Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1900 - January 10, 2014 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1900 with a release date of January 10, 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Czech hams return to 5 MHz but in limited numbers; APRS helps rescue a ham involved in an automobile accident down-under; NASA offers schools on-line webcast with Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, KC5HBV; what its like living in the United States radio free quiet zone and sharks that tweet may save lives. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1,900 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO RULES: LIMITED NUMBER OF CZECH REPUBLIC HAMS BACK ON 5 MHZ A limited number of Czech radio amateurs will be returning to the 5 MHz band. This after a break of two years following the conclusion of phase one of their experimental operations at the end of 2011. Hal Rodgers, K8CMD, reports: -- According to Petr Ourdnik, OK1RP, this new permit comes as a result of material presented by the Czech amateur radio community regarding their initial 5 MHz operation. It also involved subsequent discussions with the nations telecommunications regulator CTU together with the agreement of the Ministry of Defense. As a result phase 2 of experimental 5 MHz operations began at Zero hundred hours UTC on January 1st. This means that a small number of 5 MHz individual permits will be issued and will be valid until the end of 2014. While originally limited to only one channel on 5260 Kilohertz, under Phase 2 those Czech amateurs issued with one of these special permits will be allowed use of six channels that are common to many other nations. These are 5288.5, 5330.5, 5366.5, 5371.5, 5398.5 and 5403.5 Kilohertz. Transmissions are limited to Upper Sideband and CW only at a power level of 100 watts Effective Radiated Power. This experimental operation permit on 5 MHz band is allowed on a strictly secondary user basis. International Telecommunications Union rules for protection of the primary users must be observed at all times. Those who are issued 5 MHz permits must prepare and send an experimental operation report to the Czech telecommunications regulator no later than October 31st in order that analysis of the operation on the different channels and modes can be made . For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Hal Rodgers, K8CMD. -- More on this story is at the Czech Telecommunications Office English language page at tinyurl.com/czech-five-megahertz (G4MWO) ** RADIO RECEPTION: 17.2 KHZ SAQ TRANSMISSION HEARD IN CONNECTICUT The 17.2 kHz transmission from Alexanderson alternator station SAQ in Sweden on Christmas Eve 2013 was picked as far away as Connecticut in the United States. This is what the transmission sound like as recorded by a station in the Netherlands and posted to YouTube: -- SAQ Received audio -- Lars Kalland is SM6NM. He says that so far the SAQ crew has received 50 more reception reports than ever before. More about the operation of station SAQ can be found at http://alexander.n.se/in-english (Southgate, SM6NM) ** RESCUE RADIO: APRS BRINGS HAPPY ENDING FOLLOWING ACCIDENT DOWN-UNDER Ham radio, APRS and a damaged cellphone were responsible for a quick rescue of a radio amateur involved in an automobile accident as we hear from Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA news in Australia: -- Jenny, VK4FJMP and Hunter the dog were headed from Singleton New South Wales to her home in Killarney, just south of Warwick Queensland. The vehicle was fitted with an Alinco dual band radio and APRS tracker. Some three hours behind was Bob, VK4DA also on his way home to Killarney, his vehicle fitted with an Icom 706 for HF, an Icom 880 for D-star, a Yaesu FTM-350 with APRS and an IPad mounted in a bracket for tracking other Hams. About 1400 hours that day, Bob received a telephone call from Jenny stating that she had rolled the car, was injured and trapped in the vehicle. She further explained that her phone was damaged in the accident and she could only call the last number dialed. Fortunate for Jenny, she had called Bob as requested, when she had left the main highway at Tenterfield tracking east along Mt Lindsay Road, that is in parts, unsealed road. After enquiring about the dogs condition, Bob asked for her location, the nature of injuries and entrapment, Jenny was unable to give her exact location and that she was suffering from a possible broken arm. She also advised the vehicle was on its side and suffered significant panel damage and she was unable to open the doors or break through a window. Bob, pulled his vehicle over and fired up the IPad and was able to pin point the exact GPS coordinates of Jenny's location. This information was passed onto the Ambulance and Rescue Service, that was able to reach her without any delay. Jenny suffering a dislocated shoulder was treated at Tenterfield hospital and collected by Bob on his way through, the dog was transported from the scene by a thoughtful passer-by. Emergency services may have still been able to find her given that she was on a known road and an estimated distance from Tenterfield, the APRS tracker in her car providing Bob the exact coordinates to relay to the emergency services reduced the delay in response and possible further injury. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB of the WIA News in Brisbane, Australia. -- Had it not been for APRS and a partially broken cellphone, VK4FJMP might have had to wait hours longer to be rescued. (WIA NEWS) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NASA DIGITAL LEARNING NETWORK SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY Teachers: Would you like to have your class participate in an interactive webcast with an astronaut? Well NASA is inviting students and teachers to an inside look at America's Spaceport at 2:30pm Eastern Time on Friday, January 31st. Four schools with a target audience of grades 5 through 9 will have the special opportunity to connect directly and ask questions of astronaut and Director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center Bob Cabana, KC5HBV. During this inter-active webcast students can learn about his education and training, living and working in space, and the future of space exploration. All other schools may participate by watching the web stream at tinyurl.com/yz7htee. For more information please e-mail rachel.b.power (at) nasa (dot) gov. And we will have more ham radio space related news later on in this weeks newscast. (ANS, NASA) ** DX UP FRONT: 2013 NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR INTREPID SPIRIT AWARD In DX up front, word that Paul Ewing, N6PSE, the president of the Intrepid-DX Group, says that the organization is seeking nominations for the individual or group that most displayed their own Intrepid Spirit this past year. Intrepid Spirit for purposes of this award is defined as bold, courageous, dedicated, innovative, fearless, generous, resolute and visionary in their approach to Amateur Radio. This award is made in memory of the late James McLaughlin WA2EWE/T6AF of Kabul Afghanistan. Nominations may be submitted via e-mail to intrepiddxgroup (at) gmail.com. All nominations must be received by January 31st, 2014. More is on the web at www.intrepid-dx.com (Intrepid DX Group) ** DX UP FRONT: NEW CALEDONIA IN LATE FEBRUARY JE2EHP will be active as FK stroke K1HP from New Caledonia between February 18th and the 26th. His operations will be on all the HF bands plus 6 meters, using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign either direct or electronically via ClubLog or Logbook of the World. ** BREAK 1 Celebrating 1900 consecutive weeks of bringing you news of interest to radio amateurs. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the K3ZFF Repeater serving Boise, Idaho. (5 sec pause here) ** RESCUE RADIO: PACIFIC MISSOURI TO INSTALL DIGITAL EMCOMM REPEATER The city of Pacific, Missouri, has taken the first step in setting up a D-STAR repeater atop its nearby Blackburn Park. One that will tie into other repeaters in the region and set up to be a valuable emergency communication lifeline to be used in case of disaster. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, has the details: -- Previous approval had been given for the city to purchase gear dedicated to amateur radio operation that was to be installed in the city Emergency Operations Center. But according to City Administrator Harold Selby, KA0WXX, technology had advanced so much the city can better serve the emergency communication system with a digital repeater. Selby said he was recommending the repeater instead of a single radio after he and Bob Masson, KBZ0JDY, met with Franklin County emergency management officials about what communication would be needed if a disaster occurred in Pacific and the Interstate 44 corridor. He noted that amateur radio is way ahead in how public services use radio. He also read a letter from Paul Chambers, N0BBD, the Franklin County Amateur Radio Emergency Services coordinator, who said he fully supported and welcomed the idea of a digital repeater. Selby also displayed a small blue box with cable that he said would eliminate the need for radio anywhere in the government center. The small apparatus known in the world of amateur radio as a DV Dongle, is a duplex vocoder that connects to a computer via a USB port to provide amateur radio voice transmission capability. Selby said he contacted St Louis and Missouri repeater councils and they also are on board with the idea. Alderman Ed Gass then made a motion to purchase the repeater, but added that a battery backup would be needed for the unit in case electricity was out during an emergency. Cost of the battery backup is estimated at about $200. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB, reporting. -- The city Aldermen approved the purchase of a repeater at their recent board meeting at a cost of $3,000. The complete story is on the web at tinyurl.com/Pacific-Missouri- Emcomm. (emissourian.com) ** ENFORCEMENT: BONDY $24,000 FINE AFFIRMED BY FCC The FCC has affirmed a previous fine of $24,000 against Kevin Bondy for unlicensed radio operation and refusing agency personnel access to his gear. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, brings this story up to date: -- The FCC says that Kevin Bondy is the licensee of a General Mobile Radio Service station in Encino, California. According to the commission he was originally fined for transmitting on frequencies for which he did not hold a license and intentionally interfering with authorized operations. You may recall that the agency's Los Angeles Office traced Bondy's transmissions as the source of interference to a suburban Los Angeles area shopping center. At the time of the incident Bondy was alleged to have been sitting in his car explaining to personnel at a shopping center why he was jamming them and why they had to vacate the frequencies being interfered with. Bondy had appealed the fine in 2013. The FCC says Bondy's arguments raised no new issues but merely reiterates un- sworn arguments of mistaken identity and alleged cooperation with the inspection of his radio equipment. These are claims that the Enforcement Bureau previously addressed and dismissed as unsupported. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- According to the FCC, Bondy was given the normal 30 days from the date the fine was affirmed to pay. If he fails to do so the case may be turned over to the Justice Department for collection. (FCC) ** RESCUE RADIO: RADIO HELPS OUT ON PHILIPPINE TYPHOON RELIEF According to the December issue of the National Association of Broadcasters' Licensed to Serve newsletter, commercial radio stations from Chicago to California to Hawaii pitched in to raise money for the victims of the recent typhoon that devastated a part of the Philippines. In Hawaii, 15 radio and TV broadcasters have organized "Kokua for the Philippines." This was a benefit concert that aired December 15th on radio, TV and the Internet. While it featured mostly local talent, Mick Fleetwood of the famed band Fleetwood Mac did make an appearance. In Chicago, CBS Radio's WBBM-AM turned its "Day of Giving" campaign over to typhoon and tornado relief. It raised over $2.1 million. On the West Coast, the CBS Radio clusters in Sacramento and San Francisco also supported the relief endeavor by combining with CBS TV stations to raise more than $700,000. In Los Angeles, CBS Radio's KROQ FM auctioned off special event packages for its 24th annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concert at the Shrine Auditorium. The total from that support effort was $25,000. Proceeds from all four of these events went to the American Red Cross. (RW) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: SKCC FOR ALL OF JANUARY AS K3Y During all of January special event station K3Y will be on the air making CW contacts for the Straight Key Century Club. Operators around the United States and elsewhere will function as guests behind a key, calling for QSOs from anyone who can copy and send the Morse code. More information is on the web at tinyurl.com/skcc-january-2014. (NW7US) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation has announced several grants to help pay expenses involved in providing services to the ham radio community. Among these is funding to assist in defraying the expenses of the World Radio Team Championship to be held this coming July in the Boston Massachusetts area. Another goes to the Reverse Beacon Network to purchase a receiver and the necessary accessories to upgrade the node presently operational in Bangalore. Other grants go to the CW Ops CW Academy to assist in defraying the expenses of providing on-line CW training courses. Also one will be made to the ARRL Second Century Fund to support the goals of the ARRL's Second Century Campaign. The Yasme Foundation makes supporting grants to individuals and organizations providing or creating useful services for the amateur radio community. Yasme supports these programs in order to further the development of amateur radio around the world. (YASME Foundation Release) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: FORMER FCC CHIEF JOINS THE CARLYLE GROUP Some names in the news. Investment fund manager the Carlyle Group has named former FCC chairman Julius Genachowski as its Managing Director of its U.S. buyout group, focusing on technology, media and telecom investments. Genachowski retired from the FCC last May. (B&C) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: IARU PRESIDENT VE6SH NAMED TO ALBERTA QUEENS COUNSEL International Amateur Radio Union President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, has been appointed Queen's Counsel in the Canadian Province of Alberta. Ellam was one of 114 attorneys to be admitted as Queen's Counsel for their outstanding contributions to legal and public life. According to Wikipedia, The practice of appointed Queen's Counsel continues in a number of Canada's provinces based on merit, usually after decades of community service and advocacy. It's also a way recognizing members who have helped community members, charities, environmental groups and others in need of legal aid. (RAC, Wikipedia) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: 120th ANNIVERSARY OF ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE SP3RN January 8th was the 120th birthday of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN, who is the Catholic Churches Patron Saint of amateur radio operators. Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, has the story of this truly amazing man: -- Father Maximilian Kolbe became fascinated by the mass media in the 1920s and 1930s. He established printing plants in Poland and Japan for his Franciscan Order publications distributed in the tens of thousands to the faithful. When he was on a mission to Japan, China and India he became acquainted with both broadcasting and amateur radio. Upon his return to in Poland in the 1930s, he applied for a broadcasting license. At that time, radio was considered to be a strategic medium and only the Polish Radio and a military radio station were permitted to broadcast. But in 1938, Father Kolbe was granted permission to do test transmissions close to the 40 meter amateur radio band. He chose the SP3RN callsign for his on the air experiments. On August 14, 1941, Father Kolbe was murdered in the German Nazi Auschwitz Concentration Camp after he had volunteered to take the place of another prisoner who was randomly selected by camp guards for a group to die by starvation because another inmate had escaped. Father Kolbe was Beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 17, 1971 and Canonized as St. Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared Martyr of Charity by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. In addition to being embraced by amateur radio, Saint Maximillian Kolbe is also recognized as the patron of journalists and political prisoners. His feast day is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on August 14. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia. -- A more in-depth look at the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe can be found at tinyurl.com/sp3rn. (SP9JPA, NT3V) ** BREAK 2 With you 52 weeks a year since 1977, 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) ** RADIO RESTRICTIONS: THE U.S. RADIO QUIET ZONE Within a 13,000 square-mile area in West Virginia and Virginia, the use of cellular telephones, Wi-Fi, and even microwave ovens are restricted by law. This is the National Radio Quiet Zone, established in 1958 to protect the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia, from harmful interference. But what's it like to live there. Now you can find out for yourself in this 6 minute video on-line at tinyurl.com/living-radio-quiet (G7VFY) ** RADIO IN SPACE: SUNS MAGNETIC POLES REVERSE POLARITY NASA says that our home star the Sun's magnetic field has undergone a total reversal of its polarity, which marks the mid-point of Solar Cycle 24 which is going to be completed in 11 years time According to the U.S. space agency, the Sun has basically flipped magnetically upside down, with its North and South poles reversed to reach the Solar Cycle 24's midpoint. Now, the magnetic fields have again started moving in opposite directions to finish the 22 year long process that will end in the poles switching their places once again. NASA's Dr. Tony Phillips said that a reversal of the sun's magnetic field is literally, a big event. He said that the domain of the sun's magnetic influence extends billions of kilometres beyond the minor planet Pluto. (NASA, others) ** RADIO FROM SPACE: HUBBLE DISCOVERS FOUR ARMED GALAXY The galaxy Messier 106 lies about 20 million light years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. A new photo snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope and radioed back to Earth was combined with observations by amateur astronomers. This new photo reveals this to be a rare four armed galaxy and does so in stunning detail. Hubble scientists released a video of the four armed galaxy in addition to the new photo. It shows that beneath its pink appearance that Messier 106 is harboring a black hole that is gobbling up matter at the galaxy's center. This black hole, scientists say, may be the key to the galaxy's mysterious extra arms. Spiral arms are bands of material that swirl out from the center of spiral galaxies. Most spiral galaxies have two, but Messier 106 has four. In addition to its prominent pair of main arms made of stars, this galaxy has two thinner wisps of reddish gas spiraling from its center. (Space.com) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FUNCUBE CONTROLLERS SAY BIRD WORKING WELL The FUNcube-1 or AO-73 ham radio satellite has been on-orbit for more than six weeks and controllers say that all is nominal with the new bird. The FUNcube team also reports that there is now a way to view the latest AO-73 High Resolution Data that has been uploaded to the FUNcube Data Warehouse. A link can be found in the Navigation Bar on the warehouse. Clicking on this link will make the Hi-Resolution data available to download as .csv files. You can download the Dashboard App Telemetry Decoder at tinyurl.com/funcube-telemetry-dashboard. The telemetry downlink frequency is 145.935 MHz in BPSK format. FUNcube also carries a CW and SSB inverting transponder. The uplink pass band is from 435.150 to 435.130 MHz LSB, with a downlink from 145.950 to 145.970 MHz on USB. (FUNcube Team, AMSAT, Southgate, others) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ISS HAM VIDEO COMMISSIONING DELAYED Gaston Bertels, ON4WF has provided an update on bringing on line of the new Ham Video transmission system now on board the International Space Station. According to Bertels the commissioning of the Ham Video transmitter needs to cover different configurations involving 2 antennas, 4 frequencies and 2 symbol rates. As announced earlier, the signals transmitted during this period will be received by the Matera ground station located in southern Italy. For these transmissions, no camera will be used. The so-called "blank" transmissions will nevertheless provide a complete DVB-S format signal. AMSAT had hoped that the commissioning of the new transmitter would have taken place last October but it appears that the "Flight Rules" regarding ARISS activities, which cover VHF and UHF transmissions, needed to be updated for the new S-band operation. Writing such rules, having them verified and signed by all parties involved is a time taking process. Also unforeseen events such as the recent failure of a cooling system like caused further delay. At this time Bertels says that sometime this month or in February seems a reasonable guess for the Ham Video system to be fully activated for regular use. More on this as information is made available. (ANS, ON4WF, ARISS, Southgate) ** ON THE AIR SPECIAL EVENT STATION GB1RNLI FOR SOS RADIO On the air listen out for special event station GBO1RNLI to be active between January 25th to the 26th and possibly some limited operations on the evenings of Tuesday, January 28th and Thursday, January 30th. This special event callsign will be used by U-K based Worksop Amateur Radio Society to promote SOS Radio Week which is held each year to support the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. This year the club will be operating on 40 through 10 meters plus VHF on 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 cm using CW, SSB and Data modes. QSL via the bureau or electronically using eQSL. Full details about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is available at: www.rnli.org. (Southgate) ** DX In DX, ON6DX has announced the dates for his TY1TT operation fro Grand Popo will be January 26th through and February 5th. He plans to operate on the highest possible bands. For updates visit his website at dxpedition.be/Benin.html AF1G is now living and working on Andros Island signing slash C6A. He will be there until November 20th and is expected to be on 80 through 6 meters on SSB. QSL via Logbook of the World or direct to Tim Hardy, PSC 1012 Box 593, FPO AA 34058-9998, USA. JA3ARJ and JA1CJA will be active as TO3JA from Martinique between January 12th to the 19th. No other details are yet available. QSL via JA3AVO, direct, by the bureau or Logbook of the World. Lastly, F5MVB and F5AOW are planning to be operational sometime in 2014 as 5V7MP and 5V7BJ, respectively from Avepozo. Details on bands, modes and dates have not been announced yet, but should soon be forthcoming. QSL via their home callsigns, direct or by the bureau. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: SHARKS THAT TWEET Sharks in Western Australia are now tweeting out where they are. Well in a way. Here's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, is down- under with the rest of the story: -- Australian government researchers have radio tagged 338 sharks with transmitters that monitor where the animals are. When a tagged shark is about half a mile away from a beach, it triggers an alert, which tweets out a message on the Surf Life Saving Western Australia Twitter feed. The tweet notes the shark's size, breed and approximate location. Researchers so far have tagged great whites, whaler sharks and tiger sharks. These tags will also be monitored by scientists studying sharks in their natural habitat. Since 2011, Australia has had more fatal shark attacks than any other country. There have been six over the past two years with the most recent last November. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, in Nelson, New Zealand. -- Chris Peck is the operations manager of Surf Life Saving of Western Australia. He says that the tagging system alerts beachgoers far quicker than traditional warnings but that it's not 100 percent foolproof. More is on the web at tinyurl.com/tweeting-vk-sharks (NPR, New Science) ** 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 WIA 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 Jim Davis, W2JKD, on Florida's Treasure Coast saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.