Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1651 - April 3 2009

Note: This weeks newscast runs 31 minutes 23 seconds and contains 3 breaks.

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1651 with a release date of Friday,
April 3rd, 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

Amateur radio faces the raging Red River as it assists in flood relief
duty; the Dayton Hamvention announces its 2009 award recipients, space
adventurer Charles Simonyi KE7KDP, returns to the International Space
Station; the Radio Society of Great Britain says that its time for A-M
users to move off of a space to ground 2 meter frequency and the FCC says
that P-R-B One does not really apply in a Yonkers, New York tower
dispute. Find out why on an extended Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number
1651 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO FACES THE SWOLLEN RED RIVER

Ham radio was on the front lines as the swollen Red River brought flooding
to parts of Southern Canada and into North Dakota and Minnesota. But in
this case pre-planning by ARES really paid off as we hear in this report
from Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V:

--

The members of the Red River Radio Amateurs in Fargo, North Dakota and
Moorehead, Minnesota, had a luxury most hams don't have with an emergency
upon them - time to prepare.

For those who have been following developments in the news media, the
danger of flooding of the two cities straddling the river has passed and as
Newsline goes to air, emergency communications operations are winding down.

The Red River crested Saturday, March 28, below the predicted 42-foot-level
and has continued to go down, approaching 35 feet as our Friday, April 3
deadline approached.

Mark Johnson, KC0SHM, is president of the Red River Radio Amateurs and
helped coordinate the response of a hearty group of more than 30 amateurs
on both sides of the river.

Johnson says the good news is hams pulled together to help communities get
through the crisis.

"People on both sides of the river, they're part of our local amateur radio
family and truly there was no separation," Johnson says. "In fact, the
operation itself really morphed into a single command situation where we
operated together as one unified group.

"Being that we all know each other so well, there was absolutely zero
segregation between section management lines and state lines and city
lines. So, it was one group working for the common good of the area."

Johnson says the weather service predicted the rising river levels weeks in
advance and that gave all the time they needed to get ready, pack and test
radios, operating locations and repeaters.

"Our local repeater system utilizes both a VHF and a UHF repeater," says
Johnson. "They're hot-linked together and that offered us a lot of
flexibility. Hand-held coverage was excellent on the UHF repeater and we
made great use of it."

Johnson says the hams began net operations on Sunday, March 22, supporting
those on the front lines who were filling and placing sandbags along the
Red River.

"In that capacity, we did a lot of roaming to basically patrol the streets
looking for people that had need for additional supplies like food and what
not," Johnson says.

"And they were able to guide the Salvation Army and, to some degree, the
Red Cross as well to the hot zones - if you will - where people were
needing the food and supplies to continue their operations. That would save
them from having to stop sandbagging to go find something to eat."

As the sandbagging operation grew and more and more volunteers were brought
in, the Red River Radio Amateurs moved to a 24-hour-a-day operation at a
variety of locations.

"We operated upwards of 11 different locations throughout the city, not
including the roaming vehicles," Johnson says. "At one point in time or
another, and some of those positions included both Cass and Clay County
Emergency Operations Centers.

" We also had positions stationed at two Red Cross locations, the Salvation
Army. We had a group stationed with the West Fargo police department where
the Coast Guard was stationed and an individual stationed at Innovi Hospital.

"And that's where basically any Coast Guard helicopters with people that
were pulled from their homes or rescued, if they had a medical condition
they were taken directly to Innovis."

Johnson says it was a tense time as the weekend of the projected crest of
the river approached.

"Those were the days when people were scrambling, trying to finish up the
levees," Johnson recalls. "We had just received word that the river crests
were projected to go higher than anticipated. So there was a massive,
massive volunteer push to get additional sandbags put in place.

"The difficulty was exacerbated by the snow that we had received which
certainly made it a difficult challenge to both get vehicles and equipment
where things needed to be and for the volunteer effort for people to get in
from out of town to help.

"So, that Friday and Saturday were really just key days."

Johnson says it was a truly heroic effort put out by so many to save the
communities.

"I think that the amount of effort that was put into the entire area - both
with the amateur radio community and the non-amateur community doing other
work from sandbagging to filling sand bags - I'm deeply humbled and touched
at the amount of support we received from people in town and out of town to
make it happen was absolutely critical.

"And had we not had that kind of help and resource and reaction from the
people in the area, we would have never made it as far as we did."

In the Canadian province of Manitoba, the Manitoba Emergency Measures
Organization and the City of Winnipeg Emergency Program requested
assistance from local ARES groups there to help out with the flooding on
that side of the border.

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

--

Obviously this story is far from over and we will have more in future
Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline(tm) with thanks to KC0SHM, WD0AKO
and RAC)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: GERMAN HAMS CLAIM TO BOUNCE SIGNALS OFF VENUS

A group of German hams claim that they have bounced a signal off the planet
Venus. This in an experiment that they call EVE which is an acronym for
Earth-Venus-Earth.

In a press release, Amsat Germany President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, reported
that on March 25th a team from his organization used a ground station at
the Bochum Observatory to transmit radio signals to Venus. He says that
Morse code was used to transmit the well known letters "HI." This was the
same message transmitted back to Earth from the early AMSAT OSCAR satellites.

But this time the trip in space was a lot longer than one to and from Earth
orbit. After traveling almost 100 million kilometers round trip with an
en-route delay of about 5 minutes, the two letters were clearly received
back on Earth as echoes from the planets surface using.

DB2OS says that despite the bad weather, signals from Venus could be
detected from 10:38 UTC until the planet reached the local horizon. He
says that the experiment was repeated on Thursday, March 26th for several
hours, again with good echoes from Venus.

Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, is very happy with the results of the EVE
experiment. He calls it another milestone for ham radio on its way toward
launching its own interplanetary probe towards planet Mars.
(AMSAT-DL)

**

ENFORCEMENT: RSGB WILL ASK OFCOM TO HANDLE DOWNLINK INTERFERENCE TO ISS

A group of hams who seem to feel that they own the frequency that the
International Space Station ham radio station uses as a downlink may soon
come under the scrutiny United Kingdom radio regulator Ofcom. This, if the
Radio Society of Great Britain proceeds with its plan to bring the matter
before its enforcement branch. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, reports:

--

The RSGB are dismayed to learn that a small group of AM enthusiasts based
in the West Lothian district of Scotland continue to cause what appears to
be deliberate interference to the ISS downlink frequency
of 145.800MHz during ISS passes.

The RSGB is concerned that despite several years of negotiation with this
group and a change of band allocation to move them away from the
internationally agreed ISS frequency, they continue to disrupt ISS
operation by their selfish disregard of their fellow radio amateurs and the
Band Plan.

The RSGB intends to bring the matter up formally with Ofcom at a meeting of
the RSGB/Ofcom Forum in early April.

--

Until now, little has been known about this A-M group outside of
Scotland. That is because their signals are on the downlink and therefore
are not being heard by the crew ion board the I-S-S. But their refusal to
off the air during those times that hams on the I-S-S are trying to make
space to ground contacts has become annoying to those stations on the
ground attempting to hear what the Astronaut ham radio operators on-orbit
are trying to say. (RSGB)

**

RESTRUCTURING: BROADCASTERS BEGIN VACATING 40 METERS HAM BAND

Shortwave broadcasters have begun to vacate 7 point 1 to 7 point 2 Mhz in
ITU regions 1 and 3. This a a new I-T-U rules became effective on March 29th.

Following on from the decision made during the World Radio Conference in
2003, the amateur service becomes the primary user in this high frequency
segment world-wide. In layman's terms, this represents everywhere except
the Americas, who have always enjoyed this segment as part of the 7 to
7.3MHz allocation in Region 2.

Although this date also coincides with the start of the HF broadcasting
schedule, it would be naive to think the segment might be completely clear
of broadcasting stations on that date. However a number of international
broadcasters have already have been noted to have moved closer to 7 point
5MHz. and away from operations in the ham radio band. (Southgate)

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N9QIP repeaters
serving America's great dairyland in the state of Wisconsin.

(5 sec pause here)


**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: DAYTON HAMVENTION ANNOUNCES 2009 AWARD WINNERS

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association has selected the creator of an
emergency communications network, a space explorer and an inventor to
receive this years coveted Hamvention awards. Amateur Radio Newsline's Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW, has the details:

--

Named as 2009 Amateur of the Year is Wade D. Hampton Jr., K4ITL, of
Raleigh, North Carolina. Better known as Danny Hampton, K4ITL is the
architect of the famed Piedmont Coastal Repeater Network. This system was
first established in the early 1970's today serves more than 40 machines in
North Carolina and is well known for its heavy use for public service
work. And not all that long ago the North Carolina Office of Emergency
Management and SKYWARN recognized the network's vital role in emergency
communication.

A ham since 1958, Hampton is the Technical Committee chairman for the
multi-state Southeastern Repeater Association as well as ARRL North
Carolina Section Technical Coordinator. He is also credited with helping
to coordinate the development of a local hospital-based amateur radio
emergency repeater system that ties 10 facilities together.

The Hamvention 2009 Special Achievement Award goes to Richard Garriott,
W5KWQ, the son of ham radio space pioneer Owen Garriott, W5LFL, who made
history as the first ham to communicate from Earth orbit ground during the
STS-9 Space Shuttle mission, The younger Garriott is a legend in his own
right as one of the worlds best known and most highly respected video game
programmer and designer. And like his father Richard Garriott has been a
ham radio in space pathfinder in his own right.

W5KWQ was sixth private citizen to fly to the International Space
Station. Through his on-orbit experimentation, his extensive operations
using a number of diverse modes, and phenomenal educational outreach
program he is said to have inspired and transformed the lives of tens of
thousands students worldwide.

Garriott was also the most prolific ham radio operator to fly on a short
duration mission. During his 10 day stay on the I-S-S he held over 500
two-way voice QSOs. Also, while on the I-S-S over a thousand SSTV images
were down linked, and hours of packet operations were performed.

But more important were the one on one chats with classrooms. Using the
ARISS station on board the orbiting outpost, W5KWQ communicated with
students at seven different Challenger Learning Centers in the U.S. plus
numerous other schools around the globe. He also had numerous random chats
with scouts world-wide as part of the scouting's amateur radio Jamboree on
the Air.

Last but by no means least, this years Hamvention award for Technical
Excellence winner Copthorne "Cop" Macdonald, VY2CM. First licensed at age
15, Macdonald is best known as the father of Slow Scan amateur
television. He developed the system in the 1950's while an engineering
student at the University of Kentucky. The paper he wrote describing it
won national acclaim and took first prize in the 1958 A-I-E-E student paper
competition. Later, Macdonald worked with other slow scan pioneers to get
the FCC to authorize operation of the mode in the High Frequency ham
bands. That effort finally succeeded a decade later in 1968.

Macdonald has authored articles on slow scan for QST and CQ magazines. In
1973 he started New Directions Radio. This is a network of hams concerned
with using ham radio and SSTV to help create a more aware, more caring, and
more responsible human society.

With congratulations to all, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, for the Amateur Radio
Newsline. Jim.

--

Danny Hampton, K4ITL, Richard Garriott W5KWQ and Cop Macdonald, VY2CM, will
receive their awards during Hamvention 2009. That's slated for May 15th to
the 17th at the Hara Arena in suburban Dayton, Ohio. Amateur Radio
Newsline will again be there, providing comprehensive coverage of this
years event. (Dayton Hamvention 2009)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KE7KDP AGAIN OPERATING FROM THE ISS

American entrepreneur Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP, is back in space and talking
to kids in schools as well as the hams worldwide. This, from his perch
some 250 miles straight up.

Simonyi was onboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that blasted off from Kazakhstan
on Thursday March 26 and rendezvoused with the International Space Station
the following day. Since then the software pioneer and aviator turned
space explorer has been delighting hams on the ground with both voice
contacts and slow scan pictures sent back from space.

In addition to his leisure time ham radio operations during his 13day stay,
KE7KDP, is assisting with several research projects. He is also taking
part in a series of live two way contacts with school classrooms world-wide
using ham station on board the ISS and the ground facilities of ARISS. The
Amateur Radio station onboard the Space Station uses a downlink frequency
of 145.800 MHz FM and moat Astronauts have tended to use that frequency for
both voice and Slow Scan TV.

Simonyi's first trip to the space station in 2007 cost him an estimated
$24 million. It is believed that this time it will have cost him $35
million by the time he returns to Earth on April 6th. More about Charles
Simonyi's latest trip to the ISS is on-line at
www.charlesinspace.com. (ARNewsline(tm) from various sources)

**

RADIO LAW: THE FCC SAYS YONKERS TOWER LAW NOT IN VIOLATION OF PRB-1

The FCC says that it will not retroactively extend PRB One to a Yonkers,
New York tower and antenna case where the ham put up the structure before
getting a proper permit. This, as it denies for a second time a request
from Thomas R. Morrison, AB2PP, who wanted the FCC to intervene in his
case. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more in this report:

--

By way of background, Thomas Morrison, AB2PP, had previously filed a
request with the FCC for a declaratory ruling regarding his antenna
tower. The FCC denied the request by a letter to him dated January 31,
2007. In that letter, the FCC explained that the Commission's PRB-1
decision requires that local regulation of amateur radio facilities must
be the minimum practicable to accomplish the local authority's legitimate
purpose. But PRB-1 does permit local authorities the right to determine
what constitutes a reasonable accommodation based on the its legitimate
purposes, policies and concerns. The FCC's 2007 letter also stated that
the Commission does not have the resources to review all state and local
laws that affect amateur radio operations. Rather, it is what the FCC
terms as local tribunals that have authority to review local zoning decisions.

In his response to the Commission's decision against him Morrison again
requested that the FCC find that the City's building permit requirements do
not satisfy the legal requirements of PRB-1. He stated that since the
FCC declined to act on his previous petition, the City Planning Board
denied his request for a special use permit for his tower. Moreover, they
also had indicted him for a misdemeanor for installing the tower without a
permit. Morrison told the FCC that he has now filed litigation in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,
requesting that it forestall the criminal trial.

But the FCC indicates that none of this is of any concern to that the
agency. The FCC says that these intervening events do not affect its
conclusion that, under the Commission's PRB-1 decision, Morrison has
not presented an appropriate issue for Commission involvement. As such it
will not support or act favorably on Morrison's request.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the Newsroom
in Los Angeles.

--

The FCC says that Morrison's dispute with the city of Yonkers fundamentally
involves whether its building code complies with PRB-1. It also notes that
as PRB-1 recognizes that local tribunals have the authority to handle
appeals of local decisions regarding antenna structures. As such the FCC
says that the matter is best settled in what the regulatory agency terms as
the appropriate forum. (FCC)

**

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)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: ARRL - TAPER DCC WANTS PAPERS

According to a note from Steve Ford, WB8IMY, technical papers are being
solicited for presentation at the 28th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital
Communications Conference. That event is slated for September 25th to the
27th in Chicago, Illinois.

Steve says that papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings
exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. Also, authors do
not have to attend the conference to have your paper included in the
Proceedings.

The deadline for papers is July 31, 2009. Please send submissions to Maty
Weinberg at ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut
06111. Papers can also be via e-mailed to maty (at) arrl (dot)
org. (WB8IMY, ARRL)

**

ON THE AIR: NATA INAUGURATES 40 METER NEWS

The North American Traffic and Awards Net began meeting on 40 meters SSB on
April 1st. The new nets meet on Sunday, Thursday, and Saturday on 7205 kHz
starting at 0000 hours U-T-C with a late net at 0400 UTC. Both nets will
last approximately one hour. This new net is in addition to the other North
American Traffic and Awards Nets and comes exactly three months after the
network returned to the air.

The North American Traffic and Awards Net also offers a series of free
operating awards to anyone meeting the requirements for each award. All
awards requirements and rules are on line at
www.northamericantrafficandawards.net. (NATA)

**

ON THE AIR: HPM STATION CHANGES 10 METER CHANNEL

The ARRL headquarters Hiram Percy Maxim W1AW Memorial Station recently
began using a new 160 meter frequency for its CW transmissions. W1AW has
moved to 1802.5 kHz in order to reduce the possibility of interference with
other Top Band operations. The ARRL says that increasing activity near the
previous bulletin frequency of 1817.5 kHz lead to the decision to make the
change. (ARRL)

**

NAMES IN THE NEW: DJ0QN NAMED ACTING DARC SECRETARY OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

And a familiar name in the news. Mitch Wolfson, DJ0QN, has now taken over
as Acting Secretary of International Affairs for the German national
amateur radio society, the DARC. Wolfson succeeds Dennis Haertig, DL7RBI,
who has moved to Switzerland for professional reasons.

Wolfson, is originally from Los Angeles, California, where he held the call
WA6GSN. He currently holds the U-S call K7DX, is married to a German
national, has two grown children and has lived in Munich over three
decades. He is employed in the technology sector.

Over the years DJ0QN has been a contributor on ham radio happenings on the
European continent for this news service. He tells Newsline that he will
be covering both the giant Dayton and Friedrichshafen ham radio conventions
for the DARC in the coming months. (ARNewsline(tm))

**


THE BPL WAR: INDUSTRY EXPRESSES DOUBTS OVER BPL

A year ago Broadband over Powerline Internet access was the fair hair boy
of the business world. Now its detractors are growing as its champions
fall away. Jim Linton, VK3PC, reports:

--

Strong doubts on BPL in the trade press.

It's encouraging to say the least that finally, the telecomms industry is
admitting that Broadband over Powerlines has a multiplicity of issues in
deployment.

According to the (3 March 2009 issue of the US industry journal Network
World, it is now recognized that BPL doesn't really cut the mustard against
alternative internet delivery technologies in under-served rural areas.

The three key points that publication makes a

BPL networks have to be run jointly by an Internet Service Provider and an
electricity utility; neither knows each other's business.

BPL is actually yet to be demonstrated working in a widespread deployment;
a number of high-profile plans and installation trials over recent years
have fallen through.

BPL has technological issues ranging from interference ingress and egress,
power line noise and multiplexing problems.

Hardly a glowing endorsement of the technology!

Want to check out the Network World article, well its internet address is
http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...re.html?page=1

I'm Jim Linton, VK3PC.

--

B-P-L still has a few big name industry supporters but by and large those
who used to be its biggest boosters are now championing other ways to get
on the net. (Spectrum Digest & Amateur Radio Victoria)


**

BREAK 3

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: SHORTWAVE BROADCAST LEGEND DICK SPEEKMAN - SK

We are sad to report the passing of another radio legend. This with world
that Dick Speekman, a former host of Radio Netherlands DX Jukebox in the
1970's, and of Radio Australia's program Spectrum in the 1980's, died
peacefully on March 11th at the Hawker Hospital, South Australia. Speekman
had been suffering form colon cancer for some time. His funeral was held on
Thursday, March 19th. (Media Network)

**

WORLDBEAT: RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA POSTPONES ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Turning to news from around the world, we first go North to where the 2009
Annual General Meeting of Radio Amateurs of Canada has been
postponed. This, due to a shift in accounting procedures.

According to an announcement, a change in the bookkeeping system at the
Radio Amateurs of Canada headquarters office resulting in unforeseen
complications. As a result the Annual General Meeting of Radio Amateurs
of Canada members, scheduled for May 24, 2009, in Quebec, has had to be
canceled.

Radio Amateurs of Canada says that the presentation of an audited financial
statement at the meeting is an important and long established
practice. Because of the delay caused by the transfer to a new bookkeeping
method, the possibility of having an audited statement being ready for the
meeting is not possible. Another date and venue for the required 2009 Radio
amateurs of Canada Annual General Meeting is being sought and will be
announced as soon as it is known. (RAC)

**

WORLDBEAT- RAC AND CANADIAN RED CROSS ENTER INTO MOU

Also, a renewed Memorandum of Understanding has now been signed between
Radio Amateurs of Canada and the Canadian Red Cross Society. The document
spells out certain obligations by Canadian ARES volunteers and by the Red
Cross. English and French versions may be seen online at
http://www.rac.ca/fieldorg/download.htm (RAC)

**

WORLDBEAT: UK MILITARY TO TRY GPS JAMMING EXERCISE IN JULY

If you are driving in the U-K next summer and your G-P-S guidance system
goes brain dead, it might be jammed and the jamming is legal. The United
Kingdom's Ministry of Defense has informed telecommunications regulator
Ofcom that between July 6th and 16th, that it will be conducting a Global
Positioning System jamming exercise.

The July tests will be for limited periods between 11.00 and 15.00
U-T-C. The location for the exercise is to sea westwards from N58 deg.
57.4' W003 deg. 13.9' which is about 60 nautical miles west of
Kirkwall. Ofcom warns that it cannot be held responsible that any loss of
service is due to the military G-P-S jamming exercises.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense conducts occasional tests on
military systems which may result in some loss of service to civilian users
of the Global Positioning System. This includes such equipment as in-car
navigation devices and other networks which rely on GPS signals. (GB2RS)

**

DX

In D-X, members of the Texas DX Society are now active as C91TX from
Bilene, Mozambique until April 5th. Operations are on 160 to 10 meters
with 3 active stations, one station each for CW, SSB, and the Digital
modes. For updates, visit www dot tdxs dot net slash c91 dot html on the
World Wide Web.

The team bringing Mellish on the air finally were able to land there on
March 27th. They came on the air on March 28th as VK9GMW and hope to be
there through April 10th but this can change. More is on-line at www.vk9gmw.com

E51COF is currently on the air from Rarotonga in the South Cook
Islands. He plans to operate SSB on 10, 15, 20, 40, 80 and maybe 17
meters. QSL via K8NA.

Members of Turkey's Special Wireless Activity Team will be active as TC57A
to remember that nations 57th Regiment Martyrs. Operation is slated from
April 22nd to the 27th on the HF bands. QSL as directed on the air.

Lastly, N5FF is in Damascus, Syria, and should be active as YK1BA from
through April 10th. The purpose of the trip is not a DXpedition, so his
operating will be spotty. QSL via N5FF

(Above from various DX sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: THE 45 AT AGE 60

And finally this week, the 45 RPM record -- yes we said record -- is now 60
years old. While it has faded from the pop music distribution scene it is
still very popular with some music collectors and vinyl record
buffs. Rebecca Bruce has the rest of the story:

--

For those like this reporter who was born after the introduction of the
digital compact disc and portable music player, the 45 R-P-M record with
its small size and large center hole was a kind of a trip back in time. We
saw them as kids and we heard our parents playing them on their record
players. But by the time we grew up the only place you could find them was
at the local swap meet or on eBay.

Up until the introduction of the C-D the 45 rpm record was the mainstay of
delivering popular music to an entertainment hungry world. Only 7 inches
in diameter, the disc spun at 45 revolutions per minute and was designed to
hold two songs. One on each side of the disc.

I'm told that the best part of the 45 was its extreme light weight and
durability. Unlike the older 78 R-P-M discs which would shatter if
dropped, a 45 might get a scratch but could continue to be played with the
added annoyance of some clicks and pops from the scratch. This made it an
ideal and inexpensive format of that era for providing recorded music to
teens and pre-teens of the mid to late 20th century. That's because most
45's sold for less than a dollar.

As a historic note, the first 45 rpm disc was "Texarkana Baby" recorded by
country singer Eddy Arnold. It was released by RCA on March 31, 1949.

But the entertainer who likely benefited most from the 45 was likely the
man they called the "King of Rock and Roll," Elvis Presley. He sold
millions of records during his career and made the 45 R-P-M record a
household word among teens.

So a happy birthday to the good old 45. I have the feeling that mom and
dad kind of miss having you around.

Sitting here with my iPod and my three kids who will likely only see a 45
RPM record in a museum, I'm Rebecca Bruce reporting for the Amateur Radio
Newsline.

--

Now, we are in the 21st century. The 45 had given way first to the C-D and
more recently to direct download to music players like Rebecca's
iPod. None the less, the 45 RPM record holds an important place in
bringing music into the lives of oh so many. (RW)

**

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.

Also be sure to mark April 18th as this year World Amateur Radio
Day. World Amateur Radio Day will focus on the hobby as it empowers people
and supports communities by providing emergency communication as well as
public service oriented interaction for community and other special events.


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

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