Amateur Radio Newslineâ„¢ Report 1399 ÂÂ* June 4, 2004


Amateur Radio Nerwsline Report number 1399 will follow in a few
moments. First, this important announcement from our Support Fund
Administrator Andy Jarema, N6TCQ:


--


The following is not necessarilly for retransmission. I guess you
already know that if you are hearing my voice on a closed-circuit
advisory it means that Newsline is again facing a financial crisis.


Well, you're right. The funds are so low that we may not be able to
pay the bills from May. Worse, for the first time in our history, we
even do not have the money to send a representative to Huntsville
this
summer to present the 2004 Young Ham of the Year Award. And in two
words --- "that's bad." "Real bad."


The solution to both of these problems really lies with you. Our
world-wide all volunteer staff produces these newscasts for you. The
all volunteer Young Ham of the Year Committee labors tirelessly each
year to select a youngster to receive the Award. Joe Eisenberg,
K0NEB, oversees the Newsline sponsored Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio
Mentoring Project database, doing so at no cost. The list goes on and
on.


I too am a volunteer, but I have to be the realist. I'm the
accountant
who has to look at the bottom line and when it turns red, I have to
say -- hold on -- there is no more money to continue. And that's
about where we are right now.


So, here's the bottom line. If you want the newscasts to continue. If
you want the mentoring program to continue and the Young Ham of the
Year Award to continue, we need you to show it now -- right now --
through your financial support of Amateur Radio Newsline.



Remember that Amateur Radio Newsline is a federally chartered
501(C)(3) and California state not-for-profit corporation. This makes
your donations tax deductible, whether you're an individual or a
club.
The address to send them to is the Amateur Radio Newsline Support
Fund, Post Office Box 660937, Arcadia California 91066. If you missed
the address don't worry. It will be repeated at the end of this
week's report.


For now I thank you for listening, for responding and offer you this
weeks newscast which follows immediately.


--


Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1399 with a release date of
Friday, June 4, 2004 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio on alert on a stormy Memorial
Day
weekend, a BPL deadline is extended, another country says goodbye to
Morse code and June is Amateur Radio month. We'll tell you where
on
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1399 coming your way right now.



(Billboard Cart Here)

**


RESCUE RADIO: HAMS AID AS TORNADOES CONTINUE


Strong storms with funnel clouds raced across Indiana during the
Memorial Day holiday forcing thousands of Indianapolis residents and
race fans alike to take shelter from tornadoes. Jack Parker W8ISH
was
tracking the storm that left behind a train of devastation while
putting radio amateurs on alert.


--


For the city of Indianapolis, the Race Day storms could not have
happened at a worse time. Hundreds of thousands of people were in
town for the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race and for
the NBA Playoff game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit
Pistons. The rain delayed race was nearing the end when race
officials threw out the checkered flag and warned nearly 400 thousand
race fans to immediately take shelter.


Accordling to early reports an F3 tornado passed just south of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and began its destructive path across the
south and east side of Marion county. Hundreds of central Indiana
amateur radio operators were kept busy from Sunday morning until late
Sunday evening tracking the funnel clouds and reporting ground truth
observations back to the National Weather Service office in
Indlianapolis.


While the Pacers took on the Detroit Pistons, tornado sirens blared
outside, motorists got stuck in traffic jams, and tree limbs and
debris were tossed into roadways. A funnel cloud described as two
blocks wide, tore the roof off a nursing home leaving nearly fifty
bed-ridden patients without shelter. They spent over an hour out in
the pouring rain as rescue personel attended to their injuries.
Downed
power lines, flooded streets and massive amounts of debris from
damaged homes made it difficult for Indianapolis police and fire
personnel to reach those in need.


According to the National Weather Service more than a dozen tornadoes
had touched down in 10 Indiana counties. This was the third time in
three years that powerful tornadoes have ripped across central and
southern Indiana.


Reporting from Indianapolis, for Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Jack
Parker W8ISH


--


Marengo in southern Indiana was hard hit, with at least one fatality,
four injuries and numerous homes damaged or destroyed. But Indiana
was not alone in dealing with weather related problems. According to
news reports several people in Kansas and Nebraska were injured by
the
weekend's tornadoes which also ripped through parts of those states.
Ham radio was on alert there as well. More on this ongoing story in
future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline(tm), W8ISH)


**


THE BPL FIGHT: REPLY COMMENT DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JUNE 22


The FCC has extended the deadline to file reply comments on already
filed responses in its broadband over power line Notice of Proposed
Rule Making ET Docket 04-37. The FCC granted the extension based on
requests from the National Antenna Consortium and the Amherst
Alliance.


The two organizations had sought to have the FCC postpone the filing
comment deadline until either September 1 or two months after the
public release of the NTIA's Phase 2 study -- whichever was later.
The Commission responded that in its view an additional three weeks
should be ample time to respond to any NTIA submission.


The FCC does not routinely grant such time extensions, and it denied
earlier petitions, including filings from the ARRL. Now it has
relented and has set a new Reply Comment deadline of Tuesday, June
22nd. (ARRL)


**


RESTRUCTURING: MORE COUNTRIES DROP CW


More restructuring has taken place in Europe. The GB2RS News Service
reports that Finland has now officially dropped the Morse code
requirement for that nations hams to have access to the High
Frequency
bands. GB2RS says that Finland actually deleted the Morse
requirement
on the 1st of November of 2003. Now, with the latest rules revisions
there are now there are only two classes of amateur license in that
European nation.


Also from GB2RS word that former French Class 2 licensees with F1 and
F4 callsign prefixes are now being heard on the High Frequency
bands.
According to the French national amateur radio society, this change
was implemented on May 16th.


But C-W is far from dying or dead on the other side of the Atlantic.
In fact the fourth European High Speed Telegraphy Championships take
place the 15th through the 19th of September in Montenegro and
Serbia.
(GB2RS)


**
RESTRUCTURING: NEW ZEALAND SAYS GOODBYE TO MORSE


Finland and France are not alone in saying goodbye to Morse code
testing. So has a nation down-under.


On June 4th New Zealand's Telecommunications regulators issued a
decree that says Morse proficiency testing has ended and thatNew
Zealand Limited Class operators will soom have access to the high
frequency bands. In fact, regulators have decided to upgrade Limited
Class operators to the New Zealand General Class.


According to the notice, operators will not be required change their
callsigns or take any other action.. The new rules go into effect on
June 17th. (ZL2BHF)


**


Break 1


From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N5JGX
repeater serving Austin Texas.


(5 sec pause here)



**


ENFORCEMENT: POLICE JAMMER GETS 8 YEARS IN PRISON


A man convicted of jamming a Wisconsin emergency service radio system
will spend the next 8 years behind Federal prison bars. Amateur
Radio
Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH, is at the south-east bureau with
the
details:


--


University of Wisconsin graduate student Rajib Mitra faces eight
years
in prison after being convicted of intentionally jamming public
safety
radio communications. The 25-year-old Mitra was sentenced by a
federal judge as a domestic terrorist under the Patriot Act which
punishes substantial disruption of a critical public infrastructure.


The computer science student converted a radio receiver to transmit
tones that interfered with the 800 MHz emergency radio system used by
Madison police, fire and paramedics. In all, Mitra was accused of
interfering with public safety communications 37 times last year. He
told a federal judge the incidents were accidental--the result of a
loose wire. But the judge likened that to a fairy tale, and
increased
Mitra's sentence for perjury. The disruptions happened between
January and October, 2003.


Assistant U-S Attorney Tim O'Shea says Mitra's crime stems more from
immaturity than ideology. O'Shea says the case was about domestic
terrorism, not like what happened in New York City September 11th
2001, but by the immaturity of the defendant.


Testimony included reports about disruptions that prevented police
officers from communicating with each other while making arrests,
keeping paramedics from getting patient information to hospital
staffs
and decreased safety for firefighters while on calls.


In one incident, Mitra was accused of interfering with communications
for three hours on Halloween night. He was also convicted of
downloading pornographic sounds from the Internet and broadcasting
them over police channels.


Mitra could have been sentenced to two years in prison. He also
faces
three years probation and has been ordered to pay more than
6-thousand
dollars to the Madison Police Department.


From the South-East bureau in Birmingham, Alabama, I'm David Black,
KB4KCH, for the Amateur Radio Newsline.


--


Its not known if the government will use Mitra's conviction under
the
Patriot Act as the basis of prosecution of others acused of the same
type of crime. (ARNewsline(tm) from Capital Times, others)


**


ENFORCEMENT: RESTERAUNT FINED $10,000 FOR USING 2 METERS


Remember the case of Best Wok? The New Jersey resteraunt that was
warned by the FCC to stop using an illegal high power 2 meter
cordless
telephone to coordinate deliveries but which continued to do so
anyhow?


Well, that decision by the store manager is going to cost the company
$10,000. Thats the amount of the fine that the FCC has levvied
against Best Work for transmitting on 145.8376 MHz without Commission
authorization. The resteraunt was given the customary 30 days rto
pay
up or to file an appeal. (FCC)


**


ENFORCEMENT: RIGHT APPLICATION - WRONG BURTON


The FCC admits that it made a mistake when it announced that it had
sent a warning letter to a former California ham and designated his
GMRS radio service application for a hearing. What happened?
Amateur
Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, tries to sort it all out:


--


The FCC recently announced that it had sent another warning letter to
Richard A. Burton, the ex-WB6JAC. This, warning him about operating
without a license and designating his GMRS application for review.


Only one problem. The regulatory agency had the wrong Richard A.
Burton.


It turns out that it was a Richard A. Burton in another state who,
this time, applied for a GMRS license. It was not the Richard A.
Burton who lives in California.


Complicating thins further the California Richard A. Burton had filed
for a GMRS license over a year ago. He voluntarily rescinded his
application after the FCC set it aside for review.


So what happened? According to a note in the ARRL Letter, the FCC
was
acting on the belief that the latest GMRS application had come from
the California Richard A. Burton. And mistakenly, the regulatory
agency designated it for hearing.


For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennnant, K6PZW, in Los
Angeles.


--


By the way, we did a search on the QRZ.com callsign supersite. We
found that there are 12 hams that have the name Richard Burton living
in North America. Of these one is a Richard A. Burton but he does
not
live anyplace near the Richard Burton who was seeking the GMRS
license. (ARRL, others)


**


ENFORCEMENT: TO MANY CALL SIGN CHANGES


The FCC is asking a New York, ham why he has filed over a dozen call
sign change requests with the agency in the past four years. Since
August 29, 2000, Kiyoshi L. Nakamura of Buffalo has held the call
signs K3DJ, KJ6UZ, AD1L, K3DJ again, KH6DJ, AD1L again, K3DJ for a
third time, AD2R, AD1L for a third time , AD2R, WH7S, AD1L for a
forth
time and AD2R for a second time. And on May 4th, he again filed a
call sign change request. This time he wants to give up AD2R and get
back to K3DJ for the fourh time.


In its letter to Nakamura, the FCC says that his numerous call sign
change applications raise questions about apparent abuse of the
licensing system. This says the FCC that with limited exceptions,
each call sign would be blocked by Commission rules from being
reassigned to another licensee for two years.


So, the FCC gave Nakamura 20 days from the date of its inquiry letter
to respond. He was told to state his intentions regarding the
filing
of these applications. He was also told to coose one and only one
call sign that he actually wants to keep. (FCC)


**


RADIO HONORS: AMATEUR RADIO MONTH IN NH


June is now Amateur Radio Month in New Hampshire. This, as Governor
Craig Benson issues a proclamation honoring the states radio amateurs
for their dedication and the service for its almost 100 year history
of contributions to the advancement of communications technology.


First issued by the New Hampshire State Legislature in 1985, each
succeeding Governor has recognized the role of the states Amateur
Radio operators during the month of June. 2004 marks the 19th
consecutive year that these proclamations have been issued. (Via
e-mail)


**


TECHNOLOGY: IS IT BYE-BYE TO VHS?


Home recording using tape as a medium seems to be on its way out.
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, in 2003, movie
watchers rented more DVDs than VHS tapes. Also, DVD sales increased
by 30% while the sale of VHS VCR's dropped by an unexpected 50%
in
2003.


Whats replacing the venerable VHS system? Hard disk recorders like
TIVO which have been dropping in price over the last twelve months.
When combined with satellite or cable TV, these devices make delaying
a program to watch later as easy as 1-2-3. (Science OnLine)


**


THE SOCIAL CIRCUIT: HAM-COM IN DALLAS TEXAS IN JUNE


Turning to the ham radio social calander, if you will be in the
Dallas., Texas area the weekend of June 18th and 19th, make it a
point
to attend Ham-Com 2004. This is the ARRL West Gulf Convention held
at
the Arlington Convention Center in the Dallas suburb of Arlington.
This years features include indoor and outdoor flea markets, numerous
commercial exhibits, a D-X luncheon, an APRS workshop and much more.


Information on this one is on line at www.hamcom.org or by writing to
Ham-Com 2004. P.O. Box 12774, Dallas, Texas, 75225. The phone and
fax
number is area code 214-361-7574 (Ham-Com)


**


THE SOCIAL CIRCUIT: KNOXVIOLLE TN. IN JUNE


And the 38th annual Knoxville Hamfest and Electronics Exposition is
slated for June 11th and 12th. The venue is the Knoxville
Exhibition,
World's Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. The theme this year for
the
event is "Promoting Youth in Amateur Radio." More information is
on-line at www.w4bbb.org (K4PZT)


**


THE SOCIAL CIRCUIT: A TALE OF HAM RADIO AT NAB


Also, if you want to read more about ham radio at the recent National
Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, take your web
browser over to www.haleisner.com. Then click on the column titled
"The Other Side of the Control Room Glass" by our own Bill
Pasternak,
WA6ITF. This month Bill not only takes reads to the N-A-B show but
also tells of his recent exploits at the Dayton Hamvention. Again,
its all on-line at www.haleisner.com (ARNewsline(tm))


**


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)



**


RADIO LAW: FREQUENCY COORDINATION FOR THE 2004 NATIONAL POLITICAL
CONVENTIONS


Remember a few years ago when the ARRL became the FCC's
"single Point
of Contact" or spoc on repeater related matters? Well how about
one
for this years political conventions? Well that honor has gone to a
New York based consulting engineer. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has mo


--


At the request of the Frequency Coordinating Committee for the 2004
Political Conventions the FCC has designated Louis Libin, as the
single point of contact -- or spoc -- for coordinating broadcast R-F
operations. This, under Section 74.24 of the agency's Rules.


Libin will oversee all RF operations for broadcasters in Boston from
July 26th through July 29th and in New York City from August 30th
through September 2nd. Nor is this the first time for him to do so
either. Louis Libin is considered one of the worlds foremost
authorities in the area of RF compatibility and has worked on
numerous
televised events over the years.


For the Amateur Rafio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in
Los
Angeles.


--


More on this story is at the cyberspace at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...-04-1494A1.doc
(FCC, CGC)


**


RADIO LAW: 811 PROPOSED AS A NATIONWIDE CALL-BEFORE-DIGGING NUMBER


The FCC is asking for comments on a proposal to adopt "811" as a
nationwide call-before-digging number. The regulatory agency
believes
that this will give excavators one simple number to call to avoid
cutting buried cables, gas lines and other important infrastructure.


Currently there are 70 nationwide "One Call" centers that serve
different geographic areas. They are generally accessed by dialing
toll-free or local telephone numbers. The FCC however believes that
having one simple number to call like 811 should promote safety and
lead to fewer utility outages.


Want to know more? It's all on-line at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-247171A1.doc
(CGC)


**


RADIO LAW: COURT UPHOLDS CABLE RULING


Meantime, the FCC is considering a Supreme Court appeal in cable
Internet access dispute. This, after a federal appeals court says
that it is standing by its October ruling that cable TV operators
should open their lines to rivals who also want to use them to sell
high-speed Internet service.

The Federal Communications Commission asked the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court
of Appeals to revisit the decision, but the court declined to do. If
upheld, the circuit's decision would likely subject cable operators
to
the same rules as local phone companies, who are forced to lease
their
lines to rival providers of phone service and D-S-L Internet access.
(Published reports)


**


WORLDBEAT-UK: 2004 AMSAT COLLOQUIUM IN THE UK


Turning to news from around the world, the 2004 AMSAT-UK Colloquium
will be held on Friday, July 30th through Sunday, August 1. This,
at
the University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.


A feature of this year's meeting will be a talk and Question and
Answer session with Professor Colin Pilinger of the Beagle 2 project.
More information is on-line at www.uk.amsat.org. (AMSAT-UK)


**


WORLDBEAT-ALBANIA: TIRANA ALBANIA FOR DX'ERS IN JUNE


And Albania's first ever DX Convention, is scheduled for 19th to
the
20th of June in the city Tirana. Attendees will get to meet many
figures from the DX community who donated equipment to put Albania on
the air. This includes G3LQP, W6UM, OH2BH and T93Y. United States
Amateurs should contact K2WR, at for advice how to
travel to this gathering. (Via e-mail)


**


ON THE AIR: FRENCH RULES CHANGE SPAWNS DX OPERATION


FT1ZL is on Amsterdam Island and is expected to become active soon.
This, after the French have change their licensing structure to grant
holders of that nations VHF only license operating privileges on the
High Frequency bands.


French stations with the numeral 1 or 4 in their prefix can now
operate the low bands using all modes except A1A, A2A, F1A and F2A.
FT1ZL will use his new found privileges on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10
meters SSB during his Amsterdam Island stay. (Internet)


**


DX


In D-X, IK4RUX says that he plans to operate portable IF1 from
Favignana. He will be found on SSB and C-W from the June 19 to the
26
th. QSL this operation direct or via the ARI Bureau. (GB2RS)


And K8AQM reports that his upcoming trip to Samoa will take place
July
7th to the 21st. He will operate as 5WZ0TR from the Samoan Village
Resort on 160 though 10 meters. Modes will be CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK.
All QSLs are via K8AA at his callbook address. (OPDX)


**


THAT FINAL ITEM: BANNED BY ONE WORD


And finally this week, the tale of why hams in Thailand were not
allowed to talk to hams in other parts of the world for a number of
years. The truth be known, it was all because of a three letter
word. Here's Q-News Graham Kemp. VK4BB, with the rest of the
story:


--


Audio report only. No text available. Lisen on-line at
www.arnewsline.org/


--


And for those of you who do not speak French, the word oui --
sometimes pronounced as the English word "we" -- means
"yes."


**


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 Q-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.


A reminder that the nominating period for the 2004 Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now on. This program is open
to any FCC licensed young radio amateur age 18 or younger residing in
the contiguous 48 states and who has made a significant contribution
to the community, the nation or ham radio though the United States
Amateur Radio Service.


More information and a downloadable on-line nominating form is at our
website. That's in cyberspace at www.arnewsline.org. The cutoff
for
nominations this year is midnight on June 30th.


For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm
Don
Wilbasnks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening."


Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.









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