Post by David (N4DLT) on Sept 25, 2009 14:10:52 GMT -5
WITH NEWSLINE: SOME WORDS OF THANKS
The following is a Q-S-T. Ladies and gentlemen, with some thank you's to those who support these newscasts, here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Support Fund Administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
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In November 2008 we heard from the Great South Bay ARC, W2GSB, of West Babylon, NY and Samuel Parnes, KI6OAA of Beverly Hills, CA.
Via PayPal there were W0CE and K0MSP of Midwest Broadcast Engineering and Ronald Hashiro, AH6RH in Hawaii.
In December we heard via PayPal we heard from John Leonard, W9JBL in De Kalb, IL; Joseph Kratky with the Hamfesters Radio Club 2 meter net W9AA and Chuck Harding, who relays Newsline for the Livermore ARC in the bay area on their Monday evening net.
Our volunteer staff who puts these newscasts together thank all of these people who helped bring these newscasts to you, and you can do the same by writing to us at the Newsline Support address given at the end of this newscast, or by going to our website at arnewsline.org.
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, and we thank you for listening.
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Andy will be back with us in the near future with more thank-you's to those who have contributed to the support fund. (ARNewsline Support Fund)
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Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1676 with a release date of Friday, September 25th, 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. South Africa's long awaited ham radio satellite is in space, a Cycle 24 Sunspot makes an appearance, the Dutch National ham radio society says that D-Star repeaters will not be in the ham satellite subband, a popular DX award program turns 75 and color coding comes to a favorite on-line research tool. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1676 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
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HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SUMBANDILA SAT NOW IN ORBIT
South Africa's SumbandilaSat is on orbit. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has the details:
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The third time was a charm. This as SumbandilaSat was successfully launched at 17:55:09 Central African Time on Thursday, September 17. This after the launch had to be postponed twice due to weather and technical problems with the booster that carried it into space.
After attaining orbit the satellite was released from the rocket while over the Antarctic. 10 minutes later it was accessed by the ground station at the Stellenbosch University when the first command was sent to wake up the bird. Despite the low elevation orbit of less than 10 degrees SumbandilaSat responded well by returning its first telemetry.
An intensive period of payload qualification period will now follow during which each system of SumbandilaSat will be tested. This is expected to take up to 3 months after which the command will shift to the CSIR’s Satellite Application Center north of Pretoria and eventually opened for general use.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, saying congratulations to the hams of South Africa on their hew satellite -- SumbandilaSat.
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Launched along with SumbandilaSat was the Meteor M-N1 satellite Late reports indicate that it may be transmitting on 435.365 MHz. Details on this new bird are planet.iitp.ru/english/spacec...r-m-n1_eng.htm (SA-AMSAT, Southgate)
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PROPAGATION BULLETIN: NEW CYCLE 24 SPOT ON THE FACE OF THE SUN
Some good news from the big circular disk in the daytime sky. Spceweather reports that Sunspot 1026 emerged on Sunday, September 20th U-T-C to break a string of 19 consecutive spotless days.
Sunspot 1026 is described as being about as wide as the diameter of the Earth. This makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has measured the spot's magnetic polarity and identified it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24.
Could this be a harbinger of more to come? Spaceweather says its apparently is. So stay tuned and keep your radio tuned in. (Spaceweather)
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BREAKING DX NEWS: GLORIOSO ISLAND IS ON THE AIR
Some breaking news in the world of DX. This, with word that the Glorioso Island FT5GA DXpedition team is now active. Operation is reported on all of the high frequency bands using CW, SSB and RTTY but most stateside stations report that signals are very weak.
The team reportedly had some antenna problems at first due to windy weather conditions and later a faulty contact on a WARC band Spiderbeam. That was repaired and indications are that all three stations are now on the air.
Operations will last until October 5th per the FT5GA web page. Its in cyberspace at glorieuses2008.free.fr and we will have more DX related items near the end of this weeks newscast. (Glorioso Island DX Team)
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RESTRUCTURING FOLLOW-UP: ANOTHER VIEW ON THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT - D-STAR REPEATERS AND THE HAM SATELLITE BAND
A follow-up and also a different story regarding the D-Star repeater subband reallocation in the Netherlands. This time its from Abraham van den Berg, P-B-Zero-A-O-K who is VERON's VHF manager. Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has been following the story and has the latest:
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VERON PRON Veer On
For those unaware, the VERON is the Dutch national IARU society much like the ARRL is in the national society in the United States. And Abraham van den Berg, PB0AOK, disputes the report by Amsat North America and PE1HZG that the Dutch telecommunications administration is thinking about operating D-Star repeaters in the 437 to 438 MHz band.
Van den Berg says that at this time the amateur service in the Netherlands and neighboring countries suffers from harmful interference caused by the implementation of the Radiolocation service in the 438 to 440 MHz band. And says PB0AOK, for that reason, use of D-Star repeaters with output frequencies in the upper 2 MHz part of the Region 1 70cm band has been hampered.
To solve this problem, recently the Dutch D-Star community came up with a proposal to plan the output frequencies of D-Star repeaters just below 438 MHz and has asked VERON to support this proposal. But says van den Berg, the VERON has decided not to do so/ This, due to incompatibility between the amateur service and amateur-satellite service. Moreover, says PBAOK, the proposal deviates significantly from the IARU Region 1 band plan.
According to PB0AOK, the VERON has made an alternative proposition. This, to amend the Dutch national frequency plan in such a way that it fully complies with article 5 RR of the the European Common Allocation table, as well as the IARU Region 1 band plan.
So now it’s a wait and see game between the Dutch national society and that nations telecommunications regulators.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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More on this issue in upcoming Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (PB0AOK, others)
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RADIO POLITICS: HAM RADUIO PREPARES FOR WRC 2012
Ham radio is getting ready for the next major World Radiocommunications conference slated for Geneva, Switzerland from January 23 to February 17, 2012. To get ready, Approximately 200 participants came together in an ITU preliminary meeting that ended September 16 in Geneva. ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jonathan Siverling, WB3ERA, and IARU Region 1 Vice President Tafa Diop, 6W1KI, were among the participants. Also present were the power players representing the six regional telecommunications organizations including CITEL from the Americas. This meeting was part of a series of ongoing international and regional preparatory meetings to allow government and industry to address the far-reaching and complex agenda of WRC 12. (ARRL, Southgate, others)
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WORLDBEAT: US GENERALS GIVEN CEPT NOVICE PRIVELEGES IN SOME NATIONS
Radio amateurs with United States General Class licenses to get reciprocal licenses in some CEPT countries, but with limited privileges.
On Thursday, September 10, the Federal Communications Commission released a new Public Notice implementing changes in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations or CEPT reciprocal operating arrangements for US citizens who hold a United States General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio licenses. While nothing has been altered in regard to Advanced or Extra class licensees, there is good news for those holding the General. US citizens holding a General class license who had lost all CEPT reciprocal privileges in 2008 have now been granted CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License.
But according to the ARRL's Dan Henderson, this is not an across the board permit. Henderson says that it is important to note two things about the agreement. First is that not all European countries have implemented this recommendation. Therefore, a US General class operator does not have reciprocal privileges in many countries, including popular US travel destinations like Italy, the UK or France.
Second, as with any reciprocal operation, the band frequencies and privileges are those allowed by the host country and not the frequencies and privileges extended by your FCC license while in the United States or its possessions. Therefore, travelers need to make sure they are familiar with the authorized privileges for the CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License in the nation in which they plan to operate. (ARRL, Southgate, others)
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BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Amateur Radio Association's AA6DP repeater serving all of Southern California from 26 miles across the sea.
(5 sec pause here)
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CQ MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES 75th ANNIVERSARY WAZ AWARD
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of its Worked All Zones or W-A-Z award program, CQ magazine is announcing a limited-term "Diamond Jubilee W-A-Z award. A special certificate will be issued to amateurs who make contacts in all 40 CQ Zones of the World between November 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Certificates will be numbered but there will be no endorsements. Confirmations will not be required. However, it is expected that applicants will continue to uphold amateur radio's long-standing tradition of honesty and self-regulation. Standard WAZ application fees will apply. Complete details on the Diamond Jubilee WAZ Award will be in the October 2009 issue of CQ, and are posted on the CQ website at www.cq-amateur-radio.com. (CQ)
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COMMUNICATIONANS LAW: FCC PROPOSES REGULATING INTERNET CONNECTIVITY SPEED
Its not exactly amateur radio but it will affect hams who use the Internet for sich applications as Echolink, IRLP, and other VoIP communications. This as the head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks. Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, follows happenings at the FCC and has this report:
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The head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks, an official at the agency said Saturday.
The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski, will announce the proposed rules in a speech Monday at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, the official said on condition of anonymity because news of the announcement had not been released.
The proposals would uphold a pledge Barack Obama made during the presidential campaign to support Internet neutrality -- the equal treatment of Internet traffic. That would bar Internet service providers such as Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. or AT&T Inc., from slowing or blocking certain services or content flowing through their vast networks.
Without strict rules ensuring Net neutrality, consumer watchdogs fear the communications companies could interfere with the transmission of content, such as TV shows delivered over the Internet, that compete with services the ISPs offer, like cable television.
Internet providers have opposed regulations that would inhibit the way they control their networks, arguing they need to be able to make sure applications that consume a lot of bandwidth don't slow Internet access to other users.
"This is about whether I can turn off my cable TV and watch TV over the Internet," said Dave Burstein, editor of the DSL Prime broadband industry newsletter. "Comcast cares about this because they don't want people to turn off their cable TV."
I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, for Amateur Radio Newsline.
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Many of you may recall that the FCC adopted four principles on Internet policy in 2005. Burstein thinks the FCC probably will adopt a fifth principle on nondiscrimination as part of the expected new rules. (FCC, W8HDU)
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ENFORCEMENT: FCC TO CONTINUE CBS SUPER BOWL EXPOSURE CASE
The FCC says it wants to further investigate whether CBS' indecency violation in the Janet Jackson Super Bowl costume malfunction was willful. Iin a brief recently filed to the Third Circuit Appeals Court he FCC contends that the evidence in this case strongly suggests that CBS had access to video delay technology at the time of the 2004 Super Bowl incident. The FCC asked the court to remand the decision back to the Commission so it could investigate further its assertion that the violation was "willful."
The Third Circuit, in reversing the FCC's fine against the broadcast, said the evidence that delay technology was available at the time was scant. The FCC disagrees and wants the chance to determine whether CBS was reckless not to use video delay technology for this broadcast. (B & C)
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RADIO LAW: FCC TO REASSESS PARENTAL CONTROL OF TELE-VIEWEING
The Federal Communications Commission is about to open a reassessment of the V-chip and of family-friendly programming. This to determine if it is possible to have a single-content ratings system that can apply to movies, video games, TV and cellular telephones. The study may also look at ways to ensure that once a TV show or movie is rated, data is readily available whether the program subsequently is viewed on TV, cable, a phone or a computer.
Back in 1996 Congress required TV set makers to include the V-Chip in TVs. This Integrated Circuit technology allows parents and other televiewers the ability to set their TV receivers to screen out shows whose ratings didn’t meet their personal standards.
Critics argue that the technology needs updating with a system that can now offer more information, and is less confusing. This is because motion pictures, TV programs and music each use different ratings systems and because some TV programs are rated inconsistently between networks. On the other side the TV networks, cable industry and the National Association of Broadcasters, argue that the current V-Chip system works well giving adult television viewers the ability to lock out material that they do not want their family members to watch. However, studies have found that relatively few American families actually use the V-Chip to control their youngsters viewing habits. (WRAP OnLine, others)
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NAMES IN THE NEWS: VHF QRP AT QRPACIFICON ON OCTOBER 10
Some names in the news. First up is James Duffey, KK6MC. He says that he will be giving a talk on "VHF and UHF Operating and Contesting for the Beginner and QRPer." This, on October 10th at the NorCal QRP group's annual forum QRPacificon. The venue is the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Milpitas, California. More is on the at www.norcalqrp.org/pacificon09.htm (KK6MC)
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VE4HAY RE-ELERCTED RAC MIDWEST DIRECTOR
And congratulations to Derek Hay, VE4HAY, of Winnipeg who has been re-elected as the Midwest Region Director of Radio Amateurs of Canada. Hey ran unopposed and was declared re-elected on September 16th.
(RAC)
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WITH NEWSLINE: NEWSLINE ARCHIVE AT YAHOOGROUPS
Every now and again we receive an e-mail or phone call asking if we keep an on-line archive of old newscasts. The fact is that we used to have one on our website but as the newscast expanded to its present 26 minute length we needed the bandwidth and storage space to accommodate our audio service. So, about 1999 the on-line archive went away.
There are several radio clubs and groups that do have many of our older newscasts in audio form and a search using Google will bring up many of them. And if its only the newscast text that you require then you need only log onto groups dot yahoo dot com slash group slash arnewsline slash messages. There you will find the text of all of our newscasts going back to January 26, 2001. We really do not maintain it as an archive specific but rather its an artifact of the Yahoogroups on-line service. Then again, its free with the only caveat being that you need to join the ARNewsline Yahoogroup to access it which by the way also is free of charge.
As to an audio archive? As we said, some older newscasts can also be found with a Google search at some private websites, but none prior to the mid-1990's. All of those live only on reels of tape or cassettes in a cabinet in our office. With now some 33 years of them, its doubtful you will ever find anything prior to 1996 or there abouts on-line. (ARNewsline)
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FUNNY TECHNOLOGY: PIGEON BEATS INTERNET IN AFRICA
A South African information technology company claims that it has proven it was faster for them to transmit data with a carrier pigeon than to send it using the country's leading internet service provider Telkom.
The local news agency SAPA reported the 11-month-old pigeon named Winston took one hour and eight minutes to fly the 50 miles from Unlimited IT's offices to the coastal city of Durban with a data card was strapped to his leg. Including downloading, the transfer took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds. That’s the same time it took for only four percent of the data to be transferred using a Telkom line.
SAPA said Unlimited IT performed the stunt after becoming frustrated with slow internet transmission times. Internet speed and connectivity in Africa is poor because of a bandwidth shortage and also expensive for what service does exist. (Telecom News)
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WORLDBEAT: AUSTRALIAN CB MOUNTAIN RADIO CHALLENGE
And while we rarely report on 11 meter events here's one where it is legal to make DX contacts and its even an organized happening. The reason is that its in Australia where it seems that the CB rules permit this kind of activity.
The Mountain Radio Challenge is the CB Radio event in question. It began around 1980 with CB'ers in the
North Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne who would find mountains to camp on for the night and see what distances could be achieved on the 27 MHz band using ground wave. The concept was that anyone could talk skip interstate or overseas, but to talk long distance without skip was a challenge.
The Mountain Radio Challenge continues to be held each year on Australian High Frequency CB Channel Ch 27. That translates into 27.275MHz on upper sideband. There's also FM activity on the Australian UHF CB Calling frequency of 477.075MHz. More information on the Mountain Radio Challenge is on the web at www.mrc.cat.net.au (WIA News, VK-VHF List)
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BREAK 2
This is ham radio news for today’s radio amateur. From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur:
(5 sec pause here)
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RADIO VS THE NET: FACEBOOK TO ADD VIVOX TWO WAY CALLING
Another challenge for radio hobbyists. This with word that the social networking site Facebook is adopting a third-party application that will permit voice contacts that will rival anything possible over the airwaves.
The new technology is not being offered from Vivox. This is Boston based company that provides the integrated voice service for virtual worlds like Second Life and EVE Online, and which already has more than 15 million users worldwide.
Once adopted, the service will allow Facebook users to have conversations with anyone on their friends list just by downloading a Vivox's plug-in. But once installed, the service works almost seamlessly with Facebook, and is intended for everything from one-to-one chat to large group discussions.
Vivox also plans to offer free dial-in numbers that will allow anyone to call into an existing conversation, much as is possible today with call-in phone conferences. This will allow even non-Facebook users will be able to participate.
Kind of like what hams do on the air all the time, minus the radio and antenna. (RW)
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW 3-D IMAGING IN THE UK
Researchers at The University of Nottingham have a new weapon in their arsenal of tools to push back the boundaries of science, engineering, and archeology. Called the Nanotom, it is described the most advanced 3D X-ray micro Computed Tomography scanner in the world. The Nanotom is expected to help researchers in a wide variety of scientific disciplines to literally see through solids. The machine will make previously difficult investigation much easier as it allows researchers to probe inside objects without having to break into them. (Science Daily)
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HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ASTRONAUTS TRAIN WITH TERRESTRIAL SCHOOL CONTACTS
Astronauts Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP recently participated in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station training sessions. On Wednesday, September 9th the pair spoke with children from the Ralph McCall School in Alberta, Canada.
The training sessions are terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using equivalent equipment to that which the astronauts will find on the International Space Station. Contact audio was available on the Internet Radio Linking Project. (ANS)
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RADIO IN SPACE: GIANT HF ANTENNA HEARS SIGNALS FROM THE FINAL FRONTIER
Scientists from the National Research Lab's Space Science and Remote Sensing Divisions, working with researchers from the University of New Mexico and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico have seen their first scientific results from the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array or LWDA antenna system. The group lead by Dr. Jake Hartman utilized radio emissions from the approximately 300 year-old Cassiopeia A supernova remnant to establish baseline measurements for the array.
The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant located in the astronomical constellation Cassiopeia is considered to be one of the largest and most active astronomical radio sources in the sky. The measurements were obtained during field tests and calibration of two prototype antennas for the much larger Long Wavelength Array which will eventually consist of nearly 13,000 similar dipole antennas. Once completed, the full size array will provide an entirely new view of the sky in the radio frequency range of 20 to 80 MHz. Until now this has been one of the least explored regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in radio astronomy. (ScienceOnLine)
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WORLDBEAT: SOUTH AFRICA UPDATING REPEATER DATA
South Africa is bringing its repeater information database up to date. It began the process on Saturday, September 19th at the repeater frequency planning meeting where Zed-S-4-P-R agreed to undertake establishing a committee aimed at bringing all of that nations repeater data up to date.
As part of that process, all clubs and repeater coordinators in South Africa are requested to bring the details currently on the South Africa Radio League website up-to-date before September 30th. On the 30th the repeater pages will be removed and a process will be started to correlate frequencies and data with licenses. The South African Radio League says that more details will be made available on how the process will develop after these first steps have been completed. (SARL)
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ON THE AIR: KL50 CELEBRATES ALASKA DAY OCTOBER 18 -19
On the air, listen out on October 18th and 19th for the call KL5O. It will be on the air celebrating as a special events station in celebration of the 2009 Alaska Day. Operation will be on 160 through 10 meters, including the WARC bands using phone, CW and RTTY. Operation will be scheduled to facilitate working North American stations, though all stations worldwide are encouraged to participate. Also, Alaska state QSO credit for the ARRL Year of the QSO Party award starts with the KL5O special event. QSL's will be available via Logbook to the World and eQSL as well as traditional cards. More information is on the web at www.kl5o.com. (Press release)
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ON THE AIR: GB70GB CELEBRATES THE GREAT BADDOW ON OCTOBER 3
GB70GB is a Special Special Event callsign taking to the air on Saturday October 3rd. This to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Research Center at Great Baddow. That was originally Marconi's Research Laboratories; and later on home to famous staff including Spycatcher author Peter Wright and later to Hovercraft inventor Chris Cockrell. More details of HF operation and its frequencies will be announced closer to the event at www.g0mwt.org.uk (Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society)
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THE CONTEST CORNER: SCANDANIVIAN ACTIVITY CW SEPT 10 - 20
In contest news, the 51st Scandinavian Activity Contest CW leg takes place on between 1200 UTC on September 19th and 1200 UTC on the 20th. In use will be 80, 40 20, 15 and 10 meters with the contest exchange being a signal report and serial number. Details can be found on-line at www.qrq.se/sac.
And the European P-S-K Club invites amateurs all over the world to participate in the CIS DX QPSK63 Contest. Its also on September 19th and 20th and is strictly a QPSK63 contest now with no other modes are allowed. The maximum output power is 100 watts. All the information can be found at www.cisdx.srars.org. (Southgate)
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DX
In DX, HA0NAR will be heading to western Africa in early 2010. He plans to be there at the end of January through the end of February with operation from Senegal as 6W stroke HA0NAR and Guinea-Bissau using the call J5NAR. More details on this one are promised in the near future.
And AA8YH is returning to Tunisia on November 16th for 5 weeks. He plans to be active on CW on the weekends from 3V8SS and is willing to accept skeds from "QRP" stations, either CW or SSB. They can contact him via his E-mail address listed on QRZ.com.
VK2CCC will be on the air from Vanuatu with a yet to be announced callsign from October 30th to November 5th. Activity will be "part time", but mainly on 160 and 80 meters CW. QSL via VK2CC, either via the bureau or direct.
G7COD, will once again be active as 8Q7AK from Embudu Island between October 12th and the 25th. His operation will be on 80 through 12 meters including the WARC bands. QSL via his home call.
And reports indicate that Lionel, F5PSA, is active as TJ3SL from the Cameroon. His length of stay is unknown at this time but he's reportedly on 20 through 10 meters using SSB. QSL via his home callsign as well.
Lastly, AA3B, will once again be active from Antigua as V26K between November 26th and December 1st. This will be an all CW operation on the contest HF bands only. Please QSL via AA3B.
(Above from various DXC news sources)
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THAT FINAL ITEM: WIKIPEDIA TO COLOR CODE TEXT
And finally this week, if you have ever wondered if something you read on the World Wide Web is accurate, one popular website is about to help in that area. Burt Hicks has more:
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Anyone who has used the Internet is familiar with the free, open-access on-line encyclopedia called Wikipedia dot com. Starting this fall an optional feature on Wikipedia called “WikiTrust” will color code every word of the on-line encyclopedia based on the reliability of its author and the length of time it has persisted on the page.
WikiTrust assigns a color code to newly edited text using an algorithm that calculates author reputation from the lifespan of their past contributions. It’s based on the concept that the longer information persists on the page, the more accurate it’s likely to be. Text from questionable sources starts out with a bright orange background, while text from trusted authors gets a lighter shade. As more people view and edit the new text, it gradually gains more “trust” and turns from orange to what's normal for a given page.
More than 60 million people visit Wikipedia each month to searching its 12 million pages in 260 languages. But despite its popularity, Wikipedia has long suffered criticism from those who say it’s not reliable. Critics say that because anyone can contribute, the site is subject to vandalism, bias and misinformation. And as all edits are anonymous, there’s no easy way to separate credible information from fake content created by vandals. The operators of Wikipedia hope that WikiTrust will counter those who find fault with the on-line reference source.
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No date yet for when Wiki Trust will be available on-line. (The Wiki Follower Online News)
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NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline™. Our e-mail address is newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's™ only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline™, P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline™ is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
__________________
Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ
Publisher, QRZ.COM
aa7bq@qrz.com
The following is a Q-S-T. Ladies and gentlemen, with some thank you's to those who support these newscasts, here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Support Fund Administrator, Andy Jarema, N6TCQ
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In November 2008 we heard from the Great South Bay ARC, W2GSB, of West Babylon, NY and Samuel Parnes, KI6OAA of Beverly Hills, CA.
Via PayPal there were W0CE and K0MSP of Midwest Broadcast Engineering and Ronald Hashiro, AH6RH in Hawaii.
In December we heard via PayPal we heard from John Leonard, W9JBL in De Kalb, IL; Joseph Kratky with the Hamfesters Radio Club 2 meter net W9AA and Chuck Harding, who relays Newsline for the Livermore ARC in the bay area on their Monday evening net.
Our volunteer staff who puts these newscasts together thank all of these people who helped bring these newscasts to you, and you can do the same by writing to us at the Newsline Support address given at the end of this newscast, or by going to our website at arnewsline.org.
I'm Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, and we thank you for listening.
--
Andy will be back with us in the near future with more thank-you's to those who have contributed to the support fund. (ARNewsline Support Fund)
**
Now, Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1676 with a release date of Friday, September 25th, 2009 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. South Africa's long awaited ham radio satellite is in space, a Cycle 24 Sunspot makes an appearance, the Dutch National ham radio society says that D-Star repeaters will not be in the ham satellite subband, a popular DX award program turns 75 and color coding comes to a favorite on-line research tool. Find out the details on Amateur Radio Newsline™ report number 1676 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: SUMBANDILA SAT NOW IN ORBIT
South Africa's SumbandilaSat is on orbit. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has the details:
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The third time was a charm. This as SumbandilaSat was successfully launched at 17:55:09 Central African Time on Thursday, September 17. This after the launch had to be postponed twice due to weather and technical problems with the booster that carried it into space.
After attaining orbit the satellite was released from the rocket while over the Antarctic. 10 minutes later it was accessed by the ground station at the Stellenbosch University when the first command was sent to wake up the bird. Despite the low elevation orbit of less than 10 degrees SumbandilaSat responded well by returning its first telemetry.
An intensive period of payload qualification period will now follow during which each system of SumbandilaSat will be tested. This is expected to take up to 3 months after which the command will shift to the CSIR’s Satellite Application Center north of Pretoria and eventually opened for general use.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, saying congratulations to the hams of South Africa on their hew satellite -- SumbandilaSat.
--
Launched along with SumbandilaSat was the Meteor M-N1 satellite Late reports indicate that it may be transmitting on 435.365 MHz. Details on this new bird are planet.iitp.ru/english/spacec...r-m-n1_eng.htm (SA-AMSAT, Southgate)
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PROPAGATION BULLETIN: NEW CYCLE 24 SPOT ON THE FACE OF THE SUN
Some good news from the big circular disk in the daytime sky. Spceweather reports that Sunspot 1026 emerged on Sunday, September 20th U-T-C to break a string of 19 consecutive spotless days.
Sunspot 1026 is described as being about as wide as the diameter of the Earth. This makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has measured the spot's magnetic polarity and identified it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24.
Could this be a harbinger of more to come? Spaceweather says its apparently is. So stay tuned and keep your radio tuned in. (Spaceweather)
**
BREAKING DX NEWS: GLORIOSO ISLAND IS ON THE AIR
Some breaking news in the world of DX. This, with word that the Glorioso Island FT5GA DXpedition team is now active. Operation is reported on all of the high frequency bands using CW, SSB and RTTY but most stateside stations report that signals are very weak.
The team reportedly had some antenna problems at first due to windy weather conditions and later a faulty contact on a WARC band Spiderbeam. That was repaired and indications are that all three stations are now on the air.
Operations will last until October 5th per the FT5GA web page. Its in cyberspace at glorieuses2008.free.fr and we will have more DX related items near the end of this weeks newscast. (Glorioso Island DX Team)
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RESTRUCTURING FOLLOW-UP: ANOTHER VIEW ON THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT - D-STAR REPEATERS AND THE HAM SATELLITE BAND
A follow-up and also a different story regarding the D-Star repeater subband reallocation in the Netherlands. This time its from Abraham van den Berg, P-B-Zero-A-O-K who is VERON's VHF manager. Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has been following the story and has the latest:
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VERON PRON Veer On
For those unaware, the VERON is the Dutch national IARU society much like the ARRL is in the national society in the United States. And Abraham van den Berg, PB0AOK, disputes the report by Amsat North America and PE1HZG that the Dutch telecommunications administration is thinking about operating D-Star repeaters in the 437 to 438 MHz band.
Van den Berg says that at this time the amateur service in the Netherlands and neighboring countries suffers from harmful interference caused by the implementation of the Radiolocation service in the 438 to 440 MHz band. And says PB0AOK, for that reason, use of D-Star repeaters with output frequencies in the upper 2 MHz part of the Region 1 70cm band has been hampered.
To solve this problem, recently the Dutch D-Star community came up with a proposal to plan the output frequencies of D-Star repeaters just below 438 MHz and has asked VERON to support this proposal. But says van den Berg, the VERON has decided not to do so/ This, due to incompatibility between the amateur service and amateur-satellite service. Moreover, says PBAOK, the proposal deviates significantly from the IARU Region 1 band plan.
According to PB0AOK, the VERON has made an alternative proposition. This, to amend the Dutch national frequency plan in such a way that it fully complies with article 5 RR of the the European Common Allocation table, as well as the IARU Region 1 band plan.
So now it’s a wait and see game between the Dutch national society and that nations telecommunications regulators.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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More on this issue in upcoming Amateur Radio Newsline reports. (PB0AOK, others)
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RADIO POLITICS: HAM RADUIO PREPARES FOR WRC 2012
Ham radio is getting ready for the next major World Radiocommunications conference slated for Geneva, Switzerland from January 23 to February 17, 2012. To get ready, Approximately 200 participants came together in an ITU preliminary meeting that ended September 16 in Geneva. ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jonathan Siverling, WB3ERA, and IARU Region 1 Vice President Tafa Diop, 6W1KI, were among the participants. Also present were the power players representing the six regional telecommunications organizations including CITEL from the Americas. This meeting was part of a series of ongoing international and regional preparatory meetings to allow government and industry to address the far-reaching and complex agenda of WRC 12. (ARRL, Southgate, others)
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WORLDBEAT: US GENERALS GIVEN CEPT NOVICE PRIVELEGES IN SOME NATIONS
Radio amateurs with United States General Class licenses to get reciprocal licenses in some CEPT countries, but with limited privileges.
On Thursday, September 10, the Federal Communications Commission released a new Public Notice implementing changes in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations or CEPT reciprocal operating arrangements for US citizens who hold a United States General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio licenses. While nothing has been altered in regard to Advanced or Extra class licensees, there is good news for those holding the General. US citizens holding a General class license who had lost all CEPT reciprocal privileges in 2008 have now been granted CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License.
But according to the ARRL's Dan Henderson, this is not an across the board permit. Henderson says that it is important to note two things about the agreement. First is that not all European countries have implemented this recommendation. Therefore, a US General class operator does not have reciprocal privileges in many countries, including popular US travel destinations like Italy, the UK or France.
Second, as with any reciprocal operation, the band frequencies and privileges are those allowed by the host country and not the frequencies and privileges extended by your FCC license while in the United States or its possessions. Therefore, travelers need to make sure they are familiar with the authorized privileges for the CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License in the nation in which they plan to operate. (ARRL, Southgate, others)
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BREAK 1
From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Amateur Radio Association's AA6DP repeater serving all of Southern California from 26 miles across the sea.
(5 sec pause here)
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CQ MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES 75th ANNIVERSARY WAZ AWARD
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of its Worked All Zones or W-A-Z award program, CQ magazine is announcing a limited-term "Diamond Jubilee W-A-Z award. A special certificate will be issued to amateurs who make contacts in all 40 CQ Zones of the World between November 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Certificates will be numbered but there will be no endorsements. Confirmations will not be required. However, it is expected that applicants will continue to uphold amateur radio's long-standing tradition of honesty and self-regulation. Standard WAZ application fees will apply. Complete details on the Diamond Jubilee WAZ Award will be in the October 2009 issue of CQ, and are posted on the CQ website at www.cq-amateur-radio.com. (CQ)
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COMMUNICATIONANS LAW: FCC PROPOSES REGULATING INTERNET CONNECTIVITY SPEED
Its not exactly amateur radio but it will affect hams who use the Internet for sich applications as Echolink, IRLP, and other VoIP communications. This as the head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks. Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, follows happenings at the FCC and has this report:
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The head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks, an official at the agency said Saturday.
The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski, will announce the proposed rules in a speech Monday at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, the official said on condition of anonymity because news of the announcement had not been released.
The proposals would uphold a pledge Barack Obama made during the presidential campaign to support Internet neutrality -- the equal treatment of Internet traffic. That would bar Internet service providers such as Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. or AT&T Inc., from slowing or blocking certain services or content flowing through their vast networks.
Without strict rules ensuring Net neutrality, consumer watchdogs fear the communications companies could interfere with the transmission of content, such as TV shows delivered over the Internet, that compete with services the ISPs offer, like cable television.
Internet providers have opposed regulations that would inhibit the way they control their networks, arguing they need to be able to make sure applications that consume a lot of bandwidth don't slow Internet access to other users.
"This is about whether I can turn off my cable TV and watch TV over the Internet," said Dave Burstein, editor of the DSL Prime broadband industry newsletter. "Comcast cares about this because they don't want people to turn off their cable TV."
I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, for Amateur Radio Newsline.
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Many of you may recall that the FCC adopted four principles on Internet policy in 2005. Burstein thinks the FCC probably will adopt a fifth principle on nondiscrimination as part of the expected new rules. (FCC, W8HDU)
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ENFORCEMENT: FCC TO CONTINUE CBS SUPER BOWL EXPOSURE CASE
The FCC says it wants to further investigate whether CBS' indecency violation in the Janet Jackson Super Bowl costume malfunction was willful. Iin a brief recently filed to the Third Circuit Appeals Court he FCC contends that the evidence in this case strongly suggests that CBS had access to video delay technology at the time of the 2004 Super Bowl incident. The FCC asked the court to remand the decision back to the Commission so it could investigate further its assertion that the violation was "willful."
The Third Circuit, in reversing the FCC's fine against the broadcast, said the evidence that delay technology was available at the time was scant. The FCC disagrees and wants the chance to determine whether CBS was reckless not to use video delay technology for this broadcast. (B & C)
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RADIO LAW: FCC TO REASSESS PARENTAL CONTROL OF TELE-VIEWEING
The Federal Communications Commission is about to open a reassessment of the V-chip and of family-friendly programming. This to determine if it is possible to have a single-content ratings system that can apply to movies, video games, TV and cellular telephones. The study may also look at ways to ensure that once a TV show or movie is rated, data is readily available whether the program subsequently is viewed on TV, cable, a phone or a computer.
Back in 1996 Congress required TV set makers to include the V-Chip in TVs. This Integrated Circuit technology allows parents and other televiewers the ability to set their TV receivers to screen out shows whose ratings didn’t meet their personal standards.
Critics argue that the technology needs updating with a system that can now offer more information, and is less confusing. This is because motion pictures, TV programs and music each use different ratings systems and because some TV programs are rated inconsistently between networks. On the other side the TV networks, cable industry and the National Association of Broadcasters, argue that the current V-Chip system works well giving adult television viewers the ability to lock out material that they do not want their family members to watch. However, studies have found that relatively few American families actually use the V-Chip to control their youngsters viewing habits. (WRAP OnLine, others)
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NAMES IN THE NEWS: VHF QRP AT QRPACIFICON ON OCTOBER 10
Some names in the news. First up is James Duffey, KK6MC. He says that he will be giving a talk on "VHF and UHF Operating and Contesting for the Beginner and QRPer." This, on October 10th at the NorCal QRP group's annual forum QRPacificon. The venue is the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Milpitas, California. More is on the at www.norcalqrp.org/pacificon09.htm (KK6MC)
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VE4HAY RE-ELERCTED RAC MIDWEST DIRECTOR
And congratulations to Derek Hay, VE4HAY, of Winnipeg who has been re-elected as the Midwest Region Director of Radio Amateurs of Canada. Hey ran unopposed and was declared re-elected on September 16th.
(RAC)
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WITH NEWSLINE: NEWSLINE ARCHIVE AT YAHOOGROUPS
Every now and again we receive an e-mail or phone call asking if we keep an on-line archive of old newscasts. The fact is that we used to have one on our website but as the newscast expanded to its present 26 minute length we needed the bandwidth and storage space to accommodate our audio service. So, about 1999 the on-line archive went away.
There are several radio clubs and groups that do have many of our older newscasts in audio form and a search using Google will bring up many of them. And if its only the newscast text that you require then you need only log onto groups dot yahoo dot com slash group slash arnewsline slash messages. There you will find the text of all of our newscasts going back to January 26, 2001. We really do not maintain it as an archive specific but rather its an artifact of the Yahoogroups on-line service. Then again, its free with the only caveat being that you need to join the ARNewsline Yahoogroup to access it which by the way also is free of charge.
As to an audio archive? As we said, some older newscasts can also be found with a Google search at some private websites, but none prior to the mid-1990's. All of those live only on reels of tape or cassettes in a cabinet in our office. With now some 33 years of them, its doubtful you will ever find anything prior to 1996 or there abouts on-line. (ARNewsline)
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FUNNY TECHNOLOGY: PIGEON BEATS INTERNET IN AFRICA
A South African information technology company claims that it has proven it was faster for them to transmit data with a carrier pigeon than to send it using the country's leading internet service provider Telkom.
The local news agency SAPA reported the 11-month-old pigeon named Winston took one hour and eight minutes to fly the 50 miles from Unlimited IT's offices to the coastal city of Durban with a data card was strapped to his leg. Including downloading, the transfer took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds. That’s the same time it took for only four percent of the data to be transferred using a Telkom line.
SAPA said Unlimited IT performed the stunt after becoming frustrated with slow internet transmission times. Internet speed and connectivity in Africa is poor because of a bandwidth shortage and also expensive for what service does exist. (Telecom News)
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WORLDBEAT: AUSTRALIAN CB MOUNTAIN RADIO CHALLENGE
And while we rarely report on 11 meter events here's one where it is legal to make DX contacts and its even an organized happening. The reason is that its in Australia where it seems that the CB rules permit this kind of activity.
The Mountain Radio Challenge is the CB Radio event in question. It began around 1980 with CB'ers in the
North Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne who would find mountains to camp on for the night and see what distances could be achieved on the 27 MHz band using ground wave. The concept was that anyone could talk skip interstate or overseas, but to talk long distance without skip was a challenge.
The Mountain Radio Challenge continues to be held each year on Australian High Frequency CB Channel Ch 27. That translates into 27.275MHz on upper sideband. There's also FM activity on the Australian UHF CB Calling frequency of 477.075MHz. More information on the Mountain Radio Challenge is on the web at www.mrc.cat.net.au (WIA News, VK-VHF List)
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BREAK 2
This is ham radio news for today’s radio amateur. From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur:
(5 sec pause here)
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RADIO VS THE NET: FACEBOOK TO ADD VIVOX TWO WAY CALLING
Another challenge for radio hobbyists. This with word that the social networking site Facebook is adopting a third-party application that will permit voice contacts that will rival anything possible over the airwaves.
The new technology is not being offered from Vivox. This is Boston based company that provides the integrated voice service for virtual worlds like Second Life and EVE Online, and which already has more than 15 million users worldwide.
Once adopted, the service will allow Facebook users to have conversations with anyone on their friends list just by downloading a Vivox's plug-in. But once installed, the service works almost seamlessly with Facebook, and is intended for everything from one-to-one chat to large group discussions.
Vivox also plans to offer free dial-in numbers that will allow anyone to call into an existing conversation, much as is possible today with call-in phone conferences. This will allow even non-Facebook users will be able to participate.
Kind of like what hams do on the air all the time, minus the radio and antenna. (RW)
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: NEW 3-D IMAGING IN THE UK
Researchers at The University of Nottingham have a new weapon in their arsenal of tools to push back the boundaries of science, engineering, and archeology. Called the Nanotom, it is described the most advanced 3D X-ray micro Computed Tomography scanner in the world. The Nanotom is expected to help researchers in a wide variety of scientific disciplines to literally see through solids. The machine will make previously difficult investigation much easier as it allows researchers to probe inside objects without having to break into them. (Science Daily)
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HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ASTRONAUTS TRAIN WITH TERRESTRIAL SCHOOL CONTACTS
Astronauts Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP recently participated in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station training sessions. On Wednesday, September 9th the pair spoke with children from the Ralph McCall School in Alberta, Canada.
The training sessions are terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using equivalent equipment to that which the astronauts will find on the International Space Station. Contact audio was available on the Internet Radio Linking Project. (ANS)
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RADIO IN SPACE: GIANT HF ANTENNA HEARS SIGNALS FROM THE FINAL FRONTIER
Scientists from the National Research Lab's Space Science and Remote Sensing Divisions, working with researchers from the University of New Mexico and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico have seen their first scientific results from the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array or LWDA antenna system. The group lead by Dr. Jake Hartman utilized radio emissions from the approximately 300 year-old Cassiopeia A supernova remnant to establish baseline measurements for the array.
The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant located in the astronomical constellation Cassiopeia is considered to be one of the largest and most active astronomical radio sources in the sky. The measurements were obtained during field tests and calibration of two prototype antennas for the much larger Long Wavelength Array which will eventually consist of nearly 13,000 similar dipole antennas. Once completed, the full size array will provide an entirely new view of the sky in the radio frequency range of 20 to 80 MHz. Until now this has been one of the least explored regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in radio astronomy. (ScienceOnLine)
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WORLDBEAT: SOUTH AFRICA UPDATING REPEATER DATA
South Africa is bringing its repeater information database up to date. It began the process on Saturday, September 19th at the repeater frequency planning meeting where Zed-S-4-P-R agreed to undertake establishing a committee aimed at bringing all of that nations repeater data up to date.
As part of that process, all clubs and repeater coordinators in South Africa are requested to bring the details currently on the South Africa Radio League website up-to-date before September 30th. On the 30th the repeater pages will be removed and a process will be started to correlate frequencies and data with licenses. The South African Radio League says that more details will be made available on how the process will develop after these first steps have been completed. (SARL)
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ON THE AIR: KL50 CELEBRATES ALASKA DAY OCTOBER 18 -19
On the air, listen out on October 18th and 19th for the call KL5O. It will be on the air celebrating as a special events station in celebration of the 2009 Alaska Day. Operation will be on 160 through 10 meters, including the WARC bands using phone, CW and RTTY. Operation will be scheduled to facilitate working North American stations, though all stations worldwide are encouraged to participate. Also, Alaska state QSO credit for the ARRL Year of the QSO Party award starts with the KL5O special event. QSL's will be available via Logbook to the World and eQSL as well as traditional cards. More information is on the web at www.kl5o.com. (Press release)
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ON THE AIR: GB70GB CELEBRATES THE GREAT BADDOW ON OCTOBER 3
GB70GB is a Special Special Event callsign taking to the air on Saturday October 3rd. This to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Research Center at Great Baddow. That was originally Marconi's Research Laboratories; and later on home to famous staff including Spycatcher author Peter Wright and later to Hovercraft inventor Chris Cockrell. More details of HF operation and its frequencies will be announced closer to the event at www.g0mwt.org.uk (Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society)
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THE CONTEST CORNER: SCANDANIVIAN ACTIVITY CW SEPT 10 - 20
In contest news, the 51st Scandinavian Activity Contest CW leg takes place on between 1200 UTC on September 19th and 1200 UTC on the 20th. In use will be 80, 40 20, 15 and 10 meters with the contest exchange being a signal report and serial number. Details can be found on-line at www.qrq.se/sac.
And the European P-S-K Club invites amateurs all over the world to participate in the CIS DX QPSK63 Contest. Its also on September 19th and 20th and is strictly a QPSK63 contest now with no other modes are allowed. The maximum output power is 100 watts. All the information can be found at www.cisdx.srars.org. (Southgate)
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DX
In DX, HA0NAR will be heading to western Africa in early 2010. He plans to be there at the end of January through the end of February with operation from Senegal as 6W stroke HA0NAR and Guinea-Bissau using the call J5NAR. More details on this one are promised in the near future.
And AA8YH is returning to Tunisia on November 16th for 5 weeks. He plans to be active on CW on the weekends from 3V8SS and is willing to accept skeds from "QRP" stations, either CW or SSB. They can contact him via his E-mail address listed on QRZ.com.
VK2CCC will be on the air from Vanuatu with a yet to be announced callsign from October 30th to November 5th. Activity will be "part time", but mainly on 160 and 80 meters CW. QSL via VK2CC, either via the bureau or direct.
G7COD, will once again be active as 8Q7AK from Embudu Island between October 12th and the 25th. His operation will be on 80 through 12 meters including the WARC bands. QSL via his home call.
And reports indicate that Lionel, F5PSA, is active as TJ3SL from the Cameroon. His length of stay is unknown at this time but he's reportedly on 20 through 10 meters using SSB. QSL via his home callsign as well.
Lastly, AA3B, will once again be active from Antigua as V26K between November 26th and December 1st. This will be an all CW operation on the contest HF bands only. Please QSL via AA3B.
(Above from various DXC news sources)
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THAT FINAL ITEM: WIKIPEDIA TO COLOR CODE TEXT
And finally this week, if you have ever wondered if something you read on the World Wide Web is accurate, one popular website is about to help in that area. Burt Hicks has more:
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Anyone who has used the Internet is familiar with the free, open-access on-line encyclopedia called Wikipedia dot com. Starting this fall an optional feature on Wikipedia called “WikiTrust” will color code every word of the on-line encyclopedia based on the reliability of its author and the length of time it has persisted on the page.
WikiTrust assigns a color code to newly edited text using an algorithm that calculates author reputation from the lifespan of their past contributions. It’s based on the concept that the longer information persists on the page, the more accurate it’s likely to be. Text from questionable sources starts out with a bright orange background, while text from trusted authors gets a lighter shade. As more people view and edit the new text, it gradually gains more “trust” and turns from orange to what's normal for a given page.
More than 60 million people visit Wikipedia each month to searching its 12 million pages in 260 languages. But despite its popularity, Wikipedia has long suffered criticism from those who say it’s not reliable. Critics say that because anyone can contribute, the site is subject to vandalism, bias and misinformation. And as all edits are anonymous, there’s no easy way to separate credible information from fake content created by vandals. The operators of Wikipedia hope that WikiTrust will counter those who find fault with the on-line reference source.
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No date yet for when Wiki Trust will be available on-line. (The Wiki Follower Online News)
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NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline™. Our e-mail address is newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's™ only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline™, P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066.
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline™ is Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
__________________
Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ
Publisher, QRZ.COM
aa7bq@qrz.com