The following is a closed circuit advisory and not necessarily for air. With a report on Amateur Radio Newsline's current finances, here's our producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF: -- Well, the last time I was on here with a financial report I told you that I thought we had enough in the bank to hopefully hold us over the summer months June, July and August, and that I would not be asking for any contributions unless the sky was falling. Sadly, the sky is falling this year. This is mainly because we did not get some of the larger donations that we have come to count on to keep us going over the lean summer months when people are away on vacation. Right now, we only have a couple of hundred dollars left in our bank account. Most of that will vanish as we pay off our financial obligation in regard to presenting this year's Young Ham of the Year Award and the outstanding bills which are quickly piling up. And unlike the years up through October 2009 when I retired from full time employment, I'm now living on fixed income and honestly cannot afford to underwrite the cost of bringing these newscasts to you. To be candid, I do not like to lead off a newscast with an appeal such as this, but we have no other method of getting the word out to you that we need your financial assistance to keep Amateur Radio Newsline on the air, and that we need it now. To all of us involved, each donation is looked upon as an ongoing vote of confidence in the quality of the news and information that we provide each week. And for this I add my personal thank you. Remember, Amateur Radio Newsline is a 501c3, not for profit corporation and your donations are tax deductible. The easiest way to donate is by going to our website at www.arnewsline.org and clicking on the Pay Pal button. Or you can mail a donation to the address you will hear at the end of this weeks newscast. Whichever method you choose, the all volunteer Amateur Radio Newsline team says thank you so much for caring. We promise to do all that we can to continue bringing you the news and information you want to hear about amateur radio and personal communications in the coming years. Thank you. I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, and now this week's newscast. -- Thanks Bill. Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1890 with a release date of November 1 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2- 1. The following is a QST. Australia's WICEN stands down as the brushfire menace eases; A new satellite subband is coming to 2 meters; Congress is asked to consider mandating regularly scheduled EAS tests and the South Sudan will be on the air in mid-November. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1890 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESCUE RADIO: FOLLOW-UP - AUSTRALIAS WICEN STANDS DOWN AFTER FIRE EMERGENCY The work of ham radio operators in the wildfire response has come to an end down under. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has this follow-up report: -- Australia's WICEN has stood down from its assistance to fire- fighting efforts in the Australian state of New South Wales. This as more favorable weather conditions has lead toward containment of the blazes that threatened the outskirts of the city of Sidney as it raged through the Blue Mountains. WICEN had been activated by the Volunteer Rescue Association to provide manpower after a State of Emergency was declared. Several of its members were sent to Lithgow as part of a Volunteer Rescue Association team 24. The others had been held in reserve for later deployment as needed. With the worst of the emergency now over, WICEN New South Wales President Compton Allen VK2HDX has thanked the ham radio operators who made themselves available in New South Wales time of need. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, in Nelson, New Zealand. -- In all, the wildfires destroyed some 220 homes with an estimated insurance value into the millions of dollars. (VK3PC, published news reports) ** RESTRUCTURING: NEW REGION 2 BANDPLAN INCLUDES ADDED 2 METER SATELLITE SUBBAND More room on 2 meters for ham radio space operations is one of the outcomes of a recent IARU Region 2 meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The gathering whose minutes have now been published covered all Region 2 bandplans for all allocations from 137 kHz to 250 GHz. Included is a new allocation for the Amateur Satellite Service on 2 meters from 144.000 to 144.025 MHz. There is also a reference to Near Space Stations or NSS operations in the definitions section. This is believed to be the first mention of High Altitude Balloons in any amateur radio band plan. IARU Region 2 is the organization of the International Amateur Radio Union for the American continent. You can view the entire document containing this and bandplans for all other amateur radio spectrum on the web at tinyurl.com/ANS300-IARU-Region-2-bandplans. (ANS) ** RESCUE RADIO: CONGRESS ASKED TO CONSIDER REGULARLY SCHEDULED EAS TEST A bill recently introduced into the United States House of Representatives to reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA includes a provision that would require national EAS tests at least once every three years. The measure is designated as H.R. 3300 and reauthorizes FEMA through Fiscal Year 2016 at $972 million each year. However about $12 million of the total would provide Congressional authorization for FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System or IPAWS, which uses several technologies to simultaneously send alerts through many different channels. This includes the EAS, along with wireless alerts, Internet services and NOAA. The measure would also establish system requirements and capabilities for IPAWS and gives certain stakeholders, including federal, state, local and private sector entities, input into its development. (RW) ** RESCUE RADIO: FEMA AND NPR TEAM FOR ALERTING DEAF TO EMERGENCIES The Department of Homeland Security has announced a pilot project in cooperation with NPR Labs, to demonstrate the delivery of the first-ever, real-time emergency alert messages to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in five Gulf states. Twenty-five NPR affiliates in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have agreed to participate in the venture to transmit emergency alert messages, such as weather alerts, to 475 individuals who are deaf or hard-of- hearing in the stations' listening areas. This to determine how effectively the messages are being sent and received. The public radio stations participating in the project will receive emergency alert messages from FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. The stations will then broadcast the emergency alerts to specially designed FM Radio Data System receivers that alert the participants with a flashing indicator. The receivers can also show the content of the alert through the receiver's digital display. Participants can connect a strobe light or bed-shaker alerting device to the receiver to help ensure alerts are noticed both day and night. (RI) ** DX UP FRONT: WAKE ATOL OPERATION COMING ON THE AIR Up-front in DX, the Wake Atoll Commemorative K-9-W DXpedition team has been approved for entry onto Wake Atoll and should be operational by the time many of you hear this newscast. Their equipment is already on the atol and in safe storage awaiting arrival of the operators that was scheduled for November 2nd local time. They will then immediately set up antennas and the stations. As we go to air team leaders say that they plan to begin operations on November 3rd and continue until November 15th, once again local Wake Island time. There will be two CW and two SSB stations operational during this DXpedition. More information and updates will be on the web at wake2013.org (K9W Management Team) ** DX UP FRONT: SOUTH SUDAN TO BE ON NOVEMBER 14 - 28 An international group of hams, including CQ Magazine's DX Editor Wayne Mills, N7NG, is planning to operate from South Sudan as Z81X from November 14th to the 28th. This is the time period that includes the CW weekend of the 2013 CQ World Wide DX Contest. According to Mission Goodwill South Sudan spokesman Martti Laine, OH2BH, the group of ten hams is led by International Amateur Radio Union Region One President Hans Timmerman, PB2T, and includes two local operators. The operation is hosted by South Sudan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and will include a series of workshops aimed at developing a permanent amateur radio licensing and regulatory structure. On the operating side, the plan is to activate all HF bands with an emphasis on 80 and 160 meters. QSL via OH0XX and we will have more DX news for you later on in this weeks report. (CQ) ** BREAK 1 Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the KF4ADM repeater serving Williamsburg Virginia. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO POLITICS: SENATE CONFIRMS WHEELER TO FCC CHAIR The Senate confirmed Thomas Wheeler as the next chairman of the FCC and Michael P. O'Rielly to fill another vacancy at the agency. Wheeler's confirmation came after Senator Ted Cruz removed a hold on his nomination after meeting with Wheeler on Tuesday afternoon, October 29th and Wheeler was confirmed that evening. His nomination was partnered with that of O'Rielly, a Republican, to draw bipartisan support. Their confirmations came in a unanimous vote. (published News Reports) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES $15000 TO UNLICENSED BROADCASTER The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability in the amount of $15,000 to Florida resident Juan R. Nieves, Jr.. This for his alleged operation of an unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 97.7 MHz in the city of Summerfield. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the details: -- According to the FCC, agents from the Enforcement Bureau's Tampa Office used direction-finding to locate the source of the transmissions on several occasions last May and June to an FM transmitting antenna located at a residence in Summerfield, Florida. On each of those days, the agents took field strength measurements of the station's signal and determined that it exceeded the limits for license free operation under Part 15 of the Commission's rules. On June 25th the agents inspected the unlicensed radio station and interviewed Juan R. Nieves, Jr.. He admitted renting the residence housing the station, owning the transmitter, and being the sole responsible party for the unlicensed operation. In fact, he claimed to have operated the station on 97.7 MHz for over a year. He also stated that he had been in the broadcast industry for many years, was a former officer of a low power station in Summerfield and knew he needed a license to operate. Now in proposing the $15,000 penalty the FCC says that it finds that the violations in this case warrant a proposed forfeiture above the base amount. The record evidence in this case shows that Nieves was an officer of a low power FM station, and was expected to be familiar with the Commission's licensing requirements. Nevertheless, he operated the unlicensed station for over a year, in deliberate disregard for the Communications Act and the Commission's rules. As such the FCC finds that an upward adjustment of $5,000 in the forfeiture amount is warranted. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona. -- Nieves was given the customary 30 days from the October 24th issuance date to pay the proposed $15,000 fine or to file an appeal. (FCC) ** ENFORCEMENT: FORMER MISSOURI HAM FINED $500 FOR UNLICENSED OPERATION The FCC has fined Jared A. Bruegman, the former KC0IQN, of Bolivar, Missouri, $500. This, for transmitting without a license in the Amateur Service 20 meter band. Last February, the FCC issued Bruegman a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $10,000 after its agents observed an unlicensed radio transmitter operating on 14.312 MHz from a residence in Bolivar in December 2012. Bruegman was the only person at home at the time and admitted to owning the radio transmitting equipment. In his response to the Notice of Apparent Liability Bruegman claimed that the $10,000 would be a financial hardship and requested that the FCC cancel the proposed fine. He also submitted the required financial records to back up his claim. Now in a Forfeiture Order released October 23, the FCC has reduced the fine to $500 stating that there is a sufficient basis for such a reduction but not to outright cancel the forfeiture. It gave him the customary 30 days from the date of it issuing the Forfeiture Order to pay or make arrangements to pay the fine. If he fails to do so the matter can be turned over to the Department of Justice for further enforcement action. (FCC) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: OREGON HAMS TEAM WITH FRS IN EMCOMM EXERCISE The Emergency Volunteer Corps of Nehalem Bay, Oregon recently held a training exercise where it activated its local Map Your Neighborhood captains' emergency communications operations. This, using the combined resources of citizens with FRS radios and local ham radio operators who were asked to set up a spontaneous net. According to news reports, the Map Your Neighborhood captains responded with professionalism and competency. Moreover the operation by the hams taking part in the exercise was described as simply being great. The article in the North Coast Citizen Journal stated that that everyone was proud of the community and its team of volunteers. 13 hams out of the 28 living in the area took part in the emergency preparedness exercise. (CitizenJournal.com, eHam.net) ** RADIO BUSINESS: ELK ANTENNAS AND DAYSAVER POWER SUSTEMS TO MERGE DaySaver Power Systems is merging with Elk Antennas. DaySaver products will continue to be offered by Elk, which says that that the transition from DaySaver Power Systems to Elk Antennas should be seamless, with no interruption in order fulfillment or warranties. Currently, the DaySaver.com website will continue to operate, but in the future the link will likely take you to the Elk Antennas site at ElkAntennas.com for an expanded array of products with the DaySaver name. According to Elk Antenna's Jim Siemons, AF6PU, the merger helps fulfill Elk's goal of expanding its product line for portable, remote and emergency communications. Both companies service the Amateur, Commercial, Military and Public Safety Radio Services. (Press Release) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: FIRST AND ONLY 2 METER DXCC IN SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Some names in the news. Back in 2011 to Bob McQuarrie, ZL3TY was awarded the first 2 Meter DXCC ever issued in the southern hemisphere. This after he contacted and confirmed contacts with 102 countries. McQuarrie was also the first New Zealand amateur to achieve DXCC in mixed VHF 6 meters and 2 meters using digital technology combined with his CW skills and moonbounce. Now comes word that his name and call have been inducted in the New Zealand Hall of Fame. We say congratulations. (SARL) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: VE3RHF NEW RAC DIRECTOR FOR ONTARIO SOUTH Rod Hardman, VE3RHF has been recently elected as the Radio Amateurs of Canada Director for Ontario South. His term as Director will be for the two years starting January 1, 2014 and ending December 31, 2015. (RAC) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: MIKE CALLAGHAN, WA6KPD RETIRES And congratulations also to Mike Callaghan, WA6KPD, who recently announced that he plans to retire on November 1st after a long and distinguished career in broadcasting. Callaghan was the chief engineer for station KIIS-FM in Los Angeles. This is a position that he has held for only a few months shy of 40 years. You can read the story of his fascinating life in the broadcast engineering field at tinyurl.com/Mike-Callaghan-retires (RW) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: INSPIRING YOUTH AT THE ARRL MIDWEST CONVENTION Inspiring youth will be an important part of the upcoming ARRL Midwest Convention slated for Joplin, Missouri on November 8th and 9th. And to help meat this goal New York City educator Carole Perry, WB2MGP will join forces with former Astronaut, Colonel Steve Nagel, N5RAW, to bring the magic of two way radio and spaceflight to youngsters in a Joplin school: -- WB2MGP: "He and I are going together to a high school where we will be goin a presentation in front of an assembly of gifted science students and ohers who will be able to ask questions of astronaut Nagel." -- Then on convention Saturday, WB2MGP will be hosting a Youth Forum with Steve Nagel, N5RAW, taking part: -- WB2MGP: "Astronaut Nagel is going to be coming to my Youth Forum. I'm going to have a 9-year-old give a very exciting presentation. One of the Youth Advisors for the ARRL will be giving a small presentation and then we will be opening up for questions for astronaut Nagel from the audience which I hope as it is in Dayton contains a lot youngsters in it so that they can be inspired by the sheer presence of this incredible human being who has been in space." -- In addition to Steve Nagel and Carole Perry there will also be a Ham Radio in Space presentation featuring Eddy Paul, KYOF; Jeremy Widner, ACODX and Randy Schulze, KDOHKD. They will provide those attending their session with information how to successfully get on the FM ham radio satellites, in most cases with equipment they already own. More on the convention and its special ham in space youth events are on line at www.arrlmidwestconvention.com. (ARNewslineT, AMSAT, WB2MGP) ** 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) ** WORLDBEAT: INDIA'S FIRST MULTI-MODE RADIO SCOUTING REPEATER OPENED A new repeater dedicated for use by scouts has come to the airwaves in India. Hosted by the Malabar Amateur Radio Repeater Society the VU2MJJ system came to life on October 20th during the 2013 Scouting Jamboree on the air. The VU2MJJ repeater is located at the Malabar club station and reportedly has wide coverage in South India. It is also the first D-STAR capable repeater in India that can also relay other digital and analog modes including traditional FM. VU2MJJ operates on 145.450 Mhz with the standard minus offset shift. (Southgate) ** WORLDBEAT: FRIEDRICHSHAFEN LECTURES AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD Six of this years lectures presented at Germany's Ham Radio gathering are now available as PowerPoint slides with synchronized audio. Available programs include Tom Perera, W1TP's talk on the Enigma and other historic cipher machines; John Alexander, G7GCT's small cipher machines presentation and Chris Duckling, G3SVL's, 100 Years of the RSGB and its International Partners. If you are interested in finding out more, go to www.dokufunk.org/talk on the World-Wide-Web. (Southgate) ** RADIO IN SPACE: ESA DRIVES FORWARD WITH ALL-ELECTRIC TELECOM SATELLITES The European Space Agency is set to begin development of a new generation of satellites propelled by solar electric thrusters as it signs a contract with SES of Luxembourg for development of this project. This for the next phase of the Electra project. Electra is described as a partnership between European Space Agency and satellite operator SES to define, develop and validate in space an electric only propulsion platform for geostationary telecommunication satellites of around 3 tones. The first launch is expected by the end of 2018. (ESA) ** EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS: LASER SPEED DEMO IN SPACE NASA has used laser technology to transfer data over the 239,000 miles to and from the moon. This at a speed of 622 megabits per second. Badri Younes is NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation. In a press release he said that his agency is encouraged by the results of the demonstration of the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration to this point. As such NASA is confident that it is on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon. The space agency's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration is the first two-way space communication system to use a laser instead of radio. Younes calls it the first step on NASA's roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability. The Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration is hosted on NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer or LADEE satellite. (NASA) ** WORLDBEAT: SOMALI BROADCAST STATION ATTACKED The National Union of Somali Journalists says that it is shocked by the latest violent attack on the media in Puntland, which involved a double bomb strike on a private radio station in Galkayo. According to the information received from the site of the attack, gunmen hurled two hand bombs at Radio Daljir, at around 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, October 15th. Eyewitness said that the attackers were riding in sedan with no plate number. No one was injured in the assault. More is on-line at tinyurl.com/somali-broadcaster-bombed (Published news reports) ** ON THE AIR: OQ4CLM CELEBRATES LIBERATION OF KNOKKE, HOLLAND On the air, special event station OQ4CLM is on the air through November 15th to commemorate the liberation of the town of Knokke, Holland by Canadian troops in 1944. This is the 32nd time the station has taken to the airwaves. More information is on the web at www.oq4clm.be (ON4RO) ** ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING 200 YEARS OF THE NETHERLANDS Fred Weidema, PA0FAW, of Arnhem Holland will be operating as PG200NL, between November 2nd and the 29th. This in celebration of 200 Years of The Netherlands. As of now, he will mainly be active on CW, but he hopes to also use SSB and some digital modes if locations become available. In his announcement, Fred notes that he is an International Short Wave League member and can be worked or listened to by I-S-W-L members for the organizations Monitor award. QSL go to PA0FAW either direct, via the bureau or electronically using eQSL. SWL reports are obviously also very welcome. (PA0FAW) ** DX In DX, YL2GM is currently reported on the air from Sao Vicente Island as D44TYL. Activity has been mainly 20 and 15 meters SSB. The length of his stay is unknown. QSL via YL2GM. HB9EYP will be on the air from Zanzibar between November 2nd and the 9th possibly using the call 5H3JJ. Activity will be QRP on 20 through 6 meters with 10 watts into a Windom antenna from a beachfront location. QSL via his home callsign either direct, via the bureau or electronically using Logbook to the World. Members of the DX Friends group will activate San Andres Island as 5J0R from November 1st to the 10th. Operations will be on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. Visit their Web page at dxfriends.com/SanAndres2013 for more information and QSL via EA5RM. DL7VOA will be active as 6V7D from Senegal between November 29th and December 7th. His operation will be mainly on CW, with some SSB, on 40 through 10 meters. QSL via DL7VOA. A group of operators from India will be operating from the Lakshadweep Islands from November 20th to the 10th of December as VU7AG and VU7KA. They will be active on 160 through10 meters using CW , SSB and RTTY. QSL via W4VKU Lastly, a team of 8 operators will be active from the rare Banda Besar Island between November 10th to the 15th. Callsigns have not been announced yet but operations will be on 40 through 10 meters using CW and SSB. Look for more details to be forthcoming at oc157.blogspot.co.uk. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: POLICE SAY ALLEGEDLY INEBRIATED MAN CONFUSED $20 BILL WITH CELL PHONE And finally this week a story out of Minnesota that kind of speaks for itself. Here's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW: -- Call this one enforcement of a truly different kind as in trying to make a phone call without a phone. This as a Minnesota man is been charged with public intoxication after he allegedly tried to make a phone call using a $20 bill. Iowa City Police on foot patrol on the pedestrian mall recently noticed the man passed out on a bench at 2:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The officers said that the man smelled strongly of alcohol, had watery, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and poor balance. When officers requested identification, the man reportedly grabbed money from his wallet and handed to the officers instead. Police say officers then offered him the chance to call his friends from his cell phone but instead he placed a $20 bill to his ear and used it to try to make the call. But $20 bills don't have built in receivers or transmitters so for the police that was enough. They placed the unidentified man under arrest for his own safety. I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. -- And so ends another strange moment in communications history. (Press-Citizen) ** 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 Before we sign off, a reminder that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association is soliciting nominations for next year's Hamvention awards. This includes the Amateur of the Year, Special Achievement, Technical Excellence and Club of the Year. Nominations must be received by January 17, 2014. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/hamvention-awards-2014. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, near Houston, Texas, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
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