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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1801 - February 17 2012
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1801 - February 17 2012
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1801 with a release date of February
17th, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. WRC 2012 ends and ham radio get a new 600 meter
allocation. Also, the 2 Gigahertz band comes under attack in Sweden; ham
radio gets an exclusion from a proposed Illinois distracted driving law; a
high altitude ham radio balloon heading from Texas to China disappears
over the Gulf of Mexico and spray on antennas become a reality. All this
and more on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1801 coming your way
right now.
**
RADIO LAW: WRC 2012 ENDS - THE OUTCOME FOR HAM RADIO
The 2012 World Radiocommunications Conference, better known as WRC 12 has
come to a close. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the Newsroom with some
good news for ham radio:
--
At its Plenary meeting held on February 14th, the World Radiocommunication
Conference approved a new secondary frequency allocation to the Amateur
Radio Service from 472 to 479 kHz. Having passed its First and Second
Readings it is normally a formality that this change be included in the
conferences Final Acts when the gathering concludes and the Table of
Frequency Allocations would then be amended accordingly.
As a secondary user, amateur radio shares 472 to 479 kHz with the Maritime
Mobile Service which is the primary user in all three ITU Regions and with
the Aeronautical Radionavigation Service which is a Secondary user except
as noted in the following footnotes:
One footnote reads that a number of countries will identify their intent
to elevate the status of their Aeronautical Radionavigation Service to
Primary as a step in ensuring protection from secondary users.
Also there is a footnote that says that the power which radio amateurs may
use in 472 to 479 kHz will be limited to 5 watts effective radiated except
for amateur stations within 800 km of the borders of a number of
countries. These are principally Russia, many of the former Soviet bloc
nations and the Arab states. For those affected amateurs the power output
limit will be 1 watt.
It is, of course, up to individual administrations to authorize use of the
band by their amateurs. How long it will before the band is available to
hams in the United States? That's up to the bureaucrats in Washington
D.C.. At this point that is unknown.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the
Newsroom in Los Angeles.
--
The new band at 600 meters will represent the return of amateurs to the
medium waves. This is an area of spectrum that hams have not had access
to since the earliest days of radio regulation. More on WRC 12 in future
Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (RAC)
**
RESTRUCTURING: SSA SAYS HAM RADIO AND BROADBAND CAN SHARE 13 CM
The 13 centimeter ham band is under threat of reallocation in Sweden.
This as that nations Telecommunications regulator the Department of Post
and Telecommunications has suggested that the 2300 to 2450 MHz spectrum be
transferred for use by broadband systems. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, is here with the details:
--
As part of the rule making process the Swedish national amateur radio
society, the SSA, has submitted it's response to Sweden's
telecommunications regulator on this matter. In it, the SSA argues that
the nations amateur service should remain in the 2.3 GHz band and if
needed share this spectrum with any other users.
SSA notes that wideband digital systems are becoming less sensitive to
narrowband signals. This it says improves the possibilities for such a
form of band sharing arrangement.
Among its position points the SSA believes that communication with amateur
satellites in the band from 2400 to 2450 MHz should continue to be
permitted.
The SSA is also requesting a meeting with the Department of Post and
Telecommunications to discuss the technological basis for continuing the
amateur service in the this band.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, near
Pittsburg, PA.
--
More on the amateur radio response to the proposed reallocation translated
into Google English is on-line at tnyurl.com/SSA2300MHzResponse
(Southgate, SSA)
**
RADIO SCIENCE: COMMUNICATIONS LOST WITH BLT-28 TEXAS TO CHINA HAM RADIO
BALLOON
Communications with a high altitude amateur radio floating balloon that
was launched from Texas with a final goal of reaching Nanjing China has
been lost. BLT-28 transmitting callsign KT5TK-11 on APRS was lost at
00:50 hours UTC on February 12th. This was only 3 hours after the balloon
was lofted skyward from Katy, Texas, just west of the city of Houston.
Signals were lost when the balloon was passing through the 45,700 feet
over the Gulf of Mexico about 110 miles south of Holly Beach, Louisiana.
This was possibly the coldest part of the journey to that time with the
last telemetry reporting a temperature of -50 degrees Celsius.
There is some speculation that the lack of signals from the balloon may
have been caused by the batteries freezing up. There is some hope that a
so-called watchdog circuit will keep the electronics package alive until
the batteries have rejuvenated, if they ever do.
There was some hope that BLT-28 may have actually crossed the Atlantic
Ocean sometime Monday morning, February 13th, but that has yet to be
confirmed either visually or by a resumption of electronic tracking. If
the APRS transponder does return to life, it should be transmitting on
144.800 MHz and will eventually appear on various world wide APRS tracking
websites such as aprs.fi.
BLT-28 was the latest in a long series of high altitude ham radio balloon
launches sponsored South Texas Balloon Launch Team. Their website is in
cyberspace at www.w5acm.net. (ARNewslineT, Southgate, WB5ITT)
**
RADIO LAW: ILLINOIS DISTRACTED DRIVING LAW WONT AFFECT HAM RADIO
Amateur radio as well as 11 Meter CB and several other services have won a
complete exemption from a proposed Illinois state law aimed at curtailing
the activities of distracted drivers on that states roads and streets.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Matthew Chambers, NR0Q, has this follow-up
report:
--
There were actually two proposed measures before the Illinois state
legislature aimed at accomplishing the same thing. As originally written,
both House Bill 3972 introduced by Representative John D'Amico and House
Bill 3970 by Representative Karen May would have banned the use of all
electronic communication devices with a very few limited exceptions.
These were the use of two-way radio by law-enforcement and operators of
emergency vehicles; cellphones used in a hands-free or voice-activated
mode or in parked vehicles. And that was it.
Now, after consultation with representatives of the Illinois ham radio
community, Representative D'Amico has amended his proposal to exclude
numerous types of two-way radio based communications from his measure.
This, while leaving the original intent of the proposed law aimed which is
primarily aimed at curtailing texting or using a hand-held cellular
telephone while the vehicle is in motion.
Item 7 of the Amended D'Amico measure is the part that's important to the
ham radio community. It states that a driver using two-way or citizens
band radio services or two-way mobile radio transmitter or receivers for
licensees of the Federal Communications Commission in the Amateur Radio
Service are exempt from the proposed law. And that's good news for anyone
with radio gear in their car driving in or through the state of Illinois.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Matthew Chambers, NR0Q, reporting.
--
While this still leaves House Bill 3970 by Representative Karen May as
active as originally written, it's believed that this measure will shortly
be amended to follow the House Bill 3970, if this has not taken place
already. (ARNewslineT, others)
**
BREAKING DX NEWS: LONG AWAITED VK0HI HEARD ISLAND OPERATION CANCELLED
Jim Linton, VK3PC, reports that Chris Dimitrijevic, VK3FY, has announced
the permanent cancellation of the 2013 VK0HI Heard Island DXpedition.
Linton notes that VK3FY was also the team leader of the cancelled DX0DX
Spratly Islands DXpedition. VK3PC was serving as the Publicist for the
Heard Island 2013 DXpedition. More DX information later on in this weeks
Amateur Radio Newsline report. (VK3PC)
**
WITH NEWSLINE: OUR NEW WEBSITE
Amateur Radio Newsline's new website with its all new look is now on-line
and fully operational. One of the new features is that from this week
forward that all newscasts will remain on the very front page as an
ongoing audio and text blog. This should make it easy for those who may
have missed the previous week need not look anywhere else to find it.
Also, the Young Ham of the Year Award and its associated forms now have
their own tab at the top of the front page. Click it and you are at the
place where you can download the 2012 nominating form as well as learn
about the award programs history.
For now, if you find you are having any problems reaching the site, you
can use the temporary URL of arnewsline.squarespace.com. This is because
it may take up to a week before all the Domain Name Servers around the
world have update www.arnewsline.org to the new host.
Lots more changes will be coming soon to make the overall site easier to
navigate. Our thanks to Robert Sudock, WB6FDF; Kevin Trotman, N5PRE and
Dale Cary, WD0AKO, for spearheading the new design and for the smooth
transition to our new web host Squarespace.
Please check www.arnewsline.org and let us know what you think.
(ARNewslineT)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS IT WILL SEEK TO CANCEL LIGHTSQUARED PROPOSED
BROADBAND NETWORK
The Federal Communications Commission says that it will seek public
comment on revoking LightSquared's permit to build a proposed national
high-speed wireless data network. This, after concluding that such a
system held the potential in some cases jam personal navigation and other
Global Positioning System or GPS devices.
According to news reports, the FCC had seen LightSquared's proposal as a
way to make more spectrum available to feed the need of the public and
industry for added broadband capability for a wide variety of fixed and
mobile devices. But the manufacturers of GPS receivers and those who rely
on them feared that GPS signals would suffer from adjacent spectrum
interference caused by the proposed LightSquared network.
As previously reported here on Newsline, after conducting tests, the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration said that it
found interference with dozens of personal navigation devices and aircraft
control systems that rely on GPS for positioning. The NTIA concluded that
there's no way to eliminate the risk of interference with such GPS
devices.
As we go to air, LightSquared, which is based in Reston, Virginia, had not
made any comment to the press on this latest development.
(PC World Blog, Yahoo News, Bloomberg News, others)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC REDUCES STUDIO TO TRANSMITTER LINK FINE BY $800
The FCC has reduced a fine for Gila Electronics that was based on a
studio-to-transmitter link violation two years ago. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Jim Davis, W2JKD, reports:
--
During a September 2009 inspection of KUKY - FM located in Wellton,
Arizona, agents discovered what appeared to be a 950 MHz Studio to
Transmitter or S-T-L that was relaying KUKY programming's main studio in
Yuma to its transmitter site near Wellton.
Gila provided the agents with a copy of the license for the relay station
which authorized operation on 956.65 MHz as a Private Operational Fixed
Point-to-Point Microwave radio station. The licensed location was listed
as Telegraph Pass, Arizona near Wellton but the microwave station was
installed at the KUKY studio in Yuma, about 15 miles from the licensed
location.
In January 2010, the San Diego Office issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability for Forfeiture for $4,000 to Gila for failing to operate the
relay at its authorized location and for providing a private carrier
service not in accordance with the rules applicable to its particular
radio service.
In its response, Gila had not disputed the facts. However it asked for a
reduction because it said there were no interference reports from other
licensees nor any substantial potential for interference to other users.
This based on the sparsely populated desert terrain.
But the FCC was not persuaded by this argument. It noted that the absence
of public harm is not considered a mitigating factor in a rule violation.
However, the agency did give Gila a break based on the company's past good
behavior, noting that the company has not received a prior violation
during its more than 20 year history. That's why it cut the fine by $800.
I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD.
--
Gila was given the customary 30 days to pay the fine or to file a further
appeal. (FCC)
**
PUBLIC SERVICE: HAMS NEEDED FOR BOSTON MARATHON COMMUNICATIONS
Bob DeMattia, K1IW, of the Marathon Amateur Radio Communications group
tells Amateur Radio Newsline that his organization is still looking for
approximately fifty more volunteers. This, to help on the ham radio team
at the Boston Marathon.
This years run takes place on Monday, April 16th. Bob says that positions
are available in Hopkinton, along the route, and in Boston itself. If you
are a ham living in that area or plan to be at the event, and if you are
interested in volunteering, please visit marc.mmra.org on the
World-Wide-Web.(K1IW)
**
RADIO READING: BAY AREA RADIO
Arcadia Publishing is set to release "Bay Area Radio," detailing the key
events and history of radio in the San Francisco Bay Area. The book
highlights some of the area's early events, including Charles "Doc"
Herrold's broadcasts in 1909 from his radio school in San Jose to a young
NBC settling its West Coast headquarters in 1926.
"Bay Area Radio" was written by noted radio historian John F. Schneider
with assistance from the California Historical Radio Society and the Bay
Area Radio Museum. It goes on sale March 5.
(RW)
**
RADIO READING: A DOT OF BUTTER AND A DASH OF SPICE FIELD DAY COOKBOOK
And "A Dot of Butter and a Dash of Spice" is a new cookbook dedicated to
Field Day culinary delights from UK amateur Steve Norman, M0MVB. In
explaining his new work Norman says that as we all need to eat, he has
combined his love of doing field day and of food by writing a BBQ cook
book aimed at the ham radio operator. "A Dot of Butter and a Dash of
Spice" contains over 100 recipes as well as covering what is the best BBQ
to take on field days and loads of other help. Priced at œ9.99 British
Pounds or $15.75 US dollars, it can be ordered on-line in the United State
from Amazon.com and other booksellers. (M0MVB)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: N6SL SAYS QCWA 40 METER CW NET SPPED LOWERED TO 15 WPM
Some names in the news. First up is Ben Russell, N6SL. He says via the
Quarter Century Wireless Association's remailer that to encourage more
participation the 40 meter QCWA 40 Meter CW Net hat the code speed has
been reduced to approximately 15 words per minute. Russell, who is the
Net Control Station, says that this net meets every Wednesday evening at 8
PM Eastern Time on 7 point 035 MHz +/- any QRM. Anyone interested in QCWA
and its activities is invited to take part. (N6SL via QCWA Remailer)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: JIM LAPORTA, N1CC, NAMED NEW QCWA GENERAL MANAGER
Jim LaPorta, N1CC, of Marbank, Texas, has been selected as the new General
Manager of the Quarter Century Wireless Association. He will assume the
position on or about March 26th. LaPorta replaces Chuck Walbridge, K1IGD,
who will be terminating his current contract as General Manager on March
31st after seven years in that position. (N0UF)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY TO REC.RADIO.AMATEUR.MODERATED
And a big happy birthday shout-out to the rec.radio.amateur.moderated
Usenet newsgroup which will be five years old this month.
The group was founded on February 22, 2007. It was created as a moderated
alternative to the chaotic problems on many of the un-moderated newsgroups
of the time. Since then it has become a model that other hobby radio
Newsgroups are attempting to emulate.
If you haven't participated on Usenet in a while you might want to take a
look at rec.radio.amateur.moderated. Its quite a bit more mature than
other hobby groups in the Usenet genre.
As an aside, Amateur Radio Newsline has been distributed on
rec.radio.amateur.moderated almost since that Newsgroup was formed and we
hope that we helped in some way in the group's long term success.
(ARNewslineT)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: SARL LEAP YEAR CHALLENGE
Hams are invited to take part in the South Africa Radio League-sponsored
Leap Year Challenge on Wednesday February 29th. The challenge starts at
00:01 and ends at 23:59 South Africa Time. Modes acceptable include
phone, CW and digital activity on all bands including HF, VHF, UHF and
microwaves.
The objective is simply to make as many contacts as you can on this day.
The rules permit you to work a station once only regardless of band, mode
or call sign.
Logs go by e-mail to zs4bfn (at) netactive (dot) co (dot) za and must be
received by midnight Friday March 2nd, 2012. A South Africa Radio League
membership is up for grabs for the log received with the most QSO's made.
Also this reminder: If you do not take part, you will have to wait until
2016 to put the date February 29th into your logbook! (SARL)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: A SPRAY-ON ANTENNA
Ever found yourself without a signal and wished you could just spray one
on like magic? Soon, you may be able to do just that. Michael Grebert,
N4OZ is here with more:
--
Chamtech Enterprises, of Sandy, Utah, has developed a spray-on antenna
material that it says is more lightweight and energy efficient than
current technology.
Revealed at Google's inaugural "Solve for X" symposium, the company says
than an antenna can be painted onto almost any surface including trees,
walls and even on fabrics.
Chamtech says that it is already talking with government-based customers,
and as such can't give too much detail on how it works. However it has
released information that its material uses organic elements that have the
ability to interact with magnetic and radio-frequency fields.
The company's Chief Technology Officer is Rhett Spencer. Spencer is
quoted as saying the antenna could increase mobile energy efficiency by 10
percent. Also that it was found to work particularly well under water.
Observers at the event say that being organic could make it ideal for
sub-aquatic telecommunications infrastructure.
Prelimnary tests on current a generation cell phone showed that the
product was able to boost signals by an impressive 20 dbm when painted
over the standard internal antenna.
From our point of view, for ham radio operators living in antenna
restricted areas such as apartments or condominiums, the possibilities of
a product such as this could be endless. All a ham might need is a bit of
imagination and some of the spray-on antenna paint to get on the air with
a signal much stronger than from the rubber duckie on his or her HT.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Michael Grebert, N4OZ, not far from
Music City, Nashville, Tennessee.
--
For more information about the Chamtech spray-on antenna material you can
take your web browser to www.chamtechops.com. A video with a talk about
the technology involved is on-line at tinyurl.com/spray-on-antenna.
(N4OZ, FutureTech)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ESA FIRST VEGA LAUNCH A SUCCESS
The maiden voyage of the European Space Agency's new Vega launch vehicle
has successfully lofted a research satellite along with eight student
built microsats into space.
The first Vega launch took place from the ESA spaceport in Korou, French
Guiana at 10:00 UTC on Monday, February 13th. The primary payload was the
Italian Space Agency's Laser Relativity Spacecraft. Its primary mission
is the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect, also known as
frame-dragging. The satellite may also be used for measurements in the
fields of Geodynamics and Satellite geodesy.
The secondary payload of the eight student-built MicroSats will transmit
telemetry in the VHF, UHF and microwave amateur bands. One of the tiny
birds named PW-Sat includes a voice repeater in addition to its telemetry
transponder. Its uplink is at 435.020 MHz with its downlink at145.900
MHz. PW-Sat sends its telemetry using1200 baud packet as well as CW on
435.020 MHz. (ESA, AMSAT)
**
RADIO IN SPACE: RUSSIA SAYS RADIATION CAUSED PHOBOS-GRUNT FAILURE
Russia is blaming solar radiation for a computer glitch that doomed its
Phobos-Grunt Mars moon mission, but space industry experts cast doubt on
the findings of an investigation into the crash of what was to be Moscow's
first deep space mission in two decades. Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl
Lasek, K9BIK, reports:
--
The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft was stranded in Earth orbit after launch in
November and crashed into the Pacific Ocean in January. Russian Space
Agency Chief Vladimir Popovkin said that in the opinion of the commission,
the most likely reason for the mishap was the local impact of heavily
charged space particles that led to a failure in the memory of the main
onboard computer in the second stage of flight.
Popovkin went on to say that foreign-made counterfeit or defective
microchips were partly to blame for the failure of the $165-million
spacecraft, designed to retrieve soil samples from the Martian moon
Phobos. He said that a burst of space radiation caused the onboard
computers to reboot and go into standby mode.
But others doubt this to be the case. Rather experts on spaceflight say
that Moscow was blaming external factors for the loss of its ambitious
Mars mission to distract from chronic failings with its once-pioneering
industry.
Alexander Zakharov, was the mission's lead scientist. He has been quoted
as saying that even if this was the true which cannot be completely ruled
out because it does happen, then there is some kind of problem with the
flight system or the programming, which were not designed to guard against
space radiation.
Another space industry source said potentially damaging bursts of
radiation were highly unlikely in low-Earth orbit, where hundreds of
satellites circle within the protective bubble of the planet's magnetic
field.
But Russia's State News Agency has cited an industry source of its own.
That unnamed source inferred that the critics are incorrect saying it was
absurd to think that the Phobos-Grunt had not been made to withstand
cosmic rays on its two year interplanetary mission.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion,
Illinois.
--
The failure of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft to leave Earth orbit was the
latest in a series of mishaps that have plagued Russia's space program the
past year. (Various published news reports)
**
WORLDBEAT: RADIO AUSTRALIA MAY BE BACK ON THE AIR FROM FIJI
Radio Australia may broadcast again from Fiji. Andy Sennit reports via
the Media Network blog that Fiji's coup installed military government has
signaled it is looking at allowing Radio Australia to broadcast inside the
country again.
Power to the two transmitters, one in Nadi and the other in Suva, was
switched off by the interim government in 2009, three years after the 2006
coup led by military commander Frank Bainimarama. But Fiji's permanent
secretary of information, Sharon Smith Johns told Pacific Beat's Geraldine
Coutts that she is looking at reversing the policy.
(Media Network)
**
DX
In DX, Albania will be on the air during the 2012 CQ WPX SSB Contest.
This with word that TA1HZ will operate from that nation as ZA1TC for the
period of March 23rd to the 26th that includes the contest weekend. During
his spare time outside the contest he will try to work some PSK31,
especially on 30m band. Details and QSL info is on www.qrz.com.
Lastly, HA5PP will be active from Malta as 9H3PP on May 26th and 27th
during the CQ WW WPX CW Contest as a Single-Operator Single-Band entry.
Activity outside of the contest will be on 6 and 12 meters, and possibly s
17 meters as well. QSL via HA5PP.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: COORDINATING THE SUPER BOWL
And finally this week, a tale of frequency coordination to the stars. Not
the stars in the sky but those on the football field at this year's Super
bowl. It's also the story of the part played in the process by a number
of Hoosier state radio amateurs. Here's Jack Parker, W8ISH:
--
INDY SUPER BOWL HAMS
Actuality Audio: "Check one two three four.This is about a team an
organization.I've just gone from hotel to stadium. It was a great
experience overall."
--
From mice checks to Manning to Madonna to the man on the street the
airwaves around downtown Indianapolis were full of frequencies from over
3500 hundred transmitters. For two weeks prior to Super Bowl 46, and
through the game itself, hundreds of radio and television stations were
vying for radio spectrum in their efforts to cover the greatest show in
professional football.
Keeping interference to a minimum is the job of the Super Bowl Frequency
Coordination Committee. It is a team of 46 six, including 17 Amateur
Radio operators from central Indiana. Their mission was to log, tag and
tune all wireless transmitters from broadcast media from around the world.
As Super Bowl Sunday approached the job of preventing interference became
a super task. The Indianapolis Super Bowl village, Lucas Oil Stadium and
major hotels are located in a one mile square area. According to one
volunteer, that is a lot of RF in a small area.
According to organizers the area of frequency control was expanded on game
day stretching out about 30 miles into the suburbs of central Indiana.
The bottom line for all this effort, was to make sure the radio
transmitters to each quarterback on the field was interference free
throughout Super Bowl 46.
--
Actuality Audio: "Check one two..two..everyones good."
--
Reporting from Indianapolis, I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH.
--
Radio frequency coordination has become an important part of many
broadcast sports, but few other than the Olympics require the amount of
spectrum as does the Superbowl each year. (W8ISH)
**
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 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 Jim Damron,
N8TMW and I'm Jeff Clark, K8JAC, 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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