[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1583 - December 14, 2007

Sun Dec 16 10:04:29 EST 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1583 - December 14, 2007

The following is a Q-S-T.  Ham radio responds to severe weather on the 
U-S mainland and in the Pacific.  Also, the launch of new ham radio 
antennas is delayed as the space shuttle Atlantis is grounded for a 
fuel monitoring problem, D-Star comes to Spain and the end of DC in "da 
Big Apple."  Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report 
number 1583 coming your way right now.

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HAMS CALLED UP AS SEVERE WEATHER HITS HAWAII

Ham radio operators on Hawaii sprang into action when an unusually cold 
and windy winter storm hit the island state on December 4th and 5th.  The 
severe weather front produced flooding and even brought blizzard 
conditions and heavy snow to peaks on the Big Island.  It also brought 
out some of ham radio's very best emergency communications operators.  
Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennent, K6PZW, reports:

--

Many residents of the various islands that make up the  state of Hawaii 
lost power and some also lost telephone and cellular service.  
According to news reports in most cases the problem of communicating 
was overload of the phone network caused by to many people trying to 
make calls at the same time.  But the National Weather Service was 
prepare because it depends on the Emergency Amateur Radio Club and the 
states wide repeater system to pass along severe weather information 
during and after the storm.  Take a listen:

--

Actual audio - hear it in the mpe edition of this weeks newscast 
downloadable at www.arnewsline.org

--

That was recorded off the Diamond Head repeater by Amateur Radio 
Newsline's former Production Coordinator Bill Orenstein, KH6QX.  Bill 
retired to Hawaii several years ago.  He lives in Honolulu in a high 
rise building overlooking the yacht club.  Bill was one of many hams 
active during the storm emergency.  He tells us that Connie Mc Curdy, 
NH7IE, and David Cabatu, AH7E, were dispatched to the National Weather 
Service to operate NWS station KH6SW.   Ray Moody, AH6LT, and Ron 
Hashiro, AH6RH, were in contact with them from the local Emergency 
Operations Center from where they collected severe weather reports for 
the N-W-S and issued back warnings of what might still be on its way:

--

Actual audio - hear it in the mpe edition of this weeks newscast 
downloadable at www.arnewsline.org

--

The hams continued to provide severe weather spotting for the National 
Weather Service until the all clear was sounded, but they remain on 
standby because more Pacific storms are expected to hit Hawaii this 
winter.  

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Brude Tennent, K6PZW, overlooking 
the east side of the Pacific in Los Angeles.

--

Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle has already signed a state disaster 
proclamation to help counties and communities recover from storm 
damage.  Officials on Maui ay that they will seek help from the state 
and federal government to deal with storm-related problems.

By the way, snow in Hawaii during the winter is not all that uncommon 
at higher elevations.  The peaks on the Big Island extend well above 
10,000 feet with Mauna Loa is 13,679 feet and Maua Kea is 13,796 feet, 
so it's not unusual for winter storms to bring snow.  (ARNewsline - 
audio supplied by KH6QX)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  WASHINGTON STATE HAMS RESPOND TO WIND AND FLOODING

And a follow-up to our report on ham radios response to last weeks 
Pacific Northwest winter storm.  We already told you about the service 
rendered by hams in Oregon, but that was not the only state to be hit.  
Washington state also had its share of storm related damage as the 
state was struck by wind gusts clocked at over 110 miles per hour.  The 
wind was accompanied by torrential rain. 

As reported by the ARRL Letter, Western Washington Section Manager Jim 
Pace, K7CEX, says that hard hit were the counties of Grays Harbor, 
Pacific and Lewis.  In Lewis County dykes broke allowing three rivers 
to flow over Interstate 5.  Rescue operations were handled with 
helicopters from the US Coast Guard, National Guard, Navy, King County 
Sheriff and Air Lift Northwest, Pace said that the ham station at the 
Thurston County Emergency Operations Center reported 60 people had been 
picked off of roof tops.  Lewis County reported similar situations with 
nearly 200 rescued.

The Thurston County Department of Emergency Management activated ARES 
on Tuesday, December 4 to support ongoing flood evacuation operations 
in southwest portion of that county.  The team staffed the County 
Emergency Operations Center radio room in Olympia.  They also manned 
radio sites at the Rochester Fire Station, various evacuation centers 
as well as landing zones for the helicopter rescue teams.  Amateur 
Radio was used to coordinate resources and limited tactical traffic 
between sites.  Pace says that  hams were also primary operators on 
several county radio systems. 

Pace says that other hams who were not activated, helped in other ways.  
At the request of local agencies, some filled sand bags while others 
manned phones to take damage reports at Seattle's Office of Emergency 
Management.  Others, such as the Lewis County Team were cut off from 
traveling.  When their local 147.06 repeater failed, Lewis County they 
took to simplex and to the High Frequency bands to check on each other 
and put themselves on standby for deployment when roads became 
passable.

Pace also says that in Pacific County ARES members manned the County 
Emergency Operations Center at South Bend.  He says that ham radio was 
the only reliable means of communications in the county once the 
landline and cell phones went out.  (ARRL)

**

RESCUE RADIO:   -  AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTER SET TO GO ANYWHERE IN A 
DISASTER

New technology will help the Australian Broadcasting Corporation bring 
local emergency news coverage directly to communities affected by 
natural disasters like floods and cyclones.  Three fly-in transmitters 
have been purchased by the company to allow local ABC affiliated 
stations to set up shop anywhere in Australia.  

The units were originally designed for the United States military to 
use in the Iraq war.  They are designed to be set up within an hour, 
and can be powered by a small generator or mains power. 

Mark Spurway is the head of Transmission Services with the ABC.  He 
says the transmitters will ensure affected communities are kept 
informed.  (ABC release via RW)

**

D-STAR NEWS:  SPAIN COMES ON-LINE WITH EA3RCC

Spain is now on the air in the D-Star camp.  The Radio Club Castellar 
EA3RCC, in concert with ICOM Spain has announced that it is finalizing 
the installation of a brand new D-Star repeater in EA3.  

In addition to the Icom D-Star radios and interface, the system uses 
Lambda antennas.  It operates on 438.475  in and 433.675 MHz out using 
the call sign  EA3RCC.  

By the time you hear this report, EA3RCC it should be tied into the 
growing, world-wide D-Star network.  (D-Star Net)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  FCC RELEAEASES NEW EAS HANDBOOK

Just in time for Christmas, the FCC has published a new Emergency Alert 
System handbook.  Released by the commission's Public Safety and 
Homeland Security Bureau, this year's missive includes new guidance for 
satellite radio, DBS and wireline video service providers as well as 
broadcast and cablecasters. 

The handbooks provide instructions for national, state and local E-A-S 
activation and highlights testing procedures. The materials also 
include sample scripts that broadcasters and other participants may use 
during EAS  tests and actual alerts.

According to the FCC, broadcaster and others covered under the E-A-S 
rules must have copies of the handbooks located at normal duty 
positions or E-A-S equipment locations when an operator is required to 
be on duty.  The handbooks are also to be immediately available to 
staff responsible for authenticating messages and initiating actions.  

Ham radio repeaters that have voluntarily tied themselves into the 
Emergency Activation System are not required to have the new handbooks, 
but they would likely be a useful adjunct for such operations.  (RW, 
ARNewsline)

**

THE BPL WAR:  ARTICE ON BPL TERMED UNBIASED

CQ Magazine's Emergency Communications columnist Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, 
is the author of the cover story of the December issue of Conformity 
Magazine dealing with Broadband over Powerline titled BPL - Alternative 
or Trouble. 

According to the magazine's website, Conformity is the preferred 
publication for current regulatory and design information in the field 
of electrical engineering.  Josuweit tells Newsline that he has gotten 
reader feedback that the article is clear and unbiased.  The story can 
be found at www.conformity.com/artman/publish/article_230.shtml  
(WA3PZO, ARNewsline)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  ITS ALL RELATIVE

An interesting story involving a vanity call sign and the FCC.  Amateur 
Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks brings us the details:

--

The FCC has sent Robert C. Moldenhauer, now W9IS, of Middelton, 
Wisconsin, a  Warning Notice regarding his previous vanity call sign 
W9CQ.  

The FCC says that back on April 21st, Moldenhauer requested and received 
the call sign W9CQ after claiming he was a close relative of the former 
holder of that call sign.  But the FCC says that it is unable to find 
documentation that Moldenhauer was a close relative of Paul Kent who 
was the former holder of W9CQ,  so in August and again this past 
September the FCC asked him to respond to their inquiries and to 
provide documentation that he was the close relative of the former 
holder of W9CQ that he claimed.  

As of  this past October 3rd, Moldenhauer had not responded to the FCC.  
His failure to do so resulted in the Warning Notice being issued to 
him.  In it, Moldenhauer was warned that his failure to respond to 
Commission correspondence is considered to be a separate violation and 
will lead to enforcement sanctions.

--

We are told that Moldenhauer has since responded to the FCC's Warning 
Notice but so far the agency has not said any more. (FCC)

**

RADIO LAW:  FCC ADOPTS NEW LPFM RULES

The FCC has adopted ownership, eligibility and technical rules to 
increase the number of Low Power or LPFM stations.  It is also seeking 
comment on additional technical rules.

Under the new rules, the order allows the transfer of LFPM licenses 
subject to significant limitations.  It also reinstates a commission's 
rule that all LPFM authorization holders be local to the community and 
limits ownership to one station per licensee.  The rules also clarify 
that repetitious, automated programming does not meet the local 
origination requirement.  (FCC)

**

RADIO LAW:  HD RADIO NOT STRONG WITH NON-COMS

The H-D radio rollout is not very strong among noncommercial stations.  
According to the most recent analysis by BIA Financial Network, out of 
roughly 3,000 total noncommercial stations, 613 have licensed HD Radio, 
while 2,449 have not.  Across the board, about 343 total stations are 
on the air with H-D Radio.  Of this number only 97 noncommercial 
stations are multicasting.  (BIA Net)

**

VANITY PLATES:  CALIFORNIA GOES STRANGE

If  you live in California, have a four or five character callsign and 
apply for call letter license plates, you will be in for a surprise 
when they arrive.  That's because the manufacturing process is designed 
for six digit plates and you will likely find that the state has 
inserted a blank pace after the third character.  

According to Cliff Cheng, WW6CC, he found out the hard way when he got 
his new call and applied for new plates.  When he got them they read 
WW6 space CC.  In the past when applying for California ham plates you 
could request that the Department of Motor Vehicles run the suffix 
together without the space.  Now that alternative has gone away.

Curious as to when the option disappeared, Cliff contacted State 
Assemblyman Mike Feur's aide Josh Englander.  He told WW6CC that  this 
is a new policy as of a month ago.  (WW6CC)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  ADELSTEIN TO REMAIN ON FCC

The White House has announced its intention to nominate Jonathan 
Adelstein, to remain at the FCC for another five-year term.  The South 
Dakota native joined the FCC in 2004 after working as a legislative 
aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

Adelstein is one one of two Democrats on the commission.  In a press 
statement he said that he was honored and thanked current Senate 
Majority Leader Harry Reid  for his support.  If confirmed by the 
Senate, Adelstein would remain at the commission until 2013.  
(Published reports)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: INDEXA HAS NEW WEB LOOK

Gary Dixon, K4MQG, President of the International DX Association  wants 
to alert DX'ers that the organizations recently revised Web site now 
has additional features and functions.   This includes such items as 
the quarterly newsletter in PDF format.

The International DX Association is an amateur radio organization 
dedicated to working DX and making DX possible.  Its home in cyberspace 
is www.indexa.org  (INDEXA)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  SOME NEW FACES ON THE RCA BOD

The Radio Club of America has elected five new members to its Board of 
Directors including one Radio Amateur Of the Year.  That of coarse is 
retired educator 

Elected to the RCA board along with Perry Parker were  and Don Bishop, 
W0WO.  Each will serve  two-year terms. 

David Weisman, who was the Club's vice president/co-counsel for many 
years, was elected as vice-president/counsel, replacing Joseph 
Rosenbloom, who retired from the position.  Robert H. Schwaninger Jr., 
was elected to take Weisman's place as place as vice-president/co-
counsel. 

Roger Madden was elected as treasurer, replacing Eric D. Stoll, K2TO, 
who retired from the position.  Ray Minichiello, W1BC, was elected as 
secretary, replacing Gilbert Houck, W3BXO, who retired from the 
position. 

Incumbent directors Vivian Carr and Craig Jorgensen were reelected.  
The board elected  to serve a one-year term.  (RCA)

**

RADIO BUSINESS:  PETER W. DAHL COMPANY CLOSING ITS DOORS 

The El Paso, Texas based Peter W. Dahl Company will be going out of 
business on December 31st.   According to reports posted on several ham 
radio Internet chat boards, the company's owner has confirmed that Dahl 
will shutter its operation by years end after more than 40 years of 
providing custom transformers to both the Amateur Radio community and 
to industry.  The report also corroborated by QST columnist John Dilks, 
K2TQN, quotes Peter Dahl, K0BIT, as saying that he wanted to thank 
everyone for their business throughout the years.  (RW, VHF Reflector, 
others)

**

HAM RADIO EDUCATION:  FAR SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE 

And an e-mail from the Foundation for Amateur Radio says that it's the 
time of year again when it is soliciting applications for 55 
scholarships for the 2008 to 2009 academic year.  This, to assist radio 
amateurs pursuing various forms of higher education. 

Amateur Radio licensees pursuing  full time courses of study beyond 
high school, and accepted by or enrolled in an accredited university, 
college or technical school are eligible to apply.  Grants range from 
$500 to $3000, and preference in some cases goes to applicants living 
in a particular geographic  area or pursuing certain studies.  Non-US 
residents are eligible to apply for some of the scholarships.

The deadline to apply is March 30, 2008. More information and an 
application form may be requested by letter via e-mail to 
scholarships at farweb.org or by sending a request to FAR Scholarships, PO 
Box 831, Riverdale, Maryland, 20738.  (FAR)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:   INVENTOR ASKED TO FIND A NEW WAY TO COMMUNICATE 
TEXT TO THE SIGHTLESS

Another job for a famed inventor.  One that could really help those 
without sight.  Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details:

--

The electronic engineer who co-invented the electret microphone has 
been recruited to help create the world's first graphical haptic 
display for the blind.  

James West was awarded the National Medal of Technology for his work on 
the electret charged polymer film that converts motion into an 
electrical signal. Now West wants to turn this concept around.  This, 
by sending signals to an electro-active polymer that responds with 
motion on its surface creating what researchers call a haptic display. 

Current Braille displays are very expensive, even though they are 
confined
to text and lack integral touch-screens. West and his team hope their 
efforts will result in a display of graphical patterns for the blind to 
feel with their hands.

--

No word on when the research on this project I expected to be 
completed.  (Science and Technology)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  ARISS ANTENNA LAUNCH DELAYED

A fuel system monitoring failure on board the space shuttle Atlantis 
has caused NASA to delay its launch to the International Space Station 
until at least January 2nd.  The failure which news reports say has 
engineers scratching their heads for an answer occurred in a fuel 
sensor system while Atlantis' external fuel tank was being filled. 

Once the problem is resolved, Atlantis will transport the the European 
Space Agency' space laboratory to the orbiting outpost.  The Columbus 
module is fitted with two Amateur Radio antennas to enhance on-orbit 
ham radio activities.  Its main job however is as an on-orbit research 
facility for experiments in various sciences and technologies.  (ANS, 
others)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  BOUNCING SIGNALS OFF THE ISS

Bernd Mischlewski, DF2ZC, reports that he has successfully held a CW 
contact on 144 MHz by bouncing his signal from the structure of the 
International Space Station.  According to his posting on Moon Net, his 
work was triggered by Peter Sundberg, SM2CEW's attempts to complete a 
QSO by using the ISS as a reflector.

>From Sundberg's experience DF4ZC believed it would be a worthwhile 
attempt considering that the B PSK 63 mode would enable us to exchange 
all information within few seconds if he used only the EME report and 
QSO rules.

His second try on Sunday  December 9th at 1626 UTC.  That's when he 
copied signals at elevations of  greater than 20 degrees and within a 
minute exchanged all data. Signal reports were about S3 to S5  DF2ZC 
running only 300 watts out. (DF2ZC )

**

WORLDBEAT - UK:  REGULATORS SET 2012 OLYMPIC RADIO RULES

British telecommunications regulator Ofcom has set out its approach to 
planning the use of radio spectrum for the London 2012 Olympic Games 
and Paralympic Games.

The Ofcom press release says that its responsibility for organizing a 
full spectrum plan for the Games was outlined in London's bid to the 
International Olympic Committee in 2004.  As part of that bid, the 
Government guaranteed that spectrum would be allocated for the 
organization of the Games. 

A newly published Ofcom discussion document looks at the various 
demands for spectrum in preparation for and during the six week period 
of the Games. This includes video links for wireless cameras to be used 
by the world's media,  handheld radios to be used by the London 
Organizing Committee to run the games, audio links including wireless 
microphones and in-ear monitors and low-power local broadcasting 
services for commentary during competitions and interviews.  Ofcom also 
hopes that it will be possible to use the Olympics as a launch pad for 
new technologies such as 60 GHz video transmissions  (Southgate)

**

WORLDBEAT - GERMANY:  FIRST DRM+ TESTS UNDERWAY IN DL

The first trial of the newly developed DRM+ digital brosdcast system 
got under way in Hannover, Germany, in November and will run until late 
February.  

Two Digital Radio Mondiale associate sembers are conducting the test.  
These are  regional regulator NLM and Leibniz Universit„t Hannover. 

In addition to the DRM+ tests in Hannover, an HD Radio field trial is 
planned in Heidelberg, and a further DRM+ field trial is scheduled to 
run later in the winter.  The combined test results will provide the 
basis for standardization of the DRM+ system, which is planned for 
2008.  (RW)

**

DX

In D-X,  DL7ZZ and a team of German operators are planning a DXpedition 
to Nouakchott, Mauritania, to take place between March 16th to the 30th.  
He says via the Ohio Penn D-X nesletter that the team is now complete 
with the addition of DL2ARD.  DL7ZZ also mentions that the first 
foundations who donated funds and are supporting their DXpedition are 
now listed on their projects website. QSL via DH7WW, by the bureau or 
direct.

F5PFP, the organizer of an upcoming Antarctic Cruise DXpedition states 
he is still looking for a good CW operator.  The operation is slated 
for for 4 weeks in 2008 and 2009,  The Antarctic Cruise DXpedition 
program will make stops at Videla station, Almirante Brown station, 
Yelcho station, and 8 or 9 other locations.  If you are interested in 
coming on board this trip and have a good C-W fist, e-mail at: 
f5pfp at aliceadsl.fr

And word that F5VHJ, will be active as TO5A from the Island of
Martinique during the ARRL DX SSB Contest on March 1st and -2nd.  He  
will also be active as TO5A during the CQ World Wide WPX  SSB Contest 
from March 29th to the 30th.  QSL both operations either via F5VHJ, 
Logbook To The World, or the REF Bureau.

Lastly, listen out for WJ2O to be active portable VP5 from Jodi's, 
Hamlet on Providenciales Island from February 15th though the 22nd. His 
operations will include the ARRL DX CW Contest as a Single-Op entry. 
QSL via WJ2O.

(Above from OPDX and various other DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: CHANGING TECHNOLOGY:  THE END OF DC IN NYC

And finally this week, DC is gone from the city of New York.  City Room 
reports on November 14 that the last of Thomas Edison's DC power 
stations was finally switched off.  Newsline's Bill Pasternak grew up 
there and has this report:

--

According to the newspaper story, power provider Consolidated Edison 
ended 125 years of direct current electricity service.  Electrical 
service that began when Thomas Edison opened his power station on Sept. 
4, 1882.  

Until now, Con Ed as the company is known -- had been converting 
Alternating Current to Direct Current for the dwindling number of 
customers who needed it.  This is mainly old buildings on the upper 
East Side and upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan.  Buildings 
that used direct current for their elevators and other ansuliary 
equipment.

The end of of Con Ed's direct current system was to take place at a 
building located at 10 East 40th Street.  That building, like the 
thousands of other Direct Current users have been transitioned to 
Alternating Current service over the last several years.  It now has 
its own on premises converter that can take AC from the Con Ed power 
lines and make it into the DC it needs. 

And so yet another milestone of technology passes in "da Big Apple."

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, 3000 miles 
away in the studio in Los Angeles.

--

As an aside, the man who cut the last D C link is Fred Simms.  Sims is 
a 52-year veteran of Consolidated Edison.  Why him? Bob McGee, a Con Ed 
spokesman joked to the press that Simms is the closest link to Thomas 
Edison the company has.    (City Room via VK7BEN) 

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ 
Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, 
the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all 
from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  Our e-mail address is 
newsline at arnewsline.org.  More information is available at Amateur 
Radio Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.  
You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, P.O. 
Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. 

Before we go a reminder of this month Newsline web survey.  The 
question is do you plan to buy a D-Star radio for Christmas.  Vote yes 
or now on-line at www.arnewsline.org

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