Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1753 - March 11 2011   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1752 with a release date of Friday,   
   March 4, 2011 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a Q-S-T. Three hamsats are lost when a launch booster fails   
   to achieve orbit, the FCC changes the rules on ham radio use of Spread   
   Spectrum, Argentina is heard on 2 meter FM in North Carolina and a Digital   
   Amateur Radio record is established down-under. Find out the details are on   
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1752 coming your way right now.   
      
      
   (Billboard Cart Here)   
      
      
   **   
      
   HAM RADIO IN SPACE: THREE HAMSATS LOST IN TAURUS XL LAUNCH FAILURE   
      
   A launch failure has lead to the demise of several new ham radio birds. Bill   
   Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the details:   
      
   --   
      
   Three amateur radio satellites were lost when a launch booster failed to   
   achieve orbit. The satellites were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base   
   in California at 10:09 UTC on Friday, March 4th on board an Orbital   
   Sciences Taurus XL rocket.   
      
   According to news reports, its believed that the launchers fairing which   
   covers the satellites on top of the rocket, did not separate properly. This   
   added drag prevented the Taurus XL from gaining enough momentum to attain   
   orbit.   
      
   The ham radio payload consisted of the Explorer-1, KySat-1 and Hermes. The   
   rocket is believed to have crashed near the Antarctic.   
      
   For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, in Los Angeles.   
      
   --   
      
   By the way, Bill actually saw and photographed the launch from his front lawn   
   in Santa Clarita, California. That's at least 80 miles from Vandenberg Air   
   Force Base. He says that it was the brightest abject in the night sky. His   
   pictures, which were a last minute idea are grab-shots taken without a   
   tripod. They are posted in his 2011 photo album on Facebook. (Southgate,   
   ARNewsline(tm))   
      
   **   
      
   RESCUE RADIO: CHRISTCHURCH NZ HAM RADIO QUAKE ASSISTANCE WINDS DOWN   
      
   Ham radio emergency communications operations in the wake of the recent   
   Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake have just about wound down.   
      
   In an e-mail to Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, Richard Smart, ZL4FZ, who is   
   head of the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications team says hat   
   Christchurch has made or is making the transition from rescue to recovery.   
   As such the normal services such as cellular, landline and internet are   
   being progressively restored, although they are yet far from completely   
   reliable at this stage. Cellular in particular, suffers from periods where   
   calls can be received but not made or unable to get any service at all as   
   the very high loads seem to swamp the switches.   
      
   Smart says that some cellular sites have been damaged by buildings collapsing   
   or have been dismantled to allow demolition work to occur. ZL4FZ says that   
   the damage has affected the capacity of the networks as infrastructure   
   essential to Christchurch in many cases traverses the closed off centre of   
   the city and will either need to be bypassed or overbuilt.   
      
   Other essential services, water, power and sewage are being restored,   
   although for some the restoration will likely be long and protracted. This   
   he says is an indication of the very large number of faults and breaks that   
   have occurred.   
      
   Smart ends by telling ZL2BHF that at this time only informal amateur   
   communications is being heard on the repeaters during the day. but there is   
   no formal AREC activation at this time. (ARNewsline(tm) via ZL2BHF, ZL4FZ)   
      
   **   
      
   RADIO LAW: FCC CHANGES PART 97 SPREAD SPECTRUM RULES   
      
   Back in the United States, the FCC has changed the rules regarding the way in   
   which radio amateurs can use Spread Spectrum technology.   
      
   In its Report and Order released March 4th, the regulatory agency has   
   eliminated the requirement that amateur stations transmitting Spread   
   Spectrum to use Automatic Power Control or APC to reduce transmitter power.   
   At the same time, the Commission has reduced the maximum power of a Spread   
   Spectrum emission from 100 to 10 watts PEP.   
      
   The changes are to Sections 97.311 and 97.313 of the Commission's Rules.   
   This all will become effective 30 days after the Report and Order is   
   published in the Federal Register. (FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   RADIO LAW: MORE CHANGES MADE TO EAS LAWS   
      
   The FCC has made more changes to its Emergency Alert System rules. This, to   
   allow for national EAS testing and data collection from such tests.   
      
   The commission's Part 11 rules now say all EAS participating stations must   
   take part in national tests of the EAS system. The first national EAS test   
   must use the Emergency Alert Notification and the live event code for   
   nationwide presidential alerts. Whenever the national test occurs, it   
   replaces the monthly and weekly EAS tests for that particular month and   
   week.   
      
   The new rules require the FCC to give stations at least two months' notice   
   before a national test; and stations must submit test-related diagnostic   
   information. This includes whether they received the alert, if they   
   re-transmitted it and the make and model of their EAS encoder/decoder. And   
   the submission is due to the FCC within 45 days. The data won't be released   
   to the public but can be shared with other federal agencies and state   
   governmental emergency management agencies.   
      
   These latest changes, were adopted on February 2nd. Thy have now been   
   published in the Federal Register and are in effect. The goal of the   
   national test is to determine whether EAS functions as intended to deliver a   
   national presidential alert. (RW, FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   PROPAGATION: ARGENTINA HEARD IN NORTH CAROLINA ON 2 METER FM ON WIRE ANTENNA   
      
   The recent sunspots have brought some interesting propagation. Even on some   
   of the VHF and UHF bands.   
      
   According to W0WOI reporting over the VHF Reflector, at 16:55 U-T-C on March   
   2nd, Johnathon Ballard, KI4UKF who lives in Stokes County, North Carolina   
   heard Claudio Costa, LW2ECC in Argentina calling CQ on 144.48 MHz FM.   
      
   What really makes this interesting is that KI4UKF was using a Moxon wire   
   antenna tacked to a wall. He said the signal was steady for several minutes   
   at about S6, before it faded away. H e emailed Claudio, who confirmed the   
   transmission. Claudio reported that he was using three 5/8 wave verticals   
   and 160 watts. (W0WOI via VHF Reflector)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAKING DX NEWS: DX0DX SPRATLEY ISLAND ON HOLD   
      
   The DX0DX mission to the Spratly's has been postponed to April 2012. This,   
   following the initial expedition attempt in January this year.   
      
   Team Leader VK3FY says he is determined to recover as much of the costs as   
   possible to put things right for all the team members, sponsors,   
   organizations and individuals involved. This rare DX-entity was to have   
   been activated from 6 January 2011 until 1 February 2011.   
      
   More DX news later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report.   
   (Southgate)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK 1   
      
   From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard   
   on bulletin stations around the world including the world including the   
   W5DSC repeater serving Victoria, Texas.   
      
   (5 sec pause here)   
      
      
   **   
      
   ENFORCEMENT: FLORIDA UNLICENSED BROADCASTER ISSUED $20,000 NOTICE OF   
   APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE   
      
   The FCC has issued a $20,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to   
   Whisler Fleurinor. This for his alleged willful and repeated violated   
   section 301 of the Communications Act by operating an unlicensed radio   
   transmitter at his commercial property in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Here's   
   the back-story.   
      
   --   
      
   On March 16th and August 24th of 2010, in response to complaints about an   
   unlicensed station on 99.5 MHz, agents from the Enforcement Bureau's Miami   
   Office used direction-finding techniques to locate the source of radio   
   frequency transmissions on to a commercial property in Fort Lauderdale,   
   Florida. The FCC says it found that the property is owned by Whisler   
   Fleurinor.   
      
   On March 16, 2010, the agents determined that the signals from Mr.   
   Fleurinor's building exceeded the limits for operation under Part 15 of the   
   Commission's and therefore required a license. Following up, on August   
   24th, the FCC agents inspected the unlicensed station. The Commission says   
   that at that time Mr. Fleurinor showed them his antenna and transmitter. He   
   admitted that the equipment was his, and then turned off the transmitter.   
      
   Prior to leaving the property, the agents issued a Notice of Unlicensed   
   Operation to Fleurinor, which he signed acknowledging that he was in receipt   
   of it. The Notice warned that operation of an unlicensed station violated   
   the Communications Act and the Rules and could result in further enforcement   
   action.   
      
   But the Commission alleges that not long after Fleurinor came back on the air   
   with the unlicensed station. And so it was that on August 31, 2010, agents   
   from the Miami Office again used direction-finding techniques to locate the   
   source of radio frequency transmissions on 99.5 MHz to Mr. Fleurinor's   
   commercial property in Fort Lauderdale. The agents again determined that   
   these signals exceeded the limits for operation under Part 15 of the Rules   
   and therefore required a license. As such, Whisler Fleurinor was issued a   
   second Notice of Unlicensed Operation.   
      
   Pursuant to the Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and the base   
   forfeiture amount for operation without an instrument of authorization is   
   $10,000. In assessing the monetary forfeiture amount, the FCC says that it   
   must also take into account the statutory factors set forth in section   
   503(b)(2)(E) of the Communications Act. These include the nature,   
   circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violations, and with respect to   
   the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses,   
   ability to pay, and other such matters as justice may require.   
   Consequently, the $10,000 base forfeiture amount is subject to adjustment.   
      
   The FCC says that as proven by its investigation, on two separate occasions   
   Fleurinor was issued a Notice of Unlicensed Operation. It says that despite   
   having acknowledged receipt of both notices that he continued to operate the   
   unlicensed radio station. It says that the fact that Fleurinor continued to   
   operate with full knowledge that such activity violated the Communications   
   Act and the FCC's Rules demonstrates a deliberate disregard for the   
   Commission's requirements. As such it believes that the $20,000 proposed   
   fine is warranted.   
      
   For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale,   
   Arizona.   
      
   --   
      
   The action in this case was adopted and released on March 4th, 2011. Whisler   
   Fleurinor was given the customary 30 days to pay the $20,000 forfeiture   
   amount or to file an appeal. (FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES OFFICIAL CITATION FOR ERRANT WIRELESS CAMERA   
      
   The FCC has issued an Official Citation to SecurityMan Inc. of Ontario,   
   California. This, for marketing a non-compliant wireless camera that caused   
   interference to other service.   
      
   According to the Citation, the camera in question apparently radiated an   
   excessive second harmonic of the 902 to 928 MHz band on which it was   
   designed to operate. This in turn caused interference to a nearby PCS cell   
   site.   
      
   The matter goes back to In December 2009. That's when the FCC's Enforcement   
   Bureau received a complaint alleging that the SecurityMan SM-302T wireless   
   camera was causing harmful interference to U.S. Cellular's licensed   
   operation of its PCS network in the 1850 to 1865 MHz band. If you do the   
   math, a second harmonic of a 902 to 928 MHz transmitter has a good chance of   
   falling within the cellular P-C-S band.   
      
   Once suspicious that the camera might be the cause of the interference,   
   Enforcement Bureau staff visited the SecurityMan web site at   
   www.securitymaninc.com. There they observed that SecurityMan was marketing   
   the SecurityMan SM-302T wireless camera. They then purchased a SecurityMan   
   SM-302T wireless camera, and forwarded it to the FCC's Office of Engineering   
   and Technology Laboratory for testing. The lab's tests demonstrated   
   that the SecurityMan SM-302T does not comply with the radiated emission   
   limits specified in sections 15.249(d) and 15.209 of the rules.   
   (FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   ENFORCEMENT: LASER HITS COCKPIT OF PHOENIX NEWS HELICOPTER   
      
   Pointing a laser at aircraft is illegal and now authorities in Phoenix,   
   Arizona, are looking for whomever it was that did just that to a news   
   chopper. Jeff Clark, K8JAC, has more:   
      
   --   
      
   A Phoenix news helicopter was the victim of an attack from the ground in late   
   February. This as someone shot a bright laser beam into its cockpit that   
   was also caught by the choppers on-board camera.   
      
   According to The Arizona Republic, authorities are currently investigating   
   the incident and have yet to identify the perpetrator. The newspaper goes   
   on to note that local police actually searched door-to-door in the area   
   where the beam originated but so far have come up empty handed.   
      
   A spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration commenting on the   
   incident said that the message here is very simple. If you want to engage   
   in this kind of dangerous and irresponsible behavior, you can be caught and   
   arrested.   
      
   Im Jeff Clark, K8JAC.   
      
   --   
      
   The helicopter in question shoots footage for multiple Phoenix stations.   
   These include CBS-affiliate KPHO and independent station KTVK. If caught,   
   and if prosecuted by the perpetrator of this stunt could face up to 20 years   
   in prison. (Published news reports)   
      
   **   
      
      
   RESCUE RADIO: COMMUNICATIONS ACADEMY 2011   
      
   Registration is now open for Communications Academy 2011 to be held at South   
   Seattle Community College, April 16th and 17th. ARRL Western Washington   
   Section Manager Jim Pace, K7CEX, says that the theme this year is "Bringing   
   Professionalism to Amateur Emergency Communications".   
      
   According to Pace, planners has an exciting lineup of speakers and breakout   
   sessions scheduled. Saturday's keynote speaker is ARRL Media and Public   
   Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP. He will be presenting an address   
   titled "Reality Check: The four stages of ARES." On Sunday, Alan Komenski,   
   AC2K, State Interoperability Executive Committee of the Washington State   
   Patrol.   
      
   Early registration by April 3rd saves you 15% and groups of 5 or more   
   registering at the same will save an additional 10%. You can register   
   right at www.commacademy.org. (Press Release)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM HAPPENINGS: VHF CONVENTION DOWN-UNDER IN APRIL   
      
   The show must go on down-under. This with word that the Wellington VHF Group   
   will hold its VHF Convention from April 22nd to the 24th Tawa College in   
   Tawa. This years convention is being held in conjunction with the annual   
   Wellington Radio Expo and Wellington Expo-11.   
      
   According to planners, the VHF Convention offers a great program line-up for   
   both the newcomer and the experienced radio amateur alike. Some of the   
   topics include forums on VHF, ATV, Satellites, Special Interest Groups and a   
   forum for Repeater and Beacon Trustees.   
      
   More information along with registration forms are available on the   
   Wellington VHF Group website. Its in cyberspace at www.vhf.org.nz   
   (Wellington VHF Group)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM HAPPENINGS: HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY TO THE OPDX NEWSLETTER   
      
   And congratulations to our friends at the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin which   
   celebrated its 20th anniversary and published its 1000th issue last week.   
   To celebrate, the Northern Ohio DX Association which publishes the on-line   
   newsletter was to activate the special event station NO8DX/20 between March   
   11th and the 13th. If you made contact, please send your QSL via the events   
   QSL manager and editor of the OPDX, Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW at his callbook   
   address. (DXNL)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM HAPPENINGS: NAMIBIAN AMATEUR RADIO LEAGUE CELEBRATES 21st ANNIVERSARY   
      
   And on March 21st the Namibian Amateur Radio League or NARL celebrate its   
   21st birthday. At the same time Namibia will celebrate 21 years of its own   
   independence.   
      
   To commemorate these two event the NARL has been issued the special event   
   callsign V521NAM. Plans are to activate the call from Saturday the March   
   19th to Monday the 21st. All amateurs in Namibia are allowed to use the   
   special event callsign for the duration of the event but they will be   
   required to send in their logs so the NARL QSL Bureau can send out special   
   QSL cards to all worked stations.   
      
   All incoming QSL's should be via sent via the bureau or electronically using   
   e-qsl. More on this special event operation is on the web at   
   www.qsl.net/narl. (NARL)   
      
   **   
      
   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)   
      
   **   
      
   WORLDBEAT: INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY - APRIL 30th   
      
   This years International Marconi Day takes place on Saturday April 30th.   
   This is not a contest but there are several awards available for working the   
   officially listed stations, each of which has an historic connection with   
   Marconi. The event is organized by the Cornish Amateur Radio Club. For   
   more information please visit the club's website at crac.g4usb.net/cracblog.   
   (GB2RS)   
      
   **   
      
   WORLDBEAT: CANADIAN HAMS ASK RAC FOR ASSISTANCE IN RIDDING PLASMA TV   
   INTERFERENCE   
      
   Members of Canada's Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club say that noise and   
   signals originating from Plasma screen digital television sets are causing   
   considerable interference to their HF activities. They have asked their   
   national society for help.   
      
   According to a news release from Radio Amateurs of Canada, complaints of this   
   nature require specific and detailed information before it can consider   
   taking this matter to telecommunications regulator Industry Canada. To   
   gather this information, Radio Amateurs of Canada invites its members who   
   own a Plasma screen television receivers to report their experiences of   
   interference from such products. Specifically, these reports should   
   describe the make and model of TV, a description of their HF station and   
   antenna system and the exact nature of the interference. This means what   
   bands are affected, what the interference sounds like and any other   
   pertinent information. Remedies should also be tried and reported such as   
   using ferrite chokes on power cords and signal cables if interference is   
   detected.   
      
   Amateurs with advanced instrumentation such as spectrum analyzers and   
   calibrated antennas should measure signal intensity levels at given   
   distances; these measurements will add credibility to our investigation.   
   Canadian hams suffering from this type of interference should send their   
   reports to Norm Rashleigh, VE3LC, via email to ve3lc (at) rac (dot) ca.   
   (RAC)   
      
   **   
      
   WORLDBEAT: RNW LAUNCHES IPHONE APP IN 9 LANGUAGES   
      
   Radio Netherlands Worldwide has developed a free news application in nine   
   languages for the Apple iPhone. This application gives iPhone users 24-hour   
   access to Radio Netherlands latest internet postings, including web   
   articles, radio programs, videos and podcasts. The application called RNW.   
   It is available free of charge from the iPhone App Store. (Media Network)   
      
   **   
      
   DX   
      
   In DX, word that JA1JQY, JA1KJW and JA8VE will be active from Thimphu Bhutan   
   between April 19th and the 26th. Operations will be on 160 through 6 meters   
   using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL as directed by the operators.   
      
   DL7BC will be active from Morocco as CN2BC during the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest   
   as a Single-Op, All-Band, Low-Power entry. QSL his operation via DL7BC.   
   You can visit his Web page at www.qslnet.de/dl7bc for further information   
   regarding this one.   
      
   VE3ZIK will be once again active portable 9A from Croatia between March 13th   
   and the 30th. He also plans to be active in the Russian DX Contest, the CQ   
   WPX SSB Contest and mentions that there is a good chance he will be on from   
   Vrana Lake as well. QSL via DK8ZZ, via the bureau, Logbook of the World,   
   eQSL or direct. E-mail Bureau requests for QSLs can go to ve3zik (at) gmail   
   (dot) com.   
      
   And keep an ear open for F2JD will once again be active as stroke HR5 from   
   Copna, Honduras starting mid-March and continuing through to mid-May.   
   Operations will be on all HF bands   
   using CW and SSB. QSL via F6AJA.   
      
   A group of hams from the Amateur Radio Society of India plan to become active   
   as VU4PB from the Andaman Island capital Port Blair. This, from March 15th   
   through the 31st. Modes used will be CW, SSB and RTTY on all bands using up   
   to four stations. They also hope to work via moonbounce on 6 meters. Their   
   QSL manager will be W3HNK, which means that QSLs are confirmed only direct   
   but reliably.   
      
   Lastly, I2DMI will be active as CE0Y from Easter Island between July 30th and   
   August 8th. His operation will be RTTY and what bands he plans to use are   
   at this time unknown. QSL via his home callsign.   
      
   (Above from various DX news sources)   
      
   **   
      
   THAT FINAL ITEM: DIGITAL ATV RECORD SET DOWN UNDER   
      
   And finally this week, word that new records for Digital Amateur Television   
   have been set down-under. Robert Broomhead, VK3DN, of the WIA News is here   
   with an in-depth look at what took place to make it all happen:   
      
   --   
      
   On Wednesday evening, 23 February 2011, Digital Amateur Television signals   
   from Victoria were received in the northwest of VK7 by Winston, VK7EM.   
   After noting the band conditions improving with a lift in the 70cm beacon   
   strength and the appearance of Community TV Channel 31, Winston monitored   
   VK3RTV, the Melbourne Digital ATV repeater.   
      
   At around 5.30pm color bars appeared. Then with liaison with Peter VK3BFG   
   on 147.4 MHz simplex, who had made sure the repeater was activated, live   
   pictures were organized, with Peter proudly showing off his equipment with a   
   very professional `on camera' appearance.   
      
   Word spread and other stations like Neil VK3BCU, John VK3DQ, and Jack VK3WWW   
   joined in. At one stage there were two independent pictures arriving, John   
   3DQ on one channel, VK3RTV1 and Peter 3BFG on VK3RTV2, and both in contact   
   with each other.   
      
   At 8.00 PM signals on VK3RTV began to fade. It was then that a separate   
   receiver monitoring 1250 MHz suddenly came to life with a perfect color bar   
   signal. A call on 2 meters established that it was Rob, VK3TRX who chatted   
   and then held up a 10 gig. antenna he will use in an upcoming ATV field day.   
   These pictures on 23 centimeters analogue FM, became quite noise free.   
      
   The equipment used by Winston consisted of home-brew yagis on each band to a   
   K7MEM design, masthead mounted pre-amplifiers designed by VK5EME, fed into a   
   Teac SDB451 Digital Set Top Box on 70 centimeters, while for 23 centimeters   
   a Drake ESR 700 satellite receiver.   
      
   I'm Robert, VK3DN.   
      
   --   
      
   For those listeners in North America who have never heard the term "lift   
   conditions" it's the way most of the rest of the world describes what we   
   call improved band conditions, especially on frequencies at and above 50   
   MHz. (WIA News)   
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
      
   With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine,   
   the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the   
   Southgate News and Australia's WIA News, that's all from the Amateur Radio   
   Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline@arnewsline.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 editor's desk, I'm Jim Davis,   
   W2JKD, says 73 and we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.   
      
      
   ***   
      
   As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and Ham Operators all around the   
   world, this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the internet   
   and posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, 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 concerning   
   the actual posting of this message service, you may address them to   
   hamfdn -at- wpusa.dynip.com.   
      
   Thank you and good day!   
      
   -73-   
      
      
    * Origin: (1:3634/12)