The electronic publication of the Amateur Radio Newsline is distributed with the permission of Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, President and Editor of Newsline. The text is transcribed from the audio service by Dale Cary and is first published on Genie. Editorial comment or news items should be E-mailed to 3241437@mcimail.com or B.PASTERNAK@genie.geis.com. Voice or FAX to +1 805-296-7180. All other information and disclaimers are in the text header below. - - - - - NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #111 - POSTED 02/13/94 ***************************************************************** * * * * * ***** * * **** * ***** * * ***** * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *** * ** * *** * * * * * *** * * * ** * * ** * * * * * ** * * * * * ***** * * **** ***** ***** * * ***** * * * * **** * **** ***** *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * **** ***** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **** ***** *** * * * ***************************************************************** The following is late news about Amateur Radio for Radio Amateurs as prepared from NEWSLINE RADIO scripts by the staff of the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, INC. -- formerly the WESTLINK RADIO NET CBBS twice monthly. For current information updates, please call Los Angeles............................ (213) 462-0008 Los Angeles (Instant Update Line)...... (805) 296-2407 Seattle................................ 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Thank You NEWSLINE ***************************************************************** Some of the hams of NEWSLINE RADIO... WA6ITF WB6MQV WB6FDF K6DUE W6RCL N6AHU N6AWE N6TCQ K6PGX N6PNY KU8R N8DTN W9JUV KC9RP K9XI KB5KCH KC5UD KC0HF G8AUU WD0AKO DJ0QN and many others in the United States and around the globe!!! ***************************************************************** [861] * * * * C L O S E D C I R C U I T A D V I S O R Y * * * * * * * The following is a closed circuit advisory and is not for * * air over amateur radio. Repeat, not for broadcast. This is * * just a reminder that the address for the Newsline Support * * Fund is Newsline, in care of Dr. Norm Chalfin, K6PGX, Post * * Office Box 463, Pasadena, CA 91102. Again, and as always, * * we thank you. That ends the closed circuit with Newsline * * report number 861 for release on Friday, 02/11/94. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a QST When the information super highway arrives, ham radio will be riding on it at the front of the pack. So says a high ranking FCC official on Newsline report number 861 coming your way. ***** INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY Ham radio definitely will play an important part in President Clinton's information super highway. So says FCC Private Radio Bureau Chief Ralph Haller, N4RH. Speaking on Saturday, February 5th at the 1994 Tropical Hamboree in Miami, Haller told the group that it's the inventive nature of radio amateurs that makes them so important to the emerging information flow. "The amateur service, I think is going to play a major role in the information super highway and the advancements that come online in the future. You're the people that have the practical knowledge of communications. You're the people that have come up with the innovative networks. Your packet data systems that are now very common in the commercial world. I guess what I am saying to you is, while I am not particularly concerned about any more of your frequencies being in jeopardy at this time, because there is no plans for that. I am concerned that you continue to move forward and keep pace with the commercial side, so that the technologies you have on the air will in fact provide you all of the kinds of feature rich functions that are going to be available to the general public. In fact you ought to have even more features because you are more qualified, you know what else is available besides just a device that can only be operated by someone that is not sophisticated in communications. It is an exciting time. I hope you share that view with me. Because it really, I think, is going to make a difference in the way we live in the future." FCC Private Radio Bureau Chief, Ralph Haller, N4RH. Haller also took note of the success of the expansion of public service activities as a result of the FCC action to change its rules governing business communications. N4RH singled out the recent New York City Marathon as a primary example of the ham radio success brought about by this regulatory change. "I recently had the opportunity to visit the New York Marathon. And to watch how amateur radio communications actually made that event occur. Without it, it would not occur. It is hard perhaps, to think about, to believe that the city of New York Police Department is unable to communicate over the entire 26 miles of that marathon. The only communications that worked over the entire 26 miles of that race was the amateur communications. The amateurs provided medical support, provide physician information, provided a whole host of communications capabilities. In fact it goes so far as to this. It was an amateur radio transmission that in fact signaled start the race. It wasn't on police radio, it wasn't on anything else, it was amateur that was the only communications capability that provided an instant notification to everyone in all parts of that race. Pretty amazing what you people have done." Ralph Haller, N4RH. N4RH says that this one rules change has forever expanded the public service abilities of the ham radio community. ***** ARRL SAYS NO TO RF STANDARDS The ARRL has told the FCC that a proposal to adopt new standards for exposure to radio frequency radiation should be terminated. The League says that the proposal, which would change the Commission's guidelines to match those adopted by the American National Standards Institute and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 1992, was premature. It also asserts that the commission has an obligation to introduce this matter as an FCC notice of inquiry to allow a wider range of commentary. The ARRL claims that the proposed standards were not properly delineated and not a proper basis for evaluating communications facilities. It also said that an FCC Report and Order in 1987 that concluded that amateur stations should be exempted from such RF exposure guidelines, because amateur stations operate only intermittently, and at low power levels, still applies. Only rarely, the League said, would amateur stations even exceed the proposed, more stringent 1992 standard. The League wants the current FCC proceeding terminated in favor of more study by a more appropriate government agency, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. If not, then it says the obligation of he FCC is to issue a notice of inquiry. The current proposal, in ET Docket 93-62, was made in the spring of 1993 and its comment deadline has been extended several times, most recently to January 25, 1994, based on a request by CBS Inc. The reply comment deadline is February 24th. ***** SAREX The STS 60 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment has successfully completed another first. At 10:42 UTC on February 6, Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, on board the space ship Discovery made contact with the House of Science and Technology for Youth in Moscow. This is the first time a cosmonaut on a U.S. space shuttle has communicated with a school group in Russia. Leonid Lebutin, UA3CR and Valery Agabekov, UA6HZ were the prime school coordinators for the contact. Six students were able to ask their questions to the crew on the Space Shuttle DIscovery. In addition, several cosmonauts were on hand to hear the communications and witness the event. ***** SAREX PACKET QSL INFO While voice contacts with the hams on Discovery have been scarce due to problems with the Wake Shield satellite experiment, the packet robot ham station has been quite busy. As we go to air just prior to landing, there have been several thousand automatic SAREX contacts made with hams from around the world reporting a booming packet radio signal from the shuttle. For those of you who have heard or worked the STS-60 crew and wish to receive a QSL card you need to send your signal report and an SASE or an envelope with International Reply Coupons to the QSL manager. This time its the ARRL. The address is STS 60 QSL, in care of the Educational Activities Division, The American Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut 06111. ***** Anik E2 Lost in Space? Still with satellite related news, word that Thursday January 20th was not a good day for Telesat Canada. Within a 12 hour period they lost both of their $300 million geostationary satellites Anik E1 and E2. E1 was eventually recovered by switching to a backup momentum wheel but the E2 bird may be permanently disabled. Both satellites are of the GE Series 5000 family of birds. Experts believe that electromagnetic disturbances in space may have caused the damage. Canadian radio and television broadcasting, telephone services, data carriers and even a national ham radio satellite repeater intertie have all been seriously affected. Some believe the transponder shortage will cause a rush toward the introduction of video compression on the surviving Canadian satellite. This would greatly enhance its throughput while at the same time making it unviewable by home satellite viewers. ***** 2 MET Amateur Radio may have saved a life when Diana Carlson, KC1SP, used a local repeater to report a possible suicide attempt to police. Carlson, of Hudson, New Hampshire, was on her way to work in Concord, Massachusetts, the morning of January 10, when she and another motorist observed a man climbing the railing of the Merrimack Bridge. The man's auto was parked directly in front of Carlson. While the other motorist talked to the man, Carlson first tried a call on 146.52, which she knew was sometimes monitored by the Westford, Massachusetts police. When no response came she switched to the 147.12 repeater in Billerica. There, Larry Garneau, N1QEZ, who was mobile, responded and passed the message to his wife, Virginia N1QFA, who telephoned police. An officer of the Tyngsboro Police arrived in time to pull the 27-year-old man from the railing of the bridge. By the way, Diana Carlson comes from an all ham family. Her husband David is N1JYX, her son is KA1VWX, and her daughter is KA1VUA. ***** STOLEN REPEATER From England comes word that the GB3GF repeater operated by the Guildford UHF Repeater Group in England has been stolen. The radio gear was sited at Guildford near Surrey and was last heard on the air on December the 29th. Sometime between midnight and 8 am on the 30th, the entire installation was skillfully dismantled and removed from the site. The thieves even took the time to climb a fifty foot high tower to take the antennas as well. The system was made up of a modified Pye Communications model F9U wall mounted base station, a Pye AE 450 F cavity filter and home made copper cavity circulator. It was crystalled to operate on the European RB 12 UHF repeater frequency pair of 433.300 MHz in and transmitted on 434.900 MHz. It also had an automatic Morse Code identifier of GB3GF every fifteen minutes. While its doubtful that this machine will show up on North American shores, be aware that any leads in locating the repeater and those who took it are welcome. Any information should go directly to the Guildford Police Department. The telephone number from the United States is a long one. You dial 0114448 followed by the local number 331111. When you get an answer, ask for extension 3128. ***** UK REPEATER DELINQUENCY From the United Kingdom comes word that the Radio Society of Great Britain has issued an urgent advisory to twenty-four of that nations repeater trustees telling them to respond to a letter or loose the right to keep their systems on the air. This is because the British Radio Communications Agency abandoned the single repeater license to the RSGB and is now individually licensing each of the nations repeaters. Actually, the RSGB repeater keepers license expired at the end of last November. Now the government has told the national society that it must have a letter requesting a Notice of Variation from each repeater license holder to keep the machines on the air. The society says that it has received all but two dozen of these requests, and it is urging the users of the repeaters that have not filed to urge the license holder to do so immediately. The RSGB says that its under increasing pressure from the Radio Communications Agency to let it know which repeaters have not filed for the required Notices of Variation. As far as the British Government is concerned, these systems are operating illegally without a proper license. ***** PSA The ARRL has some new Public Service Television commercials available to its Public Information Officers and Public Information Coordinators. The tapes feature astronaut Linda Godwin, N5RAX, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr Joel Taylor, K1JT. The full-color PSA's include testimonials from Godwin and Taylor in varying lengths for both commercial and public-access television use. Be sure to specify videotape format required by television station or cable television system when placing your order. If you are not certain, we strongly suggest that you call the TV station or cablecaster and ask what type of videotape they require. ***** PSA TAPE FORMATS By the way, it may be time for a quick lesson on how to get a public service spot on the air. Let's start off by saying that its getting a lot harder to these spots aired these days. Only a few years ago, TV stations were happy to have them to fill the gaps in late night time slots where no commercials had been sold. The advent of the long format commercial called the infomercial changed all of that. Infomercials are known as time buys and they supplant individual commercials in a given period. As a result, free time for PSA's is getting scarce. Complicating things further is the kind of videotape you must submit to a TV station. A decade ago, that too was easy. Big stations required 2" quad tape while the little ones would accept the then popular 3/4 inch U-Matic. But its not that way anymore. Now a days commercials and PSA's are run by automated machinery that use cassette format tapes. As a rule of thumb, television stations that make their own cassettes require any commercial to be delivered to them on what is known as 1 inch type C open reel tape. But with manpower cutbacks and the introduction of even more automation, that trend is changing too. More and more stations now require you to submit 1/2 inch Betacam SP cassettes that can be placed directly into their automated tape players known as cart machines. This saves the station the cost of having to transfer the original you supply to a cassette that will fit their commercial playback machine. A small number still accept 3/4" tape but that number is shrinking daily as U-Matic and quad is replaced by Betacam SP as the defacto standard. Complicating matters further is that some stations; mainly those affiliated with the National Broadcasting Company may require your submitting the PSA's on the Panasonic M2 video format while some Tribune and independent stations utilize the new D2 digital 19mm videocassettes for their Ampex built ACR 225 cart machines. The majority of cablecasters are a lot more lenient than commercial broadcasters but even here its not like it used to be. While some will accept the older 3/4" U-Matic cassettes the vast majority now are switching over to the Super VHS. That's Super VHS and not the home type VHS we have in our houses. Except for undercover news stories, VHS is not acceptable for over the air broadcast and is rarely used any longer in cable transmission. VHS cassettes are used only for viewing purposes in offices to see if the material in the PSA or commercial is acceptable for air. ***** DX In DX, word that Walis Island as ZS9DX was to be active by operators ZS6BRZ and ZS6WPX, but there have been no QSN reports. To date, the only activity seen from Walis has been by ZS9A on 21.335 MHz at 14:00 UTC. ZS9A also frequents 10 meters at various times. ***** FORM 610 This important note to any ham who contributes time as a Volunteer Examiner. Beginning March 1st the FCC will accept only the new version of its Form 610. Information about the new 610 is explained on page 103 of the February QST Those hams who serve under the ARRL VEC have been assured of having the needed materials before the implementation date. The latest issue of their VE Express newsletter includes a full size version of the new Form 610 and the ARRL VEC has also mailed bulk quantities of the new form to all of its 650 plus field stocked VE teams. The ARRL VEC recommends that its VE teams begin using the new form on February 12 to allow for sufficient turnaround time. The W5YI national VEC is also getting supplies of the new form out to its VE teams very quickly and should have them in place by the time this newscast goes to air. Its not known what action other VEC's have taken to provide their VE's with the new Form 610 prior to its implementation date. If you are not an ARRL or W5YI VE, and have not been restocked with new form 610's by your VEC, consider requesting the new version to be sent to you from that VEC right away. If these VEC's will contact us with their plans, we will be happy to pass along the information in future Newsline reports. ***** BOSWELL OBIT It's no exaggeration to say that one Alabama ham radio operator has touched thousands of lives. But you probably won't recognize his name. Nonetheless, friends of Ken Boswell, KB4BWO, were saddened at the news of his death in early January. This man has been considered an inspiration in their lives. If there is one point everyone that met Ken Boswell agrees about, it's the smile. He always had one. "He tried desperately to look and find the good in situations." Ron Arap, N4PHP. Ron remembers the man who worked hard to help students at Bessemer State Technical College. That's where Boswell taught electronics courses. "If the student was interested, and applies themselves, he would go out of his way to help them." Ron Arap, N4PHP. Boswell setup an amateur station at the college to build interest in ham radio. He was active in the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club. At the school fellow instructor Clarence Johnson deals with the loss of a close friend. "He cared about people. He was a people kind of person. As a matter of fact the memory that I will probably have that will linger with me about Ken is just how much he really showed he really loved humanity. He got along well with his students. Ken was just the kind of person that get along with anybody. Ken met no strangers." Clarence Johnson, fellow instructor. In his nearly thirty years in vocational education. Ken Boswell thousands of people a powerful tool, knowledge to make their lives better. A special tribute may be in the works to honor Ken Boswell. Friends and co-workers want to set up a scholarship fund in his honor. Ken Boswell was 57 years old. ***** For this week that is all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at Post Office Box 463, Pasadena, CA 91102. * * * Newsline Copyright 1994 all rights are reserved. * * *