Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1803 - March 2 2012 CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY: The following closed circuit advisory is not necessarily for air. With some words about our new website presence and the latest from the Newsline Support Fund here's our producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF: -- By now you have probably noticed that amateur Radio Newsline has a new look on the World Wide Web. Candidly, this was not planned but came about because our old web host notified us that they were leaving the shared server web hosting business by the end of February. We had to act fast and thanks to three people: Robert Sudock, WB6FDF, Dale Cary, WD0AKO and Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, the move was accomplished in less than two weeks. For this I thank them very much. But the move was not without financial cost to Amateur Radio Newsline. We had thought we would be OK through the end of May but that's no longer the case. So we are coming to you a bit earlier to ask your assistance in keeping these newscasts on the air. You ca make a donation on-line by clicking on the Pay Pal button on our website home page or by sending a donation to the address you will here at the end of this weeks newscast. Either way, we at the Amateur Radio Newsline thank you for your ongoing support. I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. Now this weeks newscast. -- Thank you Bill. Now, amateur Radio Newsline report number 1803 with a release date of Friday, March 2nd, 2012 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Bad batteries may have lead to the loss of communications of a ham radio balloon from Texas to China. Also, Australia begins an evaluation program to see if its hams should be granted a power increase to a full kilowatt; Hams in Senegal to get access to 6 meters; M V Island is deleted from the DXCC and the role of social media in times of emergency reporting. All this and more on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1803 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO NEAR SPACE: BAD BATTERIES MAY HAVE CAUSED BLT-28 FAILURE Failure of the batteries that powered the ham radio payload of a high altitude balloon that was designed to float from Texas to China seems the likely cause of a total communications failure with the near space project. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Butera-Howell, K-B-3-T-Zed-D, is here with the rest of the story: -- The South Texas Balloon Launch Team lofted the high altitude scientific balloon experiment known as BLT-28 on February 11th from near Katy, Texas. The balloon was supposed to rise to over 100,000 feet and float for several days and hopefully reach its target of Nanjing, China. But as reported here on Newsline, contact was lost with the balloons APRS tracker just south of the Louisiana coast at an altitude of 45,763 feet. Andrew MacAllister, W5ACM, is part of the group that launched BLT-28. In a note to Lloyd Colston, KC5FM that was forwarded to Newsline, McAllister says that right now the highest probable failure mode was the batteries that powered the electronics payload on BLT-28. W5ACM notes that the power supply was made up of commercial 1.5 volt lithium cells. According to post flight experiments, MacAllister says that several of the same type of batteries were put directly on some dry ice where they went from 1.5 volts down to two tenths of a volt. And when warmed up, they did not return to normal output. MacAllister speculates that it could have been that cold just after reception of the last packet message from BLT28. He notes that the temp sensor system was not guaranteed below minus 40 degrees Celsius. MacAllister confirms that there will be a second attempt to float a balloon from Texas to China, but first up will be a test flight of the thermal insulating system for the batteries and payload. W5ACM speculates that should happen sometime in May. For the amateur Radio Newsline, Im Heather Butera- Howell, KB3TZD,near Pittsburg, PA. -- W5ACM indicates that if all goes well in May, that another attempt to fly a balloon from the United States to China could happen before years end. (South Texas Balloon Launch Team, KC5FM) ** RADIO RULES: AUSTRALIA'S ACMA AND WIA IN STUDY TO SEE IF VK HAMS SHOULD HER 1KW POWER LIMIT Advanced class ham radio operators in Australia are being invited to take part in a study to see if it is possible to raise the power limit down- under to a full kilowatt. This as the Australian Communications and Media Authority, better known as the ACMA publishes details of the trial of higher power transmitter output on its website. Michael Owen, VK3KI, is the President of the Wireless Institute of Australia: -- The ACMA has published on its website details of the trial of higher power transmitter output for Advanced amateur radio licensees. The trial will commence on 1 March 2012 and will continue until 31 August 2013. The ACMA has advised the WIA that the 18 month authorization is intended to provide the ACMA with time to evaluate the success of the trial after a 12 month period and to consider permanent regulatory arrangements, if warranted, while avoiding dead air between the evaluation time and the implementation of permanent arrangements, if appropriate The paper is in the part of the ACMA site dealing with amateur matters and is an information paper. A brief article also appears on the Engage part of the ACMA website, where anyone can record their comments. -- The Wireless Institute of Australia Board of Directors has cautioned those hams considering obtaining a higher power permit that this is only a trial. As such, if problems do emerge, it could affect whether amateurs down-under will permanently continue to be able to use the higher power. In particular, if interference is caused to others, the WIA advises that the VK radio amateur involved must immediately do whatever it takes to stop the interference, and must resolve the problem. (WIA News) ** RESTRUCTURING: HAMS IN SENEGAL TO GET 6 METERS Six meters is coming to Senegal. This with word from its national ham radio society that following its application to the Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications and Posts, the band 50 to 51 MHz has been officially allocated to that nations amateur service on a primary basis. This allocation becomes effective when the new ITU Radio Regulations come into force. Therefore any contacts made on 6 meters before that date have to be considered as unauthorized. (6W7RT) ** DXCC NEWS: MV ISLAND DELETED FROM THE DXCC ENTITY LIST As of February 17th, Malyj Vysotskij Island, better known as MV Island in ham radio circles has been deleted from the D-XC-C. This after an announcement by the Finnish Ministry of Transportation and Communication that the Saimaa Canal Treaty between Finland and Russia has been finalized and that MV Island is no longer included in it. For amateur radio this means that M V Island was deleted from the DXCC and added to the Deleted Entities List. Also that the entry level for DXCC Honor Roll number has dropped to 331. We will have more DX news later on in this weeks newscast. (N1CL) ** RADIO RULES: ARRL PUBLISHES NEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 60 METERS With new privileges on the 60 meter band beginning March 5th, the ARRL announced some new "Recommended Practices" for operating on that band. These new suggestions are based on survey results and subsequent research. The committee evaluating the new 60 meter rules declined to propose a specific band plan at this time, but instead created a "Recommended Practices" document now available in .PDF format at tinyurl.com/arrl-sixtymeters Also, look for the April issue of QST magazine to include an article by ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. It will offer a detailed discussion of the new 60 meter privileges and recommended operating practices for that band. (ARRL) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISS CELEBRATES 700th ISS TO SCHOOLROOM CONTACTS A milestone for manned ham radio operations from Earth orbit. ARISS Operation Team Mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N reports that the total number of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station or ARISS sponsored ISS-to-Earth school events has passed the 700 mark. The 700th school contact was with the Academy at Shawnee City in Louisville, Kentucky. It took place via telebridge with ON4ISS on February 14. The special John Glenn event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Perth Australia's, City of Lights on February 20th marked event number 701. For those hams not aware. ARISS offers an opportunity for students in schoolrooms to experience the excitement of amateur radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Further information on the ARISS program is available at www.ariss.org. (ARISS) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N5YYU repeater serving Clinton, Arkansas. (5 sec pause here) ** RESCUE RADIO: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN REPORTING EMERGENCIES TO THE PUBLIC "Emergency Management Without Social Media.Fail" is the title of a very interesting op-ed article by author Tim Burrows posted across several social media websites. In it, Burrows looks at both the positive and negative effects on the public that social media can have in accurately disseminating and updating information of a disaster, accident or other event that the public needs to know. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has more: -- The scenario Tim Burrows writes about involves a railroad accident that took place on February 26th. That's when a VIA Rail Canada train en route from Niagara Falls to Toronto was involved in a derailment that occurred in the Burlington, Ontario area. Official news reports say that the three engineers riding in the cab of the locomotive were killed. There were no fatalities among the 75 passengers but 45 were injured. Burrows article details the role of the mass media along with the self involvement of individuals in putting out news bulletins regarding the accident, many of which were not properly vetted before being released into cyberspace. He notes that while there was an incredible amount of information flying around there was no "voice of authority" speaking. He also takes note that official media sources were also quoting unsubstantiated sources such as one outlet that quoted an emergency agency from another jurisdiction. On the other hand, Burrows praised several VIA Rail employees who used Twitter to keep accurate information flow of the accident even though they were being chided at on Twitter because the system suffered delays. Burrows said that even though they had just lost three members of their working family they answered everyone professionally and systematically. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona. -- Whether you agree or disagree with Burrows assessment of the role of social media in regard to the accuracy of the information being made public, his article is a very interesting evaluation for anyone involved in the world of emergency communications. This being especially true during events where no official JIC or Joint Information Center is available. You can read the entire story on-line at tinyurl.com/emergency-social-media. (Wordpress.com, Facebook) ** RESCUE RADIO: MA TOWN SEEKS STANDBY RESCUE RADIO ASSISTANCE FROM LOCAL HAMS Yet another city has discovered the value of having trained ham radio operators as a part of its emergency communications plan. This as community leaders in Arlington, Massachusetts, announce that they are seeking radio amateurs willing to help the town with its emergency response network. In a statement issued to the press, officials say that they're looking for ham radio operators to become volunteers and help out in case the town's communications systems was to stop working during an emergency. Arlington used a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to buy a ham radio gear for emergencies. Any Massachusetts ham living in the area who is interested in volunteering should contact Fire Chief Robert Jefferson by e- mail to rjefferson(at)town(dot)arlington(dot)ma(dot)us. (Arlington Partch, eHam.net) ** RESCUE FROM RADIO TOWER: NAKED CLIMBER REMOVED FROM ATOP LOS ANGELES RADIO TOWER From the believe it or not file comes the story of a naked man atop a downtown Los Angeles radio tower who was wrapped in a blanket and lowered to safety by a makeshift pulley system on Wednesday night February 8th. The unidentified tower climber was believed to be in his 30s or 40s and possibly an Arizona resident. It was unclear why he climbed the 220 foot high structure, which is part of a city personnel building just west of downtown L.A.. Witnesses say that he removed items of clothing after he began scaling the tower about 4 p.m. Pacific time just prior to sundown. His rescue went without incident after he asked to be given some MacDonalds hamburgers. The mission which involved a heavy presence of Los Angeles Fire Department personnel was completed at about 9:45 Pacific Standard Time. Police said that the man will not be charged with a crime and his name will not be released. (LA Times, LA Weekly, others) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC ISSUES A PAIR OF UNLICENSED OPERATION FINES IN FLORIDA The FCC has issued a $20,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Monetary Forfeiture to Florida resident Robens Cheriza. This, for operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 107.3 MHz from his residence in West Palm Beach. In this case the FCC says that it received an interference complaint from the Federal Aviation Administration about illegal transmissions reported by its control tower at the Palm Beach International Airport. The FCC traced the transmissions on 107.3 MHz to Cheriza's residence and said they saw an FM transmitter connected by coax to the transmitting antenna. Cheriza admitted operating the station for about a month and said he knew that was illegal. On the night when the airport experienced interference, Cheriza told agents he had broadcast a party from his home. Also, Mercius Dorvilus received the base fine of $10,000 for operating a station illegally on 92.7 MHz in Pompano Beach, Florida. He told a detective from the Broward County Sheriff's Office that he bought and installed the gear in his rented room and that he was responsible for operating the transmitter. The FCC, citing Florida business records, said Dorvilus is doing business as "Radio Vision FM 927, Inc." and has registered the domain name, www.visionfm.org. Both Cheriza and Dorvilus were given the customary 30 days from the date of the issuance of the fines to either pay or to file an appeal. (FCC) ** COMMUNICATIONS LAW: FCC ADOPTS RULES TO STRENGTHEN CONSUMER PROTECTIONS AGAINST UNWANTED TELEMARKETING ROBOCALLS The FCC has again slapped the hand of telemarketers to further protect consumers from unwanted autodialed or prerecorded calls, often referred to as robocalls. On February 15th the Federal Communications Commission on approved changes to its telemarketing rules to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and texts which were consistently in the top three consumer complaint categories at the FCC in 2011. The FCC says that robocalls invade consumers' privacy, and can, in the case of calls to wireless numbers, use up their minutes. The new rules reduce regulatory uncertainty with minimal burden on industry and maximize consistency with those of the Federal Trade Commission. Specifically, the rules protect consumers by requiring telemarketers to obtain prior express written consent from them, including by electronic means such as a website form, before placing a robocall to a consumer. The new rules also require that telemarketers provide an automated, interactive "opt-out" mechanism during each robocall so that consumers can immediately tell the telemarketer to stop calling. They also strictly limit the number of abandoned or "dead air" calls that telemarketers can make within each calling campaign. On the other side, the revised rules also ensure that informational calls, such as those related to school closings and flight changes, continue to be available to consumers who wish to receive them. (FCC) ** RADIO POLITICS: COMMITTEE FOR US BROADCASTING OPPOSES BBG FY 2013 BUDGET PLAN The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting has blasted the recent Broadcasting Board of Governors budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2013 that we reported on last week. The Committee says that it is outraged by the proposal to cut and reduce Voice of America English and foreign language programs and positions. It also takes issue with reductions to programs and positions at Radio Free Asia and at other U.S. government-funded international broadcasting entities managed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting is a private nonprofit interest group focusing on broadcast and news distribution. Its website is located in cyberspace at www.cusib.org. (RW) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: HAMRADIONOW - THE ORLANDO INTERVIEWS Some names in the news this week. Gary Pearce KN4AQ is releasing a series a videos shot at the Orlando HamCation in mid-February. This, as a part of his Ham Radio Now series that features interviews with the true movers and shakers of the hobby in the 21st century. His latest release includes a very in depth interview with CQ Magazine editor Rich Moseson W2VU. In it Pearce talks to him for almost an hour about how CW is faring now that it's no longer required; about the CQ family of magazine's new digital option, and a little about ham radio video production. This video is titled Ham Radio Now Episode 2: The Orlando Interviews. More about this new series is on-line at arvideonews.com. (Southgate) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: THE ERIC JAMIESON INDIAN OCEAN AWARD CREATED IN VK And the Wireless Institute of Australia Board has accepted the offer of Eric Jamieson, VK5LP, to sponsor awards for first amateur radio contacts on the two meter band spanning the Indian Ocean between Australia and Africa. There will be three honor give. One each for voice, for CW and for the digital modes. As one might expect this program will be known as the Eric Jamieson Indian Ocean Awards. More on this is on line at www.wia.org.au. (WIA News) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: LIGHTSQUARED ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS FOLLOWING FCC DECISION AGAINST ITS NETWORK LightSquared Inc. the wireless company whose controversial plan to operate in spectrum adjacent to that used by the space-based G-P-S navigation system says that it plans to lay off nearly half of its employees to save money. In a press release, the company said it will cut 45 percent of its 330 employee workforce and called the move a necessary cost savings measure to ensure the long-term success of the company. As previously reported, the Federal Communications Commission dealt the company a severe blow when it said it would revoke permission for LightSquared to move ahead with its wireless network. This, after tests found that it would interfere with Global Positioning Systems used by the military, the airlines and the general public. (Published news reports) ** 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) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: PASNASONIC TO RELEASE TEXT TO SPEECH TV Panasonic plans to release a new line of televisions in March with text-to-speech capabilities. This according to a podcast from the UK-based show Early Edition. On the netcast, Panasonic's Nigel Prankard is quoted as saying that users will be able to obtain channel information, browse the user guide, and use the built-in electronic program guide among other features. He went on to explain that the company felt it was the right time to include accessibility features and that Panasonic planned to include it in all models. This based on the company stating that a user shouldn't be limited in the choice of a television by which ones included accessibility features. Apple is credited in part for proving the technology could be added without much additional cost. This initial release of these new televisions sets appears to be targeted toward the UK market. No word when these sets will be released world wide. More information is on-line at tinyurl.com/first-accessible-tv. (KC9RP via Insight Radio) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMATEUR RADIO CELEBRATES JOHN GLENN OVER PERTH AUSTRALIA 50 Years of anticipation all worked out on the day that Australia and the world celebrated John Glenn's orbit in Friendship 7 over the city of Perth on Monday, February 20th. And ham radio was an important part of the event. Onno Benschop, VK6FLAB, reports: -- We had John Glenn, the Premier of WA, the Lord Mayor of Perth, Lyn Beazley the WA Chief Scientist and many other dignitaries on hand to celebrate. We even managed to squeeze in some David Bowie and a video on how to become an astronaut. The crowds filled the Northbridge Piazza and much anticipation culminated at 10:24 UTC. Orbital calculations all worked out and the International Space Station made it across the horizon. There were some chilling seconds when Mike was calling from Honolulu, but in the end, the contact was a great success. Of course, an event like this could not have been possible without a little help from some friends, Captain Dan Burbank on the International Space Station, the WA State Records Office, the WA Museum, the City of Perth, ARISS, NASA and the Hills Amateur Radio Group. A full credit list is being prepared on the Hills Amateur Radio Group website, but two people require a special mention, Tony VK5ZAI the Australian ARISS mentor and Meg VK6LUX who energetically kept the multitude of interested parties moving along making it all possible. We managed to get Amateur Radio into the news on ABC Online, ABC radio and local television, who knows we might pick up some more amateurs along the way. Alex VK6FLOL and Donald VK6PDS scored a place in history as prize winners for the contact. I'm Onno Benschop, VK6FLAB -- By way of background, on February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in the Friendship 7 spacecraft. On this mission, Glenn flew over Perth and the people of Perth turned on their lights to acknowledge his mission. Glenn observed that the city was visible from space and Perth become known worldwide as the City of Light. (WIA News) ** WORLDBEAT: RSGB ATTEMPTS TO HARMONIZE 5 MHZ ALLOCATION The RSGB report that it has received an offer from the primary United Kingdom user of 5 MHz, which is the Ministry of Defense aimed at working with the British ham radio community on band access issues. As has been reported earlier the Ministry of Defense was unable to meet an RSGB request for access over a continuous range but has offered a number of small frequency blocks. These include all of the present 3 kHz wide channels. The new offer is quite complex and the RSGB's view is that it need to seek input from members and non-members of the UK amateur community as to how it responds. As such the RSGB announced that it would be launching what it calls a second "Litmus Test" discussion entitled "New 5 MHz NoV proposals". The details of the offer and a draft response from the RSGB should have been uploaded to www.rsgb.org/consultations by March 1st. (GB2RS) ** ON THE AIR: TARC REMEMBERS THE APRIL 2011 TUSCALOOSA TORNADO VICTIMS On the air, the Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club will be operating special event station W4XI on April 28th from 11:00AM to 5:00PM local time. This in remembrance of the 44 people that died when an F-4 tornado struck that city on April 27, 2011. Operation will be from the top of the western parking deck at Druid City Hospital Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. The operating frequencies will be 7.270 and 14.270MHz, +/- any QRM. The club will also have a RTTY station in the data portion of both the 40 and 20 meter bands. QSL information is on the club website at www.w4kcq.org. (N4EDT) ** ON THE AIR: THE IRTS CELEBRATES ITS 80th ANNIVERSARY The Irish Radio Transmitters Society is now celebrating its 80th anniversary and is on the air with the special callsign EI80IRTS. An attractive certificate sponsored by Dundalk Amateur Radio Society will be available to all who make contact with the station. More details are on-line at www.ei7dar.com/ei80irts.html. (IRTS) ** DX In DX, JI3DST, will be on the air signing portable 9M2 from West Malaysia between 0000 UTC on March 10th and 0900 UTC on March 11th. His activity will be on 80 through 6 meters including most of the WARC bands. Modes to be used will include CW, SSB and FM. QSL via JI3DST. DJ0IF and SP7VC will be on the air from Madeira Island through the 7th of March signing portable CT9. QSL via their home callsigns. F6ITD will operate SSB and digital modes on the HF bands from Guadeloupe until 13th of March. QSL via his home callsign, either direct or via the bureau. Lastly, K5LBU, VE7MID, VE7DS and N5JR will be active from the Lotsane Safari Lodge in Botswana between March 18th and the 27th. The group plans to be active in the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest from March 24th to the 25th as A25HQ. They will have three radios and both a log periodic and wire antenna covering 160 meters and up. More details in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: NASA SHUTS DOWN LAST MAINFRAME There was a time when IBM's mainframe computers were the cutting-edge machines for scientific and engineering calculations. Now, for NASA that's all come to an end. Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has the details: -- The day of the giant mainframe computer began in the 1960s, when IBM's System 360 rewrote the rules of computing and before humans walked on the moon. When NASA acquired two of the then super-speed System 360 Model 95 mainframes in 1968, IBM touted the machines' mathematical abilities. But February marked the end of the era in NASA computing. This as the space agency powered down its last IBM Z9 mainframe that was located at Marshall Space Flight Center. Linda Cureton is a Chief Information Officer who once programmed a System 360 mainframe in assembly language at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She is quoted as saying that mainframes are really not so bad and they have their place. She notes that things like virtual machines, hypervisors, thin clients, and swapping are all old hat to the mainframe generation though they are new to the current generation of what she termed as cyber youth. But for many in the industry, mainframes had become so burdened with a reputation for a bygone era of computing that they became synonymous with dinosaurs. To counter this IBM fought back, boosting performance, adding new technology. The company succeeded in that these newer mainframe systems remain a fixture in some corners of the computing industry. In the old days, mainframes were the size of several large rooms. Today these units are only the size of a refrigerator. And even though NASA has shut down its last one, there is still a requirement for mainframe capability in many other organizations. For the amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion, Illinois. -- By comparison with days gone bye, today's fastest mainframe supercomputers can perform 10.5 quadrillion calculations per second. (NASA, Science OnLine) ** 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 A reminder that the nominating period for the 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. Full details and a downloadable nominating form are on our website at arnewsline.org/yhoty. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD saying 73 from Vero Beach Florida and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.