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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1769 - July 9 2011
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1769 - July 9 2011
CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY The following is a closed circuit advisory and is not necessarily for air. I'm Amasteur Radio Newsline Producer Bill Pasternak here to bring you up to date on two important items. First a big shout out of thanks to all of you who have so far give from your heart through your donations made to the Newsline Support Fund. If you don't take into account the annual expenses that we incur each year in presenting the Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award, we are pretty much OK through about late October. So unless there is some major calamity, of ongoing funding drops to a drizzle, you likely won't hear us making any further general funding requests till years end. And as I've said so many times before, we much prefer to devote this time to reporting the news instead of asking for contributions so that we can continue to bring you the news. And some more good news. A few weeks ago we announced that we might have to cancel this years Young Ham of the Year Award because there looked to be no viable nominations. Well, once again some of you responded and as a result we now have a small plethora of good nominations for the judging committee to sift through and on Saturday, August 20th, a young ham from somewhere in the United States or Canada will be honored with the Young Ham of the Year Award at a presentation that will be made at the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama. The only question right now is weather or not Newsline will be able to send a representative from our Los Angeles headquarters due to the high cost of air fare this year. As noted, thanks to your generosity we have almost enough funds to keep us to near the end of the year. What we do not have, and what we must raise is about $750 to cover staff airfare and hosting the mini banquet for the recipient and his or her family. So once again we are turning to you to help fill that financial void. As you know, your tax-deductible donations can be made on-line using Pay-Pal. Just go to our website at www.arnewsline.org and click on the button that says "Make A Donation." Or you can send it by regular mail to the address you will hear at the end of this weeks newscast. Whichever way you choose, the all-volunteer staff here at the Amateur Radio Newsline say thank you for believing in us and for supporting the work that we do. That ends the closed circuit advisory. I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. Now here is Jim Davis, W2JKD, with this weeks report. ** Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1769 with a release date of Friday, July 9 2011 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio will help celebrate the birth of a new nation, Malta gives its hams a temporary 500 Kilohertz allocation, Portugal OK's 60 meter operation, and that old light bulb in Northern California celebrates its 110th birthday. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1769 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** BREAKING DX NEWS: NEW NATION OF SOUTH SUDAN EXPECTED ON THE AIR SHORTLY Ham radio will be a part of the birth of a new nation. The Intrepid-DX Group and the DX Friends plan to activate the Southern Sudan as a new country almost immediately after it gains its independence from The Sudan on or after July 9th. We have the latest from Amateur Radio Newslines Norm Seeley, KI7UP. -- According to a press release from the DXpedition planners, South Sudan Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has announced that admission of his newly created country as a member state of the United Nations will take place on July 14th. The release goes on to say that the DXpedition plans to be in the nation's capital of Juba and to be ready to start operations right after the South Sudan is granted admission to the UN. If all goes as expected, the UN Security Council is expected to bring the matter before the General Assembly on Thursday, July 14th. Once through the formal approval process the Southern Sudan is then expected to be the 193rd member nation of the U.N.. And once this happens, the International Telecommunication Union will issue an international telephone dialing code as well as an ITU callsign prefix block within 48 hours. At airtime members of the two groups report that they are in consultation with representatives of the new Southern Sudan Government, the International Telecommunications Union and the International Amateur Radio Union working on making final arrangements. Once on the air there will be eighteen hams operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with seven stations on the air at any given time. Waiting for this new country to come on the air, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from the other side of the world in Scottsdale, Arizona. -- More on this operation will be posted on-line at www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011. We will have more DX news for ou later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (Various DX news sources) ** RESTRUCTURING: MALTESE HAMS GET TEMPORARY 501 To 504 KHZ BAND Malta is the latest country to allocate amateur radio operations at 600 meters. This with word that the latest version of the Maltese National Frequency Plan contains an entry for 501-504 kHz. However, there are several caveats. Maltese amateur stations using this frequency band shall not exceed a maximum effective radiated power of 10 Watts. They also must not cause harmful interference to any other services operating in the same or adjacent frequency bands. All transmissions in this band are to be limited to experimental or research work only. The allocation of this spectrum to the amateur service in Malta is valid only through this coming December 31st. (IARU Region 1) ** RESTRUCTURING: PORTUGUESE HAMS GET ADDITIONAL 60 METER FREQUENCY Portuguese radio amateurs have been allocated an additional frequency at 5 MHz in the 60 meter band. This as the Portuguese telecommunications agency Anacom assigns 5288.5 kHz in addition to the already authorized frequencies of 5371.5 kHz and 5403.5 kHz. All three frequencies are on a secondary non interference basis. Special 60 meter propagation study permits are being issued to Portuguese hams for up to a year. (IARU Region 1) ** RADIOSPORTS: IARU HF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - JULY 9 AND 10 And if you are hearing this newscast before the July 9th and 10th weekend and are wonder what all the activity on the High Frequency bands is all about, then welcome to the 2011 version of the IARU HF World Championship. The objective of this SSB and CW contest is to contact as many other amateurs, especially I-A-R-U member society headquarters stations, around the world as possible. This, using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. This contest is open to all radio amateurs around the world. Complete rules are on-line at arrl dot org stroke iaru-hf-championship. (IARU) ** RESCUE RADIO: SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH September 2011 has been designated as National Preparedness Month. This is an annual event sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and known as the NPM Coalition. NPM Coalition membership is open to all individuals as well as all public and private sector organizations for free. Numerous ham radio organizations are already members of this group. The objective of National Preparedness Month is to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. By joining, both individuals and organizations agree to promote emergency preparedness during September. More information is on the web at tinyurl.com/arn-prepare (NPM Coalition release) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the El Dorado County Amateur Radio Club serving Placerville California. (5 sec pause here) ** ENFORCEMENT: RADIO SUPPLIER CITED BY FCC FOR PROGRAMMING UNAUTHORIZED FREQUENCIES The FCC has issued an official Citation to Flatcode Communications, Inc. of the Bronx, New York. This for programming into a transmitter frequencies for which the operator was not authorized in violation of section 90.427(b) of the Commission's Rules. On March 15, 2011, agents from the Enforcement Bureau's Philadelphia Office conducted an investigation and found that Flatcode had programmed radio transmitting equipment for the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania with the General Mobile Radio Service frequency 462.550 MHz for which the Sheraton was not authorized. A representative for Flatcode later admitted to the FCC agent during a telephone conversation that Flatcode programmed the Sheraton's two way portable radios. Now, in its June 28th release of the Citation, the FCC has said that Flatcode should take immediate steps to come into compliance and to avoid any recurrence of this misconduct. It said that future violations of the Rules in this regard could subject Flatcode to substantial monetary penalties, seizure of equipment, and criminal sanctions. Its added that monetary forfeitures of up to $16,000 for each violation or each day of a continuing violation and up to $112,500 for any single act could be imposed. (FCC) ** RADIO LAW: LIGHTSQUARED VS GPS - ROUND 3 Its round three between LightSquared and the United States users of the Global Positioning system. This as the broadband provider says it will make concessions to the Global Positioning System user community to mitigate any possibility of interference. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron, N8TMW, has mo -- As previously reported, LightSquared, is the Virginia-based company that hopes to build a nationwide wireless broadband network in spectrum directly adjacent to that used by the Global Positioning Sysytem. And now LightSquared is proposing to modify its network planning so as not to interfere with G-P-S systems. The company says that it plans to move some of its operations to a different slice of spectrum and to transmit signals at lower power levels. His, to hopefully ensure that its network will not interfere with the Global Positioning System that relies on nearby wireless spectrum. LightSquared outlined its intentions amid mounting concern that its new network would cripple G-P-S systems used for everything from aviation to public safety to military operations. The announcement follows the recent release of government test results showing that trial transmissions from LightSquared's wireless system interfered with G-P-S receivers used by the Coast Guard and NASA. Also that they caused Federal Aviation Administration G-P-S receivers and similar receivers used by state police, fire and ambulance crews to lose reception. In January the Federal Communications Commission gave LightSquared approval to build a nationwide wireless network that would compete with super-fast systems being rolled out by AT&T and Verizon. The FCC sees the LightSquared network as part of a broad government push to bring high-speed Internet connections to all Americans. But it also now says that it will not permit LightSquared to begin rollout of its service until all potential interference problems with G-P-S have been solved. I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW, reporting -- More information on the future of the proposed LightSquared rollout should be forthcoming shortly. (RW) ** RADIO LAW: FCC ISSUES FREEZE ON TV STATION REQUESTS TO MOVE CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS The FCC has issued a freeze on TV station requests to switch digital channel assignments. The move comes as the commission starts to contemplate how to reallocate 120 MHz of spectrum from the broadcast band to wireless broadband, and move the remaining broadcasters to make room for that wireless service. The regulatory agency originally froze channel changes back in 2004 as it set up the first Digital TV table of channel allotments. It then lifted that freeze in 2008. Now it faces another channel-shifting operation to free up spectrum for broadband use. Because it now needs evaluate its reallocation and repacking proposals and their impact on the Post-Transition Table of DTV Allotments, the fCC says that it is appropriate to freeze the acceptance of additional rulemaking petitions to change channels at this time. The FCC last year began the spectrum reclamation process with a rulemaking proposal on channel sharing. It also touched on reclassifying the broadcast band for shared use by wireless providers, and helping improve VHF Digital TV reception. In a turn-about from the analog world, it is the UHF, not VHF band, that is prime Digital TV spectrum. This is particularly true in urban areas where UHF's ability to penetrate walls makes it less vulnerable to signal fade when used with indoor antennas. (B&C) ** RADIO ON THE RADIO: HAM NATION AUDIENCE KEEPS GROWING The audience for the Bob Heil, K9EID, hosted Internet TV show Ham Nation is growing. THius, as the show heads toward its third month on Twit TV. Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, has the latest on this broadband phenomenon: -- Now about 2 months in, "Ham Nation", a netcast on amateur radio, is going strong. I n case you haven't heard, Bob Heil, K9EID and Gordon West, WB6NOA host the weekly hour long show on ham radio via the TWiT network. TWiT, which stands for This Week in Tech, is an offshoot of the now defunct ZDTV, later known as TechTV and it's lead host, Leo Laporte. Laporte, also known as the `chief twit", approached Heil about ham radio and the possibility of doing a show after discovering his microphones, which are popular not only with professional musicians, broadcasters and amateur radio operators, but also netcasters and podcasters. Leo, who is studying for his Amateur Radio license, is no stranger to the hobby. Wayne Burdick of Elecraft and Laporte were roommates way back in their school days, so this bug has been in the back of his head for some time. In fact, the new state of the art TV studios that Laporte is building will prominently feature a ham radio station. So far Ham Nation has had some pretty impressive guests. Joe Walsh, WB6ACU of Eagles fame wrote and performs the Ham Nation theme song. Larry Junstrom, K4EB, the bass player for the southern rock band 38 Special was a recent guest as well as the super Field Day crew of W3AO, who this year broke a 30 year record for Field Day contacts. There's something for everyone, ham and non ham in Ham Nation, and from the people I saw in the chat room during the most recent show, amateur radio is getting exposed to a new and exciting audience. One who perhaps before seeing Ham Nation thought of us only as weird guys squirreled away in our basements with old, antiquated gear. As we all know, such is hardly the case, and now a whole new segment of the public is getting to know just how much fun and cutting edge Amateur Radio really is. You can see Ham Nation every Tuesday at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. If you miss the live show audio and video archives are available for online viewing or downloading. Point your browser to twit.tv/hn. You'll like what you see. From south Mississippi, Don Wilbanks, AE5DW for the Amateur Radio Newsline. -- Ham Nation isn't the only high tech show you might find enjoyable on the Twit network. To see for yourself just take your web browser to www dot twit dot tv. (AE5DW, ARNewsline(tm)) ** FORECASTING: SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION TO CONTINUE ON WWV AND WWVH The Space Weather Prediction Center has changed its mind and will continue offering its service as a part of broadcasts offered by time standard stations WWV and WWVH. You may recall that back in April the Center announced that it would cease providing the broadcast add-on service effective as of September 6th. That announcement was reportedly greeted with heavy negative feedback from the users of the service who came to rely on these broadcasts for alerts dealing with solar storms mid-latitude A and K indices and the like. Now, in a news release on its website, the Space Weather Prediction Center says that it is no longer planning to discontinue the broadcast of its synoptic Geo-Alert products on WWV and WWVH and will continue to provide this service for the foreseeable future. It adds that additional updates to the content are underway as a result of the listener feedback process. The full announcement is on-line at swpc.noaa.gov/wwv. (NOAA) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: HAM RADIO FREDRICHSHAFEN ATTRACTS 16,300 The 2011 Ham Radio convention in Friedrichshafen, Germany took place the weekend of June 24th to the 26th as many hams on this side the Atlantic were enjoying Field Day. This annual event has become known as Europe's answer to the Dayton Hamvention in the U-S-A and Japan's famed Ham Fair. Taking place at a venue on picturesque Lake Constance, this year's Ham Radio attracted 184 exhibitors and 16,300 visitors. Attendees came from all over the world. In addition to the German amateur radio community, other countries represented included Italy, Malaysia, Japan, Qatar the United Kingdom and the United States. During the event 124 young people were given a demonstration of amateur radio. Some even tried soldering and playing with the Morse code. A video captures the flavor of Europe's largest amateur radio event, narrated in German, is on-line at tinyurl.com/arn-europe-ham (Southgate) ** 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: NZART INFOLINE EDITOR ZL2NN - SK Some sad news to report. World that New Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters Infoline editor Jamie Pye, Zed-Ll2lNlN, became a Silent Key on Saturday July 2nd following a short illness. His funeral was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, July 6th. In lieu of flowers the family have asked for donations to the New Zealand Spinal Trust, Private bag 4708, Christchurch, New Zealand Charities Commission #CC43195 (NZART) ** ON THE AIR: 2E1EUB TO TAKE TO THE BIRDS FROM RARE GRIDS U-K satellite enthusiast Paul Robinson, 2E1EUB, will be activating some rare Grid Squares on several amateur radio satellites over the next few weeks. In a post on the AMSAT bulletin board he says that he will drive some 600 miles to the Outer Hebrides where he was to catch a ferry to the island of South Uist, and then moving to Harris and then Lewis Islands. Robinson says that he will put as much time as possible operating A-O7 mode A and B plus FO29 and several other ham radio birds. This will be a 14 day operation that he hopes will also include several other stops. QSL go to 2M1EUB at his QRZ.com address. (Southgate) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: STUDYING THE KONDO EFFECT Science Daily reports that a Princeton University researcher and his international team of collaborators have used lasers to peek into the complex relationship between a single electron and its environment. Amateur Radio Newsline's Michael Grebert, KJ4ZZV is here with the rest of the story: -- The research is being lead by Hakan Tureci who is an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton Uniuversity in New Jersey and brings fresh insight to the study of the Kondo problem. This is a phenomenon first observed in the 1930s, when researchers were surprised to find that resistance to electricity flowing through certain metals increases at very low temperatures. Normally, resistance through metals decreases as temperature is lowered, but that was not the case with these metals. The phenomenon was explained 30 years later by Japanese scientist, Jun Kondo, as resulting from the presence of cobalt or other magnetic impurities in the metals. Scientists have further realized that the Kondo effect results from a relationship between electrons known as "entanglement" in which the quantum state of one electron is tied to those of neighboring electrons, even if the particles are later separated by considerable distances. In the case of Kondo effect, a trapped electron is entangled in a complex manner with a cloud of surrounding electrons. Researchers have been intrigued by the Kondo effect in part because understanding how a trapped electron becomes entangled with its environment could help overcome barriers to quantum computing, which could lead to far more powerful computers than currently exist. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Michael Grebert, KJ4ZZV, reporting from Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. -- More on this story is on-line at tinyurl.com/kondo-effect (Science daily) ** WORLDBEAT: SARL AND ICASA AGREE ON TESTING COMPROMISE The South African Radio League and telecommunications regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa have revisited the Amateur Radio Examination Moderation Process. Right now, at each examination an SARL appointed moderator verifies the examination results, checks that all the marks are correctly computed and verifies that all questions are correctly marked. In a multiple choice examination the answer is either right or wrong. The examiner has no discretion. There are however at times marginal cases where the candidate scores a very high mark in one section but just misses to score the required minimum of 50% in the other section. It is in cases like this that the moderator will now review the answer papers and makes a recommendation to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. According to the SARL, in the last examination session there were a few marginal cases which were reviewed and recommendations were made to the telecommunications regulator. This in turn resulted in a few candidates now having passed the exam. (SARL) ** ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE CENTRAL NEBRASKA BBQ STEAK FRY On the air. the Central Nebraska Amateur Radio Club will be operating a special event station A-G-Zero-L from 1800 to 2400 UTC daily from July 28 to the 30th. This operation is being held to commemorate the club-sponsored annual hamfest and BBQ Steak Fry held at Victoria Springs State Recreation Area near the city of Anselmo. Frequencies to listen out on are 7.250, 14.055, 14.250 and 21.335 MHz. A special QSL card is available by sending a SASE to AGOL, 8900 Riverdale Road, Plattsmouth, Nebraska, 68048. (KOAIZ) ** ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE FIRST FIRE DEPARTMENT IN BRAZIL Also, be on the lookout for special event station PT155FD to be active between now and July 30th. This operation is to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the first official Fire Department in Brazil. Stations will be using this special call on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters on SSB only. The QSL Manager for ths operation is PS7AB. Cards can go to him either direct or via the bureau. Electronic QSL's go to ps7ab (at) yahoo (dot) com. ** DX In DX, A group of operators from Italy are planning to activate Grand Popo, Benin, between August 5th and the 14th. Callsign will be TY1KS. Activity will be on all H-F bands and 6 meters, using 3 three Elecraft K3 transceivers and two Elecraft KPA500 amplifiers. Due to the high demand for this country, the focus will be on the lower bands and the Digital modes, but also SSB and the higher band will be well worked especially during the TEP openings. QSL via IZ8IYX or Logbook of the World. F6ICX, will once again be on the air as 5R8IC from Saint Marie Island between November 15th and December 17th. Activity will be holiday style operating CW, RTTY, and PSK63. There will be no online log during his activity. QSL via his home callsign as found on QRZ.com. ZR6DG and ZS6HB will be active as C92DG from the Timbavati Game Reserve in Tofo between 14th and 28th July. Their operation will be on the High Frequency bands only. QSL via ZR6DG. W1NEK has announced he will be operating portable from Iraq through mid-August. His activity will be voice only his afternoons and evenings. QSL as directed on the air. Lastly, DL7DF will be on holiday in Kenya between November 20th and December 3rd and plans to be active as 5Z4HW. Listen out for him on 160 through 10 meters using CW, SBB, RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV. QSL via his home callsign, direct or via the DARC Bureau. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: THAT 110 YEAR OLD BULB STILL HAS US IN ITS SPELL And finally this week, a follow-up to a story that we first aired some ten years ago. Its about a light bulb. A very old light bulb that keeps a Northern California fire station out of the dark. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, with the details: -- A light bulb hanging in the Livermore Pleasanton California Fire Department has been burning steadily for exactly 110 years. Lynn Owens, who's in charge of the "light bulb centennial committee", says that how it stays lit remains something of a mystery. He says that it's a 60-watt bulb but it only gives off only about four watts of light. Even so, but nobody knows why it keeps burning. According to the lamp's website, the bulb is actually a somewhat different style bulb from what other manufacturers of the day produced. It was invented by Adolphe A. Chaillet and made by the Shelby Electric Company. It was donated by Dennis Bernal to the Livermore Volunteer Fire Department and this past June 18th was its 110th year of continuous illumination. This is a fact documented extensively by Guinness World Records. One possible answer may be the way in which it was constructed. In a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail, bulb protector Steve Bunn ascribed the light's success to good old fashioned engineering. In the Shelby bulb, a coiled filament burned brighter and lasted longer than the Edison bulb -- this as evidenced by the longevity of the Livermore Pleasanton centennial bulb which celebrated its 110th year of nonstop duty back on June 18th. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, a few hundred miles south of the Livermore Pleasanton fire station reporting from Los Angeles. -- According to Owens, scientists from around the world have come to look at the bulb but why its lasted this long is still a mystery. You can visit it vicariously on the world-wide-web at www.centennialbulb.org. ** 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 Newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. 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 from the central Florida coast, and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. |
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