Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1814 - May 18 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1814 with a release date of May 18th, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Hams in Canada take a first step toward gaining access to 60 meters; amateur radio gets drawn into the argument over whop really owns Scarborough Reef, entry level hams in Belgium get a power upgrade and the 2012 Dayton Hamvention is here. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1814 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RESTRUCTURING: CANADIAN HAMS MAY SOON GET 60 METER PRIVELEGES Canadian hams may soon be heard on the 5 MHz band. This as telecommunications regulator Industry Canada has posted the request from Radio Amateurs of Canada for access to 60 Meters and opened a window for anyone to file comments on the proposal. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports: -- By way of background, back in 2010, Radio Amateurs of Canada approached Industry Canada and requested the use of five center frequencies in the 5 MHz band. Specifically 5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373 and 5405 kHz. The national society stated that the use of these frequencies would allow for more reliable communications during emergency operations. It noted that the propagation characteristics in the 5 MHz frequency range allow for both local and inter-provincial communications. Radio Amateurs of Canada also noted that the U.S. amateur radio community has access to these frequencies and that harmonizing frequency use would allow Canadian radio amateurs to conduct regional emergency communications on a coordinated basis with U.S. radio amateurs. The society noted that many administrations around the world have authorized radio amateurs to use the frequency 5405 kHz. At the same time, Radio Amateurs of Canada also requested the use of two additional frequencies, 5319 and 5329 kHz, for Canadian domestic use. However, after conducting a review of domestic and international use of 5319 kHz, Industry Canada determined that this frequency is unavailable for use by the amateur radio service in Canada. The proposal still needs to complete the entire Canadian rule making process. Canadian hams and other citizens have until June 12th to file comments on this matter. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Bill Unger, VE3XT, is Radio Amateurs of Canada's North - East Ontario Regional Director. He says that this has been a long hard go and has taken a lot of time and effort on the part of the national society, doing so on behalf of all Canadian radio amateurs. (RAC) ** RADIO RELATIONS: HAM RADIO BEING DRAWN INTO DISPUTE OVER OWNERSHIP OF SCARBOROUGH REEF Ham radio is being drawn into a dispute over the territorial ownership of Scarborough Reef. This as a website pops up claiming correspondence between the Philippine Amateur Radio Association and the ARRL supports mainland China's territorial claim in regard to the land mass that's also known as as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc. The report on the Sina website relating to amateur radio says that back in 1990, the then Philippine ambassador to Germany indicated clearly in his letter to a German radio amateur on February 5th that, Scarborough was not within the Philippine territory and sovereignty. This, according to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the Philippines. The documents issued by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the Philippines and the Philippine amateur radio organization to the American Radio Relay League on October 18 and November 18, 1994 had also are claimed to confirm that the Philippine territorial limits and sovereignty was stipulated by the Article 3 of the Treaty of Paris way back in the year 1889. Scarborough Reef is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon Island of the Philippines. Over the years it has seen seen several major DXpeditions and still ranks high as a wanted entity by DXers world wide. . You can read the entire claim for yourself on-line at tinyurl.com/Scarborough-Reef. (Sina.com, Southgate) ** RESTRUCTURING: BELGIUM ENTRY LEVEL HAMS GET POWER UPGRADE In a very strange turnabout of events, Belgium, which only recently threw a paperwork logjam into the lives of hams with antenna registration based on hours on the air and power output has suddenly granted a major power increase to its entry level Foundation Class license holders. We have more in this report: -- On May 4th, the Flemish government's telecommunications regulator B-I-P-T announced power increases that could permit entry level amateur radio Foundation holders to run 100 watt transceivers on the High Frequency bands. Well, more accurately run 100 watt out transceivers at about half power output level. The new maximum output power for Flemish Foundation class license holders is 50 watts. That's up from the 10 watts out previously permitted. But its not all good news for the Belgium based ham radio newcomers. This is because that nations Foundation class H- F allocations are being reduced slightly on most bands but the changes are far to many to list here. There were also some modifications made for holders of higher class Belgium Amateur Radio Licenses. Those along with the major changes for the Foundation class are on line as a .pdf document in the Flemish language at tinyurl.com/belgium-power-upgrade. And don't rely on Google or any other on-line language translator to convert this document into truly understandable English. Flemish is one of those languages that really require a human being to translate into understandable form. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona. -- The change in power level for Belgium Foundation level hams came as the result of a lobbying effort by the Belgium national amateur radio society, the UBA. Meantime there is no word on any hope of easing the antenna paperwork requirement now faced by all classes of Flemish hams. (UBA, Southgate) ** RADIO POLITICS: ROSENWORCEL AND PAI CONFIRMED AS FCC COMMISSIONERS The United States Senate has voted to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai as FCC Commissioners and they likely will have been sworn in by the time this newscast goes to air. Rosenworcel is senior communications counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee and also has FCC experience. Pai has worked at the law firm of Jenner and Block since April 2011, and is a former FCC attorney and Senate staffer. Once they take their Commission seats it will bring the agency up to its full complement of five commissioners. (Published news reports) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Hamvention repeater, W8BI, serving Dayton, Ohio. (5 sec pause here) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: HAMVENTION 2012 OPENS INTERNATIONALLY CONNECTED As we go to air, the gates at the Hara Arena should be opening for the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. This is the gathering that's considered as being the show of shows in amateur radio. Michael Kalter, W8CI, is the General Chairman of this 60th anniversary Hamvention and he recently told Hap Holly, KC9RP, of Rain that 2012 is dedicated to the concept that radio amateurs are internationally connected: -- W8CI: "We have a new committee this year that is working with people that are coming from all over the world that is working to try to make them feel comfortable in Dayton, Ohio, and to be comfortable at Hamvention. They had a welcoming evening at the Mariott Hotel from about 4 to 6. The Mariott is South of Dayton. So we could meet and connect to more of our foreign visitors and make them feel welcome because they certainly are. -- Kalter also says it looks to be a good year for both merchants and those hams attending Hamvention 2012 to get some new goodies. He says that that inside booth space is close to a sellout: -- W8CI: "We are doing really well on indoors and if you were to look at our website (www.hamvention.org) and connect to a couple of liks you can see who is where and how many spaces are left. And there sure aren't very many spaces left. "There are lots of different exhibitors from all over the world. "We are pleased to have so many back this year and some new ones as well." -- And what about this years prizes? -- W8CI: "We are ahead on prizes this year from what we had last year in terms of dollar value. Our Prize Chairman and Prize Committee worked very hard to bring in some major prizes and our hourly prizes that start when Hamvention doors open. "We have flat screens (displays) around the facility to make it a little bit easier and a little bit sharper to be able to see if your ticket stub has won." -- If Michael Kalter's predictions are correct, 2012 should be a banner year for the Dayton Hamvention. We'll let you know more in next Weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (ARNewslineT, Audio courtsy of RAIN) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: HAM NATION DAYTON BROADCAST TO BE AIRED BY THE TECH GUY ON THE PREMIERE RADIO NETWORK And speaking of Hamvention 2012, Bob Heil, K9EID, of Heil Sound tells us that satellite service Via Sat is installing its new Exede high speed internet service on site at the Hara Arena for the entire Hamvention weekend. Bob that the plan is to initially site the equipment at Tom Medlin, W5KUB's streaming video booth in the Flea Market for all to use. On Saturday, the 19th Via Sat will move the system outside the doors of the Hamvention's Audio Alley for a live broadcast into Leo Laporte, W6TWT's "The Tech Guy" radio show from around 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern Time. This means that 170 stations on the Premiere Network will have a live report form the Dayton Hamvention with Bob, along with co-hosts Gordon West, WB6NOA and George Thomas, W5JDX, originating from the Ham Nation booth for that broadcast. Leo Laporte's "The Tech Guy" airs from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time every Saturday. To find a station airing it where you live please visit techguylabs.com on the World-Wide-Web. (K9EID) ** RESCUE RADIO: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN REPORTING EMERGENCIES TO THE PUBLIC "Emergency Management Without Social Media.Fail" is the title of a very interesting op-ed article by author Tim Burrows posted across several social media websites. In it, Burrows looks at both the positive and negative effects on the public that social media can have in attempting to disseminate and update information of a disaster, accident or other event that the public needs to know. Whether you agree or disagree with Burrows assessment of the role of social media in regard to the accuracy of the information being made public, his article is a very interesting evaluation for anyone involved in the world of emergency communications. You can read the entire story on- line at tinyurl.com/emergency-social-media. (Wordpress.com) ** ENFORCEMENT: CONNECTICUT HAM RADIO OPERATOR HELPS LOCATE AND CONVICT PERSON WHO STOLE FROM NATIONAL ARCHIVES J. David Goldin ,WB1EZA, is being hailed as a hero by the United States National Archives. This after helping to solve exposed what authorities have called one of the most egregious instances of theft of historic materials from where the government preserves its historic documents, photographs and recordings. Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has the details: -- According to news reports when J. David Goldin, WB1EZA, saw a recorded interview of baseball great Babe Ruth for sale on eBay he knew something was wrong. That's because there was only one original record of that 1937 interview of Ruth on a hunting trip, and Goldin had donated it to a government archive more than 30 years ago. So Goldin, who is described as an avid record collector, launched his own investigation that lead directly to uncovering the person now believed responsible for stealing close to 1000 artifacts from the National Archives. Goldin began his sleuthing by purchasing a different recording from the same on-line seller. When the deal was complete he recognized the name of the seller as being the same National Archives employee who had received the Babe Ruth and other historic recording that Goldin had donated thirty years earlier. Goldin then took his findings to federal investigators. They in turn obtained a search warrant and raided the home of retired National Archives employee Leslie Waffen. There authorities carted away two truckloads of materials. Now, after pleading guilty, a judge in Maryland has sentenced Waffen, to an 18 month prison term and fined him $10,000. Before retiring, Waffen had worked at the National Archives for 40 years. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion, Illinois. -- United Stares Inspector General, Paul Brachfeld, whose office investigated the theft, says that he plans to honor Goldin. He told the press that there are some people who give tips who are just passive. He said that J. David Golden wasn't like that. He called Goldin a sentinel. (QRZ.com, other media reports) ** ENFORCEMENT: TRANSLATOR FINED $10000 FOR IMPROPER OPERATION Ace of Hearts DJ service and its owner Randy Bennett have been dinged $10,000 by the FCC. This for operating an FM translator near Cape Canaveral, Florida with improper equipment and at more than authorized power levels. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more: -- By way of background, in March 2011, the Enforcement Bureau's Tampa office issued a proposed $13,000 fine to Ace of Hearts DJ Service for using an unauthorized transmitting antenna system and operating at more than its authorized transmitter power output. In its investigation FCC agents from the Tampa office measured the field strength for station W277AN at almost twice its authorized level. An inspection showed that the translator was also operating with a two-antenna array rather than the single bay system for which it was authorized. , In its reply to the Notice of Apparent Liability, Ace claimed it was now operating within its authorized power levels and with an authorized antenna system. The company asked for the penalty to be waived or reduced, arguing that the higher power levels may have been caused by an unknown third party tampering with the transmission equipment. Also that the antenna issue was the result of a typo on an application. But the commission was not persuaded that someone tampered with the transmitter and caused the power output to be too high. The commission also said it was up to Ace to have reviewed its license application and make sure it was specifying the proper antenna array. The FCC did however note that after the original N-A-L was levied, Ace filed an application to modify its license to a two-antenna array so the commission cut the fine by $2,000. Hence the reduction of the fine to the $10,000 level. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the studio in Los Angeles. -- Bennett and the Ace of Hearts DJ service were given the customary 30 days to pay the fine or to file a further appeal. In addition Bennett was instructed to submit a statement that the translator is now operating consistent with its license authorization. (FCC) ** RADIO READING: SPRING 2012 TAPR OSR JOURNAL NOW ON LINE The spring issue of the free TAPR P-S-R Journal edited by Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, is now available to download. This quarterly Journal is full of technical, non-technical and user supplied digital information and articles. Previous issues are also available free from the TAPR website. Its all in cyberspace at www.tapr.org. (TAPR) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: DIGIFEST 2012 - JUNE 2-3 The annual "Digifest" will be held the weekend of June 2nd and 3rd. The popularity and peculiarity of this contest is the great variety of different categories of the participants using various digital modes. These include RTTY, BPSK, MFSK, HELLSCHREIBER, OLIVIA. Complete rules are on line at tinyurl.com/digifest-2012. (Digifest) ** BREAK 2 This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur: (5 sec pause here) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: TRACKING MANTA RAYS BY SATELLITE An international team of researchers have used radio beacon transmitters and satellite technology to track the movements of giant Manta Rays. According to a Times news report, a team headed by Rachel Graham of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Punta Gorda, Belize, attached transmitters to six Rays off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. They reported in the journal PLoS One that they monitored the rays for periods ranging from 27 to 64 days. Their preliminary findings for the Atlantic mantas showed that they traveled as far as 680 miles over a one to two month period searching for food most of the time staying close to the coastline. They also found that Rays spent considerable time in shipping lanes, which rendered them vulnerable to being hit by freighters. The full in-depth text of this very interesting use of radio tracking can be found on-line at tinyurl.com/manta-ray- tracking (Science Times) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FM INTERFERENCE TO SSB/CW SATELLITES INCREASING Interference by terrestrial FM operators to ham radio satellites is a growing problem. This according to Alexandru Csete, OZ9AEC who made this recording of FM interference to the FO-9 ham radio bird on Saturday, May 5th. A QSO that seemed to revolve around chocolate: -- Actual interference QSO recorded off FO-29 -- OZ9AEC says that to an FM operator, the spectrum from 145.8 to 146.0 MHz may seem empty, but it isn't. These frequencies are used by weak signal SSB and CW satellite transponders and even a few watts of FM can cause severe interference. Some FM operators are unaware that if they use these frequencies their local chat across town will be heard thousands of miles away. Nor do they realize that in holding their point to point terrestrial FM chats in this spectrum that they block the satellite from others to use. The use of FM on an SSB/CW linear transponder satellite also reduces the lifetime of both the satellite's batteries and the transponder itself. (OZ9AEC, Southgate) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: THREE MORE HAMS LAUNCH TOWARD THE ISS If all went as planned, several new ham radio operators should now be on board the International Space Station. NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba, KE5DAR, and his two Russian Cosmonaut crewmates, Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, and Sergei Revin, RN3BS, were scheduled to launch toward the ISS on May 14th. The new crew members should have arrived at the I-S-S on May 16th. They will join Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko, RN3DX, Flight Engineer Don Pettit, KD5MDT, and Flight Engineer Andrei Kuipers, PI9ISS. Padalka, Acaba and Revin will transition to the Expedition 32 crew in July and return to Earth this coming September. (NASA, ESA) ** WORLDBEAT: SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO DAY JUNE 16 In news from around the globe, the South Africa Radio League has selected June 16th as National Amateur Radio Day. This holiday will celebrate amateur radio as a national resource and its diversity as the most exciting of all scientific hobbies. National Ham Radio Day in South Africa will run from 09:00 to 14:00 local time. The objective is to take amateur radio to the public by exhibiting and doing live demonstrations of the various aspects of the hobby and as such a great and a fun thing to be part of. Both individual hams and clubs in South Africa are invited to take part. (SARL) ** WORLDBEAT: THE ERIC JAMIESON AWARD CREATED IN VK The Wireless Institute of Australia Board has accepted the offer of Eric Jamieson, VK5LP, to sponsor awards for first amateur radio contacts on the two meter band spanning the Indian Ocean between Australia and Africa. There will be three honors given. One each for voice, for CW and for the digital modes. More on this is on line at www.wia.org.au. (WIA) ** WORLDBEAT: GB0BON COMMEMORATES BATTLE OF NASBY The United Kingdom's Welland Valley Amateur Radio Society will again be hosting amateur radio special event station GB0BON on June 16th and 17th. This is in celebration of the 367th anniversary of the Battle of Naseby and the third anniversary of station GB0BON. QSL this operation as directed on the air. (GB2RS) ** DX In DX, word that XX9E is the callsign for the 17th-23rd May DXpedition to Coloane Island, Macau. A large team will be active on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY with at least three stations. QSL to EB7DX, direct or electronically via Logbook of the World. VE1AWW is on the air stroke CY0 from Sable Island. He will be there for at least the next two months and operational on 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters. He will also be coming to 6 meters as soon as he completes installing an antenna for that band. QSL to his home callsign, direct or via the bureau. Lastly, MM0SSG is now operational from Angola as D2SG. While he will be there through the end of October his operating time is limited because he is there on a work assignment on an off-shore oil platform. Operations will only take place when he is on land. If you work him, QSL via GM4FDM, direct or by the bureau. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: LENORE JENSEN, W6NAZ, PHONE PATCHING TO VIETNAM VIA MARS And finally this week, a piece of ham radio history that you can enjoy and share with friends. While perusing the latest ham radio videos posted to YouTube, our producer Biull Pasternak, WA6ITF, came across one featuring the late radio, television and film actress Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ, running phone patches to Vietnam. These phone patches were done through the Military Affiliate Radio System which often used frequencies just outside the regular High Frequency ham bands. Overseas telephone calls were difficult to make decades ago and sometimes impossible depending on location, so for U.S. service men stationed around the world, ham radio filled the void. This was an all with volunteer effort and Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ, was at the forefront of the activity. -- Audio bite from film -- The film is titled "A Visit to Mars" and was part of the United States Army produced series "The Big Picture." Bill dates the documentary to the late 60s and notes that the phone patch was obviously simulated for filming. He asks: Did you ever hear noise-free audio on High Frequency DX, or the public always remembering to say "over?" These details aside, the film appears to be accurate overall. It depicts the way things were done about 50 years ago and is a trip back in time. You can see it yourself on- line at tinyurl.com/LenorePatchingToVietnam. And LenorePatchingToVietnam is spelled as one word. (CGC, ARNewslineT) ** 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 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 A reminder that the nominating period for the 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. Full details and a downloadable nominating form are on our website at arnewsline.org/yhoty. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, this week representing Newsline at the Dayton Hamvention, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.