[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1597 - March 21, 2008

Sat Mar 22 10:07:51 EST 2008

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1597 - March 21, 2008

The following is a Q-S-T.  The long awaited Clipperton DXpedition goes 
Q-R-T after a successful run,  California hams are exempt from a new 
hands free cellphone law and ham radio says goodbye to AMSAT member 
2001 with the passing of writer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke.  Find 
out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1597 coming 
your way right now.

**

BREAKING DX NEWS: - CLIPPERTON A SUCCESS AND NOW QRT

The long awaited Clipperton DXpedition now QRT and everyone involved is 
calling it a big success.  Amateur Radio Newsline's Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, 
reports.  

--

Operations from Clipperton Island ended early on Saturday March 15th.  
During the tile the team was on this rare D-X-C-C entity, the members 
had to endure major tropical storms and extreme heat.  This took its 
toll on both the operators and equipment. 

Even so, the last report on the operations Web page shows a total of 
59,875 QSO's were completed.  Of these 28,402 were on CW, 28,736 on SSB 
and 2,737 made on RTTY.  

Heres the post DXpedition information you need to know.  First is that 
you QSL this operation to N7CQQ, either via the bureau or direct to 
John Kennon, P.O. Box 31553, Laughlin, Nevada 89028, USA.  

Also, for those who use electronic contact verification the logs will 
be uploaded to the ARRL's Logbook to the World as soon as they have 
been verified.  

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, in Los Angeles.

--

More information is on-line at www.clipperton2008.org (Clipperton Web 
Page)

**

BREAKING DX NEWS:  GLORIOSO ISLANDS TO ACTIVATE IN MAY

One of the most sought after D-X entities may soon be on the air.  This 
with word that a French group that  has been trying to get a permit to 
activate Glorioso Island for several months has finally received the 
necessary landing permit.

If all goes well, the five operators hope to bring Glorioso to the ham 
radio airwaves in early May.  Dates being talked about are May 5th to 
the 9th, but at airtime nothing is cast in concrete. They are currently 
looking for sponsors, and if you would like to help please contact 
F5OGL. 

Presently, Glorioso is ranked 4th in "DX Magazine's 2007 Most Wanted 
Countries World-Wide" in the mixed modes.  Once there the team plans to 
have 3 or 4 stations on the air to help fill the need for QSO with this 
rather rare location.  

The latest updates can be found at the operations website and we will 
have more DX news for you later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline 
report at http://glorieuses2005.free.fr  (OPDX, others)

**

RADIO LAW:  HAMS NOT AFFECTED BY NEW CALIFORNIA CELLPHONE LAW

Amateur Radio has been exempt from California state's new "Hands Free" 
law.  Beginning July 1st California will have new laws on the books to 
deal with the use of wireless telephones while driving.  Some personal 
radio operators have been asking if the new statute affects them.  

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the use of 
dedicated two-way radios such Citizen Band transceivers, walkie-talkies 
and the like are not affected by the new ordinance.  This, as long as 
the person behind the wheel is age  18 or older.  

More is on-line at the California D-M-V website:  
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/dl208_03cell_phone.pdf  (DMV, 
ARNewsline)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD:  COMMUNICATIONS VISIONARY ARTHUR C. CLARKE - S.K 
AT AGE 90

The changing of the guard continues.  This with word that British 
science fiction writer, communications futurist and friend of Amateur 
Radio, Arthur C Clarke, has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.  

According to news reports, Clarke passed away the morning of March 18, 
2008, after suffering from breathing problems.  While not a radio 
amateur, Arthur C. Clarke had some strong albeit unofficial ties to the 
world-wide ham radio space community. For years he held the honorary 
AMSAT membership number 2001.  

As an author and visionary, Clarke's most famous prediction was his 
proposal of geostationary satellites for  communications published in 
the Wireless World magazine in 1945.  While this proposal was not taken 
seriously at the time, his orbital dream became a reality about two 
decades later with the launch in 1965 the first commercial 
geostationary communication satellite Intelsat One also known as Early 
Bird.  In this audio clip from a 1992 interview with the late Roy Neal, 
K6DUE, Clarke told hams listening to a teleconference radio net how the 
idea came about:

--

Clarke:  "At the time I was working on a very complex RADAR.  It was 
the first Ground Approach Control flight management system which has 
about a thousand valves or what you call tubes.  At least one would 
blow out every day , so I couldn't imagine that sort of equipment 
operating without mechanics on the spot to change them and give it 
service.  So I assumed that these relay stations would be manned space 
stations, like the Freedom Space Station but at a lower altitude."

"What I didn't envision was the incredible revolution in solid state 
electronics:  First the transistor and later the micro-chip.  And I 
have sometimes said though not very seriously that the invention of the 
transistor was a major catastrophe for astronautics because if we 
hadn't invented the transistor we would have had to build manned space 
stations and we would have been half way to Mars by now (giggle)."  

--

For his effort, the geostationary satellite orbit known as the Clarke 
Belt was named in his honor.  And while he had moved away from the 
United Kingdom years ago, in 1988 was knighted by England's Queen 
Elizabeth.

As a writer Clarke was the author, or co-author, of dozens of fiction 
and non-fiction books.  He will likely be best remembered for his novel 
2001: A Space Odyssey.  This book was later turned into a landmark big 
screen motion picture by Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick.  His 
other well known works include the sequel 2010 that also became a 
motion picture and the books Childhood's End  and Rendezvous with Rama.  
In all, Arthur C. Clarke has penned some 33 novels and another 29 non-
fiction books and stories from the time he began writing them in 1950.  
His latest titled "Firstborn" was published in 2007.

Once called the first dweller in the electronic cottage, Arthur C. 
Clarke's vision of space travel and computing captured the imagination 
of readers worldwide long before any of it came to pass.  He lived to 
see much of what he predicted become reality during his lifetime.

Arthur C. Clarke, visionary, writer and longtime friend of radio 
amateurs word wide, dead at age 90.  (ARNewsline, published reports)

**

BREAKING NEWS:  REMAINS OF MISSING INDIANA HAM BELIEVED FOUND

Some breaking news.  Plainfield, Indiana, police said they may have 
found the body of a ham radio operator missing for more than two years.   
This as authorities discover the vehicle belonging to Harold Hensley, 
AB9JD, with a person inside of it in a retention pond close to his 
home.

According to news reports Hensley was last seen leaving his residence 
in January of 2006.  At that time his wife told authorities that her 
husband was on his normal routine and he was supposed to be at work at 
7 a.m..  His employer called at 7:30 and said he had not shown up.  He 
has not been seen since.

The biggest break in the case came just five blocks from the Hensley's 
home.  Police said a tip early in the investigation brought them to a 
BP Gas Station. They said its where someone saw Hensley the day he went 
missing.  Finally on  Monday afternoon March 17th investigators found 
Hensley's jeep and what they believe to be his human remains in the 
pond only about 5 blocks from his home.  Detectives are waiting for 
autopsy results to confirm his identity and the exact cause of death.  
(Published news reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT:  $13000 ASSESSED FOR TOWER VIOLATIONS

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has finalized a fine of $15,200 against 
Pembrook Pines Elmira Ltd., which owns AM stations WEHH and WELM in the 
state of New York.  The commission said the owner had failed to comply 
with antenna structure lighting requirements, notify the FAA of an 
antenna structure light outage or operate its stations consistent with 
the modes and power authorized in their licenses.

The Buffalo Field Office had originally issued a Notice of Apparent 
Liability of $19,000 early last year. The company didn't dispute the 
findings but asked for a reduction because the FCC previously had not 
treated failure to notify the FAA as a separate violation and because 
the station had a history of compliance.

The commission rejected the first argument, saying  that it believe 
that it is appropriate, and consistent with precedent, to assess an 
additional $3,000 forfeiture where there is evidence that the tower 
owner knew of a light outage prior to the inspection by FCC agents and 
failed to notify the FAA.  But it accepted the second ongoing full 
compliance issue and cut the fine by $3,800. (FCC)

**

REPEATER NEWS:  NEW UK 10 GHZ SYSTEM COMES ON THE AIR

What is believed to be the first 10 GHz F-M voice repeater in the 
United Kingdom came on the air on March 14th,  GB3TC t is co-sited with 
GB3CS at Berryhill Farm in Lanarkshire.  The new system operate on a 
channel pair of 10371.1 MHz in and 10471.1 MHz out and requires a 103.5 
Hz sub audible or 1750 Hz burst access tone. 

Beacons in FM with call and locator every 60s when not repeating. The 
output of the repeater is in the Amateur Satellite segment as its 
planners believe it could provide a useful signal source for setting-up 
weak signal equipment.

The project is being independently operated and funded by local radio 
amateurs with support from the Central Scotland FM Group and its 
technical team. Together with the GB3CSB beacon project for the 23, 13 
and 9cm bands the new repeater is designed to stimulate activity on 
these higher frequency bands.

More information is on-line at http://www.csfmg.com/GB3TC.htm 
(Southgate) 

**

D-STAR NEWS:  D-STAR TO COME TO LONDON

Still in the U-K, the city often called the gateway to Europe -- 
London, England, will soon have its first ever D-Star repeater.  The 
Radio Society of Great Britain's Emerging Technology Co-ordination 
Committee website says that the GB3OK repeater at Bromley in Kent has 
applied to become GB7OK and convert to D-Star technology.  This is the 
latest application and the first from the London area for this amateur 
digital mode which has been gathering considerable interest since last 
year.   (Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  THAT NEW MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL

Ham radio is portrayed in a strange but fun way in a new commercial for 
the soft drink Diet Mountain Dew.  Actually the spot is a kind of 
battle of the sexes with the claim being that lightning hits men more 
often then it does women.  In it, you see a bunch of Y-L's involved 
variety of activities that experts say should not be attempted in a 
thunder storm.  This includes fencing and operating a ham radio station 
Field Day style as lightning flashes and thunder roars.    

We won't spoil the outcome of this adventure for you by describing what 
happens next.    We do however wonder if the producers went to eBay to 
get their props because they sure have some magnificent vintage tube 
type gear for their Y-L ham to use.  You can see the commercial on-line 
of YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MieEfkwICB8  (ARNewsline)

**

HAMVENTION 2008:  ROAD CONSTRUCTION NEAR THE HARA ARENA

If you are planning to attend the 2008 Dayton Hamvention, you will need 
to give yourself a little more driving time than in years past.  This 
due to several road and street construction projects that will be 
ongoing in the area.  

The first problem is construction is at the north end of the downtown 
Dayton area on Interstate 75 from about Mile Marker  53 to 56.  Rob 
Lunsford KB8UEY, who is the Hamvention's Talk-In Committee Chairman 
says that the Ohio Department of Transportation has started a multi-
year multi-phase reconstruction of I-75 in which there are lane 
restrictions, bridge replacements, and various other adjacent projects.

The other traffic pinch involves one of the main surface streets used 
by attendees of Hamvention.  Needmore Road it is almost a straight shot 
from exit 58 on I-75 to Hara Arena.  Unfortunately for Hamvention goers 
a rebuild project is set to begin on this roadway and it will be down 
to one lane each way for no less than 100 working days.  If you look at 
a calendar, that includes Hamvention weekend.  

Lunsford says that these repairs are long overdue and there are work-
arounds for those driving to both the Hara Arena and the event parking 
at the nearby Salem Mall.  We suggest that you go to www dot hamvention 
dot org in coming days to find the alternate route that best serves 
you.   (HamventionT)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  THE FIRST FEMALE VK HAM HIGHLIGHTED ON RADIO SHOW

Some names in the news.  We begin with the story of the first 
Australian YL ham that is being told on the program Hindsight on 
Australian Radio National.  It's the tale of Florence Violet McKenzie, 
affectionately known as Mrs Mac. And who was also the first qualified 
female electrical engineer in Australia.  In preparation of the program 
several current Australian female hams were interviewed.  The audio can 
be downloaded from 
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/hht_20080316.m
p3 
It's a 25 megabyte MP3 audio file.  Go to home page of ABC Radio 
National's "Hindsight" program, 
www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/  Scroll down to the program date Sunday 16 
March 2008), and there it is.  (WIA News)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  UK CLUB GETS GRANT TO EDUCATE

The Worcester Radio Amateurs Association is celebrating after being 
given œ5,320 from the United Kingdom National Awards for All 
scheme. The group says that it will use the funds to expand its 
educational services into neighboring towns and to the training to 
people outside the club o as to bring Amateur Radio into more schools.  

The Worcester Radio Amateurs Association established in October 2006.  
It  is the only Amateur Radio organization in the Worcestershire area. 
As well as holding regular meetings, the club works closely with the 
Scouts and Guides, teaching youngsters how to use radio communication 
while camping.  (Southgate)

**

SOCIAL SCENE:  RCA SPRING GATHERING IN ALBUQUERQUE NM APRIL 1ST

The fifth annual Radio Club of America Spring Gathering will be held 
Tuesday, April 1st in the Sierra Room of  the Hyatt Regency Hotel in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The cocktail hour, with a cash bar opens at  
6:00 p.m. Dinner will follow dinner at 7:00. 

Alan Tilles, will be the guest speaker.  He is the counsel to numerous 
land mobile licensees, trade associations and manufacturers.  Tilles is 
expected to provide an update on rebanding, including a discussion of 
challenges and opportunities for licensees.  

This event is by reservation only.  For more information contact Mercy 
Contreras by e-mail to mercycontreras at comcast dot net.  (RCA)

**

RADIO BUSINESS: T-MOBILE OUT - STARBUCKS TEAMS WITH ATT FOR WIFI 

Beginning this spring Starbucks Coffee Shops and AT&T Inc. will begin 
offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most of 
the international coffee retailer's U.S. shops.  Starbucks said it will 
give customers who use a Starbucks card two hours of free wireless 
access per day.  Also, nearly all of AT&T's broadband Internet 
customers, about 12 million, will automatically have unlimited free Wi-
Fi access at Starbucks.  The deal boosts the number of AT&T hotspots in 
the U.S. to 17,000.  (RW)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  AO-16 VOICE MODE STILL AVAILABLE

The aging Amsat Oscar 16 ham satellite is still open for voice 
operation, but that could change in the coming weeks. AO-16 has been in 
full sunlight with no eclipse periods at all for several months but 
short eclipse periods will begin at the end of March.  These will 
increase steadily until early July at which point the eclipse periods 
will reach about 26 minutes each orbit.  Its unknown how its batteries 
will fare once this happens.  Controllers say that they will simply 
have to keep an eye on the perimeters and issue updates as warranted. 
Meantime the S-band beacon is not operational and the exact status of 
the S-band transmitter remains unknown.  (ANS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  SPEAKERS WANTED FOR 2008 AMSAT UK COLLOQUIM

The first call for speakers for the 22nd Amsat-UK Colloquium has gone 
out. The dates are from Friday 25th July to Sunday 27th July 2007.  As 
in years past, the venue is the Surrey University, at Guildford, 
Surrey, in the U.K.

Offers of talks should be submitted as soon as possible.  The final 
date for full documents to be received is late June in order that the 
"Proceedings" document be available to participants.  Details of this 
and previous colloquium gatherings can be found at 
http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/32/42/    (AMSAT - UK)

**

WORLDBEAT - NEW ZEALAND:  NEW  DOT POST DOMAIN ON ITS WAY

A new domain for e-mail has been proposed.  Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, 
reports from down under:

--

A new "dot post"  Internet domain in the works that hopes to set apart 
the electronic services increasingly offered by postal agencies around 
the world.  The Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet 
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is trying to work out terms 
for the suffix with the U.N. Universal Postal Union. Backers say 
restricting the "dot post" name to postal agencies or groups that 
provide postal services would instill trust in Web sites using such 
names. By contrast, popular suffixes such as ".com" and ".org" are 
assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Im Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

--

Approval of the "dot post" domain could come soon with implementation 
taking place over the next several months.  (Internet Services)

**

WORLDBEAT - SOUTH AFRICA:  NEW 2 METER BEACON SYSTEM ON THE AIR

South Africa now has a 2 meter beacon project initiated by John Sygo, 
ZS6JON, now has four beacons on the air, with a number of others set to 
go live very soon.  All operate in the spectrum between 144.4 to 144.5 
MHz with systems on the air in the cities of Cape Town, Bloemfontein 
and Durban. The keyers were donated by ZS6EF.  The output of the 
beacons varies between 10 and 20 watts.  (Southgate)

**

CONTEST CORNER:  THE IRISH 2 METER CONTEST

And if you think that radio sports is just for the High Frequency 
bands, better not tell that to the hams in Erin's isle.  That's because 
the Irish Radio Transmitters Society's 2 Meter  Counties Contest will 
take place on Monday March the 24th from 2 to 4 p.m. local time.

The basic idea is for clubs and individuals to take part by activating 
some of Irelands rarer counties.  Full rules are available on the IRTS 
web site.  Its in cyberspace at www.irts.ie.  (IRTS)

**

DX

In DX, word that DL1BDF, plans to become active from Egypt as SU0ARA on 
all  bands through March 19th. He also hopes to get a special permission 
for 80 meters because this band is usually not permitted for amateur 
radio.  QSLs via SU1KM.

K4QD and AF4Z will be active portable HH4 from the Northwest Haiti 
Christian Mission between March 24th and April 4th. They will operate 80 
through 10 meters on CW, SSB and RTTY, but only as time permits. QSL 
via their home callsigns preferably using the ARRL's Logbook to the 
World QSO confirmation service.

SP2JMB, will be active portable 3B9 from Rodrigues Island and then from 
Mauritius Island portable 3B8.  This, from April 1st through the 8th.   
His activity will be mainly on C-W with QSL's going to his call book 
address.

A team of German operators will be active from Nouakchott in Mauritania 
through March 30th. No callsigns were provided but they do plan to 
operate the CQ World SSB  contest on March 29th and 30th as a multi 
entry. QSL via DH7WW, direct or by the DARC bureau.

Lastly, listen out for Senegal as a Swedish team of operators become 
active as 6V7I between April 6-12th. The group plans to have two 
stations on 160 through 10 meters operating CW and SSB, with monoband 
yagis and verticals. QSL via SM7DXQ.

(From various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM:  ACCOLADES TO TONY

And finally this week, word that an Australian ham has been honored by 
NASA.  This for his dedication to the educational side of manned ham 
radio operations from pace.  WIA newsman Jim Linton, VK3PC, tells us 
about the work of Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI:

--

Known around the world for his involvement in facilitating amateur 
radio communications with orbiting space stations is Tony Hutchison 
VK5ZAI, who has just received a well deserved achievement award.

Tony is the Australian coordinator of the Amateur Radio on the 
International Space Station (ARISS) project is now the proud but humble 
recipient of a Group Achievement Award from NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson 
Space Centre in Houston Texas. 

The citation on the award certificate is `For providing sustained 
outstanding engineering support which has resulted in a record number 
of successful ISS amateur radio contacts', and signed by the Johnson 
Space Centre Director, Michael Coats.

Tony VK5ZAI has for more than 15 years given many schools and groups 
the opportunity to talk with space station crew. A notable occasion was 
the Australian Scout Jamboree in January 2007 as part of the world 
scouting movement's centenary.

His involvement began in 1993 by assisted South Australia's Loxton High 
School students talk with Cosmonaut Alex Serabrov on the MIR space 
station.

In 1998 Tony handled most of the communications between Australian-born 
Astronaut Andy Thomas VK5MIR and his family during his flight on MIR. 

Soon after he was invited to be one of nine-approved ARISS telebridge 
stations and began handling most of the private family contacts for the 
first three crews on the International Space Station, along with school 
contacts. 

Tony has been involved in linking with school in many countries, and 
the development of IRLP and Echolink for ARISS contacts, plus the 
design of interface units used for ARISS telebridge contacts in 
Australia and Europe.

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline. 

--

Tony's enthusiasm and dedication, motivated by a personal desire to put 
something back into amateur radio, makes him well deserving of NASA 
accolade.  (WIA News)

**

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 WIA 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 we want to remind you that the nominating period for the 
2008 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year is now open.  Any 
licensed radio amateur age 18 or younger residing in the United States 
or Canada is eligible for the award.  Full details and both 
downloadable and on-line nominating forms are in cyberspace at www dot 
YHOTY dot org.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Fred 
Vobbe, W8HDU, saying 73 from Lima, Ohio, and we thank you for 
listening.  