SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.900
Amateur Radio Newsline #900 11 Nov 1994

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.

Copyright owner is Newsline.  Permission to reuse all or part of either
this written or the audio form requires that the item be taken in it's
entirety, not be subject to any further editing or commentary, and that
full credit given to Newsline as the source.  

Permission is granted to all amateurs who want to transmit the audio
version in it's entirety over nets or repeaters.  The text version may be
used for packet distribution as long as it is sent in its entirety and the
BIN header is kept intact.

NOTICE: When Newsline is transmitted in it's full form over voice or
digital forms of Amateur Radio, it is recommended that the closed circut
advisory be deleted.  Audio, Computer, and Packet retransmissions must be
made without the editing or deleting of any other part of the Newsline
content.  Unauthorized additional commentary to the original message is
also prohibited.  To do so is a violation of copyright and subjects the
initiator to legal action by Newsline.

Newsline may also be excerpted for code practice transmissions just like any
other news item from any other permissable/public source.

Any other use is not allowed without the expressed permission of Newsline.

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.dorsai.org
     Internet mailing list (re-distributors) - D.CARY@genie.geis.com
     BBS Networks - Steve Coletti (within the conference/echo) or
                    bigsteve@dorsai.dorsai.org via Internet.
                    (RIME users can RO mail to ->35,
                    Fidonet users can Netmail to 1:278/309)

- - - - - -
 
NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #900 - POSTED 11/13/94
 
 (***************************************************************)
 (*                                                             *)
 (*      *   * ***** *    *  **** *     ***** *   * *****       *)
 (*      **  * *     *    * *     *       *   **  * *           *)
 (*      * * * ***   * ** *  ***  *       *   * * * ***         *)
 (*      *  ** *     * ** *     * *       *   *  ** *           *)
 (*      *   * *****  *  *  ****  ***** ***** *   * *****       *)
 (*                                                             *)
 (*                ****    *   ****  *****  ***                 *)
 (*                *   *  * *  *   *   *   *   *                *)
 (*                ****  ***** *   *   *   *   *                *)
 (*                *  *  *   * *   *   *   *   *                *)
 (*                *   * *   * ****  *****  ***                 *)
 (*                                                             *)
 (***************************************************************)
 
   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.......................... (718) 353-2801
     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
     Internet...............................
       In the rec.radio.info newsgroup
       FTP: oak.oakland.edu, archive: pub/hamradio/docs/newsline
     Fidonet, RIME, Intellec, I-Link........
       In the Ham Radio conferences on those networks
     CompuServe/HamNet...................... Coming Soon!
 
   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!!!
 
(****************************************************************
 
[900]
 
(* * * *   C L O S E D   C I R C U I T   A D V I S O R Y   * * * *
 (*                                                               *
 (*     Newsline report number 900, for release on Friday,        *
 (*  November 11, 1994 and celebrating 17 and a half years of     *
 (*  uninterrupted ham radio news bulletins to follow.            *
 (*                                                               *
 (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
                     The following is a QST
 
   Ham radio is there as the grim search continues at an Indiana
 plane crash site, the Dayton Hamvention announces a date change
 for 1996 and its number 900 for Newsline.  All this and more on
 Newsline report number 900 coming your way right now!
 
(*****
                      AMERICAN EAGLE CRASH
 
   Amateur radio was called upon to help in the aftermath of the
 October 31st American Eagle plane crash.  The twin-engine French
 built turboprop slammed into a northwest Indiana soybean field,
 killing all 68 passengers and crew.
   The devastation of Flight 4184's crash makes recovery a wide
 spread an tedious operation.  With scores of investigators and
 relief workers on site, the need for communications was critical.
 The Salvation Army was among several agencies sending crews to
 the crash area.  Pat Mc Pherson, WW9E, is the Salvation Army's
 local disaster service director.  He says hams manned key relief
 stations through out the area.
   "What we have hear, in the Salvation Army actually, are number
 of vehicles, including five disaster canteens.  One is a staging
 canteen, area canteen, where we bring in our people and our
 supplies initially and then disperse them to the areas.  We have
 two canteens on the crash site.  One serves all of the responding
 personnel, the other is actually on the recovery area with
 recovery teams.  We have also a canteen at the emergency or
 temporary morgue.  We have our Salvation Army counselors and
 canteen people there.  We also have a canteen at a counseling site
 near the emergency morgue.  So what we found out, at least from my
 point of view, is I needed communications between all of these
 different entities and my people in Chicago."  Pat Mc Pherson,
 WW9E.
   Mc Pherson is part of SATERN, the Salvation Army Team Emergency
 Radio Net.  SATERN members were called into action shortly after
 the crash.
   "The disaster area that we were serving extended to about 100
 miles, at least the range we needed to communicate from Chicago to
 Remington, IN were a temporary morgue was setup and was actually
 the command center for the entire operation there."  WW9E.
   Amateur radio frequencies on 2 meters and HF were active around
 the clock with disaster related traffic.  Mc Pherson says hams
 have an important role in crash relief efforts.
   "It affects our efficiency.  It affects the number of
 necessary errors of going back and forth.  Because if you didn't
 have communications you would just have to make a number of trips
 that you wouldn't have to.  You can understand when I am 50 to 60
 miles away from the scene to be able to make a decision right
 there when I have no other means of communications and to help out
 in the situation, there's a dynamic you really can't formulate
 very easily just way beyond what you can normally do."  WW9E.
   Amateurs from several clubs provided communications assistance.
 Hams also responded from Illinois.  Amateur radio is credited with
 once again providing a vital service in the wake of tragedy.
   The use of amateur radio during the American Eagle crash is
 another example of how valuable hams can be during disasters.
 Peggy Coulter, W9JUJ, is the ARRL's Indiana Section Manager.
 She praised what hams at the crash site did.
   "I think it's wonderful, I think it's great to link the
 different places together."  Peggy Coulter, W9JUJ.
   One other note on the role hams played in the crash aftermath.
 Disaster officials found that hams can sometimes do what cellular
 telephones cannot.  Cellular coverage is marginal in some parts of
 the crash site area making amateur radio all the more valuable.
 
(*****
                  FREE FEMA TRAINING FOR HAMS
 
   Still with emergency preparedness, the Federal Emergency
 Management Agency, FEMA says that it has available at no cost,
 several home study courses on disaster preparedness response.
 According to a posting by KD6RXY these courses can be converted
 to college credit if desired.  Courses of interest for RACES and
 ARES emergency communicators are Emergency USA, Hazardous
 Materials Orientation and a Citizens Guide to Disaster Assistance.
 Emergency Coordinators and other leadership personnel may also
 find the course Emergency Program Manager of interest.  For
 further information please write to FEMA-EMI Home Study Program,
 16825 South Seton Ave, Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727.
 
(*****
                     HAMVENTION DATE CHANGE
 
   After four decades of fighting the uncertainty of weather
 conditions in Ohio in late April, ham radio's greatest show on
 earth is changing its date effective in 1996.  That's when the
 Dayton Hamvention will abandon its traditional last weekend in
 April for a much warmer and less rain vulnerable mid May date.
 Ken Allen, KB8KE is chairman of Hamvention '95.
   "We had received comments over the years, increasingly of late
 from attendees and people in the flea market, some of the other
 exhibitors that they really would like to see us move later in the
 year.  Also the HARA Arena people were interested in seeing us
 move it later in the year because of possible conflicts with their
 hockey team that is based there." Ken Allen, KB8KE.
   Starting in 1996, that's a year and a half from now, the
 Hamvention will be held the third weekend in May.  Hamvention '96
 will take place the weekend of May 17, 18 and 19.  The 1997
 Hamvention will take place May 16, 17 and 18 and 1998 will be
 May 15, 16 and 17.
   Why no change for 1995?  Many of the regular exhibitors at the
 Hamvention work up their convention schedules one, two or even
 three years in advance.  Giving them only six months notice would
 not be fair to them.  Therefore no change is planned for the 1995
 Hamvention.  It's still slated for the weekend of April 28, 29 and
 30 at the HARA Arena in Dayton.
 
(*****
                        DARA SCHOLARSHIPS
 
   The Dayton Amateur Radio Association is also accepting
 applications for its annual scholarship awards program.  DARA
 Scholarships are open to all FCC licensed radio amateurs who will
 graduate from high school in 1995.  The club offers eight
 scholarship awards valued at $2000 each.  For more information and
 an application form please write to the Dayton Amateur Radio
 Association Scholarship Committee, 45 Cinnamon Court, Springboro
 Ohio 45006.
 
(*****
                    W1AW FAVORS THE SOUTHEAST
 
   ARRL headquarters station W1AW has reoriented its beam
 antenna system on 20, 15 and 10 meters to provide improved
 coverage in the south-eastern United States,  The league says that
 its main 120 foot high tower now has its upper bay of antennas
 pointed west with the lower bay fed in phase and pointed toward
 the south.  The reorientation work was performed by W1AW station
 manager WA1MBK and station operator WB9RRU and the ARRL wants to
 know how the W1AW signal is now coming in.
 
(*****
                 FCC EMPLOYEES JOINING INFOPIKE
 
   The FCC which is leading the way to the Information
 Superhighway has also joined it.  This as of October 3rd when
 complete issues of the independent newsletter "Communications
 Daily" began to be distributed electronically each business day to
 all 1,844 FCC employees.
   Under an agreement announced by FCC Chairman Reed E. Hundt, all
 employees will access the Daily via the Commission's internal
 network or will obtain printed copies after the publication is
 downloaded to a printer.  The journal will go to all field offices
 as well as distribution in its Washington headquarters, but only
 FCC employees will be allowed to access to it.
 
(*****
                        NEW UK AGE LIMIT
 
   The Radio Society of Great Britain reports that the United
 Kingdom has lowered the minimum age for obtaining a full Amateur
 Radio license from 14 to 10.  The new age limit brings with it a
 provision that the young applicant must have held a U.K. Novice
 Class A or Class B ticket for at least one year and then pass an
 examination for a Full Class A or Class B ticket.
 
(*****
                          TAPR MEETING
 
   The 1995 Annual Meeting  of the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
 group takes place March 3rd, 4th, & 5th, in St. Louis, MO.  Hosted
 by the Missouri Amateur Packet Society some of the brightest and
 most enthusiastic of today's packet developers and users will be
 on hand for the session.
   Tucson Amateur Packet Radio is a non-profit research and
 development corporation working on the advancement of digital
 communications and education.  This year's annual meeting will be
 the first held outside of Arizona.  As such, it presents a unique
 opportunity for those unable to travel to Tucson to attend such
 gatherings.
   For full details on registration contact Tucson Amateur Packet
 Radio, 8987-309 East Tanque Verde Road #337, Tucson, Arizona
 85749 or by Internet Electronic mail to TAPR@TAPR.ORG.
 
(*****
                            DX-HS QSL
 
   In DX word that the QSL Manager for the Radio Amateur Society
 of Thailand, HS1HSJ, has had a number of personal problems
 resigned.  That duty has been taken over by Dallas Carter, K3WUW.
 HS1ASN will serve as his assistant.  This means that QSL requests
 for E22DX, E28DX, and HS8AS should now be directed to the Society
 address, at GPO Box 2008, Bangkok 10501, Thailand.
 
(*****
                        WEST RECOVERING
 
   Famed ham radio instructor Gordon West WB6NOA is recovering
 from eye surgery following a surfing accident off of Newport
 Beach, California where he had suffered a detached retina.
   It was not until Halloween weekend, a few days after the
 accident that Gordo became aware of the problem.  He was teaching
 his regular No Code Tech and a General code class in Irvine,
 California.  On the third and final day affected eye went out on
 him.  Gordo, being the trooper he is, continued to teach despite
 the problem.  He then checked into St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange
 for corrective surgery.
   We spoke to Gordo on the phone.  He is now home recuperating
 and hopes to be back in the swing of things within two to three
 weeks.  In the meantime, get well wishes can be sent to Gordo at
 his home address of 2414 College Drive, Costa Mesa, California
 92626.
 
(*****
                          NEWSLINE 900
 
   And finally, it was a mere 900 weeks ago when Jim Hendershot
 WA6VQP first said.
 
   "The following is a QST.  This is WestLink."  Jim Hendershot,
 WA6VQP.
 
   The date was September 27th 1977.  The big story that week and
 that year was a decision by the FCC to deregulate repeaters.
 Quite literally to make the ownership of relay communications
 devices available to every ham.  And it was repeater deregulation
 that was directly responsible for the creation of the Westlink
 Radio Network.  The organization that would later become known as
 Newsline.
 
   "The FCC dropped its deregulation bombshell last week.  Bob
 Thornberg, WB6JPI reads the details from the ARRL Directors
 letter."  WA6VQP.
 
   "This is Directors letter number 1697 of the American Radio
 Relay League dated September 22nd, 1977.
   The FCC on September 21st, 1977 at a meeting, acted on docket
 21033."  Bob Thornberg, WB6JPI.
 
   None of those who started the Westlink Radio Network could be
 called professional news people.  At least not back then.  In
 fact, it wasn't until late 1979 when Alan Kaul, W6RCL joined the
 team that a sense of professionalism took hold and the service
 took on a definite direction.  Alan, who is now a network producer
 for NBC news recalls those early days.
 
   "The early days of the WestLink Radio Network were pretty
 exciting times because they were unpredictable.  Nothing was
 really scripted.  There were no rules.  There was no format to
 follow.  We just sort of did whatever came into Bill's mind every
 week.  Ad libed alot.
   I remembered that I was interested in some stuff.  I was able
 to travel to some far and distant places like Bangkok on a story
 about boat people.
   To Teheran on a story about the American hostages in 1979.  We
 found that we could get some stuff into the newscast that was
 really interesting that people wouldn't find out about anywhere
 else.
   The World Amateur Radio Conference had been meeting and it was
 covered extensively in Bangkok, of all places.  There were reports
 on the BBC and we were able to get stuff, information long before
 it ever appeared in print in any other American publication.
   In Teheran, during those early days of the American hostage
 crisis.  In the first month or two, I meet a ham that had been
 living in Teheran.  And was operating clandestinely, and sort of
 explained what was going on.  The kind of fears that radio
 amateurs had.  The fact that it was impossible to bring a radio
 into the country with a BFO.  So that you could receive morse
 code, unless you had special permission from the government.
   So it was quite an interesting sort of travel log.  Those were
 some of the things we were able to pass on to our listeners."
 Alan Kaul, K6RCL.
 
   Today the Westlink Radio Network is known as Newsline.  It has
 a dozen automated outgoing telephones in key cities throughout the
 United States.  Most sponsored by radio clubs and individual
 amateurs as a service to their local ham radio community.  There
 is also a worldwide volunteer staff of broadcast professionals
 providing story information and technical support.  Each week an
 estimated nine thousand hams call in and record the newscast for
 replay over repeaters and bulletin stations worldwide.  How
 Newsline has grown into such a widely heard ham radio bulletin
 service will be covered in part two of this special report on the
 history of Newsline, next week.
 
(*****
 
   But for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.
 You can write to us at:
                           NEWSLINE
                           Post Office Box 463
                           Pasadena, California
                           91102.
 
(* * * Newsline Copyright 1994 all rights are reserved. * * *

