Volume 26, Number 10 October, 1996

Copyright © 1996 by EMARC

OCTOBER MEETING

The October meeting will have some interesting guest speakers: YOU. Anyone who wants to can prepare a ten minute talk on any aspect of amateur radio to be presented at the meeting. Please call Andy, AC6GN and give him the topic of your talk and equipment needed (slide projector, VCR, ?).Andy has the unenviable job of scheduling and choosing for topic and balance. Given the nature of amateur radio and the propensity of our members to talk, there should be more than enough speakers to fill the time. We could probably run our meetings for a year on this format.

EMARC Calendar of Events

Regularly-scheduled events:

EMARC Monthly Meeting: Fourth Friday of the month (except for possible changes in June, Nov. & Dec.) at 7 PM; Business Meeting, 7:30 PM; Program starts 8 PM. At the Covington School in Los Altos; directions on last page. See specific date listings above . EMARC events are also listed on packet (to EMARC@allscv); on the N0ARY event bulletin board (type EVENT or List Clubs); and on the automatic enunciator on the W6APZ repeater (145.23-). Note: The 4th Friday is not necessarily the last Friday.

The Station Open House program for 1996 is expanding! Omri, AA6TA, will host open houses on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 PM local time on an "as available" basis. The emphasis in the Tuesday open houses will be satellite operations and HF digital modes (RTTY, AMTOR, etc.). Please check with Omri (he is available virtually anytime on the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-, 100PL before coming. This is in addition to the Wednesday open houses, typically hosted by Bob, KD6VIO. The station open houses are for EMARC members and their invited guests only. Please do not discuss on the air the exact location of the station.

EMARC NET is held Thursdays at 8 PM on the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-; the 100 Hz PL is off for the net.

10 AM net. Weekdays at 10 AM on W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL). A very informal rag chew net with mostly EMARC members.

Foothill Flea Market: 2nd Saturday (starts pre-dawn), March thru September. Bring 4 quarters for the parking meters. At Foothill College, just west of I-280 at the El Monte/Moody Rd. exit in Los Altos. Talk-in: 145.27-

Project OSCAR meets following each Foothill Flea Market about 11 AM at Harry's Hofbrau in Mt. View, 399 El Camino Real at Bonita St., north of Grant and south of Castro, on the west side of the street.

No formal program - just get to know each other and (if you wish) have lunch together

PS There is a Project OSCAR / AMSAT net every Wednesday evening at 19:30 local time on the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-, 100 Hz PL. All hams welcome - you do not need to be active on the satellites to participate.

Livermore Flea Market: 1st Sunday (starts 7 AM) year round, rain or shine. At Las Positas College, Airway Blvd. exit off I-580 just west of Livermore. Talk-in 147.120+ or 145.35-(100Hz PL). Parking is free.

The NorCal QRP Club meets following the Livermore flea market at 11 AM at the California Burger in Pleasanton, about. 2 miles from the flea market.

10-10 Net. The local net for 10 meters enthusiasts meets every Monday at 8 PM on 28.475 MHz; net control: Neal, WA6OCP.

EMARC announcement mailing list is moderated, so you cannot reply directly to the list. To subscribe, send the word "subscribe" to: emarc-request@ham.yak.net; For help, send the word "help" to majordomo@ham.yak.net; For human assistance, email to: human@ham.yak.net.

The EMARC Relay is the official monthly newsletter of the Electronics Museum Amateur Radio Club. Club meetings are held at 7 PM on the fourth Friday of each month except January (Winter Banquet); and 3rd Friday in June, Nov. & Dec. Annual membership $20; family $25. Visitors are always welcome! Directions on the back page. Talk-in: W6APZ (145.23-, 100Hz) or W6ASH repeater (145.27- or 224.36-).

Contributions to the newsletter from members, family, and guests are earnestly solicited! Contributions subject to editing and/or compression. ASCII files via packet, Internet or diskettes preferred; but all readable forms welcome. Here are the various ways to reach the editor:

Packet: KD6WRG@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA
Internet: dwilkes@svpal.org
AOL: davewilkes
VHF voice: KD6WRG on W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL) 10AM net weekdays; EMARC net Thursdays 8 PM; Various other times.
Mail: 1093 Kelly Drive, San Jose CA 95129-3222
Voice: 408-996-1613 (Until 9 PM); Fax: 408-725-1036
Eyeball: at EMARC meetings.

SECRETARY'S REPORT

EMARC Directors' meeting minutes: The EMARC Board of Directors met on Wednesday evening, Oct. 9. Present were: Mikel KN6QI, Andy AC6GN, Shel KM6GV, Dave KD6WRG, Bill KQ6FY, and Hans KE6TGA.

The upcoming elections were discussed, and potential new board members were considered. All board members expressed an interest in opening up the management of EMARC to new members, and ways of doing this were discussed.

Motions to sell the club stations extra HF transceiver, a Kenwood 530, and the extra packet TNC, were passed.

The January Banquet site was discussed, with the agreement that the membership at large should have the final decision from a selection of three excellent restaurants. So, the final decision will be made at our next general meeting, Oct. 25.

There was also some discussion about the need for another club fund raiser. Several ideas were thrown about, but no definite action plan has been formulated thus far.

The voting method for last month's Home Brew Contest were discussed, and all agreed that it was a better system. The projects that were presented were all very interesting, and as always, there were a few that stood apart from the rest in their craftsmanship.

de KQ6FY, Bill

DAVID'S DIATRIBE

Dennis, KC6PUN likes to agitate me by sending me email he knows will bring out the beast within. The FCC report on the jammer in Phoenix is one of those. Now isn't it precious? If that guy had been interfering with his neighbors' TVs during a football game they would have gone in there like Rambo. Since he was only causing trouble for radio amateurs, they send him a nice letter. In a case as blatant as this, I can't believe they could not have obtained a warrant to seize his equipment and shut him down. I'm not a big fan of rules and regulation, but there is a reason for traffic lights and licensing.

OK, radio amateurs look down on the CB crowd, that's a given. We do have a vested interest in stopping the bill to put CB under local control. If they do it to CB, they will do it to us. We have already seen cases of amateur equipment seized under local laws against scanners capable of receiving the police bands and naive communities trying to pass laws against RF radiation. Do you really want a bunch of technical dodos to rule on your right to communicate? Have pity on yourself and write your congresscritter to put a stop to this ridiculous bill.

One more and I'll get off the soapbox: One of the charges filed against Hoffman was "Prohibited transmission of any material to amuse or entertain". Come on now. Does that mean we can't tell a joke or make a funny remark on the air? If so, it means we are all in trouble.

de David, KD6WRG

CLUB STATION UPDATE

WB6WSL Report

de Omri AA6TA

SOMETHING NOT TO GET IN THE MAIL

Daily Digest Vol. 15 No. 166 September 5, 1996

PHOENIX. AZ. Issued a further notice of apparent liability in the amount of $6,000 against Timothy Harold Hoffman, Phoenix, Arizona, for violations of various amateur radio rules. Action by Chief, Compliance Division, Compliance and Information Bureau. Adopted: August 30, 1996 by FNAL. DA No. 96-1478. CIB Internet URL: index.html - FCC -

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20054

In the Matter of Timothy Harold Hoffman Phoenix, Arizona

OFFICIAL NOTICE OF VIOLATION Released: June 26, 1995
By the Compliance and Information Bureau

I. Introduction
1. This is a Notice of Violation issued in accordance with Section 1.89 of the Rules, 47 C.F.R. [[section]] 1.89, to Timothy Harold Hoffman for willful violations of sections 301, 303(n), and 333 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 C.F.R. [[section]][[section]]301, 303(n), 333) and sections 15.29, 95.413(a)(4), 95.413(a)(6), 95.426(a)) for operating a radio transmitter on amateur radio service frequencies without a valid license, failing to allow inspection of the radio station by authorized FCC personnel, willfully and maliciously interfering with radio communications of licensed stations, and on CB channel 36 transmitting one-way communications, Transmitting material to amuse or entertain.

II. Background
2. On may 14, 1995, Agents from the Commission's Compliance and Information Bureau (CIB), Using mobile direction finding techniques, detected radio signals on CB channel 36, J3E emission (lower sideband), coming from an antenna located at 911 West Highland Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85013. The transmissions consisted of retransmitted signals from an Amateur Radio Service repeater on 147.240 MHz. The following violations were observed from 8:05 until 8:50 PM MST and from 8:55 until 9:15 PM MST:

Rule Violation Description
47 C.F.R. 95.413(a)(4) Prohibited transmission of one-way communications
47 C.F.R. 95.413(a)(6) Prohibited transmission of any material to amuse or entertain.

3. On May 15, 1995, Agents from the Commissions CIB, Using mobile direction finding techniques, detected radio signals being transmitted on 146.340 MHz, F3E emission, coming from an antenna located at 911 West Highland Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85013. The transmissions consisted of the use of Amateur Radio Service call sign N7ZZT and asking for a new white cane and new eyes, among other things. Transmissions were observed at 7:44 PM and 8:21 PM MST. At 8:25 PM MST, the FCC agents attempted to inspect the radio station at 911 West Highland Avenue. The adult male that came to the door admitted to being Timothy Hoffman and would not allow the agents to inspect the radio installation. The following Violations were observed this date:

Rule Violated Description
47 U.S.C 301 Transmitting on Amateur Radio Service frequencies without a valid operator or station license.
47 U.S.C. 333 Willfully and Maliciously interfering with radio communications of licensed Amateur Radio Service stations.
47 U.S.C 303(n) and Failure to allow station inspection by authorized FCC personnel 47 C.F.R. 15.29 and 47 C.F.R. 95.426(a)

III. Discussion
4. Timothy Harold Hoffman was clearly in violation of 47 C.F.R. [[section]][[section]] 15.29, 95.413(a)(4), 95.413(a)(6), and 95.426(a) and in violation of 47 U.S.C. [[section]][[section]] 301, 303(n), and 333.

IV. Ordering Clauses
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 308(b) or the Communications act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. [[section]] 308(b) and section 1.89 or the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. [[section]] 1.89, that Timothy Harold Hoffman submit a written statement concerning the Violations of 47 C.F.R. [[section]][[section]] 15.29, 95.413(a)(4), 95.413(a)(6), and 95.426(a) and of 47 U.S.C. [[section]][[section]] 301, 303(n), and 333 to the following Address:

Federal Communications Commission
PO Box 6
Douglas, Arizona 85608-0006

The answer shall contain a statement of action taken to correct the conditions in violation and action to preclude recurrence. Each rule section in shown violation shall be addressed separately. The staff will use all relevant and material information before it, including the information disclosed in your reply, to determine what, if any, enforcement action is required to ensure the current and future Rule compliance. Willful or repeated violation or failure to reply may result in monetary forfeiture.

A WILLFULLY FALSE STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION BY A FEDERAL AGENCY COULD BE PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF $10,000 OR IMPRISONMENT FOR 5 YEARS, OR BOTH, UNDER TITLE 18, U.S. CODE 1001.

6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail, to Timothy Harold Hoffman, 911 West Highland Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85013.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Stephen Y. Tsuya Engineer in charge Douglas office

President Clinton Sends Greetings to Amateur Radio:-Through the superb efforts of Darlana Mayo, KB2EPU, of Mt. Vernon, NY, a Hudson Div. ARRL member, President Clinton issued a very complimentary letter, offering "Warm greetings to everyone observing Oct. 7 through 13, 1996, as Amateur Radio Week," praising Amateur Radio operators for their "commitment to excellence and their willingness to work for the well-being of others." The full text is available from the ARRL Letter, W1AW, the ARRL WWW home page, and other sources.

O. G. "Mike" Villard, W6QYT, Celebrates 80th Birthday:-

On Sept. 17, 1996, O. G. (Mike) Villard, Jr., W6QYT, (ex-W1DMV) celebrated his 80th birthday and 53 years as a QST author. Attending the celebration were a number of academic, scientific, and Amateur Radio friends. Mike's articles included the early experiments on SSB for Amateur Radio, the Selectoject, meteor scatter transmission, to name only a few examples. I was one of those fortunate undergraduates at Stanford to know Mike as the trustee for the Stanford University Radio Club, W6YX. Although I was not an EE student, I was able to work with and operate the very early days of SSB on 20 meters in 1948 with a kW on both AM and SSB and could feed either on the same frequency into a rhombic aimed down the center of the U. S. -- W6YX had a big signal! We did a big time education and demonstration on SSB many evenings.

FCC Issues Order on RF Exposure; ARRL Files for Partial Reconsideration; Progress on Understanding the Impact:-

On Aug. 1, 1996, the FCC issued a Report and Order changing dramatically the rules under which all transmitters licensed under the FCC will be operated from an RF Safety point of view. The rule goes into effect on Jan. 1, 1997. The ARRL believes that the FCC's decision is flawed in some respects and has filed a Petition for Partial Reconsideration. While this Petition is being considered, however, the effective date of the rule remains as Jan. 1, 1997. The FCC, according to the R&O, will be issuing guidelines before the first of the year. The ARRL lab and others are also preparing guideline material. See Oct. 1996 QST, page 9, for the K1ZZ editorial, and pages 78 et seq. for more details. The text of the FCC R&O (ET Docket 93-62) can be found on the FCC web site at www.fcc.gov/oet/. Also, visit the ARRL WWW site for all the information currently known.

Five (5) VHF, UHF and Microwave Bands Are Now Under Active Challenge:-

2m/70cm Band Threats; A Ray of Hope: -- It appears likely that little or nothing will happen in IWG2A until the late November 1996 time frame when their report is due to the WRC97 Advisory Committee. So WHAT do we do now?

1. Monitor the progress of this unfolding drama!
For the latest news on this volatile issue, read QST, ARRL Letter, Pacific Division Updates in hard copy. Read ARRL Letter, Pacific Division Updates on email; visit Pacific Division WWW site. Visit the ARRL Home page at www.arrl.org and select "Band Threat News."

2. Join ARRL!
The ARRL is the only effective national organization fighting for YOUR 2 meter and 70 cm. hand held operating privileges. It is easy to join and help us win this battle to preserve our privileges.

3. Then write. Right now--and continue through the Fall!
Comments by e-mail should be sent to: wrc97@fcc.gov. Hard copy written comments, with an original plus one copy, should be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC 20554. Each comment should include at the top, "Reference No. ISP-96-005" and "Advisory Committee Informal Working Group 2A." We must keep up this activity consistently through November. See further background information in previous Pacific Division Updates (see the Pacific Division WWW site -- pacific.arrl.org), QST and the ARRL WWW site. There is no available news since the last Update concerning the Working Group 8D activity which involves the Little LEO folks charged with providing the technical support for their proposal. They have apparently withdrawn their document describing their proposed support and compatibility studies. Over simplified, if there is no supporting technical documentation or study, then there is little likelihood that the proposal will be adopted. Further, all technical support documentation must be ready for meetings in Geneva in late Oct. 1996. Even though the above news sounds good, caution is still in order. There always can be attempts to end-run the preparatory process. We won't be able to breathe easily about WRC-97 issues until the final gavel, more than 14 months from now.

1296 MHz Band Threat --
Here also there may be a ray of hope -- in a recent series of government meetings it appears that in addition to the originally proposed 1258.29 MHz frequency another powerful group favors 1207.14 MHz and yet another powerful group favors 1309.7 MHz. A decision is due by Oct. 31, but the apparent odds are for 1309.7 MHz, but of course nothing is for certain. We must always remember, however, that amateur radio is secondary to radiolocation and navigation systems in the 23 cm band.

2300-2310 and 2400 MHz Band Threats --
At the last minute before Congress adjourned, Congress passed and the President signed Public Law 104-208 to authorize the placing of 2305-2310 MHz of the Amateur Band plus other spectrum into the spectrum pool for auction to finance the 1997 Federal spending plan. ARRL made many contacts at very high levels to try to stop this plan but were told that such a plan did not exist. Nevertheless, we persisted. I personally called the House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs to plead our case. Verifiable facts have been hard to come by the last week of Congress because of the "closing time" turmoil on the Hill. Moreover, much of the important legislation in the final hours was wrapped into the 2,000 page omnibus budget resolution, HR 4278, the text of which was not made public until Oct. 4. Most of the deal making appears to have been at very high levels. What do we do now? Congress has adjourned and will not return until Jan. 1997. ARRL plans to press this issue. In the meantime, you, individually, may want to press this matter with your local Congressman when he or she is home campaigning for re-election in the next month. In the meantime, RM 8837 by DSC Corp. (which the ARRL and others filed Reply Comments opposing) asks the FCC to provide 2400 MHz spectrum for wireless local loop for telephone service. Essentially, the ARRL Reply Comments stated among other points that this frequency band had already been the subject of rule making and there was no need to reopen this frequency band to discussion again. So far no action has apparently taken place on this petition. DSC filed Reply Comments late which appear to have dropped their request for spectrum in the Amateur Band.

5800 MHz Band Threat --
This threat is by NPRM ET Docket 96-102, based on the petitions from Apple Computer and WINForum, to grant access to the Amateur Radio Spectrum from 5725-5875 MHz band for the NII/SUPERNET proposal for free spectrum for very high data rate LANs and other activities for schools, libraries, hospitals. ARRL and many other Comments opposing the NPRM were filed on July 15, 1996, and were followed up by opposing Reply Comments on Aug. 14, 1996. It is very unclear what will happen in this NPRM as the FCC Commissioners want to grant something to this service, but how far they will go is unknown.

Congress Adjourns, Bills are now Dead:-
The following bills of interest to the Amateur Radio community died with the adjournment of Congress on Oct. 3, 1996:

- S 2025 which would place enforcement of CB rules with local authorities to attempt to solve a local problem. This bill would remove the FCC from its present role for CB only. -- HR 3207 to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate utilization of volunteer resources on behalf of the amateur radio service. -- HR 3957, the FCC Modernization Act, which contained the language of HR 3207, among other provisions.

PACKET IN YOUR POCKET!

...... It was a complete amateur radio 2 meter packet station you can almost carry in your hip pockets. Bill Childers, KE6VVW, brought along his pocket size packet station at the September 12th meeting. Bills HP 200LX palmtop PC is connected to his HT using a Baycom modem. The modem operates with very minimal hardware. The special software for the modem runs in the palmtop. The software and hardware from Baycom is about $50 but the 200LX is a bit more expensive ($500 or so!). What a neat setup. Thanks for sharing that Bill.

de GVARC newsletter

AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE

EMWIN If you're a ham involved in emergency communications, or if you're a weather buff, then the federal government is launching a new service you may not want to be without. It's called EMWIN. And it was one of the hottest new attractions at the Huntsville Hamfest August 17th. This new system brings a variety of weather information directly to your home computer, in real time. Steven Terry, WB4IZC, isn't selling radio equipment, but his display booth is one of the busiest. Scores of hams are fascinated by what they see on a computer screen. Terry is busy answering questions about EMWIN, a new weather information network offering everything from satellite pictures of hurricanes and tornado warnings to forecasts and summaries. "And you can manipulate them, anything you want. You can get aviation weather, river stages, national forecasts, zone forecasts. The new software is coming out in January. I believe you will get alerts down to the county level." WB4IZC The National Weather Service wanted to make its weather products as widely available, as inexpensively as possible to anyone interested in receiving them. EMWIN is the result. EMWIN stands for Emergency Manager's Weather Information Network, the system is intended as a low cost way for emergency management agencies and other groups to receive weather information instantly and in real time. "The weather service set of a tornado watch in Tulsa. Thirty seconds later it popped up on the screen coming of the satellite." WB4IZC You capture the products you want in your PC. EMWIN's software even lets you create a loop of satellite pictures. You can set alarms to sound when certain information comes in. Steven Terry says EMWIN offers obvious benefits to radio amateurs: "One of the main uses is for hams who are out spotting for the National Weather Service. You got the radar information, the warnings, the watches. You got it right there with you." WB4IZC EMWIN'S signals are free. You pay only a one time charge for the equipment and software needed to receive and process the signal. You can receive EMWIN's signals directly off the government's GOES weather satellites. That means you'll have to buy the needed satellite receiving equipment, which right now can cost more than a thousand dollars. But, EMWIN's creators hope the signals can be made available in local areas on VHF or UHF frequencies, that could make the cost of receiving EMWIN only a few hundred dollars. Andy Farnsworth, KD4YJQ, of Nashville, has been looking over the colorful screens full of satellite pictures and warnings. He likes what he sees: "I think it's very new and very good. Especially when you can receive it out on the road is a very nice feature." KD4YJQ EMWIN's popularity is growing rapidly. Five VHF stations already transmit the signals in Oklahoma, efforts are underway to put EMWIN transmitters on the air in Tennessee. Steven Terry is helping make EMWIN available too, using the subcarrier of Memphis radio station WYPL, which he manages. You can get more information on EMWIN on the World Wide Web, both from companies selling the equipment and from EMWIN's home page. And you'll find an article on EMWIN in the August issue of Monitoring Times magazine.

TECHSAT ON THE WWW The Techsat project - Israel's first Amateur satellite now has a site on the world wide web. Its URL is: www.technion.ac.il/~asronen/techsat If you were not able to copy that all, there is an easier way to find the site. Simply go to one of the on-line search engines like Yahoo or Alta Vista. Type in the word Techsat and the search engine will bring it to you.

INDIANA BEACON Brian Bell, N9XDW reports that a new six meter beacon is on the air from Mooresville, Indiana. Its call sign is KG9AE and it can be found on 50.065 MHZ transmitting in CW. Its purpose is to draw attention is to draw attention to the 53.450 MHz and 444.575 MHZ linked repeaters that serve central Indiana. QSN reports go to KB9DJA at his callbook address.

DX In DX, and still from across the Atlantic, word there is now a new RSGB QSL Bureau sub-manager for the United Kingdoms' G0I series of callsigns. He is Anthony Lord, G4KHT, whose address is correct in the latest callbook. Lord takes over the position from Mr. I Webb, G4JFF. Also, David Faigue KE6JQP of Simi Valley, California writes to say that the claim by four DXers that they will be the first non-essential personnel to step foot on Midway Island in over 100 years is incorrect. Dave says that he personally visited Midway back in 1973 while in the Navy. He also notes that Pan American World Airways operated their Midway seaplane base from 1935 to 1946. Passengers would deplane at Midway and spend the night at a hotel before continuing on their journey on board the famed Pan Am Clippers.

HAM MAG STOPS ANTI HAM LAW IN WASHINGTON STATE A proposed law governing the operation of mobile radio equipment in Washington State will not impact on ham radio. This, thanks to some quick action on the part of a ham radio publisher who listened to his readers. Ham Radio Online is an Internet based ham radio magazine. Earlier this month its publisher Ed Mitchell, KF7VY learned that the Washington State Patrol was considering a new law governing the installation of all wireless devices in automobiles registered or operated in that state. If passed as written, the new law would have limited all mobile wireless systems to hands free operation only. In other words, no hand mics of the type that most hams use. Even more ominous, all communication systems put into any vehicle would have to be approved by the Washington State Patrol equipment review unit. "Some of the things that we saw was that the wording was very broad and very vague and would potentially impact far more people than we suspected that was their goal." KF7VY The restrictive measure was to be considered at an October 9th public hearing in Olympia. On learning of the tentative new regulations Mitchell contacted both the State Patrol and Washington State Representative Brian Thomas. "What we pointed out to them was that, as written, it was going to cover even such things as carrying a pager in your automobile. And we really didn't see how the state patrol had the expertise to certify all forms of mobile radio installations. It really seemed like an unnecessary burden." KF7VY On September 17th, Thomas responded. He told Mitchell that he had spoken with Washington State Patrol Captain Tim Ericson. That they had concluded the proposed law was poorly worded. Mitchell also learned that the October 9th hearing was canceled and the State Patrol would start over on a new proposal. On Friday, September 20th, Captain Ericson informed Mitchell that the purpose of the proposed law was only to restrict earpieces to covering one ear only, with a particular emphasis on cellular radiophone systems. In other words, to prohibit the use of dual earphones while driving. Mitchell tells Newsline that as the result of the inquiry by Ham Radio Online, the State Patrol has proposed new wording for the rule. Wording that covers only these earphones and cellular telephones. KF7VY says that no new hearing date has been set but he believes the revised wording is appropriate. As such, it is no longer a source of concern to the Amateur Radio community of Washington State. Mitchell also thanks the hams who brought the matter to his attention, and who worked toward affecting the wording change.

ARRL REQUESTS RF EXPOSURE RECONSIDERATION The American Radio Relay League is saying no to new and more stringent RF exposure rules as they affect hams. The ARRL has asked the FCC to reconsider and reverse certain portions of the Report and Order on FCC Docket 96-326. The August 1st Report and Order amended various Commission rules to adopt new guidelines and methods for evaluating the environmental effects of radio frequency radiation from FCC regulated transmitters. But in its reconsideration request, the League asserts that the rules enacted in the Report and Order were adopted through flawed procedures. That in certain respects they are arbitrary and capricious. Further, the League says that the Commission unreasonably and arbitrarily refused to preempt certain state and local RF exposure regulation of amateur stations. In other words, the Commission did not adequately address the propriety of preemption of State and local RF exposure regulations or land use decisions based on RF exposure concerns. Local regulations that the ARRL says might arbitrarily restrict the ability of Commission licensed communications facilities to provide service. The ARRL also contends that the FCC failed to consider the impact of its new rules on certain small business entities, including the League.

AO-13 RE-ENTRY Amsat Oscar 13 will probably self destruct the end of November. This, according to PY5BYE who says AO-13 will re-enter the earth's atmosphere and burn up at about 11:42 UTC on November the 30th. PY5BYE says that he bases the projected demise of AO-13 on scientific data that includes combined effects of Earth's oblateness, atmosphere flattening and rotation and random variation in atmospheric density. At this moment Atmospheric drag is the principal orbital perturbation for the dying satellite.

MARS BANS CW The Department of Defense has unilaterally banned the use of Morse code on all Military Affiliate Radio System circuits. CW nets and other Morse activity in the Military Affiliate Radio System were ordered to cease operation effective October 1st. A final CW message was transmitted simultaneously on Army, Navy and Air Force MARS frequencies at 13:00, 15:30 and 17:00 UTC on September 30th. A special certificate commemorating the demise of CW in the Military Affiliate Radio Service is available to any MARS member that correctly copied that final message. No detailed explanation was given for by the Department of Defense for dropping the use of CW in MARS communications. Observers say that this could be the final impetus needed to get the code dropped as a mandatory testing requirement at upcoming World Radio Communications Conferences before the end of the decade.

BITBUCKET is a newly created mailing list reflector devoted to specialized amateur radio communication techniques. This includes SSTV, ATV, FAX, Packet, Pactor, G-TOR, Clover and much more. To subscribe, send e-mail with body of message "subscribe bitbucket" to majordomo@primenet.com .

WRC MEETING A meeting of the worlds telecommunications leaders is taking place in Tel Aviv Israel as we go to air. This is a 1996 preparatory World Radiocommunications Conference and several items of interest to Amateur Radio are being discussed. Not being talked about this time is the abolition of the Morse Code testing requirement for getting a ham ticket. That matter comes to the table in 1999. More on this next week.

NEW UK BEACON A new 50 MHZ propagation beacon is now operational. As part of an experiment by the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee, Chris Deacon, G4IFX, of Darlington in County Durham, has been granted permission to use the callsign GB3IFX for his 50 MHZ tropospheric tests. The beacon transmits on 50.275MHz, on the hour, every hour, in 30 second bursts during which the callsign and time are sent twice.

DX Brett Graham, VR96BG, reports that hams in Hong Kong will be allowed to use several prefixes to commemorate the transfer of sovereignty over the territory from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China on July 1, 1997. At the request of the Hong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting Society, Hong Kong amateurs will be allowed to change the numeral in their call sign to 96 during 1996, to 97 during 1997, and to 98 during 1998. Graham says that Hong King Amateurs began to use these new prefixes on September 10th with a contact between VS96BG and VR96GO. The Hong Kong club says it will announce later the details of a new award to be offered to amateurs for contacting stations using these special prefixes. All Hong Kong amateurs have held licenses with call signs using the prefix VR2 for several years. Those previously holding VS6 calls are allowed to continue to use the VS prefix through July 1st of 1997. The VRA to VRZ block allocated by the ITU to the United Kingdom will be transferred to the Peoples Republic of China at that time. The only other use of that block at present by amateurs is on Pitcairn Island, where VR6 calls are still in use.

NEWSLINE CELEBRATES 1000 ON HRM On Friday October 11, 1996, the Amateur Radio Newsline (formerly The Westlink Radio Network) will release its 1000th consecutive week of informational programming to the worldwide Amateur Radio community. By way of celebration, shortly thereafter Newsline will also make available a thirty (30) minute special audio presentation titled "Newsline 1000" telling the story of the Newsline service itself. This special program will be hosted by Tony Valdez KC6LXQ (KTTV) with in-studio guests that include Westlink Radio Network / Newsline co-founder/producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF (KTTV). Joining Tony and Bill will be former Production Coordinator Bill Orenstein KH6QX (NBC Network - Retired) along with anchor/reporters Andy Jarema N6TCQ (AJ Productions), Robert Sudock, WB6FDF(KTTV) and Mert Garlick, N6AWE (KTTV). Taped segments will include such well known Newsline personalities as Alan Kaul, W6RCL (NBC Network News), Jim Davis, KU8R (WZVU), Roy Neal, K6DUE (NBC Network News - Retired), South- East Bureau Chief David Black KB4KCH (First Frame Video) and the other half of the Westlink Radio/Newsline founding "team" Jim Hendershot, WA6VQP (Radiodesign Labs). Also a special salute to the hams and non-hams who volunteer their time to putting Newsline on the Internet including Dale Cary, WD0AKO and "Big Steve" Coletti. Newsline came into being in 1977 as The Westlink Radio Network. It was started as a simplex (direct frequency) bulletin service to local users of the 222 MHz band in Southern California. Its purpose was to educate hams on the then pending and (somewhat controversial) repeater deregulation legislation winding its way through the FCC. The first newscast was recorded at the home/studio of Wayne Rankin WA6MPG. Rankin, a broadcast engineer with CBS then played the newscast while motorcycle mobile station parked atop a 3800 foot mountain to a small audience of Los Angeles ham radio operators listening on 223.500MHz. The date was September 7, 1977 and the service has provided a weekly ham radio newscast summary - without interruption - every week since then! Today, some nineteen and a half years later, this news service, now known as "Newsline," utilizes time at modern state of the art production facilities donated members of the broadcast community across the nation. Distribution is accomplished using ten automated telephone newsfeed lines nationwide and three audio "websites" on the Word Wide Web. A text version of Newsline is also available from numerous locations on the Internet and World Wide Web. All of this is accomplished by unpaid volunteers in the United States and around the world. (See attached listing.) The weekly Newsline bulletin is produced the Westlink Radio Network Inc., a Pennsylvania chartered not-for-profit adjunct of the Philadelphia based Holmsburg Radio Club. Production operations are supported in part by donations from listeners and by members of the all volunteer Newsline staff themselves. In addition to the weekly newscast, Newsline, with corporate underwriting from Yaesu USA Corporation and CQ Magazine also sponsors the annual " Young Ham of the Year Award." This award is presented to a United States licensed radio amateur age 18 or younger who has utilized Amateur Radio in some way to benefit mankind. Presentation is made each August at the Huntsville Hamfest Awards Banquet in Huntsville Alabama. Copies of the program "Newsline 1000" will be mailed to members of the media prior to its air date. In addition, a two-part story on the establishment of Newsline will appear in the October and November 1996 issues of Worldradio Magazine. Written by founder / producer Bill Pasternak WA6ITF, the article traces Newsline from its inception right to the present day. Also included is a complete listing of current news-feed telephone lines, audio sites on the World Wide Web and Internet locations from where Newsline scripts and other materials can be downloaded. -30-

That's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at: NEWSLINE PO Box 660937 Arcadia, California 91066 For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF at our editors desk, we at Newsline say one week and counting, 73 and we thank you for listening. Newsline is copyright 1996 & all rights are reserved.

FINANCIAL HELP TO NEWSLINE

DW

SOUTH COUNTY PACKET

A highlight of the meeting was the planned program covering the KO6LX packet BBS. This amateur radio Bulletin Board System just became available for hams in the south county in the last few weeks. Making this BBS a reality has been a long hard struggle by some very dedicated and supportive folks including KO6LX, W9HGI, WB6ZVW and KE6SVX. At the evening meeting, Mick Hannigan, KO6LX, and Carol Byers, W9HGI, were the featured speakers. They explained some important fundamentals for us. These included message addressing, message forwarding, sending mail, and general use of the BBS. Also included were some interesting technical descriptions and problems to be avoided such as the so-called hidden transmitter problem.

The operation of KO6LX was described in relationship to the other packet facilities in the south county and those in Northern California. We were instructed that besides providing the BBS and the direct user support on 144.99 MHz. simplex, KO6LX communicates over a 220 MHz local area network (LAN) connection to facilities at WB6ZVW and W9HGI. Bob and Carol both operate packet stations which are links in the wide area network (WAN) part of the overall system. Carols facility is a satellite gateway (one of 34 in the world) which forwards and receives messages to and from some amateur radio satellites. Bobs facility provides a key relay to and from higher levels in the Northern California network hierarchy.

Both Mick and Carol encourage everyone to make use of packet and the K06LX BBS. Please enjoy the BBS and give them feedback about your experiences.

de GVARC Newsletter

AMATEUR RADIO CLASSES

The EMARC club periodically sponsors amateur radio classes to train people to obtain their amateur radio licenses, or to simply upgrade. These classes are open anyone who is interested.

To reserve a place in the classes listed below, or for more information, contact Steve Whitt, KE6YQP at 415-961-6755 (leave a message on the machine) or send e-mail to Steve.Whitt@centurasoft.com

General Class Upgrade

The club has organized a General Class upgrade class to be held on 5 consecutive Tuesday nights in October. This class is designed to help those with a Technician, Technician Plus, or Novice class license to pass the General class written examination. There is also code training to increase your code speed from 5 WPM to the required 13 WPM for the General Class license. This code training portion will be over the air nightly at 10:00 PM on the SPECS 145.270 repeater, during the month of October.

Students are encouraged to tune in to these sessions as often as possible, or to spend 20 minutes each day practicing on their own.

Dates: Tuesdays (Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, ?, ?,?)
Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM for Theory

Mountain View Police-Fire Administration Building Auditorium 1000 Villa Street, Mountain. View, CA

Code: 30 minutes per night, Theory: 2.5 hours/night
Cost: $25 for the class; Book: The ARRL's General Class License Manual ($10 -- reg. $12).

Code practice for the General Class License class will be given at 10:00 PM nightly in October on the SPECS 145.270 repeater. Freq.: 145.270 nightly (in October)

Two Day NO CODE Technician Class

The club has also organized a class to enlist new members into the amateur radio hobby. This is a two day intensive class designed to help people to get their first amateur radio license. This class will be held on November 9 and 10 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Because of the pace of this class, students are strongly encouraged to read the text before the class.

You don't need a technical background to learn! Emphasis on the fun, variety, and equipment of amateur radio activities, as well as preparing to pass the exam. Dates: Saturday & Sunday (Nov. 9, 10) 9 AM to 5 PM.

Mountain View Police-Fire Administration Building Auditorium 1000 Villa Street, Mountain. View, CA

Cost: $25 for the class
Book: The ARRL's Now You're Talking ($15 -- reg. $19)

Code Training There is help available for those wishing to work on the code. There is a code practice session every Wednesday night at 7:30 PM on the K6FB repeater at 145.450 MHz. The session starts out at 5 WPM and increases in steps up to 20 WPM. This station can be heard throughout the south San Francisco Bay Area.






Copyright © 1996 by EMARC