Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1782 with a release date of
Friday, October 7th, 2011 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC unveils some new sky-high plans for
emergencies; Missouri hams called out when a communications cable is
cut; the ARRL breiefs the White House about the work of hams in
emergency communications and keep your eyes on the sky for two more
de-orbiting birds. Find out which ones on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
report number 1782 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: FCC STUDY ON FUTURE QUICK DEPLOYMENT EMCOMM RELEASED
The Federal Communications Commission is looking at ways to take
emergency communications to new heights. In this case we mean altitude
above mean sea level. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has
the details:
--
The FCC has released a study detailing some possible steps to insure
reliable communications for first responders in times of natural or
man-made disaster or any form of communications crisis.
Technologies mentioned include small unmanned aerial vehicles that fly
to an altitude of 500 feet and support a single frequency band for
cellular services.
Also being looked at are weather balloons acting as repeaters to carry
multiple frequencies longer distances, high-altitude, long-distance
unmanned vehicles providing a greater payload at specific locations and
suitcase systems placed on low-flying aircraft to be used as repeaters.
The release outlines a few specifics on the potential uses of
Deployable Aerial Communications Architecture or DACA. The DACA could
be deployed within 12 to 18 hours following a disaster. Its minimum
goal would be to restore necessary lines of communication for a period
of 72 to 96 hours.
The release says that the system would restore cellular services for
wireless priority service, Government Emergency Telecommunications
Services, and 911 as well as public safety communications.
The paper notes the required cooperation of FEMA, the FAA and federal,
state and local authorities on the coordination of spectrum usage and
prevention of interference to and from a Deployable Aerial
Communications Architecture system.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm, Norm Seeley, KI7UP, watching the
developments in this emerging technology from Scottsdale, Arizona.
--
A link to the FCC overview page that contains further links is at
tinyurl.com/FCC-DACA (FCC, RW)
**
RESCUE: CUT TELECOM CABLE ACTIVATES ARES IN BENTON COUNTY MISSOURI
According to news reports, the Benton County Missouri Amateur Radio
Emergency Services was called in to provide communications support
early in September. This, after a cut telecommunications cable
isolated the Johnson County 911 Center in the town of Warrensburg.
The Benton County hams worked with their counterparts in Johnson County
quickly establishing reliable communications so that 911 calls could be
handed off to Warrensburg officials for dispatch. About 15 calls were
transferred and the amateur radio operators handled. At least one was
of life-critical situation.
Radio amateurs remained on duty at their respective centers, until the
local telephone company fixed the cable problem at 9:30 AM the next
day, said Johnson County Emergency Management Director Gloria
Michalski, who referred to the operators as "awesome."
The Benton County ARES group is made up of 14 active volunteers. Hey
all donate their time, use their personal equipment and pay their own
expenses to serve where needed. They often coordinate their efforts
with the Emergency Management Center in Warsaw, Missouri. Yiu can read
the entire story of this ham radio emergency response at
tinyurl.com/missouri-ares-response. (W6RH, Benton County Enterprise)
**
ARRL BRIEFS WHITE HOUSE STAFF ON AMATEUR RADIO'S CAPABILITIES DURING
EMERGENCIES
The ARRL has gone to Washington, once again. This time at the
invitation of White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard A. Schmidt,
W7HAS.
On September 12th, the ARRL briefed several members of the National
Security Staff on the capabilities of the Amateur Radio Service to
communicate in emergencies. According to Schmidt, the White House is
looking for ways that the work of Amateur Radio operators can continue
to support emergencies in the future with particular attention to
increased use and dependency on Internet-based technologies.
The ARRL presentation was conducted by Emergency Preparedness Manager
Mike Corey, W5MPC along with President Kay Craigie, N3KN, and Chief
Executive Officer Dave Sumner, K1ZZ. It focused on Amateur Radio's
current and evolving capabilities to provide Internet messaging
connectivity. (ARRL)
**
WORLDBEAT: NETHERLANDS BECOMES PRO-ACCTIVE TO STOP NON CERTIFIED
TRANSMITTERS FROM ENTERING THAT NATION
The Netherlands will soon be a rather unfriendly place for those
wanting to bring non-certified radio transmitting gear into that
nation.
According to Media Network, the Dutch Radiocommunications and the Dutch
Customs Agencies have pledged to cooperate in tackling the trade of
illegal broadcasting equipment in Europe. The goal of this
collaboration is to stop at the border the import of transmitters that
do not comply with European regulations.
Through cooperation with Customs the plan is to prevent these
transmitters entering the Netherlands, or being marketed and used
elsewhere in Europe. Once in Europe, there is freedom of movement of
goods between European Union member states, so other countries are also
working intensively with their respective customs authorities.
There is also a close watch on devices being sold on the Internet. The
Dutch Radiocommunications Agency says that it is working with eBay and
the nations domestic site Marktplaats to counter the trade of what it
terms as hazardous transmitters. It also is cooperating with the
supervisory authorities of other European Union member states, the
United States and Canada in this area.
The agency says that this proactive approach is more effective than
enforcement actions against retailers later when the transmitting
devices already for sale. (Media Network, RadioMagazine.nl)
**
WORLDBEAT: GREECE'S NATIONAL SOCIETY GETS 5 MHZ PERMIT
The Greek Ministry of Communication has given authorization to the
headquarters club station of the Greek national amateur radio society
for use a single frequency in the 60 meter band. SZ1SV is being
permitted to operate on 5398.5 kHz using SSB, CW and Digital with a
maximum power of 100W PEP. The national society says that it hopes to
have a beacon on this frequency soon.
The latest 60 meter amateur radio information world-wide can be found
on-line in the 5 MHz Newsletters. Its in cyberspace at
tinyurl.com/6fkhcmf (G4MWO, Southgate)
**
BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W3BN repeater
of the Reading Amateur Radio Club serving Reading Pennsylvania.
(5 sec pause here)
**
ENFORCEMENT: $15000 NAL REDUCED TO $450 FOR NEW ORLEANS AREA CB
OPRERATOR
A New Orleans area CB operator has had a proposed $15,000 fine reduced
to $450. This after appealing the initial Notice of Apparent Liability
back to the FCC. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, is
here with mo
--
Last June 7th the FCC Enforcement Bureau's New Orleans Office issued
the $15,000 Notice of Apparent Liability to one John Hays of Bourg,
Louisiana..this for allegedly operating his Citizens Band transmitter
without the requisite Commission authorization.
As discussed in detail in the NAL, the proposed fine was issued after
it was determined that despite verbal and written warnings by agents of
the New Orleans Office, Hays continued the unlicensed and overpowered
operation of a CB transmitter attached to a linear amplifier from his
place of residence.
In his response, Hays acknowledged to the FCC that this was a very
serious matter and he had not taken it lightly. He also stated he had
made the changes to his station to bring it into compliance with the
Commission's rules.
At the same time Hays requested cancellation or reduction of the
proposed forfeiture because he lives solely on social security benefits
and as a result he could not afford to pay the proposed $15,000 fine.
He also supplied the FCC with the required documentation to show that
it would be a severe hardship to pay the full amount.
After reviewing Hays appeal, the FCC concluded that the forfeiture
should be reduced to $450. This, it said, was an amount within the
range determined by the regulatory agency to be affordable by Hays. And
as the fictional Captain Luc Piccard of Star Trek - The Next Generation
might say in a situation such as this, the FCC made it so.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, way out West
in Los Angeles.
--
As you likely have guessed, Hays was given the customary 30 days to pay
the now very much reduced fine. (FCC)
**
ENFORCEMENT: TEN INDONESIAN BROADCASTERS ORDERED OFF THE AIR DUE TO
INTERFERENCE TO AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATIONS
Several non-government radio stations have been shut down in Indonesia.
This due to safety concerns at two major airports. Amateur radio
Newsline's Jim Damron, N8TMW, has the details:
--
Indonesia's Communications and Information Ministry, through the Batam
office of the Satellite Orbit and Radio Frequency Monitoring Agency has
banned 10 licensed private radio stations in the city of Batam. This,
for impacting on flight safety at Changi Airport in Singapore and Hang
Nadim Airport in Batam.
Agency head Muhammad Sopingi told The Jakarta Post that the ministry's
Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications had received letters
of complaint in June from the Singapore and Hang Nadim Airport flight
authorities about a radio communication interruption between pilots and
air traffic controllers. This was found to be caused by what the
regulatory agency called the frequency synchronization problems caused
by the radio stations in Batam. During takeoffs and landings, pilots
often heard songs aired from radio stations rather than air traffic
guidance from from controllers and making for a dangerous situation to
life and property.
Sopingi told the newspaper that a study is being conducting on whether
it is feasible for any or all of the stations to return to the air
after the technical difficulties have been worked out.
I'm Jim Damdon, N8TMW, reporting.
--
According to Media Network, some 200 employees of the 10 stations have
already lost their jobs as a result of the closures. (Media Network)
**
RESCUE RADIO: STORM ALERT XTREME TRAINING CLASS NOV. 12 IN BIRMINGHAM
ALABAMA
If you are a ham radio operator in Alabama and involved in emergency
communications, listen up. The annual ABC 33/40 storm spotter training
known as Storm Alert Xtreme, is coming to the Birmingham Jefferson
Civic Center on Saturday November 12th.
Brian Peters, WD4EPR, who has qualified over 6,000 Alabama storm
spotters during his days with the National Weather Service, will be
doing the instruction. All existing Skywatchers are asked to attend
for their annual "re training", and anyone that wants to join the team
needs to be there as well.
This severe weather training event is free, and there is no need to
pre-register. Planners think that because of the massive tornado
outbreak last April 27th that they may easily top their record turnout
of last year.
Also, those who do attend will be given free entrance into the Alabama
International Auto Show after the training at the same venue. The
planners of Storm Alert Xtreme say that this is being made possible
thanks to the Birmingham Automobile Dealers Association.
Again, the date for this free severe weather training class for
residents of Alabama is Saturday, November 12th, at the Birmingham
Jefferson Civic Center. Planners say that they hope to see you there.
(WO4W via Facebook)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: CQ ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL PLAQUES FOR CQ DX MARATHON
An expansion in the number of the CQ Magazine-sponsored DX Marathon
plaques to be awarded each year has been made public by that
publication. Starting with the announcement of the 2011 Marathon
results in the June 2012 issue, additional plaques will be awarded for
top CW and top SSB scores, top single band scores, and top continental
scores.
The CQ DX Marathon is a year-long activity encouraging DXing on the HF
bands. Competition begins anew each January 1st. Details are available
on the CQ magazine website at www.cq amateur-radio.com and on the DX
Marathon at www.dxmarathon.com.
Also, an additional sponsor for top Digital Mode score is still being
sought. Please contact DX Marathon Administrator John Sweeney, K9EL,
via e-mail to k9el (at) dxmarathon (dot) com if you wish to sponsor
this plaque. (CQ)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: 2011 CQWW DX CONTEST WEBINAR OCTOBER 9
The Potomac Valley Radio Club will once again host an online webinar
with the CQ World Wide DX Contest committee. This year's event is on
Sunday, October 9th at 19:00 UTC and free and open to the entire
contest community.
Taking part in this years webinar will be CQ World Wide DX Contest
Director Bob Cox K3EST along with committee members John Dorr, K1AR and
Doug Zwiebel, KR2Q. The three will provide an update on the 2011 CQ
World Wide SSB and CW DX contests. A question and answer session will
follow their presentation.
To register for this event please take your web browser to
tinyurl.com/CQDX-2011-Webinar and fill out the on-line form. A link to
the registration form is also available at www.pvrc.org. (K4ZW via
QRZ.com)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: ECWARC - AMBASSADORS OF CW
The United Kingdom's Essex CW Amateur Radio Club continues to try and
connect with more members via local clubs. To this end Essex is
looking to appoint so-called Ambassadors for the CW mode to as many
clubs as possible to disseminate and gather news of interest to Morse
operators.
The Essex CW Amateur Radio Club describes itself as a group for anyone
with a passion for Morse Code. Although the founders were from Essex
in Great Britain, members are welcome from anywhere in the United
Kingdom and world-wide. More information is at the club website at
www.essexcw.org.uk. You can also follow this group on Twitter with the
I.D. of @ecwarc (RSGB, Southgate)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: NEWSLINE AT PACIFICON - A HAM RADIO TOWN MEETING
And less we forget to mention, on Saturday, October 15th Amateur Radio
Newsline will be hosting another of its popular Amateur Radio Town
Meetings. This one is titled "A Peak Into the Futu Amateur Radio
in the Year 2111." Scheduled guests include Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor
K1JT, IARU Secretary Rod Stafford W6ROD, ARRL Washington attorney Chris
Imlay W3KD and communications planner Dave Witkowski W6DTW. The
session will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Pacific time in Meeting Room D
and E at the Marriott Santa Clara Hotel in Santa Clara, California. We
hope to see you there. More is on-line at pacificon.org. (ARNewsline)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: RALPH HOGAN ELECTED NEW SBE PRESIDENT
Some names in the news. The Society of Broadcast Engineers has
inducted new officers and honored its founder and first member John
Battison. This, during the national membership meeting on Wednesday,
September 28th in Columbus, Ohio.
SBE General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, swore in Ralph Hogan as the
organization's new president. Hogan replaces outgoing president Vinny
Lopez who has served in that position the past two years.
The Society of Broadcast Engineers or SBE is a professional
organization for engineers in broadcast radio and television. It also
offers certification in various radio frequency and audio technology
areas for its members.
Next year's SBE national meeting will be in Denver, Colorado. (RW,
others)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: KI4DS ANNOUNCES NEW D-STAR NET FOR YOUNG HAMS
Nine year old Mikaila Williams, KI4DS, of Deltona, Florida, has
announced the start-up of a new D-Star net for youngsters. The
gathering, called the Kids in Amateur Radio Net will take place every
Friday night at 9 P.M. Eastern time on D-Star Reflector 12C. The host
organization is the California-based Pocket Autopatch Association
better known as the Papa System.
Mikaila says that discussions on the net will be mainly about getting
youth interested in amateur radio and getting them licensed. According
to Mikaila, those young hams that do not have D-Star access will be
able to check in via email to KI4DS (at) KidsInAmareurRaido (dot) net.
She adds that the net will also be available to SWL's and others on
Radioreference.com.
Her first net was to be held on October 7th and will be weekly
thereafter. (KI4DS via e-mail)
**
BREAK 2
This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. From the United
States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the
world from our only official website at www.arnewsline.org and being
relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur:
(5 sec pause here)
**
REPEATER NEWS: VA3XPR - THE NEW VOICE OF DOWNTOWN TORONTO CANADA
Since repeaters tend to come and go, we do not usually report on their
birth or demise unless they represent something special. And in the
case of a new system in Canada, one could say that its license holder
is pioneering a new aspect in ham radio relay communications.
On September 25th, a new voice with the call VA3XPR was added to the
Amateur Radio community of downtown Toronto, Canada. What sets this
repeater apart from others in the greater Toronto area is its unique
purpose that might be best described a very local coverage system.
While most system owners tend to find the highest spot and cover as
many miles as is possible, Don Trynor, VA3HFT, decided to create a
system with three simple objectives in mind. According to Trynor's
posting on QRZ.com, these are to create a sense of community and
promote diversity within the St. James Town and adjacent neighborhoods
of Toronto; to act as a catalyst for education and learning promoting
the growth of amateur radio; and to provide an alternate means of
communications in the event of an emergency or natural disaster in the
downtown Toronto area.
If you live in or near Toronto or are passing through, the VA3XPR
repeater can be accessed on 441.950 with a positive offset and with a
PL tone of 100.0 Hz. In addition to its excellent coverage area, it
also provides its users with access to IRLP and Echolink for global
communications. For more information on the VA3XPR repeater, please
visit www.qrz.com/db/va3xpr (VA3XFT, QRZ.com)
**
RADIO IN SPACE: ROSAT EXPECTED TO FALL FROM THE SKY IN NOVEMBER
The next major bird to fall from orbit will likely be the Roentgen
X-Ray Observation Satellite better known by the acronym ROSAT.
At the start of its mission, ROSAT was in an elliptical orbit at
distances of between 585 and 565 kilometres above the surface of the
Earth. Since then, atmospheric drag has caused the satellite to lose
altitude. Last June it was at a distance of only about 327 kilometres
above the ground.
As was the case with UARS, The time and location of re-entry of ROSAT
cannot be predicted precisely. Right now scientists and astronomers
expect the X-ray satellite to re enter in early November. At present,
this date can only be calculated to within plus or minus five weeks.
This time slot of uncertainty will be reduced as the date of re-entry
approaches. However, even one day before re-entry, the estimate will
only be accurate to within plus/minus five hours.
ROSAT was an orbital X-Ray observatory making observations at that very
high wavelength and radioing the data back to Earth. You can keep up
with the latest information on its upcoming firey demise at
tinyurl.com/another-falling-bird (KC6WFS, ROSAT Website)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMSAT ISSUES ARRISAT-1 CHICKEN LITTLE CONTEST
REMINDER
And not to be left out of the proverbial sky is falling arena, AMSAT
says that it is still looking for entries in its latest Chicken Little
Contest. This to calculate or guess when ARISSat-1 falls out of orbit.
According to AMSAT this is defined as the moment that the decaying
orbit of ARISSat-1 it crosses an altitude of 78 kilometers. This is
considered to be the point of no return back into space.
AMSAT has created three categories in its contest. First is a student
category for Kindergarten through 8th grade. Next is a second student
category for high school grades 9 through 12 while the third is for
everyone else.
Submissions must contain the UTC date in the format of day, month,
year, hours, minutes and seconds along with your personal contact
information. Adults and individual students should include their name
and amateur call sign, if they have the latter. Submissions are
limited to one per person or group. The closest predictions in each
category will be recognized for their achievement.
The ARISSat-1 Chicken Little Contest closes on October 15th at 23:59
UTC. Send your submissions by e-mail to chickenlittle (at) arissat1
(dot) org. (ANS)
**
ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING ARMENIA'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of Armenia,
amateur radio special event stations there have been authorized to use
the special prefix E-K-20. A special award is being offered to those
working at least 20 QSO's or making 20 SWL loggings of these special
event stations on allof whom will be operating on the various High
Frequency bands including 30, 17 and 12 meters. Modes in used will be
CW, SSB and Digital. QSLs for these special prefixes may be sent to:
P.O.Box 22, Yerevan, Armenia 0002, or as directed on the air. An
electronic version that you can print at home is available by sending a
log extract of the contacts or reception reports to ek7dx (at) yahoo
(dot) com. (Southgate)
**
DX
In down to Earth DX news, DL3OCH will be active as 5N7Q from Abuja,
Nigeria, through October 15th. His operation will be on 40 through 10
meters using one of the largest fully rotatable short wave broadcast
antennas in the world. It has a gain of over 20 dbi on all bands.
Modes are CW and SSB. QSL via DF8DX.
Members of the Lufthansa Amateur Radio Club in cooperation with the
Qatar Amateur Radio Society will be operational as A71DLH between
October 22nd to the 29th. Their activity will be on all bands using
CW, SSB and the Digi modes. QSLs via the DARC Bureau or their QSL
Manager DL0LH.
W5JON will again be operating as V47JA from his vacation home located
at Calypso Bay on St. Kitts, in the West Indies. This from October
10th until November 5th. John's His QTH is 300 feet from the Caribbean
Sea in Grid: FK87. Activity will be on 80 through 6 meters including 60
meters running SSB only. Also listen out for him during the CQ World
Wide SSB contest on October 29th and 30th. QSL to W5JON either direct
or electronically using Logbook of the World.
F4FOO will be active as 5V7MA from Togo between December 19th and
January 4th. Operations will be limited to his free time on 20 through
10 meters on SSB only. QSL via his home callsign.
Lastly, with the addition of the Republic of South Sudan to the DXCC
list, CQ magazine has also added that nation as a qualifying entity for
the 2011 DX Marathon. An updated score sheet dated 2011.4 and updated
CQ Country Lists are now available on the DX Marathon web site at
www.dxmarathon.com.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: NASA SWIFT SPACECRAFT SEES STAR EATING BLACK HOLE
And finally this week, astronomers say that a monster sized black hole
shredded a sun-like star, producing a strangely long-lasting flash of
gamma rays that probably won't be seen again in a million years.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, takes it from he
--
According Joshua Bloom of the University of California Berkeley, the
inter-stellar happening was first seen on March 28th by NASA's Swift
spacecraft, which is searching the universe for gamma ray bursts. This
particular flash has lasted more than two months and is still going on
as we go to air.
In a recent media interview, Bloom explained that this is definitely
not the norm for gamma ray bursts. Those are energetic blasts that
typically flare up and end in a matter of seconds even or milliseconds,
and often the sign of the death throes of a collapsing star.
What makes this even stranger is that the black hole, located in the
constellation Draco about 4 billion light years from Earth, was sitting
quietly when a star about the mass of our Sun moved into range. Bloom
noted that this was a black hole which was otherwise quiescent and
suddenly had an impulsive feeding frenzy on this one star.
Thanks to the Swift spacecraft, data on this very rare space phenomenon
which otherwise have gone un-noticed was discovered radioed back to
Earth.
From the newsroom in Los Angeles, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reporting
--
Researcher Bloom figures this type of inter-stellar encounter may
happen once per black hole every one million years. (Science OnLine)
**
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(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline(at)
arnewsline (dot) 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), 28197
Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim
Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.radiobanter.com/showthread.php?t=174068
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