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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2398 for Friday October 13th,
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2398 for Friday October 13th, 2023
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2398 with a release date of Friday
October 13th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Israeli hams work to locate the missing. Flood-
stranded students in India find a way out through ham radio -- and a volcano
is active but not with lava or ash. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2398 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
ISRAELI HAMS' NETWORK WORKING TO LOCATE MISSING PERSONS
SKEETER/ANCHOR: We open with a special report about how amateur radio is
helping families locate those who have gone missing amid the Israel-Hamas
conflict. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us about their efforts.
KEVIN: We begin this week's report with a developing story in the Middle
East: The ongoing conflict between the Gaza-based militant group Hamas and
Israel that began on Saturday, October 7th with an attack by Hamas that
killed at least 900 people. As Israel responded to the Hamas rocket launches
with airstrikes of their own, there have been ongoing media reports of
Israelis, Israeli-Americans, Americans and others being shot, kidnapped and
taken hostage.
The Israeli Amateur Radio Club has been working to address the world's
concern for the well-being of friends and family members who they have been
unable to contact. The president of the club, David Ben Basat, 4X1WH, told
Newsline that the hams have established an emergency network that includes
the use of the WhatsApp smartphone app to enable people to reach out to
amateurs in Israel to locate lost friends and family amid the conflict.
David said that amateurs wishing assistance can email him directly at david
b b b b at gmail dot com (davidbbbb@gmail.com) His email address also
appears in the text version of this week's news report at arnewsline.org
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(CNN, DAVID BEN BASAT, 4X1WH)
**
HAMS HELP TRANSPORT AND GUIDE THOSE STRANDED BY FLOODS
SKEETER/ANCHOR: In India, young students and their guides who were stranded
by massive flooding in the northeast region, were able to return safely
after amateur radio operators stepped in. John Williams VK4JJW shares their
journey.
JOHN: Torrential rain caused a glacial lake to burst through a dam in the
Himalayan region of northeastern India on the 5th of October and the death
toll continued to rise as the icy floodwaters left hundreds stranded and
missing. Some of the more fortunate among those stranded were guided to
safety - or driven there - by amateur radio operators.
Those stranded included 140 Bharat Scouts & Guides who had traveled from
five schools for camping in West Sikkim. According to a report in the Times
of India, the students and those accompanying them were rescued with the
assistance of amateur radio operators after the hams provided vehicles and
created a network to guide those vehicles to safety over the challenging
terrain.
The students, who were between the ages of 10 and 15, were preparing to
depart the camp in Sikkim where they were staying since October 1st when
their leader realized the route to the scouts' return home by bus was going
to be impassable. The scout leader reached out to the West Bengal Radio
Club. The club's secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, told the Times of
India that the club was able to round up 15 or 16 vehicles to be deployed
for transport along the treacherous roads, which were beset by mudslides and
loose boulders.
The ham club also provided navigation assistance to 12 tourists from Gujarat
who had gone to Sikkim for a holiday. One of the tourists told The Print of
India that his longtime friend Soumik Ghosh, VU3IAZ, is a member of that
club and when he reached him by phone, he had been monitoring weather
conditions. The radio amateur provided the tourists' driver with a safer
route through lesser-known roads so they could successfully reach
Darjeeling.
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(THE STATESMAN, THE TIMES OF INDIA, CNN, THE PRINT OF INDIA)
**
RSGB HONORS LONGTIME VOLUNTEER
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Congratulations to this year's Volunteer of the Year who was
honored by the Radio Society of Great Britain at the National Radio Centre.
Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us about him.
JEREMY: Trevor Hughes, G4WKJ, has accrued more than one claim to fame during
his many years as a volunteer at the National Radio Centre at Bletchley
Park. He has donated his time on a weekly basis since the centre's opening
day in 2012 -- and he is the creator of the Snail Morse Key, a simple and
popular kit used by the RSGB to introduce children to Morse Code.
On Friday, the 6th of October, RSGB General Manager, Steve Thomas, M1ACB,
honoured Trevor for donating his many hours of time and expertise as well as
for his design and the introduction of the widely used Morse Code kit.
Martyn Baker, GØGMB, the centre's coordinator, said the immense amount of
time Trevor has donated to the centre has helped ensure its success today.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(RSGB)
**
ARRL DEBUTS ITS NEWSLETTER FOR TRAFFIC HANDLERS
SKEETER/ANCHOR: There's a new free newsletter in circulation serving
amateurs who participate in various nets and pass emergency traffic. The
publication was released on October 3rd by the ARRL. Here's Jack Parker
W8ISH with the details.
JACK: The NTS Letter is a monthly digest keeping hams up to date on the
ARRL's National Traffic System, a landscape that its editor, Marcia Forde,
KW1U, knows well. Marcia is section traffic manager for the ARRL's Eastern
and Western Massachusetts and Rhode Island sections and is a longtime
handler of traffic.
The NTS involves both new and experienced hams in emergency communications
and allows newcomers to receive training in the skills of sending and
receiving vital messages. This training can then be put to use in real
emergencies when amateur radio can provide lifesaving links to emergency
personnel and agency partners. The system encompasses voice and CW traffic
as well as messages sent via the digital modes.
ARRL members can receive the NTS Letter free by visiting the link at A R R L
dot ORG stroke OPT HYPHEN IN HYPHEN OUT. (arrl.org/opt-in-out) You must be
logged in as a member on the ARRL website to complete the subscription
process.
The newsletter makes its debut only days before the ARRL's annual Simulated
Emergency Test took place throughout the country on October 7th and 8th.
This is Jack Parker W8ISH.
(ARRL)
**
ZOMBIE SHUFFLE'S A MONSTER HIT WITH CW OPERATORS
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Horrors! In some parts of the world, it's THAT time of year
again. The special pre-Halloween event known as the Zombie Shuffle is back
from the dead. Here with the gruesome details is Don Wilbanks AE5DW.
DON: Are you one of those awkward CW operators whose fist is a real horror
show? You'll fit in just fine on October 27th with the annual CW QRP event
known as The Zombie Shuffle. For the past 26 years, the organizers have been
promoting this event, reassuring even the most out-of-practice CW ops that
you don't have to operate until it kills you. Even a handful of well-placed
contacts with other QRP operators will be sure to lift your spirits.
There is an established exchange and it helps to have a Zombie Number
assigned to you since that's part of the exchange. See the website in the
text version of this week's Newsline for more details on how to apply for
one. You are also encouraged to select a Zombie name for yourself to use on
the air.
Like all good Zombie-related activities, this event springs to life quite
suddenly in the afternoon. Zombies begin shuffling on the bands at 1500
local time across all time zones. Then when the clock strikes midnight, it's
all over. So don't be haunted by your own regrets at sitting this one out.
This was Don Wilbanks AE5DW.
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Lookout
Mountain Amateur Radio Community's N4LMC repeater and digital systems in
Georgia on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. local time.
**
A "PEAK" EXPERIENCE FOR HAMS ALONG HISTORIC SCENIC BYWAY
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Hams in Colorado too a trip back in time to mark a big
anniversary for a local scenic route. We hear more about this from Andy
Morrison K9AWM.
ANDY: It only takes a few hours to travel by car along Colorado's Peak to
Peak Scenic Byway that runs from Interstate 70 in the south to Estes Park in
the north. At this time of the year it delivers spectacular autumn foliage.
On the 30th of September, seven groups of radio amateurs traveled that
distance - and beyond - for eight hours by being on the air. The Longmont
Amateur Radio Club was among those marking the 105th anniversary of the
highway, which has been presenting spectacular mountain views since it was
built in 1918.
Chuck KØITP, president of the Longmont club, said seven clubs sent
operators, including the Northern Colorado Amateur Radio Club, the Mile High
DX Association and the Indian Peaks Radio Club. A look at the log reveals
604 non-duplicate contacts and even with some of the same contacts being
made on different bands, there were still 572 distinct callsigns in the
logbook, most of them made on SSB.
The scenic byway clearly delivered its celebrated fall colors well beyond
the boundaries of Colorado. Chuck told Newsline that in addition to making
contacts in 46 states, operators logged calls from Austria, Canada, Mexico,
Chile, Spain, Venezuela and Argentina. One of the stations was in a National
Forest and contacts there also scored some POTA points.
This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.
(CHUCK POCH KØITP)
**
WRTC ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN QUALIFYING CRITERIA
SKEETER/ANCHOR: There have been some changes to the criteria by which teams
will be chosen for the next World Radiosport Team Championship. Jeremy Boot
G4NJH tells us what they are.
JEREMY: The World Radiosport Team Championship competition to be held in
England in 2026 has announced some changes being made to the selection
criteria which the organising committee believes will make the qualification
process fairer. The announcement by event vice chairman Lee Volante GØMTN,
writing in the WRTC2026 groups.io email-list, comes as the first of several
qualifying events takes place this month.
Two new sub-groups will be created in the qualification area comprising
Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. This will allow contesters to compete
more directly against other local operators for qualification points.
Competitors in the United States call areas of 1, 2, 3 and 7 are also seeing
changes which the committee believes will better accommodate propagation
differences in the region. For qualification scoring among Western US
operators, Nevada, Utah and Arizona will now be grouped into one sub-area
with Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming into another. The
northeastern US call areas will be grouped into three sub-areas for scoring
purposes. The states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Connecticut and Rhode Island will be in one sub-group; New York, New Jersey
and the United Nations call of 4U1UN will be in a second sub-group and the
third group will comprise Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington,
D.C.
There will also be more sub-areas for Alaska and Canada.
Lee explains why requests for some new sub-groups were denied, writing
[quote]: If there are too few contesters within a sub-region, then it
becomes unfairly easier for entrants to score maximum qualification points
in contests. This would put the integrity of the qualification process at
risk." [endquote]
The 15 qualifying events are taking place between October 2023 and March
2025. Competitors can submit scores from as many as eight qualifying events.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
**
SWAINS ISLAND DXPEDITION ON THE AIR
SKEETER/ANCHOR: The Swains Island W8S Team got on the air after a slight
delay to its start. And yes, they want to work YOU! The operators got on the
air on the 7th of October, posting a short note on their website that read
"Good Hunting." The team is operating on CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. For the
first time, Swains Island has EME capabilities with a dedicated station for
6M. Many of the earliest reports were on 12m and 30m CW as well as 30m and
20m FT8.
The hams are working in rotating shifts around the clock and began with four
stations on the air at all hours. They said on their website [quote] "We’re
doing our best to work as many as possible of you!" [endquote] The
DXpedition was scheduled to end on the 17th of October.
The rare DX is IOTA number OC-200 and has the Parks on the Air designation
of K-9754.
(SWAINS ISLAND DXPEDITION WEBSITE)
**
WORLD OF DX
Elsewhere in the World of DX, listen for Helmut, DF7EE, operating as
CT9/DF7EE from Madeira, IOTA number AF-014. You can hear Helmut from the
22nd to the 31st of October and during the CQ WW DX SSB Contest where he
will be operating as CQ3W. Outside the contest listen for him on 60, 30, 17
and 12 metres where he will be using SSB and FT8. See QRZ.com for QSL
details on both callsigns.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: NO LAVA OR ASH AT THIS VOLCANO'S ACTIVATION
SKEETER/ANCHOR: For our final story, we visit an active volcano - active
with the sound of hams calling CQ, that is. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB takes us
on that long hike up the mountain.
RALPH: The notorious Mount Saint Helens volcano in Washington State was
active last month in a way no geologist could predict: Six hikers - three of
them SOTA activators - were not concerned about the likelihood of lava and
ash spewing up from below. They were more interested in the radio contacts
from above. At an altitude of more than 8,000 feet at the summit - a height
reached after three hours of strenuous hiking - they called CQ. When the
contacts came, it was not as a volcanic eruption but at a steady, amateur
radio-friendly pace.
With each first contact to the summit worth 10 SOTA points to chasers, Tim
N7KOM, Tyler, ND7Y and Andrew, N7LFO, got busy, using a pair of hiking poles
as two legs of a makeshift tripod that included the mast for the wire
antenna. It was a busy afternoon. Tim told Newsline that, by the end of the
activation, he had logged 20 QSOs on 2 meters FM, 6 QSOs on 40m SSB, 1 QSO
on 30m CW, and 10 QSOs on 20m CW. The path of ash, sand and rocks leading up
to this popular SOTA summit had led to a smooth afternoon of operating. A
portion of that afternoon can be seen in the hams' YouTube video on the
N7KOM Mountaintop Portable Radio channel.
People on the US West Coast may still remember the deadly eruption from the
volcanic peak in the Cascade Mountains in 1980 - one of the deadliest of its
kind in North America. But these three hams and any other activators with
their sights set on SOTA Number W7W/LC-001, are grateful the mountain
continues its long slumber for now.
This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.
(TIM K7KOM)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; CQ Magazine; Chuck Poch
KØITP; CNN; David Behar K7DB; David Ben Basat, 4X1WH; 425DXNews; Radio
Society of Great Britain; shortwaveradio.de; the Statesman; Swains Island
DXpedition website; Tim Sherry N7KOM; the Times of India; 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 Skeeter Nash N5ASH in Shelbyville Tennessee 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 12-out-2023 22:20 E. South America Standard Time
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