Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1638 - January 2 2009

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1638 with a release date of Friday,
January 2nd 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Hams in Hawaii step in as the lights go
out. ARES members in Oregon aid in ice storm relief as a 911 system begins
to fail. Hong King is set to fine and jail illegal CB operators and the
story of an ancient goddess and her relation to ham radio. All this and
more on the New Years 2009 edition of the Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) and
report number 1638 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAMS ACTIVATE AS OAHU GOES DARK

Hams on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, went on emergency power alert the
evening of December 26th. That's when a power outage hit most of the big
island. The failure of electrical service struck at about 7p.m. local
Hawaiian time and affected over 150,000 residents. Bill Orenstein, KH6QX,
is Newsline's former Production Coordinator. He lives in a high rise
building that looks down on the busiest part of town and describes the way
hams activated:

--

KH6QX: "The civil defense radio amateurs have all been alerted. The net
has been activated and will stay active until everything is pow."

--

Pow is a Hawaiian tern for OK or back to normal, but nothing was very
normal overnight. This meant hams involved in emergency communications had
their work cut out for them. Again Bill Orenstein, KH6QX:

--

KH6QX: "Phone lines have been gridlocked and a lot of cellphone sites are
down and AH6RH, Ron, has activated the state civil defense." (Fade to
actual off-air net audio)

--

Hawaiian Electric officials said a lightning strike sent a power surge
through its network, shutting down generators and causing the outage. Full
power was not restored until about 6 a.m. on Saturday, December
27th. Ironically president-elect Barack Obama and his family wee spending
a 12- day vacation on the island when the power outage took place. News
reports say that Hawaiian Electric set up an emergency generator for
Obama's Kailua beachfront rental retreat.

Meantime, for hams on Oahu the blackout proved once again that their
ongoing nets and training sessions really paid off for the
community. (KH6QX, KSSK radio, others)

**

RESCUE RADIO: OREGON HAMS ASSIST AS 911 SYSTEM FAILS

The ARRL reports that ham radio stepped in when a 911 emergency call in
system failed in Oregon just prior to Christmas. This as a massive
freezing weather front hit the region.

The National Weather Service said that the winter storm hit the North and
Central Oregon coast, as it made its way East to the Cascades mountain
range. According to District Emergency Coordinator David Kidd, KA7OZO,
amateurs in Clatsop County, were called on to provide direct emergency
communications in for the 911 system that was in need of support. Two ARES
members along with the resident deputy manned the sheriff's sub-station in
Jewell. They provided 24 hour radio communication services to the county
Emergency Operations Center.

Other hams provided 911 services for four villages and hamlets in the
southern part of the county. There, residents in the area were told to go
to ham radio operators and have them relay their needed service requests to
the county EOC.

The complete story of what the hams of Oregon did as the winter storm
struck is on the news pages at the ARRL's website. Its in cyberspace at
www.arrl.org. (ARRL, others)

**

ENFORCEMENT: HONG KONG TO FINE AND JAIL ILLEGAL CB OPERATORS

Operate a CB radio in Hong Kong without a license or run to much power and
you may go to jail. That's the essence of the warning from the Hong
Kong's
Office of the Telecommunications Authority which has mounted an enforcement
operation against the citizens radio operators which suspected of using
illegal transmitters.

The telecommunications regulator has already raided the home of an
operator identified as Chai Wan. There it seized one transmitter and
detained three people for questioning.

Under Hong King law it is unlawful for any person to establish or maintain
any means of telecommunications without an appropriate license. If
convicted of this kind of an offense he or she is liable to a maximum
penalty of a 100,000 Hong Kong Dollar fine and five years in jail.

Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority that it intends to
enforce the law to ensure proper management of radio spectrum which calls a
valuable public resource. (Media Network, China Tech News)

**

ON THE AIR: TONGA TO VK - ON 6 METERS

Some 6 meter history was made on December 26th. This, when Paul Kidd,
A35RK, on Lifuka Island, Tonga, twice contacted Colin Clark, VK4CC in
Slacks Creek, Queensland, Australia on the 50 MHz band. The first QSO took
place at 01:27 UTC with both stations running in the PK 31 digital
mod. They then switched to RTTY at 01:29 and completed a contact using
that mode as well. According to the Ohio Penn DX News, this is the first
time it has ever been done on 6 meters between the two locations. (OPDX)


**

PUBLIC SERVICE: HAM RADIO AND THE EAGLE CAP EXTREME SLED DOG RACE

Ham radio will be used for the first time to help coordinate the Eagle Cap
Extreme Sled Dog Race. The race takes place from January 14th to the
17th. According to Scott Hampton, KB7DZR, in Joseph, Oregon, many of the
remote check points will have hams camping out in the cold at up to 7000
feet elevation for the entire race.

Short range communications will be linked using KB7DZR's Echolink node
along with an Echolink connected repeater in Idaho. This to provide
communications back from the most distant checkpoints. And while waiting
for teams to pass, some may be active on the high frequency bands from 160
through 10 meters.

The Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race is Oregon's only Iditarod and Yukon
Quest qualifier event. More information on the race is on-line at
www.eaglecapextreme.com. (KB7DZR)

**

BREAK 1

Welcoming our listeners to 2009, from the United States of America, we are
the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world
including the KD1RJ repeater serving the city of Fairfield, Connecticut.

(5 sec pause here)


**

HAM RADIO AND SCOUTING: VENTURE ESCAPE 2009 DOWN UNDER

The 14th Australian Venture, 'Escape', will take place in January and
Amateur Radio will be a part of it.

The first part of the Venture 2009 will see scouts performing expeditions
around the South West of Western Australia from Friday January 9th to
Wednesday the 14th. A scout communications team will set up an Internet
Cafe and a ham radio station The amateur station will use the call VK6SAA
with operation on or near 3.650, 3.790, 7.090, 14.190 or 14.290, 21.190,
28.590, and 52.160. While SSB is the primary mode theres a good chance of
some Slow Scan TV and PSK operations on the regular calling frequencies for
those modes. The Internet Cafe will enable the Venturers to catch up with
e-mail and chat online.

'Escape' is a major National youth event of the Venturer section of Scouts
Australia. Scheduled contacts can be arranged by dropping an e-mail to
vk6scouts at westnet.com.au (WIA News, Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO HISTORY: HAM RADIO CELEBRATES JACK BINNS - RADIO HERE

And going back in time . on January 23rd, 1909 the American luxury liner,
"Republic," collided with the Italian cargo ship, the "Florida," in the
icy waters off Nantucket. That's when a young radio operator named Jack
Binns became a hero.

The collision killed two of the "Republic's" passengers and damaged Binns'
radio gear. But the 25 year old Binns quickly made repairs and began to
transmit the distress signal CQD. Although his signal was weak he was able
to reach the wireless station on Nantucket. He stayed at his wireless for
the next 36 hours, sending message after message from his frigid,
water-swamped cabin. Eventually, the liner "Baltic," came to the rescue.

When Binns arrived back in New York, he was surprised to find himself the
focus of attention. A ticker tape parade was held in his honor. He was
offered contracts to perform on the vaudeville circuit. A song and a short
film were made about him. No longer was he simply Jack the radio
operator. He had become "CQD Binns" and a certified hero in the public eye.

To honor Binns on the 100th anniversary of the Republic and Florida
collision, amateur radio operators around the are holding an on the air
celebration. You can take part. Full details of the commemorative event
are on-line at www.jackbinns.org/commemoration_news (Southgate, others)

**

RADIO IN SPACE: 3D MOON IMAGING BEGINS

3-D imaging of the Moon has begun using NASA supplied instrumentation on
board India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is the
first instrument to provide highly uniform imaging of the lunar surface.
Along with the length and width dimensions across a typical image, the
instrument analyzes the third dimension of color. The data collected is
then radioed back to receiving stations on Earth. The Moon Mineralogy
Mapper provides scientists their first opportunity to examine lunar
mineralogy at high spatial and spectral resolution. (Technology Today)

**

RADIO LAW: CABLEVISION AWAITS SUPREME COURT RULING ON REMOTE DVR SYSTEM

Cable T-V giant Cablevision Systems says it will move ahead with plans to
roll out a controversial remote digital video recorder system in 2009.
This, if the system is not barred by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Cablevision remote D-V-R permits Cablevision subscribers to remotely
record and store programs for delayed viewing on the company's
servers. The system is being challenged by several large media
companies. They argue that it would infringe on their copyright agreements
because it does allow just that instead of on a consumers home Digital
Video Recorder.

Cablevision first tried to launch the system in 2006, but it was
immediately successfully challenged in courts by media companies including
Time Warner Inc, News Corp , CBS Corp and Walt Disney Co. The cable
company won an appeal in a New York Federal Court of Appeals last August
but the media companies filed a Supreme Court challenge in October. The
United States highest court is expected that a decision to hear the case by
mid-month. (RW)

**

HAM RADIO ON THE WEB: 73S.ORG

A fascinating new ham radio cyberspace place to visit has emerged on the
World Wide Web. Its called 73s.org and has a bit of everything you can
imagine. Its kind of a cross between an interactive website with movie
hosting ability and a web log or blog where users can post their thoughts
and ideas. Give it a look. Again the simple URL is 73s.org. (Via e-mail)

**

HELPING HAMS: A SPECIAL REQUEST

Scott Hernandez, KD5PCK knows that it's a longshot but he is wondering if
anyone listening to this report might have a recording of his fathers voice
recorded off air. Scott's dad was Michael Hernandez, KD5PCM, and lived in
Ponchatoula, Louisiana. If you do have such a recording please contact
Scott by e-mail to kd5pck (at) gmail (dot) com. He truly would appreciate
having it as a keepsake. (Via e-mail)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: 2001 YHOTY WINNER KC8BFD ENGAGED

Some names in then news. First up our congratulations to Newsline's 2001
Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Patrick Clark, KC8BFD, of
Charleston, West Virginia. This, on his Christmas Day engagement to Katie
Thaxton.

Patrick Clark comes from an all-ham family. His father is Jeff Clark K8JAC
whom you often hear reporting these newscasts. His mother Tina, is N8TSY
and his sister Erin is KC8PZZ. Patrick has been involved in emergency
service work from the day his ham radio ticket arrived in the mail. He was
among amateurs who responded in the wake of the West Virginia Field Day
floods of 1998. This, when the annual emergency preparedness drill turned
into the real thing as the skies unexpectedly opened up.

Patrick has since grown up and become a professional first
responder. Katie Thaxton is a school teacher. The pair plan to wed within
the next two years. (K8JAC)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: HUNTING LIONS ON THE AIR - 2009

The annual Hunting Lions in the Air contest will take place on the weekend
of January 10 and 11th. Sponsored by Lions Clubs world-wide, this annual
event is designed to foster a spirit of international understanding and
cooperation' among radio amateurs and Lions through worldwide radio
communication.

The contest was started 38 years ago to commemorate the birthday of the
Lions founder Melvin Jones who was born on January 13th, 1879. More
information is on line at (Lion Ajoy)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: THE BLAC SEA CUP INTERNATIONAL

The members of the Ukrainian Black Sea Contest Club are inviting all
amateurs world-wide to participate in the 2009 Black Sea Cup International.
This event will be held the weekend of February 7th and beginning 12:00 UTC
on Saturday and ending 00:00 UTC on Sunday. The object is to contact as
many Black Sea Contest Club members, amateurs of Black Sea countries and
especially IARU member society headquarters stations around the world as
possible. Bands used are 160 through 10 meters but not including the WARC
bands using. Only contacts made using CW and SSB are counted. For complete
details visit www.bscc.ucoz.ru on the World-Wide-Web. (OPDX)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: QCWA MEETING AT HAMVENTION 2009

If all goes according to plan, there will be a first ever General
Membership Meeting of the Quarter Century Wireless Association held at the
2009 Dayton Hamvention. Negotiations are underway to hold a two hour
session at Hamvention with an exact date and time to be announced by
mid-March. This should make it easier for more members to get a chance for
the members to interact with the groups leadership. Its also a way for
non-members to find out more about QCWA and to join if they like what they
hear and see. This gathering is in addition to the QCWA's own convention
that in 2009 will be a Caribbean cruise from October 24th to the 31st.
(QCWA)

**

BREAK 2

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year, 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)

**

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: A LEAP SECOND FOR 2008

If 2008 seemed like it lasted a bit longer than most years, well you are
right. It was actually a full second longer 2007 than and Jim Linton,
VK3PC. Is here to tell us why:

--

Time-keepers extended slightly the year 2008. This, by the insertion of a
leap second just before Midnight on the 31st of December.

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service is
responsible for monitoring the relationship between the atomic clock-based
UTC and the rate of Earth's rotation. It had declared that the last minute
of 2008 would have 61 seconds.

Leap seconds are added either at the end of a June or December and this one
the 24th since they began in 1972. They are necessary because time is
measured using stable atomic clocks whereas the rotation of Earth
continually slows at a slightly variable rate. Negative leap seconds are
also possible should the Earth's rotation become slightly faster.

Its easy to monitor the insertion of the leap second. All you need to do
is to tune into the time and frequency broadcast of WWV. Or, if you have a
Global Positioning System clock, watch it just prior and during zero hours
UTC on the 1st the month into which it is inserted.

But don't blink your eyes while watching a GPS clock. If you do, you just
might miss a Leap Second event and then have to wait several years for the
next one to come about.

For the amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Linton VK3PC.

--

And now we all know what a Leap Second is all about. (VK3PC)

**

HAM FUN: THE RADIO SHACK OF THE PAST

In 2006 Radio Shack announced that the company would no longer sell amateur
radio gear. But back in 1930's the "shack" was one of the prime mail order
suppliers of ham gear and accessories.

And now an animated 1939 Radio Shack catalog I on line for you to
browse. You can find it at www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1939 You
turn pages by the use of the cursor. Just click on the lower right corner
of the page, move it to the left. (QCWA)

**

ON THE AIR: RCA CE:EBRATES 100 YEARS WITH QSO PARTY

On the air, listen out for the 100th Birthday QSO Party of the Club of
America signing W2RCA that runs January 2nd through the 4th U-T-C on 75
though 10 meters. Modes are SSB and AM phone only. More information
including a complete operating schedule and logging sheets are on-line at
www.radioclubofamerica.org. (RCA)

**

DX

In DX, HA9RE, and a team of operators will be active from Wallis Island as
FW5RE. The group is expected to arrive on Wallis during the afternoon of
January 26th and due to begin the operation on January 28th or the 29th.
They are expected to be there for about a month. Activity will be on 160
through 10 meters, including 30, 17 and 12 meters, using CW, SSB and
RTTY. Two stations will be on the air. The QSL Manager will be HA8IB.

CO8LY says that if somebody needs a confirmed QSL from Cuba, that he is
active on 160 meters or PKS31, RTTY, CW and SSB. You can make a sked with
him via e-mail

PA4JJ, will be active portable PJ2 from Curacao from April 1st to the
11th. This will be a holiday style operation with Jan on the air as time
permits. Look for him on all the H-F bands except 160 meters and QSL
direct to his home callsign.

Lastly, CU8AS, HB9CQL and HB9CRV will be active as CU8W from the Albarnaz
Lighthouse on Flores Island between January 19-23rd. The operation will be
mainly on the lower H-F bands using CW and RTTY. QSL via CT1GFK.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: AN ODE TO THE GODDES ISIS AND HAM RADIO

An episode of a kids TV show that used ham radio to move along the plot is
now available on DVD, but you need to buy the entire set to see it. One ham
already has. Hes our producer Bill Pasternak WA6ITF, and he tells us why:

--

The show was the Secrets of Isis. It was a live action CBS television
series produced by Filmation in the mid-1970s that appeared during the
networks Saturday morning children's lineup.

The Secrets of Isis starred actress JoAnna Cameron as Andrea Thomas. Her
character was of a high school science teacher who found an ancient
mystical amulet on an archeological dig. It seems that this particular
amulet had belonged to an ancient Egyptian Queen and it gave the wearer the
powers of the goddess Isis. Finding it made the is bearer an heir to
Isis's secrets which the school teacher turned super hero used to right
wrongs.

The episode featuring ham radio was titled "No Drums No Trumpets." It told
the story of how our hobby saves the day when the lead characters are held
captive in a ghost town by some thieves. One of the prisoners is a ham who
just happens to have his portable transceiver with him. Not an HT -- but a
1970's era Drake TR-22 "luggie talkie" that somehow the bad guys do not see.

"No Drums No Trumpets" was written by Arthur Nadel, W6TZY, who was also a
producer of the series. While written for young kids, it was pretty
accurate depicting the hobby, right down to the ham radio operators
character insisting that the hobby be called "Amateur Radio." He even
explained that one had to have passed a test and get a license in order to
transmit on the air.

So why talk about a 37 year old kids TV show now? Well the radios used as
props are part of it. One belonged to W6TZY. Another was loaned to
Filmation by the late Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ while the third with its missing
pull out antenna belonged to yours truly WA6ITF.

As far as I have been able to determine the episode aired only twice during
the shows year and a half run and then kind of disappeared. Unfortunately,
I never got to see it because my job kept me busy at the time it was on the
air. I had been offered the loan of a 16 mm film print to watch on my own
projector, but I simply never got around to doing it. So whether or not my
radio got into the show remained a mystery until now.

Recently when a company known as Entertainment Rights bought the series and
brought it out as a two DVD set that includes all 22 episodes, along with a
bunch of extras that include interviews with most of the cast members,
promotional material and even a great still photo of actress Joanna Pang
who played Cindy Lee standing with Art Nadel, W6TZY, who is holding his
TR-22 under his arm. Quite a tribute to our hobby.

Anyhow, as soon as I heard about it I got on-line to Amazon dot com and
placed my order. A few days later I was watching for my long gone TR-22 in
"No Drums No Trumpets." and there it was. The one missing its pull up
antenna. My TR-22. It was good to see that it had attained its 15 seconds
of even if I had to wait some three and a half decades to confirm it.

Before I go, some other quick notes about the Secrets of Isis. In addition
to one episode that had half hour heaping praise on ham radio it also went
out of its way to teach its young viewers the value of living to a personal
high morel code. This, with the lead character Isis explaining at the end
of each show the ethical lesson taught that week. Imagine trying to get
the producers of a children's television show to do something like that
today.

The Secrets of Isis was also the first weekly live-action American
television series to feature a female super-hero in a recurring role. It
pre-dated the debuts of both Wonder Woman and The Bionic Woman by several
months. So did at least three Drake TR-22's playing the part of one.

From the studio in Los Angeles, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, with no TR-22,
reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

Even if you don't have kids living at home, the one ham radio episode
included is truly a trip back in time to a much kinder and gentler ham
radio, and a great present for you to give to you. (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, 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 a reminder that Sunday, January 4th is the Kids Day of
2009. It's a time to open your shack and your heart to youngsters.
Invite
them over and let them talk on the air to others youngsters who are talking
part in the event. More information on Kids Day is on line at www.arrl.org.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis,
W2JKD, saying 73, welcome to 2009, and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.