The ARRL Letter, Volume 7, No. 27, January 4, 1989 Published by: The American Radio Relay League, Inc. 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 Editor: Jay Mabey, NU0X Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that credit is given to The ARRL Letter and to the American Radio Relay League, Inc. ARRL COORDINATES SHIPMENT OF PACKET STATIONS TO USSR Six donated complete packet VHF stations have been sent to the USSR at the request of Leonid Labutin, UA3CR, who has been put in charge of radio communications in support of the Armenian earthquake relief effort by the Radio Sports Federation of the USSR. Leo had requested assistance in the form of portable packet-radio stations to help the Soviets develop their fledgling packet-radio network in response to the emergency. Leo is well known to North American amateurs by his long involvement in the amateur satellite program and in the joint Canadian-Soviet skitrek earlier this year. Thanks to QST columnist Vern Riportella, WA2LQQ, donations of equipment were lined up from the Tandy Corporation (six Model 102 laptop computers), Yaesu USA (six FT-23R transceivers), and AEA (six PK-88 PNC's, a PK-232 data controller, and six Hotrod antennas). The donations were shipped to ARRL HQ, and employees of the ARRL lab spent two days making up cables to integrate the donated equipment as six complete, separate packet stations. The ARRL added a supply of batteries and some other accessories to the shipment. The completed stations were packed and given to Vern Riportella, who delivered them to Kennedy Airport, where they were flown to Moscow December 21. As of this writing, several of the portable packet stations are on the air, supplementing communications between the stricken area, Moscow, and the rest of the world. FCC PROPOSES TO EXPAND 6-METER REPEATER SUBBAND The FCC has proposed, in Docket 88-527, to expand the 6- meter repeater subband by 1 MHz, to include 51-52 MHz. The proposal is in response to two petitions filed by two repeater groups on the West Coast, The Southern California Six Meter Club (SCSMC) and The Southern California Repeater and Remote Base Association (SCRRBA). Both groups requested expansion of the 6- meter repeater subband in order to accommodate a growing number of repeaters in the band. The FCC stated: "It appears that an expansion of the 6-meter repeater subband would provide for additional flexibility in the use of the 6-meter band. The amateur community could determine for itself the exact usage to which the 1 MHz of additional spectrum would be put. In urban areas, the 1 MHz could be utilized to make possible additional repeater operation. In less populated areas, where there may be no present need for additional repeater operations, the spectrum could continue to be available for other types of operation." The FCC noted it was concerned with the effect the expansion may have on the present users of the 51-52 MHz segment and invited comments on the need for repeater expansion and its impact on existing users. Comments on the proposal are due January 27, 1989, with reply comments due February 28, 1989. EPA WILL NOT ISSUE RF EXPOSURE GUIDELINES The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no longer plans to issue federal guidelines for public exposure to radio- frequency and microwave radiation during the 1989 and 1990 federal fiscal years. In 1986 the EPA had outlined four options for nonionizing radiation risks, and held a public hearing on the subject. These options, which did not appear to affect radio amateurs, are outlined in August 1986 QST, page 51. The EPA said it was halting the work to concentrate on what it considers more pressing issues such as radon contamination and underground nuclear waste repositories. The broadcast industry was surprised at the EPA decision and fears that without federal guidance from the EPA, there will be a proliferation of state and local rules much stricter than those presently adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The EPA is still scheduled to release as assessment of the cancer threat posed by low- and high-frequency electromagnetic radiation by the end of the year. This assessment could influence the perception of the health threat of electromagnetic radiation and again increase pressure on the EPA to issue federal guidelines. FCC RECONSIDERS CABLE TV TERMINAL EMISSION STANDARDS Back in the summer of 1987, the ARRL found itself on the same wavelength as the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) in advocating tougher cable TV terminal emission standards. In Docket 85-301, the Commission subjected cable system terminal devices (CSTDs) to field strength emission limits of Part 15 of the Commission's rules, rather than the more stringent Part 76, thus permitting RF leakage at higher levels than was previously allowed. The NCTA filed a petition for reconsideration suggesting an alternative approach. The NCTA proposed that the FCC distinguish between emissions from the "internally generated" sources (such as local oscillators) and emissions of signals that are introduced into the terminal device (such as external RF signals). Internally generated cable leakage would be subject to the more strict Part 76 limits, whereas the externally generated signals that enter the cable system through cable terminal devices would be subject to Part 15 standards. Since this view was, in part, the same as the ARRL's, we filed a brief statement in support of the NCTA petition for reconsideration. In our statement we said: "This counterproposal (by the NCTA) is sound from an engineering point of view and promises to minimize instances of interaction between cable systems and amateur stations. It is a far better alternative than that adopted by the Commission thus far." The Commission has now ruled on the NCTA petition. The FCC said: "We agree...that the application of Part 76 emission limits...would be the surest way to prevent harmful interference. However, we are not convinced that such a conservative measure is necessary or in the public interest. The Part 76 emission limits were designed to apply to open air cable installations where radiated emissions would not be attenuated significantly by surrounding structures. CSTDs (cable system terminal devices)... are located within subscriber premises and share a common environment with other devices (cable ready television receivers or VCRs) which are connected to cable systems. Although those devices are presently allowed higher emission levels than the cable system, they have historically demonstrated that they are not a threat to the operation of the cable system or to other radio services. Therefore, we feel that it would be unnecessarily burdensome and costly to require manufacturers of CSTDs to comply with tighter emission standards when their devices pose no greater threat than cable-ready television receivers or VCRs." The Commission therefore will maintain its previous decision to apply the Part 15 emission limits to CSTDs. MIDWEST BALLOON LAUNCH IS SUCCESSFUL Bill Brown, WB8ELK, and Phil Frazier, KA8TEF, conducted the most successful balloon launch to date from the Midwest October 23. The balloon was launched at Findlay, Ohio, and its on-board "packet package" consisted of an ICOM 2AT, and Pac-Comm TNC. The flight provided two hours of spirited packet-radio activity before the balloon burst and a parachute lowered the package back to earth. The range of the operation extended out 400 miles! (TNX Gateway) TV CABLE COMPANY ORDERED TO FORFEIT $2000 The FCC Philadelphia Field Office has ordered the Raystay Company, trading as TV Cable of Carlisle (Pa), to forfeit $2000 for repeated violations of the FCC signal leakage standard. During two separate inspections of its cable system, FCC personnel found a total of 25 instances of excessive signal leakage. The FCC's rules prohibit cable television systems using frequencies between 54 and 216 MHz from exceeding a maximum signal leakage standard of 20 microvolts per meter measured at a distance of ten feet from its cable. Compliance with this rule is required to ensure that cable television systems do not interfere with over-the-air users in the same area. The FCC has denied a request from the Raystay Company to review the $2000 forfeiture. 220 MHZ DISTANCE RECORD FALLS The old distance record of 1181 miles set in 1982 by Al Ward, WB5LUA, and Peter Shilton, VE3EMS, fell to the advances of two challengers recently. The new record of 1289 miles was set September 9 by Richard Roderick, K5UR, Little Rock, Arkansas, and David Olean, K1WHS, West Lebanon, Maine, besting the old record by more than 100 miles! Roderick utilized a Kenwood TS-520 with a transverter and amplifier at 135 watts. The antenna was a single 17-element Boomer and GaAsFet preamp at 90 feet. Olean used a Kenwood TS- 820S with transverter and an 8877 amplifier at the legal limit. His antenna system consisted of four Boomers, stacked, with a 1 dB NF preamp. FCC-ISSUED CALL SIGN UPDATE The following is a list of THE FCC's most recently issued call signs. (December 1) DIST GRP"A" GRP"B" GRP"C" GRP"D" Extra Advanced Tech/Gen Novice 0 WO0Z KE0ZM N0JYT KB0DNE 1 NU1P KC1MV N1GDL KA1SUP 2 WM2L KE2KJ N2IUO KB2GPA 3 NT3A KD3KP N3GRH KA3TVE 4 AB4LX KM4LB N4ULP KC4HSF 5 AA5IZ KG5PQ N5NNP KB5HWC 6 AA6LQ KJ6OV N6TUM KC6AXI 7 WV7L KF7PO N7LYP KB7GER 8 WM8X KE8VK N8KDJ KB8FTC 9 WE9P KE9NV N9HZB KB9BSQ Guam KH2K AH2CD KH2DN WH2ALU Hawaii ** AH6JJ NH6SD WH6CBB Alaska ** AL7KO NL7PC WL7BSS USVI NP2E KP2BN NP2CT WP2AGE P.R. ** KP4PW WP4SK WP4IGE ** indicates that all 2 x 1 call signs have been assigned in those areas. OSCAR 13 HANDBOOK AVAILABLE AMSAT-UK in collaboration with AMSAT-DL, have completed the first OSCAR 13 Operator's Handbook. The sixty-page book provides all the critical data needed to utilize OSCAR 13 and understand how it works. Some of the topics discussed are: history of OSCAR 13, bandplan, station requirements, and communicating with the bird; transponders: modes and scheduling; antenna systems, and telemetry formats and decoding information. The Handbook is available in North America from Project Oscar. For further details, send a SASE to: AO-13 Handbook Project OSCAR PO Box 1136 Los Altos, CA 94023-1136 QSL ADDRESS FOR U1MIR We have recently been made aware of the following address for those who have worked Musa and Vlad on board the orbiting Soviet space station, Mir. Send QSL cards to: B. Stephanov Box 679 Moscow 107207 USSR FCC SHUTS DOWN UNLICENSED RADIO STATION FCC Engineers shut down an illegal repeater station in Manhattan, New York recently. The station, located at the residence of William Matos on South Street in downtown Manhattan, was operating on 148-149.9 MHz, frequencies reserved for use by the US government for fixed, mobile and satellite communications. The unauthorized repeater was being used for personal communications by an estimated dozen individuals in the New York area. In a later news release, the FCC said that six Manhattan residents were fined $750 each for using the repeater. The individual who installed the repeater station, identified by the FCC as Michael Munoz, of Astoria NY, was fined $2000. Speaking of unlicensed radio stations, remember the pirate shipboard station called Radio New York International? Anchored off Long Island, the ship was broadcasting "rock and roll" on the high end of the AM broadcast band. It was boarded and taken off the air by FCC and other federal agents in the summer of 1987, creating a national news event. It seems that Radio New York International's founders had again publicly announced plans to resume the broadcasts from another ship, so the government filed suit to enjoin them from doing so. The case was heard in US District Court in Boston. The judge, in granting summary judgement for the government, said that the First Amendment does not grant anyone the right to broadcast by radio and that government regulation of broadcasting is constitutional. The judge stated that the FCC must allocate the limited available broadcast frequencies by way of the licensing process, and that this type of regulation best serves the public interest. He further concluded that such regulation of the radio bands does not infringe upon the constitutional rights of the defendants. TEMPORARY CHRISTMAS THIRD PARTY AGREEMENT WITH KOREA As usual every Christmas holiday season, the US and the Republic of Korea shared a temporary third party agreement between December 18, 1988 and January 2, 1989. The agreement enabled US servicemen to send and receive holiday greetings via amateur radio.