Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1639 - January 9 2009

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1639 with a release date of Friday,
January 9th, 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. A 93 year old ham radio operator is murdered in
Florida and his son is accused of the crime. Also, the Japan Amateur Radio
League and Japan AMSAT say that ham radio may soon be in orbit around the
planet Venus, a Transatlantic propagation test in the southern hemisphere
and the recession causes postponement of a long awaited D-X operation. The
details on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1639 coming your way right
now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RADIO CRIME: 93 YEAR OLD FLORIDA HAM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY HIS SON

The son of a 93 year old Lakeland, Florida ham has been arrested for the
murder of his father in a crime that was made to look like a botched home
invasion robbery. The body of Walter Farley, K4QE, was found at around
9:15 a.m. at his residence on New Year's day. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, has been following this fast breaking case and has
the details:

--

When Walter Farley's bullet-riddled body was found by his 63-year-old son,
Robert, inside the home they shared, authorities called it a heinous crime
and pledged to pursue any and all leads in a hunt for suspects.

A cash reward was posted and a tip-line publicized for the public to call
in any information about the crime anonymously to the Polk County Sheriff's
office.

Investigators pursued several avenues, including information that magazine
solicitors had been in the neighborhood the night before Walter Farley's
body was discovered.

But police were also pursuing another possibility - the possibility that
Walter Farley was killed by his own son during some kind of domestic
dispute. Inconsistencies in the story Robert initially told detectives on
the day his father's body was discovered, coupled with other evidence led
to his confession that his father's death was not a random crime.

Detectives say Robert Farley told them he and his wife, Mary, went to a
motel in a nearby city to celebrate New Year's Eve. Authorities got video
from the hotel security cameras showing that Farley had left the hotel
after his wife took a nap earlier in the evening.

Investigators say Robert Farley went home and got into an argument with his
father after discussing his intent to divorce his wife. Robert Farley told
investigators there was a physical struggle and he shot his father at least
four times with a .38-caliber handgun.

Robert Farley admitted he had changed his clothes, took several items from
the home to simulate a robbery and drove to a nearby lake to dispose of the
murder weapon.

A Polk County dive team recovered it from that lake.

Authorities say Robert Farley had been planning his father's murder for two
months.

Local media accounts of the murder quoted neighbors as saying there was
nothing to indicate any problems between father and son.

According to published reports, Walter Farley had a career as a telephone
and radio repairman and was an Army veteran who served during World War II.

Friends were quoted as saying he had worked for AT&T for about 30 years and
bragged about meeting three different presidents while traveling as a
repairman aboard Air Force One.

Walter Farley, who was described as an active radio amateur, retired in the
early 1980s and he and his wife, Loretta, bought a travel trailer to go on
a cross-country road trip.

The couple settled in Dade County, Florida, and in 1992, the published
report says, they lost everything when Hurricane Andrew hit.

Loretta died a short time later, but Walter remained active in the
community, according to the reports, and continuing his travels to exotic
destinations in Europe and South America.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd thanked the community and the hotel where
Robert Farley had stayed on New Year's Eve for helping to solve the case.

He declared, "Walter Farley did not deserve to die this way."

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

--

Robert Farley, the elder Farley's son, is now charged with first-degree
murder. If tried and convicted he faces a minimum of life in prison
without parole. Prosecutors have not yet said if they will seek the death
penalty in the case. Walter Farley, K4QE, was a respected member of the
Lakeland Amateur Radio Club and was active on several local
nets. (ARNewsline(tm) and other sources)


**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: HAM RADIO TO HEAD TO VENUS

Amateur radio may well be headed to the planet Venus in about 18
months. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports:

--

The Japan Amateur Radio League and Japan AMSAT say that they are
collaborating with the Japanese University Space Engineering Consortium.
This, to send an amateur radio payload into a Venus transfer orbit next
year along with the primary JAXA Planet-C Venus Orbiter mission planned
for launch in May of 2010.

The satellite will be called UNITEC-1. It will be developed by the same
teams who have already launched cubesats such as the highly successful
Tokyo Institute of Technology's CUTE-1.

But the Venus orbital mission will be a bigger challenge because of the
special experiments to be included in the mission. First, onboard
computers developed by several universities will be tested in the harsh
environment of space. This, in the form of a competition to see which of
the computers can survive the longest in this radiation-rich area of our
solar system.

The bird will also carry and test technologies to receive and decode very
weak and low bit rate signal coming from deep space. Lastly will be a
system to estimate orbit and signal Doppler shift of the satellite based on
received RF signals. This is essential for tracking and receiving
communications from such a Venus orbiting satellite..

Now, here's the best part. You too can be a part of this first ever ham
radio in space mission to another world. The UNITEC-1 team is inviting
radio amateurs all around the world to participate in the receiving and
data capture of the latter two experiments.. They note that amateur radio
operators working as individuals or in groups can develop stations and
techniques to relay their received signal reports and data to the UNITEC-1
control center. They also view this is also a unique opportunity to
propose amateur experiments or competitions to the satellite team. One
experiment requiring the participation of several amateur radio earth
stations will include the development of techniques to combine the received
signals from several antennas to improve the received signal to noise ratio
from the spacecraft as its outbound from earth.

An exciting ham radio mission to another world, to say the least.

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

--

The UNITEC-1 website will provide the latest mission information. Its in
cyberspace at http://unitec-1.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/en/news_en) (ANS, G3VZV)

**

LACK OF PROPAGATION: 2008 AN ALMOST SUN SPOTLESS YEAR.

2008 was a truly low sunspot year. This, according to propagation expert
Lee Wical, KH6BZF. Wical told the Ohio Penn DX Newsletter that there were
272 spotless days out of the leap year's 366.

August and December were the worst months with 31 and 28 spotless days,
respectively. June and November were the best months with 19 and 15
spotless days. The rest of the months of 2008 were all in the twenties.

And oh yes. For a great profile of Lee Wical, look up KH6BZF on QRZ
..com (OPDX)

**

HAM RADIO TECHNOLOGY: TRANSATLANTIC TESTS FROM AFRICA TO SOUTH AMERICA

An interesting propagation is about to take place in the southern
hemisphere. Flavio Archangel, PY2ZX, reports over the VHF Reflector that
there is a portable station being assembled near Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. This, for dedicated VHF and UHF Transatlantic tests between Africa
and South America on the 6 meter, 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands.

Operating as PY2ENO portable PY6, its exact location is Maidenhead grid
square GG87xc. It will be operational Monday, January 12th to Saturday the
17th. More information in Spanish is on-line at
http://transatlantic.japydx.org (PY2ZX, VHF Reflector)

**

HAM RADIO ECONOMY: RECESSION LEADS TO SABLE ISLAND DXPEDITION POSTPONEMENT

The economic meltdown has caused a postponement in the long awaited Sable
Island Dxpedition. According to Team Leader Duane Traver, WV2B, due to the
current United States economic situation, the DXpedition team has decided
to postpone the C-Y-Zero DXpedition planned for 2009.

WV2B says that the group is hopeful to reorganize the DXpedition possibly
as early as 2010. In the meantime they have decided to return donations
received to date. This, so that the funds can be made available for
possible sponsorship of other DX operations this year.

Traver says that any sponsoring organization should feel free to contact
him with any questions regarding the matter. He also says that the group
is hopeful that their supporters will be willing to renew their sponsorship
when the DXpedition can be reorganized. He adds that the sabledx.com
website will remain functional for the time being. (WV2B)

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the East Cape Linked
Repeater Network with systems serving all of South Africa.

(5 sec pause here)


**

RESCUE RADIO: COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES TO USE TV CHANNEL 15 FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

The FCC says that it has granted the County of Los Angeles a conditional
waiver. One that permits the use of TV Channel 15 for Public Safety
communications. Don Carlson, KQ6FM, reports:

--

According to an FCC release, Los Angeles county had filed 57 applications
and requests to use 476 to 482 MHz, by waiver, this spectrum for emergency
communications. Most stated that the county needed such a grant to allow
for a desperately needed expansion of public safety communications in the
Los Angeles area. This, in a manner that would promote efficient
interoperability among the plethora of public safety agencies serving the
region.

In approving the waiver the FCC says that it must consider the Commission's
statutory purpose of promoting safety of life and property. Also, that in
view of the record, it found persuasive those comments stating that a
consolidated UHF system in Los Angeles County would provide a valuable
communications resource for the County and local public safety agencies to
handle everyday operations, homeland security prevention, protection and
response.

The FCC also noted that this enhanced system would also be available to
handle natural and man-made disasters effectively and efficiently. This
would mean the least amount of lives lost and a minimum amount of property
damaged.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Carlson, KQ6FM.

--

The complete text of the FCC's approval of the STA is at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...-08-2823A1.doc (CGC, FCC)

**

CHANGING TECHNOLOGY: DTV CONVERSION COUPON PROGRAM OUT OF MONEY

The government's funding program to help people prepare for the transition
to digital television has run out of money. This potentially leaves up to
8 million viewers without discount coupons to buy converter boxes they need
to keep their analog TV sets working after the switch to digital.

As of this Sunday, January 4th, consumers who request a $40 coupon to help
offset the cost of a converter box are being placed on a waiting
list. They may not receive the coupons before February 17th unless they
are willing to pay full price for a converter that costs between $80 to
$250 depending on a given box's features and what a retailer has priced
them at.

Members of Congress are now scrambling to find ways to allocate more money
to the program. The big problem is that the nation is facing a monumental
deficit, so there may be political opposition to expanding the converter
box subsidy program. (TV)

**

RADIO LAW: SOME INTERNET MUSIC MAY GO AWAY

The increase in royalties to air music over the Web may force Yahoo and AOL
to shutter their Web radio sites. Bloomberg news recently reported that no
accord seems to be on the horizon between SoundExchange, which represents
major record labels and sought the increase, and other groups. This
includes many radio Internet broadcasters. (RW)

**

HAM RADIO AND SCOUTING: DARA FORMS SCOUT VENTURING CREW

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association and the Miami Valley Council Boy
Scouts of America have teamed up to form a new Scouting Venturing
crew. This, to serve the needs of high school age youngsters in the
Dayton, Ohio area.

Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America for
those who are at least age 14, and have completed the eighth grade. This
new Dayton Amateur Radio Association sponsored Venturing crew is the only
Amateur Radio specialty Scouting group in the Boy Scouts of America Miami
Valley Ohio Council. (DARA)

**

RADIO EDUCATION: UK CLUB WINS GRANT TO FURTHER HAM RADIO EDUCATION

A United Kingdom radio club is the big winner in a national lottery. The
Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society has been awarded a £10,000 endowment from
the 'Awards for All' program that gives grants to local groups.

The grant to the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society will be used by the club
to further develop amateur radio training in the Chelmsford area as well as
radio sports and for the establishment of a demonstration station in the
Sandford Mill Science and Industry Museum. Among the equipment the club is
buying with the grant are transceivers, a linear amplifier and some
antennas. Also being purchased are some laptop computers and a video
projector to be used in training programs and other projects. (Southgate)

**

RADIO EDUCATION: FAR ANNOUNCES 2009 - 20010 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION PERIOD

FAR, the Foundation for Amateur Radio has announced that it is now
accepting applications for the 48 scholarships it administers for the 2009
through 2010 academic year. This, to aid licensed radio amateurs who are
pursuing a higher education.

The foundation funds two of the scholarships and administers 46
others. Hams pursuing a full-time course of study beyond high school and
accepted by or enrolled in an accredited university, college or technical
school are eligible to apply. Scholarship grants range from $500 to $5000,
and preference in some cases goes to applicants living in particular
geographical areas or pursuing certain studies. Non-US residents are
eligible to apply for some of the scholarships.

The application deadline is May 1, 2009. More information and an
application form may be requested by letter via e-mail to
. It can also be obtained by sending a card or note
postmarked prior to March 30th to FAR Scholarships, PO Box 831, Riverdale,
Maryland, 20738. (FAR)

**

SPECIAL EVENT: USS MIDWAY CELEBRATES TWO MILITARY EVENTS

Keep an ear open for special event Station NI6IW that will be operational
from the USS Midway radio room on January 10th. The station will take to
the ham radio airwaves from 1700 to 0059 UTC. This, to commemorate the
commissioning of the world's first nuclear powered ship, the USS Nautilus,
and Operation Desert Storm liberating Kuwait .

NI6IW will operate CW, SSB, PSK 31 and RTTY on the H-F bands as well as
D-Star via the 145.615 KI6MGN Palomar Mountain repeater. QSL with a self
addressed, stamped envelope to the USS Midway Museum Radio Room, 910 North
Harbor Drive, San Diego, California, 92101. (W9EN)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: THREE INDUCTED INTO THE NEW ZEALAND DX HALL OF FAME

Kiwi DX'ers have announced the formation of a new New Zealand DX Hall of
Fame. This, to honor those outstanding Zed-L DX'ers who have excelled in
our radio sport hobby over many years.

The first inductees include Roy Jackson, ZL4BO and Ron Wright, ZL1AMO. Also
inducted posthumously was Jock White, ZL2GX. All were honored for their
extraordinary and unselfish contribution to the sport of Amateur Radio
DXing in New Zealand. (ZL News)

**

D-STAR NEWS: AUSTRALIAN DSTAR LIST NOW HAS 233 MEMBERS AND GROWING

There are now 233 radio amateurs world-wide posting to the Australian
D-Star list and the number seems to increase every day. Since the
introduction of the list earlier this year, membership and site usage has
grown drastically. D-Star usage has also shown a marked increase since the
introduction of the DV Dongle, giving hams a relatively inexpensive and
easy way to gain the benefits of D-Star from home. (D-Star Remailer)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: ORLANDO HAMCATION FEBRUARY 13 - 14

The 2009 ham radio social scene really begins the weekend of February 13th
to the 15th. That's when the Orlando Amateur Radio Club holds the 63rd
Orlando HamCation Amateur Radio and Computer Show at the Central Florida
Fairgrounds in Orlando, Florida.

Over 150 commercial vendors are expected top be there. Also, 400 swap
table vendors will be a part of the largest tailgate sales operation in
Florida during the show. This year's HamCation theme will be "Amateur
Radio Always a Challenge." And, special event station K4H will be on the
air from the site to help commemorate this year's outing.

More information is on-line at www.hamcation.com, or by e-mail to hamcation
(at) oarc (dot )org.

**

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)

**

EMERGING HAM TECHNOLOGY: A TRANSMITTER FROM A CFL

How would you like to build a transmitter from the remains of one of those
compact fluorescent light bulbs? Well one ham has and his work is fast
becoming the talk of the Internet. Graham Kemp VK4BB, is here with the
details:

--

Turn a 'low energy' light bulb into an 80m transmitter!

'Low energy' light bulbs are renowned for causing radio interference but
they can be put to good use. A website describes how to turn one into a
transmitter for the Amateur Radio 80m band.

Michael Rainey, AA1TJA's website describes how to convert a compact
fluorescent lamp -- in this case a TriMax Electronic Fluorescent Lamp --
into a 1.5 Watt QRP CW transmitter for 3.5 MHz. Indeed, Michael goes on
to say "a perfectly serviceable transmitter may be constructed!

The only additional components required were the quartz crystal, and four
of the five components needed for the output low-pass filter. The resulting
transmitter produces up to 1.5 Watts on 80m.

More information is on Michael's Website.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, reporting from
Brisbane, Australia.

--

A few words of caution regarding the handling those compact fluorescent
lamps or any fluorescent lamps for that matter. The glass section of these
lamps contain some pretty toxic chemicals that you will really not want to
come in contact with. Also, be very careful to avoid shattering the glass
as its very easy to suffer a deep gash from the shards and find yourself in
a hospital emergency room as a result. That said, a link to the website
that Graham refers to can be
at http://mjrainey.googlepages.com/dasderelicht (Southgate, WIA News)


**

RADIO IN SPACE: NEW LUNAR PHOTOS FROM THE 1960'S

Efforts are being made to retrieve pictures made by the Lunar Orbiter
spacecraft in 1966 and 1967. For those of us old enough to remember, back
in the late 1960's NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph the
surface of the moon. The purpose of these probes was to gain a better
understanding of the lunar environment in advance of the Apollo program.
Back then, data was radioed back to Earth where it was first recorded on
large magnetic tape reels. It was then decoded and transferred to
photographic film for scientific analysis. When these images were first
retrieved from lunar orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was
available because of the limited technology available at the time.

NASA has now released a newly restored 42-year-old image of Earth. The
Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the iconic photograph of Earth rising above
the lunar surface in 1966. Using modern digital technology, NASA has now
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when it
was originally taken. To view the image and for more information about the
Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project,
visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/LOIRP) (NASA)

**

WORLDBEAT: IRELAND TESTS ITS EAS SYSTEM

Turning to news from around the world, word that Ireland has tested its
version of the Emergency Activation System. On the 16th of December at
4:45AM local time, the Irish Department of Communications carried out a
structured exercise to test the nation's broadcast emergency services alert
system.

Early that morning, all television and radio channels carried a 30 second
engineering test simultaneously across Ireland. The four terrestrial
broadcasters, regional broadcasters, all national radio channels and the 25
local radio stations carried an announcement indicating that the test was
being conducted and that normal programming would resume as soon as it was
concluded.

The drill was designed to simulate an urgent requirement of the government
or an emergency service provider to have access to radio and TV broadcast
platforms as fast as possible in order to broadcast information to the
public. This is the first time such an exercise has ever been carried out
in Ireland. (IRTS)

**

ON THE AIR: THE SOUND OF HEAVY IRON ON 75

If you are interested in hearing some good heavy metal AM signals the way
that they used to sound on the ham bands, then this is for you. Hams
nationwide are invited to tune in to the mid-West based 3.868 MHz Noontime
AM Forum. The net meets Monday through Friday at 12 noon Central US
time. Net control is K9ACT in Marengo, Illinois, and the net gives anyone
with A-M gear a chance to test that equipment under real life operating
conditions. (KB9YGD)

**

ON THE AIR: CANADIAN HAMS CELEBRATE GALILEO

Canadian hams will be permitted to use a special sequence old prefixes
through February 28th. This to commemorate Galileo's first use of an
optical telescope and the subsequent discoveries he made in his
lifetime. For Canadian hams wanting to take part, the special prefixes
work this way: VE changes to CG: VA changes to CF; VO changes to CH and
VY changes to CI. Event planners say that they hope the calls will also
promote the International Year of Astronomy. (Southgate)


**

DX

In DX, word that The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved credit for the T61AA
operation from Afghanistan. This, after the license for the operation was
updated. If you had cards that were recently rejected for this operation,
please send an e-mail to the ARRL DXCC Desk and you will be placed on the
list for credit update.

G7COD will be operational January 11th to the 27th from the Island of
Embudu in the Kaafu Atoll. This, using the callsign 8Q7AK. Activity will
be CW and SSB on 40-10 meters including 30, 17 and 12 meters. For
comprehensive details on QSL information please check 8Q7AK on QRZ dot com.

OZ8KR will be active as C56KR from Bakuto, Gambia through January 14th.
Listen for him on 40 though 10 meters on SSB only. QSL via his home callsign.

G3ZVW will be operational as ZD8N from Ascension Island from January 12th
to the 27th. He will be using CW, RTTY and SSB mainly on 30 through 10
meters. QSL direct or via the bureau.

EA5GVH will be on the air from Aruba as P40PZ from January 12th to the
28th. He will operate 80 through 6 meters using SSB and the digital modes
only. QSL via EA5GVH.

HB9CRV has announced that as of December 31st, 2008, he is no longer the
QSL manager of CT3BX. No new QSL Manager has been found and the logs are
closed.

Lastly, G3NKC, G4XUM and MD0CCE will be active as MD4K from the Isle of
Mann during the CQ 160-Meter CW Contest. That's January 24th to the
25th. The trio will operate as a Multi-Op entry. QSL via G3NKC and be sure
to include sufficient return postage with your QSL request.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: THE MOUSE AT 40

And finally this week, it's the 40th birthday of a neat little device that
makes it easy to work and play at your computer. Here's Jim Linton, VK3PC:

--

Just imagine a personal computer without a mouse? That may very well happen
in a few years time but more about that later.

The first public demonstration of a mouse was by the Stanford Research
Institute in San Francisco California on 9 December 1968.

At an event attended by 1,000 computer professionals the mouse made its
debut, shown off by Douglas Engelbart and his team of fellow
researchers. It looked like a real mouse in shape and its attached cord
resembling a tail led to it gaining its name.

Four years later, Bill English developed the 'ball mouse,' replacing the
external wheels on the original mouse with a single ball that could rotate
in any direction. It was first sold with the Zerox Alto computer in 1981.

In more recent years, wireless technology enabled the ubiquitous mouse to
lose its tail. There are now predictions that within five years the mouse
will be obsolete, being replaced by touch screen and facial recognition
technology.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Linton, VK3PC.

--

The mouse has taken on many roles over the years and its been seen in many
situations. Perhaps the funniest was in the Star Trek movie "The Voyage
Home." That's where the cast goes back in time to San Francisco in the
1990's to find a pair of hump back whales key to saving the future
Earth. Scotty has need of a computer and all that's available is a neat
little Mac. Well, Scotty is used to giving verbal commands to his computer
and is not sure what to do with the mouse. So, he picks it up, looks at it
and then uses it as a microphone to try to talk to the little Mac. And, as
those who saw the movie know, the Mac never responds. (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 Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline (at) arnewsline
(dot) 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.

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jeff Clark,
K8JAC, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.