Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1888 with a release date of October 18 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio responds as a major cyclone hits India and an earthquake hits the Philippines; the IARU Monitoring Service says that Russia is again intruding into 15 meters; Sweeden gives its hams access to 472 kilohertz; AMSAT to celebrate 30 years of manned ham radio in space operations and a bit of early DX history from down-under. Hear it all on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1888 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESCUE RADIO: AMATEUR RADIO ON SCENE AS CYCLONE PHAILIN HITS INDIA Amateur radio operators in India were ready to respond when cyclone Phailin roared up the Bay of Bengal, carrying winds of 155 mph at landfall. But proper planning on the part of India's emergency services kept casualties to a minimum as ham radio operators braved the weather to make sure communications kept flowing. Amateur Radio Newslines Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, has the rest of the story: -- India's National Institute of Amateur Radio put as many as 200 operators on alert and many of those volunteers came through and were dispatched as needed once the cyclone hit Odisha, along the country's eastern coast. And, news accounts are praising government officials in the country for acting quickly to evacuate some half-a-million people living along lowland coastal areas to get them out of harm's way. Early accounts put the death toll in the teens. The storm is believed to be the strongest to hit the region since 1999 when a tropical storm washed ashore causing 9,000 deaths and extensive damage. Power is still out in many areas in the wake of this storm. Radio operators are staying on duty at shelters and other areas in many of the coastal districts where flood and wind damage to the infrastructure was the most extensive. News accounts are reporting many of the mud homes and farms in the coastal region hit by the storm were destroyed and roads remain blocked by uprooted trees. Jay, VU2JAU, was helping to coordinate storm relief activity on 40 meters, along with a team that included VU2DPI, VU3BHI and VU2AOR. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V. -- During the height of the storm VU2JAU put out a world-wide request that the frequency of 7 point 145 MHz on 40 meters be kept clear for disaster communications. As we go to air, some ham radio emergency communications is reported to still be ongoing as the clean-up effort in the aftermath of the cyclone continues. (IARU R-3, other published news sources) ** RESCUE RADIO: HAMS RESPOND AS AN EARTHQUAKE HITS THE PHILIPPINES The Philippine Amateur Radio Association has activated its Ham Emergency Radio Operators group. This, following a Magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit the province of Bohol at 8:12 a.m. local time on Monday, October 14th. At airtime the death toll stands near 110 and could rise. Dozens of people are reported as missing, and authorities were checking into reports of people trapped in collapsed buildings in both Cebu and Bohol. Roberto Vicencio is DU1VHY in Mandaluyong City. He has passed along word that all radio amateurs are being asked to keep 7 dot 095 MHz on 40 meters clear until further notice. This frequency is being used for both damage assessment and other ongoing relief work. Meantime, a state of calamity was declared in both the Bohol and Cebu areas. This prompted the closure of schools and other structures until officials can determine the safety of buildings and bridges. The initial jolt was followed by two aftershocks, each measuring more than 5.0 in magnitude. (PARA, VK3PC, Pacific News) ** RESCUE RADIO: HISTORIC VK LIGHTHOUSE SAVED FROM FIRE A bushfire on the Australian coast recently threatened the historic Barrenjoey Lighthouse at Palm Beach, on the northern most point of Sydney. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service reports the building sustained some roof damage but is mostly fine after fire swept through the area. This is good news, particularly to the Manly Warringah (PRON: WOR- RING-A) Radio Society which has activated this lighthouse as VK2MB in the 2013 International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. (VK3PC) ** INTRUDER WATCH: RUSSIAN MILITARY BACK ON 21 MHZ The IARU Monitoring Service newsletter reports on a possible Russian military station that has been using the amateur radio 21 MHz band. It says that encrypted voice traffic has been operating on 21000.0 kHz on USB. Also that the in-band synchronizing signal was always audible and quite strong. The transmitter sending out these transmissions is believed to be located in or near Nizhny Tagil in Russia but its purpose is unknown. The newsletter also reports that the Russian military have also been using other frequencies in our 7, 14 and 21 MHz bands and have been operating an Over The Horizon radar between 3500 and 3800 kHz. (IARUMS, IARU- R-1) ** RESTRUCTURING: SWEDISH HAMS GET ACCESS TO THE 472 KHZ BAND Some good news for radio amateurs and other spectrum users in Sweden. Hams get a new band and commercial entities are given limited use of unlicensed devices. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, reports: -- As of October 1st Swedish Telecom is permitting that nations radio amateurs access to the 472 to 479 kHz band. Like in some locations the maximum radiated power is one watt as opposed to the five watts permitted by some nations. The Swedish Telecom paper also reports that also on the same date that new rules concerning exemptions from the requirement for radio transmitters to have an operating license came into effect. Most transmitters in Sweden still require a license but for the sake of simplicity, the telecommunications regulator may allow exceptions in cases where this is little risk of interference. One new exclusion applies to vehicle communication transmissions in the 63 to 64 GHz band. Other exemptions are associated to Radio Frequency Identification use in the 2446 to 2454 MHz range for sales and inventory control. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- All in all it appears to be a win-win decision for everyone. (Southgate) ** RESTRUCTURING: UK ISSUES RULE MAKING TO LEGALIZE AM AND SSB ON CB Twenty-eight months after the European Commission published a decision aimed harmonizing CB radio across the European Union, United Kingdom telecommunications regulator Ofcom has announced a consultation on legalizing 27 MHz double sideband A.M. and Single Sideband transmissions. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, is in Nottingham, in the UK with more: -- Ofcom has published proposals to amend current arrangements for Citizens' Band radio in the UK, to allow the use of a wider range of transmission standards. Ofcom is proposing to allow amplitude modulation, double-and single sideband transmissions on CB radio, which will bring the UK in line with other European countries. The consultation will close on 8 November. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, in Nottingham in the UK. -- 11 meter CB radio was first introduced into the United Kingdom around 1972 as an F.M only service. In the late 1970's James Bryant, G4CLF, who was then the President of the UK Citizens Band Association, campaigned for the legalization of AM and SSB operation for use in that service. Now some 36 years later it looks as though it may finally be achieved. (RSGB) ** WORLDBEAT: IARU ANNOUNCES THEME FOR WORLD AMATEUR DAY 2014 The IARU has chosen its theme for World Amateur Radio Day, 2014. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA news is here with the details: -- Each year on 18 April is World Amateur Radio Day, which celebrates the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union in 1925. The theme "Amateur Radio: Your Gateway to Wireless Communications" has been chosen for the day in 2014. In 100 years it has evolved from crude spark-gap technology to digital signal processing and software-defined radios. The IARU understands that the date is close to Easter. It encourages activity earlier or later to gain as much exposure and publicity as possible for modern and easily accessed amateur radio. Only six months to go. Will you be involved? For the AmateurRadio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA News in Australia. -- Most if not all of the worlds national ham radio societies will be taking part in World Amateur Radio Day 2014. Check with yours to find out its celebration plans. (IARU, WIA NEWS) ** BREAK 1 Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N7KSO repeater system serving northwest Arizona. (5 sec pause here) ** BREAKING NEWS: CONGRESSIONAL IMPASSE SETTLED - FCC REOPENS I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP with breaking news. The House and Senate votes on Wednesday, night October 16th to at least temporarily restore all government operations until January 15th and permit the US Treasury to extend its debt ceiling limit through February 7th have passed and been signed into law by the president. This means that the FCC and other government agencies should now be getting back to work, but that does not mean things will be back as they were before the partial government shutdown began. Even though the FCC is technically back in operation, you have to remember that matters concerning services such as CB radio, the Mult-Use or MURS Radio Service, GMRS and even Amateur Radio are going to take a back seat to more important subjects. This includes but is not limited to broadband expansion and broadcast related issues. While the good news is that the stalemate is over for now, it could take a bit more time before the FCC takes any matter under advisement that is important to ham radio such as several requests for rule making from the ARRL. And as you will hear in a few moments, the FCC could even face a paperwork deluge of monumental proportions in the coming days. So for now the two key words are "be patient." (ARNewslineT) ** RADIO LAW: MASSIVE BACKLOG COULD HIT FCC WHEN IT REOPENS Don't expect miracles in the handling of any matter by the FCC when the government shutdown ends. That's the prediction of attorney Mitchell Lazarus from the law firm of Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth. According to Lazarus, everything that would have come due during the shutdown instead will all be due on the same day. Not the day the FCC reopens, but the day after that. And as to filings due on the day of reopening? They likely will also be put off till that same - the next day. As such, Attorney Lazarus believes that this creates the possibility of a massive accumulation of filings, including the last-minute crunch when the electronic databases becomes accessible and updated again. The commission said right before the shutdown if its systems become overwhelmed upon reopening, it will issue further guidance. Presumably that includes extending filing deadlines, but until that happens nobody can be sure. The bottom line says Lazarus: "The longer this goes on, the worse the chaos will be when it ends." (RW, commlawblog.com) ** ENFORCEMENT FOLLOW-UP: ALLEGED INDIANA POLICE IMPOSTER CHARGED A follow-up to our recent story about an Indianapolis area ham who was arrested after authorities say he impersonated a cop during the funeral of an Indianapolis police officer killed in the line of duty. Court documents say that 38 year old Minh van Nguyen, now faces three felony charges including two counts of impersonation of a public servant and theft. Nguyn holds the call sign KB9WDY. As reported, on the day of the funeral of officer Rod Bradway, KC9PFW, police say that Nguyen showed up in police uniform with police patches and a badge. Later, when investigators searched Nguyen home, they recovered among other items, including a 37- millimeter grenade launcher, a number of assault rifles, shotguns, handguns and several thousand rounds of ammunition. Officials said he also had body armor, several uniforms belonging to area police agencies and numerous badges. This included one that belonged to Indiana State Police. If tried and convicted, Nguyen faces up to three years in prison. And if convictions were to be reported to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau the regulatory agency could call for a show cause hearing as to whether Nguyen should be permitted to retain his Amateur Service license. But as time has shown, such an action by the FCC is likely down the road at least several years. (Published news reports) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC WARNS STATIONS ABOUT UNLICENSED OPERATION Some unlicensed operators have caught the eye of FCC Enforcement counsel Laura Smith. On July 8, Smith warned James E. Richburg against unlicensed radio operation in the Amateur Radio bands. According to Smith it had come to the FCC's attention that at multiple times in the last several months Richburg had made radio transmissions in the amateur bands for which a license is required and that Richburg did not possess such a permit. Then in August Smith sent notices to Charles W. Johnson and Mark W. Althaus, warning them of unlicensed operation on 26.735 MHz. In this letter Smith underscored that transmitting outside of authorized frequencies violates Section 301 of the Communications Act. As such, this could lead to the imposition of substantial fines and seizure of radio equipment as well as possible criminal action up to and including imprisonment. In all three cases Smith directed that unauthorized operation of their radio station must cease immediately. She also gave Richburg, Johnson and Althaus 10 days from the date each received her letters to respond to their respective warning notices. Each was instructed to state what specific actions had been taken to comply with the FCC's rules. (FCC, ARRL) ** RADIO BUSINESS: SMALL WONDER LABS TO GO QRT QRP kit supplier Small Wonder Labs is closing its doors permanently. According to owner Dave Benson, K1SWL, he is going into retirement and has discontinued sales of the popular RockMite. Benson says that he will ship out the last several dozen orders shortly and that he will continue to support requests for missing or replacement RockMite parts from existing customers, but only over the short term. He also hopes to keep the Small Wonder Labs website active for a year, and it will maintain documentation for his earlier products However QRP enthusiasts should not despair. According to the rumor mill at least one other QRP kit supplier is interested in taking over supplying the RockMite and there could be an announcement at any time now. For more on Dave Benson's future plans please visit smallwonderlabs.com on the world-wide-web. (smallwonderlabs.com, others) ** WORLDBEAT: POLAND NATIONAL PUBLIC BROADCASTER ADOPTS DAB+ National public broadcaster Polish Radio has begun transmitting in the DAB+ digital audio transmission system. The Director and Editor-in-Chief of Polish Radio 4 said that adopting the digital standard enables the it to increase its coverage area, improve sound quality and disseminate programming nationwide. (RW) ** WORLDBEAT: WW2 GERMAN ENIGMA MACHINE TO BE AUCTIONED A rare German Enigma encoding machine used by the Nazis to send secret messages during the Second World War will go on sale in the United Kingdom later this month. The machine, built in 1944, was part of the German intelligence operation thwarted by British counter-intelligence working out of Bletchley Park. Engima machines were used through the war by the German military, but this was a later model which sent out even more heavily encrypted signals than earlier versions. A specialist from London auctioneers Bonhams said the untouched and unrestored device is especially valuable because it still has many of its original parts, and was not modified after the war. The unit comes with an original ebonite plugboard, which when added to the Engima would swap pairs of letters. For example, pressing the F key would send a letter B to be scrambled at the Enigma's rotors. This of coarse would require a matching device at the other end to make sense of the message. If you want to own this prize World War 2 relic be prepared to shell out at least $80,000. More is on the web at tinyurl.com/enigma-for-sale. (Daily Mail) ** WORLDBEAT: APPLE VS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS ON PROPRIETY CONNECTORS Apple may be forced to abandon its proprietary 30-pin dock charger, at least on the other side of the Atlantic, if European politicians get their way. This after members of the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee voted unanimously for a new law mandating a universal mobile phone charger. The Member of the European Parliaments want all radio equipment devices and their accessories, such as chargers, to be interoperable to cut down on electronic waste. Germany's Member of the European Parliaments Barbara Weiler said she wanted to see an end to what she terms as cable chaos. This is not the first attempt to set a standard for universal phone chargers. In 2009 the European Commission, the International Telecommunications Union and leading mobile phone manufacturers drew up a voluntary agreement based on the micro USB connector. However Apple, which sold nine million units of the iPhone 5s and 5c's in just three days has not adhered to the agreement despite signing up with it. (euexaminer.com, networkworld.com) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: HAM RADIO SUPPORTS BETHANY BEACH TRIATHLON The Bethany Beach Delaware First Responders Triathlon featured ham radio as one of its key components. This as the Sussex County Amateur Radio Emergency Service provided communications support to the event. Twenty amateur radio operators supported the triathlon. They were located at strategic points throughout the course of the bike and run events. The hams radio volunteers reported through a net control at the Bethany Beach Fire Station. Status on the progress of the participants as well as any emergency or medical needs were routed to the appropriate authorities using ham radio. The event which was held back on September 22nd included a 6 tenths of a mile swim, an 1 mile bike and a 4.3 mile run. More than 800 participants took part. Planners say that it was a very successful effort for the first responders as well as the Amateur Radio Emergency Service communications team. The complete story is on the web at tinyurl.com/bethany-triathlon-hams. (CapeGazette.com, eHam.net) ** BREAK 2 This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. 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) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMSAT CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMATEUR RADIO INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT A special highlight of this year's AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be the celebration of the 30th anniversary of amateur radio involvement in human space flight. This as it evolved into a successful program on board the International Space Station that we all know as ARISS. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with more: -- The AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting takes place November 1st to the 3rd in Houston Texas. And in recognition of the 30th anniversary of manned ham radio in space, a specially invited panel featuring former Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, and other key individuals who initiated this amazing program will take place on Saturday evening, November 2nd as a part of the symposium's grand banquet. The event will be moderated by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who is AMSAT Vice President of Human Space Flight. The presentation includes not only remarks by Garriott and others, but also video highlights of amateur radio participation in the first ever manned ham radio operation from space as well as several other shuttle flights. Owen Garriott, W5LFL flew on shuttle flight STS-9 in November 1983. He was the first astronaut to utilize amateur radio to communicate with those on the ground. This in turn permitted the general public to speak with a United States astronaut from space, doing so outside of NASA communication channels. Garriott's operation from the space shuttle Columbia was commemorated in the video "Amateur Radios Newest Frontier" produced and hosted by the late NBC newsman Roy Neal, K6DUE. According to AMSAT, holding this celebration in Houston makes it all the more special. This is because it will permit non-AMSAT personnel and others involved with placing amateur radio on the space shuttles and later onto the International Space Station a chance to participate in the celebration. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, looking skyward and remembering where I was when STS-9 flew overhead here in the City of Angels. -- The 31st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting takes place at the Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport. Details about the symposium and this celebration are on the web at www.amsat.org. (AMSAT - NA) ** ON THE AIR: SPECIAL EVENT STATION II8IDXC CELEBRATES ITALYS IDXC 2015 On the air, listen out for special event station II8IDXC to be active between November 2013 and May 2015. This operation is to help publicize the 10th anniversary of Italy's "International DX Convention" that will be held in the city of Paestum in April of 2015. Operations will be on the High Frequency bands plus 6 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. The events QSL manager is IZ8EDJ. More information is on the web at www.dxitalia.it (Southgate) ** ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY Members of Turkey's Special Wireless Activity Team have been active with the special event TC suffix callsigns for some years now to celebrate the anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. This year the celebration runs through October 31st and the group will be operational as TC90TC through then. More details will be available on QRZ.com in the coming days. (Southgate) ** DX In DX, K4ZIN and N4WDT will be on the air from Sierra Leone from October 15th to the 22nd using the callsign 9L1JT. No operating times or modes were stated. QSL via K4ZIN. SM1TDE is currently on the air from Uganda as 5X8A on High Frequency bands. No specific modes or operating times mentioned. QSL via his home call. Five operators from Japan will be active from Grenada Island operating as J34J from November 20th to the 29th. Their operation will include the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. If you make contact please QSL via JA1HGY W9NJY will be active from Curacao from November 19th to the 25th signing stroke PJ2. He will be operational on 160 through 10 meters on CW only. QSL via WD9DZV either direct or electronically using Logbook of the World. JA1FUF and JF1CCH will be on the air from Kiribati from November 28th to December 4th as T30NK and T30TS. Listen out for them on 40 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL each operator via his home call. Lastly, M1AYI will be active from Falkland Islands October 20 through November 19th as VP8DNY. He plans to be operational an all of the High Frequency bands on SSB only. QSL via his home call. ** THAT FINAL ITEM: CELEBRATING THE FIRST ZL DX ACCOMPLISHMENTS And finally this week, October marked the beginning of a celebration in New Zealand of the earliest days of DX. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details" -- After World War 1 and with the relocation of radio amateurs to the supposedly useless shorter wavelength bands an amazing period of radio exploration took place. Ham radio operators all over the world soon realized that far from being useless these wavelengths allowed communication over long distances than previously thought. Amateurs in New Zealand were among those at the forefront of this activity with the first Zed-L to Australia QSO in April 1923. This was followed by what were then world record distance QSO's between New Zealand and Argentina in May 1924, New Zealand and California in September 1924, and Connecticut on the US east coast just weeks later. And then the ultimate early Zed-L DX contact of Frank Bell, Z4AA and his QSO with Cecil Goyder, G2SZ, in London, England on October 18 1924. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the record breaking activities of these early pioneers of Amateur Radio, ZM90DX will be on the air between October of this year through October 31st of 2014 on all bands 1.8 MHz to 1.2 GHz and beyond using all modes. Activated by the Kiwi DX Group which is an informal group of DX'ers and contest enthusiasts, ZM90DX will be used by stations around New Zealand and a special commemorative QSL card will be available as well as an award program for contacts with this nation during this period. Not only will ZM90DX be active at expected times and on expected bands, but in the spirit of those early pioneers the operators will also be calling CQ on bands and in directions one may not necessarily expect. This, with the intention of exploring the boundaries of radio propagation. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, down-under in Nelson, New Zealand. -- This will be an unparalleled opportunity for Amateurs all over the world to work Zed-L while celebrating the exploits of those early trail blazers whose work paved the way for radio communications as we know it today. Further details can be found on zm90dx.com and gb2nz.com. (NZART) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the NZART, 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 Jin Davis, W2JKD, in Vero Beach, Florida, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
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