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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1624 - September 26, 2008
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1624 - September 26, 2008
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1624 with a release date of Friday, September 26th, 2008 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Sunspots continue to elude ham radio but is that about to change? Also, 40 meters should soon be clear of a lot of broadcasters, another ham will soon be headed into space, the trial of an accused murderer of a ham radio couple begins and two young hams will soon be headed on the Dxpedition of a lifetime. Find out who they are on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1624 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO SCIENCE: MORE INFO ON SOLAR CYCLE DELAY If you are still waiting for all the D-X that was promised last year, you are not alone. Jim Linton, VK3PC, of the WIA News reports: -- The false start announced last year for the new Solar Cycle 24 has been followed up with speculation of things like ‘double dip' minima and even a new ice age for sunspots. But let's try to stay positive and not subscribe to thoughts of another minimum of 70 years, as occurred from 1645 to 1715, the only flat-lining in sunspot cycles since records. Looking back at the onset of previous cycles that followed prolonged periods without sunspots, gives indication that Cycle 24 may have a much greater start-up intensity. Should it behave like Cycles 11 to 14 in the 19th century there will be more years rising and a shorter period in decline. The latest prediction is that Cycle 24 will be begin in mid 2009. Stay tuned. The prolonged solar minimum is also occurring at a time of reports in the northern hemisphere of continued sporadic-E enhancement on both the ten and six metre bands. For the amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Linton, VK3PC. -- VK3PC adds that Greyline propagation on the High Frequencies is also is experiencing a lack of geomagnetic disturbance. That he says is a good thing. (WIA News) ** RADIO SCIENCE: NEW SUNSPOT EMERGES And one encouraging note. Space Weather reports that for the first time in months, a significant sunspot is emerging on the solar disk. Its described as a fast-growing active region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot Cycle 24. This is viewed as an encouraging sign that the 11-year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit very, very slowly. (SpaceWeather) ** RADIO LAW: BROADCASTERS SOON TO CLEAR PARTS OF 40 METERS Ham radio should soon have less interference to contend with on 40 meters. This if all goes as its supposed to in about six months time when those powerful shortwave broadcast stations are supposed to move away from 7.1 to 7.2 MHz as that spectrum fully reverts to the Amateur Service. By way of background, before 1938 there was an exclusive amateur allocation of 7.0 to 7.3 MHz. But due to world unrest that band parcel was taken away to accommodate propaganda broadcasting in the lead up to World War II. It had been thought it would be returned to the Amateur Service afterward, but its use for broadcasting continued due to the Cold War. In fact broadcasting increased the size of its primary allocation. While in some parts of the world radio amateurs managed to retain 7.0to 7.3 MHz only the bottom third was amateur exclusive and the remainder shared with shortwave broadcasters. So, the International Amateur Radio Union mounted a campaign for the 40m band to be return globally to the Amateur Service. Its case stated that such as change would ensure effective communications support particularly in the event of natural disasters. The I-A-R-U pursued the issue at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2003. There its work gained 7.1 to 7.2 MHz worldwide for the Amateur Service. It also got an extra 100 kilohertz added on the exclusive allocation, while sharing between 7.2 and 7.3 MHz continues. (WIA News) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: W5KWQ HEADING TO SPACE IN OCTOBER Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, the son of former astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, will be the next space tourist visiting the International Space Station. And like his dad, he too plans to talk to those on the ground using ham radio. A legendary video game programmer and designer, Richard Garriott will be traveling to orbit this October. While on the International Space Station, W5KWQ plans to speak with hundreds of students while thousands more listen in during a series of ten-minute ham radio contacts. Among the localities planned for contact with Garriott are the eight Challenger Learning Centers iacross the United States. the Austin Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy in Austin, Texas, the Pinehurst School in Ashland, Oregon, the Budbrooke School in the U.K., and the National Space Challenge in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Barring any unforseen launch delays Garriott's on-orbit stay is planned for October 12th to the 22nd. W5KWQ also plans to have random chats with scouts world-wide as part of the amateur radio "Jamboree on the Air" which is slated for October 18th and 19th. If all goes as planned, W5KWQ will be the sixth private citizen to be flown by the Russian space agency to the I-S-S. More information about his flight and the part that ham radio will play in it is on-line at www.ariss.org and www.richardinspace.com. (ARISS) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISS NEEDS WEB ASSISTANTS FOR GARRIOTT FLIGHT I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, with more news on the upcoming flight of Richard Garriot Early on in his flight, W5KWQ expects to setup a Kenwood VC-H1 portable video transceiver and transmit a new Earth image every 3 minutes. He hopes to have this system on a great deal of his flight and ARISS is encouraging the ham community to bring SSTV equipment into schools and download these images for students in real-time. But that's not all. ARISS also plans to display images from hams around the world on a special on a web and blog site. A beta site has been developed and will be rolled out to the ham community in the near future. To successfully implement the on-line SSTV picture site and support it around the clock during Garriott's flight, ARISS will need some savvy individuals that can sort through the many SSTV photos and keep the SSTV site up to date in near real time. ARISS says that it is looking for global support from a few individuals in each international region to make this happen. That way it will not be asking any one person to volunteer on an around the clock basis. Obviously, some computer skills will be required. If you are interested in helping on this, please contact ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. His E-Mail is ka3hdo at comcast dot net and mention that you heard the request on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Again that e-mail address is is ka3hdo at comcast dot net to volunteer for support of the SSTV website being established for the flight by ARISS. (ARISS) ** RESTRUCTURING: VK HAMS TO GET LF ALLOCATION Australia is set to join the 30-odd countries whose radio amateurs have been already given the new low frequency amateur band of 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released its draft Australia Radio Frequency Spectrum Plan that is to come into force on the 1st of January 2009. It includes 135.7 to 137.8 kHz for the Amateur Service on a secondary basis. This means that VK radio amateurs cannot cause harmful interference to radio-navigation service stations that continue to operate in a number of countries. The permitted maximum radiated power is one watt effective isotropic radiated power. The New Year should see the Australian Advanced License, gain this band as a new operating privilege. (WIA News) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters ZL6A Monthly Broadcast. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO LAW: TRIAL OF ACCUSED KILLER OF HAM RADIO COUPLE BEGINS The trial of the man accused of plotting the murders at sea of a pair of ham radio operators has begun with jury selection on Monday, September 22nd. Amateur Radio Newsline' Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has been following the case and has the latest: -- The trial of Skylar Deleon, accused of masterminding the 2004 murder of an Arizona ham radio couple is now underway. The former child actor along with four other defendants, are charged with the 2004 special circumstances murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, KD7VWJ and KD7VWK on their boat off-shore at Newport Beach, California. Deleon's trial is being held at the Orange County California Courthouse. Prosecutors are asking the death penalty against Deleon and co-defendant John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Deleon and Kennedy are being tried separately. Prosecutors claim that Deleon approached the couple with an offer to buy their 55-foot yacht called Well Deserved. The state alleges that Deleon and accomplices then killed the couple on November 15, 2004, when they took him and two other men out for a test run. Prosecutors say that that the couple was handcuffed, tied to an anchor and dumped alive into the ocean after being forced to sign paperwork transferring the boat's title to Deleon. Their bodies have never been found. News reports say that jury selection could see up to 1,000 local residents questioned to determine their suitability to serve on a death penalty case. The trial itself is expected to last as long as 14 weeks Already convicted and sentenced to a pair of life sentences without the possibility of parole is Deleon's former wife Jennifer. After only four hours of jury deliberation she was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder on November 17, 2006. During her trial prosecutors showed evidence that she and Skylar Deleon cleaned the boat with bleach wipes and destroyed evidence and personal items belonging to the Hawks. For the Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Bruce will have more on the Deleon trial in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (Orange County Register and other published reports) ** ENFORCEMENT: ANOTHER ALLEGED UNLICENSED STATION OPERATOR INCARCERATED IN FLORIDA Another alleged unlicensed radio station operator is in jail in Florida. According to Inside Radio magazine for September 10th, authorities in the city of Wilton Manors arrested 23-year-old Constantinos Rigalos for apparently operating an illegal FM radio station. According to the magazine article, Rigalos bail was set at $2,000. Unlicensed broadcasting is a third-degree felony in Florida. (CGC) ** RESCUE: HIKING HAM RECUED BY QRP RADIO AND MORSE CODE Knowing Morse code helped an injured ham summon help. This, after being hurt in an accident high in the Cascade mountains of Washington State. Over the weekend of September 20th Glenn Russell Ruby Jr, W7AU, of Corvallis, Oregon, was hiking in the Cascades when he slipped and suffered a broken his leg. He made it back to his camp site where he used his Elecraft K-1 portable QRP station to send out a call for help on 40 meter C-W. He was able to contact Bob Williams, N7ODM, of Bozeman, Montana. Ruby asked Williams to notify the Snohomish County Search and Rescue in Washington State. Williams did. He then tried to keep in contact with Ruby. Signals faded out at about 8 p.m. local time but contact was resumed the next morning around 9 a.m. on 7.051 MHz. After that the two hams kept in communications until Ruby was evacuated on horseback from the site by Search and Rescue on Monday, September 22nd. Bad weather in the area had prevented a helicopter rescue. You can read a more in-depth account of the rescue of W7AU on the ARRL website newspages. Thats in cyberspace at www dot arrl dot org. (ARRL) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: D-STAR TRAVELS ROUTE 66 D-STAR became one of the modes used during the recent "Route 66 On The Air" commemorative operation that ran from September 13th to the 21st. According to the event website, 7 of the 17 special event stations were D-Star digital voice operations. The D-Star stations were W6F in Kingman, Arizona; W6H in Albuquerque, New Mexico; W6K on Oklahoma City; Missouri stations W6N in Joplin, W6O in Lebanon and W6P in St. Louis. At the Eastern end of the road in Chicago, W6Q was also a D-Starr operation. For those not aware, the purpose of "Route 66 On The Air" is to give hams a fun way to "Relive the Ride" and their own memories of Route 66. This year the Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club out of San Bernardino, California was the sponsoring club. Over a dozen other ham radio organizations located along the famous highway took part as official participant stations. More is on line at www.w6jbt.org (Icom) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: HAM RADIO AND THE PONY EXPRESS Ham radio was scheduled to be the communications arm of the 2008 Pony Express trail ride. This, as a part of the September 20th Wild West Extravaganza in Nye County, Nevada.. According to Nevada's Pahrunp Valley Times, the Southern Nye County Amateur Emergency Services was slated to coordinate water stops for the horses and provided a shadow communications network to watch over riders in case they experienced problems. Hams would also function as an adjunct to the Sheriff's Auxiliary for traffic control. Two operators were to be on hand at the end of the trail to provide status reports on the riders carrying the mail. The ARES members taking party members rode the route in the emergency assistance trailer, the water truck and with the sheriff's auxiliary. The news article said that ham radio was again chosen as to support the event because it has proven to be the only type of communications that spans the distances covered by the trail ride. (Parhump Valley Times) ** RADIO LAW: NOI ASKS IF ALL SATELLITE RADIOS ALSO RECEIVE HD RADIO AND VICE VERSA The FCC has released a Notice of Inquiry on issues dealing with receivers for digitally based entertainment radio systems. Media Bureau Docket 08-172 asks if devices capable of receiving Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service should also be forced to include reception capabilities for terrestrial digital audio broadcast , H-D Radio or any other technologies capable of providing audio entertainment services. The same notice also asks if devices capable of receiving terrestrial H-D Radio be forced to include the ability to receive Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service or any other technologies capable of providing audio entertainment services. The upshot of such a law would be to have one type of consumer receiver marketed that would be capable of receiving every form of digital radio entertainment service no matter where the signals came from. It does not mean that the now fee based services would be free, only that one receiver would be capable of receiving all of them. The downside of coarse is that such a receiver would likely be far more expensive to produce than those currently designed for a particular digital radio service. This in turn leads to the question of consumers being foirced to pay for a device that includes the ability to receive services that they might not ever want. The commentary cutoff deadline on M B 08-172 is November 10th with reply comments due no later than December 9th. The link to the actual Notice of Inquiry is http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...-08-2092A1.doc (CGC, FCC) ** RADIO CONFERENCES: NAB SEEKS PAPERS FOR APRIL 2009 GATHERING One of the worlds leading communications groups is looking for presentations for an upcoming conference. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeff Clark, K8JAC, says whom it is and what it wants: -- The National Association of Broadcasters is asking for technical papers for its next Broadcast Engineering Conference. Radio topics suitable for technical papers include data broadcasting, AM directional antenna systems, automation systems, surround sound, audio coding and H-D Radio implementation, to name a few. If selected for publication in the Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings, the papers would be presented at NAB2009. That show runs April 18th to the 23rd. For more information please Contact John Marino, vice president, NAB Science & Technology, at . The deadline for submitting a proposal is Oct. 17. If selected, the actual paper would be due Jan. 16, 2009. I'm Jeff Clark, K8JAC. -- To submit a technical paper proposal, complete the electronic form found at www.nabshow.com/2009/forms/beccallforpapers.asp) (RW) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: W1KRB LEAVES ARRL HQ Turning to some namrs in the news. First, word that the lady from ARRL headquarters with the never ending smile has departed from League service. This, with word that ARRL Membership Manager Katie Breen, W1KRB, has resigned her post at and is relocating away from her native Connecticut. Breen, who is moving to the mid-West has been one of the most popular ARRL representatives to grace hamfests and around the country. She has also been known for her videos that have been posted online that promote the ARRL to members and non-members alike. W1KRB also headed up the ARRL team at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention this past May. (ARRL) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: GRIFFIN THE FUTURE OF THE SHUTTLE And NASA administrator Michael Griffin has re-affirmed his backing for a White House directive that calls for the 2010 retirement of the shuttle. This, after a Florida newspaper published an internal e-mail in which he expresses dismay over the nation's looming inability to launch its own astronauts. In the e-mail, obtained by the Orlando Sentinel and published on Sunday, September 7th, Griffin criticized the White House science policy and budget offices for actions that threaten to leave NASA unable to staff the international space station after the shuttle's retirement. The initial launchings of NASA's new Orion capsule and Ares I rocket, the shuttle's successor, on missions to the space station are not planned until early 2015. The space agency, with White House support, is counting on the purchase of Russian Soyuz rockets to transport NASA astronauts to the space station between 2010 and 2015. The purchases require the approval of Congress, where support waned after Russia's military invaded neighboring Georgia. If approval fails to get a congressional go ahead participation by the United States in the International Space Station could come top a halt. The bottom line: No matter what the outcome, the decision on the future of the space shuttle is bound to impact on the overall manned ham radio space program and on-orbit amateur radio operations from the ISS. (Published reports) ** 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) ** CHANGING OF THE GUARD: GEORGE PUTNAM DIES AT AGE 94 He wasn't a radio amateur but for decades his on-the-air persona defined what the public perceived as a professional broadcast newsman. And now George Putnam, who anchored radio for three quarters of a century and top rated television news shows in Los Angeles for over 25 years, has died at age 94. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Davis, W2JKD, takes a look at the man and his record setting tour behind the mic and in front of the camera: -- George Putnam began his 74 year long broadcast career in 1934 at WDGY radio in Minneapolis. In 1951 he moved to Los Angeles. Soon afterward he left radio for television and began hosting highly rated newscasts at stations KTTV, KTLA, KCOP and KHJ. And over the years he worked as a newsman, reporter, and commentator for most of the first generation United States broadcast organizations including NBC, ABC, Mutual, Dumont, and Metromedia. For his contribution to the television industry, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. George Putnam was also recently honored by the Los Angeles City Council and the county Board of Supervisors for his lifetime of service to the city. After retiring from television in 1975, George Putnam returned to radio and created his famous syndicated "Talk Back" program. He did his last regular radio program this past May 8th. In a June 12th e-mail to his Newsmax.com readers, Putnam let it be known that he was in the hospital undergoing medical treatment on his liver and kidneys. Even so, he was able to take part in a special on-air celebration of his 94th birthday in mid-July. According to CRN Digital Talk Radio, actor Ted Knight patterned his character of news anchor Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" after George Putnam. And for many years, George Putnam rode in the January 1st Tournament of Roses Parade from 1951 until 2000. -- George Putnam died early Friday, September 12th at his 20-acre working ranch in Chino, California. Over the years he was friends with some members of the Amateur Radio Newsline staff. He will be missed. (From various published reports) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: BLUSAT COULD LAUNCH WITHIN THE NEXT 18 MONTHS Australia's University of New South Wales BLUEsat amateur radio satellite project could be ready for launch in as early as 18 months. Weighing around 12 kilograms the solar-powered low earth orbit satellite will carry a flight computer with transmissions to include a beacon and amateur packet radio using the AX25 protocol in a J-mode configuration. BLUEsat is believed the only university satellite project with an entire volunteer team. There are no full-time members or direct academic supervision. However the project has involved about 100 students since it began back in 1997. (WIA) ** WORLDBEAT - INDONESIA: AMSAT INDONESIA ANNOUNCED Indonesia now has its own amateur radio satellite organization. Hakim Satar YBZ0AN, contacted AMSAT-NA President Rick Hambly, W2GPS, with the announcement that AMSAT-Indonesia has formed. More about the new Indonesian AMSAT organization at www.amsat-id.net. (AMSAT) ** WORLDBEAT - IRELAND: BEQUEST LEADS TO NEW HAM RADIO BOOK The Irish Radio Transmitters Society has received a grant from the estate of the late Frank Lewis W3JGM. The organization says that it will use the funds to produce an introductory book on amateur radio, written in a popular non-academic format suitable for an Irish readership. .. The Irish Radio Transmitters Society says that W3JGM was a great friend to many hams in Ireland. As such the society believes that such a would be a fitting tribute to Lewis who loved amateur radio and Ireland. The Irish Radio Transmitters Society adds that it is in the process of selecting a suitable author to write the test. It hopes that it will wind up in schools and libraries all across Ireland. (IRTS News) ** WORLDBEAT - BELGIUM: A HAMFEST IN BRULLELS And while rather short notice, if you happen to be listening in Europe the Belgian Amateur Radio and Computer Rally was slated to take place on Sunday, September 28th. The venue was to be the Hall La Louviere Expo which is about 50 kilometers south of Brussels. Details are on the world-woide-web at www.on6ll.be. (Southgate) ** ON THE AIR: CELECRATING THE NAVAL BATTLE OF PREYEZE Members of the Turkish Special Wireless Activity Team are active as TC 470 PDZ through September 30th This, to celebrate the 470th anniversary the naval victory during the Battle of Preveze. The naval Battle of Preveza took place on September 28th in the year 1538 near Preveza off the shore of northwestern Greece. It was a balttle that pitted an Ottoman Empire fleet against that of a Christian alliance. At the end of the day, the Ottoman had sunk 10 ships, burned 3 others, captured 36, and had taken about 3000 prisoners. Now, some 470 year later, the historic event is being commemorated by hams in Turkey. If you are able to make contact with TC 470 PDZ, please QSL via TA1HZ. (Southgate) ** DX In D-X, 3B8FQ has announced that he is planning to activate St. Brandon Island as 3B7FQ in October. The dates of the operation have not been determined. More information as it is available. RW4WM, will be active as 3V8SS from Sousse, Tunisia from September 29th ato October 8th. Activity will be on CW and SSB, with some RTTY. QSL via RW4WM, direct or by the bureau. DJ9XB will be active from Crete as J49XB between now and October 4th. He will probably operate in the CQ World Wide RTTY Contest on September 27th and 28th. QSL via his home callsign. LA9SN, will once again be active as JX9SN from Jan Mayen for only a few hours on October 8th. Listen out for him on CW on 30 and 20 meters. QSL direct to LA9SN. Lastly, A35RK has told the Ohio Penn D-X Newsletter that he will be active from American Samoa as KH8 slash KK6H, from AH8LG home Q-T-H. Operation will be from December 5th to the 9th on CW and SSB. QSL via W7TSQ or electronically via Logbook to the World. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: TWO YOUNG DXERS HEADED TO WILLIS ISLAND And finally this week, a a follow up to our story a few weeks ago about the upcoming Willis Island DXpedition looking for a pair of young DX'ers to join the party. Now comes word that two young hams have been selected. The lucky young hams who are about to embard on the ham radio trip of a lifetime are Josh Fischer, W4WJF from North Carolina. He will join the group for the first part of its operation. Fischer will later be replaced by Rhy Louw, ZS6DXB, from the Republic of South Africa. Louw will also be on hand to close out the Willis Island operation. The Willis Island DXpedition is one of the most anticipated in years. If all goes as expected, the operation is slated to be on the air from October 9th to the 27th. (Willis Island Team Announcement) ** 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. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. |
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