Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1349 with a release date of Friday, June 20th 2003 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. A petition to end High Fidelity S-S-B transmissions is filed with the F-C-C, severe interference knocks out ham satellite operations ion Perth Australia and an update on W-R-C 2003. All this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1349 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO LAW: HAMS PETITION TO OUTLAW HI-FI SSB On-air experimentation with so-called High Fidelity or Enhanced Single Sideband transmissions could be outlawed if thr FCC adopts a proposed rules change requested by two radio amateurs on opposite sides of the country. Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Courson, WA3VJB, reports from the nations capital: -- A petition for rulemaking was sent to the FCC and accepted by the agency May 27th. It was not immediately issued a Rulemaking Number so it was hard to find in the public record. However, Newsline has talked with two sources who have seen the proposal, and it calls for what many would consider severe bandwidth limitations on HF phone. The petition asks for a federally mandated bandwidth limit of 2.8 kilohertz for SSB, well below the extended bandwidth needed for what has been called enhanced audio. One of the two hams who submitted the petition told the FCC they are motivated by interference problems caused by two groups of single sideband operators. These groups are portrayed by the petitioners as, in both cases, having cast aside traditional voluntary limits on bandwidth of roughly three kilohertz. The petition therefore asks that these voluntary limits be made mandatory to provide a clear enforcement mechanism for regulators. The petitioners, Michael Lonneke WOYR of Virginia, and Melvin Ladisky W6FDR of California, said hams from one of the groups come on during radio contests, and are found tweaking their transmitters to splatter purposely to provide elbowroom on a very crowded band. The two men characterize the other group as those who experiment with high-fidelity audio, apparently trying to replicate the sound of FM Broadcast stations. Newsline has recently reported on advisory letters sent out by FCC Enforcement Counsel Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, who wrote to several members of the enhanced SSB group telling them the agency had received interference complaints. The letters did not validate nor dispute the complaints, but warned the stations that if such complaints continued, the unresolved friction could trigger petitions for rulemaking. One such petition is now at hand. A Newsline reporter spoke with Lonneke, who declined to provide a copy of his petition for this report. He said he and Ladisky hold the same views on the matter of excessive bandwidth causing interference, and that they teamed up on the petition to add strength to their call for regulatory intervention. Lonneke declined further comment, and said the petition will speak for itself if the FCC chooses to assign it a rulemaking number and put it to public comment. Members of the enhanced SSB group have told Newsline they believe their experimentation with improved audio is totally in line with the spirit of ham radio, and thet when conducted under appropriate conditions, is every bit as justified in bandwidth consumption as any other spectrum- intensive activity, including contesting. But the FCC's Hollingsworth, reacting to such comments, disagreed, suggesting the mode of SSB was commissioned for the amateur service as a spectrum conservation mode, counter to the idea of high-fidelity audio and the bandwidth it requires. Hollingsworth could not be reached to comment on the proposed Petition, and another FCC official declined to comment. The petition also mentions the legacy mode of AM, and said it, quote, does not create the same problems that the burgeoning use of so-called 'Hi-Fi Single Sideband' creates. Nonetheless, the petition asks the FCC to impose a 5.6 kilohertz bandwith limitation on AM, with the restrictions asked for on all HF allocations below 28.8 megahertz. Previous regulatory proposals based on bandwidth have failed, including Docket 20777 from the mid 1970s. The conclusion then was that having loosely-defined technical standards allowed the greatest range of experimentation in ham radio, as long as such signals are clean. Indeed, many present-day violations of splatter, overdriven amplifiers, and poorly administered audio lashups can already trigger enforcement action under existing FCC rules governing the purity of signal. Reporting for Newsline, Paul Courson, WA3VJB, in Washington -- As we go to air, the ten page petition by W0YR and W6FDR has not been been assigned a Rule Making number designation. More on this story in future amateur Radio Newsline reports. (ARNewsline., W5YI) ** ON THE AIR: PERTH HAMS JAMMED OFF 2.4 GHZ A cloud of radio frequency interference has settled in on the 2 point 4 Gigahertz in the city of Perth Australia. For many hams it is making satellite operations impossible. Felix Scerri, VK4FUQ, reports from the city of Ingham - down under: -- You may not hear many VK6 hams on AO40 for a while. Many are suffering from interference from some form of wide band data transmission centred on 2.4GHz. The signal covers much of the Perth metro area and is very strong. So strong in fact that it does not matter where you beam you can still hear it - mainly from reflections. The signal, which runs continuously, sounds like a 100Hz buzzing sound and has a bandwidth of about MHz. Looking at the signal on a spectrum analyzer it has a flat top and very steep sides. The signal started about 6 weeks ago and one suggestion is that it might be an image response of S band down converters to the 2.1GHz G3 mobile phone service that have just started tests. -- At airtime, the interference is still there and hams in Perth are wondering what to do to make the problem, go away. (Q-News) ** WRC 2003: AN UPDATE Radio regulators from around the world are still gathered in Geneva Switzerland trying to work out numerous spectrum issues including some dealing with Amateur Radio. Q-News Graham Kemp, VK4BB, is here with the latest: -- The International Telecommunication Union's 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference got under way June 9th in Geneva Switzerland. Amateur Radio is only a small part of the conference which is trying to complete work on more than 40 agenda items. Amateur Radio is but a small part of the conference, which is trying to complete work on more than 40 agenda items. Three are especially important to us: realignment of 7 MHz allocations (agenda item 1.23), revision of the regulations governing the amateur and amateur-satellite services (agenda item 1.7), and consideration of an allocation for satellite-borne synthetic aperture radars (SARs) in the 70-cm band (agenda item 1.38). Two other agenda items that could potentially have a great impact are the drafting of an agenda for the next WRC scheduled for 2007 (agenda item 7.2) and the revision of footnotes to the Table of Frequency Allocations (agenda item 1.1). A member of the IARU core team has been assigned to follow each of these five items, with the most focus being on 7 MHz. It is the intention of the IARU core team to send timely and accurate reports of final decisions reached on Amateur Radio issues. It is important to remember that nothing is final until the second reading of a document in the Plenary, which in the case of controversial issues will not take place until the final week of the conference, 30 June to 4 July. -- Look for up to date briefings on the ARRL website at www.arrl.org and weekly summaries here on Amateur Radio Newsline. (ARRL, Q-News) ** Break 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club's 146.955 repeater serving Rockville Maryland. (5 sec pause here) ** IN THE MEDIA: HAM RADIO HIGHLIGHTED ON WBUR RADIO Ham radio was the featured guest when WBUR radio in Boston Massachusettes devoted its show titled "The Connection" to the hobby on Thursday, June 12th. Hosted by Dick Gordon, the show's theme was that ham radio is alive and vital with close to two-and-a-half million hams world wide still consider ham radio their preferred way to fly. The program was also centered around the new book titled "Hello World: A Life in Ham Radio" by Danny Gregory and Paul Sahre. A book based on the collection of QSL cards of silent key W2OJW. And while neither of the authors was there, Bob Hopkins, WB2UDC was. Hoskins is Director of the Computer Center at Cooper Union University in New York and played a key role in the books development: -- Hopkins: "Hello World is a wonderful book, and where I work over at Cooper Union I have collegues that do many things. We have an engineering school, an art school and an arcetecture school. Because of the archecture aspect, a collegue of mine who works at the Princeton Archecture Press as well as Cooper Union contacted me and said that he had a couple of friends who were thinking of putting together a book on ham radio post cards and wanted to do the graphic design and would I be interested in having a conversation with them. I said -- oh sure -- fine -- bring them in. These guys came in with these fabulous cards dating back to 1927 up to the present." -- Also appearing on the program were were Moody Law, WQ6I in Claremont California, Joe Leto, W0ANT from Ankeny Iowa, and Harry Han, BG4AGY, in Shanghai. Each spoke on the way ham radio has affected their personal lives and those around them. Even though its well over a week since the perogram aired, it is archived as a Real Audio stream at the WBUR website. To hear it take your web browser to http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2003/06/20030612_b_main.asp Our thanks to Daron Manoogian who is the Manager of National Program Marketing at WBUR for permission to use the audio you heard in this report. (K1TW) ** RADIO LAW: NY HAM CITED UNDER STATE SCANNER LAW A New York ham has been cited for having radio gear in his car even though the state law governing scanner radios exempts licensed Amateur Radio operators. On May 31st Richard C. Lalone II, KC5GAX, of Calcium, says that he was stopped while driving well under the posted speed limit by a New York State Trooper and given a ticket for having Icom IC 1500 and IC 706 radios in his vehicle. Lalone says via the qrz.com website that he did try to explain that that he was an Amateur Radio Operator and even provided his Amateur license for the officer's review. Apparently, this was not good enough and the ticket was issued. Lalone appeared in court on June 10th to answer the summons. At that time he approached the judge with both his license and a copy of New York Traffic Law 397 a copy of PR Docket 91-36. But the Court Recorder immediately took the documentation from the judge and returned it to KC5GAX. The judge then conferred with the Court Recorder after which he told Lalone that he was entering a plea of innocent for him. He then instructed Lalone to seek an attorney and be present in court July 9th. They court then offered KC5GAX paperwork to obtain a public defender, and returned the citation with the new court date. Its not clear as to what will transpire on July 9th. Lalone's posting did not state if this was a trial date or other type of preliminary hearing. If he is convicted of violating New York's scanner control law Lalone faces a fine of $1000, 6 months in jail, or both. (W6EM, qrz.com) ** ENFORCEMENT: FCC WRITES PART 15 DEVICE USERS ABOUT ALLEGED INTERFERENCE TO AMATEUR RADIO Turning to enforcement issues, the FCC has written two Northern Virginia residents to follow up on complaints from a local amateur. A ham who alleges that he's on the receiving end of harmful interference from telephone devices with the capability to support multiple cordless remotes. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has more: -- According to the ARRL Letter both units interfereing with Bernie Keiser, W4SW, of Vienna, Virginia, are unlicensed Part 15 consumer electronics made by a well-known manufacturer. In separate June 2nd letters to the two users, the FCC's Sharon Bowers pointed out that if their units are the cause of harmful interference to a licensed spectrum user, they are responsible for solving the problem. Also, that the operator of the device is responsible for correcting the interference or ceasing operation whenever such interference occurs. Bowers is the deputy chief of the Consumer Inquiries and Complaint Division of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. She explained in her letters that the equipment was classified as an intentional radiator and noted that harmful interference to a licensed radio service from such a device is a violation of FCC rules. She advised the consumers that the alleged harmful interference must be corrected before they may use the devices legally. She suggested they contact the manufacturer or retailer of the equipment to see if they'd either allow them to return them or exchange them for devices that don't cause interference. The interference to W4SW's ham radio operation took the form of broadband noise from 2400 to 2450 Mhz. This made it it difficult for him to hear the AO-40 downlink and beacon in the 2.4 Ghz band. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. -- The complaints against the two Vienna Virginia consumers represent a bit of a turnabout from the typical interference scenario. Usually its the ham who generates complaints of RFI to consumer electronic gear and hears from the FCC. (ARRL) ** ENFORCEMENT: HAM ACCUSED OF FALSE DISTRESS CALLS ORDERED OFF THE AIR A California ham has lost his right to operate an Amateur Radio station. This, based on allegations by the FCC that he may have been the source of a number of phony distress calls made by radio. On June 3rd the agency's Riley Hollingsworth notified Michael V. Swift, the now former KG6QOB to inform him that his license had been cancelled. This, based on evidence that the San Ramon ham had made numerous false distress calls on Marine Channels 16 and 22A. In his letter Hollingsworth said that in view of the agency's action that Swift no longer has authority to operate Amateur Radio transmitting equipment. He also warned that any continued on-air operation by Swift could lead to a fine or criminal prosecution. (FCC, RAIN) ** SPECTRUM REALLOCATION: FCC PROPOSES UNLICENSED DEVICES IN THE 5 GHZ BAND Still with regulatory matters, the FCC has proposed making 5.47 to 5.725 Gigahertz available to National Information Infrastructure devices, including Radio Local Area Networks, on an unlicensed basis. If adopted, this plan will increase the spectrum available to license-free devices in the 5 GHz region by nearly 80%. The complete story is on the web at the FCC's website. A direct link to it is http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-110A1.doc (CGC) ** WITH THE HANDI HAMS: NEW BLIND FRIENDLY WEB THEME FOR WWW.HANDIHAM.ORG Phil Temples, K9HI, has created a blind-friendly theme for the Handi Ham System website. The reorganized site eliminates the complicated page structure that works well for sighted users but was difficult for blind users employing audio programs like JAWS or Window-Eyes to navigate. To take advantage of the new navigation system visit www.handiham.org and choose the "Courage" theme for easy blind navigation. (HandiHams) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: WA8SME NEW COORDINATOR OF ARRL'S "THE BIG PROJECT" Mark Spencer, WA8SME, has joined the ARRL Headquarters staff as the new coordinator of the ARRL Amateur Radio Education and Technology program. That program is better known in ham radio circles "The Big Project." Spencer succeeds Jerry Hill, KH6HU, who has returned to Hawaii. (ARRL) ** FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE: HEATHKIT - A GUIDE TO THE AMATEUR RADIO PRODUCTS If you've ever owned a piece of Heathkit amateur radio gear, or wish you had, the Second Edition of Heathkit - A Guide to the Amateur Radio Products, by Chuck Penson, WA7ZZE, is a must for your library. Greatly expanded and updated, this 328-page collection of facts, photos and Heathkit history offers a terrific trip down memory lane for anyone who has built or has owned Heathkit gear. Its published by CQ and available for order on-line at www.cq-amateur-radio.com or by phone at 1-800-853-9797 Monday to Friday from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Eastern U-S. time. (CQ) ** 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) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: THE TRUE UNIVERSAL REMOTE A true universal remote unit that will literally help to control your entire lifestyle is now under development. Researchers on the project say that the all-in-one controller that would choreograph not just home entertainment systems but also intelligent appliances all around the house. Maya Designs Inc. in cooperation with Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University has created a prototype based on a Compaq iPAQ portable digital assistant. The experimental handheld has so far been used to control two lamps, a fan and a stereo with a five-CD changer. Researchers say that more is on the way once standardization of remote control codes for various appliances is achieved. The Consumer Electronics Association is working on this aspect of the problem. It estimates the average household has at least four remote control units. It also understand why the consumer electronics industry considers a universal remote an important device for the marketplace. (Science Today) ** RADIO AND SPACE: MOUNTAIN PEAK NAMED IN HONOR OF ILL FATED COLUMBIA CREW A Colorado mountain peak has been named Columbia Point. This, in honor of the seven astronauts who died when the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas on Februay 1st. The peak on Kit Carson Mountain in the Sangre de Cristo Range near Colorado Springs is close to the 14,081-foot Challenger Point. That peak was named in honor of the seven crew members who died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986. The newly cvhristened Columbia Point also is roughly 14,000 feet. (ANS) ** INTERNATIONAL - EUROPE: PMR446 MEANS FUN From a listener in Europe comes word of a new communications network called PMR446. This is a licence free 500 milliwatt personal mobile radio service that is quite similar to the United States Family Radio Service with one big difference. The pan-Eueropean service permits is users to connect their radio gear to the Internet using personal computers and software interfaces. The software of choice is eQSO and with it Eueropean experimenters have created a network of linked rf- gateways. On the R-F side, the radio gear is limited to flea power and built-in antennas, but thanks to gateway linking PMR 446 is quickly developing into quite a hobby thats bringinging together hams and non hams alike. In fact, it even has its own home in cyberspace at www.446user.co.uk. Drop by and have a look at what's happening on the other side of the Atlantic. (PMR446 Users Group) ** INTERNATIONAL - HOLLAND: RADIO NETHERLANDS TARGETED BY PUBLIC BROADCASTER Radio Netherlands management have reacted angrily to a recent edition of the Dutch domestic current affairs TV programme Nova. A story reported on Nova said that drastic budget cuts of up to 85% was in the offering for Radio Netherlands, and as a result everything except broadcasts to the Netherlands Antilles and Surinam would be scrapped. According to Radio Netherlands, the erroneous item was based on a leaked copy of a report into the efficiency of public broadcasting that was jointly commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Culture and the broadcasters themselves. Nova seized on one section of the report and interviewed a representative of the Dutch Association of Journalists, who said this would effectively mean the end of Radio Netherlands. But Radio Netherlands says that the report was not a call to action. Rather, its purpose of the report was to identify multiple scenarios where cost savings could be made. The example quoted by Nova was just one. The Hilversum based station also noted that decisions on the mission of Radio Netherlands are made by politicians in The Hague, not by other public broadcasters or the authors of a commissioned report. (Media Network) ** ON THE AIR: MUSEUM SHIPS 2003 On the air, K3CLG says that the 2003 Museum Ships Weekend special event stations will be held on the weekend July 19th and 20th. Operations will encompass all modes including phone, C-W, PSK-31, APRS and even contacts via the Internet Radio Linking Project or IRLP. You can check on all the details at this easy to copy URL. Its all at www.qsl.net/ww2dd/event.html (K3CLG) ** DX In D-X, word that SM3CVM, plans to be on as portable CU2 from Sao Miguel in the Azores through July 6th. Activity will be mainly CW on 80 through 10 meters. This will be a holiday operation, so he will mostly be active late evenings local time. QSL to his home callsign via the bureau or direct to his callbook address. (GB2RS) Also V31MX and V-31-M-F will be active from Caye Caulker from July 23rd until noon of July 29th. They will operate on 80 through 10 meters SSB with some CW activity. QSL both callsign via KZBCN, either direct or via the bureau. (OPDX) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: N6ZE'S CROSS-COUNTRY ROVING ODYSSEY And finally this week, the story of Peter Heins, N6ZE, who may now hold the record for a QRP Rover in the June ARRL VHF QSO Party. In less than two days, Pete managed to rove coast-to-coast, from Grid Square FN-20 to CN-87. Thats a distance of 2754 miles and he operated 6 and 2 meter SSB from each location. Here's how he did it. From 1400 to 14:45 E-D-T on Saturday June 14th, Pete was on the air from park bench overlooking Hudson River at Weehawken New Jersey. From there he even managed to work a station in grid EL-86 thru the tremendous E skip that was present at the time. A bit more operating from a hotel room in midtown Manhattan followed until 15:30 Eastern Daylight Time. Then a quick drive out to the airport where Pete, who is a commercial airline pilot, traded his ham radio microphone and key for the co-pilots seat of a Boeing jetliner. He then spent the next several hours flying to Salt Lake City Utah. During the layover, Pete rented a car, unpacked his FT-690 and IC-202 and took to the airwaves. From 8:45 to 15:30 Mountain Daylight Time hN- 6-Zed-E roved through Grids DN30, 31, 40 and 41 operating both 6 and 2 meters. He then repacked the gear, got back in the plane and flew it another 689 miles on to Seattle. Thanks to another hours time change, Pete was back on the air around 19:52 Pacific Daylight Time in Grid CN-87 from the airport ramp making two QSO's. His last contact took place at 19:59 Pacific Daylight Tine. That was just 1 minute before end of contest. His totals for the contest period: On 6 meters he had 16 QSO's, 16 QSO points and 8 multipliers. 2 meters yielded 24 QSO's, 24 QSO points and 9 multipliers for a grand total of 960 points. In his posting to the VHF Reflector, Pete put out a special thank you to the hams in the Salt Lake City area who provided lots of information for operating sites in 4 grids that helped to make his cross country VHF roving odyssey, complete. (ARNewsline., N6ZE) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, Amateur News Weekly, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB and Australia's Q-News, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is newsline @arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, saying 73 and we thank you for listening." Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2003. All rights reserved.