[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1582 - December 7, 2007
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Sat Dec 8 08:42:25 EST 2007
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1582 - December 7, 2007
The following is a Q-S-T. Hams respond to a winter storm in the Pacific
Northwest and the ARRL responds to a CQ Magazine editorial. Find out the
details on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1582 coming your way right
now.
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAMS ACT AS STORM HIS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
A major storm has hit the Pacific Northwest, flooding some areas while knocking
out power and telephone service. Ham radio has been activated to fill in the
communications gap. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in our Los Angeles studio with
more.
--
"I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from the very beginning of this...the
ham radio operators. These people just came in and actually provided a
tremendous communication link to us."
Those the words of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski after surveying the
devastation brought by a pair of winter storms the week of December 2nd.
According to news reports an untold numbers of residents found themselves in the
dark as hurricane-force winds and heavy rain battered the Northwest for a second
day. It felled trees. Brought down power lines. Many also lost telephone
service as lines came down and cellphones were overloaded.
But a network of at least 60 amateur radio operators -- most ARES volunteers --
working along the coast and inland helped from keep crucial systems such as 911
calls, American Red Cross and hospital services connected. They relayed
information about patient care and relayed lists of supplies needed in areas cut
off by water. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management said ham radio
operators were tireless in their efforts to keep the states emergency response
systems connected.
In fact, amateur radio operators are being heralded by Oregon state emergency
officials as true heroes.
The clean-up is still going on. And hams in Washington state and Hawaii have
also been facing weather emergencies. More on these stories, next week.
At the studio in Los Angeles, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
--
As we go to air, the storm is working its way southward and is expected to bring
heavy rain and high surf to California over the weekend of the 8th and 9th.
Hams there involved in emergency preparedness say that they are ready.
(ARNewsline from news reports)
**
RESCUE RADIO: YV0, AVES ISLAND DEVISTATED
Don't look for any DX operations from Aves Island anytime in the near future.
That's because it was all but washed off the face of the Earth by Hurricane
Dean on back on August 17th.
Only now is the extent of the devastation to the island coming to light. If you
want to see what's left, take your web browser to www.yx0a.info and click on
Pictures Shot After Hurricane Dean. (OPDX)
**
HAM RADIO POLITICS: THE ARRL RESPONDS TO CQ EDITORIAL REGARDING REGION 2
BANDPLAN
The President of the American Radio Relay League has responded to a C-Q
Magazine editorial dealing with the soon to be in place Region 2 bandplan and
also to our coverage of the story here on Newsline. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, says
that the CQ editorial that made several accusations against ARRL but was based
on rumor and false information. He also says that it is unfortunate that we at
Newsline chose to publish the story without even contacting ARRL to determine if
there was any validity to it, or as a minimum to seek out the facts in this
matter.
A few days ago we in an e-mail exchange we invited ARRL Executive Vice President
Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, to address the subject.. The reply instead came from
President Harrison. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the rest
of what Joel Harrison, W5ZN, had to say:
--
OK. Before I begin, get a paper and pencil ready because there are going to be
a number of U-R-L's given that you might want to visit. We will only state them
once in this verbal report. If you miss then, you will have to go to our
website and download this weeks text file.
"ARRL President Harrison addresses the CQ Magazine article as follows: We
quote:
The December CQ editorial is based on the mistaken assumption that the new IARU
Region 2 band plan is an ARRL initiative. It is not, nor is it in anyway a
vehicle to achieve regulation by bandwidth. That premise is based on a false
rumor that you have unfortunately fallen prey to.
The genesis of the Region 2 band plan, available at http://www.iaru-r2.org/band-
plan/, is actually based on the band plan adopted by IARU Region 1 at its
conference in Davos, Switzerland in September 2005 and available at
http://www.iaru-r1.org/Spectrumbp.htm. If you compare the two you will see
there are striking similarities, including most of the features that you
incorrectly attribute to the ARRL which has no standing or membership in IARU
Region 1.
It happens that the ARRL's "regulation by bandwidth" petition, the now-withdrawn
RM-11306, also drew on the Region 1 band plan. This is acknowledged on page 10
of the petition, which is available at
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/rm-11306/RM-11306-asFiled.pdf. The
similarities between RM-11306 and the Region 2 band plan are the result of
having some common roots, but the two are not otherwise related. In particular,
the Region 2 band plan is not a vehicle for achieving what has not yet been
achieved through FCC rulemaking.
ARRL representatives did participate in the discussion of the band plan in
Committee B/C at the Region 2 Conference in Brasilia in mid-September and I cast
the vote on behalf of the ARRL for the plenary meeting to adopt the committee's
recommendation. I did so knowing that the new band plan isn't perfect -
committee work inevitably involves compromise and accepting the views of others
that are different from your own - but also knowing that it is a significant
improvement over the old one. In any case, band plans are simply voluntary
guidelines and do not have the force or significance of regulations. CQ is well
aware of this, since participants in their contests routinely violate band plans
with impunity but risk disqualification or worse if they knowingly violate FCC
rules.
The continuing support from CQ for the concept of regulation by bandwidth is
greatly appreciated. The ARRL Board remains of the same view. Regulation by
bandwidth is essential to the orderly introduction of new digital modes into the
HF bands. However, the ARRL will not be pursuing rulemaking until some degree
of consensus can be achieved in the amateur community.
It is particularly important to avoid unintended consequences for traditional
modes. The original RM-11306 petition accomplished that through the combination
of a specific provision for AM and the replacement of the existing FCC Part 97
definition of "bandwidth" which currently is based on occupied bandwidth, with
the definition of "necessary bandwidth." The distinction is important because it
avoids the difficult issue of measuring the actual bandwidth of transmitted
signals. By definition, the necessary bandwidth of an SSB signal is 2700 Hz. If
the rules specified a bandwidth limit of 2700 Hz, an SSB signal would comply
regardless of its actual bandwidth as long as an existing rule, 97.307(a), also
was observed. This is not a change from the present situation.
The editorial properly credits the ARRL with having conducted an open process of
soliciting input during the three-year period of development of RM-11306. As one
of the 39 member-societies of IARU Region 2 the ARRL will, as always, continue
to openly work to improve the Region 2 band planning process prior to the next
conference and to give its members ample opportunity to offer comments and
suggestions.
73,
Joel Harrison, W5ZN
ARRL President"
And I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline.
--
OK. By now you have likely read the CQ editorial. If not, you can do so on
line at www.cq-amateur-radio.com You have also heard the reply to it from the
president of the American Radio Relay League, Joel Harrison, W5ZN.
Now its up to you to weigh all the information presented by both organizations
and decide for yourself. We suspect that many of you will do just that -- on
line -- in the coming days. We will be watching the web and the blogs to see
what you have to say. (ARNewslinre(tm))
**
HAM NEWS: IARU REGION 2 STARTS NEW RSS SERVICE
One more note. At about the same time as President Harrison's e-mail statrement
arrived we also got word of a new IARU Region 2 on-line news service. Its been
established by Ramon Santoyo, X-E-1-K-K, who is Secretary of Region 2 of the
International Amateur Radio Union. The service is available in English and
Spanish languages and you can subscribe to either or both at: English: IARU
Region 2 News (RSS) - http://www.iaru-r2.org/category/news/feed
Spanish: Noticias de IARU Regi¢n 2 en espa¤ol (RSS) - http://www.iaru-
r2.org/category/noticias/feed (Southgate)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: FDMDV - A NEW DIGITAL VOICE MODE FOR HF
A new Digital Voice mode called Frequency Division Multiplex Digital Voice or
FDMDV has been announced on the N1SU.com website. The new mode claims to need a
bandwidth of only 1100 Hertz of bandwidth to provide high quality digital voice
under poor band conditions.
According to its creators, FDMDV is the latest digital voice mode on the High
Frequency bands and is free to try. More information and a link to both the
download ite and user forum is on-line at http://n1su.com/fdmdv (M5AKA)
**
THE BPL WAR: AUSTRALIA'S AURORA ENERGEY PULLS OUT OF BPL
Some good news in the B-P-L struggle. Australia's Aurora Energy will soon bid
farewell to access Broadband over Powerline or B-P-L. This as word from down-
under say that the company is planning to end its multi-year B-P-L trial in
Tasmania.
Aurora spent about $2 million since the inception of the trial in 2004, and
during that time has seriously addressed the interference aspects of BPL with
some success. However at the end of the day it appears that the economics in an
increasingly competitive environment just didn't stack up for BPL in Tasmania.
The company's Chief Executive is Peter Davis. He is reported to have said that
Aurora's BPL trial does not have the resources to maintain its viability. Also
that it has not been a good money-making exercise for Aurora whih is the reason
power companies world-wide have entered the Broadband over Powerline arena.
The decision by Aurora Energy to end its commitment won't be the end of BPL in
Australia . Several mainland Australia trials are continuing and more are
planned,. Also, it's not clear at this stage what will happen to the existing
installed BPL infrastructure now that Aurora is pulling away. Meantime Aurora
says that it find alternate high speed Internet access for its customers being
displaced by the end of the Tasmanian B-P-L test.
The news story can be read at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/27/2102466.htm and a news release has
been placed on the Aurora website at:
http://www.auroraenergy.com.au/news/default.asp?file=27-november-2007.txt) (WIA
News)
**
RADIO LAW: UK HAM WINS ANTENNA LIBEL CASE
A ham in the United Kingdom radio amateur has been awarded substantial damages.
This, after a court finds libelous a letter aimed at keeping him off the air .
The story goes this way. Rick Brand, G0SJR, was intending to install a new
antenna and filed the necessary application. Objecting to Brand's application,
several neighbors sent their own letter to the South Bedfordshire District
Council and ten other nearby residents. A letter that Brand claimed placed him
in bad light in front of the community.
So G0SJR decided to fight back and do so in a court of law. Now, a Coventry
County Court has found the letter to be libellous under United Kingdom law. It
said that statements in the letter were personal and designed deliberately to
damage Brand in the eyes of others.
Speaking after the hearing, Brand, who is a Parish Councilor, said the matter
has never been about money. In fact, he said that he plans to donate a some of
it to charity.
In addition to damages, the neighbors were ordered to pay G-0-S-J-R's legal
costs. Brand also thanked the Radio Societry of Great Britain for its help with
his planning application. He days that it was successful. (GB2RS, Southgate)
**
ENFORCEMENT: ANTIQUE RADIO COLLECTOR ORDERED TO PAY $7000 NAL
The FCC has affirmed a $7000 fine issued to Richard Mann doing business as The
Antique Radio Collector. This, for allegedly marketing uncertified AM
transmitters..
In 2006. the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau
responded to a complaint that Mann's Antique Radio Collector was marketing fully
assembled, uncertified AM transmitters. Specifically, the SSTRAN model AMT3000
AM unit.
In a response to the agency, Mann stated he'd bought the transmitters as kits
from a third party and assembled them at home. Antique Radio Collector
advertised the assembled transmitters for sale online at www.oldtimeradio.com
and said it has sold 46 completed units since December 2003.
The FCC said Mann was apparently liable and proposed the fine this past March.
In response Mann argued he hadn't violated the rules and asked for the penalty
to be cancelled or reduced. He stated that the Antique Radio Collector does
not possess or offer fully assembled AMT3000 transmitters but only offers a
service and the assembly of transmitter kits from the manufacturer.
But the commission didn't accept this explanation. While kits as are not
generally subject to equipment authorization requirements, the Commission said
in its decision that it finds the sale and shipment of an unauthorized device
assembled from a kit violates FCC rules, regardless of who manufactures it.
Because Antique Radio Collector failed to obtain an authorization for the
assembled transmitters before marketing them as fully assembled, the agency said
the company had violated its rules.
As this newscast is prepared, we checked and found that Antique Radio Collector
is still offering the you buy we build service for the SSTRAN transmitters on
its website. The URL is www.oldtimeradioprograms.com/transmitters/am3000.html
(FCC, others)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: SW OHIO DIGITAL SYMPOSIUM
Planning is underway for the 22nd annual South West Ohio Digital Symposium to be
held from 8 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, January 12. The
venue will be the Thesken Hall, on the Middletown Campus of Miami University, in
Middletown, Ohio. If you have a particular subject of interest which you'd like
to present, or know of someone who is qualified to do so, please contact, Jay
Slough, K4ZLE to k4zle at arrl.net. (WB9QZB)
**
WORLDBEAT - GERMANY: HAM RADIO KICKED OFF OLYMPIC TOWER SITE
Using to much electric power may have cost a popular group of repeaters serving
Munich, Germany it's site. This, as one group of hams who control access by
other radio amateurs to Munich's Olympic Tower radio site have essentially
kicked the brother radio amateurs out.
The group in question is the V-F-D-B. The V-F-D-B is described as a parallel
amateur radio organization to the German national society the D-A-R-C. It
represents hams that work for, or used to work for, the German
telecommunications authority. They have their own local clubs that "compete"
with the D-A-R-C local clubs, although in most ways they cooperate and sort of
claim to be part of one family. Since the V-F-D-B has a direct connection with
the authorities or past authorities, they arranged to be the national renter of
repeater site properties at subsidized prices.
And now the V-F-D-B is claiming that the hams who operate repeaters at the
Olympic Tower are using far to much resources such as electric power and had
ordered Rainer Englert, D-F-2-N-U, and his repeaters out of the site. This,
even though they are the most popular systems serving the Munich area and
includes the 5th highest traffic Echolink repeater used worldwide, as well as a
new D-Star repeater.
According to one source, some dialog was opened between the V-F-D-B and D-F-2-N-
U. Then a closed meeting without Englert was held on December 4th to determine
the fate of the repeaters on the Olympic Tower. The outcome was a decision to
shut everything down. There was no discussion, no reasons given.
The user group that supports the repeaters say the move was purely political.
They say that their next step will be to consult with their lawyers and at the
same time to look for a repeater site that is not under V-F-D-B's control.
(Source: Various)
**
WORLDBEAT - IRELAND: FIRST 500 KHZ TRANSATLABTIC QSO COMPLETED
The first transatlantic contact on 500 kHz between amateur experimental stations
has taken place. The evening of November 13 saw U-S experimental station WE2XGR
and GI4DPE in Northern Ireland communicate for about 15 minutes using standard-
speed CW.
On that same night, US experimental stations WD2XSH 12 in Colorado and WD2XSH 20
in Oregon made the first contact in the western half of the United States.
WD2XSH is the The ARRL 500 kHz experimental license. It was issued in September
2006 and has 19 active stations. WE2GXR is licensed to Warren Ziegler, K2ORS,
of Wayland, Massachusetts. Fritz Raab, W1FR, in Vermont, serves as experimental
project manager for The 500 KC Experimental Group for Amateur Radio. Its
website is on line at www.500kc.com
And less we forget, if Warren Ziegler's callsign, K2ORS, sounds familiar, its
first holder was the late Amwerican humorist Jean Shepherd. The same Jean
Shepherd that gave us all the holiday classic motion picture "A Christmas
Story." According to his listing on QRZ.com, Ziegler was a big fan of the
original K2ORS. (ARRL, Southgate, others)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: EUROPEAN SPACE LAB GETS ITS HAM RADIO ANTENNAS
Amateur radio antennas have now been installed on the soon to be launched
European Space Laboratory module Columbus. The new antennas are for for 1.3 and
2.4GHz,. They should eventually allow the operation of an experimental
transponder which is expected to include digital television. Further
information about ARISS-Europe can be found at www.ariss-eu.org (GB2RS)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR - JAN 1
The next Straight Key Night on OSCAR is a Morse only satellite happening slated
for January 1st of 2008. The event is sponsored by AMSAT for all radio
amateurs throughout the world.
Participating in Straight Key Night on OSCAR is fun and simple. No scoring and
no need to send in a log. Just operate CW through any OSCAR, using a straight
hand key, at any time between 0000 and 2400 UTC on January 1, 2008.
In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, all participants are
encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Please send your
nomination to W2RS at w2rs at amsat.org. Those selected will be recognized in an
AMSAT News Service bulletin, and in The AMSAT Journal.
This 2008 Straight Key Night on OSCAR will be held in memory of Harry Yoneda,
the ex-JA1ANG. Harry was a past AMSAT Director and co-founder of Japan AMSAT.
(ANS)
**
WORLDBEAT - AUSTRALIA: E-MENTORING
Members of Australia's Amateur Radio Victoria who have become radio amateurs
since November 2005 are now receiving a new membership service which is called
e-mentor. The assistance provided includes all forms of sharing of skills and
knowledge and a helping hand when required. A series of handy tips for
newcomers will also be provided to Amateur Radio Victoria members in coming
months. (WIA News)
**
WORLDBEAT-UK: SPANNING THE GLOBE PEDESTRIAN MOBILE
And despite the sunspot minimum, U-K radio amateur Dave Starkie, G4AKC, has
managed two way pedestrian mobile contact with G7LPW portable Zed-L-3 in
Christchurch, New Zealand. On November15th the two operators completed a
21,100 km contact on 20 meters SSB. This accomplishment was the result of two
years work to improve and develop the high performance High Frequency backpack
radio that was used at both ends of the contact. (GB2RS)
**
DX
In D-X, word that a group of Spanish operators is scheduled to operate on board
the polar research ship Hesperides. They will use the callsign AO5URD and will
be valid for the Antarctic Challenge as a polar ship. QSL as directed on the
air.
And following the announcement that amateur radio in Iraq is permitted once
again, YI9MI has announced that he will be operational until 15th May on 80 to
10 meters. He will be running SSB, CW, PSK-31, and RTTY. QSL via AD7MI.
Lastly, JL3SIK, will be active from Guam as K2JA portable KH2 between now and
November 25th. Activity will be on all of the High Frequency bands using CW and
SSB. QSL to his home callsign or via FISTS bureau.
(Various DX sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: DECEMBER 2006 THANK YOU'S WITH N6TCQ
And finally this week, with a lot of holiday cheer in the form of thank-you's to
those listeners who supported us last December, here's our support fund
administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.
--
In the month of November, 2006 we heard from:
Regular contributors Benton Bonney, W4PE of Orlando, Joseph Bartzi, Jr., KC8DKF
of Columbus, OH, William Walters, WA2IBM, and Scott Hensley of the Area
Communications Team, both in San Jose, and Bob Paquette, W6ZPL in La Habra The
Reading, PA Radio Club, W3BN Dave Milton, K6HWN in Santa Barbara and Alvin
Borne, W6IVO in Hermosa Beach
Via Paypal we heard from John Schaaf of Elyria, OH: David Wiggins in Boulder
Creek CA: David Bern in Potomac, MD; Stephan Auyer, N2TKX of Liverpool, NY: John
Stuart Roberts in Stannington, Sheffield, UK: Patrick Frazier in Phoenix AZ.:
Will Wiehe, W2GU in Tarrytown, NY: the Windy Ridge Aviaries in Wetumpka, AL:
Robert Burns in Brownsburg, IN: Jeff Stieglitz, N6TK and the AE6NZ 147.435 Los
Angeles repeater: Melvyn Whitten in Bridgeton, MO; Randy Collins in Rogers, AR:
Larry Mohr of Champaign, IL: Wayne Strickland, W9BBB in Chicago: James Murray of
Polk City, FL and Charles Schertle in Lusby, MD
Sometimes I record these thankyous and then don't hear them on the following
newscast. I'll call our producer, Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF and ask: "What
happened?" Invariably his answer is: "...too much news."
Well, you know, that's the right answer. Because our Mantra has and always will
be: "...the breaking news of Amateur Radio comes first. That's great for him,
but I gotta pay the bills! And they keep coming!
Please, help us out. You can check our website, arnewsline.org or the address
will be at the end of the newscast.
As always, thanks. I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
--
More support fund information from Andy in future Amateur Radio Newsline
reports. (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(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline at arnewsline.org. More information
is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only official website located at
www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio
Newsline(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.
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(tm) is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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