Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/HAM/NEWSLINE.ZIP/NEWS0401.TXT

Text File | 1994-04-06 | 18KB | 365 lines

The electronic publication of the Amateur Radio Newsline is distributed
with the permission of Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, President and Editor of
Newsline.  The text version is edited from the original scripts and
transcribed from the audio reports by Dale Cary, WD0AKO, and is first
published in The Radio & Electronics Round Table on the Genie Online
System.

If you have any comment, suggestion, or news item you would like to submit,
send them via E-Mail to [e-mail] or [e-mail].
You can contact Newsline at [phone].  It is a combination answering
and FAX machine, if you have a FAX to send, wait for the voice prompt and
press your fax-send button.

All other information and disclaimers are in the text header below.

If you would like back issues of the Newsline transcripts you can get them
by any of the following means.
  Genie users can find them in the Radio & Electronics software library,
  M345;3.  They are archived under the CBBS edition number, (NEWSLINE.ccc).

  Internet users can FTP or Gopher them at the oak.oakland.edu library.
  They are archived in /pub/hamradio/docs/newsline/ as newsline.nnn, (the
  on the air edition number).   They can also be extracted from the
  rec.radio.info archive at ftp.funet.fi in Finland.

Special thanks:
            Larry Ledlow, NA5E and Allan Courtney - Genie Sysops
              Mark Salyzyn, VE6MGS - Moderator, rec.radio.info
               Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU - Elmers Resource List
      Scott Ehrlich, WY1Z - Ham files administrator at oak.oakland.edu

 - - - - -

 NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #118 - POSTED 04/02/94

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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.  The electronic version of newsline is posted on this
 CBBS twice monthly.  For current information updates, please call

      Los Angeles............................ [phone]
      Los Angeles (Instant Update Line)...... [phone]
      Seattle................................ [phone]
      Seattle................................ [phone]
      Tacoma................................. [phone]
      Louisville............................. [phone]
      Dayton................................. [phone]
      Chicago................................ [phone]
      New York City.......................... [phone]
      Melbourne, FL.......................... [phone]

    For the latest breaking info call the Instant Update Line
 listed above.  To provide information please call [phone].
 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.

    Articles may be reproduced if printed in their entirety and
 credit is given to AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE as being the source.

    For further information about the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE,
 please write to us with an SASE at P.O. Box 463, Pasadena, CA
 91102.

                                              Thank You
                                              NEWSLINE

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 Some of the hams of NEWSLINE RADIO...

 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!!!

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 [868]

 (* * *   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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 (*     This is a CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY and is NOT for air  *)
 (*  over amateur radio.  According to Newsline Support Fund  *)
 (*  administrator Norm Chalfin, K6PGX, the funds needed to   *)
 (*  keep Newsline in operation are once again low.           *)
 (*  According to Norm, it now costs a bit over $850 a month  *)
 (*  to pay the telecommunications and equipment supply       *)
 (*  bills.  That is up over $150 from the same time last     *)
 (*  year.                                                    *)
 (*     For those of you unaware, Newsline pays the cost of   *)
 (*  three telephones including the one used for news         *)
 (*  gathering.  We also pay for several electronic news and  *)
 (*  information services, we pay for electronic mail, for    *)
 (*  raw tape stock and the cost of repairing and updating    *)
 (*  our production facilities.                               *)
 (*     Right now, Newsline has enough funds to carry it      *)
 (*  through to the end of April, but that's it.  Therefore   *)
 (*  we are once again appealing to all of our listeners to   *)
 (*  assist in any way that you can so that Newsline can      *)
 (*  continue to being you these weekly ham radio news        *)
 (*  bulletins.  Our address is the Newsline Support Fund,    *)
 (*  Post Office Box 463, Pasadena, CA 91102.                 *)
 (*                                                           *)
 (*     Again, and as always, we thank you for your ongoing   *)
 (*  interest and support.  That ends the closed circuit      *)
 (*  advisory with Newsline report number 868 for release on  *)
 (*  Friday, April 1, 1994.                                   *)
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 (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *)

                     The following is a QST

    A bizarre licensing scam in Texas leads to the forfeiture of
 ham tickets, two more hams are barred by a court order from
 operating on a Southern California repeater and a famous ham
 astronaut is off to work in Russia.

 (*****
                         TEXAS VE SCAM

    The FCC is cancelling the amateur radio licenses of at least
 two people.  This, as the Commission expands its investigation
 into an elaborate scam involving bogus ham licenses.  The scheme
 involves a complicated web of name and address changes, callsign
 upgrades, an undercover examinee, and allegations that the names
 of deceased hams were used to obtain amateur radio licenses.
    The scam was uncovered during a routine check of lists of
 people getting their ham licenses.  Investigators became
 suspicious when they saw a familiar name: Hector Cruz.  That's
 the name of a man linked to an early 1980's scheme when people
 tried to get licenses using the names of deceased hams.  Further
 investigation led to Luis A. Rivera, KP4UP, and Gleason Petit,
 AB5KT.  Both were listed as volunteer examiners in Texas.
 Records show Rivera was an examiner at the session where Hector
 Cruz as licensed.  Luis Rivera was also involved in the earlier
 scam.  Examination sessions Rivera administered allegedly include
 widespread irregularities.  Rivera sessions reportedly list the
 names of out of state applicants as taking tests.  In fact, they
 never showed up.  An undercover examinee attended one session and
 found evidence of fraud.
    The man claiming to be Gleason Petit has reportedly admitted
 that his real name is Anthony Hopkins.  The real Gleason Petit
 was an amateur operator who died in 1985.  Luis Rivera denies he
 is the same person named in the earlier scam.  But he and Hopkins
 were told to turn in their amateur licenses.  How many fraudulent
 licenses were issued under this scheme?  Information on that is
 not yet available.
     This tangled web of apparent fraud and conspiracy remains
 under investigation.

 (*****
                     CLARA REPEATER HARASSMENT

    Two more southern California hams accused by the Claremont
 Amateur Repeater Association of harassing the clubs two meter
 repeater have been ordered by a civil court to stay away.  Only a
 month after successfully obtaining a restraining order against
 Tim Seawolf, KJ5KE, that bars his operation on or near
 frequencies maintained for use by the CLARA systems, the club was
 in court again on March 24th.  This time seeking a similar ruling
 against Drew Feldman, N3KSO, and Anthony Cardenes, WA6IGJ.  Gary
 Krist, KI6FG, is the president of the Claremont Repeater group.

    "We prevailed again in court against Mr. Anthony Cardenes,
 WA6IGJ, and Mr. Drew Feldman, N3KSO.  We did obtain our permanent
 restraining order.  The Defendants were once more ordered to keep
 away the typical hundred yards from the meeting sites, etc., etc.
 Not to use the Claremont Repeater, nor its assigned frequencies.
 Ultimately we were awarded attorneys costs and fees in the amount
 of $3000 to be paid by the defendants.  Each shall pay $30 a
 piece on the first and fifteenth of each month until their debt
 is paid off."  Gary Krist, KI6FG, President of the Claremont
 Repeater group.

    It's not over yet.  The Claremont group still has several
 other legal actions pending or planned.  This, to insure that
 those it deems to be undesirable are kept off the clubs repeaters
 and away from harassing its members.
    At airtime its not known if Cardenes or Feldman plan to file
 an appeal.

 (*****
                         INDONESIA QUAKE

    Amateur radio was at the forefront of relief efforts when more
 than 120 people died in an earthquake in Indonesia in February.
 Press reports say that ham radio was the only communication
 initially available from the affected area.  The town of Liwa in
 the province of Lampung suffered the greatest damage and loss of
 life.  A government official told The Jakarta Post that ham radio
 was the only way to communicate with Liwa.

 (*****
                         KB5AWP TO RUSSIA

    SAREX Astronaut Ken Cameron, KB5AWP, is off to Russia.  Ken
 has been named Director of Operations - Russia and manager of
 NASA operational activities at the Russian control center at
 Kaliningrad.  There KB5AWP will work with Russian Space Agency
 engineers and flight controllers on the US - Russia cooperative
 space program.  Among his many duties Ken will supervise NASA
 astronaut training at Star City and develop plans and procedures
 to support joint space shuttle - Russian Mir space station
 flights and space station development.  He is also expected to
 command one of the early shuttle docking missions with Mir.
 Cameron, 44, has flown on two SAREX shuttle missions, STS-37
 in 1991 and STS-56 in 1993.  Both these were all-ham flights.

 (*****
                      RADIO SHACK IN RUSSIA

    Word that Tandy Corporation has opened its first Radio Shack
 store in Russia.  The Moscow store, which officially opened
 January 14th.  It is identical in look and layout to stores in
 the USA and is franchised to the Trident Group, a Florida based
 international distribution company.  Its being managed by Trident
 A O, a Russian company.

 (*****
                         ITAMSAT PROBLEM

    The Itamsat ham radio satellite has developed what may be a
 major problem.  Sometime during the week of March 7th, the PSK
 modulation on the primary transmitter became more and more
 difficult to decode.  According to Alberto Zagni, I2KBD, of the
 Itamsat command team, a residual carrier and lower output power
 seem to indicate a failure in the PSK balanced modulator.
 Alberto says that the condition seems worse at the satellites low
 current power setting.  He notes that increasing the power level
 makes the demodulation easier, but this solution is not
 acceptable due to power budget constraints.
    Ground controllers decided to switch to the secondary PSK
 transmitter on 435.822 MHz.  The first two passes over Italy
 confirmed the correct operation of the spacecraft.  Action is now
 being taken to analyze the performance of the satellite in this
 new configuration.  Alberto says that the on board flying BBS is
 working as usual and status bulletins will be uploaded regularly.

 (*****
       CALL FOR PAPERS - ARRL NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP

    A call for papers has been issued for the sixth Proceedings of
 the ARRL National Educational Workshop, with a deadline of April
 29, 1994.  The workshop will be held June 10th at the ARRL
 National Convention in Arlington, TX.  For an author's guide,
 contact Tracy Bedlack, N1QDO, at the Educational Activities
 Department, ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT
 06111.

 (*****
                       FCC ON THE INTERNET

    The FCC has announced that some of its information is now
 available on the Internet.  Postings including the FCC Daily
 Digest, news releases, some public notices, and the text of
 speeches by Commission officials.  The exact file names are
 listed in the FCC Daily Digest and FCC's Internet address is
 simply ftp.fcc.gov

 (*****
                    WEST COAST VHF CONVENTION

    The 1994 West Coast VHF/UHF Conference will take place the
 weekend of April 29 and 30 and May 1 at the Sheraton Cerritos
 Hotel Town Center in Cerritos, California.  The event will
 feature a swap meet, breakfast, banquet, technical talks, vendor
 exhibits, noise figure and antenna measurement tests, and more.
 For registration and information please write to the Southern
 California Six Meter Club, PO Box 10441, Fullerton, CA 92635.  A
 No-Code Technician Class license preparation course taught by
 Loraine McCarthy, N6CIO, with testing of students will take place
 following the class.  Pre-registration for the class is required.
 Yes, this is the same weekend as the 1994 Dayton Hamvention in
 Ohio.

 (*****
                 ARRL DX ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACTION

    In DX, the ARRL DX Advisory Committee has announced that the
 question of new country status for Pratas Island, BV9, has been
 removed from the DXAC agenda pending receipt of further
 information from the petitioner.  The committee says that on
 receipt of the requested information, the matter will be placed
 on the agenda, and a vote scheduled.  No vote had ever been held
 on the Partas Island DXCC country status petition.

 (*****
                         BLANCARD TRIBUTE

    A special tribute to a very special ham.  Each year, members
 of the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club in Alabama recognize a
 member for his or her contributions to ham radio.  BARC normally
 presents its Citizenship Award during the Club's Hamfest, held in
 May.  But this year is different.  The 1994 Citizenship Award was
 presented two months early.  That is because the clubs recipient
 and the circumstances are special.
    The callsign AA4LB is a familiar one to central Alabama
 amateur radio operators.  Frank Blanchard has contributed his
 time and talents to the ham community in many ways.  He has
 served in the clubs administration, on its hamfest board of
 governors, he chaired field day, and Frank played a key roll in
 setting up the volunteer examiner coordinator program.  Fellow
 club members say no one deserves this years Citizenship Award
 more than Frank Blanchard.
    On a cool spring like evening club members made a surprise
 visit to the seventh floor of a Birmingham hospital.  That is
 where Blanchard fights a life threatening illness.

    "It was a very emotional scene because you know he's.  At
 this stage of the game he is very emotional.  It was very heart
 warming.  That is about all I can say."  Genoa Blanchard, wife of
 Frank Blanchard, AA4LB, BARC Citizenship Award winner for 1994.

    It is hard for Franks wife, Genoa to talk about.  She and her
 husband of 34 years share a lifetime of memories.  Ham radio has
 been a big part of it.  Taking part in county hunting nets is one
 of Franks favorite ham activities.

    "We sat on many a county line with me looking out the window
 and him (Frank) talking.  You know it was something that he
 enjoyed and he just lived and breathed ham radio.  You can come
 down to our house and look in his ham shack and know that.  He
 has got practically every piece of equipment that was ever made."
 Genoa Blanchard.

    Presenting Frank with his award was a tearful experience.

    "He was very pleased and honored and surprised to get this
 award.  He was just, you know, very grateful, very emotional."
 Genoa Blanchard.

    Frank is known for always thinking ahead.  He has already
 directed family members to make final arrangements and other
 difficult decisions.  Fifty six year old Frank Blanchard knows
 that the future holds no promises.  But he is sure of one thing.
 However much time is left, his life has been made richer thanks
 to the loving fraternity that is Amateur Radio.

 (*****

    For this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.
 You can write to us at Post Office Box 463, Pasadena, CA 91102.

 * * * Newsline Copyright 1994 all rights are reserved. * * *