Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1949 - January 24 2015   
      
   The following is a QST.  We are back!  Amateur Radio Newsline report number   
   1949 with a release date of January 24 2015  to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST.  Michigan gets its own PRB One antenna law;  a launch   
   date for the Fox 1 hamsat is announced; ARES called out in Ohio to assist   
   after phone outage;  the flight of the VK around-the-world floater balloon   
   falls short of its round-the-world trip; the K1N Nevassa Island DXpedition   
   will be on the S-Oh 50 ham radio satellite, and old Sol is at it again.  Find   
   out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1949 coming your way   
   right now.   
      
      
   (Billboard Cart Here)   
      
   **   
      
   RADIO LAW:  HAM RADIO ANTENNA ACCOMMODATION LEGISLATION ENACTED IN MICHIGAN   
      
   A decade of work within the ARRL Michigan Section has culminated in an   
   Amateur Radio antenna bill that mirrors the "reasonable accommodation"   
   provisions of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy.   
      
   The most pertinent language in the new Michigan law comes directly from Part   
   97.15 of the FCC Amateur Service rules.  It states that an Amateur Radio   
   Service station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions   
   sufficient to accommodate Amateur Radio Service communications. Regulation of   
   an Amateur Radio Service station antenna structure by a local unit of   
   government must not preclude Amateur Radio Service communications. Rather, it   
   must reasonably accommodate those communications and must constitute the   
   minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the local unit of government's   
   legitimate purpose."   
      
   Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed the measure, Senate Bill 0493, into law   
   on January 15, creating Public Act 556.  Senator Rick Jones sponsored the   
   bill. ARRL Michigan Section Manager Larry Camp, WB8R, said Michigan is the   
   31st state to have a PRB-1 bill on its books.  The new law also provides for   
   an advisory committee that may be established jointly by the Michigan Section   
   and other state organizations, such as the Michigan Municipal League and the   
   Michigan Township Association.   
      
   (ARRL, Southgate)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  LAUNCH DATE FOR FOX 1A  ANNOUNCED   
      
   The long awaited launch of amsat's Fox-1A ham radio satellite will take place   
   on August 27th.  The Fox 1A will be carried to orbit on board a United Launch   
   Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on a   
   flight for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.  The exact  launch time   
   has not been announced.   
      
   **   
      
   HAM  RADIO IN SPACE:  AESP-14 CUBESAT TO BE DEPLOYED FROM ISS   
      
   PY2SDR reports the Brazilian amateur radio CubeSat AESP-14 is now on the   
   International Space Station awaiting deployment. Here's Amateur Radio   
   Newsline's Don Wilbanks AE5DW...   
      
   (Don:) The AESP-14 is a 1 unit CubeSat developed by undergraduate and   
   graduate engineering students at the Technology Institute of Aeronautics in   
   Brazil.  The satellite's primary mission is to test the various subsystems in   
   the space environment.  It also has an amateur radio experiment developed by   
   the Americana Amateur Radio Club.   
      
   The satellite was sent to the International Space Station on January 10 by   
   the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and it is now awaiting release into space by the   
   JEM orbital deployer on the Kibo Japanese module.   
      
   No date for the release of AESP-14 into space has yet been announced.   
   (PY2SDR)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE:  FLIGT OF VK PICO BALLOON ENDS   
      
   The small pico party-type balloon launched from Australia we have been   
   reporting on did not make it home to V-K land. It reportedly crashed near   
   Madagascar just east of Africa.  This according to Andy [Wynn] Nguyen, VK3YT,   
   who released the balloon from Melbourne on December 27th.  He says that it   
   went down early on January 16, just 25 hours short of three weeks in the air.   
      
   A number of radio amateurs from South Africa also reported that the tiny   
   floater balloon had stopped flying and was down. It had traveled easterly   
   across to the southern tip of New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean to South   
   America, then to Southern Africa, and had a forecast path back to Australia.   
      
   (VK3PC)   
      
   **   
      
   DX UP FRONT:  NAVASSA DXPEDITION ON SO-50 SATELLITE   
      
   The upcoming K1N, Nevassa Island Dxpedition will be on the SO-50 ham radio   
   satellite. Sean Kutzko, KX9X, reports that he heard from DXpedition member   
   Gregg Marco, W6IZT.  At that time, Marco stated that the DXpedition will be   
   bringing with it a hand-held transceiver and an Arrow antenna in hopes of   
   making some QSOs on SO-50 ham radio bird.   
      
   SO-50 carries several experiments, including a mode J FM amateur repeater   
   experiment operating on 145.850 MHz uplink and 436.800 MHz downlink.  The   
   repeater is available to amateurs worldwide as power permits, using a 67.0   
   Hertz PL tone on the uplink, for on-demand activation.   
      
   According to W6IZT the dates and times of satellite operation will be   
   dependent on operator availability at the time of a viable pass.   Operation   
   will only be on SO-50 and no other satellites are being considered.   
      
   Navassa Island is the number one most-needed country in the world by HF   
   DX'ers. Exact dates are still being determined, but the operation is slated   
   for the first two weeks of February.  For ongoing updates please log on to   
   www.navassadx.com. ["Navassa" is spelled N-A-V-A-S-S-A]   
      
      
   (OPDX)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK 1   
      
   Time for you to identify your station.  We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,   
   heard on bulletin stations around the world including the South Caribbean   
   Amateur Radio Emergency Network.   
      
      
   (5 sec pause here)   
      
      
   **   
      
   RESCUE RADIO:  ARES CALLED OUT IN OHIO PHONE OUTAGE   
      
   ARES volunteers in northeast Ohio activated on January 13th.  This after 911   
   and other telephone services went down in six counties due to a power failure   
   at a major AT&T center in Akron.   
      
   The outage was blamed on a burst steam pipe. Cell telephones and the region's   
   800 and 900 MHz digital Multi-Agency Radio Communication System remained   
   functioning.   
      
   The Medina County Emergency Management Agency requested ARES communication   
   support with surrounding counties, and with the Ohio Emergency Operations   
   Center  in Columbus as a backup. At the same time, EMA Directors in Stark,   
   Summit, Portage, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties alerted their ARES   
   organizations.   
      
   Ohio ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Broadway, N8BHL, also requested   
   activation of RACES station W8SGT at the Ohio EOC. Communication was   
   established on 75 meters with several county Emergency Coordinators. The EOC   
   also was able to link up with the Stark County 2-meter repeater, some 135   
   miles away. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee KB3TZedD in   
   Berwick, Pennsylvania.   
      
   Amateur Radio tactical communication regarding the status of systems and   
   repairs confirmed what was being reported via The Multi-Agency Radio   
   Communication System. The Amateur Radio activation terminated after 4 hours,   
   once the 9-1-1 system was brought back online.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   RESCUE RADIO:  DHS AUXCOMM TRAINING WILL WITH HAMVENTION 2015   
      
   The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Communications will   
   offer its Auxiliary Communications or AuxComm  training course May 12th to   
   the 14th, prior to Hamvention 2015 in Dayton, Ohio.  This course covers   
   emergency communications in a public safety context within the National   
   Incident Management framework.   
      
   The AuxComm workshop is designed for auxiliary emergency communicators who   
   volunteer to provide backup emergency radio communications support to public   
   safety, and emergency response professionals and their agencies. Volunteer   
   emergency communications operators and groups have been providing back-up   
   emergency communications to the public safety community for over a century.   
   Their contributions are discussed in the 2014 edition of the National   
   Emergency Communications Plan.   
      
   This intensive three day course provides lectures, student exercises and   
   interactive discussions.  More than 1,000 hams have completed this course   
   which trains qualified amateur radio operators to assist their local, county   
   and state governments with emergency backup communications.   
      
   Details for registration for the course will be provided at hamvention.org   
   beginning February 1st. Applicants must meet all prerequisites and provide   
   documentation to attend this class.  Registration will close when the class   
   limit of 50 qualified students has been reached.  (W8HJR)   
      
   **   
      
   ENFORCEMENT:  FCC AFFIRMS $11,500 FINE TO PENNSYLVANIA HAM   
      
   The FCC Enforcement Bureau has affirmed an $11,500 fine against Brian Crow,   
   K3VR, of North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, for deliberately interfering with   
   other Amateur Radio communications.  The FCC had first proposed the fine last   
   July, and it released a Forfeiture Order on January 13.  The FCC said it   
   imposed the financial penalty because of Crow's "willful and repeated   
   violation" of Section 333 of the Communications Act and of Sections 97.101(d)   
   and 97.119(a) of the Amateur Service rules "by causing intentional   
   interference to licensed radio operations and failing to transmit his   
   assigned call sign."   
      
   On July 22, 2014, the FCC also issued a similarly-worded NAL to Michael   
   Guernsey, KZ8O of Parchment, Michigan, proposing to fine him $22,000. In both   
   cases, the FCC said the evidence indicated that the transmissions at issue   
   were aimed at interfering with other radio amateurs with whom each licensee   
   "had a long-standing and well-documented dispute" that had spilled out onto   
   the air.   
      
   The Enforcement Bureau had warned both Guernsey and Crow in the past   
   regarding interference to other Amateur Radio operators. In Crow's case, the   
   FCC said the fact that he subsequently interfered with other amateur   
   operators "demonstrates a deliberate disregard for the Commission's   
   authority," warranting an upward adjustment of $3500 to his proposed base   
   forfeiture. Guernsey's case is still pending.  (FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   WEBNOTES:  ARRL LIBRARY NOW ON LINE   
      
   The ARRL Library is now online. Here is Geri Goodrich KF5KRN:   
      
   This online library is a repository of educational presentations and oral   
   histories.  It will initially consist of three major areas.  These will   
   include: PowerPoint presentations that may be used at club meetings, outreach   
   efforts to the general public or other public presentations; PDFs of general   
   educational material about amateur radio; and oral histories of radio   
   amateurs describing their personal experiences with amateur radio. For the   
   Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Geri Goodrich KF5KRN, in Topeka, Kansas.  You'll   
   find the ARRL Library on the web at arrl.org/library.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   NAMES IN THE NEWS:  YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES  ACTIONS   
      
   The Board of Directors of the YASME Foundation has  announced the recipients   
   of its Excellence Awards for the just-past 2014 year.  Winners include Kimo   
   Chun KH7U; Dick Flagg AH6M;  Florin-Cristian [PRED-eh-shoe] Predescu, YO9CU   
   and Lisa Leenders, PA2LS.   
      
   The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own   
   service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant   
   contribution to amateur radio.  The contribution may be in recognition of   
   technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are   
   necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.   
      
   The YASME Board also approved several grants to organizations.  These include   
   the California Historical Radio Society, the Foundation for Amateur Radio,   
   Region One of the International Amateur Radio Union; the Egyptian Radio   
   Amateurs Society for Development, the World-Wide Radio Operators Foundation,   
   the ARRL Foundation and the ARRL Second Century Fund.   
      
   The Yasme Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation organized to conduct   
   scientific and educational projects related to amateur radio, including DXing   
   and the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in developing countries.     
   (YASME Foundation release)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK 2   
      
   This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur.  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)   
      
   **   
      
   EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  FCC LICENSES WIDEBAND HF DATA COMM EXPERIMENTS   
      
   The FCC recently granted two companies experimental licenses to use High   
   Frequency bands for data communications at far greater bandwidths and data   
   rates than have been used by amateur radio operators in the USA.   
      
   Writing in TV Technology, Doug Lung says the license application by MITRE is   
   to use HF modes with emission designators of 5K00Q3N, 500KD7D, 500Q3N,   
   500W7D, 1M00D7D, 1M00Q3N and 1M00D7W.  1M00 has a necessary bandwidth of 1   
   MHz.   
      
   The company hopes to achieve reliable HF communications at a data rate   
   between 1 and 4 bits per Hertz per second. MITRE said it will develop a 100   
   kHz bandwidth waveform that can achieve approximately 256 kbps with forward   
   error-correction coding.  More is at tinyurl.com/nprsuje  (TV Tech, Southgate)   
      
   **   
      
   WORLDBEAT:  UK REGULATOR OFCOM CONSULTATION ON SPECTRUM ABOVE 6 GHZ   
      
   United Kingdom telecommunications regulator Ofcom has announced a   
   consultation on bands above 6 GHz for that nation's next generation of   
   wireless communications. With that story from the UK, here is Jeremy Boot   
   G4NJH:   
      
   In its Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Ofcom is seeking views on spectrum   
   bands above 6 GHz that might be suitable for future mobile communication   
   services, often referred to as '5G' - the 5th generation of mobile services.    
   The exact nature of 5G is not yet defined, but to lay the foundations for its   
   future introduction, Ofcom needs to understand how it might use spectrum.   
      
   5G is likely to provide much faster mobile broadband speeds than the current   
   generation of mobile technology and the use of large blocks of spectrum is   
   likely to be important to achieve the fastest speeds. Large blocks of   
   spectrum are difficult to find at lower frequencies; therefore higher   
   frequency bands, above 6 GHz for example, are likely to be important.    
   (Ofcom, Southgate)   
      
   **   
      
   RESTRUCTURING:  CZECH REPUBLIC HAMS GET EXPANDED 60 METER SPECTRUM   
      
   Following last year's 5 Hz amateur operation in the Czech Republic and   
   elsewhere in Europe, the Czech telecommunications regulator, together with   
   the Czech Ministry of Defense, have agreed to changes in 5MHz permits for   
   that nation's radio amateurs.   
      
   The number of 5 MHz channels available under the new 2015 permit has been   
   increased from 6 to 12, and a substantial number of these have been aligned   
   internationally, primarily with the UK and also the US allocations.   
      
   This action brings the Czech Republic's 5 MHz allocation in line with that   
   found in various nations, and will give that nation's hams greater access to   
   contacts worldwide in the 60 meter band.  (GB2RS)   
      
   **   
      
   WORLDBEAT: VK TO ONE WAY ON 600 METERS   
      
   It has yet to be certified as a record, but using the new OPERA Dynamic   
   Medium- and Low-frequency  beacon mode, VK5CV transmitted at 16.30 GMT on   
   15th January using 477kHz and was spotted by G8HUH, receiving at -37dB.   
      
   Data recovered from the PSK-Map database shows the capture to fit exactly   
   with the OPERA Dynamic time signature. Opera Dynamic provides an additional 5   
   or 6dB gain over the conventional Opera Beacon, and is automatically engaged   
   should the decoder fail. The facility is linked to the OP8 477kHz and OP32   
   136kHz modes only.   
      
   VK5CV reported using 50 watts carrier power into a 160 meter inverted L with   
   a base-loaded variable inductor to resonate it to the 477 kHz frequency.   
   Those involved say that this may have been one of the 'Flash' propagation   
   events linked to that Medium Frequency band.  To date, a two-way contact on   
   600 meters between Australia and Europe has yet to be achieved.  (GB2RS)   
      
   **   
      
   DX   
      
   In DX, word that the Rockall DX Group travelled to Iran to put Kish Island on   
   the air through January 31st. The callsign will be EP6T and they will have   
   five high-powered stations on the air. QSLs go via M0URX.   
      
   VE7BV will be active stroke TG9 from Guatemala between January and February   
   17th. He plans a holiday style operation on 20, 17 and 15 meters using CW and   
   SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the bureau or electronically using   
   Logbook of the World.   
      
   And listen out for Special event station TC100GLB to be operational until   
   April 30th to commemorate the Battle of Gallipoli 100 years ago. Activity is   
   on the HF bands using SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via TA1CM.   
      
   Lastly, KC0W will be in Haiti operating stroke  HH5 until the 3rd of   
   February.  This is a CW-only expedition on 160, 80 and 40m. QSLs go directly   
   to his home callsign.   
      
   (This weeks DX courtesy of OPDX and the RSGB)   
      
   **   
      
   THAT FINAL ITEM:  THE SUNSPOTS ARE STILL HERE   
      
   And finally this week, we may be on the declining portion of the latest solar   
   cycle, but don't try to tell that to our home star, the Sun, which is still   
   whipping up some good solar out bursts.   
      
   The latest flare peaked at 04:24 UTC on January 13th.  Classified by solar   
   scientists as an M5.6-class flare, it came from Sunspot AR2257. This   
   particular solar flare caused a pulse of extreme UV radiation, which ionized   
   Earth's upper atmosphere over Australia and the Indian Ocean.  It might have   
   caused a brief communications blackout at frequencies below about 10 MHz.   
      
   An M-class solar flare is considered the second-most powerful type of solar   
   flare, on a scale with five. The weakest are A-class flares, followed by B,   
   C, M, and X-classes. A, B, and C-class flares are too weak to have   
   consequences for Earth. X-class flares are the most intense and 10 times as   
   powerful as an M-class flare.   
      
   M-class flares can cause short radio blackouts at the poles, and can be   
   hazardous for orbiting astronauts. A powerful flare can disrupt GPS and other   
   communications systems. The strongest solar flare ever observed happened on   
   November 4, 2003, during the maximum of the last solar cycle. In the January   
   13th  event, there was no significant coronal mass ejection escaping from the   
   site of the flare. This means there was no increased sun-Earth interaction   
   with this event, and no geomagnetic storm.  (Tamitha Skov,  Earthsky.com,   
   NASA-SOHO)   
      
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
      
   With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio   
   Penn DX Bulletin, Rain, the RSGB, the South African Radio League, the   
   Southgate News, TwiT-TV, Australia's WIA News and you, our listeners, that's   
   all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  Our e-mail address is newsline (at)   
   arnewsline (dot) 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.   
      
   For now, with Don Wilbanks AE5DW  in New Orleans and Bill Pasternak,   
   WA6ITF/6, in the hospital in Los Angeles with the portable editors' desk, I'm   
   Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)is copyright 2015 and all rights are reserved.    
      
   ***   
      
   As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and HAM Operators all over the   
   world, this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the   
   internet and posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, fidonet node 1:3634/12.   
   We hope you enjoyed it!   
      
   Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as   
   described in this posting. If you have any specific questions related   
   to the actual posting of this message, you may address them to   
   hamfdn(at)wpusa.dynip.com.   
      
   Thank you and good day!   
      
   -73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42   
   (text/plain utf-8 base64)   
      
      
    * Origin: (1:3634/12)