Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1387 * March 12, 2004


Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1387 with a release date of
Friday, March 12th, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC says that automatic stations have
to avoid willful interference to other hams. Also, a magazine editor
speaks out on restructuring. Hear the details on Amateur Radio
Newsline report number 1387 coming your way right now.



(Billboard Cart Here)

**


RADIO LAW: AUTOMATIC RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL HAMS


The FCC says no Amateur Radio stations are exempt from the
requirement to avoid unnecessarily interference with ongoing
communications. This includes automated operations. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Rick Johnson, KA9VZD, is in Antioch Illinois with rest of
the story:


--


According to the ARRL Letter, FCC rules enforcer Riley Hollingsworth
says that it is important for all stations, including automated ones,
to realize that they are responsible for any interference caused when
they come on top of existing communications Hollingswoth told the
ARRL Letter that an amateur had written to him alleging that what
appeared to be automated PACTOR stations that were routinely starting
to transmit atop PSK31 QSO's on 40 and 30 meters.


In response, Hollingsworth noted that there are no exemptions for
automated stations. Rather that the Amateur Service rules address
interference with other communications. The rules say that no
amateur operator shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or
cause interference to any other radio communication or signal.


The amateur who filed the complaint reportedly also contacted one of
the PACTOR stations in an effort to develop a dialogue to solve the
problem. Hollingsworth expressed the hope that all involved in the
PACTOR versus P-S-K 31 problem can work things out. He also points
out that stations responding to automated interrogations are equally
responsible for not causing interference to existing communications.


For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Rick Johnson, KA9VZD, near
Chicago.


--


Hollingsworth also issued advisory letters to three hams who operate
automated stations to remind them of the rules. (FCC, ARRL Letter)


**


ENFORCEMENT: HAM WHO ALLEGEDLY HARASSED POLICE ASKED TO EXPLAIN OR
TURN IN HIS LICENSE


The FCC Enforcement Bureau is once again naming names and it has
asked one ham to explain why he allegedly transmitted on a public
service frequency to harass law enforcement. Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ,
has the rest of the story:


--


In a February 18th letter to Russel A. Brown, N1KHV, of Palmer,
Massachusetts the FCC says that it is considering action based on a
February 3rd Incident Report from the Monson Police Department and a
February 15th Investigatory Report and a Statement. The latter
reportedly was signed by Brown and documents his deliberate operation
on Police frequencies without a license. This, the FCC alleges was
an attempt by Brown to interfere with police communications and
harass police personnel.


The FCC inquiry makes it clear that the information he submits will
be used by the Commission in determining Brown's qualifications to
remain a Commission licensee. The FCC also has given Brown the
option of voluntarily submitting his license for cancellation in
order to avoid a hearing on the issue. Brown was told to indicate his
preference in his response which was due within 20 days of the FCC
letter of inquiry being issued.


For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, in New
Jersey.


--


The FCC also warned Brown that providing a willfully false or
misleading reply would be the subject of a separate enforcement
action and could subject him to additional sanctions. (FCC)


**


ENFORCEMENT: CHANGING CALL SIGNS BRINGS FCC INQUIRY


The FCC wants to know why a Tennessee radio amateur keeps changing
his call sign. And, in a February 18th letter it is asking Donald H.
Binkley the regulatory agency is asking the Nashville ham to explain
why he has been jumping between two calls for the past six years.


According to its letter of inquiry, Binkley currently holds the call
K4WX. The FCC says that license grant was originally made on
September 23, 1998. On June 19, 2000 the FCC says that Binkley filed
an application to change his call sign from K4WX to N4ZZ. That
application was granted on July 7, 2000. Then, on May 15, 2002
Binkley applied to change your his sign from N4ZZ back to K4WX. That
application was granted on June 4, 2002. Now, Binkley has applied
for the N4ZZ call once again and this time his request appears to
have raised a proverbial red flag with the FCC. As a result, the
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has forwarded the latest
application to the enforcement folks for follow-up and review.


In his letter to Binkley, FCC rules enforcer Riley Hollingsworth
says that these ongoing applications raise questions about apparent
abuse of the licensing system. He notes that the Communications Act
gives the Commission the authority to request information from
licensees and applicants regarding their applications and operation
of their radio stations. And that's just what he is doing with
Binkley,


He has told K4WX to respond stating his intentions regarding the
filing of these applications. He also told Binkley to let his office
know which of the two call signs he wants to keep. Binkley was given
the usual 20 days from the date of the FCC's letter to respond. (FCC)


**


RESTRUCTURING: AN EDITOR SPEAKS OUT


The editor of a popular ham radio magazine says that his readers have
strong opinions on restructuring, and he wants them shared. In an
interview with Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, CQ's
Rich Moseson, W2VU, talked on a general level about the various
restructuring proposals and about his upcoming C-Q reader survey:


--


CQ's Rich Moseson says there's been an active dialogue going among
readers of the magazine since the latest round of amateur radio
licensing restructuring proposals landed at the FCC's door:


--


"We have a whole raft of petitions that have been filed with the FCC
over the past several months all proposing various things from
radical changes to little tweaks from eliminating the code
requirements completely to adding new ones," Moseson says. "It's a
great opportunity for discussion and for a forum on what the ham
community thinks our hobby should look like going into the future."


--


Moseson says despite the diversity of those proposals, he says there
seemed to be some consensus emerging among those who submitted
comments to the FCC and other forums:


--


"It looked like the majority of those people would agree on a
restructuring where the code requirement was kept in place at 5 wpm
for Extra," he says.


--


And now that the American Radio Relay League has weighed in with its
own proposal - a no-code entry license called the Novice - complete
with HF privileges, Moseson says CQ wants to know what readers think.


--


"W5YI's 'Washington Readout' colum is all about the League's proposal
in detail and our reader survey for April is also about the League's
proposal," Moseson explains. "It's going to be asking our readers
what they think of each of the major points of the proposal, whether
they agree or disagree or have no opinion. And we'll, of course, be
reporting the results of that survey in probably the June issue."


--


Even if you're not a CQ subscriber, you can find a copy at a newstand
or bookstore.


Moseson says amateur radio must and has kept in step with the times:


--


"I'm not sure what we're going to come out of this with or what
direction it's going to go to, " Moseson says. "But one of the points
that I've always made is that if we are going to keep ham radio as a
healthy, vital hobby and service then it has to adapt to changing
times and the licensing structure has been doing that over the course
of many, many years."


--


As to how soon, we might expect action from Washington. Moseson says
it's difficult to predict:


--

"My guess would be the earliest that you'd see any kind of a decision
from the FCC would be the end of this year, probably more likely
about a year from now in the spring of 2005," Moseson says.
--


For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in
Philadelphia.


--


Moseson also offered his opinion that even if Morse testing was not
included as a requirement for any of the license classes that it
wouldn't go away. He says CW contest entries have grown in recent
years. Thats good news for those advocating long term preservation
of the historic mode. (ARNewsline(tm))


**


Break 1


From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W3BN
repeater of the Reading Amateur Radio Club serving Reading
Pennsylvania.


(5 sec pause here)



**


CONVENTIONS: THE NAB HAM RADIO RECEPTION IN LAS VEGAS NV.


Its only a few weeks until the National Association of Broadcasters
holds its 2004 gathering. One of the major social events that occurs
at the NAB convention each year is the `Amateur Radio Reception'.
This year will be no exception but for the first time ever this
years `Ham Radio Reception' will be hosted by Heil Sound, Limited and
its well known owners Bob, K9EID, and Sarah Heil. They would like to
invite any and all amateur radio operators who will be in attendance
at the NAB show to join them for this annual fun event.


---
Audio Only: Hear it at http://www.arnewsline.org
--


Bob and Sarah are promising a fun time. They are also planning
appearances by some of their special friends as well as dozens of
attendance prizes that will be given during the two hour reception.
This includes several of the new Heil Poline performance microphones
autographed by legendary Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, WB6ACU.


This years NAB Ham Radio Reception takes place Wednesday April 21st,
from 6 to 9 P.M. local time. The venue is the Las Vegas Hilton
Hotel, Ballrom B. Of coarse, thats in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bob says
all that is required to join in the festivities is to bring a smile
and your NAB attendance badge for complimentary food and drink.


For more information please feel to contact Bob or Sarah at 618-257-
3000 or by e-mail to . The Heil's say that they
hope to see you there. (ARNewsline(tm))


**


CONVENTIONS AND HAMFEST TRAVEL TIPS: TRY FLYING OR TAKE THE BUS


Talking of ham radio social events, its no secret that gasoline
prices here in the United States at historically high levels, and the
Department of Energy saying to expect prices to go a lot higher. As
a result, many hams are asking the rhetorical question: Can I afford
to go to a major hamfest or convention this year? Especially one of
the big ones like Dayton or NAB. The answer for the most part is
yes, but a lot depends on where you live and how far you have to
travel to that show. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW,
explores some alternatives to driving your own car:


--


If your QTH is several hundred miles away from your favorite hamfest
and you drive a gas guzzling vehicle like an S-U-V then you may think
twice about going this year. That is, unless you can find an
alternative to $3 or more for each gallon of gasoline. Well, there
are currently two very good transportation buys available if you are
willing to give up the luxury of a personal vehicle.


Lets take a centrally located city like Dallas, Texas. There's a big
convention every year in the suburb of Arlington that draws
exhibitors and attendees from all across the country. If you live in
Houston and plan to attend, its about a 275 mile drive each way. In
an S-U-V that gets 10 to 12 miles to a gallon at the projected $3 a
gallon the drive one way will cost about $81 each way or $162 round
trip. Compare that to the $89 round trip currently being offered
between the two cities on Delta and Continental airlines. Want
cheaper? Go greyhound, buy your ticket 7 days in advance and it will
only cost you $58 round trip.


And what about Hamvention in Dayton Ohio? That's coming up in May.
Well, its the same thing here. Using Chicago as your home, the trip
is also about 275 miles each way. To drive will cost about the same
but make your reservations now and fly out of Chicago's Midway
airport and ATA will take you full circle for about $120. Go
Greyhound and you can go full circle for only $82


Live further way. Say Los Angeles or San Francisco? Well, you can
really get a bargain. Fly United Airlines out of Santa Ana
California early in the morning with a connection in Chicago and you
can go round trip for $255. By way of comparison, that same ticket a
year ago went for about $100 more. And for you Northern California
folks, you can do the trip for $283 out of San Jose on American Trans
Air.


And the usual disclaimer here,. The prices we quoted we those
showing on Sunday March 8th on several travel websites including
greyhound.com and orbitz.com. Since the airlines are notorious for
changing prices at a moments notice, these could be gone by the time
this newscast goes to air.


For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting.


--


Two final tips that most frequent flyers already know. First, book
early. The best prices for flights are usually sold on-line months
in advance. Also, keep an eye on all of the Internet based travel
discounters and check their prices daily. You never know when a
flight or a bus ride to your favorite hamfest may be a lot less
expensive than what it costs to drive your vehicle. And you won't
have to hunt for a place to park, either. (ARNewsline(tm))


**


INTERNET SCAMS: ARRL AND RAC E-MAIL BEING SPOOFED


The ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada are warning their members and
others about bogus or spoofed messages carrying ARRL.net or rac.ca
suffixes. Both organizations say that they have been notifoed by
people who have received e-mail messages alleging to be from the ARRL
E-Mail Forwarding Service or directly from Radio Amateurs of Canada.


The senders of the e-mail encourage you to open the file or an
attachment to the e-mail. Don't do it. These messages are false and
are the result of one of the variants on a number of viruses now
permeating the Internet. The attached file contains variations of
worm viruses, MyDoom, Bagle and Netsky. Opening the file could
result in your computer being infected. The bottom line: Delete the
message and forget you ever got it. Your computer will be a lot
safer that way. (ARRL, RAC)


**


HAM RADIO ADVENTU COMMUNICATORS NEEDED FOR CAVEING EXPEDITION


Gulf Coast United States, along with Caribbean, or South America base
station operators are needed for communication on the ham bands with
a scientific expedition. This, in July through August time frame.


The 60 day expedition will explore deep caves in the high Andes
mountains and jungle in the western Amazon area of South America.
Expedition access to the remote areas is via trekking on foot and
pack animal. The expedition will use a solar and battery powered 20
Watt backpack transceiver. Antennas will be a wire dipole or
vertical. A miniature notebook computer will be along for digital
operations.


Communications will consist of position reports, some short messages
with families of expedition members, and any possible emergency or
medical messages. All operation will be non-commercial.


Operators with good base stations, efficient antennas and low noise
locations are needed on the 40 through 15 meter amateur bands. The
operations will use SSB, CW and a variety of digital modes. If you
are interested, e-mail Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, at
. (KC5FM, KQ6XA)


**


PUBLIC SERVICE: BAKER TO VEGAS FOOTRACE NEEDS YOUR HELP


Also in need of ham radio communicators is the famed Baker to Vegas
Challenge Cup Relay race. Baker is Baker California and of coarse
Vegas refers to Las Vegas, Nevada.


This year's foot race for teams from Law Enforcement Agencies takes
place on April 24 th and 25, starting near Baker, traveling along
State Route 127. The race then continues through radio show host Art
Bell, W6OBB's hometown of Pahrump, Nevada and finishes up in Las
Vegas.


For years, Amateur Radio has played an important role in the annual
event. If you or your group is interested in helping with
communications, please visit www.bakertovegas.com on the world-wide-
web, to sign up. (Via e-mail)


**


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)


**


RADIO LAW: CONGRESS ON ITS WAY TO INCVREASING INDECENCY PENALTIES
AGAINST BROADCASTERS


Federal legislators are inching closer to increasing the penalties
against broadcasters who permit indecent or obscene material to hit
the public airwaves. This, as the House and Senate Commerce
committees pass bills that would sharply boost fines of television
and radio broadcasters who violate indecency regulations.


The U.S. House of Representatives measure increases fines to as much
as $500,000 per violation from the current $27,500 per violation
level. That version also contains a so-called three strikes
provision that would require the FCC to hold a hearing to determine
whether a broadcast license should be revoked after three violations
take place. It also permits the FCC to weigh heftier penalties
against the person who actually utters indecent material on the air
as well as the ability to go after the network that broadcast the
material in addition to the individual stations. Right now, the FCC
can only fine the licensed station that aired the material and has
limited ability to penalize the person who said it.


Current FCC rules limit indecent material presented in a patently
offensive manner to late night hours, when children are less likely
to be a part of the listening or viewing audience. In some past
instances the broadcast standard has been applied to obsenity and
indecency issues in private radio including the Amateur service.
Newsline attempted to find out if new and higher penalties directed
by Congress might be applied to ham radio. We were told that at this
point, the FCC's and Congressional actions are directed at
the "broadcasters" and not at Amateur Radio. (Published news reports)


**


HAM RADIO BUSINESS: QRZ.COM HAS T1 TROUBLE


If you tried to access the QRZ.com website late on Thursday March 4th
you probably found it down. The sites owner, Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ,
reports that around 1800 UTC both of the dual T1 lines that supply
the sites 3 Megabit feed to the Internet went down.


According to Lloyd, the sites network is supplier is Cable & Wireless
and his location is served by two leased high-speed lines by the
local phone company, Qwest. The Qwest lines connect the Arizona based
QRZ.com servers to the Cable & Wireless location in downtown Phoenix.


About 2 hours after the outage was reported on Thursday, one of the
lines was repaired and brought back up. For reasons unknown to
Lloyd, the second T1 line has not been brought back up. Now,
however, instead of a Qwest problem, it appears that the second line
was intentionally disconnected by Cable & Wireless. Lloyd says that
Cable & Wireless is currently pulling out of some of the less
profitable market areas. Apparently, QRZ was mistakenly disconnected
from the grid even though Lloyd had previously been assured that
Cable & Wireless is not pulling out of his market. This put Q-R-Zeds
back at 1.5 Megabits. That's the same speed that they were for years
before the upgrade last December. (QRZ.com)


**


WORLDBEAT: MOTOROLA DONATES RADIOS TO VK EMERGENCY CORPS


Communication is set to improve for one of Australia's most remote
indigenous Army Cadet Units following the donation of 24 state-of-the-
art two way radio's by Motorola Australia. The company presented the
radios destined for the Bamaga Cadet Unit in Far North Queensland to
the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of
Defence , Fran Bailey , at a recent ceremony in Melbourne. Bailey
said that she was delighted with the generous support shown by
Motorola and acknowledged the contribution the company has made to
the nations Indigenous Participation Project. The Bamaga Cadet Unit
comprises Two Adult Officers and about 15 cadets. Bamaga is located
the tip of Northern Queensland and is one of the most remote parts of
Australia. (Q-News)


**


WORLDBEAT: TOWARD RESOLVING THE MEXICO - US 560, 780 & 920 KHZ
BORDER SITUATIONS


An update on the radio border war developing between Mexico and the
United States as we reported a few weeks ago. According to Joseph
Berring in a letter to the CGC Communicator, the alleged problems
caused by the Mexican broadcasters on 560, 780 and 920 kHz has become
a top priority for both the U.S. FCC and the State Dept. as well as
for the Mexican Administration.


According to Berring, top U.S. officials recently met with their
Mexican counterparts in Mexico City. Berring observes that despite
the controversy and problems that have arisen, Mexico's position has
been very clear and unwavering. That being existing bilateral
agreements are valid and they have not been violated. Additionally,
Mexico seems to have some complaints of its own regarding U.S.
stations.


The United States position is obviously a bit different. Not only
does the US administration feel that there are clear violations, but
that there are specific sidebar agreements dating as far back as 1996
that address the issues at hand.


Berring, who is a consultant on United States and Mexico border
issues says to stay tuned. It should prove interesting. (CGC)


**


WORLDBEAT: AN ECUADOR DIPLOMA FOR YOU


A new Republic of Ecuador "Equatorial Line Diploma" for contacting
stations at a latitude of zero degrees is being issued by the DX-TA-
SEA DX CLUB, This multicolored certificate is awarded to Amateur
Radio Operators and Short Wave Listeners for confirming contacts with
the 20 different Ecuadorean HC and HD prefix areas. This award was
developed to recognize past Amateur Radio activities from Ecuador.
More information is available from Dr. Rick Dorsch, NE8Z, P.O. BOX
616, Hamburg Michigan. The zipcode is 48139. (NE8Z)


**


WORLDBEAT: SOTA EXPANDS TO GERMANY


According to the RSGB, the 'Summits on the Air' - or 'SOTA' - awards
program has announced that the Alpine region of Germany is the latest
geographic area embrace this awards project.


The Alpine SOTA program began operation on March 1st and is already
being heralded as a success. The parent 'Summits on the Air' program
began in 2002 . Since then there have been over 2000 hilltop
activations and 15,000 contacts made. (GB2RS)


**


DX


In D-X, word that GM4YXI, is active portable 9M2 from Kuala Lumpur
through the 29th of March. He also plans to operate from one or two
Islands On The Air island groups. Look for him on 20, 17 and 15
metres and maybe 12 and 10 metres CW and SSB. (GB2RS)


And PA3GIO will be active slash HI9 from the Dominican Republic
through March 18th. Look for his signal on 80 through 10 meter SSB.
(GB2RS)


**


THAT FINAL ITEM: TRANSMITTING DATA FROM MARS - AND CONSERVING ENERGY


And finally this week, were you aware that the pair of Mars Rovers
now exploring the red planet actually have two ways to send data back
to Earth? They can send it direct or indirect. Bill Pasternak,
WA6ITF, has mo


--


As you might expect, direct entails using the rovers own high-powered
microwave systems and using up a lot of very precious power
reserves. Kind of like making a long distance contact on 2 meter FM
simplex. You can do it but you need high power and a very
directional antenna.


The indirect method uses low-powered UHF links to relay the data to
orbiting satellites. These satellites then use their high-powered
transmitters to beam the data back to scientists. Thats not much
diferent than working a long distance on 2 meters, but doing it with
an H-T through your favorite repeater.


To save energy on the solar powered rovers, the UHF relay method is
preferred. As of February 18th, the two rovers had sent 10 billion
bits of data from Mars to Earth. Of this, only 18% of that data was
transmitted directly. The rest was relayed through the Mars Odyssey
and Mars Global Surveyor satellites.


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


--


The rest of the story can be found on the web at
www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,62409,00.html (CGC)


**


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 and Australia's Q-News, that's all from the Amateur
Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline @arnewsline.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), 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 2004. All rights reserved.