Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1358 - August 22 2003

From the 2003 Huntsville Hamfest and from our studios in New Orleans,
this is Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1358 with a release date of
Friday, August 22 2003 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, reporting.

We begin this weeks newscast with the sad news that one of the voices so
well known to ham radio will be heard no more. This, with word that
Amateur Radio Newsline's Vice President and senior anchor Roy Neal,
K6DUE, has passed away.

Roy was 82 when he died on Friday, August 15th at a hospital in High
Point North Carolina. He had undergone heart valve replacement surgery
three days earlier. According to his family, Roy was at peace at the
end and did not suffer.

In both the worlds of broadcasting and of Amateur Radio, Roy Neal was a
legend. He began his career at WIBG radio in Philadelphia. After
military service in World War Two, he returned and helped pioneer the
emerging medium called television at station WPTZ. He then joined the
National Broadcasting Company where he spent most of his career
producing and reporting for Network News. His specialty was science and
aerospace.

But to hams, Roy will always be remembered as the person who brought
manned Amateur Radio into space through the SAREX and ARISS programs.
His close friend and NBC colleague Alan Kaul, W6RCL, joins us later in
the newscast with more on Roy's many contributions. (ARNewsline,
Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers)

**

IN THE NEWS: JIM HAYNIE ON BPL

Roys Death came just as the Huntsville Alabama Hamfest was getting
underway. One of the major topics hams were talking about is he growing
debate over B-P-L or Broadband Over Powerlines. One of the people most
concerned is ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP:

--

Jim Haynie, W5JBP: "Broadband Over Powerlines is important, and just as
I said on our website - this is bad. This is not good for Amateur Radio
and I don't know how we are going to lick it. Quite frankly, and I want
to tell you that right now."

--

Haynie made his comments to a packed audience at the hamfest's ARRL
Forum. He says the League is doing everything possible to try to
convince the FCC to not proceed with rule making B-P-L a reality.
(ARNewsline)

**

RESTRUCTURING: HAM RADIO AFTER MORSE CODE

Jim Haynie also shares his thoughts on a subject dear to many hams:
Whether Amateur Radio should or should not keep Morse code. Stressing
that he speaks for himself and not the League, Haynie says code should
be a requirement for the Extra Class license:

--

Jim Haynie, W5JBP: "What if we were to have three classes of licenses?
Entry, General and Extra and Entry got phone privileges on he current
Novice bands? And that's all.

So we ask questions on the exam about just that. They could only use
100 watts store bought radio equipment. Possibly even a two-year
expiration date.

Generals - same thing except no new expiration date. The same
privileges they have today. But for Extra we retain the 5 words per
minute code requirement."

--

Not everyone agrees with Haynie. Scotty Neustadter, W4WW, is Chairman
of the Question Pool Committee for the National Conference of Volunteer
Examiners and this is his personal view:

--

Scott Neustadter, W4WW: " This is not your fathers or your grandfathers
ham radio. Things have changed. Technology has changed, and I think
that - to an extent - that we have to change with them. We have to
recognize our history and in no way am I - nor do I know of anyone else
ho is advocating any abolition of the right to operate CW on any Amateur
band where you can operate it today.

What I do know is that there is a whole lot of people saying that it
does not make allot of sense anymore that I require that you be able to
do that. I think that's the distinction that we have to keep in mind.

--

While the debate over Morse Code in amateur radio's future goes on _ Jim
Haynie points out that what will be decided remains a long way
off_perhaps years. (ARNewsline)

**

HAM RADIO HONORS: W6JAY RECEIVES 2003 YHOTY AWARD

As enthusiastic hams began pouring into Huntsville's Von Braun Civic
Center Saturday morning _ one of the Hamfest's biggest moments was
taking shape. The Huntsville Hamfest is the setting for an exciting
yearly event_and that's the presentation of the annual Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham Of The Year Award. This year's winner is 17-year-
old Jay Thompson, W6JAY, of Santa Ana, California:

--

Jay Thompson, W6JAY: "When I first started I did not think that thre
was allot to do in Amateur Radio, but the longer I am a part of it , I
realized that there is much more that I could do. And I know that as
much as I have done so far, I know that there is still kore out there
for me. So I'll keep trying to acomplish more and maybe Ill become even
better at Amateur Radio in the future."
--

CQ Magazine is one of the award's principal underwriters. Editor Rich
Moseson, W2VU, says that_while Jay stood above fellow nominees_many
other young hams are big achievers, as well:

--

Rich Moseson, W2VU: "Every year we review applications and nominations
from a variety of people. The person you see standing here on the stage
is not the only really good kid who has done allot. He's just risen the
crop a little bit. There are a whole lot of other young people out
there in ham radio doing great things, and we congratulate all of them."

--

The Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham Of The Year Award is in its 17th
year. Vertex Standard and CQ Magazine are the Award's principal
corporate underwriters.

That's it from the 23003 Huntsville Hamfest. The rest of the newscast
will come from our New Orleans studio, but first this. (ARNewsline)

**

Break 1

From the United States of America, we are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the 145.600 MHz
repeater of the Hiway Amateur Radio Club serving Durban South Africa.

(5 sec pause here)


**

RESCUE RADIO: THE BLACKOUT

Ham radio came to the rescue as cellphone systems totaly failed during
the recent North-East blackout. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has mo

--

A New York Times article said it this way: When technology failed on a
massive scale, some old-fashioned broadcasting stepped into the breach.
This, as ham radio operators took to the airwaves to reach emergency
workers.

The technology that failed was the North-East power grid that provides
electricity to cities like Cleveland, Detroit and New York. This in
turn lead to communications failures as numerous cellular telephone
sites without generators or battery back-up - went away -- the afternoon
of August 14th .

According to an ARRL Bulletin, with cellular systems overloaded or out
altogether, the incident turned into a test of Amateur Radio's
capabilities to operate without commercial power. The New York City-
Long Island Section Emergency Coordinator is Tom Carrubba, KA2D. He
estimates that ham radio operators handled 800 to 1,000 messages from
Thursday afternoon until early Friday.

Diane Ortiz, K2DO, is the ARRL Public Information Coordinator for the
area. She took to the air when power went down in her Suffolk County
community. Ortiz called up an informal VHF net. Over the next 20 hours
hams passed about 500 pieces of traffic. In addition to handling
messages for people stranded in the city, amateurs also relayed other
useful information. This included such items as which stores or gas
stations were open.

In the Big Apple itself, ARES teams provided communication support for
Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles set up at transportation centers
in Manhattan. ARES members also accompanied Emergency Response Vehicles
to fire calls. RACES was activated in the greater New York City area
after a state of emergency was declared.

Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, a net linked the Red Cross lead
chapter N2ARC in Princeton with other chapters. Further to the West,
Michigan ARES teams assisted emergency operations centers and the Red
Cross.

In Ohio, Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Rain, WD8IHP, reports that
all ARES organizations in the Northern tier of the stated were
activated.

For millions of people in the Northeast and Midwest, the August 14th
power outage took away access to wireless voice, e-mail and the
Internet. The failure of the cellular system was especially evident.
Nextel Communications spokesman Chris Grandis said that the company
needs electricity to power its cell sites, but when you don't have that,
it's out of his company's control.

The same held true for virtually every other wireless provider, few of
which bother to have emergency power at cellular and wireless Internet
sites.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF.


--

The bottom line: The traditional forms of communications failed, but
hams were there to lend a hand. (ARRL, NY Times, others)

**

RADIO LAW: FCC DECLINES TO RECONSIDER ITS HUMAN EXPOSURE TO RF RULES

The FCC has declined to open an Inquiry into updating its human exposure
to RF signals rules. In particular, the petitioner in this case wanted
the Commission to consider possible health hazards not covered by the
current rules, including non-thermal effects and the effects of long-
term low-level RF exposure.

According to the CGC Communicator the FCC dismissed the petition,
arguing that any such evidence should be presented to other, more
appropriate expert agencies. The Commission also noted that its current
human exposure rules have recently been upheld by the Second Circuit
Court of Appeals. This, in the face of similar arguments by other
petitioners. The complete story is in cybrspace at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-03-191A1.doc
(CGC)

**

WRC'03 FALLOUT: GERMANY GOES CODE FREE

It's another week and another country has joined the no-code revolution.
Following Switzerland, the U-K, and Belgium, Germany is the latest
country to announce that it is abandoning the Morse code test as a
requirement for HF band operation.

According to the website of the German national amateur radio society,
the DARC, from the 15th of August radio amateurs in Germany with a CEPT
Class 2 license are allowed to use the High Frequency bands using their
existing callsigns. Further details were to follow, the website said.
(GB2RS)

**

RESCUE RADIO: OREGON HAM RECEIVES HONOR FOR GOING THE EXTRA MILE

Back on this side of the Atlantic, an Oregon ambulance dispatch
coordinator, EMT and amateur radio operator has been named a recipient
of a "Star of Life" award. This, from the American Ambulance
Association.

Scott Waggoner, KC7DHJ, of Clackamas County was nominated for the honor
by his co-workers in recognition of the many extra tasks he has
undertaken at AMR's headquarters in Portland. Among other things,
KC7DHJ was cited for his help in setting up portable repeaters during
search and rescue operations, his treatment of minor injuries suffered
by firefighters and his overtime work on an American Medical Response
ambulance. (CGC from OregonLive.com)

**

ENFORCEMENT: UNCOORDINATED REPEATERS TAKEN OFF THE AIR

It took three letters and allot of patience on the part of the FCC but a
repeater interference problem in Stockton California has been solved.
This, as Thomas G. De Lasaux, WA6SEK, removes his repeater from the air.

The matter goes back to September 9, 2002, when the FCC notified De
Lasaux that his operation of uncoordinated repeaters on 224.660 and
441.275 MHz was causing interference to coordinated repeaters on the
same frequencies in his are. By letter dated May 5, 2003, the FCC
informed De Lasaux that the information he submitted in regard to the
initial inquirey did not demonstrate coordination for either of the
repeaters. Also, that until he was able to demonstrate current
coordination, the primary responsibility to prevent interference.

At that time the FCC requested De Lasaux inform the agency within 20
days what steps you were taking to resolve the interference issues. On
July 1, 2003, the FCC notified WA6SEK that we had not received a
response to the May 5th letter, and enclosed an additional complaint.
The July 1 letter afforded De Lasaux an additional 20 days to respond,
and stated that if the matter were not resolved by July 25, we would
initiate enforcement action against his license.

On July 22nd, De Lasaux notified the Commission that your repeaters
operating on 224.660 MHz and 441.275 MHz had been shut down and would
remain so. The FCC has now terminated all further action in this
matter. (FCC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: FCC AFFIRMS $10,000 FINE AGAINST NY PIRATE

The FCC has affirmed a $10,000 fine issued on July 23rd of 2002. This,
against the Reverand Yvon Louis in a case the case involves an aleged
series of unauthorized FM broadcasts made from Louis' Calvary Tabernacle
in Brooklyn, New York.

The FCC says that over the course of several months in 2001, Reverend
Louis reportedly transmitted on 93.7 MHz, then switched to 88.1 MHz
after getting caught. But it was not over yet. He then used 90.1 MHz
after getting caught again, then reverted to 88.1 MHz in open defiance
of the FCC order to stay off the air. (FCC, CGC)


**

RADIO HAPPENINGS PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS TO REMOVE CELLULAR ANTENNAS

Bowing to health concerns from parents, sixteen schools operated by the
Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will eliminate cellular antennas mounted
atop buildings and church facilities. The on-line edition of the New
York Post reports that one parish stands to lose $18,000 a year in rent
money used to offset the school's operating costs as a result of the
change. (CGC)

**

COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE HANDICAPPED: BLIND STUDENTS LEARN TO NAVIGATE
USING NEW GPS TOOL

A group of blind high school students visiting Catholic University in
Washington D.C. recently shouldered specially equipped laptop
computers. This, as they navigated about the campus and visited a pizza
restaurant led by voice commands and the Global Positioning System.

A $1,000 Global Positioning System add-on to the BrailleNote keypad
showed the students that getting around a college campus is suddenly
much easier than it used to be. The complete story is on line at
http://www.washtimes.com/business/20...3916-2006r.htm (CGC)

**

WITH THE HANDI HAMS: SUMMER CAMP ON THE AIR

Handi Ham station W0EQO, will be on the air during the summer Minnesota
Radio Camp from August 23rd through August 30th. You can look for W0EQO
on several different bands using CW, single sideband, FM, and digital
modes. Also listen in cyberspace for an EchoLink net on Monday evening
at 2400 hours GMT. The HandiHams will respond to all QSL requests for
all contacts, including EchoLink contacts. (HandiHams)

**

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)


**

INTERNATIONAL - HOLLAND: NEW PREFIXES FOR THE NETHERLANDS

A New call sign prefix went into effect in the Netherlands on August
7th. On the High Frequency bands, the PA, PB, PC, PF, PG and PI prefix
callsigns will now be be heard with one, two or three letter suffixes.
On VHF and above, the PD, PE and PH are the prefixes, again with one,
two or three letter suffixes. For example, the former PBZ0AIU, who sent
in this news story, is now PC2A. (PC2A via GB2RS)

**

DX

In D-X, word that GM0GNY, is active as 4K0GNY from an oil drilling and
production platform in Azerbaijan. He will be there starting the 20th of
August for around a month. Look for him on daily on 40, 20, and 17
meters and QSL as directed on the air. (OPDX)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: A FINAL 73 TO K6DUE

At the beginning of our newscast, we told you about the passing of a
member of the Amateur Radio Newsline family. Roy Neal, K6DUE, died
August 15th following heart surgery. One of the people who knew Roy
best is Alan Kaul, W6RCL. Roy and Alan worked together at NBC News, and
on projects benefitting amateur radio. Alan looks at the life of a man
who was an institution in American broadcast journalis, as well as a
driving force in amateur radio's conquest of space:

--

When Roy Neal, K6DUE, died last week, he was possibly the best-known ham
in America. He left an indelible imprint on Amateur Radio.

Roy, more than anyone else, was responsible for getting ham radio aboard
manned space craft and each new mission is testament to his legacy. His
efforts earned Roy awards from the Dayton Hamvention, they designated
him Ham of the Year and from CQ-Magazine, which this year named Roy to
the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. He also received honors from The
American Radio Relay League, and other groups and served as chairman of
two key AMSAT committees.

Roy was a good guy. He was my friend and colleague at NBC News.

I met Roy in the 1960's when I was working in Seattle and he came to
town to report on aerospace giant Boeing. After I moved to Los Angeles
and joined NBC News in the 70's, Roy and I collaborated on a lot of news
reports.

As a correspondent Roy was best known for his coverage of the U-S Space
program _ he was a friend of the original astronauts _ and often
reported from both the launch site at Cape Canaverral and NASA Mission
Control in Houston.

Not many people know this but Roy was also the author of a book about
America's missile system_. called The Ace In The Hole. It was written
at the height of the Cold War.

In the 1970's, Roy teamed with television producer Dave Bell, W6AQ, to
launch the first of several documentaries about amateur radio. Number
One was a 16-minute film, Moving Up to Amateur Radio. Followed a few
years later by The World of Amateur Radio. Dave Bell remembers Roy as
the ultimate professional:

--

Dave Bell W6AQ: "Of all the on-camera talent that I have known, Roy was
the most assured and had the smallest ego of all of them.

He was a true professional when it came to the news. Everything was
always true. Everything was straight from the shoulder and there was no
compromise.

Roy was one of the old-school news guy. He grew up in the television
business and he understood it better than anybody who is working in it
today."

--

In the 1980's Roy helped convince NASA to put ham radio in Space aboard
a manned flight of the Shuttle. That first ham-astronaut was Owen
Garriott, W5LFL, on board STS-9. Garriott's story of the 1st DX-
pedition in Orbit was told by Roy in the television documentary Amateur
Radio's Newest Frontier.

--

Audio from ARNF: "This is the story of an expedition. The story of
STS-9. The Columbia. And these are the explorers: John Young - the
commander. Brewster Shaw the shuttle pilot. And the scientists Dr. Ulf
Merbold, Byron Lichtenberg, Robert Parker and Dr. Owen Garriott -- an
Astronaut who is also Amateur Radio operator W5LFL. This is an
expedition to probe the outer limits of science and Amateur Radio's
newest frontier.

--

Roy's next project was called SAREX - Shuttle Amateur Radio EX-periment,
followed by the New World of Amateur Radio which profiled a new ham,
teen-ager Kelly Howard, N6PNY. She's now all grown up, married and has
kids of her own. She fondly remembers working with Roy Neal.

--

Kelly Lenhert (ne Howard) N6PNY: It was all so exciting, but it was
also overwhelming. But working with Roy made me feel so comfortable.
He made me feel competent in what I could do. He took me under his wing
and he was really supportive and he got me to do what I needed to do to
make the film and bring out the best in me."

--

Roy's last documentary was called Ham Radio in Space. Roy's interest
was a natural fit with AMSAT. Roy's close friend AMSAT Vice President
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, thinks of K6DUE as his mentor.

--
Frank Bauer KA3HDO: "One of the things that Roy taught me was how to
distill information into basically sound bites, if you will. I remember
one time where we had to give a presentation - at Dayton - and we had
20 minutes. I told him that I did no know how he could so that, and he
said: `Frank, if I can do the whole world on the news in 30 seconds, you
can do this in 20 minutes.' So Roy taught me a whole lot from an
executive perspective because he was a true executive."
--

Another AMSAT officer who worked closely with Roy is Robin Haighton,
VE3FRH, the President of AMSAT North America.

--

Robin Haighton VE3FRH: "The space program itself is in good hands, but
there is no doubt about it that we will miss that leveling confidence
that Roy always brought to the meetings and the discussions. He made
friends with everybody. The moment you met him you felt that here was a
man you could trust."

--

Other comments have come in from all over the world From New Zealand,
the past president of NZART, Jim Meechen ZL2BHF sent his condolences.
As have numerous other Newsline listeners. Another of Roy's friends,
Bob Heil, K9EID, had this to say.

--

Bob Heil K9EID: "I'm going to miss his spirit. He had a spirit about
him that when you heard him on the air, you stopped tuning. This was
something special you were listening to. And it wasn't always the tone
of his great broadcast voice. It was his spirit. He was always in an
up-mode about this hobby."

--

Roy was in the first generation of television newsmen who began their
craft after World War Two. He started in Philadelphia and then moved to
the West Coast where he helped found the NBC News bureau in Los Angeles.
That was during the days of the old John Cameron Swayzee Camel News
Caravan.

Roy was at ease in front of a microphone _ and could talk to millions of
television viewers as easily as he could talk to the ham across town.
On camera, he had the uncanny ability to read to time, precisely to
time. When I produced updates for NBC Nightly News and Roy was the on-
camera talent, I would time the newscast and tell Roy how long he would
have to report the story.

I'd say something like this: "Roy, can you do it in 19 seconds?"

And Roy would always reply, "You know I can old buddy."

Roy liked that phrase "old buddy." He used the phrase to address
friends and co-workers for some time. As for the updates - Roy always
got them right. He would stop talking just an instant before we'd have
to switch back to the network.

By the time he retired in 1986, Roy had worked out of the Los Angeles
news bureau for almost 35-years. He'd probably written millions of
words, and brought his audience uncountable hours of news and
information.

But even in retirement, Roy Neal didn't stop doing what he did best. He
was no stranger to listeners of Amateur Radio Newsline who knew him as a
tireless volunteer giving freely of his own time to report the latest
information -- always signing off in his own stylized way.

--

"This is Roy Neal, K6DUE. Thanks for listening and 73."

--

73, Old Buddy _ I really hate to see you go.

I'm Alan Kaul, W6RCL, reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline.


--

Roy leaves his wife Pat, and sons Mark and David. Services were held
August 19th at the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church
in High Point, North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations in Roy's mame be
made to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation at the Astronaut Hall of
Fame. The mailing address is 6225 Vectorspace Blvd, Titusville,
Florida, 32780. Please mark your envelope to the attention of Linn Le
Blanc.

And this final thought. Yes, we at Newsline have lost a very dear
friend. More important -- so has all of Amateur Radio.

73, Roy. None of us will ever forget you. (ARNewsline, W6RCL)

Additional on-line reading:

The Roy Neal Story:
http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/broadca...neal/neal.html
ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/08/18/101/?nc=1
ARISS: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/
CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/08/19/neal.obit
JSC Amateur Radio Club: http://www.w5rrr.org/sta-pix.html

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE

For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2003. All
rights reserved.