[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1575 - October 19, 2007
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Tue Oct 23 18:32:51 EDT 2007
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1575 - October 19, 2007
The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio and international broadcasting
get ready for the next global telecommunications conference, but each
has a different agenda. Find out the details on Amateur Radio
Newsline report number 1575 coming your way right now.
**
RADIO POLITICS: WRC-07 BEGINS OCT 22 - SOME BAND CHANGES MAY TAKE
PLACE
An upcoming global conference could have a major impact on ham radio
frequency allocations. Robert Broomhead, VK3KRB, of the W-I-A News has
a preview of W-R-C 2007:
--
There are 3 items of particular interest to amateurs raised by the
agenda for the WRC.
One is an agenda item that would allow the allocation of the band 7.2
to 7.3 MHz in Regions 1 and 3 to the amateur service, achieving a world
wide 7 to 7.3 MHz band. However, Keith advises that he is unaware
of any proposal supporting this, and the Australian public position is
to oppose any change in this part of the spectrum.
.
Another matter is the proposal for an allocation to the amateur service
of the band 5.260 to 5.410 MHz. The Region 1 organization, CEPT, has
proposed a footnote to allow administrations to make such an
allocation,
and other administration's proposals make it likely that the proposal
will at least be discussed.
The final proposal for a secondary allocation for the amateur service
135.7 to 137.8 kHz with a 1 Watt e.i.r.p. power limit does seem to have
fairly general support.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead, VK3KRB, in
Australia.
--
Along with the WIA News, Amateur Radio Newsline will be covering WRC 07
and will keep you updated. (WIA News)
**
RADIO POLITICS: HF SHOWDOWN AT WRC-07
Meantime, shortwave broadcasters such as the B-B-C and defense users
such as the United States Navy are expected to battle over spectrum
used for high-frequency communications in the 4 to 10 MHz bands at the
upcoming World Radiocommunications Conference
Shortwave broadcasters want to use this band to replace their analog
broadcasts with a new digital service that will provide near FM-radio
quality using Digital Radio Mondiale technology. But the Navy wants
to use these same High Frequency bands to support the broadcast of
data over new IP-based services at far less cost than sending data by
satellite.
Richard Russell is the associate director for technology in the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He predicts that with
the exception of some European Union countries that most nations are
heading into the WRC 2007 aligned with the U.S. position. That is to
not allow an expansion of shortwave broadcasting in the newly defined
HF band.
The Full article is at
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38276&dcn=todaysnews
(Science Daily, Southgate News)
**
RESTRUCTURING: NEW GROWTH IN JAPAN
The nation with more hams than any other is reporting yet another
major upswing in the number of licensed radio amateurs. Rob Mount
Barker, VK5MM, has the details:
--
News from the Japan Amateur Radio League is that in the 12 months to
March 2007 the number of newly qualified amateur operator licensees has
steeply increased when compared with the same period in the previous
year.
Breaking it down, the 1st class license recorded a four-fold increase
in new licenses and the 2nd class had an amazing 18-times increase.
There were also more new hams taking up Japan's 3rd and 4th class
licenses too.
The JARL puts this higher interest in amateur radio, at least in part,
to the revision of Japan's national radio regulations based on the
World Recommunications Conference 2003 decision to end the mandatory
requirement for Morse code tests
With International News, I'm Rob VK5MM
--
For years Japan has boasted of having more licensed radio amateurs than
any other. It was the first in the world to have code free High
Frequency operating privileges dating back to the 1970's. Many believe
that this, combined with that nations intense interest in technology
have lead to it becoming a global technology leader. (WIA News)
**
TECHNOLOGY FALLBACK: GB2RS TO DROP DIGITAL MT63 NEWSCASTS
After five years of experimentation, the Radio Society of Great
Britain will be ending the digital transmission of its GB2RS weekly
newscast using the digital MT63 data mode. Not because the mode does
not work. Rather, its because nobody is listening in.
The digital transmissions of GB2RS took place on Sunday evenings at
20.15 local time on 3.6 MHz on 80 meters and again at 20.45 on 1.840
MHz. in the 160 meter band. While the service initially proved to be
quite popular, a survey carried out recently has found that few people
are now making use of it. This is probably because P-C and Mac users
are downloading the news directly from the RSGB web site.
Anyhow, based on the survey the RSGB has decided that the MT63 data
news bulletins will terminate after the Sunday October 28th
transmissions. Some experimental data bulletins will continue to be
made on 5.279 MHz. This, as part of the ongoing U-K 5 MHz Experiment.
The decision to drop the MT63 digital transmissions will have no affect
on the other various analog bulletin transmissions by GB2RS. (RSGB)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: PEGGY WHINSTON KC5ZTD BECOMES FIRST FEMALE
COMMANDER OF THE ISS
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, arrived at the International
Space Station Friday, October 12th to begin her tenure as the first
woman to command a station mission. She will officially become the
station's commander after a ceremony on Friday, October 19th.
This change of command event will mark the formal handover of the
station to Whitson just days before the Expedition 15 crew members
return to Earth. Whitson, along with Soyuz Commander and Flight
Engineer Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and Malaysian Spaceflight
Participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 9W2MUS, launched on Wednesday,
October 10th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This is Peggy Whitson's second six-month tour of duty aboard the I-S-S.
She previously served as a flight engineer on Expedition 5 in 2002,
when she became NASA's first station science officer. During her time
on-orbit she conducted 21 investigations in human and life sciences.
She also used the station's robotic arm to help add two truss segments
to the station's backbone and performed a space walk to install debris
shielding to the craft.
We will have more ham radio space related items later on in this weeks
newscast. (ANS)
**
ENFORCEMENT: ITS FINALLY HAPPENED ON 6 METERS
Turning to enforcement news, its rare you ever hear any actions
connected to 6 meters, so this may be a first. At least in modern
times. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more:
--
An enforcement complaint dealing with a hams operation on 6 meters?
Not the usual fare but it has now happened. This, as Raymond W.
Czyzewski, Jr, WA2SEI, of Interlachen, Florida, has been sent
notification by the FCC of a complaint that he interfered with
operations on the Six Meter Amateur band back on June 19th. The person
filing the charge also enclosed a threatening communication allegedly
sent by Czyzewski to the complainant subsequent to the incident.
The FCC says that if the material in its hands the proves true, that it
raises serious questions regarding Czyzewski 's qualifications to
retain an Amateur license. WA2SEI, was given 20 days from receiving
the FCC warning to respond to it. He was also directed to support his
response with a signed and dated affidavit or declaration under penalty
of perjury, verifying the truth and accuracy of the information
submitted in his response.
But that's not all. The FCC also warned Czyzewski that it plans to use
all relevant information including that in his reply to make a decision
in his case. He was also told that future penalties could include
revocation of his license, suspension of his operator privileges, or a
heavy fine. The FCC says that fines normally range from $7,500 to
$10,000.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. I'm at the
studio in Los Angeles.
--
As we said, the need for regulatory enforcement on 6 meters is kind of
rare. The fact is that the last person we can remember being
reprimanded by the FCC for a 6 meter rules violation was a teenager in
Brooklyn, New York. And that took place way back in 1959. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: MISSOURI HAM ACCEPTS NO VHF-UHF RESTRICTION
Darin W. Colville, KM0Q, has received of notification from the FCC of a
six month restriction on his Amateur Radio license retroactive to last
July 9th. This after the O'Fallon, Missouri ham agreed to keep off the
VHF and UHF bands for that period of time to avoid further enforcement
sanctions.
By way of background, the FCC says that back on March 16th that it sent
Colville copies of complaints received by the agency concerning alleged
deliberate interference, broadcasting and failure to identify. The
Commission requested that he reply to the allegations. As a result of
telephone conversations on this matter between Colville and FCC
representatives, it was agreed that KM0Q agreed to accept the six
month restriction on his license. Colville is free to return to the
VHF and UHF bands at or after midnight on January 6, 2008. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT NEEDED: FM REPEATER JAMS SATELLITES
The decision by an FCC lawyer that a repeater is not a repeater unless
it immediately repeats its information without any delay may be coming
home to haunt the regulatory agency. This, with word of a new 2 meter
repeater on-the-air with its output in the satellite sub-band at
145.855 MHz. The system is reportedly causing interference to at least
3 amateur satellites with uplinks in the same spectrum.
Reports received by Newsline say that a number of voice QSO's and the
repeater's Morse I-D have been heard and recorded. Efforts are
reportedly underway to get the system owner to shut down but so far to
no avail. Satellite operators all across North and South America have
been negatively impacted by the out of band FM machine. (Listener
reports)
**
PUBLIC SERVICE: INDIANA'S HILLY 100
Turning to public service news, Monroe county Indiana is not only home
to Indiana University but it provides a beautiful fall background to
one of the Hoosier states premier bicycle races. Jack Parker W8ISH
reports on the role of Amateur Radio in this year's fall classic.
--
Amateur radio played a quiet but important role in this years running
of the Hilly Hundred bicycle race near Bloomington, Indiana. The race
is a two day event using back roads in the hills and hollers of
southern Indiana. Crisp fall temperatures made for a perfect weekend.
Over fifty-five hundred riders pedaled the course.
The diverse landscape makes for a difficult communications challenge
for race organizers. In addition to the dozens of handheld and mobile
reporting units many of them used APRS as a data backbone. According
to event organizers the Automatic Position Reporting System was
installed in eleven of the fifteen SAG wagons. The GPS units allowed
Net Control to see their exact position around the 100 mile course.
Three digipeaters were set up in addition to the mobile repeaters. As
a result digital coverage across the course was reported to be
excellent.
Amateur radio assisted in four ambulance calls during the race.
Amateur radio coordinators say they plan to expand the APRS network
next year. This year was the 40th running of the Hilly Hundred.
Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Jack Parker, W8ISH.
--
Of course Monroe county and Indiana University are well known for the
annual Little 500 Bicycle race each year. The movie Breaking Away was
based on that race and filmed in and around the Bloomington area.
(W8ISH)
**
RADIO HONORS: CONNECTICUTS CQ RADIO CLUB AT 60
Some words of congratulations to Connecticut's CQ Radio Club which has
celebrated the 60th birthday. The event commemorating the clubs founding
was held at The Winchester Center Fire Department on Saturday, October
6th.
The CQ Radio Club was founded on October 2nd, 1947. It currently meets
on the third Tuesday of the month at the Boy Scout Building on Kennedy
Drive in the city of Torrington. According to the groups website,
anyone is welcome to attend to the meetings. That website is
www.cqradioclub.com (Via e-mail)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: CELLPHONE DEVELOPERS HONORED
A team of engineering professionals in Applied Research at the former
Communications Division of Motorola have been presented with the 2007
GlobalSpec Great Moments in Engineering Award. This for their work in
squeezing components designed for bulky, car-mounted mobile radios into
a handheld device led to the creation of the first cellular telephone
prototype,
Radio Club of America Vice President Martin Cooper and members Robert
C. Gunther and John F. Mitchell were members of the DynaTAC engineering
team who embarked on a project in December 1972 that helped shape
telecommunications history. The project called for a three-dimensional
model of a portable, handheld telephone - including the creation of
components small enough to fit into the handset - to be designed,
assembled, tested and readied for demonstration in fewer than three
months.
The team's behind-the-scenes technical and component miniaturization
accomplishments resulted in the DynaTAC. This was a portable, handheld
telephone demonstrated to the world in April 1973, and the predecessor
of today's cellular telephone.
This October 10th presentation was the first public recognition of the
groups accomplishment. DynaTAC Primary Designer Donald Linder
accepted the award on behalf of the engineering team.
DynaTAC was actually an abbreviation of Dynamic Adaptive Total Area
Coverage. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the first hand held mobile
phone to receive FCC acceptance in back in 1983. (RCA Newsletter,
Wikipedia)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: AA8EY WINS 2007 SEVERSON AWATD:
ARRL Ohio Assistant Section Manager William Carpenter, AA8EY, of
Westerville has been named as the 14th recipient of the Allan
Severson, AB8P, Memorial Award. Carpenter is the former Emergency
Coordinator of Franklin County Ohio. He received the award for his
work in that volunteer public service position..
The Severson award, named for former ARRL Great Lakes Division Director
Allan Severson who died in 1997. It is presented to an Ohio radio
amateur who exemplified Severson's spirit of service to the service.
Section Manager Joe Phillips made the award presentation at the Ohio
Section Conference last month. (ARRL)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: SECRETARY GENERAL OF ITU GETS AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE
And a word of congratulations to International Telecommunication Union
Secretary General, Dr. Hamadoun Toure. This on his having received his
Amateur Radio license on October 8th.
Toure, who now holds the call sign HB9EHT, is from Mali. He holds a
Master's Degree in electrical engineering from the Technical Institute
of Electronics and Telecommunications of Leningrad and a PhD from the
University of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics of
Moscow. (ARRL)
**
CLARIFICATION AND UPDATE: QRZ.COM NOT PART OF SW DIVISUON ELECTION
INVESTIGATION
A clarification to our initial article on the still heavily disputed
election in the ARRL Southwestern Division. In Newscast 1573 that
aired three weeks ago we attributed the original election story to Fred
Llloyd, AA7BQ, of the QRZ.com website. According to a note from Fred,
that's not the case.
Fred tell us that he had nothing to do with the dialogue in the topic
titled Trouble in River City. That it was submitted by an organization
calling itself hamnews at expresswire.com and he even included a short
disclaimer that read: To AA7BQ. Something very easy to miss.
As to Hamnews at expresswire.com, well it claims to be investigating the
circumstances surrounding the disqualification of Carl Gardenias, WU6D,
to run for the divisions Directors seat against incumbent Dick Norton,
N6AA.
Exactly who and what hamnews at expresswire.com is we are not truly
certain. We received a note from a Kurt Barnhart, N6MD, saying in part
-- and we quote: "A small group of Hams in Arizona and Southern
California are conducting an independent inquiry into this matter to
determine whether there is more to this story than has been made
public. We're looking for any background information that you may have
that will help us understand the true events leading up to the
disqualification, as well as the aftermath that followed."
Well, candidly, we know as much as you folks do. Even more important,
you have told us in your e-mails, it's a rather uninteresting story to
anyone other than those ARRL members in the Southwestern Division and a
handful of activists living elsewhere. And the truth be told, we
really do not know either of the candidates very well having met WU6D
and N6AA only once or twice. Both seem like nice people and either one
will probably do well as an ARRL Director.
Unless this hamnews at expresswire.com uncovers some urgent information
that affects all of you in our audience, this is likely the last you
will hear about the contested ARRL Directors election in the
Southwestern Division here on Amateur Radio Newsline. At least we hope
so. (QRZ.com, others)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: HAM RADIO UNIVERSITY 2008!
Even though its still 2007, you might want to write down the date
January 13th 2008. That's when the halls and classrooms of Briarcliffe
College in Bethpage, New York will be rocking with signals with the
next edition of Ham Radio University.
A highlight of Ham Radio University 2008 will be the keynote address by
one of the most dynamic speakers in ham radio. Educator Gordon West,
WB6NOA, will be flying in from California especially for the event.
You won't want to miss the chance to talk to him in person. Other
speakers will cover some new twists on contesting, low-power operating
and many other aspects of ham radio. Also slated are some exciting
displays, presentations and live operating events.
And as a bonus, the gathering is also the ARRL New York City and Long
Island ARRL Section Convention and there are special sessions geared
to ARES and Emergency Communications as well.
Again that's Ham Radio University 2008 on Sunday, January 13, 2008
starting at 9AM. The venue is Briarcliffe College, in Bethpage, New
York.
More is on-line at www.hamradiouniversity.org (K2DO)
**
HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: ARBONET-2 LAUNCHES OCTOBER 20
A high altitude ham radio balloon will be launched from the JD Trissell
Airport in Clarksville, Texas, at 9:30 AM central time Saturday October
20th. Called ARBONET-2, the balloon is expected to reach an altitude of
96,000 feet before bursting. Its cargo, consisting of a 70 cm Up / 2
meter Down Cross band FM repeater, a plain language homing beacon that
will transmit navigation data to the ground on 146.560 MHz and an APRS
beacon operating on 144.390 MHz. Also being carried will be a 10 meter
CW beacon experiment produced by the Richardson Wireless Club that will
transmit a 500 milliwatt signal on 28.061 MHz. All of the experiments
are expected to parachute back to Earth somewhere between the launch
point and the Texas Louisiana state line. More about this and other
ARBONET near space flights is on-line at www.arbonet.net.
(ARBONET.COM)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: YOUR NAME DELIVERED TO SPACE
Earlier this year the Japanese Space Agency sponsored an event aimed at
flying peoples named to the moon aboard its Selene lunar probe. Selene
has now reached lunar orbit and the space agency reports that messages
from 412,627 people around the world are now at the moon. For more
information see http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/snews/2007/1005.shtml (ANS)
**
RADIO IN SPACE: THE FAINTEST OF STARS
To faint to see with the naked eye or with the strongest Earth bound
telescopes. Yet new photos radioed back from the orbital Hubbell Space
Telescope are not only astounding, they also are an excellent example
of what's possible when the telescopes optics are not hampered by the
vagaries of the planets atmosphere. Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, has more:
--
Audio report only. Download the MP3 version of the newscast at
http://www.arnewsline.org
--
Researchers say that radio photos like these go a long way in helping
mankind to truly understand the universe.
**
ON THE AIR: A 20TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
On the air, listen out for members of the Netherlands Airforce Radio
Amateur Society to be on the air as PA20NARAS between November 3rd and
the 19th. This activity is to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the
Society. Activity will be on HF and VHF as well. (DXNL)
**
ON THE AIR: A 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOTA
Also from the Netherlands keep an ear open for special event station
PA50JOTA to be active from Nieuweroord. This, between October 17th and
the 31st to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Scouting Jamboree On
The Air. QSL via PA3EFR. (OPDX)
**
DX
In D-X, news that DD5FZ will be active from Montenegro as 4N6FZ from
October 15th through the 27th. He will be a guest operator at the YT6A
station and plans to take part in the CQ World Wide DX SSB and the WAG
Contests. QSL via DD5FZ, direct or via the bureau.
And IK5ZUI, is active portable HI9 from Las Terrenas in the Dominican
Republic. The length of his stay is unknown at the moment. Currently
he is using a long wire antenna and only 50 watts. QSL as directed on
the air.
And FO5RK who is planning a DXpedition to Rotuma is expected to be
active as 3D2AG slash P starting on December 15th, and lasting until
January 20th or so. Exact dates depend on transportation schedules.
There is no electricity or adequate supplies of fuel or any other
commodities on the island, so all necessary items will need to be taken
by boat. Tony will be managing his own QSL requests upon his return
home.
(Above DX news from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: WE THANK YOU
And finally this week some thank you's to those whose donations help to
keep these newscasts on the air. Here's our Support Fund administrator
Andy Jarema, N6TCQ:
--
Our thank-yous take us back to September, 2006. We heard from:Monthly
contributor Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF of Columbus, OH; William Smith,
W7GHT of Boise, ID; Monthly contributors William Walters, WA2IBM, and
Scott Hensley of the Area Communications Team, both in San Jose and our
buddy Gordon West, WB6NOA of Costa Mesa, CA.
Via PayPal we heard from Scott Siegel, KB3JQQ of Baltimore, MD; George
Brand of Grayling, MI; Bob Ores, W9BO in Lowell, IN; Stuart Cole, N5LBZ
of Gulfport MS; William Brinkley, KC6UNY in West Covina, CA and Jim
Larson of Anchorage, AK.
We depend on you- our loyal listeners to keep Newsline on the air.
Thanks for your help.
With a frog in my throat, and di-dah-di-dah-dit in my heart, I'm Andy
Jarema, N6TCQ.
--
Thank you Andy and our thanks to all of you who support our work
through your generous contributions. Your generosity is truly
appreciated by those of us on this side on the microphone. (Newsline
Support Fund)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
And 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.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim
Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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