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William M. Pasternak May 11th 07 12:17 PM

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1552 - May 11, 2007Final
 
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1552 - May 11, 2007

--------------------------------------------------------

NOTICE TO LIST SUBSCRIBERS: Due to our staff
being away next week at the Dayton Hamvention,
the mailout of the script print version of
Newscast 1553 via this mailing list will be
delayed until about 3 a.m. EDT on Monday, May
21. Those in need of the print edition before
that will be able to obtain it from our website at www.arnewsline.org.

Thank you
ARNewsline, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1552 with a
release date of Friday, April May 11th, 2007 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio aids
residents of a Kansas town destroyed by a killer
tornado, Motorola leaves the Access B-P-L
business and some big news about the Roy Neal,
K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Program. Find out
the details on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report
number 1552 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAMS ON THE SCENE AFTER GREENSBERG TORNADO

Ham radio is once again a communications
lifeline. This, after an strong tornado tore
apart the town of Greensburg, Kansas on Friday
night, May 4th. Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, reports:

--

The storm has been classified by the National
Weather Service as an F-5 which is the most
severe on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The twister
cut a 22 mile long track that was one-point-seven
miles wide. Winds were estimated at 205 miles
per hour. Authorities say about 95 percent of
Greensburg was destroyed and at least 8 people lost their lives.

According to news reports, all wire-line and
cellular telephone communications into the
southwestern Kansas town of 1500 was destroyed by
the twister. A group of ham radio operators
identified as being from the Radio Amateur Civil
Emergency Service were sent into the area early
on Saturday May 5th to set up an emergency
communications network. Media stories did not
identify the hams by name but did praise their
efforts while noting that they were entering an
area of total devastation. A later report posted
to the ARRL website said the team was under the
direction of District 6 Emergency Coordinator Godfrey Flax, KC0AUH.

What they found when they arrived was an area of
total devastation. More than 90 percent of
Greensburg was destroyed or heavily
damaged. Most buildings were blown off their
foundations and blown away. The ARRL says that
other hams involved in disaster relief were
monitoring 3.920 MHz early Saturday morning in
case there was a need for them to act.

Meantime President Bush has declared all Kiowa
County, Kansas, a major disaster area, making
federal aid available to residents affected by the storm.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe,
W8HDU, reporting from Lima, Ohio.

--

The last tornado of that strength was in Oklahoma
City on May 3, 1999. That twister killed 36
people and left several hundred without homes. (ARNewsline(tm), ARRL,
others)


**

THE BPL FIGHT: MOTOROLA SUSPENDS POWERLINE LV BPL DEVELOPMENT

Less than two years after announcing its
Powerline LV Access B-P-L product, Motorola has
decided to suspend development and to devote its
resources to more promising markets. Motorola
reportedly has decided to focus on a product
called Powerline MU, which is for use within multiple-unit dwellings.

According to the ARRL Letter, the decision to
stop work on its Access BPL product reflects
declining interest in residential broadband
service delivery among utilities. This, coupled
with the more immediate demand for in-building
BPL systems would provide Motorola a more lucrative market.

Powerline LV united Motorola's Canopy wireless
broadband Internet platform with enhanced ham
band-notching HomePlug technology, drastically
reducing BPL interference potential. This, by
restricting the application of high-frequency RF
to the low-voltage side of the power transformers
serving customers' homes, not the medium-voltage
wires that line many residential streets. As a
result, Powerline LV avoided the system
architecture that poses the greatest risk of BPL
interference to radio communication -- radiation
from the medium-voltage power
lines. Measurements and subjective listening
tests on the ham bands showed that Powerline LV was Amateur Radio-friendly.

Powerline LV was developed by Motorola researcher
Richard Illman, AH6EZ of St. Charles,
Illinois. As a result he was selected for the
Dayton Hamvention 2006 Technical Excellence Award. (ARRL)

**

HAM RADIOS DIGITAL FUTU IRA FIELDS DIGITAL MIGRATION PLAN FOR REPEATERS

The Illinois Repeater Association now has a
proposed digital repeater plan. Titled "The
Digital Migration - A Proposed Path," the
strategy was developed by Robert Shepard, KA9FLX,
who serves as the organizations Technical Committee Chairman.

Shepard indicates that the plan was crafted so as
to serve the needs of tomorrows digital relay
systems in such a way as to minimize impact on to
existing analog systems. It also takes into
account how to integrate digital systems into the
existing analog environment, utilize spectrum
efficiently and plan for the future. In other
words, nobody will be displaced when and if its
implemented. Rather, its goal is to make it
possible for analog and digital to share opectrum
with minimal impact on one another.

This is believed to be the very first analog to
digital repeater bandplan developed anywhere in
the world. Shepard has posted it on the Illinois
Repeater Associations website as both a .pdf file
as well as a full Power Point presentation. You
can find it on-line at www.ira.net. (Via e-mail)

**

HAM RADIOS DIGITAL FUTU NEW VERSION OF WSJT RELEASED

Still with digital ram radio news, word that a
new version of WSJT program designated version
5.9.7 has been developed by Joe Taylor
K1JT. This new rendition contains 8 updates from
the latest past release version that appear to
make the program a bit more friendly to use.

For those not aware, WSJT is a computer program
for VHF and UHF communication using state of the
art digital techniques. It can decode
fraction-of-a-second signals reflected from
ionized meteor trails, as well as steady signals
more than 10 dB weaker than those required for
conventional C-W. One of its operating modes is
particularly well optimized for amateur Earth-Moon-Earth communications.

WSJT is open source software licensed under the
GNU General Public License and is free for any
ham to use. You can download it
at: http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/WSJT597.EXE (VHF Reflector)

**

ENFORCEMENT: STOP USING THAT ANTENNA

A northern California resident has been issued an
Official Citation by the FCC. This, for using
one of those self oscillating Weingard amplified
TV antennas that we have reported on in the past.

The FCC claims that an investigation by the
Enforcement Bureau's San Francisco
Office revealed that on April 3, 2007, one
William Cooley of Yuba City, California operated
a defective Winegard antenna, which caused
interference to the licensee of station KZF952.

The San Francisco Office says that it received
the complaint of interference on several
frequencies used by the Sutter County Sheriff
Department communications system. On April 3rd,
an FCC investigator confirmed that a radio signal
was drifting around 459.28 MHz was coming from a
Winegard antenna mounted to a motor home parked
in the side yard of Cooley's Yuba City
residence. The agent conducted an on-off test of
the antenna's power supply to verify the source of interference.

The FCC citation to Cooley notes that these
Winegard antenna amplifiers have been the source
of radio frequency interference in a number of
cases. As a result of this interference, Winegard
has agreed to replace the defective units at no charge.

Cooley was advised to contact Weingard to make
the exchange. He was also requested to send the
defective antenna to the FCC for inspection. (FCC)

**

Break 1

From the United States of America, We are the
Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin
stations around the world including the NS9RC
repeater serving Highland Park, Illinois.

(5 sec pause here)


**
HAM RADIO EDUCATION: QCWA TO CO SPONSOR ROY
NEAL, K6DUE, AMATEUR RADIO MENTORING PROGRAM

The Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring
Program is expanding with the potential of up to
10,000 new teachers. This as the Quarter Century
Wireless Association's Board of Directors votes
to have that organization become a co-sponsor of
the three year old post licensing educational
program created by Amateur Radio Newsline. David
Black, KB4KCH, is at our South-East bureau with the details:

--

In a joint statement issued by the leadership of
Quarter Century Wireless Association and that of
the Amateur Radio Newsline, the two have
announced that QCWA has become a co-sponsor of
the Newsline created Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur
Radio Mentoring Program. This is a post-licensing
educational service created by Amateur Radio
Newsline in January 2004 and designed to pair new
hams with veteran amateurs in hopes that some of
the established ham operator skills can be passed down to new generations.

The program is loosely based on a similar program
created by Broadway choreographer and performer
Ann Reinking through her own educational
foundation, the Broadway Theater Project. This
is a Florida based training program connecting
students with seasoned theater professionals. If we may quote Ms. Reinking:

"Its sort of an un-written law or rule in the
world of dance that you pass on what you know.
This particular craft is at its best when its
passed from one person's hands to the next."

According to ARNewsline Producer Bill Pasternak,
WA6ITF, what Ann Reinking says about "dance"
applies equally to the world of Amateur Radio:

--

Pasternak: That's true and maybe more so for all
of us... That's because, for decades the
knowledge and tradition of our hobby/service was
passed down from seasoned operators to newcomers,
one on one. I know that's how I got my start
thanks to the late K2IXN at his TV repair store back in Brooklyn."

--

According to Pasternak, the success of the
program has been such that the number of people
seeking post licensing assistance has risen far
faster than the number of available mentors. This
has meant long delays for some who have placed
requests. The addition of the member base of the
QCWA makes available close to 10,000 highly
skilled radio amateurs as potential mentors, each
with a minimum of twenty-five years of experience in the hobby.

--

"This is a good deal for all of Amateur Radio,"
says Q-C-W-A President John B. Johnston, W3BE.

--

Johnston, a retired career FCC employee and
Dayton Radio Amateur of the Year award winner
believes that it is important to keep ham radio
traditions alive. He says that we in the QCWA
are the elder statesmen and stateswomen of
Amateur Radio. That they are the people who have
spent a sizeable chunk of our lives learning the
artistry that goes with being a radio amateur. We
know how a radio works. We know how an antenna
works. He says that most of all they know that
Amateur Radio can only survive if it passes its
combined knowledge on to the next generation of radio amateurs.

Under the agreement, ARNewsline(tm) will continue to
solicit those looking for assistance and maintain
the database that matches those desiring
assistance with a mentor willing to assist.
Willing members of the QCWA will be asked to
register by e-mail to
stating their name, call, location, contact
information and area of expertise. As request for
assistance are received the person asking will be
referred to the person closest to him/her who
holds the qualifications and knowledge to assist.
John Johnston believes this to be a program that
all in QCWA should be a part of:

QCWA President Johnston says that:

--

"This is a chance for each of us to leave our
own personal legacy within ham radio. If we do
so, we assure the service of another generation
of skilled and caring operators who will be a
true asset to the service. I urge all of you to sign on."

--

Two large pools of Amateurs are needed to make
mentoring work. First, there must be a group of
volunteers who have a skill and are willing to
share their time. The second group is made up of
the large number of beginners who want to learn.

Newsline and QCWA are now seeking applicants for
both groups. To sign up, send an e-mail
. Tell us your name, call
letters, address with zipcode, phone number, when
we can call and whether you want to be a student
or a mentor. Again, that e-mail address is
and I'm David Black,
KB4KCH, at the South-East Bureau in Birmingham, Alabama.

--

The project's namesake, Roy Neal, K6DUE, was
himself a prominent mentor. Aside from being the
dean of aerospace commentators for the Nation
Broadcasting Company, K6DUE is generally credited
with bringing manned Amateur Radio into
space. This by convincing NASA to let astronaut
hams take their gear on shuttle flights and to
the International Space Station through the SAREX
and ARISS educational programs. He also produced
a half dozen ham radio educational videos dealing
with Amateur Radio and manned ham radio
on-orbit. More about the Roy Neal, K6DUE,
Amateur Radio Mentoring Program is on-line at
www.arnrewsline.org (ARNewsline(tm))
**


RESCUE RADIO: A NEW GENERATOR FOR EMCOMMS

Hutchinson, Minnesota Crow River Area Amateur
Radio Club of has acquired a portable generator
from Cummins Power Generation of
Minneapolis. The generator, valued at almost
$3,000, will be modified to support emergency
communications by local Amateur Radio operators
in times of disaster and to assist in McLeod
County Skywarn operations. The first full
demonstration of how the generator will be
integrated into the club's emergency
communications capability will take place Field
Day weekend June 23 and 24 at the Hutchinson
Municipal Airport. (Hutchinson-Leader)

**

RADIO SAFETY: LOWER YOUR POWER PLEASE

A Seattle radio station has lowered its transmit
power after it was discovered that its new
location was a possible safety hazard to a near-by oil refinery.

After losing its lease on a transmitter site on
Harbor Island, KKOL AM which is operated by Salem
Communications spent several years broadcasting
from a ship moored off-shore with a low-power
signal that hindered its reach across the
region. Eventually it found a new site and had
signed a 10-year lease with the Port of Tacoma.

Late last year it announced it had gone to full
power. That prompted U.S. Oil & Refining Co. to
file a complaint with the FCC claiming that
KKOL's transmitter has created a series of
problems at its refinery less than a mile
away. Of particular concern, U.S. Oil claims
that an electrical charge produced by the
transmitter creates a safety hazard at the
refinery's docks when crude oil is unloaded from
tankers. The Coast Guard has also weighed in,
calling for the FCC to order KKOL to change
operations to eliminate the risk of a spark causing an explosion.

Salem, which operates its Seattle stations as
Inspiration Media proposed lowering its power to
47,000 watts at times when U.S. Oil is unloading
oil tanker ships. The FCC in turn asked that
KKOL operate at 25,000 watts during the day and
47,000 at night until the issue is
resolved. Late word is that Salem said it has
voluntarily complied with that request. (CGC, SEATTLE POST)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: NY HAMS HONORED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Members of New Yorks' Oswego County Emergency
Communicators were recently honored by the Oswego
County Legislature's Public Safety and Emergency
Services Committee and County Emergency
Management Office staff. This, when Emergency
Management Director Patricia Egan presented the
first-ever RACES Service Award to Brien Mathews, KA2AON.

Mathews is Oswego County's Skywarn
coordinator. He has also been a member of the
Oswego County Emergency Communicators group since
1980. Public Safety Committee chair Tom Bullard,
District 14, and vice chairman Milferd Potter,
District 2, joined Egan in congratulating Mathews
and presented a certificate of appreciation to
RACES Radio Officer John Darling, K2QQY. (Palladium-Times.com)


**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: G3STG AWARDED RSGB RAYNET CUP

The Radio Society of Great Britain's Raynet Cup
has been presented to Geoff Griffiths,
G3STG. Griffiths joined United Kingdom emergency
communications service in 1957 and received the
award in recognition of his long-standing service
to RAYNET. In his 50 years working with the
group he has served as chairman of both the RSGB
National RAYNET Committee and the Network's Committee of Management.
(GB2RS)

**

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)

**

COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH: NYC SUBWAY RIDERS PERIL HEARING

Riding the New York City subway system can
adversely affect your long term hearing. That's
the just of a new report by researchers who have
been looking at hearing loss among those who use
the rapid transit system to get around the city.

In a new survey of noise levels throughout the
system, researchers at Columbia University's
Mailman School of Public Health found that
exposure to noise levels in subways have the
potential to exceed recommended guidelines of the
World Health Organization and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. According to the
research, as little as 30 minutes of exposure to
decibel levels measured in the New York City
transit system per day has the potential to result in hearing loss.

The findings were published in the September
issue of the Journal of Urban Health. This is a
publication of the New York Academy of Medicine. (Journal of Urban Health)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KD5PLA TO REPLACE KD5PLB ON THE ISS

NASA has announced that astronaut Clay Anderson,
KD5PLA, will succeed Suni Williams, KD5PLB, as
International Space Station Expedition 15 Flight
Engineer later this spring. According to NASA
News, Anderson will arrive aboard the ISS aboard
the shuttle Atlantis which is set to launch on
8th June. The same shuttle mission will carry Williams back to Earth.

Suni Williams has been in space since early
December. During her ISS stay, she set a record
for spacewalks by a female astronaut, conducting
four excursions for a total of 29 hours and 17
minutes. Upon her return, she will have
accumulated more time in space than any other
woman. She has also logged numerous school
contacts during her on-orbit stay. (ARISS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SSETI-ESO LAUNCH DELAYED A YEAR

The launch date for SSeti ESEO, a European Space
Agency led student satellite project intended for
geostationary transfer orbit has been delayed by
approximately one year. It had originally been
hoped that this satellite would be a secondary
payload on Ariane launch in late November of
2008 but it now seems that opportunity will not be available. (ANS)

**

RADIO IN SPACE: EU RADIO FROM SPACE

An advanced in-car multimedia system that could
use recycled television satellites coming to the
end of their working lives has been unveiled in Europe.

The prototype system was developed by the
European Space Agency. It is Said to offer
high-quality radio, video and data. If
commercialized, the system would offer the first
in-car satellite radio service available to Europeans. (Southgate)

**

WORLDBEAT - IRELAND: ON THE AIR CELEBRATING FLIGHT

Irelands Limerick Radio Club has been invited by
the Foynes Flying Boat Museum to operate a
special Amateur Radio Station. This, in
conjunction with the commemorative Transatlantic
Re-Enactment Flight 1937 from Newfoundland Canada to Foynes Ireland.

The special event callsign has been issued to the
club to operate as EI70FOY. The station will be
on the air from the July 6th to the 8th. On the
High Frequency bands operation will be on 80
through 10 meters. EI70FOY will also operate on VHF / UHF as well.

A special QSL card, commemorating the flight
reenactment will be sent to all stations worked
over the three-day event. All inbound QSL cards
should be sent to the Club's QSL Manager Alan
Cronin E-I-8-E-M at his callbook address. More
is on-line at www.qsl.net/ei4lrc. (IRTS)

**

DX

In D-X, A52SW will be on the air from Thimpu,
Bhutan, from May 17th to the 22nd. The operator
is Steve Herman, W7VOA who will be on 80 through
6 meters using CW, SSB and, possibly, PSK, as
well as 10-meter FM. Steve is a news
correspondent based in India covering South
Asia. He says this will be the first of numerous
trips he plans to make to Bhutan over the next several years as
A52SW. The QSL manager for A52SW will be K2AU.

Also, word that DB5YB will be active as portable
OZ from Bornholm Island, through the 18th
May. He plans to operate SSB on 20, 17 and 15 meters. QSL via his home
call.

And Special event station IR1ALP will be active
from Cuneo, Italy through May 31st. A special
postage stamp will be affixed on the cards
confirming QSOs made on 12th and 13th May, during
the 80th Italian Alpine troops gathering. QSL via QSL via IK1AAS.

Also, special event station ON50EU is active
until December 31st. This, to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. QSL as directed on the air.

Lastly, some DX from space. WA7IRW says that he
will be operating from the British Virgin Islands
as VP2V and WA7IRW through May 18th. He expects
to try AO-51 ops typically in the afternoon
and evening hours passes using an FT857 and an
aArrow antenna from the sail boat. QSL direct to WA7IRW.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: CB DOWN UNDER

And finally this week, we all know the story of
how Class D, C-B at 27 MHz in the United States
was created from the old 11 meter ham band. But
other nations have their story of how C-B came
about and in some cases the tale is very
similar. Only the timeline differs. Jim Linton, VK3PC, reports:

--

Rewind, a look back at history

On a recent ABC radio program quiz segment this
question was put: 'In what year was Citizens Band
Radio legalized in Australia?"

It was 1977, in fact July the 1st of that year
after a Federal Government inquiry that received
a large number of submissions in favor of the
move, and intense lobbying by a number of CB radio groups.

Initially CB was 18 channels at 27MHz, requiring
operators to have a government issued callsign,
pay an annual license fee and use type-approved equipment.

The big plan was that 27MHz, the amateur 11 meter
band, was only to be a temporary allocation and
all CB'ers would move to UHF in five years.

However, 27MHz was retained and expanded in 1982,
and the UHF band continues today. Gone has the
licensing requirement too, with CB radio now
covered in 2002 by a fee-free Radiocommunications
Citizen Band Radio Stations Class License.

So radio amateurs can commemorate the loss of
their 11 meter band, while CB operators can mark
the 30th or Pearl anniversary of legalized CB in Australia.

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC for the Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

Sounds like a rather familiar story, but this
time that's a big 10-4 from down-under. (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), P.O. Box
660937, Arcadia, California 91066.

Two reminders before we go. First we have a new
poll for the month of May. This one asks the
question now that the Morse exam is part of ham
radio history, do you plan to upgrade or remain
the license class you are right now. Of coarse
this is unfair to Extra class licensees because
they cannot go any higher so this poll kind of
leaves them out in the cold. To compensate, we
added a third possible answer, but you will have
to go to our website at www.arnewsline.org to see what it is.

Also, the nominating season for this years
Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year
Award closes on May 30th. That's less than 3
weeks away. Any nominations received after that
date will not qualify for this years award program.

The Young Ham of the Year Award is open to any
radio amateur age 18 or younger residing in all
50 United States, plus Puerto Rico and all 13
Canadian Provinces can qualify. Full details and
nominating forms are on our special website at
www,yhoty.org. Also see the Vertex-Standard
sponsored ad on page 8 of the March issue of QST Magazine.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the
editors desk, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW and I'm Jeff
Clark, K8JAC, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.



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