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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2286 for Friday August 20, 20
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2286 for Friday August 20, 2021
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2286 with a release date of Friday
August 20, 2021 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Sorting out the tragedy in Haiti after an earthquake
and a tropical storm. The FCC delays its new ABFSL2HM$5 fee -- and the Intrepid DX
Group drops its Bouvet plans. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2286 comes your way right now.
***
BILLBOARD CART
**
HAITI IN TURMOIL AFTER EARTHQUAKE, TROPICAL STORM
STEPEHN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a story that was still developing as
Newsline went to production on Thursday, August 19th. Rocked by a 7.2
magnitude earthquake on August 14th and battered afterward by Tropical Storm
Grace, the island nation of Haiti was still planning on amateur radio
assistance.
Jean-Robert (Zzzzhon-Ro-Bear) Gaillard (Guy Yard), HH2JR, president of the
Radio Club of Haiti told the IARU's Region 2 emergency coordinator Carlos
Alberto Santamaria Gonzalez CO2JC that a number of churches around the
island would be willing to be active because their membership included
licensed hams but they needed donations of modern equipment. Jean-Robert
told Carlos in an email that meanwhile the hams were helping in other ways,
distributing medicine and supplies and aiding with transportation when
possible.
According to various media reports, by August 18th, the death toll had
climbed past 2,000 and was expected to continue to rise. Jean-Robert wrote:
[quote] "I am afraid the worst is yet to happen." [endquote]
Region 2 of the IARU asked meanwhile that hams in the Americas keep
emergency frequencies clear at 3.750 MHz, 7.150 MHz and 14.330 MHz.
(BBC, WASHINGTON POST, CARLOS GONZALEZ CO2JC, ARRL)
**
INTREPID DX GROUP CALLS OFF BOUVET PLANS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Bouvet Island is no longer in the sights of one of the
world's most prominent DXpedition teams. John Williams VK4JJW gives us the
details.
JOHN: The Intrepid DX Group's planned trip to activate Bouvet Island would
have been the third such activation by a group in the next few years -- but
now it has been called off. Paul Ewing, N6PSE, the group's president, made a
brief statement that appeared in the Daily DX saying that the Intrepid DX
Group is instead taking a fresh look at the 10 most-wanted DX entities. He
said [quote] "We plan to activate a different rare and much-needed entity in
January/February 2023. That is now our focus." [endquote].
He said that with teams set to sail to the island this year and next year,
being the number three team is [quote] "not comfortable for us." [endquote]
He added that the group wishes a "safe and productive" journey in November
of 2022 for its former 3Y0J (Three Y Zero Jay) teammates, now reconstituted
and headed by co-leaders Ken LA7GIA, Rune LA7THA and Erwann LB1QI.
Meanwhile, the Three Y Zero Eye (3Y0I) team expects to set sail later this
year
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW.
(DAILY DX)
**
FCC DELAYS STARTUP FOR COLLECTING NEW HAM LICENSE FEES
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The FCC has reported a delay in implementing its new ABFSL2HM$5 fee
for US hams receiving new licenses, hams renewing or modifying existing
licenses, as well as hams applying for vanity call signs. The fees were
supposed to take effect this summer. According to the ARRL, however,
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators learned during a recent virtual meeting with
FCC staff that the agency still needs to make changes to its Universal
licensing System software and adjust other procedures before it can begin
receiving the fees.
The announcement appeared on the ARRL website on Monday August 16th.
The fees are not expected to take effect until early 2022. They are to be
paid directly to the FCC with the help of the agency's online system known
as the FCC Pay Fees System.
(ARRL)
**
ROMANIA PROPOSES LICENSE CHANGES WITH BROADER IMPACT
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams in Romania have proposed some changes that could have
an impact on radio license portability throughout Europe. Ed Durrant DD5LP
has the details.
ED: The CEPT's Working Group for Frequency Management are studying whether
member states throughout Europe should accept presentation of amateur radio
licences in a digitally signed electronic PDF format. The group has given
permission for a feasibility study based upon the positive responses to a
questionnaire submitted to the CEPT working group last year from officials
in Romania. Romania is hoping to make its own radio licence documents
available as PDFs. Using the digital document format would allow hams the
capability to travel Europe without needing paper copies of their licences.
Using mobile devices to display the documents would allow official checking
in CEPT countries by reference to a central CEPT database.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.
(SOUTHGATE, CEPT WGFM)
**
US MONITORING PROGRAM SENDS HAMS ADVISORY NOTICES
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In the US, a program overseen by the FCC and the ARRL has
just put a number of amateurs on notice for questionable on-air behavior. We
hear more from Geri Goodrich KF5KRN.
GERI: Hams around the US have been sent advisory notices from the Volunteer
Monitor Program operated jointly by the FCC and the ARRL. A report released
by program administrator Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH gives details of the
notices sent to hams deemed in violation of FCC Part 97. The program's July
report, released recently, gives the results of more than 3,000 hours of
observation combined on the HF, VHF and UHF frequencies. Although these were
advisory notices, one notification -- sent to a ham in Parks Arizona -- was
referred to the FCC for enforcement action. In that instance, the ham is
being reported for failing to honor a request to stay off a repeater.
Some of the other notices included the following: A General class licensee
in Acworth, Georgia, received a notice for failing to identify properly and
for repeatedly making contact with unlicensed stations on 3.895 MHz. A
notice was sent to an Extra Class ham in Keansburg, New Jersey, involving
threats made on the air to another operator while on 3.844 MHz. Notices were
also sent to some General class licensees for operating on 20 meters in the
Extra Class portion of the band. Those hams are in Marco Island and Arcadia,
Florida, and in Maryland.
Technician-class licensees also received notices. Those hams were in Spring
Valley, Smith River, and Nipomo, California; Oneonta, New York; Idaho Falls,
Idaho, and Center, Texas. The notices indicate they were operating FT8 on
frequencies not authorized to Technician licensees.
The Volunteer Monitor program began operation in 2020. It was established to
underscore the need for amateur compliance on the air. Trained Volunteer
Monitors also recognize hams who are observed engaging in commendable
conduct.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Geri Goodrich KF5KRN.
(FCC, ARRL)
**
HAMS HELPING RADIO STATION MARK CENTENNIAL
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: What could be better than radio honoring radio? When it's
amateur radio honoring professional radio, it's a natural combination, as we
hear from Skeeter Nash N5ASH.
SKEETER: New England's oldest broadcast station is marking its 100th
anniversary this year and two amateur radio clubs in Massachusets are
inviting everyone to the party on the amateur bands. The Billerica Amateur
Radio Society and the Hampden County Radio Association are having a special
operating event planned for September 17th through September 19th. The dates
closely follow the first day Westinghouse put WBZ on the air as an AM radio
station: September 15th 1921. It began life as a 100-watt station in East
Springfield, Massachusetts but by the time it moved to Boston in 1931, it
had a 15,000-watt transmitter. By 1933, that power had gone up to 50,000
watts.
So be listening for the callsigns W1W, W1B, W1Z, and WB1Z. Hams will be
calling QRZ on all bands using CW, SSB, the digital modes and, of course,
AM.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.
(ARRL NEW ENGLAND; BILLERICA AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY)
**
SCHOOLS MAKE CONTACT WITH MAURITIUS' CUBESAT
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The first satellite launched by Mauritius has been busy
doing its part to further students' education. Graham Kemp VK4BB brings us
up to date.
GRAHAM: Although the first CubeSat launched by the nation of Mauritius is
still not available for amateur radio use, it has already accomplished an
important educational mission in STEM education: According to the Mauritius
Amateur Radio Society, students at three schools in Mauritius have received
and decoded signals from the satellite, known as MIR-SAT 1, which stands for
Mauritius Imagery and Radiotelecommunication Satellite 1. AMSAT reported the
news from the ham radio society, saying that other schools and educational
institutions are preparing to follow suit.
According to AMSAT, the satellite is still in safe mode and being tested.
The radio society expects to announce when hams will be able to use it. The
satellite was deployed from the International Space Station on June 22nd.
MIR-SAT1 has an expected lifetime of between two and three years and during
that time it is expected to make ground contact with Mauritius four to five
times daily.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB.
(AMSAT)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the N8NC
repeater of the North Coast Amateur Radio Club in Brunswick, Ohio on Sundays
at 8 p.m. during the weekly information net.
**
SILENT KEY: FIRST RESPONDER COLIN McFADDEN KB1YYG
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A young amateur radio operator with a strong volunteer
spirit has become a Silent Key in his Connecticut hometown. Kevin Trotman
N5PRE tells us about him.
KEVIN: Hams and first responders in Connecticut are grieving the loss of a
valued member of the emergency response team in Bristol, Connecticut. Colin
McFadden KB1YYG, a volunteer firefighter, died on Thursday, August 12th, two
days after he suffered a brain hemorrhage while fighting a blaze at a
historic building in New Hartford. According to his obituary on the Funk
Funeral Home website, he died two days after emergency surgery at the local
hospital. Fire officials said doctors discovered that Colin had a form of
leukemia that had been undiagnosed. Connecticut Community Emergency Response
Team considered him a vital part of their operation. The group posted on its
Facebook page that Colin was not only the team's ham radio specialist but
could always be counted on to participate when needed, including in
community service events. According to the website of the Bristol CERT,
Colin was especially active on the 2 meter Cross Community Net on Thursdays.
A member of the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department, he was also an
advocate for people with autism.
He got his amateur radio license with the support of the Insurance City
Repeater Club and later became its vice president. Most recently, Colin's
community service work as a ham included providing traffic control for COVID
testing sites in Bristol and for the Farm to Families food distribution.
Colin McFadden was 26 years old.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(NBC CONNECTICUT, FUNK FUNERAL HOME, BRISTOL CERT WEBSITE)
VOUCHERS GOOD FOR RSGB MEMBERS AT BLETCHLEY
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A perk has been restored for members of the Radio Society of
Great Britain. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has the details.
JEREMY: Members of the Radio Society of Great Britain are once again
eligible to use free entry vouchers for Bletchley Park. The voucher also
provides free access to the RSGB's National Radio Centre. Because the
protocol for visiting has changed, anyone coming to the site must book a
date and time slot in advance using the Bletchley Park website. The RSGB has
full instructions for visiting on its website, rsgb.org.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
**
HAM RADIO JOINS AQUINO TANK WEEKEND AT ONTARIO MUSEUM
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A big weekend celebrating Canada's Ontario Regiment will be
getting under way next month and this year's event is adding something new:
amateur radio. Andy Morrison K9AWM picks up the story from here.
ANDY: The Ontario Regiment Museum, home to the largest collection of working
military vehicles in North America, is about to mark an amateur radio
"first." The North Shore Amateur Radio Club VE3OSH will be operating during
the museum's Aquino Tank weekend taking place on September 17th to the 19th.
Club president Laird Solomon VE3LKS told Newsline that the idea to add ham
radio to the museum's annual weekend evolved from of a dialogue between the
museum and one of the club's members who works there as a volunteer: They
loved his suggestion that radio become a part of the activities which
commemorate the key role the Ontario Regiment played in 1944 during the
Battle of Aquino in Italy.
Laird said the museum will be placing one of its WW II communications trucks
at the activators' location and hams will be operating CW from there.
Operators will also be on the air at three other stations using SSB, FT8 and
Yaesu Fusion/AllStar/DMR. Laird told Newsline: [quote] "We hope to be able
to display the evolution of radio from WWII to today." [endquote]
Oshawa, the city where the museum is located, has strong ties to the Second
World War. Laird told Newsline that not far from there a secret spy training
and high-power radio facility called Camp X was set up on the shores of Lake
Ontario. It was at that location, where Hydra, a powerful radio station,
would exchange coded messages with Allied headquarters in the US and
Britain. So many years later, the North Shore amateurs still have ties to
this site too: Laird said that the club was formed by some of the wartime
operators who had been assigned to the Hydra station.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Andy Morrison K9AWM.
(LAIRD SOLOMON VE3LKS)
**
WORLD'S LARGEST TEAPOT EVENT TOTALS UP THE CONTACTS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The tea-totaling is done and the special event for the
World's Largest Teapot has some impressive numbers. Here's Jim Damron N8-
TEEEEE-MW with the results of this first-time nationwide activation.
JIM: The World's Largest Teapot in Chester, West Virginia, has a long
history as a public attraction dating to the early 1900s. Now thanks to
amateur radio it can claim one more distinction: a one-week special event
activation that had 9,013 QSOs, contacting all states in the US, as well as
68 countries. There was even a decoded SSTV signal from the International
Space Station on Saturday, August 7th, during the community's Teapot
Festival.
This was the first year this formerly local radio event was a coast-to-coast
activation and operators reported massive pileups. Organizer Justin Shaw
W8LPN of the Hancock Auxiliary Communications Team said there are plans in
the works next year to include a bonus station from the UK. Meanwhile, the
teapot itself, situated near West Virginia's border with Ohio and
Pennsylvania, continues to be steeped in fame and glory. A number of radio
operators who are not from the West Virginia area said during their QSOs
that they now have plans to visit this unusual - and obviously very
inspirational - teapot.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW.
(JUSTIN SHAW W8LPN)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, listen for Elvira, IV3FSG, using the callsign 5X3R from
Uganda through the 2nd of September. She is on 80m through 10m using SSB,
RTTY and PSK31. Send QSLs via IK2DUW, direct, by the Bureau or ClubLog.
Fred, DL5YM, and his XYL Tina, DL5YL, will be on the air as HBZero/DL5YM and
HBZero/DL5YL, respectively, from Liechtenstein between the 5th and 28th of
September. Their time on the air will be limited because they will be hiking
during the day. Listne on 160m through 6m where they will be using mostly
CW, with some SSB and RTTY. Be listening for them as well during the CQWW DX
RTTY Contest taking place September 25th and 26th. Send QSLs via their home
callsigns, direct, by the DARC Bureau or ClubLog.
Don't forget you can pick up some great DX during the International
Lighthouse Lightship Weekend on the 21st and 22nd of August. There are
nearly 300 registered Lighthouse/Lightship stations around the world that
are planning to be on the air. Visit the website illw dot net.
(OHIO PENN DX)
**
KICKER: A FRIEND IN NEED
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Finally, it's been said that "when all else fails, there's
ham radio." Our last story takes this one step further. Because even when
amateur radio isn't directly involved, when all else fails, there's nothing
like ham radio FRIENDS. Here's Ralph Squillace KK6ITB with that story.
RALPH: Ham radio is what gave Blil Scott K6PKL and Skip Kritcher K7ZAA the
gift of friendship.
But ironically, it was the connection via another form of radio
communication -- the cellphone -- that gave Skip the gift of life.
According to a report from CBS Sacramento, the Myrtle Point, Oregon radio
operator was apparently felled by a stroke last month and desperately
punched up numbers on his mobile phone, thinking he was calling his sister.
Those numbers connected him instead with Bill, 500 miles away in San Joaquin
County, California.
Skip had difficulty speaking because his speech was slurred but suddenly
Bill released who it was who was speaking and that his friend was in
distress. Bill's wife, Sharon, a retired nurse, concluded Skip had just had
a stroke. The couple called 9-1-1 and first responders in Oregon were
dispatched to his home to transport him to a hospital
According to the news report, Skip is back at home recovering after four
days in the hospital and for now he still has some impaired vision. One of
the EMTs told Bill and Sharon he would have died within a few hours if he
hadn't found help.
While Skip recovers, he and Bill, who belongs to the Ham Radio Club in
Manteca, have gone back to communicating under less urgent circumstances.
They are also using their preferred means of getting in touch with one
another: amateur radio.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.
(CBS SACRAMENTO, MANTECA RIPON BULLETIN)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur News Weekly; AMSAT; the ARRL; the
Associated Press; Billerica Amateur Radio Society; Bristol CERT; CBS
Sacramento; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; Daily DX; FCC.Gov; Funk Funeral
Home; Laird Solomon VE3LKS; Manteca Rpon Bulletin; NBC Connecticut; Ohio
Penn DX; QRZ.com; Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; Ted
Randall's QSO Radio Show; WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all
from the Amateur Radio Newsline. You can write to us at
newsline@arnewsline.org. For more information or to support us visit our
official website at arnewsline.org.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our
news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio saying 73.
As always we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 20-ago-2021 07:55 E. South America Standard Time
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