The Arsenal Files 6/The Arsenal Files 6 (Arsenal Computer).ISO/ham/news0129.zip/NEWS0129.TXT

Text File | 1996-02-16 | 24KB | 513 lines

SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.963
Amateur Radio Newsline #963 29 JAN 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 [e-mail] or netmail
Steve Coletti @ 1:278/230 on Fidonet.

Sorry, we're late due to work comittments this week.  We don't have time to
correct the format errors either.

NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #963 - POSTED 01/29/96

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   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 distrib- uted
via telephone.
   This hardcopy version is produced by Dale Cary - WD0AKO from
scripts provided to him weekly by Newsline.  It is then distrib-
uted 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: [e-mail]
                 MCI E-mail: WESTRADIO
                      Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
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   Hardcopy comments or complements can be directed to:

                 Dale Cary, WD0AKO
                 Hardcopy Distribution for Newsline

            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
                 MCI E-mail: DCARY
                      Phone: [phone]


   The audio version of Newsline can be recorded from one of the
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contact Dale Cary - WD0AKO at the above listed addresses.


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             Electronic Hardcopy Version of Newsline
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       In bulletin number 6 of the ham radio conference
     America Online.........................
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                                             Thank You,
                                             NEWSLINE

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Some of the hams of AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE:

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[964]

(* * * * *    C L O S E D   C I R C U I T   A D V I S O R Y    * * * *
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  * (*      The following is an important closed circuit advisory.
    * (*   Attention all bulletin stations.  Newsline is once again on
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                                               *  (*      This ends
the closed circuit with Newsline report number 963   * (*   for
release on Friday, January 26th, 1996 to follow.              * (*
                                                                * (* *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                         The following is a QST

   The FCC giveth and the FCC taketh away once again.  Also, the FCC
plays catch-up on ham licensing and who is in and who is out in the
ARRL's top leadership.  Find out on an expanded Newsline report number
963 coming your way right now!

(*****
            FCC PROPOSES TO SUSPEND AMATEUR USE OF 76-77 GHZ

   The FCC says that it wants to strip Amateur Radio from temporary
   use
of one of its microwave bands to permit further experimentation with
vehicle locating systems.  In a Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
in ET Docket 94-124, issued just before the Federal shutdown in
mid-December, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed
amending Part 97 of its rules to temporarily disallow amateur use of
the 76-77 GHz band," which the FCC hopes to open for commercial
development along with other "millimeter wave" frequency bands above
40 GHz.
   The band in question is part of the 75.5 to 81 GHz allocation,
   which
the amateur and amateur satellite services share with other users on a
primary basis from 75.5-76 GHz, and on a secondary basis from 76-81
GHz.  The primary allocation of 76-81 GHz is assigned to
radiolocation, including radar.  The commission says the change will
permit development of Part 15 vehicle radar systems in the 76-77 GHz
band that could be used in conjunction with Intelligent Transportation
Systems.  The FCC says that restricting amateur use of 76-77 GHz will
prevent potential interference to these developing systems.
   The NPRM says the temporary restriction could be relaxed if it can
   be
shown that other in-band transmissions would not compromise vehicle
radar system safety or if sharing guidelines can be worked out.  The
FCC says it will revisit the issue within five years.
   At the same time, the FCC has also acted to balance any perceived
harm to amateur operators as mandated under federal law.  It proposes
to upgrade amateur status in the 77.5-78 GHz band from secondary to
co-primary with government and non-government radiolocation services.
This, the FCC says, will ensure that amateur access to spectrum near
77 GHz is maintained without the threat of preemption by higher
priority services.

(*****
                           FCC LICENSE CATCH-UP

   The Federal Communications Commission reports it is making good
progress on processing a backlog of more than 2800 ham radio license
applications filed electronically after it re-opened following the
latest government shutdown.  The commission was back on the job again
January 16, in the wake of the month-long shutdown begun by the budget
impasse and extended by bad weather and a Federal holiday after it
first reopened for a day January on 11th.  A spokesman said the FCC
expects to be up to date with electronically filed applications for
new and updated licenses by the time this newscast goes to air.

(*****
                             ARRL ELECTIONS

   Rod Stafford, KB6ZV of San Jose, California has been elected as
President of the American Radio Relay League by a vote of the
organizations Board of Directors.  Stafford has been serving as ARRL
president since last summer when former president George Wilson,
W4OYI, stepped down to concentrate on rehabilitation from a severe
stroke suffered in February of last year.
   The decision to elect Stafford for a full term as ARRL President is

seen as a major vote of confidence in his ability to lead the League
and the United States Amateur Radio Service toward the next century.
   The board of directors also elected Directors Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC
as 3rd Vice President, Joel Harrison, WB5IGF, as 2nd Vice President
and Steve Mendelsohn, WA2DHF to the 1st Vice Presidents post.

(*****
                           NO MORE LOCAL COURTS

   A group of hams who say that they are fed up with lawyers using
civil courts to litigate ham radio disputes are demanding that the FCC
declare all such activities legally invalid.  The Committee For
Federal Preemption of Civil Ham Radio Litigation says that it wants
the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling that bars states, cities and
other municipalities form hearing cases that in any way involve ham
radio communications.
   The Albany, Georgia based group points to ham versus ham cases in
California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey as the basis for its
decision to act.  It says that it will file a formal request to the
FCC within the next week asking that the statement of federal
preemption be issued.
   The committee is also setting up a home page on the World Wide Web
   to
accept what it calls, valid complaints against lawyers who advise hams
to sue other hams in civil court.  These they say will be referred as
formal complaints to the bar associations of the states in which
attorneys seeking these cases have their practice.

(*****
           ATTORNEY-HAM CITES OHIO ARREST AS POSSIBLE WARNING

   Speaking of hams who are lawyers, one who appears to be giving good

advice is Ron Pretekin, AB8K, of Dayton, Ohio.  In the wake of the
December arrest of a Moraine, Ohio, CBer for causing TVI at his
neighbor's apartment, Ron says that hams should take note of what such
problems ultimately can lead to.
   According to the new electronic edition of the ARRL Letter,
Pretekin points to an article in the Dayton Daily News describing the
circumstances under which the CBer, Steven Holbrook, wound up in jail
on a third-degree felony charge.  According to the report, Holbrook
and the neighbor had feuded over the problem for several months.  His
arrest came after the neighbor tape-recorded Holbrook's CB chatter as
it came over his TV.  The newspaper said the conversation included
profanity and threats against the neighbor.
   As previously reported, if convicted, Holbrook faces a maximum
   $5000
fine and 10 years in jail.

(*****
                            RF PROOF CLOTHING

   Jim Sullivan, N7TCF reports via the VHF Reflector that a company
called ShieldWorks is selling rf-proof clothing, mainly the
microwaves. Some of the claims may be borderline, but Jim says that
apparently this company has provided such clothing to the military and
radio industry.
   Jim adds that you can find more information about ShieldWorks by
taking to the word-wide-web adding that he is passing this information
along because of what he calls the unfounded fear that RF could
seriously impact on the fun side of Amateur Radio.

(*****
                        JOSEPH MERDLER N6AHU, S.K.

   Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF:

   "For me, the most difficult part of my job is to write the epitaph
of a member of our community who has gone to his or her final reward.
It's far harder when the person I am writing about happens to be
someone I have been close friend of for over two decades.  This is one
of those cases.  I will do my best.
   On Wednesday, January 17th, former Newsline legal reporter Joseph
Merdler, N6AHU, died of an apparent heart attack at his home in North
Hollywood, California.  Joe was a lawyer by profession and was part of
the Newsline family almost since its inception in the 1976.  This,
when we were still known as the Westlink Radio Network.
   Joe came to national prominence in the late 70's and early 80's for

his work in combating malicious interference and the use of vile
language on our bands through political action.  He even traveled to
Washington to teach the American Radio Relay League how to deal with
the legislators on Capitol Hill.  And in 1980, the Dayton Amateur
Radio Association recognized his accomplishments by honoring him with
its Special Achievement Award.
   Joe was hard at work and taking his anti malicious interference
message nationwide when he suffered his first heart attack in the
mid-1980's.  His doctors told him that he would have to cut back and
change his life style if he wanted to live.  He took their advice, to
some degree, but there was no way for him to walk completely away from
his chosen responsibilities.  He often told me that to do so would be
like not living at all.
   So Joe cut back on the number of hours that he worked.  He lost
weight and even put ham radio politics somewhat on the back burner.
   But Joe's health continued to fail.  Even so, he still attended the

1991 Dayton Hamvention.  He loved the Hamvention and the people of
Dayton, but immediately following the close of the Hamvention '91, Joe
admitted himself to the Cleveland Clinic for evaluation.  It was a
move that literally saved his life.
   The Cardiac Care specialists found that Joe had developed an
aneurysm on his heart that was ready to burst.  They operated and it
was a partial success.  His life was spared for the moment, but we all
knew that he was living on borrowed time.
   I guess that knowing that your time on earth is limited does change

you.  It did Joe.  He came home from Cleveland a quieter and more
loving person.  Not somber.  Quite the opposite.  He relished every
moment of every day and his dedication to his friends and family, and
even to ham radio, was totally renewed.
   I wish I had the time to tell you of all of Joe's accomplishments.

I don't.  But I do want to share the reason that Joe was so driven in
his war against the purveyors of dirty words on our ham radio
airwaves.  It was a small incident that took place in 1978.
   He was in his car with his then young daughter and turned on his
   two
meter radio.  Immediately out of the speaker came forth a savage
tirade of foul language that was without doubt legally obscene.  He
told me that his daughter looked at him and asked: "Dad, is this what
your ham radio is all about?"  From that day, until the day he died,
Joe Merdler, N6AHU devoted his ham radio life to fostering decency on
the air.
   I guess that it is apropos that in the last conversation that Joe
and I had, I was able to tell him about a Supreme Court decision that
upheld the FCC's ban on the broadcast of indecent language.  A
decision that we both saw as opening the door to renewed enforcement
of laws barring legally indecent languages in all services.  Perhaps
even on the ham bands.
   And maybe that is what this epitaph is really all about.  The
   simple
story of a decent man who devoted much of his adult life to making our
hobby of amateur radio a decent place where kids of all ages can play.
 That by itself is well worth remembering.
   A long time ago, Joe made me promise that if I ever had to write an

obituary about him, that it would not be maudlin.  He wanted it to be
up beat, and hopefully, I have lived up to that request.
   Joe was 60 years old and had just bought his airline tickets for
   his
annual trip to the Hamvention.  But god called him to come home
instead.  He is survived by his wife Margot, N6QFU, by his thousands
of friends around the world and by this writer whose life he touched
in an almost magical way.
   73 Joe.  I will never forget you."

   This reporter joins with Bill and the rest of the ham radio
   community
in offering our condolences to Joe's family.

(*****
                              DARE BENEFIT

   The third annual Ham Radio and Computer Flea Market to benefit
Lancaster, New Hampshires' North County DARE Program takes place on
Sunday, March 2nd.  Sponsored jointly by the Twin Mountain Amateur
Radio Club and Littleton Amateur Radio Club, the event will be held at
the Twin Mountain Town Hall.  For more information please contact
Richard Force WB1ASL at his callbook address.

(*****
                         MIR HAM STATION FAILURE

   If you are wondering about the lack of ham radio activity from the
Russian Mir space station, Dr. Thomas Reiter DF4TR has some answers.
Dr. Reiter is aboard the Mir orbital complex and says that the power
supply used for some of the Amateur radio equipment on Mir has failed.
 An old power supply has been installed, but it is only capable of
handling the old Icom transceiver and one TNC.
   Dr. Reiter says that the Digital Voice Module has also failed.
Because of this, there will be no more automatic voice recordings in
the near future.  And if that was not enough, all four fuses in the
two connected transceivers blew, and only two spare fuses are left to
run the remaining gear.

(*****
                           SURF-SAT LAUNCHED

   An experimental satellite that has a lot of interest in it by radio

amateurs is on the air from space.  Its called Surfsat One.

   A satellite payload designed and built by college students has been

successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California,
aboard a NASA launch vehicle.  Now in orbit 746 miles above Earth,
Surfsat-1 rode piggy-back on the upper stage launch vehicle for
Radarsat, a Canadian satellite.
   Surfsat carries low power radio transmitters which send in three
microwave bands to NASA tracking stations.  It will be used for deep
space communication research and development, and also will be used to
test a new set of Earth orbit tracking stations.
   The student project was initiated at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in 1987 as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research
Fellowship program of the California Institute of Technology.

   While Surfsat is not a ham radio satellite it has drawn a lot of
interest from radio amateurs because of the educational nature of the
project.

(*****
                      SOUTH AFRICAN BULLETIN SERVICE

   From overseas, word that the South African Radio League invites all

the worlds radio amateurs to listen to their ham radio bulletin
program known as Amateur Radio Mirror International.  The 55 minute
weekly program is filled with up to date ham radio news from the
African continent along with interviews, technical features and lots
of ham radio related talk.
   Amateur Radio Mirror International is broadcast every Sunday at
10:00 hours and Monday at 2000 hours South Africa Standard Time on
7.205 MHz and on Mondays at 2000 hours South African Standard Time.
It's also simulcast on Mondays at 20:00 hours on 3.215 MHz as well
   These transmissions are sponsored by Sentech which is the common
carrier group for broadcasting in South Africa along with support from
South Africa Telecom which provides transmission lines for the
service.

(*****
                               ZL BEACON

   And the VHF Reflector reports that New Zealand's ZB2VHF beacon is
temporarily off air for an overhaul.  When work is complete it will be
relocated at a new site.  Its owner, Jimmy Bruzon, ZB2BL says he will
notify everyone when it is returned to service.

(*****
                                   DX

   In DX, word that the mid-winter 6 meter DX openings are continuing
and they are not limited to the northern hemisphere.  Reports from
Australia tell of extended 50 Mhz propagation on January 13th with
stations from all Australian States plus the Australian Capital
Territory have been heard and worked in New Zealand.  Australians also
report hearing Japanese stations but as of yet, nothing from the
United States.

(*****
                      YHOTY '96 NOMINATIONS SOUGHT

   A reminder that the nominating period for 1996 "Young Ham of the
Year Award" is now open.  Originally known as the "Westlink Report
Young Ham of the Year," this award program, now entering its second
decade, is presented annually to a United States licensed Radio
Amateur who is 18 years of age or younger and who has provided
outstanding service to the nation, his community or the betterment of
the state of the art in communications through the Amateur Radio hobby
service.
   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.

(*****
                              GATES TRAVEL

   The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Microsofts' Bill Gates,
   who
has almost $13 billion, and Warren Buffett, who has close to $11
billion, are said to be planning a trip together.  The two may rent a
train and travel the length and breadth of China.  Must be nice.

(*****

   And for this week, thats 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 say 73

and we thank you for listening.

(* * *   Newsline is copyright 1996 & all rights are reserved.   * *
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