Volume 17, Number 40 (October 9, 1998)

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IN THIS EDITION:

+Available on ARRL Audio News

FCC FINES FLORIDA HAM IN INTERFERENCE CASE

The FCC has levied a $2500 fine on a Florida ham for malicious interference on a business radio service frequency. Jeffrey G. Guss, KF4MWT, of Palm Bay, Florida, was cited by the Commission following an investigation of several months that also involved malicious interference to an amateur repeater.

In February 1997, the FCC's Tampa office responded to complaints of unauthorized transmissions containing foul language and threats on 154.6 MHz. Agents tracked the transmissions to Guss's residence, but he denied having equipment that could transmit on 154.6 MHz. The FCC sent Guss a warning letter regarding the unlicensed 154.6 MHz operation that had been traced to his residence, but he failed to reply as required.

Later that year, the Tampa office responded to complaints of malicious interference to an amateur repeater. Using DF gear, agents tracked the transmissions to a mobile source and ultimately spotted Guss riding in the bed of a pick-up truck. Guss denied knowledge of the transmissions on the amateur repeater, but when agents asked to inspect his amateur station, they found a hand-held transceiver that transmitted on 154.6 MHz. They also spotted what appeared to be an RF amplifier inside a vehicle Guss owns, but he refused permission to inspect it.

An Official Notice of Violation went out last September, but Guss again failed to reply as required. Last February, the Tampa office issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to Guss for unlicensed operation on 154.6 MHz, for failing to permit inspection of radio equipment in his van, and for failing to respond to the FCC's correspondence.

An FCC review upheld the initial findings in the case. On October 7, the FCC ordered Guss to pay the $2500 fine within 30 days. There is no indication in the order that Guss's amateur ticket or the Land Mobile Radio Service license he holds will be jeopardized, however.

HAMS HELP NAB POLICE RADIO JAMMER

A Connecticut Amateur Radio tracking team called Capitol Region Malicious Interference Tracking (CRMIT--pronounced "Kermit") helped lead authorities to a man they believe was interfering with local public safety communications. Wethersfield, Connecticut, police arrested Joel Langdo of Hartford September 29. He's been charged with criminal mischief, interfering with police and breach of peace. Langdo also could face similar charges in other communities as well as federal charges.

Langdo, a security guard who does not hold an amateur license, allegedly used a modified ham radio hand-held to transmit on police and fire frequencies used by as many as three dozen Connecticut public safety agencies. At one point, he is said to have jammed the Manchester, Connecticut, police system for 15 minutes.

Tracking down Langdo took several months of often grueling detective work and careful documentation of offending transmissions, according to CRMIT spokesman Bruce Marcus, WA1NXG, an ARRL Life Member who's in the land-mobile business. Last April, Manchester Police solicited help from CRMIT, which, in turn notified the FCC. CRMIT helped Manchester authorities solve another malicious interference case several years ago.

Marcus said the jammer used a modified Yaesu FT-50R dualband hand-held for all of his escapades, which included playing music, airing sound from TV sitcoms, making moaning sounds, and recording and playing back police transmissions. Because the complaints were widespread, Marcus said it was not clear at first that the jamming incidents were related. "We put the puzzle together," he said. The CRMIT team used transmitter fingerprinting equipment, and the offender helped to capture himself. "Its unique signature nailed it," Marcus said. The offender also had a habit of broadcasting Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and certain DTMF strings.

The CRMIT team eventually was able to track transmissions to the building where Langdo lived. Marcus said federal authorities are looking into how Langdo got the radio illegally modified to transmit outside the amateur bands.

Marcus had some advice for hams who want to get involved in tracking down perpetrators of malicious interference. "The object is diligence and cooperation from fellow hams to get the bearings and identification of those signals," he said. "You have to work at it. You have to work at it, and it takes the cooperation of many people."

DELAYED SPACE STATION SCHEDULE POSTPONES ARISS

Delays in the start of construction for the International Space Station will postpone the permanent presence of ham radio in space. After meeting with a NASA delegation late last week, the Russian Space Agency rescheduled the launch of the first crew to early next year. Originally set for launch next summer, the first crew now will go into space in January 2000. "So, you won't have an Amateur Radio signal coming out of the ISS until then," said NASA's SAREX Principal Investigator Matt Bordelon, KC5BTL.

Image: Artist's conception of ISS

An artist's conception of the completed International Space Station. The vehicle is approximately as long as three football fields. [NASA photo]

The first crew will consist of US astronaut William M. Shepherd, as the expedition commander. Shepherd is studying for his ham ticket. Accompanying him will be Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR. All three have previous space flight experience. The crew has been training for their launch on a Soyuz vehicle and a planned five-month mission on the ISS.

The change in launch date was blamed on budget-based delays in Russia's completion of the Functional Cargo Block or service module for the ISS. Launch of the service module now is set for next July. The service module is the section of the ISS in which astronauts and cosmonauts will live during construction and will be ham radio's first permanent beach head in space. Russia's financial woes have put its space program well behind the curve in recent months.

At the same meetings between US and Russian space officials last week, Russia agreed to sell its research time aboard the first phase of the ISS and unspecified hardware to the US for $60 million.

The latest delay means that permanent Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) equipment will not be on the air until after the Russian service module is in space and occupied. However, Amateur Radio has been manifested aboard the ISS as "necessary crew equipment."

Once aboard the ISS, ham radio, through the SAREX program, will serve as an educational tool through worldwide school contacts and as an outreach to the general public.

SCHOOLS IN FOUR STATES ON NEXT SAREX QSO SCHEDULE

Schools in Indiana, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia are on the schedule to make Amateur Radio contact with the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia next year as part of the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment, or SAREX, program. The four-day flight, mission STS-93, is tentatively set for launch January 21.

Hams aboard STS-93 are Commander Eileen Collins, KD5EDS, Michel Tognini, KD5EJZ, and Catherine Coleman, KC5ZTH. Other crew members are Jeffrey Ashby and Steven Hawley.

If all goes as planned, students at each school will get a chance to directly interview the astronauts via a ham radio linkup. Typical passes last approximately 10 minutes. Specific times and dates of the school contacts have not yet been arranged.

For more information on the SAREX program, contact Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS, e-mail jwolfgang@arrl.org.

IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL MEETS IN VENEZUELA

The International Amateur Radio Union Administrative Council says it favors no reduction in the minimum international qualifications for a license to operate an Amateur Radio station. At the same time, the Council said it preferred to state the technical and operational qualifications for an amateur license "in a mandatory Recommendation rather than in the Radio Regulations themselves."

The Council expressed its viewpoint in the wake of its meeting in Porlamar, Venezuela, October 3-5 following the IARU Region 2 Conference. At the session, the Council accepted a fourth and final report of the Future of the Amateur Service Committee (FASC). The report took into account recommendations of the previous three regional conferences and adopted guiding principles for possible revision of Article S25 of the International Radio Regulations. Among other provisions, Article S25 says that Amateur Radio license applicants shall demonstrate the ability "to send correctly by hand and to receive correctly by ear, texts in Morse code signals" for operation below 30 MHz.

The Council asked the FASC to continue to develop a draft Recommendation for Council consideration. As proposed, Article S25 would reference specific Recommendations, including the Morse code qualification.

"Amateurs on both sides of the Morse code issue should support moving the qualifications for a license into a Recommendation," said ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ. "Recommendations can be reviewed and revised more regularly than the Radio Regulations themselves. At the same time, service representatives have a greater opportunity for input into a Recommendation."

In other business, the Council received the nominations of current IARU Secretary Larry Price, W4RA, for IARU President, and David Wardlaw, VK3ADW, for IARU Vice President for five-year terms starting next May 9. The Council unanimously recommended ratification of the nominations by member societies. The current IARU President is Richard Baldwin, W1RU. Current IARU Vice President Michael Owen, VK3KI, had already declined nomination for another term.

The Council also reviewed the implications of the postponement of the next World Radiocommunication Conference until the year 2000, and the deletion of certain items from the conference agenda by the ITU Council. While this WRC will be held somewhat later than originally expected, the Council said preparations for it and the subsequent WRC in 2002 or 2003 are ongoing, and IARU participation--in the preparatory meetings as well as the conference itself--remains essential.

The Council also accepted the report of the Amateur Radio Outlook Committee and discharged the panel. The Committee was to make general recommendations on the future growth and development of Amateur Radio in light of the Internet and other telecommunications developments. But the Committee reported difficulty soliciting input from the amateur community, perhaps because of confusion about the panel's responsibilities. In the same vein, the Council agreed to set up a committee to exchange papers identifying issues facing the Amateur Radio services "in the challenging environment of the new millennium" as part of an effort to review the IARU structure and ensure its long-term viability.

International coordinators and advisors reappointed to new three-year terms included Robert Knowles, ZL1BAD, IARU Monitoring System; Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS5AKV, IARU Satellite Advisor; and Christian Verholt, OZ8CY, IARU EMC Advisor. Robert Fabry, N6EK, was appointed IARU Beacon Project Coordinator replacing John Troster, W6ISQ, who has retired.

The Administrative Council's next meeting will follow the IARU Region 1 Conference next September in Norway. A copy of the official news release from the IARU Administrative Council meeting is available at http://www.iaru.org/rel981005.html.

HAMS SOUGHT TO ASSIST WILDLIFE RESEARCHERS

ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV, says Canadian Wildlife Service biologists again are seeking help from ham operators and monitoring enthusiasts in tracking the migration of the burrowing owl. Up to 40 radio-tagged burrowing owls will be migrating south from Alberta and Saskatchewan through the central United States in the next few weeks. These endangered birds are expected to find winter homes in southern Texas and nearby areas of Mexico. They are considered endangered in some places and "of special concern" in others.

Unlike other owls, burrowing owls don't roost in trees. They prefer to roost in cavities on the ground in treeless grasslands.

If you have a scanner or extended range 2-meter receiver and live in the anticipated migratory path or in the wintering area of the owls, you can assist by listening for the radio tags, which emit pulsed signals near 172 MHz. They have greatest range at night when the birds are in flight. Your help is especially needed if you have portable direction finding equipment.

For more information, visit the K0OV Radio Direction Finding Web site at http://members.aol.com/homingin/ or send e-mail to homingin@aol.com.--Joe Moell, K0OV

APRS, SPREAD SPECTRUM HIGHLIGHT DIGITAL CONFERENCE

If developments displayed at the 17th ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference were any guide, the momentum of the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) continues to grow. This year's conference--held September 25-27 in Rolling Meadows, Illinois--was notable for the announcement of a new Kenwood hand-held transceiver that includes a built-in TNC with support for APRS display and messaging as well as monitoring PacketCluster DX spots. The Kenwood TH-D7A "Data Communicator" is a dual-band (144/440 MHz) unit. It's expected to be on the market by year's end.

As it was last year, spread spectrum development again was another prime topic of discussion. One key difference from last year was the presence of real spread-spectrum hardware. A large contingent from the Packet Radio Users Group (PRUG) of Japan showed up with three experimental 2.4-GHz, direct-sequence spread-spectrum PRUG96 stations. This system, which comprises radio and computer components, is being developed in Japan by PRUG. At the conference, the three units were operated as a network transferring data among themselves at about 800 kbit/s.

Another spread-spectrum radio development project is the TAPR effort, spearheaded by Tom McDermott, N5EG. McDermott reported at the Conference that the project has moved considerably forward, with much of the development of the digital hardware and the software kernel now completed. A lot of work remains to be done, however, and no specific project completion date is yet forecast.

Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, reported on experimental Amateur Radio spread-spectrum networks (under TAPR's FCC-granted special authority) in the San Francisco Bay area. One system he has tried uses Part 15 wireless LAN equipment, but operates under amateur (Part 97) rules. Another uses cable modems and transverters.

These technological efforts did not escape the notice of conference keynote speaker Dale N. Hatfield, W0IFO, Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology. He expressed pleasure and approval at seeing the kind of experimental work that amateurs are engaged in, calling such efforts vital to the future of Amateur Radio.--Jon Bloom, KE3Z

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar sage Tad Cook, K7VVV Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity was down again last week, with the average sunspot number off by almost 54 points and the average solar flux down by 9 points. Average solar flux for the previous 90 days was 129, and flux values were well below this number on every day. The active geomagnetic days were October 1 and 2 and the following October 7, when the planetary A index was 20 or more.

For the next few days expect a slightly higher solar flux, with flux values on October 9-11 predicted to be 135, 130 and 130. Solar flux should drop down below 125 until October 15, when it should begin to rise again, peaking around 140 from October 18-20, then dropping below 130 after October 23. Solar flux is expected to drop below 120 after October 26, then begin to rise around the end of the month. Expect unsettled conditions October 11, with a predicted planetary A index of 18, and again around October 15 and 24 due to coronal holes.

This fall is the season when we are starting to see 10-meter openings. October 10 is the 10-meter sprint sponsored by Ten-Ten International, so this band may show its stuff. From the author's QTH in Seattle, a path projection to New York City run on a popular propagation program shows a slight chance of a 10-meter opening from 1800 to 2030 UTC with a solar flux of 130. The MUF over that time varies from 21.8 to 22.8 MHz. Run the same numbers from Los Angeles to Atlanta, and the opening stretches from 1400 to 0200 UTC, and a period of excellent propagation from 1630 to 2200 UTC, with MUF as high as 35.2 MHz. The southern path is about 500 miles shorter, but similar numbers are revealed when calculating a shorter northern path as well.

Sunspot numbers for October 1 through 7 were 47, 51, 38, 21, 49, 68, and 98, with a mean of 53.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 118.8, 112.7, 111.9, 114.8, 117.1, 117, and 124.2, with a mean of 116.6. The estimated planetary A indices were 21, 21, 14, 5, 7, 6 and 20, with a mean of 13.4.

In Brief:

This weekend on the radio: The Ten-Ten Day Sprint is October 10, and the ARRL International EME Competition, the Rhode Island and Pennsylvania QSO Parties, and the VK/ZL/Oceania Contest (CW) all are the weekend of October 10-11. Just ahead: the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), the JARTS WW RTTY Contest, the QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party (CW), the Illinois QSO Party, the RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest (CW), and the YLRL YL Anniversary Contest (SSB) are October 17-18. The CQ WW DX Contest (SSB) is October 24-25. See October QST, page 108, for details.

Vanity update: The FCC is catching up a bit on vanity call sign processing. The FCC in Gettysburg reports that on October 5, it processed vanity applications received through September 17, including all work in process (WIPs). In the last processing run, 362 vanity applications were granted and 324 hit WIPs. The larger than average number of applications likely reflects the reduction in the vanity call sign fee, from $50 to $13, effective September 14.

1998 Field Day results: The results of the 1998 Field Day will appear in the December 1998 issue of QST. Field Day results typically have appeared in the November issue, which, this year, carries instead the updated and corrected results of the 1997 ARRL 10-Meter Contest. This November's issue does includes several photographs from this year's Field Day event, submitted by numerous participants.

Call for papers: The ARRL seeks articles for the next volume of the very popular The ARRL Antenna Compendium series. An article should be previously unpublished and should deal with antennas, transmission lines, or propagation. Submit articles (or solid ideas for possible articles) to Dean Straw, N6BV, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 or via e-mail to n6bv@arrl.org.

TMSAT-1 not yet ready for ham use: Chris Jackson, G7UPN reports that TMSAT-1 commissioning is mostly complete. Testing and calibration of the satellite's imaging system was underway. An "anomaly" has been observed involving the downlink transmitter, however. The power periodically drops to less than 1 W. Ground control stations are attempting to determine the cause, and the transmitter is only being operated over the command stations in Bangkok, Thailand, and Surrey, England. "This will probably continue for another few weeks," Jackson said in mid-September." For more information on TMSAT-1, visit http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/CSER/UOSAT/missions/tmsat/info/index.html

Ham radio history reflector: An Ohio ham has started up a free e-mail reflector that focuses on Amateur Radio trivia, history, and recollections. Pete Buehner, KC8ER, of Mentor, Ohio, says he established the electronic forum "to research and preserve as much of our hobby's past as possible." He only asks that hams "share what they know" on the reflector. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail message to ham-radio-history-subscribe@eGroups.com. For more information, contact KC8ER at kc8er@harborcom.net; http://www.members.harborcom.net/~kc8er.

W1BSA goes shipboard for JOTA: Members of the USS Salem Radio Club will operate W1BSA from the USS Salem during the Boy Scout Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) October 17. Operation will be on the prescribed JOTA frequencies. The USS Salem, a retired heavy cruiser, now is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts. QSLs for W1BSA go via K1RV (include an SASE).--Pi Pugh, K1RV

NE Volunteer of the Year: William "Bill" Wawrzenziak, W1KKF, of Wallingford, Connecticut, received the New England Division Volunteer of the Year Award August 29 at the ARRL New England Division Convention in Boxboro, Massachusetts. Congratulations, Bill!--Tom Frenaye, K1KI