Amateur Radio Newsline #1026 11 Apr 1997 (re-sent by n1ist)
KA6ETB Steve Harding
Because of the flooding in th upper mid-west, Dale Cary WD0AKO is running
late at posting newscasts. As far as I am concerned, his safety and that
of his family is paramount.
Until the emergency in the Fargo/Moorehead area is over, Ill try to
service as many of you on the various lists as I can, and I will ask Steve
Coletti to get this newscast to all /internet sites ASAP.
I talked to Dale the other day. The water is not at his front door yet,
but things in Moorehead MN are touch and go. We wish him well.
Tnx and 73
Bill Pasternak, Wa6ITF
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SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.1026
Amateur Radio Newsline #1026 11 Apr 1997
The Newsline Information and Copyright Notice is now published separately
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NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #1026 - 04/11/97
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(* A M A T E U R *)
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(* R A D I O *)
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(* N E W S L I N E *)
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The following is late news about Amateur Radio for Radio Amateurs as
prepared from NEWSLINE RADIO scripts by the staff of the AMATEUR RADIO
NEWSLINE, INC., formerly the WESTLINK RADIO NETWORK. Amateur Radio
Newsline is a audio news service distributed via telephone.
This week's hardcopy version was produced by Steve Coletti from scripts
provided to him by Newsline. It was then distributed to on-line services,
bbs networks and internet users. It took over an hour to do and I now know
what Dale goes through every week. If you find any spelling or
punctuation errors, don't bother notifying me or I have your email address
added to every X-rated porno server on the planet in retaliation, (JUST
KIDDING).
Editorial comments, news item and all other business should be directed
to:
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
Newsline Producer & Editor
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Thank You,
NEWSLINE
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Some of the hams of AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE: WA6ITF WB6MQV WB6FDF K6DUE
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KC5UD KC0HF G8AUU WD0AKO DJ0QN and many others in the United States and
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(**************************************************
[1026]
The following is a Q-S-T. Hams provide relief communications as the
Red River goes on a rampage, the fight to abolish Morse Code testing moves
to the World Wide Web and the price of a vanity call sign is about to go
up. All this and more on Newsline report number 1026 coming your way right
now.
*****
MINNESOTA - DAKOTA FLOODS
Ham radio operators in Western Minnesota and the Dakotas are providing
essential emergency communications as rising waters along the Red River
threaten towns along its banks. This following an unexpected spring
snowstorm that knocked out public utilities, communications and closed many
roads. The new storm comes on the heals of early thawing of previous snows
that have already overpowered dikes and levies built to contain the winter
run-off. Rain storms and high winds are also complicating relief efforts
Dale Cary WD0AKO is Newsline Webmaster in Moorehead Minnesota. He says
that hams have been active since the emergency began.
"They are helping to coordinate emergency crews between volunteer
centers and helping to dispatch the Red Cross out to where they are needed.
They have also been doing a lot of evacuating down in the Breckenridge
Minnesota area. I believe that they helped evacuate a nursing home and
another two hundred residents from their homes in the areas nearby to the
rivers" (Cary)
Two of the most active clubs in the area are the Red River Radio
Amateurs and the Three Rivers Amateur Radio Club. They and others are
involved in the flood relief communications efforts. Dale Cary says that
the worst is not over yet for the ham radio volunteers.
"Up in Grand Forks they are starting to prepare. A lot of dyking work
has been done as well as a lot of sand-bag preparation. They are about 80
miles to the north of us so their river cresting will probably not be for
another two weeks.
We also had a rain storm prior to the blizzard. With that came a lot
of icing that took down a lot of telephone lines. And the local CBS
affiliate lost a 2000' t-v tower just to the north-west of the
Fargo-Moorehead area." (Cary)
The Red River is expected to crest in Moorehead at 38 1/2 feet. This
is a full foot and a half higher than the previous record of 37 feet. To
put this in perspective, a protective dike is being built around the
Moorehead City Hall because it will flood when waters reach only 31 feet.
As we go to air, ham radio emergency communicators remain on alert
throughout the affected area.
(Via Newsline)
*****
NO-CODE FIGHT ON THE WWW
The fight to abolish mandatory Morse code testing has taken to the
World Wide Web. This, with the creation of a new website dedicated to
organizing widespread resistance to the continuation of Morse testing for
any class of United States Amateur Radio license.
The website is called No Code International and its the creation of
Bruce J. Perens, K6BP of El Cerrito, California. Perens describes his
organization as a temporary grass roots organization. He says that its
only objective is to remove the International Morse code requirement as a
prerequisite to HF ham band operation.
"I feel that it is necessary to save Amateur Radio. I do not feel that
we are going to survive if we are perceived by outsiders as a group of
key-tappers. I think that the problem is that the ARRL has not educated
amateurs about both sides of the question. And thats where No-Code
International has to step in. I want to educate ARRL members and its
leaders about the no-code issue and see if the next time the ARRL takes a
poll if it might not come out differently." (Perens)
Bruce Perens works for Pixar Corporation. Pixer is a well known
entertainment industry software and animation company that created the
smash hit movie Toy Story. He says that its fair to say that No Code
International will not be disbanded until the code requirement is abolished
for access by all radio amateurs to the high frequency bands.
If you are interested in learning what No Code International is all
about take your computer over to their website. Its address is simple.
The URL is
http://www.nocode.org
E-mail goes to
k6...@nocode.org
(Via W5YI Report, Newsline)
*****
FCC PROPOSES VANITY LICENSE FEE HIKE
The cost of a vanity ham radio call may soon go up. The FCC has
proposed raising the fee for a vanity call sign from $30 to $50 for the
10-year license term. The fee increase was among those included for all
FCC regulated services in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designated 97
dash 49.
Fee adjustments are an annual exercise for the FCC. The Agency says it
must calculate its fees to recover the amount of regulatory fees that
Congress has required it to collect in Fiscal Year 1997. The FCC says
that the regulatory fees will recover the costs of enforcement, policy and
rulemaking, international and user information activities for Fiscal Year
1997 which began last October 1.
The $5 figure per year is the lowest fee in the new schedule. The FCC
says that it anticipates receiving 10,000 applications for vanity call
signs in the 1997 Fiscal Year.
(Via FCC, ARRL)
*****
SESSION MANAGER UPDATE
There seems to be some confusion over our report last week of a
decision by the FCC to not formally recognize Session Managers at ham radio
examinations under the all volunteer testing session. We reported that the
FCC turned this request down. Other news services indicate that it was
approved. Both are correct to a degree. Heres what happened.
In its Report and Order, the FCC was very specific in stating that it
will not formally recognize Session Managers. Also, that it continues to
hold all three Volunteer Examiners equally responsible for proper conduct
of all aspects of a given examination session.
The confusion comes from the wording of the FCC release. If you give
it a cursory reading, it appears as if session managers have been approved.
In reality what the FCC said was that it does not care about the mechanics
of the test session. If a given V-E group wants to appoint one person as
an unofficial Session Manager its fine with the agency. The even have
changed the rules to permit it.
But there is a caveat. For its own purposes the FCC will not recognize
transferring legal assignment to the Session Manager. If he or she makes a
mistake, all three V-E's will still be called on the carpet. As far as the
FCC is concerned, all three V-E share in all aspects of legal
responsibility in giving any ham radio tests.
(Via Newsline, FCC, others)
*****
FIRST SOLAR FLARE
Some good news for high frequency D-Xers and hopefully for the
faltering ham radio supply industry. The National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration has confirmed the first Major Flare of the new
solar cycle took place on April 3rd.
Because the region of the sun erupting is still off on the east limb
about 20 degrees from center disc, it may not have as great an effect on
earth's geomagnetic activity as it might have.
The ham radio supply industry has been waiting for sunspot activity to
develop. The sale of desktop high frequency gear is at an all time low.
The industry hopes that improved D-X conditions will lead to increased sale
of the more profitable desktop high frequency transceivers.
More D-X news later on in this newscast.
(Via various propagation forecasts)
*****
HAM RADIO BUSINESS SLUMPING IN USA
As we just said, ham radio retail sales are not doing well in the
United States. This, according to information culled from the annual
reports of major Pacific Rim ham radio manufacturers and posted to the
internet ham radio Newsgroups a few weeks ago.
A combined report says that industry wide gross revenues from North
American operations are down an average of 20% from an all-time high of
$470 million two years ago. Even worse, is that profit margins for
retailers is down even further and that this is driving many smaller
operations out of business.
The sales of equipment with the largest margin are desktop high
frequency transceivers. With only one exception, sales of this class of
equipment is reportedly very bad.
On the other side of the spectrum, sales of VHF equipment, especially
budget priced 2 meter hand-helds in the under $200 range are way up.
Unfortunately, these are small profit items. That means margins are down
and pricing is cutthroat. This in turn has already lead to some of the
weaker retailers closing their doors. Some observers believe it could also
lead to some companies backing out of the North American market if this
trend doesn't change.
More on this story, including alternatives some companies might
consider if they leave ham radio merchandising in the United States on next
week Newsline.
(Via Usenet, E-Mail)
*****
GILFER SHORTWAVE OUT OF BUSINESS
Meantime, another longtime radio supplier appears to have gone out of
business. The ARRL Letter reports that Gilfer Shortwave of Park Ridge, New
Jersey, may be the latest casualty in the sagging radio hobby market.
Gilfer had been in business for more than four decades. It billed
itself as "America's Premier SWL Center." Although primarily a retailer for
the SWL and scanner radio enthusiasts, Gilfer also sold some Amateur Radio
equipment, accessories and books. But that was yesterday. Today, calls to
Gilfer's telephones go unanswered, and the company site on the World Wide
Web is now dark.
Less than three weeks ago Henry Radio in Los Angeles announced that
after nearly seventy years that it was dropping retail sales of ham radio
gear.
(Via ARRL Letter)
*****
FRYES JOINS KENWOOD
And an equipment manufacturer is taking a different road to stimulate
sales. According to Kenwood Communications latest authorized dealer list,
giant California computer mass merchandiser Fryes Electronics is the first
non-traditional ham equipment outlet offering Kenwood amateur products.
Fryes is home based in Santa Clara with store locations throughout
California. Because of its vast supply of computer peripherals and parts,
Fryes has become a a popular hangout for hams who build or upgrade their
own systems.
Having Fryes now listed as a Kenwood retailer affirms an announcement
made last year by Kenwood. The announcement that said that Kenwood was
seeking non-traditional alternative outlets for their ham radio equipment.
(Via Kenwood Dealer List)
*****
ALINCO CUTS PRICES AGAIN
Meantime, for the second time in less than a year, Alinco has announced
price reductions to dealers. The company cites the favorable dollar-yen
exchange rate as one reason behind the price cuts.
But Alinco also says that it does not set prices at the consumer retail
level. Because of this, over-the-counter prices can vary from one dealer
to another.
(Via Alinco, ARRL)
*****
DELAWARE STATE CONVENTION
The Penn-Del Amateur Radio Club will be host to the first ever A.R.R.L.
Delaware State Convention on Sunday April 20th, in the city of New Castle.
The Convention's Key speaker will be Rick Palm K1CE of the A.R.R.L.
Headquarters staff. The Delaware State Police emergency communications van
will be on display and a program will be given on the new statewide 800 MHz
digital trunked radio system. For further information contact: Hal Frantz
KA3TWG by e-mail to
(Via KA3TWG)
*****
W3ASK WINS NAB ENGINEERING AWARD
Congratulations to George Jacobs, W3ASK, on being selected as the
winner of the 1997 National Association of Broadcasters Engineering
Achievement Award. This for his work in the development and launching of
the Voice of America and his modernization of the facilities of the Voice
of Liberty radio stations.
W3ASK is the president of George Jacobs and Associates. This is an
engineering consulting firm recognized world-wide for its contributions to
shortwave broadcasting. He has also represented the United States at a
number of international telecommunications conferences and has assisted in
the establishment of several FCC licensed shortwave broadcast stations.
Jacobs received the award at the NAB '97 Technology Luncheon on April
9th. In addition to his other professional activities W3ASK continues to
research and write the monthly propagation report for CQ Magazine.
(Via Radio World, Newsline, W2VU)
*****
WEATHER SPOTTER CLASSES
And Matthew Trotta, N9NPP, says that he is attempting to establish a
website dedicated to information on Severe Weather Spotting classes
nationwide. If you know of spotter classes in your area please send the
schedule to via e-mail to:
N9...@aol.com
(Via Usenet)
*****
TOWER FALL SURVIVOR
If you ever need an example of beating the odds...this next story may
help. Considering what happened the afternoon of March 26th, the fact that
25-year-old Joseph Holley is alive is amazing. Holley, who's a
professional tower climber, was involved in a freak accident in central
Alabama. It's the kind of mishap that--under almost any other
circumstance--should have claimed his life.
From Newsline's Southeast Bureau in Birmingham...David Black, KB4KCH,
brings us an astonishing story about a man who beat incredible odds:
From his hospital bed, Joseph Holley thinks back to the afternoon he
was working 200 feet in the air on a cellular telephone tower south of
Birmingham. Holley had just made sure that he was strapped securely to the
tower leg.
"I checked my belt, checked my lanyard, made sure everything's secure.
I released my hand from the tower, everything was fine. I stuck both hands
into the pouches that hang off my workbelt to get to the hardware. The
pouches are about a foot deep and as soon as my hands hit the bottom of the
pouches, which was probably a full 10 seconds from the time I snapped
myself into place, the belt just let go. It just absolutely let go and I
began to fall." (Holley)
Joseph Holley's life might well have ended at this point. But this
story does not end tragically. Seconds after beginning to fall and
thinking he's about to die, Holley blacks out. But as it turns out, the
only tower leg that has any equipment attached to it below Holley is the
leg he had been working on. After falling nearly 80 feet, Holley strikes a
6-foot mesh microwave dish in his ribs. The dish catches his body and
keeps him from falling further.
"I hit it and of course was unconscious as I was falling, as I hit the
dish, it woke me up. I hooked my leg over the dish and was very very
disoriented" (Holley)
While hanging on to the dish, fear sets in as Holley realizes that he's
still about a hundred-20 feet up. Having sustained severe internal
injuries, he loses consciousness again. Co-workers climb up to Holley and
secure him to the tower. Half an hour later, rescue workers from Columbiana
and Southeast Shelby county arrive.
"They came up there and hooked the rope to me and pulled me down. This
was the first time they had ever done anything like this and had absolutely
no experience on a tower. You could tell the persons on the tower were a
bit jumpy just being up that high. We were still between 120 and 140
feet." (Holley)
Despite his injuries, Holley is able to climb down with rescuers
helping him. He's flown by Lifesaver helicopter to a Birmingham hospital.
Exactly why Holley fell remains under investigation. He says he has always
paid careful attention to the condition of his safety equipment.
Amazingly, Holley's doctors tell him that he may not have any permanent
injuries...and that after 2 weeks, he may get to go home. It's all leaving
Holley very thankful.
"I'm really fortunate and I don't take anything for granted. I'm
really lucky at the turnout of this thing." (Holley)
For now, Joseph Holley continues his recovery while dealing with
something else--he's experiencing nightmares about falling. Will he go
back to work climbing towers for a living? That is something this very
lucky man says he wants to think about.
Holley says he wonders if a manufacturer's defect in his safety gear
could be to blame for his near-death experience. Meanwhile, investigators
continue looking at that equipment to try and find out exactly why it
failed.
(Via Newsline)
*****
2 METER SSB NET
South Florida hams take note. There is now an SSB net that meets on
Sunday at 8:30 local time on 144.230 MHz upper sideband. N5PIP in Pompano
Beach is the net control For you grid square chasers. Thats Grid Square
locator EL96
(Via Usenet)
*****
SHUTTLE SAREX HOME EARLY
The latest SAREX ham radio mission aboard the space shuttle Columbia
came to an early end on Tuesday, April 8th. The mission was scheduled for
sixteen days. It was cut short after only four when one of the three fuel
cells that power the shuttle began to fail. While the Columbia can
function properly on two fuel cells, NASA safety rules say that all three
must be functioning or the shuttle has to land. Several scheduled school
contacts were canceled as a result.
(Via AMSAT-NA BBS)
*****
MIR PROBLEMS
And it might be quite some time before you hear very much from the hams
on board Russia's Mir space station. This is because ground controllers
have ordered the crew to minimum activity status after the partial failure
of yet another of the space stations oxygen generating systems.
Three weeks ago a fire on the Mir took out one of the back- ups.
Another system was reported overheating late on Thursday April 3rd and had
to be shut down. A supply rocket with spare parts was launched toward Mir
on Sunday the 6th but do not expect any live ham radio signals from the Mir
crew until at least one of the systems is fixed. News reports say that
could take several weeks to a month or more to accomplish.
(Via AMSAT-NA BBS)
*****
AMSAT-NA CALL FOR PAPERS
A second call for Papers is out from the 1997 AMSAT North America
annual meeting and space symposium. The gathering will be held October
17th to the 19th at the Airport Delta Hotel in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Those who wish to present papers at this event, should forward their
request to AMSAT. Topics may include all relevant Amateur Satellite
disciplines. Send submissions and enquiries to Wayne Chandler, VE3WHC, via
e-mail to
ve3...@amsat.org
(Via AMSAT-NA BBS)
*****
DX
In D-X, JX7DFA, continues to be active on the lower bands from Jan
Mayen. He is on almost every day working stateside stations during their
evening hours. JX7DFA has promised to come on RTTY before he leaves the
island. QSL to his home call. That call is LA7DFA.
Also the DX News Sheet reports that LA2GV was active from Bouvet
Island, but only for three hours during the morning of February 22nd. He
operated as 3Y2GV, on 18.090 MHz working Europe. QSL to home call.
And next years South Sandwich Island Antarctic DX Group operation will
depart Cape Town January, 1998, on a 67 foot boat. The group will be active
for 12 days. WA4JQS and ZS1FJ, are planning the operation which will cost
at least a cool $100,000.
Also, the ARRL's DXCC Desk reports the number of unprocessed
applications at the end of February 1997 was only 191.
(Via various sources)
*****
BIOSPHERE 2 CELEBRATION
Closer to home, Sunday, April 20th is the day that amateur radio
operators from Arizona, will join students and the general public to
celebrate the Biosphere 2 Center Earth Day Special Event.
For those not familiar, Biosphere 2 is a unique combination of the
largest functioning Earth systems model in the world linked with
leading-edge technology for data collection and analysis. The on-air
operation is being hosted on the front lawn of this human habitat where the
former Biosphere volunteers lived.
The Radio Society of Tucson is coordinating the technical issues,
including equipment and frequency assignments. Operation will be on 2
through 40 meters using various modes. For more information please contact
the operations Technical Coordinator Bob O'Connell, KC5DWB, by e-mail to
reo.azstarnet.com
(Via WA2VNT/7, others)
*****
DAYTON HAMVENTION - PART 2
And finally, its now only five weeks until the doors open on the 1997
Dayton Hamvention. In part two of our special series, General Chairman
Dick Miller N8CBU tells Rains' Hap Holly, KC9RP, about this years schedule
of forums:
"Well forums are one of the last things to get nailed down. The Forums
Chairman Rich Huff has been working on this.
We will not be having to many of the forums over at Meadowdale High
School. We did that last year and found out that did not work out very
well as far as logistics.
What we are putting at Meadowdale this year are the so- called club
meetings like Firebirds and Ten-Ten. They usually have a forum but its
primarily for their people." (Miller)
Hamvention '97 takes place on May 16th, 17th and 18th at the Hara Arena
in Dayton Ohio. For more information visit their website at
http://www.hamvention.org.
(Via RAIN, DARA)
*****
With thanks to the ARRL, the Dayton Amateur Radio Association and Radio
World Magazine, thats all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write
to us at:
Newsline
P.O.Box 660937
Arcadia, California
91066
Our e-mail address is: news...@ix.netcom.com
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF at our editors desk, we at Newsline
say 73 and we thank you for listening.
(* * * * Newsline is copyright 1997 & All rights are reserved. * * * *
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--
ka6...@grafex.sbay.org Steve Harding alternate: har...@nas.nasa.gov
5th generation Oregonian and card carrying S.N.O.B.
Attitude is contagious