SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.913
Amateur Radio Newsline #913 11 Feb 1995
Amateur Radio Newsline is produced as an audio service by Newsline, a
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NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #913 - POSTED 02/10/95
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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
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Los Angeles............................ (213) 462-0008
Los Angeles (Instant Update Line)...... (805) 296-2407
Seattle................................ (206) 368-3969
Seattle................................ (206) 281-8455
Tacoma................................. (206) 927-7373
Louisville............................. (502) 894-8559
Dayton................................. (513) 275-9991
Chicago................................ (708) 289-0423
New York City.......................... Out Of Service
Melbourne, FL.......................... (407) 259-4479
Electronic Hardcopy Version of Newsline
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GEnie (RTC Bulletin Board)............. m345;1
GEnie (File Library)................... m345;3
Dallas Remote Imaging BBS (DRIG)....... (214) 492-7573
In bulletin number 36
The Midwest Connection BBS............. (701) 239-2440
In bulletin number 6 of the ham radio conference
Delphi.....................In the ham radio conference
CompuServe/HamNet.................... HamNet Library 0
Internet...............In the rec.radio.info newsgroup
Internet FTP: oak.oakland.edu.........................
In archive: pub/hamradio/docs/newsline
Local BBS's............In the Ham Radio conferences on
Fidonet, RIME, Intellec, I-Link and AR-Net
For questions or comments about the text version, contact me at
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[913]
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(* As always, we thank you for your support. That ends *
(* this weeks closed circuit advisory with Newsline Report *
(* number 913 for release on Friday, February 10, 1995 to *
(* follow. *
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The following is a QST
Tech class hams have taken the lead position in ham radio
licensing, more on the ARRL sponsored meeting of repeater
coordinators and a big announcement about Newsline's Young
Ham of the Year Award. It has a new home. Find out where on an
extended Newsline report number 913 coming your way right now!
(*****
STARTLING STATISTICS
Technician class hams are literally on their way to ruling the
world of Amateur Radio in the United States. This according to
some startling 1994 year end statistics recently released by the
FCC. The commission sez that forty percent of all radio amateurs
licensed by that agency hold Technician or Technician Plus
licenses with the Tech Plus leading the no-code Techs by a slight
margin. Put into numbers, this means that some 186,000 of the
estimated 250,000 hams in the United States and its possessions
are Technician class operators, with up to 5000 new Techs joining
the ham radio ranks every month.
Even more startling is the overall increase in the total growth
in ham radio over the last ten years. We are up a bit over 62%
from where we were in 1884. An increase of almost 250,000 from
the half million figure the FCC's licensing computer put out a
decade ago.
Looked at in dollars and cents the numbers are really
astounding. If each ham licensed today were to buy only five
hundred dollars in equipment over the next twelve months, the net
income to the ham radio support industry would be in the order of
$375,000,000 -- that's million dollars. More realistically, if
only 10% of that figure or 75,000 hams spend $500 on gear the net
to the industry by this time next year that would be $37,500,000
or there about.
(*****
ELECTRONIC FILING UPDATE
We have an update on the status of electronic filing of license
applications. According to ARRL VEC Administrator Bart Jhanke,
KB9NM tells us that Newsline #909 has an incomplete quote
regarding the ARRL VEC's handling of electronic Form 610
application filing.
Bart says that the complete information is that, regardless of
whether a VE team enters application data and mails or
Electronically mails that data to the ARRL VEC, he must still
receive the actual hardcopy Form 610 applications and hardcopies
of other pertinent test session documents, and must screen them,
before he can forward the successful applicant data electronically
to the FCC. Bart emphasizes that the ARRL cannot simply bounce
data received from a VE team to the FCC without screening the exam
documents first.
KB1NM also says that electronic filing is now very alive and
well for two of the 18 VEC's. Five more VEC's will be coming on
board in the near future.
(*****
NEW ASTROHAMS FOR STS-67
And electronic filing of license applications has resulted in
two more U.S. astronauts joining the ranks of Amateur Radio
licensees. Both will fly aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour
during mission STS-67.
The two new astrohams are Pilot William Gregory, KC5MGA and
Payload Commander Tamara Jernigan, KC5MGF. Both took examinations
with ARRL volunteer examiners on January 19 and were issued call
signs on January 25.
The 16 day STS-67 mission is scheduled for launch in March.
Six of Endeavour's seven crew members now have Amateur Radio
licenses. School groups in 26 places around the world are
scheduled to make voice contacts with the STS-67 crew using the
Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment radio system to communicate.
(*****
ARRL HELPS DISABLED
Some good news for handicapped hams. Word that the new ARRL
Sourcebook for the Disabled is available in electronic form from
several sources. This includes Compuserve, America Online, the
ARRL's own Hiram BBS, and the InfoServer via Internet at
info@arrl.org. The Sourcebook describes sources for those helping
the disabled both with licensing and operating needs. It's
development and publication was funded by the ARRL Foundation.
(*****
HAMS WIN IN REALLOCATION
In Los Angeles word that ham radio is the biggest winner in the
FCC's reallocated 50 MHz of spectrum, including 2390 to 2400 and
2402 to 2417 MHz, from government use to unlicensed, low power
devices. This is because the commission has also elevated Amateur
Radio's status in those band segments from secondary to primary.
This means that amateurs will no longer have to protect any other
user of those bands, and amateur stations are entitled to
protection against interference from other users.
Looking at the specific allocations, the Commission has made
2390 to 2400 MHz available for use by the unlicensed Personal
Communications Services. It has also provided for continued use
of 2402 to 2417 MHz by traditional unlicensed Part 15 electronics.
This includes wireless networking and data transfer devices, with
everything being governed by the same rules that apply to devices
operating in the 1910 to 1920 MHz band.
But the important news for hams is that our service is now the
primary user. In case you did not know, you can thank the
American Radio Relay League for making this big win for ham radio
take place.
(*****
ARRL REPEATER MEETING
More information is now known about the ARRL's decision to hold
a meeting of the nations repeater frequency coordinators.
According to the minutes of the January 20th Board of Directors
meeting, the stated purpose of the meeting will be to discuss
several key points with coordinators. These include establishing
what the ARRL calls a single point of contact between the FCC and
the coordinators through which the commission would recognize and
support both local and regional coordination efforts. In simpler
terms, what the ARRL wants to know if whether or not the nations
coordinators are willing to take their problems and complaints to
the League instead of the FCC in much the same way as the ARRL's
Amateur Auxiliary handles the investigation of other kinds of
regulatory violations.
And there is good reason for this. As Newsline learned late
last year, a ham here in Alabama who was asked to vacate a
repeater contacted the FCC to find out if barring him from the
repeater was legal. He was basically told that the FCC is sick
and tired of hearing what it considers the whining and petty
complaints of repeater owners and users. The commission does not
have the resources nor the interest to handle what it views as
petty complaints. As a result, a fairly high ranking FCC
official told this ham that if ham radio could not solve these
problems with repeaters, they definitely would not like the action
taken by the FCC.
If we know this, the ARRL has to know it too. And if becoming
a buffer between the repeater problems and the FCC is a way of
avoiding some hard handed re-regulation, the ARRL appears to be
ready to take on the job. A job that most repeater people will
tell you that the ARRL has avoided for almost three decades.
But there is a lot more on the agenda than just buffering
complaints to the FCC. Also to be discussed will be setting
standards for service by coordinators, how appeals of coordination
decisions should be handled, establishing a method of recognition
and succession of coordinators and how frequency coordinators
should respond to the needs of new technologies coming to ham
radio in need of spectrum.
Finally, the League will also use the meeting to determine the
level of support among coordinators for a return to separate
repeater licensing. This is something many coordination councils
have been wanting for a long time. Also, the ARRL wants to
determine the extent to which coordinators should be involved in
accommodating the needs of other modes and if coordinators should
attempt to resolve interference between repeaters and other types
of amateur operations.
While no date or location for this meeting has yet been
announced, it is beginning to look as if the outcome of this
gathering may well impact on more than repeater owner operators
and their frequency coordinators. Decisions made at this meeting
will assuredly lead to regulatory changes that will affect the day
to day operations of the majority of the nations radio amateurs,
most of whom operate on repeaters every day. This means you!
(*****
W1ALT BECOMES SILENT KEY
Some sad news. Word has just been received of the passing last
summer of Frank Caswell, W1ALT in Beverly, Massachusetts. Caswell
was first licensed in the 1920's. He spent much of his spare time
collecting, recording and documenting the history of the Marconi
Wireless Station on Cape Cod. He also built the replica rotary
spark gap and model of the Marconi station that are on display at
the headquarters of the Cape Cod National Seashore at South
Wellfleet.
(*****
NEW PHILIPPINES PREFIX
From overseas, the DX News Letter reports that the Philippines
began to issue its new 4E7 prefixes as of January 1st. So far
there have been no contacts reported on this new prefix, but
VS6VW reports hearing SM0CNS/4E7 active on 160 meters.
(*****
NEW SATELLITE COORDINATOR
The International Amateur Radio Union International
Secretariat has announced the appointment of Bruce Lockhart,
SM0TER as the new IARU Satellite Frequency Coordinator. Bruce
main task will be to provide a service to enable any group to
coordinate frequencies and emissions of a planned amateur
satellite with existing and any other planned amateur satellites.
The appointment was made after consultation with major AMSAT
groups in Europe and North America.
While this is a technical position, the IARU Satellite
Frequency Coordinator also has an important role in assisting in
the protection of bands allocated to the amateur satellite
service. Bruce will work closely with the IARU Satellite
Adviser, Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV.
(*****
DX
In DX word that Frank Smith known as AH0W and OH2LVG, will be
active in early March from the Northern Marianas Islands and from
Saipan. His planned operation includes participation in the ARRL
SSB DX Contest as a single op entry. Frank will also stop for a
few days on business in Malaysia and will activate East Malaysia.
Both operations will be on 20 meters and WARC bands. You may
remember Frank as one of the operators of the XF4M DXpedition to
Revillagigedos back in October of 1994. There is another story
about the aftermath of that operation which we will have for you
in a future report.
(*****
DX Spots now at WWW
Also, Jukka Salomaa, OH2BUA reports that DX spots, DX
announcements and WWV information retrieved from PacketClusters
is now available at World Wide Web. The information update is not
true real time. Updates take place every half hour in Europe and
hourly in the United States.
(*****
YHOTY AT HSV
Newsline in association with Yaesu U.S.A. Corporation and CQ
Magazine is proud to announce an agreement with the Huntsville
Hamfest Inc. for Huntsville and the Hamfest to become the
permanent home of our "Young Ham of the Year Award."
For those of you not aware, the Huntsville Hamfest is one of
the nations largest and most popular Amateur Radio conventions.
It is held at the Von Braun Civic Center in downtown Huntsville
and attracts some 7000 attendees each August. And this year, it
will probably be even bigger since it has been designated as the
official site of the ham radio industry's national show.
Besides being one of the nations friendliest places, the city
of Huntsville, Alabama has many attractions of interest to young
people including the nearby Marshall Spaceflight Center and NASA's
Spacecamp. And the youngster selected as 1995 Young Ham of the
Year will receive an expense paid trip to Huntsville and the
Hamfest along with possible other gratuities courtesy of Yaesu
U.S.A. Corporation. This includes transportation to Huntsville,
hotel accommodations, admission to the Hamfest and banquet.
And while in Huntsville, the winner will also be treated to a
V.I.P. tour of the Spacecamp facility and the Marshall Spaceflight
Center. This, courtesy of CQ Magazine. Then on Saturday night
August 19th he or she will be presented the 1995 Young Ham of the
Year Award at the Huntsville Hamfest Grand Banquet, hopefully
making it an experience that some deserving young radio amateur
will never forget.
As we have said before, the nominating period for 1995 "Young
Ham of the Year Award" is now open any continental United States
radio amateur, age 18 or younger holding a valid FCC license.
Nominees will be judged on the way in which they have used ham
radio to significantly contribute to the benefit of the Amateur
Radio service, or to the state of the communications art, to their
community or the nation.
All nominations must be submitted before April 30th, 1995 on an
official application. These are available for a self addressed
stamped envelope to the 1995 Young Ham of the Year Award,
c/o Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Saugus, California 91350. These
nominating applications are also available electronically with an
E-Mail request to: BILLWA6ITF on America Online; B.PASTERNAK on
GEnie or billwa6itf@aol.com via the Internet.
The Huntsville Hamfest takes place the weekend of August 19th
through the 20th. Many of the members of the Newsline staff will
be there. We hope you will be there too.
(*****
And for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.
You can write to us at Post Office Box 660937 in Arcadia, CA
91066.
(* * * Newsline Copyright 1995 all rights are reserved. * * *
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