DX News

In DX comes word that JA1IST, will be on the air stroke FK from New Caledonia between February 25th and March 1st. His activity will be holiday style on High Frequency bands. QSL to his home callsign or via the bureau.

F5MNW will once again be operational stroke FR from Saint Leu between March 16th and April 8th. Activity will be on the HF bands using only CW. QSL via his home call either direct via the bureau.

F6ARC will be active stroke FG from Guadeloupe between March 11^th to the 23rd. Activity will be holiday style with a focus on the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands and the lower bands using 100 watts and operating Morse only. QSL via FE1IDX either direct or via the bureau.

ZL3TE will be operational as 3D2SE from Viti Levu Island between April 11th and the 14th. His main activity will be in the Japan International DX CW Contest on April 12th and 13th. Operations outside the contest will mainly be on CW, with some digital modes. QSL to ZL3TE or electronically via Logbook of the World.

G0VJG will be active stroke J6 from St. Lucia between June 5th and the 18th. Operation is likely to be on 40 through 10 meters using SSB only. If you make contact please QSL via G4DFI.

Lastly, several sources are reporting that a multi-national team will be on a DXpedition to Malawi as 7Q7Q sometime late November. This will include an entry in the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. At airtime this operation seems to be headed up by ZS6RJ, and will be the same group that was active as 3DA0ET last year. Look for more details to be forthcoming in future newscasts.

WW8N Tower Court Case

This court case about a tower before a Federal court could affect the ability of amateurs everywhere to erect towers. READ THIS!

February Edition of the Ohio Section Journal
FROM THE STATE GOVERNMENT LIAISON..
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Village of Swanton Antenna Decision Appealed..

On February 4 the Village of Swanton filed a notice of appeal, appealing the decision of the Fulton County Common Pleas Court in the case of Wodtke v. Village of Swanton. The case is the first court case that we are aware of involving application of Ohio’s new antenna legislation, H.B. 158 (129th General Assembly). The Trial Court ordered the approval of an application to the village by Gary Wodtke, WW8N, for approval of an antenna variance. The Village denied the application and Mr. Wodtke appealed that decision to the Fulton County Common Pleas Court. The Court ruled in Mr. Wodtke’s favor and the Village is now appealing that order. In the docketing statement filed with the Court of Appeals the Village asserts four potential issues to be argued in the appeal, including whether Revised Code Section 5502.031, enacted by H.B. 158, is constitutional and whether it was constitutionally applied in this case.

Ohio law grants a right of appeal from final decisions of a common pleas court. The decision here is appealed to the Sixth District Court of Appeals, headquartered in Toledo. The appellate process involves first, filing the record of proceedings in the common pleas court, then briefs of each of the parties and, finally, a brief oral argument to the court. Appellate decisions are heard by a three judge panel that is usually designated near the time for oral argument. Decisions normally take a number of months after oral argument. Appellate decisions are generally final, unless further review is granted by the Ohio Supreme Court. While a court of appeals decision represents the law only in that appellate district, it carries significant precedential value in other Ohio courts and may also be cited in similar cases in other states.

Mr. Wodtke is represented by Toledo attorney Carey Cooper and by Fred Hopengarten, K1VR a noted authority on zoning and amateur radio antenna issues. ARRL leadership at the national level is also aware of the appeal. Scott Yonally, Ohio Section Manager and Jim Weaver, Great Lakes Division Director have enlisted support from the ARRL. In my discussion with League General Counsel, Chris Imlay, W3KD, it appears that the leadership of the League views this appeal as being one of precedential significance, not only for Ohio amateurs, but also for amateurs in other states that have passed state versions of FCC regulation PRB-1.

Discussions are ongoing regarding various ways to help bring this appeal to a successful conclusion. We will keep you informed as further developments occur.

source: Nick, K8NAP

ROTARIANS on the Air to Stop Polio

To celebrate the birthday of community service organization Rotary International and highlight its involvement in eradicating the disease polio, members of the organization will be on air on February the 22nd and 23rd with a number of special event stations.

All participating Rotarians on Amateur Radio throughout the world will call CQ Polio to commemorate the founding of Rotary International in 1905, and educate the public about Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.

Thanks to the vaccine developed by the late researcher Dr. Jonas Salk. Polio is no longer a problem in many nations. However it still remains a major threat to public health in a number of places around the globe. (WAI News)

Cubesats Deployed from International Space Station

Astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA, has successfully deployed the first of the 33 CubeSats that were launched to the International Space Station in the Cygnus freighter on January 9th. The Tuesday, February 11th deployment consisted of the first two of the Flock-1 constellation of 28 Dove CubeSats made by Planet Labs.

In addition to the 28 Planet Labs micro-birds, there are also four amateur radio CubeSats waiting to be placed on-orbit. These are LituanicaSat-1, LitSat-1, ArduSat-2 and UAPSat-1 as well as a 915 MHz CubeSat SkyCube. All are planned to be deployed in the coming weeks.

All South Africa License Renewals Due by February 28

South African Telecommunications Regulator ICASA has announced that the closing date for that nations radio amateurs to file their license renewal will be February 28th. This applies to all amateur radio licenses including repeaters and beacons. Failing to do so will result in cancellation of the license. According to the South African Radio League, this is also an opportunity to renew an amateur license for 5 years at a discounted rate. (SARL)
 

Peruvian IOTA DXpedition

In DX up front, word that a joint Peruvian expedition composed of members of the Radio Club Peruano and the Radio Club Grupo DX Bahia Blanca of Argentina, will be on the air from Isla San Lorenzo from February 20th to the 24th. The Island is located in the Pacific with the group signing the special call OC0I. The operators plan to have two stations active simultaneously 24 hours a day on 80 through 10 meters, including WARC bands. Modes mentioned include CW, SSB and PSK-31. QSL direct to LU7DSY or via the bureau to LU3DXG. Electronic QSL’s go via eQSL. 
source: Southgate
 

Cape II Amateur Radio Satellite Cube OSCAR 75 or LO-75

The Cape II ham radio satellite is now known as the University of Louisiana OSCAR 75 or LO-75. This according to OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO, who recently informed AMSAT mentor Nick Pugh, K5QXJ, of the decision.

The CAPE II ham satellite operates on 145.825 MHz FM with a CW beacon signing the call W5UL. The bird also includes a digipeaters, text to speech operation, a simplex repeater, e-mail and tweet functions. The ground station software can be downloaded at www.ulcape.org

DX News

In DX, UA4WHX is now active stroke CE0Z from Robinson Crusoe Island. As always, the length of his stay is unknown but he has been heard in the past on 80 through 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via the information found on QRZ.com.

OE4AAC is reportedly on the air stroke 3B9 from RodriguesIsland and will be there through February 18th. Activity is holiday style on 40 through 10 meters using CW only. QSL via OE4AAC.

F5MVB and F5AOW are planning to be active as 5V7MP and 5V7BJ, respectively, from Avepozo, Togo from March 23rd to the 31st. Operations will be on CW and SSB. QSL via their home callsigns, either direct or by the Bureau.

G3XAQ be on the air from Kampala, Uganda, as 5X1XA between February 25th and March 16th. Activity will be CW only. QSL 5X1XA via G3SWH.

GM4YXI and GM3WOJ will be operational as A35X and A35V respectively, from TongatapuIsland between April 4th to the 18th. Activity will be on 160 through 10 meters using CW and SSB and some RTTY. QSL both A35V and A35X via N3SL

Lastly, M5RIC will be active stroke 5B from Cyprus between July 22nd and the 29th. His operation will include the RSGBIslands on the Air Contest slated for July 26th and the 27th using the callsign C4I. Outside of the contest, look for him on SSB and RTTY. QSL via M0OXO.

Revision of the Communications Act

According to United States Senator Mark Pryor of Tennessee, the Senate won’t be following the House’s lead this year to overhaul the sweeping law regulating TV, radio and all other telecommunications services.

The Communications Act, first written in 1934, created the Federal Communications Commission and outlined rules governing communications as it stood at that time. Over the years it has been amended on many occasions to try to keep up with emerging technologies. The Act was last updated in 1996, when the Internet was still in its infancy.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has already begun to look into ways to bring the Communications Act into line with the needs of the 21st Century, but Pryor who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications said the overall Senate Commerce Committee probably will not be following suit.

Critics of the current Communications Act have said that it creates what they call silos for different type of communications. That they say has posed a problem for new technologies such as Voice over Internet Proytocol phone calls that are transmitted over broadband and other Internet lines.

The House of Representatives effort to rewrite the law is expected to take multiple years, and has only just gotten started. This past January an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee held its first hearing on the issue with five former FCC chairmen in attendance.

source: Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF

Amateur Radio Operators Responding to Slovenia Electricity Disruption

Since January 31st Slovenia has been affected by extreme cold weather such as blizzards, heavy snow and sleet. This has caused the collapse of power lines under the weight of ice and falling trees with electricity disruptions now affecting 250,000 people at the height of the outage. The restoration of electric mains supply was being made difficult by the continuing bad weather. This has prompted Slovenia to request assistance from the European Union in the form of mobile high power electric power generators.
While there has been no wide-spread national request for communications assistance Slovenian radio amateurs are preparing to respond if required. In the meantime a number of radio amateurs have been assisting in communications operations on a local community level. This, due to problems with the mobile phone service and other radio networks falling victim to the severe weather outbreak.
The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism has asked for assistance from nearby European states with Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria providing assistance. Because of uncertainty of both weather conditions and overall communications, the Austrian teams responding to Slovenia will be carrying their own gear so as to communicate back to their home bases using Pactor and Winlink.  

source; Heather Embee, KB3TZD

Going to Space: Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu

If you have ever wanted to vicariously into space, now is your chance. NASA is inviting people around the world including ham radio operators to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016.

The "Messages to Bennu" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the asteroid, which has a width of only about 1,760 feet. The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and then return it to Earth .

The deadline to submit your name online is Sept. 30, 2014. Participants who submit their names to the "Messages to Bennu" campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement. To submit your name for inclusion on this mission please take your web browser to planetary.org/bennu. While there are no instructions as to how to how to include your callsign, we found it simple to just put it right after your last name. (ANS, NASA)