Text 6388, 917 rader
Skriven 2014-05-30 08:47:41 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Kommentar till en text av Y'all
Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1920 - May 30, 2014
==========================================================
Greetings Y'all!
Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1920 - May 30, 2014
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1920 with a release date of Friday,
May 30 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Good news for international cooperation an
amateur radio satellite development; the Ukrainian national ham radio
society says that the Crimea should remain theirs for DXCC; special AM
nets will mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day; KickSat re-enters the Earths
atmosphere without releasing its cargo of Sprite picosats and a final
wrap-up on Hamvention 2014. All this and more on Amateur Radio NewslineT
report number 1920 coming your way right now.
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ITAR RESTRICTIONS ON US RADIO AMATEURS TO BE EASED
Some good news for United States hams and amateur radio groups involved in
the development of ham radio satellites. ITAR regulations are being
eased. Graham Kemp, VK4BB of the WIA news is here with the details:
--
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations or ITAR inexplicably applies
to amateur radio satellites. It threatens US radio hams with jail terms or
six figure fines if they cooperate with amateurs outside the USA on
satellite projects. Cooperation includes talking about or publishing on
the web certain information regarding amateur radio satellite systems.
Among the projects affected by ITAR has been the New Zealand Amateur Radio
satellite Kiwi SAT. A 2009 IARU Region 3 report highlights that ITAR
requirements made AMSAT-NA direct its members to cease operation with
AMSAT-ZL in the development of Kiwi SAT.
Satellite Today reports that after 15 years of restrictions and intense
scrutiny, the United States Department of State is reclassifying
satellites and several related components so they will no longer be
treated as weapons.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, reporting from
Brisbane, Australia.
--
ITAR regulations were also partially responsible for AMSAT North America's
cancellation several years ago of its Eagle ham-sat project because those
same restrictions made it almost impossible to work with its international
partners on this ambitious project.
The new and less restrictive ITAR rule on satellites and related
technology become effective this coming November 10th except for Selection
121.1, Category XV(d), which is effective June 27th. (WIA News, Satellite
Today, lexology.com, Southgate, others)
**
DXCC: UKRANE CALLS CRIMEA A TEMPORARILLY OCCUPIED TERRITORY
Ukrainian Amateur Radio League says that it considers the Crimea as a
temporarily occupied territory and that it should continue to be listed as
a part of the Ukraine for ham radio awards purposes.
In a May 3rd letter to the ARRL, the Ukrainian National Society noted that
it strongly believes what it terms as the illegal referendum held in
Crimea on March 16th and subsequent illegal annexation of the Crimea
peninsula by the Russian Federation does not change the status of this
territory.
Back in March, the ARRL Awards Committee had evaluated the current
situation in Crimea in light of the DXCC rules and determined that Crimea
is not a DXCC entity. This was because neither Russia nor the Ukraine is
a rare entity and the vast majority of confirmations used for DXCC credit
for either entity do not involve Crimea. Now in a response to the
Ukrainian Amateur Radio Leagues letter, ARRL Chief Executive Officer Dave
Sumner, K1ZZ, acknowledged the Ukrainian society's position but reiterated
the ARRL Awards Committee's determination that the annexation did not lend
Crimea status as a new DXCC entity. (UARL, ARRL, Southgate)
**
RADIO LAW: OHIO COURT OF APPEALS DISMISSES SWANTON OHIO CHALLENGE TO HAM
RAIO TOWER
Some good news for an Ohio ham. In a surprise move, the Ohio Sixth
District Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal from the Village of
Swanton in an amateur radio antenna zoning case.
The matter involves Gary Wodtke, WW8N, who has been trying to erect a 60
foot antenna support structure on his residential lot since 2009. But
Swanton had established a fixed antenna height of 20 feet above the
residential roofline, and it turned down Wodtke's antenna variance
application for the taller structure.
On appeal in January, Wodtke won a final judgment in his favor in the
Fulton County Common Pleas Court. The court ruled that federal and state
law preempted Swanton's antenna ordinance. But the town had appealed that
decision but this new ruling means that Swanton really has no place to go
with this matter other than the possibility of it appealing to the Ohio
Supreme Court.
It should be noted that the ARRL was making ready to file a Friend of the
Court Brief on Wodtke's behalf when this latest ruling was handed down.
A detailed report on this decision is on line at the ARRL website at
www.arrl.org. (ARRL Letter, Delara News, Delaware (Ohio) Amateur Radio
Association)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: KICKSAT RE-ENTERS ATMOSPHERE WITHOUT RELEASING
SPRITES
The KickSat amateur satellite burned up in the Earth's atmosphere without
releasing its payload of Sprite pico-satellites. Re-entry took place on
May 14th after the tiny cube sat's orbit decayed to a point where
atmospheric drag led to its fiery demise.
As previously reported, KickSat suffered an unexpected computer glitch on
April 30th that caused the Sprite deployment countdown timer to reset. It
proved impossible to correct the problem, meaning the timer did not
trigger the release of the hundred-plus Sprites before the satellite
burned up in the Earth's atmosphere.
At airtime its not known if another KickSat project will be attempted.
(WIA News, others)
**
ON THE AIR: SPECIAL AM NETS MARK D-DAY LANDINGS
Friday, June 6th marks the 70th anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings
in Normandy, France. To commemorate this event the United Kingdom's
Vintage and Military Amateur Radio Society is organizing a series of full
carrier amplitude modulation nets on 80, 60 and 40 metes for operators of
vintage military wireless gear that would have been in use at that time.
These special AM nets will be open to all amateurs and joining stations
are encouraged to undertake a little research beforehand, in order to
provide a description of how their equipment type was used in Operation
Overlord. The schedule times and frequencies for these net operations are
07.00 hours GMT on 3. 615 MHz, 11.00 UTC on 7.143 on MHz and 15.00 hours
UTC on 5.317 MHz in those nations where operation on this 5 MHz frequency
using full carrier AM is allowed. More about the sponsoring group is on
the web at vmars.org.uk. (Southgate)
**
ON THE AIR: COMMEMORATING D DAY IN FRANCE
On the air, two stations in France plan to be operational to commemorate
the 70th anniversary of "D day" during the month of June. From June 6th
to the 20th listen out for TM7JUN on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB,
PSK, RTTY and JT65. QSL via F4GAJ.
Also listen out for the special event callsign TM70BMC from June 5th to
the 8th. This operation will be located atop Mont Canisy in France's
Normandy Province. If you make contact QSL to FF5ILL via the bureau.
(Various)
**
DX UP FRONT: TX5K GETS THE 2013 BEST COMMUNICATION AWARD
In DX up front, word that DX Coffee and DX University have honored the
TX5K operation from Clipperton Island with the 2013 Best Communication
Award. This in recognition of the large amount of information given
before, during and after the operation via the operation's official
website and the related blog.
According to the award sponsors, the information provided was extremely
complete and covered everything from the documents describing the project,
the equipment, the pilots and photo gallery. Also, the very detailed
information reported on the blog let readers experience every facet of the
DXpedition from beginning to end. (OPDX)
**
DX UP FRONT: KJ6GHN /KH7 ON WAKE ISLAND
Also, Lisa Marks, KJ6GHN, is now operational stroke KH9 from Wake Island.
She is currently working on Wake and will be there for the next few years.
Her station is an Icom 718 and has been mainly operating PSK on 15
meters. QSL via the address on QRZ.com but she asks that those wanting a
card to be patient mail only comes twice a month. She does upload to
Logbook of the World and ClubLog, and also accepts bureau QSLs. (OPDX)
**
DX UP FRONT: TWO MORE APPROVED FOR DXCC
And this just in. The ARRL's DXCC desk has announced that the ZA/IZ4JMA
2013 and 2014 Operations from Albania and the 2014 XW7T operation fro Laos
have both been approved for DXCC credit. (ARRL)
**
HAMVENTION 2014 - Part 2 - NEW GEAR AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Last week we brought you the human interest side of Hamvention 2014. This
week Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, takes a quick look at
some of the product releases made this year:
--
The Dayton Hamvention is known for new product introductions each year and
2014 was no different. For Yaesu the word is Fusion. Dennis
Motschenbacher, K7BV.
--
K7BV: "Its been kind of a big year in particular because we have had a
lot of interest in our System Fusion which is our new dual mode digital
and analog system that allows digital users and analog users to co-exist
on the same repeater. And we introduced that repeater, the DR1X, this
weekend."
--
At Icom D-star rolls on. Ray Novak, N9JA.
--
N9JA: "The biggest thing being talked about is the FT-5100; people have
seen the Android app for it; the wireless control for it; the wireless
headset; Bluetooth. A great little radio."
--
Other new radios include the TEN-TEC Patriot, Model 507, a 20 and 40
meters SSB/CW QRP open source rig and the Flex-6300 software defined radio
for 160 through 6. Sierra Radio Systems had their TeleSense remote site
monitoring system and Hendricks QRP Kits had their new multiband CW
transceiver.
And year in, year out, nobody has more new stuff than Heil Sound. Bob
Heil, K9EID
--
K9EID: "Our new HBA. It's a wireless adapter that you can use in your
station so you can run around for about 30 feet and you don't need a
microphone cable, and its really cool. And it works on any radio for
transmit with a microphone.
"We are showing a couple of new products. We have the new K1000 headset.
It will be out August or September. It is an amazing headset. It is
probably the beast headset I have ever seen.
"And I have a new microphone, the PR-10. It's a smaller version of the
PR-781.
"We brought back the MB-10 this year. The BM-10 was the first headset we
did back in 1985. We brought it back with a full range element and with
our push-to-talk switch in line."
--
RadioWavz had a couple of new antennas available. Emmett Hohensee, W0QH.
--
W0QH: "The first one is an all-band, off-center-fed antenna that we
designed for the military. Its designed to give you everything from 160
meters up to 10 meters without an auto-coupler. It's a fantastic product
that the military likes to use because they don't have time to mess with
thins, so they can just throw it up in a tree and it works.
"The other is an NVIS loop antenna that we designed especially for the
Ministry of Transportation in Quito, Ecuador. This is an NVIS HF antenna
that works 3.5 MHz all the way up to 50 MHz and it literally mounts on top
of a control tower. Every control tower in Ecuador has one of our HF
antennas on its roof."
--
How will they top themselves next year? I can't wait to find out!
For the Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.
**
DAYTON 2014: THE FINAL WORD
No report on the Dayton Hamvention can be complete without the words of
one of our best observers and analysts for well over a decade. Here's
Chip Margelli, K7JA:
--
K7JA: "Dayton this year was really quite good. We had some rough weather
earlier in the week and I know some people got stranded. And we had some
hail during the Hamvention, but overall I think the crowd was quite good.
"Its been a rough winter so I know a lot of people were looking for
antennas which kept our booth busy and I think that overall people were
just happy that we've got some good band conditions on HF and VHF and
we're in a good mood.
"Of coarse the ARRL's 100th anniversary celebration had a lot of people
interested too and I think that helped the crowd."
--
Thanks Chip and we will look forward to your report next year right after
Hamvention 2015.
**
DISTRACTED DRIVING: SHAKER HEIGHTS OHIO NEW LAW VERY AMBIGUOUS
A new and somewhat ambiguous ant-distracted driving ordinance has been
enacted in Shaker Heights, Ohio, that appears at least on the surface to
cover only cellphones and texting. But there is a kind of caveat in that
there is no exemption for amateur radio or other mobile operations. In
fact, the ordinance is written in such a vague way as almost to leave it
to those enforcing it to decide if the law is being broken.
To quote from the Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ published by the city
to explain what was enacted, the new ordinance prohibits the use of a
hand-held electronic wireless communications device in any manner for
composing, sending, or receiving text messages or using such a device to
dial, answer, talk or listen. And it's the last three words - answer,
talk or listen -- that might be broadly interpreted by a law enforcement
officer to include those using two-way radios that require a push to talk
microphone, or even simply listening to one.
There are very few exemptions to the Shaker Heights ordinance. These only
apply to Police Officers, Fire Fighters and Public Works Department
employees. Members of the public will only see an exemption during
emergencies to contact law enforcement, hospital, a health care provider,
the Fire Department, or other similar emergency agency.
The complete FAQ that tries to answer questions pertaining to the new
ordinance is on the web at shakeronline.com/faq/category/72-police. Those
affected by it might want to take a look and let us know what they think.
(KC5FM)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FCC CITES CALIFORNIA ONLINE RETAILER FOR IMPORTING AND
MARKETING ILLEGAL SMARTPHONES
Don't sell counterfeit smartphones in the United States. This is the crux
of a warning to one company from the FCC as we hear from Amateur Radio
Newsline's Hal Rogers, K8CMD:
--
The FCC Enforcement Bureau has cited Panasystem Corp., a California-based
online electronics retailer, for importing and marketing what the agency
termed as counterfeit smartphones marked with unauthorized or invalid
labels falsely indicating that the devices were certified by the FCC.
The FCC investigation identified the smartphones imported by Panasystem as
counterfeit Samsung models of the "Galaxy S Duos" and "Galaxy Ace."
Although these devices were labeled with seemingly-valid Samsung FCC
Identifiers, the investigation showed that Samsung neither manufactured
the devices nor authorized the FCC Identifier labels. The investigation
also revealed that another set of smartphones imported by Panasystem
contained counterfeit BlackBerry model 9790 devices. These smartphones
were also labeled with invalid FCC Identifiers, which rendered them
illegal for sale in the United States.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau's Citation notified Panasystem that it must
take immediate steps to come into compliance and discontinue the
importation and marketing of these uncertified devices. If it fails to
comply with the FCC's directive it may be subject to penalties of up to
$16,000 for each model per day for each violation.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Hal Rogers, K8CMD.
--
The complete text of the Citation issued to Panasystem Corp. is available
at tinyurl.com/banned-smartphones
(FCC)
**
RADIO READING: JUNE 432 AND ABOVE EME NEWSLETTER
The June 2014 edition of the free 432 MHz and Above EME Newsletter is now
available. The current issue includes a picture of the impressive 15 foot
dish antenna that Peter Blair, G3LTF, used in 1964 for his experiments as
well as a report on the recent GS3PYE/P DXpedition. You can download your
free copy in either Word or PDF formats at tinyurl.com/432-and-above.
Archive copies of past editions can be found at the website as well.
(Southgate)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS WEEKEND IN JUNE
The 2014 International Museums Weekend will take place on the two weekends
of June 14th/15th and 21st/22nd. The purpose of the happening is to set
up and operate amateur radio special event stations at as many of the
museums as possible throughout the world. The choice of museum is left
you, however planners say that it is best to try for either the largest or
most unusual site that is willing to host your operation. More details
about the event, its history and how to register can be found at
www.radio-amateur-events.org (Southgate)
**
RADIO PROMOTION: NEW RADIO PSA'S FROM ARRL
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, has created a
series of new thirty second audio public service announcements or PSA's
designed for radio station air-play to promote Amateur Radio and Field
Day.
The spot named "Amateur" talks about the how the Amateur Radio Emergency
Service helps during disasters.
"Careers" tells how amateur radio skills can lead to a career path, and
references the ARRL website.
"What Is Ham Radio" is a generic spot to promote how much fun Amateur
Radio can be.
There are also two PSA's promoting Field Day one of which includes an 8
second music background or bed near the end to add your clubs contact
information. All are available for free download at
arrl.org/public-service-announcements (ARRL)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISS PARTNERS MEET IN THE NETHERLANDS
Partner members of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station or
ARISS recently met for the first time in almost two and a half years at
the European Space Agency Space Research and Technology Centre in the
Netherlands. The purpose of the gathering was to reassess the ARISS
program's overall direction and to consider new goals for it.
One of the key speakers was Lou McFadin, W5DID, who among other things
noted that there is need for what he termed as a power override switch.
This would a simple way for the astronauts to shut completely down ARISS
equipment during safety-critical events such as Extra Vehicular Activities
which are better known as space-walks.
W5DID also suggested that there would be a definite advantage of
installing a new and higher power VHF/UHF transceiver in the Columbus
module similar to the one located in the Service Module. Of late, many
ARISS school contacts have been made using the 5 watt Ericsson hand-held
transceiver making some of these QSO's difficult to achieve.
The gathering was presided over by ARISS International Chairman Frank
Bauer, KA3HDO. Meeting minutes and committee reports are on the web at
tinyurl.com/ariss-meet-2014.
(ARISS)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SPROUT MICROSATELLITE LAUNCHED WITH SSTV AND
DIGITALKER
SPROUT is a 15 and a half pound micro satellite launched on May 24th from
the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan to a 406 mile high sun synchronous
orbit. This satellite is a project of Nihon University and includes some
interesting amateur radio payloads and experiments as well as CW
telemetry. The experiment packages contains an FM digipeater, a
digitalker and message box along with live and preloaded Slow Scan TV
pictures. The Morse based telemetry can be found on 437.525 MHz while the
downlink for the Slow Scan TV and the Digitalker is at 437.600 MHz. Nihon
University enjoyed previous success with SEEDS-II ham-sat also known as
CO-66.
(ANS)
**
RADIOSPORT: WRTC2014 ANNOUNCES PARTICIPATION AWARDS
WRTC 2014, Inc., the host of the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship
competition has announced the awards that will be available for stations
that work the teams during the competition.
The WRTC2014 Chase will run concurrently with the IARU HF Championship
beginning on July 12 at 1200 hours UTC. The fifty nine WRTC2014 stations
will have distinctive callsigns that will be easy to recognize.
Everyone is encouraged to work the WRTC teams on as many bands and modes
as possible. Any station that appears in all 59 WRTC team logs will be
able to download a certificate from the WRTC2014 Web site after the
contest. No additional application will be necessary.
Questions about WRTC2014 and the awards program can be sent to info (at)
wrtc2014 (dot) org.
(WRTC 2014)
**
ON THE AIR: CELEBRATING THE BATTLE OF LE VIEIL AMAND
The special event call sign TM68VA will be on the air through October 19th
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World War One Battle of Le
Vieil Amand in Alsace, France. Activity will be on 80, 40 and 20 meters
using CW, SSB and RTTY. All contacts with TM68VA are valid for the
Centennial of War 1914 to 1918 Award and will be confirmed via the bureau.
**
DX
In DX, members of the Castres DX Gang are currently on the air as TM5FI
from Ratonneau Island and will be there through June 4th. Activity is on
the High Frequency bands only. QSL via F5XX.
JA7HMZ is on the air as V63DX from Pohnpei Island Micronesia through June
5th. His activity is on 80 through 6 meters using various modes. QSL via
JA7HMZ direct only.
AF6WU and AF6KJ will be active as V31WU and V31DV respectively from Belize
between June 9th and the 15th. Operations will be on the High Frequency
bands using SSB and PSK31. QSL both callsigns via AF6WU, direct or via
the bureau. Electronic QSL's go either by Logbook of the World or eQSL.
Laastly, a 6 member Russian team lead by RUZLM is preparing to operate
from South Kuril Islands in Asiatic Russia, from June 16th to the 26th.
Callsign to be used will be RIZ0F. Operations will be on all bands
including the 30, 17 and 12 meters using CW and SSB. QSL Manager is RX3F.
(This weeks DX news courtesy of OPDX)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: SOLAR WIND MAY CONTRIBUTE TO LIGHTNING ON EARTH
A new study suggests the activity of the sun may have more of an influence
on lightning storms on Earth than was previously thought. This, according
to researchers at the University of Reading in England who found that when
an especially fast-moving solar wind may be connected to an increase in
the number of lightning storms recorded here on Earth. Amateur Radio
Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, has the details:
--
According to meteorologists, lightning strikes the Earth about 4 million
times a day. One theory on how it forms suggests that the gas in our
atmosphere is electrified by cosmic rays. When our sun is in the most
active part of its 11 year cycle, in theory its magnetic field is at its
strongest and should account for fewer cosmic rays from entering our
atmosphere. Based on this one would expect to see fewer lightning strikes
at the peak of the solar cycle than at its low point.
While previous studies have shown a negative or inverse correlation
between solar activity and lightning over the long term, this latest
research found just the opposite. As scientists looked at the
relationship between solar activity and lightning over a much shorter
period of a few weeks they noted that when the sun was most active they
did see a drop in cosmic rays. The big surprise was that they also noted
a definite increase in amount of lightning.
As part of the study, the scientists looked at the speed of the solar wind
coming off the sun, which varies depending on which part of the sun is
facing the Earth. When a fast solar wind swept over our home planet, the
researchers found that the number of recorded lightning strikes actually
went up.
The exact cause of this phenomenon has yet to be determined, but one
possibility is that charged particles from the sun are riding on extremely
fast solar winds. While they don't move quite as quickly as the cosmic
rays, they may move fast enough to serve the same function with the aid of
a swift movement from the solar wind. If the theory eventually proves to
be true, it could help weather forecasters to predict the likelihood of
lightning storms in the future. This in turn could be a safety net to let
hams and other two-way radio users know when they should lower their
towers, make sure to disconnect all gear from both their antenna lead in
cables and ground all connectors. Also that its time to disconnect their
gear from the AC power lines coming into their homes.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick,
Pennsylvania.
--
The study describing the findings was recently published in the journal
Environmental Research Letters. (iopletters.org, other published news
reports)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio
Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, 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 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..
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 Jim Davis,
W2JKD, in Vero Beach, Florida saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
Have a day!
R\%/itt - K5RXT
--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012
--- D'Bridge 3.99
* Origin: K 5 R X T (Really Xtra Terrific) San Antonio, TX (1:387/22)
|