Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Mar 15 2019 09:36 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2159, for Friday, March 15th, 2019
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2159, with a release date of
Friday, March 15th, 2019, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A weather net on DMR assists during a "bomb
cyclone." A QRP pioneer becomes a Silent Key - and the ARRL helps
the FCC target rules violators. All this and more, as Amateur Radio
Newsline Number 2159, comes your way right now.
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BILLBOARD CART
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DMR WEATHER NET ASSISTS IN COLORADO 'BOMB CYCLONE'
NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is the Colorado "bomb cyclone"
that struck in the American West. The Northern Colorado DMR group
regularly uses Brandmeister TalkGroup 31083 whenever hazardous weather
threatens the region, but the hams' severe weather net was put to the
ultimate test on the 13th of March when a bomb cyclone blizzard struck.
According to Matt, K0LWC, nearly 50 amateurs checked in between 9 a.m.
and 7 p.m. Mountain Time from QTHs throughout Colorado as well as
Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas. They passed on road conditions and
closures, power outages, and weather conditions. The net also submitted
weather reports to the National Weather Service in Boulder, and gave
Colorado State Patrol reports of stranded motorists.
Matt said the talkgroup was carried constantly on a number of northern
repeaters in the state, as well as in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He told Newsline
that the Colorado Digital Multiprotocol bridge allowed users on Yaesu
Fusion and D-STAR to also access the talkgroup, even without a DMR radio.
Matt wrote: [quote] "Very cool bridging of digital protocols making the
talkgroup technology agnostic!" [endquote]
He said even with 200,000 people having lost power, the DMR technology
remained operational and resilient. Said Matt: [quote] "That's a good
sign for the stability of DMR, and its use in the future for EMCOMM."
[endquote]
**
SILENT KEY: QRP PIONEER GEORGE DOBBS G3RJV
NEIL/ANCHOR: Fans of low-power operating are grieving the death of a
leading amateur in the field of QRP. With those details, here is Jeremy
Boot, G4NJH.
JEREMY: A pioneering figure who made popular low-power communications,
and the founder of the G-QRP Club, has become a Silent Key. The Rev.
George Dobbs, G3RJV, died in England on the morning of 11th March,
following a period of failing health.
George had freely and regularly shared much of his expertise in numerous
radio books and publications, such as his "Carrying on the Practical way"
in the Practical Wireless magazine, and the QRP section in RadCom, the
Radio Society of Great Britain's monthly journal, where he was also a
columnist. He visited many local amateur radio clubs to give talks, and
encouragement on low-power operating. He also wrote for the quarterly
SPRAT - which stands for Small Powered Radio Amateur Transmissions - a
magazine produced by the G-QRP Club, which George founded in 1974 - at
which time, to be considered QRP, power levels could not exceed a 3 watt
limit at the transmitter - later to be raised to 5 watts in the mid-1980s.
George was a retired vicar in the parish of Sudden near Rochdale in the
north west of England. According to a posting by Rob, G3XFD, on the
Southgate Amateur Radio News website, his death was attributed to
pneumonia that failed to respond to antibiotics.
George Dobbs, RIP.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
(SOUTHGATE, the G-QRP CLUB)
**
U.S. AMATEUR WHO OWNS WASHINGTON STUDIO IN BATTLE OVER RUSSIAN BROADCASTS
NEIL/ANCHOR: A drama is playing out in Washington, D.C., involving a
commercial radio studio owned by a U.S. amateur, Russian broadcasters -
and Justice Department officials. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, has that story.
KEVIN: A Florida amateur radio operator and the U.S. Department of Justice
have been locked in a battle over whether the ham, who owns a broadcast
studio in Washington, D.C., needs to register as a foreign agent. Arnold
Ferolito, K2PEV, owner of RM Broadcasting LLC, sells time on 1390 AM in
Washington to Russian-funded media group Sputnik radio. Justice officials
have been working to compel the broadcasters to comply with the 1938
Foreign Agents Registration Act. According to a recent Washington Post
report, Sputnik's parent company, the Russian news agency, Rossiya Segodnya
has already registered, but Arnold Ferolito has refused, telling the
Washington Post that individuals should be able to do business in the
United States without this kind of government interference. The 76-year-old
amateur radio operator filed a lawsuit last October against Justice
officials, describing the relationship between Florida-based RM
Broadcasting, and the Russian media group [quote] "an arms-length
commercial business transaction." [endquote] His suit states that he is
not acting as a foreign agent. FCC records show that Arnold is also
licensed as a General class amateur radio operator, who has a New Jersey
address.
According to the Washington Post story, justice officials have filed a
countersuit, charging that Ferolito's broadcast of Sputnik news content
is being directed and controlled by the Russian group.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.
