and four New England repeaters voluntarily shut down over 
interference to Pave Paws radar.  
Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1572 
coming your way right now.
 
**

RADIO LAW:  NFCC ASKS FCC TO DECLARE DIGITAL VOICE REPEATERS THE SAME 
AS ANALOG

Is a digital voice repeater really a repeater or is it something else 
yet to be defined in law?  The National Frequency Coordinators' Council 
believes that anything that repeats voice in close to real time is a 
repeater, and its now asked the FCC to declare this to be the case.  
Jay Maynard, K5ZC, is president of the NFCC.  He explains the back 
story that lead his organization to act:

--

K5ZC:  "When D-Star started really taking off, somebody wanted to put 
up a D-Star repeater.  He went to his local coordination council and 
wanted to put up a 2 meter D-Star repeater.  He went to his local 
coordination council but was told no because we do not have any 
frequencies available for you.  In desperation -- I don't know if 
that's a truly accurate word but its close enough -- they (the want to 
be repeater owners) went to the FCC and described what D-Star did in 
such a way that the FCC -- specifically Bill Cross -- concluded that a 
D-Star repeater really wasn't a repeater and therefore did not have to 
operate in the repeater subbands."

--

That night be all well and good if it were only D-Star and other 
digital repeaters that fell into this category.  Unfortunately, many of 
today's analog FM systems alo include a slight audio delay to 
facilitate control or linking.  And it soon became apparent that this 
opinion by Bill Cross could lead to a lot of problems on the VHF and 
UHF bands:

--

K5ZC:  "This guy said 'fine' and he put his machine up on 145.61MHz 
with a minus 1.2 MHz offset and went to town  That gave  D-Star a 
foothold in that area, but it also opened up a real can of worms 
because the way that Bill Cross wrote the message, he said that its not 
simultaneous because there is a delay  in the path between the input 
and the output.  

The problem there is that lots of (analog) repeaters have delays 
between the input and the output.  Anyone that's running an RC-850 
(controller) or other computerized controller has a delay.  And it was 
only a matter of time before some bright spark read that message and 
said: 'Ah hah!  My repeater does not transmit simultaneously either.  
Its not a repeater and I can get on outside the repeater subbands and  
go to town."

--

And that's what had frequency coordinators concerned.  They did not 
want to see a return to the repeater turf wars that marked the early 
days of FM relay operation:  

--

K5ZC:  "In the late 1960's and early 1970' there was a lot of 
proliferation of repeaters.  That was really the 'golden age' of 
repeater construction.  And in that era is when frequency coordination 
first came about because you had people wanting to put their repeaters 
up all on the same frequency, and that did not work very well -- as you 
might imagine.

Part of the regulation that came down to stem that tide was restricting 
repeaters to parts of the ham bands so that they wouldn't take over the 
entire band.  After all, there are folks that do other things than 
operate FM repeaters on 2 meters and on some of the other bands and 
they have just as much right  to operate on the ham bands as repeater 
operators do.  And that's where the restriction (of repeaters) to 
certain subbanbds comes from."
  
--

After debating the matter for several months  as more and more digital 
voice systems took to the air, the majority of NFCC members agreed that 
it was imperative for them to let the FCC know that they believe any 
device that retransmits an audio signal in near to real time is a 
repeater and should be treated as such.--

--

K5ZC:  "What the NFCC did was vote to ask the FCC to treat anything 
that asks like a repeater, as a repeater.  This was a formal motion and 
vote of the council."
 
--

Specifically, the letter states that the NFCC believes that any amateur 
station, other than a message forwarding system, that automatically 
retransmits a signal sent by another amateur station on a different 
frequency while it is being received, regardless of any delays in 
processing that signal or its format or content, is a repeater station 
within the meaning of paragraph 97.3(a)(39) of the FCC rules and should 
be treated as such.  In practical terms, it means that D-Star, APCO 25 
and any other repeatable digital voice system that comes along would be 
restricted to operation in the FCC recognized repeater subbands.  That 
they could not simply set up shop on any frequencies that the system 
owner might choose to the detriment of weak signal, satellite or any 
other user of any ham radio band.  It's an action likely to be lauded 
by groups like those just mentioned but likely will be condemned by 
those wanting to put up digital voice repeaters.  If the FCC finds 
itself agreeing with the N-F-C-C, then it will mean digital voice relay 
enthusiasts  will have to get in line behind all of the others waiting 
for repeater pairs for their old line F-M systems.  

Obviously we have only scratched the surface of this controversial 
topic.  If you want to learn more, take your web browser over to 
www.therainreport.com.  That's where you will find Part 1 of a two-pard 
in-depth interview with NFCC President Jay Maynard, K5ZC.  Again that's 
www.therainreport.com  or on the phone at area code 773-358-7845  
(ARNewsline)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  AUSTRALIA MAKES READY FOR D-STAR

The United States is not the only place where digital voice repeaters 
are coming of age.  Australia's National Technical Advisory Committee 
or NATC has been considering how best to accommodate narrow band 
digital voice technologies such as D-Star.  They have now made a number 
of proposals. Peter Young, VK3MV, of the WIA News reports:

--

Firstly, in the 2 meter band, digital repeaters will be assigned to 
frequencies in the 146 to 147 MHz band, using the space between 
existing FM repeater channels. This is known as inter-leaving and is a 
common method of assignment to increase spectrum efficiency. The are 
some compelling reasons to take this approach for 2 meters, one is to 
remove the potentially annoying "drone" of digital signals, and 
secondly, the lack of normal FM repeater channels in some parts of 
Australia. It also seems to make sense to have the uniform arrangements 
across all of Australia. 

The arrangements for simplex operations, again to separate digital and 
FM emissions, NTAC has recommended the best area for simplex D-Star 
activity would be the 145 MHz segment. One suitable channel that is 
clear of other use is 145.125 MHz and should be used as the national 
simplex digital channel. 

On 70cms, where there is less congestion, NTAC has recommended that the 
first fifteen repeater channels, that is, 438.025 to 438.375 MHz, be 
used for D-Star type activity. 

NTAC has recommended that the arrangements for simplex activity on 70cm 
be centred on a national channel of 438.900 MHz, with secondary 
channels 12.5 KHz either side of the national channel. 

For the 23cm band, NTAC has recommend that repeater channels be 
assigned in the high end of the 1293 to 1294 MHz repeater segment. And 
on the 23cm, there is already a digital simplex segment between 1298 
and 1300 MHz. As D-Star on this band uses a 128 KHz emission bandwidth, 
it is suggested that channels are spaced at 200 KHz intervals, 
beginning at 1298.1 MHz. 

I'm Peter Young VK3MV

--

Australia's National Technical Advisory Committee will review these 
arrangements as D-Star digital activity develops.  Further information 
can be found on the W-I-A website and will be included in the next 
edition of the WIA call book.  (WIA News)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  HAMS HELP NAB FLORIDA BURGLERS

Back in the U-S, three Florida juveniles who allegedly used Amateur 
Radio gear to coordinate at least one burglary and possibly more have 
been taken into custody.  This, after two they showed up on a wide area 
repeater that two hams were monitoring.  One of them was a retired 
police officer.  

It all started back on September 8th .  Albert Moreschi, AG4BV, of 
Jupiter Farms and John Levey, KI4HTL, of Palm Beach Gardens, were 
listening to the repeater when some unexpected transmissions were 
heard.  Some unlicensed operators showed up and what they were talking 
about caufght KI4HTL's ear.  As a retired police officer, Levey, he 
knew what it was being discussed.  So he began recording the radio 
transmissions from the suspects while he and Morsechi notified local 
law enforcement.  Unfortunately, the would-be burglars didn't describe 
the house well enough to get the exact address.  

Then on September 21st the same group of bootleggers again showed up on 
the repeater.  It was evident to Levey what was happening, so he again 
began recording the transmissions while coordinating with Morsechi by 
cellphone.  

Meantime, the owner of the house being burglarized was huddled in her 
bedroom closet, calling sheriff's deputies for help.  They arrived on 
scene and the hams listening to the repeater knew it because the last 
transmission from the suspects was "Code Red, Code Red, Code Red. There 
are cops everywhere, dude!"

But for Levey, the work didn't end with the suspects arrest.  He then  
headed to the Jupiter Farms Sheriff's Office substation where one of 
the suspects had been taken.  KI4HTL identified himself as a former 
police officer and a ham radio operator.  He told the deputy on duty 
that he had recordings of the suspects radio transmissions. The 
Sheriff's Office is now in possession of the tapes.

Oh yes. We forgot to mention that the repeater that the suspects chose 
to use has coverage Boynton Beach to Port St. Lucie.  That's several 
hundred square miles.  Its also a Citizens Emergency Response Team 
Repeater so there is always someone listening in.  (Palm Beach Post, 
others)

**

HAM RADIO VS.THE MILITARY:  THE LATEST ON PAVE PAWS

The reduction of interference to the governments Pave Paws radar on the 
70 centimeter band has taken its first toll.  This, even as the ARRL 
works toward finding a solution that will appease the military and the 
Department of Defense in eliminating interference to its Pave Paws 
radar system.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Carlson, KQ6FM, in Reno, 
has more:

--

Chris Smith, K1CJS,  reports via eHam dot net that at least four U-H-F 
repeaters have terminated their operation.  All are in Massachusetts 
and located within 30 miles of the East coast Pave Paws radar site.
The machines now gone are the Barnstable Repeater on 442.950, the 
Dennis Repeater on 443.500, the 443.800 machine at Dartmouth and the 
Falmouth Repeater on 444.250 MHz.  Smith adds that other repeaters, 
including the 447.825 system in Coventry, Rhode Island, are likely soon 
to follow.

Meantime the ARRL Letter says that the League participated with the 
Department of Defense in a teleconference call on Wednesday, September 
19th, regarding Amateur Radio repeaters interfering with the Air Force's 
Pave Paws radar system.  According to Regulatory Branch Manager Dan 
Henderson, N1ND, the Department of Defense acknowledged that it has 
seen changes at some repeater sites, but not all of them.  He confirmed 
that some Massachusetts repeater owners have volunteered to completely 
turn off their systems.  Others have made changes, but more is needed 
at both of the nations two Pave Paws radar sites.

Meantime, the Department of Defense has identified additional sources 
of interference in Massachusetts.  Henderson says that this was not 
really unexpected and is part of what has become an ongoing project.  
He says that the ARRL will begin working with these repeater owners as 
soon as the Department of Defense provides the League with specific 
information.  

In California, where more than 100 repeaters are being scrutinized 
Henderson said the majority of these systems have not been mitigated. 
That's because the Air Force has not had a chance to revisit Beale Air 
Force Base for new measurements, but it will be happening soon.

Meantime, reports circulating that a number of California repeater 
owners have decided to take no further action about eliminating the 
interference unless they receive official notice from the Federal 
Communications Commission have proven to be false.  California repeater 
owner operators appear more than willing to cooperate in any way 
necessary, but they need guidance on what to do next.  As soon as they 
receive directives, they will be taken care of.  Repeater owner 
operators are usually good about handling such things.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Carlson, KQ6FM, in Reno.

--

The real problem on the Western horizon may turn out to be those 
repeater users who are disenfranchised as their favorite systems.  
This, as repeaters reign in coverage of leave the air all together.  

More and more reports are surfacing of hams in the affected area 
installing high power UHF amplifiers to try to keep in contact with the 
same group they used to talk in over a repeater. From the standpoint of 
interference mitigation, its a lot easier to deal with 10, 20 or even 
100 repeaters whose location is cast in concrete than it is thousands 
of high power mobile operators wandering the roads in the same 
geographic zone.  (ARNewsline, ARRL, eHam, K1CJS)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  JOINT CANADA - USA EMCOMM PREPAREDNESS EVENT

A demonstration of cooperation in emergency communications preparedness 
between Canadian radio amateurs and those in the United States was 
being planned for September 29th and 30th.  This, with the installation 
of special event station VO1ARES at historic Signal Hill, in St. 
John's, Newfoundland.

The objectives of the event is three-fold.  First, is to highlight the 
capabilities of Amateur Radio in providing emergency communications in 
times of crisis.  Also, to illustrate the cooperation between Canada 
and the United States on emergency preparedness.  Lastly, to create a 
database of communications `first responders' that the Government of 
Canada can contact for emergency communications assistance in times of 
crisis.

Sponsors are Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and Radio 
Amateurs of Canada.  Facilities, provided by Parks Canada, are being 
coordinated by the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs. The site is 
the Marconi memorial station on Signal Hill where reception of the 
first trans-Atlantic wireless transmission occurred in 1901.

This is the first time an official activity of its type has been 
conducted and radio amateurs from all across Canada and the U.S. A. 
were invited to participate and to talk up the value of Amateur Radio 
as a valuable community resource.  (RAC)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  RAYNET ASSISTS AT UK PLANE CRASH

The United Kingdom's South Sussex RAYNET group were on hand to help 
when a plane crashed at the recent Shoreham Airshow.  Jeramy Boot, 
G4NJH, has the details:

--

Each year an emergency plan is rehearsed and refined, in the hope that 
it will never be needed.  However on the weekend 15th and 16th 
September that practice paid off. 

On the Saturday a Hurricane nose-dived into the ground, killing its 
pilot instantly.  The incident happened off-field, and no one else was 
involved.

Two members of the team who witnessed the incident informed Control, 
who put everyone on high alert. The emergency channel sprang into use.  
The pre-prepared messages and procedure for Incident Off Field was 
broadcast, and acknowledgements sought from all on that net.  This 
resulted in all access and departure gates being closed, all senior 
safety and administrative personnel being briefed.  The PA Caravan 
being informed, and members of the public kept aware of the situation.

Jeramy Boot, G4NJH

--

Shortly after the accident, a group of Spitfire aircraft flew the 'man 
missing' formation.  This, in tribute to the downed pilot.  (GB2RS)

**

RECUE RADIO:  DARC OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO GERMAN AUTHORITIES

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club has sent a letter to the German 
Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.  This to 
offer Amateur Radio assistance in cases of emergency.  

In a letter signed by president Jochen Hindruchs, DL9KCX, the German 
national society underlines the fact that Amateur Radio stations are 
technically independent and that the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club 
structure with districts and local clubs fits the communications needs 
of the regional authorities.   (Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO ON THE WEB:  NEW UK D-STAR WEBSITE

Icom U-K is in the process of creating up a new website in the United 
Kingdom for D-Star users.  Located in cyberspace at www.d-staruk.co.uk, 
the site will be content rich and will be a comprehensive guide to D-
Star related  including sections about the history, features and 
technical matters regarding the D-Star system.  Also included will be 
links to some successful forums that have already built-up a wealth of 
information about setting up and running a D-Star system.  Again that 
URL is www.d-staruk.co.uk  (Icom UK)

**

HAM RADIO PROMOTION:  MGM FILM PRESENTS RADIO HAMS

A film from Metro Goldwayn Mayer that promotes Amateur Radio has 
surfaced on the Internet.  Produced in 1939 by Pete Smith, "Radio Hams 
centers on a family called to dinner.  All but the teenage son respond.  
When family members go looking for him, one by one they are snared into 
a world of ham radio high adventure.  One that includes a rescue in 
Alaska and a tragic search for a downed aircraft at sea.  

Unlike most films promoting ham radio, this one is not a documentary.  
It's a fully scripted 10 minute dramatic presentation featuring a cast 
of professional actors well directed by Felix Fiest.  E. Mauriece Adler 
is credited with writing the screen play.  

"Radio Hams" is really a nostalgic look back at ham radio the way it 
never was, You can see it on-line at 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBGIdf0VjQ4   (YouTube)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE:  THE 2007 QCWA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IN COLORADO

The 2007 QCWA International Convention takes place October 4th through 
the 7th at the Doubletree Hotel in Denver.  Seminars on Friday and 
Saturday, include Station Grounding Procedures, Health and Safety Tips 
in the Shack, Amateur Radio Operations from the South Pole, an IARU 
Update, the QCWA Forum and much more. Friday night's Meet & Greet will 
feature The 4th U.S. Artillery Regimental Brass Band for your listening 
pleasure.  More information is on-line at qcwa-58.rmhcn.org/convention/  
(QCWA)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE:  ROCK HILL HAMFEST OCT. 6 IN S.C.

The 53rd Annual Rock Hill Hamfest and Computer Expo takes place on 
Saturday, October 6th at the Rock Hill American Legion Post 34 and the 
York County Fairgrounds in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Gates open at 7am 
with V-E License Testing starting at 10am.  Talk-in is on the 147.03 
MHz repeater.  More information is on-line at www.rockhillhamfest.com  
(eHam)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE:  HALL OF SCIENCE HAMFEST IN NY ON OCT 7

The Hall of Science Amateur Radio Club Hamfest takes place on Sunday, 
October 7th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time.  The venue is the New 
York Hall of Science Museum Parking Lot located in New York City's 
Flushing Meadow Corona Park. Talk in is on the 444.200 repeater with a 
136.5 hz. Tone access or on 146.52 simplex.  More information is on-
line at www.HOSARC.org  (Via e-mail)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  HAMS TO HEAD OPERATIONS AT TWO NASA CENTERS

Veteran astronaut Ellen Ochoa, KB5TZZ, who has been named Deputy 
Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center.  Ochoa has served as Director 
of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson.  She will succeed Bob Cabana, 
KC5HBV, who was named Director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in 
Mississippi.

According to an ARRL release, Ochoa and Cabana have each flown in space 
four times.  Ochoa flew on space shuttle missions STS-56 on Discovery 
in 1993, STS-66 on Atlantis in 1994, STS-96 on Discovery in 1999 and 
STS-110 on Atlantis in 2002, logging a total of 978 hours in space.  
She became Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson in 
December 2002 and Director of Flight Crew Operations in September 2006.

Cabana has logged more than 1010 hours in space.  He served as pilot on 
STS-41 in 1990 and STS-53 in 1992, both on Discovery. He was mission 
commander on STS-65 on Columbia in 1994 and STS-88 on Endeavour in 
1998, the first International Space Station assembly mission.  (ARRL, 
NASA)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  TOM ATKINS, VE3CDM - SK

Amateur radio has lost a great ambassador and advocate.  This with the 
sad news that former ARRL Canadian Division Director and IARU Region 2 
President Tom Atkins, VE3CDM, passed away Tuesday, September 18. 

Atkins was the last Director of the ARRL's Canadian Division before the 
Canadian Radio Relay League began to operate independently in 1988.  
The CRRL eventually gave way to today's Radio Amateurs of Canada..  
VE3CDM also served for two terms as President of Region 2 of the 
international Amateur Radio Union . He also served on the IARU 
Administrative Council and as an IARU Expert Consultant.  

In addition to his work with IARU, Tom Atkins was a QCWA Life Member as 
well a member of Wild Rose Chapter 151. He was the President of the 
Fred Hammond Chapter 73.

Tom Atkins, VE3CDM, dead at age 82.  (RAC, ARRL, QCWA)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  SCOUTS ASSIST IN SUIT-SAT 2 PROJECT 

A group of young scouts are going into space.  At least they are headed 
there vicariously.  

On Saturday, September 15th, approximately 58 boys, ages 6 to18 in 
Maricopa, Arizona met to assemble two non-flight safety boxes for 
SuitSat-2. The scouts from Cub Scout packs 983, 977, 778, 997, troop 
993 and ham radio explorer post 599 also drew pictures to be included 
on the SuitSat-2 DVD.  

As an addeed bonus, the older boys were also taught how to solder and 
lace cables. Photos from the Explorer Scouts working this project can 
be found on line at 
http://www.briansnapped.com/content/pics/SuitSat_2007/  (ANS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: CELEBRATING SPUTKIK 1

AMSAT-North America will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of 
Russia's first Sputnik artificial satellite with a special event on AO-
51 on the evening of Wednesday, October 3rd local U-S time.  To 
commemorate the occasion, AO-51 will rebroadcast original Sputnik 
telemetry and a congratulatory message to mark the event during passes 
over North America on the evening which translates to October 4th UTC.  
At this time, only the passes over North America will be able to carry 
the special event.  (ANS)

**

RADIO IN SPACE:  LOOKING FOR THE TINIEST LIGHTS IN THE SKY

Speaking about radio from space, when you look up at the night sky you 
see the brightest stars in the firmament.  But astronomers and radio 
astronomers see lots more.  Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, has their latest 
discovery:

--

An international team of astronomers has uncovered the faintest stars 
ever seen in any globular star cluster. Using NASA's Hubble Space 
Telescope, the team took hundreds of high-resolution photos that were 
then radioed back to Earth.  The astronomers then compared the images 
pixel-by-pixel to identify the dimmest stars in the globular star 
cluster NGC 6397.  The researchers say that the light from these faint 
stars is so dim that it is equivalent to that produced by a birthday 
candle on the Moon, as seen from Earth.

--

Now those are truly faint stars!  (Space & Science)

**

WORLDBEAT - SOUTH AFRICA:  RTA PRESENTATIONS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

The first of the presentations made at the South African Radio League's 
Radio Technology in Action days are now available on the web.  The 
presentations are in PDF format and can be downloaded for printing or 
viewing on screen.  The URL is www.sarl.org.za, click on activity and 
then on RTA.  The South African Radio League also invites everyone to 
visit the RTA section of the web regularly as presentations will be 
added over the next few weeks. (Southgate)

**

WORLDBEAT - UK:  NEW LOOK FOR BARTG MAGAZINE AND WEBSITE

The British Amateur Teledata Group also known as BARTG, has undergone 
some changes
recently.  The group now has a new website www.bartg.org.uk which 
offers extra features.  It also gas a brand new look for irs Datacom 
magazine.  (GB2RS)

**

DX

In D-X, woird that a large group of Dutch amateurs will be going to 
Qawra, Malta for their 20th holiday DXpedition.  They will operate on 
80 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and digital modes until September 
30th.  Listen out for the  special callsign 9H20 and QSL via PB9ZR.

And the city of Cotacachi, Ecuador will be the temporary Q-T-H of 
EA1APV operating portable HC1.  This through the 20th of October.  
Reports are that Marcos is working there so ham radio occupies only 
very little of his spare time. QSL via his home call.

And the U-K's Border Amateur Radio Society is planning an on the air 
operation as GS0BRS and GX0BRS through 29th December.  Activity will be 
on HF and VHF.  For more details contact Ray Evans, GM0CDV.

Lastly, SU8BHI will be the Egyptian callsign of HA3JB through November 
30th.  He plans to work  CW, RTTY, SSTV, PSK and a little SSB on all of 
the H-F bands.  QSLs only direct to HA3JB.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  THE FRIENDLY QSO PARTY

Turning to the world of radio sports, the Pennsylvania QSO Party is 
celebrating it's 50th anniversary as the Friendly QSO Party.  The dates 
this year are October 13th  and 14th.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark 
Abramovich, NT3V, has more:

--

Next to California's state party, Pennsylvania's is one of the most 
active fall events on the bands.
Michael Coslo, KB3EIA, is PA QSO Party chairman.

"Participation has been steady," Coslo says. "We keep track of the 
number of logs that have been submitted and we have been just about the 
same for the last four, five years, which is interesting because 
participation does tend to go down and up with the sunspot cycle."

Coslo says lots of people are participating in the party and he'd like 
to see some more logs.

"We know there's a lot more activity out there than from what the log 
submissions have been and I know there are some people who I've seen 
their call signs in the logs, they would have actually won their county 
if they had submitted a log," Coslo says.

"So, we try to encourage everybody, even though it's at the low ebb of 
the sunspot cycle to send in a log because we're all playing in the 
same pond, so to speak."

Coslo, who has been chairman of the PA Party for the past few years, 
says this is the year he and the Nittany Amateur Radio Club, sponsor of 
the event, decided to tackle the rules.

"We had always tried to keep things simple and down to one page. But, 
finally decided that with the demand for clarification I was going to 
start defining things. And, it's been a good thing. We now have a lot 
of things that there used to be questions asked every year that things 
are pretty well defined. But it also makes the rule pages a lot larger. 
We went from one page to eight pages."

But Coslo says among the rules you'll find a few nice changes.

"We've added SSB-only class which there had been some call for that 
since we offer a CW-only class," Coslo says. "And, we've also added 
what's called a 'Good Neighbor Plaque.'

"This was started to encourage operation on 20 meters because some of 
our friends in places like Florida and California, other places out 
West - they'd like to get involved in the party, too. And, what we need 
is operators from Pennsylvania to be working them." 

He says last year's experiment with digital modes will continue with 
operations on RTTY and PSK 31.

The best place to find out more about the PA QSO Party is by going to 
the group's website at  http://www.nittany-arc.net/paqso.html

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in 
Philadelphia.

--

Again, the dates this years Pennsylvania QSO Party are October 13th  and 
14th.  Hope to hear you on the air.  (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. 

Before we go, one quick announcement.  Due to the fact that key 
Newsline personnel will be attending the QCWA convention in Colorado, 
next weeks newscast number 1573 will be delayed by about 48 hours.  
Look for it to be released at about noon, Sunday October 7th, Pacific 
time.  Our normal Friday release schedule will resume with newscast 
1574 on October 12th.  

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 is Copyright 2007.  All rights reserved.




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