Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1571 - September 21, 2007

The following is a closed circuit
advisory. Ladies and gentlemen, our Support Fund
Administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ:

--

OK, you all know why I am here. Its almost fall
and all the bills from summertime have been
mounting up. And, as usual, there is really not
very much left in the treasury to pay them.

Its always this way. During June, July and
August, people are spending more time away from
home. You are out camping or at a ball game.
Maybe it's a concert or traveling on vacation. We
all do it, but most of you also find a local
repeater to listen to this weekly newscast no matter where you go.

Now think of this. Our expenses to bring you the
news are the same no matter if you are listening
on the road, on an HT or from your hamshack at
home. Eventually the bills have got to get paid and that time has come.

Now that everyone back at home and into their
fall and winter life schedule, we ask that you
take a few moments to send a donation to the
Amateur Radio Newsline support fund so that we
can keep these newscasts coming your way. Making
a contribution is only a mouse click away if you
have Pay Pal. Just go to www.arnewsline.org and
click on the button at the top of the page marked
"Make Donation." Or you can send in a donation to
the Amateur Radio Newsline Support Fund, Post
Office Box 660937, Arcadia California, 91066.

Whichever way you choose, the all volunteer crew
at the Amateur Radio Newsline will be eternally grateful.

Once again that's the Amateur Radio Newsline
Support Fund, Post Office Box 660937, Arcadia
California, 91066. Or by Pay Pal at www.arnewsline.org

As always, we thank you.

For the Support Fund, I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ.

--

Thank you Andy. Now, Amateur Radio Newsline
report number 1571 with a release date of Friday,
September 21st, 2007 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. The Market Reef DX
operation is called a major success, the FCC
re-launches its Disaster Information reporting
system and hams in Soccoro New Mexico donate an
emergency warning radio relay system to that
city. Find out the details on Amateur Radio
Newsline(tm) report number 1571 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

TROTTING THE GLOBE: A BIG SUCCESS AT MARKET REEF

The recent outing to the very rare Marker Reef
has been deemed to be am overwhelming
success. Rob Mount Barker, VK5MM, has the details:

--

The August 2007 outing to Market Reef, OJ0B was
designed to decorate the lighthouse with powerful
antennas that can only be hoisted in good weather
conditions. The group was successful, and in addition to
making more than 13.000 QSOs a SteppIR beam plus
an assortment of wire antennas were mounted at the light.

The newly composed group of OH0RJ, OH2BH, OH2MM,
OH2PM, OH7EA and OH8NC plan to be operational
from September 15 until, including both
Scandinavian Activity Contests, with three
stations. Now they have more flexibility since
they have a resident helicopter at their disposal.

Once again, if you are a stamp collector or wish
to receive your QSL card with unique Market Reef
stamps, you may send an SASE with 7 Euros (10
USD) as your postage/donation to the Finnish Lighthouse Society
via QSL manager OH2BH.

--

The Finnish Lighthouse Society has been active
repairing the lighthouse this past summer. You
can follow their activities on line a
thttp://www.lighthousesociety.fi/eng/ (WIA)


**


RESCUE RADIO: HAMS THANKED FOR ZACA FIRE HELP

Now that the giant California Zaca fire we have
been following is under control, Bruce Carter, of
Santa Barbara County's Office of Emergency
Services has issued an official thank you to all
of the hams who assisted during and after the blaze.

Carters note says -- and we quote: "Thank you
for everything and for ARES support of the Zaca
Fire response. ARES volunteers really rose to
the occasion. The hours spent are much
appreciated as much as the work you all did at
the EOC and in the field. We are lucky to have
such a terrific group of ARES volunteers. Please
share our appreciation with your folks."

As previously reported, a total of 45 ARES
operators responded from Santa Maria, Lompoc,
Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa Barbara, and mutual
aid resources from Ventura. The Amateur Radio
Emergency Service volunteers coordinated their
response through the county Emergency Operations Center.

**

ARRL POLITICS: GARDENIAS DECLARED DISQUALIFIED IN DW DIVISION

Carl Gardenias, WU6D, a challenger seeking oust
incumbent Southwest Division ARRL Director
Richard Norton, N6AA, has been declared
disqualified. The announcement came
on Thursday, September 13th from the ARRL Ethics
and Elections Committee. It says Gardenias
campaign broke the ARRL's campaign
rules. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, reports.

--

First the ARRL's side of the story. According to
Chief Executive Officer Dave Sumner, K-1-Zed-Zed,
writing on behalf of the Ethics and Elections
Committee, an e-mail signed by "Cathy K6VC,
Newsletter editor" was sent on behalf of Orange
California Section Manager Carl Gardenias,
WU6D. It went out to on September 1st ARRL
Orange Section newsletter editors and Web
masters, among others. This, regarding the
Southwestern Division election for Director and Vice Director.

According to the League, the e-mail encouraged --
and we quote: "ARRL Full members to vote and
vote wisely" in the upcoming
election. Recipients were also asked to
encourage clubs to post to their websites and
into their newsletter information regarding each
candidate. It went on to list information,
including e-mail addresses and campaign Web
sites, for the two Director candidates and four
candidates for Vice Director." Cathy Gardenias,
K6VC, is an Assistant Section Manager for the
ARRL Orange Section and the wife of candidate Carl Gardenias, WU6D.

According to the ARRL's Ethics and Election
Committee, part of that information was incorrect
and Carl Gardenias was asked to correct it
immediately. This, through a specifically worded
e-mail supplied by the committee.

Carl Gardenias responded that he was at the ARRL
Southwestern Division Convention and would take
care of the matter the following Monday. The
ARRL says that was the last communication that
they had with him. At least it was by the time
ARRL Executive Vice President Dave Sumner, K1ZZ,
sent a follow-up e-mail to Gardenias on September 13th.

In that message Sumner reminded Gardenias that he
was previously advised that "candidates'
statements 'must be truthful and not misleading,
as conclusively determined by the Election
Committee. Also, that the e-mail sent on behalf
of Gardenias on September 1st violated this
standard, and that WU6D had failed to follow the
instructions of the Ethics and Elections
Committee to make a timely correction, although
he had ample opportunity to do so. Because of
this Gardenias has been disqualified as a
candidate for the office of Director of the
Southwestern Division and that his name would not
appear on the ballot. As a result, with no other
challengers, incumbent Dick Norton, N6AA, was declared as re-elected.

As to WU6D's response: On September 17th Carl
Gardenias filed an appeal of his disqualification
with the ARRL Executive Committee. To date. he
has made no public statement on the issue. But
those who feel that the ARRL's action in
disqualifying him is wrong are becoming very
vocal. Some are using the Internet to show their
displeasure. One of them is Clint Bradford, K6LCS.

Among other things, Bradford notes at the time
that the draft of Gardenias letter was submitted
to the ARRL for approval that there was no
campaign website for incumbent Dick Norton,
N6AA. That site was created after the committee
had approved the letter and that the date on the
websites U-R-L proves this. He also says that
the other charge is nothing more than a typo of an e-mail address.

As we go to air the Executive Committee is in the
process of considering Carl Gardenias appeal. We
will let you know what they decide in a future newscast.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, in Los Angeles.

--

It should be noted that WU6D, is not the first
candidate in the Southwestern Division election
to be disqualified from holding an ARRL elective
office. Almost two decades ago educator Gordon
West, WB6NOA, was told he could not run for Vice
Director because he was writing a column for a
publication called CB Radio Magazine. Ironically
this took place at a time when the ARRL was
trying to recruit new hams from the ranks of CB
operators who were ready to move up to Amateur
Radio. (ARRL ARNewsline(tm), QRZ.COM, others)

**

Break 1

From the United States of America, We are the
Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin
stations around the world including the Pentucket
Radio Club repeater serving Groveland Massachusetts.

(5 sec pause here)


**

RESCUE RADIO: FCC LAUNCHES DISASTER INFO REPORTING SYSTEM

The Federal Communication Commission's Public
Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has launched
a redesigned version of the so far voluntary,
Web-based automated disaster information
reporting system. All communications companies,
including broadcasting, wireline, wireless and
cable can use the system to report communications
infrastructure status and other critical information during a crisis.

The disaster reporting system includes data
templates for different communications
sectors. To use it, companies would initially
log onto the system to input their emergency
contact information for all individuals in each
firm who would be providing information on the
status of communications equipment in the event
of a disaster. This information will be secured
by the commission and protected from public release.

Once this is done, the companies that serve areas
affected by disasters will be able to voluntarily
submit information regarding, the status of their
communications equipment, restoration efforts,
power such as whether they are using commercial
power, generator or battery and their access to
fuel. The information will be treated as confidential for security reasons

The commission said the system would help
streamline reporting and enable communications
providers to share network status information
with the FCC quickly and efficiently. When this
disaster data collection system is activated in
response to a crisis, contacts in the system will
be sent an e-mail letting them know the disaster
area and the communications providers that are
requested to provide data on the status of their communications equipment.

The FCC said that its establishment of the
database follows the recommendations submitted by
an independent panel reviewing the impact of
Hurricane Katrina on communications. (RW)

**

RESCUE RADIO: NM HAMS DONATE SEVERE WEATHER EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

Thanks to the Socorro Amateur Radio Association,
an early warning system will alert the police
when dangerous weather approaches New Mexico's
Rio Grande Valley. This, after volunteers from
the local ham radio group built the needed gear
and then donated it to the 911 Call Center.

According to association member Jon Spargo,
KC5NTW, Socorro sits in a void in the National
Weather Service radio based alert system. In New
Mexico there are two that can broadcast toward
Socorro however, neither signal is reliably received.

Remembering a hailstorm of October 5, 2004, the
local ham community was determined to make
certain that another storm would not sneak up on
them. So the Socorro Amateur Radio Association
built and installed the system at the Socorro
police station to permit city officials to hear
the National Weather Service alerts and tell them
if severe weather is headed their way.

Spargo said the general public still will not be
able to pick up the Weather Service's warning
signal because it's a direct link to city
officials. He also noted that association
members Glenn Mauger, WB5OAF and Vern Leavitt,
KD5UHB, put in many hours designing and
installing the antenna and receiver. Ownership
of the new receiving system was officially
transferred to the city of Soccoro last July 25th. (K5CEC)

**

RESCUE RADIO: REPEATER UPGRADE HELP NEEDED

California's Calaveras Amateur Radio Society is
seeking funding for a major upgrade in equipment
and emergency service capabilities. The
51-member group of radio enthusiasts has asked
the Calaveras Community Foundation for about
$11,000 to help pay for a three-phase program to
increase its emergency communication capabilities.

Using an aging, battery-powered repeater, the
Calaveras Amateur Radio Society has been helpful
to county firefighters and search and rescue
teams in rough, remote locations where normal
communication channels are hard or impossible to
establish. Coverage from the repeater, at the
Fowler Peak lookout extends over 10,000
square-miles and is open for use by all licensed amateurs.

But the club says that the 25 year old repeater
has become increasingly unreliable, and upgrading
that equipment is the society's first phase
priority. In its second phase, CARS hopes to set
up and install an Internet Radio Link Project
that would connect the Fowler Peak repeater with
others across the state, nation and world if necessary. (Union Democrat)

**

ENFORCEMENT: PROVE YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THOSE CALLS

FCC Special Counsel in Riley Hollingsworth has
sent letters to 6 radio amateurs regarding the
way in which each one obtained their vanity call
signs. Keith Coad, KW2C; Donald Flowers, NC4DF;
Jerry Counsellor, WE5JC; Todd Browne, KD0PA;
Pablo Diaz-Alequin, KP4MC and Santos Rodriguez
Colon, KP4DC, were all granted their vanity calls
by claiming that they were former holders of
these call signs. The FCC says that it cannot
find any documentation that validates their
respective claims. It instructed each ham to
respond within 20 days from the date the letter
was received and provide proof that he I eligible for that vanity call.

Also hearing from the FCC is Robert Moldenhauer,
W9CQ. The letter tp Moldenhauer concerns his
vanity call sign that he requested as a "close
relative" of the former holder. Again the FCC
ays that it cannot find any documentation of
Noldenhauer's claim. He too was given 20 days
from receiving the FCC's letter to respond and
provide proof that he's eligible for the W9CQ call sign. (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: AN UNIDENTIFIED REPEATER

Romeo Valdez, K6RMY, of San Jose, California, has
received notice from the FCC about a complaint
filed against the operation of his
station. According to the letter sent to Valdez
by the regulatory agency, the complaint alleges
that K6RMY was operating an unidentified repeater
on 147.735 MHz. Valdez was directed to review
and fully address the complaint within 20 days of
receipt of this letter. He was also warned that
his failure to respond to this letter would
constitute a separate violation of the Commission's rules. (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: TEXAS CB'ER FINED $7000 BUT WILL ONLY PAY $225

A Texas CB operator originally fined $7000 for
his refusal to permit a station inspection will
now only have to pay a token $225.

Donald Winton of Crrpus Cristi, was originally
issued a $7000 Notice of Apparent Liability to
Monetary Forfeiture. This after an inspector
from the FCC's Houston office tracked
interference to CB channel 19 to Winton's
residence. When told to turn off the transmitter
Winton obliged but he refused to let the inspector look over his gear.

The FCC rules say that he must permit such an
inspection or expect punitive action. In April
the FCC did just that by issuing the $7000
fine. But Winton provided proof he could not pay
and on September 14th the FCC decided to adjust
the amount down to the $225 level. Once he pays
it will be. case closed. (FCC)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: UPDATED PUBLICATION ON LEE DE FORREST' WORK

Radio historians: Here's one for you. An
updated booklet out of the U-K that details some
of the work of inventor Lee De Forrest. Jeramy
Boot, G4NJH, is in Nottingham with mo

--

EI5EM, has updated and expanded the information
booklet about the Vintage Radio Museum in Howth, Co. Dublin.

As well as being a guide to the museum, the
booklet is a potted history of the development of
wireless technology. It details the 1903 and 1905
experiments carried out in Howth by Lee de
Forestand the Marconi Company, and quotes from
documents published at the time.

A full page reproduction of the Dublin Penny
Journal's report on de Forest's 1903 experiments is reproduced in the
booklet.

Jerany Boot, G4NJH

--

The link to the website Jeramy mentioned is www.rsgb.org (GB2RS)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE - PACIFICON 2007 IN SAM RAMON CA.

PACIFICON 2007, sponsored by the The American
Radio Relay League Pacific Division and the the
Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club takes place
October 19th to the 21st. The venue this year is
the San Ramon Marriott Hotel in San Ramon,
California. For events, the latest updates and
ticket sales go take your web browser to www.PACIFICON.org (Pacificon)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: SEANET 2007 IN THAILAND IN NOVEMBER

The 2007 Seanet Convention takes place November
8th to the 11th in Lampang, Thailand. Seanet is
a yearly gathering of radio amateurs from all
over the world. Its also a place Lots of eyeball
QSO's and a chance to grab a few bargains. To
find out more go to www.sabah.net.my/seanet/seanet_2007.htm (Seanet))

**

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)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: FILM PIONEER WILLIAM SNYDER, W0LHS - SK

William D. Snyder, W0LHS, a pioneering filmmaker,
and prolific Amateur Radio author died on Friday, September 14th . He was
90.

Snyder was best known as one of Fargo North
Dakotas' earliest professional film
directors. He was responsible for more than
800 documentaries, commercial spots and educational and technical films.

In the world of Amateur Radio, Snyder will best
be remembered as the Worldradio columnist writing
the Digital Bus column , and for his
participation in the Gatti Hallicrafters
Expeditions from 1947 through 1948 to the
Mountains of the Moon in East Africa.. He was
active for many years on RTTY, CW, Packetand on
the ham satellites. He held DXCC-RTTY/Digital with 243 countries confirmed.

Snyder first learned the art of filmmaking after
graduating from Fargo Central High School in
1935, when he moved to Hollywood to work for the
Technicolor Motion Picture Corp. He returned two
years later to attend North Dakota State
University, and served four years in the U.S.
Army Signal Corp. After getting out of the
service in 1946, he sailed to Africa on a series
of trips sponsored by Hallicrafters working as a
cameraman and a radio operator.

Bill Snyder Films made more than 80 award winning
films, including "Cry of the Marsh," an
educational film that documented dwindling
wetlands. After retiring, Snyder still
maintained his copious files of historical
archives. He founded a newsletter for Fargo
Central alumni called "The Cynosure," and served
on the board of directors for Bonanzaville USA.
He was an active supporter of the Fargo Film
Festival,and executive director of the Fargo Theatre.

Davis said Snyder had surgery to repair an aortic
aneurysm in July, but had been recovering well before succumbing to
pneumonia.

William D. Snyder, W0LHS, Silent Key at age 90. (WD0AKO)

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD FOLLOW-UP: WB0RPA - AN IRONIC TWIST

An ironic twist to the story of Joybubbles,
WB0RPA. As we reported several weeks ago, the
fomer Joe Engrassia, WB0RPA, passed away on
August 8th. It now turns out that likely the
last person to talk with Joububbles was a ham
down-under. Tony Clayton, VK7AH, is that
ham. Al Bedelph, VK7AX, has Tony's story from he

--

There is further irony to this story. Tony VK7AX
was possibly one of the last persons to speak with Joybubbles:

"Joybubbles was speaking to yours truly (via the
phone of course) arranging to have his 5 year
license for VK4WBO renewed with the
ACMA. JoyBubbles had given his credit card
details to me on Saturday 4th. August. He agreed
to check back 1 hour later to verify whether I
was able to complete the payment. That call never came.

Joybubbles did complain about feeling very dizzy
during our phone conversation.

During our conversation I asked him about the
Minneapolis Bridge collapse which had recently
occurred. He told me he was located approximately 4Km from the bridge.

I must say this was a unique experience for me
and certainly an honor to have been associated
with this blind operator, all brought about by Amateur Radio.

I'm Tony VK7AX for the WIA National News from VK1WIA.

--

It appears as if WB0RPA passed away soon after
making that license renewal call to Tony Clayton, VK7AH. (WIA News)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: DELFI C2 SAT LAUNCH DELAYED

The launch of Delfi-C3 satellite has been moved
to December. Once on-orbir, Delfi-C3 will also
have a linear transponder with a passband uplink:
from 435.570 to 435.530 MHz and an inverting
downlink from 145.880 to 145.920 MHz. The bird
will also carry a telemetry downlink in the
amateur satellite segment of the 2 meter
band. The primary telemetry downlink will be on
145.870 MHz running BPSK in AX.25 protocol at 1200 Baud.

There are two major reasons for the postponement
of the launch. These are weather and the Indian
launch schedule. The typhoon season in India
lasts from mid-October until December. The launch
schedule is dependent on mission priorities. (ANS)

**

WORLDBEAT - EUROPE: E.U. WANTS DVB-H AS MOBILE TV STANDARD

The European Union has taken the first steps
towards establishing DVB-H or Digital Video
Broadcasting to Handhelds as the only standard
for TV broadcasting to mobile devices in
Europe. According to Viviane Reding, who is with
the European Union's Commissioner for the
Information Society and Media, mobile
broadcasting is a tremendous opportunity for
Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in
mobile technology and audiovisual
services. Reding's statement is viewed as an
"official encouragement" to adopt DVB-H, but is not a mandate. (RW)

**

WORLDBEAT - IRELAND: SRD'S AT 10 GHZ

Irish telecommunications regulator ComReg is
proposing to open 10.4 to 10.42 Gigahertz to
licence exempt Short Range Devices or
SRD's. These will be mainly for movement
detection such as traffic control and will have a
power level of 500 milliwatts. There is an
experimenter secondary allocation at 10.0 to 10.5
Gigahertz. The mandatory European Union
notification procedure means that this change
cannot be adopted until sometime in October at the earliest. (IRTS)

**

ON THE AIR

Turning to special event operations, CQ4IPY is a
station in Portugal celebrating the 4th
International Polar Year. The ceremony gives all
participants the chance to get a special
certificate. For more information visit
www.cq4ipy.bravehost.com on the World-Wide-Web. (VHF Reflector)

And the Scarborough Special Events Group will be
on the air as GB2QE on September 16th to mark the
40th anniversary of the liner Queen Elizabeth 2.
Activity was scheduled for 80 and 40m SSB and CW,
plus 2 meter and and 70cm F-M. Further details
are available from, from Roy Clayton, G4SSH. (RSGB)

**

In DX, DJ7RJ, will be leaving for Madagascar on
September 25th. Once there he will be active as
5R8RJ from September 26th through October
26th. Activity will be on 160 through 10 meters,
CW and SSB. QSL via His callbook address.

YV5IAL will be active portable CE2 between
October 15th to the 21st from Chile's Pacific
coast. This will be a QRP, portable and holiday
style operation. Activity will be on PSK31 on
14.070.15 MHz plus some 40, 15 and 10 meter
operations as well. QSL via the bureau or direct to his home callsign.

DK6XR and DK8XT will be active from Georgetown
Guyana as 8R1XR and 8R1XT, from September 30th
through October 13th. Activity will be on the
usual frequencies on SSB, CW and RTTY. QSL via their respective home calls.

And EA3EJI along with a group of operators will
activate the Montserrat Monastery as AM3MM during
the weekend of September 22nd to the
24th. Activity will be on all bands and
modes. QSL via EA3MM, either direct or via the bureau.

Lastly, DL2MDU, will be active portable 5Z4 from
Kenya until September 24th. He plans to operate
holiday style mainly on CW. QSL direct or via the bureau.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: CLOSE RANGE INVISABILITY POSSIBLE

Call this one Star Trek come to life. Science
Daily reports that a unique computer model
designed by a mathematician at the University of
Liverpool has shown that it is possible to make
objects such as airplanes and submarines appear invisible at close range.

Until now, scientists could only make objects
appear invisible from far away. Now, Liverpool
mathematician Sébastien Guenneau, together with
Dr Frédéric Zolla and Professors André Nicolet
from the University of Marseille, using a
specially designed computer model called GETDP
have proven that objects can also be made to
appear invisible from close range when light
travels in waves rather than beams.

Scientists have already created an 'invisibility
cloak' made out of something called
metamaterial. Metamaterial is a creation that
has the ability to bend electromagnetic radiation
such as visible light, radar or microwaves around
a spherical space. This makes an object within
this region appear invisible. They also say
predict that invisibility will be possible for
objects of any shape and size within the next decade. (Science Daily)

**

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 W-I-A
News, that's all from the Amateur Radio
Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is
. 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 Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, saying 73
and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.