Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1688 - December 18 2009
William M. Pasternak
The following is a closed circuit. With an update on Amateur Radio
Newsline, here's our Producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF:
--
This message will last about 5 1/2 minutes. Let me start by saying thank
you to all who called or e-mailed their condolences on the passing of our
treasurer, and my friend of the past two and a half decades Andy Jarema,
N6TCQ. I will shortly on-pass those wishes to Judy and I know she will be
appreciative.
As anytime there is the sudden passing of a key member of any organization
there is a true feeling of loss. It takes time to sink in that this person
whom had been such an integral part of all of our lives is now gone and he
will never return. That I will never again going to hear the phone ring
and on the other end will be Andy just calling to say hello. Or, or more
times than not, telling me that the funds are low and we need income
fast. And always telling me this with his well known Cheshire cat smile
and a bit of a laugh to help soften the bad news a bit.
Yes, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, was more than our treasurer and support fund
administrator. He was our friend and a better friend nobody could possibly
have.
But Andy would be the first to tell you that life and the business
associated with life must go on. And it has for us here at the Amateur
Radio Newsline. And I want to spend a few moments bring you up to date.
First off to those who support Newsline by check, we believe that we have
located and deposited all that were in Andy's possession at the time of his
passing. We have also been able to transfer all Pay Pal donations. In
all, there was about $1500 in donations that Andy had not had the time to
process before falling ill. Those have been transferred into our bank
account with $741 going to pay off back expenses associated with the Young
Ham of the Year Award and other administrative costs that had been
lingering the past several months. Another $182 went to our Wireless
provider for two months of service and $201.01 was paid to ATT to bring our
wireline phone bill up to date. So out of that $1500 we have already spent
$1124 to clear past debts and leaving us with about $375 to hopefully get
us through to years end. Not a lot, and that does not include the monthly
$63 for our high speed Internet connection that Ill front out of pocket for
the time being, but at least we are up to date for the moment.
So what does this mean to all of you? First, to those of you who
contribute by Pay Pal, you can resume doing so. The link to our PayPal
donation account is on our website at www.arnewsline.org
If you support us by mail, please note that the Arcadia California Post
Office Box is being closed within the next week or so. Temporarily, we are
using my address for all incoming mail. If you do not have it, you will
hear it at the end of this bulletin or just look me -- WA6ITF -- up on
QRZ.com or Buckmaster. I have been at this address since 1979 and have no
plans to move.
As to the future, we are searching for a ham who like Andy was, is a
Certified Public Accountant with expertise in maintaining an income
database as well as the knowledge needed to file our annual federal and
state tax reports. Obviously the latter kind of means we need someone who
is a California resident for this post. And he or she needs to do this as
a volunteer and free of charge for us as Andy did for the last two decades
plus. If you know of anyone who fits that description have that person
contact me by e-mail to news...@arnewsline.org
Lastly, I do have Andy's file as to whom donated what and when. Right now
I simply do not have the time to do the regular thank-you's that Andy did
so eloquently over the years he served as the Support Fund Administrator,
but Ill do my best to include them in upcoming newscasts. It was a
tradition that Andy started and that we plan to continue in his memory.
And that brings you up to date. Yes, we do need your continued support and
the methods for us to accept contributions are back in place.
Once again we thank all of you for your outpouring of support in this very
hard time. I think that's what sets Newsline apart from all other
groups. Whether its us here producing the newscast or you who are
listening, we truly are an extended family held together all of these years
through the bonds of a hobby and service known as Amateur Radio.
Thank you, and God Bless. I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles.
Now to Don Carlson, KQ6FM, and this weeks newscast.
--
Thank you Bill. Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1688 with a
release date of Friday, December 18th 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. China launches its first multi-transponder ham
radio satellite, a big sunspot finally appears on the solar disc, Bahrain
gives its hams added spectrum and ARISSSAT One to carry student files into
space. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1688
coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: CHINA LAUNCHES THE XW-1 HAMSAT
China's first ever amateur radio satellite is now in space. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the details:
--
AMSAT China reports the bird known as XW-1 was launched at about around
02:30 UTC on Tuesday, December 15th. And not long after liftoff it
achieved orbit and its beacon was received by a monitoring station located
in Sanya.
Late word is that XW-1 is in a circular orbit with both Apogee and Perigee
at 1200 kilometers above the Earth. It sits at an inclination of 105
degrees and has an orbital period of 109 minutes to circle the planet.
XW-1 carries several transponders but the one that will be of interest to
most hams is Mode J. This is a VHF to UHF orbital FM Voice Repeater
running 1 watt output. It has an uplink on 145.8250 MHz and requiring a
Continuous Tone Code Squelch Access Tone of 67.0 Hertz. The Downlink is
435.6750 MHz.
Other transponders support low duty cycle communications such as SSB and
Morse. There's also a separate digital transponder as well.
XW-1 was a secondary payload aboard a Chinese booster that went into space
from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It placed its cargo into a
sun-synchronous orbit about 1200 kilometers high. The primary payload of
this launch is the Yaogen-8 Remote Sensing Satellite.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale,
Arizona
--
Details on the new XW-1 satellite are available
http://www.camsat.cn/index.php?optioncom_content&viewarticle&idV&I
temidg
(ANS)
**
RADIO PROPAGATION: BIG NEW SUNSPOT:
Sunspot 1035 is here and its big news. This, because its one of the
largest sunspots seen in years.
On Tuesday, December 15th Spaceweather reported that sunspot 1035 was
nearly as wide as seven planet Earth's and growing. It said that the
fast-growing active region burst into view on December 14th with a
magnetic polarity that clearly identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle
24.
If the expansion continues apace, it could soon become the largest sunspot
of the year. Check spaceweather dot com for the latest photos and
updates. And lets hope that this sunspot hangs around for a while to bring
hams worldwide some long awaited High Frequency DX. (Spaceweather)
**
RESTRUCTURING: BAHRAIN GRANTS NEW OPERATING PRIVILEGES
The Daily DX is reporting that radio amateurs in Bahrain can now operate
50.0 to 50.5 MHz on 6 meters on a primary and exclusive basis, and 50.05 to
52.00 MHz on a secondary basis. The report also adds that they can now
operate on additional frequencies on 136 kHz, 1.8 MHz, 7 MHz, 430 MHz and
higher bands.
However there is one caveat: Bahrainian amateurs cannot operate on these
newly allocated frequencies until their licenses are amended. (Daily DX,
OPDX, Southgate, others)
**
BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Pikes Peak FM
Association and the Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Association serving the
inter-mountain West from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(5 sec pause here)
**
RADIO LAW: RSGB TO CHALLENGE OFCOM OVER BPL
The Radio Society of Great Britain has established a Spectrum Defense Fund
to challenge UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom. This over the agency's
interpretation of the various Acts and Directives that cover Broad over
Powerline or what Europe calls PLT Internet access and the threat that it
may pose to amateur radio communications.
According to an RSGB news release, this challenge may take the form of a
Judicial Review, but the national society says that i ill await the advice
of its lawyers on the direction to take. It also notes that the cost of a
Judicial Review is likely to be in excess of �75,000 United Kingdom Pounds
and that there is no guarantee of success.
If this approach sounds a bit familiar that's because it quite similar to
the court case brought here in the United States against the FCC. In that
one the court ruled that the ARRL was correct and ordered the FCC to
reassess its BPL policy and rules. (GB2RS)
**
RADIO LAW: CB WEBSITE WARNS TRUCKERS TO STAY OUT OF 10 METERS
A CB website is warning trucker C-B'ers and Freebanders to keep out of the
10 meter ham band. The home page post on LiveCBRadio.com tells readers
that mobile ham operators all over the United States are now observing and
reporting truckers talking above 28 MHz. The website notes that the hams
will not just report the truck and it's company to the FCC, but that they
often include video and audio as evidence with their complaints.
The website goes on to note that the FCC contacts the trucking company
warning them of potential fines. It says that already there have been cases
where both truckers and trucking companies have been fined.
The website warns readers, especially truckers with modified export type
C-B sets that what is called C-B channel 19 High is actually 28.085
MHz. When someone with one of these illegal export radios tunes to 19 High
he or she is transmitting full carrier A-M in the Morse only area of 10
meters.
The website warns CB'ers and Freebanders that is best to stay within the
common C-B channels from 1 to 40. It notes that trucker CB'ers using the
19 High frequency might think that they are gaining extra privacy. In
reality what they are doing is drawing national attention from the United
States ham radio community and through them from the FCC. (QRZ, others)
**
RESCUE RADIO: FCC AND FEMA ESTABLISH CMAS STANDARD
Two federal agencies have established a mobile communications emergency
public warning technology standard. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency and the Federal Communications Commission announced the adoption of
design specifications for a gateway interface enabling wireless carriers to
provide emergency alerts via cell phones and mobile devices.
The intended Commercial Mobile Alert System--CMAS--project, part of the
Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. It will be able to provide the
President of the United States a means by which to notify Americans of
national emergencies. The system would also be available for Amber alerts
and regional warnings in the form of 90-character text messages.
The announcement also marks the beginning of the 28-month period, mandated
by the FCC in August 2008, for commercial mobile service providers who have
elected to participate in the CMAS design specs to develop, test and deploy
the system. They must also be in the position to deliver mobile alerts to
the public by 2012.
Wireless carriers participating in the CMAS will relay authorized
text-based alerts to subscribers. They will also be able to transmit
vibration and audio signals for those subscribers with disabilities. (TVB)
**
RADIO HONORS: ARRL SEEKS INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD NOMINEES
The ARRL is seeking nominations for one of its most prestigious
honors. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has the details:
--
Nominations are open for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian Award.
The award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion
to human welfare, peace and international understanding through amateur
radio.
The League established the annual prize to recognize amateur radio
operators who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to
others in times of crisis or disaster.
Nominations should include a summary of the nominee's actions that qualify
the individual or individuals for this award, plus verifying statements
from at least two people having first-hand knowledge of the events
warranting the nomination. Nominations should include the names and
addresses of all references. Details appear on the ARRL website,
www.arrl.org, where you can search for humanitarian award.
I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
--
The deadline to nominate an amateur or group of amateurs for the 2009 ARRL
International Humanitarian Award is December 31st. (ARRL)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR ZS5MU
South African Radio League Councilor Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, has presented
Alastair Campbell, ZS5MU, with a special certificate. This recognizing the
support he and his wife Davina, ZS5GC, have been giving the yachting
fraternity for the past 30 years. The citation states that ZS5MU supported
by ZS5GC has operated the South African Maritime Mobile Net serving the
yachting community at sea for 30 years. (SARL)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: VE3CT APPOINTED TO CANADIAN AMATEUR RADIO HALL OF FAME
And congratulations go out to Croft Taylor, VE3CT, of Kanata, Ontario,
Canada on his appointment to Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Taylor
was awarded this honor by the Hall's Board of Trustees who have announced
that it will be presented to him at a ceremony to be held in in Ottawa in
the spring of 2010. Appointments to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of
Fame are made to recognize a radio amateur for outstanding achievement
in sustained service to amateur radio in that nation or to all of amateur
radio at large. (RAC)
**
THE SOCIAL SCENE: INTERNATIONAL DX CONVENTION 2010
Turning to the 2010 ham radio social scene, word that the 61st Annual
International DX Convention takes place next April 16th, 17th, 18th at the
Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, Visalia, California.
The International DX Convention is the world's foremost gathering that
attracts DX'ers and aspiring DX'ers from around the world. The show
attracts the biggest of the big-guns from the African continent, from Asia,
Europe, Oceania and of coarse both North and South America. Some are there
to tell how they have been able to meet and beat the challenge of DXing in
an ever expanding hobby. Others will tell of the challenges of operating
from places far removed from the comfort of their home stations.
The 2010 event will be sponsored by the Southern California DX
Club. Pre-registration began on December 1st. More information about the
show is on-line at www.dxconvention.org. (IDXC)
**
BREAK 2
Wishing each of you the best of holiday greetings, 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)
**
WORLDBEAT: CZECH INTELLIGENCE SAYS SADDAM HUSSEIN PLANNED TO ATTACK
RADIO FREE EUROPE
You may find this hard to believe, but the Iraq's former leader planned to
attack and destroy Radio Free Europe. The plot was recently made public by
Media Network and the Czech government. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim
Davis, W2JKD, has more:
--
According to Andy Sennitt at Media Network the late Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein ordered his secret agents to attack the Prague headquarters of US
run Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. This, to end broadcasting to Iraq.
Sennitt quotes Czech intelligence service spokesman Jan Subert who said
that the attack was ordered by the then Iraqi leader in 2000. Also that
Iraqi intelligence agents planned to use numerous weapons including rocket
propelled grenades, rifles and submachine guns in the attack. Subert said
that the weapons had been stockpiled for the attack after they were brought
into the country in an Iraqi diplomatic car.
It was not known when the attack was due to take place but Subert said that
Czech intelligence discovered the plot and the Iraqis submitted the weapons
to Czech authorities in 2003. The plan was for the attack to take place
from the window of a nearby flat that the Iraqis planned to rent as an
office for a fake company.
I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD.
--
The report seems to indicate that good intelligence by Czech national
security foiled Saddam Hussein's plot. (Media Network)
**
SCIENCE CORNER: RENEWABLE ENERGY USE CLIMBS
Americans used more solar, nuclear, bio-mass and wind energy in 2008 than
they did in 2007. This, according to the most recent energy flow charts
released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The study also found that the nation also used less coal and petroleum
during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas
consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same. (Science Daily)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: APPLE REFUSES WARRANTY ON SMOKERS COMPUTERS
If you smoke and own an Apple computer, the company might not fix it under
warranty. This is because Apple says it may void the warranty should you
need to bring a smoke exposed computer in for repair.
The Tech Blog at Yahoo notes that in at least two instances in different
parts of the country, Apple has voided the warranty and refused to provide
repair service on computers exposed to environments where cigarette smoke
has been present. Calling cigarette smoke residue inside a computer a
health risk and a biohazard, in both cases Apple customers have been denied
service despite having time left on a valid warranty.
Apple is standing by the decisions, saying that repair centers have the
authority to make decisions like this on their own. It cites OSHA rules
that include nicotine in a list of hazardous substances that could damage
the health of someone exposed to it.
Apple isn't formally commenting on the issue or responding to media
requests for comment, namely regarding whether there's a threshold for
cigarette smoke exposure beyond which a computer won't be serviced. No
word on whether other computer vendors have the same or similar
policies. More is at http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/156203 (Yahoo)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISSAT ONE TO CARRY STUDENT FILES
School students world-wide are being invited to fly a computer file on
ARISSAT One, the educational satellite that was originally called Suitsat 2.
ARISSAT One will launch sometime in 2010 and like its predecessor Suitsat
One it will again transmit messages recorded by students. But in addition,
teachers and their students are invited to fly a file aboard this amateur
radio satellite. This on a memory flash drive to be included on the bird.
What a teacher or student wants to fly is at their own discretion, but
there are some suggestions from the ARISS team. These include things the
student has prepared such as a paper or a study done on a science,
technology, engineering or math topic. Other possibilities include, a
drawing of space craft or a schematic, a journal kept on an educational
topic, a story or news article about a science subject and the like.
Dave Jordan, AA4KN, will take delivery of these files and copy them onto a
flash drive memory stick, plus make them available on the web for anyone to
see. He will look at all of them for content to make certain that they are
appropriate to student viewing.
Files can be in any language as long as an English translation is also
included. Only JPG or PDF files will be accepted. Please e-mail files to
aa4kn (at) amsat (dot) org. (ON4WF)
**
HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ARISS TRAINING CONTACT
Another highly successful simulated ARISS contact took place on Tuesday,
December 8th. This. between Deer Creek Elementary School in Bailey,
Colorado and astronaut Tracy Caldwell, KF5DBF at the Johnson Space Center
in Houston Texas.
As in the past, this session was a terrestrial-based amateur radio contact
using Amateur Radio on the International Space Station equivalent
equipment. These QSO's help astronauts learn the ins and outs of operating
ham radio in space without having to leave the ground. For the school it
means that its kids still get a chance to talk with a real live astronaut.
Reports are that the Deer Creek school enjoyed its session so much that it
plans to apply for a contact with an actual on-orbit astronaut. (ANS)
**
THE FINAL FRONTIER: VIRGIN GALACTIC SPACESHIP TWO UNVEILED
Virgin Galactic has unveiled its second sub-orbital spacecraft. The
unveiling of the VSS Enterprise took place on Tuesday evening, December 8th
at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California's high desert.
Attached to its mother ship, the vehicle better known as SpaceShipTwo is
expected to be the first commercial spacecraft when it enters service with
Virgin Galactic. Constructed by Scaled Composites under the guidance of
legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan, the carbon composite spacecraft
uses the same fuselage as its mother ship, the VMS Eve.
After a year of rigorous testing, VMS Eve completed flight testing earlier
this fall. Rutan didn't specify when flight testing for SpaceShipTwo would
begin, though it is expected to start early next year.
Sub-orbital passenger flights could start as early as 2011 from Virgin
Galactic's space port in New Mexico which is currently under construction.
Tickets for the early adopters are $200,000 for a training program
culminating with the ride into space. (Virgin Galactic)
**
ON THE AIR: A FERRY GOOD IDEA
On the air, listen out for special event call GB2EI standing for Great
Britain to Ireland is on the air to celebrate the reintroduction of the
Swansea to Cork Ferry service. The original service commenced in 1896. A
similar station, EI2GBW, will also be operating from Cork. Both special
event callsigns will be operational until March 31st of 2010. QSL details
are available at qrz.com. (IRTS)
**
ON THE AIR: COMMEMORATING THE 5th EAST ASIAN GAMES
Members of the Hong Kong Amateur Radio Communications Association were on
the air through December 13th as VR2EAG. This, to celebrate 5th East Asian
Games that were hosted there. If you made contact with VR2EAG please QSL
to the Hong Kong Amateur Radio Communications Association, GPO Box 7191,
Hong Kong. (HKARC)
**
ON THE AIR: GERMAN HAMS CELEBRATE THE ANTARCTIC PROGRAM
And for the final time, the German special event station DR09ANT is on the
air to celebrate the Worldwide Antarctic Program. It has is operational
through December 31st using all modes on all bands. QSLs will be sent via
the bureau automatically. (DX News)
**
DX
In D-X, The DX World of Ham Radio web page is conducting a online survey to
see which expedition warrants the title DXpedition of the Year
2009. Special engraved trophies will be awarded to the top three
chosen. To participate in the survey, go to http://dx-hamspirit.com.
Also word that SM1TDE plans an operation from Gambia from through December
31st. No other information is available at airtime. QSL as directed on
the air.
W4JJ has hit the airwaves as T6LC from the Afghanistan province of
Paktia. He is active using CW or SSB on 20 and 40 meters usually from 1430
to 1800 UTC. His QSL cards are handled by K4MJN.
And Angolan station CT1ITZ stroke D2CQ had planned to go QRT by the end of
November but his stay was extended until December 27th. He operates SSB
only and his QSL manager is CT1IUA.
Lastly, an international group of operators will be active as 3W6C from Con
Co Island Vietnam, from April 10th to the 18th, 2010 and there is an open
spot for one more operator. If you or any members of your organization
would like to be considered a candidate for this open spot on our crew,
please send details about your background and DX'ing experience to
Hans-Peter by e-mail to hb9bxe (at) 3w6c (dot) qrv (dot) ch. He can
supply you further details about expenses, travel, and all other aspects of
the operation
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: IRC'S BEING REPLACED
And finally this week, its well known that International Reply Coupons or
IRC's are used by many has to help with postal costs. But IRC's do not
last forever as we hear from Jason Daniels, VK2LAW:
--
IRCs - important information. Please be aware that the batch of IRCs that
have been used for the last
few years will no longer be valid at the post office. 31st December 2009
is the dead line for the current style but it's best to stop using them
ASAP to allow transit time. The new one has the expiry date of 31st
December 2013, just above the 'UPU' logo at your right hand side.
I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW
--
If you have old IRC's get them exchanged before their value is gone. (WIA
News)
**
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 Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is
news...@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's(tm) only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can
also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Don
Carlson,
KQ6FM, wishing you a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas from Reno,
Nevada. 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.