ARRL Hudson Division 
December 2001
Hudson Division Beacon - e-mail edition
By Frank Fallon, N2FF, Director, Hudson Division, ARRL
30 East Williston Avenue, East Williston, NY 11596
(516) 746-7652
n2ff@arrl.org
Hudson Division Home Page - http://www.hudson.arrl.org 

ARRL Members

Please continue to spread the word to others who may want to receive this
information that they will need to access the ARRL members only web site and
after becoming a member they must edit their profile and elect to receive
bulletins from the Section Manager and Director.

HUDSON DIVISION WEB PAGE NOW AT - http://www.hudson.arrl.org

Our Web page was unavailable for a few days recently due to a corrupted DNS
file at Newington. Sorry if you were unable to access the division page.
The problem has been fixed.

I want to wish all a Happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I think we all hope for a better year in 2002. Have a great Holiday Season.
My wife and I are off to spend Christmas in England with our daughter,
granddaughter and our British son-in-law. Our son and the dog will be
minding the station while we are gone. We will miss seeing many you at club
holiday parties, but do have a good time.

If you have been procrastinating about upgrading to Amateur Extra class
don't hesitate much longer. The exam will be more difficult after July.
Make a New Year's resolution to study and take the exam soon. A new
question pool has been released and it becomes effective July 1, 2002 when
it will be used to generate all Extra class written exams. The new Element
4 will expand the number of questions by more than 20 percent - 806
questions - as opposed to the current 665. That sounds harder to me.

The 50 questions in an Extra class examination are drawn from the question
pool consistent with FCC rules and according to a formula that specifies the
number of questions to be asked from each of nine topic areas. Applicants
must correctly answer at least 37 questions to pass.

The new Element 4 question pool is available on the ARRL Web site
www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html. The just-released Extra class
question pool remains valid through June 30, 2005.

The ARRL 10-Meter Contest is the weekend of December 15-16. See the ARRL
Contest Branch page, www.arrl.org/contests/  and
www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.html for more info. With
the Ten meter band in such good shape this is a fine chance to work a few
more new ones before the band starts to do its eleven year slide. I may be
on as M0/N2FF. Look for a very weak signal.

FIELD DAY RESULTS IN DECEMBER QST

It looks like I had a few busted calls in last month's report and a few
omissions. Sorry about that!

The first error was due to ARRL not putting the 3A commercial category in
nice bold letters for us all to see. This resulted in the Splitrock ARA
being left out. Splitrock, using the K2RF call, had 1231 QSO's and came in
first in the 3A category out of 29 stations. Another first place division
club making it three first place wins for the division. Congratulations to
the 30 Splitrock operators who showed up for Field Day 2001. 

Cherryville, as usual, used the famous W2GD call of John Crevelli, the man
behind the operation, but that "D" sure looked like an "O" to me. West
Essex ARC used the W2EF call but I picked up the K4 call of the club below
them in the listing. Sorry.

Omitted from the list entirely was the 10-70 Repeater Association who were
number 2 in the 12A category. I simply did not look that far into the list.
Good job and thanks for taking the time and making the effort to set up and
take down that many stations. It looks like at least some of the 54
operators who attended did a lot of work. Congratulations.

I normally list only club stations but I think I should note that AA2MF was
in second place in 1D commercial with 1401 QSO's from five operators
including NT2X. With 166 stations in the category that is pretty
impressive. Also listed in 1D commercial was WO2N at number 42, WA2BMH at
74, N2QJN at 78, and in fifty place in the division and 128 overall was
WB2VBN. In 2D we had W2EGB.

In Home Stations using emergency power we had N2WJ in fifth place in 1E with
355 QSO's, N2MTG with 515 QSO's, and W2CVW with 54. In 2E KQ2F was in 8th
place with 491 QSO's.

You can see the complete results in the ARRL members-only web page section
at: www.arrl.org/members-only/qst/contests/results/2001/FD-RESULTS.pdf
or in the December issue of QST magazine at page 99.

NEW YORK CITY ARES MEETING

On Saturday, December 8th , I attended a meeting of the NYC ARES group in
Manhattan and was able to personally thank the members of the group for
their work in the WTC Attack. It gave me great satisfaction to shake some
hands and thank individuals for the fine job they did. None of us should
ever forget that it is the work these hams do in providing emergency
communications and performing public service which earns us our frequencies
and privileges from the FCC. In fact it is not clear that a town or village
has to give us a permit for a tower unless we are members of ARES, RACES or
MARS. Thanks to Charles Hargrove, N2NOV, NYC DEC and the ARES group for the
invitation.

BATTLE CONTINUES OVER PART 15 ACCESS TO 425-435 MHz - A reminder

Dave Sumner's December QST "It Seems to Us..." editorial titled "Unlicensed
to Kill" speaks to the problem with the SAVI proposal, a Part 15 RFID
device, at 433.9 MHz. Earlier this year I voted at an Executive Committee
meeting to continue to strongly oppose the SAVI Technology Inc. filing with
the FCC which is now NPRM 01-278. The FCC has proposed changes to its Part
15 rules governing unlicensed devices that would allow operation of advanced
RF identification devices between 425 and 435 MHz. By going along with a
request made earlier this year by SAVI Technology Inc and fiercely opposed
by ARRL, the FCC has set the stage for another battle between amateur and
commercial interests. The League has filed a strong opposition to the FCC's
NPRM&O. The entire Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order in ET Docket
01-278 (which incorporates RM-9375 and RM-10051) is available on the ARRL
Web site. Dave's article is well worth reading.

If you are interested in this band you can file comments with the FCC. You
can find detailed information about the threat and how to file opposition
comments at www.arrl.org/news/bandthreat/
You can also help by contributing to the ARRLFund for the Defense of Amateur
Radio Frequencies.

LICENSE PLATE UPDATE: Good News in New Jersey

The section's amateur radio license plate group (SM-W2UDT, ASM-K2WJ and
SGL-K1XV) was at the December 6th Transportation Committee meeting in
Trenton where the bill was on the agenda for discussion and vote. SM Bill
Hudzik, W2UDT made a 5-minute presentation in support of the bill, which has
already passed the Senate (40 to 0). He cited the need to bring fees into
alignment with current costs and how important it was to include leased
vehicles in the updated amendment. Bill also thanked the NJ Transportation
Bureau of Legislative Analysis for their efforts in supplying many of the
facts needed
to satisfy the committee that the amendment would not lose money for the
State. This issue (cost; most special plates lose money for the State) has
been, and continues to be, a major roadblock in the committee's viewpoint.
We successfully overcame that stumbling point and were rewarded with a vote
of 7 to 0 in favor of moving the Bill from committee to the Legislative
Branch for final vote. The Assembly has three voting opportunities in the
current session: December 10, December 17 and January 3. Our bill will
appear at one of them. The group is carefully monitoring the proceedings and
is anxiously waiting for the final vote. Stay tuned. We are almost there.
73, Bill Hudzik, W2UDT, SM NNJ

FEDERAL COURT DECISION FOR SARATOGA SPRINGS: Good News in New York

For the first time in a long time, a Federal Court (the U.S. District Court
for the Northern District of New York) decision has been released in an
Amateur Radio antenna case. While it is not clear at present 
whether this decision will be published in the Federal Supplement reporter
(and thus citeable authority in other cases) it is in some respects a very
fine decision. It is also unclear at this juncture whether or not the case
will be appealed, though the decision appears sound and unlikely of
reversal.

Palmer was represented throughout by hard-working Volunteer Counsel, Al
Millus, WB2EQR, of 
Binghamton, NY. Millus is also involved in the Kinderhook ZBA hearing for
Fred Fitte, WA2MMX,
which went into a third hearing before the Kinderhook ZBA on December 6th.
Hudson Division Director, Frank Fallon, N2FF was in attendance along with Ed
Hare, W1RFI, Head of the ARRL Lab, and Dr. George Wilner, W2ONP, President
of the Albany ARA New York. Troy resident Dr. Wilner, a hemotoligist, was
there to answer medical concerns raised by the opposition at a previous
session. Fred Fitte continues to jump through the hoops set by the ZBA.
They have now asked for a feasibility study concerning the possibility or
running a remote station at another site in the town so neighbors will not
have to look at the antenna. A fourth hearing has been set for January 3rd.
Please be aware that Fitte for almost twelve years had a sixty foot tower
only three hundred feet from where he wants to place the proposed tower.
His old home is only a few hundred feet away and he is asking for a tower
that is ten feel shorter. No, it doesn't figure! 

Palmer, on the other hand, had a 60-foot guyed tower in his yard for some
years, but decided to move a few miles south. In the time between his
initial installation and his move, the ordinance was amended to permit
antennas of 20 feet or less in height. Higher antennas require a special use
permit. Palmer decided to install a 41-foot crankup tower at his new house,
with six feet of antennas above that. The Saratoga Springs Planning Board,
after extensive procedural wrangling and expensive showings required of
Palmer, asked Palmer to reduce the configuration of his antennas, agree to
retract the antenna when not in use, and install screening around the tower
and paint it to minimize visual impact. One vegetative screening proposal
would cost $4,585, and another (planting four trees) would cost $1,160.
Palmer agreed to the second proposal. Palmer also refused a proposed
condition that the antenna only be extended at night. The planning board
ultimately denied the permit in a 5-2 vote, largely based on adverse visual
impact. The Board knew of PRB-1 obligations, but claimed that it offered
compromises that were unreasonably rejected by Palmer. 

Palmer sued, claiming PRB-1 preemption and civil rights damages and
attorney's fees for violation of his procedural and substantive due process
rights. The bench trial was held October 30. Hudson Director Frank Fallon,
N2FF, ARRL Lab Director Ed Hare, W1RFI, and Ray Wempel, KA2DVM, ENY LGL from
Schenectady, NY traveled to Syracuse for the hearing but the judge decided
that he would not hear their expert witness testimony. The Court reserved
its decision until this Order was issued.

The Court, heavily citing (and following) Jay Bellows' Pentel v. Mendota
Heights case, held that, while the Saratoga Springs ordinance was not
preempted on its face (because it did not impose an invariable height limit)
the ordinance was preempted as applied. Citing Pentel, the Judge held that
there were three obligations of a municipality in order to make "reasonable
accommodation" under PRB-1: (1) it must consider the application; (2) it
must make factual findings; and (3) it must attempt to negotiate a
satisfactory compromise with the applicant. While the judge held that the
City satisfied the first two prongs, it did not attempt to negotiate a
satisfactory compromise with Palmer. "Give and take" occurred, but the
Planning board engaged in a "one-sided negotiation consisting of inflexible
demands and the construction of loop after hoop for Palmer to jump through."
Palmer established that the antenna was the minimum height needed for
effective communication. The few planning board requests not agreed to by
Palmer were 
unreasonable on their face, the judge held. He said that normally, he would
remand the case to the Planning Board to comply with his order, but in this
case, because the Planning Board was already cognizant of its PRB-1
obligations, "such action would likely be futile". The Court therefore
ordered the Planning Board to grant the application with the conditions
already agreed to by Palmer.

So, absent an appeal, this case provides a reasonably good precedent for a
requirement of good-faith negotiating on the part of the municipality in
order to fulfill its obligation under PRB-1 to make reasonable accommodation
for amateur communications. Kudos to VC Al Millus, who has been very
faithful to the cause for years.
Chris Imlay, W3KD

Here is the URL for the Palmer decision: 
www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D02NYNC/01-12259.pdf

In addition the story was covered on Albany channel 13 and picked up by the
UPI wire service. See the Newsday site for the article: 
www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--radiotower1204dec04.story

NEW YORK TOWER BILL STILL HAS A CHANCE IN 2001

The two cases detailed above clearly show the need for a New York State
"Amateur radio tower standard" as towns continue to be overly restrictive in
thwarting our antennas. 

ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, continues to spearhead a
legislative effort to codify PRB-1 into New York State law. Fallon said he
hoped the decision in the Palmer case--coupled with the goodwill generated
by amateur response to the September 11 World Trade Center attacks--would
prompt the New York Assembly to act favorably on the PRB-1 bill when the
legislature goes back into regular session December 17.
The ARRL Letter

We also hope that the Legislature will pass a proclamation thanking us for
service to the sate in the WTC Attack in September. We may have a nice
Christmas present or two here.

160 METER CONTEST WARNING!!!!!

* "DX window" remains for ARRL 160 Meter Contest: Although the "DX window"
no longer is a part of the ARRL 160-meter band plan, there will be a DX
window for the ARRL 160 Meter Contest, which runs December 7-9. The
contest's rules www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/rules-160m.html
still require that the segment 1.830 to 1.835 MHz be used only for
intercontinental QSOs. The contest is a CW-only event. The revised band
plan, which is considered an operating guideline, recommends that SSB, SSTV
and other wideband modes stay at or above 1.843 MHz. It also establishes a
QRP calling frequency is 1.810. In doing away with the DX window last July,
the ARRL Board of Directors adopted the recommendations of the ad hoc 160
Meter Committee, which said the DX window concept was not followed and was
impractical. The change left it up to contest sponsors to establish DX
windows as necessary during their events.
The ARRL Letter

>ARRL ISSUES QRP DXCC PROGRAM RULES

The ARRL has issued rules
www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/qrp/qrp-dxcc-rules.html for its new QRP
DXCC Award. Applications will be accepted starting January 2, 2002.

The ARRL Board of Directors approved the new QRP DXCC Award at its July 2001
meeting. The QRP DXCC Award is given for working 100 different "entities"
(formerly "countries") on The DXCC List while operating with an output power
of 5 W or less. Standard DXCC rules www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/ also
apply to this new award. Contacts made since November 15, 1945, are
acceptable. 

The award is available to Amateur Radio operators worldwide. Applicants must
submit an alphanumeric list of 100 contacts--sorted by call sign prefixes.
Application forms and additional information are available on the ARRL Web
site www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/qrp/index.html, via e-mail to
dxcc@arrl.org, fax 860-594-0259, or mail to ARRL DXCC, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111.

>IN BRIEF: From the ARRL Letter. You may be interested in listening to
or working these stations.

* Historic coast radio station to celebrate Marconi event: Stations KPH and
K6KPH will be on the air December 12, 2001, to help celebrate the 100th
anniversary of the first wireless signal to cross the Atlantic, received by
Guglielmo Marconi on December 12, 1901, at Saint John's, Newfoundland. Both
stations will use the original transmitters, receivers and antennas of KPH,
a former RCA coast station. K6KPH, the Maritime Radio Historical Society
club station, will be active on amateur frequencies 3545, 7050 and 14,050
kHz. K6KPH will begin operation at 1700 UTC. KPH will be active on
commercial frequencies 500 and 426 kHz. KPH will begin operations at 0000
(December 13) UTC. "Commercial practices and procedures will be used on all
frequencies to give amateurs the experience of working a real coast
station," said K6KPH Chief Operator Dick Dillman, W6AWO. Reception reports
or QSLs go to Dick Dillman, W6AWO, 435 Utah St No. 4, San Francisco, CA
94110. KPH reception reports go to Tom Horsfall, WA6OPE, 1862 Tulare Ave,
Richmond, CA 94805. More information is available on the Maritime Radio
Historical Society Web site www.radiomarine.org. 

* Newfoundland special event to mark centenary of transatlantic reception:
The Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs will operate special event
station VO1S during the month of December. The special event will mark the
100th anniversary of the reception of the first transatlantic radio
signal--the Morse code letter "s"--received by Marconi at Signal Hill in
Newfoundland on December 12, 1901. Marconi used a kite-supported antenna to
hear the signal, which was transmitted from his station in Poldhu, Cornwall,
England. QSL VO1S via the bureau or direct (before March 1, 2002), to SONRA,
PO Box 23099, St John's, NF A1B 479, Canada.

* Special event station W1AA/CC to commemorate Marconi's transatlantic
feat: 
The Marconi Radio Club and The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association will
celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marconi's December 12, 1901, one-way
transatlantic radio transmission with a special event station--W1AA/CC-from
December 11-16. Operation will be on 80 through 6 meters, SSB and CW. The
public is invited December 12, from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, when-weather
permitting--W1AA will fly a kite antenna and attempt to communicate from
Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to clubs at the
historic Marconi stations in Poldhu, England and Saint John's, Newfoundland.
Marconi used a kite antenna at his 1901 receiving site in Newfoundland. W1AA
will transmit on 14.052 MHz. Amateurs at these locations also will attempt
to fly kite antennas. QSL via the bureau or to W1AA, Box 1193, Lakeville, MA
02347 and include an SASE. For more information on this and other
commemorative events, contact Marconi Radio Club President Whitey Doherty,
K1VV, k1vv@tmlp.com, or visit the W1AA Web site
personal.tmlp.com/k1vv/w1aa/ or The Falmouth Amateur Radio
Association Web site www.falara.org/OpEvents/Marconi/fara-marconi.html.


The ARRL Letter 

SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION FROM: Jim's GAZETTE, Newsletter #111, 6
December 2001

Jim Mortenson, N2HOS, is a digital friend who hangs his hat in Briacliffe,
NY a good part of the year and puts out a monthly newsletter for some of his
friends around the world. You may be interested in this edited version of
his latest free offering. Much of it is about RTTY but with the holiday
season and the ARRL RTTY Round-Up slated for January 5 you may be interested
in the mode and some of the software available. I hope many of you find it
both interesting and helpful.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested
parties, or to reproduce it
in any other publication. All we ask is that you give credit where it is
due.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
TEXT FILER is Dave Guest's latest piece of freeware and it is a dazzling
piece of work. This little
gem surpasses any search device I've ever used. The secret lies in the
software. TF creates a
database as you tell it what to include. For example, I have four
directories full of Word
documents, one including all the newsletters, another HTML and so on. I
added them all to the
database. You can add Microsoft Works files, Word Perfect, Email, rich-text,
etc. There is almost
no limit. Then type in a name, phrase or whatever, and you instantly get a
list of locations and TF
will then display the document when you pick one of the options. And,
believe it or not, you can
even type in a 'sounds like' clue and you'll get everything that's close.
Type N2HOT and you'll no
doubt get N2HOR and N2HOS, etc. Magic! Read the help files and download the
free program at
www.readersandwriters.com/textfiler. And send Dave a note of thanks.

Another piece of software, and very much related to the foregoing paragraph,
should be your next
download. Bill W7TI told us about this one. MailWasher is remarkable for its
simplicity, and really
remarkable for what it does for you. What does it do? Simple. It let's you
preview your mail on the
server! You can delete or bounce any message that seems suspicious. In fact
it even highlights
those that appear to be irregular. You can open the message and take a good
look at it WITHOUT
downloading the mail. You really need this one. It's free, but I urge you to
send in the requested
$20 for a subscription because it is being constantly upgraded. Don't fail
to add this to your
portfolio because there are going to be more, not less virus, spam, trash
and nonsense mailings in
your future. (There will be an article with screen prints on the GAZETTE
shortly.)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Until recently, software choices in the digital world were limited to a few
DOS programs. The
products were of reasonable quality and had been around for quite a spell.
Pricing was relatively
modest, but the authors didn't or couldn't keep up with the dramatic changes
taking place inside
those boxes sitting around the shack. It was time for change. First came the
new modes-Clover and
Pactor II burst on the scene but each mode required a significant hardware
and software investment.
Neither made a big, lasting dent on the bands.

Then, along came the sound card and higher computer speeds. And the software
gurus went to work.
The first big splash was RITTY-terrific but expensive. Then the dam broke
and we were suddenly
flooded with new options, many of them multi-mode, most based on sound card
technology and many of
them free. This phenomenon helped create the explosive growth of PSK31 with
freeware like DigiPan.
Still free, DigiPan continues to dominate the new mode. Even so, new
opportunities present
themselves regularly and most are freeware. 

Subsequently, RTTY caught the bug. Writelog broke some new ground in the
contesting arena but its
cost at $75 is fairly steep for those who are not serious contesters. So,
N1MM Logger entered the
fray. While it might not yet be ready for prime time, it is free and is
undergoing constant change
and improvement. MMTTY blew away those who tried this new and free digital
product. MixW the
not-free product from the producers of DigiPan made its appearance recently
and is getting good
reviews. Nick UT2UZ offers MixW at $50 but there is a working download at
tav.kiev.ua/~nick/my_ham_soft.htm. This is worth a trial.

What to do? How to choose? The best way is to ask questions of and listen
to those good ops down
the street, the ones whose operation we have reason to respect. For example,
Andy KB2EOQ argues
that the combination of MMTTY (which is free) and Writelog (which costs $75)
is the best
combination for contesting. MMTTY does 'very good RTTY work and Write log
does LOTS of good
contesting.' Go to www.qsl.net/mmhamsoft/ to download MMTTY. Writelog info
is at www.writelog.com.
Andy also points to N1MM at groups.yahoo.com/group/N1MMLogger and
calls it unfinished,
promising . . . and it is free.

I badgered my old friend Steve N1NB (I had to call him to get his new call
sign, since his Email address doesn't make use of it. Hi!), and ask if he
would do an article on setting up a station from scratch in this new era.
He'd just gone through the pains and pleasures of a brand new start
in a new QTH. Well, he sort of complied by suggesting that all of the needed
information is already
out there for those who want to run it down, read it and follow the
directions. As to MMTTY, he
suggests the Help download at www.qsl.net/mmhamsoft/mmtty/help-dl.htm. Then
go on to Jim W0EB's
site home.kscable.com/w0eb/. There you can get the help file in PDF
format. It runs to 111
pages but is filled with everything you might ever need, including pictures,
diagrams and
annotations. Don AA5AU has a good MMTTY support site at www.aa5au.com as
well.

Steve says, and Don agrees, that you should get MMTTY up and running before
you even think about
adding something like Writelog to the mix. Once you have the latest version
of MMTTY up and under
control, then get the Writelog download (and the MMTTY plug in) and put them
together. By the way,
Steve runs FSK with his FT 1000MP MkV because he can utilize the narrow
filters. He's been amazed
at how the 250Hz filter made marginal signals into good quality copy even
when there is a strong
adjacent signal. Given the power of the DSP logic in the soundcard engines,
this may come as a
surprise to a lot of folks.

Finally, Steve suggests you visit k9jy.com. You'll find excellent
basic stuff for getting
Writelog going including the use of Rttyrite, which is included in he
Writelog package. And it will
lead you down the path of setting up and testing one element at a time. All
agree this seems to be
the best approach.

73 de Jim N2HOS jem@n2hos.com
www.n2hos.com/digital


HAMFESTS

HRU 2002 - January 20, 2002 This is not a fleamarket but a series of
classes, lectures and demonstrations. The two cases detailed above clearly
show the need for a New York State "Amateur radio tower standard" as towns
continue to be overly restrictive in thwarting our antennas. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL........................