Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1736 - November 19 2010 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1736 with a release date of Friday, November 19th 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. The National Telecommunications and Information Agency proposes a fast track for spectrum reallocation that has little impact on ham radio, the Czech Republic issues its first 500 kilohertz ham radio permit, FM simplex in the satellite subbands is reeking havoc with ham radio space operations and a group opposed to a ham radio antenna installation says it will ask the ARRL for help. Find out the details on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1736 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESTRUCTURING: NTIA PROPOSES FAST TRACK PLAN FOR REALLOCATING SPECTRUM The National Telecommunications and Information Agency, which is the White House version of the FCC is proposing a fast track approach to the reallocation of 115 MHz of radio spectrum for wireless broadband now, increasing to a total of 500 MHz within ten years. So far the possible losses to ham radio appear minimal. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the Newsroom with more: -- If one looks at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's proposed Fast Track the reallocation of 115 MHz of radio spectrum for wireless broadband now and a total of 500 MHz within ten years from a ham radio point of view, the hobby comes out looking pretty much unscathed. The only amateur radio spectrum on the list is a part of the 2.3 GHz band where hams have a secondary user status, and if this is the re-farming plan that's adopted, Amateur radio comes out with little in the way of losses. But this is not the only plan that will be put forth. The FCC is still in the process of finalizing its reallocation recommendations and various industry groups will likely be lobbying for theirs. In the end, whatever the Washington bureaucrats dream up is likely to be a composite of what the NTIA. The FCC and other interests agree on. Thats just the way that the Washington DC political arena works. Perhaps more important for ham radio to consider is the fact that no matter what plan is chosen, there will be various services displaced for the spectrum that they now inhabit. This means they will be searching for new bands to go to. And it is this secondary fallout that could pose more of a threat to the ham radio bands at 420 MHz and above than the initial re-farming plan itself. Those of you who enjoy wadeing through government documents can find yhis one in PDF format at tinyurl.com/2bq3694 And I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, watching this one from the newsroom in nthe City of Angels. Jim. -- More on this plan in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (NTIA Release) ** RESTRUCTURING: CZECH REPUBLIC ISSUES 500 KHZ PERMIT A new 500 kHz operating permit has been issued in the Czech Republic. The recipient is OK2BVG who has been given permission to operate between 501 and 504 kHz with a maximum of 20 watts Effective Radiated Power until September 1st of 2011. As we go to air, 11 countries in IARU Region 1 have now authorized amateur or experimental operations in this part of the 500kHz band. More information can be found on the IARU Region 1 website. Its in cyberspace at www dot iaru-R1 dot org. (IARU) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FM SIMPLEX DAMAGING SPACE COMMUNICATIONS FM operators are once again being asked to not use 145.8 to 146.0 MHz for terrestrial, point to point casual communications. This is because such operations are devastating to weal signal ground to space and space to ground satellite operations. Take a listen: -- Actual QSO audio. -- Thats from the FM interference on HO-68 uplink as recorded by OZ9AEC on November 9th. Two FM stations can be heard speaking in Russian. The one speaker is barely audible in the noise but the stronger one holds the potential of capturing the HO-68 receiver and blocking weak signal operations using CW, SSB band narrowband digital modes. OZ9AEC has posted the full QSO between these stations operating on the HO-68 uplink to the YouTube dot com. It very graphically illustrates the problem that operating FM simplex operation on 145.8 to 146 and 435 to 438 MHz can cause for ham radio satellite operations. It can be heard at tinyurl.com/35yqkhl (Southgate) ** BREAKING DX NEWS: SPRATLEY DXPEDITION EXTENDED FOR 160 METER DX CONTEST Some good news in the world of DX. With less than 60 days to go until the Spratley Island, DX0DX operation hits the amateur bands the DXpedition Team Leader, Chris Dimitrijevic VK3FY, has announced it will be extended to allow participation in the CQ World Wide 160 Meter CW Contest. Felix Scerri, VK4FUQ, of the W-I-A News has more: -- While DX0DX was to go QRT on the 24th January, a couple of individual and keen members have asked if they could stay on air for that contest when ends at 2200 UTC Sunday the 30th of January. This will now extend DX0DX activation to 1st of February, 2011. This limited extension was agreed in light of strong interest from Top Band contesters and the 160 meter band being the highest sought after in the DX0DX website online survey. In another development, the pre-assembly, erection and tuning of eight HF yagi antennas in Fontana California went extremely well with the eight antennas tuned as per instructions to their allotted bands. Each was then partly disassembled breaking down into four parts for allow for quick installation once they reach the island. Masts, rotators, masts and cabling have all been finalized. Chris VK3FY and DU8/VK3FY says, well done to the Station & Planning Co-ordinator David Collingham K3LP for organising and attending the Pre-Assembly Gathering, and also DXpedition logistics coordinator Charles Spetnagel, W6KK, for his understanding in having all the equipment dispatched to his QTH and also for being part of the Pre-Assembly Gathering. Im Felix, VK4FUQ. -- DX0DX will be on air from the 6th of January and now through to the 1st of February, 2011. We will have more DX news later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (WIA News) ** ROLE REVERSAL: OPPONENT OF HAM TOWERS SEEKS HELP FROM THE ARRL In a total role reversal, a group of not-so-nearby neighbors trying to stop a Tivoli, Illinois ham from erecting eleven towers on his property say that they will appeal to the ARRL for help. This after being denied a chance to officially offer arguments against a proposed cluster of ham radio towers on private property in rural Tivoli Township. The Peoria County Planning and Zoning Commission approved the permit request by Craig Thompson, K9CT, in July for 11 towers that range in height from 30 feet to 195 feet on property he owns. Opponents of the towers are now searching for ways to slow or stop construction that already is under way. John Martin is the nearest neighbor of the property that's situated among the rolling farm fields and woodlands south of Tivoli. He tells the local newspaper that there is likely little that people in the area can do to stop construction. He then goes on to say that those opposed to the towers are trying to form a grassroots organization to let the American Radio Relay League know their position and get them to agree that what Thompson plans to do is excessive. Martin adds that his hope is to convince the ARRL to show Thompson that it is in his best interest to scale back his plans. But Martin has also taken his opposition to the towers to the local community. He has posted flyers and bought space in the local weekly shopper newsletter that includes a photograph of a cluster of towers and the caption "Stop this from happening in your town!" Thompson's attorney is Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, of Massachusetts. He is an expert in telecommunications law and helped convince the state's attorney office that the county zoning law was trumped by Federal Communications Commission mandate that allowed for construction of ham radio towers. Hopengarten and Thompson and both say that the flyers are an exaggeration. So far there has been no word from the ARRL if it has received a request from Martin to assist in stopping construction of Thompson's tower farm in rural Tivoli, Illinois. More on this story as it develops. (pjstar.com) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W6ASH repeater serving Mountain View California. (5 sec pause here) ** SOLAR ACTIVITY: CLIMATE CHANGES AND SUNSPOTS Hams are not the only ones concerned about the lack of solar activity. Now, WNDU television in South Bend, Indiana, has reported on the way in which lowered solar activity could drastically affect the worlds climate. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jack Parker, W8ISH, has the rest of the details: -- If you actively pursue DX it may come as no surprise that sunspot activity over the past few years has been at an all time low. According to a special report broadcast by WNDU Meteorologist Mike Hoffman , we have had over 800 days with no sunspots and that has not happened in 300 years. The last time old sol was this quiet was between 1645 and 1715. A period in time called the Maunder Minimum. Paintings from that era show wintry weather in areas where it's not typical, like carnivals held on frozen rivers and people playing on the ice. According to researchers that period of weather was brutal. Hoffman's information comes from a recently published paper on sunspots in the Journal of Climate. Purdue University's Doctor Ernest Agee, authored this report. He says civilizations almost perished due to the harshness of winter and things like that. Doctor Agee writes that widespread crop failures caused famine around the world and many villages were deserted. So.could that happen in the modern world? The Purdue professor says the Sun is what powers the Earth, so even the smallest changes on the Sun can have an impact on our lives and our climate. Sunspot data only goes back to the year 1610. Many scientists correlate low sunspots with low temperatures in many parts of the world and the best data shows that. Doctor Agee's paper delivers more bad news for Amateur Radio DXer's and modern day society as well. In his Journal of Climate report, the Purdue researcher says the length of the solar cycle, the definition of a quiet period, the length of a quiet period for modern record and the deepness of the quiet period indicate that something has, quote, "upset the apple cart. As a result we are seeing new physics and new science emerging to explain what is happening. For the immediate future scientists will continue to chart the solar activity and try to forecast a rosy outcome with hopes of increased sunspot activity leading to a brighter future for the world and for those who live by the sun spot cycles in amateur radio. Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Jack Parker, W8ISH. -- The entire WNDU story can be both seen and read at tinyurl.com/28r7ce7 (W8ISH) ** RADIO LAW: FCC DENIES APPEAL FOR W5ER VANITY CALL The FCC has denied a request for reconsideration from Mark S. Wintersole, WB5NMZ, of Montgomery, Alabama, who had sought to change his call to W5ER under the Vanity Callsign System. The story is one you have heard before. Wintersole was among those who wanted the a call when it became available in trhe Vanity Call Sign system. In this case the call was W5ER and Wintersole filed for it under the Vanity program only to have his application dismissed because the FCC says it was filed to early. So Wintersole appealed the initial decision where he argued that he was entitled to the call because it was canceled on September 27, 2008, and therefore should have been available when he filed his application on September 27, 2010. Now, in its November 9th letter affirming the dismissal of Wintersole's initial application for the W5ER call, the FCC says that a canceled call sign does not become available for reassignment until after the two year waiting period ends. Because the W5ER call was canceled on September 27, 2008, the call sign became available to the vanity call sign system on September 28, 2010. Consequently, the FCC says that Wintersole's application was properly dismissed because it was filed before the W5ER call sign became available to the Vanity Call Sign system. The current listed holder of the W5ER call sign is Edward J. Reynolds of Boston, Pennsylvania. (FCC) ** RADIO LAW: AUSTRALIA TO CONTINUE BAN ON RADIO JAMMERS The Australian Communications and Media Authority is proposing to continue to prohibit the supply, possession and operation of jamming devices designed to deliberately interfere with public mobile telecommunication services or P-M-T-S. This includes 3G networks and equivalent services such as mobile Wi-MAX. According to the regulatory agency, since the original prohibition was made in March 1999, technological, economic and social developments have resulted in a proliferation of devices that consumers use for the purposes of wireless communications. A-C-M-A says that there is a growing reliance on mobile connectivity for personal and business transactions. These changes make the case for continuing a ban even more compelling, and this is reflected in the new, updated prohibition proposal. (WIA News) ** ENFORCEMENT: ANOTHER COMMERCIAL WITH FALSE EAS TONES Another ad using what sounds like an Emergency Activation System tones has been reported. This time it's a television commercial for the recently released motion picture Skyline. According to a report in the trade publication Radio World, broadcast engineers have notified the magazine that the promotional sport for the film contains what sounded like EAS tones throughout. In an e-mail reported by the trade publication Radio World, Lincoln Financial's Media's Barry Thomas told SBE engineers that he was able to decode the data. Thomas e-mail said that he believes it was a replay of a Required Monthly Test that covered central Pennsylvania. Tom Ray who is also chairman of SBE Chapter 15 in New York City, says the ad was illegal, according to Part 11 of FCC regulations. That section prohibits deceptive E-A-S transmissions and reads as follows: "No person may transmit or cause to transmit the EAS codes or Attention Signal, or a recording or simulation thereof, in any circumstance other than in an actual National, State or Local Area emergency or authorized test of the EAS. Broadcast station licensees should also refer to 73.1217 of this chapter." This is the second reported use of EAS tones as a commercial marketing tool. You may recall a few months ago when an ARCO ad used what sounded like simulated EAS tones. (RW) ** HAM RADIO ON THE WEB: CONTESTRANK.COM Contestrank is a new website from EA4ZK that contains volumes of information about contesting including results, winners call signs, scores and much more. The site translates itself in five languages. These are English, German, Polish, Russian and Spanish. The full web address is www dot contestrank dot com. (EA4ZK) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: G5HF - WW2 UK COUNTERSPY Some names in the news. First up is Harry Heap G5HF whose story as a World War 2 Voluntary Radio Interceptor has now been told by the The Essex Chronicle newspaper. Heap was first licensed in 1932 as 2BZZ. He was issued the callsign G5HF in 1933. Following the outbreak of war he moved to Chelmsford where during the day he worked at Crompton on devices to neutralize magnetic mines and during the evenings worked as a Voluntary Radio Interceptor listening in to secret Nazi messages. The information he collected was passed to Bletchley Park for decoding. Heap later became President of the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society and retired from that role only a few weeks ago at the tender young age of 93. You can read more about this ham radio World War 2 hero at tinyurl.com/23s86xe (Essex Chronicle) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: CHIP MARGELLI, K7JA JOIND CQ PUBLISHING And congratulations to our longtime friend and supporter Chip Margelli, K7JA. This, on his being appointed as the new Director of Advertising Sales and Marketing for CQ Communications, Inc.. Margelli will join the CQ staff on December 1st and will be responsible for advertising sales for CQ Amateur Radio, CQ VHF and Popular Communications magazines/. He will also take on marketing efforts for all CQ Communications products. Chip Margelli brings to CQ more than three decades of experience in the amateur radio industry. He spent nearly thirty years with Yaesu and the past four years with Heil Sound. In addition to English, he is fluent in the Japanese, German and Spanish languages. An active ham for more than 45 years, K7JA is known worldwide as a champion contester, DXer and DXpeditioner. He is currently active on all amateur bands from 160 meters through 1300 MHz, and is a 2008 inductee into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Chip and his wife, Janet, KL7MF, live in Garden Grove, California, just south of Los Angeles. In addition to amateur radio, K7JA enjoys photography and astronomy, and is a marathon runner. Chip Margelli succeeds Don Allen, W9CW, CQ and CQ VHF Advertising Manager; and Arnie Sposato, N2IQO, Popular Communications Advertising Manager, both of whom are retiring at the end of 2010. Advertising sales for WorldRadio Online will continue to be coordinated by Jon Kummer, WA2OJK. (CQ) ** 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) ** CHANGING OF THE GUARD: MILTON SULLIVAN JR. _ DESIGNER OF DRAKE HAM GEAR - SK. As we have said far to many times of late, the changing of the guard continues with word of the passing of Milton Sullivan Jr, the former K8YDO, of Washington, DC. Sullivan who was the former Chief Engineer at the R. L. Drake Company passed away from a stroke on October 28th at age 85. During his tenure at Drake, Sullivan oversaw the designs of all the most of Drake's ham radio gear including the famed models 1A and 2B receivers as well as all of the companys transceivers from the 4 lines through the beginning of the 7 line. He retired from Drake in 1984 and entered the commercial satellite industry first founding his own business and then working for Lytton Electronics until his retirement in 1990. (W8AD via Southgate) ** WORLDBEAT: RSGB DECLAES BOD ELECTION INVALID The Radio Society of Great Britain has declared its 2010 Board Election as being invalid. This, because two candidates shared the same two nominators. This is not in accordance with the society's election rules and therefore the candidates were not properly nominated. As a result the Board has considered its options and has determined that the only course of action open to it is to declare the election as invalid. Given other requirements the Board will now co-opt both candidates as Board members for a twelve month period until the next election late in 2011, when the candidates may stand for election again. The regional election for Region 4 is unaffected and closes at midday on December 2nd. (RSGB) ** WORLDBEAT: NEW UK 6 METER REPEATER A new 6 meter repeater has taken to the airwaves in the United Kingdom. This with word that the Five Towns Repeater Group put its 6 meter machine on the air from the organizations site just west of Wakefield. The system uses the call sign GB3WY. It operates on the Europen R50-channel pair which equates to 50.800 and 51.300MHz, and requires a continuous CTCSS tone of 82.5Hz to access. Keeping an ear open for the signal from GB3WY could be a good beacon to let hams in the America's know when the band is open across the Atlantic. (Southgate) ** RADIOSPORTS: THE INTERNATIONAL NAVAL CONTES The International Naval Contest will be held the second weekend of December. The contest runs from December 11th at 16:00 UTC to December 12th at 15:59 UTC. Bands used are 160 through 10 meters except for the WARC bands. Modes are SSB and CW only. Electronic logs go to df8ld at darc dot de. (OPDX) ** RADIOSPORTS: AUGUST ARRL UHF CONTEST RESULTS NOW ON LINE And the results for the 2010 ARRL August UHF Contest are now online. You can find them on line at www dot arrl dot org slash contest dash results dash articles. (KX9X) ** RADIOSPORTS: PSK63 QSO PARTY ON NOVEMBER 21 The European PSK Club invites amateur radio operators from all over the world to participate in the 5th annual PSK63 QSO Party. The objective of the competition is to establish as many contacts as possible between radio amateurs around the world by using the BPSK63 mode. The contest will be held from 00:00 UTC to 24:00 UTC on Sunday, November 21st. Complete rules and other information can be found on line at tinyurl.com/39hvvnb (European PSK Club) ** ON THE AIR: CELEBRTING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY On the air, listen out for members of the Bethlehem Georgia based Barrow Amateur Radio Club who will activate special event station WR4BC. This from 1700 UTC on December 4th through 1700 UTC on December 5th in celebration of the upcoming Christmas holiday. Operation will be on the primary High Frequency bands using SSB, CW, RTTY and digital modes. A limited-edition collectable QSL will be issued, complete with the Bethlehem Christmas Postmark, to arrive before Christmas. More is on-line at www.barrowhamradio.org. (Via e-mail) ** DX In DX, OL5Y, will be active portable I-M-Zero from La Maddalena Island in Sardinia on 15 meters during the CQWW DX CW Contest on November 27th and 28th. This, as a Single- Operator, Single-Band entry. QSL as directed on the air. IN3KIZ is expected to be active as 5H3OC from Tanzania in the near future. His operation will be on the HF bands. QSL via IN3DEI. PA1OKZ will be on the air from Jamaica as 6Y5NS through November 26th. His operations will be on the HF bands using SSB and the Digital modes. QSL to PA1OKZ via eQSL or his Callbook address. DL7VOG is active as HK0GU/1 from Isla del Pirata Columbia through November 21st. Operations are on the HF bands using CW and RTTY. QSL via DL7VOG, direct or by the Bureau. Lastly, KC0VKN, will be operational portable PJ7 from Sint Maarten Island between December 18th and the 23rd. His activity will be holiday style on 40 through 10 meters using CW depending on operating times and openings. QSL via his home callsign. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: CITIZEN BUYS POLICE INTERNET DOMAIN TO FIGHT RED LIGHT CAMERAS And finally this week the story of how one citizen has taken communications with public officials to a new height. This, by purchasing the Internet domain name of the police department whose red light camera issued him a ticket. We have more in this report: -- Most of the time, if you or I get a speeding ticket we just grumble about it and pay the fine. Oh we can fight it in court but for most people those are the only two options. However, after receiving a $90 speeding ticket in Bluff City, Tennessee, Brian McCrary discovered a third. It seems that the Bluff City Police Department had forgotten to renew its Internet domain name of BluffCityPD dot com. It had expired so McCrary bought the domain for $80. He then posted his side of the story along with information about speed traps in Bluff City and the $250,000 per month the system was costing the town's 1,500 residents. The police department had no idea their domain name had expired and that McCrary owned it. That was until October 8th when reporters started calling them to ask about it. Bluff City Police Chief David Nelson said the city may approach McCrary about buying the domain back from him, but admits Chief Nelson, the city is not very optimistic that a deal can be made. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennent, K6PZW, and trying to avoid the Red Light Cameras in Los Angeles. -- McCrary says that his goal is to get enough attention to put pressure on the local government to remove the traffic enforcement cameras in Bluff City. (Published news reports) ** 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 W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is Newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. 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 Please do not forget that in association with the Newark Amateur Radio Society that we are currently conducting a survey to determine where these weekly Amateur Radio Newsline reports are replayed on the air. If you are a bulletin station that transmits these weekly newscasts or a listener who has the following information, we need you to supply to us the call sign of the repeater or bulletin station making the transmission, the frequency where it can be heard, the time and day and days of the week it is broadcast, the time zone and the estimated audience you think it has. Please e-mail that information along with your name and callsign to arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. Once again thats arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. As always we thank you for your assistance in this survey. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.