[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1579 - November 16, 2007
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Sun Nov 18 10:05:52 EST 2007
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1579 - November 16, 2007
The following is a Q-S-T.
Ham radio helps save a life after a hunting accident in the Pacific
North-West, radio amateurs in Mexico continue to communications battle
in the aftermath of severe flooding and an amazing D-Star demo that you
won't want to miss. Hear it for yourself and be amazed on Amateur
Radio Newsline report number 1579 coming your way right now.
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO HELPS SAVE LIFE OF SHOOTING VICTUM
Ham radio was a true lifesaver in mid-October. This, following a
hunting accident that took place in the Pacific Northwest. Amateur
Radio Newline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the details:
--
According to the Daily Astorian newspaper, on October 6th a group of
four hunters had just moved to a new spot in the woods off Oregon
Highway 202. While he was arranging gear in the truck bed, Karl Hauer
set his hunting rifle beside a downed tree and rested the muzzle
against the truck. The hammer, which releases the trigger, was locked
but when he grabbed the gun to pick it back up, it caught on a branch
and sent a bullet straight up through his chest and lower jaw. The
impact knocked him down and filled his mouth with blood and pieces of
bone and teeth.
Not knowing how much damage the bullet had done, Karl's brother Dan
Hauer, N7WRC, and family friends, Abiel Buenrostro and Anjee Taylor,
quickly loaded Karl into the back of their Jeep. Karl used his left
arm to contain his chest wound and Taylor pressed a towel to his face.
Then, with Buenrostro in the driver's seat, they took off as fast as
they could safely go down the waterlogged gravel road. They wanted to
call an ambulance, but there was no cell phone service in the rural and
sparsely populated area. But the jeep was equipped with ham radio gear
and using it Dan Hauer contacted Loren Wohlgemuth, KD7ZPJ, who called
9-1-1 for them.
They were still only a few miles from the accident site, and the radio
signal cut out as they drove into a valley. When they could, they gave
Wohlgemuth updates on their location who in turn relayed the
information to first response personnel.
At a fish hatchery, the Jeep met up with a Clatsop County Sheriff's
deputy. He led them to an ambulance and medical technicians waiting at
the Olney-Walluski Volunteer Fire and Rescue station. From there, Karl
Hauer was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital, where he was stabilized
and sent via ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. At 11
p.m. that evening medical personnel began a nightlong effort, involving
several surgeries, to close up his chest and repair his shattered jaw.
But his recovery has been swift. The newspaper says that Karl Hauer was
released from the hospital October 18th.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.
--
Dan Hauer, N7WRC and his brother Karl learned early in life to take
extra precautions when going out into the woods. Their father, Ed
Hauer, N7WRD, works with the Clatsop County Sheriff's Search and Rescue
team. He says that KD7ZPJ's help shaved valuable minutes off the
emergency response time. N7WRD says that he has learned from countless
missions searching for the lost and injured that there's a golden hour
after any incident. He says that if you make the right things happen
in that golden hour your chances of surviving are greatly increased.
In this case it looks as if ham radio made that golden hour a reality
for his son Karl.
(Daily Astorian, Scott Currier)
**
RESCUE: UK RAYNET CALLED OUT FOR FIRE AND FLOODING
A busy few weeks for U-K rescue radio group Raynet. On Wednesday
October 31st the Essex Raynet group were placed on standby by Thurrock
Council in response to an industrial fire at an oil storage facility.
Ten fire crews were called to the explosion which left a tower on fire.
On Friday, November 9th the Essex group was called out again. This time
it is assisting the emergency services to manage the flooding risks in
the areas surrounding Maldon, in Essex.
Controller Stuart Little, G7KSQ, said that the Environment Agency first
alerted Raynet managers on Thursday evening. Within half an hour the
Emergency Planning Officer was in contact and activated Raynet
operations. The main deployment was for flood watch in and around
Maldon. Some 18 Raynet members were involved in the operation.
Meanwhile a similar situation took place near Norfolk in the U-K.
There, the Great Yarmouth Raynet group provided two mobile outstations
and other support services to the Norfolk emergency control center.
(GB2RS, Southgate)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO CONTINUES TO AID IN MEXICO FLOOD RELIEF
An update on ham radio relief efforts in the wake of torrential
rainstorms that have been pounding parts of Mexico's Tobasco state.
Hams have been operating 24 hours a using the Villahermosa repeater
to support the Civil Defense effort. This is because all conventional
communication systems have collapsed. This includes the cellular
telephone network, Internet access and even public telephony. Hams
are also maintaining a National Emergency Network on 7060kHz in the 40m
amateur band.
XE1ROI writing on the Internet blog of the Radio Experimenters of
Tabasco says that although there had been some problems with the local
VHF repeater, it operation was re-established on November 1st. Since
then hams have been relying on it for communication in the
Villahermosa area. That system uses a receive frequency of 146.910MHz
and a minus 600 KHz transmit offset shift.
Its also reported that two hams in Mexico, XE1WSR and XE1ULW have been
supporting relief efforts by coordinating with the Red Cross from
Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz to guide convoys that have been arriving at the
City of Villahermosa with support for victims. Meantime, other hams
have been participating in the support of road convoys that have been
providing radio equipment to the authorities for boats attempting to
rescue victims. (IRSEC)
**
RADIO LAW: FLORIDA APPEALS COURT FINDS AGAINST HAM TOWER
It may now be harder for Amateurs in Florida to put up antennas and
towers. This after a state appeal court finds against the owner of a
tower that housed a low power radio station and the owners ham antenna
as well.. Amateur Radio Newsline's Warren Elly, W1GUD, reports from
Tampa Bay:
--
It's a case of what came first, the chicken or the egg? or in this case,
the low power fm station, or the ham station? either way, prb-1 was
rejected this month as a defense by a state appeals court in an ocala
florida tower case.
Listen to what the judge's wrote about PRB-1, the largely untested
1985 fcc opinion and order, that's supposed to buffer amateur operators
and their stations from local zoning laws.
Wrote the judges...
(Quote)
"the fcc has declined to delineate the limitations of local zoning and
other local and state regulatory authority over federally licensed
radio facilities; refused to specify any particular height limitation
below which a local government may not regulate; and refused to suggest
the precise language that must be contained in local ordinance"
(unquote)
It doesn't take a law degree to understand this isn't good for florida
amateurs and their towers.
Yet as is so often the case with the law, some facts are in order.
This is the case of KI4CLY, Elaine Dispoto. She and marion county can't
even agree how tall her tower was. We say was because the county took
it down...All 130, or was it 100 feet.
Ki4cly and her son james, also had a low power fm station, a broadcast
station, on the tower. In this part of rural florida, there isn't say
the newclips about the Dispoto's four year long battle, anything more
than country and news/talk on the radio. James, who goes by dj new york
on the air, played dance and top 40. The non profit says it helped
direct hurricane Katrina victims to ice and water.
The appeals court said the Dispotos were operating a commercial station
and PRB-1 does not apply. And secondly, that even if PRB-1 did apply,
the Dispotos were violating subdivision covenants...Deed restrictions.
So is it a blow to hams? Elaine Dispoto told newsline the court
didn't care about PRB-1..."If they took me down", she told newsline,
"what are they going to do with the other people?".
For the amateur radio newsline, warren elly w1gud tampa bay
--
At airtime the next move appears to be up to the Dispoto's if they
intend to continue to fight this matter through the federal courts.
(ARNewsline, Scott Currier)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FLORIDA HAM SAYS HE WAS CLEARED OF WRONG DOING BY THE FCC
Turning to enforcement news. A Florida ham tells Newsline that he has
cleared up an interference complained filed against him with the FCC.
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reports:
--
As reported a few weeks ago, Raymond W. Czyzewski, Jr, WA2SEI, of
Interlachen, had 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 what was
described as a threatening communication allegedly sent by Czyzewski to
the complainant subsequent to the incident.
But WA2SEI has a different version of the story and the FCC seems to
believe him. He says that he says that had been on the same frequency
for close to 6 hours. During that time he had worked over 100 grid
squares. Then, as is the case with 6 meters, conditions suddenly
shifted and a station came on the air and rather rudely demanded that
he move.
Czyzewski refused and the station reappeared using what can best be
called 11 meter CB language asking WA2SEI for his -- quote --
"personal" and his "20." For those of you who have never bothered to
tune to 11 meters, that translates into asking Czyzewski for his name
and address. Czyzewski freely admits that the situation escalated into
some name calling and to an exchange of e-mails.
Czyzewski says that he should have let it all just go, but after
decades operating on the 6 meter band he was not going to let a
newcomer who obviously did not know or understand the bands etiquette
run him off the air. So he was a bit surprised to hear from the FCC's
Riley Hollingsworth about the issue.
It seems the unidentified complainant forwarded his e-mail exchange
with WA2SEI to the regulatory agency along with a letter of complaint.
Czyzewski who suffers from both Diabetes and Parkenson's disease very
quickly contacted Hollingsworth and explained the other half of the
story. He tells Newsline that after listening for a while to his
explanation, it was quickly a matter of -- case closed.
As to whom the complaining station was, Czyzewski would not say. So
right now the only others who know his or her identify is the FCC.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the
studio in Los Angeles.
--
By the way, we checked with the FCC. It says that WA2SEI's explanation
was accepted by the agency. (ARNewsline)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC TO HOLD LICENSE FOR A YEAR
Brandon Duke, KD0BSH, of Lomgmont, Colorado, has submitted his license
to the Commission to be held for one year, retroactive to last July 1st.
This, to settle an enforcement issue alleging that Duke, who formally
held the call KC0UWS, was found to be transmitting equipment on
frequencies not authorized to his as a Technician Class licensee.
Also, that he ignored requests to cease operation on repeaters in his
area.
During the time that the FCC is holding Duke's license he will not have
the authority to operate radio transmitting equipment. If he violates
the agreement, the FCC says he could face a fine ranging from $7500 to
$10,000. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: THAT'S A NO-NO
A complaint received by the FCC has lead to a Request for Information
letter being sent to Stanley S. Gillette, W4TYW, of Comer, Georgia.
This regarding allegations concerning the operation of his Amateur
Radio station.
The complaint alleges various rule violations on 3.843 MHz. This
includes broadcasting, music, failure to identify, deliberate
interference and rebroadcast of police communications.
W4TYW was directed to answer the allegations and to support his
response with a signed and dated affidavit or declaration. One that
under penalty of perjury, verifies the truth and accuracy of the
information he submits in his response.
Gilette was given 20 days from receipt of the FCC''s letter to him to
respond. He was also warned that the information he provided would
determine what, if any, enforcement action is warranted in this matter.
The FCC notes that the information contained in the complaint, if true,
raises serious questions regarding Gilette's qualifications to retain
an Amateur license. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: YOU CAN KEEP ALL THE CALLS
Anthony M. Amato, KR4UQ, of Chester, Virginia, has been notified by the
FCC that it is closing out its inquiry into his 17 club call signs and
saying he can keep all of them. According to the regulatory agency,
while the number of club licenses appears more than necessary, it has
accepted his response regarding each.
Back on February 16, 2005, the FCC notified Amato that its licensing
records indicated that he had at least 17 club call signs in his name
as trustee. All were licensed as Virginia RACES clubs. The FCC
requested
information related to each of the club stations. It took two years to
complete the full review. (FCC)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: SEVHFS CONFERENCE CALLS FOR PAPERS
The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers
and presentations for the upcoming 12th annual conference to be held in
Orlando, Florida on April 25th and 26th of 2008. Presentations are
solicited on both the technical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and
Microwave weak signal Amateur Radio.
In general papers and presentations on non weak signal related topics
such as FM repeaters and packet will not be accepted but exceptions may
be made. This, if there is some way to relate the topic is to weak
signal work. For example, a presentation on the use of APRS to track
rovers during contests would be given consideration.
The deadline for the submission of papers and presentations is February
29, 2008. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word or alternatively
Adobe Acrobat .pdf files. Send all questions, comments and submissions
to Steve Kostro, N2CEI at svhfs2008 at downeastmicrowave.com. (VHF
Reflector)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: A MEDAL OF THANKS
A ham who was involved in the creation of the CEPT licensing structure
has been honored at the 2007 World Administrative Radio Conference in
Geneva. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, has the details:
--
During the Conference, IARU Region 1 President, Ole Garpstaad, LA2RR,
presented this years IARU Region 1 Medal to Rudolf Rieder who was the
chairman of the CEPT working group concerned with radio amateur
regulations. The award was made in recognition of the work Rudolf did
in incorporating the new privileges for radio amateurs in the CEPT
recommendations T/R 61-01 and 61-02 following the last World
Radiocommunication Conference.
Im Jeramy Boot, G4NJH
**
WRC 2007 ends as we go to air, so we will have a full report on it and
its impact in next weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (GB2RS)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: K9KNW GETS FIRST VUCC/R CERTIFICATE
The first 2 meter VUCC Reverse Award has been issued to Joe Goggin,
K9KNW. This award is given by the Central States VHF Society and
requires the operator to provide proof of confirmed contacts made while
the station was operated from within the confines of 100 different grid
squares. In other words, VUCC in reverse.
The VUCC Reverse award is not mode specific but, in this case, the 100
grids from which K9KNW operated were all meteor scatter QSO's. Also,
all were completed using FSK441. That's, one of the modes included in
the WSJT ham radio digital software suite developed by Joe Taylor,
K1JT. (VHF Reflector)
**
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: ARTHIR Z. ROWE, N1ORC - SK
And we are sad to report the passing of one of the ham radio space
program's most ardent supporters. This with word that Arthur Z. Rowe,
N1ORC, became a Silent Key. on Wednesday, November 7th
If you are on any of the ham in space mailing lists, you likely knew
N1ORC from his postings on related topics especially on the AMSAT and
SAREX bulletin boards. He was well known by many of the Mir and ISS ham
radio crews.
N1ORC was raised in Brooklyn, New York but made his home in Lawrence
Massachusetts. In one tribute, Miles Mann, WF1F, said that when he
became too busy to post the Marex news, that it was Arthur Rowe who
stepped right in with his own new items to keep the ham radio community
informed. Mann says that Rowe's last SAREX message was posted the day
before he became a silent key.
Arthur Rowe, N1ORC, is survived by Martin and Cindy Rowe of Chestnut
Hill, a granddaughter Marjorie and sister Sandra Pollack of Lexington..
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in his name to the
Disabled American Veterans, State House, Room 546, Boston,
Massachusetts, 02133 or to the Jewish War Veterans, State House, Room
547, Boston, Massachusetts 02133.
An on-line guestbook at the Boston Globe has been set up for friends
of N1ORC to leave their comments. The URL is
www.legacy.com/BostonGlobe/GB/GuestbookEntry.aspx?&PersonID=97607267
(WF1F)
**
D-STAR NEWS: AMAZING D-STAR DEMO ON YOUTUBE.COM
A truly amazing demonstration of why D-Star will likely replace FM as
the local communications mode of choice is now posted on YouTube.com.
It comes in two new videos from a talk on D-Star that have been made
available to the public by the San Diego, California-based Six Shooters
Amateur Radio Club.
In the first Cecil Casillas, WD6FZA, introduces D-Star and explains
what it is. The second clip shows him demonstrating the difference
between a station using an analog FM repeater and that same station
coming in via a D-Star repeater on the same hilltop.
Take a listen. The difference is simply amazing:
--
Demo audio. Hear it in the MP2 version of the newscast downloadable at
www.arnewslibe.org
--
The station assisting in the live, real time demonstration is Craig
Davis, KM6AW. What you are heard was Davis first transmitting through
an analog repeater followed by his transmission through a D-Star
repeater on the same hilltop. Mount Palomar to be exact.
For brevity, we edited out the session leaders remarks between the two
transmissions, but in both cases Davis is at the same location, using
the same radio, antenna and power level. The only difference is the
crystal clarity of the digital D-Star signal as opposed to the noise
inherent to the analog F-M.
Davis also takes the time to demonstrate the ability to send text
messages while simultaneously transmitting voice over a D-Star circuit.
Unfortunately as we are an audio service its impossible to show that to
you. But you can see it all for yourself because both videos are
posted to YouTube.com. The exact U-R-L's are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAFlkotDfKQ&eurl
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEIIswieLJs&eurl (San Diego Six
Shooters ARC)
**
D-STAR NEWS:: D-STAR COMES TOO PORTUGAL
Still with D-Star news, word that this new mode has come to Portugal.
This, according to CT1END who is the president of Rede dos Emissores
Portugueses.
CT1END says that the first D-STAR repeater in his nation is located in
the city of Lisbon. It operates on on 438,550 MHz. in and signing the
call CQ0UDLX.
Currently this is a local machine only with no gateway connection, but
that is expected to come in time. More, mainly in Portuguese is on-
line at www.rep.pt (Via e-mail)
**
D-STAR NEWS: THREE MORE D-STAR SYSTEMS ACTIVATE IN GERMANY
Three more D-Star repeaters have taken to the air in Germany. DB0DDS
in Dortmund is now active with the input on 431.8875 MHz. It has also
reported that a new D-Star machine in Berlin signing DB0DF and another
in Bremerhaven under the call DB0BHN are both active and gaining new
users daily. As one observer put it, D-STAR is spreading very rapidly
in Germany. Further details in German at www.db0ds.de (outhgate)
**
HAM TECHNOLOGY: A NEW BREW OF ALE
In other digital news, F6CTE has announced the availability of a narrow
band version of the popular Automatic Link Establishment or ALE
software. Called ALE 400 the new program uses a bandwidth of only 400
Hz instead of 2000 Hz. The test version in a ZIP test package is
available at http://f6cte.free.fr/MULTIPSK_TEST_28_10_2007.ZIP (F6CTE,
VHF Reflector)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AO-16 PARTIALLY RESTORED:
After being off the air for several months, the AO-16 ham radio
satellite has been partially restored to service and is transmitting on
437.026 Mhz. According to Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, the satellite was
recovered to the boot loader by Mark Hammond N8MH with guidance from
Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and others. Glasbrenner, who is AMSAT North
America's Vice President for Operations says that further reloading of
the satellite is underway. He adds that the AO-16 team could use help
collecting the binary MBL telemetry for now, and the regular telemetry
once the reload is completed.
If you receive any telemetry from AO-16, please submit it) to telemetry
AT quagliana DOT com and put the words "AO-16 Telemetry" in the subject
of your email) (ANS)
**
WORLDBEAT - SOUTH POLE: THE ANTARCTIC CHALLANGE
In news from around the world, a group of Spainish EA5s operators are
scheduled to operate on board the polar research ship Hesperides. The
operation will use the callsign AO5URD and will be valid for the
Antarctic Challenge as a polar ship. (OPDX)
**
WORLDBEAT - IRAQ: BACK ON THE AIR ABOUT NOV 20
Iraq should be back on the air on or about the 20th of November. This,
according to several DX news sources that credit the information to Y-
I-one-D-Z who is the president of that nations national Amateur Radio
society.
As previously reported, all ham radio operations in Iraq ceased earlier
this year as part of a government security crackdown against the
ongoing insurgency. The suspension included operations by members of
the multi-national military force and contractors helping to rebuild
that nations infrastructure as well as citizens of Iraq who were
licensed radio amateurs. That moratorium now is about to end. (Various
news sources)
**
ON THE AIR - ALGERIA.
On the air, listen out as members of the Amateur Radio Club of of Bou
Saada activate 7W53N during the month of November. This, to
commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of the National
Algerian Revolution. QSL this operation via 7X5VRK. (OPDX)
**
ON THE AIR: WA4IOB BEACONS BACK
The WA4IOB propagation beacons in grid square EM73 are back on the air.
Look for them on 144.285, 222.055 and 432.352. All run between 1 and
a half and 2 watts. QSN reports go via e-mail to grb734 at bellsouth.net
(VHF Reflector)
**
DX
In D-X, listen out for Maruitius as SM7DKF, to be
active from there portable 3B8 through November 24th. This will be a
holiday style operation with activity on the usual Islands On The Air
frequencies. He plans mostly SSB and perhaps some of the digital
modes. QSL direct to his home callsign
W5KDJ is active from Mozambique as C91KDJ until 28th November, mostly
on CW and possibly RTTY. His antenna farm includes a 72ftvertical for
80 and 160 meters, a 4-square for 40 meters and yagi's at 60ft for the
band between 10 and 20 meters. QSL as directed on the air.
And KY1V, W4OI and possibly some others will be active from Jamaica as
6Y1V during the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest on November 24th and 25th.
Plans call for them to possibly operate as a Multi-Single or Multi-2
entry. QSL via OH3RB.
Above from various DX news sources.
**
WITH NEWSLINE: SOME THANK-YOU'S FROM THE SUPPORT FUND
And finally this week, some thank you's to those who support these
newscasts. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Support Fund Administrator,
Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
--
The month of October, 2006 was pretty busy. We heard from Dan Munford,
N4FI, of Norfolk, VA; The Amateur Radio Experimental Alliance in
Chicago; Joe England, N3MZ of Dallas; William Smith, W7GHT of Boise,
ID; Monthly contributors Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF of Columbus, OH,
and William Walters, WA2IBM, and Scott Hensley of the Area
Communications Team, both in San Jose.
Also, Harry Rouse, K6PDQ in Goleta, CA; Ken Hale, K6CJA of Hesperia;
Our friends at the Santa Clarita ARC, W6JW; The South Orange County
Amateur Radio Association James Miller, KG6WUU of Irvine and our good
friends Dave and Alice Bell, W6AQ and W6QLT, in Los ANGELES.
Next report will be to thank everyone who contributed in October via
PayPal.
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
--
Andy will be back with us in the near future with more words of
appreciation to those who have contributed to the support fund.
(ARNewsline Support Fund)
**
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
Davis, W2JKD, wishing listeners in the United States a Happy
Thanksgiving holiday, drive safely, and to all world-wide, we thank you
all for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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