AR Newsline Report 1798 -- Jan 27 2012:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1798 – January 27 2012

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1798 with a release date of January 27th, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC nixes a waiver request from Anchorage VEC that would have lead to instant re-licensing of hams with expired licenses but the proposal is far from dead. Also ham radio to be discussed at WRC 2012; International cooperation removes a noise generator from 40 meters and the city of Los Angeles celebrate the life of a ham who started broadcast emergency alerting, Find out the details are on Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1798 coming your way right now.

RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS NO TO ANCHORAGE VEC LICENSE ELEMENT WAIVER REQUEST

The FCC has turned away a request from Alaska’s Anchorage Volunteer Examination Coordinator for a temporary blanket waiver of Section 97.505(a) of the Commission’s Rules. This, to allow the VEC to give individuals whose amateur radio operator licenses have expired examination credit for test elements previously passed so that all former licensees could be re-licensed without retesting. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, has the details:

The Anchorage VEC had filed for the waiver pending the outcome of a related rulemaking petition in FCC Docket WT 11-130. That request seeks the same end but on a permanent nationwide basis.

But in its denial order the FCC noted that individuals who do not hold a current or renewable amateur radio operator license, regardless of whether they have held one in the past, must demonstrate their qualifications to be amateur radio operators before obtaining a new license. As such, the approval of the requested waiver to allow examination credit to be granted for any previously held amateur service operator license would not serve the underlying purpose of the regulatory agency’s licensing rules.

The FCC also stated that amateur radio testing opportunities are widely available. It said that Volunteer Examiner teams can administer tests at any location and time convenient to them and the examinee. As such Anchorage VEC has not shown that requiring retesting of examinees whose operator licenses expired more than two years ago, including those of advanced years, is inequitable or unduly burdensome, or that these examinees have no reasonable alternative.

But this matter is far from closed. In its conclusion the FCC also noted that the dismissal of the Anchorage VEC’s waiver request is a separate matter from the groups pending Rule Making request in FCC Docket WT 11-130. As such this action is without prejudice to Anchorage VEC’s pending rule-making petition.

The Report and Order denying the Anchorage VEC’s waiver request was issued on Tuesday, January 24th. As we go to air it’s not known if the Anchorage VEC will appeal this decision or simply wait for the outcome on its underlying Rule Making request.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Heather Butera-Howell, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The bottom line: At least for now if a ham lets his or her license expire and fails to renew it during the two year grace period, he or she will be back to ground zero and will have to go through the testing procedure before being granted a call sign to get back on the air.

RADIO REGULATION: AMATEUR RADIO AT WRC-2012

Amateur radio is mentioned in the preface of the International Telecommunication Union’s agenda document for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 now taking place in taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. Of interest to the Amateur and Amateur satellite Services is item 1.15. This, to consider possible allocations in the range 3 to 50 MHz to the radio location service for oceanographic radar applications, taking into account the results of ITU-R studies and in accordance with Resolution 612 from WRC-07.

Also, there is item 1.19 to consider regulatory measures and their relevance, in order to enable the introduction of software-defined radio and cognitive radio systems. This one is based on the results of ITU-R studies, and in accordance with Resolution 956 of WRC-07.

Lastly, there are items 1.22 to examine the effect of emissions from short-range devices on radio communication services and item 1.23 which will consider an allocation of about 15 kHz in parts of the band from 415 to 526.5 kHz to the amateur service on a secondary basis. This, taking into account the need to protect existing services.

WRC 2012 runs through February the 17th. We will all know more once the final reports on all these measures are in and made public. (ITU)

INTRUDER WATCH: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION TAKES WHITE NOISE OFF 40 METERS

Interference from All India Radio to the 40 meter band has been eliminated. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Cheryl Lasik, K9BIK, has the details:

Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OM, in Siegbach, Germany, reports via the I-A-R-U Region 1 website that back last December 1st he and Peter Jost HB9CET of Zurich, Switzerland, noticed a band of white noise like interference on 40 meters. This from 6 dot 960 to 7 dot 040MHz and also on 7 dot 820 MHz and showing up every evening.

Calculation by DK2OM showed the center of the spurious emissions was expected to be on the center 7 dot 410 MHz. From this point the German and Swiss Departments of Post and Telecommunications became involved.

Both offices filed official complaints to their counterpart in India. VU2GMN assisted by filing a personal complaint. On January 13th the transmitter located near the city of New Delhi was reported as having been repaired, and all traces of this source of interference to 40 meters was gone.

For the amateur Radio Newsline, I;m Cheryl Lasik, K9BIK, in Zion, Illinois.

More on this story is on-line at www.iaru-1.org. (IARU Region 1)

RESCUE RADIO: ALABAMA AGAIN HIT BY TORNADOS – HAMS RESPOND

Ham radio was again called out as another group of tornadoes touch down in Alabama. Amateur Radio Newsline’s David Black, KB4KCH, is at our South-East Bureau in Birmingham with more:

The January 22nd storms that pounded residents in Arkansas and Alabama were particularly difficult to deal with because they hit at night and couldn't be seen. Some tornadoes were wrapped in rain. Damage was reported in five Arkansas counties. One woman was trapped in her home for a time. At least six tornadoes hit areas south and east of Little Rock across the state's Delta region. A 150 year old church was hit and a transmission tower was destroyed. Members of Arkansas Skywarn activated at the request of National Weather Service forecasters in Little Rock. In all, about 60 radio amateurs helped with providing emergency communications across the state.

Hams remained busy as the storms swept east, hitting Alabama during the predawn hours January 23rd. A single supercell thunderstorm produces four tornadoes across central Alabama. Two of the twisters strike neighborhoods north and west of downtown Birmingham. A 16-year-old girl dies when her home is hit by an 800-yard wide tornado packing winds of 150 miles an hour. An 81-year-old man dies when a tornado hits his mobile home shortly after 3am. In all, forecasters say Alabama was hit by at least eight tornadoes, some of them leaving long tracks of destruction while tearing up hundreds of homes and businesses, and injuring 150 people. The tornadoes hit very close to areas pounded during a series of storms that killed 239 people in the state April 27th, 2011.

Members of the Alabama Emergency Response Team, ALERT, provided severe weather reports to Weather Service forecasters who used the information to issue warnings to the public. Hams with amateur radio clubs in Birmingham and nearby Sylvan Springs were on the air throughout much of the night, as well, assisting emergency management officials. And members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service were active, as well. They provided communications as officials set up shelters for people who lost their homes in the storms.

The winter months typically see what's called a secondary severe weather season across the Southeast. With that in mind, radio amateurs throughout the region are being thanked for their services...and reminded that their help will likely be needed again.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m David Black, KB4KCH, at the South-East Bureau in Birmingham, Alabama.

More on this story in future Amateur radio Newsline reports. (KB4KCH, ALERT, ARRL, others)

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Hamelton Countyty ARES net serving Hamelton County, Indiana.

RADIO LAW FOLLOW-UP: SEVERAL AMATEUR RADIO WEBSTES SUPPORTED THE SOPA – PIPA BLACKOUT PROTEST

A follow up to last weeks story about the involvement of ham radio in halting the progress of two measures working their way through the U-S Congress. Laws that many say would have destroyed the Internet as we know it today.

While the giant QRZ dot com website took what could best be described as the amateur radio point position in helping to halt the twin bills in their tacks, it turns out that it was not alone. The Southgate News reports that at least two other ham radio websites took part in the protest. Both the amateur radio HF Link Forum and the APRS site aprs.fi were closed in the United States on Wednesday, January 18th.

The aprs.fi blog noted in advance that it would join Wikipedia and Reddit, and protest the proposed United States Stop Online Piracy or SOPA and the Protect Intellectual Property Act or PIPA legislation by closing down. The blog went on to note that if some APRS user were to post links to copyright infringing material, even when that material would reside somewhere other than aprs.fi itself, that aprs.fi could be shut down in the U.S. and there would not be much that the website owners could do about it.

As we go to air, both SOPA and PIPA have been withdrawn by their respective sponsors in Congress for retooling. That’s a fancy way of saying that enough votes had defected to make passage at this time impossible. At the same time it’s a way of keeping both pieces of legislation alive for re-introduction to the United States Federal law making process at some later date. And it’s a sure bet that content providers such as the motion picture and music industries which basically wrote these two pieces of legislation will try again. (Southgate, ARNewsline™)

ENFORCEMENT: FORMER AUSTRALIAN HAM ADMITS TO INTERFERING WITH OTHERS

A former ham in VK-land has admitted to being a source of interference on the ham radio bands. This after the 63-year-old man from one of Melbourne’s western suburbs pleaded guilty on January 11th to several offences under the Australian Radio Communications Act. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Norm Seeley, KI7UP has more in this report:

In testimony, the Australian court hearing the case was told that, until August 2009, the defendant had been a licensed amateur radio operator but was investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority following complaints about interference. As a result of the inquiry, the regulatory authority cancelled the defendant's amateur licensee.

But it did not end there. The Australian Communications and Media Authority alleged that he continued to use his amateur radio gear his home to jam the communications other licensed amateur licensees. The execution of the search warrant by the authorities in September of 2011 confirmed that the defendant had a large quantity of radio communications gear. Tests confirmed that the equipment was set to the radio frequencies that had been interfered with.

In its sentencing, the court placed the defendant on a 12-month good behavior bond, ordered him to get rid of all of the seized equipment within four months and prove to the Australian Communications and Media Authority in writing that he had disposed of the gear.

The unidentified ham is considered lucky. Under Australian telecommunications law the court hearing the case had the option to sentence him to up to 24 months in prison for these offenses.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m_Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from Scottsdale, Arizona.

As is policy down-under, the defendants name was not made public by the Australian court. (WIA News)

ENFORCEMENT: FLORIDA LPFM FINE LOWERED TO $1500

Back in the United States, a low power FM station that interfered with FAA frequencies in Florida will only have to pay a $1,500 fine for operating without an FCC certified transmitter. This after it successfully convinced the commission to slash the penalty from the original $12,000.

Power Ministries is the licensee of low power station WRLE in Dunnellon, Florida. As reported here on Newsline, last September the Enforcement Bureau issued a notice of apparent liability, saying the station had operated with a non-certified transmitter for about three months in 2010. This action came after an investigation prompted by a complaint of interference it received from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Jacksonville Center to Air Traffic Control on133.75 MHz.

The proposed fine was $12,000 but the station appealed in a letter from Power Ministries owner Anthony Downes. The FCC now has rejected his arguments that the fine should be waived on the grounds that he had acted promptly and had not been aware of interference. But the commission has accepted the station’s documentation of inability to pay, and it cut the penalty to the $1500 level. (FCC)

RADIO LAW: LIGHTSQUARED ASKS FCC TO CONFIRM ITS RIGHT TO SPECTRUM

The seemingly never ending story continues. This with word that LightSquared, the company that wants to build a nationwide broadband data distribution system has asked the FCC to confirm its right to use the spectrum licensed to it by the federal government. It’s also asking the regulatory agency to confirm that commercial G-P-S manufacturers have no right to interference protection from LightSquared’s network since they are not licensed users of that spectrum. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Burt Hicks has the latest in this report:

According to news reports, LightSquared claims that commercial GPS manufacturers are responsible for having designed and sold unlicensed devices that use adjacent spectrum licensed to LightSquared and its predecessor companies. In a petition recently filed with the FCC LightSquared claimed that commercial GPS receivers are not licensed, do not operate under any service rules, and thus are not entitled to any interference protection whatsoever. The petition also noted that the FCC itself has stated that the GPS industry has been on notice for almost a decade that LightSquared was planning to use its spectrum to launch a nationwide broadband network.

LightSquared’s petition claims that it has had FCC authorization to build its network for over eight years, and that authorization was endorsed by the GPS industry, and fully reviewed and allowed to proceed by several other government agencies. A company spokesman added that commercial GPS device-makers have had nearly a decade to design and sell devices that do not infringe on LightSquared’s licensed spectrum. They have no right to complain in the eleventh-hour about incompatibility when they had ample opportunity to avoid this problem.

As previously reported, LightSquared plans to deploy an open 4G network to be used by existing and new service providers to sell their own devices, applications and broadband connectivity. The company claims that the deployment and operation of the network represent more than $14 billion of private investment over the next eight years.

In its closing remarks the company did moderate its position a tiny bit. It said that while it asks the FCC to confirm its legal rights, LightSquared remains fully committed to cooperate with all parties including the GPS industry, GPS users and the federal government to ensure that its network is deployed in a way that is compatible with GPS users.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Burt Hicks in Los Angeles.

LightSquared says that it has always recognized the critical importance of the GPS system. As such it firmly believes that a way can be found for GPS devices to peacefully co-exist adjacent to its network. That said, the GPS industry and Congress are not so sure. (Published News Reports)

RADIO BUSINESS: TAPR AND IQUADLABS ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON SDR BOARDS

Tucson Amateur Packet Radio and iQuadlabs have jointly announced a sourcing agreement for the open source Software Defined Radio or HPSDR boards. These are the ones best known by their nick-names of Magister, Mercury and Pennylane.

Under the new agreement, Tucson Amateur Packet Radio will acquire inventory of iQuadLabs creating a one-stop source for all open HPSDR boards. On the other side, iQuadLabs will gain the inventory from Tucson Amateur Packet Radio to build pre-configured and tested complete open HPSDR systems.

The end result will be that Tucson Amateur Packet Radio will have all open HPSDR boards in stock, in one place, for those wishing to buy boards, kits and components. And, for the first time in the history of open HPSDR, those who wish to by a completely assembled and tested radio will have a source at iQuadLabs. Zephyr Engineering, Inc will continue to manufacture the assembled boards. (TAPR)

This is ham radio news for today’s radio amateur. From the United States of America, 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:

STRANGE TECHNOLOGY UNKNOWN ANIMAL TAKES KENTUCKY TV STATION OFF THE AIR

A TV station went dark for a short time due to damage from one of the creatures of the wild. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the details:

An unidentified animal has been blamed for taking a Kentucky television station off the air. Lexington CBS affiliate WKYT announced on its Facebook page Wednesday, January 11th that it was in the midst of broadcasting a University of Kentucky basketball game when a power outage shut it down.

It turns out that the power interruption was caused by an animal gnawing through a power line on the station’s property. Mike Kanarek, WKYT’s vice president of operations, told the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper that the station switched to a back-up generator almost immediately after the animal cut off electricity but it took a few minutes for the transmitter to resume broadcasting.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Fred Vobbe, W8HDU.

WKYT didn’t specify what type of animal caused the disturbance or if it survived the ordeal. (RW)

AWARD NEWS: LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD TO SUPPORT CQ OPERATING AWARDS

CQ Communications and ARRL have signed an agreement to begin providing support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the ARRL's Logbook of the World electronic confirmation system. CQ's awards will be the first non-ARRL awards supported by Logbook of the World and will be phased in, beginning with the CQ WPX award. Additional CQ awards will follow.

The target date for beginning Logbook of the World support for WPX is April 1st. Amateurs will be able to use Logbook of the World logs to generate lists of confirmed contacts to be submitted for WPX credit. Standard Logbook of the World credit fees and CQ award fees will apply.

The ARRL’s Logbook of the World system is an interactive database recording contacts between radio amateurs was created in 2003 and has been adopted by 47,500 radio amateurs worldwide. It already has records of 400 million contacts and grows weekly.

The agreement was announced jointly on Tuesday, January 24th by ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, and CQ Communications President Richard Ross, K2MGA. (CQ)

HAM HAPPENINGS: K5B TO COMMEMORATE THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH

The Mesilla Valley Radio Club of Las Cruces, New Mexico will be operating special events station K5B on March 25th. This, in conjunction with the 23rd annual Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon to be held at the near-by White Sands Missile Range.

K5B will operate from 1000 to 2300 UTC on or near 21.337, 14.330, 7.225, and 3.893 megahertz. A commemorative card will be available by request. If you make contact please QSL with a self addressed stamped business sized envelope to Special Events Station K5B, in care of the Mesilla Valley Radio Club, P. O. Box 1443 Las Cruces, NM 88004-1443. All QSL requests must be received by Friday, April 20th. More information is on-line at www.n5bl.org/bataan. (Mesilla Valley ARC)

HAM HAPPENINGS: SEVHFS SOLICITING PAPERS FOR APRIL CONFERENCE

Papers and other presentations are solicited The 15th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 20th and 21st. Submissions are welcomed on both the technical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio. The deadline for the submission is February 17th. Send all questions and comments to Robin Midgett via e-mail to K4IDC at comcast dot net. More is on-line at www.svhfs.org. (SEVHFS)

HAMVENTION 2012: DAYTON DX DINNER INFORMATION ANNOUNCED

The Southwest Ohio DX Association has announced that it will again sponsor the DX Dinner to be held in conjunction with the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. The date is Friday, May 18th at the Dayton Marriott Hotel in downtown Dayton, Ohio. There will be a cash bar starting at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00 o’clock Eastern time. Reservation information can be found on line at www.,swodxa.org. (SWODXA)

HAM HAPPENINGS: ORLANDO HAMCATION FEBRUARY 10 To 12

The 66th annual Orlando HamCation Amateur Radio and Computer Show will take place on February 10th through the 12th at the Central Florida Fairgrounds, in Orlando, Florida. Presented by the Orlando Amateur Radio Club, HamCation 2012 will feature over 150 commercial vendors offering a wide variety of radio gear, antennas, accessories, test equipment, tools, software and books. There will also be over 400 swap vendors and a large outdoor tailgating area. More information on this fun winter get-away event in the Florida sun is on-line at www dot hamcation.com. (Orlando HamCation)

HAMVENTION 2012: N6TR TO BE FEATURED SPEAKER AT DAYTON CONTEST DINNER

2003 Radio Amateur of the Year Larry "Tree" Tyree, N6TR, will be the featured speaker at the 20th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner to be held on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in Dayton, Ohio.

According to the North Coast Contesters who sponsor the dinner, N6TR has an extensive and distinguished contesting resume that goes beyond his many top ten finishes in domestic CW contests. He was one of the founders of the popular Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge and the creator of the twice-a-year Kids Day operating events. Tyree is also the author of the popular TRLOG contest logging software and is responsible for log checking packages that are used to adjudicate many of the major radio contests.

Outside of contests, Tyree spends most of his time chasing new countries on 160 meters. More about this event is on-line at contestdinner.com. (K3LR)

NAMES IN THE NEWS: VA2SH/VA6SH ELECTED NEW RAC DIRECTOR FOR QUEBEC

And congratulations to Sheldon Werner, VA2SH / VA6SH on his election as the Radio Amateurs of Canada Director for the Provence of Quebec. Werner has been an amateur radio operator since 1976. He has been involved in many aspects of the hobby including serving as the Vice President for the Montreal Amateur Radio Club.

Werner ran unopposed, eliminating the need for a balloted election. His role as Quebec Director is for the remainder of a two year term which ends December 31, 2013. (VO1PRB)

This is ham radio news for today’s radio amateur. From the United States of America, 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)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: LEAP SECONDS GET A REPRIEVE

The Leap Second is getting a temporary reprieve. This after delegates at an international telecommunications meeting in Geneva failed to reach a consensus on whether or not to delete these sporadic additions from the global time standard system.

As reported last week, attendees to the conference were supposed to decide whether to recommend the elimination of leap seconds. Since no decision was made, the issue has been referred back to a panel of experts for further study. A revised proposal will be introduced no earlier than 2015.

Leap Seconds are time increments which are occasionally added to the world’s atomic clocks to keep them synchronized with Earth’s rotational cycles. The last leap second was added in 2008. The next one is this year at the end of June.

Also one correction to last weeks report. As pointed out to us in an e-mail from John Rabold KS6M, the Earth doesn't rotate around the sun. Rather it revolves around the sun.

Thank you John for catching that one. It was our bad. (Space & Science)

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NASA AND W5KWQ WORKING ON RELEASE OF FIRST MOVIE SHOT IN SPACE

The first science fiction film shot in space could be coming to viewers here on Earth. This after NASA confirms it's almost ready to give approval for the project.

Titled Apogee of Fear, the film was shot by space tourist Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, during his 2008 trip to the International Space Station. Garriott shot the basic footage for the film, using astronauts as his cast. He then added scenes and visual effects after his return to Earth.

The film was privately shown at Dragon*Con last year, but has been in legal limbo since then. This is because it wasn’t included in Garriott’s deal with NASA. Now the space agency confirms that it is working with W5KWQ to facilitate the video's release. The complete story is on-line at tinyurl.com/movie-in-space. (The UK Register, Wired, others)

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: THE IPAD PASSPORT

A Canadian man traveling by car to Vermont claimes that his iPad helped save the day. This after he realized he left his passport, which is required to cross into the United States, at his home in Quebec.

According to news reports, Martin Reisch said that on December 30th he arrived at Canada's Stanstead crossing and proceeded to the U.S. border post. He then showed the U.S. officer his Canadian driver's license, his Medicaid card and a digital scan of his passport he had on his iPad. At that point says Reisch he was permitted to enter the United States.

But the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says that it did not happen that way calling Reisch's story false. In a statement the agency said that in this case, the individual had both a driver's license and birth certificate, which the CBP officer used to determine identity and citizenship in order to admit the traveler into the country.

But Reisch isn't backing down from his story. He told the press that he does not even know where his paper birth certificate is. He added that his experience does however make him think about how technology can be used for identification purposes when traveling at some point in the future. (Various published news sources)

WORLDBEAT: RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA SEEKS TREASURER

Radio Amateurs of Canada is looking for a Treasurer who is a Chartered Accountant, Certified General Accountant or Certified Management Accountant. Experience with QuickBooks would be an asset. Interested parties should contact Paul Burggraaf by e-mail to vo1prb(at) rac (dot) ca. (RAC)

WORLDBEAT: UK SCHOOL TO HOLD D-STAR EVENT

A school in the village of Gresham in the United Kingdom will be holding an amateur radio special event station using the D-STAR digital network for children age 6 to 11 on May 23rd. The callsign will be GB2GVS which stands for Gresham Village School.

Andy Johnston, 2E0AIV is the event coordinator. He says that they have already arranged link-ups with schools in Northern Ireland, the USA and England, but are looking for more countries and schools to participate. If anyone is interested, they can contact Andy via e-mail at 2e0avi (at) 2e0aiv (dot) co (dot) uk. (Southgate)

ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING DENMARK’S PRESIDENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Ham radio is helping Denmark celebrate its turn as President of the European Union. Denmark holds this from January 1st to June 30th. Ro celebrate, the callsign 5P12EU will be activated during this same time period. QSL cards will be available and there is an award scheme for working or just hearing this callsign. For all details on QSLing, the award format and logs, check out www.5p12eu.dk (DX OnLine)

DX

In DX, members of the Buddies in the Caribbean will mount a mini-DXpedition to Grenada between February 1st through the 9th. The team specializes in 100 watts or less low power radios and the Buddipole portable antenna systems They will have fixed operations from a cliff-top villa and portable operations from various points on the island. Modes used will be CW, SSB, and the Digital on 160 through 10 meters. Licensing is not yet complete, but each operator is expected to receive their J3/callsign. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL, or regular mail to operator's home callsign and include a self addressed stamped envelope if you go the postal route.

JA1XGI will be active from Hawaii as W8XGI/KH6 between January 31st and February 4th just prior to his upcoming trip to Tonga. Operations will probably be on 20 through 6 meters with an emphasis on 30, 17 and 12 meters. He is expected to operate mainly CW, with some SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via JA1XGI, direct or by the Bureau. QSO’s will be uploaded to Logbook of the World.

DL7AFS and DJ7ZG will be operational as V21FS and V21ZG, respectively, from the Villa Sundowerns on the island of Antigua beginning March 5th for an unknown stay. Focus of this operation on 160 through meters as propagation conditions allow. Modes noted are RTTY, PSK and SSB. QSL via the DARC German QSL bureau or direct to DL7AFS.

(Above from various DX news sources)

THAT FINAL ITEM: LOS ANGELES CELEBRATES THE 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGALERT DEVELOPED BY THE LATE LLOYD SIGMON, W6LQ

Los Angeles transportation leaders gathered at Caltrans headquarters Monday January 23rd to commemorate the 57th anniversary of what may be Los Angeles’ most iconic gift to the rest of the world: the SigAlert. And it was developed by a ham radio operator. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, tells about this legacy gifted to the people of Southern California by a broadcasting pioneer:

It’s hard to fathom that it was 57 years ago this week that the late Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, developed the SigAlert. At the time Lloyd was a vice president and engineer at Gene Autry’s Golden West Broadcasting AM radio station KMPC.

In the pre Internet world of the 1950’s KMPC had revolutionized Southern California driving by launching a fleet of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to report live on traffic conditions during rush hours. But what became known as the “KMPC Air Force” could not fly around the clock.

In off hours Lloyd Sigmon had wanted Los Angeles Police Department officers to simply phone KMPC’s news department when freeways or streets were clogged but the department rejected that idea. So W6LQ used his ham radio know how to develop a hardware-based work around that has been a region wide standard for more than half a century.

Today the California Highway Patrol and other police authorities still use the term SigAlert to advise motorists to an unplanned lane closure lasting more than 30 minutes. And over the years SigAlerts have not only aided in traffic reporting but have also been used in disaster alerting.

The first such emergency notification SigAlert took place in 1955 when it urged medical personnel to respond to a train derailment. It reportedly caused a traffic jam when many doctors and nurses showed up to assist at the scene.

W6LQ’s SigAlert is also credited with saving the lives of hundreds when the Baldwin Hills Dam collapsed on December 14, 1963. And even today Lloyd Sigmon’s basic alerting concept is in use nationwide in the form of the high-tech Emergency Alert System or E-A-S.

During his time in Southern California, Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, was very active and well known in the Los Angeles ham radio community. He was also a frequent guest on late-night talk shows, especially that of Ray Briem, N6FFT. There he could be heard discussing both his love of ham radio and, once in a while, a bit of the technology on the development of the SigAlert.

In later year after his retirement from KMPC Lloyd Sigmon moved back to his native Oklahoma. There, W6LQ, became a Silent Key in 2005 at age 90.

I was fortunate to have known Lloyd and to have appeared with him several times on the Ray Briem Show. I can tell you first hand that Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, was one truly nice guy.

For the Amateur Radio Newsine, I’m Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the newsroom here in the City of Angels.

You can learn more about both Lloyd Sigmon, W6LQ, and the SigAlert at tinyurl.com/3myftzl. (Various published news reports and ARNewsline™ Archive)

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, 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, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline™ is Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

There are no comments on this article: Post One