Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1901 – January 17, 2014 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1901 with a release date of January 17, 2014 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Russia’s Over The Horizon radar returns to the ham radio bands, a Federal Appeals Court throws out the FCC’s definition of an Open Internet; the FT5ZM team is interviewed just before they depart for Amsterdam Island and hams are asked to help the widow of a radio amateur who was murdered back in 2011. Find out how you might be able to assist on Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1901 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO INTRUDERS: RUSSIAN OVER THE HORIZON RETURNS WITH A VENGEANCE The just released December 2013 issue of the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System electronic newsletter reports a new Russian over-the-horizon radar signal has been heard loud and clear in the 20 meter band. Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OhM, is the International Amateur Radio Union’s Region One Monitoring Service Coordinator. He says that this latest Over The Horizon radar signal was about 10 kilohertz wide when it was heard and recorded on 14.305 MHz. And that it kind of sounded a lot like the infamous Russian Woodpecker radar system of days gone bye: -- Russian Radar audio from DK2OM -- But that’s not the only place this new woodpecker-like interference has been heard. Other reports say this latest incarnation of the Russian Woodpecker has also shown up on 15 and 10 meters making a pest of itself on those bands as well. And if that were not enough, DK2OM says that another growing problem out of Russia is the unchecked proliferation of taxicabs being heard on 10 meter FM. While he did not post any sound file of this one, he did put up a spectrum display photo taken on December 15th. It shows 10 Meter Contest activity between 28.0 and 28.55 MHz with many Russian taxicabs operating narrowband F-M just above. All and all, not a very good situation for hams living in Europe and other near-by nations. You can download and read the full DK2OM report in the English language at tinyurl/the-woodpecker-returns. The document does require the free Adobe Acrobat or a similar PDF reader program to display the text and photos. (IARUMS-R1) ** TELECOMMUNICATIONS RULES: COURT VACATES OPEN INTERNET A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has unanimously vacated much of the FCCs Open Internet order and remanded it back to the regulatory agency. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, has the details: -- In its finding the court said that although it rejects Verizon’s challenge to the Open Internet Order’s disclosure rules, but that it vacates both the anti-discrimination and the anti-blocking rules. It also concluded that because the FCC has not classified Internet Service Providers as common carriers, and as such that it cannot regulate them as though they were. The court finding went on to say that the FCC’s decision is so deficient as to raise serious doubts whether the agency can adequately justify its decision at all. It then remanded the matter back to the Commission for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. Under current interpretation the FCC considers the “Open Internet” to be the Internet as we all know it. The agency contends that it is open because it uses free, publicly available standards that anyone can access and build to. Also that it treats all traffic that flows across the network in roughly the same way. The principle of the Open Internet is sometimes referred to as “net neutrality.” Under this principle, consumers can make their own choices about what applications and services to use and are free to decide what lawful content they want to access, create, or share with others. The FCC says that this openness promotes competition and enables investment and innovation. But this new ruling throws into confusion the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission to limit telecommunications and cable firms from discriminating against certain Internet traffic by slowing speeds, impeding access or simply raising fees. If not appealed and overturned, it can lead to higher Internet access fees for many users. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, in New Orleans. -- At this point the FCC can appeal the decision to the full court or simply make changes suggested by the court finding. More on this decision and how it could affect your use of the Internet can be found on the web at tinyurl/no-open-internet (B&C) ** DX UP FRONT: PLANNING OF THE AMSTERDAM ISLAND DXPEDITION In DX up front, on the weekend of the January 11th and 12th Onno Benschop, VK6FLAB, got to interview many of the members of the Amsterdam Island DXpedition as they were ready to sail off to activate FT5ZM from Amsterdam Island. This is a DX community funded operation with a $450,000 budget. It involves shipping fourteen people to a spot in the Indian Ocean with radios, antennas and computers and then operating the station for two weeks. And how do you raise the level of funding needed for an operation this immense? That’s one of the questions that VK6FLAB put to Bob Allphin, K4UEE: -- K4UEE: “The rule of thumb that I Use is that the operators in total should contribute about half of the total budget and that’s pretty much the way this one is going to work. “The other half has got to come from the DX community and basically there are three sources: DX foundations such as the Northern California DX Foundation, The International DX Association, German DX and other foundations who use their funds to support difficult and expensive DXpeditions. “The second source of funds comes from the DX clubs themselves; the local clubs. And at this point we probably have 70 to 80 DX clubs who have made contributions. Some as small as $50 and others as much as $5000. “And then the third source of income is from he individual DXers themselves. And the truth of the matter is that when its all said and done the majority of the money comes from individual DXers who are donating anything from $5 to I guess the largest donation we’ve gotten from an individual was about $4000.” -- Others interviewed include Bob Shenck, N2OO, Andy Chesnokov, UA3AB, and expedition leader Ralph Fedor, KZ0IR, to name only a few. The interviews range in length from about four to seventeen minutes each and cover all aspects of the DXpedition, from planning, to building antennas, the computing infrastructure, the journey itself, working a pile-up and of coarse fund raising. All are in mp3 format, are licensed under Creative Commons and can be downloaded from tinyurl/Amsterdam-Island-Sound. The latest information on the progress of the DXpedition itself can be found online at amsterdamdx.org. (VK6FLAB) ** DX UP FRONT: TRACKING THE AMSTERDAM ISLAND DXPEDITION TEAM And in a related item, the Ohio Penn DX Newsletter reports that hams world wide will be able to track and work the FT5ZM team on their journey to Amsterdam Island aboard the on the ship the Braveheart. By the time you hear this newscast the DXers should be well underway and operating Maritime Mobile with the call VK6FZM. You can keep an eye on their whereabouts at tinyurl/team-journey-live. If you make contact with VK6FZedM Maritime Mobile QSL via N2OO direct, via the bureau or electronically via ClubLog. And we will have more DX news for you later on in this weeks newscast. (OPDX) ** BREAK 1 Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the KH6HPZ repeaters of the Hawaii State RACES Net. (5 sec pause here) ** RADIO NEED: WIDOW OF MURDERED HAM MAY LOOSE HER HOME Back in October 2011, Newsline reported the story of David Caouette, N6DAC, who was one of eight persons killed in a Los Angeles, California, suburb by a mass shooter. Now his widow is in danger of losing her home. Newslines Joe Moell, K0OV, has the story: -- David Caouette N6DAC was one of eight persons alleged to have been killed by Scott Dekraii. After he was murdered as he sat in his Range Rover outside a beauty salon in Seal Beach, California, the nightmare for his wife and family has never stopped. According to ABC TV News in Los Angeles, Caouette was between jobs at the time. His family says he had temporary life insurance, but the company says he never signed the forms and is refusing to pay. Without that income, his wife has fallen behind on the mortgage and it is nearing foreclosure. The family says that without more income or someone to buy the mortgage and lease back the condo, she will lose her home. Donations are being accepted online at GoFundMe. Type the URL as one word, GoFundMe, then search that site for Seal Beach shooting. Meanwhile, accused killer Scott Dekraii remains in county jail, segregated from other inmates for his own safety. According to the Orange County Register, deputies have had to pepper spray him at least once when he became disruptive. Trial for the 44-year-old was scheduled to start last November, but it has been delayed until March 24th of this year. From Orange County, California, this is Joe Moell K0OV for Amateur Radio Newsline. -- At the time of his murder news reports said that David Caouette was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and had no way to defend himself. The Orange County District Attorney’s office which is prosecuting the case claims that Dekraai walked out of a beauty salon where he is said to have methodically killed its staff and patrons including his ex-wife and then shot N6DAC who was the driver of the vehicle that was simply parked next to him. (K0OV) ** PUBLIC SERVICE: HAM RADIO AND THE EAGLE CAP EXTREME SLED DOG RACE Ham radio operators will once again support the Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race to be held January 22nd to the 25th that runs through the rugged Wallowa Mountains in Northeastern Oregon. Radio amateurs will be providing the event with vital communications using a remote-base and a pair of linked repeaters on VHF. There will also be a Winlink data connection on the High Frequency bands from the more remote check points. This year the race communications can be heard world-wide on the DAWGGONE Echolink Conference Server courtesy of the DoDropIn node. Communications may also be heard on the Joseph Oregon Repeater web page at josephoregonweather. Just click on Joseph Repeater link. Full information on the Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race is on the web at eaglecapextreme. (KB7DZR) ** RESCUE RADIO: GEORGIA COMMUNITY GRADUATES NEW CERT TEAM Members of Coweta County Georgia’s fourth CERT or Community Emergency Response Team graduating class were front and center at the January 7th meeting of the County Commission. Jay Jones is the Coweta County Emergency Management Agency Director. He says the county has trained fifty CERT team members in the past two years, with another class anticipated for the spring. He adds that the goal is to have CERT members in every major neighborhood in the county. Formed to provide assistance in times of disaster and community emergencies, members of the new CERT team are also licensed amateur radio operators. More about this story complete with a photo of the new team members is on the web at tinyurl/new-cert-team. (Citizen) ** RADIO LAW: REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE FCC STUDY Republican lawmakers are banding together to keep the Fairness Doctrine from being re-born. Amateur Radio Newslines Heather Embee, KB3TZD, reports: -- An FCC study looking into how news stories are chosen and reported has caught the eye of Republican members of the Commerce Committee who fear it may be an attempt to revive the Fairness Doctrine. In a recent letter to the FCC, the 16 lawmakers told the commission that by looking into how editorial decisions are made by local news outlets, the FCC is threatening their First Amendment rights. The study, called the “Multi-Market Study of Critical Needs” plans to look at how broadcast, print, radio and internet news stories are selected, prioritized and produced. On its website, the FCC said the study looks at the information needs of the American public, with special emphasis on vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- The Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to give equal time to both sides of controversial issues of public importance. It was officially dismissed back in 2011. (Radio OnLine) ** TECHNOLOGY: RECORD ATTENDANCE AT CES 2014 The Consumer Electronics Association, which sponsors the Las Vegas based Consumer Electronics Show says that year’s CES hosted 3,200 exhibitors and covered a record two million net square feet of exhibit space. Also there were about 150,000 attendees of which some 35,000 or 23 percent were from outside of the United States. As to the technology shown, in general, the 2014 event featured devices that seamlessly marry technology and lifestyle in ways mainstream consumers can appreciate. Major trends this year at this years show included wearable devices and 4K smart televisions. As to what would be of interest to ham radio operators, shortwave listeners and other electronics hobbyists? Gordon West, WB6NOA was there and covered this in episode 130 of the TWiT TV program Ham Nation. You can see and hear it on the web at twit.tv/HN. (ARNewsline from published reports) ** RADIO BUSINESS: ICOM MOVE INTO NEW KIRKLAND WA HEADQUARTERS After some 30 years in Bellvue Washington, Icom America has relocated to new and substantially larger headquarters not to far away. Their new address is 12421 Willows Road North East, Kirkland, Washington, 98034. All communications should be sent only to the new address. The main phone number is still 1-800-USA-ICOM which translates into 1-800-872-4266. And of coarse their website remains at icomamerica. (VHF Reflector) ** RADIO BUSINESS: ARC TO GO MONTHLY E-PUBLICATION AND QUARTERLY PAPER Another change in the hobby radio publishing market. This with word that Antique Radio Classified Magazine will resume publishing with the February 2014 issue but as a hybrid publication. According to an announcement on its website, Antique Radio Classified will be published monthly as an on-line magazine with a print edition to be mailed out quarterly. This means that effective immediately, a one year subscription will consist of twelve monthly online issues and four printed quarterly issues. The monthly online issues will remain unchanged at 52 pages. The printed quarterly issues will mirror the previous three months of online issues and include all articles and columns. The next print edition will be made up of the February, March, and April 2014 issues. Antique Radio Classified says that all current subscribers will receive the number of monthly print issues that they subscribed for. Like other publications that have taken to electronic publication, Antique Radio Classified says that these changes are necessary due to increased costs in printing and postage. More is on the web at antiqueradio As an aside, hybrid magazine is a relatively new term being used to describe publications that are using both paper and electronic distribution. (Antique Radio Classified) ** SOCIAL SCENE: 2014 CONTEST DINNER TO BE HELD MAY 17 IN DAYTON OHIO Turning to the ham radio social scene, word that the 22nd annual Contest Dinner will be held in conjunction with the Dayton Hamvention and will take place on Saturday night, May 17th. The venue will be the Presidential Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton, Ohio. This years Master of Ceremonies will be Contest Hall of Fame member John Dorr, K1AR. Doug Grant, K1DG who is the co-Chairman of WRTC 2014 will be the featured speaker. Tickets for the 2014 Contest Dinner tickets are on sale exclusively via the web at contestdinner. (K3LR) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: RETIRED ASTRONAUT VA3OOG CALLS FOR MORE SPACE COOPERATION WITH CHINA Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, VA3OOG, is calling for more co-operation with China in future space exploration. He also says that he wants this cooperation to be part of any international effort to return to the moon. In a recent interview with The Canadian Press Hadfield noted that China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003 and that its ambitious space program aims to eventually put an astronaut on the moon. More is on the web at tinyurl/hadfield-on-china. (Global Mail) ** BREAK 2 This is ham radio news for today’s radio amateur. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur: (5 sec pause here) ** WORLDBEAT: ZS9MADIBA CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF NELSON MANDELA A just concluded ham radio operation honoring South Africa’s late President Nelson Mandela was a true on-the-air memory to the man known to his countrymen as Madiba. Amateur Radio Newsline welcomes our new South Africa correspondent David Conradie, ZR6DHC, who has the story of this very special commemorative station: -- ZS9MADIBA, the special event call sign that commemorates the life of former South African President Nelson Mandela obtained a Worked All States award within the first 2 weeks of being on the air which is a remarkable achievement. The callsign is also close to achieving a DXCC in all the modes of operation, SSB, CW and Digtal. At the time of compiling this report, ZS9MADIBA had achieved 12,846 QSO records with 4,370 QSL records. The DXCC mode status is as follows: Mixed 93, CW 80, Phone 65 and Digital 65. If there was an award for the most enthusiastic radio amateur it would go to Theunis, ZS2EC. Theunis just keeps on going day and night. Well done Theunis. A special word of thanks to Roger, ZS6RJ. His tally of contacts says it all. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m David Conradie, ZR6DHC. -- Nelson Mandela passed away last December 5th at age 95. ZS9MADIBA concluded its operation on January 11th. For more information and a final QSO count please visit sarl.org.za. (ZR6DHC) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AIST 1 AND 2 NOW ACTIVE ON 435 MHZ Dmitry Pashkov, UB4UAD, reports transmissions have begun in the 70 centimeter band from a pair of Russian Aiat microsatellites. Aiat 2 was launched last April 19th. It operates on 435.215 MHz. Its companion Aisat One transmits on 435.265 MHz. It rode to orbit on December 28th. Until now no signals had been reported from these microsats in the amateur bands but since January 3rd both of the tiny birds have been transmitting a New Year’s greetings on the 435 MHz frequencies. Both satellites were developed by a group of students, postgraduates and scientists of Samara Aerospace University. Aiat One and Aisat Two are also known as RS-41 and RS-43 respectively. (UB4UAD via Southgate) ** HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FOUR NEW CUBESATS LAUNCHED TO ISS Four new cubesats are now on board the International Space Station after being carried to the orbiting outpost on January 9th by an Orbital Sciences Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus space freighter. The four ham radio birds are named LituanicaSat-1, LitSat-1, ArduSat-2 and UAPSat-1. LituanicaSat-1 carries a 145 to 435 MHz FM transponder while LitSat-1 is thought to be a 435 to 145 MHz linear transponder for SSB and CW communications. It is expected the CubeSats will be deployed from the International Space Station in the coming months but no specific dates of deployment are known as we go to air. (ANS) **. ON THE AIR: W4G CELEBRATES 19TH CENTURY PIRATE JOSE GASPAR On the air, the Tampa Florida Amateur Radio Club will be hosting special event station W4G on January 24th to the 25th. This to celebrate the 110th Anniversary of the invasion and a parade in honor of the 19th century Pirate Jose Gaspar. Operation of W4G will be on 40 through 10 meters using SSB and CW. The latter between 25 to 50 kHZ from bottom of General Class portions of each band. Operating Hours will be 12 noon to 6 pm on January 24th and 9 am till 4pm on parade day January 25th. More information can be found on the web at WWW.hamclub.org. (W1GUD/4) ** DX In DX, F5GN is now on the air from Martinique signing stroke FM. His XYL F4BMR will join him and be active as TO4YL between February 8th and the 24th. Their operations will be on 160 through 10 meters. QSL via F5GN. Lastly, several sources are reporting that M0RCX will be active stroke 3B8 from Mauritius sometime around May 2nd and the 28th. Listen out for him on 40 through 6 meters. Modes mentioned are digital plus some CW. QSL via M0RCX, direct, via the bureau or electronically using eQSL. (Above from various DX news sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: NYC RADIO LEGEND “COUSIN BRUCIE” AND SATELLITE RADIO And finally this week, word that a living legend, New York based radio personality “Cousin” Bruce Morrow is combining new technology with his historic career. Our producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, grew up in the Big Apple and has the details: -- That’s right, Hal. Actually I grew up in the borough of Brooklyn and can well remember Bruce Morrow from his days on WINS and later at WABC AM. This was during the era of the Top 40 playlist and when a career as a disk jockey was considered as being almost royalty on the AM dial. And one of the masters of the top 40 format is Bruce Morrow or “Cousin Brucie” as he is known to those of us from the Big Apple. Cousin Brucie is still on the air but now-a-days he is heard on SiriusXM satellite radio several times a week. And in a recent telephone interview he told us how satellite distribution has changed radio: -- Cousin Brucie: “I never thought that 40 years ago or even more that I would be reaching just about the whole world via satellite. I’m getting calls from the Ukraine and the Philippines besides the United States and all over Canada and a great deal of Central America and all over the world. This satellite thing is an amazing phenomenon and the density is amazing. It just gets better and better every month” -- Now it’s been announced that Cousin Brucie will do one of his shows live from the 2014 Fest for Beatles Fans in New York. We asked how it came about: -- Cousin Brucie: “The idea of doing it on satellite radio is fabulous. I do a lot of remotes. I do my San Gennaro Feast which brings it to the nation. This is a New York phenomenon. I’ve been in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland several times; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and so this technology affords me the opportunity to reach a huge audience.” -- The Fest is being held at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan and runs from February 7th to the 9th. Cousin Brucie’s satellite show will air on February 8th between 6 and 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on SirriusXM and will be a special celebration of sorts. This is because it was Cousin Brucie who emceed the Beatles famous Shea Stadium concert way back in 1965. And he tells us that plans on having some very special guests with him to help listeners re-live the past: -- Cousin Brucie: “We have Ronnie Spector coming down who had quite a bit to do with the Beatles. We have Peter Asher, Donavan is going to be joining me; Chad and Jeremy and Billy J Kramer and several of the stars that were involved personally with the Beatles so it should be quite an interesting show with the people on the air all relating their Beatles stories. “And you know who is going to have the best time of all? Me; because I’m having a great time doing what I love to do and talking about the Beatles. What could be better?” -- As anyone in radio will tell you, having a good time and enjoying every moment is the main reason that they chose a career behind the mic. And in this area of life there are none better than New York’s Cousin Brucie. Reminiscing the past, I’m Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, some 3000 miles away from home, here in the City of Angels. -- For anyone who loves the Beatles and the Top 40 radio era, this will be an event that you won’t want to miss. (RW, ARNewsline. Special thanks to Art Vuolo and Jim Davis, W2JKD, in arranging this interview.) ** 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, TWiT-TV and Australias WIA News, thats all from the Amateur Radio Newsline™. Our e-mail address is newsline (at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newslines™ only official website located at arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline™, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350 For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors’ desk, I’m Hal Rogers, K8CMD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline™ is Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 07:12:57 +0000