ARRLWeb: Show Them the Magic!

ARRLWeb: Show Them the Magic!

"Show Them the Magic!
By Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
ARRL Affiliated Club & Mentor Program Manager
November 17, 2005

If you're like me, you remember the first time you heard hams on the HF bands. How cool was it to be able to sit in your chair and actually talk to another person across the country?

There is something special about ham radio below 30 MHz.

And what about DX? Oh, boy! "



73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

United Press International - NewsTrack - Indecency complaint filed against 'NCIS'

United Press International - NewsTrack - Indecency complaint filed against 'NCIS'

"Indecency complaint filed against 'NCIS'
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) --

The Parents Television Council has filed an indecency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against the CBS drama 'NCIS.'

The watchdog group objected to an Oct. 25 episode about a slain military wife who was moonlighting as an Internet cybersex model, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

'CBS knew full well that millions of children would be in the viewing audience,' PTC President Brent Bozell said.

A CBS spokesman declined to comment on the complaint filed Tuesday with the federal regulators. "



73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

ARRLWeb: Students in Italy, England Entertained, Educated via Ham Radio

ARRLWeb: Students in Italy, England Entertained, Educated via Ham Radio

"Students in Italy, England Entertained, Educated via Ham Radio
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 16, 2005--

Students in Italy and England spoke via Amateur Radio November 9 with International Space Station Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the QSOs with the Francesco Negri Comprehensive Institute in Casale Monferrato, Italy, and with Furtherwick Park School on Canvey Island in Essex, England.

Speaking via the space station's NA1SS, McArthur shared with the students in Italy how he feels about living in space. "




73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

ARRLWeb: Amateur Radio Responds as Storm Spawn Rash of Tornadoes

ARRLWeb: Amateur Radio Responds as Storm Spawn Rash of Tornadoes

"Amateur Radio Responds as Storm Spawn Rash of Tornadoes
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 16, 2005--

Just weeks after assisting in hurricane relief efforts along the Gulf Coast and in Florida, Amateur Radio volunteers are responding in the wake of yet another weather emergency. Strong thunderstorms resulting from a clash of cold and warm fronts in the nation's midsection spawned tornadoes in several states.

The nearly three dozen twisters reported November 15 in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri came a little more than a week after tornadoes killed more than 20 people in Indiana and days after another string hit Iowa, resulting in one death.

Some 8000 customers were reported without electrical power in the five affected states, but Kentucky appears to have been the hardest hit. "



73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

Topic::Broadband over Powerline

Broadband over Powerline

"Gallagher Speech on BPL "

The link below goes to a PDF file from a recent speech by Micheal Gallagher, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This is a good read for several reasons. In particular it clearly shows the government's view of BPL and why they are championing it.

It contains information that is hard or impossible to come by from other sources. For example, on Page 15 is a comprehensive map of current BPL deployments. There are at least 50 trials, as well as four existing commercial deployments. We hear so much about the Manassass, Virginia, installation that it's easy to get tunnel vision and fail to realize just how widespread BPL deployments are.


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

Vanity Processing

Vanity Processing

The FCC has not announced when vanity processing will resume, but at this point it appears unlikely that the date will be any sooner than December 23.

It typically takes approximately three weeks for the FCC to process a vanity call sign application.

In August, the FCC raised the vanity application fee to $21.90.


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

eSchool News online - School radio station fights for survival

eSchool News online - School radio station fights for survival

"School radio station fights for survival
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports
November 11, 2005

A high school radio station that has been broadcasting for more than 30 years is in danger of being shut down. Reason: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month awarded the station's frequency to an upstart religious broadcaster based some 3,000 miles away.
WAVM (FM 91.7), run entirely by students of Maynard High School in Maynard, Mass., says it will fight the FCC's decision to reassign its frequency to California-based Living Proof Broadcasting, a noncommercial broadcaster of Christian music and Bible study.

WAVM-FM went on the air in the early 1970s, said Joseph Magno, the station's faculty adviser. Since then, Maynard students have reported on sports, news, and weather, broadcast Sunday church services, and played music on the air.

"This isn't just a radio station. It's an actual, viable school program. It's the most well-known, important, impressive part of Maynard," said Magno. He said the station has received both local and national recognition and has seen dozens of its alumni go on to broadcasting careers.



73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

News-Sun, Evening Star & Herald-Republican

News-Sun, Evening Star & Herald-Republican

"Musings From the Heartland
Amateur ham operators are alive and well
By REV. DAVE HOGSETT

When I was a student at the Purdue Extension in Hammond, one of the persons with whom I would frequently go out for lunch would occasionally refer to his interest in amateur radio. Asking him one day about his hobby, he invited me to his home in Whiting to see his equipment. On the appointed day, he took me to the attic of his house, where he had some radio equipment on a table and postcards on the wall that had on them call letters from other ham operators. While there are many suggestions, no one is sure how amateur radio operators came to be known as hams.

With the exception of running into similar cards while going through antique dealers postcard offerings, I have not thought too much about amateur radio since my college days. In fact, with the advent of the Internet, I had assumed that ham radio had become obsolete."

73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

TelecomWeb broadband over powerlines (BPL) in Mexico

TelecomWeb

"BPL Makes It To Mexico

The first known installation of broadband over powerlines (BPL) in Mexico has gone live at a 400-year-old monastery and hacienda in use these days as a luxury hotel.

The installation, by Telkonet, comes on the heels of Telkonets iWire System receiving Mexicos Norma Official Mexicana (NOM) certification a required pre-requisite to selling almost anything in Mexico. NOM certification basically attests that a product meets all applicable Mexican standards and labelling requirements.

Telkonet said that the Hotel Hacienda Cocoyoc, a luxury complex with 287 rooms and suites plus a convention center, turned to BPL in part because the monastery has walls that are, in places, four feet thick. Such solutions as Wi-Fi, thus, wont work, and installing wired broadband could have damaged the historic building. The company also had to contend with old electrical wiring in some areas (obviously not 400-year-old wiring) and, in the end, it could wire only 80 percent of the rooms, although it did reach all of the hotels 22 conference rooms and various other public areas."


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

FCC opens Net phone E911 portal | News.blog | CNET News.com

FCC opens Net phone E911 portal | News.blog | CNET News.com

"FCC opens Net phone E911 portal
November 14, 2005 11:33 AM PST

The ongoing saga over 911 service requirements in the Internet phone world now has an official Web presence--albeit with limited offerings at the moment.

On Monday, a task force created by the Federal Communications Commission launched the site, which is aimed at providing consumers, industry and government with the latest information about Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers and 911 service.

Under current FCC rules, VoIP providers have until Nov. 28 to be able to connect their subscribers to the enhanced 911 network, a next-generation system that can pinpoint the caller's geographic location. According to a recent notice, the companies are now expected to stop taking on new customers and marketing the service in areas where they fail to meet the requirements. "


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

The Gunsmoke Attitude

The Gunsmoke Attitude

"The Gunsmoke Attitude
By John Wendt, WA6BFH

Many of you may not remember a television program known as 'Gunsmoke'. When I was a 5-year-old kid it was the most popular program on TV.

It featured James Arnes as the marshal Matt Dillon, in a somewhat rough and tumble Kansas town.

Gunsmoke was a leading television program of its day, and in fact set the leading statistics for TV programming for a record number of seasons run. The program was not equaled for ratings by any other TV show until the mid-1970's "

Now you may wonder what all of this has to do with an article on a Ham radio web page, so fellow Hamsters I will tell you. I took down my old Yaesu FT-290 the other day and blew off the dust.

I had not used this radio in probably several years, as it had been relegated to my radio lab where I was using it a stable power oscillator of enough ummph to turn on the base of a transistor.

I fired it up on a local 2 Meter repeater after poking at the dipswitch on the internal CTCSS encoder. What I heard was reminiscent of the reasons that I had left 2 Meter FM.




73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

ARRLWeb: Spectrum Defense Fund 2006: Keeping ARRL's Voice Strong

ARRLWeb: Spectrum Defense Fund 2006: Keeping ARRL's Voice Strong

"Spectrum Defense Fund 2006: Keeping ARRL's Voice Strong
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 15, 2005--

As its name implies, the primary focus of the ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund is to help the League remain vigilant in guarding the range of frequencies Amateur Radio enjoys. The Fund, which kicked off its 2006 campaign October 10, also makes it possible for the League to forcefully advocate on behalf of the US amateur community at the FCC and on Capitol Hill and at international conferences. "


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET/AE

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.