Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1646 - February 27 2009

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1646 with a release date of Friday,
February 27th, 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. K5D goes QRT after more than 100,000 QSO's from
Desecheo Island; ham radio monitoring stations prepare for big changes on
40 meters, a third conviction in the murder at sea of two hams and
celebrating the life and legacy of John Kanzius, K3TUP. A very special
report on a very special ham by Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, on Amateur Radio
Newsline(tm) report number 1646 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

DX NEWS: K5D BREAKS 100,000 QSO BEFORE GOING QRT

The Desecheo Island K5D team says that it broke the 100,000 contact mark
before going QRT. This event took place at 04:14 UTC on February 23rd
when K5D made contact on 40 meter C-W with Zdravko Kalaba - Kale, E77U, who
is located in Bosnia Herzegovenia. And in a satellite telephone interview
with Wolf Harranth, OE1WHC, team co-leader Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, said that
the propagation seemed to be with them all the way:

--

"The propagation has been very good except for the very high bands. We
have worked quite a few stations on 6 meters but most of that has been
meteor scatter.

"10 and 12 meters have been very sketchy. We've made few contacts on 10
and 12. 15 and the bands down below have really opened up and we've made
some really good contacts.

"The fortunate thing is that with our antenna spacing we have been able to
work two and sometimes even three modes on any given band, even with high
power. So we have been able to take advantage to some really good band
openings to our target areas."

--

The DXpedition a made its first satellite contact on Friday, February 20th
with Andrew Glassbrenner, KO4MA, in New Port Richey, Florida. That QSO was
conducted at 20:14 UTC through the SO-50 ham radio bird.

As the operation began winding down the team modified the radio schedule to
try to pick up those areas of the world that have been obscured by the huge
pileups from the population centers of in North America, Japan and
Europe. By the terms of the groups Special Use Permit the operators had to
vacate the island no later than the February 26th.

The last night on the air saw three stations stations still in
operation emphasizing 80, 40 and 30 meter operation. They departed
Desecheo at sunrise on the 26th. QSL's go to N2OO

The complete interview between Wolf Harranth, OE1WHC and Glenn Johnson,
W0GJ, is now available on the "Documentary Archive Radio Communication" KP5
special Web page at www.dokufunk.org/desecheo
(Southgate, OE1WHC, PS8RF)

**

RESTRUCTURING: GETTING READY FOR THE AN EXPANDED 40 METERS

Ham radio operators world wide are preparing for the expansion of 40
meters. This, as the date approaches where shortwave broadcast operations
must vacate the spectrum from 7 point 1 to 7 point 2 MHz. Jim Linton,
VK3PC, in Forrest Hill, Australia, says that hams down-under are prepared:

--

With four weeks to go before broadcast stations are due to have migrated
from the band 7100-7200kHz as that band is restored to the Amateur Service,
a scan watch has begun to identify stations still currently using that
segment.

IARU Region 3 Monitoring Systems Coordinator, B.L. (Arasu) Manohar VU2UR
has been scanning the segment.

He did this for four days recently to identify 58 broadcast transmissions,
their frequencies, times and signal strengths. The broadcasters use 5kHz
channel spacing.

The worthwhile yet painstaking task also notes the languages of the
transmissions including Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, English, French, German,
Indian, Japanese, Russian and Turkish.

Adding to the complexity of the task are jamming stations, heterodynes, low
powered regional or domestic stations and many powerful broadcasters using
relays to cover their audience target area.

Arasu VU2UR says similar scanning and monitoring work may be necessary in
other parts of the world to get a fuller picture of broadcast activity and
he's prepared to share the spreadsheet result of his work.

Mapping of broadcasters on the 40-metre band will be important should be
IARU need to mount a case to fight any continued occupancy of the
7100-7200kHz after 29 March.

That is the departure date set by the World Radio Conference 2003 and
coincides with the new broadcasting schedule for 2009.

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

--

Again that's March 29th when, at least in theory, all shortwave
broadcasting in the 7 point 1 to 7 point 2 MHz segment of 40 meters is
supposed to go away. (VK3PC)

**

RESCUE RADIO: COSPAS-SARSAT GOES DIGITAL

The Cospas-Sarsat satellite based rescue radio locator system has gone
digital. As of February 1st, the satellites are no longer monitoring for
analog distress beacons at 121.5 and 243 MHz. All mariners, aviators and
individuals who use emergency beacons on those frequencies had been
previously advised to switch to the newer, digital 406 MHz frequency to be
detected by the on-orbit monitoring birds.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims
that in 2008, beacons monitored by the Cospas-Sarsat worldwide system were
responsible for almost 300 lives saved. This included 203 people rescued
in 65 at-sea incidents and 12 people rescued in 7 aviation incidents.

SARSAT stands for Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking. Cospas is the
Russian word for the same. The Cospas-Sarsat satellite tracking system is
a joint effort of the two nations. (NOAA)

**

THE DTV TRANSITION: SOME ANALOG STATIONS FORCED TO STAY ON THE AIR

Meantime, back in the United States, not every TV station that wanted to go
digital-only on Tuesday, February 17th was permitted to do. Only days
prior to the then voluntary analog turn-off date the Federal Communications
Commission told 123 broadcasters that were planning to stick to the
original February 17th date that they will have to justify not extending
their transmissions for four months.

In denying their applications to terminate analog service on February 17th,
the FCC told the targeted stations that they must certify at least one in
any affected market would continue to broadcast information about the
transition and local news in analog for at least two months. Affected
stations are in or near areas where all of the major network owned or
affiliated stations has applied to turn off their analog transmissions on
February 17th.

All full-power TV stations had been planning for years to turn off analog
transmissions on February 17th. Congress and the president extended that
date to June 12th. (Adapted from FCC release)

**

ENFORCEMENT: THIRD CONVICTION IN KA7VWJ - KA7VWK MURDERS

A jury in Santa Ana, California, has found a third defendant guilty in the
murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, KD7VWJ and KD7VWK. John Fitzgerald
Kennedy who is described as a former gang intervention worker for the city
of Long Beach was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the
killings of a couple tied to an anchor and thrown off their
yacht. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, picks up the story
from he

--

Forty-three year old John Fitzgerald Kennedy is the third person to be
convicted for the killing of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, who were murdered at
sea off the Southern California coast on November 15, 2004. This, after
taking men posting as prospective buyers out for a test run on their
55-foot trawler the Well Deserved.

The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated several hours before convicting
Kennedy of the two murder counts. They also found true the special
circumstance allegations of multiple murder and murder for financial gain.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kennedy. They say that he was
recruited as muscle man in the killings.

Under California state law the jury that convicted Kennedy will have to
decide between recommending capital punishment or life in prison without
the possibility of parole.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.

--

Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy said the mastermind of the plan to
steal the yacht was former child actor Skylar Deleon. Deleon has already
been convicted of the murders and faces the death penalty when he is
sentenced on March 20th. Deleon's former wife, Jennifer Henderson, was
sentenced to life in prison without parole in October 2007 for her role in
the plot. (Published news reports)

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the world including
the W8GK repeater serving Charleston West Virginia.

(5 sec pause here)


**

ENFORCEMENT: FCC FINES TELECOMS FOR CPNI FORM FAILURE

Ham radio is not the only service where the Federal Communications
Commission requires compliance with its rules. The agency's Enforcement
Bureau has just proposed more than $12 million in fines against some 600
mostly small telecommunications companies for failing to file their annual
Customer Proprietary Network Compliance or CPNI certificates. That is a
form that certifies that each business has a plan for preventing phone call
data from unauthorized access and disclosure by data brokers and others.

The FCC toughened its customer proprietary network compliance rules in
2007. Based on them it fined each company up to $20,000, although it has
the right to assess up to a $130,000 for each non compliant filing. In
setting the fine amount the FCC said that it took into account that fact
that this was the first year for compliance with the form, and the fact
that most of the companies were rather small business entities. (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: INDIANAPOLIS HAMS BUST COPS FOR LANGUAGE ON UNOFFICIAL CHAT
CHANNEL

Hams in Indianapolis are taking credit for getting city police in that city
to top using unofficial extra radios on which the cops reportedly used
language that might make a sailor blush. Jack Parker, W8ISH, has the
details:

--

Dozens if not hundreds of Indianapolis Metro Police Officers have been
busted for using Amateur Radios illegally to rag chew while on
duty. According to a report aired on an Indianapolis TV station,
complaints to the FCC from local hams lead to a shake down of all Metro
Police vehicles. Amateur Radio operators reported hearing foul language
and improper usage of Amateur Radio frequencies by Metro Police officers.

This prompted the department to do a three-day inspection of cruisers,
ordering everyone with an unlicensed radio to remove them..

Department PIO Lt. Jeff Duhamel had this to say:

--

"Apparently, there has been a problem with some language, which is a
violation of the FCC regulations. The chief has decided that the officers
should pull them out of their vehicles."

--

Amateur radio repeaters were ripe with reaction to News of the police radio
crackdown.

--

First Ham: "They were talking on blogs like they were using ham radios
like they were on ham radio frequencies. Well that wasn't the case. Still
they're transmitting and talking on frequencies they are not licensed to
use. It doesn't matter if they were licensed twenty years ago they are not
licensed now and they should not be using them period.

Second Ham: "They are not type accepted. So they have a type acceptance
problem. So far that is the only thing I've seen that's inappropriate
other than the report of language which is not appropriate on any
frequency."

--

Local hams are expected to monitor the success of this crackdown and report
further violations.

Reporting from Indianapolis, this is Jack Parker, W8ISH.

--

While some bloggers are advising Indianapolis hams to keep a low profile
for a while others point out that the officers are the ones that are
likely worried. Now they know that there are thousands of ears listening
to their every word on what they thought was their unofficial chat
channel. Ears with tape recorders ready to send more complaints to the
FCC. (W8ISH)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: HIGH TEMPERATURE CONDUCTIVITY

A new paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society will
help to broaden our understanding of the nature of superconducting
materials and of the origin of the superconductivity phenomenon in high
critical temperature materials.

For those not aware, superconductors are materials that conduct electrical
current with zero resistance at low temperatures. The phenomena was
discovered in 1911, and the researchers in this area of solid state physics
have been regular recipients of the Nobel Physics Prize.

Now, the discovery of high critical temperature superconductivity is being
considered as one of the most remarkable chapters in modern science. It is
being looked on as a major breakthrough in developing new technologies and
compounds in solid state physics and materials science that may lead to new
products not even imagined only a few years in the past. You can learn
more at the U-R-L in this weeks printed Newsline report.

(DO NOT READ:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0216092835.htm) (Science
Daily)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: FIRST DRM RECEIVER COMING TO THE USA

Media Network reports that a new Digital Radio Mondiale receiver designed
in France may soon be coming to American shores. The Di-Wave receiver from
UniWave Development SAS is expected to make its debut March 25th at the
DRM General Assembly in Germany. This is an all band plus FM receiver that
is Digital Radio Mondiale capable on the Shortwave, Medium Wave and Long
Wave bands. It will also expected to be the first consumer level Digital
Radio Mondiale receiver authorized by the FCC for sale in the United
States. (Media Network)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW LAPTOP PLATFORM FROM INTEL

Something long awaited in the world of laptop computers has finally
arrived. This with word that Intel Corporation is set to launch new
hardware for laptop computers. Jim Damron, N8TMW, reports:

--

The new products are a package of components including the main processor
as well as all the secondary chips that add features such as the ability to
connect to a wireless network.

Platforms such as this rarely grab focus outside of technical circles, but
Intel is generating wider interest this time. This is because its new
products are the first to use flash memory which it hopes will translate
into faster performance and longer battery life.

According to market researchers the laptop and notebook computers are the
fastest growing segment part of the personal computer business. Last year,
worldwide shipments of desktop machines rose just over 2 percent, but sales
of laptops jumped 26 percent.

I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW.

--

Most in the mobile data storage field believe that it won't be long before
high speed flash memory replaces mechanical hard drives in laptop and
notebook computers. (Intel release)

**

RADIO HONORS: NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2009 HORKHEIMER PRIZE\

Nominations for the 2009 Horkheimer Prize are being solicited by the German
Amateur Radio Society, the DARC.

The Horkheimer prize is awarded for merit in amateur radio and to the
further development of the service. Both individuals and institutions are
eligible it and any member of any amateur radio society that's a member of
the International Amateur Radio Union can be nominated. Letters of
nomination should include the name and address of the nominator, a short
description of the nominee and any other information that might be useful.
The deadline for submitting nominations I March 31st. They can be sent by
e-mail to darc at darc dot de

The 2009 Horkheimer prize will be presented during the opening ceremonies
of HAM RADIO fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany this spring. The recipient
gets a beautiful etched glass plate along with a prize of of 2,500
Euros. The money is given to further support the recipients amateur radio
related activities. (GB2RS, ARNewsline(tm))

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: THE 2009 NORTH DAKOTA QSO PARTY IN MARCH

The 2009 North Dakota QSO Party runs from 1700 UTC on Saturday, March 21st
to 0100 UTC on Sunday, March 22nd. Operation is on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6
and 2 meters. Stations working on the new ARRL Triple Play Award or Year
of the State QSO Party Award will want to be on the air for this
one. More information is on-line at k0ln.com. (Via e-mail)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: WEAK SIGNAL ON 2 METERS FROM A UK TOWER

Meantime members of the United Kingdom's Kilmarnock and Loudoun Amateur
Radio Club will be active on Sunday March 1st operating with the call
GB250RB. This, from Burnweil Tower in South Ayrshire. What makes this
operation unique is that it will only be on VHF and possibly UHF with an
emphasis on 2 meter SSB. However there is a good chance that a station will
also operate the 70 centimeter band as well. (Southgate, MM0GHM)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: W5GM IS NEW NORTH TEXAS SM

ARRL members in the North Texas Section have elected a new Section
Manager. Jay Urish, W5GM, of Flower Mound beat out incumbent Tom
Blackwell, N5GAR, of Dallas, by a vote of 740 to 678 votes. Blackwell has
served as North Texas Section Manager since 2005.

In Arizona, members re-elected incumbent Tom Fagan, K7DF, of
Tucson. Fagan, who has been Section Manger since 2005, received 1016 votes
while challenger Robert Spencer, KE8DM, of Yuma, received only 205.

The ballots were counted and verified at ARRL Headquarters on Tuesday,
February 24th. (ARRL)

**

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)

**

RADIOSPORTS: US ARDF CHAMPIONSHIP IN JUNE

It may be cold and snowy where you are right now, but spring is not that
far off. Nor is the season for master level hidden transmitter
hunting. Newsline's Joe Moell, K0OV, tells us about the upcoming direction
finding championship games for the Western Hemisphere.

--

Fans of on-foot hidden transmitter hunting are getting ready for the Ninth
USA Championships of Amateur Radio Direction Finding, or ARDF, which will
take place June 5 through 7 near Boston. The best radio-orienteers in the
country will be there, as well as some experts from around the world.
That's because these national championships are being combined with the
championships of IARU region 2. You don't need to be an expert, because
anyone can join in the competition as a learning experience.

Site of the contests will be the Blue Hills Reservation, a 7000-acre open
space that is about ten miles south of downtown Boston. This year's
organizer and host is Vadim Afonkin KB1RLI. He learned the sport as a youth
in his native Russia. When he got back into it here in the states six years
ago, he began a streak of winning medals at every national championship.

KB1RLI says that to encourage first-timers and foreign visitors, the
competition fee will be waived for persons who have never participated in
the USA ARDF Championships and for persons coming from outside North
America.

If you would like to take part as a competitor or a helper, point your Web
browser to www.bostonardf.org for the latest information and registration
forms. For more about the sporting side of radio direction finding,
including rules and ideas for equipment, go to www.homingin.com. Yes that's
one word: homingin.com

From southern California, where the weather is so nice that we can
practice ARDF any month of the year, this is Joe Moell K0OV, for the
Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

Again that website for the New England Orienteering Club is www dot
bostonardf dot org. (K0OV)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: PA ARISS CONTACT GARNERS BIG PUBLICITY

A recent contact between a school in Pennsylvania and an Astronaut ham
radio operator aboard the International Space Station has garnered a lot of
news coverage from the local press.

The QSO took place on Tuesday February 17th between the South Park
Elementary Center in South Park, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh native Mike
Fincke, KE5AIT, who was orbiting some 200 miles above the Earth. An
audience of approximately 460 including reporters from three Pittsburgh TV
stations and two newspapers watched as students posed twenty questions to
KE5AIT via the Maryland based K6DUE telebridge. The audio was also fed
into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received by stations in
England and the U.S..

Among the media outlets covering the event were the Pittsburgh Post
Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review along with news crews from stations
KDKA, WPXI and WTAE. The K6DUE callsign used on the telebridge belonged to
the late NBC newsman Roy Neal who is considered by many to be the father of
manned ham radio in space operations. (ARISS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KIWISAT TRANSPONDER TEST TAKING PLACE

The linear flight transponder for New Zealand's planned KiwiSAT ham radio
satellite is now on air in a ground simulation test from near
Whangaparaoa. The transponder is connected to a pair of beam antennas that
are pointing south during the on air evaluation..

The KiwiSAT transmit is reportedly running to be 2 watts peak envelope
power with a beacon frequency at 145.885 MHz. The operational frequencies
are 435.265 to 435.235 MHz uplink using lower sideband and a downlink of
145.850 to 145.880 MHz on upper sideband.

The transponder is of the inverting variety to compensate for orbital
Doppler shift. Being a linear transponder 30 kHz wide, any mode can be
used but FM is discouraged. New Zealand hams who are within range are
encouraged to try out the transponder while its in ground test and on the
air. (ANS)

**

DX

In D-X, W6DXO be operating portable C6A from South Andros Island between
March 1st to the 7th. Activity will be holiday style operation with focus
on the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands as propagation allows. His QSL Manager is
KF6JOQ.

The closing date for the South African Radio League High Frequency Field
Day logs to be submitted is midnight on Monday March 2nd. Logs can be
sent by e-mail to hfcontests at netactive dot co dot za or by
surface mail to SARL Box 12104, Brandhof, 9324, South Africa.

Lastly, JM1LJS and JG7PSJ will be active as JD1BLK and JD1BMH,
respectively from Chichijima Island `between April 29th and May 12th.
Their operation will be on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and the
Digital modes. QSL as directed on the air.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: 73 TO JOHN KANZIUS, K3TUP

And finally this week we take a look back at the life of a ham who
dedicated hi final days to solving the medical riddle that has eluded
medical researchers for decades. Finding a cure for cancer. Hers Mark
Abramovich, NT3V

--

John Kanzius, K3TUP, will best be remembered for his cancer treatment model
that used radio waves to attack the disease.

No, Kanzius wasn't a doctor or medical researcher. He was just a ham, a
tinkerer, if you will.

Kanzius spent his career in television as a broadcast engineer and later a
general manager in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Upon his retirement to Florida, Kanzius was diagnosed with leukemia and
began chemotherapy. Friends and family say the sight of sick children with
cancer prompted him to action.

He reasoned that radio waves might somehow be a way to target the cancer
cells and kill them.

Kanzius hooked up with the cancer researchers at M. D. Anderson - part of
Houston's University of Texas Health System and a group at Rice University
to test his theories.

Kanzius built a special machine that was able to use RF at a frequency of
13.56 MHz to heat up nanoparticles - tiny metal objects measured by the
billionths of an inch - which could be sent to attack the cancer.

Allen Pitts, W1AGP, the American Radio Relay League's media and public
relations manager, had contact with Kanzius in recent years and was quite
impressed by his ingenuity and humility.

Indeed, Pitts says Kanzius always credited his amateur radio skills and
interest in the technical and home-brew projects with providing him the
impetus to press on with his idea.

"We often think that that era is gone, that in a sense, everything that can
be invented by the individual has been invented," Pitts says. "And, John
proved that wrong.

"John was the poster child of the garage tinkerer who went and took an idea
that came to him in the middle of the night and started playing with it
and, dang, the thing worked!"

Pitts says Kanzius was excited about the prospects of his treatment concept.

"They were now finally getting to the place where they were about to be
able to do human trials," Pitts says. "They had done a whole lot of
different things in the animal trials and things had gone and had gotten
the thing fast-tracked.

"And they were going to start doing some limited human trials. Now the
whole process is still years in the making with all of the safeguards that
have to be done with this.

"But, at this point, everything is still looking very, very good."

Pitts says Kanzius, who was losing his battle to cancer in recent weeks,
had hoped to make it to see the first human trials get under way.

"One of John's biggest things is he knew that even his own thing would not
be able to save himself," Pitts recalls. "He knew that but his desire as
expressed to me a couple of times was that he really wanted to live long
enough to see the first person cured using this process."

"There are a lot of people that would take something like this and try to
commercialize it or beat their own drum or puff out their chest and say:
'Oh, look what I did, etcetera, etcetera,' Pitts continues. "John never was
like that. He promoted the process, he wanted to see it go. But I
encountered him and found him to be a true gentleman and the world's a
little smaller without him."

During his days in Erie, Kanzius also put a station together that was
masterful in busting DX pileups. During the late 1980s, he got involved in
contesting and assembled a competitive multi-single contesting set-up.

In 1991, Kanzius was at the top of the Honor Roll in the ARRL's DXCC
program. When he died at age 64, he had 347 countries confirmed.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.

--

John Kanzius, K3TUP, is survived by his wife Marianne, daughters Sherry
Kanzius and Toni Palmer and two grandchildren. In lieu of flowers memorial
contributions may be made to the John Kaznius Research Fund, Palace
Business Center, 915 State St, Erie, Pennsylvania 16501.

And this final note: Dr. Steven Curley of the M.D.Anderson Cancer Center
speaking at K3TUP's funeral said -- and we quote: "We will complete
John's work." (NT3V, 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 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.

A reminder that the nominating period for the 2009 Amateur Radio Newsline
Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. Complete details are on our
website at www.arnewsline.org Just scroll down to the words "2009 YHOTY
Nominations Now Open" and click for more information and an official
nominating form.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Meachen,
ZL2BHF, in Auckland, New Zealand saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

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