SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.982 Amateur Radio Newsline #982 09 JUN 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. Reformated to save lines. [Transscription note: in Newsline 981 there was a typo listing ARRL President Stafford's call as KB6ZU. The correct call is KB6ZV. Sorry about that. The eyes must be the first to go... Dale - WD0AKO ] NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #982 - 06/10/96 (*************************************************) (* *) (* A M A T E U R *) (* *) (* R A D I O *) (* *) (* N E W S L I N E *) (* *) (*************************************************) 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. 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For further information about the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, please write to us with an S.A.S.E. at: NEWSLINE c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ P.O.Box 660937 Arcadia, CA 91066 Thank You, NEWSLINE (************************************************** Some of the hams of AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE: WA6ITF WB6MQV WB6FDF K6DUE W6RCL N6AHU N6AWE N6TCQ K6PGX N6PNY KU8R N8DTN W9JUV KC9RP K9XI KB4KCH KC5UD KC0HF G8AUU WD0AKO DJ0QN and many others in the United States and around the globe!!! (************************************************** [982] The following is a closed circuit advisory. According to our support fund administrator Andy Jarema, Newsline is once again in need of funds to continue operation over the summer months. As most of you know, the majority of donations go directly toward paying our monthly phone bills and electronic mail services. This is how we get the news, and it is how we deliver it to you. If we loose the telephone, the E-Mail or both, we will have no way to get the news and no way to disseminate it to you. Simply said, we need the assistance of every listener who appreciates Newsline to help to keep it on the air. The Newsline Support Fund is separate from the service itself and exists for the purpose of channeling donations directly to the those providing services to the Newsline organization. The address is the Newsline Support Fund is: Newsline c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ P.O.Box 660937 Arcadia, California 91066 That ends this weeks closed circuit advisory with Newsline Report number 982, for release on Friday, June 7, 1996 to follow. (***** The following is a QST A ham radio protection bill dies in Wisconsin and a well known magazine learns not to say bad things about ham radio. These stories and more on Newsline report number 982 coming your way right now. (***** WISCONSIN PRB-1 BILL DEAD FOR NOW A busy legislative agenda and political infighting are being blamed for the failure of a bill in the Wisconsin legislature that would have gone further than PRB-1 in limiting local control over Amateur Radio antennas. SB-544 had state Senate approval. Supporters had hoped to get approval of the state Assembly during a brief special session, but it never made it to the floor. According to Gary Schwartz, K9GS, who tracked the proposed legislation, the bill would have prevented localities from restricting ham radio towers on the basis of height or aesthetics, unless there was a specific health or safety concern. The bill also would have kept localities from enacting laws affecting placement, screening or height of Amateur Radio antennas if the ordinance or resolution is based solely on aesthetic considerations. SB-544 was modeled after existing provisions of Wisconsin law that restrict localities from regulating certain satellite TV antennas. Supporters have vowed to try again next year. (***** MORE ABOUT 2 METER & 70 CM FREQUENCY GRAB Radio amateurs continue to respond en masse to an unprecedented proposal hams say could be catastrophic to the amateur radio service. The call to action comes over an Informal Working Group's refusal to remove the 2 meter and 70 centimeter ham bands from a list of frequencies being considered for shared access with a commercial mobile satellite service. "This is a fight that we intend to win." K1ZZ David Sumner, K1ZZ, is Executive Vice President of the American Radio Relay League. "We would like to think that the industry would understand that these bands simply aren't available for commercial use. Unfortunately that message hasn't sunk through yet. So at this stage I have to characterize it as a real threat." K1ZZ The Working Group's efforts are part of preparations for the World Radio Conference '97. One of the items on the Conference Agenda is to find additional frequency allocations for so called Little LEO's, or low earth orbiting satellites. Warren Richards is Chairman of the Working Group. "We do not have in mind to take spectrum away from radio amateurs service. That is not in the cards." Richards Richards sez amateurs have the wrong picture about the Committee's assigned task. "There are no limitations on the charge that was given to us by the FCC, it was look under 1 Gigahertz. And from a practical matter, we have to look above 100 Megahertz otherwise the allocation is not as useful to the mobile satellite service. So we are looking at all the spectrum below 1 Gigahertz." Richards Richards' group is studying possible bands for sharing with the satellite service, with recommendations to be turned over to the FCC by November 15th. "And maybe the study is gonna say this is absolutely foolish. Fine. Maybe the study sez under certain conditions, if you have a ground station with, and you limit the radiation to above a certain elevation angle, that you can protect the amateur service. I don't know what the studies are gonna say." Richards Satellite service proponents say they need 10 more MegaHertz of spectrum. When the Working Group included the amateur 2 meter and 70 centimeter ham bands on its proposed list of candidate bands for sharing, the League asked for assurances that the bands would be stricken from the list. When the Working Group did not provide that assurance, the League issued its call to action. Again, the League's David Sumner: "I think that they believe that their technology can coexist with what they understand we do in the bands. And so, in the sense that their understanding of what we do in the bands is maybe a little short of reality, I think that it's that, the problem is simply a lack of understanding." K1ZZ Many hams are worried about the possible impact shared access could have on their emergency communications efforts. Sumner sez those concerns are justified: "I don't see how we could satisfy our public interest, the operating requirements without having access to these two bands." K1ZZ Sumner is asking hams to send written or FAXed messages to members of the Working Group. And that's just what they've been doing. Warren Richards sez he has received about 600 Email and FAX messages in less than a week. The League's David Sumner calls that response extraordinary. "What the little LEO folks have in mind is not necessarily our losing access to the band, but it, they have yet to demonstrate our continued use, in the way that we use the bands, would be consistent with their proposed use." K1ZZ The Working Group's Warren Richards is asking hams for patience: "I could understand why people are upset if they sense they are going to be losing spectrum, but that is not the case. We ask them to give us time. That, these things that they are concerned about, causing interference to their service we'll bear that out in our studies and it, if we can demonstrate that we can share spectrum with them without having an impact on your service, then I think we should be able to go ahead and do that. But right now, I don't know what the outcome of our studies are gonna be." Richards Sumner sez this is not a time for hams to panic, but rather, to send thoughtful, civil messages to the Working Group. And, he sez, the ARRL is ready to do whatever it takes to keep amateur radio's two most heavily used bands strictly for hams. The facts, he sez, quote, "are on our side." (***** QUESTION POOL COMMITTEE AGAIN FUNCTIONAL A seven month old problem that had threatened to disrupt the Amateur Radio volunteer examiner program has been resolved. According to the American Radio Relay League, back in September 1995, a newly formed corporation called the NCVEC Inc, attempted to exert control over the Question Pool Committee, a charged vehemently denied by the NCVEC. The Question Pool Committee had been formed some years earlier by the organizations that have entered into agreements with the FCC to serve as Volunteer Examiner Coordinators. The League balked at the establishment of the new group and told the NCVEC that it would not join. ARRL Volunteer Examiner Department Manager Bart Jahnke, KB9NM, was then dismissed from the committee. Efforts by the ARRL to gain his reinstatement were not successful until early April. That's when the FCC ordered the NCVEC to put the ARRL back on the QPC. Where there have been some reports of strained relations between the League and the NCVEC, this does not seem to be impacting on the work of the Question Pool Committee. Reports are that its members have been working in to resolve issues concerning decisions taken by the QPC in the seven month period during which it was operating without ARRL participation. Those issues have now been resolved to the satisfaction of all participants. (***** FCC LICENSE FIGURES According to FCC figures, the numbers of new hams and of hams who have changed their class of license is up compared to the last half of 1995. New hams for the months of January, March and April have each totaled more than 3000, and upgrades have topped 1200. In February, new hams numbered 2109, and there were 980 upgrades. During the last half of 1995, which included the Federal government furlough the last half of December, the number of new hams averaged 2137 per month, while upgrades averaged 811 per month. (***** NEW CALL SIGN BLOCKS ISSUED FOR PUERTO RICO New calls signs are being issued for Puerto Rico. On Monday, May 7th, the FCC began issuing call signs in Puerto Rico from one of the new NP3 blocks. For some time now, hams have been waiting for the FCC to begin issuing new call sign prefixes blocks for areas in the Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii that are running low on, or are already are out of available call signs for higher class licensees. (***** FCC ISLE OFFICE CLOSES The Honolulu office of the Federal Communications Commission has closed due to reorganization. Calls and correspondence are being referred to the: FCC - San Francisco office 3777 Depot Road, Room 420 Hayward, California 94545 (***** FREEMEN ON 40 The Freemen are still using ham radio from their Montana compound. KC7PAW says via packet that he was checking out 40 meters and came across one of the Freemen broadcasting at 7.175 MHz. Jim says that he taped several different people ranting and raving about the Government. (***** 20 METER INTRUDER G0VUH says to be on the lookout for an intruder into the 20 meter band. Andy says to be on the lookout for a commercial music station of Spanish origin on 14.290. The station was first monitored at 08:00 UTC on April 26th. (***** JAS-2 LAUNCH SET JJ1WTK reports that the next Japanese ham satellite, JAS-2 is now scheduled to be launched in August. It was granted a preliminary license in March, with the call sign 8J1JCS. (***** TECHSAT B LAUNCH SET The Israelis have announced that July 28, 1997 is the date for the launch of the Techsat-B ham radio satellite. According to 4X1AS, the bird will carry the same payload as the ill fated Techsat-A that was destroyed in a launch mishap last year. (***** LUCID TO DAUGHTER QSO NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid has been using R0MIR with permission of the Mir commander to talk to her daughter Shandara Richeson, KC5UAR, and son-in-law Jeff Richeson, KC5UAQ. Both recently received their ham radio licenses and Shandara actually talked to her mom while mobile in Houston, much to her mother's surprise. (***** NEW UK LF BAND From overseas, the United Kingdom's Radiocommunications Agency has announced the opening of a new very low frequency band for British radio amateurs. The allocation is in the Low Frequency part of the spectrum and runs from 71.6 to 74.4 kilohertz. This new '73 kHz' band is available to any holder of the British Class A Amateur Radio License who wants to investigate LF propagation, including transmission to underground caves. Power limit is a tiny one watt ERP using any mode from the home station location only. No mobile or maritime mobile operation is permitted, and use of a Temporary Location requires seven days notice to the District office of the Radio Investigation Service. (***** PACKET SLIM F5SLQ says from France that packet operators should be aware that AP1BOX is not a Pakistani ham. Rather he is a CB operator in the Netherlands who has gained access to the ham radio packet airwaves. Laurent says that the best way to stop him is for SySops to simply refuse to forward any bulletins or mail with the call sign AP1BOX. (***** 6 METER CONTEST From the contest calender, word that N9PBA will be operating mobile in grid square EN-67 during the 50 MHz Smirk contest this June 15th and 16th. He will be in the upper peninsula of Michigan for the entire contest. (***** DX In DX, it looks as if 6 meters may turn out to be the band of choice in 1996. JX9DFA reports via the VHF Reflector that he recently took part in a good opening into Western-Europe. Running only 10 watts from his FT767 into a 5 element beam, he was heard working stacks of Gs and GMs on SSB and CW on 50.110. He also heard and worked in ON, OZed and PA. And WA1OUB reports that his first transatlantic 50 MHz E skip QSO was with EH8PX who went into the log at 21:19 UTC on May the 20th. Signals peaked over S9 both ways on SSB. (***** YOUNG HAM of the YEAR REMINDER A reminder that the nominating period for 1996 "Young Ham of the Year Award" closes on June 30th. That's only three weeks away. This years winner will receive an expense paid trip to the Huntsville Hamfest the weekend of August 17 and 18 courtesy of Yaesu USA Corporation. The winner will also get to spend a week in Spacecamp Huntsville as a guest of CQ Magazine. All nominations must be submitted before June 30, 1996 on an official application. Application forms are available by sending a self addressed stamped envelope mailed to the: Young Ham of the Year Award c/o Newsline 28197 Robin Avenue Saugus, California 91350 These nominating applications are also available for electronic download from several sites that provide Newsline materials over the World Wide Web and from the general interest ham radio files area on GEnie and America Online. (***** TOO MUCH E-MAIL And finally the story of two little girls who decided to use the Internet as a school Science Fair project. The two fifth graders are known only as Stevie and Amanda and they attend the Phillipston Massachusetts Memorial School. To find out just how vast the Internet is, the girls sent two e-mail letters locally to kick off their project. One letter to an uncle and the other to a teacher back on April 15. Within five days they received 50,000 replies, prompting a parent to change their e-mail address and call that portion of the project closed. Since then the school has received reports from around the world ranging from praise to utter frustration -- as you can imagine -- culminating with a report from Australia describing an "overloading" of one Internet providers system. So how did Stevie and Amanda do on the Science Fair? Judging took place Tuesday, May 14th but the two girls received only an Honorable Mention. The winning entry was a young student who disassembled a PC, labeled all the parts and explained the function of each. He may know how a computer functions, but its Stevie and Amanda who have made thousands of new friends, worldwide. You figure out who the real winners are. (***** 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. * * *