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Amateur Radio Newsline=E2=84=A2 Report 1403 =E2=80=93 July 2, 2004
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1403 with a release date of=20 Friday, July 2, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. =20 =20 The following is a Q-S-T. =20 The score is now Ham Radio one, BPL zero; OSCAR Echo is alive, and busine= ss is good for CW. =20 Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1403 coming = your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here)=20 =20 ** BPL: SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS A major broadband-over-power line pilot test by Alliant Energy in Cedar R= apids, Iowa is shut=20 down after local hams document the harmful interference and the Federal Communications=20 Commission gets a formal complaint from the A-R-R-L. We get the details f= rom Amateur Radio=20 Newsline's Mark Abramowicz NT3V: ************ It took nearly three months to accomplish the mission, but amateurs in Ce= dar Rapids - armed=20 with ample data and the muscle of the American Radio Relay League - convi= nced Alliant to=20 prematurely halt their B-P-L test. Jim Spencer, W0SR, first discovered the interference on his HF radio righ= t after Alliant=20 launched its B-P-L testing March 30. Spencer, who quickly mobilized other Cedar Rapids hams to form a technica= l committee,=20 says the interference was so severe that it wiped out his and others' abi= lity to use=20 their radios. Spencer says the group worked with Alliant officials to try to resolve th= e interference=20 and conducted several test measurements with the utility's cooperation. Spencer tells Amateur Radio Newsline the group appealed to Alliant to shu= t down the=20 system and stop the interference on several occasions. But it was clear t= he B-P-L=20 industry was telling Alliant's managers something else. "There's a lot of regulatory uncertainty here," Spencer explains. "And th= at what the hams=20 were calling harmful interference - in my case S-9 signals, you know, eve= ry 1-plus=20 kilohertz across the band, they were being told that wasn't really harmfu= l.'' Spencer says communications between his technical group and Alliant offic= ials were=20 civil, but they accomplished little action. He says he and others filed complaints=20 with the FCC. "I think in 21 communications I received one simple response basically to= ld me to go=20 back to the power company - the operator of the system," Spencer says. "A= nd, of course,=20 I had done that all the time. So, we had been asking the utility company = to close it=20 down, we had been asking the FCC to help us and then the ARRL went and escalated that." Wade Walstrom, W0EJ, is the ARRL's Midwest Division Director. He says the league's=20 FCC complaint finally got the utility's attention. "The thrust of the complaint was that they were now aware that the system= was causing=20 interference and didn't shut the system off so now that makes it willful interference,"=20 Walstrom said... Alliant stopped the B-P-L pilot test on June 25 saying it had gathered th= e necessary=20 data to make a determination on whether a general rollout of B-P-L would = be worth=20 pursuing, according to Spencer. He says Alliant's project leader told him= the ARRL's=20 FCC complaint was just one factor in the company's decision. "Obviously we're happy, but we didn't feel like we had won," Spencer said= .. "We felt=20 like this was a technical problem and that we tried to communicate some o= f the=20 technical parameters to them and that they'd made a good business decisio= n." Spencer says an Alliant representative told him the company has no plans = to pursue=20 B-P-L at this time. "In order to distribute it out to a sparsely-populated rural area with al= l the=20 equipment it would take, it's not clear that this thing makes economic se= nse,"=20 Spencer says. "And that this really can meet the goals of the rural user = which is=20 one of the things that people touted." The ARRL's Walstrom is cautiously optimistic Alliant's decision might hav= e a ripple=20 effect. "We would hope that other utilities or other organizations that were look= ing to possibly use B-P-L as a source of revenue will look and see the decision = that Alliant=20 has made and re-think their own plans and hopefully decide that maybe the= re are other=20 ways to provide broadband internet connections to the population as a who= le," Walstrom says. Walstrom says the Cedar Rapids group led by Spencer has set a precedent. "All the proof on how well it's going to work isn't there yet," Walstrom = says.=20 "And the proof that we have established here in Cedar Rapids and is comin= g out=20 from other parts of the country is that it's not an interference-free sys= tem by any means and in fact it causes a lot of interference and we've documente= d that here." Spencer says his committee, consisting of a group of engineers - most of = them=20 retired from Rockwell Collins - stuck strictly to technical evidence in communications=20 with Alliant. But he says its clear B-P-L has taken on a very political = tone. "Obviously the problem has got a lot of political implications, but the t= hing that=20 hams can do is remain professional and keep it primarily on a technical l= evel," Spencer says. The ARRL's Walstrom says if he could stand before the FCC panel to make h= is case,=20 he would strongly urge the commissioners to postpone action on or even wa= lk away from B-P-L. "I think they need to delay it until they're satisfied that they're able = to mitigate any=20 interference problems at all and by mitigate from an amateur radio standp= oint that really=20 means eliminate," Walstrom says. Spencer adds, there are no hard feelings toward Alliant. Spencer says he = and members of=20 his technical group still have a good, working relationship with the util= ity. "We've had quite a bit of communication back and forth through this whole thing," Spencer=20 says. "I mean I've had many, many e-mails and some phone calls and I woul= d say that it=20 was pretty positive and still is." For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphi= a. ************ In addition to operations in Cedar Rapids, Alliant also provides utility services to=20 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,=20 reported by phone from the Baikonur Cosmodrome that the launch of AMSAT E= cho and the=20 other satellites occurred on time on June 29th at 0630 UTC. He watched t= he rocket climb=20 out and said it appeared to be flying straight and true. A second phone c= all from Chuck=20 18 minutes later confirmed that the launch carrying AMSAT OSCAR Echo was successful and=20 that all spacecraft had separated successfully. Chuck was assisted in the final integration and checkout process at Baiko= nur by the team=20 from SpaceQuest which included Dr. Dino Lorenzini KC4YMG, Mark Kanawati N= 4TPY, and Lyle=20 Johnson KK7P. The SpaceQuest team members are also AMSAT members and volunteers. First contact with Echo was at 1452 UTC on June 29th. After collecting a= bit of TLM the=20 435.150 MHz transmitter was turned off at 1500 UTC. The preliminary keps= were observed=20 to be pretty close. The first look at Echo=E2=80=99s telemetry shows thin= gs are looking good. =20 The battery was fully charged and the panels were delivering about 950 ma= , which is fine. =20 The panels were supporting the transmitter power adequately at about 2.3W output. The=20 bird appeared to be tumbling as expected. Internal temperatures are arou= nd 10 degrees=20 Celsius which is also as expected. On the second pass the loading of software began and good progress was ma= de. Telemetry continues to look very good. While fades clearly indicated Ech= o continues to=20 tumble (as expected), at 2.2 Watts output good bits were received without difficulty. =20 Rather than turn the transmitter off at the end of that pass, based on a = very good=20 looking power system, the power was turned down to about 0.3 Watts. The hour between passes was spent closely examining the captured telemetr= y and comparing=20 it to pre-launch testing, as well as tweaking the keps a bit. During the second set of passes approximately twelve hours later, the com= mand team=20 finished loading the housekeeping software. The housekeeping task is up = and running=20 as of June 30th at 0525 UTC. With more data available on the power syste= ms performance=20 the transmitter has now been left at about 1.2W. The morning passes on June 30th concentrated on gathering telemetry. The evening passes=20 continued with checkout activities. A telemetry decode program, TLMEcho, is available for those who would lik= e to view and=20 report data from Echo. It may be downloaded from AMSAT.ORG in the Echo p= roject area,=20 http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/ If you record telemetry please send the CSV files to . Please do not transmit to Echo until checkout and commissioning has been completed and=20 the satellite is made available for general use. Unexpected uplinks may = cause delays=20 in verifying the proper operation of ECHO and delay the opening of the transponders to=20 general use. (AMSAT, WD0E) ** Break 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, hea= rd on bulletin=20 stations around the world including the N7SKO repeater serving Arizona, California and Nevada. ** WITH NEWSLINE: SEND US YOUR ID - PLEASE Would you like to ID your own repeater or bulletin station here on Amateu= r Radio=20 Newsline? Well here is how you can do it. Record the following sentence= and include=20 the call sign and location you want to honor.=20 From the United States of America, we are the Amateur Radio Newsline, hea= rd on bulletin=20 stations around the world including the xxx repeater serving yyy zzz. Th= e xxx is the=20 call sign. The yyy and zzz are the city and state. =20 Then, take the tape and mail it to Amateur Radio Newsline, Editorial Offi= ce, 28197=20 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita, California, 91350. As time permits, we will select an=20 audio I-D and include it in the newscast. =20 All tapes submitted become the property of the Amateur Radio Newsline and cannot be=20 returned. Again, the address to make yourself a part of this bulletin se= rvice is=20 Amateur Radio Newsline, Editorial Office, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clari= ta, California, 91350. ** RESCUE RADIO: VA HOSPITALS SAY YES TO HAM RADIO Hospitals in Roanoke, Virginia, will soon be ham radio equipped. Mike Kn= ight, K4IJ,=20 reports through the Repeater Journal that a budget of twenty-five thousan= d dollars has=20 been approved for the installation of Amateur stations at between ten and twelve primary=20 healthcare facilities in the Roanoke area. =20 Knight says that the system will include a dual band base radio, a mobile radio, a power=20 supply, antennas and full lightning protection at each hospital. Also go= ing on-line will=20 be a pair of commercial grade FM voice repeaters with back-up generators,= and a dedicated=20 digital repeater. The voice systems will have IRLP and Echolink tie-ins = to communicate=20 outside the local area. =20 When completed, the Roanoke system will consist of five to six linked repeaters. The=20 base stations will be connected to each hospitals emergency power system = to keep them on the air. (Repeater Journal) ** RADIO LAW: COURT SAYS NO TO EXPANDED MEDIA OWNERSHIP A U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has thrown out most of the Federa= l Communications=20 Commission's new and controversial media ownership deregulation. Its Thu= rsday, June 24th=20 decision means that for the time being, ownership levels of broadcast properties and=20 related media will remain at current levels. Back on June 2nd of 2003, the FCC's Republican majority voted to dramatic= ally ease a=20 prohibition barring daily newspapers from buying broadcast stations in th= eir markets. =20 The agency lifted caps limiting how many radio and TV stations a broadcas= ter could own=20 in the same area.=20 But in its 2 to 1 decision the Philadelphia court said that while some relaxation of the=20 ownership limits might be reasonable, the agency had failed to adequately justify the=20 limits it had put in place. The court announced that its original stay on= the FCC's media=20 ownership deregulation would continue until the agency fixes the regulati= ons to the court's=20 liking.=20 (TV Week) ** ENFORCEMENT: TOO MUCH MORSE CODE The FCC is asking a Missouri ham why he is running a Morse code training program smack in=20 the middle of the 40 meter band. The target of the inquiry is Paul D. Westcott, KC0OAB of=20 Purdy who apparently has code practice on the air around the clock. Its June 21st letter to Westcott notes that the agency had previously dis= cussed this matter=20 with KC0OAB and was given assurances that the transmissions he was making= were for Morse=20 Code practice. Since that time the agency has received another complaint= which alleges=20 that the purported 40 meter code practice transmissions are 24 hours a da= y, seven days per=20 week. The FCC says that due to the crowded nature of the 40 Meter Band, i= t is extremely=20 inconsiderate to take up spectrum in that area for transmissions 24 hours= a day. This,=20 even if it is purportedly for =E2=80=9Ccode practice=E2=80=9D purposes. The agency has posed several questions to Westcott to explain his operati= on and was given=20 20 days from the date of the FCC letter to provide a very detailed respon= se. ** ENFORCEMENT: NO LICENSE - DON=E2=80=99T OPERATE The town of Reseda, California, is only about 10 miles from the Newsline studio. It=E2=80=99s=20 also the place where the FCC alleges that someone has been operating a ha= m radio transmitter=20 without the benefit of being a licensed ham. In a letter to a resident identified as Joseph A. Mosbergen, the FCC says= that he or someone=20 in his residence has been operating radio-transmitting equipment on sever= al Los Angeles area=20 Two Meter Amateur Radio repeaters. The agency warns Mosbergen that this = is a violation of=20 it rules and will subject him or whoever is proven to be operating to pun= itive action. =20 This could include a fine or imprisonment, as well as seizure of any non-certified radio=20 transmitting equipment. It also tells Mosbergern that this is the last w= arning that he=20 will receive. ** HAM RADIO BUSINESS: HEIL TO MARKET CLEAR SPEECH SPEAKER Turning to the ham radio business scene, word that the NCT Group has appo= inted Heil Sound=20 Limited as its prime worldwide manufacturer and distributor of the Clear = Speech Speaker=20 system. Under the terms of the deal, Heil Sound will distribute Clear Sp= eech speakers to=20 their present amateur radio dealers and commercial broadcast distributors= ..=20 Also, the=20 Clear Speech speaker will be improved and several new products will be br= ought to the market=20 using the NCT Group technologies. According to Heil Sound these new prod= uct models are in=20 development and will be available for market by the end of July. More is= on line at=20 www.heilsound.com ** COMMUNICATIOS NEWS: DUAL-CORE PROCESSORS ON THE WAY Tech News reports that Advanced Micro Devices plans to begin selling micr= ochips with=20 the equivalent of two microprocessors in one next year. The Sunnyvale, California based=20 company said it plans to offer dual-core processors for data-serving busi= ness computers=20 in the middle of next year, and for high-end home computers in the second= half of next year.=20 =20 Dual-core technology combines the power of two processors in one package.= This permits=20 the creation of a more powerful computer and increased computation power = when multitasking. Last month, Intel said it would bring dual-core chips to the marketplace = in 2005. That=E2=80=99s=20 more than a year ahead of schedule. ** HAM RADIO BUSINESS: CW IS GOING STRONG If you think Morse code is on its way out, the ham radio business communi= ty probably=20 disagrees with you. At least that=E2=80=99s the impression one gets thum= bing through the articles=20 in the July issue of CQ Magazine. Not only are the ads for Morse related products holding steady, but the n= ew products area=20 has some reviews of the latest CW related products. And not to be outdon= e, Dave Ingram,=20 K4TWJ, devotes his World of Ideas column to Morse Keys from around the wo= rld. If you are a Morse lover, this is the CQ edition for you. It=E2=80=99s o= n your newsstand now. =20 More information is on the web at www.cq-amateur-radio.com. ** THE SOCIAL SCENE: COME TO THE TENNESSEE HAM BREAKFAST On the ham radio social scene, the Middle Tennessee Ham Breakfast takes p= lace at the=20 famed Tennessean Truckstop on the second Saturday of every month. People= begin to=20 gather there at about 9 a.m. and it=E2=80=99s billed as a chance to meet = the middle Tennessee=20 hams you may have contacted on the air. =20 Interested in attending? For full information simply send a note to =20 or call Ken, AI4DV at area code 931 =E2=80=93 424 =E2=80=93 9523 during n= ormal business hours. =20 (Do Not Read: Repeater Journal) ** THE SOCIAL SCENE: ROANOKE VA. IN JULY And still in the South, mark down July 31st to attend the annual Roanoke Hamfest. =20 This event is sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club and will= be held at=20 William Byrd High School in Vinton, Virginia starting at 8 a.m. local tim= e.=20 Full=20 information on this friendly event is on line at w4ca.host4www.com=20 **=20 BREAK 2 This is ham radio news for today=E2=80=99s radio amateur. From the Unite= d States of America,=20 We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official=20 website at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services= of the=20 following radio amateur: ** COLOR TV IS CELEBRATING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR Now for a bit of a history lesson. Although color TV transmissions were = in the development stages many years earlier, the broadcast industry is celebrat= ing its=20 half century mark this year. This is because it was 50 years ago that co= lor broadcasts=20 were initially made available to the public. =20 Now, National Public Radio has posted a story and some interesting histor= ical resources=20 at its website. It is very interesting reading. That URL is in this wee= k=E2=80=99s printed=20 Amateur Radio Newsline report. =20 (www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3D1789944 (CGC)) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW DVD PLAYER FILTERS OUT BAD WORDS Wal-Mart is selling the world's first DVD player that can seamlessly skip= over violence,=20 swearing, nudity and other potentially offensive movie content. The $79 u= nit features=20 technology by ClearPlay and is manufactured by Thomson Inc. under its RCA brand.=20 =20 The DVD player is the latest development in a legal battle between the Sa= lt Lake City-based=20 software company and Hollywood. Members of the Directors Guild of Americ= a filed suit=20 against ClearPlay in September 2002, when the filtering product was avail= able as a=20 computer program claiming it impinges on intellectual and creative rights= ..=20 Those legal=20 proceedings are still under way in Colorado's 10th District Court. Both s= ides currently=20 are waiting for a ruling on a summary judgment filed by ClearPlay.=20 ** WORLDBEAT - SLOVAKIA: FIRST CELLPHONE VIRUS ANNOUNCED On the international scene word that a group of underground virus writers= have announced=20 what is believed to be the world's first worm that can spread on advanced mobile phones. =20 According to news reports, the worm named Cabir, was sent to security sof= tware firms in=20 the United States and Russia by a member of 29a. =20 29a is described as a group of virus writers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who=20 pride themselves in creating proof of concept malicious viruses. Thankful= ly, Cabir has=20 been found to have no damaging code attached that might destroy files or execute other=20 harmful operations. ** WORLDBEAT =E2=80=93 UK: RSGB QSL BUREAU CHANGE On a more positive note, word that Marc Litchman, G0TOC is the new RSGB Q= SL Bureau=20 Sub-Manager for the G7AAA through G7ZZZ series of callsigns. Litchman ca= n be reached at=20 26 Oak Tree Close, Loughton, Essex IG10 2RE, in the U-K. =20 ** WORLDBEAT =E2=80=93 NEW ZEALAND: ZL1AN HONORED FOR EDUCATIONAL WORK=20 And a word of congratulations to New Zealand=E2=80=99s Dr. Gary Bold, ZL1= AN. Bold is a physics=20 lecturer at the University of Auckland and he has been awarded the Prime Ministers=20 Supreme Prize based in part on his 43 years of dedication to teaching. =20 Bold has taught every course in the physics department, all courses in geophysics signal=20 processing and network theory. He has also devised and revised experimen= ts and designed=20 the curriculum for many second and third year physics courses. A dedicat= ed C-W enthusiast,=20 in his spare time he writes the NZART Break-In Magazine column "The Morse= man."=20 The presentation was made at the recent 2004 Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards. =20 ZL1AN was one of 12 academics from nine institutions presented with award= s, each of which=20 brings with it a $30,000 prize. ** DX In D-X, word that several O-H prefix operators will be operational from A= land Island as=20 OH0I during the CQ Magazine and RTTY Journal RTTY DX Contest. This, from September 25th=20 to the 26th. They will operate as a Multi class 2 entry using multiple b= eams and vertical arrays on the low bands. QSL via OH3BHL. And keep an ear open in September for RA3AMG from Cyprus. He will also b= e active in the=20 same contest signing P3B. QSL via his home callsign. Lastly, ST2DX will be active from the Sudan until the 10th of July. Look= for him mainly=20 on SSB, with some CW, on all bands between 30 and 6 meters. QSL this one= as directed on the air. ** THAT FINAL ITEM =E2=80=93 HAMMIN=E2=80=99 OLDIES ON WBCQ And finally this week=E2=80=A6 who says hams and short wave listeners are= nothing but a bunch of=20 stuffy old geezers? The Peacock Project is a group of Internet broadcasters that have banded together to=20 present a variety of music eras, styles and talk over WBCQ on Saturday ni= ghts at 8PM=20 Eastern time, which is Midnight Universal Time, Sunday. Named in tribute = to one of their=20 group, Rob Peacock, who suddenly passed away in January, the show feature= s a different=20 host each week with a program that is unique to his own musical preferenc= e and personal=20 presentation. =20 The first weekend of every month will feature Dave Kirby's look b= ack at Old Time=20 Radio and some non-English language versions of American songs. The seco= nd weekend is=20 The Voice of Savage Henry, a 1960's and 70's "Garage Band" rock show host= ed by Steve Evanchuck,=20 KG8KO. Tim Gaynor is heard directly from Australia on the 3rd week and t= he 4th week is S teve Coletti, aka =E2=80=9CBig Steve Cole=E2=80=9D. Four times a year the= re is a 5th Saturday to the month=20 and on those weekends it is time for "Hollow-State Hound", a show schedul= ed to feature=20 big band music with Mike "The DX Hound". The broadcasters got together in an odd way, and going on WBCQ's 7= 415 kHz frequency=20 is like going home to where it all started. A few years ago there was a = group of ham radio=20 operators who were also listeners to shortwave broadcasters and utility stations. Under the=20 umbrella organization of the Association Of North American Radio Clubs, (ANARC), they would=20 join into a ham traffic net every Sunday morning on 7240 kHz to compare t= heir station=20 loggings. While the net still has a lot of good memories for those who jo= ined in or only=20 listened in, the group eventually disbanded. The net then moved to an In= ternet Relay=20 Chat channel that was already in existence. To a few die hard members like Dave Kirby, N1DK, the discontinuan= ce of the radio=20 net was only a minor setback. Dave began doing weekly reports by way of = the Cyber=20 Shortwave real audio file that was available for download by anyone. It w= as at the suggestion=20 of member Pete Costello that Dave began doing his presentations as a live interactive program=20 by way of sending sound via live365.com and receiving typed comments back= from listeners via=20 the IRC chat channel. As loggings and SWL news tapered off, Dave began doing more music= and off topic bantering. =20 This led the powers that be at the chat room to ask Dave to create his ow= n chat room for the show. =20 The kick in the butt turned out to be a blessing as now the door was open= ed for others who wanted=20 to do interactive radio using Dave's chat room We hope that you will enjoy the diversity of programming that the= se enterprising hams and=20 SWLs have created. The Peacock Project begins July 3rd on WBCQ at 7415 k= Hz and your fellow=20 broadcasters, hams and SWLs at the Amateur Radio Newsline wish you the be= st. ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magaz= ine, the FCC, the=20 Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB and Australia's Q-News, that's all=20 from the Amateur Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline @arnewsline.org. =20 More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only offici= al website located at=20 www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Ra= dio Newsline(tm),=20 P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.=20 Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is away on vacation this week, so with Mark Abram= owicz, N-T-3-V, as=20 my partner this week, I=E2=80=99m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we t= hank you for listening." =20 Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. |
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Amateur Radio Newslineâ„¢ Report 1415 Â September 24, 2004 | Policy | |||
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