Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1889 October 25 2013
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1889 with a
release date of October 25 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams in
Australia respond to massive wildfires; Amateur radio operators in
India are set to assist in tracking Comet ISON; the Babnaba Island T33A
DXpedition targets November 5th as its start-up date; the FCC says no
to expanding Technician class phone operations on 10 meters and UK
telecommunications regulator Ofcom takes a new look at pirate
radio. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
report number 1889 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE
RADIO: AUSTRALIA WICIN RESPONDS TO NEW SOUTH WALES
BRUSHFIRES
Hams who are members of
Australia's WICEN have been activated as fires rage in an area called
the Blue Mountains threaten to expand. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, reports:
--
According to Jim Linton, VK3PC, who is the IARU
Chairman Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee, already some 200
homes have been lost as wildfires rage in the Blue Mountains of the
Australian state of New South Wales not far from the city of
Sydney. News reports attribute one death to the wildfires.
A State of Emergency has been declared for the area and fire fighters
worry that up to four separate blazes could potentially combine to form
a single massive fire front.
Compton Allen, VK2HRX, is the president of WICEN in New South
Wales. He says that an official activation has begun, drawing on
the resources of the emergency communications group. Currently
the mobilization is to support the declared State of Emergency with
manpower in the Lithgow area to the west of Sydney.
About 1,200 firefighters were battling blazes
across the state. New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner
Shane Fitzsimmons said personnel had volunteered to help from all
across Australia, and as far away as here in New Zealand. The
ground effort is being backed with more than eighty aircraft which were
dropping water and fire retardant on the flames.
VK3PC says that evacuations of tens of thousands
of people are possible if hotter weather conditions combine with fire
fronts already burning. This is a scenario that is literally
changing minute by minute and we will have more on it in future
newscasts.
For the Amateur Radio
Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, across the Tasman Sea in Nelson, New
Zealand.
--
WICEN in Australia is comparable to a combined RACES and ARES here
in the United States.
(VK3PC, News 10,
euronews.com)
**
RESCUE
RADIO: PHILIPPINE EARTHQUAKE FOLLOW-UP
A follow-up to last weeks report on a devastating earthquake that
hit the Bohol region of the Phillipines. According to Roberto
Vicencio, DU1VHY reporting via QRZ.com, due to the shaker both
the communication and electrical power infrastructures in the disaster
area were initially crippled. He notes that to date over 140
fatalities have been recorded on the island of Bohol and about 10 on
the island of Cebu adding that numerous buildings were damaged due the
severity of the shaker.
DU1HVY
notes that as of his latest posted report that hams were still passing
information to and from the island and to the National Capital
Region. Communications was taking place on 7.095 MHz on the 40
meters plus VHF, Echolink and using the social media.
John Hays is DW5HT on the island of Leyte.
Hays, who is also WB0HZL notes that in the Philippines there are
approximately 5000 licensed hams in a country with a population of
about 103 million. He notes that the land mass is about the size
of Oregon but the country is long, thin and made up of numerous
islands. As such, the Philippines do not have the extensive
repeater systems so commonly found here in the United States. There,
the National Emergency High Frequency calling channel is 7.095 MHz and
Hays says that this works very well for communication throughout the
country on a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week basis.
(DU1VHY,
WB0HZL/DW5HT via QRX.com)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: INDIA'S HAM RADIO
OPERATORS SET TO HELP IN TRACKING COMET ISON
Astrophysicists in India are joining with amateur radio operators
to track and read data comet ISON which is scheduled to pass nearest to
Earth on November 28th. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee,
KB3TZD, has the details:
--
With the assistance a ham radio operators,
scientists at India's Institute of Astrophysics will send a neon gas
filled balloon about 130,000 feet in into the stratosphere in late
November to gather data on comet ISON.
Ram
Mohan Suri, VU2MYH, is the director of India's National Institute of
Amateur Radio. He says that the Institute of Astrophysics has
joined forces with Dhruva Space and his organization for the
project.
Suri says that this type
of joint mission has never been attempted before but that trial runs
have proven to be quite successful. He notes that an amateur
station has been set up at the Institute of Astrophysics. He says
that it and two mobile units will track the balloon and monitor its
instruments as they record data from comet. Specifically the
instrument package will take detailed readings of ISON's mass,
composition, inert gases and other aspects of its nucleus and
tail.
Once the balloon bursts and the
instruments parachute back to Earth it will be a team of amateur radio
operators that will track and retrieve it from anywhere in India or
abroad, presumably using APRS.
The
location of the payload and balloon will be posted online in real time,
so that amateur radio operators throughout the world can follow the
mission. This says Suri will be helpful if the balloon falls back
to Earth out of the geographical border of India.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather
Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania.
--
Comet ISON is classified as a
sungrazing comet discovered in September of 2012, by Vitali Nevski and
Artyom Novichonok. Studies presented at the American Astronomical
Society's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting suggest that ISON's
nucleus measures somewhere between 1 to 2 ½ miles across and it has a
distinct green glow at its tail. (Hindu Times)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS NO TO
EXPANDING TECH PRIVILEGES ON 10 METERS
The
FCC has dismissed a Petition for Rule Making from the Toledo Mobile
Radio Association that sought to expand Technician class operating
privileges on 10 meters. This to permit holders of Technician
class tickets access to the FM portion of the band from 29.52 to 29.7
MHz
Under current rules, Novice and
Technician licensees may operate from 28.0 to 28.5 MHz but are limited
to CW, RTTY and other data modes from 28.0 to 28.3 Mhz. They also
have limited SSB phone privileges from 28.3 to 28.5 MHz.
Last June the Toledo Mobile Radio Association
had asked the Commission to expand the spectrum available to Technician
licensees on 10 meters to include operating privileges in the FM
portion of the band. It asserted that that amending the rules
would bring Technician voice privileges on 10 meters in line with
technical advancement that had taken place since those rules were put
in place.
But in its October 17th
decision denying the rules change request the FCC said that the Toledo
Mobile Radio Association had not presented any new evidence to warrant
the Commission revisiting the question of Technician class licensees
operating privileges. The regulatory agency went on to note
that Technicians can already transmit through repeaters licensed to a
General class or higher licensee that have an output channel in the
29.52 to 29.7 MHz segment. The caveat is that the input of the
repeater must have an input on 2 meters or above and be under the
control of a higher class licensee. In other words, a cross-band linked
system or remote-base rather than a conventional 10 meter in-band
repeater.
Also that contrary
to Toledo Mobile Radio Association assertion, the FCC says that its
rules do not prevent Technician Class licensees from taking advantage
of such technological developments as IRLP or Echolink. Nor does
it prevent them from exchanging voice communications with other
stations in the 29.52 to 29.7 MHz segment of the 10 meter band but
again as long as the Technician operator is using spectrum allowed to
that license class.
You can read
the entire FCC decision in this matter on the web at
tinyurl.com/no-new-tech-frequencies. (FCC)
**
BREAKING DX
NEWS: T33A BANABA ISLAND HOPES TO BE ACTIVE NOVEMBER 5 - 18
Some breaking news from the world of DX.
The T33A DXpedition to Banaba Island is fast approaching and is
expected to be active from November 5th to the 18th.
It was reported on the T33A Blog Page on October
17th by co team leader Jay Kobelin, W2IJ, that the container carrying
the gear for the operation has departed Suva, Fiji and was now on its
way by sea to Tarawa. Also that the operations advance team will
arrive in Tarawa on October 31st to attend to picking up provisions as
well as to get the container unsealed and cleared through
customs. They will then make certain that it is loaded onto their
vessel in preparation for a November 3rd departure to Banaba
Island.
It was also mentioned that the
T33A operations main sponsor is Elecraft, which is supplying six K 3
Transceivers and five KPA-500 Amplifiers. Also that the T33A team
will be using the DXA interface for their operation. DXA is an
innovative Web site that allows DX'ers to view the status and
activities of a DXpedition in near-real-time.
For more details about this DXpedition please
visit
www.t33a.com. We will have more
DX related news later on in this weeks report. (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 Las Vegas Amateur Radio Club repeater serving Las
Vegas Nevada.
(5 sec
pause here)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC EXTENDS
FILING DATES ON VARIOUS ITEMS
The FCC has
set new deadlines for filings with the agency on various issues.
This after the agency re-opened for business in mid-October following
the partial 16 day government shutdown. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce
Tennant, K6PZW, has the details:
--
As reported in the trade publication Radio
World, in general, filings that would have been due between October 1st
and 6th became due on Tuesday, October 22nd. That date is now
past. Filings that would have been due October 7th to the
16th are now due 16 calendar days after the original filing date.
Again, some of those day's have now passed. Also, if the new date
falls on a weekend or holiday, those filings are due at the FCC on the
following business day.
Regarding
public comments that were due on various issues during the shutdown, of
interest to our listeners are the proposed RF exposure changes.
Reply comments are now due November 18 for "Reassessment of Exposure to
Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Limits and Policies." For
that you file to ET Dockets 03-137 and 13-84.
Three other issues of interest to the hobby radio community.
Regulatory and enforcement filings that would have been due on October
17th are now due on November 4th. Special Temporary Authorities
that expired between October 1st to the 22nd have been extended to
November 4th and low-power FM station applications are now due November
14th.
As to the processing of new
and renewal Amateur Service license applications, the only information
made public so far comes from the ARRL V-E-C. It said that it had
approximately 250 sessions and over 1500 forms in the queue as the FCC
reopened on October 17th. By the end of the day, the League's
V-E-C staff had dispatched its entire backlog to the Commission for
processing.
For the Amateur Radio
Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.
--
So it looks as
if things are getting back to normal at the FCC, albeit a bit slower
than some might have envisioned. (RW, ARRL)
**
RADIO
POLITICS: CONFIRMATION OF NEW FCC CHAIRMAN HELD UP IN
SENATE
Republican Senator Ted Cruz, the
conservative who helped prompt the recent government shutdown, has
blocked the Senate from voting on the nomination of Tom Wheeler to be
Federal Communications Commission chairman. The Senate was
scheduled to vote on Wheeler, a Democrat and telecom industry veteran,
late on Wednesday. October 16th. Cruz held up the vote over
questions about the FCC's power to enforce disclosures of who
sponsors political television advertising.
The Senate also has yet to vote on the nomination of Republican
Michael O'Rielly to fill the fifth and final open FCC commissioner
position. O'Rielly has spent nearly two decades as a staffer
in Congress, most recently serving as a top aide to Senator John Cornyn
of Texas. (Published news reports)
**
RADIO LAW: ELECTRONIC
FRONTIER FOUNDATION CHALLENGES PERSONAL AUDIO LLC
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a
petition with the Patent and Trademark Office challenging the claims of
Personal Audio LLC. This is the company claiming to hold key
patents for podcasting technology. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan
Kinford, N8WB, reports:
--
The Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a press release that
its petition filed in this matter shows that Personal Audio did not
invent anything new, and, in fact, other people were podcasting years
before Personal Audio first applied for a patent.
The
Foundation notes that in preparation for its filing, that it solicited
help from the public to find prior art, or earlier examples of
podcasting and cites three examples of what it discovered. These
are Internet Pioneer Carl Malamud's ‘Geek of the Week' online radio
show along with online broadcasts by CNN and the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation.
From the release, Electronic Frontier
Foundation Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer said that as shown in our
petition, Personal Audio is not the true inventor of this technology
and should not be demanding a payout from today's podcasters. The
petition goes on to note that because Personal Audio's business model
is entirely based on leveraging its patents and it does not do any
podcasting itself, the company fits the definition of a non-practicing
entity.
For the Amateur Radio
Newsline, I'm Stepen Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth, Ohio.
--
The Electronic Frontier
Foundation is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to keeping modern media
technologies minimally regulated and hindered. (EFF,
RW)
**
PUBLIC
SERVICE: WASHINGTON HAMS HONORED FOR COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS
An all-volunteer amateur radio organization has
been recognized by King County, Washington for its commitment to
emergency preparedness and response
The Renton
Emergency Communication Service was chosen for this accolade based on a
record of service that stretches back long before their formal
incorporation by two groups of amateur radio operators in 2008.
Over time the volunteers have evolved to become a key asset to
Renton's Fire and Emergency Services Department, especially during
disasters.
Each of the group's members is trained to
staff the Renton Emergency Operations Center and carry out
communication responsibilities. During the snow and ice storm of
January 2012, they performed critical functions, including call-taking,
managing radio and social media, and providing real-time weather and
road information gathered from around the City of Renton. When power
was lost to hundreds of homes, Renton Emergency Communication Service
members were deployed to Renton's network of Neighborhood
Information Centers, where they posted information on shelter and food
distribution locations delivered to them by radio.
Mark
Peterson is the Fire Chief of Renton. He says that the dedication
and commitment shown by the Renton Emergency Communication Service
volunteers is making a real difference in his departments ability to
better serve the community. Peterson added that the hams provide
timely and critical communications and information before it is
needed. More on this story is on the web at
tinyurl.com/renton-hams-honored. (Kings County Executive
News)
**
HAM
HAPPENINGS: AMERICAN LEGION TAKES TO AIRWAVES IN SALUTE TO
VETERANS
Indianapolis Legionnaires will
honor their fellow veterans in a special on-the-air tribute on Veterans
Day, November 11th. That when members of The American Legion
Amateur Radio Club will operate using the special event call sign W9L
on 20 meters, 2-meter simplex, a Central Indiana repeater and connect
world wide via IRLP beginning at 9:00 a.m. through 5 p.m. Eastern
Time.
Frequencies in use will
include to 14.275 MHz upper sideband on 20 meters, 146.46 MHz on 2
meter simplex, the 145.17 MHz repeater in Hamilton County and IRLP Node
4816. Those who make contact with W9L will be eligible to receive
an attractive full color commemorative certificate. More about
this event including QSL routing is on the web at website
www.legion.org/hamradio
(K9JM)
**
HAM
HAPPENINGS: HAMS IN BAHRAIN CELEBRATE ARAB CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIP
Ham radio operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain
are on the air in celebration of the 2013 Arab Cycling Championship
being held in that nation through October 31st. A Special Event
Station using the call A91ACC will be active on all of the High
Frequency bands during the event. All confirmed QSO's will
receive an award signed by the president of Bahrain Cycling
Association. QSL's go via IZ8CLM. Planners say that
participation by ham radio operators in this event shows the increasing
interest in Amateur Radio in the Kingdom of Bahrain and encouragement
from its officials. (A91ACC)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: ERIN KING
AK4JG NAMED ONE OF THE WORLDS 50 SMARTEST TEENS
And congratulations to 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of
the Year award winner Erin King, AK4JG, who has been named one of the
50 smartest teens in the world by TheBestSchools.com.
King was selected for this honor based on her
early acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her
then hacking of her acceptance letter tube. This she converted
into a spacecraft payload that she flew to over 90,000 feet. Once
recovered using A-P-R-S tracking Erin took the video captured by the
onboard Go Pro camera and produced a stunning documentary of the
creation of the payload and the actual flight itself.
This past summer recess she spent with Google
working on their Project Loon. This is a communications
experiment that looks to use a global network of high-altitude balloons
to connect people in rural and remote areas of the world who currently
have no Internet.
TheBestSchools.org bills itself as a leading resource for campus
and online education. You can read Erin's story and that of the
forty-nine others selected for this distinction at
tinyurl.com/fifty-smartest-teens. (TheBestSchools.com)
**
NAMES IN THE
NEWS: RAC ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIPS AND COMMUNITY GRANT
Radio Amateurs of Canada has announced the
granting of three academic scholarships and one community grant.
The individual recipients are Paulyn
Mulles, VE3PJM who is attending Carlton University, Jason Deglint,
VE7TJD who is a student at University of Victoria, and Liam Bindle,
VE5LRB who is attending the University of Saskatchewan. Each of these
young Amateurs will receive a $500 academic scholarship to assist their
further studies in Electrical Engineering.
Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg will also
received a $500 community grant to assist them to become the only
permanent Amateur Radio ARISS Telebridge Station in Canada. This,
under the guidance of Mr. Robert Striemer, VE4SHS. (VE3XT)
**
NAMES IN THE
NEWS: NEW FREE E-BOOK ON IMAGE COMMUNICATIONS
And word that Martin Bruchanov, OK2MNM, has
written a Free e-book for hams and SWL's interested in special
communication modes for image transmission and reception. This
includes such modes as SSTV, Digital SSTV and radio facsimile to name
only a few. You can download the entire book or view on line at
www.sstv-handbook.com
(Southgate)
**
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: INTEL NEW
BROADWELL CHIPSET DELAYED TO EARLY 2014
Intel, the world's biggest computer chip maker, has said the
production of its next-generation PC chip, Broadwell, will be delayed
by a about three months past its scheduled release date. This due to a
technical glitch according to Chief executive Brian Krzanich.
The Broadwell chips are expected to succeed the
firm's Haswell line of processors, and are touted to be more
power-efficient and faster. Intel is the leading PC chip-maker
and its updated products typically spur on new laptop and desktop
sales. It will now begin production on Broadwell chips in the
first quarter of 2014 rather than later this year. (Intel, c-net,
Techradar)
**
WORLDBEAT: UK REGULATOR OFCOM VS. PIRATE RADIO
United Kingdom communications regulator Ofcom
has published some new information about putting an end to pirate radio
operations. Basically it appears as if they want to license these
stations.
Currently in London alone there
are over two dozen pirate stations operating in the 88 to108 MHz FM
broadcast band. Many operate 24 hours a day, 7days a week so are
not exactly difficult for Ofcom to locate if they wished to do
so.
But on its In the Pirate Radio web
page Ofcom points out that they have issued Community Radio licenses to
former pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM and Kane FM. The
inference that may be taken is Ofcom would like more pirate radio
stations to apply for community radio licenses.
Although Ofcom has occasionally raided pirate stations operating
in the FM broadcast band, such enforcement actions have been few and
far between. And following the 2008 through 2009 fiscal year,
Ofcom stopped publishing its Prosecution Formal Warning Statistics and
subsequently removed all prosecution statistics from their
website.
Some speculate
the reason the statistics no longer appeared was because Ofcom had
stopped undertaking enforcement action. Heres what Ofcom has to
say about the situation in its own words at
tinyurl.com/uk-pirate-unenforced. (Southgate, BDXC)
**
RADIO FROM
SPACE: THE FERRARI OF SPACE TO SOON DE-ORBIT
A European Space Agency a scientific research
satellite dubbed the "Ferrari of Space" based on its sleek,
finned looks will shortly run out of fuel and fall to Earth after a
successful mission.
Launched in
2009, the Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer orbits at an extremely low
altitude of just 160 miles where there are still some molecules of
atmosphere. The satellite's main payload is the
Electrostatic Gravity Gradiometers to measure the gravity field of
Earth. These are arranged in three pairs of ultra-sensitive
accelerometers arranged in three dimensions that respond to tiny
variations in the 'gravitational tug' of the Earth as it
travels along its orbital path.
Other
payloads include an onboard GPS receiver used as a
Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instrument; a compensation system for
all non-gravitational forces acting on the spacecraft. The satellite is
also equipped with a laser retro-reflector. This to enable
tracking by ground-based lasers.
To reduce
drag, the Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer has an arrow-like
octagonal shape and two fins to provide extra aerodynamic
stability. This is a radical departure from the box like form of
many satellites that operate in the complete vacuum of space.
Keeping it aloft is an ion engine that began
with about 90 pounds of fuel but was now down to about 4.4 pounds at
the end of September. While no exact date could be given
controllers say that fuel will be exhausted by the beginning of
November at which time most of the 17 foot long spacecraft will break
up and burn when it tumbles into a denser portion of the Earth's
atmosphere. (Space OnLine, ESA)
**
RADIOSPORTS: RADAR CONTEST COMING
NOVEMBER 2
Turning to radiosports, the
2013 RaDAR-America Contest is coming November 2nd starting at 14:00 UTC
and ending at 18:00 UTC.
RaDAR
stands for Rapidly Deployable Amateur Radio and the event is aimed at
promoting this type of operation throughout North and South
America.
This competition is open
to all licensed radio amateurs. A choice is made prior to the
contest to participate in one of the defined categories.
The points system is so structured as to
encourage portable operation, especially moveable stations. In
fact, the rules are very close to those created by the founder of the
contest Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE and the ZS RaDAR competition will take
place at the same time in South Africa as it will here in the
Americas.
Marcus Kessler, NX5MK, is the RaDAR-America
Contest manager. The complete rules can be found at
tinyurl.com/radar-america-contest. You can see a promotional
video on the Amateur Radio Today page at
www.sarl.org.za.
(Southgate, SARL, others)
**
ON THE AIR: 4U0WFP AT WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
IN ROME
On the air, the Ohio-Penn DX
newsletter reports that 4U0WFP is an amateur radio station located at
the United Nations World Food Program headquarters in Rome,
Italy. Currently the operators are S53R and S53T who were
recently heard on 21 dot 023 MHz at around 13:25 UTC. Give them a
call and learn about what World Food Program does to fight the hunger
worldwide. More about the group is at
www.wfp.org. QSL via the
information for 4U0WFP found on QRZ.com. (OPDX)
**
ON THE
AIR: ROYAL AIR FORCE PERMANENT SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force station
G3ELV and the Royal Air Force Signals Museum station GB4SMH, will be
operational under a permanent Special Event permit effective November
1st. Normal operating times for both locations will be 10:00 to
16:00 local time on each Tuesday and on the first Saturday of each
month. If you make contact, please QSL only via the bureau.
(Via e-mail)
**
DX
In DX, the ARRL DXCC desk has
announced that the 2013 T6JR operation from Afghanistan has been
approved for DXCC credit. Cards are now being accepted for that
one.
RK4FF will be on the air as 6V7S from
Senegal through November 27th. Activity is on 80 through 10 meters
excluding the WARC bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. His log is
available on ClubLog. QSL via RK4FF.
DF1YP is now active stroke FO from Moorea Island French
Polynesia. He reportedly will be there until November 6th.
His operation has been mainly on 20 meters using SSB. QSL via his home
callsign.
G4IRN will be active as D44TWQ
from Cape Verde between November 5th to the 12th. His operation
will be holiday style on the 30, 17 and 12 meters and on CW only. QSL
via his home callsign either direct or via the bureau.
N7OU will be operational from the South Cook
Islands until 9th of November. He has reactivated his E51NOU
callsign on all bands from 10 to 160 meters operating CW only. QSLs go
via his home call.
&nb
--- D'Bridge 3.99
* Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68)
