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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1798 - January 27 2012
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1798 - January 27 2012
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1798 with a release
date of January 27th, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC nixes a waiver request
from Anchorage VEC that would have lead to instant re-
licensing of hams with expired licenses but the proposal is
far from dead. Also ham radio to be discussed at WRC 2012;
International cooperation removes a noise generator from 40
meters and the city of Los Angeles celebrate the life of a
ham who started broadcast emergency alerting, Find out the
details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1798
coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS NO TO LICENSE ELEMENT WAIVER REQUEST
The FCC has turned away a request from Alaska's Anchorage
Volunteer Examination Coordinator for a temporary blanket
waiver of Section 97.505(a) of the Commission's Rules.
This, to allow the VEC to give individuals whose amateur
radio operator licenses have expired examination credit for
test elements previously passed so that all former licensees
could be re-licensed without retesting. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, has the details:
--
The Anchorage VEC had filed for the waiver pending the
outcome of a related rulemaking petition in FCC Docket WT 11-
130. That request seeks the same end but on a permanent
nationwide basis.
But in its denial order the FCC noted that individuals who
do not hold a current or renewable amateur radio operator
license, regardless of whether they have held one in the
past, must demonstrate their qualifications to be amateur
radio operators before obtaining a new license. As such,
the approval of the requested waiver to allow examination
credit to be granted for any previously held amateur service
operator license would not serve the underlying purpose of
the regulatory agency's licensing rules.
The FCC also stated that amateur radio testing opportunities
are widely available. It said that Volunteer Examiner teams
can administer tests at any location and time convenient to
them and the examinee. As such Anchorage VEC has not shown
that requiring retesting of examinees whose operator
licenses expired more than two years ago, including those of
advanced years, is inequitable or unduly burdensome, or that
these examinees have no reasonable alternative.
But this matter is far from closed. In its conclusion the
FCC also noted that the dismissal of the Anchorage VEC's
waiver request is a separate matter from the groups pending
Rule Making request in FCC Docket WT 11-130. As such this
action is without prejudice to Anchorage VEC's pending rule-
making petition.
The Report and Order denying the Anchorage VEC's waiver
request was issued on Tuesday, January 24th. As we go to
air it's not known if the Anchorage VEC will appeal this
decision or simply wait for the outcome on its underlying
Rule Making request.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Butera-Howell,
near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
--
The bottom line: At least for now if a ham lets his or her
license expire and fails to renew it during the two year
grace period, he or she will be back to ground zero and will
have to go through the testing procedure before being
granted a call sign to get back on the air.
**
RADIO REGULATION: AMATEUR RADIO AT WRC-2012
Amateur radio is mentioned in the preface of the
International Telecommunication Union's agenda document for
the World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 now taking
place in taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. Of interest
to the Amateur and Amateur satellite Services is item 1.15.
This, to consider possible allocations in the range 3 to 50
MHz to the radio location service for oceanographic radar
applications, taking into account the results of ITU-R
studies and in accordance with Resolution 612 from WRC-07.
Also, there is item 1.19 to consider regulatory measures and
their relevance, in order to enable the introduction of
software-defined radio and cognitive radio systems. This
one is based on the results of ITU-R studies, and in
accordance with Resolution 956 of WRC-07.
Lastly, there are items 1.22 to examine the effect of
emissions from short-range devices on radio communication
services and item 1.23 which will consider an allocation of
about 15 kHz in parts of the band from 415 to 526.5 kHz to
the amateur service on a secondary basis. This, taking into
account the need to protect existing services.
WRC 2012 runs through February the 17th. We will all know
more once the final reports on all these measures are in and
made public. (ITU)
**
INTRUDER WATCH: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION TAKES WHITE NOISE
OFF 40 METERS
Interference from All India Radio to the 40 meter band has
been eliminated. Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasik,
K9BIK, has the details:
--
Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OM, in Siegbach, Germany, reports via the
I-A-R-U Region 1 website that back last December 1st he and
Peter Jost HB9CET of Zurich, Switzerland, noticed a band of
white noise like interference on 40 meters. This from 6 dot
960 to 7 dot 040MHz and also on 7 dot 820 MHz and showing up
every evening.
Calculation by DK2OM showed the center of the spurious
emissions was expected to be on the center 7 dot 410 MHz.
From this point the German and Swiss Departments of Post and
Telecommunications became involved.
Both offices filed official complaints to their counterpart
in India. VU2GMN assisted by filing a personal complaint.
On January 13th the transmitter located near the city of New
Delhi was reported as having been repaired, and all traces
of this source of interference to 40 meters was gone.
For the amateur Radio Newsline, I;m Cheryl Lasik, K9BIK, in
Zion, Illinois.
--
More on this story is on-line at www.iaru-1.org. (IARU
Region 1)
**
RESCUE RADIO: ALABAMA AGAIN HIT BY TORNADOS
Ham radio was again called out as another group of tornadoes
touch down in Alabama. Amateur Radio Newsline's David
Black, KB4KCH, is at our South-East Bureau in Birmingham
with more:
--
The January 22nd storms that pounded residents in Arkansas
and Alabama were particularly difficult to deal with because
they hit at night and couldn't be seen. Some tornadoes were
wrapped in rain. Damage was reported in five Arkansas
counties. One woman was trapped in her home for a time. At
least six tornadoes hit areas south and east of Little Rock
across the state's Delta region. A 150 year old church was
hit and a transmission tower was destroyed. Members of
Arkansas Skywarn activated at the request of National
Weather Service forecasters in Little Rock. In all, about 60
radio amateurs helped with providing emergency
communications across the state.
Hams remained busy as the storms swept east, hitting Alabama
during the predawn hours January 23rd. A single supercell
thunderstorm produces four tornadoes across central Alabama.
Two of the twisters strike neighborhoods north and west of
downtown Birmingham. A 16-year-old girl dies when her home
is hit by an 800-yard wide tornado packing winds of 150
miles an hour. An 81-year-old man dies when a tornado hits
his mobile home shortly after 3am. In all, forecasters say
Alabama was hit by at least eight tornadoes, some of them
leaving long tracks of destruction while tearing up hundreds
of homes and businesses, and injuring 150 people. The
tornadoes hit very close to areas pounded during a series of
storms that killed 239 people in the state April 27th, 2011.
Members of the Alabama Emergency Response Team, ALERT,
provided severe weather reports to Weather Service
forecasters who used the information to issue warnings to
the public. Hams with amateur radio clubs in Birmingham and
nearby Sylvan Springs were on the air throughout much of the
night, as well, assisting emergency management officials.
And members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service were
active, as well. They provided communications as officials
set up shelters for people who lost their homes in the
storms.
The winter months typically see what's called a secondary
severe weather season across the Southeast. With that in
mind, radio amateurs throughout the region are being thanked
for their services...and reminded that their help will
likely be needed again.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm David Black, KB4KCH, at
the South-East Bureau in Birmingham, Alabama.
--
More on this story in future Amateur radio Newsline reports.
(KB4KCH, ALERT, ARRL, others)
**
BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world
including the Hamelton Countyty ARES net serving Hamelton
County, Indiana.
(5 sec pause here)
**
RADIO LAW FOLLOW-UP: SEVERAL AMATEUR RADIO WEBSTES
SUPPORTED THE SOPA - PIPA BLACKOUT PROTEST
A follow up to last weeks story about the involvement of ham
radio in halting the progress of two measures working their
way through the U-S Congress. Laws that many say would have
destroyed the Internet as we know it today.
While the giant QRZ dot com website took what could best be
described as the amateur radio point position in helping to
halt the twin bills in their tacks, it turns out that it was
not alone. The Southgate News reports that at least two
other ham radio websites took part in the protest. Both the
amateur radio HF Link Forum and the APRS site aprs.fi were
closed in the United States on Wednesday, January 18th.
The aprs.fi blog noted in advance that it would join
Wikipedia and Reddit, and protest the proposed United States
Stop Online Piracy or SOPA and the Protect Intellectual
Property Act or PIPA legislation by closing down. The blog
went on to note that if some APRS user were to post links to
copyright infringing material, even when that material would
reside somewhere other than aprs.fi itself, that aprs.fi
could be shut down in the U.S. and there would not be much
that the website owners could do about it.
As we go to air, both SOPA and PIPA have been withdrawn by
their respective sponsors in Congress for retooling. That's
a fancy way of saying that enough votes had defected to make
passage at this time impossible. At the same time it's a
way of keeping both pieces of legislation alive for re-
introduction to the United States Federal law making process
at some later date. And it's a sure bet that content
providers such as the motion picture and music industries
which basically wrote these two pieces of legislation will
try again. (Southgate, ARNewslineT)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FORMER AUSTRALIAN HAM ADMITS TO INTERFERING
WITH OTHERS
A former ham in VK-land has admitted to being a source of
interference on the ham radio bands. This after the 63-year-
old man from one of Melbourne's western suburbs pleaded
guilty on January 11th to several offences under the
Australian Radio Communications Act. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP has more in this report:
--
In testimony, the Australian court hearing the case was told
that, until August 2009, the defendant had been a licensed
amateur radio operator but was investigated by the
Australian Communications and Media Authority following
complaints about interference. As a result of the inquiry,
the regulatory authority cancelled the defendant's amateur
licensee.
But it did not end there. The Australian Communications and
Media Authority alleged that he continued to use his amateur
radio gear his home to jam the communications other licensed
amateur licensees. The execution of the search warrant by
the authorities in September of 2011 confirmed that the
defendant had a large quantity of radio communications gear.
Tests confirmed that the equipment was set to the radio
frequencies that had been interfered with.
In its sentencing, the court placed the defendant on a 12-
month good behavior bond, ordered him to get rid of all of
the seized equipment within four months and prove to the
Australian Communications and Media Authority in writing
that he had disposed of the gear.
The unidentified ham is considered lucky. Under Australian
telecommunications law the court hearing the case had the
option to sentence him to up to 24 months in prison for
these offenses.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm_Norm Seeley, KI7UP,
reporting from Scottsdale, Arizona.
--
As is policy down-under, the defendants name was not made
public by the Australian court. (WIA News)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FLORIDA LPFM FINE LOWERED TO $1500
Back in the United States, a low power FM station that
interfered with FAA frequencies in Florida will only have to
pay a $1,500 fine for operating without an FCC certified
transmitter. This after it successfully convinced the
commission to slash the penalty from the original $12,000.
Power Ministries is the licensee of low power station WRLE
in Dunnellon, Florida. As reported here on Newsline, last
September the Enforcement Bureau issued a notice of apparent
liability, saying the station had operated with a non-
certified transmitter for about three months in 2010. This
action came after an investigation prompted by a complaint
of interference it received from the Federal Aviation
Administration's Jacksonville Center to Air Traffic Control
on133.75 MHz.
The proposed fine was $12,000 but the station appealed in a
letter from Power Ministries owner Anthony Downes. The FCC
now has rejected his arguments that the fine should be
waived on the grounds that he had acted promptly and had not
been aware of interference. But the commission has accepted
the station's documentation of inability to pay, and it cut
the penalty to the $1500 level. (FCC)
**
RADIO LAW: LIGHTSQUARED ASKS FCC TO CONFIRM ITS RIGHT TO
SPECTRUM
The seemingly never ending story continues. This with word
that LightSquared, the company that wants to build a
nationwide broadband data distribution system has asked the
FCC to confirm its right to use the spectrum licensed to it
by the federal government. It's also asking the regulatory
agency to confirm that commercial G-P-S manufacturers have
no right to interference protection from LightSquared's
network since they are not licensed users of that spectrum.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Burt Hicks has the latest in this
report:
--
According to news reports, LightSquared claims that
commercial GPS manufacturers are responsible for having
designed and sold unlicensed devices that use adjacent
spectrum licensed to LightSquared and its predecessor
companies. In a petition recently filed with the FCC
LightSquared claimed that commercial GPS receivers are not
licensed, do not operate under any service rules, and thus
are not entitled to any interference protection whatsoever.
The petition also noted that the FCC itself has stated that
the GPS industry has been on notice for almost a decade that
LightSquared was planning to use its spectrum to launch a
nationwide broadband network.
LightSquared's petition claims that it has had FCC
authorization to build its network for over eight years, and
that authorization was endorsed by the GPS industry, and
fully reviewed and allowed to proceed by several other
government agencies. A company spokesman added that
commercial GPS device-makers have had nearly a decade to
design and sell devices that do not infringe on
LightSquared's licensed spectrum. They have no right to
complain in the eleventh-hour about incompatibility when
they had ample opportunity to avoid this problem.
As previously reported, LightSquared plans to deploy an open
4G network to be used by existing and new service providers
to sell their own devices, applications and broadband
connectivity. The company claims that the deployment and
operation of the network represent more than $14 billion of
private investment over the next eight years.
In its closing remarks the company did moderate its position
a tiny bit. It said that while it asks the FCC to confirm
its legal rights, LightSquared remains fully committed to
cooperate with all parties including the GPS industry, GPS
users and the federal government to ensure that its network
is deployed in a way that is compatible with GPS users.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks in Los
Angeles.
--
LightSquared says that it has always recognized the critical
importance of the GPS system. As such it firmly believes
that a way can be found for GPS devices to peacefully co-
exist adjacent to its network. That said, the GPS industry
and Congress are not so sure. (Published News Reports)
**
RADIO BUSINESS: TAPR AND IQUADLABS ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON SDR
BOARDS
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio and iQuadlabs have jointly
announced a sourcing agreement for the open source Software
Defined Radio or HPSDR boards. These are the ones best
known by their nick-names of Magister, Mercury and
Pennylane.
Under the new agreement, Tucson Amateur Packet Radio will
acquire inventory of iQuadLabs creating a one-stop source
for all open HPSDR boards. On the other side, iQuadLabs
will gain the inventory from Tucson Amateur Packet Radio to
build pre-configured and tested complete open HPSDR systems.
The end result will be that Tucson Amateur Packet Radio will
have all open HPSDR boards in stock, in one place, for those
wishing to buy boards, kits and components. And, for the
first time in the history of open HPSDR, those who wish to
by a completely assembled and tested radio will have a
source at iQuadLabs. Zephyr Engineering, Inc will continue
to manufacture the assembled boards. (TAPR)
**
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)
**
STRANGE TECHNOLOGY UNKNOWN ANIMAL TAKES KENTUCKY TV STATION
OFF THE AIR
A TV station went dark for a short time due to damage from
one of the creatures of the wild. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the details:
--
An unidentified animal has been blamed for taking a Kentucky
television station off the air. Lexington CBS affiliate
WKYT announced on its Facebook page Wednesday, January 11th
that it was in the midst of broadcasting a University of
Kentucky basketball game when a power outage shut it down.
It turns out that the power interruption was caused by an
animal gnawing through a power line on the station's
property. Mike Kanarek, WKYT's vice president of
operations, told the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper that
the station switched to a back-up generator almost
immediately after the animal cut off electricity but it took
a few minutes for the transmitter to resume broadcasting.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU.
--
WKYT didn't specify what type of animal caused the
disturbance or if it survived the ordeal. (RW)
**
AWARD NEWS: LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD TO SUPPORT CQ OPERATING
AWARDS
CQ Communications and ARRL have signed an agreement to begin
providing support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the
ARRL's Logbook of the World electronic confirmation system.
CQ's awards will be the first non-ARRL awards supported by
Logbook of the World and will be phased in, beginning with
the CQ WPX award. Additional CQ awards will follow.
The target date for beginning Logbook of the World support
for WPX is April 1st. Amateurs will be able to use Logbook
of the World logs to generate lists of confirmed contacts to
be submitted for WPX credit. Standard Logbook of the World
credit fees and CQ award fees will apply.
The ARRL's Logbook of the World system is an interactive
database recording contacts between radio amateurs was
created in 2003 and has been adopted by 47,500 radio
amateurs worldwide. It already has records of 400 million
contacts and grows weekly.
The agreement was announced jointly on Tuesday, January 24th
by ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, and CQ
Communications President Richard Ross, K2MGA. (CQ)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: K5B TO COMMEMORATE THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH
The Mesilla Valley Radio Club of Las Cruces, New Mexico will
be operating special events station K5B on March 25th.
This, in conjunction with the 23rd annual Bataan Memorial
Death March Marathon to be held at the near-by White Sands
Missile Range.
K5B will operate from 1000 to 2300 UTC on or near 21.337,
14.330, 7.225, and 3.893 megahertz. A commemorative card
will be available by request. If you make contact please
QSL with a self addressed stamped business sized envelope to
Special Events Station K5B, in care of the Mesilla Valley
Radio Club, P. O. Box 1443 Las Cruces, NM 88004-1443. All
QSL requests must be received by Friday, April 20th. More
information is on-line at www.n5bl.org/bataan. (Mesilla
Valley ARC)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: SEVHFS SOLICITING PAPERS FOR APRIL
CONFERENCE
Papers and other presentations are solicited The 15th Annual
Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held in Charlotte,
North Carolina on April 20th and 21st. Submissions are
welcomed on both the technical and operational aspects of
VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio. The
deadline for the submission is February 17th. Send all
questions and comments to Robin Midgett via e-mail to K4IDC
at comcast dot net. More is on-line at www.svhfs.org.
(SEVHFS)
**
HAMVENTION 2012: DAYTON DX DINNER INFORMATION ANNOUNCED
The Southwest Ohio DX Association has announced that it will
again sponsor the DX Dinner to be held in conjunction with
the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. The date is Friday, May 18th at
the Dayton Marriott Hotel in downtown Dayton, Ohio. There
will be a cash bar starting at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served
at 7:00 o'clock Eastern time. Reservation information can
be found on line at www.,swodxa.org. (SWODXA)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: ORLANDO HAMCATION FEBRUARY 10 To 12
The 66th annual Orlando HamCation Amateur Radio and Computer
Show will take place on February 10th through the 12th at
the Central Florida Fairgrounds, in Orlando, Florida.
Presented by the Orlando Amateur Radio Club, HamCation 2012
will feature over 150 commercial vendors offering a wide
variety of radio gear, antennas, accessories, test
equipment, tools, software and books. There will also be
over 400 swap vendors and a large outdoor tailgating area.
More information on this fun winter get-away event in the
Florida sun is on-line at www dot hamcation.com. (Orlando
HamCation)
**
HAMVENTION 2012: N6TR TO BE FEATURED SPEAKER AT DAYTON
CONTEST DINNER
2003 Radio Amateur of the Year Larry "Tree" Tyree, N6TR,
will be the featured speaker at the 20th Annual Dayton
Contest Dinner to be held on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in
Dayton, Ohio.
According to the North Coast Contesters who sponsor the
dinner, N6TR has an extensive and distinguished contesting
resume that goes beyond his many top ten finishes in
domestic CW contests. He was one of the founders of the
popular Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge and the
creator of the twice-a-year Kids Day operating events.
Tyree is also the author of the popular TRLOG contest
logging software and is responsible for log checking
packages that are used to adjudicate many of the major radio
contests.
Outside of contests, Tyree spends most of his time chasing
new countries on 160 meters. More about this event is on-
line at contestdinner.com. (K3LR)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: VA2SH/VA6SH ELECTED NEW RAC DIRECTOR FOR
QUEBEC
And congratulations to Sheldon Werner, VA2SH / VA6SH on his
election as the Radio Amateurs of Canada Director for the
Provence of Quebec. Werner has been an amateur radio
operator since 1976. He has been involved in many aspects
of the hobby including serving as the Vice President for the
Montreal Amateur Radio Club.
Werner ran unopposed, eliminating the need for a balloted
election. His role as Quebec Director is for the remainder
of a two year term which ends December 31, 2013. (VO1PRB)
**
BREAK 3
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)
**
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: LEAP SECONDS GET A REPRIEVE
The Leap Second is getting a temporary reprieve. This after
delegates at an international telecommunications meeting in
Geneva failed to reach a consensus on whether or not to
delete these sporadic additions from the global time
standard system.
As reported last week, attendees to the conference were
supposed to decide whether to recommend the elimination of
leap seconds. Since no decision was made, the issue has
been referred back to a panel of experts for further study.
A revised proposal will be introduced no earlier than 2015.
Leap Seconds are time increments which are occasionally
added to the world's atomic clocks to keep them synchronized
with Earth's rotational cycles. The last leap second was
added in 2008. The next one is this year at the end of June.
Also one correction to last weeks report. As pointed out to
us in an e-mail from John Rabold KS6M, the Earth doesn't
rotate around the sun. Rather it revolves around the sun.
Thank you John for catching that one. It was our bad.
(Space & Science)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NASA AND W5KWQ WORKING ON RELEASE OF
FIRST MOVIE SHOT IN SPACE
The first science fiction film shot in space could be coming
to viewers here on Earth. This after NASA confirms it's
almost ready to give approval for the project.
Titled Apogee of Fear, the film was shot by space tourist
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, during his 2008 trip to the
International Space Station. Garriott shot the basic footage
for the film, using astronauts as his cast. He then added
scenes and visual effects after his return to Earth.
The film was privately shown at Dragon*Con last year, but
has been in legal limbo since then. This is because it
wasn't included in Garriott's deal with NASA. Now the space
agency confirms that it is working with W5KWQ to facilitate
the video's release. The complete story is on-line at
tinyurl.com/movie-in-space. (The UK Register, Wired,
others)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: THE IPAD PASSPORT
A Canadian man traveling by car to Vermont claimes that his
iPad helped save the day. This after he realized he left
his passport, which is required to cross into the United
States, at his home in Quebec.
According to news reports, Martin Reisch said that on
December 30th he arrived at Canada's Stanstead crossing and
proceeded to the U.S. border post. He then showed the U.S.
officer his Canadian driver's license, his Medicaid card and
a digital scan of his passport he had on his iPad. At that
point says Reisch he was permitted to enter the United
States.
But the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says that
it did not happen that way calling Reisch's story false. In
a statement the agency said that in this case, the
individual had both a driver's license and birth
certificate, which the CBP officer used to determine
identity and citizenship in order to admit the traveler into
the country.
But Reisch isn't backing down from his story. He told the
press that he does not even know where his paper birth
certificate is. He added that his experience does however
make him think about how technology can be used for
identification purposes when traveling at some point in the
future. (Various published news sources)
**
WORLDBEAT: RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA SEEKS TREASURER
Radio Amateurs of Canada is looking for a Treasurer who is a
Chartered Accountant, Certified General Accountant or
Certified Management Accountant. Experience with
QuickBooks would be an asset. Interested parties should
contact Paul Burggraaf by e-mail to vo1prb(at) rac (dot) ca.
(RAC)
**
WORLDBEAT: UK SCHOOL TO HOLD D-STAR EVENT
A school in the village of Gresham in the United Kingdom
will be holding an amateur radio special event station using
the D-STAR digital network for children age 6 to 11 on May
23rd. The callsign will be GB2GVS which stands for Gresham
Village School.
Andy Johnston, 2E0AIV is the event coordinator. He says
that they have already arranged link-ups with schools in
Northern Ireland, the USA and England, but are looking for
more countries and schools to participate. If anyone is
interested, they can contact Andy via e-mail at 2e0avi (at)
2e0aiv (dot) co (dot) uk. (Southgate)
**
ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING DENMARK'S PRESIDENCY OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION
Ham radio is helping Denmark celebrate its turn as President
of the European Union. Denmark holds this from January 1st
to June 30th. Ro celebrate, the callsign 5P12EU will be
activated during this same time period. QSL cards will be
available and there is an award scheme for working or just
hearing this callsign. For all details on QSLing, the award
format and logs, check out www.5p12eu.dk (DX OnLine)
**
DX
In DX, members of the Buddies in the Caribbean will mount a
mini-DXpedition to Grenada between February 1st through the
9th. The team specializes in 100 watts or less low power
radios and the Buddipole portable antenna systems They will
have fixed operations from a cliff-top villa and portable
operations from various points on the island. Modes used
will be CW, SSB, and the Digital on 160 through 10 meters.
Licensing is not yet complete, but each operator is expected
to receive their J3/callsign. QSL via Logbook of the World,
eQSL, or regular mail to operator's home callsign and
include a self addressed stamped envelope if you go the
postal route.
JA1XGI will be active from Hawaii as W8XGI/KH6 between
January 31st and February 4th just prior to his upcoming
trip to Tonga. Operations will probably be on 20 through 6
meters with an emphasis on 30, 17 and 12 meters. He is
expected to operate mainly CW, with some SSB and the Digital
modes. QSL via JA1XGI, direct or by the Bureau. QSO's will
be uploaded to Logbook of the World.
DL7AFS and DJ7ZG will be operational as V21FS and V21ZG,
respectively, from the Villa Sundowerns on the island of
Antigua beginning March 5th for an unknown stay. Focus of
this operation on 160 through meters as propagation
conditions allow. Modes noted are RTTY, PSK and SSB. QSL
via the DARC German QSL bureau or direct to DL7AFS.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: LOS ANGELES CELEBRATES THE 57TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGALERT DEVELOPED BY THE LATE LLOYD
SIGMON, W6LQ
Los Angeles transportation leaders gathered at Caltrans
headquarters Monday January 23rd to commemorate the 57th
anniversary of what may be Los Angeles' most iconic gift to
the rest of the world: the SigAlert. And it was developed
by a ham radio operator. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, tells about this legacy gifted to the
people of Southern California by a broadcasting pioneer:
--
It's hard to fathom that it was 57 years ago this week that
the late Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, developed the SigAlert. At the
time Lloyd was a vice president and engineer at Gene Autry's
Golden West Broadcasting AM radio station KMPC.
In the pre Internet world of the 1950's KMPC had
revolutionized Southern California driving by launching a
fleet of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to report live
on traffic conditions during rush hours.
But what became known as the "KMPC Air Force" could not fly
around the clock.
In off hours Lloyd Sigmon had wanted Los Angeles Police
Department officers to simply phone KMPC's news department
when freeways or streets were clogged but the department
rejected that idea. So W6LQ used his ham radio know how to
develop a hardware-based work around that has been a region
wide standard for more than half a century.
Today the California Highway Patrol and other police
authorities still use the term SigAlert to advise motorists
to an unplanned lane closure lasting more than 30 minutes.
And over the years SigAlerts have not only aided in traffic
reporting but have also been used in disaster alerting.
The first such emergency notification SigAlert took place in
1955 when it urged medical personnel to respond to a train
derailment. It reportedly caused a traffic jam when many
doctors and nurses showed up to assist at the scene.
W6LQ's SigAlert is also credited with saving the lives of
hundreds when the Baldwin Hills Dam collapsed on December
14, 1963. And even today Lloyd Sigmon's basic alerting
concept is in use nationwide in the form of the high-tech
Emergency Alert System or E-A-S.
During his time in Southern California, Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ,
was very active and well known in the Los Angeles ham radio
community. He was also a frequent guest on late-night talk
shows, especially that of Ray Briem, N6FFT. There he could
be heard discussing both his love of ham radio and, once in
a while, a bit of the technology on the development of the
SigAlert.
In later year after his retirement from KMPC Lloyd Sigmon
moved back to his native Oklahoma. There, W6LQ, became a
Silent Key in 2005 at age 90.
I was fortunate to have known Lloyd and to have appeared
with him several times on the Ray Briem Show. I can tell
you first hand that Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, was one truly nice
guy.
For the Amateur Radio Newsine, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF,
in the newsroom here in the City of Angels.
--
You can learn more about both Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, and the
SigAlert at tinyurl.com/3myftzl. (Various published news
reports and ARNewslineT Archive)
**
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 NewslineT. 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 NewslineT, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa
Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk,
I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for
listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2012. All rights
reserved.
R\%/itt
... Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
... find out how far one can go ~ TS Eliot
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000-10
* Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:387/22)
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