ARNewsline Report 1820 -- June 29 2012:

Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1820 – June 29 2012

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1820 with a release date of June 29, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a Q-S-T. Ham radio continues its aid in response to wildfires in Colorado; hams in Sri Lanka say they want to be included in ham radio emergency communications; big changes coming to 70 centimeters down under; a day change for Ham Nation and a new method of data transfer could reach 2 point 5 terabytes per second. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1820 coming your way right now.

RESCUE RADIO: COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO FIRE UPDATE

We begin this week with an update on ham radio assisting those fighting the wildfires burning in Colorado and New Mexico. Don Carlson, KQ6FM, has what’s known so far:

According to a report in the Denver Post, ham radio operators have become an integral part of the fire fighting effort. A story talks about the contributions of Amateur Radio Emergency Service operators. It describes in detail the work of Randy Long, K7AVV, who the paper says is a ham radio operator asked by firefighters to find more volunteers to aid communication in the High Park fire zone.

Since then Long has been managing a team of ham radio operators staffing eight hour shifts around the clock. They are described as setting up portable repeaters and relaying messages between the fire lines and command posts. About 40 operators have so far volunteered. Long is an Amateur Radio Emergency Service coordinator for Larimer and Weld counties who was forced to evacuate from his home southeast of Buckhorn Mountain.

Also involved in the Colorado fire communications effort is Colorado Section Emergency Coordinator Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, Long, Wareham and the other ARES volunteers were reported to be at the National Guard Armory in Fort Collins. They became an integral part of the communications effort as the High Park fire encircled Buckhorn and Horsetooth mountains. That’s where critical hubs of Larimer County public safety communications towers stand.

The Post story notes that as a part of their hobby amateur radio operators have set up about 50 mountaintop repeaters around northern Colorado. If the public service communication systems were damaged or forced off line, the hams could provide alternate communications through one of their repeaters or set up a portable repeater to fill in any gap.

Agencies being served by ARES volunteers include the Larimer County Sheriff, American Red Cross, US Forest Service, Colorado State Patrol, and the High Park Fire Incident Management team of the Poudre Park Fire Department.

Yet another massive wildfire broke out near the city of Colorado Springs on Saturday, June 23rd. Called the Waldo Canyon Fire this blaze suddenly grew to a level of fierce on Tuesday, June 26th. So far it has forced 32,000 people from their homes and has prompted evacuations from the near-by United States Air Force Academy. The fire is reported to literally be swallowing numerous houses at the edge of Colorado Springs. As we go to air there is no word of any direct involvement by ARES or RACES teams but its likely that some amateur radio communications lines are already on-scene.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, ham radio operations have stood down following the Little Bear Fire in and around the city of Riudoso. Michael Scales, K5SCA, is the New Mexico Section Emergency Coordinator. In a note released on June 17th and relayed to Newsline by Jay Miller, W5WHN, all personnel have been released at this point. However they should be aware that the new threat is flash flooding. With that in mind they should remain somewhat vigilant and have their "go kits" ready for deployment.

The Little Bear Fire destroyed 224 homes and had burned 59 square miles before it was 60 percent contained. As reported here two weeks ago, several New Mexico ARES units responded to that blaze.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Don Carlson, KQ6FM, in Reno.

More on this situation as information is made available to us. (W5WHN, Denver Post, others)

RESCUE RADIO: SRI LANKA HAMS OFFER TO ASSIST IN EMCOMM WORK

Sri Lanka’s amateur radio operators have renewed their call to be included in communication work during national disasters. This after the nation’s defense authorities have relaxed rules on clearing ham radio equipment into that nation.

The report in Lanka Business quotes Radio Society of Sri Lanka official, Victor Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, as saying that Sri Lankan hams would like to join-up with the National Disaster Management Centre in some way. This, to help them with emergency communication work.

4S7VK spoke during a recent public lecture on Disaster Risk Reduction, organized by LIRNEasia, which is a regional think-tank. At the gathering it was noted that with some 200 members the Radio Society of Sri Lanka is not new to disaster communications in the island. It was noted that the society played a crucial role during the 2004 Asian tsunami that claimed over 30,000 lives and displacing about one million people. More is on-line at tinyurl.com/srilanka-emcomm and in this case srilanka is spelled as one word. (Radio Society of Sri Lanka)

RESTRUCTURING: PROPOSED REFARMING OF 70CM IN AUSTRALIA

Big changes are coming to the amateur 70 centimeter band down under. We have more in this report:

The Australian Communications and Media Authority's Spectrum Conference this year saw the ongoing work associated on the review of 400 MHz spectrum. This is a band of frequencies that also includes the 70 centimeter ham radio allocation.

Currently, the Australian amateur service has a secondary status between 420 and 450 MHz. In the last report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority on its review issued April 2010, it advised that the allocation for the amateur service between 430 and 450 MHz would not be affected from any rearrangement. However, they cited, a possible need for some temporary use by other services in the segment 440 to 450 MHz during the transition period.

In the Amateur secondary segment 420 to 430 MHz, in some geographic areas around Australia, amateur use of that spectrum has already been withdrawn. At the conference, the Australian Communications and Media Authority indicated that they will be seeking to consult with the Wireless Institute of Australia on withdrawal of the amateur service in this segment across the rest of that nation.

Currently, the major use of this band segment by amateurs is fixed links and the like. The Australian Communications and Media Authority database lists around 126 assignments to some 35 licensees. It is expected these can be relocated to the 430 to 450 MHz portion of the band.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the Newsroom in Los Angeles.

You can follow this story on-line on the Wireless Institute of Australia news-pages at www.wia.org.au (WIA News)

RESTRUCTURING: NEW LOW FREQUENCY ALLOCATION IN MALTA

Hams in Malta now have access to a new low frequency band. The as the Malta Communications Authority grants amateurs access to 472 to 479 kHz. The country's National Frequency Plan identifies this as a secondary allocation, with a maximum power of 1 watt Effective Radiated Power. (GB2RS)

From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N5YYU repeater serving Clinton, Arkansas.

ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES A $15000 NAL TO ANOTHER FLORIDA UNLICENSED BROADCASTER

The FCC has issued a $15,000 Notice of Apparent Liability also known as a proposed fine to Pierre Nixon Jean. This, for operating an unauthorized station on 92.5 MHz in West Palm Beach, Florida. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has the details:

This past February, FCC agents from the Miami office traced the source of unauthorized signal on 92.5 MHz to an antenna mounted on the roof of an apartment building in West Palm Beach. Agents heard the station identify itself on the air as “Exitfm.com.”

Doing a bit of on-line sleuthing, the agents found an Internet site for the station that showed a photo of Pierre Nixon Jean as a D-J and identified him as the station owner. The agents also learned from the building owner that Jean rented an apartment in the building from sometime in 2010 through March of this year. He also identified Jean from a photograph as being the renter.

The building owner told the agents he had seen what he believed what might have been transmitting equipment inside the unit and told Jean to remove the gear after speaking to the FCC. The Enforcement Bureau confirmed the antenna was removed in May.

Now, in its penalty decision, the FCC says that Jean had no license for the station and was operating the facility illegally. The FCC also noted that Jean had been found to have been transmitting unlawfully on the same frequency from another location in 2010. It said that such continued illegal operation demonstrates a deliberate disregard for the commission’s rules. Because of this the agency increased the level of the fine from the $10,000 base figure to $15,000.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale Arizona.

As is usual in these cases, Pierre Nixon Jean has 30 days to pay the fine or file an appeal. (FCC)

ENFORCEMENT: FCC AFFIRMS $22000 FINE AGAINST TENNESSEE UNLICENSED BROADCASTER

The FCC has affirmed a $22,000 monetary forfeiture previously issued to Arthur Lee Young Cosby, Tennessee. This for his alleged operation of an unlicensed radio station on 87.9 MHz and refusal to allow an inspection of his radio station.

This past March 27th the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Atlanta Office (issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to Young for the alleged violations. According to the regulatory agency, Young has not filed a response to the NAL. So, based on the information before it, the FCC affirmed the fine on June 8th. Young was given the customary 30 days from issuance of the fine to pay it or to file an appeal. (FCC)

HAM HAPPENINGS: HAM NATION CHANGING NIGHTS TO WEDNESDAY ON TWIT.TV

Beginning on July 11th, the TWIT.tv program Ham Nation will be moving to Wednesday evenings. This as network owner Leo Laporte, W6TWT, announces a new programming schedule. Bob Heil, K9EID, who hosts Ham Nation says that the move is really good news for his program due to the strong lead in shows that Leo Laporte has chosen to precede it:

K9EID: “They’re going to change the day of Ham Nation and we are going to move it to Wednesday. The reason is that he is going to put up a like-up of some of his top shows on Wednesday.

“It starts off with the Security Now with Steve Gibson which is an incredible show, by the way. (It covers) all kinds of security (including) your home, your computer. Whatever needs security, Steve is the master.

“And then, they are going to have the TWIG show – This Week in Google, Android and all that.

“Then, the big show Triangulation. That show will precede Ham Nation.

“So you’re going to have four of their top shows on Wednesday.”

The day change does not affect the shows hour of air-time schedule. The netcast will still take place live at 9 P.M. Eastern, 6 P.M. Pacific with video and audio podcasts available for download at twit.tv/hn about 24 hours later.

Again the new day for the TWIT.TV amateur radio program Ham Nation will be on Wednesday starting on July 11th. K9EID and the gang hope you will join them there. (Ham Nation)

HAM BUSINESS: ETHERKIT RELEASES QRSS BEACON KIT

Etherkit which is a new amateur radio kit company devoted to open source hardware, has released its first product. Called OpenBeacon, it is described as an open source crystal-controlled QRP beacon transmitter kit which can output a variety of slow-speed modes. These include QRSS, DFCW, and Sequential Multi-tone Hellschreiber. More information is on-line at www.etherkit.com (Southgate)

HAM HAPPENINGS: CK6S FOR CALGARY STAMPEDED JULY 5 TO 15

The Calgary Amateur Radio Association will be operating special event station CK6S from July 5 to 15th. This to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.

The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The event's roots are traced to 1886 when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair.

In 1912, American promoter Guy Weadick organized his first rodeo and festival, known as the Stampede. He returned to Calgary in 1919 to organize the Victory Stampede in honor of soldiers returning from World War I. Weadick's festival became an annual event in 1923 when it merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition to create the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.

The ham radio special event station CK6S plans to use frequencies in the general portion of the United States phone bands. These will be around 3.825, 7.180, 14.250, 21.320 and 28.475 MHz. A special QSL card will be available through the QSL bureau or direct by following the CK6S/VE6AO QSL instructions on QRZ.com. (VE6TC, Wikipedia)

HAM HAPPENINGS: W1A CELEBRATES TELSTAR AT 50

A celebration of the world’s first telecommunications satellite will take place on July 7th. This when the Radio Adventurers of Maine activate the callsign W1A to commemorate the first messages through the Telstar bird. They will be operating on site at the Andover, Maine satellite facility, the original earth station which broadcast the first messages via Telstar was uplinked on July 10th, 1962. The clubs commemorative operation will begin at 1300 UTC on both 40 and 20 meter phone. Other bands will be added as propagation allows. QSL as directed on the air. (Radio Adventurers of Maine)

NAMES IN THE NEWS: JAMIE GAVIN, KF7WIS NAMED QRZ.COM GENERAL MANAGER

Some names in the news. First up is Jaime Gavin, KF7WIS, who has been named as the first General Manager of the QRZ.com ham radio website. According to site owner Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, Gavin will be overseeing all aspects of QRZ's daily business and interaction with the public.

Jaime Gavin holds a Master's degree from Arizona State University and Lloyd describes her as being extremely enthusiastic and capable. She will be handling the business aspects of QRZ LLC, and will oversee its day- to-day activities including advertising sales, database administration, and user and customer support.

According to AA7BQ, with the addition of KF7WIS, his role at QRZ now transitions to the one that he loves the most. That being the sites systems designer, programmer, and ambassador for QRZ.com. (QRZ)

NAMES IN THE NEWS: FORMER FCC COMMISSIONER RICHARD WILEY HONORED

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law has honored communications law expert Richard Wiley for a lifetime of achievement, including a career at the Federal Communications Commission that spanned three presidential terms.

Wiley is the only person to act as general counsel, commissioner and chairman of the FCC. He started under President Richard Nixon, served under President Gerald Ford and then resigned after helping transition into the administration of President Jimmy Carter for a year. His pivotal role in the development of HDTV earned him the nickname, the “Godfather of Digital Television,” and earned him an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Richard Wiley, who is now age 77, is only the third person to receive the Milestone Award from the university’s Institute for Communications Law Studies. (RW)

NAMES IN THE NEWS: KJ4UFG SAYS HE NEEDS FIELD DAY COVER PHOTO FOR SERA JOURNAL

John Ghormley, KJ4UFG, who is the editor of the South East Repeater Association publication known as the SERA Repeater Journal is looking for a cover photo that depicts an ARRL Field Day activity.

Specifically, KJ4UFG requires a high resolution photograph taken at a Field Day site in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. These are the states serviced by the organization.

A suitable cover photo should be in vertical portrait orientation. The file size should be such that it can be turned into a super sharp image of at least 300 dots per inch or greater when rendered at 8.5"x11" page size. If there are people prominently depicted in the photo, he will need full names, and call signs for the hams in the photo.

If you have a photo you want to submit, email it as an attachment, to editor (at) sera (dot) org. (KJ4UFG)

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:

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: FORMER ARRL GENERAL MANAGER AND IARU PRESIDENT RICHARD, BALDWIN, W1RU - SK

It’s yet another changing of the guard in amateur radio. This as we learn the sad news of the passing of former ARRL General Manager Richard Baldwin, W1RU, of Damariscotta, Maine.

An ARRL Charter Life Member, Richard Baldwin capped a long career on the ARRL staff with service as General Manager from 1975 until his retirement in 1982. He served as Secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) from 1976 to 1982. After retirement, he continued his involvement as a volunteer, serving as IARU President from 1982 to 1999 and as ARRL International Affairs Vice President from 1982 to 1986.

According to his daughter Judy, Baldwin's life revolved around telecommunications. He first became licensed in 1934 as W1IKE. An Amateur Extra class licensee, he earned DXCC, WAS and WAC, as well as membership in the ARRL’s A-1 Operator Club.

Baldwin began his career at ARRL Headquarters in 1948 as an Assistant Secretary. After a brief hiatus to work in the private sector in the early 1950s, he returned in 1956 as Managing Editor of QST. In that position he was responsible for production of the monthly member journal and all ARRL publications.

In 1963, Baldwin became Assistant General Manager and almost immediately got involved with international matters. He organized the Intruder Watch program and served as the ARRL Liaison between the amateurs who monitored the bands and the FCC. In 1975 he was named by the ARRL Board to succeed John Huntoon, W1RW, as General Manager on Huntoon's retirement, That’s the position now titled Chief Executive Officer. In total, Baldwin wrote 234 articles and columns for QST.

A graduate of Bates College in Maine, Baldwin earned an MS in Physics from Boston University in 1948. He spent five years in the US Navy during World War II. In March 1943, while serving as Communications Officer aboard the USS Coghlan, he participated in the longest American naval daylight firefight of the war. That being the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. After the war he served in the US Naval Reserve, achieving the rank of Commander.

Richard Baldwin, W1RU, was age 92 when passed away on Thursday, June 21, after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, daughter Judy and son Glenn. A memorial service was planned for Friday, June 29 at Second Congregational Church in Newcastle, Maine. (ARRL)

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW DATA TRANSFER METHOD PROMISES UP TO 2.5 TB PER SECOND

American and Israeli scientists have developed a new technology of wirelessly transmitting data using twisted beams of light that could produce a theoretical throughput of 2.5 terabits per second. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Heather Butera- Howell, KB3TZD, has the story of the science making this possible:

The new method of high speed data transfer reportedly uses orbital angular momentum or O-A-M to increase the amount of information that can be carried by a single stream. To accomplish this feat, the researchers twisted together eight 300 Gigabytes per second visible light data streams using O-A-M technology over a space of one meter to achieve speeds of 2.5 terabits per second. The development comes just one month after it was finally proved that orbital angular momentum is actually possible.

Using this new orbital angular momentum technology an infinite number of conventional transmission protocols such as WiFi and LTE, can be twisted together for faster speeds without the need for more spectrum. For perspective, that’s more than 8,000 times faster than the fastest home Internet connection at 300 Megabytes per second.

The development team says that it will be working increasing the transmission distance which currently at only 1 meter. The theoretical distance limit for this new method is likely to be less than one kilometer. At least in the foreseeable future.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Heater Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania

You can read more on-line at tinyurl.com/super-speed-data. (slashgear.com, N6ZXJ)

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SCOTLAND MOBILE ON THE BIRDS

2E1EUB is currently mobile on the various amateur radio satellites from Scotland. He began his operation on June 24th and can be heard stroke P through July 6th or 7th. Grid squares he will be activating include IO-76 IO-77 IO-87 and others if he has the time. QSL to 2M1EUB via his address on QRZ.com. (Southgate)

WORLDBEAT: CANADIAN HAMS NEEDED FOR COMMUNICATIONS FOR CYCLING EVENT

This note to our friends up north. Radio Amateurs of Canada says that volunteers are needed to provide communications in support of that nations Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation cycling event. The ride takes place August 3d to the 5th along Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail. The route involves at least 100 riders and more than 50 volunteers.

If you are able to help, please drop a note to Doug Mercer, V-Oh-1-T-D-M at dougvo1dtm (at) gmail (dot) com. You can also get in touch with Radio Amateurs of Canada’s Atlantic Director Ev Price at vo1dk (at) rac (dot) ca or Deputy Director Len Morgan ve9my (at) rac (dot) ca. Any assistance will be sincerely appreciated. (RAC)

ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE TOUR DE FRANCE CYCLING RACE 2012

Meantime, keep an ear open for special event station GB4TDF. G1JYB, G1LAT and the Sands Contest Group are hosting the operation from Oysterber Farm in the UK to coincide with for the 2012 Tour our de France bicycle race.

The special event station began operation on June 26th and will terminate on July 23rd. Operations will be on HF, VHF and UHF as time and band conditions permit. A special commemorative QSL card will be available. More is on QRZ.com under GB4TDF.

The actual Tour de France cycling event starts on the June 30th June and ends on July 22nd. (E-Mail)

DX

In DX, Bill Moore, NC1L, the ARRL Awards Branch Manager, tells Newsline that the 2011 TL8ES Central African Republic and the 2012 TT8ES expedition to Chad have both been approved for DXCC credit. Also approved has been the 2012 XW4XR operation from Laos. Card submissions for all of these operations are now welcome.

DL4ME will be active as 5H3ME from Tanzania between August 14th and September 3rd. His operation will be holiday style on the H-F bands from 80 through 6 meters using CW and the Digital modes. QSL via his home callsign.

AJ9C will be active as YN2CC from Granada, Nicaragua, between November 20th and the 28th. Operations will be on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL electronically via Logbook of the World or direct to his home callsign.

LA0HF will be on the air as TY2BP from Benin for a minimum of 30 days and could be there for as long as 45. Activity will be on 20/15/10 meters. QSL via IK2IQD.

Lastly, VE2XB will be operational stroke FP from St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands from August 10th to the 20th. His activity will have a special focus on 6 meters, but he will also be active on all bands from 80 through 10 meters as well. QSL via VE2XB.

(Above from various DX news sources)

THAT FINAL ITEM: DEEP SPACE SUPER COMPUTER TO BE BUILT DOWN UNDER

And finally this week, a new super high speed data processing facility to look at signals received from deep space is slated to be built down-under. WIA newsman Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details:

One of the world's most powerful supercomputers is planned for Perth to process vast amounts of data being collected by radio telescopes in Western Australia's Murchison region.

WA Today said the supercomputer is to be housed in the Pawsey Centre being built in the southern Perth suburb of Kensington, near Curtin University.

The machines will initially process data from existing radio telescopes based at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory but is free to expand for use in the international Square Kilometre Array project.

It was decided in May that Australia would share the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array project with South Africa.

3000 dishes and a discovery potential 10,000 times greater than the best contemporary instruments, the SKA will observe such things as what happened after the big bang and how galaxies evolved, and will attempt to uncover more about the "dark matter" that fills the majority of the universe.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA News in Australia.

More on this project is on-line at tinyurl.com/vk-super-computer. (VK1WIA)

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 editor’s desk, I’m Jim Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.

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

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