HAM Radio 3/hamradioversion3.0examsandprograms1992.iso/news/yi890815/yi890815.txt

Text File | 1989-09-09 | 15KB | 288 lines

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 ::  T H E   W 5 Y I   R E P O R T  ::
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 ::      D i t s   &   B i t s      ::
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 ::      Vol 11 #16 --- 08/15/89    ::
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 ::    HamNet Electronic Edition    ::
 ::   CompuServe's  Ham/SWL Forum   ::
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Up to the minute news from the worlds of amateur radio, personal
computing and emerging electronics.  While no guarantee is made,
information is from  sources we believe to be reliable.  May be
reproduced providing credit is given to The W5YI Report.

This HamNet Electronic Edition is a limited excerpt from the full
published edition of The W5YI Report.  Selected and prepared by
Scott, W3VS.

Commercial redistribution of this copy is prohibited.

IMPORTANT Note: Some of the material included in The W5YI Report -
Electronic Edition may not be suitable for transmission via Amateur
Radio.


In this issue:

-    New FCC Coming On Board
-    News from Project DOVE

HamNet thanks Fred Maia, W5YI, for permission to excerpt this
Electronic Edition of his W5YI Report.  The full ten-page biweekly
newsletter is available by mail for $23 per year from Fred at Dept.
C, PO Box 565101, Dallas, TX 75356-5101. Samples available for a 2
stamp large SASE.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Do you have Amateur Radio news to contribute to The W5YI Report?  If
so,  please call [phone] and leave a message on Fred's
recorder!

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

o Changing of the Guard at FCC: The End of an Era

"The amateur radio service has never had any problem staying high on
the agenda at this commission.  Even those of us who are great
proponents of markets, understand that there are some values that
will not necessarily be accommodated in a free market...  What these
[amateur radio and public safety[ services have to do is come to the
commission and try to make the case that they cannot be thrown to
market forces, that the commission has to somehow accommodate their
needs and interests.  Now we will look at such requests with some
skepticism.  Regulated parties always want the FCC to give them
stuff, like spectrum, for free, rather than have to go and buy it.
The idea is you rely generally on markets, and you carefully identify
those cut-outs which will not be accommodated by the market, and then
you provide for them."  --- Outgoing FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick, in
his last press conference.

"I am aware of the concern expressed by the amateur community over
the FCC's [220 MHz] decision...  Since the amateur community provides
valuable public services, particularly in times of emergency, this
decision must have been an especially difficult one to make.  NTIA,
in consultation with the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee,
supported the Commission's proposal to reallocate the 220-222 MHz
band to the land mobile service.  It was NTIA's view that this
reallocation would facilitate the development of narrowband
technologies and would provide additional spectrum resources to
support commercial operations.  I am aware of no reason to think that
the Commission decision was erroneous."  --- Incoming FCC Chairman-
designate Alfred Sikes, in his first official statement before the
Senate Commerce Committee

On Wednesday, August 2, Dennis Patrick said his farewells and exited
the FCC after service the agency for the last six years ...four as
its chairman.  As the commission's chief spokesman and pacesetter,
Patrick delighted the broadcast industry with his aggressive
deregulatory policies and agitated consumer groups by changing the
economics of telephone service.

He granted frequency coordination monopolies to powerful trade
associations, and then reversed the policy after bitter protests from
mobile radio dealers.  He supervised the reallocation of amateur
spectrum, the rewrite of Part 97 and the establishment of new ham
bands.

Patrick's successor, Alfred Sikes of Missouri, may well be confirmed
by the full Senate by the time you read this.  Sikes, a former
broadcaster and administrator of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, endured a grueling four hour confirmation
hearing in the Senate on July 31.  At the hearing, Democratic
senators repeatedly coaxed Sikes and fellow nominees Sherrie Marshall
and Andrew Barrett to distance themselves from the policies of the
Patrick FCC.  They generally refused to do so, but won the Commerce
committee vote anyway.

Although Sikes addressed Amateur Radio in his prepared statement, the
key topic of the hearing was sex and violence on radio and television
- and what, if anything, the three commissioners-to-be were going to
do about it.

Nominee Andrew Barrett noted that sex and violence are on TV and
radio because "there is a market for it.  We always have to keep that
in mind."

Barrett's statement infuriated members of the committee.  Sen. Al
Gore (D-TN) launched the most intense oration of the hearing.  He
recounted a recent broadcast of a tape containing sounds of the
murder of a mother and daughter.  According to Gore, it was broadcast
as entertainment.  He noted that the FCC has the power to destroy
unauthorized stations: "If somebody else tried to broadcast on the
frequency used by that businessman, you will, if necessary, dynamite
the tower.  And there's a market for what that broadcaster's putting
on.  It's becoming more and more common because there's a market for
it. ...I'm not saying this for effect of news coverage.  I'm telling
you straight from my heart as the parent of four children: I'm sick
and tired of it, and I believe that parents all across this country
are tired of it.  They know that there's a way to [regulate
broadcasting] that's consistent with our values and traditions."

"The American people want to see an FCC that enforces the law and the
public interest standard.  Children are part of the public.  And
whether it's explicit or violent, you can attract their attention and
get more of the market because there's a market for it.  Is it going
to be more of the same or not?" Gore demanded.

Sikes replied that as the owner of a rock radio station, he
instructed his manager to remove "vulgar lyrics" from the station's
programming.  He said he declined to subscribe to MTV or HBO cable
channels because he didn't want to expose his teenage daughters to
the channels.  He endorsed FCC action to stop programs if they are
"obscene" but not if they are "indecent", prefering that broadcasters
voluntarily discontinue indecent material.  He did not address the
programming of violence such as the murder tape.  Sikes said that
Supreme Court decisions preempt much broadcast content regulation.

Gore disagreed.  "It's not all the Supreme Court.  The FCC has a lot
of power, a lot of latitude, a lot of jurisdiction.  Your predecessor
decided not to exercise that jurisdiction because there's a market
for indecency and explicitness.  And because broadcasters have a
right to make as much money as they can doing it, and if the public
doesn't like it they can watch Nintendo instead."

Barrett said he thought that anyone using the public airwaves has a
higher responsibility, but he didn't know what standards the FCC had
for programs.  Marshall believed that the FCC had for programs.
Marshall believed that the FCC should find some way to regulate
"parts of this area" but that the courts keep striking down such
regulations.

One senator claimed that recent Federal court decisions do affirm the
FCC's power to enforce rules against indecency, and in fact they
allow the FCC to fight "broader" programming that goes beyond the
narrow definition of obscenity.  He noted that the current FCC chose
not to use that power.  He asked each nominee if they would enforce
these rules.  Each one said, simply, "Yes."

Sen. Bob Packwood (R-OR) suggested that the advance of technology has
eliminated the need for FCC regulation in many cases.  On the other
hand, committee chairman Ernest Hollings (D-SC) said that technology
created the need for regulation.  "The technology [of broadcasting]
was so abundant that the industry pleaded for regulation -- there was
jamming, interference, no one could hear anybody else.

"We had to bring order out of chaos, and that created the
Communications Act of 1934.  So we have the rules, regulations and
the laws against obscene broadcasts.  But that ragamuffin commission
that preceeded you said, 'Oh well, you can get obscene from midnight
to four in the morning.'  Garbage is garbage regardless of time of
day.  So Congress passed legislation to forbid obscenity over the 24-
hour period."

Hollings said the FCC's policies of "deregulate, deregulate,
deregulate" are destroying legitimate broadcasters, discouraging
minority ownership of stations and reducing the quality of
programming for children.

The hearing was followed by a panel of ministers and attorneys from
religious and 'pro-family' organizations.  The current FCC and the
three nominees did not fare well before these groups.  The Religious
Roundtable said that when leaders learn of the "years of misdirection
of the FCC under [previous chairmen] Mark Fowler and Dennis Patrick
... they will react in moral outrage."  Sikes was seen by several of
the groups, and by members of the Commerce committee, as a
continuation of the Fowler/Patrick chairmanship.

The Family Research Council said it is "frankly upset that the
nominees for the FCC vacancies were chosen with absolutely no regard
for our concerns.  Our interest in the FCC issue was well known, yet
we were completely excluded from the process.  We were not even
afforded the courtesy of an explanation ... it cannot escape our
notice that the members of this committee have been more hospitable
to our concerns than the administration that was put in place by the
votes of our constituents."

Most of the groups asked the committee to reject the nomination of
Sikes for FCC chairman.  The efforts failed; the Commerce committee
voted to confirm all three nominees.  If the hearing witnesses were
opposed to the current FCC, at least Patrick had friends among his
fellow commissioners and staff.

FCC staff hosted a going-away party for Patrick, which featured a
humorous videotape "roast" of the chairman and his career at the FCC.
The program made fun of his high school report cards, his trademark
California hairstyle and his enthusiasm for surfing and rock music.

TV celebrities appearing on the video included Night Court's Harry
Anderson, who instructed Patrick in how to use the gavel as a macho
symbol;  Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart who urged Patrick to
replace co-host John Tesh and to tell he "all about cellular
telephones," and Pat Sajak of Wheel of Fortune.

Sajak claimed responsibility for thinking up most of the important
objectives of the FCC.  He revealed that Patrick's only
accomplishments were "getting free cable TV for commissioners, and
appointing a blue ribbon committee to investigate why the little dot
in the middle of the TV screen stays on after you turn off the set."

Much was made of Patrick's often rocky relationship with a Congress
upset over the FCC's broadcast, telephone and spectrum policies.  In
one skit, an angry Congress cuts the FCC's electric power, forcing
commissioners to have meetings by candlelight.  The announcement of
Patrick's resignation inspires Congress to turn the lights back on.


o News from Project Dove
  ----------------------

Thanks to DOVE education director Richard C. Ensign/N8IWJ we have the
latest on the preparations for the Nov. 10 launch of the DOVE
Microsat.

Bob McGwier/N4HY is designing the satellite's speech software and
components.  After overcoming some initial problems in the circuit
design using the Votrax SC-02 speech chip, DOVE first spoke on July
12.

In addition to telemetry, packet data and bulletins, DOVE will
retransmit digitized messages of peace from children around the
world.  This is called Language Arts Project (LAP) 1.  The messages
are uploaded by command stations.  N4HY reports that digitizing
children's voices presents some problems.  There are high frequency
components in kids' voices that the digitizing process might not
catch.  To make the speech clearer, sampling rates may be increased.
This means that more data must be uploaded by ground stations into
the satellite for a given talk time.  With only 5-7 minutes of good
upload time per pass, command stations will be very busy uploading
LAP 1 messages.  To reduce pressure on the stations, AMSAT decided to
have DOVE speak one, or at most two, messages per week.

The deadline for schools to submit LAP 1 messages has been extended
to the launch date: Nov. 10, 1989.  Unfortunately, some schools are
sending tapes that do not meet criteria.  Via packet, contact N8IWJ @
WA8OOJ (Livonia MI) or via mail at 421 N. Military, Dearborn, MI
48124 for information.

Remaining tasks include populating flight circuit boards with
components, spacecraft integration and vacuum chamber testing to
simulate launch and space conditions.  With all tests passed, DOVE
and its companion Microsats will be transferred to the South American
Atlantic coast for launch from Kourou, French Guiana.

Dove will transmit on 145.825 MHz (changed from previous frequency)
with an ID-Bulletin-Telemetru-Packet sequence.  The ID will be in FM
voice speaking the time, altitude and coordinates of the satellite.
Voice bulletins will include QSL address, tracking information and
LAP 1 message.  Telemetry may include parameters such as temperature
and battery status.  Unlike other satellites which required decoding
and application of formulas, DOVE will speak these readings in real
time in their actual values ("Battery 11.6 volts").  Finally, a 30
second or so packet transmission may include specific school
bulletins and more detailed telemetry.

N8IWJ can provide an excellent school administrator's letter that
explains DOVE and its many applications in the educational
environment.  It's a good "foot-in-the-door" for hams who want to
help out the program in their local areas.  To date, schools in 42
states and 17 foreign countries have gotten involved.

[End this issue]