Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1549 - April 20, 2007

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1549 with a
release date of Friday, April 20th, 2007 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T.

The space adventure of KE7KDP nears an end as his
QSO total continues to mount. Also, a high seas
rescue radio down-under and the FCC says it only
wants opposition comments on two requests for
reconsideration that ask Morse testing be
restored. We try to sort this one out on Amateur
Radio Newsline report number 1549 coming your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: THE KE7KDP SPACE ADVENTURE DRAWS TO A CLOSE

Dr. Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP, may go down in the
ham radio history books as the most popular space
tourist to ever grace the Amateur Radio
bands. He has been a big hit with everyone with
whom he has held a QSO. Amateur Radio Newsline
producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has been
following the mission from our newsroom in Los Angeles:

--

Space tourist Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP, turned out
to be one of the most active ham radio operators
to visit the International Space Station. Not
only was he involved in several on-orbit
scientific experiments, he also took time to
share his space adventure by ham radio with
school children around the world. One of his
first contacts using the space stations NA1SS ham
gear was April 12th with Fairborn High School in
the city of Fairborn, Ohio. Those students had
some interesting questions for the intrepid space traveler:

--

Actual contact audio - hear it by downloading the
audio version of this newscast at www.arnewsline.org

--

When he wasn't talking to schools, Dr. Simonyi
used his ham radio airtime to give some high
flying DX contacts to radio amateurs on the
ground. This QSO with Dr. Simonyi again
operating as NA1SS took place when he connected
with Zach Schrempp, KM7I. KE7KDP was flying over
Schrempp's home town of Bothell, Washington when the two made contact:


--

KM7I / KE7KDP QSO audio, Hear it by downloading
the audio version of this newscast at www.arnewsline.org


--

A few days later we got to ask KM7I his feelings
about Dr. Simonyi's dedication to ham radio while on-orbit:

--

KM7I: "I think it is great that Dr. Simonyi is
operating the ham radio equipment while on orbit,
both for casual and school contacts. The ARISS
ham radio school contact program is an excellent
experience for many people around the world to
learn more about life in space, and it's great that he is participating in
it."

--

But KM7I was not the only one that Dr. Simonyi
contacted from orbit during that pass. Heres a
condensed version of several other QSO's:

--

Actual contact audio - hear it by downloading the
audio version of this newscast at www.arnewsline.org


--

All in all, it sounds as if Charles Simonyi,
KE7KDP, not only fulfilled his dream of flying in
space but has put space into the hamshack of
anyone who tuned in. And for that a lot of folks here on Earth say thanks.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the studio in Los Angeles.


--

Depending on when you hear this newscast, Dr.
Simonyi will either be on his way back from his
space adventure or already landed. We say
"welcome home and a job well done. A complete
wrap up on Charles Simonyi's trip to the ISS is
on-line at www.charlesinspace.com (ARNewsline
with audio supplied by KM7I and the ARISS Telebridge Archive)

**

RESCUE RADIO: VK RADIO ENTHUSIAST SAVES TWO IN THE PACIFIC

A radio hobbyist in Australia is credited with
saving the lives of two men battling treacherous
seas. This, during a day-long Good Friday ordeal
in the Pacific Ocean. Roobert Broomhead, VK3KRB, reports::

--

The Port Macquarie News and the Sydney Morning
Herald are reporting how a radio enthusiast
helped save two sailors stranded in wild seas off Newcastle in V-K-2.

Bob Wilson and his friend Mike Ross were sailing
from Queensland to Sydney in when their boats
propeller broke off and jammed against the
rudder. This left the vessel stranded nearly 200
kilometers off the coast with no way for Wilson
and Ross to control its speed or direction.

Enter Harold Ralston. Ralston was out in his
shed about 6.30am on Good Friday when his
25-year-old maritime radio, which he bought for
$50 on eBay a year ago, crackled with a plea from
an operator on a stranded boat:

--

Ralston: "I turned the radios on…I heard the
boat calling for Foster Tuncurry Coastal Patrol,
or anyone who could hear him…he called for 3 or 4 minutes."

--

Ralston is not a ham. In North America he might
best be called a Utility Station monitoring
hobbyist. As a part of his monitoring he listens
to the coastal marine channels. And when he
heard the call for assistance, he knew exactly what to do:

--

Ralston: "No one responded so I replied to
him….He came back to me straight away and told me
that his predicament and wanted to pass a message
on to Foster Tuncurry Coastal Patrol because he
was overdue. So I took the particulars of what
happened to his boat which was particularly
serious in that his propeller shaft had come
loose from the gearbox and lodged against the
rudder and he did not have any measure of
propulsion and he could not steer the boat. So I
relayed that to the Foster Tuncurry Coastal
Patrol and the Port Macquarie Coastal Patrol and
that's what started the ball rolling.

--

Newcastle Water Police responded to the call for
help. They soon reached the stricken vessel and
began an eight-hour towing mission back to Port
Macquarie. The rescue was completed when the two
ships reached port at 7am on Easter
Saturday. That was about 24 hours after Wilson
and Ross put out their call for help that was
heard and answered by now rescue radio hero, Harold Ralston.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert
Broomhead, VK3KRN, of the WIA National News repotting from Australia.

--

The two mariners have called Ralston a
hero. Their boat is berthed in port and news
reports say that it will stay there until it has been repaired. (WIA News)

**

MORSE: HOSTAGE SAILORS USE CW TO KEEP IN TOUCH

One of the British seamen held hostage in Iran
has told how they used Morse code to stay in
touch with one another while imprisoned. Felix Scerri, VK4FUQ, reports:

--

Able Seaman Simon Massey revealed they developed
a system of 'knocking in and knocking out'
during their first week of solitary confinement.

He said: "It was like keeping a mental register -
checking off the voices of comrades whenever one
of them asked for a toilet break or a cigarette.

"Leading Seaman Chris Coe was next door to my
cell. We would just sit here tapping out code.
We'd check up on each other, say goodnight, and
if we went out of the cell, we would give a
little knock when we got back to let each other know we were OK.

"Just knocking with knuckles. Little things like that got us through."

The use of Morse code by prisoners was made
famous in the 1962 classic film Birdman Of
Alcatraz. It was also used by PoWs in Vietnam.

--

The 14 men and one woman sailor were seized by
Iranian warships on March 23rd. It took 13 days
to secure their release. (WIA News)

**
Break 1

From the United States of America, We are the
Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin
stations around the world including the KA3ZAI
simplex bulletin serving Bradenton, Florida.

(5 sec pause here)


**

RESTRUCTURING: FCC INVITES ONLY OPPOSITION
COIMMENTS ON TWO MORSE RECONSIDERATION PETITIONS

Back here in the USA, we have one of the
strangest stories out of Washington in a long
time. It comes from the ARRL Letter which
reports that the FCC has invited only opposition
comments to two petitions for reconsideration on
the Report and Order in WT Docket 05-235. That's
the regulatory change that eliminated any Morse
code examination to obtain a United States Amateur Radio license.

As expected, there have been several Petitions
for Reconsideration filed. One petition calls on
the FCC to reinstate the 5 WPM Morse code
requirement for Amateur Extra class applicants.
The second cites problems with the FCC Electronic
Comment Filing System and seeks to have the
Commission reopen the proceeding for an additional round of comments.

Now the FCC is essentially saying that
communications to the agency in support of either
petition is not welcome, Instead, the only folks
it wants to hear from are those who oppose the
reconsideration efforts. These opposition
filings are due at the FCC no later than April
27th with a reply comment date 10 days
later. Both petitions are at the FCC website at
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...f=pdf&id_docum
ente18808553
and the other
at
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/r...f=pdf&id_docum
ente18808784.
(ARRL Letter)

**

RESCUE RADIO: AMERICAN RED CROSS REFUSES TO
NEGOCIATE ON BACKGROUND CHECKS OF HAMS

The American Red Cross has told the ARRL that it
will not back away from its demand that ham radio
volunteers submit to a background check by a
third party contractor. A check that that could
include a examination of that persons finances.

According to a news item on the ARRL website, a
meeting between the League and Red Cross
officials to discuss the matter lead to am
impasse. One with the Red Cross holding firm to
its position on the right to have its contractor
conduct a background check that could include
personal finance check if it deems it to be
necessary and refusing to modify any aspect of it stance.

In recent days, a growing number of hams have
reconsidered volunteering their services to the
Red Cross because of the potential of having
their personal finances made a part of such a
background check. They say that they are freely
giving of their time to assist the relief agency
and should not be subject to this level of lifestyle scrutiny.

As a result of the American Red Cross
intransigence on the matter the ARRL has
reiterated its earlier recommendation. While not
singling out the American Red Cross by name, the
League suggests that its members carefully review
any consent document that permits a private
organization to conduct a background investigation on that person.

The full story is on-line at League's
website. Its in cyberspace at
www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/04/16/100/?nc=1 (ARRL)

**

RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO NOTED IN SKYWARN ARTICLE

Some really good words about ham radio can be
found in the April 13th issue of NOAA Magazine in
a lengthy story about the Skywarn program.

The piece written by Editor Julie Bedford notes
that for more than 35 years, the Skywarn program
has been helping the National Weather Service
gather critical information from the field
before, during and even after severe weather
events. It also notes that nearly 280,000
trained volunteer storm spotters many of whom are
radio amateurs help keep their local communities
safe. This, by providing reports of severe and
hazardous weather and goes into local training
programs conducted by the National Weather
service in cooperation with local Amateur Radio clubs.

The complete article is on-line at
www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/mag226.htm. In our
opinion, its well worth your time to read. (W7VZD)

**

ENFORCEMENT: DOD COMPLAINS ABOUT INTERFERENCE TO RADAR FROM HAMS

If you own and operate a UHF repeater near Otis
Air Force Base in Massachusetts or Beale Air
Force Base in California you could eventually be
asked to take it off the air by the Department of
Defense. This, because it is causing
interference to the military's PAVE PAWS radar
system that you are likely unaware of. But the
ARRL has been made aware of the situation and
says it is working with the D-o-D to try to
eliminate the interference so that the affected
machines can remain in operation. Repeater owner
operators in the affected areas should read the
complete story on the ARRL website at www.arrl.org (ARRL)

**

ENFORCEMENT: COPPER THEFTS COST FOUR LIVES

Four people have been electrocuted in recent days
after trying to steal copper cable that they
apparently thought was not in use.

DesignLine.com reports that two New Hampshire men
were buried last week after they were
electrocuted while taking copper wire from an
unoccupied power plant in Tyngsboro,
Massachusetts. The bodies were found lying
alongside bolt cutters and coils of copper
wire. According to law enforcement authorities,
the men did not have permission to be on the property.

Their deaths followed the electrocution
fatalities in Arkansas of two people attempting
to strip copper wire from utility
poles. According to news reports, the price of
copper has skyrocketed driven partially by the
demand for copper for telecommunications
transmission. One report says that the problem
has gotten so out of hand that the Arkansas state
government has passed three bills that crack down
on the theft of scrap metal.

Despite continued upgrades to fiber optic
systems, copper is still in heavy use for
telecommunications systems, worldwide and the
thieves know it. (RF Design, CGC)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: NWS HONORS HAM FOR HIS SKYWARN LINKED REPEATERS

A note of congratulations to Charlie Campbell,
KC5EZZ, who has been named to receive the 2007
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration's 2007 Environmental Hero Award.

Campbell was nominated by the meteorologists at
the San Angelo Texas N-W-S office. This, in
recognition of the work he has done in linking
repeaters to serve the SKYWARN program in his area.

KC5EZZ was scheduled to receive his award on
April 24th in Washington D.C.. A few days earlier
his friends from the San Angelo National Weather
Service office held a Pizza get-together in his honor. (AA5PK)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: ARRL 2007 GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION IN SEPTEMBER

Turning to the ham radio social scene, word
that the ARRL 2007 Great Lakes Division
Convention will be held on September 22nd at the
Sheraton Independence Hotel in Independence,
Ohio. Seminars will feature top-name speakers
including Bob Heil, K9EID, and Chip Margelli,
K7JA, from Heil Sound. There will also be a DX
Seminar will be moderated by OPDX Editor Tedd
Mirgliotta, KB8NW, with guests that include
Bernie McClenny W3UR of "The Daily DX and Weekly
DX" newsletters and John Papay K8YSE of the
Swains Island operation. For further information
on this one, please visit www.2007gldc.com on the World Wide Web. (E-Mail)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: HAMVENTION 2007: "LOCAL CLUBS: THE HEART OF HAM RADIO"

Planners have announced that the theme for the
2007 Dayton Hamvetion is Local Clubs: The Heart
of Ham Radio. They say that the Hamvention wants
to acknowledge the support that local ham radio
clubs around the world provide to their
communities and to amateur radio. To that end
there are some special plans for clubs at this
years Dayton gathering. General Chairman Jim
Nies, WX8F, says to keep an eye on
www.hamvention.org for the latest developments.

Hamvention 2007 will be held May 18th to the 20th
at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. We hope to
see many of you there. (Hamvention®)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: EMCOMMERST 2007 IN RENO MAY 4 - 6

And its only a few days until the doors open at
Emcommwest 2007. Don Carlson, KQ6FM is in Reno, Nevada, with mo

--

EMCOMMWEST 2007 IS COMING TO THE BIGGEST LITTLE
CITY IN THE WORLD, RENO NEVADA MAY 4TH THROUGH
THE 6TH. ONCE AGAIN HAMS FROM ALL OVER THE
COUNTRY WILL GATHER IN RENO FOR THE ANNUAL ARRL
SPECIALTY CONVENTION, BASED ON EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS.

THIS YEAR'S KEYNOTE SPEAKER WILL BE PR GURU AND
HELLO CAMPAIGN CREATOR ALLEN PITTS, W1AGP FROM
ARRL HQ IN NEWINGTON. ALLEN WILL ALSO DO A FORUM
ON BEING AN ARES PIO. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
FORUMS ON HOSPITAL SUPPORT, WORKING WITH EOC'S
AND FEMA, ICS TRAINING, BUILDING COMM VANS, ATV AND MUCH MORE.

THERE WILL BE VE TESTING, AND A NEW HAM FORUM TO
GET THE NEW HAMS STARTED RIGHT. SATURDAY MORNING
A HUGE SWAP MEET, AND A SATURDAY NIGHT BANQUET,
FEATURING 2 GUEST SPEAKERS … HENRY FEINBERG,
K2SSQ WHO GAVE ET HIS COMMUNICATOR IN THE MOVIE,
AND DENNIS MOCHENBACKER, K7BV, NOTED CONTESTER
NOW WITH YAESU RADIO. THERE WILL BE A VENDOR HALL
AND LOTS OF DISPLAY COMMUNICATION VEHICLES TOO.

FOR INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION, CHECK THE
WEBSITE AT WWW DOT EMCOMMWEST.ORG. OR EMAIL INFO@EMCOMMWEST .ORG.

FOR THE AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE. I'M DON CARLSON, KQ6FM IN RENO.
--

More about Emcommwest is on line at www.emcommwest.org (KQ6FM)

**

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)

**

SCIENCE HISTORY: MORE EINSTEIN LETTERS MADE PUBLIC BY CALTECH

The 10th volume of letters written by or sent to
mathematics genius Albert Einstein have been made
public under the auspices of the Einstein Papers
Project at the California Institute of
Technology." The Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein - Volume 10" contains letters penned by
Einstein between 1909 and 1920.

According to Caltech, the letters discuss many
scientific issues, including his association with
physicists in Europe and efforts to further
confirm his theory of general relativity. But
volume 10 also contains letters focusing on
personal matters, such as the state of his
marriage and his relationship with his sons. He
also discusses the challenges he faced with his
newly acquired celebrity status.

The volume was published for Caltech by Princeton
University Press. For more information, visit
www.einstein.caltech.edu on the World-Wide-Web. (Press Release)


**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: L-ION BATTERIES FOR YOUR CAR

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries hopes to
start mass production of lithium ion batteries
for automotive use in 2010. These rechargeable
batteries would be sold to auto makers for use in
electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Sanyo Electric which supplies nickel metal
hydride batteries to Honda and Ford is also
developing the technology. Also getting into the
act are electronics conglomerate Hitachi, car
battery manufacturer Yuasa Corp and electronic
parts maker Murata Manufacturing.

Lithium ion batteries are more compact than
nickel metal hydride batteries, contributing to
fuel efficiency. But safety concerns such as
overheating remain and the technology is still
considered too expensive by many. (Power News)

**

OPRERATING EVENTS: THE 2007 SBMS 2 GHZ AND UP CONTEST MAY 12 - 13

On the air, the 2007 San Bernardino Microwave
Society 2GHz and Up Club Contest runs from 6 a.m.
on May 12 to 8 p.m. May 13 local time. This is a
club competition in which members tally up their
scores and add them with other members' scores to
make up a club score. Logs go via regular mail
only to Pat Coker, N6RMJ, 40916 179th Street,
Lancaster CA 93535. For more information, rules
and past scores see the www.ham-radio.com/sbms (SBMS)

**

OPRERATING EVENTS: ARMAD HAM IT UP FOR THE TROOPS - MAY 26th

The next ARMAD will "Ham It Up For The Troops"
operating event takes on May 26, beginning at 9
a.m. Eastern time ARMAD has conducted this
special event for the past three years. It's
primary purpose is to let those that sacrifice
know that we support them. More about ARMAD and
the "Ham It Up For The Troops" event is on line at www.armad.net (ARMAD)

**

OPRERATING EVENTS: INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY

Several U-K special event stations will be on the
air April 28th to celebrate International Marconi
Day and hams world-wide are invited to make
contact. These stations will operate on or close
to sites where Marconi carried out experiments or
where Marconi equipment was used prior to his death in 1937.

Although the event is not a contest, participants
can qualify for award certificates by contacting
certain stations. Further information can be
found on the web at www.gb4imd.org.uk. (GB2RS)

**

OPRERATING EVENTS: SUBMARINES ON THE AIR

The weekend of April 28th and 29th is the
Submarines-On-The-Air Special Event. There will
be many submarine based stations on the air using
SSB and C-W on 80 through 10 meters. A special
certificate will be available for working 10 of
the boats. See http://w0oog.50megs.com/ for more information. (QRZ.com)

**

DX

In D-X, the Swains Island N-8-S DX-pedition made
over 115,000 contacts before going Q-R-T on April
15th. An on-line log check is available at
www.yt1ad.info/n8s/log.html where you just put in
your call to see if you are verified as having
worked the operation. Initial QSL cards for N8S
shoyuld be going out in about a month. That same
group should be back on the air from Samoa as 5W8AA as you hear this report.

DL9MWG will be active from Malta as 9H3RT from
April 18th through to the 11th of May. Activity
will be on HF, mainly CW. QSL as directed on the air.

And PA5CW will be active portable YB9 from Bali from April 25th to
May 10th . QSL this one to his Callbook address.

DL2GAC expects to be active from the Solomon
Islands until the 25th of April. No word on what
call sign he will be using or his schedule of operation as of this time

Lastly, DS4DRE, is currently active portable from
Hong Island. Word is that he will be there until
the 30th of June. Activity is on 80 through 10
meters on CW and SSB. QSL via his Callbook address.

(Above from various DX sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: THE MIT BIOSATELLITE PROGRAM - YOUR NAME IN SPACE

And finally this week, for hams and others who
cannot afford the million-dollar price tag
attached to space tourism, there is an
alternative. Just have your name and call go
into orbit. Amateur Radio Newsline's Evi Simons tells us how:

--

Hams will be happy to learn that at least their
names and callsigns may be able to travel into
space for a much smaller fee than that paid by
Charles Simmonyi, KE7KDP. It cost him $25
million dollars to visit the I-S-S, but for the
rest of us about $140 is a lot more
reasonable. And thanks to a group of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology students
working on the design of a small research
spacecraft to simulate the gravity found on Mars,
about 25,000 of us might be able to go into Earth
orbit, at least vicariously.

For the past five years, students from MIT's Mars
Gravity Biosatellite Program have worked together
with others from around the world to create a
satellite to study how Martian gravity will
affect mammals. They hope their work will pave
the way for future manned missions to Mars where
gravity is about one-third that here on
Earth. And to help fund the project they are
selling space on the bird for personal messages.

The entry price is just $35 for one square
centimeter of space. There will be at least
100,000 square centimeters of space available,
but in order to make the name legible donors will
need to buy at least four. That adds up to a
mere $140 which is about the street price of a new 2 meter mobile radio.

If you decide to buy in, your name, call and/or
logo will be printed on aluminum panels and
attached to the spacecraft. The satellite will
launch sometime in 2010 and remain on-orbit for 5
weeks. And after that you will be able to say
that at least your name and call made it into space.

I'm Evi Simons in New York City for the Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program is the
largest known student-led spacecraft design
agenda, with more than 450 student participants
from universities around the world. More about
it and how to buy space for your name is on-line
at www.marsgravity.org (Science Daily, Science OnLine, others)


**

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
Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is
. 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.

Two reminders before we go. First about our
on-line poll regarding your position on the
concept of Regulation by Bandwidth. To take
part, take your web browser
to www.arnewsline.org. Scroll down and watch for
the word "Polls" on the left hand side of the
page. Then click on the box that is closest to
your view. As soon as you cast your vote you will see the current results.

Also, the nominating season for this years
Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year
Award is now open. Any radio amateur age 18 or
younger residing in all 50 United States, plus
Puerto Rico and all 13 Canadian Provinces can
qualify. Full details and nominating forms are
on our special website at www,yhoty.org. Also
see the Vertex-Standard sponsored ad on page 8
of the March issue of QST Magazine.

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 2007. All rights reserved.