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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1912 - April 4, 2014
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Greetings Y'all!
Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1912 - April 4, 2014
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1912 with a release date of April 4
2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Ham radio responds after an earthquake hits
northern Chile; The ARRL tells the FCC that its time to step up amateur
radio rules enforcement; a House of Representatives committee issues a
white paper on certain aspects of the Communications Act; WRTC 2014
receives an assist in the form of a Colvin grant; the FCC tells Congress
that it needs a computer system upgrade and Amateur Radio Newsline opens
its Young Ham of the Year Award program for 2014. Find out the details
are on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1912 coming your way right
now.
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO RESPONDS TO CHILI EARTHQUAKE
Amateur radio has responded after a major 8.2 magnitude earthquake of
struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday, April 1st. We have
more in this report:
--
According to news reports, the quake caused at least 5 deaths and
triggered a Tsunami that pounded Chili's shore with 2-meter-tall waves.
Officials said that most of the dead were people who were crushed by
collapsing walls. The Chilean government evacuated that nation's northern
coast and President Michelle Bachelet declared the area a disaster zone.
The Radio Club de Chile has been activated due to earthquake. It is
working in collaboration with Chili's National Emergency Office of the
Ministry of Interior and Public Security. According to a posting on
Facebook, Chilean hams have established several emergency assistance as
well as health and welfare nets. As we go to air, these nets are
operating on 7.055, 14.255, and 21.315 MHz depending on propagation and
time of day. The net controls are asking other radio amateurs to please
keep these frequencies clear until further notice.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick,
Pennsylvania.
--
More on this story as information becomes available. (Various Sources)
**
ENFORCEMENT: ARRL TELLS FCC MORE VISIBLE ENFORCEMENT NEEDED
The ARRL has told the FCC that renewed and more visible enforcement is
needed to curtail violations of the Amateur Radio Service Part 97.
Amateur Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the
details:
--
In comments filed in response to the FCC's February 14th Report on Process
Reform in G N Docket 14-25, the ARRL has called for a more visible,
responsive Amateur Radio enforcement program.
According to the ARRL, the visibility of the Commission's enforcement
program for the Amateur Service is wholly inadequate, resulting in a
widespread, albeit inaccurate, public perception that there is no active
enforcement in our service. The ARRL said that deterrence based on
visibility is a critical component of a successful compliance campaign.
The ARRL asserted that most successful and visible period of Amateur Radio
enforcement in recent years was between 1997 and 2008. Compliance during
that period, the League said, was a result of the visibility in the
Amateur Radio community of a single member of the Commission's Enforcement
Bureau staff at Amateur Radio events and of keeping the Amateur Radio
media fully informed on what was being done to resolve a particular
enforcement issue.
The League went on to note that FCC imposed constraints in more recent
years have had a devastating effect on the entire philosophy of the
program and its success. Among other factors, the ARRL pointed to the
"extensive approvals" required before the release of enforcement
correspondence. Enforcement actions that are taken, the League continued,
are not released to the Amateur Radio media. This deprives radio amateurs
of the knowledge that the Commission is indeed investigating and
responding to a given enforcement problem. The result is the perception
that nothing is being done in a given case, and frustration builds rapidly
among the radio amateurs who have to endure the rule violator on an
ongoing basis.
The ARRL stressed that the limitations imposed on the visibility of
enforcement actions in recent years have significantly reduced the
effectiveness of the program and directly resulted in notable and
unacceptable increases in rule violations, most especially malicious
interference.
The ARRL says that it believes that Enforcement Bureau personnel
responsible for Amateur Radio enforcement should be empowered with greater
autonomy in addressing problems as they arise. The League also said it
was concerned that FCC policies for adjudicating certain complaints of
interference to radio amateurs, especially those involving electric
utilities, provide no incentive for the utilities to resolve them.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the
newsroom in Los Angeles.
--
In its closing comments, the ARRL said that it was not being critical of
any individual FCC staffers or managers. Rather, the League's remarks are
directed at the Commission's policies and processes and address issues
that result, in large part, from the unenviable necessity of allocating
scarce and in some cases inadequate human resources available to the
regulatory agency. There's lots more to this story and you can find it on
the web at tinyurl.com/arrl-on-enforcement (ARRL)
**
RADIO LAW: HOUSE COMMITTEE ISSUES WHITE PAPER ON COMMUNICATIONS ACT
Should the FCC be able to classify the funds it can get for a license as a
public interest benefit? That is one of the questions raised in the
latest white paper from the House Energy and Commerce Committee released
on Tuesday, April 1st.
The white paper points out that in order to issue spectrum licenses, the
Communications Act requires the FCC to make an affirmative finding that
granting the license serves the public interest, convenience, and
necessity. Moreover, the Communications Act prohibits the FCC from basing
its finding on the expectation of auction revenues. As such one of the
key questions is whether or not the Communications Act should be changed
to permit the FCC to use expected auction revenue as the basis for a
public interest finding.
Other questions the paper asks include what structural changes might be
necessary, the appropriate role of unlicensed spectrum, how to give the
government added incentive to be more efficient spectrum users, and
whether all FCC licenses should show more flexibility in regard to
broadcasters.
This is the second in a series of communications white papers that are a
part of its effort by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to gather
input on an overall revamp of communications laws. The committee says
that it wants responses by April 25th as a part of planning for a year
long look at communications policy. This with an eye toward tackling a
Communications Act rewrite next year. (B&C)
**
PROPAGATION: X-1 SOLAR FLARE BRIEFLY INTERRUPTS CQ WW SSB CONTEST
Our home star the sun unleashed a major solar flare on Saturday, March
29th causing a radio blackout for several minutes on Earth in the midst of
the CQ World Wide SSB Contest. One operator here in the Los Angeles area
was heard to comment that it was almost as if 20 meters folded up and went
away on a vacation.
The brief X1-class flare erupted from the now decaying sunspot A R 2017 at
17:48 GMT according to a report from the Space Weather Prediction Center.
The Center noted that even though this sunspot is dissipating that it
still holds the potential to produce more solar flares before it's gone.
The radio blackout here on Earth lasted less than an hour before
propagation began to normalize. (Space Weather Prediction Center, NASA)
**
WORLDBEAT: MORE DETAILS ON GAREC 14 ANNOUNCED
Further details of the upcoming Global Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications or GAREC Conference in August have been announced. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, reports:
--
GAREC-14 will be held in Huntsville, Alabama on August 14th and 15th which
precedes the Huntsville Hamfest by two days. The focus for the 2014
gathering will be on the application of advanced technologies available in
emergency communications.
According to Jim Linton, VK3PC, the actual agenda to be finalized shortly
will include reports by IARU regions. Also information will be presented
by those involve in recent emergency communications work and the
technology that can be used to assist responders in crisis situations.
This is the second time Huntsville has hosted a Global Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications Conference. The last instance was back in 2007.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB, reporting
--
More information can be found on the GAREC 14 website at
w4ozk.com/GAREC14.htm
(VK3PC)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: LITHUANIA PRESIDENT'S GREETINGS MESSAGE SENT FROM
SPACE
A greetings message from the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia
Grybauskaite has been sent from the amateur radio satellite
LituanicaSAT-1. Her words "Greetings to all Lithuanians around the world"
were recorded on a memory chip in the satellite and the message was
successfully transmitted back from space on March 22, 2014 at 4:17 UTC.
LituanicaSAT-1 was launched to the International Space Station on January
9th and was deployed with other amateur radio satellites on February 28th.
President Grybauskaite is believed to be the first President of any
nation to have a greetings message sent back from space since President
Eisenhower did so back in 1958. (Press Release)
**
RASDIOSPORTS: WORLD RADIOSPORT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP RECEIVES COLVIN GRANT
WRTC 2014, Inc., the host of the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship
competition has received a significant financial contribution in the form
of a Colvin Award Grant.
The Colvin Award is managed by ARRL and funded by an endowment established
by the late Lloyd D. Colvin, W6KG. The award is conferred in the form of
grants in support of Amateur Radio projects that promote international
goodwill in the field of DX.
Doug Grant, K1DG, is the Chairman of WRTC 2014. He says that the
organization is honored to receive this prestigious award. Grant added
that more than just a radio competition, the World Radiosport Team
Championship is a place where competitors from around the world can create
or renew lasting friendships.
Fifty-nine teams of top amateur radio contest operators from more than 40
countries will travel to the New England area July 10 to the 14 to compete
in WRTC2014. (OPDX)
**
RESCUE RADIO: FCC MIGHT REQUIRE SPANISH VERSION OF BROADCAST WEATHER
ALERTS
The FCC is again considering whether to require that broadcasts of
emergency announcements be provided in multiple languages, primarily
Spanish. This in addition to the current English only alerting system.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, gives us the background:
--
On Thursday, March 25th the Federal Communications Commission said it is
reconsidering a rule that would provide Spanish broadcasts of emergency
alerts and other important announcements. Such a rule was originally
recommended in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Back then, groups
including the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council petitioned the
FCC to require broadcasters to notify Spanish listeners in the event of an
emergency.
In deciding to re-open the procedure for additional public comment, the
regulatory agency said that such a rule would require certain stations to
air all presidential messages in both English and Spanish. To a lesser
extent, emergency broadcasts in certain areas may also be aired in other
languages, such as French or Mandarin.
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council filed its petition on
September 22, 2005, in response to its perceived deficiencies in
distributing multilingual emergency information in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. Spanish is the primary language for more than 38
million people living in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but
many Spanish speakers do not understand English, so the FCC wants to
ensure that they can be reached by emergency broadcast.
The petition called for state and local governments to designate a local
primary Spanish channel for emergencies. It also called for state
governments to establish a local primary multilingual station in local
areas where a substantial proportion of the population has its primary
fluency in a language other than English or Spanish. At least one
broadcaster in every market would be required to monitor and rebroadcast
emergency information aired by the local primary Spanish stations.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale,
Arizona.
--
Whether or not the FCC will proceed with this into a formal Rule Making
procedure is not known at this time. (The Hill)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAMS RESPOND TO WASHINGTON STATE LANDSLIDE
Amateur Radio volunteers were called out in Snohomish County, Washington,
to assist in operating the Emergency Operations Center and to support
communication with American Red Cross shelters set up in the wake of the
tragic landslide on March 22nd near the town of Oso. The slide swept a
massive avalanche of trees, wet soil, rocks, and debris across the rural
Northwest Washington community along State Route 530.
The County's Auxiliary Communications Service Radio Officer Scott Honaker,
N7SS. He told the ARRL that his organization has been active but at a
fairly low level. Honaker said the slide damaged some of the
communication infrastructure, with fire and law enforcement personnel
using cell phones to keep in touch while Search and Rescue units along
with air operations utilized VHF radio.
Honaker said that the ham radio Auxiliary Communications Service
volunteers were coordinating their activities on the Granite Falls 146.92
MHz repeater and using cell phones. Also that the Emergency Services
Coordinating Agency was active staffing the Red Cross shelters, using
their 442.200 UHF repeater near Arlington for purposes of organization and
management.
As this report is prepared at least 21 are confirmed dead with another 30
still missing. (ARRL)
**
RADIO LAW: CHAIRMAN WHEELER SAYS FCC'S AGING TECHNOLOGY LEAVES IT
VULNERABLE TO CYBER ATTACKS.
The Federal Communications Commission says that its Information Technology
equipment is so deficient that its leader has gone to Congress pleading
for an upgrade. At recent hearings before the House and Senate
Appropriations subcommittees that handle his agency's budget, FCC Chairman
Tom Wheeler said that the FCC needs $13.5 million to upgrade what he
termed as its antiquated technology.
According to Wheeler, the agency has more than 200 different computer
systems and 40 percent of its technology is at least 10 years old. He
says that money not spent on upgrades next year will be spent within two
years on what he terms as expensive maintenance.
But more importantly Wheeler told the committee that vulnerability to
cyber attacks is a top concern. He noted that many of the FCC's computers
still use Windows XP which is the 13-year-old operating system that
Microsoft is ending support for on April 8th.
Improving the agency's efficiency and accountability is a high priority
for Congress and the new chairman. Without new Information Technology in
place it difficult to achieve those goals.
(nationaljournal.com, other published news reports)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIOS INTRODUCE RADIO
ENGINEERING MENTORING PROGRAM
Some names in the news. First up is Clear Channel Media and Entertainment
which has announced its intention to mentor a new generation of radio
station engineers.
Jeff Littlejohn is Clear Channel Executive Vice President of Engineering
and Systems Integration. He says the company is making a strategic
investment in the future of broadcast engineering. Littlejohn says that
the company hopes to attract and expose new talent to the ever-changing
world of radio while also fostering the growth and development of our
existing employees.
Clear Channel says the new mentoring program was created in response to a
decline in the number of engineers choosing to go into radio broadcasting,
coupled with a spike in those retiring or close to leaving the industry.
This new program is in addition to an electrical engineering co-op program
the company created three years ago. Currently the broadcaster has more
than 400 engineers. (RW)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: KATIE ALLEN, WY7KRA, NAMED CQ SALES & MARKETING MANAGER
Katie Allen, WY7KRA, has been appointed Sales and Marketing Manager for CQ
Communications, Inc., effective immediately.
An active DXer and contester who recently earned her Extra Class license,
Katie Allen entered the world of amateur radio as the ARRL's Membership
Manager in the early 2000s, earning her first ham license under the
guidance of other League staff members. She then sparked an effort to
revitalize the ARRL staff radio club and station, W1HQ, both of which had
fallen into inactivity. She also helped move ham radio into the world of
multimedia by producing and posting various operating videos on You Tube.
Katie Allen lives in Sundance, Wyoming with her husband, Dwayne, WY7FD.
In her new job she will be responsible for advertising sales for CQ
Amateur Radio magazine including the CQ Plus digital supplement as well as
marketing efforts for all CQ Communications products. (CQ)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: NAB HAM RADIO RECEPTION APRIL 9 IN LAS VEGAS
If you are a ham who will be attending the National Association
Broadcasters gathering in Las Vegas, you are invited to attend the free
annual Ham Radio Reception on Wednesday evening April 9th. This years
gathering will be co-hosted by Heil Sound, Broadcast Supply Worldwide and
DX Engineering. The location will be Ballroom B in the original Las Vegas
Hilton Hotel at 6 P.M. Pacific Daylight Savings Time. Bob Heil, K9EID,
says that he hopes to see many of you there.
(Heil Sound)
**
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: AMSAT VP-ENGINEERING ANHONY MONTIERO AA2TX - S.K.
Some sad news to report. This with word that AMSAT Vice President of
Engineering Anthony J. Monteiro, AA2TX, died from cancer on Wednesday
morning, March 26th at age 55.
Monteiro was first licensed in 1973 as a Novice and subsequently went on
to achieve his Extra Class Amateur Radio License. His interest in amateur
radio and electronics led him to earn a Bachelor of Science in Electrical
Engineering from Drexel University and a Masters in Computer Science from
Stanford University.
Monteiro joined AMSAT in 1994. Among his many technical contributions to
the amateur satellite community was the Instant Tune Automatic Radio
Tuning software, A Simple Desense Filter for Echo and several other
extremely low cost projects.
Monteiro also played a significant role in space-based hardware
development. As AMSAT's Vice President of Engineering, he served as the
software designer for the Software Defined Transponder on ARISSat-1 that
was deployed from the International Space Station by in August 2011. He
also led the Fox-1 Engineering Team from its inception in 2009 and
pioneered AMSAT's efforts to apply for acceptance of Fox-1 in the NASA
Education Launch of NanoSats in 2011 and Fox-1B in 2012. He also
established relationships with several universities to secure scientific
payloads for Fox-1 and Fox-1B, including student experiments.
Anthony Monteiro, AA2TX, is survived by his wife, Mary Lou and daughter,
Veronica, who is a college freshman. In lieu of flowers, the family asks
that donations be made to Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 850 Sligo
Avenue, Suite 600, Silver Spring, MD. 20910. (AMSAT)
**
SWL CORNER: VOICE OF RUSSIA BIDS FAREWELL TO SHORTWAVE
The shortwave broadcast bands are a bit thinner after the Voice of Russia
bid farewell to the airwaves at midnight on April 1st local Moscow time.
Earlier reports published in 2013 claimed that Voice of Russia, formerly
known as Radio Moscow, was to cease its shortwave service as of January
1st of this year due to budget cuts mandated by Russian President Vladimir
Putin. Last December 9th Putin signed a decree stating that the Voice of
Russia as an independent agency officially ceased to exist and was to be
merged with several other news agencies as part of the state run Rossia
Segodnya international news service
As of this past February 3rd, the Voice of Russia had cut its shortwave
broadcast schedule back to only 18 hours a day in English, Chinese,
Japanese, and Vietnamese. It had also shaved its digital shortwave
schedule to 22 hours a day in English, Spanish, German, French, Hindi,
Urdu, and Russian.
Margarita Simonyan is the editor-in-chief of both the English language
television news network R-T and Rossiya Segodnya. She has been quoted as
saying that Voice of Russia will end its shortwave broadcasting effective
the first day of April. She added that one reason for the secession from
shortwave was that it was an obsolete broadcasting model where the signal
is transmitted without any control and that it is impossible to calculate
who listens to it and where.
( SWLing.com, BBC, other published news sources)
**
WORLDBEAT: MOTORTBO DMR REPLACES D-STAR REPEATER IN SCOTLAND
A MotoTRBO digital voice repeater has taken the place of a D-STAR system
that was under-utilized in Scotland. On March 4th the GB7DD D-STAR
repeater in Dundee was shut down due to lack of use. It was replaced by a
Motorola MotoTRBO DMR digital voice repeater, provided by Martin Higgens,
MM0DUN. According to the Radio Society of Great Britain, the GB7DD is the
first DMR repeater on the air in Scotland and is a UHF system on
439.6625MHz with a -9 MHz split. (RSGB)
**
WORLDBEAT: SNAKES AND LADDERS - A MORSE RADIO GAME
The European CW Association has introduced a new on-the-air Morse based
game called Snakes and Ladders. The game is designed to promote increased
activity on all amateur bands by encouraging friendly contacts. As such
it is not a contest but rather a way of making the hobby more fun. Full
rules are available in English from the Snakes and Ladders web page at
www.eucw.org (EUCW)
**
RADIO FROM SPACE: NASA RELEASES LRO LUNER POLAR REGION MOSAIC
Scientists have created the largest high resolution mosaic of the moon's
North Polar region amassed to date. According to NASA the photo comprised
of 10,581 pictures that have been radioed back to Earth as part of the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project.
NASA says that a complete printout at 300 dots per inch would require a
square sheet of paper wider than a professional U.S. football field and
almost as long. It also notes that if the complete mosaic were processed
as a single file, it would require approximately 3.3 terabytes of storage
space.
Instead, the compilation was divided into millions of small, compressed
files, making it manageable for users to look at and navigate using a web
browser. The interactive display also allows viewers to zoom in and out
and pan around an area.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter entered the moons orbit in June 2009.
(NASA)
**
ON THE AIR: AUSTRIA NEW SPECIAL CALLSIGNS
The Vienna International Amateur Radio Club has announced that it will
operate stations under the newly released callsigns of C7A and 4Y1A as a
host organization. The club already operates a United Nations amateur
radio station with the callsign 4U1VIC at Vienna International Centre.
The new C7A and 4Y1A callsigns will be activated on special occasions
related to the organizations or as commemorative operations.
For recognition purposes, the callsign block of C7A to C7Z has been
allocated to the World Meteorological Organization while 4YA to 4YZ is
assigned to the International Civil Aviation Organization. However both
of these callsign blocks will only count as Austria for DXCC purposes.
(OPDX)
**
In DX, GM4YXI and GM3WOJ will be operational as A35X and A35V,
respectively, from Tongatapu Island , Tonga through April 18th. Activity
will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB, with some RTTY. QSL both
A35V and A35X via N3SL.
Bill Moore, NC1L, who is the ARRL Awards Branch Manager says that the
recently completed 3C0BYP operation from Annobon has been approved for
DXCC credit. That DXpedition ran from February 26th through March 6th.
VE3KTB has been active stroke VY0 from Ellesmere Island since March 25th.
The length of his stay is unknown. But he is mainly operating on 20
meters. QSL via his home callsign.
Lastly, JA1SVP and JR1GSE will be on the from Palau as T88FA and T88TH
respectively between May 16th to the 19th. Bands and modes were not
announced. QSL each operator via their home callsign.
(Above DX news from OPDX and other news sources)
**
YHOTY: NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2014 AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE YOUNG HAM OF
THE YEAR
And finally this week, the nominating season for the 2014 Amateur Radio
Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now open.
Created in 1986, this award is offered to recognize the achievements of a
radio amateur age 19 or younger for his or her accomplishments in service
to the nation, his or her community or to the advancement of the state of
the art through amateur radio.
Nominees must reside in any one of the United States 50 states, its
possessions or in any of the 10 Canadian provinces. Complete details,
rules and a required nominating form in Microsoft Word format are
available on our website at www.arnewsline.org/yhoty. Nominating forms
can also be obtained by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to
Amateur Radio Newsline Inc., Young Ham of the Year Award, 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350.
Please note that all nominating forms and support documentation become the
property of the Amateur Radio Newsline and cannot be returned. The cutoff
date for nominations to be postmarked or electronically filed is Midnight
on May 30, 2014. (ARNewsline)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio
Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the South African
Radio League, the Southgate News, TwiT-TV, Australia's WIA News and you
our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. 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 Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Hal
Rogers, K8CMD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
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R\%/itt - K5RXT
--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012
--- D'Bridge 3.98
* Origin: K 5 R X T (Really Xtra Terrific) San Antonio, TX (1:387/22)
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