News

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer


The Department of Energy has notified 12 agencies, including the nonprofit that owns the Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory, that they must move from the mountain.

See the video race between old vs. new messaging.

Video.

The World

COOS BAY — Listeners tuning in to some of their favorite radio stations, including KTEE 94.9 and KOOS 107 this morning, found only silence and static.

A fire Sunday night charred the stations’ transmitter in Englewood.

A second round of testing by US Air Force engineers has resulted in the identification of an additional seventy-five 70 cm repeaters in Northern California that must adjust their operations to eliminate harmful interference to the PAVE PAWS Updated Early Warning Radar (UEWR) located at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. As a result of these additions, new strategies for handling the situation are being put into place by the ARRL and the FCC.

"While ARRL knew that there was the possibility of additional repeaters being added in the follow-up list of those requiring mitigation, we are surprised by the large number of additions to the list," said ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "After our discussions with FCC officials, they are becoming actively involved in ensuring that the correct repeaters have been identified and that the mitigation being required is what is actually needed to resolve the ongoing problem in each case."

Henderson continued: "From the discussions with the Air Force, it is clear that the PAVE PAWS issue is going to be a continuing process. The ARRL needs to be involved since there can be additional repeaters identified as the Department of Defense continues testing at their radar sites."

To expedite any new mitigation actions needed due to the enlarged list, the FCC has now taken on the lead role of making initial contact with the owners of these newly identified repeaters. "The FCC has asked the ARRL to continue its work of aiding affected repeater owners with suggested mitigation actions," Henderson stated. "However, since any mandatory enforcement action would have to come from the FCC, it makes sense for them to take the lead at this point in time."

The ARRL will continue to provide information to individual repeater owners on specific mitigation techniques as well as information to the general amateur population. "We are committed to continuing to work with the Department of Defense, FCC and the Amateur Radio community to meet the amateurs' responsibilities as secondary users. But we are not an enforcement agency. Our goal to ensure that the impact on amateurs in the 70 cm band is the least possible, consistent with those responsibilities," Henderson said.

A teleconference was held between representatives of the DoD, FCC and ARRL on Thursday January 17 to assess the status of the repeaters on the initial DoD list, as well as discuss the strategies for working with repeater owners on the new, second, follow-up DoD list as quickly as possible.

During this conference call, Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC confirmed he had been in contact with repeater owners from the first DoD list who had not indicated their compliance with mitigation numbers provided by the ARRL in early Fall 2007. Hollingsworth reported he has had a positive response from each owner with whom he had spoken so far. There were several who had to be contacted via regular mail (instead of e-mail or telephone) who have not yet responded.

Hollingsworth also planned to start making contact with the owners of repeaters on the second list and begin the process towards amateur compliance within a short period of time. "Once a repeater owner has been contacted, the ARRL is ready to support their efforts in meeting the mitigation requirement," said Ed Hare, W1RFI, ARRL Laboratory Manager.

ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, pointed out that any specific enforcement action or shut-down order from the FCC involving amateurs also provides for due process in those proceedings. He emphasized that even though amateurs have a secondary allocation status in the band, the DoD has the burden of proving that specific repeaters are causing harmful interference on a case-by-case basis.

KGW.com
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_120407_news_ham_radio.6a6715bd.html

06:15 PM PST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- With communications down in much of the state smacked by the recent storm, state emergency officials are calling ham radio operators heros.

When even state police had difficulty reaching some of their own troops, ham radio worked, setting up networks so emergency officials could communicate and relaying lists of supplies needed in stricken areas.

A network of at least 60 volunteer amateur radio operators working along the coast and inland helped from keep crucial systems such as 911 calls, American Red Cross and hospital services connected.

Amateur radio works on a set of radio frequencies above the AM broadcast band. Operators use their own equipment to communicate with other operators, using different equipment and frequencies than emergency responders.

Sometimes it takes creativity and a lot of leg work, such as setting up a new link on the top of a mountain when no other options are available.

Steve Sanders, a spokesman for District One of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, said the storm was a "poster child" for what his group does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlldW9FBH4

Redneck tower rasing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SkxOsjBJFE&NR=1

It helps to have a house you can drag a chain under.

This is a story of how Ham Radio helped me out of a very dangerous situation. On March 3rd 2005 I broke down on Interstate 5 just North of The city of Gorman. It was late, around 11:00 PM. The road was dry and clear. My Big Rig had just come out of the shop with an engine rebuild. It was under the repair shops care for 3 weeks. I picked up the truck that morning and done my vehicle inspection. I found no safety discrepancies. However unknown to me there was a problem.

It was early morning on March 3, 2005; I went to work with the intention to install my radio gear in my original truck from the one I was temporarily using. It took around 4 hours to transfer all my equipment and supplies into my assigned Big Rig. Once finished I picked up my cargo for the run to Modesto, California. I rested a while before heading out. I left at 7:45 PM and proceeded to head out of town. I followed the rout to Interstate 5 North and made a quick stop at a truck stop in Castaic, Ca.