Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1874 with a release date of July 12 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio continues its relief efforts in India during monsoon season; hams in Canada and Portugal may soon have added operating spectrum; the ARRL says "no" to encrypted communications on the ham radio bands; the FITSAT One ham radio satellite deorbits and the story of some strange radio signals from space. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1874 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO MONSOON RELIEF EFFORTS CONTINUE IN INDIA The crisis caused by the devastating monsoon rains and flooding in northern India has so far claimed about 900 lives. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, has the latest on the role being played by that nations ham radio community: -- Actually the latest word comes from Jayu Bhide, VU2JAU, who is the National Coordinator for Disaster communication in India. He reports that amateur radio storm relief operations have been using 7.073 and 14.160 MHz for inter- region disaster relief communications. The messages they are handling are being relayed by radio to authorities in the cities of Gwalior, Calcutta, New Delhi, Vadodra, Kerala and Hyderabad. VU2JAU says that a relief team of four hams will soon be continuing this work with a further list of volunteer ham radio operators being made ready to go to the region if they are needed. As this report is being prepared it appears that the storm ravaged area will continue to receive monsoon relief communications through amateur radio messaging for some time to come. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heater Embee, KB3TZD,in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- The unexpected heavy monsoon rains affected pilgrims and tourists in the holy area in the foothills of the Himalayas on the Indo-Tibet border. (VK3PC) ** RESCUE RADIO: INDIA TOWN HIT BY FLOODS EMBRACES HAM RADIO The recent rain damage in the area of Valparai, India has led to a decision by civic leaders to install a permanent ham radio station in the town in the coming months. The station will be used to link the local emergency communications office to the amateur radio operators around the world along with district office in Coimbatore and sub office in Pollachi. The Amateur Radio Club of Pollachihas promised to establish the station free of cost and permission has been sought from the government to proceed with the project. Once established, it would facilitate emergency communication during the time of crisis and disasters. Meantime, an experimental station was set up on Saturday, July 6th and is functioning as a tool for storm relief and forest officials. Based on their positive feedback, a radio club spokesperson says that permission is expected to be granted shortly and the ham radio emergency communications station should be a reality in about month. (Times of India) ** RESCUE RADIO: HAMS READY FOR TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL Meantime on this side of the world comes word that the Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net was activated the night of July 8th in preparation of the imminent arrival of Tropical storm Chantal in the vicinity of Barbados and the Windward Islands. This net which operates on 3.815 MHz will continue to function until the storm and its effects have dissipated from that area. Hams elsewhere are requested to please keep this frequency clear until further notice. Meantime on Tuesday, July 9th Professor Arnie Coro, CO2KK, posted a report over the VHF Reflector. It said that Cuba's national weather service 5 days track forecast for tropical storm Chantal showed a cone of probability that may involve the Florida Keys. At that time the storm was moving at the very high speed of 26 miles per hour. (CO2KK, VHF Reflector, Facebook, other reports) ** RADIO LAW: ARRL SAYS NO TO ENCRYPTED HAM RADIO COMMUNICATIONS The ARRL is calling on the FCC to deny a Petition for Rule Making in RM-11699. This is a request that seeks to permit the encryption of certain amateur communications during emergency operations or related training exercises. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, is here with the details: -- As we previously reported, earlier this year the FCC accepted for filing a Petition for Rulemaking from Don Rolph, AB1PH, designated as RM-11699 and put it on public notice. In it Rolph suggested that an additional exception to Part 97.113 be made to permit encrypted communications when hams are participating in emergency services operations or related training exercises which may involve information covered by medical privacy requirements or other sensitive data. This could include logistical information concerning medical supplies, personnel movement or any other data designated by Federal authorities managing relief or training efforts. But on July 8th the ARRL filed to oppose the AB1PH rules change request. The ARRL says that in its view there is no factual or legal basis for the assumption that encryption of transmissions is necessary in order to continue and enhance the utility of amateur radio emergency and disaster relief communication. The ARRL also characterized as erroneous the assumption that encryption of certain information may be required under the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability or HIPPA Act. The ARRL is not alone in this view. Several other commenters on RM-11699 have also pointed out that the restrictions imposed by HIPPA can be overlooked in time of a dire emergency. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona. -- You can read an in-depth report on why the ARRL decided to oppose RM-11699 at tinyurl.com/arrl-against-encryption. So far close to 280 comments have been filed on RM-11699 with most of those in opposition to it. You can read them on the FCC's website beginning at tinyurl.com/encryption- commentary. (ARRL, FCC, Southgate) ** RESTRUCTURING: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE CANADIAN TABLE OF FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS What appears to be some good news for ham radio in Canada. This with word from Radio Amateurs of Canada of some proposed changes to frequency allocations in that nation that will provide more spectrum to use. First up in the proposed revisions is the inclusion of a new allocation running between 472 and 479 KHz. This 600 meter band was long sought and won at the 2012 World Radiocommunications conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. Also some good news based on what's not seen in the proposal. Radio Amateurs of Canada officials noted that the proposed revisions in the nations frequency allocation table did not include the addition of an appropriate Canadian Footnote for the range 5230 to 5240 KHz. This for authorization of the amateur service on 60 meter spot frequency channels as petitioned in 2010 and the subject of the Industry Canada Proposal issued in May of 2012. Radio Amateurs of Canada calls this simply an omission and should not mean an unfavorable decision on the 5 MHz channels. Instead, from all indications the national society says that there is good reason to believe the 60 meter decision will be favorable to Canadian radio amateurs and is imminent. The Canada Gazette notice that proposes these changes also invites public comments on the proposed revisions. Following the review of comments by the nations telecommunications regulator the allocation decisions will be announced and a revised edition of the Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations will be issued. The public response period to the Gazette notice ends on September 27th. (RAC) ** RESTRUCTURING: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE PORTUGUESE NATIONAL TABLE OF FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS The Portuguese National Communications Authority has approved a draft decision to amend the nations National Table of Frequency Allocations. This to give that nations radio amateur's additional operating spectrum at some future date. According to the regulatory authority, if approved the revisions would provide hams in Portugal with access to the 472 to 479 kHz frequency band for the amateur service. It would also alter some of the conditions governing access to the 50-52 MHz and 1270-1300 MHz bands for access by that nation's ham radio community. This draft decision is submitted to the general consultation procedure as provided for under the Portuguese Electronic Communications Law whereby interested parties are given a period of 20 working days in which to comment. This means a July 26th commentary cutoff date. (Portuguese National Communications Authority) ** BREAK 1 With you 52 weeks a year, we are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Two Rivers Amateur Radio Club repeater, W3OC, serving Monroeville, Pennsylvania. (5 sec pause here) ** SURVEY: ARE THOSE BEEPS NEEDED As you just heard in our break, there are five one second tones that do two things. For the listener they denote the fact we are in a station identification break. On a technical level they keep the few tape machines left feeding phone lines from resetting mid newscast. But as we plan for the future we need to know if anyone else is using these tones for any other purpose during the replay of this newscast. We have heard stories that some repeaters or Echolink nodes use the beep tones for cueing purposes, but we are far from certain if this is actually the case. If you are among those who require the tones please drop us a note to newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org and let us know. And please only those who require the tones respond. To which we add our sincere thank you in advance. (ARNewslineT) ** RADIO LAW: FCC MODIFIES CALIFORNIA HAMS LICENSE AFTER VEC SAYS IT MADE CLERICAL ERROR The FCC has gone ahead with the license class modification of a California ham after it was notified by the supervising V-E-C that it had made a clerical error. One that had awarded James H. Schofield, KI6JIM, a General Class ticket even though he was only eligible for Technician class privileges. As previously reported, on November 29, 2012, the W5YI Volunteer Examiner Coordinator sent a data file to the Commission requesting that Schofield's operator license be upgraded from Technician Class to General Class. Based on this application, the Commission granted Schofield a General Class license on November 29, 2012. But on May 30, 2013, the W5YI VEC notified the Commission that it had made a typographical error in the original 2012 data file and that a licensee other than Schofield had qualified for a General Class operator license. As a result the FCC proposed to modify the license for Station KI6JIM to show Technician Class operator privileges. The Order Proposing Modification was released this past June 4th. Schofield did not protest the proposed modification of his license within the requisite thirty-day time frame. As such Schofield is deemed to have consented to the proposed modification. (FCC) ** ENFORCEMENT: NYC POLICE TAKE DOWN UNLICENSED BROADCAST STATION Running an unlicensed broadcast radio station in the Metro New York City area can put you behind bars. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, reports: -- Detectives in New York City have arrested two men for allegedly operating an unlicensed radio station on 104.7 MHz. The Kings County District Attorney's Office says Seon Bruce and Solomon Malka are charged with making unauthorized radio transmission which is a class-A misdemeanor. To thwart the illegal operation, detectives bought advertising on the station and an FCC engineer traced the signal to a rooftop antenna on a 50-story building in Manhattan. The detectives then seized the transmission equipment. According to the Kings County District Attorney, Solomon told them he installed the stations gear and knew the station didn't have a license. Investigators also found equipment for another station, 91.7 MHz, which was on the air in June. Solomon is reported to have told detectives he had a license for that station but the FCC disputes that claim. The defendants have been charged with a class-A misdemeanor of making unauthorized radio transmissions. If convicted under New York law, they could serve up to a year in jail. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephan Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth, Ohio. -- According to the FCC, New York has seen more enforcement against unlicensed operations than any other state, with 330 official actions including citations, fines and shutdowns logged against pirate radio stations since 2003. Previously it was Florida that held this rather dubious distinction. (FCC, NYPD, Daily News, others) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC UPHOLDS $25,000 FINE AGAINST IDAHO BROADCASTER The FCC has upheld fines totaling $26,000 against Salmon River Communications. This, for not filing for renewal on time and continuing to operate two stations after their authorizations had expired. Salmon River Communications owns radio stations KSRA AM and FM in Salmon River, Idaho. According to the commission their renewals were due in June 2005, four months before their licenses would expire. The licensee did seek Special Temporary Authority to remain in operation, but those also ran out. The commission eventually renewed both licenses and in 2011 proposed the fines. The agency now says that it has not received a response from Salmon River. Saying no circumstances warrant a reduction or cancellation, the commission upheld the penalties and said Salmon River has 30 days to pay or file a further appeal. (FCC, RW) ** RESCUE RADIO: DETROIT MI EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM FAILS Detroit, Michigan is the latest city to receive national news media attention for the failure of its P25 digital trunked radio system. The system failed during the 4th of July holiday weekend creating what was described as havoc for first responders. The radio system is for communication between 911 dispatchers and Detroit's police, fire and Emergency Management Service crews. It failed at around 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, July 5th causing a backlog of hundreds of calls. Michigan State Police stepped in to allow Detroit's emergency system to use the state's communication system. This backup was used for several days while crews worked to restore the Detroit system. Detroit Police Spokeswoman Sergeant Eren Stephens said that during the initial down time there had been some 60 priority one and more than 170 non-emergency calls that had backed up because of the issue. Like most new digital systems, Detroit's is dependant on centralized computer control. This means failure of the central processing system can bring the entire system to a halt. And while Detroit does have a mirrored back-up system in place it apparently had ever been fully tested and it also failed leading to state to step in. More is on-line at tinyurl.com/detroit-radio-down. (WXYZ, other published reports) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: HAM RADIO SAILOR MAKES IT AROUND THE WORLD Some names in the news: A ham radio operator who is believed to be the oldest female sailor to make a solo, non- stop circumnavigation of the globe has finally reached her goal. This with word that seventy-year-old Jeanne Socrates, KC2IOV, is back on land. Socrates set out from Victoria's Inner Harbor in her 36 foot cruiser Nereida in October of 2012. A note on her website says she returned to the harbor just before 3 a.m. Monday, July 8th. The pre-dawn arrival ended several days of anticipation as light winds along the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, stalled her return, which was expected on July 5th. This was not Socrates first attempt at such a voyage. She has made two previous attempts to sail solo, non-stop, around the world. The first ended in Cape Town, South Africa in 2009 and the second journey concluded in January 2011 with damage to her boat in a storm off Cape Horn. During all three trips KV2IOV reportedly held regular schedules with her support team and also made lots of other QSO's while at sea. Socrates, a grandmother and retired teacher is raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. This is a United Kingdom-based program that provides free home nursing for terminally ill cancer patients. (CFAX, The Canadian Press, QRZ.com) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: A WEBSIITE FOR HAM RADIO ROYALTY A website has been created that lists those members of Royal families that its creators believe may have held amateur radio callsigns. The page is at tinyurl.com/royal-ham-radio and is sponsored by the Highfields Amateur Radio Club in the U.K.. (M5AKA) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: BURT WEINER K6OQK TO SPEAK ON THE HISTORY OF HAM RADIOS EARLIEST REPEATERS If you have in interest in the early development of repeaters and have some free time, then listen up. The July 19th meeting of the Los Angeles California-based San Fernando Valley Amateur Radio Club will feature a one-time presentation on the history of Southern California's K6MYK and WA6TDD repeaters presented by Burt Weiner, K6OQK, who is one of the people who made it all happen. It was the late Arthur M. Gentry, W6MEP, who built the nations first truly automatic repeater. Its call sign was K6MYK, and it operated from above the Hollywood sign on Mt. Lee beginning back in the late 1950's. Its history was chronicled in the March, 2004, QST feature titled "Once Upon a California Hilltop." Burt Weiner, K6OQK, was a prot�g�e of Art Gentry. He became involved in Amateur Radio in the early 1950's while in Jr. High School. He went ob to build and maintain the nations second truly successful automatic control repeater. WA6TDD later known as WR6ABE was sited atop Mt. Wilson and went on the air in 1962. Burt ran it through the era of conversion from AM to FM operation that lasted into the 1970's. Burt Weiner's professional background is in broadcast engineering, antenna systems and measurement systems design. His talk will be primarily the history of WA6TDD with parts touching on Art and Millie Gentry, the K6MYK repeater and the part they played in his building WA6TDD. He will be open to questions after and maybe even during the presentation. This very special presentation will take place on Friday night June 19th beginning at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The venue is the 5th floor penthouse of Northridge Medical Center Hospital, 18300 Roscoe Boulevard on Northridge California. The talk will also be video recorded for general release at some later date. For those interested in the history of this aspect of our hobby it should prove to be a very interesting evening to say the least. (ARNewsline) ** BREAK 2 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) ** RADIO IN SPACE: GOOGLE PROJECT LOON INTERFERENCE CONCERNS A broadband communications experiment that involves a series of balloons circling the globe is bringing some anxiety to other spectrum users. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the details: -- Concerns have been raised about possible interference from the 2400 MHz and 5800 MHz transmitters on the Google Project Loon High Altitude Balloon project. Google launched 30 balloons from New Zealand which transmit wideband 2400 MHz and 5800 MHz signals and concerns have been raised about the interference they could cause to radio astronomy. The United Kingdom's Register reports that when Google engineer Brad Tucker was contacted about the problem. He said that Google had identified locations where Loon balloons might interfere with radio astronomy. He said that these transmitters had been shut down until these balloons had floated out of range. But its not just radio astronomers that are worried about interference generated by the Google Loon balloons. The Amateur Radio and Amateur Satellite Services are also concerned about deterioration to their communications especially in the area of weak signal operations. This is because both use some of the same frequencies that Project Loon is transmitting on. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles. -- Google eventually plans to send some 300 balloons around the world at the southern fortieth parallel that would provide broadband coverage to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Argentina. The company hopes to eventually have thousands of balloons flying in the stratosphere at an altitude of 20 km relaying broadband almost world-wide. More about this project is on the web at www.google.com/loon (Southgate) ** HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: PICO BALLOONS - A NEW HAM RADIO FAD The latest fad in ham radio near space experimentation, at least in the United Kingdom, appears to be the so-called pico balloons. The small foil party balloons can only carry ultra light payloads typically weighing less than 100 grams. This presents a challenge to the builders to produce a transmitter, GPS, batteries and antenna that are small and light enough to be taken aloft. Balloons such as these do not go to extremes of altitude but can float at between 10,000 to 20,000 feet for an extended period. Their 434 MHz transmitters can have a radio range of up to 900 miles. Several pico balloons carrying 434 MHz payloads weighing less than 100 grams launch were to be launched last weekend from locations in Great Britain. James Coxon, M6JCX, was to launch one operating on 434.175 MHz USB transmitting RTTY at 50 baud. David Bowkis, M0MDB, also was to have launched one transmitting on 434.250 MHz running ASCII at 50 baud. The free balloon software dl-fldigi can be used to decode many different amateur radio digital modes and is available in Windows, Mac or Ubuntu Linux versions. (UK Space, Southgate) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FITSAT-1 DEORBITS AND BURNS UP The FITSAT-1 ham radio Cube-Sat is reported to have de- orbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere in the early hours of Thursday, July 4th. According to Takushi Tanaka, JA6AVG, of the Fukuoka Institute of Technology FITSAT's last signal was received byJA0CAW at 03:07 UTC. FITSAT-1's low orbit meant its lifespan was limited to just 9 months but in that time it was able to achieve a number of technology firsts. (FITSAT) ** WORLDBEAT: UK RADIO CLUB LAUNCHES STREAMING ATV CHANNEL The United Kingdom-based Sheffield Amateur Radio Club has its own streaming TV channel thanks to the British Amateur Television Club. The channel will be used to stream live TV from special events attended by the club's communication trailer GX3RCM and viewable on-line at tinyurl.com/gx3rcm. More information is at sheffieldarc.org.uk. (Southgate) ** WORLDBEAT: ILLW REGISTRATION REACHES 300 Registration number 300 for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend has been awarded to the Luehe Lower Lighthouse in Germany. Located in that country's Lower Saxony region will be activated during the fun-event on August the 17th and 18th by avid contester Rainer Arndt DL9OE. Now in the 16th year the annual event is always held on the third full weekend of August to promote public awareness of old marine navigation methods, amateur radio and foster international goodwill. Guidelines and online registration information are at illw.net. (VK3PC) ** ON THE AIR: GRID SQUARE EXPEDITION TO SCOTLAND On the air, listen out for 2E1EUB will be on the air from Scotland as 2M1EUB for 14 days beginning August 5th. He will actually be driving around that nation to provide other hams with new grid squares that they have not yet worked. Activity will be on 160, 80 and 2 meter SSB along with several satellites. He does accept E-mails and will arrange schedules to work him at 2e1eub (at) amsat (dot) org. (VHF Reflector) ** ON THE AIR: 4X19MG CELEBRATES MACCABIAH GAMES Members of the Israel Amateur Radio Club will activate 4X19MG between July 18th to the 30th in honor of the 19th Maccabiah Games. The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event, held in Israel every four years. QSL via 4Z1TL. (IARC) ** DX In DX, word that K4ZW, will be on the air from Addis Ababa until July 19th. He plans to operate from the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society club station ET3AA and notes that most of his time will be spent on CW, but is going to try some RTTY as well. QSL via N2OO RK4FF will once again be active as 6V7S from Senegal through July 16th and again from October 22nd to November 27th. His operations will probably be on 80 through 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via RK4FF. JJ2NYT, will be active as 9H1N from Malta between August 2ns to the 5th. Activity will be holiday style on 40 through 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL only via his home callsign. CT2HPM is now active as D2CT from Luanda, Angola. He will be there until July 26th operating 20 through 10 meters using mostly PSK31 and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign. Lastly, VU2UR will be operational as AT20RRC from Bangalore, India through the end of July. His activity is to celebrate 20th anniversary of the Russian Robinson Club with stations on the High Frequency bands. QSL electronically to AT20RCC via eQSL. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: THE CASE OF THE STRANGE RADIO SIGNALS FROM SPACE And finally this week, if you are a ham with an interest in radio astronomy, then this is for you. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports: -- If you've been waiting to hear mysterious radio signals from space, then now may be the right time to tune in. This as an international team of astronomers has detected four powerful bursts that appear to come from billions of light- years away. At that distance, the radio pulses would each have put out in a few thousandths of a second the same amount of energy that our Sun would take 10,000 years to produce. The bizarre signals came to light as part of the High Time Resolution Universe survey. This is a project using the 64- meter Parkes radio telescope in Australia to search the sky for radio signals from pulsars. These are the stellar signal generators that are believed to be caused by super- novas. Because the pulsars we detect lie in our own galaxy, astronomers mostly look near the Milky Way when hunting for these dead stars. But when Dan Thornton of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and Australia Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization started digging through the data he stumbled across the four signal bursts. After scientists extrapolated the data across the entire sky, they concluded that perhaps 10,000 of these blasts are happening every day. Its only a matter of finding them. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- According to researcher Thornton, it's still unknown as to what these signals are, but at least it's no longer a mystery that they actually exist. More about these interesting radio signal from space is on line at tinyurl.com/powerful-signals-from-space (Various Sources) ** 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 Jeff Clark, K8JAC, in Charleston, West Virginia, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
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