Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1597 - March 21, 2008

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1597 with a release date of Friday,
March 21st, 2008 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. The long awaited Clipperton DXpedition goes
Q-R-T after a successful run, California hams are exempt from a new hands

free cellphone law and ham radio says goodbye to AMSAT member 2001 with the

passing of writer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke. Find out the details on

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1597 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

BREAKING DX NEWS: - CLIPPERTON A SUCCESS AND NOW QRT

The long awaited Clipperton DXpedition now QRT and everyone involved is
calling it a big success. Amateur Radio Newsline's Burt Hicks, WB6MQV,
reports.

--

Operations from Clipperton Island ended early on Saturday March
15th. During the tile the team was on this rare D-X-C-C entity, the
members had to endure major tropical storms and extreme heat. This took
its toll on both the operators and equipment.

Even so, the last report on the operations Web page shows a total of 59,875

QSO's were completed. Of these 28,402 were on CW, 28,736 on SSB and 2,737

made on RTTY.

Heres the post DXpedition information you need to know. First is that you

QSL this operation to N7CQQ, either via the bureau or direct to John
Kennon, P.O. Box 31553, Laughlin, Nevada 89028, USA.

Also, for those who use electronic contact verification the logs will be
uploaded to the ARRL's Logbook to the World as soon as they have been
verified.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks, WB6MQV, in Los Angeles.


--

More information is on-line at www.clipperton2008.org (Clipperton Web Page)

**

BREAKING DX NEWS: GLORIOSO ISLANDS TO ACTIVATE IN MAY

One of the most sought after D-X entities may soon be on the air. This
with word that a French group that has been trying to get a permit to
activate Glorioso Island for several months has finally received the
necessary landing permit.

If all goes well, the five operators hope to bring Glorioso to the ham
radio airwaves in early May. Dates being talked about are May 5th to the
9th, but at airtime nothing is cast in concrete. They are currently looking

for sponsors, and if you would like to help please contact F5OGL.

Presently, Glorioso is ranked 4th in "DX Magazine's 2007 Most Wanted
Countries World-Wide" in the mixed modes. Once there the team plans to
have 3 or 4 stations on the air to help fill the need for QSO with this
rather rare location.

The latest updates can be found at the operations website and we will have

more DX news for you later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report.

(do not read: at http://glorieuses2005.free.fr (OPDX, others)

**

RADIO LAW: HAMS NOT AFFECTED BY NEW CALIFORNIA CELLPHONE LAW

Amateur Radio has been exempt from California state's new "Hands Free"
law. Beginning July 1st California will have new laws on the books to deal

with the use of wireless telephones while driving. Some personal radio
operators have been asking if the new statute affects them.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the use of
dedicated two-way radios such Citizen Band transceivers, walkie-talkies and

the like are not affected by the new ordinance. This, as long as the
person behind the wheel is age 18 or older.

More is on-line at the California D-M-V
website: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonel...cell_phone.pdf
(DMV, ARNewsline(tm))

**

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: COMMUNICATIONS VISIONARY ARTHUR C. CLARKE - S.K AT

AGE 90

The changing of the guard continues. This with word that British science
fiction writer, communications futurist and friend of Amateur Radio, Arthur

C Clarke, has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

According to news reports, Clarke passed away the morning of March 18,
2008, after suffering from breathing problems. While not a radio amateur,

Arthur C. Clarke had some strong albeit unofficial ties to the world-wide
ham radio space community. For years he held the honorary AMSAT membership

number 2001.

As an author and visionary, Clarke's most famous prediction was his
proposal of geostationary satellites for communications published in the
Wireless World magazine in 1945. While this proposal was not taken
seriously at the time, his orbital dream became a reality about two decades

later with the launch in 1965 the first commercial geostationary
communication satellite Intelsat One also known as Early Bird. In this
audio clip from a 1992 interview with the late Roy Neal, K6DUE, Clarke told

hams listening to a teleconference radio net how the idea came about:

--

Clarke: "At the time I was working on a very complex RADAR. It was the
first Ground Approach Control flight management system which has about a
thousand valves or what you call tubes. At least one would blow out every

day , so I couldn't imagine that sort of equipment operating without
mechanics on the spot to change them and give it service. So I assumed
that these relay stations would be manned space stations, like the Freedom

Space Station but at a lower altitude."

"What I didn't envision was the incredible revolution in solid state
electronics: First the transistor and later the micro-chip. And I have
sometimes said though not very seriously that the invention of the
transistor was a major catastrophe for astronautics because if we hadn't
invented the transistor we would have had to build manned space stations
and we would have been half way to Mars by now (giggle)."

--

For his effort, the geostationary satellite orbit known as the Clarke Belt

was named in his honor. And while he had moved away from the United
Kingdom years ago, in 1988 was knighted by England's Queen Elizabeth.

As a writer Clarke was the author, or co-author, of dozens of fiction and
non-fiction books. He will likely be best remembered for his novel 2001: A

Space Odyssey. This book was later turned into a landmark big screen
motion picture by Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick. His other well
known works include the sequel 2010 that also became a motion picture and
the books Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama. In all, Arthur C.
Clarke has penned some 33 novels and another 29 non-fiction books and
stories from the time he began writing them in 1950. His latest titled
"Firstborn" was published in 2007.

Once called the first dweller in the electronic cottage, Arthur C. Clarke's

vision of space travel and computing captured the imagination of readers
worldwide long before any of it came to pass. He lived to see much of what

he predicted become reality during his lifetime.

Arthur C. Clarke, visionary, writer and longtime friend of radio amateurs
word wide, dead at age 90. (ARNewsline(tm), published reports)

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the K6OX and KC6OCA
repeaters of the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club serving Lancaster
California.

(5 sec pause here)


**

BREAKING NEWS: REMAINS OF MISSING INDIANA HAM BELIEVED FOUND

Some breaking news. Plainfield, Indiana, police said they may have found
the body of a ham radio operator missing for more than two years. This as

authorities discover the vehicle belonging to Harold Hensley, AB9JD, with a

person inside of it in a retention pond close to his home.

According to news reports Hensley was last seen leaving his residence in
January of 2006. At that time his wife told authorities that her husband
was on his normal routine and he was supposed to be at work at 7 a.m.. His

employer called at 7:30 and said he had not shown up. He has not been seen

since.

The biggest break in the case came just five blocks from the Hensley's
home. Police said a tip early in the investigation brought them to a BP
Gas Station. They said its where someone saw Hensley the day he went
missing. Finally on Monday afternoon March 17th investigators found
Hensley's jeep and what they believe to be his human remains in the pond
only about 5 blocks from his home. Detectives are waiting for autopsy
results to confirm his identity and the exact cause of death. (Published
news reports)

**.


ENFORCEMENT: $13000 ASSESSED FOR TOWER VIOLATIONS

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has finalized a fine of $15,200 against Pembrook

Pines Elmira Ltd., which owns AM stations WEHH and WELM in the state of New

York. The commission said the owner had failed to comply with antenna
structure lighting requirements, notify the FAA of an antenna structure
light outage or operate its stations consistent with the modes and power
authorized in their licenses.

The Buffalo Field Office had originally issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability of $19,000 early last year. The company didn't dispute the
findings but asked for a reduction because the FCC previously had not
treated failure to notify the FAA as a separate violation and because the
station had a history of compliance.

The commission rejected the first argument, saying that it believe that it

is appropriate, and consistent with precedent, to assess an additional
$3,000 forfeiture where there is evidence that the tower owner knew of a
light outage prior to the inspection by FCC agents and failed to notify the

FAA. But it accepted the second ongoing full compliance issue and cut the

fine by $3,800. (FCC)

**

REPEATER NEWS: NEW UK 10 GHZ SYSTEM COMES ON THE AIR

What is believed to be the first 10 GHz F-M voice repeater in the United
Kingdom came on the air on March 14th, GB3TC t is co-sited with GB3CS at
Berryhill Farm in Lanarkshire. The new system operate on a channel pair of

10371.1 MHz in and 10471.1 MHz out and requires a 103.5 Hz sub audible or
1750 Hz burst access tone.

Beacons in FM with call and locator every 60s when not repeating. The
output of the repeater is in the Amateur Satellite segment as its planners

believe it could provide a useful signal source for setting-up weak signal

equipment.

The project is being independently operated and funded by local radio
amateurs with support from the Central Scotland FM Group and its technical

team. Together with the GB3CSB beacon project for the 23, 13 and 9cm bands

the new repeater is designed to stimulate activity on these higher
frequency bands.

More information is on-line at http://www.csfmg.com/GB3TC.htm (Southgate)

**

D-STAR NEWS: D-STAR TO COME TO LONDON

Still in the U-K, the city often called the gateway to Europe -- London,
England, will soon have its first ever D-Star repeater. The Radio Society

of Great Britain's Emerging Technology Co-ordination Committee website says

that the GB3OK repeater at Bromley in Kent has applied to become GB7OK and

convert to D-Star technology. This is the latest application and the first

from the London area for this amateur digital mode which has been gathering

considerable interest since last year. (Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO IN THE SPOTLIGHT: THAT NEW MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL

Ham radio is portrayed in a strange but fun way in a new commercial for the

soft drink Diet Mountain Dew. Actually the spot is a kind of battle of the

sexes with the claim being that lightning hits men more often then it does

women. In it, you see a bunch of Y-L's involved variety of activities that

experts say should not be attempted in a thunder storm. This includes
fencing and operating a ham radio station Field Day style as lightning
flashes and thunder roars.

We won't spoil the outcome of this adventure for you by describing what
happens next. We do however wonder if the producers went to eBay to get

their props because they sure have some magnificent vintage tube type gear

for their Y-L ham to use. You can see the commercial on-line of YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MieEfkwICB8 (ARNewsline(tm))

**

HAMVENTION 2008: ROAD CONSTRUCTION NEAR THE HARA ARENA

If you are planning to attend the 2008 Dayton Hamvention, you will need to

give yourself a little more driving time than in years past. This due to
several road and street construction projects that will be ongoing in the
area.

The first problem is construction is at the north end of the downtown
Dayton area on Interstate 75 from about Mile Marker 53 to 56. Rob
Lunsford KB8UEY, who is the Hamvention's Talk-In Committee Chairman says
that the Ohio Department of Transportation has started a multi-year
multi-phase reconstruction of I-75 in which there are lane restrictions,
bridge replacements, and various other adjacent projects.

The other traffic pinch involves one of the main surface streets used by
attendees of Hamvention. Needmore Road it is almost a straight shot from
exit 58 on I-75 to Hara Arena. Unfortunately for Hamvention goers a
rebuild project is set to begin on this roadway and it will be down to one

lane each way for no less than 100 working days. If you look at a
calendar, that includes Hamvention weekend.

Lunsford says that these repairs are long overdue and there are
work-arounds for those driving to both the Hara Arena and the event parking

at the nearby Salem Mall. We suggest that you go to www dot hamvention dot

org in coming days to find the alternate route that best serves
you. (Hamvention(tm))

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: THE FIRST FEMALE VK HAM HIGHLIGHTED ON RADIO SHOW

Some names in the news. We begin with the story of the first Australian YL

ham that is being told on the program Hindsight on Australian Radio
National. It's the tale of Florence Violet McKenzie, affectionately known

as Mrs Mac. And who was also the first qualified female electrical engineer

in Australia. In preparation of the program several current Australian
female hams were interviewed. The audio can be downloaded from
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podca...t_20080316.mp3
It's a 25 megabyte MP3 audio file. Go to home page of ABC Radio National's

"Hindsight" program,
www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/ Scroll down to the program date Sunday 16
March 2008), and there it is. (WIA News)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: UK CLUB GETS GRANT TO EDUCATE

The Worcester Radio Amateurs Association is celebrating after being given
£5,320 from the United Kingdom National Lottery Awards for All scheme. The

group says that it will use the funds to expand its educational services
into neighboring towns and to the training to people outside the club o as

to bring Amateur Radio into more schools.

The Worcester Radio Amateurs Association established in October
2006. It is the only Amateur Radio organization in the Worcestershire
area. As well as holding regular meetings, the club works closely with the

Scouts and Guides, teaching youngsters how to use radio communication while

camping. (Southgate)

**

SOCIAL SCENE: RCA SPRING GATHERING IN ALBUQUERQUE NM APRIL 1ST

The fifth annual Radio Club of America Spring Gathering will be held
Tuesday, April 1st in the Sierra Room of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. The cocktail hour, with a cash bar opens at 6:00

p.m. Dinner will follow dinner at 7:00.

Alan Tilles, will be the guest speaker. He is the counsel to numerous land

mobile licensees, trade associations and manufacturers. Tilles is expected

to provide an update on rebanding, including a discussion of challenges and

opportunities for licensees.

This event is by reservation only. For more information contact Mercy
Contreras by e-mail to mercycontreras at comcast dot net. (RCA)

**

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)

**


RADIO BUSINESS: T-MOBILE OUT - STARBUCKS TEAMS WITH ATT FOR WIFI

Beginning this spring Starbucks Coffee Shops and AT&T Inc. will begin
offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most of the
international coffee retailer's U.S. shops. Starbucks said it will give
customers who use a Starbucks card two hours of free wireless access per
day. Also, nearly all of AT&T's broadband Internet customers, about 12
million, will automatically have unlimited free Wi-Fi access at
Starbucks. The deal boosts the number of AT&T hotspots in the U.S. to
17,000. (RW)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AO-16 VOICE MODE STILL AVAILABLE

The aging Amsat Oscar 16 ham satellite is still open for voice operation,
but that could change in the coming weeks. AO-16 has been in full sunlight

with no eclipse periods at all for several months but short eclipse periods

will begin at the end of March. These will increase steadily until early
July at which point the eclipse periods will reach about 26 minutes each
orbit. Its unknown how its batteries will fare once this
happens. Controllers say that they will simply have to keep an eye on the

perimeters and issue updates as warranted. Meantime the S-band beacon is
not operational and the exact status of the S-band transmitter remains
unknown. (ANS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SPEAKERS WANTED FOR 2008 AMSAT UK COLLOQUIM

The first call for speakers for the 22nd Amsat-UK Colloquium has gone out.

The dates are from Friday 25th July to Sunday 27th July 2007. As in years

past, the venue is the Surrey University, at Guildford, Surrey, in the U.K.

Offers of talks should be submitted as soon as possible. The final date
for full documents to be received is late June in order that the
"Proceedings" document be available to participants. Details of this and
previous colloquium gatherings can be found at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/32/42/ (AMSAT - UK)

**


WORLDBEAT - NEW ZEALAND: NEW DOT POST DOMAIN ON ITS WAY

A new domain for e-mail has been proposed. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, reports
from down under:

--

A new "dot post" Internet domain in the works that hopes to set apart the

electronic services increasingly offered by postal agencies around the
world. The Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, is trying to work out terms for the suffix with

the U.N. Universal Postal Union. Backers say restricting the "dot post"
name to postal agencies or groups that provide postal services would
instill trust in Web sites using such names. By contrast, popular suffixes

such as ".com" and ".org" are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Im Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

--

Approval of the "dot post" domain could come soon with implementation
taking place over the next several months. (Internet Services)

**

WORLDBEAT - SOUTH AFRICA: NEW 2 METER BEACON SYSTEM ON THE AIR

South Africa now has a 2 meter beacon project initiated by John Sygo,
ZS6JON, now has four beacons on the air, with a number of others set to go

live very soon. All operate in the spectrum between 144.4 to 144.5 MHz
with systems on the air in the cities of Cape Town, Bloemfontein and
Durban. The keyers were donated by ZS6EF. The output of the beacons varies

between 10 and 20 watts. (Southgate)

**

CONTEST CORNER: THE IRISH 2 METER CONTEST

And if you think that radio sports is just for the High Frequency bands,
better not tell that to the hams in Erin's isle. That's because the Irish

Radio Transmitters Society's 2 Meter Counties Contest will take place on
Monday March the 24th from 2 to 4 p.m. local time.

The basic idea is for clubs and individuals to take part by activating some

of Irelands rarer counties. Full rules are available on the IRTS web
site. Its in cyberspace at www.irts.ie. (IRTS)

**

DX

In DX, word that DL1BDF, plans to become active from Egypt as SU0ARA on
all bands through March 19th. He also hopes to get a special permission
for 80 meters because this band is usually not permitted for amateur
radio. QSLs via SU1KM.

K4QD and AF4Z will be active portable HH4 from the Northwest Haiti
Christian Mission between March 24th and April 4th. They will operate 80
through 10 meters on CW, SSB and RTTY, but only as time permits. QSL via
their home callsigns preferably using the ARRL's Logbook to the World QSO
confirmation service.

SP2JMB, will be active portable 3B9 from Rodrigues Island and then from
Mauritius Island portable 3B8. This, from April 1st through the 8th. His

activity will be mainly on C-W with QSL's going to his call book address.

A team of German operators will be active from Nouakchott in Mauritania
through March 30th. No callsigns were provided but they do plan to operate

the CQ World SSB contest on March 29th and 30th as a multi entry. QSL via

DH7WW, direct or by the DARC bureau.

Lastly, listen out for Senegal as a Swedish team of operators become active

as 6V7I between April 6-12th. The group plans to have two stations on 160
through 10 meters operating CW and SSB, with monoband yagis and verticals.

QSL via SM7DXQ.

(From various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: ACCOLADES TO TONY


And finally this week, word that an Australian ham has been honored by
NASA. This for his dedication to the educational side of manned ham radio

operations from pace. WIA newsman Jim Linton, VK3PC, tells us about the
work of Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI:

--


Known around the world for his involvement in facilitating amateur radio
communications with orbiting space stations is Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI, who
has just received a well deserved achievement award.

Tony is the Australian coordinator of the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) project is now the proud but humble
recipient of a Group Achievement Award from NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space

Centre in Houston Texas.

The citation on the award certificate is ‘For providing sustained
outstanding engineering support which has resulted in a record number of
successful ISS amateur radio contacts', and signed by the Johnson Space
Centre Director, Michael Coats.

Tony VK5ZAI has for more than 15 years given many schools and groups the
opportunity to talk with space station crew. A notable occasion was the
Australian Scout Jamboree in January 2007 as part of the world scouting
movement's centenary.

His involvement began in 1993 by assisted South Australia's Loxton High
School students talk with Cosmonaut Alex Serabrov on the MIR space station.

In 1998 Tony handled most of the communications between Australian-born
Astronaut Andy Thomas VK5MIR and his family during his flight on MIR.

Soon after he was invited to be one of nine-approved ARISS telebridge
stations and began handling most of the private family contacts for the
first three crews on the International Space Station, along with school
contacts.

Tony has been involved in linking with school in many countries, and the
development of IRLP and Echolink for ARISS contacts, plus the design of
interface units used for ARISS telebridge contacts in Australia and Europe.

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline.


--

Tony's enthusiasm and dedication, motivated by a personal desire to put
something back into amateur radio, makes him well deserving of NASA
accolade. (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
. 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.

Before we go we want to remind you that the nominating period for the 2008

Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year is now open. Any licensed
radio amateur age 18 or younger residing in the United States or Canada is

eligible for the award. Full details and both downloadable and on-line
nominating forms are in cyberspace at www dot YHOTY dot org.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Fred Vobbe,

W8HDU, saying 73 from Lima, Ohio, and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.