SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.973 Amateur Radio Newsline #973 05 Apr 1996 The Newsline Information and Copyright Notice is now published seperately every month. Please read this notice before using any part of Newsline in any manner. For a copy of the notice e-mail bigsteve@dorsai.org or netmail Steve Coletti @ 1:278/230 on Fidonet. NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #973 - POSTED 04/06/96 (********************************************************************* (* *) (* * * ***** * * **** * ***** * * ***** *) (* ** * * * * * * * ** * * *) (* * * * *** * ** * *** * * * * * *** *) (* * ** * * ** * * * * * ** * *) (* * * ***** * * **** ***** ***** * * ***** *) (* *) (********************************************************************* The following is late news about Amateur Radio for Radio Amateurs as prepared from NEWSLINE RADIO scripts by the staff of the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, INC. -- formerly the WESTLINK RADIO NETWORK. Amateur Radio Newsline is a audio news service distributed via telephone. This hardcopy version is produced by Dale Cary - WD0AKO from scripts provided to him weekly by Newsline. It is then distributed to on-line services, bbs networks and internet user jointly by Dale Cary and Steve Coletti. Editorial comments, news item and all other business should be directed to: Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF Newsline Producer & Editor Internet E-mail: 3241437@mcimail.com MCI E-mail: WESTRADIO Phone: (805) 296-7180 Fax: (805) 296-7180 (Fax senders wait for voice prompt.) Hardcopy comments or complements can be directed to: Dale Cary, WD0AKO Hardcopy Distribution for Newsline Internet E-mail: wd0ako@rrnet.com Phone: (218) 236-6324 The audio version of Newsline can be recorded from one of the currently operating lines listed below. This list is kept as accurate as possible. If any changes are not listed, please contact Dale Cary, WD0AKO at the above listed addresses. Audio Version of Newsline ========================= Los Angeles............................ (213) 462-0008 Los Angeles (Instant Update Line)...... (805) 296-2407 Seattle................................ (206) 368-3969 Seattle................................ (206) 281-8455 Tacoma................................. (206) 927-7373 Louisville............................. (502) 894-8559 Dayton................................. (513) 275-9991 Chicago................................ (708) 289-0423 New York City.......................... (718) 284-0752 Melbourne, Florida..................... (407) 768-7447 Houston, Texas......................... (713) 362-4650 Conroe, Texas.......................... (409) 525-6250 Electronic Hardcopy Version of Newsline ======================================= GEnie (RTC Bulletin Board)............. m345;1 GEnie (File Library)................... m345;3 Dallas Remote Imaging BBS (DRIG)....... (214) 492-7573 In bulletin number 36 The Midwest Connection BBS............. (701) 239-2440 In bulletin number 6 of the ham radio conference Delphi.....................In the ham radio conference CompuServe/HamNet.................... HamNet Library 0 MicroSoft Network.......... Amateur Radio File Library Internet...............In the rec.radio.info newsgroup Internet FTP: oak.oakland.edu......................... In archive: pub/hamradio/docs/newsline Local BBS's............In the Ham Radio conferences on Fidonet, RIME, Intelec, I-Link, AR-Net and Fringenet. True Speech Internet Site ========================= http://www.scott.net/~wa4fat For the latest breaking info call the Instant Update Line listed above. To provide information please call (805) 296-7180. This line answers automatically and will accept up to 30 minutes of material. Check with your local amateur radio club to see if NEWSLINE can be heard weekly on the air in your area. 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This is just a reminder that the address * (* for the Newsline Support Fund is: * (* * (* Newsline * (* c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ * (* P.O.Box 660937 * (* Arcadia, CA * (* 91066 * (* * (* Again, and as always, we thank you. This ends the * (* closed circuit with Newsline report number 973 for * (* release on Friday, April 5th, 1996 to follow. * (* * (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a QST A phony disaster call in Maryland is solved and a tower case is nearing settlement in New York. These stories and more on Newsline report number 973 coming your way right now! (***** PHONY DISTRESS CALLS A Maryland man has been charged with issuing phony distress calls on the VHF Marine band. The Commission says that on February 12th, it teamed up with the United States Coast Guard to track down the resident of Arnold, Maryland that the FCC says had spent five hours issuing false calls for help for a non existent maritime emergency. Beginning just before midnight, the unidentified man began broadcasting a message that the ship he was on had caught fire and was sinking with 135 passengers on board. While the man spoke calmly, he could not provide any sort of constant information as to where the vessel was. He then began claiming that terrorists were holding him captive. Based on the incredible nature of what it was hearing, the Coast Guard contacted the FCC and asked help in tracing the signal. Since the perpetrator was not smart enough to get off the air, it did not take FCC investigators long to track the signal to the mans Arnold, Maryland home. He now faces the probability of both civil and criminal charges. These could lead to penalties that include a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. (***** FLORIDA JAMMER BUST Two alleged repeater jammers have been caught by hams in the Largo, Florida area. The Florida Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Council says in the April issue of its newsletter that the pair were identified after several direction finding teams took to the hunt. The two unidentified individuals were reportedly observed making unidentified transmissions, as the direction finding car sat side by side with the alleged offenders vehicle in Pinellas County. One of the alleged perpetrators claims to be a ham, but the club is withholding specific details until a government investigation is complete. (***** FCC UPHOLDS INTERFERENCE-RELATED FINES The FCC has reaffirmed fines against John B. Genovese, WB5LOC, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Vernon A. Paroli, KA5OWW, of Gretna, Louisiana. This, for interfering with communications of other amateurs in the spring of 1993. The FCC upheld forfeitures of $500 against Genovese and $700 against Paroli after a second review of the case. Genovese and Paroli were among four hams issued Notices of Apparent Liability by the FCC's New Orleans office. The other hams were Will Blanton Jr, N5ROC, of Carriere, Mississippi, and Joseph Richard III, N5JNX, of New Orleans. The fines resulted from occurrences of willful and malicious interference to an organized, 2 meter repeater net and were based on information provided by the Amateur Auxiliary, which tape recorded the violations and turned them over to the FCC. All four were initially fined $2000 each. These fines later were reduced on appeal. Blanton and Richard were ordered to pay $1000. Paroli's fine was cut to $700 based on his inability to pay the original fine, while Genovese's fine was set at $500 because of the shorter duration of his transmissions. (***** NY HAM WINS TOWER CASE - ALMOST A court has struck down a New York township antenna ordinance as being unreasonable. J. P. Kleinhaus, AA2DU, says that he chose to live in Cortlandt Manor, New York, in 1993, because the town's zoning ordinance did not restrict him from erecting a planned 120 foot tower. By the time he closed the deal on his house in early 1994, a new zoning ordinance had gone into effect, one prohibiting towers above 35 feet. The town denied his application for the much taller tower, and Kleinhaus sued. On March 20, the New York Supreme Court handed down a ruling annulling the Zoning Board of Appeal's decision as "irrational, arbitrary and capricious." But the fine print in the decision does not order the town to grant the permit. Instead, it directs Kleinhaus and the town to arrive at a compromise. Among the possibilities the judge cited was painting the tower to help it blend in with its surroundings. Kleinhaus, who describes himself as a contester and a DXer wants to install a guyed 120-foot tower in a wooded area 250 feet back from the road and behind his house. Ironically, the town imposes no height restrictions on rooftop structures, provided they cover no more than 25% of the roof's surface area. (***** SUNNYVALE VEC SAYS REINSTATE ARRL TO QPC Gordon Girton, W6NLG who runs Northern California's Sunnyvale VEC says its time for the National Conference of Volunteer Examination Coordinators to end their feuding with the American Radio Relay League and get on with the work of administering the all volunteer testing program. In a March 29th media release, Girton says that the current three members of the Question Pool Committee, elected by unanimous vote at the '95 conference, were Ray Adams, N4BAQ as Chairman with Fred Maia, W5YI and Bart Jahnke, KB9NM of the ARRL as members. Girton notes that no alternate was named. Girton says that if he were to vote on the matter it would be to reinstate the ARRL's Jhanke as a Question Pool Committee member this weekend. It should be noted that the Sunnyvale VEC is one of a small number of Volunteer Examination Coordinators that elected not to join the NCVEC. The ARRL is currently at adds with the NCVEC over the termination of Bart Jhanke from the Question Pool Committee after the League declined to join the national conference group. (***** LEAGUE RESPONDS TO COMMENTS IN SPREAD SPECTRUM PETITION The ARRL says its petition to relax spread spectrum rules seeks to address a lack of experimentation by hams, not too spread -- spread spectrum. Responding to comments filed in response to its December rule making petition, RM-8737, the League emphasized that Amateur Radio -- as an experimental service -- requires flexible rules and some trust of the licensees carrying out experiments. Noting that some commenters called for tighter rules on Spread Spectrum operation, the League sought to dispel fears that relaxing the rules on spread spectrum would lead to an increase in the noise floor in bands used by narrowband modes. The League says that most opposing commenters ignore the fact that some amateur bands already are occupied by Part 15 spread spectrum devices. Also, that many already operate near ham stations. The League says that additional constraints would hinder hams from keeping up with spread spectrum developments and prevent maximizing spectrum efficiency. The ARRL believes that its petition suggests only a modest deregulatory effort. The League's Petition for Rule Making seeks relaxed restrictions on spreading sequences and greater flexibility in spreading modulation. The spread spectrum technique, which distributes information among several synchronized frequencies within a band at the transmitter and reassembles the information at the receiver. It first approved for Amateur Radio in 1985 for bands above 225 MHZ, and there has been some experimental amateur operation since then. The petition proposes that the FCC permit brief spread- spectrum test transmissions and allow international spread- spectrum communication between amateurs in the U.S. and those in countries that permit hams to use spread-spectrum techniques. The current rules allow only domestic communication. The petition also asks for automatic power control provisions to insure use of minimum necessary power to conduct spread-spectrum communication and limit the potential for interference to narrowband modes. The petition does not ask for any changes in frequency restrictions on Spread Spectrum emissions, the 100 watt power limit or logging and identification requirements. The League calls the proposals "the minimum necessary changes in order to foster Spread Spectrum technology in ham radio. Those opposed say that Spread Spectrum modulation will interfere with all other users of the bands in question. Weak signal enthusiasts fear that the ambient noise floor of the bands will be significantly raised. The loudest opposition is coming from repeater owners and their frequency coordinators. They say that the lower VHF bands are far to crowded to accept any new mode that has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of hams who rely on FM and repeaters for their day to day utility communications. (***** FUND REPORT He's back! The "he" in this case is our Support Fund Administrator Andy Jarema, N6TCQ. Here is Andy with the February report: We heard from the Mount Beacon Amateur Radio Club in Wappingers Falls, NY, the Connawa Amateur Radio Club, and W.C. and Elizabeth Hunter (K8BS and KA8MLP) of Charleston, WV, the Sugar Creek Repeater Assn. of Crawfordsville, IN, the Mid State Amateur Radio Club KB9LOC of Franklin, IN, and the Cincinnati Chapter OMEC Electronic Assn. We heard from Sey Field-KB9IKO of Park Forrest, IL, Jack Koole-KE8TJ of Portage, MI, and Jack I don't know how you could get a signal out living across the street from the KRLA antenna farm like that, Ken Covey-W0ZQJ of Moorhead, MN, the Amateur Radio Transmitting Society of Louisville, KY, and the Northwest Arkansas Amateur Radio Club in Fayetteville. Moving toward the west, we heard from the Enid Amateur Radio Club of Enid, OK, and Col. John Bash-KG7HL a regular contributor from Tucson, AZ. From California we heard from David Swann-KD6FJB of Santa Maria, the Contra Costa Repeater Assn. in the bay area, Janet Westerhold-WD6PGO of Vista, the Western Amateur Linking Assn. of Buena Park, Mattilin Fockens-KB6IS of Los Angeles, the West Side Amateur Radio Club of Marina Del Ray, Gerald Huling-K2OXH of Arcadia, Steven Han-KO6XT of Lakewood, and Mac Waugh-WA6VTV of Big Bear Lake. Finally a big Gordo Thank you to Gorden West- WB6NOA. Remember the clubs that support us, with the club name, repeater call and service area get a mention during the newscast id break. Listen for Andy again in about four weeks. (***** BILL BURDEN RECOVERING ARRL New England Division Director Bill Burden, WB1BRE, of Strafford, Vermont, is reported to be recovering nicely in the wake of a mild heart attack he suffered the weekend March 23rd. Director Burden was admitted to a hospital in Lebanon, New Hampshire, after complaining of chest pains. Following extensive tests he underwent a balloon angioplasty to relieve a blockage. The procedure was successful and Bill was back home Wednesday, March 27. Get well wishes go to WB1BRE at his Callbook address. (***** NEW REPEATER COUNCIL FORMED BY MERGER Two northeastern repeater coordinators have merged to form a single new coordination body. On February 1st, Pennsylvanias' TPARC Coordinating Committee merged with Southern New Jersey's ARCC repeater coordination group to form one new organization known as ARCC TPARC, Inc.. This ends a year of confusing circumstances in Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. The new organization's address is: ARCC TPARC, Inc. P.O. Box 3006 Maple Glen, PA 19002 (***** NEW UK HAM TESTS From overseas, word that ham radio tests are changing in the United Kingdom. The City and Guilds organization that oversees the Radio Amateurs' Examination says that the questions used will be revised in May of 1997. The revised exam will consist of a single multiple choice paper of 80 questions, with a duration of two and a quarter hours. This compares with the present two papers containing 100 questions, with a total duration of two and three quarter hours. (***** UK HF MEETING The RSGB High Frequency Contests Committee will be holding an all day meeting in mid-April in order to examine the thinking behind all current RSGB HF contests. This includes the mix of modes in the present range of contests. The committee would like the views of any RSGB member residing anywhere in the world. These will be discussed at the meeting. Input should be addressed to Chris Burbanks, G3SJJ, Chairman of the High Frequency Contest Committee. His address is good in the International Callbook. (***** 10 GHZ CUMULATIVE CONTEST EXPANDED Back at home, the ARRL Awards Committee has voted unanimously to accept a Contest Advisory Committee recommendation to add the bands above 10 GHz to the ARRL 10 GHz Cumulative Contest, to encourage use of the upper microwave bands. The 10 GHz cumulative run August 17th to the 18th and September 21st to the 22nd. In the past, entries have not been divided. Effective this year, however, there will be two entry categories, 10 GHz only and 10 GHz and above. Scoring is based on distance points and QSO points. Distance points are earned at the rate of 1 point for each kilometer of distance between stations for each successfully completed QSO. An additional 100 QSO points is awarded for each unique call sign worked per band. Portable indicators added to a call sign do not make the call sign unique. The total score is the sum of distance points and QSO points. There are no multipliers. (***** DXPEDITION SCORES TO COUNT IN CLUB COMPETITION Also, the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee and the ARRL Awards Committee have voted in favor of adding DXpedition scores to the club aggregate competition totals for active affiliated clubs in the ARRL International DX Contest, starting with the 1997 event. The current rule requiring that single guest operators and the station licensee be members of the same club, has been waived for DXpeditions only. The requirement that at least 66% of the operators in a multi-operator entry be members of the same club for the club's score to count, remains in effect, as do all other club-competition rules. (***** NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FIELD DAY QRP Field Day is April 27th and the Northern California QRP Club will be operating from the historical old ghost town of Riley, New Mexico. With the multitude of QRP stations, that will be in Riley the group will offer a special photo QSL Card. If You are interested in joining the Nor Cal QRP To The Field or want more details, send a SASE to WU7F at his callbook address. You can also find more information on the Internet from the QRP L Reflector. By the way, the town of Riley, New Mexico is best for the bandits that hid out in the nearby Ladrones Mountains. Legend has it that over $50,000.00 in loot is still buried in the nearby mountains and you can guess where the operators will be when they are not on the air! (***** VISALIA ANTENNA CONTEST W6KTT will be conducting another Mobile Antenna System "Shootout" On Saturday, April 20th, at the Visalia DX Convention. Test frequency will be 3995 kilohertz with an antenna height limit is 13.5' tip to ground. If you are going to attend the convention or plan to be in the area, join in on the fun, food and see how your mobile antenna system stacks up against some of the best systems in the country. (***** DX - SOUTH PACIFIC In DX, Ron Tivey, N4GFO, is aboard the US Navy vessel Frank Cable. He reports that he is in the South Pacific headed for Guam and operating maritime mobile. Ron plans to make various ports of call, but cannot say just where ahead of time because of Navy regulations. Listen for N4GFO maritime mobile on SSB through mid-April from 01:00 to 07:00 UTC on 14.222 and 14.175 MHZ. (***** HAM RADIO AND MORE Before leaving, we want to tell you that April 21st marks the fifth anniversary of the nationally syndicated Ham Radio and More Show, hosted by Len Winkler, KB7LPW. The program airs live on many stations Sundays at 6 PM Eastern and features weekly guests, listener call-ins, prizes, news and more. Shortwave station WWCR carries the show live on 5065 kHz. Our congratulations to our close friend Len Winkler, KB7LPW on this important milestone. (***** FREEMEN ON HAM RADIO And finally, the Spokane Washington Spokesman Review newspaper reports that two leaders of the Freemen militia were arrested because of ham radio. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that an undercover FBI agent posing as a ham radio antenna installer had gained the confidence of Freemen leaders. The Spokesmen Review says that the Freemen use ham radios to exchange information and messages. The newspaper says that they wanted to erect a radio antenna on the hilltop near the farm buildings where they have been holed up, the newspaper reported. An installation crew arrived Monday morning March 25th, spread the materials on a tarp on the ridge, and the undercover agent asked Schweitzer and Petersen to approve the tower location. When they arrived, the newspaper says that FBI agents swooped in with guns drawn and made the arrests. Only one problem with the Spokesman Review story. A check of the latest FCC ham radio database does not show any listing for either a LeRoy Schweitzer or Daniel Peterson in Montana. Then again, the Freemen militia does not recognize the authority of the United States government, so there is no reason to believe that any of its members are licensed hams. Which makes us wonder, if the Freemen are bootlegging on our ham bands, is there any reason to think that the FCC might want to get involved in their prosecution? After all, unlike the jamming of our repeaters, this one is a high profile case! (***** And for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at: NEWSLINE P.O.Box 660937 Arcadia, California 91066 For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF at our editors desk, we at Newsline say 73 and we thank you for listening. (* * Newsline is copyright 1996 & all rights are reserved. * --