From Newsgroup: alt.ham-radio.ssb

Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1416 ­ October 1, 2004


Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1416 with a release date of
Friday, October 1, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio is ready as Hurricane Jeanne hit
Florida. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report
number 1416 coming your way right now.



(Billboard Cart Here)

**


RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO MEETS HURRICANE JEANNE


Making landfall near Stuart, Florida, early on Sunday, September
26th, Hurricane Jeanne blew across that state with 120 mph wind and
drenching rain. News reports say that the storm hurled debris into
the air, tore rooftops off buildings and sent monster waves onto the shoreline. And as Jeanne's wrath played out on television screens
across the nation, it was the calm voices of ham radio operators of
the Voice Over I-P Hurricane Watch Net that signaled it was about to
arrive:


--


"At 11 PM, the center of Hurricane Jeanne was located near Latitude
27.2 North and Longitude 80 West, or about 15 miles East of Stuart
Florida. Jeanne is moving slightly North of West near 13 Miles Per
Hour."


--


Hams also relayed a stark warning from the National Hurricane
Center. One that said -- stay out of Jeanne's way:


--


"...with maximum sustained winds of 115 MPH with higher gusts,
Hurricane Jeanne is a is a dangerous Catagory 3 hurricane on the Saffer-Simpson Hurricane Scale."


--
Over two million residents had been urged to evacuate. State
officials said more than 42,500 stayed at shelters. Many of these
were staffed by ham radio operators associated with A-R-E-S and RACES
groups.


As Jeanne made her way across Florida, many residents were without
telephone service and more than a million people lost power. But ham
radio operators using all kinds of emergency power sources were on
the air. In fact they were the ones who relayed word of some of the
major outages:


--


"KA4EPS in Deerfield Beach passing on some information you might be
interested in. Have some numbers passed along by the local utility
company. Dade County has 2900 without power. Broward County 71,000
and Palm Beach County 487,000 without power."


"QSL Lou, Thanks."


--


The Category 3 storm became the fourth hurricane to pummel Florida in
a single season. The three other hurricanes - Charley, Frances and
Ivan - have all hit within the last six weeks. And hams like Paul
Goodell, KG4GOQ, in the town of Lake Worth might not have sounded
that great through all of the radio links, but he did get the word
out:


--


"Estimated winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. Trees bent and
laying over."


--



Then for a while there was a period of calm. This as the eye of the
storm came ashore. It gave first responders a chance to assess the
damage done so far:


--


"KG4YQK at the Port St. Lucie E-O-C W4SLC. We are in the eye of the
storm presently. We had sustained winds of well over 110 miles an
hour. We received substantial damage here locally. Trees down.
Powerlines down. Flooding as well."


hurricanes. As it did, even public service communications took a hit:
--


"Net control is listening. Go ahead Paul:


"I just heard second han that the communications tower for Riviera
Beach has collapsed. Probably not something for the national
hurricane Center, but just as a note to anyone else out there
listening to hear how bad these winds are going."


--


By late morning, Jeanne had weakened to a Category 1 storm with 75-
mph top sustained winds, but its 400-mile diameter covered most of
the central part of the state including Tampa and Orlando. As Jeanne
proceeded to fall apart while heading North-East over Georgia and the Carolina's she dumped torrential rain and spawned close to a dozen
twisters. More on the aftermath of Hurricane Jean in future Amateur
Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline(tm) with audio from the VoIP
Hurricane Watch Net)


**


THE BPL FIGHT: PERTH INTERFERENCE NOT BPL RELATED


A widespread interference problem in Perth, Australia, that sounds
like B-P-L has to be something else. This, after the city's Power
Authority tells Dennis Muldownie, VK6KAD, that it is not using
Broadband Over Powerline technology to monitor its electrical
network.


There is now some supposition that noise that wiping out free to air
TV channels 2, 7, 9 and 10 may be coming from some home network gear
which uses the power mains to connect the various pieces in a home
Local Area Network. But the noise is so widespread that it has to be
more than one installation causing the problem. This, by radiating
back out over the local Perth power grid. (WIA News)


**


THE BPL FIGHT: FCC TO RELEASE R&O ON BPL ROLLOUT


Meanwhile, back at home the ARRL says that an initial Report and
Order on the rollout of B-P-L could be on its way out of the FCC this
month. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, has been
following the story and has more:


--


The ARRL says that an initial Report and Order on the rollout of B-P-
L could be on its way out of the FCC this month. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V has been following the story and has
more…



As predicted almost on cue, the Federal Communications Commission
appears ready to render its decision on Broadband Over Powerline
Internet access.


And despite thousands of comments on the subject, many of them
raising concerns about the interference potential of the technology,
the ARRL says it has learned the panel is ready to act.


As one high-ranking ARRL official has told Amateur Radio Newsline,
it's not a question of whether there will be BPL. There will. The
question is in what form will it be rolled out and how effective will
the safeguards be to protect other services.


In its recent bulletin, the ARRL advised it had learned the FCC's
Office of Engineering and Technology would have its draft order on
BPL ready for the commission's Oct. 14 meeting.


The ARRL has mounted a vigorous information campaign to raise
awareness about the threat BPL poses. And, it has also tried to lobby
at various levels to change some minds about the benefits the BPL
industry says the technology will bring.


But it appears, based on the ARRL's BPL bulletin, that the
organization is pessimistic about what will be coming out of the
FCC's technology arm.


In fact, the ARRL's Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, in a
letter sent as a follow-up to a recent meeting with FCC commissioner
Jonathan Adelstein sums up what the League is expecting.


"…the ARRL has no confidence that the draft report and order will be
based on sound engineering and believes the rush to adoption is
unwarranted and premature. " That excerpt of Sumner's letter from the
ARRL's Bulletin.


In interviews with Amateur Radio Newsline, ARRL President Jim Haynie
W5JBP says there was little doubt in his mind the issue would be
decided BEFORE the presidential election. Haynie contends the issue
is being driven by business interests who have the ear of the
president and his technology advisors.


Haynie has told Amateur Radio Newsline of his concerns about the
FCC's apparent lack of interest in following up on the many pending
BPL complaints - filed as a result of system tests. He has told us he
fears when the commission finally acts, it may bow to BPL interests
that are seeking to weaken the impact of any interference complaints.


So the question many amateurs may be asking themselves as we await
the FCC's order is where will this leave me? Is it time to put my
radios up on Ebay and turn my focus to my computer and EchoLink?


The answer: Not so fast!


The National Telecommunications and Information Administration still
has a card or two to play. Its technical people have raised
interference issues and are continuing studies and plan to release
more results in the next several months.


Will the FCC wait for the NTIA? Will the FCC table BPL? Not likely to
both. Is there room for an appeal of any FCC BPL decision? If so, it
would likely wind up tied up in the federal courts.


With the planned rollout out of Wireless Internet access here in
Philadelphia and other cities across the nation, do the economics
dictate a utility recovering its investment in BPL technology at a
pace investors are willing to wait?


The questions are many and the debate is likely to continue for the
next several days.


From our perspective, it seems unlikely the FCC decision - if it goes
against amateur radio interests - will stand without a challenge. Too
much time and talent has been invested in preparing the data showing
what BPL can do to the amateur frequencies and our ability to operate.


We'll stay on top of it for you. And, once the FCC order arrives,
we'll have the first reaction and what it will mean to you.


Stay tuned!


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


--


More on the B-P-L issue in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline(tm, ARRL)


**


Break 1


From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Rio Hondo
Amateur Radio Club net serving our home town of Los Angeles
California.


(5 sec pause here)



**


THE BPL FIGHT: BPL COMES TO CENTRAL VIRGINIA


Still with news on the B-P-L front, Charles Rivelle, K3FT, has some
news about one electric company's future. He says over QRZ.com that
the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative has completed testing of
its B-P-L system in Nelson County and the company is now serving
customers on 40 miles of operational lines.


The K3FT posting provides a link to a two-page advertisement that has
been sent to thousands of customers throughout central Virginia. The
ad alerts them to look forward to B-P-L service in the area noting
that line crews are now installing the equipment needed to deliver
Broadband over Powerline services. Up to 4000 homes and businesses
will be eligible to participate in the first phase of this program.
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative says its "always on" 256
kilobaud per second broadband connection is priced at a very
competitive $29.95 a month.


Check this web site for details: http://www.forcvec.com/bplcoop/
(K3FT via QRZ.COM)


**


THE INTERNET: US FALLING BEHIND IN BROADBAND ROLLOUT


Meantime, the FCC insists that the United States is making progress
in rolling out high-speed Internet service. This, despite facts
showing that the nation is falling further behind other countries.

A new Federal Communications Commission report found that U.S. high-
speed Internet lines had tripled to 28.2 million by the end of 2003
from June 2001, but the country at best was 10th place in
international rankings down from fourth, lagging nations like Canada
and South Korea.


FCC Commissioner Michael Copps criticized his own agency over the disappointing news. He says that the agency had failed to establish
a coherent policy for broadband, sacrificing the nation's rank.
Copps also noted that service was as cheap as $10 a month in Japan
for 8 megabits a second versus $30-$50 for 1-3 megabits in the United
States. (Published news reports)


**


CHANGING OF THE GUARD: STAN BURGHARDT, W0IT - S.K.


The changing of the guard in ham radio continues with word of the
passing of two well known radio amateurs. The ARRL Letter reports
that Stan Burghardt, W0IT of Watertown, South Dakota, died on August
22nd at age 93. Burghardt was the founder of Burghardt Radio Supply
Inc. which is now known as the Burghardt Amateur Center. He was
first licensed in 1931 as W9BJV and became W0BJV in 1946. Burghardt
remained active on the air -- especially on 6 meters -- until his
death. (ARRL)


**


CHANGING OF THE GUARD: ROGER BAKER, G4IDE - S.K.


And ham radio software writer Roger Barker, G4IDE, has passed away.
Baker died on September 9th following a long bout with cancer.
Baker was the author of UI View, PSK31SRV and a host of other digital
mode software and was recently named as the first recipient of
the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
for his services to digital communications.


Baker's packet radio program Winpack is currently in use by tens of
thousands of radio amateurs around the world, while his UI View
program is now considered to be the benchmark by which all other APRS
Raster Mapping software is compared. (KB7TBT, G3ZHI, others)



**


ENFORCEMENT: KEEP OFF 10 METERS


The FCC has written to five trucking and transport companies warning
them to keep their drivers from operating radio gear on 10 meters.


The letters went to Con Way CWX Trucking of Long Beach, California;
Dowell Express, Inc. of Lavonia, Georgia; K & K Cartage, Inc. in
Sunbury, Pennsylvania; Teeberry Trucking LLC whose home base is
Charlotte, North Carolina and United Van Lines of Fenton, Missouri.
Divers for these companies were heard operating radio gear without
licenses on 28.085, 28.115 and 28.215 MHz


Each letter carries a stern warning that continued operation could
lead to confiscation of the radio gear as well as a prison term and a
hefty fine and for the unlicensed radio operator. These monetary
forfeitures normally range from $7,500 to $10,000. (FCC)


**


ENFORCEMENT: A DEAL A PIRATE COULD'T REFUSE


And there appears to be two ways to get someone to stop rebroacasting
your radio station. You can complain to the FCC or you can take
another and apparently much quicker route that one station has. Norm
Seeley, KI7UP, explains the unique and effective approach:


--


An unlicensed broadcaster is off the air in San Diegio, California.
This, after a licensed broadcaster in San Clemente kind of took
matters into its own hands and made the pirate a deal he could not
refuse. Legally speaking that is.


When KWVE was recently advised that its signal was being rebroadcast
by apparently unauthorized translator station in Lakeside,
California, the station dcided to act. Rather than wait for the FCC
to investigate and politely ask the pirate to cease and desist, representatives of KWVE paid the party a visit. The station also
threatened in writing to seek legal injunction if the unauthorized rebroadcasts continued.


And you can call this approach as being very effective. The
translator fell silent in short order and has not been heard since.


--


While this system is seemingly a lot faster it also means having to
hire a lawyer and pay his fee. (CGC)


**


RESCUE RADIO: FCC PARTICIPATES IN COUNCIL ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES


The FCC has participated in the first meeting of the Interagency
Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities. This, at the Department of Homeland Security in
Washington D.C..


The FCC was represented by K. Dane Snowden, the chief of the FCC's
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau. At the meeting, Snowden
announced that the FCC has issued policies and will launch outreach
efforts. This, to ensure that facilities that provide
telecommunications relay services for persons with hearing and speech disabilities are designated priority for restoration of service in
cases of emergency. Snowden also described a rulemaking by the FCC
to improve the emergency alert system to make it more accessible for
people with disabilities.


The Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and
Individuals with Disabilities was established by Executive Order on
July 22nd. Its purpose is to address the safety and security needs
of people with disabilities. (FCC)


**

HAM RADIO ON THE INTERNET: BIG DATABASE UPGRADE AT QRZ.COM


The QRZ.com website call sign system is running a lot faster these.
This as the result of a major an upgrade to a new and more powerful
server.


The new database engine is a Sun E280R. This is a 64-bit industrial
strength machine with dual 900 MHz processors, 4 GB of RAM, and a
pair of 36 gigabyte 10,000 R-P-M Fibre channel disk drives.


Fred Lloyd who runs QRZ.com says that these new disks are really
impressive. Fred says that he has clocked them at speeds of up to 64 megabytes per second. That equates to an entire C D ROM's worth of
data being moved internally in only 10 seconds.


Lloyd adds that this new server only handles the call sign database.
The main QRZ.com web server remains a 450 MHz Sun E420R with 2
gigabytes of RAM. (QRZ.com)


**


THE SOCIAL SCENE: THE WSWSS VHF/UHF CONFERENCE IN CA IN OCT


Turning to the ham radio social scene, a reminder that the Western
States Weak Signal Society's annual VHF UHF Conference takes place
on Saturday, October 9th. The venue is the M2 Antenna Systems
facility in Fresno, California and features prizes, technical
programs and a great BBQ Dinner. More info at www dot wswss dot
org. (WSWSS)


**


THE SOCIAL SCENE: OPRC HAMFEST IN AZ. IN OCTOBER


Just to the East in Arizona the Old Pueblo Radio Club will hold its
hamfest on October 16th at the Kinko Sports Complex in Tucson. For
more information on this one please contact John Kalmes, KC7LIB, by e-
mail to kc7lib@aol.com (SW Communicator)


**


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)


**


ARNEWSLINE(TM) SUPPORT FUND REPORT WITH N6TCQ


Audio report only: Hear it at www.arnewsline.org


**


RADIO HERITAGE: NAVY TO CLOSE SUB COMM CENTERS


The United States Navy says that it will dismantle two extremely low
frequency radio transmission centers used to communicate with
submerged submarines. The Navy says that the 400-million submarine- communications system, which has been in use since 1989, is outdated
and no longer needed.


Two transmitter sites are involved. One is in northern Wisconsin
and the other in Michigan. They will go out of service on September
30th but could take up to three years to disassemble and close down permanently.


Each system consists of a transmitter and an antenna strung on 600 12
meter high poles. The navy has used these extremely low frequency transmitters to maintain secure communications with submarines at sea
but now will use 12 smaller transmitters, sited worldwide. (Pulished
reports)


**


HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ISS REPEATER ON AGAIN


The FM Repeater and BBS on board the International Space Station was
again open for general ham radio contacts on September 27th and
28th. During that time voice contacts were available on by
transmitting up to the I-S-S on 145.920 MHz with a 67 Hz CTCSS tone
while listening for replies on 435.300 MHz. The Bulletin Board used
an uplink of 145.860 F-M and a downlink at 435.150 MHz. This
operation was followed by a PSK-31 Experimenters Wednesday Test on
September 29th.


The system will be on periodically and ARISS will announce the dates
and times in advance. Check with the I-S-S Fan Club web page at www.issfanclub.comto see what the latest status is.


Also, keep in mind that the radios on board the space station are not
able to correct for Doppler as the frequencies are channelized. It
is up to the ground station to do the Doppler correction. For 2
meters, the Doppler shift is about +3kHz at the beginning and goes to
about -3kHz at the end. For 70 cm, the Doppler is about +10kHz at
the beginning and goes to about -10kHz at the end.


The 70cm Doppler is roughly 3 times the 2m Doppler. Many of the
tracking programs have the ability to calculate the frequency shift.
(ARISS)


**


HAM RADIO IN SPACE: MIKE FINCKE ON THE AIR


And as his time on board the I-S-S begins to wind down ham astronaut
Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, has been on the air quite a bit. Not only to
talk to school students in pre-scheduled contacts, but also to any
ham who wants to chat a bit. One of those who had the opportunity to
talk recently with the intrepid space traveler is Scott Avery,
WA6LIE, in Salinas, California, who had had his recorder running:


--


Contact audio here. Hear it at www.arnewsline.org


--


Scott says that his QSO with KE5AIT space mobile took place at about
O2:15 on September 28th. Needless to say that signals were 5 by 9
and full quieting both ways.


Fincke and Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT will be finishing their
tour of duty on the ISS in the middle of October. They will be
replaced by Expedition 10 Astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, and
Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov. WA6LIE's full contact with the I-S-S
can be heard on line at www.qsl.net/wa6lie (WA6LIE)
**


DX


In D-X word that Crete will be coming on the air in October. This as
SV9FBM and SV9FBZ become active as active as SY9Y in the CQ World
Wide DX SSB Contest on the 30th and 31st as a Multi- Single entry.
QSL to Stelios Aggelakis, P.O.Box 113, GR 72200 Ierapetra, Crete
Island, Greece. (OPDX)


And EA1QF and EB1AA will be on the air from Cuba from October 12th
to the 25th. The pair will be working on a "Radiosolidarity" project,
but will also be operational on the H-F bands from several station
locations as T42R. QSL to EA4URE at his callbook address. (GB2RS)


**


THAT FINAL ITEM: THE ARDF REPORT


What do Burrowing Owls and 80-meter transmitters have in common?
They are both targets of hams who like to do radio direction
finding. Newsline's Joe Moell K0OV tells us more:


--


There's lots happening in the world of radio direction finding this
summer. More young Burrowing Owls are leaving their nests in western
Florida, so hams in that state who aren't busy with hurricane
communications are by their receivers, listening for the radio tag
signals to see where these critters will go. If you can help, please
join them -- I'll tell you how in a moment.


Also, a 21-member delegation of ARDF Team USA competitors, trainers,
jurors, and family members went to the Czech Republic and the World Championships of radio foxhunting, September 7th through the 12th.
These World ARDF Championships take place every two years. USA's
2004 team members were OMs and YLs ranging in age from 19 to 62.
Among them was Jay Thompson W6JAY, Newsline's Young Ham of the Year
for 2003 and recent winner of the ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award. Each
competed once on 80 meters and once on two meters, looking for three,
four or five transmitters, depending on age and gender category.


USA began attending the World Championships in 1998, but European and
former Soviet countries have been holding ARDF events for over 30
years. So it's no surprise that they dominated in the final
standings. Nine of these nations garnered all of the individual and
team medals. The total medal count was led by Czech, Russia, and
Ukraine with 34, 28 and 26 respectively.


USA, Australia, and Great Britain were among the 19 nations that won
no medals. But we're getting better every year. Two Team USA
members had top-ten individual finishes in their categories. Nadia
Scharlau of Cary, NC took 6th place out of 22 on two meters. She
might have won a medal on 80 meters, but the battery fell out of her
receiver and she had to find the last fox transmitter with just the
bearings that she already had on her map, losing about ten minutes.
Bob Cooley KF6VSE, age 62, of Pleasanton, CA placed 9th out of 34 on
his two-meter run.


All of our team members earned their spots by taking medals in the
USA National Championships. This year's were in California in June,
and a site is already being sought for the national championships in
2005, 2006 and beyond. As USA's ARDF Coordinator, I would like to
hear from you if your club is interested in putting on the
championships.


You can read all about the ARDF championships, Team USA, and
volunteer wildlife tracking -- and find out how to get involved -- at
the usual place, www.homingin.com. That's homingin, as one word, homingin.com.


From southern California, this is Joe Moell K-zero-Oscar-Victor, for
Amateur Radio Newsline.


--


Again, that website Joe mentioned is www.homingin.com. And homingin
is one word. (K0OV, ARNewsline(tm))



**


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 W-I-A 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.









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