Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1954 February 27 2015
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1954 with a release date of
Friday, February 27th, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Ham radio responds as a pair of tropical
cyclones hit Australia; the FCC and the Food and Drug Administration
look the future of medical remote electronics; printed FCC issued ham
licenses come to an end; stunning images received from the latest ISS
slow scan television experiment and the nominating period opens for the
2015 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award. Find out the
details on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1954 coming your way
right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO RESPONDS AS TWO CYCLONES HIT AUSTRALIA
Hams down under offered up a quick response after a strong cyclone came
ashore. Here is Graham Kemp VK4BB with more;
[GRAHAM:] Amateur Radio volunteers with Australia's Central Queensland
Amateur Radio Association called up emergency response nets on both the
High Frequency and VHF bands in the wake of category 5 cyclone Marcia
that came ripping ashore the weekend of February 20th. After making
landfall, Marcia swept across Queensland state leaving 1,500 homes
damaged, while downing trees and power lines. Upward of 50,000
residents were without electrical mains power and the cyclone also
interrupted several normal lines of communications including telephone
service. Also impacted was the Optus wireless mobile network in some
cyclone affected areas of Queensland.
Ham radio was quick to respond with volunteers from the Central
Queensland Amateur Radio Association reported active on 40 meters at
7098 KHz and on 2 meters. At the same time, several Wireless Institute
Civil Emergency Network or WICEN groups were on stand-by alert to
assist emergency responders if called on to do so. The nature of
traffic being passed was not specified.
News reports say that Marcia which packed winds of up to 155 miles an
hour when it made landfall was one of two cyclones which hit northern
Australia within hours of one another. The first was tropical
cyclone Lam. It impacted remote communities in the Northern Territory
near Elcho Island, some 300 miles east of the city of Darwin. Cyclone
Lam was soon downgraded to a tropical depression.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB reporting from
Queensland, Australia.
[JIM:] If there is any good news out of all of this, it is that no
deaths were reported as a result of either storm, but clean-up efforts
and the restoration of electricity in a number of storm ravaged areas
will likely take some time. (VK3PC, sunshinecoastdaily.com,
gizmodo.com)
**
REGULATORY: FCC AND FDA TO HOLD JOINT WORKSHOP ON USE OF WIRELESS
MEDICAL DEVICE TEST BEDS
The Federal Communications Commission and the Food and Drug
Administration will join forces on March 31st to host a public workshop
on the role of wireless medical test beds and their influence on the
development of converged medical technology for clinical and
non-clinical settings. We get more on the story from Heather Embee
KB3TZD:
[HEATHER:] A wireless test bed is an environment where devices can be
evaluated across a range of interference scenarios. As the rapid pace
of innovation blurs traditional boundaries between consumer health
technology, medical devices, and communications, the two agencies seek
to better understand how wireless test beds can be used and configured
to meet the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities this
convergence presents. Consumers are increasingly using wireless health
and care management tools at home and the emergence of the hospital in
the home concept opens new areas of medical technology innovation that
must take into account the need for wireless devices to co-exist.
The workshop is another step in the ongoing Federal Communications
Commission and Food and Drug Administration collaboration in promoting
innovative medical technologies and is being organized by the Connect 2
Health FCC Task Force, the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology,
and the F-D-A Center for Devices and Radiologic Health. Topics may
include the need for and scope of wireless medical device test beds, an
overview of current public and private test bed programs and
initiatives, a discussion of ideal features, functions and gaps of such
programs, and how best to drive innovation and safe co-existence of
wireless medical technologies.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee KB3TZD in Burwick,
Pennsylvania. [JIM:] Since exact spectrum that might be used to
implement some of these wireless medical test beds is not yet a part of
the discussion, the way in which decisions made at this and any future
gatherings might impact on bands assigned to use by amateur radio
cannot be speculated. But with all spectrum from DC to light under
intense scrutiny by numerous interests it will be important for the
political leaders of the ham radio community to keep a close eye as
this issue. (Adapted from FCC Press Release)
**
RADIO LAW: NO MORE PRINTED AMATEUR RADIO LICENSES BEING ISSUED BY FCC
In case you have not yet heard, waiting to receive your ham license in
the mail is now a thing of the past, unless you have specifically
requested it. As of February 17, the FCC stopped routinely issuing
paper license documents to amateur licensees, noting that inclusion in
the Commission's online database has for several years been the
official record of a ham's authorization to operate.
Amateur radio licensees may print out official copies as well as
unofficial "reference copies" of their licenses via the FCC's Universal
Licensing System database or may request the issuance of a paper
document.
In its commentary filing while the matter was in its proposal stage,
the ARRL had asked that new licensees continue to receive paper
licenses, along with instructions on how to set up their Universal
Licensing System accounts for future license renewals and upgrades. But
the FCC declined, saying applicants or licensees who include e-mail
addresses with their applications will receive an official electronic
authorization via e-mail. '
The Commission says the change will save it over $300,000 a year.(CQ)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: STUNNING IMAGES RECEIVED FROM ISS SSTV
The latest International Space Station Slow Scan Television
transmissions have already produced some great pictures!
[DON:] According to a posting on the AMSAT Bulletin Board, Greg
Dolkas, KO6TH, of Auburn, California, says that he never received a
clearer SSTV picture from anywhere, let alone outer space.
The transmitter on the ISS uses 5 kHz deviation FM. If your radio has
selectable FM filters make sure you choose the wider setting designed
for 20 or 25 kHz channel spacing, usually marked FM or FM Wide. Most
newer FM transceivers contain this feature. The Slow Scan mode used
PD180, with a three minute off time between transmissions.
At least a dozen different images depicting Yuri Gagarin who was the
first human to orbit Earth were transmitted on 145.800 MHz during this
test. According to Clint Bradford, K6LCS, also writing on the AMSAT
Bulletin Board, receiving SSTV from the ISS really can be simple.
Bradford noted that for his first time ever, he simply fired up a $3
iOS application and held his iPod Touch near a Yaesu FT-60R's speaker.
That in turn let him download one of the images from the ISS.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in South
Mississippi.
[JIM:] Pictures received so far by radio amateurs world-wide can be
viewed on-line at tinyurl.com/february-ariss-sstv. This is a stunning
display of the best that Slow Scan Amateur Television has to offer.
(Southgate, AMAT-BB, spaceflightsoftware.com)
**
DX UP FRONT: EI8A FROM IRELAND MARCH AND APRIL
IN DX up Front, word that ON4EI will be in Ireland from March 2nd
through the end of April where he will use the call EI8GQB, He will
also be on the air as E-eye-one-A during the ARRL International DX
SSB, the Russian DX and CQ World Wide contests. QSL's go direct or via
the bureau. For electronic QSL's file via Logbook of the World.(OPDX)
**
DX UP FRONT: VK2IAY/9 FROM LORD HOWE ISLAND IN DECEMBER
And G0UIH who also holds the callsigns VK2IAY and 3D2FE will be
operating holiday-style from Lord Howe Island as VK2IAY/9 from December
16th to the 23rd. He plans to use SSB only on 20, 17, 15 and 10
meters, although other bands could be added. On returning to Australia
in January of 2016 there is a good chance of him activating other
Islands on the Air references, although nothing has yet been confirmed.
A special QSL sponsored by Vortex Antenna Systems will be available in
early 2016. QSL is via G0UIH direct or via the bureau. (Southgate)
**
BREAK 1
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the
KD2SL repeaters serving Syracuse, New York.
(5 sec pause here)
**
WITH NEWSLINE; NOMINATING PERIOD OPEN FOR 2015 YOUNG HAM OF THE
YEARAWARD
Amateur Radio Newsline is seeking nominations for its 2015 Young Ham of
the Year Award. For consideration, a nominee must have used amateur
radio in some way that has benefited his or her community or encouraged
technological development directly or indirectly related to
communications.
Nominees must be 19 years or younger, and reside in the United States
including Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, or any of the Canadian
Provinces.. The individual must also hold a currently valid United
States or Canadian Amateur Radio license.
This award is not a contest. The person selected as Young Ham of the
Year is judged on his or her overall accomplishments and contributions.
Any prizes awarded are secondary in nature.
For example, a youngster whose only claim to fame is that of being
licensed as an extra at age 5 would not necessarily be judged as having
made a significant contribution to the Amateur Radio Service. On the
other hand, a 14 or 15 year-old Technician running a Net during a major
disaster or whose experimentation has advanced the state of the art in
science or technology would definitely be given consideration.
The deadline for submitting an application is May 30th 2015 and the
decision of the judging committee is final. To obtain an application,
send a self addressed, stamped envelope to 2015 Young Ham of the Year
Award c/o Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Ave. Santa Clarita, CA
91350. You can also download a form in Microsoft Word format at
www.arnewsline.org/yhoty/ and clicking on the word "here." Instructions
on what documentation is required and how to file is included on the
nominating form. (ARNewsline)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC SAYS NO TO VENUES BLOCKING WI FI HOTSPOTS
The Federal Communications Commission has issued an Enforcement
Advisory stating that venues blocking Wi-Fi in hotels is unequivocally
prohibited. Stephan Kinford N8WB has more:
[STEPHAN:] In its release, the regulatory agency said that its
Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and
other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using
their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment's
premises. As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by
aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional
interference.
The statement issued in late January is a definitive one that leaves no
room what so ever for interpretation, It bluntly states that persons
or businesses causing intentional interference to Wi-Fi hotspots are
subject to enforcement action.
As previously reported, in October of 2014 the FCC fined Marriott
$600,000 for blocking customers personal Wi-Fi hotspots at a Nashville,
Tennessee, branch. Although Marriott paid the fine it also filed a
request for rulemaking with the commission, asking that Wi-Fi blocking
be permitted. Marriott's reasoning was that it could better manage the
security of its own network if it blocked unauthorized Wi-Fi
broadcasts.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephan Kinford N8WB, in
Wadsworth,Ohio.
[JIM:] The entire FCC order is at tinyurl.com/p67lveu
(FCC)
**
RESCUE RADIO: WASHINGTON DC MAYOR ORDERS FIRE RADIOS OPERATE
UNENCRYPTED
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered the D.C. fire department
to stop encrypting its emergency radios. The order came on February
12th in the wake of the deadly smoke incident aboard a Metro train
last month, but the mayor said that the order was not in reaction to
the incident.
Metro officials and firefighters had stated previously that there were
communication problems. According to the firefighters union, the
encryption system played a part in those issues.
However, Mayor Bowser's administration says that the radio system was
under review before her inauguration weeks before the incident at
Metro. But the radios came under intense scrutiny when firefighters at
the scene of the incident inside the Metro station couldn't communicate
with crews above the ground. The radio communications are now open to
the public, according to the mayor's spokesperson. (EMSI, other
published news reports)
**
EDUCATION: MOUSER TEAMS WITH TI TO SPONSOR INNOVATION CHALLENGES FOR
UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Mouser Electronics has announced that for the third year in a row the
company will sponsor Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge European
Design Contest. This is a competition to encourage engineering
students in specific parts of the world to submit design projects that
utilize Texas Instruments technology. First prize is $10,000 with the
second place winner receiving $5000. Prizes will be awarded to the
best entries as determined by the judges.
The contest is open to individuals and teams of up to five
undergraduate and graduate students at all accredited universities in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa. To compete, students must use two
or more Texas Instruments analogue ICs and a Texas Instruments
Processor in their design project. Entries will be judged on five
criteria. These are originality and creativity of design, real world
application, level of engineering analysis, usage of Texas Instruments
ICs and processors and a working demonstration of design in a video.
Mouser is also sponsoring the Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge
North American Design Contest. This competition which has similar
rules is open to students at all accredited universities in Canada,
Mexico and the United States including Puerto Rico. It has a $10,000
first prize, a $7500 second place prize and a $5000 third place award.
Complete information on the North American competition including an
on-line registration form and a video explaining the contest is on the
web at tinyurl.com/mouser-ti-innovation-challenge (Power Systrems
Design)
**
ON THE WEB: NEW INTERVIEW ABOUT CQ MAGAZINE ON HAM RADIO NOW
"CQ Comes Clean" is the title of a video interview conducted at the
recent Orlando Hamcation by Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, of Ham Radio Now with
the magazine's editor Rich Moseson, W2VU. In it, Moseson very candidly
talks about the current status of CQ explaining the publication
problems the company has faced, and what's being done to catch up on
delivery of the print edition of the magazine.
[MOSESON CUT 1]
Moseson and Pearce also delve into the problems facing virtually every
publication attempting to enter the digital world.
[MOSESON CUT 2]
The two also discuss those now coming into amateur radio and finding
ways to try and get them to try other aspects of the hobby other than
the singular interest that brought them in.
The interview runs just a bit over an hour and is episode 190 at the
Ham Radio Now website. The direct link is tinyurl.com/CQ-video-update
(HRN, Southgate)
**
HAM READING: FREE CQ-DATV 20 MAGAZINE OUT NOW
The latest issue of the free electronic amateur television magazine
CQ-DATV is now available. Included in the latest issue are articles
dealing with DATV on 2 meters, Known DATV DX Records, SSB with a 10 GHz
Low Noise LNB amplifier plus the latest DATV news. To download your
copy simply go to tinyurl.com/cq-datv-20, (Southgate)
**
RADIO EDUCATION: HAM RADIO SATELLITE TUTORIAL VIDEOS RELEASED
David Casler, KE0OG, has released a series of tutorial videos for the
US Extra class license two of which cover amateur radio satellites. The
first deals with Orbital Mechanics and the second covers the radio
aspects of amateur satellites. You can see these and all the others
on-line at tinyurl.com/dave-casler-video (Southgate)
**
BREAK 2
This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website
at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of
the following radio amateur:
(5 sec pause here)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: SOUTH EAST VHF SOCIETY CONFERENCE IN APRIL
The 2015 Southeastern VHF Society conference will be held April 24th
and 25th at the Morehead State University Space Science Center in
Morehead, Kentucky. Conference registration form, hotel information,
call for papers and other information can be found at svhfs.org.
(W4KXY)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: UK 6 METER GROUP CREATING GLOBAL 6 METER REPEATER LIST
The United Kingdom Six Meter Group is expanding its current 6 meter
repeater list to include 50 MHz repeaters operating anywhere in the
world. As such, it is looking for a volunteer in each nation that
permits 6 meter amateur radio operations to gather this information and
collate such a list for their country. Once completed, the
information should be sent by e-mail to G8FXM at webmaster (at) uksmg
(dot) org. More is on line at uksmg.org/landing.php (G8FXM)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: K5B TO COMMEMORATE BATAAN DEATH MARCH
Special Events Station K5B will be in operation on March 22nd. This
operation will be for the 26th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March
Marathon event and held at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The event honors the victims and survivors of the Bataan Death March
that took place in the Philippines during World War II and will operate
from several different locations in the Las Cruces area. More
information is available on the web at www.bataanmarch.com (WB4AEJ)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: FCC CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER TO ADDRESS 2015 NAB SHOW
Some names in the news. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will speak at the
2015 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas,
Nevada, on Wednesday, April 15th His address will take place from 9
to10 a.m. local time where Wheeler is expected to provide insight into
the FCC's policy and regulatory objectives related to broadcasting,
technology and communications law generally. Tom Wheeler became the
31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in November of
2013. (Broadcast Quarterly)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: RECORD HOLDING US ASTRONAUT HAM RENEWS LICENSE
Astronaut Michael Fincke, KE5AIT recently renewed his Amateur Radio
license through February 18, 2025. Fincke served on ISS Expedition 9
from April 18th to October 23rd of 2004 as well as Expedition 18 that
began on October 12, 2008 and ended April 8th 2009. His last venture
into space was on the STS-134 flight of the space shuttle Endeavor.
That mission ran May 16th to June 1st, 2011 and delivered the Alpha
Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the
International Space Station. As such, at 381.6 days, KE5AIT currently
holds the American record for the most time in space. (ANS,
Wikipedia,NASA)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: N1UL TO RECEIVE I.I. RABI AWARD FROM IEEE
And congratulations to Dr. Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, on his being named by
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to receive the
prestigious I. I. Rabi Award for 2015. The award recognizes
outstanding contributions related to the fields of atomic and molecular
frequency standards, and time transfer and dissemination. Dr. Rohde,
who is the chairman of Synergy Microwave Corporation and President of
Communications Consulting Corporation, will receive the Rabi Award at
the 2015 Joint Conference of the IEEE International Frequency Control
Symposium and European Frequency and Time Forum, held April 12th
through the 16th in Denver, Colorado. (IEEE, ARRL)
**
RADIO FROM SPACE: JPL PLANS 2401 MHZ LUNAR RANGING EXPERIMENT MARCH 3
NASA's Pasadena, California-based Jet Propulsion Lab will transmit a
narrow band signal at about 2041 MHz to illuminate a spot on the moon
probably centered on the Tycho crater. The experiment will take
place early in the morning of March 3rd between about 06:30 to 09:00
UTC.
JPL will be transmitting about 20 kilowatts from a 34 meter aperture
antenna. They are planning to have three distinct transmission modes.
Two will be a CW carrier, and a third will include a PN ranging code on
the signal, probably changing every 45 minutes. The signals should be
easy to detect with even a small receive antenna. (ANS)
**
ON THE AIR: ERITREA PROJECT 2015 FROM MARCH 6 To 17
On the air, the SEISA Foundation for Global Children has announced that
its next operation will be Eritrea Project 2015. As part of this
project, the group will conduct a DXpedition from Asmara, Eritrea, from
March 6th to 17th. A multi-national team consisting of Team Leader
Zorro Miyazawa, JH1AJT, and eight other operators will use four
transceivers with ACOM amplifiers. Antennas will be beams on the
higher bands with verticals on 160 through 30 meters. Their callsign
will be assigned on their arrival in Asmara. QSL's go via M0URX.
(JA1TRC)
**
DX
In DX, A Uruguay DX Group will be operating from the Red Cross
Headquarters in St. Maarten as PJ7C through March 9th. Activity will
be holiday style with 2 stations running 500 watts into 3 elements plus
1/4 wave verticals on lower bands. Modes will be CW and SSB, and on 80
through10 meters. QSL via the operations manager EB7DX.
HB9EBT will be active as D44TEG from Tarrafal, Sao Tiago Island between
March 15th to the 27th. Operations will be on 40 through 10 meters CW
only. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the bureau.
NL8F will be active stroke from HP3AK QTH in Chiriqui, Panama through
March 9th. Operations will be on the High Frequency bands only. QSL
via K8NA
WS5K is active as PJ4F from Bonaire until March 15th. Activity is on
the various HF bands. QSL via M0URX or electronically using Logbook of
the World.
(This weeks DX news courtesy of the Ohio Penn DX Newsletter)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: VOA RADIOGRAM HAS BROADCAST ITS 100TH PROGRAM
And finally this week, if you just happen have access to an older
analog shortwave broadcast transmitter and are wondering what to do
with it, just ask the Voice of America. That's because its found a
novel use of one of its own and created a program for it as we hear
from Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB:
KIM:] VOA Radiogram has broadcast its 100th program. VOA Radiogram is
an experimental Voice of America program on which digital text modes
familiar to amateur radio are transmitted on a 50-year-old analog AM
shortwave broadcast transmitter in North Carolina. The half-hour show
is on the air four times each weekend.
The idea is that shortwave radio can be used to communicate text and
images when the Internet is disrupted by dictators, disasters, or other
factors.
In the early weeks of VOA Radiogram, digital modes were tested side by
side, including the various flavors of BPSK, QPSK, MT63, Olivia, and
Thor. Reports have been received from shortwave listeners and radio
amateurs throughout Europe and North America, as well as Latin America
and Asia, and even from New Zealand, 14000 kilometers from the
transmitter.
Ultimately, it was MFSK that worked best on the shortwave broadcast
transmitter. Specifically, MFSK32 so far provides the best combination
of speed, 120 words per minute, and performance under typical shortwave
reception conditions. Furthermore, MFSK can be used to transmit images
as well as text.
Digital text works on any existing shortwave transmitter, with no
modifications necessary. And it can be received on any radio, including
cheap portables with no sideband capability.
The results show that digital text via analog shortwave transmitter
often results in 100 percent copy even in conditions where voice
broadcasts are difficult to understand. Digital text via analog
shortwave has even been effective against jamming.
For more information about the program, including the transmission
schedule, visit the website voaradiogram.net.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB, in
Arlington, Virginia.
[Jim]: Again, the website for more information about VOA Radiogram is
at voaradiogram.net.
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the
Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Rain, the RSGB, the South African Radio League,
the Southgate News, TwiT-TV, Australia's WIA News and you our
listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our e-mail
address is newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is
available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official website located at
www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur
Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350.
For now, for producers Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF in Los Angeles and
Skeeter Nash, N5ASH in Topeka, plus our news team world wide, I'm Jim
Damron, N8TMW, in Charleston, West Virginia, saying 73 and as always we
thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline is copyright 2015 and all rights are reserved.