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Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1403 – July 2, 2004

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1403 with a release date of
Friday, July 2, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T.

The score is now Ham Radio one, BPL zero; OSCAR Echo is alive, and business is
good for CW.

Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1403 coming your
way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

BPL: SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS
big snip

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

************

In addition to operations in Cedar Rapids, Alliant also provides utility
services to
customers in sections of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a small strip of
northwestern Illinois

(W0SR, ARRL)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ECHO IS UP AND RUNNING

The newest Amateur Radio satellite is now in orbit and doing fine. Chuck
Green, N0ADI,
reported by phone from the Baikonur Cosmodrome that the launch of AMSAT Echo
and the
other satellites occurred on time on June 29th at 0630 UTC. He watched the
rocket climb
out and said it appeared to be flying straight and true. A second phone call
from Chuck
18 minutes later confirmed that the launch carrying AMSAT OSCAR Echo was
successful and
that all spacecraft had separated successfully.

Chuck was assisted in the final integration and checkout process at Baikonur by
the team
from SpaceQuest which included Dr. Dino Lorenzini KC4YMG, Mark Kanawati N4TPY,
and Lyle
Johnson KK7P. The SpaceQuest team members are also AMSAT members and
volunteers.

It's interesting that one is a Technician and another is a General.

As Kelly/W3RV and Jimmy Who/N2EY would say, "So what's their problem?"
....for not being Extras.

snip

ENFORCEMENT: TOO MUCH MORSE CODE

The FCC is asking a Missouri ham why he is running a Morse code training
program smack in
the middle of the 40 meter band. The target of the inquiry is Paul D.
Westcott, KC0OAB of
Purdy who apparently has code practice on the air around the clock.

Maybe because he's a General and can't get into the Extra part of the
band?

Maybe because he know's that CW is welcome anywhere in the band?

Its June 21st letter to Westcott notes that the agency had previously discussed
this matter
with KC0OAB and was given assurances that the transmissions he was making were
for Morse
Code practice. Since that time the agency has received another complaint which
alleges
that the purported 40 meter code practice transmissions are 24 hours a day,
seven days per
week. The FCC says that due to the crowded nature of the 40 Meter Band, it is
extremely
inconsiderate to take up spectrum in that area for transmissions 24 hours a
day. This,
even if it is purportedly for “code practice” purposes.

The promotion of Code can never be curtailed. "Code Forever!"

The agency has posed several questions to Westcott to explain his operation and
was given
20 days from the date of the FCC letter to provide a very detailed response.

Explain the unexplainable? Wished he were an Extra and that would be
no problem.

snip

HAM RADIO BUSINESS: CW IS GOING STRONG

If you think Morse code is on its way out, the ham radio business community
probably
disagrees with you. At least that’s the impression one gets thumbing through
the articles
in the July issue of CQ Magazine.

Not only are the ads for Morse related products holding steady, but the new
products area
has some reviews of the latest CW related products. And not to be outdone,
Dave Ingram,
K4TWJ, devotes his World of Ideas column to Morse Keys from around the world.

Awsome.

If you are a Morse lover, this is the CQ edition for you. It’s on your
newsstand now.
More information is on the web at www.cq-amateur-radio.com.

I'll skip it.

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: COME TO THE TENNESSEE HAM BREAKFAST

On the ham radio social scene, the Middle Tennessee Ham Breakfast takes place
at the
famed Tennessean Truckstop on the second Saturday of every month. People begin
to
gather there at about 9 a.m. and it’s billed as a chance to meet the middle
Tennessee
hams you may have contacted on the air.

Wonder if Yell Yell is there? Can probably outshout a MAck Truck with
dual airhorns.


DX

In D-X, word that several O-H prefix operators will be operational from Aland
Island as
OH0I during the CQ Magazine and RTTY Journal RTTY DX Contest. This, from
September 25th
to the 26th. They will operate as a Multi class 2 entry using multiple beams
and vertical arrays on the low bands. QSL via OH3BHL.

Go Buckeyes!!!! (and learn how to spell it right. It's "OHIO" not
OHOI") ;^)

snip

**

THAT FINAL ITEM – HAMMIN’ OLDIES ON WBCQ

And finally this week… who says hams and short wave listeners are nothing but
a bunch of
stuffy old geezers?

The Peacock Project is a group of Internet broadcasters that have banded
together to
present a variety of music eras, styles and talk over WBCQ on Saturday nights
at 8PM
Eastern time, which is Midnight Universal Time, Sunday. Named in tribute to one
of their
group, Rob Peacock, who suddenly passed away in January, the show features a
different
host each week with a program that is unique to his own musical preference and
personal
presentation.

The first weekend of every month will feature Dave Kirby's look back at
Old Time
Radio and some non-English language versions of American songs. The second
weekend is
The Voice of Savage Henry, a 1960's and 70's "Garage Band" rock show hosted by
Steve Evanchuck,
KG8KO. Tim Gaynor is heard directly from Australia on the 3rd week and the 4th
week is S
teve Coletti, aka “Big Steve Cole”. Four times a year there is a 5th
Saturday to the month
and on those weekends it is time for "Hollow-State Hound", a show scheduled to
feature
big band music with Mike "The DX Hound".

The broadcasters got together in an odd way, and going on WBCQ's 7415
kHz frequency
is like going home to where it all started. A few years ago there was a group
of ham radio
operators who were also listeners to shortwave broadcasters and utility
stations. Under the
umbrella organization of the Association Of North American Radio Clubs,
(ANARC), they would
join into a ham traffic net every Sunday morning on 7240 kHz to compare their
station
loggings. While the net still has a lot of good memories for those who joined
in or only
listened in, the group eventually disbanded. The net then moved to an Internet
Relay
Chat channel that was already in existence.
To a few die hard members like Dave Kirby, N1DK, the discontinuance of
the radio
net was only a minor setback. Dave began doing weekly reports by way of the
Cyber
Shortwave real audio file that was available for download by anyone. It was at
the suggestion
of member Pete Costello that Dave began doing his presentations as a live
interactive program
by way of sending sound via live365.com and receiving typed comments back from
listeners via
the IRC chat channel.

As loggings and SWL news tapered off, Dave began doing more music and
off topic bantering.
This led the powers that be at the chat room to ask Dave to create his own chat
room for the show.
The kick in the butt turned out to be a blessing as now the door was opened for
others who wanted
to do interactive radio using Dave's chat room

We hope that you will enjoy the diversity of programming that these
enterprising hams and
SWLs have created. The Peacock Project begins July 3rd on WBCQ at 7415 kHz and
your fellow
broadcasters, hams and SWLs at the Amateur Radio Newsline wish you the best.

Very cool.

**

snip


Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is away on vacation this week, so with Mark Abramowicz,
N-T-3-V, as
my partner this week, I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for
listening."
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.