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Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1742 – December 31 2010
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1742 with a release date of Friday, December 31st 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. Kids Day goes International as Germany climbs on board this twice a year youth involvement program; hams in Iceland get a new allocation at 5 Megahertz; amateur radio vying for spectrum with national broadcaster in India and a new way to rate boat anchor beauty. Find out the details on this New Years Eve Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1742 coming your way right now.
WORLDBEAT: KIDS DAY GOES INTERNATIONAL AS GERMANY JOINS THE EVENT
Kids Day has gone international. This with word that the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club which is Germany's national amateur radio society is supporting Kids Day on Sunday, January 2nd.
As most of you know, Kids Day is an on-air event conceived by Larry “Tree” Tyree, N6TR, and Oregon’s Boring Amateur Radio Club. Its purpose is to encourage young people to have fun with Amateur Radio. This, by giving members of the younger set some on-the-air experience and in doing so to hopefully foster interest in these kids getting licenses of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance to share their station and love for amateur radio with their children and those in their local neighborhoods. According to Tyree, this decision by the DARC to expand Kids Day internationally is a good one for the future of amateur radio:
N6TR: “Originally when I set out on this my goal was very modest which was if there is one additional radio ham that comes out of this (program) I’ll consider it a success. Now, its likely grown beyond that and to see it spread to other countries makes me feel good.”
The complete Deutscher Amateur Radio Club press release can be seen in Google English at tinyurl.com/38bkqf4. More about Kids Day and how to take part can be found at www dot arrl dot org stroke kids-day. And if you missed taking part in this first Kids Day of 2011, donÂ’t worry. You will get a second chance to share ham radio with youngsters in your area on Saturday, June 18th.
RESCUE RADIO: AMATEUR RADIO PRAISED FOR ASSISTING IN NEVADA FLOODS
This is Don Carlson, KQ6FM – Nevada Section EC in Reno, Nevada with some breaking news.
On December 21, Southern Nevada was inundated with heavy rains, high winds and mountain snow, which caused a number of weather-related outages and situations in the area. These included flooding in the town of Mesquite, minor flooding around the greater Las Vegas area, and a massive power outage to the Mt. Charleston area which forced evacuations. Amateur Radio Emergency Services in Southern Nevada was there providing information and backup communications during this time, under the direction of District Emergency Coordinator Glenn Hale, KB7REO and Clark County EC Bill Smith, W7HMV.
More than a dozen operators took part in the efforts, as they gave up valuable holiday time to serve their community. The communications efforts were aided by a statewide IRLP/Echolink “intercom” which allowed traffic and information to be passed around the state, thanks to NARRI dot org and Kent Johnson, W7AOR who provided us with a wonderful system to accomplish this.
According to an article in the Las Vegas Sun, Amateur radio received high praise from the director of emergency planning for the state, as he briefed Gov. Elect Brian Sandoval of the situation. He said that Amateur Radio was right on the mark, and that we provided tremendous information to the state who apparently monitored Amateur Radio frequencies and traffic being passed in and out of Clark County. According to the article, officials also noted that Amateur Radio operators are important to everyone with a presence at county EOCÂ’s. They were very grateful to Amateur Radio for once again providing a great service to the state and communities during times of disaster.
Reporting from Reno Nevada, this is Don Carlson, KQ6FM – Nevada Section Emergency Coordinator. Now back to Don Wilbanks, AE5DW for more of this week’s Amateur Radio Newsline. (Nevada ARES, Las Vegas Sun)
RESTRUCTURING: HAMS IN ICELAND GET 5.36-5.41MHZ PLUS 500 KHZ AND 70 MHZ EXTENSION
The national association of Icelandic Radio Amateurs has announced that continued access for Icelandic ham radio licensees has been secured on the 500 kHz, 5 MHz and 70 MHz bands. In a letter from the nations Department of Post and Telecom Administration dated December 13th, 2010, access to the 500 kHz and 70 MHz bands previously granted last February 19th and to the 5 MHz band granted on January 1st, 2008 has been extended for two years, to December 31, 2012. All were due to expire on December 31, 2010.
Privileges and access to 500 kHz and 70 MHz remains unchanged but the grant at 5 MHz is a major improvement to what hams in Iceland have had to live with. This is because the 150 kHz in the 5360 to 5410 kHz band replaces eight fixed channels permitted up to now. The only negative is that the maximum power allowed on 5 MHz was reduced from 200 to 100 watts. Permissible modes in that spectrum are Morse along with Upper Sideband at a maximum bandwidth is 3 kHz. (TF2JB)
RESTRUCTURING: THE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY VS ALL INDIA RADIO
Telecommunications interests in India, including ham radio have been meeting to decide who should be allotted what frequency bands in that nation According to an article in IndiaÂ’s Daily News & Analysis on-line technical newspaper, the meeting are a part of the ongoing talks on the revised National Frequency Allocation Plan or N-F-A-P for the next decade.
Among those crossing each othersÂ’ path are Amateur Radio Society of India and state-owned All India Radio. In a meeting held in November, it was decided that the proposal of the Amateur Radio Society of India for some frequency bands shall be examined as per the International Telecommunications Union Regulations, and that views of All India Radio must be considered as well. Exactly what issues exist between the two was not spelled out in the news article.
IndiaÂ’s Department of Telecommunications is targeting sometime in 2012 to put in place the new National Frequency Allocation Plan. This, as per the requirements of the industry and technological developments. Currently, government agencies and companies across all sectors are following a national plan that was put into place back in 2008. (IDN)
HAM HAPPENINGS: ARRL WORKING TO UPGRADE LOTW FOR VUCC
The ARRL Logbook of the World web page noted on Dec 22nd that VUCC support is being installed and tested. When this upgrade is implemented, amateurs will be able to use Logbook of the World to apply for awards based on Maidenhead grid squares, such as VUCC and the Fred Fish Memorial Award. But its not ready for general use yet. You will have to await official word from the ARRL as to when this service will come on line. (ARRL)
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SUMBANDILLA HAM RADIO SATELLITE OFF THE AIR AGAIN
South AfricaÂ’s Sumbandilla ham radio satellite is off the air again. ZR1CBC reports that the flash boot memory of a controller on was likely corrupted by a solar radiation event. It does not affect satellite overall health but prevents activation of the amateur radio repeater, as the particular script detects an anomaly and aborts.
This is the same problem that occurred in October of 2009 and was corrected. However, the fix requires time consuming effort, which cannot be accomplished immediately. Because of this SO-67 repeater activations are therefore suspended. Controllers say that they hope to return Sunbandilla to normal operations sometime in January. We will have more ham radio spave related news later on in this weekÂ’s Amateur Radio Newwsline report. (ANS, ZR1CBC)
Wishing you a happy new years, from the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W9ELK repeater serving Elkhorn Wisconsin.
ON THE NET: NEW OWNER OF LOS ANGELES W6NUT REPEATER INTERVIEWED ON THE RAIN REPORT
The 147.435 Mhz W6NUT repeater in Los Angeles has yet another new owner. Her name is Christina Holzschuh, KE6RRI, and in an exclusive interview with the Chicago based Radio Amateur Information Network, she talks about her philosophy in regard to managing this ever controversial system:
KE6RRI: “As I said when it came out on the repeater, I am not here to change the repeater or to change you because .435 is really a psychology. It’s a unique type of psychology that makes it work. And if I try to get in there and make all of thyese changes it will cease to work. That’s not what I am attempting to do.
“I don’t think that there has been a female owner of this repeater. I’m interested in my own thinking how will this work with men relating to a woman who is the repeater owner. How are they going to relate to me other than your standard slander, name calling? How are they going to relate to me giving them maybe a down time?
“I like to refer to them as down times. You know if I find that someone is jamming to much, Ill like to temper that and Ill just say Ill give you a down time for an hour, and you know to go ahead and get yourself some coffee and something to eat, Then you can come back and resume your conversation without jamming.
“I find that’s most effective in that it does not put them on the defensive where they feel like they have to come at me with vulgarities and bad words, so as to speak.”
You can hear the entire interview between Hap Holly, KC9RP and Christina Holzschuh, KE6RRI, this week and next on the Rain Report. Just take your web browser to www.therainreport.com to listen in real time or to download the audio file for replay at a later date. (RAIN)
ENFORCEMENT: FCC RULES FORCE CANCELLATION OF WWTM FINE
It appears as if the FCC gave an early present to R&B Communications which is the licensee of WWTM-AM in Decatur, Alabama. This, as it cancels a $7,000 fine and instead admonished R&B for operating after its license had expired.
The case began in January 2007 when the FCC approved WWTMÂ’s license renewal application. But in April the agency fined the station $7,000 for not filing the application on time and operating the station without authorization. The renewal should have been filed by December 2003, four months before WWTMÂ’s license expired on April 1, 2004.
The agency said the renewal application wasnÂ’t actually filed until March 24, 2005. That was after the Media Bureau wrote to R&B indicating that WWTMÂ’s license had expired and that authority to operate the station had been terminated. Also that WWTMÂ’s call letters being deleted from the commissionÂ’s database.
R&B told the commission its late filing was inadvertent and that it couldnÂ’t pay the fine. However, under the FCCÂ’s own rules, if the violations occurred more than a year before the fine was imposed, the fine must be cancelled. That was the case here and thatÂ’s why the agency cancelled the fine and admonished R&B instead. (FCC)
ENFORCEMENT: FCC REDUCES UNLICENSED BROADCASTER FINE TO $750
A Christmas present of sorts from the FCC to a south Florida unlicensed radio operator. This as the regulatory agency orders Adilson Alves de Almeida of Boca Raton Florida to pay a $750 fine. But it could have cost de Almeida $20,000 until he proved the amount would be a financial burden that he could not pay. We have more in this report.
The story goes back to December 6, 2006. In response to a complaint of interference from an authorized government user, agents from the Enforcement Bureaus Miami Office investigated the unlicensed radio activity in the Boca Raton. On that date and two subsequent dates the agents monitored transmissions on the frequencies 294.080 MHz, 296.550 MHz, and 294.023 MHz, respectively. The agents, using direction-finding techniques, located each of these transmissions to Mr. de Almeidas residence in Boca Raton and determined that the field strengths of these transmissions exceeded the limits for unlicensed operation under Part 15 of the Commissions Rules.
On April 19, 2007, the Miami Office issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $10,000 to de Almeida for operation of a radio transmitter without a license. de Almeida submitted a response requesting cancellation of the forfeiture, based on his removal of the Yagi-type antenna from his roof, expressing regret, and giving his assurance that radio interference would not happen again.
But it did happen again and on September 15, 2008, in response to another complaint of interference from an authorized government user, agents from the Miami Office again investigated unlicensed radio activity in the Boca Raton area. Once again, using direction-finding techniques, they located the transmissions to de Almeidas residence in Boca Raton. That same day, agents inspected de Almeidas station and found an Alinco transceiver that was programmed to operate on 297.235 MHz.
On September 25, 2008, the Miami Office issued a second Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $20,000 to de Almeida for operation of a radio transmitter without a license. de Almeida submitted a response to the Second N-A-L requesting cancellation of the forfeiture based on his claim that he did not operate a radio transmitter on an unlicensed basis and his inability to pay the proposed forfeiture. He also submitted his three most recent years of tax returns to substantiate his claim.
In analyzing a financial hardship claim, the Commission has determined that, in general, an entities gross revenues are the best indicator of its ability to pay a forfeiture. As such, it reached a decision that a fine of at least $750 was warranted based solely on de AlmeidaÂ’s lack of income and the fact that he is a dependent of his son.
For the amateur Radio Newsline, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reporting from Los Angeles.
de Almeida was given the customary 30 days to pay the fine or to file a further appeal. (FCC)
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, December 21st voted to regulate the speed of Internet traffic. This, as the Commissioners voted on a proposal from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to prevent wireline broadband providers from controlling bandwidth-heavy users.
The 3 to 2 vote was down party lines, as expected, with support from the Democratic members and dissent from the two Republicans. The rules require all broadband providers to publicly disclose network management practices, restrict broadband providers from blocking Internet content and applications, and bar fixed broadband providers from engaging in unreasonable discrimination in transmitting lawful network traffic, the commissionÂ’s announcement said.
Democrats and Republicans have fought over network neutrality for several years. Democrats contend it preserves an open Internet. Republicans contend it regulates the Internet unnecessarily. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the rules represented a compromise because they allow usage-based pricing. The two commission Republicans nonetheless submitted stinging assessment for the record.
Reaction in the telecommunications industry has been generally negative to the FCCÂ’s Net Neutrality decision. The National JournalÂ’s David Hatch is reporting that VerizonÂ’s attorneyÂ’s are gearing up for a lawsuit. Meantime, Broadcasting & Cable MagazineÂ’s John Eggerton reports that lawmakers are fixing to call the FCC to the carpet over its decision in this matter. It should be noted that these same rules would not be applied to wireless providers. (FCC, Published reports)
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: SOME NEW IPODS DONÂ’T GET NEWSLINE
This note to users of new Apple iPod or those who may have just upgraded to the latest model over the holiday and now find that they cannot download audio files or podcasts of Amateur Radio Newsline. We want to let you know that the problem is not with us here at the Amateur Radio Newsline and quite honestly we have no idea what the cause might be.
What we can say is that we have not made any changes to our production methods in years. We provide an MP3 audio file at our website at www dot arnewsline dot org that has not changed in any way for almost a decade. So if you have a new iPod that refuses to play Amateur Radio Newsline, all we can do is to refer you to Apple and let them provide the remedy. None of us are in any way expert on iPods, Iphones or any part of the Apple product line. We just produce a newscast, and nothing more.
If anyone has an answer to this one, please let us know and we will on pass it to our lidtener base. (ARNewsline™)
THE SOCIAL SCENE: PRIZE OFFERED TO UK HAMS PARTICIPATING IN SOS RADIO WEEK
Over in the United Kingdom, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution fundraising event, SOS Radio Week, starts on January 22nd. According to several reports many UK amateur radio clubs and individual hams have already signed up to tale part.
Now comes word that an unidentified big name in Great BritainÂ’s amateur radio scene has offered a prize for those who take part. Everyone who operates during event will have his or her call entered for a drawing to win a new Wouxun KG-679E 2 meter hand-held transceiver.
If you are a UK ham and want to take part, simply visit the website at www.sosradioweek.org.uk and view the registration page. All monies raised are donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. (RLBI)
Some names in the news. Still in the UK, the Daily Post newspaper reports that five members of the same family in the town of Tywyn are now licensed radio amateurs. The newspaper says that the latest member of the family to get an amateur radio callsign is 11 year old Ricky Duckhouse. His father Kevin, mother Alison, and brother and sister Josh and Sonyarisa had all previously received their licenses. Sorry, but the article did not include the callsigns of the Duckhouse clan. (Daily Post)
The news never sleeps and neither do we. Serving you 52 weeks a year since 1972, we are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at www dot arnewsline dot org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur:
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: FAMED RADIO ANNOUNCER FRED FOY DEAD AT AGE 89
He was not a ham, but the legendary radio announcer Fred Foy, best known for his booming, passionate lead-ins to "The Lone Ranger" radio and television series, died Wednesday, December 22nd of natural causes at his Woburn, Massachusetts.
According to his daughter Nancy Foy, her father worked as an actor before landing the job as the announcer and narrator on "The Lone Ranger" radio show in 1948. He is best remembered for the shows lead in that introduced the masked cowboy hero and his trusted horse with the line: "A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'Hi-Yo Silver!' ... The Lone Ranger!"
According to radio historian Jim Harmon, Foy's dramatic introduction and narration, performed in a powerful baritone, were so good it made many people forget there were others before him. Harmon called Foy perhaps the greatest announcer-narrator in the history of radio drama.
Foy was born in Detroit in 1921, graduated from that city's Eastern High School in 1938 and landed a job on the announcing staff of radio station WXYZ in Detroit in 1942. He was drafted into the Army that year and served in an Armed Forces Radio unit in Cairo during World War II. Foy returned to WXYZ in 1945. Three years later he won the job on "The Lone Ranger," even stepping into the lead role for one radio broadcast when actor Brace Beemer had laryngitis. Foy also performed on other classic radio series including "The Green Hornet" and "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon."
In 1960, Foy began working for the ABC network. He spent five years as an announcer on the "The Dick Cavett Show" and narrated documentaries. He left ABC in the mid-1980Â’s and later retired.
Fred Foy is survived by his wife of 63 years, Frances Foy, their three children and three grandchildren. He was age 89. (From published news reports)
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY GLITCH: SKYPE DOWN FOR A DAY AS SUPERNODES GO OFF LINE
Internet calling and messaging service Skype SA mostly recovered Thursday, December 23rd from an outage caused by an undisclosed glitch. The service went down for almost all of its users starting at midday Eastern time on Wednesday, December 22nd. By Thursday afternoon, things had improved to the point where about 21 million users were logged in, said CEO Tony Bates. That was 10 percent less than the usual traffic for the time of day, as some people still could not log on.
On Wednesday a spokesman said a problem affecting some versions of Skype caused many of its supernodes to go offline. Supernodes are computers that the company likens to phone directories, helping Skype users connect with each other. To help remedy the situation, Skype repurposed some servers to act as supernodes.
On average, 124 million people use Skype each month, though the total number of registered users is more than four times that. (SKYPE)
Some good news from South Africa. This with word that the main HABEX high altitude ham radio balloon payload flew in excess of 33 000 meters before returning to the ground.
Controllers Say that the on-board store and forward or parrot repeater was the highlight of the day with many radio amateurs making contact from as far awayas Harrismith and Victoria West.
After the balloon burst and returned to Earth, recovery teams found the main payload was found in a farmer's field. Unfortunately the second balloon carrying a simple controller board and ancillary equipment failed.
Project leaders say that flight helped further the learning curve for the team who will build on the knowledge gained for further launches. (SARL)
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SA AMSAT TO LAUNCH TWO NEW BIRDS
South Africa AMSAT announced on their web page that they they plan to launch two satellite projects with totally different design approaches and time lines.
Both of these birds will be of the Cubesat design. The first will focus on providing a FM transponder that will be available on most passes over South Africa and will have a short time line to launch. This FM Transponder CubeSat which has yet to be named, will be based on a standard available space frame and sub system with a locally designed payload. The project will be coordinated by Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BPZ.
The second bird called SAiSAT focuses on an innovative approach to the deployment of fold-out solar panels. The project is aimed at getting Master and Phd students involved in the development and design of various payloads and substructures. A detailed paper on SAiSAT will be released in the next two weeks on www dot amsatsa dot org dot za. Both satellite projects will the subject of papers to be present at the South African AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on 26 March 2011. (SA AMSAT via ANS)
And the Southgate news reports that you never know who you'll find on the amateur radio satellites. How about QST Magazine editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY.
Writing on the AMSAT bulletin board K8YSE says that Hhe recently hear Ford calling CQ on the HO-68 bird. According to K8YSE, Ford was operating from home with his TS2000 and Eggbeater antennas. He says that the two had a nice chat and the reception was excellent. (Southgate)
New Zealand Amateur Radio Day takes place annually from 1000 to 1200 hours local time on the 3rd Saturday of January. This year thatÂ’s January the 15th.
The purpose of the New Zealand Amateur Radio Day is to promote the hobby to the public so that some may be encouraged to join the local club, take on classes and become amateur radio operators.
Clubs taking part are urged to set up at any prominent and public location where there is plenty of public foot traffic. Participating amateurs are required to keep a log of all stations worked during the 2 hours and use of club callsigns is encouraged, however individuals may also set up a station using his or her own callsign.
Operation on New Zealand Amateur Radio Day can be on any band and any mode. Digital modes and CW may also be used to attract interest. (NZART)
And throughout 2011, Keith Maton, G6NHU, is embarking on an ambitious project to have a QSO every day of the year. He says that his QSOs will be on any band or any mode
There is a blog to follow the progress of this project at www.qso365.co.uk. The blog won't necessarily be updated every day but it will document how the project is going with updates as time permits. (Southgate)
In DX, W5JON says that he will be operating as V47JA from his new Calypso Bay, St. Kitts vacation home from February 16th until March 30th. He will be active on 80 through 6 meters SSB including both the ARRL International DX SSB Contest SSB on March 5th and 6th as well as the WPX SSB Contest on Marth 26th and 27th. Also, listen out for JohnÂ’s wife Cathy, W5HAM, will also operate using her newly issued V47HAM callsign. All QSL's go to W5JON at his callbook address.
XW1B is planning another operation from Danang, Vietnam, for the ARRL DX CW Contest to be held February 19th and 20th. He will operate a a Single-Operator Low-Power entry using the callsign 3W3B. He states that he will be living in Danang most of the year and anticipates being very active on the various bands. QSL only via E21EIC. NO eQSLs will be accepted for this one.
DC0KK is again active from Sri Lanka as 4S7KKG until March 13th. Hes on all of the HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. He also hopes to activate Barberyn Island sometime during his stay. QSL via DC0KK, either direct or by the Bureau.
IK2QPR will be on the air as 5R8PR from Nosy Be, Madagascar between January 17th and the 25th. Activity will be holiday style on 40through 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign.
F6BLP, will be active as 6W7SK from Senegal between January 8yj to the 21st. This operation will also be holiday style operating mainly CW. QSL via F6BLP, either direct or by the Bureau.
Lastly, JK1FNL will be active from the Maldives as 8Q7FF between January 4th through the 9th. Listen out for this operation on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign.
THAT FINAL ITEM: BABE – THE BOAT ANCHOR EVALUATOR
And finally this week, there are a lot of web sites on the Internet that deal with so called Boat Anchors. You know - old radio equipment full of tubes. Well how is this site with a variation on this theme and its called BABE.
BABE stands for the Boat Anchor Beauty Evaluator. It is a website that contains a formula that includes terms such as the number of knobs on front panel, of these the number of knobs not generally used, the number of tubes and meters, the rack space required for the unit and more. In the end the site will give you a very subjective Functionality Quotient which is an arbitrary value based on the single question of: "does everything work?"
You can have some real fun with this one. ItÂ’s in cyberspace at tinyurl.com/2b9453l (VHF Reflector)
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@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's™ only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline™, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350
And a reminder that the deadline for Dayton Hamvention award nominations is getting close. The Hamvention now sponsors four annual awards. These are the Technical Excellence, Special Achievement and Radio Amateur of the Year Awards. And as the special Radio Club of the Year was such a big success in 2010, that Hamvention planners have decided to make it a permanent addition to the Hamvention Awards program.
If you know of a radio amateur or a radio club deserving of recognition please submit your nomination. Further information and nomination forms can be found on-line at www.Hamvention.com in the awards section. To be considered for any award the nominations must be submitted no later than January 15, 2011.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, IÂ’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying Happy New Year 2011, 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline™ is Copyright 2010and 2011. All rights reserved.
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