SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.911 Amateur Radio Newsline #911 02 Feb 1995 Notes: 1-Newsline is still behind schedule, see the Closed Circuit Advisory. 2-Special thanks to Joe Brown, KB2NBN, for all his work on the Fido problem. Joe will be distributing Newsline into the Fidonet Ham Radio echoes for us. Amateur Radio Newsline is produced as an audio service by Newsline, a service of the Westlink Radio Netowrk. The transcribed version is produced by Dale Cary, WD0AKO from materials provided by Newsline. and is jointly distributed to online services and bulletin board networks by Steve Coletti and Dale Cary. Editorial comment, news items and all other business should be directed to Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, Newsline's Producer and Editor-In-Chief. E-Mail - 3241437@mcimail.com or B.PASTERNAK@genie.geis.com Phone/Fax - +1 805 296-7180, fax senders wait for voice prompt. Text Version information: America Online - tstader@aol.com (Terry Stader, Sysop) or D.CARY@genie.geis.com Compuserv, Delphi, Genie - D.CARY@genie.geis.com Usenet - david@stat.com (David Dodell - Moderator rec-radio-info) FTP, (oak.oakland.edu) - wy1z@neu.edu (Scott Erlich, Boston ARC) Internet mailing list (individuals) - bigsteve@.dorsai.org Internet mailing list (re-distributors) - D.CARY@genie.geis.com BBS Networks - Steve Coletti (within the conference/echo) or bigsteve@dorsai.org via Internet. (RIME users can RO mail to ->35, Fidonet users can Netmail to 1:278/307) - - - - - - NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #911 - POSTED 02/01/95 (***************************************************************) (* *) (* * * ***** * * **** * ***** * * ***** *) (* ** * * * * * * * ** * * *) (* * * * *** * ** * *** * * * * * *** *) (* * ** * * ** * * * * * ** * *) (* * * ***** * * **** ***** ***** * * ***** *) (* *) (* **** * **** ***** *** *) (* * * * * * * * * * *) (* **** ***** * * * * * *) (* * * * * * * * * * *) (* * * * * **** ***** *** *) (* *) (***************************************************************) 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)...... (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 ======================================= 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 D.CARY@GENIE.GEIS.COM on the Internet. 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!!! (**************************************************************** [911] (* * * * 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. Our support * (* fund administrator Andy Jarema, N6TCQ says that there is * (* less than two hundred dollars available in the account and * (* that at least a thousand dollars is needed to make the * (* monthly expenses. * (* As you already know, the vast majority of the donations * (* goes directly toward paying our monthly phone bills and * (* electronic mail services. This is how we get the news, * (* and it is how we deliver it to you. If we loose the * (* telephone, the E-Mail or both, we will have no way to get * (* the news and no way to disseminate it to you. * (* Simply said, we need the assistance of every listener * (* who appreciates Newsline to help to keep it on the air. * (* The Newsline Support Fund is separate from the service. * (* It exists for the single purpose of channeling donations * (* directly to the those providing services to the Newsline * (* organization. * (* The address for the Newsline Support Fund is Post Office * (* Box number 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. As always, * (* we thank you for your support. * (* That ends this weeks closed circuit advisory with * (* Newsline Report number 911 for release on Friday, January * (* 20, 1995 to follow. * (* * (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (* * (* This delay in transmission was caused by moving to a * (* new apartment in the same town. We are still neck deep in * (* boxes, but we got the computer set up. Got to have your * (* priorities straight. We should be posting in a timely * (* fashion next week, as long as data comes in from CA. 73 * (* * (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a QST A tower case in New York, the unlicensed are named in the United Kingdom and paging world-wide. Truly an international edition of Newsline coming your way right now. (***** TENTATIVE L.I. TOWER ACCORD REACHED Mark Nadel, NK2T says that his ongoing problems with the township of Hempstead, New York are almost over. This as the result of an accord reached on Wednesday January 25th between him and Hempstead's Board of Zoning Appeals. By way of background, Nadel is the New York ham who filed suit against Hempstead in Nassau Supreme Court after the Zoning Board continually rejected his application for a variance to maintain his fifty-five foot high transmitting tower. This, even though the same board had approved an almost identical installation in nearby Merrick back in 1989. With the assistance of Senator Alfonse D'Amato and Representative Peter King, Nadel brought the situation to the attention of former FCC Private Radio Bureau Chief Ralph Haller, N4RH. As previously reported, last October 25th Haller intervened in the case by sending the Zoning Board a letter. It told the board that local authorities may not base their regulation of ham radio antenna structures based on the possibility or actuality of interference to neighboring consumer electronic instruments. This, Haller said is the singular purview of the federal government as administered by the FCC. The Haller letter is credited with having a profound impact on the Zoning Board and is credited with helping to bring about this meeting. (***** VANITY CALLS HERE! The FCC has announced its intention to implement a vanity call sign program, and also to resume the issuance of club and military recreation station licenses. In a January 24 news release, the Commission released a general outline of the new program. Amateurs will be eligible to apply for a call sign of their choice in four "gates." The first group eligible to apply will be previous holders of a call sign or the close relative of a previous holder of an amateur call sign who is deceased. The second group will be Amateur Extra Class licensees, then Advanced, then all others. The FCC will announce the opening of each "gate" by public notice. The FCC said that the first gate will open as soon as a new application form, FCC Form 610-V, is available and the Commission's licensing facility is prepared to begin processing the applications, no sooner than April, according to FCC staff. Applications for club station licenses will be accepted as soon as the FCC's Report and Order on this matter is released. Club station call signs will be issued systematically, unless under the fourth "gate" the trustee of an existing club station applies for the call sign of a deceased member as a vanity call sign for the club. The fee for the use of vanity call signs will be 7 dollar(s) per year, or 70 for dollar(s) a ten-year license term, according to Wireless Telecommunication Bureau staff. However, on January 12, 1995, in a notice of proposed rule making, the FCC proposed a fee of 3 dollar(s) per year, for fiscal year 1995 (which began October 1, 1994). Amateurs will be able to list up to 25 call sign choices, from any call area, FCC staff said. It is expected that it will be several weeks before the new form 610-V is approved. (***** ARRL HACKED ON THE I-NET The ARRL has been hacked on the Internet. The League says that a message claiming to be W1AW Official Bulletin falsely states that the American Radio Relay League plans to petition the Federal Communications Commission to drop all Morse code requirements for all Amateur Radio licenses in the United States. The league says that an authentic ARRL Bulletin numbered ARLX004 was apparently altered and re-posted on an internet newsgroup. From there it has quickly spread worldwide. But the League has no plans to file any form of no-code expansion petition. It says that the real ARLX004 concerned a balloon launch from Iowa. The ARRL adds that it views the dissemination of forged Official Bulletin as an extremely serious matter, but stops short of saying what action it will take if the person who posted the phony message is found. (***** REVOKEES TO BE ANNOUNCED On the regulatory scene, Great Britain's Radiocommunications Agency has announced that they will begin to publish details of those whose amateur licenses had been revoked. Until now this information has been regarded as confidential. The agency says that the decision to make public will be a deterrent to others thinking of breaking the radio regulations. It says that publication will make other hams aware that license revocation and a ban on use of ham radio communications is a punishment that the government feels is applicable for some egregious offenders. (***** CEPT AGREEMENT Also from overseas, another international ham radio licensing agreement has been signed. Word that Estonia, Israel and Turkey have signed the CEPT agreement. This arrangement permits temporary amateur operation in those countries without additional paperwork. Twenty seven countries have so far implemented the CEPT pan-European licensing scheme. (***** NEW 10 GHz RECORD A new ham radio microwave record is set. Roger Bowman, VK5NY, and Walter Howse, VK6KZ, have claimed a new world distance record on the amateur 10-GHz band. On December 30, 1994 Bowman and Howse claim to have worked over a path of 1911 kilometers. Both operated portable with one near the city of Adelaide and the other near Perth. VK5NY used 180 milliwatts to a 400-mm dish. VK6KZ ran 100 milliwatts to a similar antenna. The 2-way contact was on SSB phone. (***** GLOBAL PAGING Federal regulators have cleared the way for a new national and, eventually, global satellite service offering an array of two-way communications including phone and fax. Unlike conventional satellites that orbit thousands of miles in space, the new service uses satellites that orbit close to the earth. The orbit is low enough for people on the ground to use special hand-held phones and other devices to send and receive calls, messages, pages and other services. After nearly five years of work, the Federal Communications Commission completed a plan on how companies may provide the service. Specifically, the commission, with the help of industry, resolved how public airwaves will be shared among companies. According to the Personal Communications Industry Association, 4 million Americans, that's 1.4 percent of the U.S. population, will subscribe by 2003 to satellite delivered communications services. (***** CHALLENGER REMEMBERED The Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club will be operating a special event station from the new Challenger Learning and Teaching Center of Chattanooga. This from 11:00 UTC on January 27th until 21:00 UTC on January 28th. The station will sign the call W4AM and operate near the middle of General class phone bands on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, as well as locally on 2 meters and 70-cm simplex. The Learning Center is named for the space shuttle Challenger and its seven astronauts who perished in a launch accident back in January of 1986. The club hopes to attract young people to their station and into the hobby during the center's opening. (***** WATCH FOR MIR Shuttle STS-63 the Mir rendezvous flight is scheduled to launch February 2. The shuttle will fly up to Mir, but will not dock. And it just so happens that Mir will be visible in the morning sky over much of the U.S. during this flight. Normally the shuttle's exact flight path is not known until after it has launched. However, Mir's orbit is well established and should remain stable from now until the end of the STS-63 mission. Since the shuttle will fly to Mir, we only have to track Mir to tell us where to look to see both spacecraft. According to AMSAT's Dave Mullenix, N9LTD, the best way to be ready for this space spectacular is to start right now. You'll need a tracking program that can check for visible passes. For a satellite to be visible, it must be above your horizon and in sunlight while you are in darkness on the ground. Since Mir and the Shuttles are both fairly large objects in low earth orbit, the two of them flying in formation should be a beautiful sight to watch and possibly to photograph. (***** DX In DX, word from Botswana that A22MN, will be leaving in February. Dave will move on to Finland where he will be there for the next 3 - 4 years. Meanwhile he has been trying to work stations on 80 and 160 meters. He is reportedly upset because the same individuals keep calling him on these bands and they are not giving other stations a chance to work him as an new one. Please QSL only to manager WA8JOC and not direct to Dave. (***** BHM E-MAIL And finally, unless you've been asleep for a few years, you've already heard plenty about the information superhighway. It seems that everybody has their own E-mail address these days. In fact, we here at Newsline have not one, but a half dozen. Now, an Alabama amateur radio club is taking what may be the first step of its kind onto the superhighway. The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club has set up its own E-mail address for Hamfest information. Bill Levey, WA4FAT, helped arrange the Club's Hamfest address on America On Line. If you'd like information on the Hamfest, here's the Club's E- mail address. Send inquiries to Birminghamfest95@AOL.COM. By the way, the BirmingHamfest-95/Alabama Section Convention is set for May 20th and 21st. And get ready. You can just about bet that more amateur radio clubs will follow suit by jumping on the superhighway with their own E-mail addresses, as well. (***** And for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at Post Office Box 660937, Arcadia, CA 91066. (* * * Newsline Copyright 1995 all rights are reserved. * * *