Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1946 - November 28 2014
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1946 with a release date of November
29th 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. The Department of Homeland Security says that ham
radio is an important part of its new Emergency Communications Plan; NASA to
sponsor $5 million Cube Quest Challenge; the Northern California DX
Foundation announces a major contribution to the January 2015 Navassa Island
DXpedition; estate of former ham makes $1.4 million bequest to journalism
school; FunCube One celebrates its first year in space and where are all the
pay phones going in the Big Apple. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio
Newsline report number 1946 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: HOMELAND SECURITY PLAN INCLUDES AMATEUR RADIO
Ham radio will be a part of the Department of Homeland Security's 2014
National Emergency Communications Plan as we hear from Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF:
--
The ARRL reports that the latest United States Department of Homeland
Security's 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan. or NECP, formally
incorporates Amateur Radio. This, in its blend of media outlets that could
support and sustain communications in a disaster or emergency situation.
According to the new plan, amateur radio operators can be important conduits
for relaying information to response agencies and personnel when other forms
of communications have failed or have been severely disrupted.
The document also describes changes that lie ahead for other forms of
emergency communication such as 9-1-1 systems. It notes that the Next
Generation 9-1-1 will enhance the capabilities of current networks by
permitting the transmission and reception of photos, videos, and text
messages. This says the agency would provide additional situational
awareness to dispatchers and emergency responders.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles.
--
The ARRL says that the 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan is the
first update since the original plan was released in 2008. It was made
public on November 12th with the complete text is on the web at
www.dhs.gov/necp (DHS, ARRL, Southgate, others)
**
RADIO INCOMPATIBILITY: VDSL VS. HAM RADIO - ROUND 1
A post on the RSGB EMC Committee forum acknowledges that the group is
carrying out an investigation of the significance of interference to amateur
radio from leakage from VDSL systems. VDSL is an acronym for Very High Speed
Digital Subscriber Lines which transmit data in the 13 to 55 Megabytes Per
Second range over short distances between 1000 and 4500 feet of twisted pair
copper wire.
As the final length of cable into the home or office, VDSL connects to
neighborhood Optical Network Units which in turn connect to the central
office's main fiber network backbone. This architecture allows VDSL users to
access the maximum bandwidth available over normal phone lines.
According to committee member Robin Page-Jones, G3JWE, the emissions from
VDSL are continuous and can be indistinguishable from white noise. As such
they may go unnoticed for some time. Most problems are seen when the
connection to houses in the area is by overhead cables. The band that is
affected the most depends on distance of the house or business from the
street VDSL cabinet. (Southgate)
**
RADIO INTO SPACE: NASA ANNOUNCES $5 MILLION CUBESAT QUEST CHALLENGE
NASA has announced a mini-satellite or Cube Sat design contest that will see
participants competing for $5 million in prize money and a chance to have
their winning satellite flown to the moon by the space agency.
Called the Cube Quest Challenge, the objective of the competition is to
design, build and deliver to NASA a flight-qualified small satellite, or
CubeSat capable of advanced research in the vicinity of our moon and beyond.
The competition consists of three separate challenges, with the prize monies
divided between them as outlined by NASA. The first of these will be
comprised of four ground tournaments to determine which entries are capable
of being carried to space. This will have a prize of $500,000.
A Lunar Derby will be a $3 million competition for establishing the
capability to put a CubeSat into a stable orbit around the moon and
demonstrating both its durability and communication capabilities while there.
There will also be a Deep Space Derby for demonstrating a CubeSat's
durability and communication at distances up to 10 times the distance beyond
that of the moon. It will bring with it a prize of $1.5 million.
A NASA release says that the prize purse in the Cube Quest Challenge is the
largest cash prize the agency has ever offered. The winning Cube Sat will be
launched as a secondary payload on the first integrated flight of NASA's
Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.
Full information about the completion including entry requirements are at
tinyurl.com/nasa-cubesat-challenge (NASA, TechTimes, Phys.org, others)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NEW HAM OPERTOR ARRIVES AT THE ISS
Ham radio has returned at the International Space Station. This with the
arrival of European Space Agency Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti,
eye-zed-one-U-D-F, after a 5 hour and 45 minute trip that began at the
Bikenour Cosmodrone in Kazakhstan.
Cristoforetti made the trip along with United States Astronaut Terry Virts
and Russian Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. The three new arrivals were welcomed
to the orbiting outpost by Commander Barry Wilmore along with Cosmonauts
Yelena Serova and Alexander Samokutyaev. Virts, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti
will remain aboard the station until mid-May. The current crew I slated to
return to Earth in early March. (ESA)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: UPDATE - NO MODE J TRANSPONDER ON TWIN JAPANESE HAMSATS
Two Japanese amateur radio satellites, will be headed into space, but there
wont be a Mode J SSB and Morse transponder on board either of them after all.
As reported last week, Japan's Shin'en 2 was slated to carry a ham radio
transponder with a Lower Sideband uplink between 145.940 to 145.960 MHz and a
UHF downlink from 435.280 to 435.260 MHz on Upper Sideband. Shortly after we
went to air word arrived that the transponder had been scrapped. No reason
for the decision to not carry the transponder was given but speculation was
that it had to do with the amount of power that it would require to operate.
While the satellites will still ride into space with the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency's Asteroid Mission, one will carry a CW beacon on
437.505MHz and WSJT telemetry on 437.385MHz. The second satellite will have
a CW beacon at 437.325MHz.
With a November 29th scheduled launch date, the two birds could be on-orbit
by the time you hear this newscast. (various)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FUNCUBE ONE CELEBTRATES FIRST BIERTHDAY ON ORBIT
The United Kingdom's FunCube One ham radio satellite is celebrating its
first birthday in space as we hear from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH:
--
FUNcube-1, otherwise known as AO73, has celebrated its first birthday,
having been launched at 07.10 GMT on 21st Nov 2013.
The satellite has been performing very satisfactorily with the battery
voltage keeping above 8 volts and is fully charged within about 7 to 10
minutes after re-entering sunlight from eclipse.
AMSAT-UK would like to thank all those who download telemetry and forwarding
it to the warehouse and who use the transponder. This telemetry data is
invaluable, both as an educational resource and to see how the spacecraft
systems are performing and surviving. So far almost 400MB of unique data via
stations from all around the world has been
collected.
I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, in Nottingham in the UK.
--
Fun Cube One is expected to remain on-orbit for years to come. (GB2RS)
**
DX UP FRONT: NCDXF GRANTS K1N NEVASSA ISLAND $35000 ASSISTANCE
In DX up front, the Northern California DX Foundation has announced a major
contribution of $35,000 to the K1N Navassa Island DXpedition planned for
January of 2015.
Navassa is an environmentally fragile area which since 1996 has had access
strictly controlled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As such no
DXpedition has been approved since that time. This in turn has made it the
number one most sought after entity on Club Logs 2014 most wanted list.
The KP15 Project has been working for over 12 years to obtain permission to
operate from Nevassa. There are strict limitations to the number of visitors
and the time allowable on the island.
Planners say that access has been granted for two weeks in January, as that
month has the least bird nesting. However, January weather makes access by
sea all but impossible.
For safety, the Fish and Wildlife Service requires a helicopter landing for
all personnel and equipment raising the cost of the operation considerably.
Details of the DXpedition are at www.navassadx.com (NCDXF)
**
BREAK 1
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WA6YNT repeater
serving Anaheim California.
(5 sec pause here)
**
RESCUE RADIO: UTAH RADIO CLUB MEMBERS IN SIMULATED RESCUE EVENT
Members of Utah's Sinbad Desert Amateur Radio Club participated in a
wilderness based rescue training exercise on November 3rd through the 6th,.
This, in conjunction with National Guard Civil Support Teams from New Mexico,
Colorado, Idaho and Oklahoma.
The Training took place among the high rocks and deep canyons of Utah's San
Rafael desert in eastern Utah. The exercise consisted of multiple medical
rescues, from one of the many canyons that are favored by climbers and
hikers.
Emery County Sheriff's Office brought their emergency response vehicles to
the desert deep canyon site. This included the recent addition of their
Amateur Radio Public Safety Communications trailer.
Amateur contacts were handled on 40 meter SSB and 2 meter FM, the latter
utilizing the clubs two meter repeater system. Exercise organizers and
evaluators stated that communications during this exercise were the best they
have ever been in this remote location and called the Sinbad Desert Amateur
Radio Club a valuable asset to Emery County and the State of Utah.
You can read the entire story at tinyurl.com/Utah-Emcomm-Exercise. More
about the Sinbad Amateur Radio Club is at sdarc.us. (Emery County Progress)
**
RADIO READING: AUTUMN 5 MHZ NEWSLETTER NOW AVAILABLE
The latest edition of The 5 MHz Newsletter is now available for free
download. The autumn 2014 edition features a number of stories, including 60
meter spectrum changes in Dominica, several items on W-R-C 2015, South
African beacon changes and NVIS observations, and much more. Your free copy
is on the web at from tinyurl.com/jvjrtn6 (G4MWO)
**
WORLDBEAT: CHELMSFORD CALLING ADD FINLAND SW RELAY
The recently announced Chelmsford Calling World Service produced by Jim
Salmon 2E0RMI has added a shortwave relay from Finland.
Chelmsford Calling is currently relayed on shortwave on 9.955 MHz by Radio
Miami International on the 2nd Friday of each month at 2300 UTC. The
additional relay will be by Scandinavian Weekend Radio which is located in
Virrat City, Finland.
The show European shortwave broadcast will take place the first Saturday of
the month starting on December 6th. Frequencies announced are 1.602, 5.980,
6.170, 11.690, 11.720 and 94.90 MHz. The later 94.90 MHz transmission likely
being local FM for the immediate area while all the others being AM for
worldwide transmission.
The Chelmsford Calling Network calls itself a station promoting radio
technology and celebrating our wireless heritage. More is on the web at
chelmsfordcalling.com (Southgate)
**
WORLDBEAT: MUNICH OLYMPICS SHORTWAVE STATION DEMOLISHED
Germany's national ham radio society, the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club says
that a bit of communications history came to an end on November 4 with the
demolition of the Wertachtal shortwave transmitter towers. The shortwave
station using these towers came into operation for the Munich Olympics in
1972. At the time it was the largest shortwave transmitter in Europe with 29
masts up to 125 meters in height high. The first test transmissions began on
April 10, 1972, using several 500 kilowatt transmitters. The demolition of
the facilities started in May and the plant will be completely gone by the
end of the year. (WIA News)
**
WORLDBEAT: RUSSIAN FEDERATION LAUNCHES RADIO SPUTNIK BROADCAST SERVICE
Russia has gotten into the terrestrial broadband news and information game.
This with word that it has launched a media brand called Sputniknews dot com
with modern multimedia centers in dozens of countries
It appears the streaming station, website and mobile phone apps purpose is
to counter the news outlets of English speaking nations such as Voice of
America and the BBC. Sputnik hopes to broadcast in 30 languages, with over
800 hours of programming covering over 130 cities and 34 countries by the end
of next year.
Sputnik's actual broadcasting will use modern formats, such as digital DAB,
DAB+, HD-Radio, FM radio as well as mobile phones aps along with Internet
broadcasting around the clock. In a 2013 interview with R-T News, Russian
President Vladimir Putin expressed his wish to break the Anglo-Saxon monopoly
on the global information streams.
Radio Sputnik went live on November 10th. More about the new multi-platform
service is on the web at tinyurl.com/russia-radio-sputnik (RT News,
Southgate, SPUTNIKNEWS.COM)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: M0PHI NEW CHAIR OF RSGB TRAINING AND EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Some names in the news. The Radio Society of Great Britain has announced
the appointment of Philip Willis, M0PHI as the new Chairman of its Training
and Education Committee Willis succeeds Steve Hartley, G0FUW. (GB2RS)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: TWO SILENT KEY HAMS INDUCTED TO CANADIAN AATEUR RADIO
CANADIAN HALL OF FAME
The Board of Trustees of the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has
announced the induction of the late Don Dashney, VE3RM, and George Spencer,
VE3AGS, to the Hall of Fame for 2014. The families of the two appointees
will receive this posthumous award in early 2015. A summary of their
contributions to amateur radio will be published in The Canadian Amateur
magazine. (RAC, VE7EF)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: UALR JOURNALISM SCHOLOL RECEIVES $1.4 MILLION GRANT FROM
FORMER HAM
Back here in the USA, the names of two Arkansas radio pioneers will be on a
new scholarship set up at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's School
of Mass Communication. This as the school announces that it has received a
$1.4 million bequest from the Johnnie A. Winn Revocable Trust.
Johnnie Winn died last year at age 100. In making the announcement the
school said she was the first licensed amateur radio operator in the state of
Arkansas but a search of records available on the Internet has not revealed
her call sign.
Her husband Dan who died in 1998 at age 86 helped put 30 radio stations on
the air. He was also a past chairman of the Arkansas Emergency Broadcast
System.
The gift sets up the Dan and Johnnie Winn Memorial Scholarship with
preference given to students in journalism or radio. The announcement of the
grant and scholarship was made on Tuesday, November 25th. (ULAR, published
news reports)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: FOUR NEW SECTION MANAGERS ELECTED
ARRL members in the Western Pennsylvania Section have elected contester Tim
Duffy, K3LR, as their new Section Manager. Duffy, who lives in West
Middlesex has been a radio amateur and an ARRL member for 42 years and has
served for 4 years as the Atlantic Division representative to the ARRL
Contest Advisory Committee. K3LR also has been an active member of ARES and
RACES and has extensive net and traffic-handling experience.
In Eastern Massachusetts, Tom Walsh, K1TW, of Bedford, will take the helm of
that ARRL Section. Walsh has been an Assistant Section Manager and was the
only candidate for the Section Manager's job. Current Section Manager Phil
Temples, K9HI, who has served as Eastern Massachusetts SM since 2011, decided
not to run for a new term of office.
Taking over the top leadership role in the Southern New Jersey Section will
be Thomas Arey, N2EI, of Beverly. Arey has been the Affiliated Club
Coordinator in Southern New Jersey. Incumbent SM George Strayline, W2GSS,
opted not to run for another term after serving since 2009.
In the West Central Florida Section, Darrell Davis, KT4WX, of Fort Meade,
will be the new SM starting in the New Year. He was the only candidate for
the position. Davis brings to the office his experience as an Assistant
Section Manager, ARES Emergency Coordinator, and Technical Specialist.
Several incumbent Section Managers faced no opposition and they will
continue with new terms of office starting January 1, 2015. They are
Missouri's Dale Bagley, K0KY; Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ of Nebraska; Jim Mezey,
W2KFV who serves the New York City-Long Island area; Tom Dick, KF2GC for
Northern New York and Marc Tarplee, N4UFP of South Carolina. Two-year terms
for all successful candidates will begin on January 1, 2015. (ARRL)
**
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)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: DUTCH FIRM RELEASES EUROPEAN POLICE RADIO DETECTOR
A Dutch company has introduced a radio-based detection system that can alert
drivers if a police officer or other emergency services official is using a
two-way radio nearby At least it can in Europe. Amateur Radio Newsline's Hal
Rogers, K8CMD, reports:
--
According to a United Kingdom's Sunday Times article the unit called Blu Eye
monitors frequencies used by Europe's TETRA encrypted communications networks
used by most government agencies. It doesn't allow the user to listen in to
the actual transmissions, which is illegal and would require advanced
decryption capabilities, but can detect a radio in operation up to one
kilometer away.
Even if a message isn't being sent, TETRA radios transmit pulses out to the
network every four seconds that the Blu Eye unit can also receive. A
dashboard-mounted monitor uses lights and sounds to alert the driver to the
proximity of the source, similar to a radar detector.
Im Hal Rogers, K8CMD.
--
Needless to say the device is causing quite a stir on the other side of the
Atlantic. More about it is on the web at tinyurl.com/europe-blu-eye and blu
is spelled BLU. (UK Sunday Times Driving)
**
EMERGING THECHOLOGY: BROADBAND HAMNET RELEAES NEW SOFTWARE
Broadband-Hamnet has announced a new firmware release titled 3 dot zero dot
zero. This latest version includes the Ubiquiti M9-series airMAX devices,
giving Hams use of the 900 MHz band for mesh networking. This latest release
builds on a series of advancements that build on the Ubiquiti firmware
released for the 2.4GHz and 5.8 GHz Ham bands earlier this year. More is on
the web at broadband-hamnet.org. (Broadband Hamnet)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW RASPBERRY PI PICO COMPUTER
A new and inexpensive Raspberry Pi pico-computer christened the model A+ has
been released.
Selling at only about $20 US depending on where you buy it, this is a truly
updated version that features among other things a 700 MHz Broadcom CPU with
256MB RAM; a 4 pole Stereo audio output, a composite video port and a full
size HDMI connector. Also included are ports for connecting a CSI camera and
Raspberry Pi screen display that are sold separately.
The Raspberry Pi A+ measures only 56 by 65mm with standard mounting holes
already drilled into the PC board. A full article on this latest single
board tiny computer at tinyurl.com/raspberry-pi-model-a (G7VFY)
**
WORLDBEAT: UK NOV FOR 2300 MHZ NOW AVAILABLE
Word that holders of the United Kingdom's Full class license can now apply
for a Notice of Variation. This, to permit them to operate a fixed station
in 2300 to 2302 MHz band. This particular Notice of Variation is applicable
to U-K hams residing in the United Kingdom only. It does not cover to
British radio amateurs holding United Kingdom licenses but who reside in
Crown Dependencies such as the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey to name only
a few. A Notice of Variation in the United Kingdom is similar to a Special
Temporary Authority granted here in the United States by our FCC. (RSGB)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: UAE'S FIRST CUBESAT NAYIF-1 ANNOUNCED
The Dubai based Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology in
partnership with American University of Sharjah are developing the nations
first CubeSat named Nayif-1. A report in Satellite Pro magazine says
students will take part in the program as their Senior Engineering Design
project. They will be responsible for the design, assembly, integration and
testing of the completed CubeSat. The planners hope to launch the completed
cubesat on a Space X Falcon 9 lift vehicle by the end of 2015. No word on
the type of transponder, beacons, modes of operation or operating frequencies
are known at this time. (Press release)
**
AN THE AIR: EXPLORE 30 METER DIGITAL PARTY DECEMBER 20 TO 21
On the air, the European Radio Amateurs' Organization, together with the 30
Meter Digital Group, have announce a new QSO party with the motto: 'Be
digital, explore 30 meters." The party will be held the weekend December
20th and 21st from 00:00 to 24:00 UTC. This is not a contest but rather a
radio meeting with a few simple recommendations to follow. You can find them
at tinyurl.com/explore-30-meters. (ERAO)
**
DX
In DX, F6BLP will be active as 6W7SK from Senegal between January 10th and
February 15th of 2015. This will be a holiday style operation mainly using
C-W on 80 through 10 meters with the possibility of 160 if things work out.
QSL to F6BLP, either direct or via the bureau.
W8GEX and W8CAA will be active as C6ADX and C6AYL respectively, from the
Island of Exuma through December 3rd. Listen out for them on 60 through 10
meters using SSB and RTTY. QSL to their home callsigns.
KL7SB will be operational as E51RAT from Rarotonga through December 6th.
Activity will be limited as time permits, but look for him on 80 through 10
meters, primarily on CW with some SSB, RTTY and some digital modes. QSL via
NI5DX.
OE4AAC will be operational as S79AC from Mahe and Praslin Islands in the
Seychelles Island group between January 17th and February 10th of 2015.
Activity will be holiday style on 40 through 10 meters on CW only. QSL
OE4AAC, direct, by the bureau or ClubLog's Oh QRS.
Lastly, K6REF is currently active stroke KC4 from the United States Camp at
Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The team is there for both survival training
and seismometer installation. Late word is that they should be there for
another week or more. Ham radio operation has been on 20 meter SSB around 14
dot 243 MHz around 1900 UTC. More is on the web at waponline.it
This weeks DX news courtesy of the Ohio-Penn DX Newsletter)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: PAY PHONES MAY DISAPPEAR IN DA BIG APPLE
And finally this week, a legendary device that pre-dated the cellphone and
the smart phone appears to be on its way to oblivion in one of the world's
largest cities as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron, N8TMW:
--
Pay phones on New York City streets would become a remnant of the past under
a plan that would replace them with stand-alone devices offering free Wi-Fi
and nationwide phone calls as well as mobile phone charging capability.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio calls the project LinkNYC. He describes
it as a plan proposed by a group of companies working together under the name
CityBridge that have been selected to replace the old pay phone system.
Up to 10,000 column-like devices would be placed in all five boroughs
starting next year if the plan is approved by the city's Franchise and
Concession Review Committee. The devices, along with Wi-Fi, would also have
touch screens for users to access city agencies and digital displays for
advertising and announcements. These devices would replace 8,400 pay phones
around the city. The only phones left would be three booth-style pay phones
on New York's Upper West Side that would be preserved as pieces of New York
City history.
Mayor De Blasio noted that the plan would not cost city taxpayers anything.
He said the money to cover the cost would come through revenues from the
advertising. New York City leaders claim that advertising revenue from these
new devices would bring in $500 million over the next 12 years.
Im Jim Damron, N8TMW, reporting.
--
Likely the thing most New Yorkers will miss is the ringing bells each time a
coin is inserted into a pay phone. What they won't miss is searching through
their pockets in the cold of winter looking for those coins. (Future
Technology)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio
Penn DX Bulletin, 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..
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Skeeter
Nash, N5ASH, wishing listeners in the United States a belated Happy
Thanksgiving, and to all of you world wide, 73 and we thank you for
listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
***
As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and HAM Operators all over the
world, this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the
internet and posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, fidonet node 1:3634/12.
We hope you enjoyed it!
Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as
described in this posting. If you have any specific questions related
to the actual posting of this message, you may address them to
hamfdn(at)wpusa.dynip.com.
Thank you and good day!
-73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42
(text/plain utf-8 base64)
* Origin: (1:3634/12)
|