Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1760 - May 6 2011

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1760 with a release date of
Friday, May 6, 2011 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio respond as killer tornadoes rip
the south-east and take a big toll in Alabama; the National Association
of Broadcasters says that no broadband spectrum crisis exists, the
Anchorage V-E-C suggests rules changes that could lead to a lifetime US
ham license and human movement might be the thing that replaces
batteries in the not to distant future. Find out the details are on
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1760 coming your way right
now.


(Billboard Cart Here)


**

RESCUE RADIO: HAMS BECOME FIRST RESPONDERS AS TORNADOES RAVAGE THE
SOUTH AND EAST

Ham radio operators became the first responders on April 27th and 28th.
This as tornadoes and other severe weather took aim at parts of the
South and East. Amateur Radio Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH, is in
Birmingham, Alabama, where he literally lived through the ordeal:

--

Days in advance, forecasters had warned about April 27th. They said it
would be a dangerous day for Alabama. What no one knew at the time was
how dangerous. That afternoon would mark the largest tornado outbreak
and third deadliest in U-S history. More than 300 confirmed tornadoes
plow through 14 states during a three day period ending April 28th.
The death toll is estimated at more than 300.

In Alabama, massive supercell storms plow through the state's warm,
unstable air, spinning a series of deadly, long track tornado es.
The state is hit hard--28 confirmed twisters, 250 dead statewide, with
damage across the northern two thirds of the state. Thousands are left
injured or homeless.

The National Weather Service says at least eleven of Alabama's
tornadoes measured EF3 or greater. A single EF4 tornado--at times up
to 1.5 miles wide with winds estimated to have approached 200 miles an
hour--plows through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. The massive twister
stays on the ground 80 miles, tearing up homes, businesses and lives
all the way.

--

W4MD: "I saw people getting out from under pieces of plywood. The
first person I saw was a person with blood all over their face (and)
dripping of their chin. I started collecting the walking wounded and
putting them into a thrift store."

--

David Drummond, W4MD, is Alabama's ARRL Section Manager. He was at
ground zero as the killer storm began destroying Tuscaloosa, producing
horrific scenes he and many others will never forget:

--

W4MD: " We were covering up the dead. The place where I stopped there
was a family who lived across the street and who heard the sirens who
went across from where they were living to a house with a basement and
when the tornado came it picked up the house that they had left, moved
it across the street; set it on the other house and killed them all.
And we actually put four adults and one child in a body bag"

--

Everywhere Drummond looks is destroyed. Among the victims are five
students at the University of Alabama which cancels graduation. The
hams trying to help Tuscaloosa's walking wounded suddenly face major
communications challenges: Three repeaters being used heavily for
emergency messages all go down.

Police, fire and EMA communications are also knocked out. Drummond and
fellow hams have only one option: To use simplex communications.

--

W4MD: "Everything was gone. At that point, that was it. It was
deathly quiet and there was nobody. There was no other communications
of any kind, period.

"There are still many dead and unaccounted for. We ran out of body
bags.

"There's more in the morgues and a lot of them hadn't been identified.
There's people in lakes and there's still a lot of(people) unaccounted
for."

--

For five hours after the tornado hit, Drummond says hams provided
critical communications:

--

W4MD: "It was slow developing for support from emergency services
because it was to massive. We (ham radio operators) provided much of
the communications in the beginning because there wasn't any. The
Emergency Communications Center was destroyed which included the EMA
which took that mechanism down. That (tornado) also destroyed the
adjacent police department's communications system and part of their
building which put that in disarray. It also destroyed the Red Cross
building which severely interrupted their response."

--

By the time the massive storm roars across I-65 just north of downtown
Birmingham, it has killed at least 65 people, and injured 1,000 more,
becoming the deadliest in Alabama history. Two days after the storms
hit, President Obama walks through a storm-ravaged Tuscaloosa
neighborhood where dusk-to-dawn curfews were in effect, and calls it
beyond anything he had ever seen.

It's also beyond anything most emergency communications-minded amateur
radio operators had ever imagined possible. Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, is
the ARRL's Southeastern Division Director.

--

W4OZK" "This scale is unprecedented and amateur radio is stepping up
in a very big way. I'm proud of all the hams who are providing
support"

--

In north Alabama, a tornado stays on the ground 132 miles, narrowly
missing downtown Huntsville and leaving at least 26 dead. Power is
knocked out over so much of north Alabama, that motorists entering the
state from Tennessee are warned to make sure they have gas in their
cars.

Division Director Sarratt says Alabama hams have mobilized in large
numbers to help a variety of agencies with communications support:

--

W4OZK: "Hams have been on multiple bands from HF to 2 meters D-Star.
Also a lot of 440 work providing local communications; providing
regional communications; and state-wide communications for EMA, the
National Weather Service. The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Southern
Baptist (Relief) and other relief type organizations."

--

Scores of outlying communities are devastated, as well. In the small
northwest Alabama town of Hackleburg--which lost 29 people--hardly
anything remains. A tornado rated as EF-5 roars through Hackleburg,
lifting a truck and dropping it back down four miles away. In the
nearby town of Phil Campbell, at least 51 die.

100 miles southeast of Birmingham, a tornado slams into Dadeville at
night. The storm picks up weights including a 70 pound dumbbell,
throwing it about 200 yards. Volunteer firefighter Danny Lloyd,
KB4MDD, walks through the debris of a devastated neighborhood to see if
anyone needs help. He's not sure, but thinks he hears people calling
for him in the darkness:
--

KB4MDD: "I sort of ignored them in the beginning because I did not
know that they were calling for me. Then they said something again and
I called out my name and it was my cousins husband and he said that
`.we have someone hurt over here..'

"I went over and spent some time with an elderly lady who would
ultimately expire due to her injuries. The storm made it impossible
(to get more aid). She had a broken leg but it was just impossible to
get her out. I mean it was not possible. All the roads were blocked.

"They were talking to me and I could see thyem but it took me five
minutes or more just to climb through the (downed) trees to where they
were at and her house was just gone. It was exploded."

--

While trying to help the woman, Lloyd hears tornado sirens; another
warning has been issued.

--

KB4MDD: "I thought okay, here we go again. Of coarse we had a
downpour and I found a coat laying on the ground and I was able to
cover here. And she talked to me for a very long time as I stayed
there with her and held her hand.

"It was a very tough ordeal as volunteer firefighter and a first
responder, generally when I'm on the scene I have an ambulance crew
that's coming up within seconds. They load up a patient and have them
to the hospital. And this lady was within a 5-minute drive of a
hospital.

"If it had been normal, you would have been at the St. Martin Hospital
within 5 minutes. And the heart-breaking thing is that we could not
move her without fear that of injuries and that we were going to make
matters worse. And the second thing is that we had no way (to
transport her). We had no back-board, no gurney to even try to load up
to even try to start going somewhere in the midst of all that mess.

"Its very sad. I understand that she was 70 years old."

**

BREAK 1

More with David Black, KB4KCH, in a moment. But first its time to
identify. From Los Angeles, This is the Amateur Radio Newsline.

5 Sec Break

--

The gruesome scenes are visible statewide. Personal items including
papers and even suitcases were discovered 50 to 100 miles away from
where storms hit. Trees had their bark completely removed. The ARRL
ships amateur radio equipment to the state to help with emergency
communications needs. Scores of relief efforts launch, with FEMA and
numerous local, state and federal agencies responding.

Despite the tragically high number of fatalities, authorities believe
technology kept the toll from being even worse, since so many people
were able to see the storms live and the damage they were causing.
Hundreds of pictures and videos are captured by residents.
Tower-mounted cameras operated by government agencies and broadcasters
also capture the storms.

Two men do something credited with helping save countless lives: They
transmit live video of the massive tornado moments before it slams into
Tuscaloosa. One of them is retired television meteorologist and storm
chaser John Oldshue, KE4LMU.

--

KE4LMU: "My desire has always been to get the video live so that it
could be transmitted and people could get a sense of the urgency of
what was approaching them."

--

The video Oldshue and Ben Greer send from the field is seen live by
hundreds of thousands of people watching Birmingham's ABC television
affiliate. Chief Meteorologist James Spann, WO4W, warns viewers to take
cover while tornadoes are on the ground in different areas at the same
time:

--

WO4W: "John Oldshue has a large wedge tornado that is now near
Interstate 59 at the Knoxville exit and this is moving in the general
direction of Tuscaloosa and Northport. So we are now calling a tornado
emergency."

--

Some of amateur radio's newest technology gets a trial by fire.
Alabama is home to a statewide D-Star communications network. The
system had never been put through such a rigorous test--until April
27th. Section Manager David Drummond :

--

W4MD: "This is the first real emergency test of D-Star. So as this
(weather) came through all we had to do was go back and straighten up a
few antennas, reboot some equipment and we were good to go. It's a
great tool. A great tool for that."

--

Many Alabama hams suffered losses themselves, but Division Director
Greg Sarratt says they're still helping out:

--

W4OZK: "Hams that have some damage; some of them total damage and for
some not so bad. In both cases I guess they know that there is nothing
that they can do to repair or fix their house at this time so they are
supporting amateur radio. They are going to a Red Cross Center or a
Red Cross Shelter to provide communications. Theres noything they can
do at home to repair right now."

--

The storms may also mean a big change about Tornado Alley...that's the
corridor associated with the central plains and long thought to be
where the most deadly storms strike. Alabama had been ranked 3rd in
the number of tornado deaths, but that was until April 27th; the state
now has a new grim honor: number one.

For now, it's the grim sights so many hams like David Drummond have to
deal with:

--

W4MD: "I had a woman come up to me screaming that the storm had blown
her son away. I said to calm down and asked what did he look like?
She told me that he had on cowboy boots, a pair of shorts and no shirt.

"I said, well you are in luck. He just came by here a few minutes ago
to tell me that there was an elderly woman trapped in a basement in a
church. He let a cigarette lighter so that she could see and went that
way. Three minutes later I had to ask her to quit hugging me. She was
so glad to know thyat her son was still alive.

"Another situation not quite as nice was shortly after this: I mean
before bthe dust settled I had an unknown female come up to me and say
that `.my parents were in a house right over there. The storm has
blown them away.' And there was no house. There was no nothing. What
do you tell somebody?

--

OFF AIR AUDIO: "WC4Q from KA9Q at the Tuscaloosa EOC. Go ahead.

"This is WC4Q. Please pass to Marsha or your Red Cross rep.

--

The emergency may be over, but not the need for communications help.
Hams all across Alabama remain busy helping on the air, as well as with
many other needs. Weather experts say the reason so many died was due
to the size and path of the tornadoes. In many cases, they
acknowledge, someone trying to seek shelter would not have been able to
survive. Danny Lloyd:

--

KB4MDD: "There was just not safe place to be. In some homes in that
kind of tornado, theres just not a safe place and I think we saw that
all across Alabama. There just was not a safe place to be in the path
of some of these storms unless you were underground in a shelter."

--

For radio amateurs active in emergency communications, the April 27th
tornado outbreak hits with a shocking reality. Even though many
believed they had a solid emergency preparedness plan in place, what
happened that violent spring day convinces them: It's time to re-write
the book.

From the Southeast Bureau in Birmingham Alabama, I'm David
Black, KB4KCH, for the Amateur Radio Newsline.

--

There are some in ham radio who say that amateur operators have no
place in being the first to respond to a major disaster. They question
why some hams put their lives on the line for their communities. Well
don't ask that to the people of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or other South
Eastern cities hit by these tornadoes and storms. They know well that
the hams will be first on the scene and there to save lives, when all
else fails. (KB4KCH, ARNewsline(tm))

**

TORNADO DAMAGE: SEVERE WEATHER CANCELS SVHFS CONFERENCE

And the storms that hit Alabama also forced the last minute
cancellation of the 2011 Southeastern VHF Society Conference that was
to have been held in Huntsville, Alabama, on April 29th and 30th.
According to a bulletin issued by conference planners, the mayor of
Huntsville directed that all events thru the weekend be cancelled. He
was also instituting a dusk to dawn curfew that was scheduled to last
several days.

At the time of the press release, the Huntsville Airport was closed and
the conference hotel was without power after the Tennessee Valley
Authority lost towers on a 500 KV main tie line.

The conference planning committee will make a determination regarding
the rescheduling of the conference to a future date. Any information
regarding the rescheduling of the conference will be posted on this
website at www.svhfs.org. (K4CSO)

**

RADIO LAW: NAB STUDY SAYS NO SPECTRUM CRUNCH EXISTS

The National Association of Broadcasters has released a study arguing
that there is no spectrum crisis. According to NAB, the research shows
that insufficient analysis and reliance on faulty information in the
formation of the FCC's National Broadband Plan has led to the
overstated assumption of a nationwide spectrum shortage for future
broadband expansion. NAB says that this is not the case,

The White House, the FCC and numerous in the wireless industry have
cited a spectrum crisis as a justification for policies that would
reallocate TV airwaves for mobile broadband use. But broadcasters have
said that there is no way that they will willingly relinquish even a
single hertz of spectrum to broadband. .

The report authored by a former FCC aide was released the week of April
26th. It come on the heels of the NAB's recent statement reported here
last week that the broadcast lobby group is in full battle mode to stop
the reframing of broadcast spectrum to broadband providers. (RW)

**

INTRUDER WATCH: RUSSIAN VOCODER RETURNS TO 15 METERS

The Russian vocoder system known as Yakhta has appeared again on the 15
meter band. Its been heard and logged by an IARU Region 1 monitoring
station on 21 dot 001 dot 5 kHz. Its running F1B in band
key-synchronized at 100 baud s and 150 Hz shift. The F1B has been
active daily and at times encrypted voice transmissions have also been
heard.

The German Department of Post and Telecommunications has filed another
complaint about the system. The first was made back in 2010 when it was
active from the same location and on the same frequency. (IARUMS -
Region 1)

**

BREAK 2

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the
W6RHC repeater serving Chico, California.


(5 sec pause here)


**

RADIO LAW: ANCHORAGE VEC FILES PETITION FOR LIFETIME EXAM CREDIT

The Anchorage Volunteer Examiner Coordinator has asked the FCC to grant
permanent credit to radio amateurs for examination elements they have
successfully passed anytime in the past. This would, in effect, create
a license exam credit that would be valid throughout an amateurs'
lifetime, never expiring. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant,
K6PZW, is here with the details:

--

Currently, Amateur Radio licenses are good for 10 years. Hams may renew
their license not more than 90 days before it is set to expire. If a
ham fails to renew their license before it expires, but less than two
years after it expires they can reapply for their license and call sign
without having to retake any examination for the license. Under the
current rules, hams may not apply to renew the license after the two
year grace period. Instead, they must start all over and take new
examinations to receive an Amateur Radio license.

In its Petition, the Anchorage VEC asks the rhetorical question if the
passage of time somehow invalidates a person's knowledge? It then
states that it believes this to not be the case.

The Anchorage petition then states the groups belief that any
applicants who can demonstrate that they have passed certain elements
at some previous date or who have held a license grant for a particular
class of license on or before various applicable dates, should not have
to be re-examined on those elements before a new license can be
granted. The Anchorage VEC also believes that if a person can show
proof of having held a license grant for a specific class of license,
they have in fact demonstrated that they have earned credit for having
passed the elements required for that class of license.

According to an ARRL spokesperson, the petition filed by the Anchorage
VEC does not address the cases of radio amateurs who had their licenses
suspended or revoked. It says that if this Petition is looked upon
favorably by the FCC, a provision should be made that no examination
credit should be given if the operator license was ever suspended or
revoked, or if the operator license was surrendered to avoid
enforcement proceedings.

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

--

The Anchorage's plan calls for all 14 VEC's to handle these
applications. At airtime no rule making number has been assigned to
this rule making request. (Anchorage VEC, ARRL)

**

RADIO RULES: COST OF VANITY CALL MAY RISE

The FCC wants to raise the cost of a vanity callsign by 90 cents.
Currently the fee for a 10 year vanity call sits at $13.30. If the new
rate is approved that will rise to $14.20 for that same 10 year period.
In its press release, the FCC said it anticipates some 14,600 Amateur
Radio vanity call sign or applications during the next fiscal year.
That would bring in over $207,000 in fees from the vanity call program.
Any new fee would start at the beginning off the FCC's next fiscal
year. (FCC)

**

DX

In DX, A multi-national team, all members of Mediterraneo DX Club will
be active as 9N0MD from Nepal during November. Activity will be on all
HF bands and modes. The team plans to give away trophies and prizes.
More is on-line at www.mdxc.org/nepal.

9M6XRO is once again be active stroke V85 Brunei through May 9th. Hisa
operation is mainly CW with the possibility of some RTTY or SSB. QSL
via M0URX, direct, by the bureau, or via Logbook of the World.

K0YAK is now in Kathmandu and is expected to be operational as 9N7AK
until early July. He is using a Kenwood TS-50 with a Cushcraft MA5V
lightweight, 5-band vertical antenna. QSL via K0YAK.

Lastly, the Intrepid-DX Group will conduct a DXpedition from
Afghanistan for ten days in May. Due to security concerns, the exact
dates and location of the DXpedition will not be announced until the
eve of their activation. For update on this operation, it is suggested
to watch their Web page at www.intrepid-dx.com/t6pse

(Above from various DX news sources)


**

THAT FINAL ITEM: PUBLIC THANKS WO4W AND ABC 34/40 FOR LIFE SAVING
SEVERE WEATHER COVERAGE

And finally this week, yet another albeit indirect ham radio
connection to the tornadoes and severe weather that hit the South-East
last week. This as Alabama's ABC 33/40 television group consisting of
stations WCFT, WJSU, and WBMA used a handful of web-based tools, some
ham radio volunteers and a very knowledgeable forecaster to provide the
local community with ongoing coverage of the devastating storm system
that tore through the state on Wednesday. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Michael Grebert, KJ6ZZV, has the details:

--

At the point position of this outstanding storm coverage was
Meteorologist James Spann, WO4W. He used Facebook and Twitter to
update and interact with its audience as well as those outside the
local viewing area. The station group also used Ustream to live stream
the local weather radar online and the ABC 33/40 weather blog to share
photos and videos, many of which were captured by viewers. Also
contributing were a group of local ham radio operators, many of whom
are also known ABC 33/40 Skywatchers.

Over the course of the coverage WO4W appeared regularly on the air for
almost 18 straight hours giving live weather updates. When he was off
camera, he was reportedly assembling the latest weather information
along with photos that the station was receiving from viewers online.

As the severe weather system charged across Alabama and the death toll
began to climb, ABC 33/40 s Facebook page became not only a place for
the station to disseminate information. It was also a meeting ground
for members of the community to interact with Spann and each other
about power outages and storm damage while also taking time to honor
the deceased.

What James Spann, WO4W and his crew at both the station and the
volunteer hams in the field was likely best summed up by this viewers
posting on Facebook:

"I'd like to thank James Spann and all of the meteorologists and crew
at ABC 33/40 for keeping not only the people of northern Alabama
informed, but the whole world informed. I know dozens of people from
around the country, including myself, who were watching the UStream
feed faithfully all day. Your professionalism and dedication saved
countless lives today."

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Michael Grebert, KJ4ZZV, in Music
City, Nashville, Tennessee.

--

In addition to his being the Chief Meteorologist for ABC 33/40, James
Spann, is one of the founders of Weatherbrains.com. This is a weekly
Internet based radio that unites weather geeks worldwide. He also owns
the WO4W repeater atop Shades Mountain that serves the greater
Birmingham area.

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ
Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain,
the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's WIA News, that's all from
the Amateur Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is Newsline (at)
arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's(tm) only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.
You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm),
28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350

And a reminder that the nominating period for the year 2011 Amateur
Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. Created by
Newsline back in 1986, this award is offered to recognize one young
United States or Canadian radio amateur age 18 or younger for his or
her contributions to society through Amateur Radio.

As in years past, the 2011 recipient will receive an expense paid trip
to the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville Alabama courtesy of
Vertex-Standard Corporation which produces Yaesu brand amateur radio
gear. Vertex-Standard will also present this years winner with a
special ham radio related gift. CQ Magazine will again treat the
recipient to a week at Spacecamp-Huntsville. We at Amateur Radio
Newsline will present the winner with a plaque honoring his or her
achievements.

All nominations and materials required by the official rules must be
received by ARNewsline before June 30, 2011. A downloadable nominating
form is at our website at www.arnewsline.org. A nominating form can
also be obtained by sending a request along with a self addressed
stamped envelope to the Young Ham of the Year Award in care of Amateur
Radio Newsline, Inc. 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California
91350.

Again, the cutoff date for this year's Young Ham of the Year Award
nominations is June 30th. We ask you to do your part by nominating a
young ham who has done something special related to ham radio. The
nomination form is at www.arnewsline.org

For now, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk saying 73 and
we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.