From Newsgroup: alt.ham-radio.ssb
Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1421 November 5, 2004
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1421 with a release date of
Friday, November 5th, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. AMSAT says that the U Oh 22 ham-sat is
dying and Israel says it may do away with Morse testing. Find out
the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1421 coming your
way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: UO-22 MAY SOON BE S.K.
AMSAT U-K says that the UO-22 ham radio satellite is not in good
shape, and its looks as though its useful life may be over. Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more:
--
The AMSAT News Service which brought the first worked of the problem
says that the cause if the satellite's demise is unknown. Bit says A-
N-S, it may be related to problems with the satellites batteries
which have been in space for more than 10 years.
UO-22 was launched in July 1991 from Kourou, French Guiana. It
served for many years as the store and forward satellite for Amateur
Radio packet and the world wide Sat Gate service. The latter is a
linked series of packet radio networks in many countries.
The Ground Station control center at the University of Surrey has
attempted several times in recent weeks to reactivate the UO-22
After one attempt it did come back to life, but only briefly. Other
attempts have failed completely.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reporting.
--
As time permits, the Control Station at the University of Surrey may
make further attempts at reviving the ailing bird, but says AMSAT U-K
it seems unlikely that they will be completely successful. (ANS)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: PC SAT RECOVERY SUCCESSFUL
Meantime, better news about another ham radio satellite. The P-C Sat
ham radio bird continues to work perfectly following it's recovery
two weeks ago.
To use P-C Sat, just QSY your APRS mobile station to 145.825 during a
pass. You should not have to change any parameters. PCsat digipeats
the aliases of RELAY and WIDE just like terrestrial digipeating.
(ANS)
**
RESTRUCTURING: ISRAEL MAY DROP CW REQUIREMENT
Back on Earth, word that the state of Israel may be the next nation
to do away with Morse testing. At least the possibility has been
raised in the latest issue of the Israel Amateur Radio Club's English
language publication Hagal International.
In a brief statement in the latest on-line edition, the magazine says
that a proposal to abandon Morse testing has been raised by the
nations Ministry of Communications. The publication notes that many
European countries have been dropping the Morse requirement and that
it expects to see a rather heated discussion among Israeli hams once
the Ministry opens the debate for public discussion.
At the moment Israel maintains a 5 word per minute Morse testing
requirement for access to the High Frequency bands. But it is also a signatory to the pan-European C-E-P-T licensing agreement and tends
to abide by whatever regulations C-E-P-T adopts for its member
nations.
More on what's happening in Israeli ham radio is on line at
www.iarc.org (Hagal International)
**
REFARMING THE BANDS: FCC RELOCATION OF FEDERAL USERS INCLUDES SOME
AMATEUR 2.3 GHz SPECTRUM
Meantime, here in the United States, the FCC has acted to include the
first five 5 megahertz of the 2390 to 2417 MHz Amateur Radio Service
primary allocation that it has opened up to accommodate federal users
shifted from other bands. According to the ARRL Letter, the
reallocations, which also involved non amateur spectrum at 2 GHz are
aimed at making room for A-W-S or advanced wireless services
including so-called third-generation wireless systems. In making the announcement the FCC said it worked with the US Department of Defense
and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to
allow for relocation of critical military and other operations into
the 2360 to 2395 MHz band. (ARRL)
**
RESCUE RADIO: DISASTER NUMBERS FOR 2003
If you are involved in emergency communications, these numbers will
be of interest to you.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, natural disasters killed 76,806 people in 2003.
This is three times the number of victims than died in 2002 with the
rise due in part to extremes in the global climate.
The joint society report noted that an earthquake that killed 31,000
people in the Iranian city of Bam and a heat wave in Europe that
killed 35,000. They say that these were major contributing factors
in the higher toll victim toll.
All of this is a good reason for hams to be prepared for any
emergency situation. Here in the United States the best way is by
signing up for one of the many communications training courses
offered by the American Radio Relay League. Just visit their website
at www.arrl.org to find out what's available to you right now. (ARNewsline(tm)) from information from International Red Cross and
ARRL)
**
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW: RADIO DISTRACTED DRIVERS REDUX
Some good news for those of you who operate mobile. The head of the
National Transportation Safety Board says that education rather than legislation is the best approach to getting people to minimize
distractions including cellular telephones when they get behind the
wheel of a car.
At a recent press conference National Transportation Safety Board
Chairperson Ellen Engleman-Conners said there still are no definitive
studies showing that talking on a cell phone is more dangerous than
any number of other motorist activities. This includes such
activities as eating, reaching for a drink or adjusting the car radio.
Last summer, federal regulators announced new guidelines for states
to follow when reporting crashes. Investigating agencies are now
asked to say whether the driver was distracted and if that
distraction was caused by a cell phone, a two-way radio, or something
else.
Engleman-Conners says that having the ability to call is a safety
issue and cited the example of a 16-year-old girl who's driving home
from the library late at night and has a flat tire. Engleman-Conners
said people are more likely to embrace safety measures if they're
educated about why they are important.
New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and a growing number
of cities and towns are prohibiting drivers from using cell phones
without hands-free devices. (NTSB reports)
**
Break 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W4DUX
repeater serving Port Charlotte, FLorida.
(5 sec pause here)
**
ENFORCEMENT: SOCAL HAMS CLAIM EX-KG6IRO JAMMED EMERGENCY COMMS
From the some people never learn department comes the latest on Jack Gerritsen, the ex KG6IRO. The same Jack Gerritsen whom the FCC has
recently told to pay a $10,000 fine for operating without a license.
And you would think that would be enough to catch anyone's
attention. But hams on one Los Angeles area repeater say that even
with this fine facing him that he, or someone claiming to be him,
recently jammed ham radio communications of an emergency at sea. And
this time the United States Coast Guard is involved. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the latest:
--
The story starts with Al Geiger, KG6FB, sailing solo to Guadalupe
Island on his 36 ft. sloop, following another boat which was about 20
miles ahead of him. On Tuesday night, October 26th they were caught
in a bad storm. Al turned back when he lost his Jib sail in the high
winds.
Both his VHF marine radio and his 2 meter ham radio amplifier had
failed. Without his VHF marine radio, Al lost contact with the
other boat.
The alleged jamming incident happened on the Catalina repeater on
Friday morning, October 29th. The Coast Guard group in Los Angeles
was interested in obtaining any information that KG6FB had about the
other boat. So it had Bill Scholz, W1HIJ, who is the District
Communications Officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary, try to contact
Al on the Catalina Repeater.
The QSO between KG6FB and W1HIJ started at 10:02 AM and continued
off and on through about 11:40. The person alleged to be Jack
Gerritsen showed up after the traffic began and refused to clear the frequency. Luckily, a tape recorder was going and here is a small
part of what happened. The first voice you hear is that of Bill
Scholz, W1HIJ followed by that alleged to be former ham Jack
Gerritsen. This was recorded using VOX, so any dead air is missing.
--
W1HIJ: Wiskey One Hotel India Juliet, Coast Guard Auxiliary Upland
Radio 1. This frequency is in use for emergency communications.
This frequency in use for emergency communications. Please remain
off he frequency. This is W1HIJ, Upland Radio 1 out."
Unidentified Transmission: "Yeah whats your phone number. Ive never
heard any emergencies on this damn frequency. You ever heard of 911
stupid?"
Repeater: "beep"
--
The station believed to be Gerritsen continued on. Not only did he
pester W1HIJ verbally. He also played what can best be described as political recordings over and over again.
Soon, other stations believed to have come over from the 147.435 MHz
repeater -- the one calling itself the "Animal Farm" -- also
appeared on the Calalina machine. They began taunting and jamming
the station believed to be Gerritsen, tying up the Catalina repeater frequency much of the time. The combined garbage made it impossible
to continue the passing of emergency traffic and it was not until
much later in the day that the other boat was confirmed as having
arrived at Guadalupe Island, and that KG6FB had made it safely to
Whites Landing.
Copies of the full recording of this incident have reportedly been
forwarded to several government agencies that handle malicious
interference to ongoing emergency radio traffic. We will have to see
of any of them follow up on this one.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.
--
Another ham, Tim Thompson, W6DCE, provided us with whats purported to
be a phone message left on Gerritsen's answering machine by local FCC inspectors. The investigators reportedly went to his house on a
complaint from the Coast Guard to perform a station inspection but
were refused entry. On the recording they urge the person inside to
permit them in. This, to avoid added fines or possible arrest.
You may recall that the last person prosecuted for bothering an
emergency communications service was Rajib Mitra, of Brookfield,
Wiisconsin. As reported here on Newsline, last June Mitra was
convicted under the United States "Patriot Act" of interference to
the communications of a local police department. He was sentenced to
8 years in a Federal prison for that crime. (ARNewsline (tm) with infrormation from K6PZW, W1HIJ, W6DCE, others)
**
ENFORCEMENT: YOU CAN'T OPERATE THERE
A pair of hams who operated the wrong part of 20 meters have caught
the eye of the FCC enforcement folks. The agency's Daryl Duckworth,
NN0W, has the details:
--
Duckworth: "Two warning notices went out for operation on 14.010
MHz. The first went to K0HUU, Donald Mullen, of Springfield,
Missouri, for operation outside General class privileges. The second
went to W6QEU, Peter Onnigian, of Sacramento, California, for
operating outside Advanced class privileges."
--
Both operators were advised that such operation my lead to revocation
of their licenses or to a monetary forfeiture. Also that no renewal
or upgrade application will be considered until this matter is
resolved. They were given 20 days from the October 18th date of the
FCC's letter to them to respond. (FCC, RAIN)
**
ON THE WEB: QRZ.COM WEBSERVER DE-LISTS K1MAN
A popular ham radio callsign webserver has removed the listing of International Amateur Radio Network net manager Glenn Baxter, K1MAN,
from its database. In a posting to his own QRZ.com website, owner
Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, says that he took the action because the staff at
QRZ reached the collective opinion that K1MAN does not represent a
view of amateur radio activities that is conducive to the furtherance
of the hobby. His words -- not ours.
Lloyd has also started what he calls an informal survey of QRZ.com
users to get their feelings as to whether or not this is the right
course of action. As of Wednesday, November 4th, some 387 hams say
that they support QRZ's decision to de-list K1MAN while only 19 feel
the listing for Baxter should remain.
You can follow this one for yourself. Its on-line at www.qrz.com
(QRZ.COM)
**
TOWER PROBLEMS: EXPLOSION ROCKS TEXAS TRANSMISSION TOWER
Remember our recent story about a fire bug in the Pacific Northwest
burning down radio towers. Fires that cost one ham his home. Well
that fire bug still has not been caught and authorities are still
looking for leads in the case.
And while we do not know if there is any connection, but news reports
say that Federal investigators are now looking into the circumstances surrounding an explosion at a power line transmission tower near
Dallas, Texas on October 27th. The reports say that one leg of the
support structure appeared to have been severed in two places.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, along with local police, are
investigating. (Published reports)
**
TOWER PROBLEMS: VANDAL FELLS TWO TOWERS IN TEXAS
But that's not the only tower vandalism to report this week. Another
instance is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where a company that owns two
power transmission towers that were deliberately toppled two weeks
ago says that it is willing to pay big bucks to have the person who
did it put behind prison bars.
The American Transmission Company is offering a $10,000 reward for
information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those
responsible for the criminal act that left 17,000 customers without
electrical service. News reports in the one say that a person or
persons unknown removed the base bolts from the eighty five foot
towers causing them to tumble.
American Transmission says that it is installing two temporary wooden structures to support the downed power lines until such time as
replacements can be put in. Meantime investigators want the person
behind these criminal acts behind bars before he or she strikes
again. (Published reports)
**
THE HAM BUSINESS CENTER: NEW RELEASES FROM CSS
From the ham radio business world comes word that Creative Services
Software of Muscle Shoals, Alabama has announced the release of
PacTerm 3 for Windows and P k Term 3 for Windows for preview. This
latest software includes a new user interface in a single window, a
built in generic logging program, the M T 63 soundcard mode, a PSK
62.5 mode, TCP/IP support and much much more. Both programs include
a 30 day full featured demo version, so hams and MARS users can try
before they buy. Creative Software Services is on the web at
www.cssincorp.com (CSS)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: GREAT LAKES SUPER SWAP IN MICHIGAN IN NOVEMBER
Meantime, the combined 2004 Great Lakes Super Swap and ARRL Michigan
State Convention takes place November 5th and 6th at the Harbor
Lights School in Holland, Michigan. For more information on this fun
event take your web browser over to www.hollandarc.org and click on
the words swap info. (Via Internet)
**
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)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: HAMVENTION(r) ANNOUNCES 2005 THEME
"Bringing Hams Together From Around The World" will be the theme of
the next Dayton Hamvention now slated for May 20th to the 22nd of
2005. The announcement was made this past week by the events General
Chairman Gary Des Combes, N8EMO, who added a personal thank you to
everyone who made suggestions and helped to select this theme. Des
Combes said that all of these efforts were very valuable and
sincerely appreciated. More information about Hamvention 2005 is on
the World Wide Web at www.hamvention.org (Hamvention (r))
**
A HELPING HAM: GET WELL WISHES TO W4TBU
If you read the QCWA Journal, then you may remember an article
about "Ultimate Elmer" Shirley Wilkerson, Jr., W4TBU, that appeared
in the winter 2003 edition. A ham who loves sharing the hobby with
others.
Now, Tom Webb, W4YOK, says over the QCWA remailer that Wilkerson, who
is his close friend and personal Elmer, is seriously ill and confined
to a hospital.
Tom says that Shirley is 84 years old and the situation has him
depressed and he is refusing treatment. Tom says that this is so
unlike Shirley who he describes as a person who loves life so much.
And W4YOK says that hearing words of encouragement from the ham
community might really help.
So we are going to ask that you take a moment, write out a QSL or
post card and send it to W4TBU. Tell him how much you appreciate
what he has done to make ham radio a better place.
Send your card to Shirley Wilkerson, Jr., W4TBU, Room 314, Community Methodist Hospital, Henderson, Kentucky, 42420.
Hams traditionally support one another in time of need. This is one
of those times. (W4YOK, QCWA)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FINNISH CONTACT SUCCESSFUL
Students at a Senior High School, in Pori, Finland, spoke to
cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, on October 19. They were able to ask 12
questions before the International Space Station went over the
horizon. Students, teachers and members of the media attended the
event. (ARISS)
**
WORLDBEAT - AUSTRALIA: COST PROHIBITIVE TO KEEP REPEATERS ON THE AIR
Several repeaters down-under are now off the air. This after
Australia's telephone provider Telstra put site rental beyond the
economic reach of ham radio. Felix Scerri, VK4FUQ, of the WIA News
Service reports:
--
From 22nd October the UHF repeaters co sited on the Black Mountain
Telstra Tower in Canberra have been removed from service. Telstra
recently carried out an audit of the site and discovered there was no
rental agreement that could be found for this ham gear to be on site.
After negotiations with Telstra, the rental offer made by Telstra
is beyond the economic resources of the Canberra Region Amateur
Radio Club and, sadly they had no option but to remove the equipment
by Today October 31st .
Better news however is at Black Hill the ACT's 146.900 MHz service
is on air however it may subject to further interruptions.
Following last years bush fires there has been a considerable amount
of work done by the Tibinbilla tracking station staff to get the site
fully operational. The task of the refurbishment and repairs is
almost complete.
--
The repeaters that lost their home operated on 438.025 MHz and
439.950 Mhz. They served the greater Canberra area. (WIA)
**
WORLDBEAT: UK 5 MHZ BEACONS COMING SOON
The Radio Society of Great Britain says that is close to installing
and operating two new beacons on 5 point 290 kHz. The new beacons
will operate under the callsigns GB3WES and GB3ORK. GB3WES will be
located in Cumbria and GB3ORK in the Orkney Islands. Both will have
a stepped transmit power sequence and a 30-second sounder sequence of
0.5ms pulses at 40 Hz and identical to that of the Oxfordshire GB3RAL
beacon.
The new beacons will have transmit times will follow GB3RAL by one
and two minutes respectively. Together the three beacons will
provide an excellent spread of signal source from across Great
Britain and offering experimenters worldwide a unique opportunity to
study propagation effects at 5 MHz from their own QTH. (GB2RS)
**
ON THE AIR: USS SALEM ARC COMMEMORATES VETERANS DAY
In news of special event operations, the radio group supporting the U-
S-S Salem will be activating K1USN on November 11th for Veterans
Day. Activities will be on most bands using CW and SSB. During the
operation the ship will be open to the public as well as radio
amateurs. A special QSL has been created from the official 2004
Veterans Day Poster. Stateside QSL requests with a S.A.S.E. go to
Harold Pugh, K1RV, at his callbook address. DX cards go via the W1
Bureau. More information is on-line at www.qsl.net/k1usn. (1VV)
**
ON THE AIR: VoIP TRANSCEIVER TO BE INSTALLED IN BAGHDAD
Former 73 Magazine Editor Keith Lamonica, W7DXX, plans to install a
fully operational remotely controlled transceiver in Baghdad, Iraq,
in the next few weeks. YI9DXX this will be available for any ham in
the world who is registered with W7DXX to use his Voice over I P
Internet system. For more information take your web browser over to www.lamonica.com and peruse the information you will find there.
(G3ZHI)
**
DX
In D-X, word that Team Vertical will be operational from Taveuni
Island, Fiji from November 20th to the 30th. Operations will be on
160 through 10 meters, mainly on CW. The group will have 6 low-power
stations and ocean-front vertical arrays on all bands. QSL all Team
Vertical 3-D-2 stations via WA4WTG. (Team Vertical)
And YT1CS who is currently active portable 5Z4 from Nairobi, has
arranged a side trip to Lamu Island. He will be there through the
11th of November on 80 to 10 meters SSB using 100 watts to verticals
and inverted-Vees. QSL as directed on the air. (RSGB)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: RFID FOR COWS
And finally this week a cow sized idea. in fact, its an idea that
combines radio R-F-I-D tags and cows in a system called the National
Livestock Identification System or simply N-L-I-S for short. John
Williams, VK2BUI, is in New South Whales, Australia, where the system
is being tried out:
--
NLIS uses machine-readable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
devices to identify cattle. Cattle are tagged with NLIS devices only
once in their life. Cattle identified with NLIS devices can be
electronically read as they move through the livestock chain. At
time of reading, each owner's PIC can be recorded and linked to the
NLIS device. This transaction information is then stored in the
secure central NLIS database.
RFID eliminates the need for "line of sight" reading necessary with
barcode systems. The signal can penetrate through body tissue, wood,
plastic, mud, manure and more. RFID in this application is passive
and therefore requires no battery, meaning it will last for the life
of the animal.
--
With Japan set to reopen import of U-S beef, government officials in
that nation feel that it is more important than ever to be able to
trace every animal from birth to marketplace. Many believe that a
National Livestock Identification System using R-F-I-D tagging is the
logical answer. (WIA News)
**
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 Jim
Davis, W2JKD, thank you for listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
is Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.
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