Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1732 - October 22 2010

The following is a closed circuit and not necessarily for air. With a
report on Amateur Radio Newsline's current finances here is our
Producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF:

--

OK. Ill just take a second to thank all of you who responded to last
months appeal. Thanks to you, we have enough in the account to
hopefully hold us through the end of November if we watch our expenses
carefully. Your generosity has been overwhelming and we only wish we
had a way to thank each of you individually. Unfortunately we can't,
so we can only say how grateful we really are via this message. And
with that I say 73 and here's Jim Damron, N8TMW, with this weeks news.

--

Thanks Bill. Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1732 with a
release date of Friday, October 22 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. A wireless conference down-under will
discuss the future of communications in New Zealand, more on the
break-up of the Netherlands Antillies and its affect on DXing, U-K hams
get van update on how some ham radio bands will be used for the 2012
Olympics and ham radio will take part in a major expo in Australia. All
this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1732 coming
your way right now.


(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RESTRUCTURING: CONFERENCE ON WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES TO BE HELD IN ZL

The New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development is convening a seminar
on Future Wireless Technologies, including Cognitive Radio, Software
Defined Radio and Future Mobile and Broadcast Technologies to be held
Thursday November 4th. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen,
ZL2BHF, is here with the details:

--

This year's seminar will be held here in the city of Auckland. It will
immediately follow the 16th Asia Pacific Communications Conference
being held at the same venue from October 30th to November 3rd.

The purpose of the seminar is to share knowledge among wireless
equipment manufacturers, research institutions, service providers and
government about emerging developments. It will also help in
identifying the areas on which to focus future technical and regulatory
work.

The program for this gathering will be published shortly on the Radio
Spectrum Management website. More information on this event is on-line
at apcc2010 dot aut dot ac dot nz.

Reporting from down under, Im Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, reporting for the
Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

A similar event was held in September of 2009. It theme highlighted
the importance of sharing information on the progress of such
initiatives and developments in this area. (NZART News)

**

WORLDBEAT: BREAKUP OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AND THE CQ OPERATING
EVENTS

With several groups operating from the new DX entities created by the
breakup of the Netherlands Antilles ongoing, questions have arisen
regarding their status for CQ DX awards and contests. To clarify the
matter, CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, has issued the following
statement which we paraphrase in part.

In regard to the CQ DX Awards program, each of the five islands
involved in the change of status retains its previous PJ callsign
prefix. According to CQ DX Awards Manager Billy Williams, N4UF, the
previous entities of the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands Islands
were deleted as of October 9, 2010. Four new entities - Curacao (PJ2),
Sint Maarten (PJ7), Bonaire (PJ4) and Saba/St. Eustatius (PJ5/6) became
active on October 10, for a net gain of two DX entities. Confirmations
for contacts made with the new entities will be accepted for CQ award
credit effective immediately.

Moseson went on to note that the country multiplier list for the CQ
World Wide DX Contests is based on a combination of the ARRL's DXCC
list and Germany's Deutscher Amateur Radio Club's Worked All Europe
list. Since the ARRL has also made the same changes, effective October
10th, and these "new ones" will each count as separate country
multipliers in the CQ sponsored events, Moseson said. (CQ)

**

NEWSLINE FOLLOW-UP: UK REGULATOR OFCOM UPDATE HAM SPECTRUM USE FOR
2012 GAMES

U-K telecommunications regulator Ofcom has published an updated
spectrum plan for wireless communications at the London 2012 Olympic
Games. This includes an update on the various demands for spectrum
and how they will be met in part by tapping into the VHD and UHF ham
bands. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has mo

--

Frequencies in a number of bands allocated in the United Kingdom on a
secondary basis to the Amateur Radio Service will be used at Olympic
venues. This according to United Kingdom telecommunications regulator
Ofcom who days that the 70 cm, 23 cm and 13 cm bands will be used.

Regarding the 430 MHz band the plan, Ofcom says that the 430 to 440 MHz
band is managed by the Ministry of Defense and is used by Radio
Amateurs. Ofcom notes RAYNET's support for the St John's Ambulance,
Red Cross and other similar users as well as amateur radio special
events stations for cultural events linked to the London 2012 Games
will be considered.

According to Ofcom, as in past games, amateur radio bands, especially
430 to 440 MHz have been used and this remains a possibility for the
London 2012 Games. This, if the demand requires it.

In the statement Ofcom says that it has identified the bands that could
be used for land mobile radio, handheld communications and talkback. As
such it is now able to provide more technical detail for use of those
these bands. With regard to the Amateur-Satellite Service the document
says that while Ofcom does not at this time think it will be necessary
to use those frequency bands. However, it adds that it will retain the
option to consider whether there is a requirement to use them as it
develops its venue-specific spectrum plans.

Ofcom adds that it will continue to work closely with key stakeholders
as it develops its spectrum utilization plans for the 2012 games.

Reporting from Scottsdale, Arizona, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, for the
Amateur Radio Newsline.
--
A final version of the Ofcom 2012 Olympic games radio plan and its
impact on amateur radio will be published early next year. The current
Ofcom news release is on line at tinyurl.com/33x8zcd (Southgate)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: HAM OPERATOR RE-ELECTED ITU SECRETARY GENERAL

Member states of the International Telecommunication Union have elected
Dr. Hamadoun Tour‚, HB9EHT, of Mali as Secretary-General of that
organization for a second four-year term. Dr. Tour‚ won the position
with 151 votes, with 157 countries present and voting.

Addressing the conference after the vote, HB9EHT told close to 1,500
conference participants from around the world that he will put a
special emphasis on broadband access, as well as continuing to ensure
that cyber-security is high on everyone's agenda.

Tour‚ has also pledged to ensure that small island developing states
and land-locked countries get special attention. He also said that he
will encourage more private sector involvement through public-private
partnerships, both within ITU and in the field. (Various)

**

BREAK 1

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N9MCS
repeater serving Rockford, Illinois. (5 sec pause here)


**

RADIO LAW: CQ WRITER TACKLES THE DEMISE OF THE FCC INDECENCY LAW

A writer for a major ham radio publication has tackled the recent court
ruling that overturned the FCC's regulation on indecency in
Broadcasting and what it might mean to ham radio enforcement. Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with mo

--

With the Federal courts having recently struck down the FCC's policy on
broadcast indecency, many are wonder what impact if any that decision
will have on the prosecution of wayward members of the ham radio
community. Now, writing in his Washington Readout column in the
October issue of CQ Magazine, columnist Fred Maia, W5YI, confronts this
issue head on.

In his article, W5YI notes that in the past, the FCC has held that the
indecency rules applying to radio and television broadcasting also
applied to amateur radio transmissions. That in making obscenity or
indecency determinations that the FCC staff analyzes what was actually
said. If the FCC determines that the curse words transmitted actually
violate its rules, it can issue a Notice of Apparent Liability or N-A-L
which is a preliminary finding that the rules have been violated.

But says Maia, to date the FCC has never issued a citation or a N-A-L
to a ham radio operator for solely violating its obscenity or indecency
rules. The violation notice usually mentions other accompanying
offenses which can be easily proven and do not involve controversial
First Amendment issues.

Fred Maia is not an attorney but is a longtime FCC watcher and writer.
He also possesses a very good understanding of communications law and
has the ability to make it understandable to the general ham radio
public. And he does that very well.

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

--

Fred Maia is best known as the founder of the W5YI V-E-C and was the
longtime editor of the highly acclaimed W5YI Report ham radio
newsletter. His very insightful commentary on the demise of the FCC's
indecency policy and its affect on our hobby begins on page 54 of the
October issue of CQ Magazine. It's an article well worth reading by all
in the United States ham radio community. (CQ)

**

ENFORCEMENT IN SPACE: EARTH RESOURCES SATELLITE BLINDED BY ILLEGAL
TERRESTRIAL OPERATIONS

And speaking about enforcement, here's a story of a different sort. The
European Space Agency says that it has launched a behind-the-scenes
campaign to shut down pirate radio and TV transmissions interfering
with a major climate satellite.

According to ESA, its Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity probe has been
bugged by patches of interference from radar, TV and radio
transmissions in what should be a protected band. The interference to
the bird is at its peak as it passes over parts of southern Europe,
Asia, the Middle East and some coastal zones.

ESA believes that the intrusion has two sources. One is a leak from
other services into the spectrum from 1400 to1427 MHz. This is a
portion of the so called L-band that has been assigned to space
astronomy and Earth exploration satellites. The other source is
believed to be illegal transmissions by TV, radio links and networks
such as security systems that are operating in this radio band. ESA
adds that terrestrial radars appear to cause interference as well.

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite reportedly cost some
315-million-euro's to develop and launch into space. (ESA)

**

HAM RADIO BUSINESS: MORE CHINA BUILT HAM GEAR ON ITS WAY

The sales success of the low priced Wouxon dual band hand held
transceivers has aparenty not been lost on the well established ham
radio retail trade. This with the announcement by the five member
buying group Ham Pros will be selling both the Wouxon and other
made-in-China ham radio gear under the banner of nowchinadirect dot
com.

In addition to the Wouxon HT, other gear in their full psagre ad in the
November QST Magazine include several metered power supplies, a pair of
SWR and power meters and two hand held transceivers from TYT. These
are the TH-F5 single bander that covers 2 meters and the UV-F1 that
covers both 2 meters and 70 centimeters.

The ad notes that all of the H-T's carry Part 90 FCC certification.
According to ARRL Counsel Christopher Imlay, W3KD, writing elsewhere in
the same issue of QST, Wouxon and presumably other mainland China
manufacturers who have obtained Part 90 certification for their
equipment can legally sell these units and hams. Also that hams can
use them as long as they are operated strictly in the ham radio bands.

Imlay also notes that Wouxon U.S. has chosen to limit the range in
which their HT's can transmit to the ham radio bands. He says that
this is akin to good fences making for good neighbors.

You can read the entire text of Attorney Imlay's regulatory
interpretation along with a full review of the Wouxon dual band HT
beginning on Page 52 of the November issue of QST. More on the new
mainland China manufactured equipment from Ham Pro's is on-line at
nowchinadirect dot com. (ARNewsline(tm) from nowchinadirect.com, QST,
others)

**

RESCUE RADIO: REBUILDING BROADCASTING FROM GROUND ZERO

An audio recording of the 2003 Audio Engineering Society conference
detailing how radio and television broadcasting was returned to the
metro New York City area following the September 11th 2001 terrorist
attack by al-Quida is now on line at the AES website.

Immediately after the attack, broadcasters, especially TV stations, had
to scramble to get back on the air or return their service to full
coverage. A common solution was to broadcast from the Empire State
Building, where many had been based before moving to the World Trade
Center. Nearly two years later, the the 115th AES Convention featured
a session titled "Rebuilding of New York Broadcasting." It examined
the events from 9/11 through getting broadcasters back up onto the air
and exploring ways to make the broadcast systems of the city safer and
more secure.

Now, seven years later, audio of that two-hour session is available
online at the AES website for anyone to hear. The panel included Joe
Giardina of DSI RF Systems, John Lyons of property owner the Durst
Organization, Kevin Plumb of WABC and WPLJ, Steve Shultis of WNYC Radio
and Tom Silliman of tower builder and antenna installer ERI Inc.

You can hear the entire 2 hour and 18 minute Podcast at
tinyurl.com/911radio (RW, AES-NY)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS" CQ WW WEBINAR ON OCTOBER 24

If you are at all interested in contesting, then mark down Sunday,
October 24th for an open to the public free webinar dealing with the CQ
World Wide contests.

The session will be moderated by CQ World Wide DX Contest Director Bob
Cox K3EST. He along with committee members John Dorr, K1AR and Doug
Zwiebel, KR2Q will provide an update on the 2010 CQ World Wide SSB and
CW DX contests. A Question and Answer period will follow the
presentation.

The event is hosted by the Potomac Valley Radio Club and begins at 1900
hours UTC. To register go to www.pvrc.org and click the Upcoming
Webinars link. ( K4ZW )

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: RD3PQ UPLOADS QSL 300 MILLION TO LoTW

Some names in the news. First up is Victor Morozov, RD3PQ, of Tula,
Russia who had the honor of uploading QSO number 300 million to ARRL's
Logbook of the World electronic QSL service. Yhe League commenced
operation of Logbook of the World in 2001. January 2011 will be a
decade since the first digital log and confirmation of QSO's in this
program were first published. As for Morozov, upload 300 million was
his way of confirming a QSO with Ivan Gombos, OM3CGN operating portable
SV2 that took place this past October 5th. (WIA News)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: G0JHC RECEIVES ROYAL ORDER AWARD

And Neil Carr, G0JHC, has been awarded the prestigious Royal Order of
Transatlantic Brass Pounders trophy that recognizes outstanding and
consistent DX work.

The Royal Order of Transatlantic Brass Pounders trophy was first
awarded in 1924. The original Members of the Order were from those who
operated transatlantic tests from 1921 to 1924.

As such, Neil Carr, G0JHC joins a small group of elite U-K operators
who have earned this honor. RSGB President Dave Wilson, M0OBW and HF
Awards Manager, John Dunnington, G3LZQ will visit G0JGC shortly to
present the award. (RSGB)

**

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 TECHNOLOGY: NIST DEVELOPS RHEOMETER ON A CHIP

Its being called a lab on a chip and its purpose is to experiment with
elasticity in just about any material that you can think of. Even
things found inside of your ham radio station. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Jim Davis, W2JKD, has mo

--

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
better known in ham radio simply as the NIST have demonstrated a
microminiaturized device that can make complex viscosity measurements
on sample sizes as small as a few nano-liters. Currently a
table-top prototype, the NIST Rheometer could be a particularly
valuable tool for biotechnologists studying minute quantities of
complex materials that must function in confined spaces.

Viscosity, elasticity and how materials flow when subject to a force is
the subject of the science of Rheology. Measurements tell a lot about a
complicated material like a gel in determining if it is more like a
liquid or a solid and to what degree under what conditions by
determining its visco-elasticity. For example, the popular children's
toy known as Silly Putty is a classic example of complex
visco-elasticity, bouncing better than a rubber ball under a sharp,
sudden force but slumping into a puddle when left alone.

NIST's early prototype Rheometers include only the core sliding plate
mechanism on a MEMS chip, and rely on a microscope and high-speed
cameras for the actual measurements. According to the research team,
in their more polished version the necessary sensors could be included
on the MEMS chip and the entire instrument reduced to a handheld
device.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD

--

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Dynamic Rehometer
is described in a new paper adptly titled - Lab on a Chip. (NIST,
Science Daily, Science OnLine)

**

THE CONTEST CORNER: FINLAND GROUP SPONSORS FEMALES IN RADIO

Turning to the contest corner, the Scandinavian Young Ladies Radio
Amateurs organization is sponsoring a have a contest to promote
activity around the world by female radio amateurs as well as to
encourage more amateur radio communication between women and men. This
event takes place from 10.00 UTC on October 23rd to 10.00 UTC on
October 24th. Rules for this one are on-line at contestclubfinland.com.
(RCF)

**

THE CONTEST CORNER: NEXT CQIR CONTEST IN 2012

A Committee of the Irish Radio Transmitting Society or IRTS at its
recent meeting confirmed that as part of the 2012 80th Celebrations of
the founding of the organization will be in the form of a second CQIR
International HF Contest. That event will be held over the St.Patricks
Day weekend in 2012. This will be somewhat similar to the successful
1st CQIR Contest held as part of the 75th Anniversary celebrations.
Planners say that with the rising sun spot numbers, HF conditions will
be much better for the event. (IRTS)


**

ON THE AIR: CANADIAN HAMS CELEBRATE THE UN

On the air, a group of Canadian hams has decided to celebrate the
anniversary of an important United Nations agency. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the details:

--

The Westcumb Amateur Radio Club from Amherst, Nova Scotia has been
granted the callsign VC1J for the special event station celebrating the
65th anniversary of the United Nations and its UNESCO organization on
October 24th. They will be operating from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs in
t Nova Scotia which became a UNESCO site last year. A route to obtain
the special event QSL card will be announced later. I'm Fred Vobbe,
W8HDU

--

UNESCO is an acronym that stands for the United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization. It's stated goal is to create
the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples,
based upon respect for commonly shared values (RAC)

**

ON THE AIR:BV100 CELEBRATES THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLIC OF
CHINA

Amateur radio operators from the Republic of China Centenary Foundation
in Taiwan will be activating special event station BV100 between now
and December 31st, 2011. This operation is to celebrate the 100th
anniversary of the Republic of China. Operations will be on all bands
and modes. QSL via BV2KI. (OPDX)

**

DX

In DX, DK7PE, will be on the air as 5X0CW from Kampala, Uganda, for one
week starting October 27th. He plans to use his Elecraft K2 radio and
jumper beam on 40 through 10 meters with his activity mainly on CW. QSL
via his home callsign.

His operation will be followed by that of G3XAQ, who will be active as
5X1XA from Kampala between November 14th and December 1st. Operations
will be CW only on the HF bands using 100 watts and small beam. QSL via
G3SWH.

And starting October 24th, G3VDB will be active for two weeks from the
Maldives as 8Q7EJ. On this trip he plans to operate from Bandos Island,
however operations are subject to hotel permission. His activity will
be holiday style mostly on 20 meters CW. QSL via his home callsign.

Operators KM9D and KF4TUG have been based in Sandakan, East Malaysia,
for the past few months. Mike is currently active portable 9M6 and has
been on 30, 20, 17, and 12 meters CW. The length of their stay is
unknown. QSL via OM2SA.

Lastly, CX2CC, is now active as 9Q5OAR from the City of Goma, in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. He will be there for a year
performing work for the United Nations and hopes to be active using
slow speed CW SSB and the Digital modes. He has already been heard on
15, 12 and 10 meter SSB. QSL via his home callsign of CX2CC

(Above from various DX news sources)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: ARENA OF WONDER - WIRES TO WIRELESS

And finally this week, word from down-under that ham radio will be part
of a major expo at the end of October. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the
details:

--

The Melbourne based Prahran Mechanics Institute 'Throughout History
Week' is an annual event held at the groups Prahran offices. The 2010
display will take place over the week of the 25th to the 30th of
October and features a WIA Centenary display prepared by well known
WIA historian Peter Wolfenden VK3RV.

The display titled 'Arena of Wonder' from Wires to Wireless is
advertised as an extraordinary collection of wireless equipment and
memorabilia marking the 100th anniversary of the Wireless Institute of
Australia.

For the Amateur radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA News
reportinbg from Brisbane, Ausatralia.

--

Again, those dates are the 25th to the 30th of October, for the Arena
of Wonder expo where its now springtime in Australia. (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'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
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For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim
Damron, N8TMW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

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