The ARRL Letter
Vol. 13, No. 16
August 25, 1994

Fire on Storm King Mountain
By John Radloff, N0MOR

	Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is about 140 miles west of 
Denver and 100 miles from the Utah border. Storm King Mountain, 
three miles west of Glenwood Springs, and the valleys below, host 
many homes. On Sunday, July 3, radio amateurs on Interstate 70 
reported seeing fires on the mountain to the US Forest Service. 
The service at that time had several crews on the mountain to 
prevent the small fires from spreading.
	On July 6, the fires, encouraged by the tinder-dry wood 
and 50 mph winds, "blew up," trapping and killing 14 fire 
fighters, most of them veterans of such work. 
	The author, along with Amateur Radio Emergency Service 
(ARES) Emergency Coordinator Rick Doyal, KB0AHR, and Assistant 
Emergency Coordinator Kirvin Hodges, KF0SI, monitored local fire 
frequencies all the afternoon of that fateful day. It was evident 
that the fire was winning the battle; we could see the mushroom 
cloud of smoke from my house, 15 miles southeast of the mountain. 
I began to think that our ARES communication trailer would be 
needed.
	At 9 PM a Denver television station correspondent reported 
that he and his family were evacuating their home -- in Glenwood 
Springs! Then Rick called to say that our trailer was indeed 
needed, at a makeshift "incident command post." Kirvin and I 
pulled the unit to Canyon Creek Estates, all the while watching 
the fire and thick smoke along the edge of I-70.
	Meeting KB0AHR there, we set up in the driveway of a home 
across from a temporary helicopter landing area. Thousands of 
small fires looked like orange lights all over the mountain. The 
fire was just behind the backyard of this house, burning up the 
west face of Storm King Mountain.
	We began operation at 11 PM, replacing three jeep-type 
vehicles that had been a temporary incident command post in the 
front yard. The linking of repeaters on 2 meters and 440 MHz in 
Grand Junction, some 70 miles to our southwest, gave us coverage 
from Glenwood Springs to Grand Junction. The following morning, 
July 7, the Colorado State Patrol emergency communication van took 
over and we moved to New Castle, three miles west of the fire, to 
an equipment staging area for the Salvation Army out of Denver. 
They were providing food for fire workers and we provided 
communication between their posts.
	At the Glenwood Springs Middle School, where the State 
Patrol had set up, we helped coordinate cellular telephones and 
portable radios brought in for the emergency. The portable radios 
arrived but no one had the code to program them with the local and 
state frequencies. Fortunately, one of our members, Jack Gabow, 
N0ZBS, was using a similar radio that didn't require a code. The 
frequencies were programmed into Jack's radio and it was then used 
to "clone" the others. This fix saved hours of waiting at a time 
when the firefighters needed those radios.
	Later on July 7 we asked the president of the Western 
Colorado Amateur Radio Club, Larry Ball, W0IOL, for assistance. 
That came at midnight in the form of operators from their club, to 
help at the middle school command post. Things began to wind down 
on the 9th and the Forest Service relieved us.
	On Thursday afternoon I had an opportunity to see the 
helicopters and "slurry bombers" in action, close up. Lloyd 
Kimball, N0NHJ, and I went "4-wheeling" to look for two 
mountaintop sites for portable repeaters for the Forest Service. 
We couldn't get up high enough, but we did get a look at the 
aerial activities. Several small lakes above the fire were all but 
sucked dry by the helicopters, so they had turned to dipping into 
the Colorado River next to I-70.
	This fire attracted the attention of news media all over 
the world, as you know. We had an exchange student from Finland 
staying with us at the time; his mother called to find out if we 
were all okay. 
	More than 30 amateurs from communities in western Colorado 
worked in this project, expending some 285 hours in a fine display 
of cooperation between Colorado ARES Districts 2 and 3. Conditions 
at the staging area were hot, dry and dusty, with the temperature 
near 100 degrees F and helicopters stirring things up. 
	The fire was finally declared as contained on Monday, July 
11, after six days of furious fire fighting. Jack Ward Thomas, a 
Forest Service official, personally shook our hands and thanked 
each of us for our time and effort, as did Salvation Army Program 
Director Mike T. Gelski. I would like to add my personal thanks to 
every amateur who responded and took part in this emergency 
operation, which showed me the tremendous need for an active and 
well-trained ARES group.
	(The author is president of the Ski Country Amateur Radio 
Club.)

Digital enthusiasts gather in Minnesota

	Bloomington, Minnesota, was the site of the 13th annual 
ARRL Digital Communications Conference, hosted by the TwinsLAN 
Amateur Radio Club. More than 140 hams from throughout the US and 
Canada met from August 19 through the 21 to discuss amateur 
digital communication -- present and future.
	Technical presentation topics included G-TOR, the new HF 
digital communication system developed by Kantronics; the 
Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS); digital image 
transmission; and many others.
	One of the star attractions was the presentation of the 
DSP-93, a communications processor that utilizes advanced digital 
signal processing techniques. The DSP-93 is the product of a joint 
development program sponsored by AMSAT-NA and the Tucson Amateur 
Packet Radio (TAPR) group. It is based on a modular, standalone 
DSP system proposed by Bob Stricklin, N5BRG.
	The first DSP-93 kits will include software for the 
following modes: 1200 and 300 bit/s AFSK packet, 1200 bit/s PSK 
packet (for satellites and terrestrial use),  9600 bit/s packet 
(satellite and terrestrial) and various audio filters. Software 
currently under development includes a digital oscilloscope, SSTV, 
and various HF digital modes. In most cases, updating the DSP-93 
for new functions is as easy as loading the revised software. 	
AMSAT and TAPR say they'll distribute DSP-93 software via the 
Internet, various amateur satellites, and CompuServe. Software 
updates also will be available on diskette from TAPR. The DSP-93 
sells for $430 as a complete kit, including the enclosure and 
power supply. 
	Another item that drew considerable interest was the new 
Baycom 9600 bit/s TNC emulation system. Baycom representative 
Wolf-Henning Rech, DF9IC, explained that the new units would be 
similar in function to the popular Baycom 1200 bit/s TNC packages, 
although somewhat more complex. He predicted that the hardware and 
software would be ready for sale within 60 days.
	Manufacturers were well represented at the conference. 
Paul Evans of PacComm was showing off their new Sprint TNCs. 
Kantronics displayed their new KPC-9612 TNC as well as the KAM 
Plus with G-TOR.
	In addition to the technical presentations, there were 
several discussion forums on a variety of topics, including high-
speed data transfer techniques and HF data transmission methods. 
John Ackermann, AG9V, moderated the high-speed forum while Frank 
Perkins, WB5IPM, chaired the HF group.
	Lew Shannon, K0RR, moderated a discussion of the future of 
TCP/IP. The standing-room-only crowd enjoyed an occasionally 
heated debate concerning the legalities of gateway activity 
between amateur TCP/IP networks and the Internet. Many expressed 
concern about the need to monitor traffic going to and from the 
Internet. Some felt that strict controls were necessary while 
others argued that only the end user was responsible for the 
content of the data.
	The discussion also turned lively regarding conflicts 
between ATV operators and TCP/IP networks on the 70-cm band. 
Several TCP/IP network operators complained that ATV users were 
occupying too much spectrum, causing severe interference to their 
systems. Phil Karn, KA9Q, proposed a long-range solution where 
everything becomes digital. "With sufficiently sophisticated 
digital techniques, there's no reason why voice, data and image 
communicators can't share the same bandwidth."
	Phil Karn also acted as moderator of the digital data 
transmission development forum. Part of the discussion centered on 
creating digital voice repeater networks that would be compatible 
with current FM transceivers.
	Looking again to the future, Phil emphasized that the 
strength of any digital radio system is its portability. "If 
you're simply looking at dedicated, point-to-point digital 
communication, existing systems such as the Internet win hands 
down. They're much faster and far more reliable. As hams we need 
to concentrate on the sole advantage of radio: the ability to 
communicate from anywhere -- not just from where a network 
connection happens to be."
	In the ARRL Committee Update forum, ARRL Technical 
Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, warned that our spectrum 
resources for digital communication are in grave danger. Paul 
predicted that the potential loss of many of our microwave bands 
would be a "burning issue" for the next 10 years. Because of 
increasing pressure from commercial interests, Paul felt that hams 
could lose most of their microwave allocations. He said that the 
microwave bands needed much more ham activity beyond the 
occasional experimenter or contester if we were to have any hope 
of retaining them.
	ARRL Dakota Division Director Tod Olson, K0TO, addressed 
the subject of the one-MHz segment between 219 and 220 MHz. He 
agreed with others who felt that this could be prime territory for 
advanced networking applications. Whatever activity takes place, 
should amateurs gain access to the band, Tod emphasized the need 
for a team approach. "The days of the individual homebrewer are 
limited," he said. "System complexity has reached the point where 
there is no one individual who knows every nut and bolt. Future 
systems demand team action where individuals contribute parts of 
the final product."
	Reported by QST Assistant Managing Editor Steve Ford, 
WB8IMY.  Copies of the conference proceedings are available from 
the ARRL publication sales department for $12 plus $4 s/h.

SLATES SET FOR ARRL ELECTIONS

	The nominating period for the offices of ARRL director and 
vice director in eight ARRL divisions has closed, and the ARRL 
Elections Committee has certified the eligibility of candidates. 
Here are the nominees (when only one person was nominated and 
eligible, the Elections Committee declared that candidate elected. 
Terms of office begin January 1, 1995).
	Central Division: Director,  Ed Metzger, W9PRN, and Neil 
Rapp, WB9VPG. Vice Director,  Mike Hoshiko, W9CJW; Howard Huntington, 
K9KM; and Ken Ebneter, K9EN.

	Hudson Division: Director, Steve Mendelsohn, WA2DHF. Vice 
Director, Paul Vydareny, WB2VUK.

	New England Division: Director, Bill Burden, WB1BRE. Vice 
Director, Warren Rothberg, WB1HBB.

	Northwestern Division: Director, Mary Lou Brown, NM7N; 
Mary Lewis, W7QGP; and Don Clower, KA7T. Vice Director: Gregory 
Milnes, W7AGQ;  and Clay Freinwald, K7CR.

	Roanoke Division: Director, John Kanode, N4MM; William 
Jacobs, WA8YCG; and Edward Dingler, N4KSO. Vice Director,  Dennis 
Bodson,  W4PWF, and Robert Pattison, KM4DU.

	Rocky Mountain Division: Director, Marshall Quiat, AG0X; 
Ted Colby, W0RA; and Whit Brown, WB0CJX. Vice Director, Walt 
Stinson, W0CP.

	Southwestern Division: Director, Fried Heyn, WA6WZO. Vice  
Director, Art Goddard, W6XD.

	West Gulf Division: Director, Tom Comstock, N5TC. Vice 
Director, Jim Haynie, WB5JBP.

CONGRESS WATCHERS REMAIN OPTIMISTIC

	Amateur Radio-related legislation remains alive as the 
103rd Congress winds down. Still viable are provisions from House 
Joint Resolution 199 and its Senate companion, Senate Joint 
Resolution 90. The bills are "sense of the Congress" resolutions 
urging the Federal Communications Commission to adopt regulations 
that encourage the use of new technology and calling for 
"reasonable accommodation" for the use of Amateur Radio in homes, 
automobiles and public areas.
	The House bill, sponsored by Congressman Mike Kreidler of 
Washington, has been added to the FCC Authorization Act, H.R. 
4522, by the House Telecommunications Subcommittee. H.J. Res 199 
had 245 co-sponsors by the time it was considered by the 
committee. It also has passed the House Energy and Commerce 
Committee and is slated for floor action. The Senate version has 
been reported out of the Senate Commerce Committee as a "stand-
alone" bill. 
	Differences in these bills could be ironed out in a 
conference committee toward the close of the session, scheduled 
for early October.
	H.R. 2623, sponsored by Rep. Jim Slattery of Kansas, has 
still not been reported out of the House Energy and Commerce 
Committee. The bill currently has 82 co-sponsors. There is no 
Senate version.
	"Congress watchers agree that this is an unpredictable 
year," said Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, ARRL Manager of Legislative 
and Public Affairs. "Health care, crime bills, the big 
telecommunications bills, and a few other 'mega' issues have 
captured Congress's attention, to the exclusion of almost 
everything else. As a result, a lot of special interests got left 
in the dust this year. 
	"It's a credit to the effectiveness of hams who wrote to 
their senators and representatives that these powerful committees 
have given us a fair hearing and considered our bills."

SECTION MANAGER ELECTION RESULTS

	Ballots have been counted in the ARRL Section Manager 
election for the Western New York Section. William Thompson, 
W2MTA, was declared elected with 840 votes; Scander Astafan, WS2W, 
received 381 votes.
	Nine other sections were not contested and the following 
were declared elected: Connecticut, Betsey Doane, K1EIC; Idaho, 
Don Clower, KA7T; Minnesota, Randy Wendel, N0FKU; North Dakota, 
Roger Kurtti, WC0M; Ohio, David Kersten, N8AUH; Oklahoma, Joseph 
Lynch, N6CL; Southern Florida, Richard Hill, WA4PFK; Puerto Rico; 
Guillermo Schwarz, KP4DDB;  Virgin Islands, Ronald Hall, KP2N.
	Terms of office for all of the above begin October 1, 
1994. 

DX COMMITTEE VOTES ON ETHICS, MINIMUM SIZE

	The ARRL DX Advisory Committee (DXAC) has voted 8 to 7 to 
reject a proposed revision to Section I.10 of the DXCC Rules to 
reinforce rules against the making a contact for DXCC purposes 
with a call sign other than that issued to the operator. 
	The majority felt that a more stringent rule could 
adversely affect club and other multi-operator stations -- 
including DXpeditions. The minority felt that this proposed rule 
change was necessary to prevent perceived abuses.
	The DXAC also rejected, 14 to 1, a petition for new DXCC
country status for the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" 
(TRNC).  DXAC members said that the TRNC did not meet DXCC 
Criteria Point 1, "Government." 
	In a third matter, the DXAC voted 11 to 4 to set a minimum 
size for new DXCC countries. The DXAC recommendation says, "A DXCC 
country shall be a natural land mass of a size adequate to support 
a reasonable Amateur Radio operation.  In the case of islands, the 
surface shall be dry at all times during high tide, and the 
physical characteristics may not be changed or modified. This 
includes the use of man-made operating structures. Each case will 
be judged on its own merits." 
	Implicit in this recommendation is that operation
from an island must take place from the surface of that island.
	The minimum-size recommendation now goes to the ARRL 
Awards Committee for action.

FCC REVERSES STAND ON FREE COMMERCIAL LICENSES

	The FCC has reversed an earlier decision that granted 
three companies free licenses for new wireless services.
	The earlier decision was based on a so-called "pioneer's 
preference," in recognition of the companies' technological 
contributions to the field. The companies, which planned a wide 
range of wireless personal communication services, told the New 
York Times that the reversal could cost them hundreds of millions 
of dollars.  
	The FCC said that it has "learned a lot" from recent 
auctions of frequencies and decided that it was unfair to award a 
handful of free licenses when others would have to pay for 
frequencies.  The FCC plans to sell at auction in December these 
frequencies, which include 2-GHz personal communications services 
(broadband PCS); local multipoint distribution service (LMDS); and 
low Earth orbital satellite service in the 1.6/2.4-GHz band (so-
called "Big LEOs").
	The FCC said that its earlier "pioneer's preference" 
decisions had been tentative, before Congress formally authorized 
frequency auctions.
	The three companies -- American Personal Communications 
(controlled by The Washington Post), Cox Enterprises of Atlanta, 
and Omnipoint Communications -- were given two options for paying 
for their frequencies, based on the outcome of the December 
auction.
FCC 2300-MHz report cites amateurs' needs
	ARRL's effort to protect frequencies shared by amateurs in 
the 13-cm (2300-MHz) band from reallocation took a step closer to 
success, with the release of a report from the FCC to the Commerce 
Department that strongly supports continued Amateur Radio presence 
in the band. The report challenges preliminary recommendations by 
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) that large portions of the band be reallocated for other 
uses.
	The report responds to an NTIA study that identified 200 
MHz of spectrum for reallocation from the federal government to 
private use. The NTIA study was mandated by Congress's 1993 
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.
	The frequencies that NTIA had identified for possible
reallocation were 2300 to 2310 MHz, 2390 to 2400 MHz and 2402 to 
2417 MHz, which are shared by Amateur Radio on a secondary basis 
with Government services. When the process is completed, FCC will 
administer the reallocation of frequencies identified by NTIA. 
 	The FCC report analyzes public comments and contains FCC 
recommendations that "relatively minor changes" to the NTIA 
preliminary report be made. These changes would include "larger 
blocks of spectrum" to accommodate high volumes of
communication and for new technologies that require wide 
bandwidths.
	While the FCC report praised NTIA for its efforts, it said 
that the NTIA proposals require modification. FCC cited concerns 
in the amateur community that reallocation would disrupt amateur 
operations, and said that NTIA failed to meet the statutory 
requirement to determine the extent to which the bands could be 
shared with the amateur service. 
	The report noted that "the largest factor affecting the 
future use of these bands is their existing availability for use 
by the amateur service." 
	"While we're not out of the woods on this one yet," said 
ARRL President George S. Wilson III, W4OYI, "it is beginning to 
look like the comments filed by knowledgeable hams combined with 
the League's Washington effort may succeed in carving out 
territory for continued amateur development in the microwave
bands." 
	The Department of Commerce has until February 10, 1995, to 
present to Congress a final report identifying and recommending 
spectrum for reallocation.
	More information is in August, 1994, QST, page 72, and 
July, 1994, QST, page 85.

HURRICANE SEASON FREQUENCIES LISTED

	Here are some of the major net and emergency frequencies 
(in kHz) of interest during the summer/fall hurricane season:
	3815:  Inter-Island 75 meter net
	7165:  Antigua/Antilles Net
	14275:  Amateur Radio/Red Cross
	14283:  Caribus Net
	14283:  Health and welfare traffic
	14303:  Health and welfare traffic
	14316:  Maritime Mobile Net
	14325:  Hurricane Watch Net
	21310:  Health and welfare (Spanish)
	14185:  Caribbean Emergency
	7115 (1200Z):  Caribbean Maritime Mobile
	3808 (1030Z):  Caribbean Weather
	21390:  Interamericas health and welfare
	21400:  Transatlantic Maritime Mobile
	7268:  Waterways
 	(The ARRL Net Directory lists many state and regional nets 
that also carry storm-related traffic. As always,  never transmit 
on these nets unless you are called upon to do so.)

BRIEFS
	* Jimmy Treybig, W6JKV, was featured in the August 24 
issue of The Wall Street Journal. Treybig, president and chief 
executive of Tandem Computers, is especially well-known for his 
exploits on the 6 meter amateur band and for putting many DXCC 
countries and islands on that band over the years.
	The WSJ article, about sagging profits and subsequent 
changes at Tandem, says that Treybig is the one overseeing them, 
and has faced problems including "firing friends, swallowing his 
pride, and destroying parts of what he created." The paper says 
that Treybig's job is to "reinvent an old-line computer company" 
before it is too late.
	Treybig, 53, started Tandem in 1974 with $1 million in 
venture capital. 
	* During the upcoming Hiram Percy Maxim birthday 
celebration, W1AW/125 will be active, from 0000 UTC September 3 to 
2400 UTC September 4. Look for the HQ station on SSB, CW, FM, 
teleprinter modes, and satellites. Special QSLs are planned. The 
Old Man would be proud!
 	More information is on p 46 and 47 of August QST.
10 years ago in The ARRL Letter
	Nominations were completed for ARRL Directors and Vice 
Directors; the following were either unopposed or running again 
and their names will be familiar because they still serve the 
League in some capacity: Ed Metzger, Fried Heyn, Steve Mendelsohn, 
John Kanode, Tom Comstock, Howie Huntington, Tom Frenaye, Mary 
Lewis, Marshall Quiat, and Bob Scupp.
	The Executive Committee ordered the filing of comments on 
petitions to the FCC, from commercial interests, seeking changes 
in the status of the 220-MHz band. In a related matter, the FCC 
dismissed a petition to permit Novice operators phone operation on 
part of the 220-MHz band. The FCC said that since the 216 to 225 
MHz range was under study, changes in amateur usage there would 
not be appropriate.
	The National Labor Relations Board conducted an election 
among ARRL Headquarters employees on the matter of union 
representation. There were 65 employees eligible to vote and the 
union was rejected by a large margin.

*EOF

