Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1906 - February 21, 2014

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1906 with a release date of
February, 21 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A ham in the United Kingdom hears China's
lunar rover; the public is invited to comment on FCC Process Reform;
Canadian hams get permanent access to a very low frequency band; hams
in Bulgaria get three new bands; South Africa hams told that they must
comply with 12 point 5 kilohertz spacing for 2 meter repeaters; two
teens bring a dormant AMSAT net back to life and a trip back in time
and space to the beginnings of the universe. All this and more on
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1906 coming your way right
now.


(Billboard Cart Here)


**

RADIO FROM SPACE: UK HAM LOCATES SIGNAL FROM CHINA'S LUNARROVER

China's Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover is not dead after all. This after its
signal was heard and confirmed by a United Kingdom radio amateur. Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the latest:

--

The Jade Rabbit rover was launched as a part of China's Chang 3 mission
to the Moon last December 1st . On December 14th the Chang 3 landed
on the Moon with the first signals copied at UHF-Satcom around 17:18
UTC on that same day. The Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover was then deployed
with its transmitter activated and signals detected on 8462.080MHz
running in a low rate BPSK mode.

The rover functioned well until the lunar nighttime set in. The
missions Command Control center was expecting the rover to contact
Earth on February 12th after it had it endured its second lunar night.
Since it did not transmit any signals, the rover was officially
declared permanently inoperative.

But on that same day a signal from the Jade Rabbit was heard by a ham
radio operator in the United Kingdom. Paul Marsh, G7EYT, who also
holds the call M0EYT reported detecting the missing rover on 8462.078
MHz. This has brought new hope to the China's Command Control
personnel that the overall mission might be saved.

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

--

Needless to say that is quite an accomplishment for ham radio.
Especially after those in command of the project seemed to think that
all might be lost. The complete story of how the Jade Rabbit was found
along with spectral pictures of the Chang mission is at
www.uhf-satcom.com/amateurdsn/chang-e-3/ (Southgate)

**

TEECOMMUNICATIONS LAW: PUBLIC INVITED TO COMMENT ON FCC PROCESS REFORM

The Federal Communications Commission is inviting comment on what it
terms as its Process Reform. Among the agency's goals is eliminating
or streamlining outdated rules that are candidates for such action.
This, as a result of marketplace or technology changes that render them
no longer necessary in the public interest.

Interested parties may file comments on the Report and the proposed
recommendations on or before March 31, 2014. All comments should
reference GN Docket No. 14-25. Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the agency's Electronic Comment Filing
System at apps.fcc.gov/ecfs. The entire notice can be read on-line at
tinyurl.com/FCC-rules-reform (FCC)

**

RESTRUCTURING: CANADIAN HAMS GET PERMINANT ACCESS TO 135 KHZ BAND

Industry Canada has approved permanent access by Canadian radio
amateurs to the Low Frequency band from 135.7 to 137.8 kHz, subject to
certain conditions put in place in late 2009. This includes a maximum
emission bandwidth of only100 Hz as well as a maximum Effective
Radiated Power level not to exceed one watt. Also, as this is a shared
allocation which Canadian hams many not cause interference to the
primary users of this spectrum including stations in other nations that
operate radio-navigation services.

The addition of permanent access to 135.7 to 137.8 kHz is a direct
result of Canada implementing changes from the 2007 World
Radiocommunication Conference which added amateur radio use of this
spectrum on a secondary basis. This has now been included in the newly
updated Canadian RBR-4 Standards for the Operation of Stations in that
nation's Amateur Radio Service. (RAC, VE3YV, VE3KI, VE3IQ)

**

RESTRUCTURING: NEW AMATEUR BANDS FOR BULGARIA

Several new and one expanded amateur bands have been introduced to ham
radio in Bulgaria. In the near future, L-Zed prefix amateurs will be
able to use bands 472 to 479 kHz, 5.250 to 5.450 MHz and 70.0 to
70.5MHz. In addition, the 160 meter band will be extended up to 2 MHz.
All those new and increased allocations are on a secondary,
non-interfering basis with the primary users of these spectrum parcels.
(Southgate, others)

**

RADIO LAW: SOUTH AFRICA AMATEUR RADIO REPEATERS MUST COMPLY WITH 12.5
KHZ CHANNEL SPACING

South Africa's telecommunications regulator ICASA has confirmed that
all 2 meter amateur radio repeaters must comply to the 12.5 kHz channel
spacing. This, during a recent meeting between the South African Radio
League and that regulatory body.

While most South African repeaters operating in the two meter band do
comply with 12.5 kHz spacing there are however still a few repeaters
that still use the older 25 kHz inter-system spacing. The South African
Radio League and ICASA will meet again during March for a workshop to
address repeater frequency coordination and other operational issues.
(SARL)

**

RESCUE RADIO: TASMANIA POLICE CHASE DOWN OLD ANALOG EPIRB

From Tasmania comes word of a rather messy rubbish search to
locate an errant signal from a discarded older style emergency locator
beacon. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details:

--

Police in northern Tasmania had to use a rescue helicopter to locate an
errantly discarded Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or
EPIRB. Then a ground crew had to dig through the rubbish dump to
located the unit and manually disable it.

Personal radio beacons such as this are a safety measure used by people
mostly while at sea or traveling in remote areas. According to Jim
Linton, VK3PC, who passed along the story, these older style beacons
need to be disposed of properly. That means at minimum removing the
battery before casting them aside.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, in Nelson, New
Zealand.

--

As of February 2010, analogue beacons on 121.5 MHz are not monitored by
satellite and only 406 MHz EPIRB signals are now being listened for.
(VK3PC)

**

RESCUE RADIO: RBDS GETS PRAISE FOR DELIVERING ALERTS

Back here in the United States, a report validates the benefits of
using the Radio Broadcast Data System or RBDS to deliver alerts to
individuals during emergencies.

Congress wanted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study how
RBDS could be used with its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
FEMA now says to improve the speed and penetration of federal, state
and local emergency alerts and warnings, the agency is evaluating RBDS
to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the alerting
distribution infrastructure.

One of the upshots that could potentially be seen because of the report
is finding more cellular telephones to be equipped for FM broadcast
reception so that that they can act as RBDS receivers as well. More is
on-line at tinyurl.com/RBDS-2014 (RW)

**

DX UP FRONT: AMSTERDAM ISLAND FT5ZM DXPEDITION CLOSES DOWN

In DX up-front, the on-the-air portion of the Amsterdam Island FT5ZM
DXpedition has come to an end, although the job of sending out QSL
cards remains. During its stay, the DXpedition team logged on the
order of 170,000 contacts on SSB, CW and RTTY. Amsterdam Island has
been the seventh most sought after DXCC entity according to the ClubLog
Most Wanted List.

(GB2RS)

**

DX UP FRONT: WESTERN SAHARA IN MARCH

DX-World.net is reporting that 3Z9DX is planning to operate stroke S0
from the Western Sahara territory for one week only sometime in
mid-March. The exact dates are yet to be determined but his activity
will be on 40 through 10 meters using SSB only. QSL this one via
3Z9DX.

**

BREAK 1

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the
KJ3LR repeater on 145.110 MHz serving Bradenton, Florida.


(5 sec pause here)


**

RADIO SAFETY: IDAHO HAM SERIOUSLY INJURED IN TOWER REPAIR ACCIDENT

A tower accident has seriously injured an Idaho ham. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, is here with the details of what
happened:

--

Robert Galindo, KE7ADT, of Athol, Idaho, was critically injured when
the winching cable snapped while he was working on his forty foot
crank-up tower resulting in the loss of his right hand and several
fingers on his left hand.

The 52 year old Galindo, who goes by the name of BearPaw was trapped
and left hanging 20 feet up in the air when rescue crews arrived at his
home. The accident, which occurred on February 14th was witnessed by
his wife Gail Perry, KE7ADN, who called for the emergency assistance.

Multiple agencies responded to her 911 call, with help arriving in
under a half hour. Timberlake Fire Protection District officials say
that it took rescuers another 20 minutes to raise the upper tower
sections and to extricate Galindo.

KE7ADT was then transported by a Life Flight helicopter to the Kootenai
Health Center in the city of Coeur d' Alene. There he underwent more
than 4 hours of surgery and at last report we have was that he was
listed in critical condition following the operation.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, reporting.

--

More on this story as information is made available. (cdapress.com,
nevadahamradio.com, N7UR)

**

ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES $7000 NAL TO TEXAS HAM

The FCC has issued Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the
amount of $7000 to James R. Winstead, KD5OZY, of Coleman, Texas. This
for his alleged violation of Section 97.101(d) of the Commission's
rules by operating a radio transmitter to interfere with the
communications of other licensees.

This past January 21st, in response to several complaints of
intentional interference from amateur licensees operating on 7.195 MHz,
an agent of the Enforcement Bureau's Dallas Office used mobile
direction finding to positively identify the source of transmissions to
the address of record for Mr. Winstead's amateur radio station.

The agent monitored the transmissions for approximately 30 minutes.
During that time he heard the replay multiple times of short sentences
or conversations that had just been transmitted and someone
occasionally speak the word "George." The FCC alleges that it was
Winstead who replayed recorded conversations so frequently that other
licensees were unable to complete their conversations.

The agent then identified himself to Mr Winstead and requested to
inspect the radio station located on the premises. The agent soon
noted that Mr. Winstead's amateur radio station was tuned to the
frequency 7.195 MHz. During the inspection, Mr. Winstead showed the
agent how he recorded and retransmitted other amateur licensees'
communications. He also admitted that he intentionally interfered with
amateur communications on 7.195 MHz and had an ongoing disagreement
with another amateur licensee named George.

Now in its February 19th decision to propose the $7000 fine the FCC
says that the evidence in this case is sufficient to establish that Mr.
Winstead violated Section 333 of both the Communications Act and
Section 97.101(d) of the Rules. Section 333 of the Communications Act
prohibits any person from willfully or maliciously interfering with or
causing interference to any radio communications of any licensed
station. Section 97.101(d) of the FCC Rules states that no amateur
operator shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause
interference to any radio communication or signal.

Winstead was given the customary 30 days to pay the proposed fine or to
file an appeal. (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: WLS CHICAGO FACES $40000 FINE

A proposed $44,000 fine issued against legendary Chicago broadcast
station WLS-AM has now progressed to a forfeiture order. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Hal Rogers, K8CMD, reports:

--

The case began in 2009 when the Enforcement Bureau received a complaint
that the station aired a program on behalf of the Workers Independent
News without making it clear that the program was an ad, rather than a
news story. In its response, WLS told the commission it aired several
ads of various lengths, promotional items, a pair of two hour programs
and an additional half hour program on behalf of the group. The
station claimed that all of the ads referenced Workers Independent News
and identified the narrator, but admitted that it did not specifically
state that the program material was sponsored, paid for and provided by
the group.

WLS asked that the proposed fine be reduced to $4000. It asserted that
the FCC mechanically applied the base fine to the 11 times the ads
aired, which raised the fine to the $44.000 level. . The station also
blamed the incident on inadvertent employee error which the company
says has now been corrected.

But in denying the request the FCC noted that it has the authority to
fine a licensee up to $37,500 for each violation of the sponsor ID
rules or for each day of the violation occurs up to a maximum of
$375,000. It went on to say that it can find no legal basis on which
to reduce the amount noting that inadvertent employee errors are not
justification. As such the FCC said the proposed amount stands and the
commission directed WLS to pay within 15 days of the date it issued its
decision.

I'm Hal Rogers, K8CMD.

--

At airtime it's not known if WLS plans any further appeals. (FCC, RW)

**

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: TWO LOS ANGELES TV STATIONS TO TRY CHANNEL SHARING

Two Los Angeles,. California, television stations are going to explore
channel-sharing with the support of the major wireless lobby. This
after The Wireless Association along with stations KLCS and KJLA
announce a channel-sharing pilot project that responds to the Federal
Communications Commission's request to demonstrate the technical and
legal arrangements necessary to implement a successful channel-sharing
operation.

Once the two broadcast stations receive FCC approval, the testing will
take place throughout the remainder of the first quarter of 2014.
Under the channel-sharing agreement, KLCS and KJLA will conduct a
series of tests that will culminate in KLCS hosting KJLA's content and
transmitting a shared stream that will combine the two stations'
primary and multicast content. KLCS and KJLA will also attempt a
variety of High Definition as well as Standard Definition video feeds
to confirm the feasibility and technical limits of channel sharing
between two unaffiliated broadcasters. There will be no impact to
KJLA's and KLCS' viewers during this test. More is at
tinyurl.com/channel-sharing-study. (TV Technology)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: ORANGE COUNTY NY SPRING HAMFEST APRIL 27

Turning to upcoming ham radio events, word that the Orange County New
York Amateur Radio Club will hold its spring 2014 hamfest on Sunday,
April 27th from 8 a.m to 2 p.m.. The venue this year is the Wallkill
Community Center in the city of Madison. Free parking will be
available with talk-in on the local 146.76 MHz repeater that requires a
100 Hertz tone to access. For more information please contact Tom Ray
by e-mail to W2TRR (at) ocarc-ny (dot) com or check the clubs website
at tinyurl.com/ocarc-hamfest. (OCARC NY)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: RCA TO HOLD MEMBERSHIP BREAKFAST IN LAS VEGAS MARCH 27

The Radio Club of America will hold its Membership Breakfast on March
27th. This, in conjunction with the 2014 International Wireless
Communications Expo Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The featured speaker will be retired New York City educator Carole
Perry, WB2MGP. The get-together will also see the presentation of the
IWCE Scholarship to 2013 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the year
Padraig Lysandrou, KC9UUS.

The venue for the Radio Club of America 2014 Membership Breakfast is
the Las Vegas Hotel in Ballrooms E and F. Cost is $15 per person in
advance or $20 at the door. Pre-registration information in PDF format
is on the web at tinyurl.com/rca-member-breakfast-2014. (RCA)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: FCC CHAIRMAN WHEELER TO SPEAK AT NAB

Some names in the news. First up is FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler who will
provide the regulatory agency's keynote talk at the 2014 National
Association of Broadcasters convention and trade show in Las Vegas,
Nevada. The NAB says that Wheeler's address will take place on
Tuesday, April 8th, from 9 to 10 a.m.. At that time he is expected to
provide insight into his views on broadcasting and what his
expectations are on the regulatory front in the coming years. (NAB, TV
News Check)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: VE4BOZ IS NEW RAC DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MID WEST
REGION

Bill Boskwick, VE4BOZ, has accepted the position of Radio Amateurs of
Canada Deputy Director for the Mid-West region. Now living in Elm
Creek, Manitoba, and officially retired, Boskwick previously served as
the District Officer for North East Alberta Province with the Alberta
Emergency Management Agency . He also served 32 years in military
service with Canadian Forces as a Communications Electronics
Engineering Officer and former deputy commander of the signals regiment
in Winnipeg. (RAC)

**

BREAK 2

This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. 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)

**

THE SWL SCENE: PIRATE RADIO COMES ALIVE IN SYRIA

Pirate FM transmitters have hit the airwaves in pockets across Syria.
WIA newsman VK4LAW has mo

--

Radio Watan is but one of more than a dozen opposition radio stations
that have sprung up since the start of the revolt against the Syrian
president, Bashar al-Assad.

The stations are run by young civilian activists who played an
important role early in the uprising but have since been targeted by
government forces, for airing music and women's voices.

The opposition radio stations are the most recent arrivals on Syria's
combative news media scene, where parties on both sides try to shape
perceptions of a conflict that is conducted largely out of the public
eye, because the violence and government restrictions severely limit
journalistic access.

"It is much cheaper than TV and more accessible to the public because
the listener doesn't have to have electricity to listen to you," said
Obai Sukar, the director of Radio al-Kul. "Just a small radio with two
batteries, and you are on."

With international news I'm Jason, VK4LAW.

--

The unlicensed radio outlets range from small operations with a single
transmitter that cover one town to complete networks that broadcast
into different Syrian provinces. (WIA News)

**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: CAPE II HAM RADIO CUBESAT DESIGNATED LO-75

The Cape II ham radio satellite is now known as the University of
Louisiana OSCAR 75 or LO-75. This according to OSCAR Number
Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO, who recently informed AMSAT mentor Nick
Pugh, K5QXJ, of the decision.

The CAPE II ham satellite operates on 145.825 MHz FM with a CW beacon
signing the call W5UL. The bird also includes a digipeaters, text to
speech operation, a simplex repeater, e-mail and tweet functions. The
ground station software can be downloaded at www.ulcape.org

(ANS)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: TWO TEENS BRING COLORADO AMSAT NET BACK ON THE AIR

A pair of young hams in Colorado have brought that states dormant AMSAT
net back to life as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Amanda Alden,
K1DDN:

--

15 year olds Skyler Fennel, KD0WHB and Jordan Walters, KD0MLV have
reestablished the Colorado AMSAT net. The purpose of the net is to
discuss anything related to Satellites. Topics include informative
bulletins on active Satellites as well as when they will be passing
over the area.

After hearing their enthusiasm on the Colorado Astronomy net, its
control station Burness Ansell, KI0AR encouraged the two teens to pick
up the AMSAT nets operation. And while the AMSAT net is only a few
weeks old, its popularity is already growing. In fact, Internet
listeners have been tuning in from as far as Florida.

One of the ongoing topics has been if net members have ever made
contact through a satellite, and if so what antenna was used. The net
operations also stands-by at times so that members can go outside and
view the International Space Station passing overhead.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Amanda Alden, K1DDN in Canon
City, Colorado

--

The Colorado AMSAT net takes place every Thursday evening at 7 pm local
Mountain Time. If you would like to listen or check in, connect to
Allstar node 29298 or 29436. Operation here in Canon City Colorado
area is via the Rocky Mountain Radio League repeater on 146.940 MHz.
(K1DDN)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SCHEDULING AN ARISS SCHOOL CONTACT

Hams in the United States are reminded that there is a new process for
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station school contact
proposals. For U-S schools to have an ARISS contact, they must fill
out a proposal, submit it to NASA, and see if the school is selected.
If so, it will be placed onto a future contacts list and a mentor will
be assigned to assist the school in planning for the event. For more
information contact the NASA Teaching From Space Education office by
e-mail to JSC-TFS-ARISS (at) mail.nasa.gov. If you missed that kind of
long address you can find it in the print edition of this weeks Amateur
Radio Newsline report. (ARISS)

**

ON THE AIR: SLOVAK REPUBLIC SPECIAL EVENT STATION CELEBRATES LTE
COMMUNICATIONS

On the air listen out for Slovak Republic station OM44LTE to be on all
of the ham bands until December 31st. This special event callsign is
being used to celebrate the allocation of frequencies for the Long Term
Evolution or LTE communications at 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz in
that nation. The station operator is OM3TOW who is a spokesman of the
nations Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal
Services. Electronic QSLing via eQSL is preferred but for those who
require a paper QSL can obtain one by sending theirs with a self
addressed envelope and sufficient return postage to OM3RP who is the
QSL manager for this operation. (OPDX)

**

ON THE AIR: THE ST. PATRICKS DAY AWARD

A group of Northern Ireland radio amateurs have introduced a new award
for hams who want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on the air. While
details are still a bit sketchy, the organizers hope this to be an
annual event every March 17th. Those who want to participate as an
award station or who want more information on the event should go to
stpatrickaward.webs.com on the World Wide Web. (MI0RYL, Southgate)

**

DX

In DX comes word that JA1IST, will be on the air stroke FK from New
Caledonia between February 25th and March 1st. His activity will be
holiday style on High Frequency bands. QSL to his home callsign or via
the bureau.

F5MNW will once again be operational stroke FR from Saint Leu between
March 16th and April 8th. Activity will be on the HF bands using only
CW. QSL via his home call either direct via the bureau.

F6ARC will be active stroke FG from Guadeloupe between March 11th to
the 23rd. Activity will be holiday style with a focus on the 30, 17
and 12 meter bands and the lower bands using 100 watts and operating
Morse only. QSL via FE1IDX either direct or via the bureau.

ZL3TE will be operational as 3D2SE from Viti Levu Island between April
11th and the 14th. His main activity will be in the Japan
International DX CW Contest on April 12th and 13th. Operations outside
the contest will mainly be on CW, with some digital modes. QSL to ZL3TE
or electronically via Logbook of the World.

G0VJG will be active stroke J6 from St. Lucia between June 5th and the
18th. Operation is likely to be on 40 through 10 meters using SSB
only. If you make contact please QSL via G4DFI.

Lastly, several sources are reporting that a multi-national team will
be on a DXpedition to Malawi as 7Q7Q sometime late November. This will
include an entry in the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. At airtime this
operation seems to be headed up by ZS6RJ, and will be the same group
that was active as 3DA0ET last year. Look for more details to be
forthcoming in future newscasts.

(Above information from OPDX and other DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: A TRIP BACK IN TIME

And finally this week what can best be called a trip back in time to
the beginnings of the universe has been taken by researchers
down-under. WIA news anchor Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details:

--

A team led by astronomers from the Australian National University has
discovered the oldest known star in the Universe, which formed shortly
after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.

It has now been confirmed using the Magellan telescope in Chile. The
composition of the newly-discovered star shows it formed in the wake of
a primordial star, which had a mass 60 times that of our Sun.

The discovery has allowed astronomers for the first time to study the
chemistry of the first stars, giving scientists a clearer idea of what
the Universe was like in its infancy.

The star was discovered using the ANU SkyMapper telescope at the Siding
Spring Observatory, which is searching for ancient stars as it conducts
a five-year project to produce the first digital map of the southern
sky.

I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

--

Once completed the project should help giver a clearer understanding of
the origin of the universe and the stars that we on Earth see every
night. At least those seen in the Southern Hemisphere. (WIA News,
Times of India)

**

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, TWiT-TV and Australia's WIA News, that's
all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our e-mail address is newsline
(at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur
Radio Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.
You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 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 2014. All rights reserved.