Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1718 - July 16 2010

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1718 with a release date of
Friday, July 16, 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. An appeals court strikes down the FCC's 2004
ban on indecent language broadcast on the airwaves, rule 97.113 changed
to allow employees in emcomm drills, the next Global Amateur Radio
Emergency Conference to take place this fall on the island of Curaco,
hams in Spain get called out in back to back emergency communications
exercises and Amateur Radio Newsline announces the 2010 Young Ham of
the Year. Find out whom it is on an expanded Amateur Radio
Newsline(tm) report number 1718 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RADIO LAW: APPEALS COURT RULES FCC POLICY ON BROADCAST INDECENCY
UNCONSTITUTIONAL

A federal appeals court has struck down a Federal Communications
Commission policy on broadcast indecency saying that regulations
barring the use of fleeting expletives on radio and television
violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This,
because they were vague and could inhibit free speech. Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, has the details:

--

In a unanimous decision delivered on Tuesday, July 12th the three-judge
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said that the FCC's
current policy created a chilling effect. One that goes far beyond the
fleeting expletives at issue because it left broadcasters without a
reliable guide to what the commission would find offensive.

The appeals court emphasized that it was not precluding federal regulation
of broadcast standards. It specifically stated that it was not suggesting
that the FCC could not create a policy that was constitutional but that the
regulatory agency's current policy fails constitutional scrutiny.

The stricter policy enacted by the FCC followed several incidents that lead
to widespread public complaints. This included singer Janet Jackson's
breast baring episode during the 2004 Super Bowl Half-Time Show and
repeated instances of on the air fleeting profanity by celebrities,
including Cher, Paris Hilton and Bono. This, during the live broadcasts of
awards programs.

The Janet Jackson incident did not involve speech but it drew wide public
outrage that spurred a crackdown by the FCC.

The decision against the FCC stems from a challenge by Fox, CBS and other
broadcasters to the agency's decision in 2004 to begin enforcing a
stricter standard of what kind of language is allowed on free, over-the-air
television. Prior to 2004, the FCC consistently held that occasional,
spontaneous use of certain words that were otherwise prohibited did not
violate its indecency standards.

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

--

What affect this ruling might have on ham radio and other personal service
cases involving indecent language broadcast over the airwaves is hard to
assess. In years past, the FCC has applied its broadcast indecency
standard in personal communications matters involving ongoing violations of
various rules regarding language used on the air. That said, to date no
ham, CB'er or other private radio operator has ever been cited for an
inadvertent one time slip of the tongue. (Adapted from published news
reports)

**

RADIO LAW: FCC TO ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO PARTICIPATE IN EMCOMM TRAINING DRILLS

The FCC has adopted a Report and Order on Docket RM 10-124 that contains
new and less stringent rules regarding employee participation in emergency
communications training drills.

Specifically, the FCC has amend the Part 97.113 of its rules to permit
amateur radio operators to transmit messages for their employers under
certain limited circumstances. This includes both government or
non-government sponsored emergency and disaster preparedness drills,
regardless of whether the operators are employees of entities participating
in an exercise.

Under the newly modified 97.113, the amount of time employees are now
allowed to participate in government sponsored drills is essentially
unlimited. In the case of non government sponsored drills the limitation
is one hour a week and two drill sessions of up to 72 hours per year.

In making its decision, the FCC categorically refuted all comments against
the rules modification. The FCC essentially stated that improvement in the
public's welfare by allowing such participation in emergency training
outweighs any concern within the ham community that such a rules change
would erode the non pecuniary interest and not for profit status of the
amateur radio service.

The Report and order was released on July 14th. It should become effective
30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The full document is on
the FCC website at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-10-124A1.pdf or
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-10-124A1.doc (FCC,
AH6RH)

**

RESCUE RADIO: GAREC 2010 ON CURACO IN OCTOBER

The 2010 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Conference or GAREC will be held on
October 11th and 12th. The venue is the Hilton Curaco on the island of
Curaco in the Netherlands Antilles.

The missions of the conference are to get amateur radio operators better
prepared for emergency communications. This, by creating what can best be
called universal operating practices at both national and international
levels. The conference is also a place to exchange information and
experiences between amateur radio operators and groups that are interested
in emergency communications.

The planning for the event is progressing with the first draft program of
events available from the GAREC website at www.garec.net. The program will
continue to change as speakers and activities are confirmed in coming
months. Registration and hotel information can also be found at the
Website. (IARU)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAMS IN SPAIN CALLED OUT IN TWIN READYNESS EXERECISES

Amateurs radio operators in Spain have been involved with two major
emergency communications exercises giving them the ability to polish their
operating skills while showing authorities what they can do. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports:

--

According to G0DUB, in the first of the two exercises, several teams of the
Spanish Emergency Radio Network participated in the international exercise
PRES EU 2010, which took place at the Madrid Barajas International Airport
on June 26th. The exercise simulated an accident resulting from a plane
leaving the runway on landing and crashing into a building in which
radioactive substances for hospital use were stored.

This drill simulated the possibility of a large number of victims of
different nationalities with differing languages and needs. It also showed
the results of the activation of the corresponding Civil Protection plans
in an environment of simulated radiological contamination. More than 600
Spanish emergency technicians were deployed as were several teams from
eight European countries.

In the second exercise on June 27th, the Grupo de Radio Transpirenaico or
G-R-T brought together radio amateurs from Spain, France and
Andorra. This, in an emergency communications exercise to demonstrate a
network spanning the Pyrenees without using any existing infrastructure.

During the exercise, a chain of more than 60 amateur radio stations was
established from the eastern to the western Pyrenees, alternating radio
links between France and Spain in the amateur radio bands. The point to
point VHF radio links were used to send and receive messages from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. The same messages were then
relayed back to the starting point in a single hop using stations operating
on the High Frequency bands.

The overall exercise showed how ham radio H-F and VHF links can work side
by side in a communications emergency and proving that that ham radio is a
very powerful alternative emergency communications asset for the first
responders and other authorities.

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

--

The first exercise was funded as part of European Union Project called
Rapid Response Capability 7. The Spanish Emergency Radio Network also
known as Red Radio de Emergencia is a group of 4000 amateur radio operators
which is integrated in the Spanish General Directorate of Civil Protection
and Emergencies.
(IARU, G0DUB, EA4FSI )

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WB2BNH repeater
of the Yonkers Amateur Radio Club serving Yonkers, New York.

(5 sec pause here)


**

YHOTY: CODY ANDERSON, KI4FUV, NAMED AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE 2010 YOUNG HAM
OF THE YEAR

A 17 year old Tennessee ham generally credited with saving the life of a
downed runner in a marathon has been selected as the 2010 Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham of the Year. Mark Abramovich, NT3V, is here with the
story of Cody Anderson, KI4FUV:

--

"Cody, KI4FUV, you are the 2010 Young Ham of the Year award recipient from
the Amateur Radio Newsline."

"I'm really excited. Somehow I can't wait to tell everybody here."

And that was the reaction of Cody Anderson of Harriman, Tennessee when he
got the news the judges had selected him for the recognition.

Cody, 17, is the son of Benny Anderson and Jane Ann Edwards. He is an
honors graduate of Rockwood High School in nearby Rockwood.

Phillip Newman, KE4LSH, president of the Roane County Amateur Radio Club,
based about 30 miles west of Knoxville, nominated Cody for the award.

Cody serves as vice president of the club as well as net manager and
webmaster for KE4RX.org.

"I'm really involved with the ARES portion of it," Cody says. "ARES is
really strong here within Roane County.

"I would be more active on HF, although I just don't have a way to get an
HF antenna up. I'm pretty active on 2-meters on the local club repeater."

Cody's nomination rose to the top of the Young Ham of the Year award
committee's nominee list because of a life-changing event which occurred in
this young ham's life.
It was May 30, 2009 and Cody says he was manning a checkpoint at the "Run
for the Child" event in Roane County.

"It was about 20 or 25 minutes in," Cody recalls. "One of the runners had
went past me and I noticed he fell. I waited just a second or two, you
know, to see if he got back up. Maybe he just tripped.

"And, then I noticed he didn't get back up, so I went over to him and by
the time I got to him he had quit breathing and went into cardiac arrest.

"After I radioed it in, me and another one of the runners that had stopped
started CPR."
Cody says he had completed that CPR training through the club just months
earlier and put his knowledge to work, doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
while the runner did the chest compressions.

Cody recalls it all happened so fast and he just reacted instinctively.

"You know it's a fairly short race and the checkpoint I was working at was
one of the earlier ones," Cody says. "I actually got done before the race
was over. And, I went back and as I got back to the command post, I heard
over the public safety radio they were bringing in a helicopter and flying
him out to another hospital."

Cody says the man survived and although his heroic actions got some
attention, the experience really didn't change him.

"I don't think that fazed me at all because I believed I was just doing
what was right and I wasn't in it for the recognition," Cody recalls.

First licensed in 2004, Cody is a General Class operator who, although he
is not a Boy Scout himself, has been helping the Radio Club of Knoxville
teach two merit badges offered each summer at the Buck Toms Scout Camp run
by the Great Smoky Mountain Council.

"They get two merit badges - they get the Radio and Electronics - and we
help them build a TenTec shortwave receiver kit and help them understand
how it works, what the components do," Cody says. "We let them operate the
radios if they want to."

Cody is heading on to Roan State Community College this fall where he's
planning to get some core courses completed. He says he's then planning to
enroll at Tennessee Tech where he'll major in computer science.

As to his future in ham radio, Cody says there's always room for that.

"I hope to stay as active as I am now or become more active," Cody says.
"Tennesee Tech actually has a radio club.

"I believe that ham radio is what's helped me learn a lot of my technical
knowledge now and even computer skills and things like that, working with
digital modes and other things.

"I really hope that I can stay as active as I am now and continue to learn
with it."

Once again, congratulations to Cody Anderson, KI4FUV, Amateur Radio
Newsline's Young Ham of the Year.

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

--

Cody Anderson, KI4FUV, will receive his award at the 2010 Huntsville
Hamfest slated for the weekend of August 21st and 22nd at the Von Braun
Center in Huntsville, Alabama. We hope to see many of you
there. (ARNewsline(tm))

**

ENFORCEMENT: UNLICENSED FLORIDA BROADCASTER ISSUED $10000 NAL

The FCC has issued a $10,000 Notice of Apparent Liability to Christopher M.
Myers of Lauderhill, Florida. This, for apparently willfully and
repeatedly violating Section 301 of the Communications Act by operating an
unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 95.9 MHz.

According to an FCC release, back on August 14, 2008, the Enforcement
Bureau's Miami Office issued a
Notice of Unlicensed Operation to Myers for operating an FM broadcast
station from his residence on 91.7 MHz without a license. The notice
warned him that continued operation could subject him to further
enforcement action.

On July 21, 2009, in response to a complaint that Myers was now operating
an unlicensed station at his residence in Lauderhill, Florida, agents from
the Miami Office used direction-finding to locate the source of broadcast
transmissions on the frequency 95.9 MHz. It was traced to the same
building from which Myers previously operated an unlicensed radio station
on 91.7 MHz. In the ensuing months the FCC says it received continued
complaints regarding this operation.

On March 7, 2010, the agents from the Miami Office inspected the unlicensed
station, which was located in a condominium unit owned Myers. The agents
observed a coaxial cable that connected a roof-mounted antenna on the
condominium building to an FM radio transmitter operating on the frequency
95.9 MHz located inside Myers's condominium unit. The agents also
observed
that Christopher Myers was the only person present inside his unit at the
time of the Commission's inspection.

Now, based on the evidence before it, the FCC finds that's Christopher M.
Myers apparently willfully and repeatedly violated Section 301 of the Act
by operating radio transmission equipment on 95.9 MHz without Commission
authorization. Therefore he is being assessed $10,000 which is payable
within 30 days of the July 12th release of the order. Myers also has the
option to file an appeal. (FCC)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: WORKEDGRIDS FREEWARE AP FOR GRID SQUARE CHASERS

WorkedGrids is a freeware Windows application that displays a map showing
Amateur Radio grid squares contacted and logged using a third-party logging
program. The app was developed by VE2ZAZ, and uses colors to display
information on a per-band basis. Up to four bands can be displayed
concurrently. For its input, the program reads the plain-text ASCII log
files generated by most logging programs. The file is read at a set
interval and the worked grid squares on the map are updated in a dynamic
way as the contest progresses and the log file is periodically
saved. WorkedGrids can be downloaded from tinyurl.com/24okrtm. (VHF
Reflector)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: QUARTZFEST TESTING DATE CORRECTION

The organizers of the 2011 Quartzfest in Quartzsite Arizona say that a ham
radio exam session listed on the ARRL Website for Saturday, July 17, 2010
is a mistake. Posting to QRZ.com, Steve, KO4QT, and Linda, KI6JUD, Weed
say that Quartzfest 2011 is scheduled to take place this coming January
from the 23rd to the 29th. Exam dates are the morning of January 24th for
the Commercial Radio Telephone and Telegraph test. Amateur radio exams
will be administered will take place the morning of January 25th. The
Weed's say that they have contacted the ARRL and there should be a
correction at the ARRL website, likely by the time this newscast goes to
air. More on the 2011 Quartzfest is on-line at www.quartzfest.org.
(QRZ.com)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: JOHN THOMPSON, WB5SYT, RESIGNS AS WEST GULF ARRL VICE
DIRECTOR

Some names in the news. First up is ARRL West Gulf Division Vice Director
John Thomason, WB5SYT, of Edmond, Oklahoma, who has submitted his
resignation to ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. In his July 11th letter,
Thomason told Craigie that by resigning, he will be able to devote his
energy to serve his family, employer and health.

Former ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, appointed Thomason in January
2009 as Vice Director. This, after David Woolweaver, K5RAV, moved up to
the Director position upon the retirement of then Division Director Coy
Day, N5OK.

The Director and Vice Director positions in the West Gulf Division along
with those in the Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeastern and Southwestern
Divisions are up for election this November. (ARRL)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: 5B4AHJ CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN HAM RADIO

Alan Jubb, 5B4AHJ, will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a licensed radio
amateur on October 25th. To commemorate the event, he will use the special
Cypress call 5B50J beginning this October 25th and continuing for a
year. Listen out for him on CW and SSB. QSL via 5B4AHJ, direct or via
Logbook of the World. (Various)

**

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 RADIO IN SPACE: ISS RANDOM CONTACTS BACK

After a seemingly long period when the astronaut and cosmonaut hams on
board the International Space Station seemed only to be making pre-planned
contacts with schools, random contacts are back. For several days last
week, Colonel Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, took to the air from the orbital
outpost to talk to hams around the globe. Here's a time compressed sample
as supplied to us by Scott Avery, WA6LIE:

--

Actual contact audio from NA1SS - Hear it in the MP3 version of this weeks
newscast available for download from www.arnewsline.org.

--

That recording was made on July 11th. Among the other stations Wheelock
is known to have worked are since activating ISS station NA1SS were KD5DCB
and PD0RKC to name only a few. (ARNewsline(tm) with audio from WA6LIE)

**

WORLDBEAT: IARU REGION 1 UPDATING PUBLISHED BANDPLAN DATA

Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union is looking for help to
keep their records up to date. They have asked that member societies
update or verify the spectrum privileges, especially for 600, 60, 6 and 4
meters. This based on the recent ham radio allocation changes that have
taken place in some nations.

The currently published spectrum privileges each country in Region 1 is on
line at www.iaru-r1.org. To see them simply click on Spectrum and Band
Plans on the left hand side of the page (GB2RS)

**

WORLDBEAT: IRELAND ISSUES NEW CALLS TO AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK

Ireland's telecommunications regulator ComReg has issued a new set of call
signs for use by that nations Amateur Radio Emergency Network. The three
calls are EI0AC, EI0EC, and EI0NC and supersede any callsigns issued in the
past. The new calls are available for use during training and emergency
nets as directed by Ireland's National Coordinator. (IRTS)

**

TECHNICAL CORNER: ARRL & TAPR DCC CALL FOR PAPERS

Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 29th Annual ARRL and
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Digital Communications Conference to be held
September 24th to the 26th near Portland, Oregon. Papers will be published
exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. The submission
deadline is July 31st and you do not need to attend the conference to have
your paper included in the Proceedings. Papers go to Maty Weinberg, in
care of the ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut, 06111or by
e-mail to Maty (at) arrl (dot) org. (WB8IMY)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: INDIA LAUNCHES TWIN HAM RADIO SATELLITES

Two more ham radio satellites are in space and on-orbit. VU2WMY reports
that StudSat and TISat were launched successfully early Monday morning,
July 12th. StudSat and TISat were aboard the Indian Space Research
Organization's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C15. They were
successfully separated from it and are in a 640 Km orbit. Their respective
beacons frequencies are 437.861 and 437.305 MHz. Video of the launch is on
line at tinyurl.com/29ukc4l (Southgate)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SO-67 OPERATIONS SUSPENDED DUE TO COMPUTER GLITCH

Meantime some on-orbit problems for South Africa's Sumbandilasat SO-67 ham
radio bird. Due to the erratic operation of the onboard computer,
operations of SO-67 have been suspended while the ground station
investigates the problem. Speculation is that recent changes in the
software that operates the amateur payload could be the cause. South
Africa Amsat says that it will advise the world amateur radio community
when SO-67 operation will be resumed. (SA AMSAT)

**

ON THE AIR: PORTUGAL

On the air, word from Portugal comes word that special event station CS29MR
will operate from July 12th to the 18th. This to celebrate the 29th
International Motorcycle Concentration Faro. Operations will be on 80
through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. More information can be found on
QRZ.com. (Southgate)

**

ON THA AIR: CROATIA

On the air, keep an ear open for Croatian special event station 9A10P to be
active through the end of the year. This, to celebrate the anniversary of
the city of Djurdjevac. A special QSL will be issued, and all QSOs will
be confirmed automatically via the bureau. (OPDX)

**

ON THE AIR: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

And if you missed working ON4HIL as 9Q50ON, I the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, don't worry. Patrick will help the locals in Kinshasa get their
club station on the air and assist them in making their first QSOs as
9Q50AR. This is another special event call sign to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the
independence of the Democratic Republic Congo and will be used by different
local operators until the end of the year. A QSL Manager is expected to be
announced shortly. (OPDX)

**

DX

In DX, members of the Czech and Slovak OM0C Contest Crew have announced
another DXpedition to Gambia to take place between November 18th and
December 1st. They plan to renew the callsigns from their previous 2007
operation as C50C or C52C. The special call sign C5A has been reserved for
use during the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. For more details and updates,
visit their Website at tinyurl.com/334e79q

F4DBJ, will be active as 5R8HT from Madagascar between September 5th and
November 28th. Operations will be on 80 through 10 meters. QSL via his home
call sign.

DL4HG and DL5XAT will be active from Gozo Island between November 23rd and
the 30th. They plan to be active as 9H3TX during the CQ World Wide DX CW
Contest as a Multi-2 entry. QSL via DL5XAT.

F2JD is back to Manilla for the next 5 months or so and is now signing
portable DU1. He plans to be active on all bands and modes during his
stay. He will also try to activate some Islands on the Air while
there. QSL via F6AJA.

Lastly, F5RBB and F0FRL will be active stroke TK between September 12th and
the 25th. F5RBB will operate on 80 through 10 meters using SSB and some of
the digital modes, while F0FRL will be on 2 meters using SSB. QSL as
directed on the air.

(Above from various DX news sources)


**

THAT FINAL ITEM: A GENDERLESS BATTERY YOU VCANT PUT IN WRONG

And finally this week, ever put a new battery into a radio or flashlight
and wonder why it does not work. So you take it out and realize you have
it in backward? Well that might not be a problem much longer as we hear
from Jim Linton, VK3PC

--

Just how hard can it be to load batteries into devices and get the polarity
correct?

Well, apparently this very simple task is just beyond some people, who we
will describe as being Polarity-Agnostic, or call a spade a spade, they're
battery bunglers.

So prevalent is this lack of skill that Microsoft and Duracell have
identified it as an untapped market, and created batteries that have both
positive, you know that's the one with the plus sign, and negative or
hyphen, at both ends.

This bipolar set-up of terminals is subject to a patent entitled
'Eliminating Incorrect Battery Placement'.

The InstaLoad technology is a brilliant, basic mechanical solution without
electronic components or circuitry. Already it has found application in
hearing aids, torches and soon to follow will be a host of gadgets
presumably the Duracell Energizer Bunny.

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC.

--

Microsoft has already been granted a patent on the new gender-less battery
terminal configuration. More about how it works is on line at
tinyurl.com/2g9onmc (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 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), 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350

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 2010. All rights reserved.