The electronic publication of the Amateur Radio Newsline is distributed with the permission of Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, President and Editor of Newsline. The text version is edited from the original scripts and transcribed from the audio reports by Dale Cary, WD0AKO, and is first published in The Radio & Electronics Round Table on the Genie Online System. If you have any comment, suggestion, or news item you would like to submit, send them via E-Mail to 3241437@mcimail.com or B.PASTERNAK@genie.geis.com. You can contact Newsline at +1 805-296-7180. It is a combination answering and FAX machine, if you have a FAX to send, wait for the voice prompt and press your fax-send button. All other information and disclaimers are in the text header below. - - - - - NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #891 - POSTED 09/10/94 (***************************************************************) (* *) (* * * ***** * * **** * ***** * * ***** *) (* ** * * * * * * * ** * * *) (* * * * *** * ** * *** * * * * * *** *) (* * ** * * ** * * * * * ** * *) (* * * ***** * * **** ***** ***** * * ***** *) (* *) (* **** * **** ***** *** *) (* * * * * * * * * * *) (* **** ***** * * * * * *) (* * * * * * * * * * *) (* * * * * **** ***** *** *) (* *) (***************************************************************) 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 NETWORK. For current information updates, please call Audio Version of Newsline ========================= Los Angeles............................ (213) 462-0008 Los Angeles (Instant Update Line)...... 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In the rec.radio.info newsgroup FTP: oak.oakland.edu, archive: pub/hamradio/docs/newsline Fidonet, RIME, Intellec, I-Link........ In the Ham Radio conferences on those networks For the latest breaking info call the Instant Update Line listed above. To provide information please call (805) 296-7180. This line answers automatically and will accept up to 30 minutes of material. Check with your local amateur radio club to see if NEWSLINE can be heard weekly on the air in your area. Articles may be reproduced if printed in their entirety and credit is given to AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE as being the source. For further information about the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, please write to us with an SASE at P.O. Box 463, Pasadena, CA 91102. 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!!! (**************************************************************** [891] (* * * * C L O S E D C I R C U I T A D V I S O R Y * * * * (* * (* The following advisory is not for transmission over ham * (* radio. This is just a reminder that the address for the * (* Newsline Support Fund is Newsline, Post Office Box 463, * (* Pasadena, California 91102. Again, and as always, we thank * (* you. * (* That ends the closed circuit with Newsline report number * (* 891 for release on Friday, September 9th, 1994 to follow. * (* * (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a QST The ARRL says NO to Romeo. One of ham radio's hottest DXpeditions WON'T get DXCC credit! Also, the FCC will continue to issue fines to private radio operators who break the rules. These stories and more on Newsline report number 891 coming your way right now! (***** ARRL SAYS NO TO P5RS7 If you made one of ham radio's rarest contacts with a 1992 to 1993 P5RS7 DXpedition claiming to be in North Korea here's news you may not want to hear. The American Radio Relay League says contacts from that event will NOT receive credit under the League's DX Century Club, or DXCC, program. League officials cite discrepancies in documentation submitted by DXpedition organizer Romeo Stepanenko, 3W3RR. This is a big disappointment to DX chasers, North Korea has no amateur radio activity. When the DXpedition was organized, tens of thousands of hams saw this as a rare chance to snare a contact with one the most sought after countries in the world. Now those hams are being told, it doesn't count. The decision to refuse credit is not a big surprise to many DXers. Questions about proper documentation were raised shortly after the DXpedition ended in January, 1993. The League sez documentation supporting the DXpedition did not establish that North Korean authorities granted operating permission. And again according to the League, the documentation fails to establish whether the operation actually took place in North Korean territory. It's not the kind of decision DXer Bob Russell, W4DZZ, wanted: "Oh, I hate to hear it, I really do." Russell, W4DZZ. At the center of controversy is Romeo Stepanenko, an enigmatic amateur radio operator whose worldwide activities are frequently shrouded in mystery. Nine days before the League announced its decision refusing DXCC credit, Romeo spoke with Newsline while attending the Huntsville, Alabama Hamfest. He sez he operated from two North Korean military bases. "I operated from North Korea from December of '92 to January '93. It is very hard DXpedition and we made around 35,000 contacts." Stepanenko, 3W3RR. Stepanenko sez getting permission was no simple task. "Is very long story. I made the submission four years long. I talked with around 200 guys in Northern Korea, in Russia and everywhere and I keep all those guys together, all the information together and I pay some money." Stepanenko, 3W3RR. Bob Russell is frustrated at losing out on being able to claim a rare ham radio contact, but he supports the League's decision: "If he did not in fact have proper documentation and did not conduct that thing according to all the rules then I say that is the way it ought to be." Russell, W4DZZ. Dave Cisco, W4AXL, has a card recognizing his contact with Romeo's North Korean operation. Now, Cisco sez, that card has a lot less value: "Well I was hoping, certainly since I took the time and effort then to work it, I was hoping it would count. But, there'll be another time." Cisco, W4AXL. Not everyone is as supportive of the DXCC decision as those in the south-east. On the west coast the refusal to certify P5RS7 for country credit is causing some DXers to be openly critical of the DXCC program and the American Radio Relay League. They say that it's the ham community and not the DXCC desk that determines country status. They say that they waited years for someone to put North Korea on the air and regardless of how it came about, they want it accepted by the League and their QSL cards accepted for DXCC. (***** FINES WILL BE COLLECTED The FCC will continue to issue and collect fines against regulatory violators in various services including land mobile, citizens band, emergency services and Amateur Radio. This, even though a federal appeals court has ruled that the practice of issuing base forfeiture fines in other telecommunications services is illegal on constitutional grounds. On July 14th, A Washington, DC Court of Appeals ruled the FCC's revised method of assessing fines against broadcasters, cablecasters and telephone companies was improper because those most affected by the 1991 change had not been given time to comment on it before the regulation was enacted. The court said that the FCC knowingly failed to give all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the policy change before it was adopted. Since the base monetary forfeiture amounts in all services were raised simultaneously, it was expected that all outstanding fines based on the new rates would be canceled or placed in limbo. But that's not the case. Washington insiders say that the FCC appears to be taking a very narrow view of the Appeals Court decision. While it may be unsure what it will do in regard to broadcast, cable and telephone related violations, the FCC appears to have decided that the decision affects these services only. The bottom line appears to be that the Commission will continue to issue very large monetary forfeitures based on its 1991 revised schedule in all services not directly covered in the Appeals Court decision. This means that at least a half dozen hams facing major fines will have to pay up or take the matter into the federal courts. (***** LACK OF DIVERSITY The Federal Communications Commission has revised its rules to give minorities and women a better chance to bid for a new crop of wireless communications licenses, including two-way paging and messaging services. The new plan is designed to make it easier for minorities and women to acquire new wireless communications licenses. It responds to complaints that the original rules were not adequate. Under the arrangement, minority and female owned companies will be entitled to a 40 percent bidding credit, rather than the existing 25 percent. That means a company would only have to pay 60 percent of the winning bid to the government. Also, bidding credit will be available for 10 of the 30 regional licenses. Prompting the change is the fact that none of 10 nationwide wireless licenses auctioned ended up in the hands of a minority or female owned company. The agency also announced that it will hold its second airwaves auction on October 26, when regional licenses for these services will be on the block. (***** CQ ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CQ magazine will celebrate a half century of service to amateur radio in 1995 with a special anniversary issue, a new group of operating awards and a variety of off air events and special opportunities. The January, 1995, issue of CQ will be a collector's item. It will include a special section devoted to the magazine's 50th anniversary. Articles will trace the past half century in ham radio as well as the "real world," and will offer highlights of CQ's own history. Advertisers will have special opportunities, as well. And many CQ columnists will look back at how their specialty areas have changed and developed over the past 50 years. Plans are also being made for a variety of off air events, commemorative products and promotions. (***** 10 METER BEACON DATABASE KD4DPC says that he is trying to develop an up to date beacon list for 10 meters. If you are a beacon keeper or use beacons to estimate propagation on ten meters, please send him any information you have. If possible include the call sign, antenna type, power output, location and any other pertinent facts. Reports can be sent to SEBA, Post Office Box 5391, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403. (***** GHANA In DX, word that the Central Arizona DX Association have big plans for the upcoming contest season. Their operations from Ghana begins October 26th. It runs through to November 4. Listen for 9G5TL in the CQ World Wide SSB Contest on October 29 and 30. QSL via Jack Sheldon, Jr., PO Box 31898, Mesa, Arizona 85275-1898. (***** IYG ON THE AIR The Israeli Youth Group will hold several field day like operations in the near future at the Sea Of Galilee. The working bands will be HF, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. On the low bands the modes will be SSB and CW. On VHF and UHF it will be FM. For this event the special call sign will be 4X4IYG. QSL to Ohad Miller 4Z9CHB, 12 Ha'ari Street, Haifa 33190 ISRAEL. This also reminds us to wish a very happy Rosh Hashanah, that's a happy Jewish new year to our listeners who are of that faith. (***** A FLAW IN THE IDEA And finally, we close with an infrequent Newsline editorial. This one is specifically addressed to repeater license holders and the councils that coordinated them to the frequencies they operate on. Over the past few weeks we have been reporting on the activities of one of the nations most prominent repeater frequency coordination groups in its effort to take back the band for the hams of the area. Southern California's Two Meter Area Spectrum Management Association wants to rid its database of repeaters that only exist on paper. To accomplish this, TASMA has instituted a pair of unique policy changes. The popular one is a complete survey of two meters to determine the actual extent of activity. But their other plan to impose an annual fee of $10 on all TASMA coordinated repeaters to keep them listed in the database is meeting a lot of opposition. But there appears to be one major flaw in the TASMA plan. That being a strange regulatory interpretation applied to coordinators by the FCC. An interpretation that made it possible for anyone to call himself a coordinator and put the validity of all established repeater councils into question. In 1986 the FCC was asked twice within one week to determine which of two feuding coordination councils was the legitimate one. One case was in the Kansas and Missouri area. The other out in southern California. Then Special Services Division Chief Raymond A. Kowalski came up with a finding that shocked the very foundation of voluntary repeater coordination. Kowalski ruled that any number of frequency coordinators could serve the same geographic and demographic area. He also interpreted the rules as saying that multiple coordinators need not even communicate their decisions with one another. That it would be up to the repeater owners and not the coordinators to solve any interference problems that might come as the result. A few days later Kowalski resigned from his FCC position and this interpretation has never been challenged directly with the FCC or in court. As a result, there is nothing other than peer pressure to stop anyone, ham or non-ham, from setting himself up as an Amateur Radio frequency coordinator. And if TASMA is successful in forcing payment of its database maintenance fee it could be an open invitation for abuse of power by others with less noble ambition than the an established and respected repeater coordination group. In reality there is nothing to stop anyone from setting up shop as a ham radio frequency coordinator, instituting a fee structure and sending out bills to repeater owners in his region. Invoices that carry a viable threat of de-coordination and formal complaint to the FCC if the billing is not promptly paid. The scary thing is, that based on the way things are today, the FCC has no alternative but to act on the complaint. This could easily bring the license holder of an de-coordinated repeater a fine of several thousand dollars. As regular listeners know, this has already happened in Puerto Rico. Carried further, such a for profit ham radio coordination operation could wind up national in scope sand even impact on high frequency point to point operations. This is because no laws, rules, guidelines or regulations exist that truly spell out what an Amateur Radio Frequency Coordinator is, what his responsibilities are, and what if any are the limits of his powers in assessing monies to provide his services. What would you do if you got a notice telling you it was going to cost $20 to continue operating on a "coordinated" 20 meter net frequency? Without FCC guidance, this is more of a possibility than you might think! As we said earlier, a few weeks ago the FCC began the process when it recognized the work of the coordination council for Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands when it backed a decision ordering a de-coordinated repeater off the air. But that is only one local FCC office dealing with one coordination group. What's needed is recognition on a national scale. So at this point we at Newsline are about to take the liberty of giving the FCC a bit of editorial advice. It is our sincere belief that the time has come for the commission to establish operating guidelines for coordinators in the same way as it has in the all volunteer Amateur Radio testing program. It needs to issue a formal statement recognizing the work of those who have been around for at least the past decade. It needs signed contracts with coordination councils so that it can back up their decisions with the power of federal law. Most important, the FCC has to indemnify all Amateur Radio frequency coordinators against frivolous law suits that have made their work impossible in many regions of the country. To do anything less is inviting the dissolution of the voluntary coordination process and total anarchy on our VHF and UHF repeater bands. We at Newsline applaud TASMA on taking a leadership position in awakening the nations ham radio community to the fact that coordinators have a strong responsibility to the community they serve. We also have to remind them that there is no enabling legislation in place and no binding contract between any coordinator and the FCC that permits the collection of any fee for services rendered. The coordination process for repeaters is still 100% voluntary, and 100% free of charge. It will remain that way until the Federal Communications Commission changes Part 97 to make it otherwise. (***** And for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at: NEWSLINE P.O. Box 463 Pasadena, CA 91102 (* * * Newsline Copyright 1994 all rights are reserved. * * *