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PY2BIL > ARNR 04.02.23 00:33l 388 Lines 17662 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2362 for Friday February 3rd,
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2362 for Friday February 3rd, 2023
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2362 with a release date of Friday
February 3rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A ham club honors a combat casualty from the
Vietnam War. Artificial intelligence gets on the air -- and it's time at
last to chase the Bouvet Island DXpedition! All this and more as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2362 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
GET READY TO WORK BOUVET ISLAND 3YØJ
PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to Bouvet Island. DX chasers - your ship
has come in. That would be the sailing yacht known as the Marama, which
inspite of windy, rainy conditions, stood by while a Zodiac made a difficult
but successful landing on Bouvet Island with the 3YØJ team. As Newsline went
to production, the team was setting up. Now it's time to start listening for
signals from the second most wanted DXCC entity. In addition to the main
3YØJ station, you may want to listen for limited operation of four
additional callsigns - 3Y7GIA, 3Y7THA, 3Y/LB5GI and 3Y/LB1Q. For updates,
see QR-Zed dot com and DX-world.net.
(DX-WORLD.NET, 3YØJ WEBSITE)
**
FCC DEBUTS MAP, DATABASE OF PIRACY ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
PAUL/ANCHOR: In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission has
finally put a piracy enforcement resource online that the agency says is
late because of delays in funding. Kent Peterson KCØDGY brings us that
story.
KENT: A database and map displaying pirate radio enforcement actions taken
by the FCC has gone live as part of an overall response to the Pirate Act
passed by Congress.
The database shows the agency's actions over the past three years following
the act's passage and includes consent decrees, landlord notice letters and
the 00,000 forfeiture associated with pirate operations. The FCC said that
it was delayed until now in implementing the Pirate Act because of funding
delays and challeges posed by the pandemic. The funding covers the cost of
other actions, including enforcement sweeps and in-person investigations. To
comply with that mandate, the agency needs to hire additional field agents
and buy a half-dozen mobile direction-finding vehicles . Although the FCC
has already posted openings for five agents and a field counsel, its
purchase of six mobile-direction-finding vehicles has been delayed, because
much of the funding remains delayed.
Implementation of the Pirate Act was expected to cost 01-million, according
to the Congressional Budget Office. Funds were not provided until last March
and only -million was available to the FCC at the time. The Pirate Act
mandates enforcement sweeps in the top five markets. The act also
strengthened the agency's enforcement abillity, permitting it to take action
against those landlords and managers who permit pirate operations on their
properties.
For a link to the map and database, see the text version of this newscast at
arnewsline.org
[DO NOT READ: https://opendata.fcc.gov/stories/s/wgq8-eb5c ]
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
(RADIO WORLD, FCC)
**
AMERICAN LEGION RADIO CLUB HONORS COMBAT CASUALTY
PAUL/ANCHOR: A ham radio club in one South Carolina town is honoring a
Vietnam War combat casualty by ensuring his name is never forgotten. We hear
those details from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
KEVIN: In the combat jungles of Vietnam, he was a link to the outside world
for his fellow Marine infantrymen. William Hunter Kilburn of Aiken, South
Carolina, was a radio telephone operator carrying a radio and an antenna for
vital communications. In May of 1970 another Marine tripped a wire attached
to a Viet Cong booby trap and the Aiken High School graduate, who had been
walking behind him, was killed.
His hometown remembers him well but even more than that the American Legion
Radio Club, W4RTO, has chosen to honor him. The ham club, established at the
post less than a year ago, now carries the Marine's name. There is a plaque
at the post's headquarters identifying the site as the home of Private First
Class William H. Kilburn Post 26 American Legion Radio Club. On January
24th, the club members also approved William Kilburn as an honorary member.
The military had earlier awarded him a medal posthumously for combat valor.
Now he serves as an inspiration in his home community where club members
help youngsters study to get their radio license and where many members are
looking for ways to deepen their own commitment to service in their own way.
From Aiken, South Carolina, this is Kevin Trotman N5PRE
(NEWSBREAK AIKEN)
**
NEWCOMERS GET SPOTLIGHT FOR RSGB CONSTRUCTION CONTEST
PAUL/ANCHOR: A construction and software contest in the UK is opening its
door a little wider to give special attention to new and young radio
amateurs. We have those details from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
JEREMY: New Foundation licence holders and young amateurs under the age of
24 are being given special recognition in the Construction Competition
organised by the Radio Society of Great Britain. Competitors have until the
1st of March to submit their entries in four categories: beginners,
construction excellence, innovation and software. This competition is being
held over the internet and the judging is taking place online. The RSGB
states on its website that the challenges posed are in recognition of the
vital role construction plays in amateur radio.
Details on how to enter can be found on the website that appears in the text
version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
Cash prizes will be awarded in each category and the overall winner will be
presented with the bonus of the Pat Hawker G3VA Trophy. The trophy is named
in honour of Pat, who became a Silent Key in 2013 at the age of 90. Pat had
been the author of the "Technical Topics" column in the RSGB's RadComm
magazine.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
[DO NOT READ: rsgb.org/main/construction-competition/ ]
**
FCC HELPS UNDERWRITE EXAM COST FOR YOUNG KENTUCKY AMATEURS
PAUL/ANCHOR: Young amateurs are a priority for one club in Kentucky which is
helping young candidates make use of a relatively new financial benefit from
the FCC. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us what this means.
JACK: One amateur radio club in Kentucky is making full use of an FCC
measure that helps cover costs for amateur radio candidates under the age of
18. The Paducah Amateur Radio Association is encouraging local youngsters
between 8 and 13 to join the club's program, which it calls "Pre-teen
Talkers." The goal is to help them take the FCC licensing exam and get on
the air. Last April, the FCC and the American Radio Relay League announced a
negotiated agreement permitting Volunteer Examiners at amateur radio club to
waive the ABFSL2HM$5 license fee for applicants under the age of 18 and to reduce
the 05 ham radio testing fee to .
Club secretary Michael Durr, KN4TIP, told local TV station WPSD that those
who pass the entry level Technician Exam will become eligible for a free
handheld radio to be given to them by the club.
This is Jack Parker W8ISH.
(WPSD LOCAL 6, ARRL)
**
SILENT KEY: MUSICIAN, EDUCATOR RODNEY MOAG, W5NDS
PAUL/ANCHOR: In the Texas amateur radio community and beyond, hams are
grieving the loss of an influential colleague of many talents: professor
emeritus of linguistics, country-and-bluegrass radio host, recording artist
and performer and, not least of all, active radio amateur. Rodney Moag,
W5NDS, was a ragchewer and a popular presence on 10 meters and elsewhere. He
became a Silent Key on Thursday, January 19th at his home in Austin, Texas.
Born with juvenile glaucoma, he became blind at the age of 7. He was first
licensed in 1951 as W2KUV when he was a 14 year old student at the New York
State School for the Blind. Rod operated almost exclusively on AM and CW for
more than 10 years before expanding into other modes. According to his bio
on the Quarter Century Wireless Association webpage, he was the only active
ham in his high school ham club and continued being active even in college.
He remained an active ham throughout most of his 86 years.
His talent in music and his academic work in linguistics took him to many
places around the world, either touring as a musician or studying languages.
In the late 1970s, while teaching at the University of the South Pacific in
Fiji, he operated as 3D2RM.
He was a former vice-president of the Austin Amateur Radio Club, a longtime
member of the Texas VHF FM Society and a life member of ARRL and the QCWA.
(QCWA, QRZ.COM, AUSTIN CHRONICLE)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the K3ALG
repeater in Palmerton, Pennsylvania on Sundays at 4:30 p.m. local time.
**
FREE MAGAZINE FOR IRISH HAMS MARKS ITS 2ND YEAR
PAUL/ANCHOR: Two years after its launch as a free resource for Irish
amateurs, an online magazine is still going strong. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells
us about it.
JEREMY: The only free monthly amateur radio e-magazine in Ireland is
preparing to mark its second year of publication. The Connacht Regional News
Magazine is seen as the voice of ham radio experimenters, innovators and
homebrew-builders. It has gained a following in Europe, the United States
and a number of Pacific nations. The latest edition features a worldwide
news roundup as well as articles about various antennas, the 5 MHz band and
awards from the National Radio Society of Ireland.
A number of clubs have also written updates on their activities, from
fundraising walks to annual general meetings.
The editor, Steve Wright, EI5DD, told Newsline that the goal from the start
has been to promote radio activities by various clubs and societies from
both sides of the border in Ireland. The independent publication also
reports on the Irish Radio Transmitter Society and the NRSI, the two
national societies in Ireland.
Steve told Newsline that the magazine is distributed free and is easy to
access from the QRZ.com page of EIØCL or EI5DD. It also appears on the
Galway VHF Group Blog and on the magazine's own Facebook page.
Best of all, over the last two years, the magazine has grown from a six-page
publication in its earliest days to a full 30-page offering.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(STEVE WRIGHT, EI5DD)
**
HAMS PLAN SYMPOSIUM FOR OPERATING IN MARITIME CANADA
PAUL/ANCHOR: Get ready for a special symposium that focuses on the needs of
amateurs in maritime Canada. Andy Morrison K9AWM helps us take a look at
what's in store.
ANDY: Planning is getting underway for organizers of this year's Symposium
for Maritime Amateur Radio Technology, which is being hosted by the WestCumb
Amateur Radio Club in Nova Scotia on May 6th. Ham clubs throughout Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and elsewhere play an active
role in this annual event, which features a series of one-hour classes
throughout the day and a variety of social gatherings.
This is the sixth annual event and its focus is on the technical and
procedural aspects of ham radio as it relates to operating in the maritime
region. John VE1CWJ, will present a class on amateur radio use of
satellites; Gordon, VE9GC, will discuss remote station operation; and Bill,
VE1YY, Glenn, VE9GJ, and Jason, VE1PYE, will talk about making successful
contacts on the 630m band. There will also be classes on the use of the
WINLINK radio messaging system and WSPR, or Weak Signal Propagation
Reporter.
Additional details about the event, known as SMART23, can be found on the
website that appears in this week's text version of the newscast at
arnewsline.org
[FOR PRINT ONLY, DO NOT READ: westcumb.ca/smart23 ]
This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.
(JOHN VE1CWJ)
**
VANUATU DXPEDITION SHIFTS DATE TO OCTOBER 2024
PAUL/ANCHOR: If you want to work a DXpedition that isn't quite so remote as
Bouvet Island, this story from John Williams VK4JJW might interest you.
JOHN: DX chasers who have their calendars marked for the Vanuatu DXpedition
in December 2024 need to turn their calendar pages back by two months. The
eight-member team has announced they will instead be heading to the South
Pacific island for their two-week activation in October of 2024. The
operators are hoping to capitalize on the springtime propagation in the
Southern Hemisphere and plan to participate in the CQ WW DX Phone Contest.
The activation site will be on the island of Efate, which is the most
populated in the nation's archipelago. Efate boasts a robust tourism
industry. Spouses and partners will be accompanying the team members, whose
average age is 70. The operators have said they expect to log more than
40,000 QSOs.
Vanuatu is 1,500 miles from Sydney, Australia and 3,000 miles from Honolulu,
Hawaii.
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(DX-WORLD.NET)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, be listening for Willy, ON4AVT operating as 6W7/ON4AVT
from Warang, Senegal from the 6th of February to the 31st of March. He is
expected to be on 80 through 10 metres using mainly FT8 with some SSB and
CW. He will also be making contacts via the QO-100 satellite. QSL via Club
Log's OQRS or his home call.
Listen for the call sign JD1YCC from Chichijima, Japan, IOTA number AS-031.
A group of Japanese operators will be active there from the 7th to the 13th
of February. They will operate EME on 2m, 70cm and 23cm. QSL via LoTW, or
direct to JH3AZC.
Listen for Gene, W8NET, using the call sign N8V from St. Croix, US Virgin
Islands, IOTA number NA-106, from the 6th to the 10th of February. Gene will
be using SSB and FT8 on 80, 40, 20, 17 and 10 metres. He will also be
activating three Parks on the Air locations. QSL via LoTW, Club Log's OQRS,
eQSL, or direct to W8NET.
Peter, G4HSO is active holiday style as S79/G4HSO from the Seychelles until
the 21st of February, concentrating on CW and VarAC. QSL via LoTW, no paper
QSLs.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BUT REAL RAGCHEW
PAUL/ANCHOR: For our final story, we take a look at ChatGPT, the intensely
popular chatbot launched late last year by Open AI. It has quite literally
become the talk of more than quite a few towns, if not the world. Now, it
seems, it is also the talk of amateur radio. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB
explains.
RALPH: An enterprising ham in Manitoba, Canada, has found a way to use a
voice recognition engine and a text-to-speech engine to give ChatGPT its own
voice -- via a transmission that occurs over D-STAR.
William Franzin, VE4VR, has been a ham since the 1990s, long before the age
of today's modern digital modes, but he has almost always tinkered with
voice repeater controllers. He told Newsline that those early projects
really didn't take off for him. It was only after Amazon released its Alexa
voice assistant that the project gained real traction. Five years ago he
successfully integrated voice-assistant products with popular ham radio
platforms. His recent addition of ChatGPT simply meant including it as one
more platform.
An article on the Hackaday website describes the process: A DSTAR digital
voice transmission is received and transcoded to regular digital audio. A
voice recognition engine delivers the question for ChatGPT's AI. The AI’s
output then enters a text-to-speech engine which delivers the question's
reply over D-STAR. William has registered the VE4AVS callsign just for these
applications. He stressed that all of this is still in the experimental
phase.
However, he posed one question that might prove too tough even for ChatGPT
itself to tackle: Could the AI answer enough questions to qualify for a
license and an upgrade on its own?
We're listening for that answer.
This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.
(WILLIAM FRANZIN, VE4VR, HACKADAY)
**
NEWCAST CLOSE - DO YOU HAVE NEWS?
PAUL/ANCHOR: Do you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think
Newsline would be interested in? We are not talking about advertising your
club's upcoming hamfest or field day participation, but something that is
out of the ordinary. If so, send us a brief overview via the contact page at
arnewsline.org. If it's newsworthy and we would like to cover it, we'll get
back to you for more details.
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly; Amateur Radio Digital
Communications; the ARRL; Austin Chronicle; CQ magazine; David Behar K7DB;
Eddie Misiewicz, KB3YRU; FCC; 425 DX News; Hackaday; John VE1CWJ; the
Quarter Century Wireless Association; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; Steve
Wright, EI5DD; William Franzin, VE4VR; Wireless Institute of Australia; WPSD
Local 6; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.
We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-
profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you
wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that
we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our
newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For
now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news
team worldwide, I'm Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana saying 73. As
always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright
2023. All rights reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 03-fev-2023 18:54 E. South America Standard Time
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