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- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 11:43:00 PST
- From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <info-hams@ucsd.edu>
- Errors-To: Info-Hams-Errors@UCSD.Edu
- Reply-To: Info-Hams@UCSD.Edu
- Precedence: Bulk
- Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #112
- To: Info-Hams
-
-
- Info-Hams Digest Fri, 4 Feb 94 Volume 94 : Issue 112
-
- Today's Topics:
- "Flexible" 9913 (Was - Re: Coaxial cable)
- * SpaceNews 07-Feb-94 *
- ARRL Letter Jan 26, 1994
- Dayton Parking: Hell on Earth!
- Skeptical Inquirer: EMF scare
- Timewave sources?
-
- Send Replies or notes for publication to: <Info-Hams@UCSD.Edu>
- Send subscription requests to: <Info-Hams-REQUEST@UCSD.Edu>
- Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu.
-
- Archives of past issues of the Info-Hams Digest are available
- (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/info-hams".
-
- We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
- herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
- policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: 4 Feb 1994 19:04:28 GMT
- From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!slip1-13.acs.ohio-state.edu!user@network.ucsd.edu
- Subject: "Flexible" 9913 (Was - Re: Coaxial cable)
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- >
- > At a recent hamfest I bought some "flexible" 9913 coax. The overall
- > construction is the same (full foil & braid shielding etc.) but the
- > core is stranded instead of solid.
- >
- The best "flexible 9913" I have seen is Aircom Plus from Germany.
- It is sold in usa by SSB Electronic, 124 Cherrywood Dr., Mountaintop, PA
- 18707. 717-868-5643.
-
- It is a different construction that 9913. It has radial plastic ribs with
- lots of air as opposed to the spiral plastic retainer of Belden 9913. They
- claim
- you can bend it at very sharp radius without difficulties. Also they have
- special N connectors for it.
-
- 73,
- Ron Long w8gus.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 4 Feb 94 17:55:23 GMT
- From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu
- Subject: * SpaceNews 07-Feb-94 *
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0207
- * SpaceNews 07-Feb-94 *
-
- BID: $SPC0207
-
-
- =========
- SpaceNews
- =========
-
-
- MONDAY FEBRUARY 7, 1994
-
-
- SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is
- published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.
-
-
- * STS-60 SAREX MISSION BEGINS *
- ===============================
- The Space Shuttle Discovery made a spectacular, historic, on-time liftoff
- at 12:30 UTC on 03-Feb-94 from the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery's launch
- marks the first joint U.S.-Russian Space Shuttle Flight. This will be the
- first of several joint missions planned in preparation for the development
- of the international Space Station. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, was
- one of the six crew members on board this Shuttle flight. His fellow
- American crew mates include Commander Charlie Bolden, KE4IQB, Pilot Ken
- Reightler, and Mission Specialists Jan Davis, Ron Sega, KC5ETH, and Franklin
- Chang-Diaz.
-
- The primary payloads on-board Discovery are the Wake Shield Facility, which
- will be deployed and retrieved during the flight and the Spacehab facility.
- Of particular interest to Radio Amateurs is the Shuttle Amateur Radio
- Experiment (SAREX) secondary payload.
-
- The following Keplerian Elements for STS-60 are provided by Ron Parise,
- WA4SIR, at the Goddard Space Flight Center:
-
- STS-60
- 1 22977U 94006A 94 35.13981770 0.00000202 00000-0 58718-5 0 37
- 2 22977 56.9857 213.2731 0008535 263.0773 96.9324 15.72145611 115
-
- Satellite: STS-60
- Catalog number: 22977
- Epoch time: 94035.13981770 (04 FEB 94 03:21:20.25 UTC)
- Element set: GSFC-003
- Inclination: 56.9857 deg
- RA of node: 213.2731 deg Space Shuttle Flight STS-60
- Eccentricity: 0.0008535 Keplerian Elements
- Arg of perigee: 263.0773 deg
- Mean anomaly: 96.9324 deg
- Mean motion: 15.72145611 rev/day Semi-major Axis: 6730.8981 Km
- Decay rate: 0.20E-05 rev/day^2 Apogee Alt: 358.25 Km
- Epoch rev: 11 Perigee Alt: 346.77 Km
-
-
- NOTE - This element set is based on NORAD element set # 003.
- The spacecraft has been propagated to the next ascending
- node, and the orbit number has been adjusted to bring it
- into agreement with the NASA numbering convention.
-
- [Info via Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO of the SAREX Working Group]
-
-
- * AMSAT NET ON GALAXY 3 *
- =========================
- To all interested satellite users, experiments are underway that uplink the
- Houston Area Amsat Net, heard locally on the 147.100 MHz FM repeater, on
- Galaxy 3, Channel 17, (Shop-At-Home Channel) on a 5.8 MHz subcarrier. This
- net is carried in real-time on Tuesday evening, from approximately 10:00 PM
- Local Time (CST) until completion at approximately 10:30 - 10:45 PM. This
- is an experiment but could be continued on a regular basis if interest is
- sufficient. Please send reports of your reception and your comments to:
-
- davidsonc@tcd.jsc.nasa.gov via Internet, or
-
- you may call (713) 483-0078 during business hours, or during the uplink
- period at (713) 595-2393 and ask for Craig Davidson, WD5BDX.
-
-
- * NEWS FROM JAPAN *
- ===================
- NASDA's first H-II rocket was launched at 07:20 (JST=UTC+9h) on 04-Feb-94.
- The H-II is designed to serve as NASDA's main space transportation system
- in the 1990's to meet the demand for larger satellite launches at a lower
- cost and still maintain a high degree of reliability. It is capable of
- sending a single two ton class payload or multiple payload totaling two tons
- onto geostationary orbit. The H-II is a two-stage rocket equipped with two
- large solid rocket boosters (SRBs) on the first stage for thrust
- augmentation.
-
- Principal specifications of the H-II:
-
- Overall length: 50
- Diameter: 4
- Total mass: 260t (payload not included)
- Guidance system: Strapped-down inertial guidance system
-
- Shape: Blunt-cone shape, Nose radius 1.35m, Diameter 3.40m, Height 1.46m
- Weight: Approx. 865kg at launch, Approx. 761kg at re-entry
-
- [Info via Yoshiro Yamada]
-
-
- * MIR MUSIC REQUEST *
- =====================
- Ongoing contacts on 145.550 MHz are taking place between the cosmonauts of
- the Russian Mir space station and a few hams in Israel, mainly 4X4LF Shlomo
- on Packet, and Mark 4Z4KX, a native-Russian speaker, on voice. When Mir is
- overhead, one may often hear Mark and one of the cosmonauts chatting away.
-
- Followers of Israeli popular music know well the name Ofra Haza, a singer
- who has made a name for herself, especially in Europe. Nonetheless, Mark
- 4Z4KX was rather surprised when Cosmonaut Alexander Serebrov, R0MIR, on one
- of his overhead QSO's with him, asked Mark to send greetings to Ofra!
- Alexander related that he's a fan of hers, and asked Mark to see if he could
- get a cassette of hers for him.
-
- No problem! As the ham connection goes, 4Z4XC Yair Haza is Ofra's brother,
- and promised to procure her latest CD, which will have to be transcribed to
- cassette, as all they have on board the Mir is a cassette machine.
-
- [Info via Shlomo, 4X4LF@4X4LI.ISR.MDLE]
-
-
- * FO-20 OPERATION SCHEDULE *
- ============================
- The FO-20 operation schedule is follows. Analog transponder and digital
- transponder will be ON for a week respectively as they were since last
- December.
-
- Analog mode:
- 09-Feb-94 07:15 UTC -to- 16-Feb-94 07:40 UTC
- 23-Feb-94 08:05 UTC -to- 02-Mar-94 06:40 UTC
- 09-Mar-94 07:05 UTC -to- 16-Mar-94 07:30 UTC
- 23-Mar-94 07:52 UTC -to- 30-Mar-94 08:15 UTC
-
- Digital mode:
- Unless otherwise noted above.
-
- [Info via Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK]
-
-
- * THANKS! *
- ===========
- Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation regarding SpaceNews,
- especially:
-
- 9V1XO GM2ASU LX2LA N2JUX VK5THA N9VEM KF0QS
-
-
- * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED *
- ===========================
- Mail to SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any
- of the following paths:
-
- FAX : 1-908-747-7107
- PACKET : KD2BD @ N2KZH.NJ.USA.NA
- INTERNET : kd2bd@ka2qhd.ocpt.ccur.com -or- kd2bd@amsat.org
-
- MAIL : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD
- Department of Engineering and Technology
- Advanced Technology Center
- Brookdale Community College
- Lincroft, New Jersey 07738
- U.S.A.
-
-
- <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>>
-
- /EX
-
- --
- John A. Magliacane, KD2BD * /\/\ * Voice : 1-908-224-2948
- Advanced Technology Center |/\/\/\| Packet : KD2BD @ N2KZH.NJ.USA.NA
- Brookdale Community College |\/\/\/| Internet: kd2bd@ka2qhd.ocpt.ccur.com
- Lincroft, NJ 07738 * \/\/ * Morse : -.- -.. ..--- -... -..
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 03:16:34 GMT
- From: netcomsv!netcom.com!marcbg@decwrl.dec.com
- Subject: ARRL Letter Jan 26, 1994
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- The ARRL Letter Vol. 13, No. 2 January 26, 1994
- Appeals court sides with amateur; tower victory reinforces PRB-1;
- A federal appeals court in Minnesota has found in favor of an
- amateur and against a local municipality, the latest round in a
- three-year battle. The decision could affect how PRB-1, the federal
- declaration preempting local regulations, may be applied in the future.
- Sylvia Pentel, N0MRW, applied in January 1991 for a zoning variance
- for a 68-foot crank-up tower from the city of Mendota Heights. At the
- time, she was using a roofmounted vertical which, she was unaware,
- violated the city's zoning rules (since it was taller than 25 feet). The
- city denied her application for a tower but granted a special-use permit
- to allow her to keep the vertical.
- Pentel sued the city in US district court, saying that its ordinance
- was preempted by PRB-1, which recognizes the needs of both municipalities
- and amateurs, and which requires a "reasonable accommodation" of the
- needs of amateurs. The district court found in favor of the city, and
- Pentel appealed.
- In overturning the lower court's decision, the US Court of Appeals
- for the 8th Circuit said that the FCC in PRB-1 "was attempting to strike
- a balance" between the interests of municipalities and amateurs, and
- exhorted Pentel and the city to work together to "arrive at a
- satisfactory solution."
- The court of appeals said that its decision does not mean that the
- city must necessarily grant Pentel's tower application as it stands, but
- rather that the city must make a reasonable accommodation for her
- interests. The court said that granting a special-use permit for Pentel's
- vertical was not an accommodation "in any practical sense" because the
- record showed it was inadequate for her purposes.
- Pentel's lawyer, John B. (Jay) Bellows Jr, K0QBE, said the
- importance of this decision lies in the court's shifting the burden away
- from the amateur and more toward the municipality.
- "PRB-1 really is not about 'balancing'" Bellows said, "and this
- decision recognized that.
- "I was particularly impressed with the appeals court's grasp of the
- overall subject," Bellows said.
- The court said the distinction between balancing a municipality's
- and an amateur's interests, on the one hand, and accommodating an
- amateur's interests "is important, because a standard that requires a
- city to accommodate amateur communications in a reasonable fashion is
- certainly more rigorous than one that simply requires a city to balance
- local and federal interests when deciding whether to permit a radio antenna."
- Bellows has previously appeared with amateurs at town council
- meetings and helped with the drafting of several local antenna
- ordinances. He appeared with Pentel before both the Mendota Heights
- planning commission and the city council in her quest for a permit.
- Bellows was assisted by an ARRL amicus curiae brief filed by General
- Counsel Chris Imlay, N3AKD. Imlay also provided advice on strategy in the
- case.
- "You never know how a court is going to be swayed by a friend of the
- court brief," Bellows said. "In this case," the League's participation
- did show that there was a national interest in such a matter, and
- demonstrated that the decision of the court could have wide-ranging effects."
- Does public service work
- Sylvia Pentel, an amateur since 1988, is primarily interested in
- public service communication. She is National Communications Officer for
- the Emergency Medical Preparedness Office of the National Disaster
- Medical Service.
- She first became involved in public service communication after the
- Loma Prieta (California) earthquake in October 1989. Her local work, on
- VHF and UHF, expanded to the HF amateur bands, and she originally sought
- to replace her vertical with a beam following the earthquake.
- "I especially wanted better HF coverage during the Desert Shield
- buildup to the Persian Gulf War," she said, but the town denied her
- permit at that time.
- Pentel has an illustrious Amateur Radio legacy. Her father was
- Maurice Goldberg, 9APW and later 9ZG, a radio pioneer and early ARRL
- official in his division. His name appears over several technical
- articles in 1920s QSTs.
- Goldberg, who died in 1977, did not live to see his daughter become
- a licensed amateur, but he did lay the groundwork. "Dad tried to teach me
- CW when I was far too young," Pentel said. "I thought it was a family
- thing, the 'Maurice code.'"
- Pentel said getting a permit for her tower has "been a long,
- frustrating haul. I should have just gone ahead and put it up,
- considering there are several other amateur towers in town.
- "Instead, I did the 'right thing,'" she said. "I got the ARRL
- package of materials and made a comprehensive application to the town,
- with engineering drawings and so on."
- After getting favorable signatures from nine neighbors, Pentel ran
- into trouble when a couple of neighbors "began stirring things up at the
- hearings," she said.
- But she is not to be deterred.
- Her lawyer, Bellows, said the next step is to sit down with the the
- town fathers and "talk about accommodation."
- League testifies at New Jersey RF hearing
- ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, N3AKD, and Northern New Jersey
- Section Manager Rich Moseson, NW2L, have led a delegation of hams in
- testifying against a proposed New Jersey state regulation which, they
- argued, could effectively shut down Amateur Radio in the state.
- The regulation, proposed by the state Department of Environmental
- Protection and Energy (DEPE) would require the owners of all
- fixed-station transmitting antennas and certain RF-generating industrial
- equipment to register with the state and pay a hefty annual fee. The fees
- would pay for state inspections -- once every ten years -- to determine
- whether each RF source is in compliance with state limits for exposure to
- non-ionizing RF radiation. (The state limits are the same ones specified
- by ANSI - the American National Standards Institute - in their 1984
- standards.)
- The summary that was issued along with the proposed regulation
- stated that amateurs would be exempted "at this time," but there was no
- specific exemption in the regulation itself. And the department
- specifically invited comments on whether hams should be subject to the
- inspection program in the future.
- The appearance by Imlay, Moseson, and about 10 other hams at a
- public hearing on January 11 in New Jersey's capital capped two weeks of
- intense efforts to spread the word about the proposal and to organize the
- ARRL response.
- The proposal first surfaced the week before Christmas. As details
- emerged, it became obvious that the proposal posed a major threat to all
- ham radio activities in New Jersey. ARRL Hudson Division Director Steve
- Mendelsohn, WA2DHF, along with Moseson, asked ARRL President George
- Wilson III, W4OYI, to authorize Imlay's testimony at the DEPE hearing.
- Wilson agreed, noting the gravity of the threat to hams in New Jersey,
- plus the likelihood that, if the measure was enacted, other states might
- follow New Jersey's lead.
- Some 50 people attended the hearing and about 20 testified, half of
- those being amateurs (although some hams appeared in their professional
- capacities). All of the speakers opposed the proposal, generally arguing
- that the state was duplicating FCC regulations and that those FCC rules
- already assured that workers and the public were protected from excessive
- RF radiation. They saw the fees as nothing more than a new tax on the
- businesses and people of New Jersey.
- The first ham to testify was leadoff witness Vivian Lopez, N2NZN, a
- lawyer familiar with the state regulatory process. She challenged the
- DEPE's authority to enact the regulations at all, charging that the law
- under which they were proposed had been written to deal with threats from
- nuclear radiation, not RF.
- "If the department seeks to stretch that authority as a basis for
- regulating whole industries," Lopez testified, "then the enabling
- legislation ought to first be amended to specifically grant that power."
- Imlay and Moseson appeared on behalf of the ARRL. In his testimony,
- Imlay cited numerous court decisions, dating back to 1927, giving the
- federal government "exclusive" and "expansive" authority to regulate
- radio and TV. He also noted that the FCC had categorically exempted
- amateurs from routine reporting on compliance with RF exposure standards,
- and that RF safety questions are included on amateur license exams.
- Moseson testified as to the likely impact of the regulation on
- Amateur Radio in New Jersey, explaining that annual fees of $1000 or more
- for a typical station would simply force most hams off the air. Without
- ham radio, he said, the state would lose a vital emergency communications
- resource as well as endanger millions of dollars in federal emergency
- management aid, since backup communications abilities would be lost.
- Measurements difficult
- Moseson also explained the difficulty of taking measurements at a
- typical ham station, which can operate on many frequencies with
- infinitely variable power levels and radiation patterns, as well as the
- stifling effect that the regulation would have on station changes and
- experimentation.
- Finally, the ARRL representatives reminded the department that FCC
- rules limit state and local regulation of amateur antennas to the
- "minimum practicable" extent required to achieve their purposes, and that
- those regulations may not preclude amateur communication. Applying the
- proposed regulation to hams, the League argued, would effectively
- preclude amateur communication and would therefore be in violation of FCC
- rules.
- The League's testimony concluded with a request that, if the
- department decides to enact the regulation, then, at the very least, it
- should specifically exempt any RF source that is "a component of a
- federally licensed station in the Amateur Radio Service," as defined by
- FCC rules.
- There also was testimony from representatives of broadcasters,
- telephone companies, land-mobile users and municipal government. One
- municipal spokesman was Bill Sohl, President of the Mt. Olive, New
- Jersey, town council (as well as being K2UNK and an ARRL Local Government
- Liaison). He told the panel that, if his town applied the reasoning
- behind the proposed regulation to its police department, then each
- motorist in the town would have to register and pay a fee to the town to
- cover expenses in case the motorist violated a traffic law and a police
- officer needed to take time to write a ticket.
- At the end of the hearing, department officials gave no indication
- of how they might respond to the criticisms leveled at the proposal. At
- the request of several witnesses, however, they did extend the deadline
- for written comments from January 20 to February 22. A final decision on
- the proposal must be made by December 6, 1994.
- One week after the hearing, a new governor took office and appointed
- as DEPE commissioner a state legislator with a reputation for trying to
- accommodate business as well as environmental concerns. Moseson said he
- and others plan to work with the new state leadership.
- (This story was reported by ARRL Northern New Jersey Section Manager
- Rich Moseson, NW2L.)
- League seeks primary 902-MHz slots
- The ARRL has petitioned the FCC to provide the amateur service with
- primary allocations from 902 to 904 MHz and from 912 to 918 MHz, with
- certain geographic limitations.
- Amateurs already are allocated from 902 to 928 MHz on a shared basis
- with several other services, including government radio-location; fixed
- and mobile services; industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment;
- and various nonlicensed, low-power, "Part 15" devices.
- Last spring, the FCC proposed to expand Automatic Vehicle Monitoring
- (AVM) systems in the 902 to 928 MHz range, and also has suggested
- permitting non-government wind profiler systems in the band. In June
- 1993 the ARRL said that further study of the band was needed.
- In its January 13, 1994, petition, the ARRL said that these FCC
- proposals jeopardize Amateur Radio use of 902 to 904 and 912 to 918 MHz,
- segments that the League said have not interfered with AVM systems and
- which are critical to the development and continuation of specialized
- communication techniques by amateurs.
- The ARRL petition said that since the 902 to 928 MHz band was made
- available to amateurs in most of the US in 1985, its use has grown,
- particularly for weak-signal work and television; the two primary
- segments sought by the League would be aimed at those users.
- The League mentioned, again, that two current Commission agenda
- items -- the first an inquiry into placing non-government wind profilers
- on the band (in Docket 93-59), and the second, a proposal to expand AVM
- systems in the band -- were a departure from the US position at the 1979
- World Administrative Radio Conference, at which amateur access to the
- band was first addressed.
- The League said that the adoption of the requested primary segments
- for amateurs would not "prejudice" the development of AVM systems or wind
- profilers.
- The ARRL petition said that the FCC had considered the availability
- of 902 to 928 MHz to amateurs in its decision to take 220 to 222 MHz away
- from them.
- And the League said since amateurs now rely more and more on the
- 902-MHz band, a significant reduction of its usefulness would "constitute
- a breach of the Commission's previous assurances" of continued availability.
- The League cited as an example the Los Angeles area, where a local
- band plan works around AVM operations. Use of the 902 to 903 MHz segment
- is "heavy," the League said, with not only weak-signal operation there,
- but point-to-point links and repeater inputs as well. Similarly, 912 to
- 918 MHz is heavily used, the League said, for digital wideband, ATV
- simplex, and ATV repeater operation.
- This local band plan is an example of the sharing arrangements
- necessary in a crowded RF environment, the League said, and it points up
- the need for the primary amateur allocations being sought.
- The exceptions to the primary allocations for amateurs that the
- League seeks in its petition would be restrictions in certain parts of
- Texas and New Mexico, where such restrictions already are in effect to
- protect government operations.
- ARRL Board of Directors meeting highlights
- The ARRL Board of Directors met in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, on
- January 21 and 22, 1994. The following is a summary of meeting
- highlights. Details will appear in March QST.
- * The Board re-elected its present slate of officers: President
- George Wilson III, W4OYI; First Vice President Rod Stafford, KB6ZV; Vice
- President Jay Holladay, W6EJJ; Vice President Tom Frenaye, K1KI;
- International Affairs Vice President Larry Price, W4RA; Treasurer Jim
- McCobb, K1LLU; Secretary and Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ;
- and Chief Financial Officer Barry Shelley.
- * Elected to the Executive Committee were Rocky Mountain Division
- Director Marshall Quiat, AG0X; Hudson Division Director Stephen
- Mendelsohn, WA2DHF; Delta Division Director Joel Harrison, WB5IGF; and
- Great Lakes Division Director Al Severson, AB8P.
- * An interim report and band plan recommendation of an ad hoc
- committee was adopted, looking to the early implementation of the
- expected allocation of 219 to 220 MHz for limited amateur use.
- * The 1994-95 ARRL budget plan was adopted.
- * The Volunteer Resources Committee was tasked with studying the
- feasibility of a system of technical awards to recognize achievement in
- fields ranging from design and construction to the creation of innovative
- communication systems, and to develop appropriate criteria.
- * The League will file a petition for rule-making seeking to remove
- overly restrictive rule provisions concerning the use of spread spectrum
- techniques, and an ad hoc committee was created to recommend technical
- standards.
- * The Membership Services Committee will study the possibility of
- relocating the
- 40-meter Novice subband. The committee will report back to the Board in
- July.
- * The Board approved a revision of the ARRL/Red Cross Statement of
- Understanding.
- * ARRL Headquarters will begin to notify members of license
- expirations, and will include a Form 610 to effect license renewals.
- * The Administration and Finance Committee will study the
- feasibility of offering group legal defense insurance to ARRL members to
- cover legal costs in antenna cases and RFI lawsuits.
- * The ARRL Letter will be offered to affiliated club newsletter
- editors free of charge, on a trial basis.
- * The Administration and Finance Committee was asked to investigate
- the development of a multi-media production capability for Headquarters,
- to keep pace with the changing technology in today's personal computing
- revolution.
- * Perry Williams, W1UED, was commended for 40 years of dedicated
- service and congratulated on the occasion of his forthcoming retirement
- from the Headquarters staff, in April 1994.
- BRIEFS
- * Beginning March 1 the FCC will accept only the new version of its
- Form 610, as explained in February QST (page 103). March QST "Exam Info"
- reprints the new form and will have further information on its use. Use
- of the new form applies to everyone, from new licensees to renewals, call
- sign changes, etc.
- In early February the ARRL-VEC's newsletter, VE Express, will
- include a full-size version of the new Form 610. The ARRL-VEC also will
- mail bulk quantities of the new form to all of its 650-plus "field
- stocked" VE teams. The ARRL-VEC will recommend that its VE teams begin
- using the new form on February 12, to allow for sufficient turnaround time.
- * In 1993 ARRL members sent about 7.25 tons of QSLs to the ARRL
- Outgoing QSL Service for shipment to bureaus overseas. This was 2,182,000
- cards for DX destinations. The US Incoming QSL Bureau's volunteers sorted
- just over two million cards in 1993, as well.
- Information about these services is on pages 98 and 99 of QST for
- January 1994.
- * Tucson Amateur Packet Radio has scheduled its annual meeting for
- March 4 through 6 in Tucson at the Best Western Inn at the Airport. The
- annual meeting will feature presentations and papers on several new
- hardware projects, discussions of projects in progress, hands-on
- demonstrations, and a minisymposium on the future directions of amateur
- packet radio. For more information contact Program Chairman Keith
- Justice, KF7TP, at 602-461-8687.
- And TAPR has a new address: 8987-309 East Tanque Verde Road, No.
- 337, Tucson AZ 85749. Their voice mail system number is 817-383-0000; the
- fax number is 817-566-2544.
- * Shack in the USSR: Tandy Corp. has opened its first Radio Shack in
- Russia. The Moscow store, which officially opened January 14, is
- "identical in look and layout" to stores in the US, according to Tandy.
- The store is franchised to the Trident Group, a Florida-based
- international distribution company, and is managed by Trident A/O, a
- Russian company.
- * The American Digital Radio Society has acquired the RTTY Digital
- Journal, and will retain Dale Sinner, W6IWO, as its editor. For more
- information on the ADRS and a copy of its newsletter, write to ADRS, Box
- 2465, New York NY 10185 (BBS at 212-698-2102).
- * Fred Doob, AA8FQ, will once again run, for ICOM and charity, in
- the Los Angeles Marathon on March 6. As in the New York Marathon last
- November, Doob will operastore, with his son Don Busick, K5AAD, until his
- death.
- * Two more shuttle astronauts have received their amateur call
- signs: Charles Bolden is KE4IQB, and Ronald Sega is KC5ETH. Both are
- members of the STS-60 crew, scheduled for a February 3 lift-off, and are
- Technician class licensees. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, is
- also an STS-60 crew member.
- * NASA Television has moved to satellite Spacenet 2, transponder 5,
- C Band, 69 degrees west longitude, on 3880 MHz, horizontal polarization,
- with audio on 6.8 MHz. During space shuttle flights NASA Select TV
- occasionally carries Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) activity.
- * The Foundation for Amateur Radio will administer 49 scholarships
- for the 1994-95 academic year to assist licensed amateurs who are
- students. The awards, from $500 to $2000, are available to full-time
- college students, including those who have been accepted for 1994.
- Additional information and application forms should be requested before
- April 30, 1994, from FAR Scholarships, 6903 Rhode Island Ave., College
- Park MD 20740.
- * In the days following the earthquake near Los Angeles on January
- 17 you may have heard or read about an experimenter named Jack Coles, of
- San Jose, California. Coles listens to the 10 to 12 kHz range for 0.5 to
- 2 second pulses and is one of a group of experimenters who think this may
- be a way to predict earthquakes. Coles says he's always been interested
- in radio and is currently studying for an amateur ticket.
- 10 Years Ago in The ARRL Letter
- The ARRL Executive Committee authorized the League's counsel, Chris
- Imlay, N3AKD, to file friend of the court briefs in two local cases
- involving Amateur Radio. One of them, involving John Thernes, WM4T, was
- ultimately successful, and has been cited in later cases, including
- Pentel v. Mendota Heights (see accompanying story).
- The first Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) video was
- unveiled, produced by Roy Neal, K6DUE. The 28minute film featured the
- first SAREX flight, of W5LFL on STS-9. This film was superseded by one
- titled "SAREX," a general-interest film that the ARRL still widely
- circulates to clubs, and another, "Ham Radio in Space," which
- concentrates on how schools can use the SAREX program.
- The League was meeting informally with the FCC to promote Amateur Radio
- third-party message service at the Olympic Games that summer in Los
- Angeles, although it was unclear if security concerns would allow
- stations to be set up in the Olympic Village.
- ARRL membership rose in 1983 from 124,000 to 126,000, a 1.6%
- increase, after a 12.5 percent decline in 1982 following a dues increase.
- (League membership growth in the US for 1993 was 2.05 %).
-
- --
- Marc B. Grant fax 214-231-3998 voice 214-246-1150
- marcbg@netcom.com Amateur Radio N5MEI
- marcbg@esy.com Richardson, TX
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 18:04:28
- From: ftpbox!mothost!schbbs!njohnson.ia03.comm.mot.com!cnj002@uunet.uu.net
- Subject: Dayton Parking: Hell on Earth!
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- In article <2im1g0$i6v@oak.oakland.edu> prvalko@vela.acs.oakland.edu (prvalko) writes:
- >From: prvalko@vela.acs.oakland.edu (prvalko)
- >Subject: Dayton Parking: Hell on Earth!
- >Date: 1 Feb 1994 16:54:24 GMT
-
- >Well folks, if you've read the latest Ham Radio Newsline you MIGHT have
- >noticed the casual mention that their MIGHT(?) not be busses available
- >to shuttle people around from hotels to Hara this year.
- .
- .
- .
- .
-
-
- I attended the Dayton Hamvention for the first time last year.
-
- The first day (Friday) my friend and I tried parking close to the arena (We
- had to leave early to pick up a friend at the airport in Cincianti). We ended
- up walking several blocks. It was a rainy weekend and we figured the private
- lot would turn into a mud pit very quickly (It did).
-
- The next day we tried parking at the Salem Mall, one of the satellite parking
- lots.
-
- We were close to the bus (50 ft). The Busses (sp ?) arrived every 10 minutes,
- and it only took a couple of minutes to get to the arena.
-
- It worked so well that we made serveral trips back and forth carrying our
- purchased treasures to our car.
-
- (The lots were patrolled by security personel)
-
- Needless to say, that's what we did for the rest of the Hamvention and plan on
- doing this year.
-
- Oh, and it was FREE too!
-
- I hope that the DARA keeps this service, it's an excellent idea!
-
-
- -Neil Johnson, N0SFH
- -Network Analyst
- -Motorola, Land Mobile Products Sector
- -Mount Pleasant, IA
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 15:40:07 GMT
- From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!sgiblab!pacbell.com!amdahl!netcomsv!netcom.com!aeldra@network.ucsd.edu
- Subject: Skeptical Inquirer: EMF scare
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- The recent cellular telephone cancer scare got America thinking about
- electromagnetic fields in the air around us. Do they cause cancer? Is at
- even *possible* that they could cause cancer? This quarter's Skeptical
- Inquirer examines the various claims and arguments on this convoluted issue.
-
- An excerpt follows:
-
- ------------------
-
- ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD CANCER SCARES
-
- BY SID DEUTSCH
-
- Do electromagnetic fields cause cancer? Those who claim that they do
- cause cancer seek ascientific explanation for the phenomenon. In this
- sense, it is not a paranormal claim, but it is a "fringe science" claim
- and is therefore a valid subject for the Skeptical Inquirer. Asingle
- example illustrates the importance of the subject (Fischetti 1993). In
- the United States, in 1993, 17,500 of us will develop brain cancer
- (according to the National Cancer Institute). About one out of 50
- people use handheld cellular telephones. Statistically, therefore, 350
- of the people who use these telephones will develop brain cancer. It is
- reasonable to estimate that 10 of these tumors will occur on the side of
- the head near where the telephone is held.
-
- On January 21, 1993, David Reynard of St. Petersburg, Florida, blamed
- his wife's use of a handheld cellular telephone for her death due to
- brain cancer. The media, ever eager to protect hapless citizens,
- exposed this hitherto unknown cause of cancer. In a few days,
- cellular-phone stock prices dropped by 17 percent, and the Cellular
- Telecommunication Industry Association has pledged to spend $15 million
- to $25 million in the next three to five years to study the issue.
-
- A great deal of research has been, and will be, done to determine safe
- limits of electromagnetic energy. I was personally involved in a
- project some 30 years ago in which the eyes of anesthetized rabbits were
- held against the open end of a microwave waveguide. Not surprisingly,
- when the microwave energy was sufficient to cause a sustained
- temperature rise to abnormal levels, the eyes were damaged (Rosenthal
- 1976). This, incidentally, illustrates one of the boundary conditions:
- If incident energy induces an appreciable temperature rise anywhere in
- the body, it is potentially dangerous. This is, of course, the
- microwave-oven effect. Bear in mind, however, that a
- 7-degree-Fahrenheit fever is one of the body's normal defense
- mechanisms.
-
- It happens that it is a relatively simple procedure to calculate and
- measure temperature rise in tissue. If it were only a matter of an
- artificial fever, however, there would be no controversy. The problem
- is that the David Reynards and their lawyers and many in the media
- maintain that cancer is somehow caused or aggravated by electromagnetic
- energy that is below the level of appreciable temperature rise. Fringe
- science resides in the word "somehow."
-
- ------------------
-
- So begins this issue's featured article from Skeptical Inquirer magazine.
-
- This article and others from Skeptical Inquirer Magazine and additional
- publications are available free from The Electronic Newsstand, a service
- which collects articles, editorials, and table of contents from over 50
- magazines and provides them to the Global Internet community.
-
- Access to The Electronic Newsstand is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
- week via Gopher, an information navigation and retrieval technology from the
- University of Minnesota.
-
- For those without a local Gopher client program, The Electronic Newsstand
- provides a telnet account which will allow you to use a text based Gopher
- client to access our service.
-
- To access The Electronic Newsstand,
-
- via Local Gopher Client:
-
- Hostname: gopher.internet.com
- Port: 2100
-
- via the Gopher Home Menu at U of Minn:
-
- Other Gopher and Information Servers/
- North America/
- USA/
- General/
- The Electronic Newsstand (tm)
-
- via Gopher Link Information:
-
- Name=The Electronic Newsstand
- Type=1
- Port=2100
- Path=1/
- Host=gopher.internet.com
-
- via Telnet:
-
- Hostname: gopher.internet.com
- Loginname: enews
- Password: <not required>
-
- via World Wide Web:
-
- URL: gopher://gopher.inter.com/
-
- If you have any suggestions on how we might improve this service, or
- need more information, please email staff@enews.com
-
- --The Electronic Newsstand Staff
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 08:03:39 GMT
- From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news.unt.edu!news.oc.com!csci-wiermac.etsu.edu!user@network.ucsd.edu
- Subject: Timewave sources?
- To: info-hams@ucsd.edu
-
- I'm interested in getting some prices on the Timewave DSP
- units. In checking the Feb 94 QST I find about $20
- discount between the company itself and Texas Towers.
- With sales tax, it makes 'em basically even (since I'm
- in Texas). I havn't seen 'em in any of the other ads so
- far. Anyone know who else carries 'em?
-
- THANKS
- & 73 - de WB5KXH
-
-
- ======== insert usual disclaimers here ===========
- keeper of the Adobe Photoshop, MC68HC11, ICOM mailing lists
- Bob Wier, East Texas State U., Commerce, Texas
- wier@merlin.etsu.edu (watch for address change)
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #112
- ******************************
-