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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2368 for Friday March 17th, 20
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2368 for Friday March 17th, 2023
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2368 with a release date of Friday
March 17th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Severe weather strikes the US on both coasts. A two-
year DXpedition sets sail with two missions -- and when line-of-sight
communication can serve as a lifeline. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2368 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
SEVERE WEATHER UNDERSCORES HAMS' OF VITAL ROLES
PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story brings us tales of extreme weather on both coasts
of the United States. These severe conditions have served as a reminder of
hams' vital roles during these challenging times. Randy Sly W4XJ brings us
up to date.
RANDY: With life-threatening floods, heavy rain and snow in California and
severe winter storms barreling through the Northeast, amateurs involved in
emergency communications in the United States were hard at work recently
providing support to emergency management officials and other organizations
such as the Red Cross.
While offering assistance to served agencies, these hams were also bringing
about an additional benefit: increasing confidence in the amateur radio
service. For example, in the San Joaquin Valley area of California, the
Tuolumne County Amateur Radio Emergency Services was asked to assist in
passing traffic via ham radio in the Emergency Operations Center. Daniel
Sohn, WL7COO, San Joaquin Valley Section Emergency Coordinator, told AR
Newsline that the group was invited to assist as a “work in progressö
training exercise to distribute announcements on the air and solicit
Situational Awareness as eyes and ears of the EOC. He also reported that
Amateur Radio Service volunteers have been alerted for potential deployment
by either the Sheriff’s Office or County OES Officers in other counties as
well.
In addition, hams across the Northeast, if not working in SKYWARN nets, were
self-activating in order to provide reports of strong winds, snow fall and
damage reports to the National Weather Service.
Remembering the health and safety of “Self and Family First,ö amateurs on
both coasts are proving their worth now and for the future during severe
weather events.
This is Randy Sly W4XJ.
(DANIEL SOHN, WL7COO, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE)
**
2-YEAR ADVENTURE TESTS OUT 'REMOTE' DXPEDITIONING
PAUL/ANCHOR: A two-year journey is well under way for two hams from the US
on board a catamaran crossing the South Pacific Ocean. They have two
missions to accomplish and Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us what they are.
KEVIN: George Wallner, AA7JV, and Michael Snow, KN4EEI, left Costa Rica in
late February, setting sail and getting on the air as KH7Z/MM - the callsign
for the Dateline DX Association. They are on board George's yacht, Magnet.
Using their personal calls as well as the DX association call, the two are
active on HF as well as 6m. They will be on the Marquesas islands through to
the end of the month, then head to the Tuamotu Archipelago, IOTA number OC-
066, where they hope to be on the air from late March to the 5th of April.
This is a two-year journey with two goals: The hams are activating grids on
their journey in the Pacific and they are testing out the possibility of
remote operations for DXpeditions. Their stops include various rare or semi-
rare DXCC entities as the opportunity allows They also have three stations.
Two of them are 100-watt remotely operated Radios in a Box, or RIBS, that
will be operating FT8. A Radio in a Box contains a transceiver and
amplifier, along with cooling and control systems, all inside a waterproof
case. Using their third station, the two are operating on HF using CW and
SSB.,
This is the latest remote-operation test undertaken by George and Michael on
their travels. George writes on his page on QRZ: [quote] "The goal is to
develop the capability for future DXpedtions to have remote operators,
working from home or wherever."
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(QRZ.COM)
**
MICROWAVE ENTHUSIASTS PREPARE FOR CONFERENCE
PAUL/ANCHOR: If you're interested in exploring the microwave part of the
spectrum, you're about to get your chance. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us about
an international conference devoted to just that.
JACK: In less than a month, microwave enthusiasts will be getting together
in Connecticut to share ideas, equipment design and operating stories at the
first Microwave Update Conference to be held since the pandemic was declared
in 2020. The international conference at the Hilton Garden Inn at Bradley
Airport in Windsor, Connecticut will include the 46th Eastern
VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference. It will be held on April 14th and 15th and
will be hosted by the North East Weak Signal Group, a regional group in
Massachusetts devoted to operations on 50 MHz and above.
Although speakers and activities will focus on operations on the microwave
bands, discussions are not limited to that part of the radio spectrum. Talks
will center on circuit design, the latest microwave devices, software-
defined radios, small-dish EME and microwave propagation, among other
topics.
At the Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference, speakers will discuss antennas,
propagation, roving, SDRs, digital modes and activity nights. Additional
activities are planned for this conference on April 13th and 16th.
For details, visit the website microwaveupdate - that's one word - dot org.
(microwaveupdate.org)
This is Jack Parker W8ISH.
(MICROWAVEUPDATE.ORG)
**
CQ MAGAZINE NAMES NEW ASSOCIATE EDITOR
PAUL/ANCHOR: Congratulations to our friends at CQ magazine, where a new
associate editor has been hired. Sabrina Herman, KB3UJW, has joined the
staff, succeeding longtime managing editor Jason Feldman, KD2IWM. Sabrina
had previously been managing editor and promotional coordinator for Hermes
Press, a small publisher of books in Pennsylvania. She has been a ham for 13
years. We wish everyone at the CQ office well.
(CQ MAGAZINE)
**
SAFE SPLASHDOWN FOR FOUR ISS ASTRONAUTS
PAUL/ANCHOR: Welcome home to the four astronauts comprising Crew 5 aboard
the ISS. They splashed down safely just off the coast of Florida. Andy
Morrison K9AWM has that story.
ANDY: Having finished their five-month stay aboard the International Space
Station, two astronauts from the US, one from Japan and a cosmonaut from the
Russian Space Agency returned to Earth in the Gulf of Mexico just after 9
p.m. on Saturday, March 10th. Two of the four are amateur radio operators.
NASA astronauts Josh A. Cassada, KI5CRH, Nicole Aunapu Mann, JAXA astronaut
Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are now safely
home following a mission that began last October when they arrived on the
ISS inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The replacement team - Crew 6 -
arrived on March 3rd to continue the work that includes a number of
scientific experiments.
This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.
(CNN.COM)
**
SILENT KEY: QCWA OFFICER GARY J. KIMBALL, WB2SER
PAUL/ANCHOR: A leader in the Quarter Century Wireless Association has become
a Silent Key. We have that story from Sel Embee KB3TZD.
SEL: Gary J. Kimball was known throughout New England and central New York
for his company, National Audio, which he cofounded in 1977 with his
business partner Mark Gummer N2IQ. The business provided sound and lighting
systems for music events ranging from the Syracuse Jazz Fest to the New York
State Fair. On the air he was known as WB2SER and locally many knew him as a
mentor in the central New York ham community. He was an officer of the
Quarter Century Wireless Association Chapter 29 covering the local Finger
Lakes region of New York. QCWA members first received their licenses at
least 25 years ago. He was a member of Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse
and a member of the Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club. His voice was a
familiar one to hams who heard his regular on-air roundups of local
hamfests. At the time of his death in late February, Gary had been retired
from his company for about five years, according to his online obituary.
Gary Kimball was 72.
This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.
(LEGACY.COM. RON PANETTA, WB2WGH)
**
RECORD FINES FOR STATIONS CHARGED WITH PIRACY
PAUL/ANCHOR: A New York City broadcaster charged with piracy has become the
first of two stations to be targeted under a law passed three years ago
enabling larger and, until now, unprecedented penalties. The FCC has
proposed a record fine of more than .3-million against Radio Impacto 2,
which the agency said was still on the air at the time the commission made
its announcement on Wednesday, March 15th. According to a report in Radio
World, the radio signals are being transmitted from the New York City
borough of Queens. Radio Impacto's website calls it "The Official Radio of
Ecuadorians in New York.ö According to the Radio World report, the FCC
issued a 0,000 forfeiture against the station in 2015 and a year later its
broadcast equipment was seized by US Marshals.
The second station was identified in the Radio World report as "Pirate Radio
Eastern Oregon," and its operator faces an (sal061)0,000 forfeiture.
The FCC is awaiting response from both stations.
(RADIO WORLD)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the WM9W
repeater in Chicago, Illinois, shortly after midnight local time on Tuesdays
during the Nightcrawlers Net.
**
UK NATIONAL HAMFEST CANCELLED FOR 2023
PAUL/ANCHOR: The UK National Hamfest, the well-known rally previously held
annually at the Newark Showground in the UK, has been cancelled. Jeremy Boot
G4NJH has the details.
JEREMY: Organisers of the 2023 UK National Hamfest have announced that the
rally, which was to have taken place in October in Peterborough, has been
called off by the venue. A statement on the hamfest website said that at
such short notice, organisers cannot find a replacement venue or a new date.
Directors considered a July event back at the Newark venue but ultimately it
was decided that there were too many obstacles for the attendees, traders
and to financial benefits.
The directors wrote: [quote] "We can assure you, we haven't made this
decision lightly." [endquote] They committed to what they called "a bigger
and better event" in September 2024 at the Newark Showground.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(UK NATIONAL HAMFEST)
**
PROMINENT AMATEUR'S BOOK EXPLORES RADIO'S POTENTIAL
PAUL/ANCHOR: A longtime leader in amateur radio in India has just completed
a book that examines the untapped promises that ham radio holds for the
future. We hear more about him and his book from Graham Kemp VK4BB.
GRAHAM: World Science Day was also book launch day for S. Suri, VU2MY, the
founder of the National Institute of Amateur Radio in Hyderabad, India.
Ham enthusiasts, engineers and Indian communications officials arrived at
the NIAR campus for the author's introduction of his book, "The Untapped
Potential of Amateur Radio."
Suri told those in attendance that his book underscores the vital role
amateur radio plays in disaster response. He said he hoped that by writing
the book he was also making it clear that ham radio is relevant in other
areas of society. He said he favoured its increased inclusion as a tool by
universities, law enforcement and the armed forces and he urged policymakers
to rethink radio's role. According to a book blurb on amazon.in, the book
also traces amateur radio's growth from an activity among experimenters to
its emergence as a resource in a number of nations.
This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.
(TELANGANA TODAY, AMAZON.IN)
**
HAMS IN AUSTRALIA PREP FOR 'ANTENNAPALOOZA'
PAUL/ANCHOR: In Victoria, Australia, the annual event known as
Antennapalooza isn't just about antennas. Jason Daniels VK2LAW, explains.
JASON: Station efficiency is the theme of this year's Antennapalooza event
in Victoria, Australia and the organisers are looking for presenters. The
range of topics can encompass the best ways to make your antenna efficient
or cover a broader subject area, such as recommended ways to set up your
shack. Presentations will take place on Saturday, April 15th or Sunday,
April 16th. If you have a proposal to submit, send it to Ian Jackson VK3BUF
at sparky at dcsi dot net dot au. (sparky@dcsi.net.au) In keeping with the
theme of the three-day camping weekend, presentations should focus more on
practical application and less on theory. Talks will be held in the Pavilion
at Drouin West, about 100 kilometers east of Melbourne. This free popular
outdoor event, now in its eighth year, is a gathering of various area clubs
to learn, socialize and get on the air and of course, try out some new
antennas.
This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW.
(ANTENNAPALOOZA WEBSITE)
**
BROADCASTER SHUTS LONGWAVE RADIO TRANSMITTER IN ICELAND
PAUL/ANCHOR: A longwave radio transmitter in Iceland has been shut down and
demolished, as Iceland phases out that form of broadcast. Jeremy Boot G4NJH
brings us that story.
JEREMY: A team of police stood nearby to oversee safety concerns as a
longwave transmitter in East Iceland was switched off and demolished.
Destruction of the mast, standing 218 metres, Iceland's third tallest
structure, took place in late February, the result of a decline in the
number of listeners to longwave radio broadcasts. The transmitter had been
operated on 207 kHz by the Icelandic broadcaster RUV, which is now giving
priority to FM. Another RUV transmitter will continue operating for a little
longer in West Iceland on 189 kHz. This is Iceland's tallest structure at
412 metres. There are plans also for that transmitter to close, once FM
broadcasts replace all of its functions.
The impetus for the change is being driven in part by Iceland's Civil
Defence and other organisations looking to improve emergency notification
capabilities. That role is going to be transferred to FM, which is slowly
being upgraded throughout Iceland.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(AMATEUR NEWS WEEKLY, RUV ICELAND)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, listen for the Russian DXpedition Team using the
callsign 9X5RU in Rwanda from March 22nd to April 7th. You will hear them on
160-6m and they will also be using the QO-100 satellite. They will operate
CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via Club Log's OQRS and LoTW.
Listen for the special event callsign A60AP, which is on the air until the
31st of August. The suffix stands for the Emirates "Astronaut Program,"
which prepares crews of UAE astronauts for missions that include the
International Space Station. QSL via EA7FTR.
Be listening for CT9/DD8ZX, CT9/DF7EE and CT9/DJ9KM operating from Madeira,
IOTA Number AF-014 from the 22nd to the
28th of March. Helmut, DF7EE, will also participate in the CQ WW WPX SSB
Contest as CQ3W. QSL CT9/DD8ZX and CT9/DJ9KM via LoTW or the operators' home
calls; QSL CQ3W and CT9/DF7EE via LoTW or Club Log's OQRS.
Miguel, EA1BP, will be active as FM/EA1BP from Martinique, IOTA Number NA-
107, from the 21st to the 28th of March. He will be focusing on 17m and 12m
and operating SSB. Listen for him in the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest where he will
be using the callsign TO7O (TEE OH SEVEN OH). QSL via LoTW, or via home
call.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: WHEN "LINE OF SIGHT" SERVES AS A LIFELINE
PAUL/ANCHOR: Most of us have heard the phrase "when all else fails, ham
radio." Well, our final story for this week carries an alternative thought:
"when all else fails, aerial drones." Here's Ralph Squillace KK6ITB with
that story.
RALPH: Deep snow in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon left two motorists
trapped earlier this year in the Willamette National Forest. One of them was
a woman who had become stranded in her minivan. The other was a man
traveling not far from there. There was rarely any traffic or even
maintenance workers on this little-traveled road but they were able to spot
one another and try to find a way out of their predicament. However, the
road's remote location put it out of range for cellphone service.
The snow grew higher and the temperatures dropped lower.
As the two tried to find a way to get word out that they were in danger, the
man realized he might in fact have a way out for the both of them, after
all. He would use line-of-sight communications, the same principle employed
by ham radio operators on VHF/UHF and microwave frequencies, as well as
those using satellites. He realized that if he could get his cellphone up
high enough - say, several hundred feet above the thick treetops - its
signal would reach a cell tower, enabling it to send a text message that
could carry the details of his distress to a friend.
He had the cellphone and, as luck would have it, he happened to have an
aerial drone in his car and the drone had enough power to make that
successful flight.
It worked. The man's friend received the text with his location and the
details of what had happened and the sheriff's search and rescue team did
the rest. The two motorists - and the drone - were brought to safety.
This is Ralph Squilllace KK6ITB.
(THE DRIVE.COM, KRNV NEWS 4)
**
NOMINATE OUR NEXT 'YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR'
PAUL/ANCHOR: We remind our listeners that young hams who live in the
continental United States have an opportunity to make news, if they aren't
already doing so, by being a recipient of this year's Amateur Radio Newsline
Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award. Consider nominating an
amateur radio operator 18 years of age or younger -- someone who has talent,
promise and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application forms
on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Nominations are now
open and close on May 31st.
**
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 News Weekly; Amazon India;
Antennapalooza; CQ Magazine; CNN.COM; Daniel Sohn, WL7COO; David Behar K7DB;
DX-World.net; FCC; 425 DX News; National Weather Service; QRZ.COM; Radio
World: RUV Iceland; shortwaveradio.de; Telangana Today; UK National Hamfest;
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 17-mar-2023 08:41 E. South America Standard Time
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