Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1822 with a release
date of July 13, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. Hams continue to provide
assistance as wildfires rage in the great American West; the
FCC to investigate telephone failures after the big
windstorm of Friday, June 29th; Illinois hams get PRB One
like protection for towers and antennas and the story of a 9
year old in South Carolina who learns first hand about ham
radio on a television program that he hosts. All this and
more on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1822 coming
your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAMS CONTINUE WILDFIRE RESPONSE
Wind-fanned wildfires are proving stubborn, but firefighters
are beginning to gain ground in their fight against the
numerous stubborn blazes dotting the United States West.
One of the worst hit is Colorado. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Norm Seeley, KI7UP, who grew up there and knows the area
well has the latest:
--
In Colorado, one of the hardest hit states, the ARRL
reported that since June 9 when the first of the wildfires
began, hams have been assisting with disaster
communications. This, by providing communications support
to the State and to several served agencies.
Shortly after the High Park fire broke out, radio amateurs
in Estes Park and Fort Collins were called upon to help
provide communications support to the American Red Cross.
Hams set up a crossband repeater to provide communications
from Red Cross Headquarters in Estes Park to their
facilities at the fire base, as well as to an evacuation
center at a local high school.
On June 26th, ARRL Colorado Section Manager Jack Ciaccia,
WM0G, and Boulder County Emergency Coordinator Allen Bishop,
K0ARK, were returning from the High Park Fire when they were
notified that Boulder County Office of Emergency Management
had activated ARES for the Flagstaff Fire. A lightning
strike had hit just west of Boulder, caused a 20 acre fire
that due to high winds had become a 230 acre blaze in only
30 minutes. .
According to Ciaccia, the Boulder Office of Emergency
Management wanted ARES positions manned at the Emergency
Operations Center. They also wanted to send additional
operators to video positions and set up packet and voice
communications at a local school that would serve as the
evacuation center. Ciaccia said that within one hour, ATV
equipped hams had a video camera set up, while other hams at
the evacuation center team had set up packet communications,
providing data and video, as well as 2 meter FM voice
communications. Other portable video positions were fully
operational by the end of two hours.
According to Ciaccia, the live video feeds were displayed on
huge video screens at the Emergency Operations Center. This
permitted the entire emergency staff to see heli-tankers and
US Forest Service bomber aircraft making fire retardant
drops. They could also see the fire live from the
backside, which was not otherwise visible without our
portable ATV teams live video feeds.
When the Type I federal fire teams showed up to determine
whether the fire would escalate to their level, they noticed
the live video feeds at the EOC and made special trips to
the ham radio field video sites. Until then there were
apparently unaware that a television resource was available
that could be used for their purposes and were quite pleased
at that capability. The federal officials wanted the A-T-V
to continue operations if the fire escalated to a Type I.
Thankfully, this fire never grew beyond 300 acres and it
remained at a Type II level.
The served agencies in this response included the Boulder
County Sheriff's Office and their Office of Emergency
Management. Both were extremely pleased that the ham radio
community responded so fast and so well.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
--
Meantime, hams were also active in assisting firefighters at
the Waldo Canyon Fire. Amateur Radio Newslines Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with that part of the
story:
--
According to Amanda Alden, K1DNN, of Canon City, Colorado,
her group was contacted by the Amateur Radio Emergency
Service and told that the situation for communications due
to the Waldo Canyon blaze was looking grim. Alden, along
with Canon City residents Jeff Carrier, K0JSC and Phil Ott,
WA0NLK along with Pueblo West resident Neal Tew, KD0NBL,
immediately responded. Most of their assignment was the
handling of health and welfare communications for a shelter
at Summit.
At that point, Jeff Reynolds and Chaz Carmichael, W4CHZ,
arrived to help at the Cripple Creek shelter. Here the ham
radio operators stayed around the clock, helped make food,
ate with the evacuees and slept on cots while providing
various forms of communications. The hams stayed on site
until evacuations began lifting.
Amanda Alden is best known as a contributor to the Ham
Nation video podcast on TWiT-TV. She was quoted as saying
that the hams are proud of how quickly we came together and
kept the emergency lines open for the real heroes and
victims of the Waldo Canyon Fire.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF,
in Los Angeles.
--
Elsewhere across the West, firefighters are making slow
progress in Utah, Wyoming and Montana. A wildfire that had
burned more than 390 squares miles in southeastern Montana
was reported to now be 90 percent contained. A separate
fire in the same region of the state near Fort Howes, was 65
percent contained after blackening nearly 97 square miles.
We will have more on ham radio involvement in these wildfire
emergencies in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports.
(Denver Post, ARRL, other sources)
**
RESCUE RADIO: FCC TO INVESTIGATE PHONE FAILURES AFTER JUNE
29 STORM
The Federal Communications Commission is looking into the
damage that a massive wind storm caused to wireless and
landline phone networks in the mid-Atlantic U-S-A. Amateur
Radio Newslines Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, is here with
more:
--
The storm took place on Friday, June 29th. It swept from
the Midwest into the Northeast with the mid-Atlantic states
including Virginia and West Virginia taking the worst
pounding.
David Turetsky, is the Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and
Homeland Security Bureau. In an e-mailed statement he said
that his agency plans to meet with a number of carriers in
the coming weeks to explore the cause of service issues to
911 service centers and the overall lessons learned.
Truetsky continued by saying that these and other issues
will be taken under advisement to ensure that the public
receives the best communications service possible and is
able to communicate effectively and in a way that safeguards
public safety in these situations.
FCC spokesperson Lauren Kravetz said the commission is still
investigating the problems with emergency calls, but that
911 operators might have been unable to identify a caller's
number and location. She said it is unclear how many people
were unable to make an emergency call at all.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Heateher Butera-Howell,
KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania.
--
According to The Washington Post, many 911 callers in the
region heard silence, busy signals or recorded messages
saying the line was inoperative. Meantime, here in West
Virginia, so far there have not been any reports reaching us
concerning ham radio related severe weather watch or post
storm amateur radio emergency communications efforts. (The
Hill)
**
RESCUE RADIO: ARRL TO HOST HURRICANE RESPONSE WEBINAR
Still with emergency communications matters, word that the
ARRL will host a webinar from 8 9:30 PM Eastern Daylight
Time on Tuesday, July 17th. This, to present information
about the 2012 hurricane season and the Amateur Radio
response.
The program will offer presentations from representatives
from the National Hurricane Center and WX4NHC which is the
Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center.
Also on the agenda are presentations by the VoIP Hurricane
Net, the Hurricane Watch Net and the ARRL.
Webinar registration is open to all, but this informative
web session will be of particular interest to those amateurs
living in hurricane-prone areas.
If you are interested in emergency communications and
hurricane preparedness and response, you are invited to
attend this online presentation. To register for this
webinar, please go to tinyurl.com/ham-hurricane-webinar and
fill out the required registration form. (ARRL)
**
BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world
including the KJ3LR repeater serving Bradenton, Florida.
(5 sec pause here)
**
RADIO LAW: ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SIGNS MEASURE PROTECTING HAM
RADIO ANTENNA RIGHTS
Some good news for hams in Illinois. That state now has its
own PRB One-like law to protect the antenna rights of radio
amateurs. Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has
the rest of the story:
--
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed Illinois House Bill
1390 into law. This despite unfounded fears on the part of
some of the states radio amateurs as widely posted to the
Internet. Fears that home owners associations and real
estate groups would try to derail the measure. It turned
out that these fears were totally groundless.
With Governor Quinn's signature affixed, the Illinois
Municipal Code was amended by adding Section 11-13-1.5.
Paraphrased, it basically reads as follows:
With regard to Amateur radio communications and antenna
regulations, and not withstanding any provision of law to
the contrary, no ordinance or resolution may be adopted or
enforced by a municipality that affects the placement,
screening, or height of antennas or antenna support
structures that are used for amateur radio communications.
Also, a municipality may not regulate the antennas or
antenna support structures that are used for amateur radio
communications in a manner inconsistent with this Section.
It should be noted that Illinois House Bill 1390 does not
supersede such things as deed restrictions, Covenants,
Conditions Restrictions and homeowners association rules
that forbid the installation of outdoor antennas. These are
considered to be personal and binding business contracts and
therefore not subject to override by the new PRB One-like
law.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in
Zion, Illinois.
--
According to several knowledgeable sources in Illinois, it
took less than 3 months to gain House approval, 20 days for
Senate approval, and 38 days before Governor Quinn signed
the new measure into law. (Various)
**
COMMUNICATIONS HAPPENING: THE GREAT INTERNET BLACKOUT A
WHIMPER
The over-hyped Great Internet Blackout of 2012 came and went
with little more than a whimper on Monday, July 9th. This,
as the so-called "Doomsday" deadline passed with few reports
of service outages.
At 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time the FBI shut down
temporary servers it had set up to handle Web traffic for
thousands of computers infected with a virus spread by a
ring of cyber criminals that the bureau busted last year.
Those using the estimated 200,000 computers still infected
with the virus were expected to lose their Internet
connectivity after the servers were taken off line.
But like the Y-2-K fears some 12 years ago, this latest loss
of service simply failed to materialize. According to the
FBI, 41,800 of the 211,000 worldwide computers infected with
the virus were in the United States, but U.S. Internet
providers reported far fewer victims. (Published news
reports)
**
ENFORCEMENT: KJ6CEY ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY POINTING LASER
AT FIRE ENGINE
Thirty-one year old Irene Levy, KJ6CEY, of San Jacinto,
California, is in trouble with the law once again. This
time after allegedly pointing a laser at a firefighter
behind the wheel of a fire engine.
At around 3:45 a.m. on June 30th, officers from the San
Jacinto Police Department responded to a call to assist
CalFire. When officers arrived, the fire personnel claimed
that Levy had shined a laser light at the driver of their
engine while they were driving on East Main Street. Also
that she had shined the laser at their driver several times
earlier in the evening as well.
Levy was taken into custody and booked into the Larry Smith
Correctional Facility charged with pointing a laser at a
moving vehicle and violating the terms of her probation. At
last report she was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
You may recall back in May of 2010 when Levy used an amateur
radio station to interfere with an emergency response
dispatcher. In that case Levy was found guilty of jamming
emergency radio frequencies by broadcasting threats. As
part of her probation, she was ordered to complete a mental
health program and stay out of trouble. (Riverside.com)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES NOTICE OF UNAUTHORIZED OPERATION TO
FALLBROOK CA RESIDENT
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Notice of
Unlicensed Operation to a Southern California, resident for
operating an unlicensed transmitter on 106.1 MHz.
According to the FCC Notice, the agency received information
that an unlicensed broadcast radio station on 106.1 MHz was
allegedly operating in the city of Fallbrook, just North of
San Diego. On May 22nd, agents from the San Diego FCC
office confirmed by direction finding that the signal on
106.1 MHz was emanating from a residence in Fallbrook's Gird
valley area that reportedly belonged to one Lewis A. Parks.
Bob Gonsett, W6VR, is involved with the Fallbrook Amateur
Radio Club and works in the broadcast engineering field. He
was quoted in the Fallbrook Village News that the station in
question was relatively low powered, yet still strong enough
that it could be heard for about a mile radius. The
unlicensed transmission was picked up by a listener who
ordinarily receives KPLM on 106.1 MHz. FCC records show
that no license is issued for operation of a broadcast
station at this location on 106.1 MHz in Fallbrook.
In the Notice of Unlicensed Operation, Parks was warned that
operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid
radio station authorization constitutes a violation of the
federal laws. As such it could subject the operator of such
a transmitter could be subject to severe penalties. These
include but are not limited to substantial monetary
forfeitures, seizure of the offending radio equipment, along
with criminal sanctions including imprisonment. More on
this story is on-line at tinyurl.com/unlicensed-fallbrook-
station. (W6VR, Fallbrook Village News)
**
ENFORCEMENT: YET ANOTHER UNLICENSED FLORIDA BROADCASTER
FACES A PROPOSED $15000 FINE
The FCC proposed a $15,000 fine against Luis Ernesto Rivas
Jr. for operating an unlicensed station in Miami. Earlier
this year agents from the Miami office of the Enforcement
Bureau traced the source of RF transmissions on 89.1 MHz to
an antenna on a roof in Miami. While monitoring the
station, they heard a reference to "The Streets FM."
According to the commission's account of the incident, the
agents went to the building roof with the building owner and
saw radio transmission gear, including an FM transmitter
connected to a transmitting antenna and a laptop computer.
The computers screen displayed a Facebook webpage stating
'Underground Station In Miami @ USTREAM: Go To Our Website
www.thestreetsfm.com ...On 89.1 Miami #1 Underground
Station."
The agents found a Web page for the station at
www.thestreetsfm.com and matched a photo of Rivas from the
site with one from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles.
Now, in issuing the Notice of Apparent Liability, the FCC
says that all of the facts point to Rivas as being
responsible for operating the illegal station. It also
noted that it had Rivas operated another illegal station in
Florida in 2007. That garnered him an extra $5,000 penalty,
making the total fine $15,000.
Rivas has the customary 30 days from the date that he was
notified of the proposed fine to pay it or to file an
appeal. (FCC, RW)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: NEW VIDEO FROM MCLEAN FAHNESTOCK SHOWS
ALL SHUTTLE LAUNCHES
Some names in the news. First up is McLean Fahnestock who
has produced a High Definition video showing all 135 space
shuttle launches. The engrossing video runs just under 4
minutes and can be viewed on-line at
www.mcleanfahnestock.com/images.html (Southgate)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: LASER LIGHT DEMO VIDEO BY DH5YM
An interesting albeit short laser light communications video
has been made available for on-line viewing by Mario
Roessler, DH5YM. In it, you can see the green Laser of
DK5WMA and hear the demodulated telegraphy signal. The
fading by humid air is clearly visible and audible. The
distance was about 48km. The video is on-line at
tinyurl.com/green-laser-light (Southgate)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: INFORMATION ON EARLY 1900'S RADIO EVENTS
NEEDED
Leland Francois, KI6AWN, of Oakland, California says that he
is looking for what he terms as senior radio operators who
could possibly help share some insight on two events. First
is the Congressional Radio Communications Act of 1934 while
the other is in regard to the historic signing of the United
Nations Charter that took place in San Francisco during the
summer of 1945. This latter event involved may amateur
radio operators and was coordinated by the early Oakland
Radio Club under the call sign W6OT. If you have any
information on either of these two events please contact
Leland Francois by e-mail to ki6awn (at) aol (dot) com.
(KI6AWN)
**
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)
**
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: INVENTOR LEONARD KAHN EX- WB2SSP -
S.K.
Communications inventor Leonard R. Kahn, the former WB2SSP,
passed away on June 3rd in Florida.
Kahn is likely best remembered for his development of the
Kahn-Hazeltine AM Stereo system that used independently
modulated upper and lower sidebands. He was also the
inventor of the CAM-D AM digital system. Kahn's AM stereo
design was later revamped for monaural use and used in the
Power-Side system, in which a decreased signal in one
sideband is used to improve coverage and loudness. Power-
Side became the basis for CAM-D, Compatible AM Digital, a
digital system that is still used on several AM stations.
Leonard Kahn worked for RCA Labs for many years and turned
out over 80 domestic and 100 foreign patents. As such, he
is considered one of the five "fathers of the wireless
industry." (Published reports)
**
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: VHF PIONEER LARRY HOGUE, W6OMF-
SK
And sadly we also bid farewell to Larry Hogue, W6OMF, who
passed away undergoing open heart surgery on June 29th.
W6OMF was the long time Net Control Operator for the
Northern California Sidewinders On Two Sunday night net and
was one of the leading spokesmen for VHF DX on the West
Coast. He was considered by many as being the driving force
behind Sidewinders on Two's presence on the West Coast and
the Sunday night net had check-ins from Oregon in the North
to Los Angeles in the South. (WB6AEA)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: HAM IN SPACE SESSION IN KANSAS CITY
This note for amateur radio operators near Kansas City,
Missouri. On July 20th, the Hams in Space Team will be
presenting a satellite lecture at the University of
Missouri, Kansas City's Communiversity. The Communiversity
is the University's Community Education Program available to
anyone from the area who wishes to attend.
According to Randy Schulze, KD0HKD, the group is preparing a
seminar to be enjoyed not only by licensed radio amateurs
but also to members of the general public. This as a means
of providing information about one of the fun and amazing
things that can be done within the hobby.
If you plan to attend, please register early. All necessary
information is on-line at www.umkc.edu/commu. (ANS)
**
WORLDBEAT: WARRINGTON ARC GRANTED GB2012MV FOR OLYMPIC
GAMES
The United Kingdom's Warrington Amateur Radio Club have been
granted a license to cover both the 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic games. In a collaborative effort with West
Manchester Radio Club and South Manchester Radio and
Computing Club, the Warrington group has been assigned the
special call sign GB2012MV for the event at Old Trafford,
home of Manchester United soccer team. This is one of the
venues for the Olympic football tournament. The decision by
telecommunications regulator Ofcom means that GB2012MV will
be one of only four stations nationwide to be permitted to
officially commemorate the Olympic games. The club will
begin transmissions on Wednesday, July 25, the start of the
Olympic football tournament and end on September 9, which
will be the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.
(Southgate)
**
WORLDBEAT: GB2VET FROM JULY 27 TO 29
Also, U-K special event station GB2VET, celebrating the
army, navy and air force reunion's 10 anniversary will be
operational July 27th to the 29th from East Park in the
city of Hull. Plans are to operate all available bands
using both World War 2 and modern gear. Modes will include
D-Star on VHF and UHF. There will also be a display of
vintage equipment as well. (2E0BRQ)
**
ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE APOLLO MOON MISSIONS
The Italian Radio Association known as the ARI have
announced sponsorship of a special award to commemorate the
Apollo Space Program. This specific for contacts made
before July 31st this month. To qualify for the award you
need to have confirmed contacts with the ARI Headquarters
Station IQ1TW and three other stations. More information is
on-line at aritortona.xoom.it. (Press release)
**
ON THE AIR: EIFFEL TOWER ON THE HAM BANDS
F5SKW and several other French radio amateurs will be on the
air 24 hours a day through July 15th
as TM70TRS or TM70TE from the 3rd floor of the Eiffel Tower,
in Paris. This activity is to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of the French Army Signal Corps. The operation
will use CW, SSB and RTTY, and on the HF and VHF bands. A
special QSL card will be available. QSL via the F6KHX
Amateur Radio Club or F5OGL, direct or by the REF QSL
Bureau.
This operation also brings to mind a question we frequently
get asked by listeners here in the United States. That
being, are there any ham radio repeaters operating from the
Eiffel Tower? If you know the answer, please drop us an e-
mail with repeater call signs and operating frequencies to
newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. (OPDX)
**
DXCC: SIX OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT
Bill Moore, NC1L, the ARRL Awards Branch Manager, reports
that several operations have been approved for DXCC credit.
These include the 2012 operations as 3C0E operation from
Annobon; 3C6A from Equatorial Guinea, 5X1RO from Uganda and
XW4XR from Laos. Also approved are the 2011 J25DXA and
2010 J28RO operations from Djibouti. If you've had any of
these operations rejected in a recent DXCC submission please
send an E-mail to bmoore (at) arrl (dot) org to be put on
the list for an update. (ARRL DXCC)
**
DX
In DX, word that the long awaited St. Paul Island CY9M
operation will take to the airwaves from July 26th to August
1st. This as an international team will put this rare
island, located approximately 14 miles northeast of the
northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, on
the air. No word yet on bands or modes. QSL via M0URX.
The Hellenic Amateur Radio of Association of Australia is
organizing a DXpedition to Campbell Island from November
28th through December 9th. Campbell Island whose prefix is
Zed-L-9 is number 15 on the current DXCC most wanted list.
You can follow the planning for this one at www.zl9hr.com.
A group of operators from Switzerland known as the Radio 7
Team will be active from Rodrigues Island as 3B9SP from
between October 16th and the 23rd. Most operation will be
on CW and SSB with some RTTY and PSK 31. Bands mentioned
are all of the HF frequencies plus 6 meters. Logs will be
uploaded to Logbook of the World within 6 months after the
operation concludes. QSL via HB9ACA.
The World-Wide DX Group will be on Conway Reef from
September 24th to October 5th. Their announced goal is to
provide as many DXers as possible with this rare DXCC
entity. The group says that it will target European
contacts during those periods when propagation is possible
and we will ask Japan and North America to stand buy during
those brief periods when the bands are open to Europe. The
World-Wide DX Group is the same group which brought you the
3D2C Rotuma Island Dxpedition in September, 2011.
Lastly, the Araucaria DX Group, in conjunction with the TX3A
Team, will sponsor a DXpedition to St. Peter and St. Paul
Rocks, in the late November to mid December time frame. The
actual dates will depend on weather conditions. The
operation will have a strong low band focus. There will be a
dedicated 160 meter station operating from sunset to
sunrise. A second station will be on 80 and 40 meters at
night as well. During the day we will operate two stations
on the higher bands including 6 meters based on conditions.
RTTY will also be supported. More on this planned operation
is on-line at www.pt0s.com.
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: MEET COLBY AND VISIT HIS CORNER
And finally this week the story of an inquisitive pre-teen
who has his first experience with ham radio with a
television camera watching and recording the event. The
young mans name is Colby, he's 9 years old, and he is the
star of a new children's television series called Colby's
Corner that recently began airing on Christian Television
Network station WLCN in Summerville, South Carolina. .
The theme of the show is very simple. Its Colby learning
about various aspects of life by experience as would any
other youngster. Only Colby is sharing his encounters with
the kids who watch on WLCN. And one of his recent trips
took him to a ham radio station operated by Vince Lombardo,
K4AOC.
For those of you who are out of the coverage of WLCN but
would like to watch Colby learn about ham radio from a real
pro, that episode and all of the others can be seen on line
on YouTube. A direct link to the one we have been
describing is tinyurl.com/colbys-ham-radio. The show also
has a website at www.colbyscornertv.com. (NN4F, QRZ.com)
**
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 W-I-A 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 Jim Damron, N8TMW, saying 73 and we thank you for
listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2012. All rights
reserved.
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