Cincinnati /Dayton MONIX October Update Well another month has gone by the MONIX North Group will have one last meeting for the year on November 9th, 2013. Venue to be determined. Keep a eye to the Monix Facebook and Yahoo Groups for more information. IN NEWS REGARDING THE NWS TOUR : ITS A BUST!!!! DUE IMPART TO THE GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN, WILL HAVE TO SHOOT FOR NEXT YEAR ON THIS VENUE... BUT IM TRYING TO SWING A TOUR OF THE COX OMNIMEDIA CENTER IN DAYTON WHERE THE DAYTON DAILY NEWS, MIDDLETOWN JOURNAL, WHIO RADIO AND TV, AND DAYTON SKYWARN ARE ALL HEADQUARTERED MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED AS THE SITUATION DEVELOPS. :D AFTER THAT THE REST IS BELOW. I REPOSTED THE LINKS FROM THE SEP 28th MSG MEETING, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MEMBERS THAT DIDNT MAKE BOTH MEETINGS. MONIX SOUTH GROUP (MSG) OCT 19th Meeting report: We had another very enjoyable meeting on Saturday. I did a better job at keeping my attendees names straight as I had a sign in sheet to avoid mixing them up. We had 11 attendees including myself and a total of 5 new people this month. My thanks to everyone who attended for making it such an enjoyable experience. Before I go on, I have to give a special thanks to Jerry Shipp, and Tony Rossi who could not attend but generously allowed us to demonstrate their top of the line scanners. Without their contributions, the meeting would not have been nearly as interesting or enjoyable. Also thanks to Brian Fulmer who did attend and helped collect the PSR800 and the projector. Also thanks again to our good friends at OH-KY-IN for use of the projector and the 146.67 repeater which worked very nicely for talk-in. I need to give credit to Wesley Bazell, a first time attendee who had contacted me some time ago with questions about which of the digital scanners he should consider purchasing. This question was the catalyst that got me to think about bringing all of these radios together in one room to allow him (and all of us) to see for ourselves. It also gave Wesley and me an excuse to meet in person and begin a very nice fellow-ship in our hobby. I tried to do the scanner demonstrations chronologically so we started with my old BC296 then Bob Reifes Pro96. We then continued into the 2nd generation radios. These included the PSR500/Pro106 which were brought by many of the members. We then demonstrated a bunch of BC396XTs brought in by several members including Calvin Andrus and Robert Gulley. We also had a BC996XT and my Pro-197 for examples of the base/mobile units. This led to the moment of truth where we could finally listen to and see up close the PSR800 and the Home Patrol scanners. The PSR800 is a beautiful radio. Our demonstration model had a very limited scanlist active and since we hadnt had much time to go over the operation of the radio, we did not hear many transmissions on it. The few P-25 transmissions that we did hear sounded excellent. I had picked up the Home Patrol radio earlier in the day, so this had given me a little time to create a file that would allow us to hear it in action for both P-25 traffic from Hamilton County/Cincinnati as well as some analog stuff from NKY. All of us really liked the touch screen display and the menus on the Home Patrol. The sound quality of both analog and P-25 traffic was also as good as any radio we heard. I was impressed by how good the radio received with the simple rubber ducky antenna on the side of this unique radio. We also tested the analyse option and used that to show traffic in the Cincinnati TRS in the same way that Unitrunker can do. This is a very impressive feature that is nice to have in one unit as opposed to having to carry around both a laptop with a scanner. Due to its shape and the touch screen there are some limitations to using the radio in the field, but over all many of us really liked it and are considering purchasing one in the future. To be honest, we could not give the PSR800 a true test due to the limitations of the scanlist that it carried and our lack of familiarity of the functions. Since this radio is not available presently, we will have to wait to see what Whistler can produce to use for comparison. Hopefully, the group can get another one for a future meeting. After we read over the North meeting notes and some other information, we broke into groups to discuss the various topics that came up more intimately. Bob Reif helped a couple of new attendees (Susan and James) with a used Pro-96 they had recently purchased which contained a very out of date Monix clone. Robert Gulley was kind enough to actually turn around mid-travel to get his laptop and cable in order to help program another a scanner for young man named Mike. Mike had met me as I arrived at Donatos with a brand new BC396XT that was unprogrammed. I had just enough time to contact Robert before he had showed at the meeting. Thanks again, Robert. Calvin Andrus had an update on the progress of Cincinnati Fire Departments new radios. There was a glitch in the microphones that Motorola initially sent and these needed to be returned to the manufacturer and replaced. This has pushed back testing the new radios and therefore the new talk-groups. It sounds like we should start seeing the new talkgroups popping up shortly. Those members who are running trunker programs should keep an eye out for these new talk-groups. One other note for those interested in NKY. While we were demonstrating one of the radios, a pretty good pursuit popped up on Covington PDs system. At that time, we were all surprised to see that Covington was now using their Channel 3 (453.975) for normal dispatch and operations. None of us had noticed this change until the meeting. I can confirm that as of this morning, Covington PD is still using 453.975 for their primary channel. Also Calvin mentioned that he hadnt been hearing as much P-25 traffic coming out of any of the Covington PD frequencies. Has anyone else on the list noticed this? Also, if anyone has any info on the reason for the changes, please let us know. Finally, I was very pleased to see one of my good friends from the early days of digital scanning attend our meeting. This was Jerry Hurd (KD8FYV) who along with me was one of a very few that had purchased a BC296 as his first digital scanner. Jerry brought his 296 to the meeting and says it is still going strong. In conclusion, I think that a good time was had by all. In fact Kurt Krummen and I stayed quite a while after the meeting talking about the hobby and our PSR500/Pro106s. It was great seeing so many good people together in a room sharing the hobby once again. My apologies to anyone who (like me) got into a little hot water with their spouses due to the meeting coinciding with Sweetest Day. I will do a better job of checking for these conflicts on future meetings. As it stands, our November meeting is scheduled for November 16, 2013. Hope to see everyone there! Rod Villari KJ4IAM The one item passed at the MNG meeting: Mercy Medical Transport has two ID talk groups as follows: Channel 1 40784 Talk-Around Channel 2 40912 Primary (not a miss print) Courtesy of Dan Schwartz KC8PAE -- FLORIDA HAM SENT WARNING NOTICES BY FCC The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently made public warning letters to A Tampa, Florida operator. This for alleged infractions of Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934. On August 9th, the FCC took on a High Frequency band violation. A warning letter was sent to Jack Hartley, K4WSB, of Tampa, Florida. Members of the Amateur Auxiliary Official Observers found that Hartley had operated outside of his Advanced class privileges, on four separate occasions, while attempting to contact a station on Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. In the FCC letter to Hartley, it noted that the Kwajalein operator refused acknowledge Hartleys repeated attempts, at contact his station, noting, that Hartley was operating in a band, outside his license privileges. The FCC made it clear, that after sending Hartley, three previous notices from 2007 and 2008, that the Amateur Auxiliary, contacted the Commission. The FCC warned that continued operation outside of his license privileges could result in suspension, revocation of his license, and, or fines. FCC TURNS DOWN AMATEURS APPEAL FOR ENCRYPTED HAM RADIO COMMS The FCC dismisses a rule making request from a Massachusetts ham who had asked the regulatory agency to amend the Part 97 Amateur Service rules to permit the encryption of certain amateur communications during emergency operations or related training exercises. RM-11699 was filed earlier this year by Don Rolph, AB1PH. He asked the regulatory body to add an exception to section 97.113, so as to permit limited encryption during crisis communications, or training exercises related to readiness for such events. Mr Rolph, argued that communications when participating in emergency services operations or related training exercises which may involve information covered by medical privacy requirements or other sensitive data required such encryption. But the FCC concluded that it would “undermine the characteristics and purposes of the Amateur Radio Service”. Therefore the FCC says that it agrees with those who filed comments including the ARRL, that opposed the concept of encryption, and denied the request. FAULTY RADIOS MAY HAVE LED TO DEATHS OF 19 FIREFIGHTERS IN ARIZONA An investigation into the death of 19 Fire National Forest Service firefighters on June 30th, has found that inadequate communication may have played a role in their deaths. The members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots died when they were overrun by a wildfire near Yarnell, AZ. Investigators relied on recordings of radio transmissions, eyewitness accounts of fire incident managers, neighboring fire crews, and pilots flying tankers and helicopters that dropped flame retardant. The report stated findings on communications: Radio communications were challenging throughout the incident. Some radios were not programmed with appropriate tone guards. Crews identified the problem, engaged in troubleshooting, and developed workarounds so they could communicate using their radios. It was later stated in the report that Radio traffic was heavy during critical times on the fire. It was unknown if fireman trying to escape to a nearby safe area were unable to cut in on the traffic. Other statements from the official report: Although much communication occurred among crews throughout the day, few people understood Granite Mountain’s intentions, movements, and location, once they left the black. “The black” is a previously burned out or cleared area, that firefighters can run for safety if the fire were to get overwhelmed. The report: The investigators believe this is due to brief, informal, and vague radio transmissions, and talk-arounds that can occur during wildland fire communications. Based on radio conversations, Operations and other resources had concluded the Granite Mountain IHC was located in the black, near the ridge top where they had started that morning. This resulted in confusion about the crews actual location at the time of search and rescue. The investigative team made some key recommendations to the National Wildfire Coordination group. Including, increasing resource tracking, communications and real time weather information. And, putting together an interagency task force to conduct a further analysis of what happened, as well as examining the human factors and wildland fire communications. News regarding the Naval Yard Shooting................ CONGRESSIONAL LAWMAKERS ASK WHY NAVY YARD RADIO FAILED DURING SHOOTING Two lawmakers are calling on federal regulators to investigate reports that first responder radios failed during the recent shooting at Washingtons Navy Yard. The lawmakers sent a letter on Monday, September 23rd to Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration, urging them to work with other federal and local officials to investigate the problems. It had previously been reported that some federal firefighters and police officers were unable to communicate with their radios during the Navy Yard attack. According to union officials for first responders, some equipment stopped working, as officers entered buildings. One officer was forced to rely on his cellphone. There were also widespread reports of battery problems that prevented the some of the radios from working. More on this story is on the web at tinyurl/Washington-shooting-radio-fail. (The Hill) **; The Just In Time Disaster Training Video Library has over 30 easy to access videos focusing on fire prevention and preparedness activities for the home, workplace, school and hospital. drc-group/project/jitt.html#special Thanks to Howie (NG8P) Broadcast NEWS: FCC SEEKS COMMENTS ON EAS FIXES Two years since the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System and the FCC is looking at making some procedural changes based on what it learned November 9, 2011. The agency will begin accepting public comments on several equipment and operational issues. The FCCs the goal is to discuss with broadcasters, and equipment companies, a list of recommendations for what changes need to be made.; Greek shortwave to be dismantled after order by Ministry of Finance Submitted by radiofono.gr on Tue, 17/09/2013 - 16:09 The degradation of Greek Radio is going on, having shortwave radio Voice of Greece as a victim. This includes 39 shortwave antenna masts hosted in Avlis, which the government plans to sell as scrap metal. The shortwave service started 75 years ago and it is still transmitting in 5 frequencies that cover the globe with shows in Greek for expatriates and foreign language news. The facilities are currently controlled by redundant ERT employes and broadcast the guerilla service of the Greek National Radio ERA. Eighteen months ago, shortwave facilities in Thessaloniki were dismantled. According to a statement by ERT employees, on Monday morning in the shortwave broadcasting center of Avlis, a representative of a company that sells metal showed up and started taking photos of the site. After we, ERT people, asked him, we got informed that he had been mandated by the Ministry of Finance to give an offer for the dismantling of 39 masts and purchasing the metal as scrap. The name of company and the registration plate of the car are available. The union body of ERT notes that this is an area of 1160 acres, featuring 39 metal masts, with a height between 30 and 70 meters each, that function as the shortwave aerials that transmit the Voice of Greece, the ERA-pénte, across the world. Greek shortwave started operating in 1938 and later was also used sent information to the Greek soldiers fighting Fascists in Albania. The only ones who dared to turn it off were the Nazis during the occupation. Since the liberation, it never stopped to link the country with Greek seafarers and the Diaspora. The Voice of Greece broadcasts information, entertainment, culture and tradition from Greece with programs in 12 languages, all over the globe. VOR MAY GO QRT JANUARY 1 2014 RIA Novosti reports that the Voice of Russia will cut its shortwave service as of January 1st, 2014. However, the government shortwave broadcaster, originally known as Radio Moscow, has not confirmed this plan of action, according to The SWLing Post. The station has been broadcasting since 1922. (SWL Post) Tuning out: Analogue radio to disappear by 2018 Commercial stations and the BBC expected to confirm the switchover to digital services, 40 years after Britain’s first independent station opened Analogue radio sets are likely be consigned to history by the first half of 2018, the head of Britain’s commercial radio trade body has said, as she called on the Government to set out a clear timetable for the industry’s digital switchover. Linda Smith, chief executive of RadioCentre, which represents commercial stations across the country, predicted that the analogue radio signal would survive six years beyond last year’s switch off in the television sector. The switchover would be three years later than recommended in a major government report in 2009. “If I were a betting person I would say the range of dates for switchover would be from the end of 2017 and 2020,” she told The Independent. “I think it’s more likely to be quarter one or quarter two of 2018.” Both the BBC and commercial radio are expected to make a firm commitment to supporting digital switchover at the Radio Festival, that takes place in Salford on 14 October. Ed Vaizey, the Communications minister, is expected to give an indication of the switchover date at the Go Digital Conference, which will take place at the BBC’s New Broadcasting House on 16 December and be attended by major car manufacturers as well as radio industry figures. Ms Smith was speaking out ahead of the 40th anniversary of the commercial radio industry in Britain this month. The sector has produced a “Roll of Honour” that includes prominent commercial radio presenters such as Chris Evans, Chris Tarrant and Christian O’Connell as well as industry luminaries including Sir Richard Attenborough (founder of London’s Capital Radio) and the Global Radio bosses Ashley Tabor and Richard Park. Celebrations will take place on Tuesday to mark the birthday of the first station – London talk network LBC. Today there are 335 stations with a total audience of 35.1 million. Ms Smith said digital listening was currently at 36.8 per cent and she was confident it would grow to account for the majority of listening at some time in 2015. “Television was in an equivalent place back in 2003. When you have people doubting, you can look at the comparison with TV and see how quickly they moved.” Lord Carter’s 2009 Digital Britain report proposed that radio switchover should take place by 2015, but Ms Smith denied that a 2018 switchover was too unambitious. “I don’t think it’s too slow, it gives the smaller operators as well as the bigger operators time to think through what they are going to broadcast and how they manage the transition. It’s about what the consumers believe. I’m sure there are people who think it should be faster but I think it’s pragmatic.” She said she would be “disappointed” if the Government fails to set out a timetable by the end of the year. “There’s an industry that works on the back of this and to continue the uncertainty and prolong the date – whether you are a car manufacturer fitting DAB radios or a consumer thinking what sort of radio to buy – that starts to get quite difficult,” she said. “I genuinely believe the TV market got it spot on in terms of the campaigns they ran and the in-store education they did. If you think about all the doomsayers on TV switchover – actually there were no problems.” She acknowledged that shops were still selling analogue radios and said that was part of the reason why she thought switchover shouldn’t happen too quickly. According to recent research from the broadcast regulator Ofcom, analogue sets fell last year by 1 million units to 3.7 million. Ms Smith also called for relaxation of some of the regulations that determine the location of commercial stations, saying that the local knowledge of the presenters was more important than the site of the broadcast. “We need to think differently about how we create more freedom for stations to operate,” she said. A recent audit of commercial radio output found that fewer than 20 per cent of stations operate on a totally standalone basis. “Strict” regulations on the music output of some commercial stations – such as indie network Xfm and rock station Absolute Radio – were unfair, she said. “Our view is that categories and definitions have to change,” she said. From “The Independent” Oct 4th, 2013 BROADCAST NEWS: ENFORCEMENT: MYSTERY AM STATION ON THE AIR IN OMAHA NB ISSUED NOV The FCC appears to be admitting that it is stumped by a mystery station in Omaha, Nebraska, that operates on 1490 KHz in the AM broadcast band. According to the Omaha World Herald newspaper, the station uses the call letters KOMJ but is seemingly without owners, advertisers or disc jockeys. Instead it plays a continuous loop of oldies that some liken to a 1960s jukebox stuffed with an endless supply of coins. In papers filed last month the FCC admitted it was stumped in that it could not locate the stations owner nor its studio location. The regulatory agency said in its filing that the station is technically owned by Cochise Broadcasting, in Jackson, Wyoming but that it could find a phone number nor a website for the company. Regular listeners to the stations oldies format say that commercials arent part of the entertainment cycle leaving questions about who is paying for the programming. Meantime on August 14th the FCC did issue a Notice of Violation to Cochise Broadcasting for various alleged violations of its rules in relation to the operation of KOMJ. More on this fascinating story is on the web at tinyurl/Omaha-mystery-station. The FCC Notice of Violation can be found at tinyurl/mystery-radio-n-o-v. (Omaha World-Herald) LDMOS FET: wouldnt you like this in your rig at home!!!: A new Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor or LDMOS type Field Effect Transistor designated as type BLF578XR has been developed by NXP Semiconductor. This for use as an RF power amplifier in broadcast and industrial applications. The new device is rated at 1400 Watt output, 50 Volts DC with a gain of 23.5 dB and an efficiency of 69%. Even more amazing, it is designed to survive a 125 to 1 or higher VSWR and as such it is almost indestructible. The current priced of a single unit BLF578XR transistor is 230 Euros or about 300 U-S dollars but like most semiconductors, it should come down in price over time. (SARL) Wayne Green W2NSD, formerly of 73 Magazine, passed away on Sept 13th, In Hancock, NH, he was 91.; Another notable passing: Jack Althouse, K6NY (SK), President of Palomar Engineers Jack Althouse, K6NY, president of Palomar Engineers – of one of amateur radio’s foremost providers of ferrite and powdered-iron toroidal cores, baluns and balun kits, antennas and accessories – died of a massive stroke Sunday night, September 15. He was 90. In announcing Althouse’s death, the email noted: “It will take some time for the family to decide what to do about Palomar – sell, dissolve, or keep it going. We are asking if you have any outstanding orders with Palomar to please cancel them. If you have ordered something from Palomar, we will do our best to locate your order and either refund your money or ship the items to you, however it will be several weeks before that we will be able to figure what is what. If you charged something and did not receive it, please send us the invoice number for your order. We ask that you be patient. In the meantime, Palomar is closed for business and will not be taking any further orders at this time. If you need to email please use this email as the other ones will be closed soon.” Also in regards to MT... Remind members if they have any outstanding subscriptions with Monitoring times Magazine that extend passed December of 2013, to arrange for a refund of the unused portion of their subscriptions. Time is running out early November at the latest!!!! ; MONITORING EVENT: RESCUE RADIO: ARMY MARS INVITES PARTNERS TO COLLABORATE IN HOMELAND SECURITY OPERATION Army MARS Headquarters has invited the Air Force and Navy-Marine Corps MARS to join in a National Communications Exercise. It will measure the auxiliary forces capabilities in the event that normal communications are disrupted in North America. The test will run for 48 continuous hours from November 3rf to the 5th and will be closely monitored by a Joint Command responsible to the Defense Department for homeland security. This exercise culminates a year-long series of escalating preparations by Army MARS for responding to all types of complex emergencies. These could be anything from a natural disasters or a terrorist attack that might disable normal means of communications across the United States. Of interest to the ham radio operators amongst us: A group focusing on Yaesu System Fusion technology has been created. The group will cover & discuss Yaesu System Fusion technology andDual Band C4FM / FDMA Digital products including FT1D Handheld Transceiver, FTM-400D Mobile Transceiver, DR-1 Dual-Mode Repeater and WIRES-X & HRI-200 Internet Interface. You can join the Yaesu System Fusion group at: groups.yahoo/group/YaesuSystemFusion/ Pass ons from MSG: (Sept 28th) In Northern KY news, we discussed the changes that have been made in Kenton County to the communications centers. Covingtons dispatch has recently moved to Kenton Countys comm center. In addition, all departments have moved to Kenton Countys system with the exception of Crescent Springs, Elsmere, and Erlanger. Ron Peniston confirmed that Covington PD has changed from its usual Police Dispatch frequency of 453.500 to 453.625. This was apparently the result of some interference on the former primary frequency. Rober Gulley provided some very good information about some of the new projects that are available for the SDR dongle that many of us have purchased over the last year or so. Here a link to that information: rtl-sdr/about-rtl-sdr/ Robert also reported monitoring a HF marine net that involved several ships from around the world. As a result of this, Robert shared another link that has a wealth of information about HF marine communications. nonstopsystems/radio/yachtcom-frequencies.htm We also discussed the fact that aircare has been using the MARCS talkgroup of 35888. This may help explain why the helicopter is sometimes not heard when listening to the UHF frequency. We are looking to identify the ambulance service that uses MARCS talkgroup 40912. Also, Dave has monitored US Bank Arena using a repeater on the frequency of 461.7125. So far Dave has been unable to find a license for this repeater. If anyone can help, please answer on the list. We discussed a few I-Phone Apps that are radio related. These include Radio ID at this location: https://itunes.apple/us/app/radio-id/id640429366?mt=8 This costs $0.99 Many of us in Northern KY use an app called Pulsepoint that can be linked to Erlanger FD. This is located at the following location: https://itunes.apple/us/app/pulsepoint/id500772134?mt=8 Here is a link for the Android version of Pulspoint: https://play.google/store/apps/details?id=mobi.firedepartment&hl=en Both versions are free Finally, Calvin Andrus shared some very interesting information about some major changes that will be coming to the Cincinnati Fire Department Communications. Fundamental changes are going to implemented on the protocols that are used for dispatch, EMS runs and all aspects of fireground communications. The Fire Department is being issued new radios and there will be 39 new talkgroups added to the system. Users of trunker type software will have plenty to keep them busy when the changes occur. Calvin has a copy of the radio template that he will share when the changes are confirmed. In addition Calvin explained that there will be some simplex channels on the new system and that the high rise frequencies will be used in some cases to carry voice traffic. I asked Calvin about an issue that I had seen where both of my GRE made digital scanners were locking up on Cinti FD FG1 from time to time. Calvin explained that there is no Cinti FD FG1. The talkgroup listed for that (32777) is in fact a data talkgroup. This will need to be deleted from our scanlists. BEFORE WE GO........ Id like to thank the people that helped Rod Villary KJ4IAM, make the second MSG for the year such a success. When we work together, or a individual has a idea for a meeting subject / presentation dont keep it to yourself........ SHARE IT!!!. It makes for a better and more interesting experience for all the clubs members. This is YOUR CLUB, we only get out of it what we put in to it. This last month I felt bad for not having time for a subject due to a changing work schedule. So from time to time if you got a idea drop me a line and well see what we can do!!!! Well thats it for this month. 73, ALEX N8UCN
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 20:47:44 +0000
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