Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1729 - October 1 2010
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1729 with a release date of Friday, October 1 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC comes to the aid of a ham who is being bothered by is neighbors consumer electronic products, a scout troop is rescued after a call for help by ham radio and the United States takes some top prizes in the now concluded World Championship of Amateur Radio Direction Finding games. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1729 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC COMES TO AID OF HAM SUFFERING INTERFERENCE The Federal Communications Commission has come to the aid of a ham radio operator who has been suffering interference believed to be coming from a neighbor's home. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, is here with the details:: -- In its September 3rd letter to the unidentified homeowner, FCC's Special Counsel Laura Smith wrote that the agency had received a complaint that an electrical device, possibly a faulty doorbell transformer, apparently located on the homeowners property may be causing harmful radio interference to a near-by ham radio operators station. In her letter, Smith noted that the agency's rules state that if the interference is caused by faulty consumer equipment the FCC has the responsibility to require that such problems be rectified within a reasonable time. She noted that under FCC rules, certain types of equipment are classified as "unintentional radiators." These are devices that generate radio frequency energy but do not intentionally radiate it. Some common examples include computers, radio receivers and television sets. She went on to note that some of these devices are imported and do not comply with Commission certification standards, and thereby result in interference to other radio services. Smith continued by telling the homeowner that if the source of the interference is an unintentional radiator and if the device has FCC approval, that it should have a silver FCC label on the unit showing a certification number. But writes Smith, even an approved device can only be operated legally if it is not causing harmful interference to a licensed radio service. Smith notes that the ham who filed the complaint has attempted unsuccessfully to resolve this problem and as a result the matter has been referred to her office. She goes on to warn the homeowner that while the Commission has confidence that most people are able to resolve these issues voluntarily, it wants to make the homeowner aware that this unresolved problem may be a violation of the agency's rules and could result in a monetary forfeiture or fine for each occurrence. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from Scottsdale, Arizona -- Smith then gave the homeowner the customary 30 days to advise her office as to what steps have been taken to correct this interference problem. The entire letter to the homeowner is on-line at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions...9_21_5201.html (FCC) ** RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO COORDINATES ARIZONA SCOUT RESCUE Authorities say a Phoenix Arizona Boy Scout troop had been rescued near the city of Prescott. This after radioing for help via amateur radio. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office says one troop became stranded in the Pine Mountain Wilderness. The scouts were reportedly close to running out of drinking water and one scout had fallen ill when they radioed for help. According to a newspaper account, one troop leader was able to relay G-P-S coordinates to a Prescott resident received the troop's call for assistance on his ham radio station. He in turn notified county authorities. The scouts were rescued by a state Department of Public Safety helicopter on Saturday night, September 25th. Authorities say the scouts and the their leaders were all in good condition and did not require medical attention. The scouting troop included two adults and six children under the age of 15. They were in the mountains with other scout teams, learning to use signal mirrors in case of an emergency and climb different peaks to signal one another. But in the end it was ham radio rather than mirrors that lead to their rescue. Due to the ages of those involved, no names or call signs were included in news stories on this Arizona mountain rescue. (Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, KOLD-TV) ** RADIO POLITICS: DXCC AND THE DISSOLUTION OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLIES Turning to the geo-political scene, when the Netherlands Antilles is dissolved on October 10th, it will have a major impact on amateur radio in general and the ARRL's DXCC awards program in particular. Now, in a statement released by the ARRL, the League says that to clarify the administrative process by which the anticipated changes to the two existing Netherlands Antilles DXCC entities will be made, the ARRL Awards Committee has determined the following policies. First, at 0400 UTC on October 10th, the two current Netherlands Antilles DXCC entities will be deleted. At the exact same time, operation from the islands of Curacao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius will count for a yet-to-be-determined number of new entities. This, under the DXCC List Rule 1 for Criteria and Political Entities, and/or Geographic Rule 2. The latter deals with Separation of Entities. When the Awards Committee determines what Rule 1 or Rule 2 actions apply in each case, it will announce the final disposition of the entities on the DXCC list. Finally, the DXCC desk says that it will not accept confirmations for these new entities until after January 1st, 2011. (ARRL, various DX newsletters) ** RADIO LAW: HEMPSTEAD NY ALL BUT BANS NEW CELLPHONE TOWERS A town in suburban New York has imposed restrictions on the placement of new cellular telephone towers that are said to be among the toughest in the United States. The town of Hempstead, just east of New York City on Long Island, is a notable example on a list of municipalities tightening rules on where cell phone companies can place antennas. Despite a 1996 federal law prohibiting municipalities from considering health issues in approving locations for cellular antennas, a group of mothers concerned about what they consider risky cell towers outside their children's schools successfully lobbied the town of Hempstead. The town board claims that it adhered to FCC regulations to not consider possible health effects by instead describing the vote as a quality of life issue. The ordinance passed unanimously by the Hempstead town board prohibits wireless companies from installing equipment closer than 1,500 feet to homes, day care centers, schools and houses of worship, unless they submit compelling evidence that there is an absolute need. The town has also hired Richard Comi of the Center for Municipal Solutions as a consultant to review applications of cellular companies seeking to install new antennas or towers. Comi's company advises municipalities in 32 states on cellular tower regulations. A spokesman for one cellular provider told the press that ther new Hempstead ordenance effectively bans new cellular site construction in that township. Some observers believe that the cellular industry will have no choice other than to challenge the legality of this new Hempstead law through the Federal courts. And while there is no mention of any other radio service being impacted by the Hempstead ordinace there arre no exemptions either. (LINewswire, KB6NU, WV9QZB) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WB9AET repeater serving Chicago Illinois. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIOSPORTS: THE WORLD T-HUNT CHAMPIONSHIP A group of transmitter hunters from the USA is returning from Croatia with some medals for their efforts. Newsline's Joe Moell, K0OV has the full report. -- The world championship of Amateur Radio Direction Finding, also called ARDF and radio-orienteering, has just concluded. It took place in beautiful forests near the Adriatic Sea coast of Croatia. According to rules of the International Amateur Radio Union, competitors had to find up to five transmitters on courses that were up to 4 miles point-to-point. They had maps and compasses, but the transmitters weren't marked on the map, of course. 386 radio-orienteers from 32 countries took part, including 14 from the USA. Our team's ages ages ranged from 25 to 68. On the first of two competition days, Karla Leach KC7BLA of Bozeman, Montana and Ruth Bromer WB4QZG of Raleigh, North Carolina took silver medals in the team competition for women over age 60 on the 80-meter band. They didn't actually team up on the course -- that's not allowed. Everyone must find the transmitters individually, with no help. But their combined scores were second only to the Russian team's, and that's how team winners are determined. It's an excellent showing, because the Russians and other east Europeans such as Ukrainians and Czechs have been doing this for fifty years and have help from the government and the military. On the other hand, this is only USA's 7th trip to the World Championships. On the second competition day, George Neal KF6YKN captured a bronze medal in the category for men ages 50 through 59 on 80 meters. This is George's second medal for the USA -- he got one two years ago at the World Championships in Korea. Team USA members earned their positions by being the best at the USA national championships last year in Boston and this spring near Cincinnati. Watch for the announcement of next year's national championships, which I will be making soon. Meanwhile, you can read more about the team and see photos of them in action at www.homingin.com. That's HOMINGIN, as one word. From southern California this is Joe Moell, K0OV for Amateur Radio Newline. -- Our congratulations to the winners and all who took part in this international T-Hunting event. (K0OV, ARNewsline(tm)) ** RADIO LOSS: HAM STATION APPARENTLY CAUGHT IN COLORADO FIRE What may have been a large contest or DX station appears to have been lost in a fire burning last week in Colorado. Those watching the Weather Channel report to have seen video footage of a house burning. As the camera on board the news helicopter widened its shot there were three towers and antennas clearly visible on the property. At airtime, there's been no conclusive identity as to whom the house and the towers belonged to. (Various sources) ** RADIO LAW: FCC APPROVES USE OF WHITE SPACES FOR LONG RANGE WIFI The Federal Communications Commission has approved the use of unlicensed broadcast spectrum known as "white spaces" that the agency hopes will amount to longer-range Wi-Fi-like connections for mobile devices. In a unanimous vote on Thursday, September 23rd, the five-member FCC said the unused spectrum between TV stations will be used for such mobile broadband services in the hope of providing improved service to consumers on the go. Technology companies including Google and Microsoft had advocated the concept while it was generally opposed by broadcasters and entertainment venues. The latter had had hoped for the same spectrum for wireless microphones displaced from other bands. Instead, the Commission reserved two vacant UHF channels for wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary service devices in all areas of the country. (CGC, PostTech.com) ** COMMUNICATIONS SCAMS: THE MALWARE SCAM DOWN UNDER A computer scam involving criminals targeting random computer users has been discovered in Australia, but could easily spread world-wide. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA News has the story about how these swindlers work: - The scam involves a victim receiving a phone call from a person purporting to represent well known computer company, most commonly Microsoft or a company contracted by Microsoft telling the person they have a problem with their computer. The caller outlines the victim's computer is infected with a virus that has been brought to the company's attention -often via the Microsoft fault reporting process. The caller then offers to assist the victim and will "fix the problem" by directing them to a website where the caller remotely takes over the victim's computer. The representative then shows the victim the "issues" with their computer and suggests they pay a fee to have the problem fixed or need to purchase software to prevent this from happening in the future. This is all just a scam. Microsoft has confirmed they are not cold-calling members of the community regarding viruses, computer problems or any other issue. Quite simply, these offenders are just looking to trick you into giving them money," Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the Queensland Crime Operations Command's Fraud and Corporate Crime Group said. Giving someone you don't know remote access to your computer is basically the same as handing your credit card details over to them. With this access, an offender can easily search your computer for banking or personal details or quite easily load Malware or Trojan software onto your computer. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, of the WIA news reporting frim Ausrralia. - The bottom line: No matter where you are in the world, if you get a call from anyone telling you that your computer has a virus or some other problem with it, just tell them to get lost and hang up the phone. And if such a warning comes in the form of an e-mail, never under any circumstances click on a provided link. Instead, simply delete the message. You, your computer and your wallet will be happy that you did. (WIA News) ** RADIO HAPPENINGS: NOT A LOT OF CELLPHONE FM RADIO USE The National Association of Broadcasters has found that very few cellular handsets that have FM radio chips in them have activated the feature. In a study commissioned by NAB's Fastroad technology advocacy program and conducted by Insight Research, the trade group wanted to know how many cell phones with activated FM radio chips were sold in the U.S. in 2008 and 2009. NAB also wanted an estimate of the prospects for FM enabled cell phones and other hand-held devices in the future. In its findings, Insight Research estimates that in 2008, 6% of the handsets sold in the U.S. were FM-enabled. This increased to about 9.5% in 2009. A previous NAB study looked at the market in 2007 and estimated that 8% of wireless devices shipped had an FM radio chip installed, though not necessarily activated. Though several manufacturers have integrated FM into their cell phones, the only way to know for sure the percent of handsets with an installed FM chip would be to match each handset with its associated chipset. That would require reverse engineering of all handsets on the market in 2008 and 2009. According to Insight; that was beyond the scope of this study. (RW) ** RESCUE RADIO: HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT BRINGS RACES TO COUNTY DISPATCH CENTER A Home Land Security grant is making it possible for the Ionia County Michigan Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services to acquire new equipment and move in to an office located at the County Central Dispatch Center. Roger Packard, KD8KLUI, is the RACES and Amateur Radio Emergency Services Emergency Coordinator for Ionia County. He says that this new gear gives his group the capability to talk locally, within the state and quite literally around the world. According to the Ionia Centinal Standard, equipment began arriving last week. It adds that the Ionia County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services is getting the gear un-boxed and ready for operation. The newspaper added that with the amateur radio groups and emergency service organizations in Ionia County working together, it allows for more information to be gathered, and this in turn helps to keep the area safe. (Ionia Centinal Standard) ** RADIO BUSINESS: HEIL SOUND INAUGURATES LIVE CHAT SUPPORT LINK Heil Sound now has Live Chat support available. Typical on-line hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific USA Time. Amateur Radio Newsline talked with Chip Margelli, K7JA, who is the Vice President of Amateur Radio Sales and Marketing for Heil Sound shortly after the service came on-line He says that Heil Sound is very pleased to be able to provide this new service to its dealers and customers: -- K7JA: "Its been really great. This morning in fact, when the service first came up we received inquiries from Canada, from France and from the UK. And it was really gratifying to - number one that people were able to pick up on it that quickly and secondly that we were able to help somebody so that they would not have to make an overseas phone call in the case of the folks from Europe." -- Chip says that there is a Live Chat link that is located at www dot heilsound dot com stroke amateur. Just click on it and the link will take you directly to the company's support line. (Heil Sound) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: RAC ELECTION RESULTS Radio Amateurs of Canada has announced the re-election of several of its Directors for another two year term beginning on January 1st, 2011. Elected are William Gipps, VE7ISV and VE7XS as the Radio Amateurs of Canada Director for British Columbia and the Yukon; Derek Hay, VE4HAY as Director for Midwest; Bill Unger, VE3XT, as the Director for Ontario North East and Everett Price, VO1DK who will serve as Director for Atlantic. All ran unopposed eliminating the need for a balloted election. (VO1PRB) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: AA2TX REPLACES N6GHZ ON AMSAT BOD A big surprise on the AMSAT Board of Directors. This with the announcement that Bill Ress, N6GHZ, has tendered his resignation from the Board effective September 20th. In his letter of resignation Ress noted that his business demands are leaving him with very little extra time to properly serve as a member of the AMSAT Board. In accordance with AMSAT By-Laws, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX as First Alternate will immediately assume the position of Director until the next Board election in 2011. Monteiro also serves as AMSAT's Vice President of Engineering. (WA4SCA) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: K3LR NAMED TO RECEIVE RCA 2010 BARRY GOLDWATER AMATEUR RADIO AWARD And the Radio Club of America has announced that Tim Duffy, K3LR, will be the recipient of its Barry Goldwater Amateur Radio Award. The Goldwater Award is given to an RCA member in recognition of a long record of service to the public through the use of Amateur Radio. Duffy joins Richard G. Somers, W6NSV, who, as reported last week has been named to receive the Radio Club of America's Special Recognition Award. Both Duffy and Sommers will receive their honors at the organizations 101st annual Awards Banquet to be held November 19th in New York City. Duffy will also be inducted as an RCA Fellow this year. (RCA) ** 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) ** THE CONTEST CORNER: PA QSO PARTY OCT 9 - 10 From the contest corner comes word that the 2010 Pennsylvania QSO Party is literally right around the corner. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramovich, N-T-3-V is here with the details: - They call it "the friendly party" because operators here in Pennsylvania are helpful on the bands in letting others work rare stations and counties, even if they happen to be holding the frequency. Michael Coslo, N3LI, vice president of the Nittany Amateur Radio Club and manager of the PA QSO Party, says he's expecting lots of activity for the contest the weekend of Oct. 9 and 10. Coslo says for those who have worked the PA party in the past, there is one significant change in the scoring. "We got rid of the 1.5 point QSOs for CW. We've changed that to 2 points for each CW QSO," Coslo says. It used to be only 80-meter CW QSOs were valued at 2 points. Coslo says the change was recommended and made because it will make it easier to log and compile the final score sheets. Coslo says there will also be a special event station on the air worth 200 points for each contact. "The Skyview Radio Society will be operating under K3MJW and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, which is a large part of why we had them do that," Coslo says. "And, they also are recovering very nicely from disaster that hit them last year in October when they had some early snowfalls which took a lot of their antennas out." Coslo says the club is based in Westmoreland County in western Pennsylvania, but also is planning to send out some stations to rare counties nearby. So, if you've never worked a state QSO party, this is one worth trying out. Hope to hear you on the air. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia. - For more on this fun event just take your web browser to www.tinyurl.com/paqso (NT3V) ** RADIO IN SPACE: THE NEW SOLAR SAIL PROJECT Turning to radio news from space, word that the Planetary Society is building a spacecraft that will sail on sunlight alone and hopes to have it completed by the end of 2010. The new solar sail project, boosted by a one-million-dollar anonymous donation, is the beginning of an innovative program that will eventually launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several years. The program starts with LightSail-1, which will demonstrate that sunlight can propel a spacecraft in Earth orbit. LightSail 2 and 3, more ambitious and aim to reach farther into space. Sailing on light pressure from lasers rather than sunlight is the only known technology that might carry out practical interstellar flight, helping pave our way to the stars. The project also has many practical applications that include The solar sail propulsion is simple in concept. Light photons bounce onto a mirror-like aluminized Mylar sail. As each photon hits, its momentum is transmitted to the spacecraft. Photons have no mass but lots of energy, so a solar sail space probe requires no onboard fuel. The force acts continuously, meaning a solar sail can eventually reach speeds five to ten times greater than any chemical rocket. Some of the objects of the new solar sail project include monitoring the Sun for solar storms, providing stable Earth observation platforms, and exploring our solar system without carrying heavy propellants. For more information on this fascinating project take your web browser to www.tinyurl.com/solarsailing (Planetary Society, VK7TL) ** ON THE AIR: ROYAL NAVAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS On the air, word that the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with the special event callsign GB50RN on the air through October 9th. The station will operate on CW and SSB on 80 through 10 meters and on FM locally on the 2 meter and 70 cm bands. A special Anniversary Award is available to listeners and licensed amateurs who hear or contact Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society members and the special event station during the remainder of 2010. Full details can be found on the society website at www.rnars.org.uk. (GB2RS, Southgate) ** DX In DX, K8ND and W9VA will be the first team to arrive at Signal Point Station on Curacao between October 10th and 18th, just before the October 10th date of dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles to operate stroke PJ2. The callsign PJ2T will be used after 0400 UTC on October 10th, when Curacao becomes an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. QSL via reach operators home callsign. KM0O will be operational stroke 9M6 from East Malaysia between November 26th and the 30th. His main activity will be the CQWW DX CW Contest on November 27th and 28th as a Single-Operator All Band entry. QSL to KM0O via his information on QRZ.com or electronically using Logbook of the world. AA5UK will be operational portable EA6 from Ibiza in the Baleric Islands from October 16th to the 27th. His activity will be holiday style on 160 through 10 meters using mostly SSB and various Digital modes. Also, look for satellite operation on various birds. QSL to his home call direct, via the bureau or electronically using either Logbook of the World or eQSL. DG5MMW will be active as stroke 3B8 from Mauritius Island between November 1st and the 6th. His operation will likely be holiday style on the HF bands. QSL to his home call direct or via the bureau. And for those of you who have been asking for a definition of the term holiday style, it means the operator is likely on vacation and will not plan an y specific hour of the day or day of the week to take to the air. Lastly, N3QQ plans to activate two rare locations within the next few weeks. His plans are to travel to Enewetak Atoll on October 9th. He will likely operate from Enewetak between October 12th to the 15th and then travel to Ujelang Atoll which has never been on the air. He plans to activate that rock from October 16th to the 19th. His requested callsigns are 73RRC for Ujelang Island and V73QQ for Enewetak Island. N3QQ adds that plans on this one are subject to change with little or no notice. Again, QSL as directed on the air. (Above from vartious DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: COMMUNICATIONS WITH DANCE And finally this week, we are all familiar with the use of RF to communicate with one another using two-way radios, but have you ever thought that it can also play a part in the creative process in developing dance? Well Sonia Cillari, who is an artist in residence at the Steim Studio for Electro Instrumental Music in Amsterdam, has. Working with a team of engineers and software programmers, Cillari is using electronics, radio frequency energy and computer control to develop a new performance based on her own thoughts, feelings and ideas, coupled with the latest in radio technology: -- Sonia Cillari: "I use technology because it permits me to create the illusion. So usually I do not start from technology investigating technology. That is the contrary. So usually I make my own technical devices because they are for the aim of reaching that specific research." -- Sonia Cillari is only one of a growing number of dancers and other artists around the world who are integrating the world of electronics and communications into what they create. And less we forget, our sincere thanks to Marlon Barrios Solano and Dance-Tech Net for making the sound clip of Sonia Cillari available to us. For those interested in the arts, more on Dance-Tech Net can be found on-line at www.dance-tech.net. (Dance-Tech.net, ARNewsline(tm)) ** 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 Newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline'sT 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 Please do not forget that in association with the Newark Amateur Radio Society that we are currently conducting a survey to determine where these weekly Amateur Radio Newsline reports are replayed on the air. If you are a bulletin station that transmits these weekly newscasts or a listener who has the following information, we need you to supply to us the call sign of the repeater or bulletin station making the transmission, the frequency where it can be heard, the time and day and days of the week it is broadcast, the time zone and the estimated audience you think it has. Please e-mail that information along with your name and callsign to arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. Once again thats arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. As always we thank you for your assistance in this survey. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|