Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1687 - December 11 2009 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1687 with a release date of Friday, December 11th 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. The FCC again denies a petition aimed at outlawing closed and private repeaters, a Utah ham is first on scene at a rollover accident, the Wireless Institute of Australia says it will start training V- hams in rescue radio operations and amateur radio pays homage to a great World War 2 fighting machine of the sea. Find out the details on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1687 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS NO TO ANOTHER PETITION TO OUTLAW CLOSED AND PRIVATE REPEATERS Another petition to the FCC aimed at outlawing closed and private repeaters has been denied by the FCC. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, takes an in depth look at this story: -- Like everyone who had tried before him, Maury Green, K3BEQ, had the best of intentions when he filed his rules change request. A request aimed at banning repeater owners from barring anyone from using a repeater other than hams who would use the system to blatantly violate the FCC rules. But good intentions are not the stuff that radio rules are made of and on December 8th the FCC once again made it clear that it is not going to involve itself even remotely in the political or social aspect of owning and operating a repeater. Nor is it going to tell a repeater owner operator whom he or she must have his system repeat. In his petition for rule making filed several month ago Green had asked the FCC to amend Section 97.205(e) of its Rules. This, to prohibit a repeater station licensee or control operator from limiting the use of a repeater to only certain user stations, unless a user blatantly violates the Commission's Rules. Green argued that Section 97.205(e), which permits a repeater station licensee or control operator to limit the use of a repeater to certain user stations, conflicts with Section 97.101(b). That rule states that no frequency is for the exclusive use of a particular amateur station, and each station licensees must cooperate in selecting transmitting channels and in making the most effective use of the amateur service frequencies. But in what might best be described as a cookie-cutter decision not unlike responses to similar requests going back more than 30 years, the FCC flatly disagreed. As in the past, the regulatory agency once again stated that Section 97.205(e) does not establish an exclusive assignment of a frequency to a repeater. And with regard to Green's contention that a coordinated closed repeater has exclusive control of an amateur service frequency, the FCC again noted that coordination is not required as a condition of operating a repeater. The FCC went on to note that coordination does not and cannot result in assignment or establish control of an amateur service channel, and nothing in the rules prohibits other amateur stations from using the channels for which a repeater has been coordinated when they are not being used by the repeater. Rather, Section 97.205(e) merely enables a repeater licensee or control operator to control the repeater, so that he or she can ensure the repeater is properly operated as required by Section 97.105(a). Accordingly, says the FCC there is no conflict between the rules, and no grounds for the Commission to propose to amend Section 97.105(a). So what about operating on a repeaters input or output frequency when it is not in use. Well a quick history lesson is in order. Back in the early days of repeater rules the FCC required system owners to have lock-out receivers listening to the output frequency. These receivers would inhibit the repeater transmitter from coming on if the output frequency was in use. When repeaters were deregulated in the mid-1970's the lock-out receivers were deemed to be unnecessary. Instead the FCC simply said that it expected hams to use common sense when using a repeater input or output for other than repeater purposes. It said that if you operate simplex on a repeater input you might be repeated whether you want to or not. It also inferred that if you operate simplex on a repeater output and got clobbered by the repeater transmitter to not complain to the FCC. Again the agency expected hams to have enough common sense to know this might happen and find other frequencies on which to operate. And that's been the unofficial rule of thumb for over three decades. So what does this most recent decision mean to the average ham? In reality not very much. With the exception of Southern California, closed and private repeaters make up less than 1% of the nations total of machines. Also, most of the time those hams who are excluded from operating on a particular system have been asked to leave after the system owner or his control operators find that he or she is disruptive to the normal flow of repeater traffic. In other words they were ordered to leave and to date the FCC has backed every repeater owner who has asked enforcement assistance in keeping unwanted users off their machines. Is this the end of it? Likely not. In another two or three years another well meaning ham will likely file a similar request to ban closed and private repeaters. Unless he or she cab come up with a far more compelling argument than has Maury Green, K3BEQ, and those who petitioned in the past, its likely that request will also fall on deaf FCC ears. In this area of the Part 97 rules, history does have a way of repeating itself. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles. -- As far as we can tell, this is the 9th or 10th attempt at getting the FCC to prohibit a repeater licensee from restricting access to a repeater to those whom he or she wants to be filed the last three decades. And as in all past attempts, this one has met with failure as well. (FCC with historic background from Looking West archive.) ** RADIO RULES: FCC SAYS NO TO MODIFYING STATION ID RULES The FCC has also denied a rules change request filed by Glen Zook, K9STH, of Richardson, Texas. Zook had request that Section 97.119(a) of the Commission's Rules be amended to incorporate certain portions of the Commission's former station identification rule so as to assure that hams properly identified their stations at specific times. Back in 2006, Zook filed a petition requesting that the Commission amend the Amateur service rules to incorporate certain portions of the FCC's earlier station identification rule. This would include requiring that the call sign be transmitted at the beginning of each transmission or series of transmissions. In response, the Commission received approximately one hundred comments, generally opposing the Zook petition. And in 2007 the FCC dismissed this petition, concluding that the requested rule changes were not necessary and were not supported by the amateur radio community. Zook filed again on April 7, 2009. After considering his latest request for some nine months the FCC concluded that his present Petition does not assert or demonstrate that circumstances have changed since 2007 with respect to the adequacy of the current station identification rule. It went on to note that his current proposal, like his previous petition, does not demonstrate that revising the station identification requirement would address the concern that many amateur radio operators do not identify their station in a timely manner or at all. In its dismissal order the FCC says that this is really a matter better addressed by enforcement of the present rule rather than a rule change. If he desires to do so Zook has the option to file an appeal. (FCC) ** RESCUE RADIO: HAMS ASSIST AT UTAH DAIRY TRUCK CRASH Amateur radio was first on the scene on Wednesday, December 2nd. This, after a dairy truck crashed near Logan, Utah, and rolled into the Logan River. According to the Logan Herald Journal, Brent Yeates, KA7FAP, happened across the accident scene and stopped to help. With cellular telephone service sparse at best Yates used a local repeater to contact Brent Carruth, AD7VF in Logan. Carruth listened to Yeates give a first-hand account of the condition of the driver and the seriousness of the crash. He then notified authorities which dispatched assistance to the scene. The accident occurred on Utah Route 89 as it passed through Logan Canyon. The semi-trailer was filled with 38,000 pounds of dairy products much of which was leaked into the river. More is on-line http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2009/12/06/news/news04-12-06-09.txt (HJ News) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N5KKG repeater of the Laurel Amateur Radio Club serving Laurel Mississippi. (5 sec pause here) ** RESCUE RADIO: WIA TO DEVELOP RESCUE RADIO TRAINING COURSE The Board of Directors of the Wireless Institute of Australia says its time for an organized effort to train VK hams in rescue radio techniques. Robert Broomhead, VK3DN, has the details from down-under: -- During 2009 the Wireless Institute of Australia has been considering training of amateurs for activities associated with emergency communications preparedness. In the July and September issues of Amateur Radio magazine, the WIA Comment focussed on issues surrounding amateur operator emergency communications, training and general preparedness. From the feedback received, the Board considered that a national accredited training system was an essential element in the broad range of issues associated with emergency communications provided by amateur operators. In association with the WIA' s Recognized Training Organization (RTO), TrainSafe, a nationally recognized training package has now been developed. The WIA Board has prepared a statement on "where it is at" in the development of the training package and a summary of feedback and issues. I'm Robert, VK3DN -- For those interested, the statement and attachments that Robert referred to can be found when you visit wia.org.au (WIA News) ** RESTRUCTURING: INDIA GRANTS HAMS 30 METERS Hams in India have received government permission to permanently operate on 30 meters on a secondary basis, though not all details of the new allocation are yet known. India's hams had previously been granted experimental access to 30 meters for a one-month period between August 31st and September 30th of 2007. At that time, A1A and J3E modes with 100 watts maximum were allowed between 10.100 and 10.150 MHz. VU2GMN has been in contact with the authorities in Delhi. He says that he is trying to clarify if SSB will be included with the permanent allocation. Australia is believed to be the only other major country allowing SSB on 10 MHz for amateur radio use in ITU Region 3. (W7VOA) ** RADIO BUSINESS: VIBROPLEX CHANGING OWNERSHIP A famed Morse key manufacturer is changing hands. Our CW man, Frank Haas, KB4T, has the details: -- Vibroplex will have a new owner effective December 21st, 2009. Scott Robbins, W4PA, of Knoxville, Tennessee, has agreed to buy Amateur Radio's oldest manufacturer from present owner Mitch Mitchell of Mobile, Alabama who recently decided to retire. In a report detailed at arrl.org, Robbins says he will leave his post as Amateur Radio Product Manager at TenTec in Mid-December to take over and relocate Vibroplex. Newsline asked Robbins why he decided to buy the company: -- Robbins: "It was my desire to own my own business. Its something I had thought about for a number of years but the right opportunity had never presented itself until now. And its something I gave a lot of thought to once it was made known that Vibroplex was available and I decided that my time had arrived and I would go ahead and give it a shot." -- Vibroplex will move to Knoxville before the New Year. Business operations are expected to resume on January 5th, 2010. Vibroplex has been internationally renowned for its semi-automatic keys, known by most as "bugs," for professional and amateur telegraphers since Inventor Horace Martin first created the device in 1904 as a cure for telegrapher's "glass arm," a painful condition similar to carpal tunnel syndrome. The product line expanded to include straight keys, keyer paddles and a wider variety of bugs. When asked what changes he plans for the product line, Robbins said: -- Robbins: "No changes to the current products. The changes would be that I have every intention of offering new products under the Vibroplex name in 2010 and beyond." -- The 800 number, web site and email contacts will remain the same. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Frank Haas KB4T in Florida. -- The bottom line: Frank says that the change of ownership means that the Vibroplex side-swiper should be with us for a long time to come. (KB4T) ** RADIO EDUCATION: NEW HF LEARNING AWARD FROM QCWA CHAPTER 119 In an effort to encourage newer amateur radio operators to enter into the mainstream of HF amateur radio the Chapter 119 of the Quarter Century Wireless Association has introduced the Worked All 10 U.S. Call Areas Award. According to the announcement this award provides an achievement goal for the new operator, or any operator beginning to explore the HF bands. Because new hams with entry level licenses have limited access to the amateur radio bands on 160 through 10 meters, the award is unique in that it contains provisions to permit HF operation under the guidance of a mentor, or Elmer, who can, if necessary, act as a control operator. The sponsors say that becoming involved in HF operations will assist the new amateur operator to gain operating skills and to earn higher classes of license with his or her own increased operating privileges. Full details and a sample of the award can be found on-line at the Chapter 119 web page. Its in cyberspace at qcwa-ch119.org. (QCWA) ** RADIO POLITICS: IARU REGION 1 PAPERS POSTED TO THE WWW Turning to ham radio politics, word that the interim meeting of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 High Frequency Committee and the VHF, UHF and Microwave Committee will take place February 19th to the 21st of 2010. This, in Vienna, Austria. The IARU Region 1 website now has the full set of HF, VHF and microwave papers for the meeting from the various national societies. Check out www.iaru-r1.org for details. (GB2RS) ** RADIO ON THE NET: QRZ.COM INVITES DEVELOPERS TO JOIN QRZ FLASH The QRZ.com web team is developing an open source portable callsign database that runs on any media including USB Flash, DVD, and disk. The QRZ Flash application fits on a USB stick drive and includes an Apache server, a MySQL server, and a full Perl and PHP interpreter. All this in about 1.2 Gb of storage. Even better is that software runs right off the stick drive with no installation necessary but at the same time is easily copied to a hard drive if desired. The project is at a point where outside volunteers are being invited to contribute to the software package. More information is on the QRZ.com website. More is on-line at http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=228560) (QRZ.com) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: G3YJO RECEIVES EUROPEAN ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY LIFETIME AWARD A name in the news. Martin Sweeting G3YJO, has been presented European Electronics Industry Lifetime Achievement Award. This for his dedication to research in his chosen fields of interest. With the full title of Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, G3YJO serves as the Executive Chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology and Director of the Surrey Space Center. He was presented with the award by Richard Wilson, Editor, Electronics Weekly and Paul Briggs, Publisher, Electronics Weekly at The Lancaster London on Tuesday, December 1st. Photos of the ceremony are on-line at www.elektraawards.co.uk (ANS, Southgate) ** NEW PRODUCTS: OH THOSE BUDTRAPS And here is a neat and cheap product that you can use to keep those very popular ear-bud type earphones from becoming a tangled mess. BudTrap International has introduced its new BudTrap new cable management device engineered to trap ear-buds and avoid headphone tangles in your Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune or maybe your HT. BudTrap stays attached to your earphone jack and helps you secure your ear-buds the way you want quickly. The device works with either straight or curved device jacks. The small form factor offers portable users the convenience of headphone cable management, without adding bulk to the device. This makes BudTraps a natural for hams to experiment with and find new ways to use that the manufacturer likely never dreamed of. The new Bud-Traps are available online for less than three dollars. More information is at www.budtrap.com/ (RW) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: RESEARCHERS DEVELOP SINGLE ATOM TRANSISTOR Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, the University of New South Wales Australia and University of Melbourne have succeeded in building a micro-sized transistor whose active region composes only of a single phosphorus atom in silicon. The working principles of the device are based on sequential tunneling of single electrons between the phosphorus atom and the source and drain leads of the transistor. The tunneling can be suppressed or allowed by controlling the voltage on a nearby metal electrode with a width of a few tens of nanometers. In the recently developed transistor, all the electric current passes through the same single atom. This allows researchers to study the effects arising in the extreme limit of the transistor size. The results of the development of this transistor has been published in Nano Letters. That's a journal of the American Chemical Society. (Science OnLine) ** 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) ** CHANGING OF THE GUARD: WILLIAM WILSON, K6ARO, FIRST AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN - S.K. We have said it far to many times of late, but the changing of the guard in amateur radio continues. This with the sad news tat William A.Wilson, K6ARO, the first US Ambassador to the Vatican has passed away at age 95. According to the Los Angeles Times, Wilson died in his Carmel Valley, California home from complications related to cancer on Saturday, December 5th. William Wilson was a Los Angeles businessman who became a member of President Ronald Reagan's "kitchen cabinet" early on in Reagan's career. Wilson first met the Reagan at a dinner party in the early 1960s, when the future president was still an actor. Wilson soon became a member of the inner circle of wealthy advisers who persuaded Reagan to run for governor of California in 1966 and then helped guide his political campaigns. Soon after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president in 1981 he named Wilson as his personal envoy to the Vatican. The United States had not had formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See since 1867, when Congress repealed funds for the consular post, citing a need to separate church and state. In 1984, the United States reestablished official relations with the Vatican recognizing it as a sovereign body and the pope as an international statesman. At that time Wilson was elevated from personal envoy to full ambassador but was ultimately forced to resign over what news reports termed as political missteps. William Wilson, K6ARO is survived by two daughters, , six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren . His wife of 58 years, Elizabeth died in 1996. Funeral services were planned for Friday, December 11. In lieu of flowers donations in his name can be made to the St John's Health Center or Thomas Aquinas College. (LA Times, others) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: METEOR SCATTER OFF THE GEMINIDS The annual Geminid meteor shower has been intensifying, and researchers say 2009 could be the best year yet. This year's display peaks on December 13th and 14th with meteor scatter enthusiasts certain to be out for magical contacts. QSO's that can only be made by bouncing their signals off of ionizing meteor trails as the space rocks burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. For many years meteor scatter contacts were the domain of the most skilled of high speed CW operators. In more recent times digital modes such as JT2 and JT4 are superseding the use of Morse because of their ability to hear well into and below the spectrum noise floor. JT2 uses 2-tone FSK modulation for synchronization and differential BPSK for the encoded user information. JT4 uses 4-tone FSK, so it can also include both a sync bit and a data bit in each symbol. JT2 and JT4 are both designed for making QSOs under extremely weak-signal conditions making them ideal for making meteor scatter contacts. More about these modes can be found on-line at http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/JT2_JT4.TXT (VHF Reflector)\ ** WORLDBEAT: DATE ANNOUNCED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF UK NATIONAL AR CENTER RSGB General Manager Peter Kirby, G0TWW has announced the start date for building the new National Amateur Radio Center in the United Kingdom. The work will commence at Bletchley Park in London on January 11, 2010. Subject to favorable progress, the work is expected to finish in June. The National Amateur Radio Center will house the United Kingdom's National Amateur Radio Heritage exhibition, the National Amateur Radio Library and the Archive the Radio Society of Great Britain. The Bletchley Park center will be open to both RSGB members and members of the public, hopefully in 2010. Further details of progress will be announced as work progresses. (GB2RS) ** ON THE AIR: ACTIVATING HUNGARIAN PARKS On the air, listen out for HA0HW, HG0NDZ, HA0IH, HA4DX and HA4XG. This, as they activate more Hungarian National Parks during the month of December. Look for them to using the call HG0WFF/P through months end. QSL to HA0HW via the bureau. (ICPO) ** ON THE AIR: TUNISIA SPECIAL EVENT The Radio Club Station of Tunisian Scouts station 3V8ST will commemorate their 10th anniversary by activating special event station 3V10A from the headquarters of Tunisian Scouts in Tunis Mahrajens. This operation will last until December 31st. QSL to the Amateur Radio Club of Tunis, P.O. Box 339, 1082, Tunisia. (Radio Club of Tunisia) ** DX In DX, word that three hams will be taking VHF, UHF and microwave equipment on a DXpedition to Norfolk Island that is slated to run from January 3rd to the 14th of 2010. The operators involved are VK3XPD, VK4UH and VK3KH. They say that digital modes will be an integral part of their operation, and they are set up to run WSJT on all bands. Other modes include CW, SSB, FSK441 and JT65A. They will also be active on the Meteor Scatter net, and will also be happy to consider skeds at other times. QSL via VK3KH. N8OO and NP3D operating portable HR2 from Honduras should be on the air through Dsecember 20th using CW, RTTY and SSB on all bands. N8OO also plans to take part in the 10 Meter ARRL DX Contest while NP3D wants to join the OK DX RTTY Contest as HQ2S. QSL as directed by each operator. OE2ATN, is planning to be active Island of Velidhu as 8Q7AT between May 23rd and June 4th of 2010. Activity will be mainly SSB on 80, 40 and 20 meters using a Yaesu FT- 897D into a G5RV antenna. QSL via OE2ATN. JA8BMK, will be active as CE0Z from Juan Fernandez Island between January 19th and February 2nd of 2010. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, with a focus on the lower bands using CW, SSB and some digital modes. QSL direct to JA8BMK. Lastly, YV5KAJ, says via the Ohio Penn DX Newsletter that he is celebrating his 25th year in amateur radio by going on a DXpedition to the Island of Tortuga between December 26th to the 29th. He will also be using the special callsign YW5EID on 40 through 12 meters using SSB and some digital modes. The operation is also dedicated to IW5EID who introduced YV5KAJ to the hobby. QSL via EA5KB (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: HAMS WORK TO CREATE USS INDIANAPOLIS RADIO ROOM And finally, this past week America paused to remember the attack that took place on Pearl Harbor sixty-eight years ago. One of the Navy ships that helped bring World War Two to a close was the USS Indianapolis. She was torpedoed and sunk in 1945 after delivering Atom bomb components to Tinian Island. Those parts were later used on bombs dropped on major Japanese cities. Now, sixty four years later a group of Indianapolis amateur radio operators have re-created an operational radio room like that aboard the USS Indianapolis. Jack Parker W8ISH has the rest of the story. -- After months of research and nearly two years of planning the USS Indianapolis radio room is on the air. This real life display is located in the World War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis. The radio room features 67 World War Two pieces of equipment donated from people around the county. According to Chuck Christ, W9IH, they lucked out when an appeal for used Naval radio equipment caught the eye of one internet user. -- Chuck: "We put that list of things that we wanted on an E-Bay type thing and a guy by the name of Stan Wine calls me 12-hours later from Sequaro, NM and says I have everything you want." -- The USS Indianapolis sank in just 12 minutes after being struck by two torpedoes. There were nearly 1200 souls on board. Only 316 survived after spending four days floating in shark infested waters of the Philippine Sea. Historians don't know if the ship's radio men ever had a chance to send an SOS. They were on a secret mission. Today, the re-created ship's station shows four working positions where secret messages were sent and received as the USS Indianapolis carried out it's secret mission across the Pacific. Barry Fairfax-KW9DX, says four months of research taught them how the radio room worked. -- Barry Fairfax: "The radio men you see here would have been receiving coded messages from the main land or Pearl Harbor. They would type them out, the coded messages in code, then send them to the room behind us which is the coding room where they were decoded". -- One of those hams working the radios and giving tours is World War Two veteran Bob Begeman, W9KVK He saw duty as a naval radio man. -- Begeman: "I was on an attack transport, APA 27, the USS George Climer, and we had radio equipment similar to this and I was a radio technician and took care of the equipment". -- Begeman says amateur radio operators are welcome to come visit the display and operate CW or Side-band from one of the four operating stations. -- Christ: "This is exactly what would have been on the ship". The call sign is WW2IND. This truly is, living history. Reporting from Indianapolis, this is Jack Parker, W8ISH. -- The recreated radio room is located in the World War Memorial just four blocks north of Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The actual memorial for the USS Indianapolis is about seven blocks away. Tours are Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local Indianapolis time. Amateur Radio operators are welcome to operate the equipment when an appropriately licensed ham is acting as the guide. (W8ISH) ** 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 WIA News, that's all from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is [email protected]. 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 our temporary mailing address of Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin Ave., Saugus, California, 91350 For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.