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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1884 - September 20 2013
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1884 - September 20 2013
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1884 with a release date of September
20 2013 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Ham radio responds as flooding ravages parts of
Colorado; China and the Philippines at loggerheads over the fate of
Scarborough Reef; UK hams set a new record at 76 Gigahertz; Portugal takes
legal action to combat widespread unlicensed operation and ham radio says
a final goodbye to 73 Magazine founder Wayne Green, W2NSD. This and more
on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1884 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS TO COLORADO FLOODS
Ham radio was once again a first responder as a week of torrential
rainfall brought destruction to parts of Colorado. Many of these were the
same areas that were damaged by a series of wind-driven wildfires earlier
this year and back in 2012. At least seven people have been confirmed as
killed by deadly flooding and efforts to locate more than 1,000 missing
people continue.
Some of the worst flooding followed the path of the High Park and Waldo
Canyon fires. The 2013 Waldo Canyon fire was the worst in the state's
history burning more than 18,000 acres near Colorado Springs and
destroying more than 300 homes.
Jack Ciaccia, WM0G is the ARRL Colorado Section Manager. He says that as
the flood waters began arriving on Thursday, August 12th, ham radio
operators were ready:
--
Ciaccia" "The hams in the local ARES groups reported to the regional and
local county emergency operations centers and manned their positions.
Plus the state Emergency Operations Center in Centennial Colorado was
opened and staffed by senior ARES personnel"
--
The unprecedented storms dealt a heavy blow to both utilities and
communications. News reports say that many cellular telephone towers have
either fallen, were washed away or are simply without power. This in turn
cut off wireless and broadband communications to several communities.
Also destroyed have been powerlines and some landline-based telephone
service. This has left ham radio as the mainstay of communications into
and out of these areas.
--
Ciaccia: "The next thing to happen was we started hearing of evacuation
centers being opened kind of spontaneously because a large building in a
dry area was the only criteria. And as fast as we could we needed to get
communications to them because in many of the mountain areas where these
evacuation centers were there was no other means of communications"
--
As the operation progressed, some hams were assigned to monitor the
Boulder County ARES Repeater as well as the two Mountain Emergency Radio
Network Repeaters located in high altitude communities. The latter turned
out to be true life savers. Again, WM0G:
--
Ciaccia: "We were fortunate to have some hams located in some of the
remote areas which is (the result) of another project that we had created
in the past year since the fires called the Mountain Emergency Radio
Network. This is a small network of repeaters that the ARES hams have
trained upward of 60 mountain residents and who have gotten their
licenses. We then repurposed a bunch of VHF radios - both handy talkies
and mobiles for them to utilize these repeaters.
"And just tonight we were told by the Fire Chief in one of those remote
communities that had it not have been for that MERM repeater system that
there probably would have been a lot more deaths because people were able
to communicate with each other as to what was happening, where the
destruction was and how to get out."
--
On Monday the 16th the ARES groups received new marching orders. In
addition to search assistance, evacuations, shelter communications and
logistics another role has been added. That of disaster assessment:
--
Ciaccia: "Disaster assessment teams from the Red Cross and from the
counties will be mobilizing and we have been asked to provide hams, radios
and also video cameras to record video of the disaster areas. So we will
be taking on that assignment as well."
--
According to Ciaccia so far some 200 ham radio volunteers have been
deployed in and around the various flood-stricken counties with some
providing communication where no other means existed or still exists.
News reports say that at the height of the flooding that the towns of
Estes Park, Lyons and Jamestown were relying on ham radio as their only
contact with the outside world.
This is a still developing story and we will have more in future Amateur
Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewslineT)
**
RESCUE RADIO: XE HAMS RESPOND TO TROPICAL STORMS INGRID AND MANUEL
Mexican radio amateurs have been using 40 and 20 meters as part of their
response to the effects of tropical storms Ingrid and Manuel. According
to a posting to Twitter by that nations national amateur radio society,
both 7.060 and 14.120 MHz have been activated in the wake of these severe
weather outbursts. Amateurs elsewhere are asked to please keep those two
frequencies clear until post storm communications have been secured.
(FMRE, Southgate)
**
WORLDBEAT: CHINA VS. THE PHILIPPINES OVER SCARBOROUGH REEF
DXpeditions to Scarborough Reef and other locations in that region could
become a lot harder if not impossible if China makes good on its expected
move to occupy a disputed chain of shoals in the South China Sea. This
according to a top Philippines' diplomat who says that China may act to
expand China's territory before regional rules on maritime behavior comes
into effect.
Albert del Rosario is the Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary. On
September 4th he said that his nation believes China's incursion into the
area known as the Scarborough Shoal is a threat to peace in Southeast
Asia. But in Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman described the shoal
area as China's inherent territory.
Scarborough Shoal or Reef, also known as Huangyan Island, is a shoal
located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon Island of the Philippines
in the South China Sea. It is a disputed territory claimed by the
People's Republic of China, by Taiwan and the Philippines. The shoal's
status is often discussed in conjunction with other territorial disputes
in the South China Sea such as those involving the Spratly Islands or the
Paracel Islands. Since the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff access to the
territory has been restricted by the People's Republic of China.
Tension in the South China Sea has risen of late as China uses its growing
naval might to assert extensive claims over the oil and gas rich waters
more forcefully. This in turn has been fuelling fears of a military clash
for some time.
The last major operation from Scarborough was in 2007 where the BS7H team
made over 45,000 QSO's. Currently Scarborough is listed as number 21 in
the Club Log Most Wanted List and number 7 in the latest most needed list
published by the DX Magazine.
(defensenews.com, inquirer.net, South China Morning Post, others)
**
RADIO RECORDS: UK HAMS SET 76 GIGAHERTZ DISTANCE RECORD
A new United Kingdom distance record on 76 Gigagertz of 102 kilometers was
achieved on Saturday September 14th. This in a contact between Chris
Towns G8BKE and John Hazell G8ACE at Batcombe Hill, in Dorset and Ian Lamb
GW8KQW on Eglwysilan Mountain in Gwent.
The success of this attempt is a result of continual innovation and
systematic improvements and testing of the equipment built and used by the
Wessex microwave enthusiasts. This with support from other microwave
radio devotees in the UK and Germany.
This is also believed to be the first 76GHz contact between Wales and
England.
The mode used was narrowband FM. More is on the web at
tinyurl.com/uk-76ghz-record. (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 W1QWT Repeater
serving Scituate, Massachusetts.
(5 sec pause here)
**
ENFORCEMENT: PORTUGAL TAKES ACTION AGAINST ILLEGAL RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
Portugal is going after the radio bad guys. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm
Seeley, KI7UP, has more:
--
Jose Francisco, CT4AN, reports that the Portuguese national
telecommunications regulator ANACOM has taken action against illegal radio
communications in that nation. In a second joint action, ANACOM and the
Portuguese Maritime Police seized radio gear and issued heavy fines to ten
unlicensed operators. Besides having the equipment confiscated, the
operators face monetary forfeitures which may reach close to 1650 US
Dollars each.
The Authorities said that the raids were based on interference complaints
to legal Portuguese radio operators. These included stations licensed to
operate in the Amateur Radio Service, Aeronautical and Maritime Services
and on certain unspecified commercial radio frequencies.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale,
Arizona.
--
More is on the web at tinyurl.com/PortugalCommsRegulator. (Southgate)
**
ENFORCEMENT: AUSTRALIAN CB OPERATOR ACCUSED OF HARASSMENT
A 44-year-old Adelaide, Australia, man has appeared in court charged with
being abusive over his CB radio. The Australian Communications and Media
Authority said the man had been charged with five offences following an
investigation into his alleged abuse and harassment over that nations
Citizens Band Radio service.
The unidentified man appeared at the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday,
September 6 and was released under an order to appear again on November
15th. Under Australia's Radio Communications Act it is against the law to
operate a CB radio in a way that would cause a person to be seriously
alarmed or affronted or to harass. It should be noted that Australia is a
nations whose legal system protects the identity of those accused of legal
infractions until a conviction has taken place. (Seven News Australia)
**
ENFORCEMENT: MYSTERY AM STATION ON THE AIR IN OMAHA NB ISSUED NOV
The FCC appears to be admitting that it is stumped by a mystery station in
Omaha, Nebraska, that operates on 1490 KHz in the AM broadcast band.
According to the Omaha World Herald newspaper, the station uses the call
letters KOMJ but is seemingly without owners, advertisers or disc jockeys.
Instead it plays a continuous loop of oldies that some liken to a 1960's
jukebox stuffed with an endless supply of coins.
In papers filed last month the FCC admitted it was stumped in that it
could not locate the stations owner nor its studio location. The
regulatory agency said in its filing that the station is technically owned
by Cochise Broadcasting, in Jackson, Wyoming but that it could find a
phone number nor a website for the company.
Regular listeners to the station's oldies format say that commercials
aren't part of the entertainment cycle leaving questions about who is
paying for the programming. Meantime on August 14th the FCC did issue a
Notice of Violation to Cochise Broadcasting for various alleged violations
of its rules in relation to the operation of KOMJ.
More on this fascinating story is on the web at
tinyurl.com/Omaha-mystery-station. The FCC Notice of Violation can be
found at tinyurl.com/mystery-radio-n-o-v. (Omaha World-Herald)
**
RESCUE RADIO: ARMY MARS INVITES PARTNERS TO COLLABORATE IN HOMELAND
SECURITY OPERATION
Army MARS Headquarters has invited the Chiefs of Air Force and Navy-Marine
Corps MARS to join in a National Communications Exercise. One that will
measure the auxiliary force's capabilities in the event that normal
communications are disrupted throughout North America.
The test will run for 48 continuous hours from November 3rf to the 5th and
will be closely monitored by a Joint Command responsible to the Defense
Department for homeland security. This exercise culminates a year-long
series of escalating preparations by Army MARS for responding to all types
of complex emergencies. These could be anything from a natural phenomenon
or terrorist attack that might render the Internet, long distance
telephone, and national news and media networks unusable across the United
States. (N1IN, QRZ)
**
RESCUE RADIO: NEW EMCOMM GUIDEBOOK FROM DHS
A very informative guidebook authored by Ross Merlin, WA2WDT, and titled
NIFOG is described as a great go-to compendium of radio frequencies,
channels, and other tidbits if information that can be essential in times
of an emergency.
The guide is authored by Merlin who works in the Department of Homeland
Security Office of Emergency Communications. He authored the guidebook
for the agency and says that it contains page after page of frequency
information, operating procedures, formulas, and rules and regulations
from both the FCC and the NTIA. Specific subject material includes
frequency and channel data for Fire, EMS, Police, and Law Enforcement as
well as Mutual Aid channels in VHF, UHF, 700 MHz, and others. Also
included is communications information for marine, aviation, NOAA weather,
MURS, GMRS, FRS, and just about any radio you might encounter in an
emergency.
Te guidebook is available in printed and downloadable formats. The
primary Website where downloads copies are available is
publicsafetytools.info. Copies printed on waterproof paper, are
reportedly available free of charge from the Department of Homeland
Security. Please contact NIFOG (at) HQ (dot) DHS (dot) GOV for details.
(AA7BQ, QRZ.com)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: OCTOBER SKY - THE ROCKET BOYS FESTIVAL
The "October Sky : Rocket Boys Festival" takes place October 4th to the
6th in Beckley, West Virginia. And as a part of the celebration the Black
Diamond Amateur Radio Club will be operating a special event station on
October 5th with the call W8R. Frequencies to be listening on are 7.280
and 14.280 MHz. +/- 3.Khz. More is on the web at
tinyurl.com/rocket-boys-festival-2013
(KB8QEU)
**
RADIO HAPPENINGS: COLLEGE RADIO DAY OCTOBER 1
College Radio Day 2013 will take place on Tuesday, October 1st. This
annual event has by now grown to 650 participating stations in 40
countries. This includes Italy, Israel, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India,
Mexico, Colombia, the United Kingdom and Sweden to name only a few.
College Radio Day is described as a 40 hour relay which involves
presenters passing the mic figuratively from station to station while
circumnavigating the globe over the airwaves. It was begun by Rob Quicke,
who is a communications professor at William Paterson University, in New
Jersey. He also oversees programming at WPSC- FM, which was named the
"Best College Radio Station" in the U.S. in both 2012 and 2013. More
about the event is on the web at collegeradioday.com. (RW)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: AMSAT-NA BOD ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCED
The results of the 2013 Amsat North America Board of Directors election
has been announced. Barry Baines, WD4ASW; Tony Monteiro, AA2TX; Alan
Biddle, WA4SCA, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, will serve on the board for two
year terms. The first alternate is JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and the second
alternate is Steve Coy, K8UD. 688 AMSAT-North America members cast votes
in this year's election. (AMSAT-NA)
**
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)
**
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: WAYNE GREEN, W2NSD - SK
The changing of the guard in amateur radio continues with word of the
passing of one of the hobby's true legends. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has
the story of the life and legacy of Dr. Wayne Green, W-2-Never-Say-Die:
--
One of the people who truly changed the face of ham radio in both the 20th
and 21st centuries has gone to his final reward. This with the sad news
that Dr. Wayne S. Green II, W2NSD, of Hancock, New Hampshire, died
September 13th at the age of 91.
Dr. Green was an outspoken figure during his many years writing about the
hobby. His public career really began with a five year stint at CQ
Magazine in the 1950's before founding 73 Magazine in late 1959. While at
the helm of 73 he often used the title of El Supremo and Founder of the
magazine which he published until 2003.
Over the years Dr. Green was known for many things. He traveled the world
and did his best to introduce ham radio in developing nations. He was one
of the earliest supporters of emerging modes such as RTTY, FM and
repeaters and even started the first ham radio digital communications
magazine. And as each new technology came along, there was W2NSD as its
point man urging all of us to embrace the same dreams that he had. Be it
ham radio, personal computing, the Compact Disc or numerous other
technologies, there was Wayne Green urging anyone who would listen to give
it a try.
But what Wayne Green, W2NSD, will likely best be remembered for was his
editorials. He wrote over a thousand of them covering everything from
giving his personal support to even the most mundane aspects of our hobby
to alternate science such as his belief in producing energy through cold
fusion. The list of what he wrote about goes on and on. It took a
lifetime for him to write and for many of us; it took a good part of our
lifetime to read. And in the process his zest for life and commitment to
ham radio and technology changed both for the better.
On his blog, Dr. Green left a short note for all of us. It was his final
entry. Please permit me to read it to you as it sums up the life of the
man as he saw himself:
The wall clock clicks out the seconds
With so many yet ahead, I've ignored them
A battery keeps the clock going
I wonder how my own battery is doing?
The one with the most toys wins
Awash in toys, I'll pass on
What did I win?
Now what happens to my toys?
I'll leave books, records, tapes, and photos
By the thousands
A lifetime archive
Worthless to anyone but me.
Pictures of family and friends
Treasured books and music
The mileposts of my life
All will be headed for the trash heap.
Like my father, grandfather, and great grandfather
I'll be another gravestone
In a northern New Hampshire cemetery
And the world will carry on as if nothing had happened.
I have no complaints
I've enjoyed the world and helped it a bit
What would I change if I could do my life over?
Get a thick pad and I'll make a list.
73 Wayne. We will see you once again on the other side of the great
ethereal abyss.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, remembering
the years gone bye.
--
Wayne Green's longtime associate Daron Libby will be keeping Dr. Green's
on-line blog at waynegreen.com/wayne/news.html active for the foreseeable
future. If you have a personal thought that you would like to see added
to it please e-mail it to dhlc (at) Comcast (dot) net.
(ARNewslineT)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: HAM OWNED COMPANY DEVELOPS HF ASSET TRACKING NETWORK
HySky Technologies Inc. is using High Frequency communications for an
innovative asset tracking and reporting network. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, has the details:
--
The company whose the Chief Executive Officer is Charles Maynard, KJ4PPE,
recently gained an FCC license to use 954 H-F channels each 3 kHz wide.
The mobile tracking units using this spectrum will transmit a maximum of 1
watt Effective Radiated Power using a small low-efficiency broadband
antenna. The data will be received by nine stations located at low-noise
sites across the USA which will then be forward the data to customers.
The signal being transmitted will have a bandwidth of 2800 Hz and an
emission designator of 2K80G1D. The company says that a military High
Frequency waveform will be used and claims the system will overcome
coverage and other problems associated with traditional tracking devices
using cell-phone or satellite transmission interfaces.
The license issued to HySky reportedly covers up to 10,000 devices
operating in the United States, including Hawaii, Alaska and US
territories but word is that this service could expand worldwide.
Im Skeeter Nash, N5ASH.
--
More about the company and its rather interesting work is on the web at
www.hysky.com (Southgate)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NEW INFLATABLE ANTENNA FOR CUBESATS
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports that researchers have
developed a new design of inflatable antenna for CubeSats that can fold
into a compact space and then inflate when on-orbit.
Due to their small size CubeSats have up to now been limited to small
monopole or dipole antennas. Such low gain omni-directional antennas have
in turn restricted CubeSats to Low Earth Orbits using lower data rates
than would be possible with a large directional antenna array.
But the new inflatable antenna may significantly increase the
communication range of these small satellites, enabling them to travel
much farther in the solar system. It is claimed the distance that can be
covered by a satellite with an inflatable antenna array is seven times
farther than that of existing CubeSat communications.
The MIT team, led by Alessandra Babuscia, is part of the research group of
Professor Sara Seager, KB1WTW. The group also includes graduate students
Mary Knapp, KB1WUA, Benjamin Corbin, and Mark Van de Loo from MIT, and
Rebecca Jensen-Clem from the California Institute of Technology.
(Southgate)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KF5LJG HEADED TO ISS IN LATE SEPTEMBER
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, along with Russian cosmonauts Oleg
Kotov and Sergey Ryzanskiy are scheduled to launch September 25 to join
their Expedition 37 crewmates aboard the International Space Station.
Hopkins will be the first member of the 2009 NASA astronaut class to fly
into space. While aboard the ISS, KF5LJG will install the new Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station Ham Video gear. He has already
received pre-flight training on how to commission the amateur radio
digital video equipment.
Hopkins will join Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and
Flight Engineers Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP and Karen Nyberg. Yurchikhin,
Nyberg, and Parmitano arrived in May and will return to Earth in November.
(K6LCS)
**
DX
In DX, DL1YAF is currently on the air stroke VP9 from Hamilton. Bermuda.
He will be there through September 25th operating holiday style on CW, SSB
and PSK31. QSL via home callsign, either direct or via the bureau.
Members of Canada's Association de Radio Amateurs Sept Iles Inc. will be
active as VE2CSI during the CQ World Wide DX RTTY Contest on September
28th and 29th as a Multi-2 entry. Operators mentioned are VE2EBK, VE2SG
and possibly others. QSL via M0URX.
DL3JH will be operational from Sri Lanka as 4S7JG until September 29th.
He is active on the High Frequency bands only. QSL via his home call.
Lastly, JI1LET will be active from Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara
chain from October 25th through November 3rd operating signing JD1BOI. He
will be active on 80 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his
home call direct only
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: NASA TO REACTIVATE WISE INFRARED RADIO TELESCOPE
And finally this week, a currently mothballed space telescope will soon
have a new mission in space as we hear from Newsline's Jeff Clark, K8JAC:
--
NASA will reactivate a currently unused infrared space telescope for a
three-year mission. This to search for potentially dangerous asteroids on
a collision course with Earth.
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, telescope also will hunt
for targets for a future mission to send a robotic spacecraft to
rendezvous with a small asteroid and relocate part or all of it into a
high orbit around the moon. Astronauts would then visit the relocated
asteroid during a test flight of NASA's deep-space Orion capsule which is
slated for launch sometime in 2021.
Launched in December 2009, the WISE telescope spent 13 months scouting for
telltale infrared signs of asteroids, stars, distant galaxies and other
celestial objects, especially those too dim to radiate in visible light.
As part of its all-sky mapping mission, WISE observed more than 34,000
asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and another
135 asteroids in orbits that come close to Earth. In all, researchers
cataloged more than 560 million objects from data radioed back to Earth
from the WISE space telescope.
Im Jeff Clark, K8JAC.
--
Orion and a heavy-lift rocket called the Space Launch System which will
carry Wise follow-on team on their mission are scheduled for an unmanned
debut test flight sometime in 2017. (NASA)
**
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, TWiT-TV and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all
from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is newsline (at)
arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can
also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW, in South Mississippi, saying 73 and we thank you for
listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
__._,_.___
R\%/itt K5RXT
--- Ya have ta ask yourself: What Would Roy Witt Do?
* Origin: Lone-Star BBS - San Antonio, Texas - USA (1:387/22)
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