ON THE CELLULARIZATION OF BROADCAST TV

o Regarding the FCC's attempt to cannibalize TV spectrum and the possible "cellularization" of over-the-air broadcast TV:

o SBE squawks loudly (and rightfully so) when not invited to the FCC's engineering workshops concerning the TV spectrum grab:

o The FCC relents and invites SBE:

o FCC announces "further details" for its June 25, 2010 Broadcast Engineering Forum to rip the over-the-air TV broadcast band apart. The workshops themselves are closed to the public. No transparency here:

o Deborah McAdams takes the FCC to task for its TV spectrum grab and concludes that, "Chairman Genachowski could serve the FCC and the public far better with less rhetoric and more science:"

GENERAL FCC NEWS

o The Commission is looking toward a major rewrite of the Part 95 Rules covering CB, Family Radio, GMRS, Radio Remote Control (R/C), medical telemetry and miscellaneous other services:

o The FCC has laid out details for a nationwide mobile public safety broadband network:


o FCC Tip Sheets: Wireless World Travel Made Simple (but it often isn't simple):

700 MHZ ADVISORY - USERS URGED TO CHECK THEIR EQUIPMENT

The FCC has issued an Enforcement Advisory stating that wireless microphones and similar devices are now prohibited to operate in the 700 MHz band (specifically 698 to 806 MHz). The band is being cleared for new users.

Devices similar to wireless microphones are also prohibited in the 700 MHz band as of June 12. These devices include wireless intercoms, wireless in-ear monitors ("IEM"), wireless audio instrument links, and wireless cueing equipment (aka "IFB").

Again, wireless microphones and similar devices are now prohibited in the 698 to 806 MHz band.


Churches scramble to meet FCC rules on wireless mics:

FCC INTERNET NEWS

o Check your Internet speed, latency and jitter by visiting this government-sponsored site. Under the heading "Consumer Broadband Test," click on "Test My Broadband Speed Now:"

o FCC survey finds 4 out of 5 Americans don't know their broadband speeds. Wanted: 10,000 volunteers:

o FCC Spectrum Task Force announces plan to pry out additional spectrum for Mobile Broadband:

o FCC seeks comments on how to measure mobile broadband network performance and coverage:

ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST

o An electrical "arc flash" can put employees in the burn ward or cause instant death. Find out about compliance with OSHA and NFPA 70E arc flash safety requirements:

RADIO NEWS BRIEFS

o Car radios are increasingly being used for everything but radio:

o Canadian broadcasters start turning off their digital audio broadcasting transmitters:

TELEVISION NEWS BRIEFS

o TV loudness bill passes Senate Commerce Committee:

o "ATSC Digital On-Channel Repeaters at NAB Show" by Doug Lung:

o Update on the company being established to aggregate Mobile TV programming:

AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE NEW KFI(AM) TOWER

Google Maps has been updating their aerial photos and KFI's new tower with its capacitive top hat is now visible:

1. Go to: http://maps.google.com/

2. In the Google maps search box put: 33 52 47N, 118 00 50W

3. Hit the Search Maps button and the main KFI tower will appear in about the center of the page (look for the circular fenced antenna yard).

4. Push the slider bar in the upper left corner of the page toward the "+" sign for an enlarged view.

5. To the left of the main KFI tower but before Trojan Way is a smaller circular yard, and centered in that yard is KFI's aux tower and white colored tuning house (look closely).

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS BRIEFS

o RFI, probably military in nature, impacts San Diego coastal folks:

AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, SUNSPOT DISCOVERY

The 11-year sunspot cycle appears to be heavily influenced by the positions of Uranus and Neptune. This discovery makes solar cycle predictions possible and indicates that solar cycles 24 & 25 will have "heavily reduced sunspot activity" and therefore disappointing HF DX opportunities. We are currently in solar cycle 24.


RADIO RECORDS: FIRST TWO WAY CONTACT MADE ON 8.97 KHZ

What is believed to be the first Amateur Radio two-way contact on 8.97 kHz using truly radiated fields took place on Friday, June 4, 2010, between DJ2LF and DF6NM. The distance was 20.2 km.

Both DJ2LF and DF6NM were using small backyard Marconi antennas for transmit and receive. DJ2LF antenna had an estimated effective height of about 5 meters while DF6NM was at about 7 meters. Both had an effective radiated power of about five microwatts using 100 watt car radio amplifiers as transmitters. A computer and sound card with no preamplifier served each  station as a receiver.

Both stations employed a special "micro-QSO" format. This system is designed to exchange the minimum single-bit report and confirmation in only three turnovers, each containing a single dash. Station identification was by frequency alone. (DF6NM)

Amateur Radio Newsline" Report 1714 - June 18, 2010

HAM NEWS BRIEFS

o "Hams may save us when the Big One hits:"

o The FCC has issued an experimental permit for PCN Technology Inc. "to operate in 3-30 MHz to conduct a Broadband on Power Lines (BPL) communication demonstration" in San Diego.

GRADE A OFF TOPIC MATERIAL

o How some enemy aircraft were detected before the invention of Radar:

o Modern Russian trucking:

o Israeli fire escape video, something you won't soon forget:

o Repairing satellites and even exploring outer space may one day be done by robots:

o The 25 most striking covers on IEEE Spectrum magazine (use the arrows):

o Moving the 200-inch mirror from Caltech in Pasadena to the top of Palomar Mountain -- Part One of a two part series:

o Automated weather reports are now available from the High Point Fire Lookout Tower on Palomar Mountain:

THE HYPER LIGHT SPEED ANTENNA

Here is a patented invention that claims to take advantage of a "new dimension" capable of sending RF signals faster than the speed of light (among other very useful things such as accelerating plant growth). See for yourself at the following URL and call us when you have a working prototype: Where have all the patent examiners gone?