Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Aug 20 2020 23:11:48 BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the K4EX repeater in Dade City, Florida, on Tuesdays, after the 7pm net. ** COVID-RELATED RULES CHANGE FOR LIGHTHOUSE EVENT PAUL/ANCHOR: Although there have been some changes in the guidelines for participants, entrants are operating from 43 countries during the 23rd International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend on the 22nd and 23rd of August. Organizer Kevin, VK2CE, reports that despite the changes in venue in many instances, radio operators can expect to benefit from some flexibility regarding use of the special event call signs associated with the annual event. If a lighthouse or lightship has been shut due to COVID-19 restrictions, stations are expected to inform their contacts that the operators are not at the lightouse, but in proximity to it, or within line-of-sight if that is the case. Kevin writes: [quote]: "Participation from home or club rooms is encouraged, even if it is only to offer support for those who have made the effort to set up at, or near a lighthouse. Hopefully, 2021 will see some kind of normality return to the planet." [endquote] He was pleased to report, however, that the number of participants is far greater than had been anticipated under the circumstances. We'll report more about this event later in the newscast in our World of DX segment. ** PRISON FOR HAM AFTER GUILTY PLEA TO PORN CHARGES PAUL/ANCHOR: An Illinois amateur radio operator, and a former longtime Boy Scout leader, has pleaded guilty to trafficking in child pornography. Milton Forsberg, K9QZI, had been indicted on the charges in November of 2019. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Urbana, Illinois, and under a plea agreement worked out between his attorney and the assistant U.S. attorney, the 80-year-old man will serve a prison sentence of six and a half years, and pay a special assessment of $10,200. According to published reports, Forsberg had been affiliated for more than 40 years with the Boy Scouts. The case against him opened, and grew after police received charges in September of 2019, saying that he had sexually abused a 13-year-old boy in 1965. (CHAMPAIGN-URBANA NEWS GAZETTE) ** COURT UPHOLDS FCC FEE EXEMPTION TO WIRELESS CARRIERS PAUL/ANCHOR: The FCC will be permitted to exempt wireless carriers from $2 billion in fees, despite a challenge by numerous cities around the U.S. Stephen Kinford, N8WB, brings us those details. STEPHEN: A United States Court of Appeals judge has declared that the Federal Communications Commission can pre-empt an estimated $2 billion in local fees that would have been imposed on wireless carriers, and their 5G networks. Dozens of cities went to court to try and block a previous vote by the FCC, that favored such carriers as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Major cities around the U.S. sued the FCC following that vote, but the recent decision by the Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit upholds most of the FCC's actions. Judges did overturn part of the agency's ruling, that sought to restrict what cities and towns can impose on the carriers, regarding the aesthetics of their setups. The cities losing the case included Washington, D.C., Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, along with Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB. (ARSTECHNICA) ** CALIFORNIA HAM CLUB REJUVENATING MEMBERSHIP ONLINE PAUL/ANCHOR: Online is the place to be, it seems, if you're looking to breathe new life into your old ham club - and one group in California is trying to make that happen. Here's Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB. RALPH: There's a long history behind the Palisades Amateur Radio Club in southern California, but it looks like recent history has got in the way of much of the club's activities - as it has for most anything amateur-radio related these days. Once among the largest clubs in the region during the 1960s and 1970s, the Palisades Amateur Radio Club of Culver City was home to more than 300 hams in the region. Now the club is saying "welcome home" - not just to current members, but anyone anywhere who may have ever been a member. The club is rejuvenating its membership and activity - this time on the weekends on the Zoom platform - and is inviting all radio operators with ties to the club, to please join them. The details are available from Dick McKay, K6VGP, at his email address Dick at McKay dot org (Dick@McKay.org) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB. (BART PULVERMAN WB6WUW) --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .