Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2000, February 26, 2016

Amateur Radio Newsline Report number 2000 with a release date of
Friday, February 26, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The FCC seeks input on possible license and
band changes. Texas hams go fox-hunting. A historic transmitter gets a
new home. And in a special extended newsline segment, we go back to our
radio roots with Robert Sudock, WB6FDF, who was there at the beginning.
All this and more in Amateur Radio Newsline's Milestone Report 2000
coming your way right now.

(Billboard Cart Here and Intro)

**
FCC SEEKS COMMENTS ON LIFETIME LICENSES, 80/75 METER CHANGES

If you have thoughts on the ARRL's petition for the FCC to make changes
to 80 and 75 meters, now is the time to share them. Or if you want to
weigh in a proposal that the FCC issue lifetime amateur radio
licenses, take care of that now too.

On the bands, the ARRL has asked the commission to fix what it calls a
shortfall in available spectrum for RTTY and data, following the bands'
reapportionment by the FCC a decade ago. The ARRL would like to see the
boundary shifted between the 75 meter phone/image subband and the 80
meter RTTY/data subband - a proposal that the league's Board of
Directors adopted as policy in July of last year. The ARRL would like
the phone/image subband to extend from 3650 kHz to 4000 kHz and the
RTTY/data subband to extend from 3500 kHz to 3650 kHz. The ARRL would
also like 3600 kHz to 3650 kHz made available for General and Advanced
Class licensees - as it had been before 2006.

The FCC is also considering a request made last year for lifetime
licenses to replace the 10-year term. In his petition, Mark F. Krotz,
N7MK, of Mesa, Arizona, pointed out that the General Radiotelephone
Operator License sets a precedent because it is already valid for a
lifetime.

Using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), select RM11759
for the 80 and 75 meter issue, and RM11760 for the lifetime license
issue. Let your voice be heard.


(ARRL)


**

FOX-HUNTING, TEXAS-STYLE

DON: At one ranch in Texas, the hunt is on, and it's begun a little
earlier than usual this year. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins,
KE5CXP, rounds up the details for us:

MIKE: The scene will be the Parrie Haynes C5 Youth Ranch and Equestrian
Center just outside Killeen, Texas, and the competition will be nothing
short of intense. This is, after all, a national championship.

But if you're thinking "Texas Rodeo," guess again. Radio amateurs will
be trying to lasso something a little smaller and more elusive than a
calf or bull during the four days of contesting in April. The Amateur
Radio Direction Finding championships will be getting under way, taking
on-foot foxhunting to a new level.

This year's schedule is different: Customarily, competitors face off in
late summer or early fall, but the shift to a spring event became
necessary so that the best of the best could be selected for Team USA
members to compete in the World Championships in Bulgaria in September.

The competition will not only accommodate all skill levels, but offer
an optional training day on Wednesday, April 6, on an 80-meter short
course before the event kicks off. The championships will then get
underway on Thursday, April 7 and conclude Sunday, April 10. Opening
day will also have hams facing off on a combination of radio-direction
finding on 80 meters and classic orienteering, an activity known as
foxoring.

Yes, there will be food: An awards banquet will be held on Saturday
night. Lead organizers are Jennifer Harker, W5JEN and Kenneth Harker,
WM5R, medal-winners who represented the U.S. at the World Championships
previously. The competition is being sponsored by the Austin
Orienteering Club and Texas ARDF. For more details, visit the Texas
ARDF site, www.texasardf.org.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP,in Shawnee,
Oklahoma.


(TEXAS ARDF)

**

HELP WITH ARES REPORT FORMS

ARES Emergency Coordinators, District Emergency Coordinators and
Section Emergency Coordinators are being encouraged by the ARRL to
participate in a free webinar on March 1, offering instruction on how
ARES report forms are filled out, submitted and how the information is
used. The training webinar begins at 8 PM Eastern Time but will also be
recorded and made available online. Section, District and Local
emergency coordinators are all advised to take advantage of the
opportunity. According to Mike Corey, KI1U, the ARRL's Emergency
Preparedness Manager, this is the first time this webinar is being
offered.

As many as 500 participants can take the online instruction.

Find a live link to the GoToWebinar registration form by visiting the
ARRL website, or contact Mike Corey for more details at


(MIKE COREY, KI1U)

**

MAKING WAVES? NO, DISCOVERING THEM


DON: A recently announced discovery that illuminates Einstein's Theory
of Relativity turned out to be relative, as well, to the work of one
radio amateur in the 1970s. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun,
WD9GCO, with the details:

PAUL: A worldwide team of physicists could not have been happier
earlier this month when their discovery made global news: they had
captured the sound of the collision of two black holes, a billion
light-years away,in space. The finding of the Ligo Project, reported in
the New York Times and other media, fulfilled Albert Einstein's
prediction, a century earlier, that gravitational waves do indeedexist.

Einstein would not be surprised, of course, and neither would other
scientists who had long pursued this theory of his with their own
imaginations and antennas. One of those scientists from years ago
turns out to be a radio astronomer - and radio amateur - Joseph H.
Taylor Jr., K1JT. Taylor was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics
with colleague, Russell Hulse, for discovering and interpreting the
electromagnetic radiation emissions from a pulsar, giving new insights
into gravitational waves. Their discovery, made at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst in 1978, was one of many leading to this most
recent revelation.

The executive director of the Ligo Project, professor David Reitze,
told the media this month: [quote] "It's the first time the universe
has spoken to us through gravitational waves. Up until now, we've
beendeaf."

As any ham would add, good copy is everything, even with a black hole:
it's all about the power of antennas and reception, after all.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO, in Valparaiso,
Indiana. (THE NEW YORK TIMES, BBC.COM)


**

NY's TRAIL RELAY IN PURSUIT OF HAMS

In New York, it's time to warm up for the Paumanok Pursuit, a 70K trail
run and relay on Long Island, New York, that navigates from Rocky
Point, east to Hampton Bays. Since the relay teams aren't setting off
for their destination until April 3, the real pursuit right now is for
amateur radio support.

The event, which follows the Paumanok Path through five towns, is a
benefit for the Greenbelt Trail Conference and its work to keep Long
Island trails, such as this one, safe and well-maintained. It typically
draws individual runners as well as relay teams of two to five,
covering five legs of the race, in varying distances. Long Island hams
or GMRS operators are needed to keep things safe throughout the
courses. The race starts at 7 a.m. and concludes around 3 p.m. with a
party to celebrate a job well done.

In a recent email to Long Island Hams, Matthew Berman, KC2YDT, advised
amateur radio volunteers: QUOTE "This is a great opportunity to
exercise our verbal skills, new technologies and cross-communication
interoperability of various radio spectrums." ENDQUOTE The event will
be managed using the ICS Special Event management model, he said, but
this is not an ARES event.

Interested? Please write him for more details or to put your name on
the list. His email address is

(MATTHEW BERMAN, KC2YDT)

**


BREAK HE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OH-KY-IN) Amateur Radio Society repeater,
146.670 MHz, in Cincinnati, Ohio.


**
ONE HAM'S LOW-POWER LEGACY

DON: A low-power transmitter donated from a Silent Key's estate is
adding some high-power interest to the ARRL's Historical Collection.
Let's hear more from Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash, N5ASH:

SKEETER: It's not just a collector's item; it's a piece of radio
history. It's a flea-powered transistorized ham transmitter that was
used in a transatlantic contact in 1956. And now it's set to be
displayed in the ARRL's Historical Collection in Connecticut, a
donation from the estate of Silent Key Gus Fallgren, who was licensed
as W1OGU when he built the transmitter with two fellow Raytheon
engineers.

On Sept. 18, 1956, the 78 mW transmitter was showing off some
low-power, battery-powered prowess, achieving a 3,800-mile contact on
20 meters. Fallgren himself was at the key, transmitting into a
3-element, wide-spaced Yagi. His signal report of 339 signal came all
the way from OZ7BO in Copenhagen, Denmark.

As built by Fallgren and his colleagues, Al "Hank" Hankinson, W1OSF,
and Dick Wright, W1UBC, the transmitter was designed to run two
Raytheon 2N113 transistors - and it was the first to run such
transistors on 20 meters. The trio had taken up the challenge of trying
to achieve Worked All Continents status with it.

The donation made from his estate, by Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, includes
the original transmitter and a 7.013.4 kc crystal as well as the
Vibroplex bug used for the contact, among other things.

The ARRL will display it along with the bug, station log, and the issue
of Radio and Television News that featured a story about the
transmitter - and Gus Fallgren on the cover.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, in Topeka, Kansas.

(ARRL)

**

SHINING A LIGHT ON UK BEACONS' FUTURE

DON: What's up next for a small group of 5MHz beacons in the UK? The
Radio Society of Great Britain wants hams to tell them what they think.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has the details:

JEREMY: The Radio Society of Great Britain is looking for input on the
future of its 5MHz beacons, which began operating in mid-2003, as part
of a propagation experiment on the band.

Data has been recorded from the beacons' reception reports and will be
used to help determine the next stage of their use. The radio society
has now opened up a consultation on the beacons, particularly in light
of technical difficulties and site challenges the beacons have faced.
The trio began operations with the call signs GB3RAL, GB3WES and
GB3ORK.

More than 1.5 million propagation records are now stored in a database,
collected over the course of the experiment. The data are being
analyzed by Marcus, G0IJZ, and findings have been published in RadCom
magazine, as well as presented at conferences.

The beacons' licenses are up for renewal in 2017.

For comments, visit the Radio Society of Great Britain website, and
navigate to the 5MHz Beacon forum.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, in Nottingham,
theUK.


(RADIO SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN)

**

MEMORABLE MICROWAVE MOMENT

Another kind of meaningful radio contact in the UK has been reported:
In fact, the two hams, Chris G0FDZ/P and Roger G8CUB/P, likely won't
forget Friday, Feb. 19, for a long time to come. They've reported on
the UK Microwave Yahoo Group that they completed the first UK amateur
radio contact on the 241 GHz band that day at 1500 UTC.

The microwave contact was made in locator square JO01EP. The distance
was 30 meters and the CW signals were 559 and 589. The next issue of
the UK Microwave Group's newsletter, "Scatterpoint," is expected to
carry more details.

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS)

**

SOUTH AFRICA'S LICENSE FEES GOING UP

In South Africa, it's going to cost more to get on the air. Starting
April 1, the annual amateur license fee will rise to 126 Rand. The
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, ICASA, is giving
hams the option of renewing for a five-year license, which costs 525
Rand, as a way to guard against additional increases later on. Hams
wishing to renew for the five-year period are being advised to send an
email along with payment details and request to convert to a five-year
license. Those emails should be sent to

ICASA told the South African Radio League that the billing process is
getting under way and license-holder can expect their invoices in the
next few weeks. For more details, visit www.sarl.org.za

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE)

**

ACTION IN THE ANTARCTIC

Looking even further south, ham activity is alive and well in
Antarctica. And if conditions permit, the 13th Antarctic Activity Week
could shape up to be a big one. The Worldwide Antarctic Program reports
that as many as 37 stations could be on the air through Sunday, Feb.
28, when the event winds down.

But because conditions in the Antarctic are known to be changeable - if
not challenging - check the website for an updated list of call signs
and QSL managers. Visit www.waponline.it - if you can't chase penguins,
you can at least chase some good DX.

(WORLDWIDE ANTARCTIC PROGRAM)


**

WORLD OF DX

DXpeditioner and low-power contester Olivier, ON4EI, will operate
EI8GQB in Ireland from Feb. 27 through March 30, taking on the call
sign EI1A during the ARRL International DX SSB, Russian DX and CQ WW
WPX contest. Send QSLs only via LOTW or via QSL MANAGER: PA3249 (direct
or bureau).

Ismo, OH2IS, is operating from Antigua through March 4, mainly on CW
with the callsign V26IS. QSL via his home call or ClubLog OQRS.

Thaire, W2APF, is active as V47JR from Nevis Island in the Caribbean
through March 1. Find him operating CW or SSB.

Be listening for special event station, ZV451RIO, through March 6. The
station is marking the 41st anniversary of the foundation of Rio de
Janeiro. QSLs go via PY1AA.

(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY)

**

BREAK HE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the
KB9WSL repeater in Rochester, Indiana.

**

SPECIAL SEGMENT: ON OUR 2000TH NEWSCAST, WE LOOK BACK

DON: As we wrap up Newsline report #2000, let's go back to the earliest
recording I could find of Newsline, report #1162 from November 1999:

[1162 - 0:46]

The late Roy Neal, K6DUE. Roy wasn't just involved with amateur radio
news. Roy was NBC's national space correspondant covering the landing
of Apollo 11 on the moon, the Apollo 13 crisis and many other aerospace
stories. Roy was instrumental in getting amateur radio into space. But
I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start where all good stories start,
at the beginning. I had the privilege of speaking with Robert Sudock,
WB6FDF about the beginnings of Newsline. Hello Bob:

[001 - 3:42]

So that's how it all began. Westlink morphed into Amateur Radio
Newsline and it was Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF who took the concept from
just a way to get the word out about the 220 linked repeaters and made
it into a truly professional newscast about amateur radio that today is
heard around the globe.

One more pause for station identification. Next up; we take you inside
KTTV television in Los Angeles.

[BREAK 4]:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
WC8VOA, the West Chester Amateur Radio Association's repeater, in West
Chester, Ohio.



Now back to our chat with Bob Sudock. Bill Pasternak didn't create
this thing called Newsline alone, nobody could. It is truly one of
those right place - right time stories where everything just kind of
fell together. Bill was at the right place, with the right people at
just the right time, and he took full advantage of the situation.

[002 - 4:49]

That covers a lot but there is still one mystery to solve:

[003 - 0:38]

Of course, we've just scratched the surface, but if you'd like to hear
more of Bob Sudock and me chatting, reminiscing and telling some untold
stories about Bill you can hear more of our little trip down memory
lane on the Extra page at the Newsline website. It runs 32 minutes and
I promise you'll hear more things you never knew about Newsline and
Bill Pasternak.

Next week, report # 2001. The news never sleeps.

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE:

With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; Matthew Berman, KC2YDT; BBC.COM;
Mike Corey, KI1U; CQ Magazine; The FCC; Hap Holly and the RAIN Report;
The Irish Radio Transmitters Society; The New York Times; Radio Society
of Great Britain; Robert Sudock, WB6FDF; South African Radio League,
Southgate Amateur Radio News; Texas Amateur Radio Direction Finding;
TWIT TV; Worldwide Antarctic Program and you our listeners, that's all
from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our email address is
. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide and for everyone who has ever worked on
Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW in Picayune, MS, and I
think it's only fitting that Robert has the last word. Mr Sudock, would
you like to put the wraps on Newsline #2000?


[ROBERT SUDOCK]: It would be my pleasure to say "73 and thank you for
listening." Amateur Radio Newsline is Copyright 2016, and all rights
are reserved.