Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1690 - January 1, 2010

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1690 with a release date of
Friday, January 1, 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. A congressman wants every hertz of spectrum
cataloged for possible transfer to wireless broadband, the mayor of San
Francisco wants warning labels on cellphones, MARS gets a new mission
and the story on the record. Find out what we mean when we say on the
record on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1690 coming your way
right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESTRUCTURING: WIRELESS BROADBAND WANTS MORE SPEXCTRUM FTOM ANYONE

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, wireless devices are
transforming the way the world access the internet and even how people
interact with one another in every day life. But these devices also
chew up a lot of radio spectrum. Now wireless providers fear they are
in danger of running out of bandspace to expand current services and
introduce new ones. They want more frequencies and this could put
every radio service in a firefight to save their allocations and this
could include ham radio. We have more in this report from Norm Seeley,
KI7UP:

--

It's a well known fact that as mobile and hand-held wireless devices
become
more sophisticated, they transmit and receive more data over the
airwaves. But the radio spectrum is finite and cellphones, texting devices
and the like are only allotted a specific number of megahertz in which to
operate.

Now, with demand for broadband wireless growing at a rapid pace, the giant
telecommunications corporations say they need a lot more bandspace. At
least 800 Megahertz more of dedicated spectrum to start and the government
from the White House on down seems to agree that this is a need that must
be quickly met.

And where will this spectrum come from? That's exactly what one elected
official says that Congress needs to determine and do so right
now. Democratic Representative Rick Boucher of Virginia is sponsoring a
bill that would mandate a government inventory of all of the
airwaves. This to identify unused or underused bands that could be quickly
reallocated for wireless services.

Boucher who is the chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on
Communications, Technology and
the Internet says that it is not a question of whether we can find more
spectrum. Rather he says that we have to find more spectrum.

Because of this need, wireless companies are eyeing some frequencies used
by TV broadcasters, satellite telephone communications companies and even
federal agencies including the Pentagon. But several key wireless experts
note, any reallocation of spectrum from current users to wireless broadband
won't happen without a fight.

Broadcasters in particular have become very vocal of late in telling
government regulators that any attempt to usurp spectrum used by that
industry will be met with resistance. You can read that as likely a long
and drawn court battle that could drag on for years.

Other potential sources of frequencies are federal agencies that handle
everything from emergency communications to surveillance operations. But
agencies such as the Defense Department say that it needs spectrum for such
mission critical equipment as precision-guided weapons, advanced Radar
systems and drone aircraft. And while the government has vacated some
frequencies and is committed to finding compromises that work for the
government and commercial sector, it can only do this if it does not
jeopardize military capabilities or national security.

So why should all this concern ham radio? If you confine your operations
to the High Frequency bands or even 6 or 2 meters its not likely that any
proposed reallocation of spectrum would affect you. None of these bands
are very appealing to wireless service providers.

Its when you get to 200 MHz and above that the hunt will likely be focused
and right there lies the relatively silent 222 to 225 MHz
allocation. Above that is the 70 centimeter ham radio allocation which is
secondary to the Federal Government. If the government were to decide to
move completely out of 70 centimeters it could put a lot of weak signal
operators and repeaters in a fight to keep the spectrum on which they now
reside.

But likely the real losses would be up in the microwave range where hams
hold a lot of spectrum that to date is used mainly by experimenters. And a
lot of it sits adjacent to bands used by other services that might
eventually be pushed by government decree into moving elsewhere or simply
told to disband to make way for more wireless broadband services.

For amateur radio as an FCC licensed communications service this means
being vigilant about attempts at reallocations that might include any bands
that we use. It also means making certain that our ham radio political
leaders are aware that every hertz from DC to light will be under scrutiny
by both the wireless broadband industry and the government in the coming
months and years.

As Karl Nebbia, who is the head of the National Telecommunications and
Information Agency's Office of Spectrum Management points out: "For now,
one thing everyone agrees is that there are no easy pickings in the
airwaves."

And for the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from
Scottsdale, Arizona.

--

In reality, the real worry to amateur radio spectrum below 70 centimeters
is not from direct reallocation of ham bands to wireless broadband. If
spectrum is lost between 6 meters and 70 centimeters its will more likely
be because those services now using 1.2 GHz and above will need to find new
homes. Where will that spectrum come from? Likely from the lowest priority
users the FCC can find. Namely hams at 222 Mhz or even as low as 144 MHz
and above. (Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) and VHF Reflector from various
published reports.)

**

RADIO POLITICS VS. TECHNOLOGY: SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR WANTS RADIATION WARNING
NOTICES ON CELLPHONES

Meantime, the debate on whether cell phones should come with warning labels
saying they may cause brain cancer is heating up in ultra-liberal San
Francisco, California. That's where Mayor Gavin Newsom has made it known
that he wants such labels even though it will likely put that city at odds
with the Federal Communications Commission and the politically powerful
cellular telephone phone industry.

The San Francisco mayor is calling for cell phone boxes to carry warning
labels mush like cigarette packs. These would contain with what's called
the radiation absorption rate on humans for each model telephone being
merchandised in that city. This is the amount of energy that a person
might be exposed to by using a cellphone or similar device.

According to news reports, cellular telephone radiation is a growing
concern among politicians from coast-to-coast. A Maine state legislator
named Andrea Boland is sponsoring similar legislation that would be state
wide.

But the FCC says all cell phones sold in the United States are safe. And
even the prestigious American Cancer Society is on record as saying cell
phones are unlikely to cause cancer.

Cellular telephones only came into widespread use in the mid to late
1990's. Many researchers say it could be years if not decades before the
long term studies on these devices and any relation to them being a cause
of any form of cancer is complete. (SF OnLine)

**

PROPAGATION: ASTRONOMERS SAY 2009 WAS A BETTER YEAR FOR SUNSPOTS THAN 2008

According to several scientific journals, 2009 will fall short of 2008 's
record of days with no sunspots or other solar activity. Astronomers note
that the solar surface continues see occasional sunspots as we conclude a
very active December 2009. This they say insures that 2009 will fall
several days short of the 266 blank days of 2008 which was the year with
the greatest count of sunspot free days since 1913.

The astronomical community says that the overall solar flux continues to
gradually trend upward and there's every reason to believe the year 2010
will not dip below the low sunspot counts of the past three years. This
they say is based on the actual trends since September and not only
forecast data. They say that sunspot groups over the past three months
have emitted more flares of greater intensity than at any other time in
solar cycle 24. They believe that this is further evidence that the solar
disc is awakening from its extended sunspot sleep. What the researchers
cannot or won't promise is better High Frequency DX conditions which
usually accompanies increased solar activity. (Science OnLine)

**

BREAK 1

Wishing you a Happy New Year 2010, from the United States of America, we
are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world
including the AA4ED repeater serving Broward County, Florida.

(5 sec pause here)


**

WITH NEWSLINE: ARNEWSLINE BOD MEETING JANUARY 10

Amateur Radio Newsline will be holding its annual Board of Directors
Meeting by teleconference on Sunday, January 10th and we are looking for
listener and reader input on how we can improve the weekly newscast and the
Newsline sponsored Young Ham of the Year Award. If you have suggestions
please e-mail them to us at Newsline at ARNewsline dot org before January
3rd. This will give us time to look your ideas over for possible
discussion in the meeting agenda. Again the meeting is Sunday, January
10th and we sincerely welcome your ideas. (ARNewsline(tm))

**

RESCUE RADIO: MARS GETS A NEW MISSION

The former Military Affiliate Radio System has been re-christened as the
Military Auxiliary Radio System and has been charged with a new mission in
the area of Homeland Security. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the details:

--

Yes, MARS does have a new mission. On Wednesday, December 23, the
Department of Defense issued an official instruction concerning MARS that
is effective immediately. This Instruction gives the three MARS services
-- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps a new focus and their first major
revision since January 26, 1988.

In the past, MARS had focused primarily on emergency communications and
health and welfare support. The DoD's Instruction now directs the three
MARS services to provide contingency radio communications to support US
government operations, Department of Defense components and civil
authorities at all levels. This in providing for national security and
emergency preparedness events.

MARS units will still continue to provide health and welfare communications
support to military members, civilian employees and other designated groups
when in remote or isolated areas, in contingencies or whenever
appropriate. However, MARS must also be capable of operation in radio only
modes without telephone service or access to the Interne. Also, it must be
sustainable on emergency power when public utility power has failed. Also,
some MARS stations must be transportable for timely
deployment. Unfortunately, the Instruction does not mention or direct
which of the three MARS services will take the lead when responding to
events.

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

--

The Department of Defense defines a "military auxiliary" as "an organized
body of volunteers prepared to supplement the uniformed services or any
designated civilian authorities by provision of specialized autonomous
services when called upon or when situations warrant. It gives the Civil
Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary as examples of auxiliaries. A more in
depth article on this changes to MARS is at the ARRL's website at
www.arrl.org. (KA5S, ARRL, others)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KIDS DAY ON THE GROUND AND ON AO-51

The first of two 2010 Kids Day operating events takes place on Sunday,
January the 3rd and this year it will be in space as well as on the
ground. This is because AMSAT North America and the AMSAT Oscar 51
Operations Group will be making that ham-sat available for this twice year
fun operation.

The terrestrial version of Kids Day takes place from 1800 to 2400 UTC. The
ARRL suggests using the following frequencies for Kids Day QSO's: 28.350
to 28.400 MHz, 24.960 to 24.980 MHz, 21.360 to 21.400 MHz, 18.140 to 18.145
MHz, 14.270 to 14.300 MHz, 7.270 to 7.290 MHz, 3.740 to 3.940 MHz, as well
as your favorite 2-meter repeater with permission of the repeater's
sponsor. In space, AMSAT has announced that its AO-51 satellite will be
configured with its uplink at 145.880 MHz FM voice and the Downlink at
435.300 MHz, also FM voice. In either case, please be sure to observe
third-party restrictions when making DX QSO's.

The Kids Day operating event is not a contest. It's a way to tell
children
worldwide about the magic and mystery of two way hobby radio
communications. To do this, Amateur radio stations are being asked to
devote this short time window to promote the terrestrial hobby and ham
radio satellite operations to youngsters This, by providing a place to
make contacts with other Kids Day stations around the world.

More information is on-line at www.arrl.org. To find it just use the
search feature with the words Kids Day. (AMSAT NA, ARRL, others)

**

OPERATING AWARDS: THE NORTH SCOTLAND YAESU HERITAHE AWARD

2010 has been named Yaesu Heritage Year by the North Scotland Contest Group
as they take to the air with the special event callsign GS2MP. Operators
GM3WOJ and GM0NAI will be using their vintage Yaesu transmitters, receivers
and transceivers during the whole year and sporting a different Yaesu built
radio each.

Operation will mostly be on 40 and 20 meters, SSB and CW, using classic
radios like the FT-dx-100 , FT-200 and FT-dx-401 to name only a few. Yaesu
UK Ltd. is sponsoring the event and supplying special QSL cards, small
trophies and a special prize to the overall winner. Hams worldwide are
invited to work GS2MP and earn points towards the Yaesu Heritage Year
Award.

For more details, please visit www.gm7v.com/yaesu2010.htmb on the World
Wide Web. (Southgate)

**

RADIO EDUCATION: RADIO SOCIETY IN WALES RECEIVES TRAINING GRANT

The Welsh Aberdare and District Amateur Radio Society has been presented a
£5,000 (pound) grant from the Awards for All Wales fund. The cash will be
used by the group to provide training facilities, materials, equipment and
projects for students wishing to undertake a course leading to a Radio
Communications Foundation, Intermediate or Advanced accredited examination.

The society was formed in March 2009 and has around 20 members. It has
already helped five people whose ages ranged from 14 to 65 through the
Foundation License and there are currently two more students preparing for
their examinations. The group has also obtained two recognized tutors for
all levels of the amateur radio license preparation and has been designated
as an official examination center. A spokesman says that some money will
be spent on equipment to upgrade the existing station to add new or
190-wales
additional modes. (WalesOnline)

**

HAM RADIO SCOUTING: A SUMMER QRP SCOUTING TREK DOWN UNDER

And while it may be cold and wintry in the Northern Hemisphere, down under
its summertime and some Scouts in Australia have decided to take a hike and
bring ham radio with them. Not only that, these scouts want to make
contact with you. Jim Linton, VK3PC, of the WIA News has the rest of the
story:

--

Four members of the Scout Australia, Victorian Branch Scout Radio and
Electronics Service Unit will be hiking the French Island National Park
southeast of Melbourne and operate the scout callsign VK3SAT for the Keith
Roget Memorial National Parks Award.

Peter Fraser VK3ZPF, Hayden McManus VK3FRST, Marcus Berglund VK3TST and
Adam Scammell VK3YDF will be on air 0400 UTC on 9 January until 0100 UTC 10
January.

The bands proposed are 80m, 40m, and 20m using wire antennas strung in the
low trees on the island. As the team has to carry everything in backpacks
to the camping ground the transceivers are to operate a maximum of 15w PEP
will be powered from small sealed lead acid batteries.

VK3SAT hopes to make many contacts and will be QRV as long as the battery
power lasts. Details of the Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award can
be found on the Amateur Radio Victoria website in cyberspace at
www.amateurradio.com.au

I'm Jim Linton VK3PC and you're listening to the Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

15 watts from backpack radios into makeshift antennas in the Australian
wilderness is going to make this one a hard contact to snare no matter
where in the world you may live. (WIA News)

**

HAM RADIO ON THE WEB: HAMTUBE.COM WEBSITE FOR SALE

The popular hamradiotube.com website is up for sale. According to an
announcement on the website by its owner Donald Dubuque, W4DJD, operating
costs coupled with a lack of donations from the viewing public have lead
him to make the decision to divest himself of the site.

To quote Dubuque's website posting: "These types of sites don't run
cheap. It takes money to keep the bandwidth and storage that videos
require."

Hamradiotube.com is an amateur radio only version of the YouTube.com web
operation. W4DJD says that he enjoys running the site and that he is sad
to let it go. If you have the financial means to take it over, please
contact W4DJD at his callbook address. (Southgate, HamradioTube)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: WHITE HOUSE NAMES W7HAS AS NEW CYBERSECURITY COORDINATOR

Some names in the news. The White House has named Professor Howard A.
Schmidt, W7HAS, of Issaquah, Washington as its new Cybersecurity
Coordinator.

A long time public servant, Schmidt became interested in computer forensics
as a police officer. He started working with the Air Force in the early
1990's when he was called upon to assist the Office of Special
Investigations to assist in countering hackers trying to penetrate
Department of Defense systems.

In addition to his work with the Air Force, W7HAS served as an information
security advisor to the government for more than 30 years working for the
FBI and the Bush administration after the September 11, 2001 terror
attacks on U-S soil. He left the public sector in 2003 to join eBay.
Schmidt was also the first chief security officer at Microsoft and a
co-founder of the company's Trustworthy Computing initiative.

Howard Schmidt holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a
master's degree in organizational management from the University of
Phoenix. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate degree in Humane Letters. In
addition to amateur radio, he is an avid Harley Davidson rider, private
pilot, fisherman and outdoorsman.

In his new position he will have regular access to the President and serve
as a key member of his National Security Staff. He will also work closely
with the President's economic team to ensure that cybersecurity efforts
keep the United States both secure and prosperous. (Published news reports)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: CANADIAN ARTIST WANTS TO PAINT COMMUNICATIONS IN SOUND

A Canadian artist who works primarily with sound and vision is inviting
radio amateurs with good HF capabilities to take part in an audio art
project on 20 meters. Kapwani Kiwanga, will transmit a message on 20
meters from Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to territories that have a historic
link with Holland. These include such places as Surinam, Indonesia, and
South Africa.

Participants in these countries will be asked to re-transmit the received
message back to her in Eindhoven. Kiwanga will transmit it back to and so
on and so on. This ping-pong effect will increasingly distort the message
finally resulting in an abstract artistic sound recording.

Kiwanga says that she would like to get started on this project as soon as
possible. If you would like to take part in it, please e-mail her to
kiwangakap (at) hotmail (dot) com or call her on 0031 617 638 920. Also,
please copy the South African Radio Leage News at which is
following this rather interesting ham radio art creation come to be. (SARL)

**


BREAK 2

Wishing you a Happy New Year 2010. 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)

**

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: EXPLORER KNUT HAUGLAND LA3KY - SK

The changing of the guard in Amateur Radio continues. This, with the sad
news that Knut M. Haugland, LA3KY, the last surviving member of the crew
that crossed the Pacific Ocean in 1947 on board the balsa wood raft the Kon
Tiki has died at age 92.

Knut Haugland was a former Norwegian resistance fighter and explorer who
was honored with Norway's Norways's highest decoration for military
gallantry, the War Cross with sword, for helping prevent the German nuclear
program from acquiring heavy water to make weapons during World War
2. Similar honors were also bestowed upon him by Great Britain and France.

After the war ended he joined the Kon Tiki ocean going raft expedition of
Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, as one of its radio
operators. The Kon-Tiki eventually sailed 4,900 miles from Peru to
Polynesia in 101 days to prove Heyerdahl's theory that ancient mariners
may
have migrated across ocean stretches.

According to Wikipedia, during the Kon Tiki Pacific crossing Haugland and
fellow crew member Torstein Raaby were in frequent radio contact with
American amateur operators. Much of the communications consisted of
sending meteorological and hydrographic data to be passed on to the
Meteorological Institute in Washington, DC.. Despite the tiny radio which
had an output of only 6 watts they managed to contact radio operators in
Norway, even sending a telegram to congratulate King Haakon VII on his 75th
birthday. Haugland also played himself in the 1950 documentary film about
the Kon-Tiki voyage.

The passing of LA3KY was announced by the director of the Kon-Tiki Museum
who said that Haughland died in an Oslo hospital on Friday, December
25th. (KC5FM, N6BQD)

**

WITH NEWSLINE: ANDY JAREMA, N6TCQ MEMORIAL ON JANUARY 23rd

A memorial celebrating the life of former Amateur Radio Newsline treasurer
Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, is slated for Saturday, January 23rd in Glendale,
California. As regular listeners know, Andy passed away from multiple
organ failure just before noon on Tuesday, November 24th. In keeping with
Andy's wishes this memorial to be co-hosted by his sister Ann and his life
companion Judy Hurst will be upbeat and a reflection of the way Andy lived
his life. (ARNewsline(tm))

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NANOCOMPUTING

The new year brings with it some new advances in nano technology as we hear
from Jim Davis, W2JKD:

--

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: BIOELECTRIC ADVANCES TO INORIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND
COMPUTING

Combining nanoelectric transistors with bioelectric machinery could soon
lead to improved electronic, computing and communications products. So say
researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where they have
devised what they term as a versatile hybrid platform that uses lipid
coated nanowires to build prototype bionanoelectronic apparatus.

While modern communication and data processing devices rely on electric
fields and currents to carry the flow of information, biological systems
are much more complex. They use an arsenal of membrane receptors, channels
and pumps to control signal transduction. This the scientists claim is a
system of internal signal flow unmatched by even the most powerful
computers.

Human is cited as a primary example. The researchers note that conversion
of sound waves into nerve impulses is a very complicated process, yet the
human ear has no trouble performing it.

They add that the mingling biological components in electronic circuits
could enhance biosensing and diagnostic tools, advance neural prosthetics
such as cochlear implants, and could even increase the efficiency of future
computers.

The research appeared in the online version of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences and more recently in Science Daily. You can
read it at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0811091834.htm

--

Truly a case where the smaller is the better for all of mankind. (Science
Daily)

**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: 7th ANNUAL STRANGE DX CONVENTION APRIL 17

Only two items on the ham radio social calendar this week. The 7th
International DX Convention organized by the Strange Radio Team will be
held April 17th and 18th in Italy. The venue is Paestum near Salerno which
is billed as a fantastic archeological area and tourist site. Access by
air is through the Napoli Capodichino Airport. More information will soon
be on-line at strangeradioteam.com/idxc (Strange Radio Team)

**

THE SOCIAL SCENE: EMCOMMWEST SEEKS SPEAKERS

The 2010 EMCOMMWEST ham radio convention to be held April 30th to May 2nd
at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, is looking for speakers.

EMCOMMWEST is an annual forum for radio amateurs to discuss the latest
emergency communication techniques, learn what served agencies need and
requirements are as well as learning about both the successes and failures
from those directly involved in emergency communications work.

Because of this presentations should be in some way emergency
communications related. If you would like to speak at this event, please
send an e-mail to . In return you will be sent a
speakers application that allows potential speakers a place for a short
description of your proposed talk as well as an opportunity for you to
categorize it.

And less we forget. EMCOMMWEST is recognized by the ARRL as an Operating
Specialty Convention. The event's website is www.emcommwest.org (KQ6FM)

**


HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARIS MEETS TO DISCUSS HAM RADIO IN SPACE ISSUES

Tuesday, December 15th saw a meeting of the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station working group. Agenda items addressed included
the VHF Automatic Identification System and the new ARISS antennas which
were recently installed on the Columbus module. Also discussed at this
gathering was the status of ARISSat-1 whose deployment has been delayed
until later in 2010. This comes after , NASA informs AMSAT that the
schedule of work for space walks or EVA's at the International Space
Station is being revised. (ANS)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NEW CANADIAN ARISS WEB PAGE

And a new Canadian Web page has been developed to promote the Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station or ARISS program. The page is sponsored
by the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club and is located in cyberspace
www.ovmrc.on.ca. Just select "ARISS" at the bottom of the left hand side
menu. (Press Release)

**


DX

In DX, word that DC0KK, is active until January 7th as from Sri Lanka as
4S7KKG. Operations are on all HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK and
WSJT. QSL via DC0KK, direct or by the Bureau.

W2APF will be traveling on board the ship 'National Geographic Explorer'
heading to the Antarctica region between February 8th to March 5th. He is
expected to be operating as W2APF/C6A/MM while on board the ship. In the
Antarctic territories he will be signing W2APF/KC4 and VP8DML while in the
territory of the Falkland Islands. QSL all of this activity via W2APF.

N6QEK will be active portable VY1 from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory through
January 4th. Listen out for him on all bands between 80 through 10 meters
using RTTY, PSK31 and SSB. His main goal is to activate the Yukon
Territory for the ARRL RTTY Roundup Contest on January 2nd and 3rd. QSL
direct to his home call or via Global QSL.

Lastly, looking ahead to next spring, the Midwest 6 Meter DX Group will
operate stroke J 8 on 6 meters from Bequia Island between June 28th and
July 5th. QSL via KB3RHR.

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: HOW RECORDS WERE MADE

And finally this week, have you ever wonder how records were made. We are
talking records as in phonograph not computer files. Amateur Radio
Newsline Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, knows because he has seen the movie:

--

Running almost 24 minutes, the movie is called "The Sound and the
Story." And it is the story of the record industry as told back in 1956 by
RCA when it was one of the worlds biggest producers of phonograph records,
record players and associated products.

"The Sound and the Story" follows the process of making a 33-1/3 RPM
"Long Play" or "LP" record, from original recording to first its play on a
consumer record player. The movie begins with a lesson in early recording
technology including the mastering on an early Ampex tape machine that's
fed by a crude by today's standards recording console used back then. It
in turn is fed by a number of RCA ribbon microphones of the type we have
all seen at radio museums or for sale on-line on eBay. The show also
touches on practices such as multiple takes and terms such as dynamic
range, though with little explanation of what any of this means.

The exacting and surprisingly complex methods used in crafting the record
"master" and the process of stamping the platters are illustrated in great
detailed. Additionally there is an explanation of the distribution system
that was used at RCA's Indianapolis plant, which also supplied the roots of
the RCA Music Service and other similar operations. These operations -- as
we all know -- are now just memories of an era gone by.

"The Sound and the Story" clearly was aimed at the general audience with
viewers of the film will also learning that RCA really took its end to end
record quality control very seriously. However, those with experience in
the record industry or the technically curious will have much to entertain
them for the 20 some odd minutes that this show plays.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the studio
in the City of Angels.

--

"The Sound and the Story" would make an excellent program for radio club
viewing if a tape, DVD or even a projectable 16 millimeter film print were
to be made available. Meantime you can enjoy this piece of electronic
nostalgia on-line at www.archive.org/details/SoundAndTheS to enjoy. (RCA)


**

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
. 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), 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350

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

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.