Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1368 – October 31 2003


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A NOTE TO THOSE WHO ONLY “READ� AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE(tm)

For those of you who only know of the Amateur Radio Newsline (tm) as a text
newsletter we would like to invite you to listen to the audio version. This
Amateur Radio Newsline (tm) script is actually written for the “spoken
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de
The Newsline Production Team

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Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1368 with a release date of Friday,
October 31st 2003 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio comes to the rescue as southern California
is swept by wildfires and a new Amateur Radio satellite will be launched early
next year. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1368
coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO AND THE SOCAL FIRES

From the Mexican border to the suburbs north of Los Angeles, large sections of
the Southern California were under siege the past week. This, as ten major
and several smaller wildfires blazed their way across the area.

Fanned by hot, dry Santa Ana winds gusting to 60 miles an hour, the wildfires
dervored everything it their path. At least a eighteen people are dead and
over 1500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. And as we go to air, well
over 1 million acres have burned.

Gordon West, WB6NOA, has been at one of the busiest Red Cross evacuation
centers for the past several days. He took time out to file this first hand
report on how hams are aiding in fire relief efforts:

--
Audio report only. Hear it at www.arnewsline.org/quincy
--

As we go to air, ham radio operators continue their firefighting communications
support efforts. More on their role in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports.
(ARNewsline(tm))

**

RESCUE RADIO: KCOP REPORTS ON HAMS DOING FIRE DUTY

Los Angeles television station KCOP appears to be the only one so far to
mention the role the role ham radio operators are playing in fighting the
Southern California wildfires.

On Monday night October 27th, the stations 11 P.M. newscast showed video of a
group of unidentified hams at their radios in the Los Angeles western suburb of
Simi Valley. At the same time anchorman Rick Garcia read a brief synopsys of
what the radio amateurs were doing. It explained how the hams could provide
communications between the various relief agencies that could not speak
directly with one another.

While short and simple, the report was well written, accurate and nicely done.
KCOP is one of two Fox owned stations serving the Los Angeles area.
(ARNewsline(tm))

**

RESCUE RADIO: CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES FROM SPACE

The wildfires that ravaged southern California were even impressive from space.
Just before returning to Earth, NASA astronaut Ed Lu took photographs from 240
miles above the fires through the windows of the International Space Station.
The photos taken on Sunday October 26th are on-line at
www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station. (NASA)

**

RADIO LAW: AUTHORITIES LOOKING FOR ALLEGED TOWER TERRORIST

Law enforcement authorities in northern California and southern Oregon are
searching for a man seen tampering with electrical towers. This, as one
official says that the incident smacks of being an act of domestic terrorism.

According to the CGC Communicator, the latest incident took place the week of
October 20th just south of Redding California. It involved a heav-set man who
used large wrenches to completely unbolt one leg of a four legged transmission
tower.

Authorities say that he had half the bolts removed from a second leg when he
was spotted and fled. Witnesses chased the suspect onto Interstate 5, where he
sped south into Tehama County and disappeared. As we go to air he is still at
large.

According to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
suspect is similar in description to a man seen removing bolts at another tower
near Klamath Falls, Oregon earlier in the day. He is described as a white
male, in his early 60’s with long, blackish-gray hair and a salt-and-pepper
beard.

More details on this story and the suspect are in cyberspace at:
http://redding.com/top_stories/local...toplo043.shtml (CGC Communicator)

**

Break 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on
bulletin stations around the world and this week recognizing the support of the
Quarter Century Wireless Association and its chapters world-wide.

(5 sec pause here)


**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ECHO LAUNCH ANNOUNCED

Ham radio will soon have another new bird on orbit. This as AMSAT-North
America announced that launch of the AMSAT OSCAR-E will take place on March
31st. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has mo

--

That’s right. Some really good news on the ham radio space front. This, as
word comes that the Echo ham radio microsat is now scheduled to launch on March
31, 2004.

Earlier plans had called for a May 2004 launch for the tiny bird. Echo Project
team member Richard Hambly, W2GPS, reported at AMSAT-North America's Annual
Meeting that the project has made significant progress in recent months. So
much so that advancing the launch date was possible.

Echo is a fairly simple ham radio by todays standards. It has two UHF
transmitters. Each one runs from 1 to 8 watts and the bird is capable of
simultaneous operation. Also on board are four VHF receivers and a multiband,
multimode receiver capable of operation on the 10 meters, 2 meter, 70 cm and 23
cm bands. This means all sorts of transmit and receive band combinations will
be possible once the tiny ham-sat is in space. This includes PSK31 on a
10-meter SSB uplink.

Hambly says that the project team powered up the Echo flight hardware in late
summer at Space Quest. Data communications, command and control, and attitude
control subsystems were tested. Also checked out were the radio equipment,
power systems and cabling. It all checked out and that’s good news for hams
waiting for this latest addition to its family of birds in space.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting.

--

A Russian rocket will carry the 10-inch-square satellite into a low-Earth orbit
from the famed Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (ANS)

**

PROPAGATION: ANOTHER CME AT SUNSPOT 486

More solar activity affecting ham radio. This, as one of the most powerful
solar flares ever recorded erupted on the Sun the morning of October 28th.

It happened near giant sunspot 486. That’s the sunspot we reported on last
week and this latest explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection or C-M-E directly
toward Earth.

Based on the speed and recordings it was expected to to impact the Earth’s
Magnetosphere at about 1500 U-T-C on October 29th. When it hit, the shock
alone wold produce a G 3 level geomagnetic activity. A level high enough to
produce bright auroras at high latitude sites such as Scandinavia, Alaska, and
Canada.

As hams are well aware, a solar storm can fully disrupt communications on some
bands while creating unexpected propagation on others. What this one is doing
is still developing as we go to air. More on this story as the reports come
in. (ASWLC)

**

DX DEBACLE: ANNABON ISLAND TEAM SPEAKS OUT

An update to the plight of the plight of the Dxpedition group forced to flea
Annabon Island a few weeks ago. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, is in Nottingham England
with the rest of the story.

--

We reported two weeks ago that the 3C0V DXpedition to Annobon Island - off the
west coast of Africa - had been forced to close down but at that time the
reason for the enforced closure was not known. A press release has now been
issued by the 3C0V team which says that all four operators - DJ9ZB, EA5YN,
EA5FO and EA5BYP - are now back home safe and sound.

The press release says that each operator had proper individual licences and
the group had written authorisation to import and operate amateur radio
equipment on the island. However, on the 4th of October the military
authorities there demanded that the group should dismantle the stations and
leave for the Equatorial Guinea capital. Two days later DJ9ZB and EA5FO were
allowed to leave the country but the other two team members remained in the
capital until the 10th, when they were eventually able to return to Spain.

Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.

--

The complete press release is in cyberspace at www.tabarca.es.mn Wew will have
more DX news later on in this weeks program. (GB2RS)

**

ENFORCEMENT: FCC WRITES TWO CITIES ABOUT INTERFERENCE TO THEIR HAMS

The FCC has contacted officials in two cities about interference to their local
ham radio operators. The Agency’s Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, explains:

--

Duckworth: “The mayor of Lubbock Texas, along with copies to the Lubbock
City Manager, the Lubbock City Attorney and Lubbock Power and Light have been
sent a letter concerning interference to Brian Edwards, W5KFT. This
interference, possibly from equipment operated by Lubbock Power and Light,
dates back to 1998.

Along similar lines, the mayor of Gouverneur, New York, has a follow-up letter
concerning the lack of response to a previous FCC notification of RFI to Morton
Howard, W2ATO. The mayor has 15 days from receipt to reply.

This has been Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, reporting.�

--

Both mayors were invited to contact FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth if
they have any questions concerning these matters. (FCC, RAIN)


**

ENFORCEMENT: FCC RAIDS SAN FRANCISCO UNLICENSED STATION

The Federal Communications Commission has raided the San Francisco couple's
home and shut down an unlicensed radio station. The action removed Liberation
Radio, a low-power alternative FM station that broadcasts political views and
independent music programs from the airwaves.

The operation took place at the residence of Jim and Charlotte Hatch. The
Hatch's had been told to take the station off the air before the raid. Their
first warning came in July, when FCC investigators showed up at the couple's
home and asked to inspect the equipment. They refused the FCC entry and were
warned that they faced a potential $17,000 fine.

Instead, agents returned on Wednesday October 15th with a search warrant and
more than a dozen federal marshals and confiscated the stations’ broadcast
equipment. This included the transmitter, mixing console, computers, tape and
CD players, turntables and even the rooftop antenna.

No charges have yet been filed against anyone associated with the station but
further enforcement action is expected in this case. (Published news reports)

**

ENFORCEMENT: TEXAS FIRMS CITED FOR CB RADIO VIOLATIONS

The FCC has cited David P. Pace Jr of Nacogoches, Texas, for alleged violations
of its rules dealing with the sale of 11 meter C-B gear. According to ther
agency, Pace, doing business as Pacetronics and Pace Marketing was offering for
sale more than three dozen types of non certificated CB transceivers under the
guise of them being ham radio transceivers.

According to the ARRL Letter, the FCC evaluated similar radios and found that
the devices at issue are not only amateur radios but can easily be altered for
use as Citizens Band devices as well. The regulatory agency says that dual use
CB and amateur radio gear cannot be certificated under its rules.

The FCC also warned Pace that its rules requires certification for external RF
power amplifiers or amplifier kits capable of operation between 24 and 35 MHz.
The FCC asked Pace to submit a written statement describing actions taken to
correct the apparent violations. The FCC's Dallas office issued the citation.
(ARRL)

**

COMMUNICATIONS CRIMES: FLORIDA MAN CONVICTED OF VIOLATING DMCA

A Boca Raton Florida man has been convicted of selling hardware to illegally
tap into DirecTV satellite broadcasts. Following a four-day trial in federal
court, a jury has found that Thomas Michael Whitehead guilty of one count of
conspiracy, two counts of selling devices designed to unlawfully decrypt
satellite television programming and three counts of violating the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a 1998 federal law that makes it
illegal to make or sell any technology designed to get around copy protection
measures such as the electronic cards used by DirecTV to give consumers access
to its programming. With his conviction, Whitehead becomes the first person to
be found guilty by a jury under it. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in
federal prison and up to up to $2.75 million in fines. (Published news reports)

**

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)


**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: GET READY FOR BOOK RFI

Remember those Radio Frequency I-D tags that are of such concern to ham radio?
Well you will never guess where they are about to show up. Ken Butler, W1NNR,
tells us:

--
The San Francisco Public Library's plans to track books by inserting an RFID
tag to each one. These are the same radio tags that hams tried to get the FCC
to not deplioy earlier this year.

Now, library officials in the Bay area say that they will install the
RFID’s, into the roughly two million books, CDs and audio visual materials
patrons can borrow. The system still needs funding and probably will not be
ready for deployment until at least 2005.

--

So in a few years when you receive QRM to your ham radio operations, you might
find that its coming from that novel you are reading late at night. (Science
Today)

**

CONVENTIONS AND HAMFESTS: HAMVENTION 2004 WILL BE AT THE HARA

The Hamvention will remain at the HARA Arena through 2004. This, according to
an announcement from the Dayton Amateur Radio Association which says that it
has signed a one year contract that will keep Hamvention at the facility
through next years outing.

The Hamvention planners are also looking for volunteers that want to help make
Hambention 2004 a big success. To help gather support a new volunteer your
services form is available at the Hamvention website. Its an on-line, fill in
the blank form and you will find it at www.hamvention.org/volunteer.html.
Just fill it out and the Hamvention folks will get back and let you know how
you can assist.

The 53rd annual Hamvention will be held May 14th through the 16th, 2004, at
the HARA Arena in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood Ohio. (DARA)

**

CONVENTIONS AND HAMFESTS: MICROWAVE MEET IN THE UK

Meantime, word that the Martlesham Microwave Round Table will take place on
Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of November. This, at the B-T Adastral
Park, near the city of Ipswich in the United Kingdom. Featured will be a full
program of talks and seminars including speakers from Europe and the United
States along with a giant flea market. Full information is on-line at
http://mmrt.homedns.org. There is no www in this URL address. (GB2RS)

**

ON THE AIR: THE 2003 SIX METER SPRINT

Last weekends 6 meter Sprint brought quite a bit of operation to the Magic
Band. NEZ0P, one of the stations posting to the VHF Reflector says that he
heard or contacted several semi rare stations for this time of the year. This
included AA7J in grid DN-30, VE3CDP portable W9 in EM-58 and a couple of
others. John adds that he held 34 Q-S-O’s with stations in 25 grid squares
during the short operating event. This included contacts into Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont. Not bad for a band that usually produces little
excitement at this time of year. (VHF eflector)

**

ON THE AIR: THE BAJA NET INVITES YOU

Berand Kirschner, WB0YCQ, reminds everyone that the The Baja Net meets daily at
08: 00 local California time on 7.238 Mhz. Kirschner describes the Baja Net as
a friendly gathering spot for boaters. RV’ers and others who carry ham radio
as they roam. (WB0YCQ)


**

DX

In D-X, word that ES1FB plans to be active as XW1FB. This, from Vientiane,
Laos, threough the 4th of November. No word on times, frequencies or modes.
(GB2RS)

Also on through November 4th will be K3BYV and N3CXM. They will are active as
PZ5DX and PZ5JR respectively from Suriname. For both operations,. QSL as
directed on the air. (GB2RS)

And GB50RAEN is on the air to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of
Raynet. Raynet is Great Britain’d equivlant of our ARES and RACES combined.
The station is being operated by groups from West Midlands Raynet in the UK.
(GB2RS)

Lastly, VK8NSB reports via Q-News that the Darwin Amateur Radio Club in
Ausrtralia’s Northern Territory will be operating a special event station to
celebrate 25 years of self government. The station signing VI8NT will be on
through the 31st of December. QSL directly to VK6NE or via the bureau. (Q-News)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: ARNEWSLINE(tm) NAMES NT3V NEW CHAIR OF YHOTY COMMITTEE

And finally this week, we at the Amateur Radio Newsline are happy to announce
the appointment of Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, as the new Chairman of our Young Ham
of the Year Award Committee. Abramowicz replaces Larry Zettwoch, KR4IF, who
served in that position the past 9 years.

For those of you not familiar with NT3V, Mark hails from Reading Pennsylvania,
and happens to be the father of our 2002 Young Ham of the Year award recipient,
Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY. But Mark and Josh are not the only hams in the
Abramowicz family. Mark’s wife Suzanna is NZ3G and his daughter Amy holds
the call sign KB3IJW. Only the two youngest members of the Amramowicz family
-- sons Jonathan and Jordan are not licensed. At least not yet.

By profession, Mark is a news reporter and anchor at KYW radio in Philadelphia
where he is known professionally as Mark Abrams. He is also is an adjunct
professor at Temple University where he teaches writing for mass media and
broadcast newswriting. And like his predecessor, Mark is very involved with
the scouts and scouting program as are his two older children.

A very nice bio on Mark Anramowicz, NT3V, can be found at the KYW website.
That U-R-L is http://www.kywam.com/staff/bios_detail.cfm?biosid=53
(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 Q-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 Jim Davis,
W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
is Copyright 2003. All rights reserved.