Amateur Radio Newsline(TM) Report 1919 - May 23, 2014 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1919 with a release date of May 23 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Dayton 2014 now history but everyone is talking positive about this years event; Kingman, Arizona says no to Coconino County cellular telephone phone ordinance that bans mobile ham radio; FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler believes the agency could use more engineers; another new ROS based digital mode announced and Fox News has nice words about amateur radio. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1919 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: DAYTON 2014 NOW HISTORY The 2014 Dayton Hamvention is now history, but there's a lot to talk about. Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks AE5DW, and Stephan Kinford, N8WB, were there with their recorders to capture some of the highlights of this year's event. Heres AE5DW with part 1 of this years wrap up: -- Hamvention for some is all about the toys. For others, it's the forums. Perhaps it's the new gear announcements. Many go only for the flea market. There's something for everyone at the world's largest hamfest. So how does this year stack up to last? CQ magazine's Rich Moseson, W2VU: -- W2VU: "It's a great show as always. As a lot of people know, we have been having issues lately with getting our print issues out. We've turned the corner on that and we are getting back on track, and the support and encouragement we have been getting here from people here has been absolutely -- Dennis Motschenbacher, K7BV from Yaesu: -- K7BV: "We think the show seems healthy. Our booth traffic has been healthy. I do not know what the actual numbers are but it seems up a bit. Of coarse you can never tell with the weather if it drives the people inside or not. For our booth its bren a big year in particular because we've had an awful lot of interest in our System Fusion which is our new dual mode digital and analog system that we have which allows digital users and analog users to co-exist on the same repeater. And we introduced that repeater, our DR1X, this weekend. That was our new product for this particular show." -- Let's see how Icom is doing. Ray Novak, N9JA: -- N9JA: "Things have been going by so fast that its unbelievable. Its been a great show and we have been seeing a lot of people come through. I joke around that P.T. Barnum was a smart man because he only had three rings to his circus; I think were doing twelve different things here with the different live streams as well as the support of the Youth Forum and its been nuts. I've spent more time running between the different events than being in my own booth." AE5DW: "Compare this Dayton to other Dayton's. Bigger, smaller or about the same? Give me your perspective" N9JA: "It's tough to judge because the weather has been a little bit difficult this year. Between the rain and the cold air I thought we were going to have snow flurries this morning from the way it felt. But for me being from the Pacific Northwest the rain is normat. It comes and goes but I really can't judge until tomorrow when we see the people in the grandstands for the prize drawings. But I think we have a great crowd here even with all the weather." AE5DW: "What's new at Icom? What are we talking about this year?: N9JA: "The big thing being talked about is the IC-5100. People have seen the Android app for it and the wireless control for it, the wireless headset, Bluetooth; a great little radio. And just the phenomenal growth of D-STAR. We've got international dignitaries from Europe that are building their own devices. The third party homebrew stuff is just off the hook at this point. "The drool factor surrounding anything that is D-STAR is definitely at this show. The North-West digital guys are showing some devices over there. It's unbelievable." -- Ham Nation has a big presence at Dayton. Here's Bob Heil, K9EID and Gordon West, WB6NOA: -- K9EID: "Dayton has been huge for us this year. Of course we (Heil Sound) have a bunch of new products but with all that's happened with Ham Nation I'm overwhelmed. They're lined up 10 and 12 deep to get in here to see yourself and Gordon and Valerie. "Its really amazing what Ham Nation has done for Amateur Radio. We've had several dozen people come in just today alone that got their license just because of Ham Nation and what they have learned from that show. So we are excited about that. "From a Heil Sound standpoint, our sales are way over last year. Again we are blessed in that keep new products that work well and don't cost a lot of money and every body is happy. And that's the main thing for me is to keep coming out with good products that we need and that's what we are answering here. So its been a great 2014. "I'm not going to talk about the weather, its been a little cold. But inside its been very busy. This hall has really been full. And I look and see again that there are 10 or 12 people lined up again for Ham Nation who want a post card or signatures from yourself and George and the others. What a great thing." WB6NOA: "Hi there, Gordon West, WB6NOA, at Hamvention 2014 and wow! Steven and I have looked it over and it's the biggest that I have seen in many, many years. It is wall to wall great hams saying `hi' and we hope if you are not here that you will come to see Hamvention 2015 next year." -- The newest sponsor of the Newsline Young Ham Of The Year award is RadioWavz antennas. Here's Emmet Hohensee, W0QH: -- W0QH: "The temperature has been fantastic. Ive enjoyed the crowds; they seem to be more robust than last year and a lot of good traffic. Business this year has been better tan last year, especially at this time and that's a good sign." AE5DW: "Foot traffic: What do you think? W0QH: " I think its different than last year because it was warmer and people spent more time outside than inside where as the first part of (this years) show it was raining really, really hard so most people who would be outside were inside and so it seemed to be more crowded that it was last year. AE5DW: "I heard we had hail twice out in the Flea Market." W0QH: "I didn't know that. I was inside all day." -- But it's not all about the vendors and celebrities. -- Views of convention attendees: "Im Joe, N8JKO and this is my first Hamvention and its overwhelming. Its just everything you could want to see; everything you would want to know about amateur radio and it was well worth the trip here from Cleveland." "Hi. I'nm Karen Gobernelli and I'm here with my husband attending the Dayton Hamfest. What brought me here was that my husband is a ham radio (who became) an Electrical Engineer. And its strabnge because my three brothers are all engineers and in the past when I worked, I worked for Dr. Werner Von Braun who was the father of the U.S. space program. "My name is Noel Wood from Cumbria in the UK. My call sign is G4PEB and visiting Dayton for the second time. The first time was last year and I came as it was on my bucket list to do. When I came last year I decided its not going to be on my bucket list but rather on my annual list. It was absolutely fantastic and nothing compares to it and I intend to come every year. "This year I did the three (US) exams - the Technician, General and Extra and passed all three so Im quite pleased about that and I enjoyed the experience. I got into the way of things and that made me feel a part of it. And I can say that if you ever get a chance to get to Dayton get here. As they say, nothing compares to it. (More comments are included in the audio version of this weeks report) -- Well, as you can see, people come from all over the world to the largest amateur radio gathering on the planet. And all twenty or thirty thousand of those have different reasons for being here. But the one thing that ties us all together is our love for this great hobby and service, and that is amateur radio. Whether you work satellites or moon bounce, or you just rag chew or make contacts on the repeater. If you're an IRLP person or an Echolink person. You're really into D-STAR, you're into rolling your own stuff, you're into kit building, it doesn't matter. There's something for you at Hamvention. We'll see you at Hamvention 2015. The planning starts now. Back home in Mississippi, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. (ARNewsline, AE5DW, N8WB) -- Next week, we will cover some of the new products and other announcements made at Hamvention 2014. (ARNewsline) ** BREAK 1 Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WA9INM repeater serving Plymouth Indiana. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO LAW: FLAGSTAFF CITY COUNCIL REJECTS COCONINO COUNTY MOBILE TWO-WAY RADIO BAN The city of Flagstaff, Arizona, says that it will not enforce the recently enacted Coconino County hands-free cellular telephone phone ordinance. One that also bans the use of any push-to-talk microphones. Amateur Radio Newlines Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has the details: -- During a recent working session of the Flagstaff Arizona City Council, its members rejected the newly enacted Coconino County ordinance as being too broad. City officials paid particular attention to its ban on the use of push-to-talk microphones with two-way radios. As previously reported, the Coconino County law not only prohibits the use of hand-held cell phones and texting in motor vehicles, but also specifically prohibited the use of two-way radio using hand held microphones. This includes amateur radio, C-B radio and any other form of two-way communications that is not hands free. There is a very limited exemption for radio amateurs, but only while relaying a message between first responders in an emergency. In making its decision to opt out, the Flagstaff City Council agreed with member Celia Barotz's assessment that the ordinance would interfere with an amateur radio operators' ability to provide volunteer services and with truckers who rely on 11 meter CB radio as a part of their jobs. Barotz suggested that the city allow the use of two- way radios and focus solely on the issue of texting while driving. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the newsroom in Los Angeles. -- In most states a county ordinance would trump one enacted by a city, but under Arizona state law, Flagstaff has the option to exclude their community from the new county regulation if it chooses to do so. (Nevada Amateur Radio Newswire) ** RESCUE RADIO: WX4NHC FROM NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TEST ON MSY 31 The operators of the WX4NHC amateur station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will be taking to the airwaves on Saturday May 31st. The purpose of the event is to test station equipment, antennas and computers prior to this year's hurricane season, which starts June 1. This event also provides good practice for radio amateurs world-wide as well as National Weather Service staff to become familiar with protocols and procedures for communications available during times of severe weather. The test will run from 1300 to 2200Z UTC. WX4NHC will be on- the-air on the High Frequency, VHF, UHF bands. Among the digital modes to be included in the exercise are APRS and Winlink. It should be noted that the group is beginning its 34th year of service to the center. (ARRL) ** RADIO GOVERNAMCE: FCC CHAIRMAN WANTS MORE ENGINEERS FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler believes the FCC could use more engineers and economists. This is one off several comments credited to him during testimony on Tuesday, May 20th before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. The engineer observation came during an exchange between the chairman and Vermont Representative Peter Welch, who asked what the commission requires to do its job. In his response, Wheeler is quoted as saying the agency's Information Technology infrastructure is worthy of being in the Smithsonian Institution while adding that the FCC has computers that have known risks. In previous testimony about the latest budget request, Wheeler told lawmakers the agency has more than 200 relic computer systems that are costing the agency more to maintain than they would to replace over the long term. Wheeler's definition of engineers includes Information Technology personnel the same as it does now-a-days at the broadcast station level. (Published news reports) ** RADIO RESEARCH: NEW FHSS-CDMA MODE SOFTWARE RELEASED In technical news, FHSS Mode is a new High Frequency ROS based digital mode based on FHSS CDMA modulation. FHSS uses 16 different CDMA codes with 1.8 seconds per hop. Every transmission uses a different CDMA code randomly chosen. Further information at tinyurl.com/fhss-digi. (Southgate) ** RADIO EDUCATION: UK 434 MHZ BALLOON RECOGNIZED IN SCIENCE EDUCATION The UK Department for Education has selected the Horizon balloon project to feature in the department's Yourlife campaign to promote studies in math and science sometimes called STEM education. Pupils at the Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall built the payload which transmitted Frequency Shift Keyed RTTY telemetry data on 434.075 MHz. The students launched Horizon on a high altitude weather balloon which reached an altitude of close to 115,000 feet before bursting. The payload then safely parachuted back to Earth where the students were able to retrieve some stunning still images and video taken in near-space. Ham radio wise, the telemetry transmitter could be received over most of the British Isles and radio amateurs were able to track the balloon's progress from the transmitted GPS data. The Horizon team used a Yaesu FT-817 transceiver to receive the signal from the balloon and dl-fldigi software to decode it. Among those supporting the project were Yaesu and Essex-based Rapid Electrionics. (Southgate) ** RADIO READING: CQ-DATV 11 MAGAZINE NOW AVAILABLE The May issue of the free Amateur TV magazine CQ-DATV is now available for download. Among other items, this months issue contains articles on measurement and display software, understanding DVBS protocol, a review of the MAX 7456 OSD generator modules and much more. Unfortunately due to the editor and site operator being hospitalized, this edition in PDF format is posted at a different location than normal. Look for it at www.vk5tm.com/ebooks.php (Southgate) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: NEW SERVICES INTRODUCED AT QRZ.COM Some very positive changes have come to QRZ.com. The first is that the websites callsign database now fully supports secondary callsigns. A secondary callsign is one which includes a slash plus a modifier as either a prefix or a suffix to the primary call. This feature is available to all QRZ users and can be accessed by simply editing your callsign, or by using the My Account choice from the main QRZ menu, located under your callsign at the top right of the page. Also, unlike primary calls, secondary callsigns may be deleted by their owners at any time. Another major change at QRZ concerns its online logbook. Many users had asked for Logbook of the World integration and this is now available to all Logbook subscribers. It means that if you're a Logbook of the World user you can push your QRZ logs directly to Logbook of the World with just a couple of clicks of your mouse. Once uploaded, your QSO's in the QRZ logbook will be shaded with a green background, indicating that they have been sent. A Quick Start Guide for QRZ LoTW operations available at files.qrz.com/static/qrz/lotw_cert_guide.pdf) (QRZ.COM) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: NEVADA GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS JUNE AS NEVADA AMATEUR RADIO MONTH Some names in the news. First up is Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval who has declared June as Nevada Amateur Radio Month. In his proclamation Governor Sandoval praised the states 6,800 licensed hams for their commitment in providing voluntary communication services to Nevada and the rest of the world. (N7UR) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: VE6SH AND LA2RR RE-ELECTED TO LEAD IARU International Amateur Radio Union member-societies have completed voting on proposals to re-elect Timothy Ellam, VE6SH and Ole Garpestad, LA2RR as the organizations President and Vice President, respectively. This for a second five-year term that began on May 9th.. VE6SH served as IARU Vice President from 2004 until 2009. He was then elected as IARU President on May 9th of that year. LA2RR was first elected as IARU Vice President at the same time VE6SH became President. According to IARU rules, there ware a minimum 51 affirmative votes required for adoption but both VE6SH and LA2RR received a resounding 67. (RAC) ** 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) ** WITH NEWSLINE: ARNEWSLINE FACEBOOK PAGES NOW HAS OVER 4000 MEMBERS The Amateur Radio Newsline group page on Facebook has now exceeded 4000 members. According to James Pasterfield, KB7TBT, who is one of the moderators, the honor of becoming number 4000 went to Wayne Maynard, WB6BFN, of Burbank, California on Saturday May 17th. As this newscast is being prepared, the number of members has risen to 4,026 and is growing. Among other things, the Amateur Radio Newsline Facebook page is used to augment breaking news and get your opinions on a given story. Anyone who is a licensed radio amateur and interested in news about ham radio and personal communications in general is invited to join. If you are already a Facebook user simply type Amateur Radio Newsline into the search bar at the top of your Facebook home page. (ARNewsline) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: EXPEDITION 40 - 41 TO BE STREAMED LIVE NASA Television will broadcast pre-launch activities for the next three crew members flying to the International Space Station, followed by extensive live coverage of their launch and docking to the orbital laboratory Wednesday, May 28. Expedition 40/41 Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, Soyuz Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO, of the European Space Agency will launch to the space station in a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:57 p.m. Eastern Daylight. The crew is scheduled to dock to the station's Rassvet module less than six hours later, at 9:48 p.m. NASA TV launch coverage begins at 3 p.m. and will include video of the pre-launch activities leading up to and including the crew members boarding their spacecraft with coverage of docking begins at 9 p.m., Wiseman, Suraev and Gerst will remain aboard the station until mid-November. For the full schedule of Soyuz pre-launch, launch and docking coverage, as well as NASA TV streaming video is at nasa.gov/nasatv. All times given are Eastern Daylight here in the USA. (K6LCS, NASA) ** RADIOSPORT: 2013 JUNE VHF CONTEST CERTIFICATES MAILED ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, reports that certificates for the 2013 ARRL June VHF Contest were mailed Friday, May 16. Plaques will follow shortly. Kutzko adds that you can always track the progress of ARRL contest awards processing by going here arrl.org/plaques-and- certificates. (KX9X) ** DX In DX, A team of 16 operators from Malaysia will be on the air as 9M2MI from Undan Island between May 30th and June 1st. Activity will be on 40 through 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL only direct to 9M2YOT. N6TJ will be active as ZD8Z from Ascension Island between May 26th and June 3rd. Operations will be on the HF bands. QSL via AI4U, direct or by the Bureau. K9EL will once again be active stroke FS from St. Martin between June 9 and the 27th. Operations will take place on 80 through 6 meters, the latter running 500 watts into a 3 element yagi. QSL via his home callsign. Lastly, HP2BWJ will be operational as H92G from Isla Grande, Panama on July 19th and 20th. Listen out for him on 40 through 10 meters and QSL via HP2BWJ. (Above from OPDX and other DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: NICE WORDS FROM FOX NEWS And finally this week, some very nice words about amateur radio in emergency communications from none other than Fox News. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW has more: -- According to Fox News reporter Jonathan Serrie, when power, phone and Internet services go down, a battery-powered amateur radio transceiver and portable antenna can provide that crucial link to the outside world. And that's the theme of his 2 minute report on the new role for ham radio that emergency preparedness managers nationwide are adopting. Serrie notes that Emory Health Care in Atlanta, Georgia, is among a growing number of hospital systems to adopt ham radio as a secondary means of communications. He says that hospital administrators and government officials took a lesson from Hurricane Katrina, which left some Gulf Coast medical centers isolated from the outside world, as wired telephones and cellular communications failed. Serrie interviewed John Davis, WB4QDX, who noted that some of the technology that's been around for almost a century is still relevant. And according to Davis, in addition to major hurricanes, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 rekindled interest in ham radio as a public safety tool. Reporter Serrie noted that the number of amateur operators is at an all time high of over 720,000 hams licensed here in the United States. All in all a very positive report on one of the major roles that amateur radio is playing in service to the nation in the 21st century. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- If you missed Jonathan Serrie's report when it was first broadcast, you can catch it on the web at tinyurl.com/fox-on- ham-radio. (ARNewsline) ** 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 Newsline. Our e-mail address is newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350. Our e-mail address is newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350 Before we go, we have to note that the nominating season for the 2014 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is about to close and so far we not have received very few viable nominations. To be candid if we do not receive enough nominations before the midnight May 30th deadline, there is the possibility that the award might not be given this year. Hopefully that will not be the case. The Young Ham of the Year Award was created in 1986 to recognize the achievements of a radio amateur age 19 or younger for his or her accomplishments in service to the nation, his or her community or to the advancement of the state of the art through amateur radio. Whoever is chosen will receive a trip to the Huntsville Hamfest in August along with a gift of ham radio gear courtesy of Yaesu USA. CQ Magazine will provide the person selected with a week at Spacecamp Huntsville, while Heil Sound and RadioWavz will round out the gifts with some of the accessories needed to get on the air. Nominees must reside in any one of the United States 50 states, its possessions or in any of the 10 Canadian provinces. Please note that all nominating forms and support documentation become the property of the Amateur Radio Newsline and cannot be returned. Complete details, rules and a required nominating form in Microsoft Word format are available on our website at www.arnewsline.org/yhoty. The cutoff date for nominations to be postmarked or electronically filed is Midnight on May 30, 2014, Eastern Daylight time. Also please do not send nominations to us using any form of mail that requires a signature as there are many instances where there is nobody here to sign for them. Simply use 1st Class mail or e-mail to get a nomination to us. We are looking forward to receiving your nominating packages and hope to see one young ham in Huntsville this summer. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Hal Rogers, K8CMD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(TM) is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.