Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1688 - December 18 2009 The following is a closed circuit. With an update on Amateur Radio Newsline, here's our Producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF: -- This message will last about 5 1/2 minutes. Let me start by saying thank you to all who called or e-mailed their condolences on the passing of our treasurer, and my friend of the past two and a half decades Andy Jarema, N6TCQ. I will shortly on-pass those wishes to Judy and I know she will be appreciative. As anytime there is the sudden passing of a key member of any organization there is a true feeling of loss. It takes time to sink in that this person whom had been such an integral part of all of our lives is now gone and he will never return. That I will never again going to hear the phone ring and on the other end will be Andy just calling to say hello. Or, or more times than not, telling me that the funds are low and we need income fast. And always telling me this with his well known Cheshire cat smile and a bit of a laugh to help soften the bad news a bit. Yes, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, was more than our treasurer and support fund administrator. He was our friend and a better friend nobody could possibly have. But Andy would be the first to tell you that life and the business associated with life must go on. And it has for us here at the Amateur Radio Newsline. And I want to spend a few moments bring you up to date. First off to those who support Newsline by check, we believe that we have located and deposited all that were in Andy's possession at the time of his passing. We have also been able to transfer all Pay Pal donations. In all, there was about $1500 in donations that Andy had not had the time to process before falling ill. Those have been transferred into our bank account with $741 going to pay off back expenses associated with the Young Ham of the Year Award and other administrative costs that had been lingering the past several months. Another $182 went to our Wireless provider for two months of service and $201.01 was paid to ATT to bring our wireline phone bill up to date. So out of that $1500 we have already spent $1124 to clear past debts and leaving us with about $375 to hopefully get us through to years end. Not a lot, and that does not include the monthly $63 for our high speed Internet connection that Ill front out of pocket for the time being, but at least we are up to date for the moment. So what does this mean to all of you? First, to those of you who contribute by Pay Pal, you can resume doing so. The link to our PayPal donation account is on our website at www.arnewsline.org If you support us by mail, please note that the Arcadia California Post Office Box is being closed within the next week or so. Temporarily, we are using my address for all incoming mail. If you do not have it, you will hear it at the end of this bulletin or just look me -- WA6ITF -- up on QRZ.com or Buckmaster. I have been at this address since 1979 and have no plans to move. As to the future, we are searching for a ham who like Andy was, is a Certified Public Accountant with expertise in maintaining an income database as well as the knowledge needed to file our annual federal and state tax reports. Obviously the latter kind of means we need someone who is a California resident for this post. And he or she needs to do this as a volunteer and free of charge for us as Andy did for the last two decades plus. If you know of anyone who fits that description have that person contact me by e-mail to [email protected] Lastly, I do have Andy's file as to whom donated what and when. Right now I simply do not have the time to do the regular thank-you's that Andy did so eloquently over the years he served as the Support Fund Administrator, but Ill do my best to include them in upcoming newscasts. It was a tradition that Andy started and that we plan to continue in his memory. And that brings you up to date. Yes, we do need your continued support and the methods for us to accept contributions are back in place. Once again we thank all of you for your outpouring of support in this very hard time. I think that's what sets Newsline apart from all other groups. Whether its us here producing the newscast or you who are listening, we truly are an extended family held together all of these years through the bonds of a hobby and service known as Amateur Radio. Thank you, and God Bless. I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles. Now to Don Carlson, KQ6FM, and this weeks newscast. -- Thank you Bill. Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1688 with a release date of Friday, December 18th 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. China launches its first multi-transponder ham radio satellite, a big sunspot finally appears on the solar disc, Bahrain gives its hams added spectrum and ARISSSAT One to carry student files into space. Find out the details on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1688 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: CHINA LAUNCHES THE XW-1 HAMSAT China's first ever amateur radio satellite is now in space. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the details: -- AMSAT China reports the bird known as XW-1 was launched at about around 02:30 UTC on Tuesday, December 15th. And not long after liftoff it achieved orbit and its beacon was received by a monitoring station located in Sanya. Late word is that XW-1 is in a circular orbit with both Apogee and Perigee at 1200 kilometers above the Earth. It sits at an inclination of 105 degrees and has an orbital period of 109 minuets to circle the planet. XW-1 carries several transponders but the one that will be of interest to most hams is Mode J. This is a VHF to UHF orbital FM Voice Repeater running 1 watt output. It has an uplink on 145.8250 MHz and requiring a Continuos Tone Code Squelch Access Tone of 67.0 Hertz. The Downlink is 435.6750 MHz. Other transponders support low duty cycle communications such as SSB and Morse. There's also a separate digital transponder as well. XW-1 was a secondary payload aboard a Chinese booster that went into space from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It placed its cargo into a sun-synchronous orbit about 1200 kilometers high. The primary payload of this launch is the Yaogen-8 Remote Sensing Satellite. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona -- Details on the new XW-1 satellite are available http://www.camsat.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&It emid=67 (ANS) ** RADIO PROPAGATION: BIG NEW SUNSPOT: Sunspot 1035 is here and its big news. This, because its one of the largest sunspots seen in years. On Tuesday, December 15th Spaceweather reported that sunspot 1035 was nearly as wide as seven planet Earth's and growing. It said that the fast-growing active region burst into view on December 14th with a magnetic polarity that clearly identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. If the expansion continues apace, it could soon become the largest sunspot of the year. Check spaceweather dot com for the latest photos and updates. And lets hope that this sunspot hangs around for a while to bring hams worldwide some long awaited High Frequency DX. (Spaceweather) ** RESTRUCTURING: BAHARIAN GRANTS NEW OPERATING PRIVELEGES The Daily DX is reporting that radio amateurs in Bahrain can now operate 50.0 to 50.5 MHz on 6 meters on a primary and exclusive basis, and 50.05 to 52.00 MHz on a secondary basis. The report also adds that they can now operate on additional frequencies on 136 kHz, 1.8 MHz, 7 MHz, 430 MHz and higher bands. However there is one caveat: Bahrainian amateurs cannot operate on these newly allocated frequencies until their licenses are amended. (Daily DX, OPDX, Southgate, others) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Pikes Peak FM Association and the Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Association serving the inter-mountain West from Colorado Springs, Colorado. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO LAW: RSGB TO CHALLENGE OFCOM OVER BPL The Radio Society of Great Britain has established a Spectrum Defense Fund to challenge UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom. This over the agency's interpretation of the various Acts and Directives that cover Broad over Powerline or what Europe calls PLT Internet access and the threat that it may pose to amateur radio communications. According to an RSGB news release, this challenge may take the form of a Judicial Review, but the national society says that i ill await the advice of its lawyers on the direction to take. It also notes that the cost of a Judicial Review is likely to be in excess of œ75,000 United Kingdom Pounds and that there is no guarantee of success. If this approach sounds a bit familiar that's because it quite similar to the court case brought here in the United States against the FCC. In that one the court ruled that the ARRL was correct and ordered the FCC to reassess its BPL policy and rules. (GB2RS) ** RADIO LAW: CB WEBSITE WARNS TRUCKERS TO STAY OUT OF 10 METERS A CB website is warning trucker C-B'ers and Freebanders to keep out of the 10 meter ham band. The home page post on LiveCBRadio.com tells readers that mobile ham operators all over the United States are now observing and reporting truckers talking above 28 MHz. The website notes that the hams will not just report the truck and it's company to the FCC, but that they often include video and audio as evidence with their complaints. The website goes on to note that the FCC contacts the trucking company warning them of potential fines. It says that already there have been cases where both truckers and trucking companies have been fined. The website warns readers, especially truckers with modified export type C-B sets that what is called C-B channel 19 High is actually 28.085 MHz. When someone with one of these illegal export radios tunes to 19 High he or she is transmitting full carrier A-M in the Morse only area of 10 meters. The website warns CB'ers and Freebanders that is best to stay within the common C-B channels from 1 to 40. It notes that trucker CB'ers using the 19 High frequency might think that they are gaining extra privacy. In reality what they are doing is drawing national attention from the United States ham radio community and through them from the FCC. (QRZ, others) ** RESCUE RADIO: FCC AND FEMA ESTABLISH CMAS STANDARD Two federal agencies have established a mobile communications emergency public warning technology standard. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission announced the adoption of design specifications for a gateway interface enabling wireless carriers to provide emergency alerts via cell phones and mobile devices. The intended Commercial Mobile Alert System--CMAS--project, part of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. It will be able to provide the President of the United States a means by which to notify Americans of national emergencies. The system would also be available for Amber alerts and regional warnings in the form of 90-character text messages. The announcement also marks the beginning of the 28-month period, mandated by the FCC in August 2008, for commercial mobile service providers who have elected to participate in the CMAS design specs to develop, test and deploy the system. They must also be in the position to deliver mobile alerts to the public by 2012. Wireless carriers participating in the CMAS will relay authorized text- based alerts to subscribers. They will also be able to transmit vibration and audio signals for those subscribers with disabilities. (TVB) ** RADIO HONORS: ARRL SEEKS INTERNATIONAL HUMANITERIAN AWARD NOMINEES The ARRL is seeking nominations for one of its most prestigious honors. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, has the details: -- Nominations are open for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. The award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international understanding through amateur radio. The League established the annual prize to recognize amateur radio operators who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster. Nominations should include a summary of the nominee's actions that qualify the individual or individuals for this award, plus verifying statements from at least two people having first-hand knowledge of the events warranting the nomination. Nominations should include the names and addresses of all references. Details appear on the ARRL website, www.arrl.org, where you can search for humanitarian award. I'm Jeramy Boot, G4NJH. -- The deadline to nominate an amateur or group of amateurs for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian Award is December 31st. (ARRL) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR ZS5MU South African Radio League Councilor Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, has presented Alastair Campbell, ZS5MU, with a special certificate. This recognizing the support he and his wife Davina, ZS5GC, have been giving the yachting fraternity for the past 30 years. The citation states that ZS5MU supported by ZS5GC has operated the South African Maritime Mobile Net serving the yachting community at sea for 30 years. (SARL) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: VE3CT APPOINTED TO CANADIAN AMATEUR RADIO HALL OF FAME And congratulations go out to Croft Taylor, VE3CT, of Kanata, Ontario, Canada on his appointment to Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Taylor was awarded this honor by the Hall's Board of Trustees who have announced that it will be presented to him at a ceremony to be held in in Ottawa in the spring of 2010. Appointments to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame are made to recognize a radio amateur for outstanding achievement in sustained service to amateur radio in that nation or to all of amateur radio at large. (RAC) ** THE SOCIAL SCENE: INTERNATIONAL DX CONVENTION 2010 Turning to the 2010 ham radio social scene, word that the 61st Annual International DX Convention takes place next April 16th, 17th, 18th at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, Visalia, California. The International DX Convention is the world's foremost gathering that attracts DX'ers and aspiring DX'ers from around the world. The show attracts the biggest of the big-guns from the African continent, from Asia, Europe, Oceania and of coarse both North and South America. Some are there to tell how they have been able to meet and beat the challenge of DXing in an ever expanding hobby. Others will tell of the challenges of operating from places far removed from the comfort of their home stations. The 2010 event will be sponsored by the Southern California DX Club. Pre-registration began on December 1st. More information about the show is on-line at www.dxconvention.org. (IDXC) ** BREAK 2 Wishing each of you the best of holiday greetings, 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) ** WORLDBEAT: CHECZH INTELLEGANNCE SAYS SADDAM HUSSEIN PLANNED TO ATTACK RADIO FREE EUROPE You may find this hard to believe, but the Iraq's former leader planned to attack and destroy Radio Free Europe. The plot was recently made public by Media Network and the Chezch government. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Davis, W2JKD, has more: -- According to Andy Sennitt at Media Network the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his secret agents to attack the Prague headquarters of US run Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. This, to end broadcasting to Iraq. Sennitt quotes Czech intelligence service spokesman Jan Subert who said that the attack was ordered by the then Iraqi leader in 2000. Also that Iraqi intelligence agents planned to use numerous weapons including rocket propelled grenades, rifles and submachine guns in the attack. Subert said that the weapons had been stockpiled for the attack after they were brought into the country in an Iraqi diplomatic car. It was not known when the attack was due to take place but Subert said that Czech intelligence discovered the plot and the Iraqis submitted the weapons to Czech authorities in 2003. The plan was for the attack to take place from the window of a nearby flat that the Iraqis planned to rent as an office for a fake company. I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD. -- The report seems to indicate that good intelligence by Chezch national security foiled Saddam Hussein's plot. (Media Network) ** SCIENCE CORNER: RENEWABE ENERGY USE CLIMBS Americans used more solar, nuclear, bio-mass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007. This, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The study also found that the nation also used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same. (Science Daily) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: APPLE REFUSES WARRENTEE ON SMOKERS COMPUTERS If you smoke and own an Apple computer, the company might not fix it under warranty. This is because Apple says it may void the warranty should you need to bring a smoke exposed computer in for repair. The Tech Blog at Yahoo notes that in at least two instances in different parts of the country, Apple has voided the warranty and refused to provide repair service on computers exposed to environments where cigarette smoke has been present. Calling cigarette smoke residue inside a computer a health risk and a biohazard, in both cases Apple customers have been denied service despite having time left on a valid warranty. Apple is standing by the decisions, saying that repair centers have the authority to make decisions like this on their own. It cites OSHA rules that include nicotine in a list of hazardous substances that could damage the health of someone exposed to it. Apple isn't formally commenting on the issue or responding to media requests for comment, namely regarding whether there's a threshold for cigarette smoke exposure beyond which a computer won't be serviced. No word on whether other computer vendors have the same or similar policies. More is at http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/156203 (Yahoo) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISSAT ONE TO CARRY STUDENT FILES School students world-wide are being invited to fly a computer file on ARISSAT One, the educational satellite that was originally called Suitsat 2. ARISSAT One will launch sometime in 2010 and like its predecessor Suitsat One it will again transmit messages recorded by students. But in addition, teachers and their students are invited to fly a file aboard this amateur radio satellite. This on a memory flash drive to be included on the bird. What a teacher or student wants to fly is at their own discretion, but there are some suggestions from the ARISS team. These include things the student has prepared such as a paper or a study done on a science, technology, engineering or math topic. Other possibilities include, a drawing of space craft or a schematic, a journal kept on an educational topic, a story or news article about a science subject and the like. Dave Jordan, AA4KN, will take delivery of these files and copy them onto a flash drive memory stick, plus make them available on the web for anyone to see. He will look at all of them for content to make certain that they are appropriate to student viewing. Files can be in any language as long as an English translation is also included. Only JPG or PDF files will be accepted. Please e-mail files to aa4kn (at) amsat (dot) org. (ON4WF) ** HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ARISS TRAINING CONTACT Another highly successful simulated ARISS contact took place on Tuesday, December 8th. This. between Deer Creek Elementary School in Bailey, Colorado and astronaut Tracy Caldwell, KF5DBF at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. As in the past, this session was a terrestrial-based amateur radio contact using Amateur Radio on the International Space Station equivalent equipment. These QSO's help astronauts learn the ins and outs of operating ham radio in space without having to leave the ground. For the school it means that its kids still get a chance to talk with a real live astronaut. Reports are that the Deer Creek school enjoyed its session so much that it plans to apply for a contact with an actual on-orbit astronaut. (ANS) ** THE FINAL FRONTIER: VIRGIN GALACTIC SPACESHIP TWO UNVEILED Virgin Galactic has unveiled its second sub-orbital spacecraft. The unveiling of the VSS Enterprise took place on Tuesday evening, December 8th at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California's high desert. Attached to its mother ship, the vehicle better known as SpaceShipTwo is expected to be the first commercial spacecraft when it enters service with Virgin Galactic. Constructed by Scaled Composites under the guidance of legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan, the carbon composite spacecraft uses the same fuselage as its mother ship, the VMS Eve. After a year of rigorous testing, VMS Eve completed flight testing earlier this fall. Rutan didn't specify when flight testing for SpaceShipTwo would begin, though it is expected to start early next year. Sub-orbital passenger flights could start as early as 2011 from Virgin Galactic's space port in New Mexico which is currently under construction. Tickets for the early adopters are $200,000 for a training program culminating with the ride into space. (Virgin Galactic) ** ON THE AIR: A FERRY GOOD IDEA On the air, listen out for special event call GB2EI standing for Great Britain to Ireland is on the air to celebrate the reintroduction of the Swansea to Cork Ferry service. The original service commenced in 1896. A similar station, EI2GBW, will also be operating from Cork. Both special event callsigns will be operational until March 31st of 2010. QSL details are available at qrz.com. (IRTS) ** ON THE AIR: COMMEMORATING THE 5th EAST ASIAN GAMES Members of the Hong Kong Amateur Radio Communications Association were on the air through December 13th as VR2EAG. This, to celebrate 5th East Asian Games that were hosted there. If you made contact with VR2EAG please QSL to the Hong Kong Amateur Radio Communications Association, GPO Box 7191, Hong Kong. (HKARC) ** ON THJE AIR: GERMAN HAMS CELEBRATE THE ANTARCTIC PROGRAM And for the final time, the German special event station DR09ANT is on the air to celebrate the Worldwide Antarctic Program. It has is operational through December 31st using all modes on all bands. QSLs will be sent via the bureau automatically. (DX News) ** DX In D-X, The DX World of Ham Radio web page is conducting a online survey to see which expedition warrants the title DXpedition of the Year 2009. Special engraved trophies will be awarded to the top three chosen. To participate in the survey, go to http://dx-hamspirit.com. Also word that SM1TDE plans an operation from Gambia from through December 31st. No other information is available at airtime. QSL as directed on the air. W4JJ has hit the airwaves as T6LC from the Afghanistan province of Paktia. He is active using CW or SSB on 20 and 40 meters usually from 1430 to 1800 UTC. His QSL cards are handled by K4MJN. And Angolan station CT1ITZ stroke D2CQ had planned to go QRT by the end of November but his stay was extended until December 27th. He operates SSB only and his QSL manager is CT1IUA. Lastly, an international group of operators will be active as 3W6C from Con Co Island Vietnam, from April 10th to the 18th, 2010 and there is an open spot for one more operator. If you or any members of your organization would like to be considered a candidate for this open spot on our crew, please send details about your background and DX'ing experience to Hans-Peter by e-mail to hb9bxe (at) 3w6c (dot) qrv (dot) ch. He can supply you further details about expenses, travel, and all other aspects of the operation (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: IRC'S BEING REPLACED And finally this week, its well known that International Reply Coupons or IRC's are used by many has to help with postal costs. But IRC's do not last forever as we hear from Jason Daniels, VK2LAW: -- IRCs - important information. Please be aware that the batch of IRCs that have been used for the last few years will no longer be valid at the post office. 31st December 2009 is the dead line for the current style but it's best to stop using them ASAP to allow transit time. The new one has the expiry date of 31st December 2013, just above the 'UPU' logo at your right hand side. I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW -- If you have old IRC's get them exchanged before their value is gone. (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, the Southgate News and Australia's WIA News, that's all from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is [email protected]. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350 For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Don Carlson, KQ6FM, wishing you a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas from Reno, Nevada. 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.