Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1300 July 12, 2002<br /><br />Celebrating a quarter of a century in service to ham radio, this is Amateur<br />Radio Newsline report number 1300 with a release date of Friday, July 12th<br />2002. It follows in 5-4-3-2-1. <br /> <br />The following is a Q-S-T. The ham radio Olympics are happening in Finland and<br />a Reading Pennsylvania teen is named Young Ham of the Year here in the United<br />States. Find out who on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1300 coming your<br />way right now.<br /><br />(Billboard Cart Here) <br /> <br />**<br /><br />RADIOSPORTS: THE HAM RADIO OLYMPICS FOR 2002 ARE ON<br /><br />Its the Super Bowl of ham radio contesting. The 2002 World Radiosport Team<br />Championship games also known as WRTC 2002 have been taking place this week. <br />Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, reports:<br /><br />--<br />The World Radiosport Team Championship, sometimes called 'the Olympic Games of<br />Amateur Radio', takes place in Finland between the 9th and 15th of July. WRTC<br />is a competition among 52 two-person teams of the top amateur radio contest<br />operators in the world. <br /><br />By bringing competitors together in one geographic area and providing equal<br />operating conditions, including antennas and power, the variables normally<br />associated with radio contesting are minimised, and the individual team's<br />operating skills are emphasised. Look for the national teams taking part in<br />next weekend's IARU HF Championship contest from sites in the Helsinki area and<br />using callsigns with the unique OJ1 to OJ8 prefixes. <br /><br />Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.<br /><br />--<br /><br />The contest began at 1200 U-T-C on Saturday the 13th of July, and runs for 24<br />hours. The WRTC 2002 organizing committee is asking any of you who worked the<br />conterstants to e-mail your logs by 1800 U-T-C on July 14. These "early bird"<br />logs will be used only for log checking purposes related to the WRTC 2002<br />teams. The e-mail address is logs@wrtc2002.org<br /><br />Also, Film maker Dave Bell, W6AQ, is in Finland recording the event on digital<br />videotape. Bell produced the popular Ham Radio Olympics video that chronicled<br />the 2000 WRTC games. (WRTC2002, GB2RS, W6AQ)<br /><br />**<br /><br />RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO AND THE TEXAS FLOODS<br /><br />On this side of the Atlantic, the Federal Communication Commission declared a<br />general communications emergency Friday July 5th in response to severe flooding<br />in parts of Texas. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW has more:<br /><br />--<br />Thousands of people were evacuated from three West Texas towns as a massive<br />storm dumped more than a foot of water on an area that rarely sees more than 2<br />feet a year. This, as rainfall in flood-weary Central Texas continued and<br />flood water surrounded homes in 29 counties. <br /><br />Statewide,the week of flooding has forced at least 4,000 people to evacuate,<br />killed at least eight people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. <br />Its also cut off normal lines of communications to some areas and that’s<br />where ham radio was called in. <br /><br />On Friday, July 5th, the FCC issued an edict declaring two parcels of spectrum<br />-- one on 40 meters and the other on 75 as off limits to all but those stations<br />handling flood emergency traffic for 72 hours. Those frequencies were 7.285<br />MHz during daylight hours and 3.873 MHz at night. Amateurs not directly<br />involved in the emergency communications were required to stay at least 3 kHz<br />away from these frequencies until the order is rescinded. The FCC cancelled<br />the order at 1700 UTC on Monday, July 8th. But as we go to air, hams involved<br />in Texas ARES, along with other volunteer groups, are still providing<br />assistance to the flood ravaged areas.<br /><br />For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.<br /><br />--<br /><br />More on this story as information is made available. (FCC, ARRL Bulletins,<br />Internet postings, other sources)<br /><br />**<br /><br />RESCUE RADIO: AZ HAMS STAND DOWN AS WILDFIRE IS CONTAINED<br /><br />After weeks of battling the largest wildfire in Arizona history, ham radio has<br />stood down and firefighters from around the country are being reassigned to<br />other states or sent home. This, as the half-million acre Rodeo Chedeski blaze<br />was finally contained on Sunday, July 7th. And hams have gone home. Amateur<br />Radio Newsline’s Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale has the rest of the story:<br /><br />--<br />SATERN, which by the way stands for "Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio<br />Network was probably the most visible ham radio communications group involved<br />with the giant Rodeo Chedeski firestorm. SATERN was active throughout the<br />emergency providing assistance to The Salvation Army in it's disaster relief<br />mission. The Salvation Army was assigned by the State of Arizona to be<br />responsible for receiving all material donations. It also was responsible to<br />distribute these supplies to any agency or group requesting them. The SATERN<br />net, operated on 7.265 MHz dayside and 3.990 MHz evenings It finally stood<br />down and released the frequencies when the shelters closed down and their<br />services were no longer needed.<br /><br />What SATERN did not do was to handle health and welfare messages into and out<br />of the area. That job fell to ARES and the Red Cross and both responded as<br />expected. A-R-E-S used several High Frequency nets, local repeater<br />communications and the Cactus Radio Network intertie to handle hundreds of<br />tactical and health and welfare messages. <br /><br />Another group deserving mention is the Kachina Amateur Radio Club. It was<br />activated on June 18th handling communications for the Navajo Emergency<br />Operations Center and shelters set up for the evacuation of all evacuation<br />areas at that time. The Kachina Amateur Radio Club was on the air in support<br />of the shelters through June 30th. <br /><br />As the fire peaked in late June, more than 4,400 personnel -- most of them<br />firefighters -- were working to corral the blaze. That number has been reduced<br />to about 1100 now that the fire is fully contained.<br /><br />For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale<br />Arizona.<br /><br />--<br /><br />As we go to air, the firefighters still on the scene are busy mopping up<br />smoldering embers top insure no new eruptions take place. In some areas, crews<br />are already at work seeding the burned land to help minimize the effects of<br />erosion from the coming monsoon rain season. (ARNewsline™ from various<br />sources)<br /><br />**<br /><br />RESCUE RADIO: EAS WORKING WELL IN THE ARIZONA WILD FIRE EVACUATIONS<br /><br />The E-A-S system woked well in Arizona during the recent Rodeo Chedeski<br />wildfires. According to reports in the CGC Communicator, Navajo and Apache<br />County EAS woked almost flawlessly in ordering evacuations during fires. About<br />30,000 people were evacuated at the height of this emergency. (CGC<br />Communicator)<br /><br />**<br /><br />Break 1<br /><br />From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on<br />bulletin stations around the world including the WV8AR repeater srerving Putnam<br />County West Virginia.<br /><br />(5 sec pause here)<br /><br />**<br /><br />AWARDS: JOSH ABRAMOWICZ, KB3GWY, NAMED ARNEWSLINE™ “YOUNG HAM OF THE<br />YEAR”<br /><br />The nominations are in and the committee has reached a decision on this<br />yearsAmateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year. And now its time to share<br />that decision with you. And who better to make the announcement than the 2001<br />Young Ham of the year. Pareick clark, KC8BFD. introduces us to yet another<br />young ham who is keeping the hobby alive:<br /><br />--<br /><br />He is 17 years old. An 11th grader at Central Catholic High School in Reading<br />Pennsylvania and an Eagle Scout. And less we forget, he loves bringing new<br />young hams into the hobby through the scouting program. And for those reasons<br />and many more, Amateur Radio Newsline has named Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY, as its<br />2002 Young Ham of the Year. <br /><br />Josh was away at a scout camp when the committee reached its decision. We<br />finally got him on the phone and this was his reaction when we told him the<br />news:<br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz reaction audio<br />--<br /><br />According to the nominating form, Josh Abramowicz became interested in ham<br />radio because of his parents and the Boy Scouts. His dad is Mark NT3V and his<br />mother is Suzanna NZ3G. Josh says that for him, becoming a ham was in the<br />cards:<br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz: I got into it [Amateur Radio] through them when they brought the<br />stuff [ham station out years later after it had lied dormant for awhile. They<br />hooked it up and I just could not keep my hands off of it As a matter of fact,<br />I used to sneak up and just dial up and down the bands just listening to stuff<br />sometimes.”<br />--<br /><br />His parents also gave Josh a good reason to get his ham ticket:<br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz: “After the year years went by they said: ‘Why don’t you go<br />and get your license – and by the way – if you don’t get your license you<br />are not getting a drivers license. I said O-K.”<br />--<br /><br />Talk about incentive licensing but in short order Josh had his Technician<br />ticket. But it was his involvement in the Boy Scouts, a scouting Jamboree and<br />a chance to operate K2BSA that really started his ham radio career:<br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz: “So I looked into what was required on the application. Of<br />coarse you had tio be a licensed Amateur Radio operator. By then I had my<br />Technician license and I really started pushing for my General license. <br />That’s where I am now, studying for the Extra license.”<br />--<br /><br />As a member of the K2BSA staff at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, Josh helped to<br />demonstrate ham radio to the 35,000 Scouts attending the event. He also helped<br />in the training of some 400 Scouts who earned Radio Merit Badges at the<br />gathering.<br /><br />But thats not all. Another achievement credited to KB3GWY is that of<br />organizing a scouting Amateur Radio Venture Crew with the Hawk Mountain Council<br />in his hometown of Reading. PA. What is a Venturing Crew? Josh explains:<br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz: “Its kind of like the Explorer program. It involves boys and<br />girls over the age of 14 until you become an adult. It’s a completely<br />separate program designated to high adventure kind of things – not your<br />normal, average camping trips but more involved things like Philmont Treks and<br />summer camp kinds of things or the Florida Sea Base would be considered high<br />adventure.”<br />--<br /><br />Josh presented his idea for a radio Venture Crew to the Frankford Amateur Radio<br />Club and obtainded its support as the sponsoring organization. He then<br />convinced the Hawk Mountain Council leadership to use space in a new science<br />center at its headquarters for a perminant Amateur Radio station. This station<br />will soon be available to campers the year round. <br /><br />--<br />Abramowicz: “Its up here on the mountain. The propagation will be absolutely<br />great. I’m expecting some really, really good DX from up here and we have<br />high hopes. As a matter of fact, we are going to be doing a demonstration up<br />here this weekend on Saturday. We are going to have some of the Venture Crrew<br />kids up. Just fiddle around with to see whats open and see what we can find. <br />Get the kids on and let them talk a little bit. Maybe a 2 meter set-up. And I<br />think that the Cub Scouts are up that weekend. And they will be checking us<br />out during their free time. They are up for a Super Cub Weekend.”<br />--<br /><br />Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY, will receive his Young Ham of the Year Award plaque at<br />the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville Alabama on Saturday August 17th. His trip<br />to the hamfrest is a gift from Vertex Standard Corporation which wiull also be<br />prssenting Josh with a gift of its Yaesu brand ham radio gear. Josh will also<br />receive a week at Spacecamp Huntsville courtesy of CQ Magazine. <br /><br />--<br /><br />The committee judging the award also name to runner-up finalists. They are<br />Evan Anderson, KC0CWP, of Ashland Nebraska and Thomas Tenaglia, K3TAT who lives<br />in West Chester Pennsylvania. Both will receive a certificate of appreciation<br />from the award sponsors. (ARNewsline™)<br /><br />**<br /><br />REMEMBERING THE PAST: HEIL DONATES SPECIAL MICS TO QUEEN MARY AMATEUR STATION<br /><br />A special presentation of ‘commemorative microphones’ honoring the<br />operators of the Queen Mary ocean liner Amateur Radio station will be made on<br />Saturday, July 27th. This, by by Bob Heil, K9EID, the President of Heil Sound<br />Ltd.. <br /><br />The Queen Mary is permanently docked in Long Beach California. The ship is a<br />popular tourist attraction as is its Amateur Radio station, W6RO, which<br />operates daily from the historic Queen Mary Wireless Room. And it is in that<br />Wireless Room that the presentation will be made. <br /><br />According to K9EID, the new microphones are being custom manufactured for the<br />Wiress Room. He adds that each is an exact replica of the broadcast mic’s<br />used during the years the Queen Mary was at sea. (Heil Sound release)<br /><br />**<br /><br />HANDI HAMS: EXTRA CLASS TAPES NOW AVAILABLE<br /><br />The Handi Hams have announced that the Extra Class Question and Answer pool,<br />valid through 2006, is now available in an MP3 audio CD and in two track tape<br />for its blind members. If you need a copy, contact Handi Ham headquarters at<br />area code 866-426-3442 or sewnd an e-mail request to secretary@handiham.org. <br />Again, yopu must be a Hamdi Ham member to qualify for this recording. And<br />Handi Hams also has announced that work continues on the main body of the ARRL<br />Extra Class License Manual in audio format for its blind members as well. <br />(Handi Hams)<br /><br />**<br /><br />PROMOTING HAM RADIO: CQ MAGAZINE TAKES ON “THE HUMAN RACE”<br /><br />CQ magazine has been named the Official Journal of "The Human Race." “The<br />Human Race" is a planned educational television series in which two amateur<br />radio operators will participate in a global "road rally." Amateur Radio<br />Newsline’s Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, has an in depth look at the show and how it<br />will work:<br /><br />--<br /><br />How does it work? Simple. There will be two ham radio contestants. One ham<br />will head East and the other West from Kansas City Missouri beginning in July<br />of 2003. Over the next six months the hams will travel around the world but<br />using only transportation that is volunteered by other amateur operators that<br />the ham competitors meet along the way. The race will end in a location<br />roughly halfway around the world where the paths of the two competitors cross.<br /><br />But thats only part of the story. Along the way, each racer will encounter a<br />series of pre-selected "ham hosts." These are people who have expertise in a<br />particular area of amateur radio. They not only play host to the competeing<br />amateur, but also are interviewed by the competitor about their area of<br />specialty and the role ham radio has played in their lives.<br /><br />William Desjardins, W1ZY, is the shows producer. He says that " 'The Human<br />Race' is based on the premise that Amateur Radio is inherently a human<br />activity. As such, technology is a tool used by people around the world to<br />connect and communicate with each other.” <br /><br />--<br />Desjardens: “People who use the Internet, and use chat rooms and send video<br />pictures to each other -- and engage in instant messaging and so forth -- these<br />people are prime candidates to become amateur Radio operators.”<br />--<br /><br />By way of technology, each competitor will be outfitted with advanced<br />communications systems, including amateur stations. Each will also be<br />accompanied by a TV production crew and tracked using the Global Positioning<br />System and APRS. This information will be displayed on a constantly updated<br />website enabling hams and others around the world to follow the progress of the<br />race making it a competition that everyone can be a part of.<br /><br />For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ. <br /><br />--<br /><br />For its part, CQ will publish a series of articles and updates written by Human<br />Race Producer Desjardins. It will also provide updates and additional<br />information on its website. <br /><br />The tentative schedule calls for the completed 8-part series ready to air in<br />the fall of 2004.For more information on "The Human Race," see the program<br />website at www.home.earthlink.net/~bdesj but soon to be moved to<br />http://www.humanrace.org (CQ)<br /><br />**<br /><br />BREAK 2<br /><br />Here 25 years ago and still serving you today. From the United States of<br />America, we are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our<br />only official website at www.arnewsline.org.<br /><br />**<br /><br />UPCOMMING EVENTS: MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND<br /><br />Some interesting upcoming events that you will want to know about. We start<br />off with Museum Ships Weekend. That’s the 20th and 21st of July and word<br />that The U-S-S Salem Amateur Radio Club will be on the air as K1USN. During<br />Museum Ships Weekend each participating vessel will be on the air for 48 hours<br />and the idea is to work as many of them as you can In the case of the U-S-S<br />Salem, a certificate will be available for working ten or more event stations<br />during the event. For more information and a QSL address please take your web<br />browser to www dot qsl dot net slash K1USN. (Via e-mail)<br /><br />**<br /><br />SPACE AND SCIENCE: HIGH ALTITUDE HAM RADIO BALLOON LAUNCH SUCCESS<br /><br />EOSS 57, the Edge of Space Sciences Amateur radio group of Colorado<br />successfully launched and recovered 3 high altitude balloons on June 22nd. <br />THis, using Amateur Radio APRS and DF techniques to track and recover the<br />payloads. According to several Internnet postings, he balloons carried high<br />altitude experiments, camera's and fast scan amateur television to an altitude<br />in excess of 80,000 feet. The launch took place in DeerTrail, on I-70 east of<br />Denver, with the balloons taking a general North easterly track. The landings<br />occuring near the Fort Morgan Colorado area. The Montana Space Grant<br />Consortium, and Iowa State University Habet crews launched with EOSS and<br />tracked the balloons to touchdown. More information is on the web at<br />www.eoss.org. (EOSS Release)<br /><br />**<br /><br />INTERNATIONAL - AUSTRALIA: VNG GETS 6 MONTH REPRIEVE<br /><br />The Australian standard time and frequency station VNG, which was scheduled to<br />close down on the 30th of June, has received a six-month reprieve. The station<br />will now close down on the 31st of December 2002. The postponement came about<br />following complaints from Radio VNG users. However, the commission that agreed<br />to the postponement has also insisted that the VNG Users Consortium provide a<br />voice announcement for broadcast on the station from mid-July, advising all<br />users of the new closing date. (Q-News)<br /><br />**<br /><br />INTERNATIONAL – CANADA: PERMISSION TO JAM<br /><br />The Canadian military and police departments have been authorized to block<br />radio and mobile phone signals if necessary during the G8 Summit and during the<br />Pope's visit to Toronto in July. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesperson<br />told szeveral newspapers that the move was essential to ensure the safety and<br />security of those attending both events. This is the first time legal<br />provisions against the interference of radio communications have been<br />overridden in Canada. (Published news reports)<br /><br />**<br /><br />DX<br /><br />In DX, word that SP3GVX, who operated from HF0POL in 1997 and 2000 will spend a<br />year at the Hornsund Base on Spitsbergen starting in July. His new callsign is<br />JW0HU. There is no QSL information available at this time. (GB2RS)<br /><br />Also, SV1BRL will be active again portable from Kefalonia Island from July<br />until mid-September. He welcomes bureau QSLs, but please note that they should<br />be routed through the French REF Bureau, marked DPT 33. Do not send cards<br />through the Greek QSL bureau. (GB2RS)<br /><br />And a new RSGB QSL Bureau sub-manager has been appointed for the holders of<br />Foundation Licences in Scotland. Those are the new MM3 series of callsigns now<br />being heard on the air. The person taking on the post is Mr R Simpson, GM7NZI.<br /> His addxress is 53 Jedworth Avenue, Glasgow , Scottland, post code G15 7QE. <br />(RSGB)<br /><br />**<br /><br />INTERNATIONAL – UK – A SECOND CHANCE FOE DIGITAL TV<br /><br />Still in the U-K, an attempt is being made to revive that nations terrestrial<br />digital TV industry. This, following the collapse of ITV Digital, the company<br />that held the license. According to the Netherlands based Media Network<br />e-newsletter, the U-K’s Independent Television Commission considered four<br />bids to take over the license, and has decided to award it to a consortium<br />consisting of the British Broadcasting Company, British Sky Broadcasting and<br />transmission services provider Crown Castle Communications. But the question<br />remains as to whether or not the new consortium be able to restore confidence<br />in the British digital television industry. More is on the web at<br />http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/uk020705.html (Media Network)<br /><br />**<br /><br />THAT FINAL ITEM: THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL TV: PART 4<br /><br />And speaking of digital television, this week we take a look at transmission<br />systems and who is providing a digital picture to you. Again, from the pages<br />of the D-X Audio Service magazine, here is Editor Fred Vobbe, W8HDU.<br /><br />--<br />This is an audio only report. No text available. Please download MP3 audio at<br />www.arnewsline.org.<br />--<br /><br />By the way, for those of you not aware Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, is not only the<br />editor of the DX Audio Service magazine. He is also the Chief Engineer at WLIO<br />television in Lima Ohio where he das a first hand working knowledge of whats<br />happening in the world of Digital TV. (NRCDXAS)<br /><br />**<br /><br />NEWSCAST CLOSE<br /><br />With thanks to Alan Labs, Amateur News Weekly, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC<br />Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio<br />Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB and Australia's Q-News, that's all from the Amateur<br />Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline @arnewsline.org. More<br />information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only official website<br />located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at<br />Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. <br /><br />Before we go, we want to pause a moment to thank each and every one of you for<br />spending part or all of the past 25 years with Amateur Radio Newsline. We also<br />take this oportunity to pledge to do all we can to continue to bring you these<br />weekly newscasts for another 25 years and maybe longer. You are the reason<br />that we exist. We thank you for your encouragement, for your generousity and<br />your ongoing support.<br /><br />For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW<br />and I’m Jeff Clark, K8JAC, saying 73, and we thank you for listening." <br />Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2002. All rights reserved.