Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1734 - November 5 2010 NOTE: This weeks newscast runs 33 minutes 18 seconds and includes three breaks. ** Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1734 with a release date of Friday, November 5th 2010 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. The International Space Station celebrates 10 years of manned operation and ham radio was there fore most of it. Also, GlobalSET 2010 takes place on November 13th, the Department of Justice acts to collect a $21,000 fine issued against a Maine radio amateur and an Ohio radio club receives a major grant to buy new gear. Find out the details on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1734 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO IN SPACE: THE ISS CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY The International Space Station marked a major milestone on Tuesday, November 2nd. This, as it celebrated the 10-year anniversary of human beings living aboard the orbital outpost. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with more: -- The story of the International Space Stations manned operations began on November 2, 2000. That's when an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut floated side by side into the station that sits in orbit at about than 300 km above Earth's surface. The station's first crew was made up of Russians Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev and American commander Bill Shepherd. In the intervening decade close to 200 people, many of them licensed radio amateurs have spent time on board the ISS and operated the ARISS ham station. The Current Expedition 25 crew is made up of Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC along with NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Shannon Walker, KD5DXB. Also on-orbit with them are Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR and Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU. The I-S-S has also been a hotel on-orbit for several visiting space tourists including Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. He is the son of Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, who was the first ham radio operator to take to the airwaves back in 1982 from the space shuttle Columbia. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was to have begun the event, speaking live to the I-S-S crew at 9:15 a.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. His remarks and the following news conference were broadcast live on NASA Television. For the Amatwur Radio Newsline, Im B ill Pasternak, WA6ITF, reporting from the Newsroom in the City of Angels. -- In addition to the crew news conference, NASA is updating the content of the International Space Station section of its website in recognition of the 10th anniversary. The update supports the on-going transition from station assembly to utilization. It now will focus on the research in the unique microgravity environment of low- Earth orbit as found on-board the I-S-S. (ARNewsline Archive, NASA News and various other sources) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SECOND HAM STATION FOR THE ISS A second ham radio station will soon be on the air from on board the International Space Station. This, after NASA approves use of the original VHF and UHF Ericsson handheld radios from the Russian module for use in the US segment of the orbital outpost. A new power cable for the Ericsson radios is being delivered to the I-S-S. The second station is planned to initially use the same frequencies currently used by the Kenwood D-700 amateur radio transceiver. Studies are underway to determine a compatible operating plan which would allow both stations to operate simultaneously. We will have more ham radio space related news later on in this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (ARISS) ** RESCUE RADIO: GLOBALSET ON NOVEMBER 13th The second Global Simulated Emergency Test of 2010 or is slated for Saturday, November 13th from 1100 to 1500 hours local time in the geographic region of the stations taking part. Also known by the acronym GlobalSET, the operation will take place on and near the established world-wide Centre-of-Activity emergency frequencies on the 80, 40, 20, 17 and 15 meter bands. The objectives of GlobalSET are to increase the common interest in emergency communications, to test how usable the emergency Centre-of-Activity frequencies are across the three I-T-U regions and practice the relaying of messages using all modes. The exercise will also be used to try to create practices for international emergency communication. IARU member radio societies and emergency communications group stations intending to participate are requested to register their intention through their IARU Regional or National Emergency Communications Coordinators. (IARU) ** RADIO POLITICS RAC AND IC MEET TO DISCUSS CANADIAN HAM RADIO The 35th meeting of the Canadian Amateur Radio Advisory Board took place on Thursday October 28th. CARAB as its sometimes known, is composed of representatives from both Radio Amateurs of Canada and Industry Canada. The latter is the regulator of amateur radio in that nation. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, tells us what occurred: -- Among key issues discussed at the meeting was Industry Canada's policy regarding temporary authorization of frequency assignments in amateur bands to non-amateur services such as last September's Pro Tour race in Quebec. Radio Amateurs of Canada did all it could to impressed upon the Industry Canada officials that Canadian amateurs, objected to intrusion into amateur bands by non-amateur services, especially for non-emergency purposes. For its part, Industry Canada noted the objection. It also committed to improve coordination and cooperation and advised that they were sensitive to Radio Amateurs of Canada's concerns Industry Canada committed to continue to work with Radio Amateurs of Canada on the national societies request for an allocation in the 60 Meter band which mirror those frequencies available to United States amateurs. Radio Amateurs of Canada emphasized the importance of this request as seen by Canadian amateurs. Industry Canada and Radio Amateurs of Canada also discussed the positive role that amateur radio played in emergency situations. Industry Canada noted that there would be value in more cooperation and planning between it and Radio Amateurs of Canada in this area. Follow-up meetings between the two will be arranged over the coming month's. Lastly, the value of the Canadian Amateur Radio Advisory Board as a consultative body between Radio Amateurs of Canada and Industry Canada was reaffirmed by both parties and the Terms of Reference between the two were updated. Watching this story from south of the U-S and Canadian border, Im Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from Scottsdale, Arizona. -- The next meeting of Canadian Amateur Radio Advisory Board is anticipated for April, of 2011 and to be held concurrent with the Radio Amateurs of Canada Board of Directors meeting. (RAC) ** RESCUE RADIO: OHIO CLUB RECEIVES GRANT FOR NEW GEAR The Lancaster and Fairfield County Amateur Radio Club of Lancaster, Ohio, has received a $5,219.86 grant from the George and Dollie L. Zimpfer Memorial Fund. The grant, administered through the Fairfield County Foundation, permitted the club to purchase emergency radio gear and associated equipment that can be used at all special community events, local emergencies, natural disasters and during other times used for membership training and simulated emergency drills. The equipment will also be used to supplement emergency responders and provide education and training to volunteers who will assist those responders. The Lancaster and Fairfield County Amateur Radio Club is a public service group and has operated the K8QIK repeater on 147.030 MHz since 1976. (Eagle-Gazette.com) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W8LRC repeater serving Lowell, Michigan. (5 sec pause here) ** ENFORCEMENT: US ATTORNEYS OFFICE GOES TO COURT TO COLLECT $21000 FINE ISSUED AGAINST K1MAN It has taken almost five years, but the United States Department of Justice has gone to court to collect a $21,000 fine issued back in March of 2006 by the FCC to Glenn, Baxter, K1MAN, of Belgrade Lakes, Maine. This, as two US Attorneys file a Complaint in the US District Court in Maine against Baxter for not responding appropriately to an order that he pay the fine that was issued for his alleged violating of several sections of the Part 97 rules. Amateur Radio Newsline's Burt Hicks, has the details: -- The Complaint was filed on October 25 in the US District Court in Maine by United States Attorney Thomas E. Delehanty and Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Roth and. It seeks to force Glenn A. Baxter, K1MAN, to pay the $21,000 fine along with a $350 court filing fee and other relief as the Court deems just and proper. According to the court document, the fine had originally been levied based on what the FCC had deemed as the defendant's willful and repeated violations of Sections 97.101(d) and 97.113(a)(3) of the Commission's Rules. In this case the violation of Section 97.101(d) dealt with Baxters alleged commencing transmissions on top of existing communications on 3 point 890 MHz while 97.113(a)(3) involved what the FCC claimed to be transmitting communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest. Baxter had also been cited for willful violation of Section 97.105(a) which deals with exercising proper control over his amateur station and Section 97.113(b) which is a prohibition against broadcasting in the Amateur Service bands. Lastly the complaint notes Baxer's failure to file requested information pursuant to an FCC Enforcement Bureau directive. It should be noted that this action to collect the $21000 fine is a completely separate action from any further sanctions that the FCC might take regarding the renewal of Baxter's Amateur Service license and K1MAN call sign. His renewal request had been in legal limbo since his license was set aside by the regulatory agency before its expiration date back in October of 2005. Under the terms of a set aside, an Amateur Service license holder can continue to operate until the matter has been properly adjudicated. Payment of a fine or forfeiture will have no bearing on Baxter's renewal or continued holding of an FCC license. The action to collect the $21000 fine was brought under Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, and Section 1.80 of the FCC Rules and Regulations. As noted, the original FCC Forfeiture Order was released March 29, 2006. The deadline for service of process would have been February 22, 2011 so the Department of Justice beat that date by a little over 3 months For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Burt Hicks, in Los Angeles. -- By now, Baxter has likely been informed he has 20 days from date of service in which to answer the summons. If he fails to respond a default judgment will be entered against him in U.S. District Court after which the government can cease whatever property is required to satisfy the judgment. Those interested can read the full text of the United States Attorney's complaint at the ARRL website at tinyurl.com/2dk3mq (DOJ, FCC, ARRL) ** ENFORCEMENT: NO STAFF RADIO STATION HIT WITH $25000 FINE The FCC has notified Rama Communications, Inc, the licensee of A.M. radio station WRHB in Leesburg, Florida, of a proposed forfeiture in the amount of $25,000. This, for violations of sections 73.1125(a) and 73.3526 of the Commissions rules. The FCC says that the violations stem from a recent visit where inspectors found that Rama failed to maintain full time management and staff at its main studio. It was also charged with failing to maintain and make available a complete public inspection file. The station was given the customary 30 days to pay the forfeiture or to file an appeal. (FCC) ** ENFORCEMENT: INDIE POLICE SHOW UP AGAIN ON UNAUTHORIZED FREQUENCIES For a second time, Indianapolis police are investigating claims that officers are using radio frequencies assigned to an area school district without the proper permission to do so. Jack Parker, W8ISH, has the details: -- Apparently some members of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department are teaching a new lesson on how to abuse public airwaves and violate FCC rules. According to a report broadcast on one local Indianapolis TV station, some of Indy's finest are using illegal radios for chit chat on a local school systems bus frequency. This abuse of police radio power has been recorded by a former police-fire dispatcher. According to John, who is a ham radio operator, the cops not only use the school radio channel but mix foul language with cross talk about cases on which they are working. John claims he has recorded about 72 hours of what sounded like car-to-car conversations, some not fit for broadcast. This is not the first report of this cop caper. Last year Amateur Radio Newsline investigated reports of I-M-P-D officers illegally using amateur radios and frequencies for talk around. The police chief pulled the plug on all un official in-car-radios and ordered their communications people to develop a legal radio system that officers could use for casual talk. Most officers rejected that offer citing the out of pocket cost and the fact that any established radio channel could be monitored by the police brass. In the past year, at least one other local Amateur Radio operator has filed complaints with FCC offices in Chicago and Washington citing improper use of radio frequencies by Indianapolis Metro Police Officers. Following that complaint some officers took the high road by earning their amateur radio license. But, they soon realized they can't talk shop on amateur frequencies. The jury remains out on a solution to this touchy tactical dilemma. I-M-P-D officials say they again are looking into the issue and will implement policy changes if needed. Reporting from Indianapolis, for Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Jack Parker W8ISH. -- This is not the first time that members of the Indianapolis Police Force have been found on radio frequencies where they do not belong. You may remember back to when hams found officers chatting on both the 2 meter and 70 centimeter FM sub-bands back in 2009. (ARNewslineT from published news reports) ** HAM HONORS: NOMINATIONS FOR LEONARD AWARD SOUGHT BY ARRL The annual nominations for the Bill Leonard Award for professional media coverage of Amateur Radio are now being accepted by the ARRL. Completed nominations are due in no later than December 10th. If you know of a good media hit in the past year, yoou can nominate the author, reporter or writer. Forms and information are at www dot arrl dot org slash bill dash Leonard dash award. (ARRL) ** THE SOCIAL SCENE: HAM FAIR IN LISBON Portugal's Association of Radioamadores of the Village of Moscavide are organizing this years Exposition Ham Fair in the city of Lisbon. The gathering takes place on November 28th and is being billed as one of the biggest events ever for ham radio in that nation. More information in electronically translated English is available on-line at tinyurl.com/3347bds (Southgate) ** HAM HAPPENINGS: K7NRA TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY NRA And back in the U-S-A, keep an ear out on special events station K7NRA. It will be active from 1500 to 2300 UTC on November 17th to celebrate the birthday of the National Rifle Association. Frequencies to keep an ear on include on 7.250, 14.250 and 21.335 Mhx. More information inckuding QSL routing is on line at tinyurl.com/2fqfrpn (KC5FM) ** 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) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: VA3QT APPOINTED SPECIAL RAC ADVISOR Some names in the news. First is Ian Snow, VA3QT, who has been appointed as Special Advisor to the Radio Amateurs of Canada's National Field Organization Executive. Snow, an original member of the National Training Resource Group member, will work closely with National Traffic System Coordinator Hew Lines VA7HU. The two will initially looking at ways for both Canadian ARES and the National Traffic System to remain stay useful to the agencies they serve. This, from both a messaging and use of technology standpoint. (VO1DTM) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: EI4HS GRANTED HIS GRANDFATHERS EI4L CALL And John Kelly, the former EI4HS has recently been issued the callsign EI4L. This was the call which was previously held by his grandfather John Scanlon back in in 1936. John Scanlon is described as one of the true pioneers of radio in Ireland. He was among the first to experiment with television in the years after World War 2 and was also a very active High Frequency DXer. (IRTS) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: DK3WN STREAMING HAMSAT AUDIO And Mike Ruppercht, DK3WN, is spearheading a project that broadcasts audio streams received by amateur radio satellite operators around the world. Links to the audio streams can be found on-line at tinyurl.com/satsound (Southgate) ** EMERGING HAM TECHNOLOGY: VOACAP ADOPTS GOOGLE MAPS In the world of emerging ham radio technology, OH6BG has announced that the online H-F propagation prediction service VOACAP is now using Google Maps for coordinate entry. OH6BG says that this should make the service even more accessible, especially for a casual user. With this new interface, the transmitter and receiver coordinates are now defined by dragging two location markers on the map. The mouse wheel or keyboard keys can be used for zooming in and out so placing the markers at the exact points as accurately as is possible. This makes the predictions as accurate as today's science allows. You can find the site at online dot voacap dot com. (OH6BG) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISSAT-1 PASSES SAFETY TEST The NASA safety review for ARISSat-1 has been completed with the written safety presentation and the written report approved with only simple modifications required. According to the ARISSat- 1 team, it expects to finalize shipping arrangements for the satellite structure to Russia in the coming weeks. The Russian Energia Space Agency is handling the customs certifications to ship the satellite overseas. When ARISSat1 is shipped Lou McFadin, W5DID, and Mark Steiner, K3MS, will travel to Russia to assist with final testing before the satellite is forwarded to the launch site. ARISSat-1 is scheduled to be sent to the ISS aboard a Russian Progress vehicle in January 2011 and deployed during a space walk in in February. (ARISS) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: LIGHTSAIL BACKUP SPACECRAFT TO BE BUILT A second Lightsail spacecraft is going to be constructed. Jim Davis, W2JKD, has the details: -- Louis Friedman, who is the director for LightSail-1 program, has announced that a back- up craft to LightSail-1 will be built. This, instead of making an investment in insurance for an estimated cost of $200,000. As previously announced in July by AMSAT, LightSail-1 is a three Cubesat spacecraft planned to be launched in early 2011. It will use UHF frequencies for tracking and command control stations. Georgia Tech University is leading the mission operations with Dave Spencer serving as mission manager. California Polytechnic University is supplying the Cubesat bus, avionics and launch vehicle interface. Stellar Exploration, Inc. is actually building LightSail-1. I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD. -- No date has been announced for the completeion of Lightsail2. (ANS, W9GB) ** HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: SARSEM-ICARUS II TO LAUNCH NOVEMBER 20 The Amateur Radio Club of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico will launch its second high altitude ham radio research balloon on November 20th. Called SARSEM-ICARUS II, the nearspace balloon will carry a cross-band UHF - VHF repeater system, an APRS tracking system, temperature, voltage sensors, a flight computer, and a secondary backup system including other GPS and control system. It will also carry a photo camera and a video camera transmitting video downlinking at 900 Mhz. More information is on line at craeg.remtronic.com. (AR Mexico) ** BREAK 3 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) ** CONTEST CORNER: THE 2010 ARRL 10 METER CONTEST The 2010 ARRL 10 Meter Contest will be held from Friday December 10th at 0000 U-T-C through Sunday evening December 12th at 2359 U-T-C. Except at the peak of the sunspot cycle, 10 meters is generally a daytime band for DX so you likely lose any sleep with this contest this year. More information is on-line at www dot arrl dot org slash 10 dash meter. (N9LB) ** DX DL4VM will be active as portable Oh-Z from Fyn Island between May 28th and June 18th, 2011. His operation will be on 30, 15 and 6 meters, using CW and PSK. QSL via his home callsign either direct or via the bureau. ZL2KBR will be active as 5W0BR from Upolu Island through November 13th. His operation will be on all HF bands using SSB and PSK31. He plans to use a FT857D at 100 watts into a dipole or vertical antenna. QSL via his home callsign. K2TQC, N2MF, W1NG and K2NV are on the air portable PJ2 from Curaco through November 11th. Activity is on the lower bands. QSL via their home callsigns. And listen out for F4BXW as TR8GV from Libreville, Gabon through November 23rd. His activity will be on the HF bands using SSB. QSL via his home callsign. VE3EY, will be active from St.Barthelemy Island as TO3A from November 2nd to the 30th. Operations will be on 160 through 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via VE3EY. Lastly, K8PT will be active as C6APT from Treasure Cay in the Bahamas between November 27th and December 10th. His operation will be on 40 through 10 meters concentrating on the 30, 17and 12 meter bands. Modes to be used will bee CW and RTTY. QSL via K8PT. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: VK1WIA ENDS CENTENNIAL WITH SPECIAL CONTACT And finally this week, the Wireless Institute of Australia marked the conclusion of its VK100WIA centennial special event operation on October 31st. This with a special commemorative contact between W-I-A President Michael Owen, VK3KI, and ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. Take a listen: -- Actual QSO audio here. Hear it by downloading this weeks audio version of the newscast titled news.mp3 at www.arnewsline.org -- During the contact VK3KI told N3KN that the Wireless Institute of Australia was pleased that the special event station's final contact could be with her, and thanked the ARRL for its support and for participating in the W-I-A Centenary Weekend through ARRL International Affairs Vice President Jay Bellows, K0QB. President Owen also said that the WIA was passing the baton on to the ARRL, as the League would be celebrates its centenary in four years. During the centeniary event, more than 50 Wireless Institute of Australia affiliated clubs have used the VK100WIA call sign for almost six months as part of WIA's centennial celebration. (WIA News) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is Newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350 Please do not forget that in association with the Newark Amateur Radio Society that we are currently conducting a survey to determine where these weekly Amateur Radio Newsline reports are replayed on the air. If you are a bulletin station that transmits these weekly newscasts or a listener who has the following information, we need you to supply to us the call sign of the repeater or bulletin station making the transmission, the frequency where it can be heard, the time and day and days of the week it is broadcast, the time zone and the estimated audience you think it has. Please e-mail that information along with your name and callsign to arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. Once again thats arnschedule (at) gmail (dot) com. As always we thank you for your assistance in this survey. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU saying 73 from Lima, Ohio, and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.