[FARA Home] [Education] [Join FARA] [Links & Emails] [Meetings & Events] [Officers & Key People] [Repeater & Digital Info] [Scrapbook]

The Toroid   April, 2005

In this edition:

VA QSO Party

FARA Packet Network Diagram

First Worked All Kyle Award

The Rise and Fall of Heathkit

Hams on the Spot

BPL News

Club News

Meeting Notes

FARA Teams Up for the VA QSO Party

Fourteen FARA members participated in the VA QSO party the weekend of March 19-20.  Unofficially, we calculate a total score of over 106,000 for club members. Great work and let's go for more next year!

For more information: http://www.qsl.net/sterling.  Check for your logs and scores on the Sterling Park ARC website at:  http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2005_VQP_Logs_Received.html

FARANET Diagram

Chuck, N4YXW will be presenting "Packet Radio and the FARA Packet System" at the next club meeting on May 12th.  In advance, here is a diagram of the FARANET system.

 

First 'Worked All Kyle' Award Presented

The Rise and Fall of Heathkit (pdf file)

from World Radio

Hams on the spot

from Mobile Radio Magazine

For Charles Harpole, the December trip was supposed to be a getaway. A University of Central Florida professor and amateur-radio enthusiast (K4VUD), Harpole planned to visit his wife's family in Thailand and to be part of the contingent to transmit the first ham message in 17 years from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the coast of Sri Lanka.

While the trip — known as a DXpedition in ham lingo — had historical significance for amateur radio, Harpole's communications prior to the trip included references to “wonderful” beaches “with no people and no trash,” “super” diving and “mostly empty” hotels at reasonable prices.

“When we go on an expedition, it's primarily for fun,” Harpole said.

That changed on the morning of Dec. 26, when a mighty earthquake shook the island. Harpole, in a fifth-floor room of the hotel, braced himself in a doorway as items fell around him. When the quake quieted, Harpole joined other hotel guests outside.

“We noticed that the sea had turned quite brown near the coast and dark gray further out, where it had been clear before,” Harpole said. “I told everyone there that I thought there would be a tsunami.”

Harpole turned out to be correct, but no massive waves hit Little Andaman.

Using hotel generators for power, the ham expedition team set up radios on the lawn outside the hotel to make “serious calls” for help and to relay messages. The next day, team leader Bharathi Prasad took a three-wheel taxi to the capitol to offer assistance. The offer was quickly accepted, and some team members were dispatched via helicopter to other nearby islands, including Car Nicobar, which was almost completely devastated.

“There were some Nicobar Islands that were totally washed over,” Harpole said. “There were some villages that were totally eliminated … I've seen pictures. There was a village there, but now there's just a bunch of poles sticking up where there were houses.”

Hams played a vital role in the recovery effort on Car Nicobar, where the amateur radio operators set up their gear in a government official's house.

“For many hours every day, they were the only contact with the outside world,” Harpole said. “They were calling for everything, from the most urgent assistance to the most mundane. For two weeks, the hams often were the only form of communication.”

Ironically, ham radios had been prohibited on the islands for almost two decades — a ban that had been lifted just six weeks before. Harpole said the ruling was overturned largely because of the efforts of influential Indian political figure Sonia Gandhi, a ham enthusiast (VU2SON) who declined the prime minister post last year.

Otherwise, many Andaman and Nicobar islands likely would have been unable to communicate their recovery needs, Harpole said.

“If the hams had not been there, it's doubtful that they would have been dispatched from the mainland, given the Indian government's attitude toward hams,” Harpole said. “But it turned out to be a magnificent display of the value of ham radio.

“It was just one of those things — we happened to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.

Indeed, despite having his trip ruined by one of the largest earthquakes in history, Harpole said he considers himself lucky. His wife and her family were safe. Physically, his discomfort was limited to his forearm, which mosquitoes ravaged as he slept on a couch outside the Little Andaman hotel

The full story is at http://mrtmag.com/mag/radio_beacons_hope/

BPL News

Martin appointment could stall BPL
By Glenn Bischoff
March 18, 2005

President Bush's appointment of Kevin Martin to succeed Michael Powell as FCC chairman should come as no surprise. Martin is well regarded within the Republican Party, worked on the president's first-term campaign and his wife once worked for Vice President Dick Cheney, according to sources.

Martin proved to be an intelligent, thoughtful and capable commissioner who wasn't afraid to buck Powell when he thought it right and necessary. Martin outmaneuvered Powell a couple of years ago during an FCC proceeding concerning wireline telephone rules and prevailed when the commission drafted an order that reflected Martin's, not Powell's, perspective.

Just because a federal appeals court later vindicated Powell and overturned the order shouldn't diminish Martin's actions. It took a good bit of, ahem, fortitude to stand up to Powell, who has his own well-developed power base in Washington and within the GOP.

That Martin stood up to Powell when it would have been far easier -- and much more politically expedient -- to toe the party line speaks well of his character and his ability to lead the commission.

However, one thing that Martin is not is Powell. Consequently, Martin's ascension to the FCC's helm ultimately could have a negative effect on the nascent broadband-over-power lines technology.

Powell was an unabashed cheerleader for BPL, which he saw as the panacea for bringing high-speed data services to underserved areas, particularly rural areas, where infrastructure costs are so high that cable companies and wireline telephone companies can't justify the deployments. His enthusiasm for BPL largely drove public utilities -- ultra-conservative organizations by nature -- to take the leap, according to Nancy Kaplan, vice president of Adventis, a consultancy headquartered in Boston.

"Powell was remarkably supportive [of BPL]," Kaplan said. "Having that support made all the difference in terms of the utilities being willing to go after this. ... They got burned by telecom in the past, so feeling that they really had somebody who was going to support them from a regulatory standpoint and make it easy for them actually has made BPL move more quickly than it might have otherwise."

Kaplan predicted that Martin will support BPL, but won't share Powell's zeal. Without such a champion going forward, BPL could fall well short of Powell's vision -- some would say dream -- for the still-developing technology.

"BPL could end up being a small alternative that is used for a few things," Kaplan said. "It has some value for the utilities themselves for their internal operations. I think it will move in that direction rather than becoming a large consumer option."

Such an outcome would thrill the nation's amateur radio operators, who are gravely concerned that radiation leakage stemming from BPL will cause harmful interference to their operations and are quite angry with Powell for not giving those concerns greater heed. When the FCC approved rules in November 2004 that cleared the way for widespread deployment of the technology, which uses the nation's power grid to deliver broadband services. Powell said those concerns weren't enough to justify putting the brakes on BPL and that the commission's rules provided adequate protection for the hams.

"The potential for the American economy is too great -- is too potentially groundbreaking -- to sit idly by and allow any claim or any possible speculative fear to keep us from trying to drive this technology and drive America into the broadband future," Powell said at the time.

I don't know enough about BPL to be able to comment on whether the potential interference problems will simply go away should utilities limit their use of the technology for applications such as remote monitoring of meters. But I do know something about Martin, having covered him and interviewed him on numerous occasions over the past four years.

Though a Republican, Martin has demonstrated he is less interested in doing what's good for big business -- and public utilities certainly qualify -- than he is in doing what's in the public's best interest. Martin did just that in the wireline telephone debate, when he sided with competitive carriers against the incumbents, led by the gargantuan former Bell companies Verizon, SBC and BellSouth. Consequently, both the FCC and the utilities might be rethinking their BPL strategies at some point during Martin's tenure.

E-mail me at gbischoff@primediabusiness.com
Re-posted with permission of the author.

 

CLUB NEWS

This will appear in the May 2005 edition of Auto Call

FARA Report for Spring 2005

 Activity Calendar

 Mark, KD6AKC, coordinated a 2m Simplex Scramble in January. FARA members with mobile and fixed stations spread throughout Fauquier County to determine the feasibility of point-to-point simplex communications between various locations. The County is roughly 15 miles wide (East-to-West) and 55 miles long (North-to–South) with hilly terrain in the Northern part of the county and flatter terrain in the Southern part. Members in the Central part of the County were able to communicate with most of the mobile and fixed stations in the test.

At the regular March club meeting, Karen Beavers, KI4BAB gave an excellent presentation on the Courage Handiham system. Karen, who is sight impaired, gained her ticket with the aid of the Handiham training materials. Andy, K1RA runs K1RA-L at 144.44MHz and made a presentation on Echolink at the April meeting. Our upcoming meeting programs and activities are listed below: 

 Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month except for the months of July, August and December, at the SunTrust Bank in the Warrenton Center shopping mall at the junction of Winchester Road and Lee Highway (Business Route 17 and Business Route 29) in Warrenton, Virginia. All are welcome to attend.

 Homebrew Contest

The competition is on for FARA members to build a ham radio related project or item this summer. Entries will be judged based on originality, complexity, workmanship, functionality, usefulness, aesthetic appeal, and repeatability (can others build one). All members present at the September meeting will participate in the judging and prizes will be awarded.

 Dayton Plans

Members making plans to rendezvous at Dayton Hamvention include K3SK, KC4YJV, W4GTM, WA3RAD, KD6AKC, and possibly W4NHJ, W4KTF, and KI4HVG.

 Another New Ham

Kudos go to Sandra, KI4HVG for getting her ticket and joining husband Jim, KI4FVT and son Kyle, W4KTF making it an all-ham family.  New FARA members include Steve, KI4ITP, Andy, K1RA, and Kirk, KE6IVQ.

March Meeting Notes

(FARA)
March 10, 2005
Meeting Minutes
Welcome and Introduction:   Mark Lindsey  (KD6AKC)

Announcements:
Next club breakfast will be April 30, 2005, at 08:00 at  Country Cookin
Restaurant in Warrenton.
Next club meeting is April 14,  2005 at the Sun Trust Bank, Warrenton, 
Virginia

Phone Patch:  Tom (KD5CMI)  has phone patch, has permission to
install,  needs help and time to install.

Secretaries Report:  Minutes were accept as  published in membership
notice  accepted.

Treasurer's Report:   Beginning Balance   $1787.88
Deposit Dues                40.00
_________________________________________

Ending  Balance        $1827.88
Treasurer's Report was approved as presented.

Virginia QSO  Party:  Saturday March 19,  2005
Club frequencies for club contacts.  146.58 FM,  common time  7:30PM
start at 2 meters 146.58 and work down, 18.45, 38.60,  78.6, 14.27,
21.37, 28.370, 50.125, 144.200 (CW or SSB), 146.58,  220.350, 446.00.

Membership:
Steve Cheery -  KI4ITP
Andy Zwirko -  K1RA
Kirk  Van GorKom -  KE6IVQ
Accepted by acclimation.

Fliers:
RARS Fest -  North  Carolina
Dayton Ohio Fest:  May
Don (N2VA) made a motion that the club  obtain pins for GOTA for Field
Day.  Cost $5.00 each,  6 were authorized for $30.00, Approved.
Certificates were recommended for Non  Operators.

Recommendation -  Prizes be purchased for the Home Brew  Contest.  The
FARA  Home Brew contest -  circuit boards will be  allowed.

National Capitol ARES  Training  -   April 23,  2005
Skywarn Training included.

ARRL Membership  will help  the club as ARRL will give a fee to the
club.  New members - $15.00,   renewals - $2  given to the  club.

May 21, 2005  -  Old  Town Warrenton  Festival
Dan, Tom, Karen, Jim, Carlton agreed to set up a table and display  for
FARA Club near the Old Jail.  Special Events  Station.

Field Day: Harry (WB3BIC)  will E-mail requests for Equipment that 
individuals
will make available for Field Day  Use.
Pan CW Tent replacement was discussed,  Don (N2VA) wil discard the old
tent.  Neil (AB4YK)  donated a MFJ Tuner to the  club.   It was decided
that the   Field Day use was best.  It was put in Club Inventory

Programs:  by (KI4BAB): Karen Beavers  titled  "Courage Handi  Hams"
It was an explanation of the work with  Handicapped/Blind  folks by the 
Folks at Couarage Handi Ham Facility in Minnesota.  Karen explained how she came to
be  a  Ham after being Blind. plus showing a DVD of the work that is  done by Courage
 Folks.

Refreshments:  Were provided by the Fox  family with a Special Treat of  Ice
Cream and Cake because we celebrated Kyle (W4KTF)  birthday at big 15
years  of age.  A  good time was had by all.   Thanks Sandra (KI4HVG).

Meeting adjourned at 8:45  PM.
Secretary:  Tom  (KD5CMI)