Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1413 – September 10, 2004

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1413 with a release date of
Friday, September 10th, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T.

Hurricane Frances strikes Florida and ham radio is prepared. Hear the ham
radio first responders in action on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1413
coming your way right now.

(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HURRICANE FRANCES VS. HAM RADIO

Hurricane Frances pounded Florida with high wind and heavy rain after it
smashed across the state's East coast. Close to 4 million residents lost power
and telephone service. Cellular phone networks that survived Frances’s gale
force winds quickly became overloaded. Enter ham radio. Amateur Radio
Newsline’s David Black, KB4KCH has been following the story from our
South-East bureau in Birmingham, Alabama:

--

When Hurricane Frances hit Florida on Labor Day weekend, the storm ripped roofs
off buildings, toppled trees and cut power to about 4 million people. Also
lost was part of the states telephone and cellular service. This created a
communications vacuum.

But hams affiliated with SATERN - the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio
Network, A-R-E-S, and the Hurricane Watch Net were expecting Frances. Radio
amateurs had been tracking this storm as it ravaged its way across the
Caribbean. And it was ham radio that let the world know of the destruction the
giant storm had caused as it hit some of the islands:

--

“Roger roger. On Elutheria Ill say about 40 percent of the structures have
damage. In the Rainbow Bay area where I live I would say about 70% of the
hhomes here have structural damage. Over.�

--

Once a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph, Frances had weakened to a
Category 2 storm as it neared Florida. Winds dropped to a peak of 105 mph as
it made landfall at Sewall's Point, north of Palm Beach, around 1 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time on Saturday, September 4th. Ham radio operators affiliated with
the Hurricane Watch Net tracked its approach:

--

“This is KA5E with the Hurricane Watch Net. We are currently taking measured
weather reports out of the affected area for Hurricane Frances. Do I have any
stations on with pdates or signifigant weather reports. KA5E, over.�

--

The powerful storm hit Florida with ferocious winds and sheets of rain. The
hurricane was so large and slow moving that its western outer edges had began
arriving on the east coast on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning its eastern
edges were still pounding the coast from which 2.5 million people had been told
to flee. Repeaters interconnected using I-R-L-P and Echolnk were pressed into
service to help coordinate the latest round of evacuations:

--


“KC4PNC KB1CYO net control. Go ahead sir,�

“They have called for mandatory evacuation for Hillsboro county for
manufactured homes and also mobile homes. They have not ordered a mandatory
for low lieing areas but they are strongly recommendng it.�


--

And as evacuee’s poured into shelters, communications volunteers were needed.
A call was put out over the interlinked repeater network and the hams
responded

--

“We are looking for any volunteerr Amateur Radio operators to help with
shelters. We have eight shelters open right now. Those are being manned.
However, since its a declared evacuation all of the other shelters will be
opened and we are looking for vlunteers to man those shelters. KC4PNC.�

--

As Frances path of destruction hit Florida's central Atlantic coast counties,
blinding rain squalls drove clouds of sand into the air. At the same time high
waves thundered onto the beaches. One ham watched as his rain gage was torn
away and white caps pounded asho

--

“Any kind of rainfall accumulation?�

“No, that gage blew away but I can tell you that we are in a high tide area
right now and I can see the tides up about a foot and a half and I have water
coming over my seawall. But its not a problem. We are still at a much higher
elevation. The water is over the seawall along the Intercoastal Waterway.�

--

As palm trees rained coconuts and then toppled over and buildings suffered
extensive damage there was also a tragedy at sea. And the U-S Coast Guard
turned to Amateur Radio for help:

--

“I want to remind the net that the Coast Guard has asked us to lend
assistance in the search for the Anna Marie. It is a vessel that went down off
the coast of Sarasota this evening about 10 to 12 miles out. Any assistance or
any information on the Anna Marie that went down with the crew 10 o 12 miles
out of Sarasota, the U.S. Coast Guard would appreciate your assistance.�

--

At airtime its not known what happened to the Anna Marie nor the fate of its
crew. But as the search continued, there was yet another threat. Early on
Sunday the 5th, the massive weather system spawned a tornado, and the warning
went out over the I-R-L-P ham radio network:

--

“The tornado is expected to be by Bostwick by by 2:45 Eastern, Forholm by
3:00 a.m. and thats all I have.�

--

As that twister touching down the National Weather Service office in
Jacksonville issued a tornado warning for Northern Clay County including the
city of Orange Park. Also affected were St. Johns, Clay, and Putnam Counties.
And as dawn was breaking radar picked up a developing tornado near Doctors
Inlet moving West at 45 mph. Only some damage to roofs was reported.

But reporting weather was not the only chore radio amateurs were involved in.
Another as health and welfare. Letting worried relatives and friends know
about those stuck in Frances path. Many like this central American station who
was happy to hear that the hurricane was headed away from his daughters
location:

--

“OK. Great. Thank you very much. I appreciate that information. We are
here in a location where we do not have any TV or any other communication. We
are on the beach on the West coast of Panama. So thanks very much I do
appreciate it. This is HB1XRO and the handle is Bob.�


--

By Monday afternoon, Frances had crossed the eastern Gulf of Mexico and made
its second landfall in Florida's northwest Panhandle section some 20 miles
south of Tallahassee. Now it only a tropical storm with sustained wind near 65
mph. Damage was mainly to power and telephone lines. At that point the
forecasters were predicting the storm would move north-northwest at about 8
mph, and was not expected to regain hurricane strength.

Frances soaked Georgia, dumping 11 inches of rain in a 24 hour period in the
town of Patterson.

Media reports blame Frances for at least seven deaths in Florida, including two
people who were killed Saturday when the roof of he building they were in
collapsed. There were also two deaths in the Bahamas. One of these was a
teenager who was reportedly electrocuted when he tried to hook up a generator
to a power mains that was still on.

With thanks to the hams who supplied the storm audio over the Internet used in
this report, I’m David Black, KB4KCH at the South-East bureau in Birminham
Alabama for the Amateur Radio Newsline. (ARNewsline(tm))

--


**

RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO PREPARES FOR IVAN

And its not over yet. As we go to air Hurricane Ivan is making its way cross
the Caribbean and could strike the United States. CQ's newsdesk reports that
Amateur Radio at the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC, was to be reactivated
for Hurricane Ivan at 2 PM EDT Thursday, Sept. 9, and will be active on
Friday-Sunday 8 AM-11 PM EDT. The Hurricane Center will be on the Hurricane
Watch Net on 20 meters as well as the VoIP Hurricane Net,. The latter is a
combination of IRLP and Echolink stations.

The Cayman Islands and Jamaica are the next locations in the path of this
extremely dangerous Category V Hurricane which now has maximum sustained
winds of 160 MPH per the latest advisory issued at 5 AM EDT Thursday morning.

VoIP Net Control Station Rob Macedo, KD1CY, says they are trying to
coordinate with the IRLP node owners on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica on
usage of their nodes and liaisons to those affected areas. Currently there
are no Echolink or IRLP nodes in Cuba.

National Hurricane Center advisories indicate that the path of Hurricane
Ivan is not clear after it passes over Cuba on Sunday. Residents in the
affected area should monitor the situation closely. There is a possibility
that the hurricane's forward progress could slow and emergency nets may be
activated for an extended period of time. It also means that ham radio
communications volunteers could have a lot more to do in the coming days. (CQ)


**

Break 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on
bulletin stations around the world including the repeaters of the Condor
Connection intertie serving the great American South-West.

(5 sec pause here)


**

RESCUE RADIO: FIRST RESPONDERS SAY THEY NEED INTEROPERABILITY

Meantime, three years after the nine eleven terrorist attacks, thousands of
police and fire divisions in cities and counties across the United States still
do not have coordinated communications capabilities. So says the First
Response Coalition and Amateur Radio Newslines Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the
details:

--


The First Response Coalition calls this lack of interoperability an unresolved
national crisis and it has decided to take on the FCC and big business to solve
it. This as the organization reaches out directly to more than 43,000 local
police and fire officials to solicit their help.

First Response wants Congress to overturn the FCC decision to award spectrum to
Nextel in favor of a plan that deals both with interference problem and the
interoperability crisis. Gene Stilp, who is the First Response Coalition
coordinator says that the FCC plan involving Nextel is wrong for police
officers and firefighters. This is because it only takes on only part of the
interference issue. Moreover, it does not do anything about the lack of
interoperability between emergency response groups.

The First Response Coalition says that this outreach program is getting a very
favorable grassroots response. So far over 17 fire chiefs have joined ranks
with the group in opposing the FCC's current plan for what they call a give
away of taxpayer-owned spectrum.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I‘m Norm Seeley, KI7UP.

--

About the only emergency responders these days who have full two way radio
interoperability are radio amateurs. Hams had voluntarily set world-wide
communications standards many years ago. (First Response Coalition release)

**

RESCUE RADIO: AMBER ALERT LINKS UP TO THE WEB

The nation's Amber Alert system has become a web available tool. This, thanks
to a portal made available by the E2C company of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Until now, Amber Alerts have been a primarily radio based technology. This
meant that messages had depended on the nation's Emergency Alert system for
relay and delivery. The new Web-based system can process and transmit the same
emergency information more quickly and make it available to a wider variety of
devices. It also comes with software that pinpoints the location of a child
abduction and sends out emergency notification targeted to that geographic
area.

As of now, Amber Alert managers in 11 states have access to the new portal.
Use of the system is expected to expand to the 49 states that have statewide
Amber Alert systems. Hawaii has no statewide system but has several local
alert networks. (E2C)

**

THE BPL FIGHT: VK 4-WHEELERS JOIN BPL FIGHT

A Four Wheel Drive hobby group has joined the fight against BPL. Its happening
down-under. WIA Newscaster Phil Waite ,VK2DKN, reports:

--

The VKS737 4WD HF Radio Network, joined the fight against BPL last week,
following the recent WIA news broadcast by Jim Linton, VK3PC, highlighting the
BPL industry's attack on interference protection for so called `recreational
radio services' and an approach from WIA Director, Glen Dunstan, VK4DU.

VKS737 are currently circulating their members with information about the
threat BPL poses to their activities, and encouraging their members to lobby
politicians on the issue.

The VKS737 network is used extensively for emergency communications in remote
areas, as well as serving the communications needs of outback travellers. Their
current membership is around 7,000 and they potentially reach 250,000
Australian 4WD owners.

Many of their network base stations are in urban areas potentially affected by
BPL and VKS737 members are rightly concerned about the threat presented to
their HF communications. Their organisation is also associated with the
Australian Citizens Emergency Radio network, who provide similar services on
citizens band frequencies.

Phil Waite, VK2DKN, for the WIA National News.

--


The Wireless Institute of Australia is discussing ways the two organizations
can assist each other in the fight against BPL. (WIA News)

**


INTRUDER WATCH: STRANGE SIGNALS AT 7238 KHZ

According to Bob Gonsett, W6VR, for the past three weeks, hams in the
southwestern U.S. have been reporting a mysterious signal in the 40-meter band.
One party described it as a "mechanical sound." Another speculated that it
was "data."

Engineers at Communications General Corporation in Fallbrook California took a
quick look at the situation on Septeember 6th. And at 3:20 P-M Pacific
Daylight Savings Time the company found several close-spaced CW carriers. The
four strongest signals at CGC's lab were on 7238.063, 7238.150, 7238.237 and
7238.412 kHz. The signal on .237 was the strongest of the group and the
frequencies reported should each be accurate to better than plus or minus 30
Hz.

Communications General says it is not sure if the signal was coming from one
specially modulated transmitter or from transmitters at different locations.
Bob Gonsett adds that it will be interesting to learn the source or sources of
these transmissions. (W6VR, CGC)

**

SAFETY: RADIO ENGINEER ELECTROCUTED WHILE WORKING ALONE AT TOWER SITE

The hazards of working near power lines has been brought front and center
again. This with word that a Wyoming broadcast engineer has killed while
working at a transmitter site in Colorado.

Thirty nine year old Robin Bradley Thomas was killed while working alone,
trying to install a radio transmitter. The accident happened about 18 miles
northwest of Red Feather Lakes in northern Colorado. Indications are that
Thomas of Cheyenne died when he accidentally came in contact with high-voltage
and was electrocuted. Thomas was described as an experienced engineer who
contracted out his services. (CGC)

**

RADIO LAW: CELLPHONE PROVIDERS SUED OVER LOCKED PHONES

A consumer watchdog group sued three cellular telephone companies. This. for
"locking" their phones to make it harder for customers to switch carriers.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is the group that filed the
suit in Los Angeles. It accuses AT&T Wireless Services Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc.
and Cingular Wireless, of using software in their handsets that prevents them
from being used on a competitors' network.

All phones in question use Global System Mobile communications, or GSM
technology which effectively limits a handset to a specific carrier using a non
interchangeable SIM card. The lawsuit complains that this is an unfair and
deceptive business practice under California state law.

The phone companies are defending their policy. They say that they routinely
subsidize handset cost and would loose substantial revenue if they allowed
customers to easily use those phones with another carrier. (Foundation for
Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)

**

REPEATER COORDINATION: METROCOR MORITORIUM TO END DECEMBER 15

Attention repeater owners in the New York metro and surrounding area. An
impoerant deadline is aproaching.

You may remember that your new area frequency coordinator MetroCor had put in
place a two year moritorium on new co-channel coordinations when the group came
into being. It had also asked existing repeater operators who have
documented proof of expired coordination from the now defunct Tri State Amateur
Repeater Council to update their coordinations with MetroCor.

In a posting to QRZ.com, MetroCor's Mario Sellitti, N2PVP, says that this
moratorium had minimized the possibility that new coordinations might
inadvertently displace longstanding users of the spectrum. It also helped to
avoid creating disputes where none previously existed.

Now, says Sellitti, this period must now come to an end. He says that MetroCor
will be terminating the moratorium as of midnight, Saturday, December 15th.

But he adds this qualifier. Sellitti says that anyone in the area having a
repeater or knowing of one belonging to another ham, and that repeater
qualifies for this exception, to please refer to MetroCor’s on-line F-A-Q in
item No. 11. This will give you or the person with the other machine the
information needed to gain new coordination through MetroCor. Those in need
will find it on-line at www.metrocor.net/faq.htm. (MetroCor, QRZ.com)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: W9DXCC CONVENTION IN ILLINOIS IN SEPT

Turning to upcoming social events, Joe Shrader, W9JUV says that the 52nd annual
W9DXCC Convention and Banquet takes place Saturday, September 18th. This years
venue is the Holiday Inn Chicago in Elk Grove, Illinois with noted DXer and
author John Devoldere, ON4UN, as the featured banquet speaker.

John Devoldere leads the world in countries worked on 80 meters with over 350,
and is first ham outside of North America on 160 meters with over 290 contacts.
He is also an avid contester was elected to the CQ Contest Hall of fame in
1997. Devoldere is also one of the best speakers in the hobby.

This is a show you won’t want to miss. For registration and lodging
information visit the www.qth.com/w9dxcc on the world wide web. (W9JUV)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: SVHFS IN NC NEXT APRIL

And make plans now to attend the 9th Annual Southeastern VHF Society
Conference. The 2005 gathering will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina next
April 29 and 30.

Guy Titman, K4NUS has offered to be host and facilities chair for 2005
gathering. More information is on the web at www.svhfs.org (VHF Reflector)

**

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)

**

HAM TECHNOLOGY: HAM DREAM DIGITAL VOICE QSO

What is believed to be the first two-way digital voice contact in South Africa
took place between ZS1AN and ZS1AU on August 10th. Contact was made on 15
meters with both amateurs using Ham Dream software for the QSO. Amateur Radio
Newsline’s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW has the details:

--

Ham Dream is an open-source version of the Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasting
standard. It was adapted for amateur use by HB9TLK and gives hams the ability
to talk almost noise free. Here’s how.

Speech is converted to digital data using a low-bitrate vocoder analog to
digital converter. The data is then transmitted using a high-speed modem. At
the receiving end the data is decoded to recover the audio at the receiver.
Although still in the evelopment stages, there is worldwide interest in Digital
Voice, which can deliver very high signal-to-noise ratios over medium quality
narowband S-S-B channels.

For those who want to experiment, HamDream software can be downloaded free of
charge from the South African Radio League's website at www.sarl.org.za.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting.

--

Further information on digital voice in ham radio is available on HB9TLK's
website. Its in cyberspace at www.qsl.net/hb9tlk (GB2RS)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: TiVO OVER THE NET

Federal regulators have approved technology allowing TiVo subscribers to send
copies of recorded shows over the Internet. In its decision, the Federal
Communications Commission said the new feature by Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo has
enough protections in place to prevent mass distribution of copyrighted
material.

The technology would allow a TiVo subscriber to download broadcasts to a
computer and send copies of recorded shows over the Internet to an office or
home or to a small circle of friends, as long as they are on the subscriber's
registered account. The Motion Picture Association of America, the National
Football League and others complained that the new service would allow the 1.6
million TiVo subscribers to redistribute shows over the Internet to virtually
anyone, anywhere. (Published news reports)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: FCC TAKES NEXT STEPS TO PROMOTE DIGITAL TV TRANSITION

Its full speed ahead with the conversion to digital television. So says the
FCC as it issues a Report and Order that it says implements several steps
necessary for the "continued progress of the conversion of the nation's
television broadcast system from analog technology to digital television.

The paper covers almost every aspect of the conversion process over the next
several years. It also highlights the coming events and should be considered
"must reading" for those interested or involved in the future of digital T-V.
You will find it on-line at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-250542A1.doc (CGC, FCC)

**

WORLDBEAT: NEW UK REPEATER SERVES LONDON AND KENT

And if you are planning a trip to the UK, don’t forget your reciprocal
license and your HT. And be sure to try out a new repeater serving the needs
of hams in the North Kent and South East London England area.

Its call is GB3OK and it is sponsored by the Bromley Repeater Group and it
went on the air on the 16th of August. It transmits on 145.650 MHz with the
standard 600 Kilohertz input offset and requires a 103.5Hz tone to access the
receiver. The trustee of GB3OK or repeater keeper as the British call them is
Tony Ravelini, G1HIG, in the city of Kent. (GB2RS)

**

DX

In DX, HA3JB tells the Ohio Penn D-X Newsletter that he will operate as SU8BHI
from Cairo, Egypt. This, from September 21st through December 20th. Activity
will include CW, PSK, RTTY, SSTV and some SSB. QSL direct to HA3JB. (OPDX)

And UA9OBA, has been active as JT100M. This is a special callsign being used
until September 13th during the Mongolian leg of the Altay-Himalaya Transasian
off-road expedition. Activity has been mainly on 20 meters SSB around 14.180
Mhz. QSL via UA9OBA. (OPDX)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: THA FINAL ITEM: A KEYLESS T-HUNT

And finally this week, a Michigan ham radio operator from the Ford Motor
Company was part of a two man team that has solved the mystery of
malfunctioning remote keyless car door openers, garage door openers and other
such devices in Las Vegas, Nevada. A problem with R-K-E devices that had
baffled many residents since a massive outage began last February.

Las Vegas resident Bill Zawistowski was one of those complaining. He and
others vented their frustration to anyone who would listen including the FCC.
Ford responded by flying in two R-F detectives. Earl Morse, N8SS, represented
the auto maker and Nabil Hachem was from Alps Automotive, which makes the
keyless car-door devices. And it did not take very long for Morse and Hachem
to figure out what was happening:

--

Morse: “When we got there we discovered a signal in the paassband of the RKE
receivers which was actually strong enough to keep the RKE from activating its
own receiver in the vehicles. We investigated further and found it to be a
stuck repeater. We can leave it at that.�

--

Morse says it was not much different than a ham radio T-hunt except for the
frequency:

--

Morse: “Having experienced Fox Hunting first hand. the only difficult art was
shifting all my equipment to that frequency. All of my antennas were
relatively useless because they were cut to 2 meters an 440 so we had to make
some new antennas for the 315 Mhz. band.�

“We did have one advantage in that the RKE group had purchased a Doppler
direction finder and we utilized that a lot.�

--

Morse tells Amateur Radio Newsline that once they found the transmitter it only
took a few phone calls to get it turned off. The problem did surface again a
week later but this time one landline call got it to go QRT for good.
(ARNewsline (tm))

**

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 and
Australia's W-I-A 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), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I’m Don Wilbanks,
AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
is Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.