Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1889 with a release date of October 25 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hams in Australia respond to massive wildfires; Amateur radio operators in India are set to assist in tracking Comet ISON; the Babnaba Island T33A DXpedition targets November 5th as its start-up date; the FCC says no to expanding Technician class phone operations on 10 meters and UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom takes a new look at pirate radio. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1889 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESCUE RADIO: AUSTRALIA WICIN RESPONDS TO NEW SOUTH WALES BRUSHFIRES Hams who are members of Australia's WICEN have been activated as fires rage in an area called the Blue Mountains threaten to expand. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, reports: -- According to Jim Linton, VK3PC, who is the IARU Chairman Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee, already some 200 homes have been lost as wildfires rage in the Blue Mountains of the Australian state of New South Wales not far from the city of Sydney. News reports attribute one death to the wildfires. A State of Emergency has been declared for the area and fire fighters worry that up to four separate blazes could potentially combine to form a single massive fire front. Compton Allen, VK2HRX, is the president of WICEN in New South Wales. He says that an official activation has begun, drawing on the resources of the emergency communications group. Currently the mobilization is to support the declared State of Emergency with manpower in the Lithgow area to the west of Sydney. About 1,200 firefighters were battling blazes across the state. New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said personnel had volunteered to help from all across Australia, and as far away as here in New Zealand. The ground effort is being backed with more than eighty aircraft which were dropping water and fire retardant on the flames. VK3PC says that evacuations of tens of thousands of people are possible if hotter weather conditions combine with fire fronts already burning. This is a scenario that is literally changing minute by minute and we will have more on it in future newscasts. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, across the Tasman Sea in Nelson, New Zealand. -- WICEN in Australia is comparable to a combined RACES and ARES here in the United States. (VK3PC, News 10, euronews.com) ** RESCUE RADIO: PHILIPPINE EARTHQUAKE FOLLOW-UP A follow-up to last weeks report on a devastating earthquake that hit the Bohol region of the Phillipines. According to Roberto Vicencio, DU1VHY reporting via QRZ.com, due to the shaker both the communication and electrical power infrastructures in the disaster area were initially crippled. He notes that to date over 140 fatalities have been recorded on the island of Bohol and about 10 on the island of Cebu adding that numerous buildings were damaged due the severity of the shaker. DU1HVY notes that as of his latest posted report that hams were still passing information to and from the island and to the National Capital Region. Communications was taking place on 7.095 MHz on the 40 meters plus VHF, Echolink and using the social media. John Hays is DW5HT on the island of Leyte. Hays, who is also WB0HZL notes that in the Philippines there are approximately 5000 licensed hams in a country with a population of about 103 million. He notes that the land mass is about the size of Oregon but the country is long, thin and made up of numerous islands. As such, the Philippines do not have the extensive repeater systems so commonly found here in the United States. There, the National Emergency High Frequency calling channel is 7.095 MHz and Hays says that this works very well for communication throughout the country on a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week basis. (DU1VHY, WB0HZL/DW5HT via QRX.com) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: INDIA'S HAM RADIO OPERATORS SET TO HELP IN TRACKING COMET ISON Astrophysicists in India are joining with amateur radio operators to track and read data comet ISON which is scheduled to pass nearest to Earth on November 28th. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, has the details: -- With the assistance a ham radio operators, scientists at India's Institute of Astrophysics will send a neon gas filled balloon about 130,000 feet in into the stratosphere in late November to gather data on comet ISON. Ram Mohan Suri, VU2MYH, is the director of India's National Institute of Amateur Radio. He says that the Institute of Astrophysics has joined forces with Dhruva Space and his organization for the project. Suri says that this type of joint mission has never been attempted before but that trial runs have proven to be quite successful. He notes that an amateur station has been set up at the Institute of Astrophysics. He says that it and two mobile units will track the balloon and monitor its instruments as they record data from comet. Specifically the instrument package will take detailed readings of ISON's mass, composition, inert gases and other aspects of its nucleus and tail. Once the balloon bursts and the instruments parachute back to Earth it will be a team of amateur radio operators that will track and retrieve it from anywhere in India or abroad, presumably using APRS. The location of the payload and balloon will be posted online in real time, so that amateur radio operators throughout the world can follow the mission. This says Suri will be helpful if the balloon falls back to Earth out of the geographical border of India. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- Comet ISON is classified as a sungrazing comet discovered in September of 2012, by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. Studies presented at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting suggest that ISON's nucleus measures somewhere between 1 to 2 � miles across and it has a distinct green glow at its tail. (Hindu Times) ** RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS NO TO EXPANDING TECH PRIVILEGES ON 10 METERS The FCC has dismissed a Petition for Rule Making from the Toledo Mobile Radio Association that sought to expand Technician class operating privileges on 10 meters. This to permit holders of Technician class tickets access to the FM portion of the band from 29.52 to 29.7 MHz Under current rules, Novice and Technician licensees may operate from 28.0 to 28.5 MHz but are limited to CW, RTTY and other data modes from 28.0 to 28.3 Mhz. They also have limited SSB phone privileges from 28.3 to 28.5 MHz. Last June the Toledo Mobile Radio Association had asked the Commission to expand the spectrum available to Technician licensees on 10 meters to include operating privileges in the FM portion of the band. It asserted that that amending the rules would bring Technician voice privileges on 10 meters in line with technical advancement that had taken place since those rules were put in place. But in its October 17th decision denying the rules change request the FCC said that the Toledo Mobile Radio Association had not presented any new evidence to warrant the Commission revisiting the question of Technician class licensees operating privileges. The regulatory agency went on to note that Technicians can already transmit through repeaters licensed to a General class or higher licensee that have an output channel in the 29.52 to 29.7 MHz segment. The caveat is that the input of the repeater must have an input on 2 meters or above and be under the control of a higher class licensee. In other words, a cross-band linked system or remote-base rather than a conventional 10 meter in-band repeater. Also that contrary to Toledo Mobile Radio Association assertion, the FCC says that its rules do not prevent Technician Class licensees from taking advantage of such technological developments as IRLP or Echolink. Nor does it prevent them from exchanging voice communications with other stations in the 29.52 to 29.7 MHz segment of the 10 meter band but again as long as the Technician operator is using spectrum allowed to that license class. You can read the entire FCC decision in this matter on the web at tinyurl.com/no-new-tech-frequencies. (FCC) ** BREAKING DX NEWS: T33A BANABA ISLAND HOPES TO BE ACTIVE NOVEMBER 5 - 18 Some breaking news from the world of DX. The T33A DXpedition to Banaba Island is fast approaching and is expected to be active from November 5th to the 18th. It was reported on the T33A Blog Page on October 17th by co team leader Jay Kobelin, W2IJ, that the container carrying the gear for the operation has departed Suva, Fiji and was now on its way by sea to Tarawa. Also that the operations advance team will arrive in Tarawa on October 31st to attend to picking up provisions as well as to get the container unsealed and cleared through customs. They will then make certain that it is loaded onto their vessel in preparation for a November 3rd departure to Banaba Island. It was also mentioned that the T33A operations main sponsor is Elecraft, which is supplying six K 3 Transceivers and five KPA-500 Amplifiers. Also that the T33A team will be using the DXA interface for their operation. DXA is an innovative Web site that allows DX'ers to view the status and activities of a DXpedition in near-real-time. For more details about this DXpedition please visit www.t33a.com. We will have more DX related news later on in this weeks report. (OPDX) ** BREAK 1 Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Las Vegas Amateur Radio Club repeater serving Las Vegas Nevada. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO LAW: FCC EXTENDS FILING DATES ON VARIOUS ITEMS The FCC has set new deadlines for filings with the agency on various issues. This after the agency re-opened for business in mid-October following the partial 16 day government shutdown. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the details: -- As reported in the trade publication Radio World, in general, filings that would have been due between October 1st and 6th became due on Tuesday, October 22nd. That date is now past. Filings that would have been due October 7th to the 16th are now due 16 calendar days after the original filing date. Again, some of those day's have now passed. Also, if the new date falls on a weekend or holiday, those filings are due at the FCC on the following business day. Regarding public comments that were due on various issues during the shutdown, of interest to our listeners are the proposed RF exposure changes. Reply comments are now due November 18 for "Reassessment of Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Limits and Policies." For that you file to ET Dockets 03-137 and 13-84. Three other issues of interest to the hobby radio community. Regulatory and enforcement filings that would have been due on October 17th are now due on November 4th. Special Temporary Authorities that expired between October 1st to the 22nd have been extended to November 4th and low-power FM station applications are now due November 14th. As to the processing of new and renewal Amateur Service license applications, the only information made public so far comes from the ARRL V-E-C. It said that it had approximately 250 sessions and over 1500 forms in the queue as the FCC reopened on October 17th. By the end of the day, the League's V-E-C staff had dispatched its entire backlog to the Commission for processing. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- So it looks as if things are getting back to normal at the FCC, albeit a bit slower than some might have envisioned. (RW, ARRL) ** RADIO POLITICS: CONFIRMATION OF NEW FCC CHAIRMAN HELD UP IN SENATE Republican Senator Ted Cruz, the conservative who helped prompt the recent government shutdown, has blocked the Senate from voting on the nomination of Tom Wheeler to be Federal Communications Commission chairman. The Senate was scheduled to vote on Wheeler, a Democrat and telecom industry veteran, late on Wednesday. October 16th. Cruz held up the vote over questions about the FCC's power to enforce disclosures of who sponsors political television advertising. The Senate also has yet to vote on the nomination of Republican Michael O'Rielly to fill the fifth and final open FCC commissioner position. O'Rielly has spent nearly two decades as a staffer in Congress, most recently serving as a top aide to Senator John Cornyn of Texas. (Published news reports) ** RADIO LAW: ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION CHALLENGES PERSONAL AUDIO LLC The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office challenging the claims of Personal Audio LLC. This is the company claiming to hold key patents for podcasting technology. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, reports: -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a press release that its petition filed in this matter shows that Personal Audio did not invent anything new, and, in fact, other people were podcasting years before Personal Audio first applied for a patent. The Foundation notes that in preparation for its filing, that it solicited help from the public to find prior art, or earlier examples of podcasting and cites three examples of what it discovered. These are Internet Pioneer Carl Malamud's `Geek of the Week' online radio show along with online broadcasts by CNN and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. From the release, Electronic Frontier Foundation Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer said that as shown in our petition, Personal Audio is not the true inventor of this technology and should not be demanding a payout from today's podcasters. The petition goes on to note that because Personal Audio's business model is entirely based on leveraging its patents and it does not do any podcasting itself, the company fits the definition of a non-practicing entity. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stepen Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth, Ohio. -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to keeping modern media technologies minimally regulated and hindered. (EFF, RW) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: WASHINGTON HAMS HONORED FOR COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS An all-volunteer amateur radio organization has been recognized by King County, Washington for its commitment to emergency preparedness and response The Renton Emergency Communication Service was chosen for this accolade based on a record of service that stretches back long before their formal incorporation by two groups of amateur radio operators in 2008. Over time the volunteers have evolved to become a key asset to Renton's Fire and Emergency Services Department, especially during disasters. Each of the group's members is trained to staff the Renton Emergency Operations Center and carry out communication responsibilities. During the snow and ice storm of January 2012, they performed critical functions, including call- taking, managing radio and social media, and providing real- time weather and road information gathered from around the City of Renton. When power was lost to hundreds of homes, Renton Emergency Communication Service members were deployed to Renton's network of Neighborhood Information Centers, where they posted information on shelter and food distribution locations delivered to them by radio. Mark Peterson is the Fire Chief of Renton. He says that the dedication and commitment shown by the Renton Emergency Communication Service volunteers is making a real difference in his departments ability to better serve the community. Peterson added that the hams provide timely and critical communications and information before it is needed. More on this story is on the web at tinyurl.com/renton-hams-honored. (Kings County Executive News) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: AMERICAN LEGION TAKES TO AIRWAVES IN SALUTE TO VETERANS Indianapolis Legionnaires will honor their fellow veterans in a special on-the-air tribute on Veterans Day, November 11th. That when members of The American Legion Amateur Radio Club will operate using the special event call sign W9L on 20 meters, 2-meter simplex, a Central Indiana repeater and connect world wide via IRLP beginning at 9:00 a.m. through 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Frequencies in use will include to 14.275 MHz upper sideband on 20 meters, 146.46 MHz on 2 meter simplex, the 145.17 MHz repeater in Hamilton County and IRLP Node 4816. Those who make contact with W9L will be eligible to receive an attractive full color commemorative certificate. More about this event including QSL routing is on the web at website www.legion.org/hamradio (K9JM) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: HAMS IN BAHRAIN CELEBRATE ARAB CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIP Ham radio operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain are on the air in celebration of the 2013 Arab Cycling Championship being held in that nation through October 31st. A Special Event Station using the call A91ACC will be active on all of the High Frequency bands during the event. All confirmed QSO's will receive an award signed by the president of Bahrain Cycling Association. QSL's go via IZ8CLM. Planners say that participation by ham radio operators in this event shows the increasing interest in Amateur Radio in the Kingdom of Bahrain and encouragement from its officials. (A91ACC) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: ERIN KING AK4JG NAMED ONE OF THE WORLDS 50 SMARTEST TEENS And congratulations to 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year award winner Erin King, AK4JG, who has been named one of the 50 smartest teens in the world by TheBestSchools.com. King was selected for this honor based on her early acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her then hacking of her acceptance letter tube. This she converted into a spacecraft payload that she flew to over 90,000 feet. Once recovered using A-P-R-S tracking Erin took the video captured by the onboard Go Pro camera and produced a stunning documentary of the creation of the payload and the actual flight itself. This past summer recess she spent with Google working on their Project Loon. This is a communications experiment that looks to use a global network of high-altitude balloons to connect people in rural and remote areas of the world who currently have no Internet. TheBestSchools.org bills itself as a leading resource for campus and online education. You can read Erin's story and that of the forty-nine others selected for this distinction at tinyurl.com/fifty-smartest-teens. (TheBestSchools.com) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: RAC ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIPS AND COMMUNITY GRANT Radio Amateurs of Canada has announced the granting of three academic scholarships and one community grant. The individual recipients are Paulyn Mulles, VE3PJM who is attending Carlton University, Jason Deglint, VE7TJD who is a student at University of Victoria, and Liam Bindle, VE5LRB who is attending the University of Saskatchewan. Each of these young Amateurs will receive a $500 academic scholarship to assist their further studies in Electrical Engineering. Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg will also received a $500 community grant to assist them to become the only permanent Amateur Radio ARISS Telebridge Station in Canada. This, under the guidance of Mr. Robert Striemer, VE4SHS. (VE3XT) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: NEW FREE E-BOOK ON IMAGE COMMUNICATIONS And word that Martin Bruchanov, OK2MNM, has written a Free e- book for hams and SWL's interested in special communication modes for image transmission and reception. This includes such modes as SSTV, Digital SSTV and radio facsimile to name only a few. You can download the entire book or view on line at www.sstv-handbook.com (Southgate) ** 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) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: INTEL NEW BROADWELL CHIPSET DELAYED TO EARLY 2014 Intel, the world's biggest computer chip maker, has said the production of its next-generation PC chip, Broadwell, will be delayed by a about three months past its scheduled release date. This due to a technical glitch according to Chief executive Brian Krzanich. The Broadwell chips are expected to succeed the firm's Haswell line of processors, and are touted to be more power- efficient and faster. Intel is the leading PC chip-maker and its updated products typically spur on new laptop and desktop sales. It will now begin production on Broadwell chips in the first quarter of 2014 rather than later this year. (Intel, c-net, Techradar) ** WORLDBEAT: UK REGULATOR OFCOM VS. PIRATE RADIO United Kingdom communications regulator Ofcom has published some new information about putting an end to pirate radio operations. Basically it appears as if they want to license these stations. Currently in London alone there are over two dozen pirate stations operating in the 88 to108 MHz FM broadcast band. Many operate 24 hours a day, 7days a week so are not exactly difficult for Ofcom to locate if they wished to do so. But on its In the Pirate Radio web page Ofcom points out that they have issued Community Radio licenses to former pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM and Kane FM. The inference that may be taken is Ofcom would like more pirate radio stations to apply for community radio licenses. Although Ofcom has occasionally raided pirate stations operating in the FM broadcast band, such enforcement actions have been few and far between. And following the 2008 through 2009 fiscal year, Ofcom stopped publishing its Prosecution Formal Warning Statistics and subsequently removed all prosecution statistics from their website. Some speculate the reason the statistics no longer appeared was because Ofcom had stopped undertaking enforcement action. Heres what Ofcom has to say about the situation in its own words at tinyurl.com/uk-pirate-unenforced. (Southgate, BDXC) ** RADIO FROM SPACE: THE FERRARI OF SPACE TO SOON DE-ORBIT A European Space Agency a scientific research satellite dubbed the "Ferrari of Space" based on its sleek, finned looks will shortly run out of fuel and fall to Earth after a successful mission. Launched in 2009, the Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer orbits at an extremely low altitude of just 160 miles where there are still some molecules of atmosphere. The satellite's main payload is the Electrostatic Gravity Gradiometers to measure the gravity field of Earth. These are arranged in three pairs of ultra-sensitive accelerometers arranged in three dimensions that respond to tiny variations in the 'gravitational tug' of the Earth as it travels along its orbital path. Other payloads include an onboard GPS receiver used as a Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instrument; a compensation system for all non-gravitational forces acting on the spacecraft. The satellite is also equipped with a laser retro-reflector. This to enable tracking by ground- based lasers. To reduce drag, the Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer has an arrow-like octagonal shape and two fins to provide extra aerodynamic stability. This is a radical departure from the box like form of many satellites that operate in the complete vacuum of space. Keeping it aloft is an ion engine that began with about 90 pounds of fuel but was now down to about 4.4 pounds at the end of September. While no exact date could be given controllers say that fuel will be exhausted by the beginning of November at which time most of the 17 foot long spacecraft will break up and burn when it tumbles into a denser portion of the Earth's atmosphere. (Space OnLine, ESA) ** RADIOSPORTS: RADAR CONTEST COMING NOVEMBER 2 Turning to radiosports, the 2013 RaDAR-America Contest is coming November 2nd starting at 14:00 UTC and ending at 18:00 UTC. RaDAR stands for Rapidly Deployable Amateur Radio and the event is aimed at promoting this type of operation throughout North and South America. This competition is open to all licensed radio amateurs. A choice is made prior to the contest to participate in one of the defined categories. The points system is so structured as to encourage portable operation, especially moveable stations. In fact, the rules are very close to those created by the founder of the contest Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE and the ZS RaDAR competition will take place at the same time in South Africa as it will here in the Americas. Marcus Kessler, NX5MK, is the RaDAR-America Contest manager. The complete rules can be found at tinyurl.com/radar-america- contest. You can see a promotional video on the Amateur Radio Today page at www.sarl.org.za. (Southgate, SARL, others) ** ON THE AIR: 4U0WFP AT WORLD FOOD PROGRAM IN ROME On the air, the Ohio-Penn DX newsletter reports that 4U0WFP is an amateur radio station located at the United Nations World Food Program headquarters in Rome, Italy. Currently the operators are S53R and S53T who were recently heard on 21 dot 023 MHz at around 13:25 UTC. Give them a call and learn about what World Food Program does to fight the hunger worldwide. More about the group is at www.wfp.org. QSL via the information for 4U0WFP found on QRZ.com. (OPDX) ** ON THE AIR: ROYAL AIR FORCE PERMANENT SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force station G3ELV and the Royal Air Force Signals Museum station GB4SMH, will be operational under a permanent Special Event permit effective November 1st. Normal operating times for both locations will be 10:00 to 16:00 local time on each Tuesday and on the first Saturday of each month. If you make contact, please QSL only via the bureau. (Via e-mail) ** DX In DX, the ARRL DXCC desk has announced that the 2013 T6JR operation from Afghanistan has been approved for DXCC credit. Cards are now being accepted for that one. RK4FF will be on the air as 6V7S from Senegal through November 27th. Activity is on 80 through 10 meters excluding the WARC bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. His log is available on ClubLog. QSL via RK4FF. DF1YP is now active stroke FO from Moorea Island French Polynesia. He reportedly will be there until November 6th. His operation has been mainly on 20 meters using SSB. QSL via his home callsign. G4IRN will be active as D44TWQ from Cape Verde between November 5th to the 12th. His operation will be holiday style on the 30, 17 and 12 meters and on CW only. QSL via his home callsign either direct or via the bureau. N7OU will be operational from the South Cook Islands until 9th of November. He has reactivated his E51NOU callsign on all bands from 10 to 160 meters operating CW only. QSLs go via his home call. DL7AFS and J7ZG will be active as D44TXT from Ilha de Sao Tiago, until November 7th. They will be on the 80 through 10 meters using SSB, RTTY, PSK31 and PSK63. QSL via DL7AFS, either direct or via the bureau. N0HJZ is active as C6ARW from Grand Bahama, through October 29th using on 30, 17 and 12 meters as well on CW and RTTY on other bands. QSL via N0HJZ, either direct or via bureau. Lastly, a real Christmas present of sorts. This as DH3WO announces that he will be operational from Lesotho as 7P8WO from December 22nd to the 24th. He plans to be active on all of the High Frequency bands though no operating times or frequencies have yet been announced. QSL's go via home call. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: NASA DEEP IMPACT SPACECRAFT - SK And finally this week, after nearly nine years in space, 4.7 billion miles traveled and an untold number of radio transmissions of data, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has met an unexpected end. This, after mission controllers say that they lost contact with the spacecraft. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron, N8TMW, reports: -- Though Deep Impact was unable to complete its latest assignment, the comet-hunting spacecraft led a far longer life than expected with several career changes after its first encounter with comet Tempel 1. Launched in 2005, the spacecraft first traveled about 268 million miles to the comet Tempel 1, where it shot a probe into the comet's path. The resulting collision blasted material out from beneath the comet's surface, which researchers were then able to study, giving them an unprecedented look into a comet's inner workings. The mission also provided researchers with an up-close and personal look at these icy tailed comets which are in effect time capsules of the young solar system's chemical makeup. Having wrapped up its planned mission in six months, NASA then put the spacecraft to work on a new mission with a brand new acronym called EPOXI. Not the glue but rather a combination of two mission names/ These were the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation. For the latter portion of the mission, the control team sent the Deep Impact spacecraft back past Earth to get close to the comet Hartley 2. It also stayed busy during its travels observing half a dozen different stars to confirm their planets' motions. The spacecraft also took pictures of Earth, the moon and Mars. These findings helped confirm the existence of water on the Moon, and they attempted to look for methane on Mars. This particular task was in vain, as the Curiosity rover's findings recently revealed. The spacecraft then went on to study the comet Garradd, in 2012 and took distant images of the comet ISON this year. But around the time the mission was supposed to take close- ups of ISON, controllers lost contact with the spacecraft and spent several weeks trying to reactivate its systems. They finally announced that they have been unsuccessful and have abandoned any further attempts. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im, Jim Damron, N8TMW. -- Deep Impact may now be lost in space, the data it radioed back to Earth has contributed greatly to mankind's understanding of the final frontier. (NASA) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, 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 Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, in Southern Mississippi saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
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