[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1577 - November 2, 2007

Sun Nov 4 09:47:35 EST 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1577 - November 2, 2007

The following is a Q-S-T.  AMSAT announces plans for a 
geosynchronous ham radio satellite,  W-R-C 2007 opens in Geneva, 
D-Star comes to Germany and France and ham radio operators stand 
down as the California wildfires are contained.  Find out the 
details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1577 coming your 
way right now.

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  AMDAT SAYS HAM RADIO GEOSAT IN PLANNING

Its called Phase 4 Lite and it will likely change the face of ham 
radio forever.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, 
has a peek at the future of a geosynchronous ham radio satellite 
in Earth orbit:

--

 The weekend of October 26th to the 28th has likely changed the 
face of ham radio space operations.  So say two leaders in the 
Amateur Radio space program speaking at the AMSAT-North America 
Space Symposium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  That's  they 
announced that a first-ever geosynchronous ham radio satellite is 
now in its initial planning.  

In satellite talk, geosynchronous means stationary in the sky.  
>From the standpoint of a ground station user, it means always 
knowing where to point an antenna.  No tracking and no guesswork.

At that gathering, AMSAT President Rick Hambly, W2GPS, and Vice-
President of Engineering Bob McGwier,N4HY,  announced that AMSAT 
has been in consultation with Intelsat.  This, regarding an 
application of an Intelsat platform carrying amateur radio 
satellites into geosynchronous orbit.

The Phase IV Lite Geosynchronous Payload is planned to consist of 
similar transponders already under development for the Phase 3 
satellites.   Accelerated development on the digital Advanced 
Communication Package is anticipated.  The Intelsat 
geosynchronous platform would be able to provide the AMSAT Phase 
IV Lite payload with approximately 400 watts of DC power for 15 
years.

In addition to the on-orbit payload AMSAT plans to develop an 
earth station attainable by the average ham so that users can 
immediately take advantage of the audio, digital messaging, and 
video services of the Phase IV bird.  The Advanced Communication 
Package would be a self-contained earth station which could be 
sent with amateur radio communication teams or delivered to 
disaster areas to provide for 24 hour a day, 7 day a week and 
3565 days a year emergency communications.  These teams would be 
able to point a small dish at a predictable spot in the sky and 
immediately begin delivering disaster communication support 
without depending on the vagaries of High Frequency  propagation.

But that's not all.  Hambly and Mc Gwier say that the Phase IV 
payload could also be used to provide a Tracking and Data Relay 
System Satellite -like relay of ARISS communications.  The 
current 10 minute school contact could now be expanded to hours-
long contact with the International Space Station.  This opens 
possibilities for extended student involvement with experiments 
aboard the space station.  

As the late Roy Neal, K6DUE, might have said:  Truly a new world 
of Amateur Radio.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los 
Angeles.

--

So when can we expect this new satellite to be on-orbit?,  AMSAT 
says that engineering studies, funding studies, among other 
negotiations are continuing so no specific date can be set.    
However Bob McGuier N4HY observes that the project is far enough 
along that AMSAT needs to begin planning engineering work and 
possible construction of such a geosynchronous payload so it is  
ready if Intelsat says they have a ride for it.  (AMSAT-NA)

**

RADIO POLITICS:  WRC-07 OPENS IN GENEVA

The 2007 World Radiocommunications Conference of the ITU began in 
Geneva on October 22nd. Amateur radio is represented by a strong 
IARU team led by International President Larry Price, W4RA, a 
veteran of many such conferences.  

The IARU team are primarily there as observers but their views 
and recommendations are regularly sort by the international 
delegations from around the world. 

Several proposals of interest to Radio Amateurs will be 
considered during the four weeks of the conference. Heading the 
list is the possibility of a new, secondary allocation to the 
Amateur Service just above 5MHz and consideration of secondary 
allocation of 135.7-137.8kHz. Although at present 15 European 
governments allow amateur operations in this area there is 
currently no formal spectrum allocation below 1.8MHz.

The conference runs through November 16th.  Regular updates on the 
conference will be posted on national society websites worldwide 
and breaking news will be right here on these weekly Newsline 
reports.  (Southgate)

**.

FIRE FOLLOW-UP:  HAMS STAND DOWN AS CA FIEW EMERGENCY SUBSIDES 

A week ago it sounded like this:

--

Fire comms audio.

--

Now, with the wildfires in Southern California well on their way 
to be being contained, Amateur Radio operators have begun to wind 
down their  assistance to the various agencies that they were 
serving.  

Unlike years past, police, fire and other responders never had to 
declare a communications emergency.  Over the past several years 
California has spent tens of millions of dollars hardening its 
communications infrastructure to withstand the wrath of mother 
nature and this event proved that the money had been well spent.  
With massive hardening of radio site and ongoing brush clearance, 
virtually nothing in the way of the states emergency 
communications system was damaged or destroyed.  

What has destroyed were hundreds of miles of telephone lines and 
numerous cellular telephone sites serving the rural regions of 
the various fire zones.  This took communications away from the 
general public.  The responders with their secure radio networks 
were not affected.  As such, many in the hobby are asking where 
ham radio fit in.  Well all one had to do was to be in the area 
and tuned to any repeater that handled any type of fire related 
traffic to find out for themselves:

--

Fire comms audio

--

The two key positions that hams filled were that of fire spotting 
and second level logistics support.  Even with the massive ground 
and air support, with over a half million acres burning at the 
height of the response, firefighters could not be everywhere all 
the time.  So hams went out and looked for hot spots or flare 
ups.  If one was spotted it was quickly radioed back in.

--

Fire comms audio

--

Hams also worked with medical agencies.  Throughout the burn 
areas there were numerous hospital evacuations and hams were 
among those who kept an ongoing information flow on road closures 
and detours out of a given area.  

And in San Diego where over 250,000 residents were evacuated, 
ARES members served at Qualcomm Stadium which was the city's main 
evacuation site.   City officials opened  the stadium as an 
evacuation shelter as soon as it became apparent that such a 
point would be need.  ARES volunteers played a key role as 
shelter communications volunteers.

As we go to air, the Santiago fire is still not contained enough 
to let residents back to their homes.  Ham radio however have 
stood down after a week of wind driven flames that nobody could 
predict where they would break out next.  (ARNewsline from 
various sources.  Audio from W6JW repeater)

**

HAM STATS:  CALIFORNIA STILL LEADS THE NATION

What states have the greatest number of FCC licensed radio 
amateurs?  According to Fred Maia, W5YI, writing in the November 
issue of CQ Magazine, that honor goes to California.  

According to Fred, California plays host to 90,700 hams.  Coming 
in second is Texas with 42,900, followed by Florida with 38,100, 
New York with 28,300 and Ohio the home to 28,200.  

And which state is it that has the most hams in relation to the 
overall population?  If you guessed Alaska you would be correct.  
Alaska has 5 hams for each 1000 of its citizens.  The national 
average is only 2 per 1000.  (CQ)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  HOLLINGSWORTH WONT RETIRE FROM FCC AFTER ALL

FCC Special Council Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, says that he is 
not going to retire this coming January after all.  

Hollingsworth had announced last week that January 3rd 2008 would 
be his last day on the job,  but in a note to Amateur Radio 
Newsline, Riley said that he gave the matter a lot of thought 
over the weekend of October 28th and completely changed his  mind.  

Hollingsworth tell Amateur Radio Newsline that there is quite a 
bit more to be done.  As such he is just not ready to go.  
(ARNewsline)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  BOSTON TEEN HAM CHARGED AS POLICE JAMMER

Police in Boston say that a 17 year old ham is the source of 
interference to their communications.  Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, 
has more:

--

Authorities in Boston say that Paul M. Lydon Jr. deliberately 
blocked 911 radio transmissions between dispatchers and officers 
numerous times over the past several weeks.

Lydon, who holds the call sign KB1OYI, has already been arraigned 
in West Roxbury Municipal Court on charges of disturbing the 
peace receiving and stolen property. The stolen property are old 
calculators that Lydon says were given to him.  He pleaded not 
guilty, and bail was set at $500.  

This appears not Lydon's first run-in with the law.  While its 
been reported in the news that Lydon wants a career in law 
enforcement, his father said police previously caught his son 
using radio equipment on their frequency.

According to FCC records, Lydon received his Technician class 
license last April.  Boston Police say they have referred the 
issue to the FCC for further action.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak at the studio 
in Los Angeles.

--

The ARRL has also weighed in on the case. Allen Pitts, W1AGP, 
speaking on behalf of the  American Radio Relay League, said 
Lydon's alleged actions are repugnant to ham radio operators.  
Pitts says that the idea that a ham radio operator, however new, 
would intentionally cause problems in an emergency call would be 
considered as being abhorrent  to hams.  (Boston Globe on-line, 
eHam.net)

**

RADIO LAW:  VEC CLERICAL ERROR LEADS TO LICENSE PRIVELEGE 
DOWNGRADE

The FCC has issued another license downgrade order based on a 
clerical error made by  a V-E-C.  On October 18th, the regulatory 
agency notified Joseph K. Lewis, N1LNV, that it was replacing his 
General Class operator privileges with Technician Class operator 
privileges.  This, after it was notified by the W5YI V-E-C of a 
clerical error on its part that mistakenly granted Lewis an 
unearned upgrade.  Lewis was given a chance to protest the FCC 
action but never did.  (FCC)

**

RADIO LAW:  FCC MAY PERMIT AM TO FM FILL-IN TRANSLATORS

The FCC is considering letting AM stations to operate FM 
translators for coverage fill in.  Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, says the 
idea has gained a lot of support:

--

Audio report only.  Hear it in the MP3 version downloadable at 
www.arnewsline.org

--

No word when a final decision on this proposal might be released.  
(FCC)

**

REPEATER COORDINATION:  TASMA CREATES NEW D-STAR SUBBAND

Faced with a demand for repeater pairs for D-Star systems and no 
available spectrum in either repeater subband to put them, 
Southern California's Two Meter Area Spectrum Management 
Association has taken a rather bold step.  This by coordinating 
five D-Star repeater in the spectrum from 145.5 to 145.8 MHz.  

TASMA is taking the position that D-Star machines are not 
repeaters.  Rather they are calling them Auxiliary Stations.   
Auxiliary Stations are not confined to designated repeater 
subbands.  

According to the  current ARRL bandplan, 145.5 to 145.8 MHz is 
reserved for miscellaneous and experimental modes, but if adopted 
by other coordinators or coordination councils, it could become 
the defacto 2 meter digital repeater subband.  

As previously reported, the National Frequency Coordinators 
Council has taken the view that D-Star systems are repeaters and 
should be restricted to operate in the currently designated 
repeater subbands.  The NFCC has sent a letter to FCC rules man 
Bill Cross asking that this be the interpretation of a D-Star 
repeater that the Commission adopt.  If it does, then any D-Star, 
P-25 or other repeating device operating outside of existing 
United states repeater subbands could be asked to go off of the 
air.   (ARNewsline)

**

REPEATER NEWS:  D-STAR COMES TO GERMANY AND FRANCE

And both Germany and France are now the home to D-Star repeaters.  
On October 20th the first German D-Star systemcamr on the air in  
Schleswig-Holstein.  Its call is DB0SLH and its currently 
transmitting on 
 439.525 MHz with an offset of  shift of -7.6 MHz  putting its 
input 431.925 MHz.   Its grid locator is JO43XR

Meantime F1SHS has announced that a D-Star repeater is now 
operating in Paris, France.  Its also on the 7-0 CM band but uses 
a 9.4 MHz channel split instead of the 6 MHz split adopted in the 
United Kingdom. Or the 7.,6 MHz split of its German neighbor.  
Its output is on 430,2625 and you have to transmit up 9.4 MHz to 
access it.  The Paris D-Star repeaters call is F1SHS.  
(Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO ON THE NET:  INTERNATIONAL ATV NET

Ian Abel, G3ZHI reports that a recent international A-T-V net 
held over the internet, went very well.  According to Abel, video 
from the United Kingdom was fed over the KB3LNN repeater in 
Baltimore in the U-S-A using Skype.  Meantime, hams in the U-K 
were watching their counterparts in Baltimore on the repeater 
over the camstreams feed via the internet.

Abel says that the experiment is ongoing on Sundays at 20:00 
hours U-T-C.  Information on how to join in is on line at 
http://kb3lnn.camstreams.com  (Southgate)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  BOB WELLER TRANSITIONS BACK TO THE FCC TO 
HEAD-UP RFR

Bob Weller, a well known radio engineer at Hammett & Edison 
consulting  has accepted a position with the FCC in Washington, 
D.C.  

Weller's official title will be Physical Scientist, but he will 
reportedly be taking the position vacated by Bob Cleveland. 
According to Microwave News Cleveland retired on April 27th  after 
26 years at the FCC.

In his new job Weller will be heading up the Commission's RF 
Safety Office that deals with human exposure to RF radiation 
issues.  Weller was previously employed by the FCC from 1984 
until 1993, with several of those years in Washington D.C.  He 
starts his new position on November 5th.   (CGC).

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  JOHN RUSSELL, WB9RNW- SK

A California radio amateur best known for his work with repeater 
linking has passed away.  This with word that John Russell, 
WB9RNW, lost his battle with cancer the  morning of Wednesday, 
October 23rd.  

An early adopter of 220 MHz. Russell operated his WB9RNW repeater 
from atop Oat Mountain overlooking most of greater Los Angeles.  
His was one of the first to install an IRLP node and Echolink 
operations.  

A broadcast engineer by profession, WB9RNW served as Chief 
Engineer for several Los Angeles area television stations 
including KLCS, KCAL and KTLA.  He was also quite active in the 
Southern California Frequency Coordination Council which handles 
broadcast related issues.  (CGC, others)

**

ON THE AIR:  AM BACK ON AT W1AW

According to AM enthusiasts who visited and used the ARRL 
headquarters station in recent days. the vintage AM station at 
W1AW is back on the air.  This, after nearly a year needing 
repairs, 

Paul Courson, WA3VJB, posting at QRZ.com says that the 
transmitter, restored and donated to the ARRL as part of an 
effort organized by Bob Heil K9EID had apparently had been 
operated by someone unfamiliar with how to tune vintage gear to 
prepare it for operation.  This lead to the almost twelve month 
AM station outage.  (QRZ.com)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  MA:AYSIAN CONTACTS A SUCCESS

Malaysian space visitor Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 9W2MUS, 
participated in the ARISS program while on board the ISS.  Five 
different groups of Malaysian school children gathered at the 
National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur and spoke with Shukor, via 
ground station 9M2RPN.  All five of the successful contacts took 
place over the week of October 14th.   Former Shuttle astronaut, 
Robert "Hoot" Gibson attended the final ARISS event and also 
spoke to 9W2MUS.   Shukor returned to Earth on Sunday, 
October 21 with the Expedition 15 crew.  (ARISS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  INDIA'S DELFI C3 LAUNCH DELAYED

The launch date of India's Delfi-C3 ham radio satellite will now 
launch sometime between January 7th and 19th of 2008.  The new 
dates account for both the weather and the launch of a preceding 
space vehicle.  

Delfi-C3 will be launched into a 630 km 90 degree sun-synchronous 
orbit from the Indian launch site and will carry a 70 cm to 2 
meter linear transponder for SSB and CW.   For approximately the 
first three months of the mission the satellite will be in 
telemetry only mode after which it will be switched to 
transponder operation.  (Southgate)

**

WORLDBEAT - OMAN:  ROARS GIFTED 100 HF TRANSCEIVERS

The Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society has been gifted with 160 
high frequency radio transceivers from Petroleum Development 
Oman.  This, under a memorandum of understanding concluded 
between the two organizations.  

As per the terms of the agreement, the equipment will be 
transferred in coordination with the Telecommunication Regulatory 
Authority so that the Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society can 
expand its capabilities.  The transceivers had been owned under 
license by Petroleum Development Oman but were rendered 
superfluous when the company recently reconfigured its 
telecommunications network.  (Via e-mail)

**

CONTEST CALANDER

The Ukrainian DX contest takes place from 12.00 on Saturday 3rd 
November until 12.00 on Sunday 4th November. Operation is from 
160 meter Top Band to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. RST plus 
serial number forms the exchange.  Entries go as directed on the 
air. (OPDX)

And the RSGB 70MHz Activity Night takes place Tuesday October 30th 
using all modes on the pan-European 4 meter band.  This contest 
runs from 20.00 until 22.30 U-T-C. The exchange is RST, serial 
number and locator.  Entries go to the RSGB via the address given 
on the organizations website.  (GB2RS)

**

ON THE AIR:  A NETHERLANDS CELEBRATION

On the air, listen out for members of the Netherlands Air Force 
Radio Amateur Society to be active as PA20NARAS between November 
3rd  and the 19th. This to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 
Society.  Activity will be on HF and VHF as well.  QSL as 
directed on the air.  (GB2RS)

**

ON THE AIR:  NEW 6 METER BEACON IN PORTUGAL

Portugal's regional amateur radio club, has a new propagation 
beacon on 6 meters,  Using the call CS1RLA/B, the beacon is 
located, near the city of Santiago do Cac,m which is about 92 Km 
South of Lisbon.  It runs about 2.5 watts out into a  1/2 wave 
dipole antenna on . 50,076 MHz.  QSN reports go to AssociaØao de 
Radioamadores do Litoral Alentejano
Rua do Parque, n10 (Antigo Col,gio de S. Jos,)
7540-180 Santiago do Cac,m
PORTUGAL  (DXNS)

**

NO THE AIR:  30 METER QRP WEEKEND - NOV 10- 11

And November 10th from 0000 UTC to the 11th at 2400 UTC is 30-
Meter QRP Weekend.  This event is designed to promote 30m PSK on 
10.140 MHz +/-1 kHz and other wider modes from 10.135 to 10.140 
MHz.  

30-Meter QRP Weekend is not a contest.  Rather it is a group 
event to promote 30 meter digital activity and awareness, testing 
of band propagation with low power and various other experiments.  
More information is on line at the U-R-L's in this weeks printed 
Newsline report.

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/30meterPSKGroup/
and
http://www.projectsandparts.com/30m/ (KB9MUT, Southgate)

**

OFF THE AIR:  WA4IOB BEACONS TEMPORARILLY QRT

Gary Bailey in Snellville, Georgia, reports over the VHF 
reflector that his WA4IOB propagation beacons for 144, 222 and 
432 MHz located in grid square E M 73 are temporarily off the 
air.  Gary says that he will post to the reflector when they are 
available again.  (WA4IOB)

**

DX

In DX, word that OZ5IPA will operate SSB and CW as portable UT 
from Kiev In the Ukraine, through the 7th of November.  He will 
also participate in the International Police Association's 
Contest on 3rd to the  4th November. QSL direct to home call.

And  RK3DT reports he will be active again as XW3DT from Laos 
through November n6th. QSL to Alex Sinchukov, PO Box 11, GPO, 
Hong Kong.

Lastly, KE6GFF, will be in Afghanistan, operating from Kabul as 
T6EE to the 12th of November. Look for him on or around 14.210 
MHz. QSL via home call.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  COMPUTERS VA. SOFTWARE - GETTING TO THE CORE OF 
THE PROBLEM

And finally this week, a significant change in the design of 
microprocessor chips is leaving software designers in the dust.  
Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, is in Auckland New 
Zealand where he tries to get to the core of the situation.  And 
in this case we do mean core:

--

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  THE CHANGING FACE OF DATA PROCESSING

A fundamental change in the design of microprocessors is 
presenting software developers with a challenge.   Chip makers 
who used to race to have the fastest microprocessor have shifted 
their focus to putting multiple cores on the same chip.  This is 
the equivalent of several computers on the same slice of silicon. 

The cores run slower but are more energy-efficient.  They are 
also designed to break up big processing chores and work on the 
separate pieces simultaneously. 

Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. are making 
microprocessors with two and four cores, with plans for more in 
the future.  Intel has even demonstrated an 80-core research chip 
that is so complex that it doesn't have an operating system smart 
enough to work with it. 

The resulting technology is ideal for the most demanding 
multimedia tasks, such as processing large video files, pulling 
information from multiple databases at the same time, or playing 
a computer game while downloading music and burning a DVD.  The 
problem is that many software applications weren't written for 
chips with multiple cores, and the hardware is advancing so fast 
that the software runs the risk of being left behind. 

As processors sped up, software developers tagged along by making 
their programs faster and faster.   But now that chip makers are 
no longer focused solely on speed, programmers must change their 
tactics and learn to send instructions to different parts of the 
chip instead of through a single processing core. 

Supercomputers and corporate data centers have used machines with 
multiple processors for years -- with specially written software 
that enables, say, the processing of multiple Web searches at the 
same time.  That inspired chip makers to build multicore 
microprocessors for mass-market PCs that began hitting the market 
in recent years. 

The gap between hardware and software hasn't become a problem for 
consumers, yet, because operating systems like Windows XP and 
Vista already work with the multicore chips out now, and basic 
applications like word processing and e-mail won't need the extra 
cores or a software overhaul.   But experts predict dire 
consequences if the software for more complicated applications 
isn't brought up to speed soon.  They warn that programs could 
suddenly stop getting faster as chips with eight or more cores 
make their way into PC's. The software as it's currently designed 
can't take advantage of that level of processing complexity. 

--

According to several articles, the design and introduction  of 
multi core microprocessors is advancing so rapidly that its 
making it very hard for those who write software to keep up with 
all the changes.  (Science and Computing)

**

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. 

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