
NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #979 - 05/17/96

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(*                                               *)
(*                 A M A T E U R                 *)
(*                                               *)
(*                   R A D I O                   *)
(*                                               *)
(*                N E W S L I N E                *)
(*                                               *)
(*************************************************) 

   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.  Amateur 
Radio Newsline is a audio news service distributed 
via telephone.

   This hardcopy version is produced by Dale Cary 
- WD0AKO from scripts provided to him weekly by 
Newsline.  It is then distributed to on-line 
services, bbs networks and internet user jointly 
by Dale Cary and Steve Coletti.

   Editorial comments, news item and all other 
business should be directed to:

           Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
           Newsline Producer & Editor 

      Internet E-mail: 3241437@mcimail.com
           MCI E-mail: WESTRADIO
                Phone: (805) 296-7180
                  Fax: (805) 296-7180
          (Fax senders wait for voice prompt.)


   Hardcopy comments or complements can be 
directed to:

           Dale Cary, WD0AKO
           Hardcopy Distribution for Newsline

        Internet E-mail: wd0ako@rrnet.com
                  Phone: (218) 236-6324


   The audio version of Newsline can be recorded 
from one of the currently operating lines listed 
below.  This list is kept as accurate as possible.  
If any changes are not listed, please contact Dale 
Cary, WD0AKO at the above listed addresses.


             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) 284-0752
Melbourne, Florida................. (407) 768-7447
Houston, Texas..................... (713) 362-4650
Conroe, Texas...................... (409) 525-6250

      Electronic Hardcopy Version of Newsline 
      =======================================
GEnie.............................. m345;1
GEnie.............................. m345;3
Dallas Remote Imaging BBS (DRIG)... (214) 492-7573
   In bulletin number 36
America Online.........................
   Ham Radio forum/Ham Radio General File Library
Delphi.................................
   In the ham radio conference
CompuServe/HamNet...........HamNet Library 0
Microsoft Network (MSN).... Amateur Radio File Lib 


           True Speech Internet Site                                  
                                                      
           =========================
          http://www.scott.net/~wa4fat

   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 S.A.S.E. at: 

               NEWSLINE
               c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ
               P.O.Box 660937
               Arcadia, CA
               91066

                             Thank You,
                                NEWSLINE

(**************************************************
Some of the hams of AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE:

WA6ITF WB6MQV WB6FDF K6DUE W6RCL N6AHU N6AWE N6TCQ 
K6PGX N6PNY KU8R N8DTN W9JUV KC9RP K9XI KB4KCH 
KC5UD KC0HF G8AUU WD0AKO DJ0QN and many 
others in the United States and around the globe!!!
(**************************************************
[979]

   The following advisory is not necessarily for
transmission over amateur radio.  This is just a
reminder that the address for the Newsline Support
Fund is:

                Newsline
                c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ
                P.O.Box 660937
                Arcadia, California
                91066

   Again, and as always, we thank you.  This ends
the closed circuit with Newsline report number 979
for release on Friday, May 17, 1996 to follow.

(*****
             The following is a QST
             ======================

   The FCC decides to release details of a VE
investigation while a Louisiana ham surrenders his
ticket for life.  These stories and more on
Newsline report number 979 coming your way right
now.

(*****
      FCC GIVES OUT INVESTIGATION INFORMATION

   Has the Federal Communications Commission placed
the security of the all volunteer testing program
in jeopardy?  This may well be the case if a story
in the May 1st edition of the W5YI Report ham
newsletter is true.
   According to W5YI, the FCC has released certain 
documents surrounding an investigation of an
examination session held in Quapaw, Oklahoma in
March of 1994.  An investigation held to determine
whether applicants examined at that session had
prior access to the contents of their Amateur Radio
operator license exams prior to the start of the
test.
   W5YI says that two volunteer examiners were
temporarily suspended by the ARRL VEC.  Then, based
on information that the League supplied, the FCC
required that several examines be retested.  All
refused to take new tests and the FCC informed
them that their newly obtained licenses would be
canceled or downgraded to whatever level they held
prior to the exam session.  The two volunteer
examiners along with two applicants countered by
seeking release of the investigation documents
under the Freedom of Information Act.  
   On learning of the request, the ARRL filed a
motion to deny.  The League said that it was very
concerned that releasing the documents would not
only interfere with the investigation, but would
also reveal some of the investigatory techniques
used by the ARRL to assure that ham radio testing
security was not compromised.  The ARRL noted that
releasing any of this material would not only
compromise the content of tests currently in use,
but would also disclose the identities of persons
not under investigation.  This says the League,
would invade their privacy while revealing
potential informers and confidential sources.
   But the Washington bureaucracy moves in very
strange ways.  When the investigation was
completed, the FCC said that it would release the
documents with certain information deleted.  This,
even if it means a breach the impunity of the ham
radio testing program.  It did however refuse to
make public certain Morse code testing materials
but also refused to return to the ARRL the
original documents that lead to the investigation.
The agency says that under federal law it cannot
return any materials that might be subject to a
Freedom of Information Act request.
   This is not the first time that the bureaucrats
at the FCC have jeopardized the security of the All
Volunteer Amateur Radio Testing System.  Regular
listeners may remember about a year and a half ago
when the name of an informant was handed out by an
FCC lawyer to a volunteer examiner under scrutiny
in another investigation.  That person later
received threats for being a good citizen and
telling the FCC.

(*****
          FAMILY RADIO SERVICE CREATED

   The FCC acted on May 10th to create a new
personal Family Radio Service.  This service was
established in direct response to a petition filed
by the Radio Shack Division of Tandy Corporation.
Radio hack had requested that the Commission
establish such a new radio service to be aimed at
providing the American public an affordable and
convenient means of direct, short range two-way
voice communications among small groups of people.  
   The new Family Radio Service is described by the
FCC as a short distance with a presumed range of up
to a half mile.  Its purpose is to provide families,
friends and / or associates participating in group
outings a way to communicate with members of the
group who are out of speaking range or but still
in the same general area.  For example, the Family
Radio Service could be used by hunters, campers,
hikers, bicyclists and other outdoor activity
enthusiasts to keep in contact with one another.
It could also be used by parents to keep in touch
with children playing in the neighborhood or
families or friends to keep in contact with one
another while at shopping malls, sporting events,
or amusements parks.
   The new FCC rules authorize a user to operate
an FCC certified Family Radio Service transmitter
without a license in places where it regulates
communications.  FCC certified units may be
identified by the label placed on it by the
manufacturers.  The radios transmit on any of the
fourteen channels in the 462 to 468 MHZ range
allocated to the Family Radio Service.
   If the Family Radio Service sounds like another
attempt at creating a new version of the old 11
meter class D citizens radio service you are right.
The big difference is that only super low power
radio equipment will be available to service users
and the frequency range selected is considered to
be line of sight.  So there is little chance of
there being Family Radio Service users trying to
shoot skip in the 460 MHZ band.
   One final note.  The FCC decision to create the
Family Radio Service will have definite impact in
the world of business and finance.  Not the least
of these is that its ability to get the Family
Radio Service created puts Tandy Radio Shack in
the position of a two-way telecommunications
giant along with companies such as Motorola and GE.
   More on the creation of the new Family Radio
Service and the impact it may have on the growth of
Amateur Radio in a future Newsline report.

(*****
                 FORET CASE CLOSED

   Irvin J. Foret, KB5UJD, will be giving up hobby
radio for life.  Foret is the Metairie, Louisiana,
Technician Plus ham whose license was suspended for
two years by the FCC.  This, following allegations
of interference to Amateur Radio operations in the
New Orleans area.
   After several weeks of bargaining it appears as
if Foret has reached a settlement with the FCC to
end the enforcement proceedings against him.  The
key point of the deal is that Foret has agreed to
immediately surrender his Amateur Radio license
for life and permanently divest himself of all
electronic equipment capable of transmitting on
the ham bands.  In addition, Foret has agreed not
to apply for any FCC license or permit, regardless
of the service.  He has also agreed to abstain
from participating as a third party in any
communication in the Amateur Radio service and
even from transmitting on CB and will also pay a
$500 forfeiture to the FCC.  
   But the core of the agreement was his new found
willingness to cooperate fully with all government
officials in connection with any ongoing or future
administrative or law enforcement investigations
or proceedings involving ham radio operations by
others.  In simpler terms, Foret will become a
witness for the government in any proceedings that
it may undertake against other hams who may have
been involved in the same or other rules violations
of which Foret may have knowledge.
   The Commissions original action against Foret
came on April 5th.  This, after Commission
personnel monitored and documented Foret's
transmissions in December 1995 and January 1996.
The FCC said some of Foret's transmissions on
January 29, 1996, constituted willful or malicious
interference to the transmissions of other Amateur
Radio stations, in apparent violation of FCC rules.
During an inspection of his station, the FCC said,
Foret had been lacking in candor and misrepresented
material facts to Commission personnel by stating
that he did not make the transmissions the
Commission observed.  The FCC also said some of
Foret's transmissions were unidentified, included
music or were obscene or indecent, the alleged
indecent transmissions occurring at a time when
there was a reasonable risk that children were in
the audience.  The latter being a direct violation
of the so-called "safe harbor rule."
   The agreement between Foret and the FCC does
not prohibit him from engaging in otherwise lawful
transmissions over land mobile radio facilities as
part of his work.  But as far as any other form of
radio communications is concerned, Irvin J. Foret,
soon to be the ex KC5UJD, is now banned for life.
It is also one of the harshest regulatory
enforcement actions taken against a radio amateur
in the past two decades, and hams nationwide are
wondering who will be next.

(*****
                TEETSONS REMEMBERED

   A friend of the murdered Floyd Teetson, W5MUG,
and is wife, Winnie, WN5YTR says that he cannot
comprehend why the alleged assailant killed the
only two people who cared about him.  Troy Ballard,
W5AU, is among those having a hard time
understanding why 18 year old Kevin Coleman, whom
he described as a high-school dropout, committed
the crime.  "They really had tried hard to help
this young man," says Ballard.  
   "They both had stressed the importance of
Coleman getting an education, and even offered to
pay a tutor to help him get his general educational
development diploma.  They were probably the only
true friends this person had."
   Ballard and two other hams went ahead with plans
laid mostly by the Teetsons, to operate during the
ARRL International DX Contest from Little Cayman
Island.  The group used Floyd Teetson's Caymans'
call sign of ZF2FT in honor of their slain friends.
   Coleman who has confessed to killing the
Teetsons faces the death penalty if convicted of
the crime.

(*****
                   DAYTON IS ON

   The 1996 Dayton Hamvention is on.  Three weeks
later than in years past, Hamvention '96 opened at
noon on Friday May 17th to a record crowd.  Ken
Allen, KB8KE is the General Chairman of Hamvention
'96.  He says that with the date change, he had one
big worry:

   "For years now, Hamvention has been that last
weekend in April.  So it has been on peoples
agenda.  It has become habit to a lot of people.
Has just become part of their yearly routine.  So
part of it is a fear that we have had in the back
of our minds, that come the third weekend in April
there's going to be this crowd of people show up at
Hara Arena asking where Hamvention is."  KB8KE

   Well nobody we know of showed up at the Hara
Arena on the wrong weekend.  This is primarily
because the Hamvention planners went to great
lengths to publicize the new date.  Again Ken
Allen, KB8KE:

   "We have advertised it rather heavily, that we
have changed the dates.  Last year, I'm sure you
may note that we were passing out extra flyers
every time somebody walked by a ticket booth or a
ticket sales place or just about anywhere in the
arena.  We were handing out these little notices
reminding people of the date change."  KB8KE

   As we go to air, Newsline reporters are
circulating throughout Hamvention '96 with tape
recorders in hand.  We will have a full wrap up
next week.

(*****
      DISASTER PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP SET

   A workshop titled Disaster Preparedness:
Reducing Risk and Improving Response, is scheduled
for June 24 in Asheville, North Carolina.  It's
sponsored by the Disaster Emergency Response
Association which is an ARRL-affiliated
organization.
   All Amateur Radio operators and others involved
with disaster planning and emergency response are
welcome.  Robert R. Dockery, WD4CNZ, a professor
at Western Piedmont College, will chair the
workshop, which plans to cover risk assessment,
mass casualties, terrorism, hazard mitigation,
incident command, communications and recovery.
   The workshop will be held in Simpson Auditorium
at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
The first session runs from 9 AM until 5 PM; the
second from 6 until 9 PM.  Participants may attend
either or both sessions.  The registration fee for
Amateur Radio operators active in any form of
voluntary emergency service is only $12.50 if they
register before June 1st.  To register or for more
information, write the:

                   D.E.R.A.
                   Readiness Workshop
                   P.O.Box 6558
                   Asheville, NC 28816

(*****
                 LEARN YOUR NOI'S

   The FCC will host an open forum on May 31st on
the proper way to participate in the rule making
process.  The three hour session starts at 9AM in
Washinton, D.C.  For more information contact:
Martha Contee at (202) 418-0260.

(*****
       NEW HUDSON VICE DIRECTOR APPOINTED

   Dr. Richard A. Sandell, WK6R, of Scarsdale, New
York, has been appointed Vice Director of the ARRL
Hudson Division.  He will fill out the unexpired
term of Paul Vadarny, WB2VUK, who ascended to
Division Director upon the election of Stephen
Mendelsohn, WA2DHF, as the League's First Vice
President earlier this year.

(*****
                 COLLOQUIUM '96

   The 11th AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be held at
Surrey University, Guildford, Surrey, U.K., from
Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July 1996.  Current
intentions are to devote the Thursday to
international and IARU matters and to structure
other subjects across the following three days.  
   Amsat-UK invites authors to submit papers,
about amateur radio space and associated
activities, for this event.  Abstracts of Papers
for presentation should be submitted as soon as
possible.  Submissions should be sent to:

               Chris Jackson
               G7UPN via Internet

                     to

               G7UPN@amsat.org.


(***** 
                   DOVE DOWN

   The DOVE-OSCAR 17 satellite remains down
following problems first experienced last December
when an onboard computer apparently crashed.  Jim
White, WD0E, of AMSAT reports that ground
controllers have ruled out a few hardware problems,
but have come no closer to identifying the actual
cause of the satellite's onboard computer problems.
The satellite is transmitting occasional packets on
145.825 MHZ but not transmitting on S band.

(*****
                     ARIANE 

   Western Europe's first new-generation Ariane-5
rocket was transferred to a launch pad in French
Guiana for tests that will fix a launch date.  The
100 foot high launcher with two solid propellant
strap-on boosters is the type that will be used to
launch the Phase 3D ham satellite into orbit.  

(*****
        PUPILS PLAN MOCK SHUTTLE MISSION

   To help generate awareness of their scheduled
SAREX contact during the STS-78 shuttle flight in
June, pupils at Heritage Middle School in
Colleyville, Texas, launched a shuttle mission of
their own.  A mission complete with SAREX.
   Seven pupils in a sixth-grade math class served
as astronauts during the day long mock-up.  More
than 200 students participated on different support
teams.
   One of the student astronauts, Vivian Wang,
KC5NAU, operated onboard equipment for 2 meter FM,
70 centimeter amateur television and packet.  Other
radios were in the schools own mission control and
in other classrooms.  The youngsters performed
experiments and space activities and even have to
dealt with a few "problems" during the mission.  
   The real STS-78 is scheduled to launch June 20
at 14:49 UTC.  It will carry space shuttle Columbia
into orbit for a 16 day microgravity mission.
SAREX communications will include FM voice and
packet radio.

(*****
            PIONEER 6 - 30 YEARS OLD 

   The world's oldest operating spacecraft, a 140
pound probe called Pioneer 6, marked 30 years in
orbit around the sun last December 16th.  According
to a packet posting by KD6MSM, Pioneer 6 is a squat
cylinder about a yard long and a yard wide covered
with solar cells.
   Pioneer 6 went into space Dec. 16, 1965, on top
of a Delta rocket.  Since then, it has been in
solar orbit on an elliptical path that ranges from
about 93 million miles to about 75 million miles
from the sun -- about halfway between the orbits
of Earth and Venus.  
   Space scientists had designed the probe to last
six months, long enough to pass behind the sun as
seen from Earth and send back the first detailed
measurements from that region of magnetic fields,
cosmic rays and the solar wind of particles
expelled from the sun.  Although three of six
instruments have failed and the solar cells are
losing efficiency, the radio signal from Pioneer
has never stopped.

(*****
                   KIDS R US

   Speaking about young hams, a reminder that the
Hams 'R Us Kids Net is on every Sunday at 7PM on
the K2AA 145.290 MHZ repeater.  Net control is 13
year old N2WXE who has been running a kids net
since he received his ticket at age 10.  You also
can qualify for a special Kids Net certificate
after you check in 10 times. 

(*****
   And for this week, that's all from the Amateur
Radio Newsline.  You can write to us at:

                  NEWSLINE
                  P.O.Box 660937
                  Arcadia, California
                  91066

   For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF at our
editors desk, we at Newsline say 73 and we thank
you for listening.

(* * * *   NEWSLINE is Copyright 1996   * * * *

(* * *      All rights are reserved.      * * *

===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================



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From: bigsteve@dorsai.org (Steve_Coletti)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.info,rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Amateur Radio Newsline #979  17 May 1996
Date: 17 May 1996 07:06:13 -0400
Organization: S.C. Computer Consulting
Lines: 477
Approved: rec-radio-info@stat.com
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SB NEWSLIN @ ALLBBS $NLIN.979
Amateur Radio Newsline #979 17 May 1996

The Newsline Information and Copyright Notice is now published seperately
every month.  Please read this notice before using any part of Newsline in
any manner.  For a copy of the notice e-mail bigsteve@dorsai.org or netmail
Steve Coletti @ 1:278/230 on Fidonet.

[ Editors note:  We are back to our oringinal delivery format. Hope we had
not created too many headaches this past week. Seems that good old ASCII is
the best method.  Thanks for your patience.
                                                          Dale - WD0AKO  ]
 
               NEWSLINE RADIO - CBBS EDITION #979 - 05/17/96

            (*************************************************)
            (*                                               *)
            (*                 A M A T E U R                 *)
            (*                                               *)
            (*                   R A D I O                   *)
            (*                                               *)
            (*                N E W S L I N E                *)
            (*                                               *)
            (*************************************************)

   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.  Amateur Radio
Newsline is a audio news service distributed via telephone.

   This hardcopy version is produced by Dale Cary - WD0AKO from scripts
provided to him weekly by Newsline.  It is then distributed to on-line
services, bbs networks and internet user jointly by Dale Cary and Steve
Coletti.

   Editorial comments, news item and all other business should be directed
to:

                           Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
                         Newsline Producer & Editor

                    Internet E-mail: 3241437@mcimail.com
                           MCI E-mail: WESTRADIO
                           Phone: (805) 296-7180
                            Fax: (805) 296-7180
                    (Fax senders wait for voice prompt.)


   Hardcopy comments or complements can be directed to:

                             Dale Cary, WD0AKO
                     Hardcopy Distribution for Newsline

                     Internet E-mail: wd0ako@rrnet.com
                           Phone: (218) 236-6324


   The audio version of Newsline can be recorded from one of the currently
operating lines listed below.  This list is kept as accurate as possible.
If any changes are not listed, please contact Dale Cary, WD0AKO at the
above listed addresses.


                         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) 284-0752
             Melbourne, Florida................. (407) 768-7447
             Houston, Texas..................... (713) 362-4650
             Conroe, Texas...................... (409) 525-6250

                  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
           America Online.........................
                   Ham Radio forum/Ham Radio General File Library
           Delphi.....................In the ham radio conference
           CompuServe/HamNet.................... HamNet Library 0
           MicroSoft Network.......... Amateur Radio File Library
           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, Intelec, I-Link, AR-Net and Fringenet.


                         True Speech Internet Site
                         =========================
                        http://www.scott.net/~wa4fat

   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 S.A.S.E. at:

                                  NEWSLINE
                           c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ
                               P.O.Box 660937
                                Arcadia, CA
                                   91066

                                             Thank You,
                                                NEWSLINE

(**************************************************
Some of the hams of AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE:

WA6ITF WB6MQV WB6FDF K6DUE W6RCL N6AHU N6AWE N6TCQ K6PGX N6PNY KU8R N8DTN
W9JUV KC9RP K9XI KB4KCH KC5UD KC0HF G8AUU WD0AKO DJ0QN and many others in
the United States and around the globe!!!
(**************************************************
[979]

   The following advisory is not necessarily for transmission over amateur
radio.  This is just a reminder that the address for the Newsline Support
Fund is:

                                Newsline
                                c/o Andy Jarema-N6TCQ
                                P.O.Box 660937
                                Arcadia, California
                                91066

   Again, and as always, we thank you.  This ends the closed circuit with
Newsline report number 979 for release on Friday, May 17, 1996 to follow.

(*****
                           The following is a QST
                           ======================

   The FCC decides to release details of a VE investigation while a
Louisiana ham surrenders his ticket for life.  These stories and more on
Newsline report number 979 coming your way right now.

(*****
                  FCC GIVES OUT INVESTIGATION INFORMATION

   Has the Federal Communications Commission placed the security of the all
volunteer testing program in jeopardy?  This may well be the case if a
story in the May 1st edition of the W5YI Report ham newsletter is true.
   According to W5YI, the FCC has released certain documents surrounding an
investigation of an examination session held in Quapaw, Oklahoma in March
of 1994.  An investigation held to determine whether applicants examined at
that session had prior access to the contents of their Amateur Radio
operator license exams prior to the start of the test.
   W5YI says that two volunteer examiners were temporarily suspended by the
ARRL VEC.  Then, based on information that the League supplied, the FCC
required that several examines be retested.  All refused to take new tests
and the FCC informed them that their newly obtained licenses would be
canceled or downgraded to whatever level they held prior to the exam
session.  The two volunteer examiners along with two applicants countered
by seeking release of the investigation documents under the Freedom of
Information Act.
   On learning of the request, the ARRL filed a motion to deny.  The League
said that it was very concerned that releasing the documents would not only
interfere with the investigation, but would also reveal some of the
investigatory techniques used by the ARRL to assure that ham radio testing
security was not compromised.  The ARRL noted that releasing any of this
material would not only compromise the content of tests currently in use,
but would also disclose the identities of persons not under investigation.
This says the League, would invade their privacy while revealing potential
informers and confidential sources.
   But the Washington bureaucracy moves in very strange ways.  When the
investigation was completed, the FCC said that it would release the
documents with certain information deleted.  This, even if it means a
breach the impunity of the ham radio testing program.  It did however
refuse to make public certain Morse code testing materials but also refused
to return to the ARRL the original documents that lead to the
investigation. The agency says that under federal law it cannot return any
materials that might be subject to a Freedom of Information Act request.
   This is not the first time that the bureaucrats at the FCC have
jeopardized the security of the All Volunteer Amateur Radio Testing System.
Regular listeners may remember about a year and a half ago when the name of
an informant was handed out by an FCC lawyer to a volunteer examiner under
scrutiny in another investigation.  That person later received threats for
being a good citizen and telling the FCC.

(*****
                        FAMILY RADIO SERVICE CREATED

   The FCC acted on May 10th to create a new personal Family Radio Service.
This service was established in direct response to a petition filed by the
Radio Shack Division of Tandy Corporation. Radio hack had requested that
the Commission establish such a new radio service to be aimed at providing
the American public an affordable and convenient means of direct, short
range two-way voice communications among small groups of people.
   The new Family Radio Service is described by the FCC as a short distance
with a presumed range of up to a half mile.  Its purpose is to provide
families, friends and / or associates participating in group outings a way
to communicate with members of the group who are out of speaking range or
but still in the same general area.  For example, the Family Radio Service
could be used by hunters, campers, hikers, bicyclists and other outdoor
activity enthusiasts to keep in contact with one another. It could also be
used by parents to keep in touch with children playing in the neighborhood
or families or friends to keep in contact with one another while at
shopping malls, sporting events, or amusements parks.
   The new FCC rules authorize a user to operate an FCC certified Family
Radio Service transmitter without a license in places where it regulates
communications.  FCC certified units may be identified by the label placed
on it by the manufacturers.  The radios transmit on any of the fourteen
channels in the 462 to 468 MHZ range allocated to the Family Radio Service.
   If the Family Radio Service sounds like another attempt at creating a
new version of the old 11 meter class D citizens radio service you are
right. The big difference is that only super low power radio equipment will
be available to service users and the frequency range selected is
considered to be line of sight.  So there is little chance of there being
Family Radio Service users trying to shoot skip in the 460 MHZ band.
   One final note.  The FCC decision to create the Family Radio Service
will have definite impact in the world of business and finance.  Not the
least of these is that its ability to get the Family Radio Service created
puts Tandy Radio Shack in the position of a two-way telecommunications
giant along with companies such as Motorola and GE.
   More on the creation of the new Family Radio Service and the impact it
may have on the growth of Amateur Radio in a future Newsline report.

(*****
                             FORET CASE CLOSED

   Irvin J. Foret, KB5UJD, will be giving up hobby radio for life.  Foret
is the Metairie, Louisiana, Technician Plus ham whose license was suspended
for two years by the FCC.  This, following allegations of interference to
Amateur Radio operations in the New Orleans area.
   After several weeks of bargaining it appears as if Foret has reached a
settlement with the FCC to end the enforcement proceedings against him.
The key point of the deal is that Foret has agreed to immediately surrender
his Amateur Radio license for life and permanently divest himself of all
electronic equipment capable of transmitting on the ham bands.  In
addition, Foret has agreed not to apply for any FCC license or permit,
regardless of the service.  He has also agreed to abstain from
participating as a third party in any communication in the Amateur Radio
service and even from transmitting on CB and will also pay a $500
forfeiture to the FCC.
   But the core of the agreement was his new found willingness to cooperate
fully with all government officials in connection with any ongoing or
future administrative or law enforcement investigations or proceedings
involving ham radio operations by others.  In simpler terms, Foret will
become a witness for the government in any proceedings that it may
undertake against other hams who may have been involved in the same or
other rules violations of which Foret may have knowledge.
   The Commissions original action against Foret came on April 5th.  This,
after Commission personnel monitored and documented Foret's transmissions
in December 1995 and January 1996. The FCC said some of Foret's
transmissions on January 29, 1996, constituted willful or malicious
interference to the transmissions of other Amateur Radio stations, in
apparent violation of FCC rules. During an inspection of his station, the
FCC said, Foret had been lacking in candor and misrepresented material
facts to Commission personnel by stating that he did not make the
transmissions the Commission observed.  The FCC also said some of Foret's
transmissions were unidentified, included music or were obscene or
indecent, the alleged indecent transmissions occurring at a time when there
was a reasonable risk that children were in the audience.  The latter being
a direct violation of the so-called "safe harbor rule."
   The agreement between Foret and the FCC does not prohibit him from
engaging in otherwise lawful transmissions over land mobile radio
facilities as part of his work.  But as far as any other form of radio
communications is concerned, Irvin J. Foret, soon to be the ex KC5UJD, is
now banned for life. It is also one of the harshest regulatory enforcement
actions taken against a radio amateur in the past two decades, and hams
nationwide are wondering who will be next.

(*****
                            TEETSONS REMEMBERED

   A friend of the murdered Floyd Teetson, W5MUG, and is wife, Winnie,
WN5YTR says that he cannot comprehend why the alleged assailant killed the
only two people who cared about him.  Troy Ballard, W5AU, is among those
having a hard time understanding why 18 year old Kevin Coleman, whom he
described as a high-school dropout, committed the crime.  "They really had
tried hard to help this young man," says Ballard.
   "They both had stressed the importance of Coleman getting an education,
and even offered to pay a tutor to help him get his general educational
development diploma.  They were probably the only true friends this person
had."
   Ballard and two other hams went ahead with plans laid mostly by the
Teetsons, to operate during the ARRL International DX Contest from Little
Cayman Island.  The group used Floyd Teetson's Caymans' call sign of ZF2FT
in honor of their slain friends.
   Coleman who has confessed to killing the Teetsons faces the death
penalty if convicted of the crime.

(*****
                                DAYTON IS ON

   The 1996 Dayton Hamvention is on.  Three weeks later than in years past,
Hamvention '96 opened at noon on Friday May 17th to a record crowd.  Ken
Allen, KB8KE is the General Chairman of Hamvention '96.  He says that with
the date change, he had one big worry:

   "For years now, Hamvention has been that last weekend in April.  So it
has been on peoples agenda.  It has become habit to a lot of people. Has
just become part of their yearly routine.  So part of it is a fear that we
have had in the back of our minds, that come the third weekend in April
there's going to be this crowd of people show up at Hara Arena asking where
Hamvention is."  KB8KE

   Well nobody we know of showed up at the Hara Arena on the wrong weekend.
This is primarily because the Hamvention planners went to great lengths to
publicize the new date.  Again Ken Allen, KB8KE:

   "We have advertised it rather heavily, that we have changed the dates.
Last year, I'm sure you may note that we were passing out extra flyers
every time somebody walked by a ticket booth or a ticket sales place or
just about anywhere in the arena.  We were handing out these little notices
reminding people of the date change."  KB8KE

   As we go to air, Newsline reporters are circulating throughout
Hamvention '96 with tape recorders in hand.  We will have a full wrap up
next week.

(*****
                     DISASTER PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP SET

   A workshop titled Disaster Preparedness: Reducing Risk and Improving
Response, is scheduled for June 24 in Asheville, North Carolina.  It's
sponsored by the Disaster Emergency Response Association which is an
ARRL-affiliated organization.
   All Amateur Radio operators and others involved with disaster planning
and emergency response are welcome.  Robert R. Dockery, WD4CNZ, a professor
at Western Piedmont College, will chair the workshop, which plans to cover
risk assessment, mass casualties, terrorism, hazard mitigation, incident
command, communications and recovery.
   The workshop will be held in Simpson Auditorium at Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Community College. The first session runs from 9 AM until 5 PM;
the second from 6 until 9 PM.  Participants may attend either or both
sessions.  The registration fee for Amateur Radio operators active in any
form of voluntary emergency service is only $12.50 if they register before
June 1st.  To register or for more information, write the:

                           D.E.R.A.
                           Readiness Workshop
                           P.O.Box 6558
                           Asheville, NC 28816

(*****
                              LEARN YOUR NOI'S

   The FCC will host an open forum on May 31st on the proper way to
participate in the rule making process.  The three hour session starts at
9AM in Washinton, D.C.  For more information contact: Martha Contee at
(202) 418-0260.

(*****
                     NEW HUDSON VICE DIRECTOR APPOINTED

   Dr. Richard A. Sandell, WK6R, of Scarsdale, New York, has been appointed
Vice Director of the ARRL Hudson Division.  He will fill out the unexpired
term of Paul Vadarny, WB2VUK, who ascended to Division Director upon the
election of Stephen Mendelsohn, WA2DHF, as the League's First Vice
President earlier this year.

(*****
                               COLLOQUIUM '96

   The 11th AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be held at Surrey University,
Guildford, Surrey, U.K., from Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July 1996.
Current intentions are to devote the Thursday to international and IARU
matters and to structure other subjects across the following three days.
   Amsat-UK invites authors to submit papers, about amateur radio space and
associated activities, for this event.  Abstracts of Papers for
presentation should be submitted as soon as possible.  Submissions should
be sent to:

                               Chris Jackson
                               G7UPN via Internet

                                     to

                               G7UPN@amsat.org.


(***** 
                                 DOVE DOWN

   The DOVE-OSCAR 17 satellite remains down following problems first
experienced last December when an onboard computer apparently crashed.  Jim
White, WD0E, of AMSAT reports that ground controllers have ruled out a few
hardware problems, but have come no closer to identifying the actual cause
of the satellite's onboard computer problems. The satellite is transmitting
occasional packets on 145.825 MHZ but not transmitting on S band.

(*****
                                   ARIANE

   Western Europe's first new-generation Ariane-5 rocket was transferred to
a launch pad in French Guiana for tests that will fix a launch date.  The
100 foot high launcher with two solid propellant strap-on boosters is the
type that will be used to launch the Phase 3D ham satellite into orbit.

(*****
                      PUPILS PLAN MOCK SHUTTLE MISSION

   To help generate awareness of their scheduled SAREX contact during the
STS-78 shuttle flight in June, pupils at Heritage Middle School in
Colleyville, Texas, launched a shuttle mission of their own.  A mission
complete with SAREX.
   Seven pupils in a sixth-grade math class served as astronauts during the
day long mock-up.  More than 200 students participated on different support
teams.
   One of the student astronauts, Vivian Wang, KC5NAU, operated onboard
equipment for 2 meter FM, 70 centimeter amateur television and packet.
Other radios were in the schools own mission control and in other
classrooms.  The youngsters performed experiments and space activities and
even have to dealt with a few "problems" during the mission.
   The real STS-78 is scheduled to launch June 20 at 14:49 UTC.  It will
carry space shuttle Columbia into orbit for a 16 day microgravity mission.
SAREX communications will include FM voice and packet radio.

(*****
                          PIONEER 6 - 30 YEARS OLD

   The world's oldest operating spacecraft, a 140 pound probe called
Pioneer 6, marked 30 years in orbit around the sun last December 16th.
According to a packet posting by KD6MSM, Pioneer 6 is a squat cylinder
about a yard long and a yard wide covered with solar cells.
   Pioneer 6 went into space Dec. 16, 1965, on top of a Delta rocket.
Since then, it has been in solar orbit on an elliptical path that ranges
from about 93 million miles to about 75 million miles from the sun -- about
halfway between the orbits of Earth and Venus.
   Space scientists had designed the probe to last six months, long enough
to pass behind the sun as seen from Earth and send back the first detailed
measurements from that region of magnetic fields, cosmic rays and the solar
wind of particles expelled from the sun.  Although three of six instruments
have failed and the solar cells are losing efficiency, the radio signal
from Pioneer has never stopped.

(*****
                                 KIDS R US

   Speaking about young hams, a reminder that the Hams 'R Us Kids Net is on
every Sunday at 7PM on the K2AA 145.290 MHZ repeater.  Net control is 13
year old N2WXE who has been running a kids net since he received his ticket
at age 10.  You also can qualify for a special Kids Net certificate after
you check in 10 times.

(*****
   And for this week, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  You can
write to us at:

                                  NEWSLINE
                                  P.O.Box 660937
                                  Arcadia, California
                                  91066

   For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF at our editors desk, we at Newsline
say 73 and we thank you for listening.

(* * *   NEWSLINE is Copyright 1996 *  All rights are reserved.   * * *
