Gift to

LOOKING WEST
Bill Pasternak WA61TF
24854·C Newhall Ave.
Newha ll CA 91321
Have yo u ever started read ing
a book and found that you
co uldn't put it down? That' s just
what happened to me last night.
The book I have ju st finished is
titled The Magic of Ham Radio,
writte n by a 60-year vete ran of
amateur radio named Jerrol d
Swa nk W8HXR.
The Mag ic of Ham Radio is
mo re than just a look in to th e
past. It's a detailed trip throu gh
time na rrate d by someone who
has lived the story. It's something
you feel rath er than just
read. It has a rare something
that makes you a part of the
book - you are not just an outsider
looking in on someo ne
else, read ing someone else's
story. The book is you, me, and
everyone else who has ever had
any contact with the amateur
service. Simply, the book is a
true ' joy , and one th at can be
understood by anyone-a ham
or someone who dwells outs ide
our speci al world. The book is
pri ced at $4.95 and in my opinion
is wo rth every penny. It's
published by 73 and availab le
through direct mail order from
73, Inc.
FIELD DAY AND THE MEDIA
DEPARTMENT
For some reason, the media
has di scove red Amateur Radio
Field Day. I have heard such reports
on my own radios and
have watched news coverage on
my very own Sony TV! For instance,
radio st ati on KMPC here
in Los Angeles has a new weekend
format titled " Weekend
L.A." Part of the program reo
valves around live on-the-spot
co verage of events taking place
in this town. On Field Day weekend,
KMPC sent one of its radioequipped
News Crui sers, a reporter,
and a field producer to
various Field Day sites to interview
the amateurs participating
in the event.
Under the watc hful eye of produc
er Kevin Gershan, the reo
ports were in teresti ng, intormative,
and portrayed th e amateu r
service in a very positi ve light.
Never once was amateur radio
12 73 Maga zine· October, 1980
confused with ca, even though
neit her the producer nor air
ta lent wa s an amateur operato r.
Obvio usly they had done the ir
preparatory work well.
The same held true of TV
new s co verage here in Los
Angele s. For inst ance, Metro ­
media TV channel 11 had an excellent
news feature about Field
Day which was recorded at a
site in Griffith Park . Here again
there was no confus ion between
amateur radio and CB. The report
head lined th e emergency
communications capability of
amateu r radio. Others have told
me th at similar stories were
aired by other stations on their
news programs. This news coverage
was not limited to the Los
Angeles area . Norm Brooks
K6FO, one of the staff writers
for Worldradio, telephoned to
tell me of his personal exper ­
ience w ith the media in rega rd to
Field Day,
Norm 's name and call were
part of a wire service story about
Field Day ac tivities in th e Sac ramento
area. Appa rent ly a network
produ cer fo r RKO General
in New York City read the wire
copy and att empted to contac t
Norm. He was at his cl ub's Field
Day site at the time. Aft er recelv ­
ing th e message, he returned
the producer's call via a local
2-meter auto patc h syst em right
from his c lub's Field Day locatton.
He wa s able to givea rath er
graphi c demonstrati on of exactly
ho w amateur radio functioned,
in that the int erview was
done via the aut opatch ! Later in
the day, it was part of their network
news feed and thereby attained
national status,
According to Norm , thi s producer
had al so done her homework
in rega rd to the differences
between the amateur and Citizens
Band services. Never once
was there any mixup between
the tw o on the part of the interviewer.
There are similar stories
from amateurs in other partsof
the country who were contacted
by the loca l elect ronic media
with the result being some very
positive publicity for our service.
It di dn't take a disast er to bring
them to us, as is usually the
case. In my mind, this sig nals a
very positive step forward in
gaining recognit ion for our hobby.
I doubt if you will ever see a
prim e-t ime ne twork spec ial
dealing with ama teur radio, but
then again who knows what
some exec might have in mind .
Nevertheless, Field Day 1980
wa s probabl y the best publi ­
cized outing of its type in the
history of amateur radio. And
. . . Field Day 1981 is only a year
away.
SIX METERS CONTINUED
Last month we began to discuss
six meters, th e deregu latio
n that occ urred durin g the
summer, and a pos sible way in
which the band mig ht be developed.
Since as th is month's column
is being wr itten , last
month's has not yet reached
print, I cannot tell you of any
feedback on w hat I put forth last
month. Confusing? Remember,
there is a GO-day time lag from
when [ write until the ti me you
read .
To continue, one Quest ion
mo st often asked of me is why
the si x-meter band is deserted.
In many areas, this has been
blamed on TVI to television
channel 2. In other places, the
story is th at everyone else is operat
ing on two-mete r FM. Both
are Quite valid reasons, but six
mete rs is to me a very import ant
band regardless of the problems
andlo r exc uses. There is no real
excuse for leavin g this vital parcel
of ama teur spec trum unattended.
[ can give you one very
good reason that more of you
should consider getting on 6 meters.
One of these days it mi ght
well ge t discovered by th e
11-meter crowd and be popu ­
lated by them either legally (as
was the case with the estab lis h­
ment of 11 meters) or llleqall y
(as is the ca se with 10 %
meters)!
Not long ago, th e FCC acted
to deny any further expans ion of
t t .meter spectrum to CB. Many
CB orga nizations had hoped fo r
the creation of either a new
pseudo-amateur-type servic e or
some form of SSB-only CB expans
ion. The lobbying for this
was ext ensive, and everyone
th ought it would be a rubber
stamp deal. In fact, the dec ision
to deny wa s a shock to most
10 Yz -meter SSB enthusia sts.
(For our purp oses , t o w-meters
is defined as 27.410 through
27.540 MHz.) The proposal before
th e FCC was to create 25
new SSB-onl y channels and permit
limited vto operation as well
as skip contacts with other
United Stat es and Canad ian stati
ons. Also, the fiv e-minute rule
on contact s wou ld have been
abolished. Though it had the
backing of both the Private Radi
o Bureau and the Off ice of
Chief Scientist, the proposal ran
into heavy opposi tion fro m the
Field Office Bureau .
Field Office Bureau Chief Jim
McKi nney argued that this approach
wou ld not solve the problems
of the t t .meter band, and
would in effect be rewarding the
current i1[ega[ inhabitan ts of
10% met ers with new spect rum.
McK inn ey noted that his mon i­
toring stati on s had recorded
conversations between illegal
10 Yz -meter operators in which it
was stated that said ope rato rs
wou ld " move awa y from any
new expan sion so as to mai n­
ta in the ir c lear channels." Later
reports I heard from various
sources told of plans by these
ope rators to "take 10 meters" if
necessary. Had th is occurred, it
would have meant an all-out war
between the Hleqals and the
amateu r radio co mmunit y.
What does all this have to do
wit h 6 meters, you ask? Simply
thi s. Unlike 10 meters, whi ch is
fairly well inh abited by lice nsed
ama teurs, these days the sixmeter
band has an estimated
3Q(X) to 4000 users on various
modes scattered nationwide. If
50,000 iIIegals decided to take
the band, how hard to you thi nk
it wo uld be for them to accompllsh
this? "Wait," yo u say.
"These guys are onl y int erest ed
in working skip , and there is [ittie
of that on 6 meters." True,
many are into pseudo-amateur
DXing , but thousand s of ot hers
are rag-chewers, not unlike you
who operate on 2, 220, and 450.
A[I they want is a nice clear parcel
of spect rum where they can
chew th e fat across tow n without
any int erference. Is not 6
meters the ideal band to simp ly
take? Could we really protect it
from such an invasion? I think
not. TVI won 't stop them . Many
of the 10 l/2-m et er illeg al s
ope rate wi th very high powe r
levels and already cause severe
TV[ and RFI problems in their
neighborhoods and care littl e
about it. If they're breaking the
law anyho w, what's TVI to
them?
How then can six meters be
protected from such a potential
thr eat? There is only one an-
Continued on page 240