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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1882 - September 6 2013
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1882 - September 6 2013
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1882 with a release date of September
6 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. A trans-Pacific emergency communications test
is deemed a success; a ham radio satellite band at 5 Gigahertz could be in
jeopardy in Europe; registration is now open for the Western Hemisphere's
biggest transmitter hunting event; a ham flies a Presidential Medal to the
International Space Station and some very unexpected words at the wrong
time from on high. Find out the details on Amateur Radio NewslineT report
number 1882 coming your way right now.
**
WORLDBEAT: PAN PACIFIC RESCUE RADIO EXERCISE DEEMED AN UNQUALIFIED
SUCCESS
A follow-up to our recent story on a planned joint MARS and civilian
trans-pacific emergency communications drill. It was called operation
Pacific Endeavor-13 and it teamed the United States Military Auxiliary
Radio System with hams across the Pacific in an ocean spanning emergency
exercise. Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, has the details:
--
Everything about the August 25th and 26th Pacific Endeavor-13 simulated
emergency response was staged except for one unexpected occurrence.
Electric power actually did fail in the pretend nation of Pacifica which
was the supposed disaster beaten Asian nation that a small band of ham
radio operators were trying to assist.
The power failure happened right at the start of the globe-spanning
exercise organized by the U.S. Defense Department. At 9N1AA in Nepal, the
real "Pacifica," operators kept going on battery power with only 25 watts
output. But a stroke of the other kind of luck provided a low-power
digital link to an amateur in Afghanistan. That was Tim McFadden, T6TM.
He is a retired Army communicator now helping train Afghan troops who had
only joined Army MARS less than a month before the exercise
Although the operation only lasted just under three hours, months had gone
into its planning. The Pentagon and U.S. Pacific Command set it up as a
test of amateur emergency support in Asia after Japan's tsunami
catastrophe, using procedures of the International Amateur Radio Union,
the Military Auxiliary Radio System, military stations and radio amateurs.
When power was restored in Nepal there were some limited voice contacts
with Afghanistan and Germany. Hawaii could hear but not talk to Nepal
because propagation lasted only a few minutes.
But the real star of the exercise was the digital mode PSK31 that appeared
to propagate well on low power. This even in the otherwise poor High
Frequency band conditions experienced during the exercise.
Only one negative note. During rehearsals, messaging was disrupted by
hams seeking to contact Nepal, which is rarely heard on the air. That was
alleviated by the use of abbreviated call signs plus the dependence on
digital communications during the actual exercise itself.
One unique feature of the event was use of the Defense Department's open
bulletin board for civil emergencies called the All Partners Access
Network or APAN. Army MARS Operations Chief David McGinnis coordinated
information flow via APAN to the Department of Defense and U.S. Pacific
Command.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, in New Orleans.
--
A preliminary account had a total of 60 stations logged at MARS
headquarters at Fort Huachuca and to the station in Germany of MARS region
director Daniel Wolff. (N1IN / AAR1FP via QRZ.com)
**
WORLDBEAT: AMATEUR RADIO LICENSING EXAM TO BE HELD IN BANGLADESH
After a five year wait the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Authority has announced that an amateur radio licensing exam session will
be held on November 9th. The test will be made up of 50 multiple choice
questions covering the fundamentals of radio engineering, basic
electronics, that nations amateur radio rules, and several other topics.
An applicant must score at least 50% to pass. More information is on the
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority website at
www.btrc.gov.bd. (S21SM, Southgate)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO SUPPORT IN FIGHTING RIM FIRE WINDS DOWN
The California Rim Wildfire continues but volunteer ham radio
communications support winds down. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has been
following this story and has the latest:
--
As we go to air, there's good news. Shifting weather patterns have
brought some level of moisture to the fire ravaged area. This together
with massive firefighting efforts means that at airtime that the Rim fire
is about 80% contained. That does not mean the fire is under control, but
rather its not expected that the blaze will be able to move past those
areas of the containment line.
With the 80 percent containment the sheriff's offices in Tuolumne and
Mariposa counties have been able to lift evacuation advisories for several
communities. This includes those with several thousand structures that
were in the fire's path. It also means that after some sixteen days of
continuous duty that volunteer ham radio operators with Tuolumne County
ARES and RACES were able to stand down and return to their normal lives.
As previously reported, ham radio was first asked to assist back on August
19th. That was when communications assistance was required to the towns
of Tuolumne and Mi-Wuk Village which were under voluntary evacuation
alert.
We've since learned that hams also served duty assisting the Red Cross in
setting up an evacuation center in the town of Groveland and later at the
Tuolumne County Fairgrounds in the city of Sonora. Operators associated
with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service provided information into and out
of these centers during the time that evacuees were being housed and fed
at those locations. At the height of the evacuation news reports say that
the Tuolumne Fairgrounds was the temporary home to upward of 100 evacuees.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the
newsroom in Los Angeles.
--
Full containment of the Rim Fire is not expected until September 20th at
the earliest.
**
RADIO LAW: CEPT CONSIDERS USE OF 5830-5850 MHZ HAM RADIO SATELLITE BAND
Ham radio satellites could wind up being forced to share spectrum at 5
point 8 Gigahertz with terrestrial devices. At least in those nations
that are CEPT signatories. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW
has the particulars:
--
A CEPT Short Range Devices or SE24 meeting took place in Vienna, Austria
on August 26th and 27th. This to discuss the future use of 5350 to 5470
MHz and 5725 to 5925 MHz for wireless access systems including wireless or
radio-based local area networks.
The Amateur Satellite Service has a downlink band lies from 5830 to 5850
MHz. Those involved in space communications believe that introducing such
ground based services in this spectrum would inevitably raise the noise
floor. This in turn could make the weak signals from satellites difficult
if not totally impossible to receive.
Right now, no final decision on the future of this spectrum has been made
by the CEPT, but as the squeeze for more commercial bandspace grows, the
entire 5 Gigahertz band appears a prime target for more sharing on an
international basis among CEPT signatories and that includes most of
Europe and possessions of European nations.
More on this recent meeting is on the World Wide Web at www.cept.org/ecc
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.
--
CEPT stands for the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications
Administrations. It was established in 1959 by 19 countries, which
expanded to 26 nations during its first ten years of existence. Today 48
countries are members of CEPT's with the organizations activities
including co-operation on commercial, operational, regulatory and
technical standardization issues. (Southgate, CEPT, others)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FIRST DANISH ASTRONAUT TO FLY TO THE ISS IN
Andreas Mogensen will be the first Danish astronaut to make a trip to the
International Space Station. Mogensen will ride to the ISS on board a
Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan in September 2015. During his stay onboard the ISS, Mogensen
will conduct a series of experiments in preparation of future missions and
in the orbital testing new technologies.
This 10 day mission will be Mogensen's first foray into space. The flight
is directly connected to the new era in ISS operations where 2 experienced
spacefarers from the USA and Russia will work on the ISS for one year
starting in May of 2015.
More about his upcoming space adventure is on the web at
tinyurl.com/Andreas-Mogensen-ISS. And we will have more ham radio space
related news later on in this weeks newscast. (ESA)
**
RADIO LAW: CHANGES COME TO THE TRAVELERS INFORMATION STATION SERVICE
The FCC has updated its rules governing Travelers' Information or T-I-S
radio Stations. It's also seeking public input on further planned
changes. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, has more:
--
The commission created the Travelers Information Service in 1977. At that
time it authorized stations to operate low power transmissions on 530 kHz
on a primary basis and in the 535 to 1705 kHz band on a secondary
non-interfering basis with broadcasters who are the primary spectrum
users.
At inception, the agency envisioned local governments would use Travelers'
Information Stations to reduce traffic congestion. Commercial
broadcasters opposed the creation of the service on grounds that the
information conveyed would duplicate what they provided and as such would
siphon off their add revenues or cause interference to their operations.
The government prevailed and over the years, Travelers' Information
Station operators have wanted to broaden the scope of their content and
eliminate the restriction that confines their transmitting sites to areas
near roads, bridges, highways and public transportation terminals like bus
stops, train stations and airports. For example the American Association
of Information Radio Operators wanted to broadcast excerpts of NOAA
Weather Radio transmissions and AMBER Alerts. As a result AMBER Alerts
are now allowed on Travelers' Information stations.
In its latest decision FCC has clarified that Travelers' Information
stations operators can already transmit weather alerts regarding difficult
or hazardous conditions. This is in addition to information regarding
motor vehicle crashes, emergency points of assembly, road closures and
construction, parking, current driving travel times, air flight status,
truck weigh stations, driver rest areas, locations of truck services, and
road closures.
The FCC says that all transmitted content must remain noncommercial and
must relate to travel, an emergency or an imminent threat of danger. As
such, the commission has nixed the idea of routinely retransmitting entire
NOAA Weather Radio Alerts. However, the commission will now allow
Travelers' Information Stations to integrate those alerts into broadcasts
but only during especially hazardous conditions.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth,
Ohio.
--
In a Further Notice, the agency is proposing deleting requiring the
filtering of Travelers' Information Station audio frequencies above 3 kHz.
So far those commenting for the most part have told the agency that
filtering makes it harder to hear the broadcasts while adding little to
interference protection of commercial AM stations. (FCC, RW)
**
PUBLIC SERVICE: IDAHO HAMS NEEDED FOR KOOTENAI RIVER RIDE SEPT 14
An Idaho Amateur Radio Emergency Services group will be providing radio
communications for that states Kootenai River Ride to be held September
14, and the group is in need of additional licensed radio amateurs to
assist. A planning session is slated for Tuesday evening September 10th
at the Bonners Ferry Main Fire Station in Boundary County and any radio
amateur from that area who wants to be a part of this outing is invited to
attend. If being a part of this very worthwhile public service is of
interest you them please contact Gary Leonard by e-mail to gary (at) pvfd
(dot) us. (newsbf.com, eHam.net)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: FCC'S GREG COONS IS HEADING BACK TO VIRGINIA
Some names in the news. First up is Greg Coons, who currently works as an
agent in the FCC's Denver field office, but has been promoted to resident
agent to be based in Norfolk, Virginia. Coons grew up in Virginia Beach
and started his commission career in Norfolk in 1991. He was transferred
to Denver in 1996 after a reorganization of FCC field offices, and has
been based there for 17 years. He received his BSEE from Old Dominion
University in 1986. (SMPTE Rocky Mountain Section and SBE Chapter 48)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: ASTRONAUT HAM FLIES PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL TO ISS
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station has paid tribute to
the late United States president John F. Kennedy by flying a medallion to
the orbiting outpost that bears the likeness of the 35th President of the
United States. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, KF6KDR, who is serving as a
flight engineer on board the space station, radioed photos down to Mission
Control on Wednesday, August 21st showing the medal floating in front of a
window with a view of the Earth below.
The 3-inch bronze medallion that Cassidy took to the space station was
created as part of the U.S. Mint's presidential medallion series. The
front of features a bust of the late United States president. Its reverse
side in inscribed with a quote from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address
which says: "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and
the success of liberty."
When he returns to Earth this fall, Cassidy will deliver the medal back to
the JFK Library, where it will become a part of its permanent collection.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is located in Boston,
Massachusetts and has a permanent exhibit devoted to the race for space
that began in the 1960's. (space.com, VenturesInSpace, other news reports)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: CUBAN AMATEUR LOOKING FOR UK CONTACTS
CO6CBF is looking for stations in the United Kingdom to try contacts with
him over the FO-29 amateur radio satellite. Currently, when the satellite
is in apogee, it has a good footprint that covers both the UK and Cuba for
a few minutes. Anyone wanting to try a FO-29 contact with Cuba should
e-mail Hector via co6cbf (at) frcuba (dot) co (cu) cu. (GB2RS)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: QRP OPS NEEDED FOR 2014 THIRTEEN COLONIES SPECIAL EVENT
Ken Villone, KU2US, writing via eHam.net, says that the 13 Colonies
Special Event is looking to enlist one dedicated SSB and CW QRP operator
for each the original colony states state for 2014 and beyond. Applicants
must hold a General class or higher United States Amateur Radio license
but there are no special station requirements.
KU2US notes that this will be a QRP to QRP operation only as planners want
to give the low power stations a chance to get a 13 Colony States "Clean
Sweep" endorsement on his or her certificate. Those interested should
contact KU2US via e-mail using the information found on QRZ.com.
More information on the recent 2013 event as well as the early planning
for next year is on the web at www.13colonies.info. KU2US adds that the
New York QRP position is already filled for 2014. (KU2US via eHAM.net)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: ARRL - TAPR DCC IN SEATTLE SEPTEMBER 20-22
A reminder that the 32nd Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications
Conference is less than three weeks away. The gathering will take place
September 20th to the 22nd, in Seattle, Washington. The DCC is an
international forum for radio amateurs involved in digital communications
technology to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and
techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to
exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances,
theories, experimental results, and practical applications. More about
this event is on the web at www.tapr.org/dcc
(DCC)
**
RADIOSPORTS: CALIFORNIA QSO PARTY OCTOBER 5 AND 6
The 47th running of the California QSO Party or CQP is slated this year to
begin at 1600 UTC on October 5th and end at 2200 UTC on October 6th. The
Northern California Contest Club sponsors this annual event and offers a
variety of awards open to stations inside and outside of California.
These include plaques for the top operators in various categories
including a youth award for those under the age of 18. A list of the
awards is included in the rules and can be found on-line www.cqp.org.
(N6WM, W6TCP)
**
RADIOSPORTS: ORGANIZING THE 2013 USA ARDF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Registration is now open for the Western Hemisphere's biggest transmitter
hunting event of 2013, and you might become a medal winner there.
Newsline's Joe Moell, K0OV, has the details.
--
The mountains of North Carolina will be the setting for the 13th USA
championships of on-foot hidden transmitter hunting. Fans of this
international sport, which is also called foxtailing, radio-orienteering
and ARDF, are making travels plans now, and they want you to join in.
Tuesday, October 8 will be arrival day for the optional practice sessions
on both two meters and 80 meters, which begin early on Wednesday.
Thursday and Friday will have two specialty events, sprints and foxoring.
Those who cannot be present for all five days will arrive Friday, October
11 for the classic championships. Saturday morning will be the two-meter
main event, followed in the evening by the banquet and awards
presentation. The 80-meter main event will be on Sunday morning with
awards presented afterwards, in time for those who must hurry home.
Organizing the 2013 USA Championships are Joseph Huberman, K5JGH and Ruth
Bromer, WB4QZG. Both have competed at previous USA Championships and
earned medals. Setting the courses will be Nadia Scharlau, with radio
support from Charles Scharlau, NZ0I. Nadia learned ARDF as a youth in the
Soviet Union and won her first gold medal by competing for USSR at the
European Championships in 1984. In 2006 in Bulgaria, she became the first
Team USA member to win a World Championships medal.
As always, our national Championships are open to anyone of any age who
can safely navigate the woods. Most will be licensed hams, but that's not
required, so encourage your unlicensed-but-athletic friends and family
members to join in. You can watch and learn from the best in the country,
as well as visitors from around the world.
Registration is now open on the Web and there is an e-mail reflector for
Q&A with the organizers. Learn all about the championships and the sport
of radio-orienteering at www.homingin.com. That's homingin, as one word,
homingin.com. I hope to see you there. From sunny southern California,
this is Joe Moell, K0OV, for Amateur Radio Newsline.
--
Again if you missed it that URL is simply www.homingin.com (K0OV)
**
RADIO TO SPACE: US SHUTS DOWN US AIR FORCE SPACE SURVEILLANCE RADAR
The US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar or AFSSS has stopped
transmitting. This, as a result of sequester budget cuts mandated by
Congress.
The Space Surveillance Radar which has been operational since 1961 and is
only one part of the nations global Space Surveillance Network. The
system is designed to transmit what the military calls a "fence" of radar
energy into space to detect all objects intersecting it. The operational
advantage of is its ability to detect objects in a random or non cued
fashion, rather than tracking objects based on previous information. The
disadvantage is the inherent inaccuracy of the data, based on its dated
design.
Military officials have devised what they call modified operating modes
for the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System located at
Cavalier Air Force Station, North Dakota and for the Space Surveillance
Radar at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida. This allows the
discontinuation of the older Air Force Space Surveillance Radar operations
while still maintaining solid space situational awareness.
The AFSSS radar's final echoes came from a Russian satellite and a
sporadic meteor. You can see those traces at
tinyurl.com/last-radar-traces. Deactivating the old system will save the
Air Force Space Command $14 million annually starting in fiscal year 2014.
(Space News, VHF Reflector, WB4JGG)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NEXT PHONE SATS TO LAUNCH IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
EDN magazine reports that the next generation of Phone-Sats which are
microsatellites built around smartphones will launch on November 6th and
December 6th. In an interview with the magazine developer Jasper Wolfe
said that these next Phone-Sats will transmit using Packet Radio on
437.425 MHz using AFSK at 1200 bits per second. Coding will be AX dot 25
and the transmit polarization will be vertical.
These and the previous Phone-Sats were developed by young engineers at the
NASA-Ames Research Center. One of the new birds will remain on-orbit for
up to two years while the other will have a far shorter lifespan of only
three months. The entire article including photos is on the web at
tinyurl.com/generation-2-phonesats. (EDN, Southgate)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: UK FUNCUBE 1 TO LAUNCH I LATE NOVEMBER
AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL have been advised that the launch date for FUNcube-1
is now expected to be November 21st. This date is still subject to final
approval by the authorities. FUNcube-1 is a 1 unit CubeSat that will
provide a signal directly from a satellite to classrooms with a signal
level that can easily be received by schools and colleges. (AMSAT,
Southgate)
**
DX
In DX, OH2YY hopes to be on the air from Nepal between October 2nd and the
5th. He has applied for the callsign 9N2YY, but the final confirmation
will not take place until he arrives in that nation. After Nepal he will
be visiting the Kingdom of Bhutan between October 6th and the 10th where
he has already been assigned the callsign A52YY. Listen out for him
during his evenings and nights on 20 through 10 meter SSB. QSL via OH2YY,
the bureau or direct. Electronic QSL's go via Logbook of the World.
JK1AJT will again be in Myanmar from September 18th to the 23rd signing
X-Zed-one-Zed . He tells DX Daily that he has spotted a better location
atop a 1557 feet hill and will bring a tri-band Yagi with him in addition
to the Ground Plains that he used last month. This next operation will be
mainly CW. QSL via ClubLog Oh-QRS or direct to JH1AJT. Meantime the
recent X-Zed-one-Zed Myanmar 2013 operation has been approved for DXCC
credit. If you've had it rejected in a prior application, send a note to
bmoore@arrl.org to be placed on the list for an update to your record.
The Martello Tower Group are activating Herm Island again from October
4th to the 9th on 80 through 10 meters including the WARC bands. The
group will be using SSB and some data modes. All QSOs will be uploaded
to Logbook of the World and Club Log. QSL direct or via the bureau to
G6NHU
WB6OJB and K5LBU will be active as A25JK and A25CF, respectively, from the
extreme eastern part of Botswana through September 12th. They should have
two stations running but the A25JK will be the main call to listen out
for. Look for A25JK to operate SSB on 20 through 10 meters with a
possibility of some time spent on 40 and 75. A25CF will be operating some
PSK on whatever bands might be open and A25JK is not on. QSL via their
home callsigns.
DL2MDU and his DO3HDA will on the air 8Q7CF from the Maldives between
September 15th through the 27th. Their activity will be holiday style on
80 through 10 meters with the possibly 160 meters Modes will be CW and SSB
with some digital. QSL via DL2MDU.
JA0RQV hopes to be operational from Tonga as A35JP/N between September
19th and the 24th. This operation will depend on weather and flight
availability to the island and his time on the air will be limited because
of limited supply of electric power. Operations will be on 80 through 6
meters using CW and SSB. QSL via his home callsign, by the Bureau, direct
or electronically using Logbook of the World.
DL7AFS and DJ7ZG will be operational as D44TXT from Santiago Island, Cape
Verde between October 19th and November 7th. The duo will be on 80 through
6 meters using SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via DL7AFS.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: UK FUNERAL INTERRUPTED BY RF
And finally this week, we have all heard of RF getting into public address
systems, but this one truly has to take the prize for the unusual.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has the rather strange
details:
--
Can you imagine being at a funeral service when the sound coming out of
the loud speaker system is suddenly interrupted by airline stewardess'
message to her passengers? Well it actually happened recently in the
United Kingdom when what's been described as a mysterious voice was heard
through a church's public address system during a funeral service telling
passengers on a plane to prepare for landing.
The story goes this way. Friends and family of Brendan Duffy had gathered
at St Edward's Church in Windsor, Berkshire, to pay their final respects
after the Dublin-born grandfather-of-four died on August 8th, at age 78.
But as his nephew Joe Duffy was reading the eulogy, everyone was suddenly
told to fasten their seat belts and for the other flight attendants to
prepare the aircraft's doors for landing.
While some might have thought it could have been a sign from the heavens
above a more rational explanation is that the church's wireless microphone
system and the two-way radio system on the aircraft were on the same
frequency. But that would not explain how the announcement made using a
closed loop in-cabin public address system could get transmitted outside
the airplane unless perhaps someone pushed the wrong button on the flight
deck.
That said, as we go to air, the mystery of the RF signal from on-high
remains unexplained.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline. I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion,
Illinois.
--
Joe Duffy is a local personality radio. He told a news reporter that
everyone at the service was looking around and up to heaven, trying to
figure out where the voice was coming from. (UK Daily Mail)
**
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, TWiT-TV 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, saying 73 from Charleston, West Virginia and we thank you
for listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------
R\%/itt, K5RXT
--- Ya have ta ask yourself: What Would Roy Witt Do?
* Origin: Lone-Star BBS - San Antonio, Texas - USA (1:387/22)
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