Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2342 for Friday, September 16th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2342, with a release date of Friday, September 16th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Some US satellites may face stricter disposal
rules soon. Researchers work to make smaller antennas with bigger
performance - and German regulators look to add a new class of amateur license. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2342, comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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US FCC SEEKS STRICTER DISPOSAL PLAN FOR SATELLITES

DON/ANCHOR: The US Federal Communications Commission wants to put
domestic satellites on notice - at least, some of them - regarding their eviction from space once the satellites no longer function. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, explains.

KENT: In an effort to clean up space junk in low Earth orbit, the FCC hopes
to act this month in setting a deadline that would require dead non- geostationary satellites to be removed from space within five years. The proposal shortens the period established by NASA guidelines setting a 25-
year period, which is voluntary, for such satellite disposal.

The new regulation, if approved, would not apply to any domestic satellites already in orbit. It would also give some breathing room to organizations whose satellite launches have already been approved so those groups can
have a disposal plan in place before the launch date.

The FCC is proposing a two-year grandfathering period that would begin on Sept. 29, the day the FCC has scheduled its vote. In response to NASA's concerns about the potential impact on CubeSats, the FCC said it intended
to grant waivers on a case-by-case basis.

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a post on Twitter [quote] "Our space economy is moving fast. For it to continue to grow, we need to do
more to clean up after ourselves so space innovation can continue to
expand." [endquote]

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(ENGADGET, TWITTER)

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SMALLER ANTENNAS, BIGGER PERFORMANCE

DON/ANCHOR: Just how small can a small antenna be? Researchers in the US
are studying that challenge now, hoping to accomplish an antenna that
offers economy in space without compromising performance. Neil Rapp,
WB9VPG, gives us the details.

NEIL: A United States agency has begun tackling a longstanding challenge
that comes with the use of electrically small antennas. While these
antennas are space-saving assets that are noticeably shorter than the wavelengths of the signals they handle, the antennas themselves have significant limitations. As they get smaller, they lose bandwidth and radiation efficiency. These antennas have been in use for many decades and
can be found, for instance, on satellites.

Researchers with the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity agency have begun a four-year project to surpass these kinds of
limitations. The initiative is called the Effective Quantitative Antenna Limits for Performance program.

Program manager Paul Kolb told the IEEE Spectrum magazine that within three years, the teams must show that they have an actual antenna with a 6-dB
gain in performance over existing electrically small antennas. The ultimate goal is to establish a 10-decibel gain in antenna performance in the HF and UHF bands. Kolb told the spectrum that in the last year of the project, researchers will be required to produce an antenna with the sought-after
10-db gain.

The teams are being required to validate all results with independent labs. Kolb said such antennas aren't likely to become viable for the commercial market.

This is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

(IEEE SPECTRUM)

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REPEATER DEDICATED TO 6 WHO DIED ON 9/11

DON/ANCHOR: While much of the United States marked Sunday, Sept. 11th, in solemn public ceremonies remembering the terror attacks of 2001, the New England Emergency Communications Network dedicated a new digital repeater
site in memory of six broadcast engineers who died that day in New York
City. Jim Damron, N8TMW, has that story.

JIM: The New England Emergency Communications Network, which links 90
amateur radio service repeaters in the northeastern United States, brought
a new digital repeater on the air on Sunday, September 11th. The date is
not insignificant. As he put the 2-meter repeater into full-time operation
on the air, Andrew, N1MYY, read a statement acknowledging the anniversary
of the terror attacks. A broadcast engineer himself, Andrew dedicated the repeater to the six broadcast engineers who died that day when the World
Trade Center was destroyed. They were Donald DiFranco of WABC-TV; Bob
Pattison and Isaias [eye-say-us] Rivera, both of WCBS, and three hams who became Silent Keys that day: Steven Jacobsen, N2SJ, of WPIX-TV; William Steckman, WA2ACW, of WNBC; and Rod Coppola, KA2KET, of WNET-TV.

The repeater's full-time operation now adds to the network's strength for public service and emergency preparedness in the region.

This is Jim Damron, N8TMW.

(ANDREW DENONCOUR N1MYY; NYRADIOWORLD, SOUTHGATE)
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2343 for Friday September 23rd, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2343 with a release date of Friday, September 23rd, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams respond as Hurricane Fiona bears down.
China prepares to launch another ham radio satellite -- and Youth on the
Air camp heads to Canada in 2023. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2343 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAMS AID IN EFFORTS AFTER HURRICANE FIONA

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is Hurricane Fiona, which brought devastation to the islands of the Caribbean. Amateur radio operators
were part of the team responding to the vast needs of the region.

RANDY: As Hurricane Fiona ravaged the region, amateur radio operators
were hard at work in areas of the Eastern Caribbean and Western
Atlantic. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos islands, suffered severe flooding, catastrophic wind damage and major
power outages as the storm, which grew to Category 4, made its way
toward Bermuda. In addition to local communications support, the
Hurricane Watch Net was activated and Salvation Army Team Emergency
Radio Network was handling health and welfare traffic.

William Planas-Montes, NP3WP, ARES section emergency coordinator for
Puerto Rico reported that around 45 ham radio operators were working
with different government municipalities and ARES personnel were setting
up equipment in anticipation of additional activity.

Jason Tremblay, VE3JXT, emergency coordinator for the Bermuda area of
IARU Region 2, told AR Newsline that, at the time of this report,
planning was still underway by their executive team for that area.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ

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SWITZERLAND AMATEURS SHARPEN THEIR RADIO READINESS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Disaster preparedness, even when there is no immediate
disaster, is also a big part of amateur radio. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, tells
us how hams in Switzerland worked recently with their radio teammates to polish their skills.

ED: Hundreds of hams, citizens band operators and owners of private
mobile radios teamed up throughout Liechtenstein and Switzerland in a wide-ranging emergency-response drill on Saturday, September 18th. The fictional scenario was similar to the simulated regional power shortage
that played out three times before. The radio event has come to be known
as the Swiss Emergency Contest but it is less of a true competition than
a measure of readiness if all or part of the power grid fails. Hams in
the Union of Swiss short wave Amateurs, the USKA, have taken the lead in
this effort.

Only days earlier, at its board of directors meeting, the leadership
announced it was developing an operating framework for hams and those
using other types of radios to assist during blackouts and power
shortages when communication during emergencies takes even higher
priority.

The latest exercise employed a variety of equipment and modes and used
such alternate power sources as solar panels and batteries.

This is Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(BERNARD WEHRLI, HB9ALH; USKA)

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CHINA PREPS NEXT AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE

PAUL/ANCHOR: China is preparing to send a new ham radio satellite into
orbit in the next few weeks. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details.

JIM: The CAS-10 amateur radio satellite is set to go into space from
China's Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in early November, where it
will be sent to the Tiangong Space Station aboard the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft. The satellite, which carries a V/U linear transponder, will
become operational sometime after its deployment from the space station
around the 15th of December. The transponder is expected to operate all
day throughout the satellite's lifetime, using a VHF uplink and UHF
downlink with a 30 kHz bandwidth. CAS-10 is also equipped with a camera.
Hams will be able to send DTMF commands to download photos taken by the
camera and stored in the satellite's flash memory. Satellite telemetry
data will be sent via Morse Code.

For additional details and frequencies, visit the AMSAT-UK link in the
text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[FOR PRINT ONLY: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=858 ]

I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(AMSAT-UK, SOUTHGATE)
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2344, for Friday, September 30th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2344, with a release date of Friday, September 30th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams take to the airwaves for Hurricane Ian. A
new report offers insights into the collapse of the Arecibo radio
telescope -- and radio rides along for a bicycle climb up an iconic
mountain. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2344, comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAMS MUSTER SUPPORT DURING HURRICANE IAN

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week looks at amateur radio's response as
a life-threatening hurricane brought destruction in the southern United States. Randy Sly, W4XJ, brings us those details.

RANDY: As Hurricane Fiona left Canada's Maritime provinces as a tropical depression, another hurricane was beginning to form in the Caribbean
tracking toward western Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the western shores
of Florida. The handoff between the two storms gave little time to relax
for amateur radio operators working with the Hurricane Watch Net, VoIP
Net, Salvation Army Emergency Radio Network, and emergency communications groups, such as ARES.

By the time Ian reached the Florida coast near Fort Myers, it was a
Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour. This catastrophic storm caused significant damage along with storm surge, torrential rains, flooding, power outages, and spin-up tornadoes.

Bobby Graves, manager of the Hurricane Watch Net, said that the net would remain in full emergency mode to assist with any emergency, medical, or priority traffic as well as working with SATERN, the Salvation Army's
network, to help in handling any outgoing health and welfare traffic. The
net was to remain active after Ian's downgrade so hams could assist with post-storm reports for the National Hurricane Center. The FCC has also
adopted a 60-day waiver that permitted hams to use a higher symbol rate
for data transmissions - above the legal limit of 300 baud -- when
assisting Hurricane Ian traffic.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

**

REPORT PINPOINTS FACTORS IN ARECIBO COLLAPSE

JIM/ANCHOR: A new report has pinpointed some contributing causes behind
the collapse of what was once the largest radio telescope in the world.
Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, brings us up to date.

KENT: Engineers have identified a number of key factors that led to the
2020 collapse of the Arecibo Telescope, once the world's largest radio telescope. A forensic examination by the New York-based firm Thornton Tomasetti identified issues that included design of the cable system with relatively low safety factors for gravity loads as well as the force of naturally occurring events in the environment. Those included Hurricane
Maria in 2017 and the January 2020 earthquake tremors in Puerto Rico
where the telescope was located. The report said that despite having a hurricane-resistant design, Arecibo's cable system had already led it to suffer stress under its own weight whenever storms hit. The engineers recommended higher safety factors for cable systems under such
conditions.

Although the investigators said they found the telescope to be generally
well maintained, they did note in their report that they found that
moisture had intruded, paint had degraded and individual wires had broken within the cable system.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(THORNTON TOMASETTI, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION)

**

AMATEURS HELP WITH REUNION ACROSS BORDERS

JIM/ANCHOR: A family in Bangladesh has been reunited with a long-missing relative, thanks to hams on both sides of the border with India. Graham
Kemp, VK4BB, gives us the rest of this story.

GRAHAM: It took 12 years and, ultimately, two groups of amateur radio operators to return a man to his home and his family in Bangladesh. The reunion took place on September 21st, allowing the man to leave the
state-run home in Kolkata where he had been following a lengthy hospitalization. His family reported that he had gone missing a dozen
years ago. He had apparently crossed the border into West Bengal.

Press accounts in the Millennium Post and other media outlets described
the 27-year-old man as mentally challenged and thus unable to provide information about his origins either to hospital personnel or later to
those at the state home. Authorities at the home contacted the West
Bengal Radio Club. Club secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, visited
the man and determined he was from Bangladesh. He reached out for help to
Anup Bhowmick [ANOOP BOWMICK], S21TV, secretary of the Amateur Radio
Society of Bangladesh. The two clubs arranged for a video call between
the man and his family and after that, details were worked out for his
return home.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(MILLENNIUM POST, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2345, for Friday, October 7th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2345, with a release date of Friday, October 7th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Two hams are added to next year's Starliner-1
launch. Sweden honors a noted tech entrepreneur -- and the International Telecommunication Union marks a 'first' in leadership. All this and more,
as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2345 comes your way right now.

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TWO MORE HAMS TO BE ABOARD FOR STARLINER'S 1st FLIGHT

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the US space program, which has selected two more amateur radio operators to be on board the maiden
voyage of the Boeing Starliner-1 next year as part of the agency's
Commercial Crew Program. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, reports.

PAUL: Two amateur radio operators were recently chosen to return to the International Space Station but this time they expect to arrive there
aboard the first flight of NASA's new Boeing Starliner-1.

Astronaut Scott Tingle, KG5NZA, will be its commander, and Mike Fincke,
KE5AIT, of NASA, will serve as the Starliner's pilot. They will join
Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU, who will be aboard as mission specialist. NASA
assigned her in August 2020 to join the crew.

There is no launch date yet for Starliner-1. It must complete NASA's
Boeing Crew Flight Test, which ensures the spacecraft can fly crewed
missions to the ISS on a regular basis. This is part of NASA's Commercial
Crew Program.

The first test flight is scheduled for early 2023.

I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

(NASA)

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SWEDISH AMATEUR TO RECEIVE GOLD MEDAL

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: High honors are being conferred upon an amateur radio
operator from Sweden who is well-known for the advances he has made in
growing the internet. We have those details from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: Congratulations to Swedish tech entrepreneur Peter Löthberg, SM4KEL/W4KEL, whose work in helping the internet get an early foothold
and grow in Sweden has won him a gold medal from the Royal Swedish
Academy of Engineering Sciences.

King Gustaf is to present the medal to him next month.

Dubbed an "internet guru" by Wired Dot Com (WIRED.COM) in 2007, he has
given much sought-after advice to industry giants such as Cisco and
Sprint.

With this gold medal, Peter joins the ranks of scores of similarly
decorated academy innovators.

The academy (also known as the IVA) says on its website that its vision
is "Technology in the service of humanity," in the belief that technical
and economic science can make a positive contribution to society.

I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(IVA, SOUTHGATE)

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GET READY FOR SCOUTING'S JOTA-JOTI EVENT

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you're involved in Scouting, or know someone who is,
you know that October is a big month on the Scout calendar. Bill Stearns, NE4RD, tells us what's happening in just a few days.

BILL: Jamboree-on-the-Air and Jamboree-on-the-Internet (JOTA-JOTI) is the worldΓÇÖs largest Scout event taking place on the internet and over the airwaves. Held every year in October, the event connects millions of
young people around the world for a full weekend of online activities
that promote friendship and global citizenship. In 2022, JOTA-JOTI takes
place from 14 to 16 October. For the JOTA side of the event, Scouts and
Guides all over the world connect with each other by means of amateur
radio. Short-wave and digital radio signals carry their voices to
virtually any corner of the world. It's the sheer excitement of having a
live conversation with a fellow Scout or Guide at some other place in the world that attracts so many young people to this event.

Event planning information or resources can be found on the K2BSA website
at K2BSA.net.

Register your station today at jotajoti.info and check out the virtual campsite where you can find lots of activities for this travel-free
jamboree.

For the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD.
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2346, for Friday, October 14th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2346, with a release date of
Friday, October 14th, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A never-before contact with Antarctica - from
space! Lessons learned from Hurricane Ian -- and hams in Australia go bicycle-mobile for charity. All this and more, as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2346, comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART


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ISS LOGS A QSO WITH STUDENTS IN ANTARCTICA

NEIL/ANCHOR: Who among us hasn't wanted to work Antarctica? Who among
us has succeeded so far? Well now you can add to that list the name of astronaut Kjell Lindgren, KO5MOS. John Williams, VK4JJW, opens this
week's newscast with that report.

JOHN: Kjell [pronounced CHELL] Lindgren, KO5MOS, can enter Antarctica
into the log of contacts for him and the ISS. This was the ultimate DX
from space, in fact, as the US astronaut held a scheduled question-and-
answer session on Friday, October 7th, with students living on the
Esperanza Antarctic base, an Argentine research station on the frozen continent. For the contact, the astronaut used the callsign OR4ISS.
This unprecedented ARISS contact was accomplished with the help of
ON4ISS, AMSAT Belgium, which provided a Telebridge. According to
various websites, there are 16 students enrolled in the school and they
range in age of 3 to 21. The school, which has two teachers, was
established in 1978,

One student, apparently feeling a kinship about the relatively remote locations on both sides of the QSO, asked the astronaut: [quote] "An Icebreaker ship brought us here. How did you get to the International
Space Station?" [endquote] Acknowledging the similiarity of their
desolate environments, the astronaut said [quote] "you are explorers in
your own right." [endquote] He also accepted the students' invitation
to visit someday. The best followup to this kind of first-time DX would naturally be an eyeball QSO to remember.

This is John Williams, VK4JJW.

NEIL/ANCHOR: To hear the QSO between the ISS and the Antarctic base
students, follow the link in the text version of this week's script at arnewsline.org

[FOR PRINT ONLY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jprWFFaLUBc ]

(AMSAT ARGENTINA, YOUTUBE)

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APPLY NOW FOR CONTACTS WITH ASTRONAUTS IN 2023

NEIL/ANCHOR: Is there a contact with the ISS in your future? The window
of opportunity is still open and Paul Braun, WD9GCO, tells you how to
help make it happen.

PAUL: If you've ever wanted a radio contact with someone aboard the International Space Station, and haven't had one yet, 2023 might just
be your year. Teachers and other educators have until November 13th to
submit a proposal to ARISS for a scheduled contact that would be set up between July 1st and December 31st of next year. ARISS is looking for educational institutions with a formal curriculum that could easily
integrate this kind of space-related amateur radio communication.

The contacts usually last 10 minutes, and take place as a question-and-
answer format between the students and the astronauts.

For additional details, follow the ARISS link in the text version of
this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[FOR PRINT ONLY:

https://ariss-usa.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-usa/ ]

This is Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2347 for Friday, October 21st, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2347, with a release date of
Friday, October 21st, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. An emerging science and technology center gets
a major financial boost. A new book takes a deeper look at QSL cards --
and some surprises for Halloween, as the holiday approaches. All this
and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2347, comes your way
right now.

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BOOST FOR MAKING TESLA LAB A GLOBAL SCIENCE CENTER

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with news that the former
laboratory of inventor Nikola Tesla has received major funding to
further its development into a major science and technology center.
Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, has that story.

KEVIN: Designed by the noted architect Stanford White at the turn of
the previous century and a welcoming place today for scientists,
historians and amater radio operators, the former laboratory of 20th
century innovator Nikola Tesla has been chosen to receive a $500,000
grant from the National Parks Service and the National Endowment of the
Arts. The funds will be used to help pay for restoration of the Long
Island, New York property and transform it into a museum and educational science center honoring the spirit of Tesla's groundbreaking work.

Known as Wardenclyffe Lab, it became the home to many of Tesla's
discoveries in radio and other aspects of technology. He had created
the Long Island lab as a kind of "radio city" with the goal of
transmitting electricity and information wirelessly. The site was
especially well-known for a transmitter tower that was 187 feet high
above ground and reached 120 feet below ground level. That tower is
long since gone.

This is Tesla's only surviving laboratory and it is a landmark, having
been added to the US National Historic Register in 2018. Amateur radio
has an active interest in the property as well and the site recently
hosted the 75th anniversary celebration and special event station of
the Suffolk County Radio Club.

I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(LONG ISLAND BUSINESS.COM)

**

BOOK SHOWCASES QSL CARDS' DESIGN AND TYPOGRAPHY

JIM/ANCHOR: If you enjoy sending and receiving QSL cards, you're not
alone. This next story from Jack Parker, W8ISH, celebrates the art of
those still-popular cards.

JACK: The legacy of Charles Hellman, W2RP, continues. At the time
Charlie became a Silent Key in 2017, the 106-year-old New York amateur
was considered the oldest amateur in the US and likely the longest
licensed. Active almost right up to the year he died, Charlie amassed a collection of QSL cards that, so many years later, is now carrying a
different message to the world, one about graphic design and
communication between people.

One hundred fifty cards in Charlie's collection, which were later
purchased by a designer visiting a local antique shop, are now the
subject of a soon-to-be published book on typography and graphics. Its
title: "QSL: Do you Confirm Receipt of My Transmission?" The
collection's owner, Roger Bova, made the cards available to Standards
Manual, an independent publisher in Brooklyn, New York that specializes
in books about design history. The book features the simple, bold
design of the card from RBØHZ, confirming a 1986 contact on 20m, SSB.
In contrast, there is a whimsical, cartoonish card from DM3EJ for a
1979 SSB contact on 10m. Many of the pages are full and rich and
colorful.

The publisher's cofounder, Jesse Reed, told PrintMag.com in a recent
interview that the cards are as much a study in design as in
communication in the age before the internet took hold. They are
presented, in the book, in chronological order.

No doubt Charlie, a retired New York City educator, might be pleased to
know he is still providing a means for people everywhere to expand
their knowledge.

This is Jack Parker, W8ISH.

(STANDARDS MANUAL, PRINTMAG.COM, QCWA)
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2348, for Friday, October 28th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2348, with a release date of
Friday, October 28th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams respond as a cyclone ravages parts of
Bangladesh. An Australian club revives a flood aid program -- and
Silent Keys get a tribute event courtesy of amateurs in Poland. All
this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2348, comes
your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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DEADLY CYCLONE SLAMS BANGLADESH

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a developing story. As Newsline
went to production, a deadly cyclone had enveloped parts of Bangladesh
where the death toll continued to rise, according to reports from
Reuters and other news sources. Mass evacuations preceded the arrival
of Cyclone Sitrang and while there are not yet any published reports
offering details of amateur radio assistance, Newsline learned
informally that some stations in the country were attempting to help
via VHF radio, as power was lost. At production time, Newsline was
still awaiting details from the IARU and other organizations. We hope
to have more details in our next newscast about the cyclone response.

(REUTERS, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)

**

AUSTRALIAN HAM CLUB REVIVES AID FUND

PAUL/ANCHOR: As devastating flood conditions persist in parts of
Australia, particularly Victoria and much of New South Wales, one
amateur radio club is reviving an outreach initiative begun during
floods that hit at the start of this year. Graham Kemp, VK4BB,
tells us about the effort.

GRAHAM: The North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club, which responded
with financial support when historic floods ravaged so many towns
earlier this year, has revived its funding initiative as parts of
Victoria and New South Wales battle new flood conditions. Begun in
early 2022 as the brainchild of committee members Gary Reeve, VK2XF,
and Matt Bilston VK3VS, this emergency-response effort shows that
not all amateur assistance is necessarily accomplished with radios
alone.

Club secretary Frank Scott, VK2BFC, told Newsline that the earlier
initiative began with $2,000 from the club and quickly grew to more
than $3,000 with donations from inidividual amateurs and other
clubs. As before, the club is asking members of the community who
have had losses in the current flooding to apply to the club for an
e-gift card that can be taken to supermarkets or other retail
outlets to replace some of what was lost. Community members are
being encouraged to apply for the cards, which are valued at an
average of $100.

He said that the club is also prepared to work directly with hams
who lost equipment or towers in the flood to help them replace what
is needed and re-establish their stations. Because many hams also
belong to the local emergency services, the club saw this as an
extension of its public service mission.

Frank said that after seeing the destruction from the latest wave
of flood water, club members decided that the most appropriate
response was to conduct the assistance programme once again.

He told Newsline, "As we say 'When floods happen, we rise above
them as a ham community.'"

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(WIA, FRANK SCOTT VK2BFC)

**

LATEST HAARP EXPERIMENT TO INCORPORATE HAMS' INPUT

PAUL/ANCHOR: Researchers in Alaska will soon be sifting through the
results of some major atmospheric experiments - ones that included
input from hams around the world. Sel Embee, KB3TZD, brings us
those details.

SEL: Following an intense 10-day period of experiments that were to
be concluded by Friday, October 28th, scientists at the High-
frequency Active Auroral Research Program plan to be studying their
results along with observations from participating amateur radio
operators.

Hams had been invited to monitor daily transmissions that included
HF ocean scatter, interactions between satellites and the
ionosphere, moon bounce and an unprecedented attempt to bounce a
signal off of Jupiter. The scientists were also exploring possible
reasons behind the airglow phenomenon known as Strong Thermal
Emission Velocity Enhancement, or by the acronym STEVE, and testing
whether radio transmissions could be used to measure the interiors
of near-Earth asteroids.

The program manager, Jessica Matthews, called the research the most
diverse to ever take place at the Alaska facility and contained the
highest number of experiments to date. She said researchers were
relying on citizen scientists around the world. The research was
funded by a $9.3-million grant from the National Science
Foundation.

Participating hams were able to file their reports electronically
to the lab, making them eligible for QSL cards.

This is Sel Embee, K-B-3-T-Zed-D.

(ALASKA NATIVE NEWS, HF UNDERGROUND)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2349, for Friday, November 4th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2349, with a release date of Friday, November 4th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams on alert during the Philippine's latest
cyclone. Bouvet Island Dxpeditioners announce their pilot team -- and a
New York club looks at people who wrote the book - or books - on ham
radio. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2349,
comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMS AT THE READY IN PHILIPPINE CYCLONE

DON/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to the Philippines where a radio group called Ham Radio Emergency Operations was preparing for the region's
latest cyclone. John Williams, VK4JJW, brings us up to date.

JOHN: A tropical cyclone delivered deadly flooding and landslides in the Philippines in late October, as dozens died and thousands of others
sought shelter. Romy Isidro, DU1SMQ, chairman of the National Traffic
System in the Philippines, said that Ham Radio Emergency Operations, or
HERO, began monitoring emergency frequencies and awaiting further instructions.

Romy said that reports from cities and provinces indicated that much of
the traffic over emergency frequencies were from the various localities
for flooding, commercial electricity, impassable roads, destroyed bridges
and requests for ambulance aid. When a wall collapsed, an amateur radio operator in Central Luzon, in Region 3, volunteered to relay word of that
to the nearest Disaster Risk Reduction Office, which was already
monitoring the emergency frequencies.

Romy said however that most of casualties and fatalities were reported in
very poor regions of the Philippines where the lack of HF radios can complicate emergency communication. Offers of aid to the hardest-hit
provinces came in from the United States, China, Japan, and Australia.

This is John Williams, VK4JJW.

(ROMY ISIDRO, DU1SMQ; REUTERS)

**

PILOTS SELECTED FOR 2023 BOUVET ACTIVATION

DON/ANCHOR: As the time draws closer for the Bouvet Island activation,
new members of the team are being put into place as pilots. We have that update from Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

JIM: In preparation for the Three Y Zero Jay (3Y0J) DXpedition to Bouvet Island in early 2023, the team has announced the addition of pilots.
These hams provide a critical role as intermediaries between the
DXpedition team and the DX chasers. They will be keeping an eye on
propagation in their designated parts of the world to help facilitate contacts. The chief pilot and pilot for Europe is Morten, LA3MHA; North America's East Coast will be covered by Steve, N2AJ. The West Coast of
North America will have Rich, KE1B, as pilot. South America's pilot will
be Siso, HK3W. Hams in VK/ZL/OC will have Lee, VK3GK, as pilot; and in
Asia and Japan, hams will rely on Champ, E21EIC.

The team expects to activate from the sub-Antarctic island between
January 13th and February 28th.

This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(OHIO PENN DX, FACEBOOK)

**

SILENT KEY: PORTABLE OP PROPONENT JANKO SLIVKA OM3WZ/OM3WCF

DON/ANCHOR: Hams in the radio community in the Slovak Republic have lost
a leader and a friend. We hear about him from Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

ED: Hams in the Slovak Republic are grieving the loss of a respected
leader: Janko Slivka OM3WZ/OM3WCF, the former president of the Radio Club OM3VSZ, who has become a Silent Key. His death was announced on a number
of online ham radio forums and on Facebook. The club's current president, Vlado Ludrovsky, OM3TWM, remembered him as a radio operator who combined
his love of amateur radio with his love of outdoor sports, including
cycling and marathon running. He also noted that Janko was an
enthusiastic CW operator.

No further details were available.

I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(FACEBOOK, CQ.SK website)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2350, for Friday, November 11th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2350, with a release date of Friday, November 11th to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Climate change raises ham radio's profile in Mozambique. The transistor celebrates its 75th year -- and a pioneering YL becomes a Silent Key. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2350, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

CLIMATE CHANGE SPURS MOZAMBIQUE TO FOCUS ON HAM RADIO

JIM/ANCHOR: The United Nations Climate Change Conference may be under way
in Egypt, but a series of climate talks held earlier among African nations
has already made a big difference - a difference that lands amateur radio
in a more prominent role as climate grows ever more unpredictable. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, brings us up to date.

JASON: The climate talks that took place among African nations earlier this year in Mozambique have paved the way to something unprecedented in that nation: Mozambique's first ham radio station earmarked specifically for disaster response. Following several seasons of deadly winds and floods battering the country, its leaders are now giving highest priority to formalizing disaster-risk reduction measures such as this. The need for resilient telecommunications is at the top of the list.

A prototype emergency ham radio station has been launched in the capital
city of Maputo, set up by the National Institute of Communications, or
INCM. The station has the support of the Emergency Telecommunications
Cluster, the World Food Programme's Technology division in Mozambique and
the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction. There
are plans to add stations in Tete (tay tay), Niassa (Nee Ossa), Pemba and other provinces.

Sudhir Kumar, the telecommunications cluster's preparedness officer, told
the Mirage News: [quote] "Together, we assessed the needs and drafted a national action plan for telecommunications preparedness in Mozambique."

A dozen radio operators have been trained as hams and have received
licenses. Radio operators throughout the country are also being encouraged
to participate.

Kumar said that additional volunteers are likely to come from the young
people who comprise more than half Mozambique's population. A workshop is planned soon at a major communications technology institute in Maputo.

This is Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

(MIRAGE NEWS)

**

SILENT KEY: ELLEN WHITE, W1YL, PIONEERING YL

JIM/ANCHOR: The worldwide ham community, and most especially those in the Connecticut offices of the ARRL are mourning the loss of an amateur radio leader. We hear more about her from Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

KEVIN: Ellen White, W1YL, spent more than three-quarters of her life
involved in amateur radio and was known the world over for her expertise
and advocacy. Ellen became a Silent Key in Florida on Sunday, November 6th.

The ARRL posted an obituary on its website, noting that Ellen's 25 years
with the league included her stint as deputy communications manager and
later, editor of the column, "How's DX," for QST, the league's magazine.
She had been a ham since 1946 and over the years. she became a well-known presence globally. In 2019, she received the Russian E.T. Krenkel Medal, an honor bestowed upon groups and individuals who have contributed much to amateur radio. She had been a broadcast station engineer by profession and
as an amateur, she developed a fondness for contests.

The Florida Contest Group considered her its "founding grandmother," and
she is pictured on its home page beside her fellow club members. Ellen was
95.

This is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(ARRL)

**

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT TRANSISTORS AFTER 75 YEARS

JIM/ANCHOR: Unless you're a boat anchor enthusiast, chances are you owe a
lot of your amateur radio success to the transistors that are the heart and soul of your rig and other station equipment. The IEEE's (Eye Triple E's) Electron Devices Society has set aside much of the coming year to mark the transistor's 75th anniversary. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, tells us what's in store.

KENT: Considered by many to be the foundation of the electronics industry,
the transistor was created at Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1947, sidelining vacuum tubes for most users of electronics. Its development garnered the
1956 Nobel Prize in physics for the trio who created it and now, so many
years later, its recognition is taking on new life, starting next month.

The IEEE's Electron Devices Society will be holding a series of meetings and conferences into 2023, devoted to the transistor and so many of the devices
it inspired and made possible. The first program is the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting to be held on December 3rd through the 7th in San Francisco.

There will also be plenty of written material to read about the transistor
in the coming year. Society members are writing a book about how it was developed and the EDS newsletter and IEEE Spectrum will be publishing technical articles about the transistor in the months ahead.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(IEEE)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2351, for Friday, November 18th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2351 with a release date of Friday, November 18th to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A shortwave radio giant goes off the air. Are
CubeSats ready to be replaced? -- and a more antenna-friendly environment
in part of Germany. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2351, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

SHORTWAVE GIANT WTWW GOES OFF THE AIR

NEIL/ANCHOR: Shortwave station WTWW has gone QRT. Andy Morrison, K9AWM,
has the details.

ANDY: Shortwave fans worldwide were disappointed to hear the November
9th broadcast announcement of WTWW radio that it was signing off the air
for the last time, with plans to continue to provide programming instead
over the internet. The station's operator Ted Randall, WB8PUM, cited difficulties in meeting the station's ongoing expenses. Based in Lebanon, Tennessee, WTWW provided a wide range of programming at 5.83 MHz along
with music and amateur-radio content at 5.085 MHz. The station was among
many to broadcast programming directed toward Ukraine following the
invasion by Russia earlier this year.

The station went on the air in 2010 as the 100-kilowatt operation WBWW,
and could be heard first on what were testing frequencies of 5.755 MHz
and 9.48 MHz at different times. Over the years, WTWW gained an especially strong following among amateur radio operators for carrying ham-related content. The station also featured program hosts such as Art Bell, W6OBB,
who presented a popular show on the paranormal.

According to the SWListening Post, the station's final signoff included a farewell from Ted that urged listeners to make the move to web-streaming
its content. The station's final song was "America the Beautiful."

By virtue of its station call, WTWW was also known as "We Transmit World Wide."

To continue hearing the station's streamed programs, follow the link in
the text version of this week's script at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: http://wtww.us/pages/listen-live.php ]

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

NEIL/ANCHOR: Some of WTWW's programming is also becoming available on
the commercial shortwave station WRMI, Radio Miami International. WRMI
is airing the content as "WRMI Legends." A new private WRMI Legends Fan Listeners Club page has been launched on Facebook.

(SWLINGPOST, WTWW.US, HFUNDERGROUND.COM, FACEBOOK)

**

RESEARCHERS EXPLORE DISK SHAPE FOR SMALL SATELLITES

NEIL/ANCHOR: The world of the ultra-tiny satellite is preparing to take
on a whole new shape. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, tells us about the shape
of things to come.

RALPH: What modern music-lover doesn't remember compact discs? While that shape is no longer widely used to hold the latest hits or some favorite classics, the compact disk does hold something else: the promise of a new
kind of plate-shaped ultra-tiny satellite. In fact the DiskSat, as it is called, is in development as a potential replacement for the widely known CubeSat, with the hopes of creating a new standard. Because they are so
thin - measuring one inch, or 2.5cm wide - many can be launched at the same time, stacked inside a payload for later deployment on an individual basis. Although its dimensions can be changed, the demonstration DiskSat also measures 1 meter, or not-quite 40 inches - in diameter, leaving plenty of
room for solar cells.

NASA has funded the project by engineers at Aerospace Corporation, a
national nonprofit company headquartered in California. Aerospace hopes
to get a quartet of DiskSats launched in either 2023 or 2024 through the Pentagon's Space Test Program.

Engineers hope the DiskSat will prove suitable for very low Earth orbit, offering low atmospheric drag and the ability to stay up in space for
longer periods of time. That kind of compact disc would indeed bring music
to everyone's ears.

This is Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB.

(AEROSPACE.ORG)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2352 for Friday, November 25th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2352, with a release date of Friday, November 25th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Ham radio reunites a family after a 23-year
absence. Imagine a micro-sized battery with a lifespan of almost two
decades -- and when is a QSL card also a thank-you card?

All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2352, comes
your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMS REUNITE LOST FATHER WITH SONS AFTER 23 YEARS

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the tale of a poignant reunion
between an octogenarian in India, and the grieving family, who had
presumed he had died after a deadly cyclone that claimed thousands
of lives 23 years ago. That reunion happened with the help of amateur
radio. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has that remarkable story.

GRAHAM: After a super cyclone flattened the coast of Odisha in India
in 1999, Kritichandra (Kritty-Chondra) Baral (Bah-RAHL) lost his
family and his memory - the latter possibly from some kind of trauma. Meanwhile, never learning for certain the fate of their patriarch, his
sons presumed their father was one of the thousands who lost their
lives in that natural disaster. The man survived, however, and lived
as a vagrant on the streets of a city in Andhra Pradesh, existing for
years on handouts and people's generosity. Ten years ago, he was taken
in by a group known as the Missionaries of Charity after one of his
benefactors discovered his health had deteriorated, and asked that he
be accepted into their care.

The charity's ongoing efforts to locate his family failed until Nov. 19,
when they contacted the West Bengal Radio Club, which has extensive
experience in assisting with reunions of missing persons and their
families. The hams had helped the charity before, and the group was
hopeful that the radio amateurs would succeed where the charity had not. Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the club's secretary, said after some time,
the amateur radio club was able to locate the man's sons. He told various Indian news media outlets that two of the sons: [quote] "were dumbstruck
when they saw their father's photograph, and then started weeping. They
are a well-to-do family, and said their father went missing after the
cyclone and was presumed dead." [endquote]

In videos shared with Newsline by Ambarish Nag Biswas, the family can be
seen with their father at the Missionaries of Charity residence. They are overcome by emotion, hugging one another for the first time in more than
two decades.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA; GULF NEWS)

**

BIG PROMISE FROM ULTRA-TINY BATTERY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Battery technology continues to change, and the latest
evolution announced recently is a super-small rechargeable "micro-battery"
with a high tolerance for variations in temperature - and a lifespan of
between one and two decades. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, tells us about this
new development, and what scientists are saying about it.

KENT: A company in France believes it has come up with the latest solution
to provide battery power for micro-power devices. The company, ITEN, has developed an ultra-small rechargeable lithium battery. At first glance,
the surface-mount solid-state battery might easily be mistaken for an SMD
chip, as its housing is only slightly larger than the battery's own
dimensions of 3.2 by 2.5 mm. They are, of course, not chips: These
batteries have a capacity of between 0.1 mAh and 0.5 mAh. They were found capable of tolerating temperatures between minus 40 degrees Celsius, or
minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, all the way to 85 degrees Celsius, or 185
degrees Fahrenheit.

Their ability to deliver peak currents make them especially useful for
powering RF transmissions such as Bluetooth, Sigfox, and LTE, to deliver packets of data via sensors. The website, CNX software, also sees the
batteries as being useful for sensor data loggers, beacons and backup
power supplies for microcontrollers.

The solid-state technology is considered another plus, contributing
toward a usable lifespan of between 10 and 20 years. The company has
said the batteries are also fast-charging.

The website, Hackaday, poses the following challenge: [quote] "We'd be particularly interested to learn about their temperature sensitivity
when it comes to soldering, as we've taken to heart the warnings about soldering to more traditional lithium cells." [endquote]

The website noted that there are apparently some evaluation kits
available directly from the company in France.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(ITEN.COM, HACKADAY, CNX-SOFTWARE)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2353 for Friday, December 2nd, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2353, with a release date of Friday, December 2nd, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A troubled orbit detours a project to put
amateur radio on the moon. It's almost time for the 12 Days of Christmas Special Event - and a happy ending for the producer of a ham radio documentary. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2353, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

ORBIT TROUBLES FOR AMATEUR RADIO MOON LANDER

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week in space, where a troubled orbit has detoured a Japanese amateur radio project that was heralded as the
world's smallest moon lander. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, brings us that
report.

JASON: OMOTENASHI, developed by the JAXA Ham Radio Club in Japan,
carried the promise of putting amateur radio on the moon's surface when
it launched on November 16th from Kennedy Space Center in the US. Now
the chance to transmit a beacon in the amateur radio 70cm band from a
lunar QTH has been put into question.

The CubeSat was a secondary payload aboard NASA's Artemis 1 mission. In English translation from Japanese, the ham radio club's website for
JAXA, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, reports that orbital errors
have resulted in an unstable radio signal for its communications. The
website also reports that the solar cells face away from the sun, making
it problematic to charge OMOTENASHI's batteries.

Having missed the chance for a moon landing, organisers are regrouping.
The website reports that data from OMOTENASHI will be analysed to
unearth a possible cause of what happened. The report said that the team believed that the axis of rotation is stable and that the spacecraft
will get sunlight when the direction of the sun changes. They expect
that will happen next March.

This is Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

(JAXA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)

**

HOMEBREW CUBESATS ARE A 'FIRST' FOR LAUNCH IN INDIA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Indian radio amateurs and space enthusiasts had a proud
moment when a rocket launch for an ocean-monitoring satellite had a pair
of homegrown amateur radio CubeSats along for the ride. Here's Jim
Meachen, ZL2BHF, with details.

JIM: Members of the Star Fleet Amateur Radio Club, National Institute
for Amateur Radio, Indian Institute of Hams, West Bengal Radio Club and
the Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management were among
the hundreds of amateurs across India watching eagerly on Saturday,
November 26th as an Indian Space Research Organisation mission lifted
off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Although the primary payload
was an ocean observation satellite, the varied secondary payload also
included two satellites that Indian news media were praising as the
nation's first homegrown amateur satellites to be launched aboard an
Indian space vehicle.

The nanosatellites had been built in Hyderabad (Hy-Dra-Bod) by Druva
Space, founded by four radio amateurs 10 years ago. The CubeSats have a combined mass of 1.45 kilograms and each is no larger than 10 by 10 by 5 centimeters. Hams will be able to use their store-and-forward messaging system.

Dhruva's CEO Sanjay Nekkanti AB3OE / VU3ISS told one news outlet that
this mission was extremely important to those who designed and built
the satellites and said the hams will be testing them out following
their deployment into low earth orbit. Sanjay said [quote] "This is a
way for us to give back to the ecosystem." [endquote] He said he hoped
the mission would also encourage more people to get involved in amateur
radio and the sciences.

This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(THE PRINT, REPUBLIC WORLD, NASA SPACEFLIGHT.COM)

**

SWITZERLAND PREPARES FOR SHUTDOWN OF FM RADIO

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Just as the nature and the technology of amateur radio
keeps evolving so too is the landscape changing for broadcast FM. Jeremy
Boot, G4NJH, has that story.

JEREMY: Switzerland is preparing for the shutdown of its FM radio
services as Swiss listeners join the ranks of those in Norway and in the
UK who now tune into DAB+

The nation's switchover from FM/analogue to DAB+/digital radio was the
subject of discussion at the recent WorldDAB Summit, a digital radio
industry forum held in London in early November. Norway's P4 radio led
the charge in that nation more than five years ago, embracing the
multiple channels from one transmitter, a lower cost way to keep station programming on the air.

Switzerland's move comes just as the broadcast licences for the nation's
radio stations expire at the end of 2024. Broadcasters see the switch as
a way to save money while increasing the reach and the variety of the programme content. There will be no simulcasting on FM and digital.

In a report in Radio World magazine, Swiss broadcaster Nicola Bomio said
he was worried that the change would cost the stations listenership.
Others said they wondered whether listeners living on the border with
France would simply tune in to stations there.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(RADIO WORLD MAGAZINE)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2354, for Friday, December 9th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2354, with a release date of
Friday, December 9th, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A young amateur's balloon makes an incredible
journey. A new record is set for the lowest ham band in Australia --
and meet the receipient of Newsline's International Newsmaker of the
Year Award for 2022. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2354, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

A SOUTH POLE 'FIRST' FOR AMATEUR RADIO BALLOON

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week asks: When is a transmitting
error not really an error but a triumph? When those transmissions
are coming from an amateur radio high altitude balloon that became
the first of its kind to come so close to the South Pole. Kevin
Trotman, N5PRE, has that story.

KEVIN: When the high altitude balloon transmitting KM4ZIA, the
amateur radio call sign of 15-year-old Jack McElroy, was launched
recently in Antarctica, it became part of atmospheric work being
done by University of Alabama researcher, Todd McKinney KN4TPG.
Instead of just helping build mathematical models of the atmosphere,
however, Jack's balloon soon embarked on a incredible journey. A
little more than a week later, its navigational equipment began to
spit out a series of error messages on 20 meters. One observer in
the US, however, realized that nothing was really wrong. He knew, in
fact, that something remarkable was happening. Family friend and
high-altitude balloon expert, Bill Brown, WB8ELK, knew Jack's solar-
powered balloon was a short distance from the South Pole. Mapping
systems could no longer determine its position from data being sent
on 20 meters because of the densely spaced lines of longitude there
at the end of the Earth.

Jack's father, Tom McElroy, W4SDR, told Newsline in a phone
interview: [quote] "This is the closest any amateur radio balloon
has come to the South Pole." [endquote] Tom said Bill phoned the
family home in Georgia that morning from Huntsville, Alabama, on
December 1st, and said Jack's balloon had literally gone off the
map. Tom broke the news to an astonished Jack on the way to school.
He said Jack had quite a story for his science teacher that day.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

NEIL/ANCHOR: You can track Jack's balloon at aprs.fi, using his call
sign KM4ZIA. This isn't Jack's first balloon, either. He has
launched several over the years, including two years at Youth on the
Air Camp, in a team effort with his sister, Audrey McElroy, KM4BUN,
who is this year's 2022 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year.

**

STAMP COLLECTING GETS HOLIDAY SPIRIT FROM HAMS

NEIL/ANCHOR: The charitable spirit of amateur radio has always
extended past direct involvement with radio activity. Here in the
US, one club in Pennsylvania is looking for amateurs' assistance in
a project that members have been committed to for a number of years.
Sel Embee, KB3TZD, gives us those details.

SEL: If you're starting to receive holiday cards from friends or
eagerly awaiting the arrival of QSL cards from those treasured DX
contacts, members of the Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club, WM3PEN, in Philadelphia are asking one more thing of you: Save those stamps.
Hams in the Pennsylvania club support the "Stamps for the Wounded"
program, which accepts donations of stamps from around the world for
use in occupational therapy programs in convalescent centers and
hospitals where veterans are receiving treatment.

Although the everyday United States "Forever Flag" stamp is not
needed for this program, all other stamps are welcome. Stamps should
have at least a quarter-inch margin around them and should not be
removed from the original envelopes on which they are sent. The hams
in this club have been longtime supporters of the program, which was established in 1942 to encourage stamp collecting among the nation's
military veterans who were at various stages of recovery. The
program has more details on its website at stampsforthewounded dot
org (stampsforthewounded.org). That's "stampsforthewounded" - one
word, dot org.

If you wish to donate stamps to help the club in their efforts, you
can send them to Rich Shivers, K3UJ. You'll find his address in the
text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org.

This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD.

[FOR PRINT ONLY: Rich Shivers, K3UJ, 9029 Eastview Rd.,
Philadelphia, PA 19152, USA ]

(HARC newsletter)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2355, for Friday, December 16th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2355, with a release date of
Friday, December 16th, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams help a lost 5-year-old find her way
home. A hiking trail steps off with a boost from amateur radio --
and hams in Connecticut pay tribute to the transatlantic tests of
1921. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2355, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMS HELP RETURN LOST 5-YEAR-OLD TO FAMILY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Last week we celebrated the Newsline's selection of the
West Bengal Radio Club as International Newsmaker of the Year. This
week our first story reports on their latest effort - reuniting a
family with the 5-year-old daughter who they had given up for dead.
John Williams, VK4JJW, has that story.

JOHN: A children's game of hide-and-seek at a railway station went
very wrong in August of 2020, when a 5-year-old girl chose an
unfortunate spot to hide from her three brothers: a train that
pulled out of the station shortly afterwards. She was eventually
able to disembark farther down the line at the Kolkata Railway
Station but because she spoke only Hindi and not Bengali, she could
only explain her situation with her tears when police found her
crying at the station. According to a report in the Millennium Post,
a year passed in which the girl was sent by an NGO to a children's
care home and enrolled in school. She gained fluency in Bengali and
soon became an honors student in her class. Unable to track down her
parents all this time, the administrators of the private home
notified the West Bengal Radio Club of the girl's predicament,
according to Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA. Club members utilised
their network of contacts and were able to trace her family to
Jharkhand, a bordering state in eastern India. Photographs shared
with the family on the WhatsApp mobile platform confirmed that this
was indeed their missing daughter.

The little girl went home on Saturday, December 10th.

Ambarish Nag Biswas told the Indo Asian News Service: [quote] "When
our contacts got in touch with the mother and we got her to connect
with her daughter through a video call, it was a heart-wrenching
moment. The woman had given up her child as dead. The little girl
had given up all hope of getting back to her family ever again."
[endquote]

This is John Williams, VK4JJW.

(MILLENNIUM POST, INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE)

**

VINTAGE TRANSMITTER IN TRANSATLANTIC TRIBUTE

PAUL/ANCHOR: In the US recently, hams teamed up for a radio
activation that turned out to be a living museum and a tribute to
history. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, tells us about it.

KEVIN: Visitors to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of
Connecticut were part of a celebration of history taking place on
Sunday, December 11th. They watched and heard as Bob Allison,
WB1GCM, got on the air using a repurposed Gates BC1T commercial
transmitter using the callsign W1VCM/1BCG for AM operation on 75
meters. Bob was marking the 101st anniversary of amateur station
1BCG's contact with Scotland during the ARRL Transatlantic Test of
1921. Bob, president of the museum's amateur radio club, told
Newsline: [quote] "December 11th is a great day to celebrate Amateur
Radio, as the day marks the many technological successes of the era:
CW's efficiency and effectiveness over spark, the use of a
superheterodyne radio receiver, and the directional Beverage
Antenna." [endquote]

The tribute event had been organized by Clark Burgard, N1BCG, of
Greenwich, Connecticut. The original transmissions that made history
more than a century ago occurred in Greenwich, about 90 minutes
southwest of the museum, with operators sending CW across the ocean.

This year, more modern equipment joined the refurbished Gates
transmitter during Bob's three-hour activation, which also included
time spent on 40M and 2M sideband.

Before he left for the day and headed out into the snow, Bob made
sure he logged one more important contact: Bob talked to the museum
visitors who'd been observing him on the radio to share in the
triumph of more than a century ago.

This is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(BOB ALLISON WB1GCM)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2356, for Friday, December 23rd, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2356, with a release date of Friday, December 23rd, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams prep for severe winter weather in the US.
Make plans for Ham Radio University -- and finally a Santa watch roundup
and our annual Christmas card to you. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2356, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

SKYWARN OPS PREP FOR SEVERE WEATHER SEASON

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a report that acknowledges the severe weather now sweeping through much of the United States. For the radio volunteers of SKYWARN, there is no rest. Randy Sly, W4XJ, explains what
comes next.

RANDY: For SKYWARN Amateur Radio volunteers, there's no time off now that tornado and hurricane season is over. On December 10th, more than 1900 operators and 38 National Weather Service offices took part in a one-day operation called SKYWARN Recognition Day, or SRD, where stations contact
as many of those offices as possible. Now, it's already time for winter weather reporting.

In fact, Rob Macedo, KD1CY, one of the coordinators for SRD, didn’t even have time to finish compiling his reports before he was activated for a coastal storm last week that brought over 20" of snow in the Berkshire Mountain region of New England and rainfall of as much as 3 to 4.5" in southern New England.

Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, who is also a ham
radio operator with the callsign WX4KEG, sent a special video message to SKYWARN Recognition Day participants, thanking them for participating and
for their involvement in SKYWARN reporting.

Those reports, whether snow, tornado damage or other information, he
said, have greatly helped the National Weather Service over the years.
The link to the video message can be found in the text version of this
report at ARNewline.org.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

[for print only, do not read:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HME-JjlEL8]

**

SPACE WEATHER CENTER TO HALT LOCAL MESSAGES

JIM/ANCHOR: The United States government's Space Weather Prediction
Center has proposed eliminating the recorded WWV geophysical alert
message available from its local Colorado phone number, 303-497-3235.
Callers to that number have been hearing the announcement about its discontinuation, which takes effect on January 15th, 2023.

There are, however, numerous other ways to continue receiving this information. Robert Steenburgh, AD0IU, acting lead of the Space Weather Forecast Office, told Newsline that the messages are available via subscription service on their website under the Forecasts and Summaries category. He said subscribers can get these messages sent automatically
every three hours when they are updated. The website appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

Rob also told Newsline that the recording is a duplicate of the message already available from WWV via telephone at (303) 499-7111 for WWV in Colorado, and (808) 335-4363 for WWVH in Hawaii at 18 minutes past every
hour. He said the information is also available at the primary website of
the center. That link also appears in the text version of this week's newscast.

Comments on this change can be submitted to the Space Weather Prediction Center at the website spaceweather.gov under the feedback tab.

[TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MESSAGE: https://pss.swpc.noaa.gov ]

[PRIMARY WEBSITE: https://www.spaceweather.gov/products/geophysical-alert-wwv-text ]

(ROBERT STEENBURGH, AD0IU)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2357 for Friday, December 30th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2357, with a release date of
Friday, December 30th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in Switzerland get use of the 4m band.
Amateur ranks grow on Prince Edward Island, Canada -- and get ready
to jump into the DX Ultra-Marathon. All this and more, as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2357, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

SWISS AMATEURS GRANTED ACCESS TO 4M BAND

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with good news for the new year.
Starting on the first of January, hams in Switzerland will be allowed
to operate on the 4m band using all commonplace simplex modes. The
Swiss amateur radio association USKA reported recently that their communications authorities have granted approval to hams holding HB9
licenses for a maximum operating power of 25 watts ERP. Hams may
operate only on freqencies between 70 MHz and 70.0375 MHz. They also
have permission for the range between 70.1125 and 70.5000MHz.

Relays and Echolink gateways will not be permitted on the band, and
any stations being operated via remote-control must get permission
from the Regulator, OFCOM-CH.

(DARC, FEDERAL NETWORK AGENCY)

**

TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATIONS RENEWED IN GERMANY

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: There is also good news for hams in Germany as temporary authorisations for certain bands have been renewed for another year.
Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has the details.

JEREMY: In Germany, the Federal Network Agency, BNetZA, has extended temporary allocations for amateur operation in part of the160 metre,
the 6 and 4 metre and 13 and 6 centimetre bands. These permissions were
to have expired at the end of this year, but are now granted anew until
the 31st of December 2023. According to a Google translation of the announcement in the agency Gazette, 6 m band operation is allowed in the
50 to 50.4 MHz frequency range. Class A licence holders may use a maximum
of 750 watts PEP and Class E licence holders can transmit with a maximum
of 100 W PEP with operation only permitted using horizontal polarisation.
For the frequency range between 50.4 and 52 MHz, only 25 watts PEP is
allowed, but contest operation is permitted.

On the 4m band, operation is granted up to 25w ERP using horizontal polarisation by Class A licence holders and on frequencies between 70.150
and 70.210 MHz. At the top end of 160 metres, Class both A and E licence holders may use their permitted maximum transmission power, operating at weekends within the frequencies 1.85 and 2.00 MHz. Contest operation on
160m is only allowed on these frequencies and at the weekend.

Finally, holders of licence Class E are given access to the 13 and 6 cm
bands, from 2320 to 2450 MHz and 5650 to 5850 MHz with a maximum power of
5 W PEP so that they can take part in the Hamnet Mesh data network

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(FEDERAL NETWORK AGENCY)

**

HAM RANKS INCREASE ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND AFTER STORMS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In one Canadian province, hams have noticed that the aftereffects of the past storm season haven't all been bad. Sel Embee,
K B 3 T Zed D, is here to tell us about one big change for the better.

SEL: There are a lot of happy radio operators on Prince Edward Island
lately. Hams in this province of Atlantic Canada have discovered their
ranks are growing.

According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, tropical
storm Fiona and the COVID-19 pandemic have created an environment that
has led island residents to discover the appeal of radio communications. Prince Edward Island, also known among island chasers as IOTA Number
NA-029, has become a place to nurture new amateurs, according to members
of the Charlottetown Amateur Radio Club.

The club's president, Bill McMaster, VY2WM, told the CBC that the group's membership has grown especially after amateur radio's profile grew during tropical storm Fiona this past September. At the time of the storm, local operators were helping with emergency response through the CANWARN
emergency communications network, joining the ongoing nets, providing
status reports and weather updates.

Organizers told the CBC that the hams on the island expect to have another training program for license candidates by springtime.

This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD.

(CBC)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2358, for Friday, January 6th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2358, with a release date of Friday, January 6th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. There are two more callsigns to listen for from
Bouvet Island. Smartphones are gaining increased satellite capability --
hams in Ohio get an exemption from a new distracted-driving law. All this
and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2358, comes your way
right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

BOUVET DXPEDITION ADDS TWO MORE CALLSIGNS

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a Bouvet Island Dxpedition update.
As if the 3Y0J team itself weren't generating enough buzz in the ham radiosphere, two additional callsigns are expected to be on the air from
that coveted DX location. John Williams, VK4JJW, gives us those details.

JOHN: The long-awaited Bouvet Island Dxpedition team has a new twist to
its plans. Two Norwegian radio operators who are part of the Dxpedition
team intend to operate from the island under their own calls for a
limited time. It is intended to happen toward the end of the 3Y0J team's expected 22-day activation late this month. The development was reported
on January 1st on the website DX-WORLD.NET, which gave confirmation from
Ken, LA7GIA, co-leader of the main Bouvet activation. Ken said that this
would be the first time any Norwegian with an LB callsign activated from Bouvet. The gameplan is apparently to have the 3Y0J pilot stations inform eager DX hunters when the pair get on the air. Be listening for the
callsigns used by Gjermund, 3Y/LB5GI, and Erwann, 3Y/LB1QI.

This is John Williams, VK4JJW.

(DX-WORLD.NET, 3YØJ WEBSITE)

**

NEW SMARTPHONE MODELS GAIN SATELLITE ACCESS

PAUL/ANCHOR: In this new year, sat-phone users and amateur radio
operators won't be the only ones who can bounce radio signals off
satellites. Here's Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, with that story.

KENT: Some smartphones are gaining a new capability in the new year:
direct satellite access. Text-messaging that uses satellite
communications will be possible for some consumers using Hauwei and Apple devices, according to a recent report in the IEEE Spectrum. While Apple
and Hauwei expect to use older satellites that are already in orbit by
putting new chips in their flagship handsets, new low-Earth-orbit
satellite networks are also being built. Those are in the works from
startup companies Lynk Global and AST SpaceMobile, which hope to provide service to 5G phones in areas without terrestrial coverage.

Observers note that this satellite functionality on smartphones will not include the ability to make phone calls or to stream data but its added capacity of texting will provide another means of calling for help in an emergency in regions where the caller has a clear view to the sky.

Working in partnership with Globalstar, Apple devices have offered a
service called Emergency SOS via satellite since last November. Huawei
however has not yet announced the date of its rollout. Meanwhile, Lynk
Global expects to begin operations in the new year and AST SpaceMobile
expects to launch five of its satellites later this year.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(IEEE SPECTRUM)

**

STRAIGHT KEY MONTH GETS GOING FOR SKCC

PAUL/ANCHOR: It's not just a new year, it's Straight Key Month, according
to the calendar of the Straight Key Century Club. Randy Sly, W4XJ, keys
in on the action for us.

RANDY: With the ARRL's Straight Key Night, a January 1st event, already
in the books, the Straight Key Century Club is keeping the fun going for
CW operators around the world through to the end of the month. On January
2nd, operators who are club members began calling CQ with various
callsigns starting with K3Y from the 10 US call areas, as K3Y/0, through K3Y/9. Outside of the continental United States, club members are calling
as K3Y/KH6, KL7 and KP4.

Across six continents, operators will be on the air with stations for the special event, You will hear them calling "CQ SKM," using their own
callsigns. These are stations in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America,
Oceania and South America.

This annual event celebrates the founding of the SKCC in 2006 and pays
tribute to the earliest telegraphy keys - the straight key, the bug and
the sideswiper, also known as the cootie.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2359 for Friday, January 13th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2359, with a release date of Friday, January 13th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. An Indonesian ham satellite scores a first for the nation. The FCC studies spectrum space for drones -- and hams in Australia prepare to pay higher fees. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2359, comes your way right now.

**

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**

INDONESIAN SATELLITE IS NATION'S FIRST BY STUDENTS

DON/ANCHOR: An achievement by Indonesian students is being celebrated as a "first" for that nation. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, has those details.

JASON: Congratulations to the students of Surya University in Indonesia following the deployment of their first satellite from the International
Space Station. Known as SS-1, for Surya Satellite 1, the CubeSat was sent
into space on its own successfully on Friday, January 6th. SS-1 is also Indonesia's first student-built satellite. The university undergraduates undertook the project with the support of the United Nations Office for
Outer Space Affairs, which recognised it in a design competition in 2018.
That achievement awarded it the chance to be deployed from the ISS.

The CubeSat's mission is to test communication between an Automatic Package Reporting System payload and the ground using the amateur radio frequency 145.825 MHz. The university students were inspired to undertake the project after seeing a presentation on amateur radio by the Indonesian Radio
Amateurs Organization, known as ORARI.

This is Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

(AMSAT News Service)

**

FCC EYES 5GHz BAND FOR AERIAL VEHICLES

DON/ANCHOR: In the US, the FCC is taking yet another look at spectrum allocation, this time in the 5GHz band. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, tells us
what they have in mind.

KENT: A portion of the 5GHz spectrum could become available to unmanned
aerial vehicles, such as drones, under a proposal being considered by the
US Federal Communications Commission.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel issued a statement saying that an assessment of spectrum resources dedicated to remote-piloted aircraft was
long overdue. The FCC is studying the range between 5.03GHz and 5.091GHz - frequencies that are below the range typically used in the US and other countries for other low-power, unlicensed wireless devices using
frequencies that start at 5.15GHz. In the US, the FCC limits the maximum channel width used by unlicensed devices to prevent interference with users
on the licensed portion of the spectrum. The frequencies being looked at by the FCC are not within the amateur band between 5.65 and 5.85 GHz.

The agency is seeking input on the proposal, which takes on added
importance as the commercial use of drones continues to surge in the United States. The chairwoman said that the FCC also acknowledges that unmanned aircraft are also vital to first responders and in disaster-recovery and wildfire situations. She said the proposal was developed with input from
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the
Federal Aviation Administration.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(THE REGISTER, FCC)

**

LEND YOUR VOICE TO THE AM RALLY

DON/ANCHOR: It's time to get on the air and celebrate the first voice mode used by amateur radio. Here's Andy Morrison, K9AWM, to tell us how.

ANDY: Anyone who uses Amplitude Modulation on the bands knows the warm
sound it brings to casual conversation and the historical importance of keeping alive the first amateur voice mode. The AM Rally, an annual celebration of this mode, is returning to HF and 6 meters from February 3rd through to the 6th. It's not necessary to have a boat anchor for full
carrier amplitude modulation. Modern radios, including software-defined
rigs, as well as military radios, modified broadcast radios and home brew models are capable of helping operators take part in this event.

Information about logging your contacts and noting your rig and your output power class, can be found on the website amrally dot com (amrally.com).
There are suggestions on how to prepare as well as a guide to where and
when you can find the most active AM action going on, from 6 to 160 meters.
AM cannot be used on 60 meters in the United States, however.

As organizer Clark, N1BCG, says: [quote] "It's a great opportunity for newcomers to try the first phone mode and for experienced ops to be AM Ambassadors." [endquote]

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

**

AUSTRALIAN AMATEURS FACING HIGHER FEES

DON/ANCHOR: A fee increase is about to have an impact on amateur radio operators Down Under. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, explains what's happening.

GRAHAM: Hams in Australia will begin paying higher fees for amateur radio services from the Australian Maritime College starting on Monday, February 6th. The Australian Communications and Media Authority approved a fee
increase of 5 percent to cover callsign services and amateur qualification procedures. The fees have been implemented in keeping with the government's Cost Recovery Guidelines, which permit authorities to charge nongovernment entities for part or all of the costs involved in certain government activities, such as regulation or services. The Australian Maritime College manages amateur radio exam services for the ACMA at the proficiency levels
of Foundation, Standard and Advanced licence classes.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(WIA)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2360, for Friday, January 20th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2360 with a release date of
Friday, January 20th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Ten meters wakes up in time for popular
events. Puerto Rico gets new tools for disaster communications --
and get ready for Bouvet Island on the air. All this and more, as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2360, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

BOUVET ISLAND ON THE HORIZON

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this report with encouraging and long-awaited
news for DXers. The latest report from the Bouvet Island DXpedition,
3Y0J [THREE WHY ZERO JAY], is that radio operations could start
sometime between the 27th of January, and the 4th of February. The
team intends to stay on the remote island for three weeks. According
to a post on DX-World.Net, Kenneth Opskar, LA7GIA, has reported that
the sail from Port Stanley began on the 17th of January, just one day
behind schedule. The operators said they are not planning any /MM
activity on the way; however you can track them using the Garmin link
shown on the Newsline website.

[DO NOT READ:https://share.garmin.com/3y0j ]

**

THINKING AHEAD TO THE 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP

JIM/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, even with the big world radio championship
coming to Italy later this year, the event's organizing committee
is already looking for host venues for 2026. Graham Kemp, VK4BB,
tells us what's involved.

GRAHAM: While much of the amateur radio world awaits the start of the
World Radiosport Team Championship in Bologna, Italy this coming July,
the WRTC Sanctioning Committee is already looking forward to hearing
from prospective host sites for this prestigious event to be held in
2026.

Groups interested in serving as hosts for WRTC 2026 should submit
a summary proposal and a letter of intent. The information should
include details about principals in the committee making the
proposal and a description of how the competition will be conducted,
including the number of entrant teams to be allowed and the means by
which competitors will be chosen. Details must also be provided about
housing arrangements available, travel options and a tentative
schedule. Although it is not yet necessary to submit a budget,
prospective hosts should provide an outline of expenses, and their
fundraising plan. The proposal should also discuss the means by which
the event will be publicized, and what kind of regional support the
event will have from regulators as well as amateur radio organisations
in the area.

The deadline to submit letters of intent is March 31st. Send details
directly to Tine Brajnik, S50A, by email. The address is tine dot
brajnik at gmail dot com (tine.brajnik@gmail.com)

The committee hopes to announce the venue for the 2026 event at the
conclusion of the competition in Bologna.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(WRTC)

**

TWO PROMINENT INDIAN AMATEURS ARE SILENT KEYS

JIM/ANCHOR: In India, the ham radio community has lost two well-
respected veteran hams who became Silent Keys this month. Jason
Daniels, VK2LAW, tells us about them.

JASON: Two amateurs in the Indian radio community have become
Silent Keys. S. Venkataraman, VU2SV, was described in many online
tributes as a "homebrew legend." People posting their condolences
in a number of online forums expressed their gratitude for the
assistance he gave them in many of their own projects and for
serving as an inspiration. A ham since 1962, he died on January 3rd
at the age of 88.

Amateurs in India and Sri Lanka were also grieving the loss of
"Sun" Shanmugasundram, VU2FOT. A well-known amateur, he was part
of the team that created a popular Sunday morning net in 1988. In
the beginning it was known as the SWL DX Net but on its tenth
anniversary was renamed the BC DX Net, a name that continues to
this day. He died on January 12th at the age of 61.

This is Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

(YOUTUBE, QRZ.COM, FACEBOOK)

**

FROM DRILL TO REAL-LIFE DISASTER

JIM/ANCHOR: Disaster drills are supposed to prepare radio operators
for the real thing - so imagine how hams felt in one California
county when one of their more recent drills played out as a real-life emergency. Randy Sly, W4XJ, shares that experience.

RANDY: When Sacramento County ARES was invited to participate in
an in-person training exercise last summer, they had no idea that
a few months later the drill would play out as a real-life event.
Most in-person emergency training had come to a halt nationwide
over the past few years due to the pandemic, but Sacramento County
emergency managers wanted to return from table-top scenarios to
in-person training with deployed incident command posts. This in-
person drill focused on the levee system of the delta for the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. At one point, there was a
simulated communications blackout and ARES was called in to
establish contact between the EOC, command posts and people in the
field using FM and Winlink.

Now fast forward to early January. This time, what was happening
was not a training exercise: a winter storm with pounding rain was
wreaking havoc throughout the coastal counties of central and
southern California. Sacramento County activated and included ARES
to assist in reporting flooding of the rivers, particularly in the
delta region. Sacramento County EC, Jay Ballinger, N6SAC, told AR
Newsline that, thanks to the drill, the familiarity the hams had
gained with roads around the river region as well as with county
emergency management allowed ARES to effectively deploy and
report.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2361, for Friday, January 27th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2361, with a release date of Friday, January 27th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Innovative antenna technology makes its debut on a student CubeSat. A well-loved radio museum reopens in Ireland - and a radio telescope receives a signal from a record-breaking distance. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2361 comes your way right now.

**

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**

TELESCOPE LOGS A RECORD-BREAKING RADIO TRANSMISSION

NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with a report of a record-breaking signal from a galaxy far, far away. Here's Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

GRAHAM: Scientists have captured a faint radio signal from the most distant galaxy yet - a signal they believe created a chance to look back 8.8 billion years in time when the universe was 4.9 billion years old.

Arnab Chakraborty, a post-doctoral researcher at McGill University, said the signal was received at a "record-breaking distance."

A news release from McGill university said the signal, which was received by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India, had a wavelength called the 21 cm line.

The researchers credit a naturally occurring phenomenon known as
gravitational lensing. When that happens, another galaxy that exists between the radio signal and the telescope bends the signal which magnifies it, enabling the telescope to detect it. Scientist Nirupam Roy at the Indian Institute of Science said this process shows great potential for further
study of distant galaxies.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(CBS NEWS, MC GILL UNIVERSITY)

**

SILENT KEY: ARRL WESTERN PENNA SECTION TRAFFIC MGR, BOB KETZELL, KB3IN

NEIL/ANCHOR: Amateurs in Western Pennsylvania are grieving the loss of a valued friend, mentor, and top traffic handler. For that story, we turn to Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

KEVIN: There was to be a final call and moment of silence for Bob Ketzell, KB3IN, on Friday evening, January 27th, at the start of the Western Pennsylvania Phone Traffic Net on 80 meters. Bob became a Silent Key on Tuesday, January 24th, following a long illness.

According to his close friend, Eddie Misiewicz KB3YRU, Bob took great joy handling the daily Radiogram traffic on the National Traffic System in
western Pennsylvania, and serving as net control for the Western
Pennsylvania Phone Traffic Net.

First licensed in 1961 as a junior in high school, Bob most recently had
been Western Pennsylvania section traffic manager for the ARRL and the
Western Pennsylvania representative for the 3rd Region Net Cycle 2 Traffic Net. A member of the Washington County Amateur Communications Club, he was a former ARES emergency coordinator for Washington County.

According to Eddie, Bob was well-known for his generosity as a mentor,
having taught traffic-handling and Radiogram classes to fellow amateurs. He was a retired dispatch supervisor for the Washington County Department of Public Safety in Pennsylvania.

Eddie said of him: "Our next section traffic manager is going to have big shoes to fill. There will never be another Bob."

Bob was 76.

(EDDIE MISIEWICZ, K B 3 Y R U)

**

HAMS JOIN CELEBRATION OF WORLD RADIO DAY

NEIL/ANCHOR: A group of hams in Europe will be joining the on-air
festivities in February recognizing the role radio can play as a tool of
peace among nations. Andy Morrison, K9AWM, brings us that report.

ANDY: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as UNESCO, declared World Radio Day to be a celebration of the contributions this communications medium can make towards peace. This year marks the 12th such World Radio Day on the 13th of February. Although there
is a separate day set aside to mark World Amateur Radio Day later this
spring, hams with the EA Digital Federation are celebrating the medium with several special event stations.

Operators plan to be on the air this year with special callsigns between Friday, the 10th and Monday the 13th of the month. The callsigns are AO (A
OH) one through nine W-R-D. QSL cards will be available for any single
contact and qualify the operator for the Radio Clubs of the World Award, EANET.

Meanwhile, on the commercial side of the spectrum in the US, KDKA News Radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is receiving the 2023 World Radio Day Award for
US stations, as the country's oldest licensed broadcast station. Previous winners include 1010 WINS (TEN-TEN Wins) in New York City, college radio station WRHU at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York and the first winner, WTOP in Washington, DC.

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(UNESCO, EA DIGITAL FEDERATION, WIA)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

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.

**

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**

GET READY TO WORK BOUVET ISLAND 3Y0J

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 3Y0J 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 3Y0J 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, 3Y0J 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, KC0DGY, 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 $10,000 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 $11-million,
according to the Congressional Budget Office. Funds were not provided
until last March and only $5-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, KC0DGY.

(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)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2363, for Friday, February 10th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2363, with a release date of Friday, February 10th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams step in as tremors rock Turkey and Syria. A
tough beginning on Bouvet Island -- and one radio repeater devotes itself
to America's big football weekend. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2363, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS TO QUAKE IN TURKEY, SYRIA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a developing story. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook southern Turkey, northern Syria and neighboring regions on Monday, February 6th. As the death and casualty counts continued to rise
amid aftershocks, hams deepened their involvement in emergency response. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, gives us the details Newsline had at production time:

JEREMY: With the death toll well into the thousands and many more injured
in the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the region along the borders of Syria and Turkey, Aziz Sasa, TA1E, president of IARU member
society TRAC, arrived at the disaster area shortly after 6th February. He assisted with frequency coordination for the teams carrying out search operations. Aziz has been in touch with the IARU region's emergency communications coordinator Greg Mossop, G0DUB, who provided additional
details to Newsline. Radio has played a pivotal role here on many levels.

Other nations have also responded. Search and rescue teams from Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina arrived with hams among the group. Romania's team had no amateurs in theirs but was making use of communications equipment supplied
by one of its amateur radio emergency groups. The Turkish emergency communications group was on VHF and UHF frequencies but also making use of 3.777 and 7.092 MHz as needed.

Little was known at the time of writing about the level of response in
Syria. Newsline will continue to follow this developing story.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(IARU, GREG MOSSOP, G0DUB)

**

BOUVET ISLAND IS ON THE AIR

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Troublesome weather conditions plagued the Bouvet Island DXpedition 3Y0J (Three Why Zero Jay) during its first days on the air, but
the camp came through the high winds of February 8th without issues after
it was secured. One member wrote on dx-world.net that it was [quote] "the most extreme expedition I've been to." [endquote]. There were also reports
of the callsign being pirated so those who believe they have worked the
island will only know for sure from the team's uploaded logs on the weekend
of February 10th. While doing the uploads on the boat, they will re-stock their essential food to enable them to continue the DXpedition for another week. The team has added two streams of FT8 in fox-hound mode. Chasers were advised to not work the team on FT8 if they already logged a contact on CW
or SSB. The West Coast pilot station, Rich KE1B, said that the team has
scaled back its expectations in response to its current challenges.
Operators had intended to log 200,000 QSOs from the island but according to Rich [quote] "the team will be lucky to get 20,000 QSOs instead." [endquote]

(DX-WORLD.NET, 3Y0J.NO)

**

SILENT KEY: ORLANDO'S RAYMOND PAUL RICHARD, W4RPR

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: As Orlando Hamcation was about to get under way in Florida
on Friday, Feb. 10th, the ham radio community there was grieving one of its leaders and top organizers. We hear those details from Jack Parker, W8ISH.

JACK: Raymond Paul Richard, W4RPR, of Ocala, Florida, grew up in Michigan where he became an active amateur radio operator at the age of 14. A
generous donor and life member of the ARRL, he belonged to its Maxim
Society, a group whose membership comprises ARRL benefactors. At the time
of his death on January 30th at age 65, Ray was serving as advance ticket chairman for Hamcation, which is also the ARRL's Southeastern Division Convention.

He was active in the Orlando Amateur Radio Club and had previously served
as its membership chairman. His range of work on behalf of the club earned
him the group's KB4UT Wayne Nelson Amateur of the Year award in 2019. The award is named for the club's former president who became a Silent Key in 2001.

This is Jack Parker, W8ISH.

(ORLANDO SENTINEL, ARRL NEWSLETTER)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2364, for Friday, February 17th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2364, with a release date of Friday, February 17th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Goodbye, Bouvet Island. A wake-up call for
weather preparedness in Texas -- and Brazil says goodbye to a noted DXer
and DXpeditioner. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2364, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

BREAKING NEWS: AMATEUR BALLOON'S FATE A MYSTERY

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the latest chapter in the story of mystery balloons being shot down over North America by US military
planes. The first and most famous, of course, was a suspected Chinese spy balloon. The audio of the Air Force pilots' communications was recorded successfully by an aviation enthusiast and radio buff during the downing
of the balloon.

However, as Newsline went to production, questions were being raised
about the whereabouts of an amateur radio balloon with the callsign
K9YO-15 launched last October by a group known as the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. Unconfirmed reports say the 32-inch sphere
carrying a 10-gram payload may be the same one that was shot down over
the Canadian Yukon. Lightweight and relatively inexpensive to build, its payload, with a solar panel package and a tracker in the middle,
transmitted APRS telemetry on HF at very low power.

Cary Willis, KD9ITO, a member of the group, said the balloon has been
declared missing in action and is considered lost.

According to a post on the website RTL-SDR.COM, a memo from the US
Pentagon said an object was shot down over Canada that appeared to be a
"small metallic balloon with a tethered payload." [endquote] The
description closely fits that of K9YO-15.

Cary told Newsline in an email: [quote] "I suppose anything is possible." [endquote] He said FBI agents visited the balloon program's website and
spent time with members of the group on a conference call. Cary said:
[quote] "I shared that besides having fun, we're here to teach others how
to build and launch Pico Balloons legally, following the Code of Federal Regulations relating to balloons." [endquote] He said he told others on
the balloon team that they should be proud of the project and what it has accomplished.

He added [quote] "Personally, I believe that if we were shot down, what a wonderful way to end our flight." [endquote]

(RTL-SDR.COM, CARY WILLIS, KD9ITO)

**

DXPEDITIONERS LEAVE BOUVET ISLAND

PAUL/ANCHOR: We move next to Bouvet Island, where the 3Y0J DXpedition is history, as we hear from Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

GRAHAM: Goodbye-Bouvet Island. Goodbye from the DXpedition team Three Why
Zero Jay, which departed on Tuesday, February 14th after striking down
camp. Goodbye too to the chasers who, whether they were disappointed or
not, have turned to other pursuits. As Newsline went to production, team leader Ken LA7GIA announced that with all equipment and team members on
board, the sail would commence onwards to Cape Town, South Africa, where
they expected to arrive on or about the 23rd of February. There was a possibility of /MM operation while enroute. Team members do not have
access to the log, which will be handled by QSL Manager M0OXO.

I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(DX-WORLD.NET)

**

WAKE-UP CALL FOR WEATHER PREPAREDNESS

PAUL/ANCHOR: The tragic death of an older man in fast-moving flood waters prompted emergency responders in Texas to review their weather spotting
and communications strategies. Randy Sly, W4XJ, explains what they did.

RANDY: In late January, Hunt and Rockwell counties in North Texas
received a "wake-up call", when an elderly man died after his SUV was
swept away by flood waters. In the wake of that deadly flooding, Bianca Garcia, from the National Weather Service, held Skywarn training in the
city of Greenville, at the invitation of the Hunt County Office of
Homeland Security/Emergency Management and the Greenville Fire-Rescue Department. The seminar covered the various threats posed by severe thunderstorms, severe weather safety and storm reporting. Even with radar
and satellite imaging, Garcia emphasized the import role spotters play.
She told the audience, "You guys are presenting that special set of human
eyes for us on the ground."

Many of the attendees were members of the Sabine Valley Amateur Radio Association, which provides trained spotters to the National Weather
Service and emergency management agencies. Following the meeting, a three-night course was also offered on how to become an amateur radio operator. The wake-up call was heeded and those North Texas counties are
now more storm ready.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2366 for Friday March 3rd, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366, with a release date of Friday, March 3rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Caribbean island communities strengthen their emergency networks. Hams are asked to join a solar-eclipse study -- and Hamvention organizers announce this year's award winners. All this and
more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366, comes your way right
now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

ISLANDS RECEIVE RADIO DONATION FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

NEIL/ANCHOR: An Australian company's donation of HF radios and antennas
is moving amateurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines closer to the
development of improved islandwide HF emergency response -- an important element in an area often battered by hurricanes. Graham Kemp, VK4BB,
brings us that report.

GRAHAM: When emergency radio equipment from Barrett Communications
arrived from Australia on the 14th of February, the director of the
Rainbow Radio League/Youlou (YOO LOO) Radio Movement noted that the date
was Valentine's Day and declared the delivery [quote] "a gift of love." [endquote] Donald DeRiggs, J88CD, said he was grateful for the donation -
the third of its kind provided by Barrett for emergency use in St.
Vincent and the Grenadines. The equipment is not only a useful way to
bolster communications during hurricane season but a way to safeguard
areas such as those that were left vulnerable during the eruption of the volcano, La Soufriere in 2021.

The Australian company has taken an active role in helping the island communities. Previous donations by Barrett were used to assist the island
of Dominica in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Donald said that
as soon as this new equipment can be programmed and deployed there will
be drills in May or early June to prepare for the coming hurricane
season.

The latest shipment was transported to Kingstown from the air cargo
facility by Leslie Edwards J88LE. It included HF radios, portable solar panels, spare microphones, a portable antenna mast and broadband dipoles.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(DONALD DE RIGGS, J88CD)

**

SENSORS ON BOARD ISS TO STUDY IONOSPHERE

NEIL/ANCHOR: The US military is getting ready to do some intense testing
on the ionosphere, via the ISS. We have those details from Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

KENT: Two ionospheric sensors will be tested on board the International
Space Station this spring in an experiment designed to ultimately improve
HF radio communications for the US Department of Defense. The website, Breaking Defense, reported that the sensors are to be sent to the ISS in March. The US military has been revisiting the importance of HF radio as
an alternative to satellites, having realized that US satellites could
become compromised or destroyed by enemy attack. HF bands are already
being used by the three branches of the US military for some long-range communications.

Andrew Nicholas, one of the lead researchers on the sensor project, told
the Breaking Defense website that the sensors will be measuring
ionospheric particle density and its impact on the radio waves passing
through it.

He said the data from the tests will help in the development of better ionspheric monitoring models. Eventually the military might even consider creating satellites that would constantly monitor such important
ionospheric changes to assist in the performance of HF communication.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(BREAKING DEFENSE.COM)

**

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HAMSCI STUDY OF SOLAR ECLIPSES

NEIL/ANCHOR: As any ham knows, signal reports matter. Well, they're about
to matter even more for those radio enthusiasts who are participating in
a citizen science project taking place during two solar eclipses, this
year and next year. For that story, we turn to our newest correspondent Patrick Clark, K8TAC, who was also Newsline's Young Ham of the Year in
2001.

PATRICK: There will be a little bit of competition and a whole lot of
research going on later this year for participants in a QSO party
organized by Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, or HamSci.
Volunteer radio operators and shortwave listeners will join researchers
at a number of US universities sending, receiving and recording signals
during the October 14th solar eclipse. The data will be collected and
used for testing computer models of the ionosphere to assess its
variability. This is the first of two eclipses over North America that
HamSci will be studying. The second one is on April 8, 2024.

Both Solar Eclipse QSO Parties encourage the use of CW, SSB and digital
modes on 160-6 meters. At the same time, hams who operate CW and digital beacons, WSPR and FST4W, will be able to take part in the Gladstone
Signal Spotting Challenge.

Registration starts in July. Organizers stress the importance of this opportunity. As they say on the project's website [quote]: "If we miss
the chance to collect meaningful data in 2023 and 2024, it will be
decades before North American hams and researchers get another
opportunity." [endquote] For details, visit hamsci dot org [hamsci.org]

This is Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

(HAMSCI)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2367, for Friday, March 10th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2367, with a release date of Friday, March 10th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A trio of hams arrives aboard the ISS. Digital
Voice technology gains big financial support -- and get ready for the
"Nervous Novices Net." All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2367, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

GRANT WILL ADVANCE FREEDV HF TECHNOLOGY

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is about a boost for cutting-edge amateur radio. A major open-source ham radio technology for HF digital
voice has received a major grant to advance its development. Kevin
Trotman, N5PRE, has that report.

KEVIN: The FreeDV Project, an open-source software initiative created by
an international team of hams, has received $420,000 from Amateur Radio Digital Communications. The team plans to use that money to help bring
FreeDV into the mainstream.

According to an ARDC press release, the goal is to [quote] "open the path
to widespread adoption of a truly open-source, next-generation digital
voice system for HF radio." [endquote]

Some of the funds will go towards the hiring of digital signal processing developers to work alongside FreeDV volunteers to improve the readability
of digital voice carried over SSB under poor HF conditions. The plan is to improve low signal-to-noise ratio operation and improve speech quality.
The team also hopes FreeDV can also be embedded in some more commercial radios. Towards that end, specialists will work alongside some commercial
HF radio engineers.

The FreeDV website mentions some versions of the technology that are
already in use, including the special version in use over the QO-100 geostationary satellite. FreeDV is also being employed to overcome poor propagation through experimental combinations of internet and HF radio.
FreeDV encompasses the Codec 2 speech codec/modem and all are open source.

This is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(ARDC, Dan Romanchik, KB6NU)

**

COMPETITION FOCUSES ON VISION FOR HAM RADIO'S FUTURE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams in Region 1 of the IARU are being asked to brainstorm
in a competition envisioning amateur radio's future, as we hear from
Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: Hams in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Northern Asia are
being asked to take the challenge of seeing into the future. Region 1 of
the International Amateur Radio Union is inviting teams and individuals to engage in two types of brainstorming as part of the region's HamChallenge competition. Both challenges are designed to inspire projects that
increase awareness of amateur radio's vitality and relevance today.

The first challenge asks hams to create projects that reach out to people
who do not have a radio licence. The project could be a social media
campaign, a video, a storyboard or some other creative venture that
showcases the power ham radio has in building friendships and expanding scientific knowledge.

The second challenge focuses on a project that reaches out to other hams showing the way amateur radio might look in 10 years. Entries in this part
of the challenge can be a technology project, an experiment or something
else.

All ideas should be sent to the IARU Region 1 by July. Proposals should be sent by email to hamchallenge at iaru hyphen r1 dot org.

(hamchallenge@iaru-r1.org)

There are monetary prizes and a chance for the winners to carry their
message to a wider audience.

I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(IARU REGION 1)

**

TRIO OF HAMS ARRIVE ON BOARD THE ISS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Four astronauts are now on board the International Space Station. The crew includes the first astronaut from the United Arab
Emirates to fly aboard a commercial mission. He also happens to be an
amateur radio operator. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, has that story.

PAUL: Four astronauts, three of them licensed amateur radio operators,
arrived on the ISS on Friday, March 3rd, for a six-month stay in orbit.
One of them, astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, KI5VTV, is also making his first
trip into space.

The Crew-6 launch took place a day earlier from the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida. The other members of the team are mission commander Stephen
Bowen, KI5BKB, pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, KB3HTZ, and Roscosmos
cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who - like Al Neyadi - is making his first space flight. The crew will conduct a variety of experiments including a study
of the way certain materials burn in microgravity and an examination of microbial samples collected from outside the spacecraft.

This is NASA's sixth crew to use the commercial SpaceX transport system.

I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

(CNBC)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

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 progress" 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,
snowfall, and damage reports to the National Weather Service.

Remembering the health and safety of "Self and Family First," 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)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2369 for Friday March 24th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2369, with a release date of Friday, March 24th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Fire destroys an important lifesaving repeater in Oklahoma. The Dayton amateur radio community loses a leader -- and a
victory atop an Australian summit for one young operator. All this and
more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2369, comes your way right
now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

FIRE DESTROYS VITAL REPEATER IN SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA

NEIL/ANCHOR: A vital repeater in southern Oklahoma has literally gone up
in smoke, leaving a region without an important emergency communications resource. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, has that story.

RALPH: Fire has destroyed the W5BLW repeater in southern Oklahoma, taking
down a critically important resource for SKYWARN, the Red Cross and local emergency operations in five counties of the region. According to Vance
Smith, KE5BAL, of the Ardmore Amateur Radio Club, it will be a slow road
back for the repeater, which stood for more than 16 years.

Vance told Newsline that the repeater was consumed by a controlled burn
that went the wrong way on the private ranch property where the repeater
stood. By the time the damage was noticed on the mountaintop, it was too
late.

Now the scrambling - and the hard work - begins so that emergency communications can resume when needed.

Vance said he has an old repeater that can be put up temporarily on
another site, but it will be a while before a full power repeater will
be back in action at the site on top of Arbuckle Mountain. He told
Newsline [quote] "We have a lot of work to do up at the site. We are
going to need a tower climber to do work up top, and along the side of
the tower." [endquote]

The Ardmore Amateur Radio Club repeater bears the name and callsign of
Ardmore club member Charles M. Dibrell who became a Silent Key in 1998.
He had been a licensed ham since 1929.

Vance told Newsline: [quote] "This is a very important piece of radio equipment for southern Oklahoma."[endquote]

This is Ralph Squilllace, KK6ITB.

(VANCE SMITH, KE5BAL; QRZ: LLOYD COLSTON, KC5FM)

**

FCC SEEKS GUIDELINES FOR CELLPHONE SATELLITE OPTION

NEIL/ANCHOR: A recent move by the FCC means that increasing numbers of smartphone users may discover what hams already know: that when there's
no terrestrial service, additional coverage is readily available from satellites. Dave Parks, WB8ODF, has the details.

DAVE: Smartphones may soon have a direct connection to satellites when necessary, following a move by the US Federal Communications Commission
to set out guidelines for such service. While space-based connections
are already a reality on a limited basis with Apple phones and are in
the works for T-Mobile, SpaceX, Qualcomm and Iridium, guidelines are
still needed to sort out the rules for broader implementation. A recent
draft document by the FCC seeks to explore this kind of supplemental
service and how it would work.

The FCC said in a news release that this would require agency
authorization for terrestrial-based providers, so they could provide
licensed operation on a part of the spectrum reserved for them. Phones
would switch to the satellite signal when no other signal is available.

This is Dave Parks, WB8ODF.

(TECH CRUNCH)

**

SILENT KEY: HAMVENTION'S RON CRAMER, KD8ENJ

NEIL/ANCHOR: A leader in the Dayton, Ohio amateur radio community, and
a force in the annual Dayton Hamvention, has become a Silent Key. We
hear more from Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

PATRICK: Amateurs in Dayton, Ohio and beyond often looked to Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, for leadership. He was the vice president of the Dayton Amateur
Radio Association, which he had one time serve as president, and he was
general chairman of Dayton Hamvention. Ron became a Silent Key on Saturday, March 11th, after a brief illness.

His skills at organizing and leading especially came to the forefront as
part of the group that worked to provide Hamvention with a smooth
transition to the Greene County Fairgrounds after more than five decades
at Hara Arena.

In a message on the ARRL website, DARA president Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT,
described Ron as [quote] "a hardworking, dedicated, wonderful person who
had a positive impact on everyone he encountered. His only fault was, he
would never say no." [endquote]

Ron Cramer was 75.

This is Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

(DAYTON DAILY NEWS, ARRL)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2370 for Friday, March 31st, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2370, with a release date of Friday,
March 31st, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams step up for storms in the US Southeast. The
first 3-D printed rocket crashes after launch -- and our once-a-year correspondent, Piere Pullinmyleg, has some news about Bouvet Island. All
this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2370, comes your
way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMS STEP UP IN SOUTHEASTERN US STORMS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the deadly storms and tornadoes
that pounded southeastern states in the US. Randy Sly, W4XJ, tells us
that If hams could get to their radios, they did. Here's his report.

RANDY: At least 26 people have died in the wake of powerful storms and tornadoes that swept through the southeastern United States on Friday
evening, March 24. Mississippi was hardest hit, as an EF-4 tornado
carved a 100-mile path of deadly destruction, leaving the towns of
Rolling Fork and Silver City in ruins, along with several others.

Robert Hayes, KC5IMN, Amateur Radio Emergency Service section emergency coordinator for Mississippi, told Amateur Radio Newsline that the
Jackson Amateur Radio club activated a SKYWARN net early in the
afternoon as did the Central Mississippi ARES Group with their linked
repeaters covering the periphery of the Jackson metro area. In addition, Vicksburg/Warren County ARES was also up and running, as were several
non-ARES affiliated nets across the state. He summarized the weather
event by saying that after the initial reports of the three major
impacts, almost every operator who could get on the air was on the air
if they were in a coverage area.

Hayes noted that just prior to the storm, the section was about to
initiate a request from the three NWS offices that cover the state
to talk about SKYWARN requirements and standards in order to be more
effective as spotters. This storm, he believes, provides even greater motivation to accomplish this.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

(AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE)

**

FIRST 3D-PRINTED ROCKET CRASHES AFTER BRIEF FLIGHT

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The launch of the first 3-D printed rocket didn't
result in the successful flight that was envisioned by the company
that created it but they are still encouraged. Paul Braun, WD9GCO,
has those details.

PAUL: When the first rocket to be created by 3D printing lifted off
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 22nd, it was a successful
launch, but a failed flight. The creators of Terran 1, however, are
encouraged by the late March blastoff, which was intended to send
the rocket 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, into orbit for a few days.
The California company known as Relativity Space had printed 85
percent of the rocket's metal components, including its engines, as
a means of making the costs of space travel less prohibitive.

After three minutes of flight, however, the uncrewed Terran 1 crashed
into the ocean after one of its nine engines appeared to lose ignition.
In an interview with National Public Radio conducted prior to the launch,
the company's CEO, Tim Ellis, had said that he would still consider the
mission a success if the rocket were simply capable of surviving the
rigors of a launch. A company executive said during the launch webcast
that she believed enough data had been gathered to demonstrate that 3D-
printed rockets can be viable in space.

According to the NPR report, yet another rocket is already in the
design stages for launch next year and the company ultimately hopes
to create a rocket in which 95 percent of its parts are created through
3D printing. The startup venture has entered the market, hoping to be
able to help send even more satellites into orbit around the Earth.

This is Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

(SPACE.COM, NPR)

**

CYCLONE DRILL PREPARES INDIAN HAMS FOR THE WORST

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's not yet cyclone season in India, but for amateurs
on the east coast of that nation, it's always a good season to be
prepared. As you'll hear in this story from Graham Kemp, VK4BB, the
West Bengal Radio Club was prepared.

GRAHAM: The tropical cyclones that have struck eastern India over the
years have been deadly. However, none of those cyclones could compare
to the one that hams responded to on March 23rd in the state of West
Bengal. This was a mock cyclone and so at 9 'clock that morning, when
the region went into high alert, and hams responded, it was only a
drill. The drill had been organised by the National Disaster Management
Agency, and arranged by the government of West Bengal's Disaster
Management Department. The club station quickly established
communications throughout the villages and 25 licenced hams from the
club kept the lines of communication open.

This kind of readiness remains critical in India but especially in the
eastern coastal area, where states like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, and Odisha, feel the brunt of the damage, and share the
difficult cyclone season with nearby Bangladesh.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(WEST BENGAL RADIO CLUB, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2372, for Friday, April 14th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2372, with a release date of Friday,
April 14th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. US-made vacuum tubes prepare to make a comeback.
NASA names a trio of hams for the next Artemis mission -- and meet a YL
who is Poland's youngest SOTA operator. All this and more, as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2372 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

VACUUM TUBE-MAKING ON THE COMEBACK IN THE US

DON/ANCHOR: American-made vacuum tubes are poised to make a comeback onto
the market this summer. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, tells us what's been going
on.

KENT: As the rising cost of vacuum tubes manufactured mostly in China and Russia increasingly cramps audiophiles, musicians and others seeking a particular audio quality, one factory in the US southeast is preparing to bring tube-manufacturing back home.

With assembly line workers getting down to business inside his Western Electric plant in Rossville, Georgia, entrepreneur Charles Whitener
expects to restore American-made vacuum tubes to the worldwide market in
just a few months. According to reports on such websites as wired.com and audioexpress.com, Whitener's goal is to resume production of the single-
ended triode tube known as the 300B, a design that dates back to 1938.
His plant, known as the Rossville Works, is home to the Western Electric vacuum tube brand which Whitener bought in 1995 from AT&T.

This summer he expects to introduce a reimagined version of the audio
vacuum tube known as the 12AX7, a dual triode tube commonly found in amplifiers for guitars. According to Wired.com, it will be the first US-
made tube in decades and it is expected to be followed by numerous other US-made models. The Wired.com report said: [quote] "If all goes to plan,
the US could once again dominate vacuum tube manufacturing." [endquote]

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(WIRED, AUDIOXPRESS.COM, HACKADAY)

**

THREE HAMS CHOSEN FOR ARTEMIS MOON MISSION

DON/ANCHOR: The next NASA radio amateurs in space are preparing to be
part of a four-person team flying near the moon for the first time in
more than 50 years. Andy Morrison, K9AWM, tells us who they are.

ANDY: NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have announced the members of
the Artemis II crew comprising NASA's first crewed mission to establish a presence near the moon next year. Three members of the four-person team
are amateur radio operators: commander Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, pilot Victor Glover, KI5BKC, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU. The other mission specialist is Christina Hammock Koch. The mission is scheduled
for November of 2024. The previous mission, Artemis I, was not crewed.

This will be a flight test lasting about 10 days and will validate the life-support systems of the Orion spacecraft, along with other
demonstrations.

Unlike his fellow crew members, Hansen is making his first trip into
space. He is a Canadian citizen and is the first Canadian to train
astronaut candidates from both Canada and the US.

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(NASA, AMSAT NEWS SERVICE)

**

GET ON THE AIR FOR WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY

DON/ANCHOR: It's the QSO Party to end all other QSO parties: World
Amateur Radio Day, April 18th, the day amateurs participate in a global celebration of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union. Be listening on HF as the IARU and its member societies get on the air with special events through the 25th of April. There will be more than 50
special event stations around the world with callsigns ending in W A R D,
for World Amateur Radio Day. They include TM98WARD, 9Y4WARD, OT23WARD and
a host of others.

Here in the States and over in the UK, the ROC-HAM Radio Network is contributing to the festivities by hosting a 12-hour birthday net. Listen
for John, W2JLD, and Dave, GW8SZL, who will be marking the occasion on
the VOIP/ECHOLINK *ROC-HAM* Conference node #531091, as well as various Allstar Nodes, the DMR TGIF Talk Group 2585 and Extended Freedom SIP
Portal 2585. John will be on the air during that time too, operating on
10, 20, and 40 metres, using the callsign W2W.

For more details, visit IARU.org.

(IARU, QRZ.COM)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2373, for Friday, April 21st, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2373 with a release date of Friday,
April 21st, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. In the US, the FCC commits itself to managing satellites more effectively. Two losses hit the World Radiosport Team Championship -- and Nokia and NASA look at putting wireless on the moon.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2373, comes
your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

FCC COMMITS TO IMPROVING SATELLITE MANAGEMENT

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to Washington, D.C., where two new
FCC offices are taking a closer look at how to better handle all those satellites in orbit high above our planet. Andy Morrison, K9AWM, brings
us up to date.

ANDY: Hoping to get a better handle on regulating satellites and reducing
the effects of orbital debris, the US Federal Communications Commission
has added two new departments under its umbrella: the Space Bureau and
the Office of International Affairs. The move replaces the agency's International Bureau, which handled licensing and regulation of satellite programs and international telecommunications.

The FCC's announcement did not specify what impact, if any, this move
would have on amateur radio satellites.

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at an opening event for the new departments that they would [quote] "promote long-term technical capacity
to address satellite policies and approve our coordination with other
agencies on all of these issues." [endquote]

The departments are expected to coordinate their efforts in such areas as
the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference. The conference will take
place in Dubai starting on November 20th.

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(FCC, NEXTGOV.COM)

**

AGENCY SEEKS STRATEGY FOR REPURPOSING SPECTRUM

NEIL/ANCHOR: Another US government agency is taking a look at whether
some frequencies need to be reallocated as more and more wireless devices
get on the air. Stephen Kinford, N8WB, brings us that story.

STEPHEN: In the United States, an increasing appetite for spectrum from wireless services has spurred the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration to find at least 1,500 MHz of the radio
spectrum to meet that demand.

The NTIA is looking for input from the public to identify which bands
could be repurposed under this new spectrum strategy. The agency said on
its website that the strategy is [quote] "a government-wide approach to maximizing the potential of our nation's spectrum resources." [endquote]
The NTIA shares spectrum-allocation duties with the Federal
Communications Commission.

In the United States, hams already share many UHF and microwave bands
with government users.

To learn more, follow the link in the text version of this week's
Newsline script.

This is Stephen Kinford, N8WB.

[FOR PRINT ONLY: https://ntia.gov/issues/national-spectrum-strategy ]

(NTIA, AMATEUR RADIO WEEKLY)

**

NOKIA AND NASA TO PUT WIRELESS SERVICE ON THE MOON

NEIL/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, a whole new wireless network of sorts is being
looked at - for the moon! Let's hear more from Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

KENT: An LTE/4G network destined for the moon is expected to launch on
board a SpaceX rocket later this year, according to plans from the
Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia. According to reports on CNBC,
it's part of a partnership with NASA that envisions the creation of the
first colony on the lunar surface.

A message on Nokia's webpage states that the network will be designed to support the transmitting of telemetry, biometrics, and sensing
applications and will also be available for HD video and robotics. Nokia states that the high-bandwidth network will be a vital tool in NASA's
plan for so-called "sustainable exploration" of the moon.

NASA chose the Finnish telecommunications company in 2020, announcing
Nokia's role in the Artemis lunar program to return a human presence to
the moon -- this time for extended operations by the end of the decade. According to the Nokia website, the network will include an LTE Base
Station with integrated Evolved Packet Core functionalities, LTE User Equipment and RF antennas. The system will have hardware redundancy and through its software, the capacity for remote operation.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(NOKIA, CNBC)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2374, for Friday, April 28th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2374, with a release date of Friday,
April 28th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The FCC's new Space Bureau releases its first set
of rules for satellites. ARRL members: Look for a possible hike in dues
soon -- and a new micro-supercapacitor could be a game changer. All this
and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2374, comes your way,
right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

NEW SATELLITE BUREAU PRODUCES SPECTRUM RULES

PAUL/ANCHOR: A newly created bureau of the FCC has just produced its
first set of rules governing satellites. Sel Embee, KB3TZD, tells us what
this means.

SEL: Just days after the US Federal Communications Commission announced
the creation of its new Space Bureau on April 11th, the fledgling
department has already adopted new rules for spectrum-sharing among
satellites in non-geostationary orbit. The rules require operators with licenses for these satellites to avoid interference with one another. According to a report on the spacenews.com website, future licensees must demonstrate how they will coordinate with their predecessors and protect
them from interference.

The FCC is asking licensees to coordinate their systems [quote] "in good faith," [endquote] meaning that they are expected to share information,
even with competitors in the marketplace.

The regulator will be looking for comments from the public.

This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD.

(SPACENEWS.COM)

**

ARRL INVITES COMMENTS ON INCREASE IN DUES

PAUL/ANCHOR: If you are a member of the ARRL, it's time to let them know
what you think about their proposal to increase membership dues. Patrick Clark, K8TAC, tells us how to get your message across.

PATRICK: The ARRL is making an online survey available starting on May
1st, inviting all league members to share their thoughts on membership benefits and the prospect of higher dues. In delivering his message in
the April issue of the ARRL magazine QST, CEO David Minster NA2AA
stressed the importance of participation by every ARRL member.

Before members can do so, however, they also need to review their
accounts on the league website to ensure it is still valid. On May 1st
you will be able to share your thoughts when the survey goes live. Please
see the text version of our newscast at arnewsline.org for a link you can follow for more details.

The ARRL encourages members who are having difficulty with their log-in process to call the league at 860-594-0200 or send an email to membership@arrl.org

This is Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

[DO NOT READ: https://www.arrl.org/dues-survey ]

(ARRL)

**

UAE ASTRONAUT HAS 1ST QSO IN NEW EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

PAUL/ANCHOR: Students enjoyed an amateur radio contact with an ISS
astronaut who, like them, is from the United Arab Emirates. It was a
"first" for a new educational program. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, shares the details.

JIM MEACHEN: Twenty-five students from a number of schools in the United
Arab Emirates got a chance to connect over amateur radio with ISS mission specialist Sultan Al Neyadi, KI5VTV. The call on April 18th was the first
of 10 scheduled educational sessions being arranged with the
communications engineer by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai
and the Emirates Literature Foundation in collaboration with the Emirates Amateur Radio Society.

It was the first ham radio contact through this programme for the
astronaut, who is the second from the United Arab Emirates. As the ISS
passed over the region, the call utilised the Centre's ground station to
make the contact.

Like the international ham radio programme known as Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, ELF in Space provides a window
into life aboard the space station and the various challenges and
projects undertaken by those on board. Perhaps just as importantly for
some, it also provides an amateur radio experience.

This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(GULF NEWS, EMIRATES NEWS AGENCY)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2375, for Friday, May 5th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2375, with a release date of Friday,
May 5th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in Australia have only another month to weigh
in on a new class license. The FCC proposes changes to the 60 metre band
-- and a controversial bill about RF emissions has hams in Maine worried.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2375, comes
your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

PLAN TO STUDY 5G IN MAINE WORRIES STATE'S AMATEURS

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to the state of Maine, where
hams are expressing concern over a telecommunications bill that proposes a study on radio frequency emissions. Andy Morrison, K9AWM, has an update.

ANDY: Ham radio operators in the state of Maine are keeping an eye on a
bill in which lawmakers call for a study of radio frequency radiation emissions and the environmental impact of 5G technology. The bill is
stalled for now in the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology but according to a recent story in the Maine Monitor, hams in the state are concerned that such a study of 5G holds the potential for unintended restrictions of frequencies shared by amateur radio operators. Phil
Duggan, N1EP, the ARRL section manager for Maine, told Newsline in an
email that amateurs are seeking wording to be added to the bill that
exempts amateur radio and public safety communications. Phil said that
ARRL New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, had advised hams
to be on the alert as anti-5G bills are introduced in a number of state legislatures, with wording that could impact ham radio.

The bill in Maine, introduced by Republican lawmaker Tracy Quint, targets
the telecommunications industry specifically and its language does not
mention amateur radio. Hams nonetheless have submitted written testimony protesting the bill, noting that hams are already required to conduct evaluations of their radio frequency radiation in compliance with FCC regulations that ensure safety.

This is Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(NEWS CENTER MAINE, MAINE MONITOR)

**

FCC PROPOSES CHANGES TO 60 METER BAND

JIM/ANCHOR: The US Federal Communications Commission has changes planned
for the 60m band and wants to hear from you. Patrick Clark, K8TAC, tells
us more.

PATRICK: Following the lead set at the World Radiocommunications
Conference in 2015 and adopted most recently by Canadian regulators, the
US Federal Communications Commission has proposed changes to the 60m band
that would allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 and
5366.5 kHz for amateur radio on a secondary basis.

US General, Advanced and Extra Hams presently have five channels available
to them between 5332 and 5405 kHz - also on a secondary basis - with an effective radiated power limit of 100 W PEP The proposed new bandwidth
would set a limit of 15 watts EIRP.

The FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was released on April 21st and
aligns itself with terms advocated for by the ARRL.

The band's primary user in the US is the federal government.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration favors
adoption of the new proposed bandwidth, with hams losing the ability to
use four of the five permitted channels. The remaining channel would be included within the new contiguous portion of the 60m band.

The ARRL, however, previously asked the FCC to keep the four 60-meter
channels that fall outside the new band and to retain the 100w power
limit.

The notice is to be published in the Federal Register in May and comments
from the public are due no later than 60 days after the notice appears.

This is Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

(FCC, ARRL)

**

AUSTRALIAN REGULATOR MOVES AHEAD ON NEW CLASS LICENSE

JIM/ANCHOR: The Australian communications regulator is moving ahead with a proposed new class license. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, tells us what's involved.

GRAHAM: Amateurs with a VK license have until Thursday the 1st of June to
have their say on proposed changes by the Australian Communications and
Media Authority that would create a class license with considerations for
a staged implementation of higher power authorization. The ACMA states on
its website that intends to implement the proposed class licensing arrangements starting on the 1st of July and expects to give the amateur community ample notice before this change comes into effect.

The ACMA also says that the revised class license proposal was created by incorporating suggestions from representative bodies, amateur radio clubs
and individual amateurs.

The Wireless Institute of Australia does not support this change, however, saying it could only support the change on a "no disadvantage" basis.

On May 1st, the ACMA website published submissions from the public that
were not made anonymously.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

JIM/ANCHOR: Amateur satellite and SHF enthusiasts in Australia can expect
to lose all or part of the 9cm band under another proposal by the
Australian Communications and Media Authority. The regulator has been
looking at the frequencies between 3.4 GHz and 3.6 GHz for possible use in long-term earth station protection zones. As with other ACMA proposals,
the deadline for public comment to the regulator is July 1st.

(ACMA)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2376, for Friday, May 12th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2376, with a release date of Friday,
May 12th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in the Caribbean gear up for storm season. Amateurs help a woman in India reconnect with her family -- and the ARRL offers US hams assistance in evaluating their RF emissions. All this and
more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2376 comes your way right
now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

CARIBBEAN REGION HAMS GEAR UP FOR STORM SEASON

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to the Caribbean, where hams await
the storm season ahead with formal training and an emerging disaster
response network. John Williams, VK4JJW, brings us those details.

JOHN: With the approach of this year's hurricane season in the Caribbean region, emergency training exercises have got underway again for amateurs
in the Youlou Radio Movement/Rainbow Radio League in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

As always, amateurs will be relying largely on HF communications because
the mountainous terrain of the islands in the region provides challenges
for successful VHF signal paths. Youlou has been in the process of growing
its emergency network and now has 10 stations based on the main island, including one near the airport.

The league's director, Donald de Riggs, J88CD, told local media outlets
that the hams are closer than ever to creating the island-wide HF
emergency network they have long envisioned. They are also looking to
support a more robust maritime rescue and air response network for
disasters throughout the region.

New equipment has been donated and one of their biggest benefactors has
been Australia-based Barrett Communications. The most recent of three shipments from that company arrived in February, bringing SDR transceivers
and sturdy antennas, hopefully capable of surviving the coming season of storms.

This is John Willliams, VK4JJW.

(THE VINCENTIAN, AIR FORCE TECHNOLOGY)

**

WEST BENGAL AMATEURS RECONNECT FAMILY AFTER 10 YEARS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It took 10 years for a woman in India to find her way back
to the family she left behind when she married. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, tells
us how hams assisted her in her journey.

JIM: An early marriage and separation from her family kept Rubina Begum
apart from her family in Bengal for more than a decade. With the help of police and the West Bengal Radio Club, the relatives have found one
another again.

According to reports in the Times of India and the Millennium Post, the National Commission for Women, a government entity that advocates for
women, had been trying to assist her in tracing the family she had lost
touch with after marrying into a Kashmiri family at the age of 14. The
media reports said that the woman, who is now 24 years old, was originally brought to the Baramulla sector in Jammu and Kashmir to be married because
her father was unable to bear the expense of raising four children at
home.

The woman's brother, Hassan Ali Sheikh, told the Times of India that in
the ensuing years they believed she was lost to them forever. But he spoke with her, at long last, on Wednesday, May 3rd, after the women's
commission contacted state police who reached out to the hams in West
Bengal. The club has a long track record of facilitating such reunions.
After contacting the woman with the phone number provided, club secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, reached out to a colleague proficient in
Hindi and Kashmiri and details of her story finally emerged. Her brother
is expected to travel and bring her home to Bengal soon to be with the
family she has missed so much.

This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(TIMES OF INDIA, MILLENNIUM POST)

**

ARRL OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO HAMS FOR RF COMPLIANCE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you haven't already checked your station to evaluate
its compliance on RF exposure, the ARRL is offering some help. Dave Parks, WB8ODF, has that story.

DAVE: The ARRL has reminded amateurs in the United States that it is
making its resources available to help licensees comply with FCC rules on
RF exposure limits. Those limits went into effect in 2021 and a two-year transition period was granted to permit hams to conduct evaluations and
make necessary changes for stations that do not conform to the exposure
rules.

The ARRL issued its reminder to hams just as the transition period ended
on May 3rd. Hams are not exempt from conducting such evaluations even if
they transmit at very low power.

The league's resources include a video about RF exposure and evaluation;
an RF exposure calculator and an RF safety section excerpted from the ARRL Handbook.

Perhaps most importantly, the league is encouraging all hams to make use
of these resources whether or not they belong to the ARRL or have
established a website account.

Visit arrl.org for more details.

This is Dave Parks, WB8ODF.

(ARRL)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2377, for Friday, May 19th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2377, with a release date of Friday,
May 19th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. US hams prep for hurricane season. Getting a
stubborn folding antenna to unfold - in space! And an early net marks
24,000 mornings of check-ins. All this and more, as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2377, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMVENTION IS HAPPENING IN XENIA, OHIO

DON/ANCHOR: As Newsline went to production, hams from all over the world
were converging on a busy fairground in the US state of Ohio for
Hamvention. Be sure to listen to our newscast next Friday, May 26th, for
a Hamvention wrap up.

**

IT'S ONLY A TEST (FOR NOW) AT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

DON/ANCHOR: We begin this week with - what else? - the weather. It's
storm season in many parts of the world and here in parts of the United States, amateurs are checking their hurricane season preparedness. We
hear more about that from Randy Sly, W4XJ.

RANDY: It's that time of year again, when amateurs check out their
equipment, and get ready for a new season of storms and storm-related activity. This is especially important for such stations as WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Florida. Their annual on-the-air
communications test will take place on Saturday, May 27 from 9 a.m. until
5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, says that the
purpose of the event is to test the station’s equipment and antennas as
well as operators' home equipment prior to the 2023 Hurricane Season
which runs from June 1st through November 30th.

The station will be operating on HF, VHF and UHF, including 2 and 30-
meter APRS and Winlink.

Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, net manager of the Hurricane Watch Net, told AR
Newsline that they will be active during that time, on or near their
standard frequencies of 14.325 and 7.268 MHz, depending on propagation.
The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate that day too from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Look for WX4NHC on the air or posted on DX Cluster. For more information,
you can visit wx4nhc.org.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

**

SILENT KEY: PETER STUART, PA3EPX, FORMER VERON BOARD MEMBER

DON/ANCHOR: A ham who helped build enthusiasm for homebrew and other
amateur radio practices in The Netherlands has become a Silent Key. We
hear more details about him from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: Peter Stuart, PA3EPX, was well-known for his enthusiasm and
creative spirit within the leadership and membership of VERON, the Dutch amateur radio society. Peter, who first became active in VERON at the end
of the 1970s, became a Silent Key on the 16th of April.

He was remembered by colleagues as an advocate for teaching fox hunting
and for his service on the VERON board as its secretary. An avid do-it- yourselfer, he was also a proponent of homebrew equipment and he
encouraged others to build a variety of projects including an ATV
transmitter.

Peter was 71.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(VERON)

**

JUPITER SPACECRAFT RESOLVES ANTENNA ISSUES

DON/ANCHOR: There's antenna work..........and then there's antenna work.
If your antenna is a folding antenna that won't unfold - and it's out in
space - you're gonna need to do a little more than just climb up the
tower to fix it. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, tells us what happened.

GRAHAM: With the launch last month of the European Space Agency's JUICE mission - short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer - hopes were high for its antenna, which had been folded up inside the spacecraft ready for its
eventual full deployment. The 16-metre-long antenna, known as RIME - for
Radar for Icy Moons Exploration - was to completely unfold in its first
week after the launch date and it did - that is, all but one final part.

According to various media accounts, a variety of remedies were tried
without success until the flight control team finally freed the remaining
part by delivering a shock that moved a tiny stuck pin that had left the antenna section jammed in its folded position. The shock came via a
device known as a nonexplosive actuator that was located inside the
bracket. What happened was disruptive enough to shake things up.

May 12th brought freedom as the stuck part became unstuck.

Now the antenna should be ready for an even bigger challenge - the moons around the giant planet Jupiter. The mission will use the antenna to
study those icy moons as far down as 9 km, analysing both the surface and subsurface. What unfolds there may possibly deliver some shocks of its
own.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, DIGITAL TRENDS)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2378, for Friday, May 26th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2378 with a release date of Friday,
May 26th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Deadly floods ravage a region in Italy. Hamvention 2023 is just a memory now -- and a tragic antenna accident claims a noted contester's life. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2378, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

FLOODS RAVAGE REGION OF ITALY HOSTING WRTC

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Italy where deadly floods
in one region have displaced and disrupted lives and the economy. This is
to be the location of the World Radiosport Team Championship later this summer, as we hear from Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

GRAHAM: Besieged by flooding that displaced more than 36,000 people and
killed at least 14, Italy's Emilia-Romagna region has received some
limited support from amateur radio. Greg Mossop, G0DUB, emergency communications coordinator for IARU Region 1, told Newsline that hams made
use of local VHF repeaters to resume communications within affected towns until mobile and landline phone networks could be put back into service.
He said the failures were not severe enough for local authorities to ask regional ham radio emergency networks to activate. Hams did remain on
standby, ready to use HF, VHF and digital voice if necessary.

Greg said the IARU received the information from Alberto Barbera IK1YLO
(Eye Kay Won Why El Oh) of the RNRE radio communications network. Alberto
said the affected area asked for additional support from other countries
in the region to provide extra pumping capacity and those teams made use
of VHF/UHF commercial communications supported by Starlink satellite terminals.

Separately, organisers of the World Radiosport Team Championship, to be
held this summer in Bologna - in this flood-impacted region -- were
keeping an eye on the challenging conditions. Luca Aliprandi, IK2NCJ, who handles media and communications for the event, said on the WRTC Groups.io list that if some sites for WRTC are unusable, competitor stations may
need to be relocated farther north of Bologna. He wrote [quote] "Our will
and dedication to organising WRTC2022 will be stronger than any adversity." [endquote]

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(GREG MOSSOP, G0DUB, IARU REGION 1)

**

ACMA, COLLEGE END RELATIONSHIP FOR AMATEUR LICENSING

NEIL/ANCHOR: As Newsline went to production, the Australian Maritime
College announced that it was severing its relationship with the
Australian regulator for providing amateur licensee services. The college
and the Australian Communications and Media Authority will go their
separate ways in February 2024. Before the college's selection in 2019, services such as exams and callsign recommendations were provided through
the Wireless Institute of Australia. The ACMA is to take the role of call
sign allocation and examination syllabus control "in-house" to go with the licensing role which it already fulfills -- and to do this under the new
class license framework. The ACMA said it would release a consultation on
the new accreditation scheme this coming August at the same time as the
new class licensing arrangements take effect.

(ACMA)

**

FCC TO REVISIT SPECTRUM ALLOCATIONS

NEIL/ANCHOR: In the US, the FCC has a busy June ahead of itself: It's
taking a second and perhaps a third look at spectrum allocations -- and there's a new candidate nominated to join them, as we hear from Paul
Braun, WD9GCO.

PAUL: In June, the US Federal Communications Commission will revisit ways
the radio spectrum can be utilized more efficiently and study the propose testing of a few uses on part of the 42 GHz band in the so-called
"greenfield spectrum." Greenfield spectrum refers to the part of the
spectrum that is unutilized. The FCC's focus has been intensifying on this along with other parts of the spectrum because of the growing demand for
its use by emerging wireless services -- and limited places to authorize
their operation.

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced this plan in the commission's June agenda, posting her message on the agency website on May 17th. She
said the 42 GHZ band was an apt place for conducting experiments with
various spectrum-access models because of the absence of licensed users
there.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has nominated a longtime telecom lawyer
for the government, to join the FCC. Anna Gomez must still be confirmed by
the Senate. The president's previous nominee, Gigi Sohn, withdrew from consideration several months earlier.

This is Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

(FCC)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2379, for Friday, June 2nd, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2379, with a release date of
Friday, June 2nd, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The Rockall Island DXpedition is on the air
and rocking! A supernova sends a message to earth by radio -- and one
CW enthusiast goes from pounding the brass to winning it. All this,
and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2379, comes your way
right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

ROCKALL DXPEDITION ACTIVATES IN NORTH ATLANTIC

JIM/ANCHOR: The big challenge is on!! Our top story takes us to the uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean known as
Rockall Island, which is being activated by two amateur radio
operators. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, takes us there.

ED: As Newsline went to production, two hams were on the air, and the competition for contacts was predictably intense. It's a challenge
for chasers around the world. For the hams, the challenge is even
bigger: Emil Bergman, DL8JJ, and Nobby Styles, G0VJF, hope to break
the record of a 46-day stay on the rock set in 2014. The pair, and
their expedition leader, Cam Cameron, plan to stay on the rock for
as long as 50 or 60 days and raise £50,000 for charity. This coveted
DX is designated IOTA Number EU-189 and is a most-wanted location. Be
listening for MM0UKI - and cross your fingers that they are listening
for you!

This is Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(ROCKALL EXPEDITION WEBSITE, MARK FELTON PRODUCTIONS, QRZ)

**

RADIO WAVES CARRY MESSAGE FROM A SUPERNOVA

JIM/ANCHOR: Radio waves have been known to carry some important messages
over the years, but one recent message, received by a research team, led
by scientists at Stockholm University, contained a cosmic message. Here's
Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, with that story.

RALPH: Scientists have picked up radio waves revealing the presence of
an unusual type of supernova, a thermonuclear supernova, the kind used
by researchers to measure the expansion of our universe. Not long after
the supernova's discovery, scientists at the W.M. Keck Observatory in
Hawaii detected helium emissions, another significant marker.

According to Sci Tech Daily, the discovery of this type of supernova,
known as Type 1a (ONE A), is the first to be accomplished via radio
waves. The presence of helium emissions is seen as evidence that an
exploding compact white dwarf star had pulled helium from the outer
layer of a companion star - the donor star - while the supernova was
being triggered. That material is more commonly hydrogen.

The discovery is an accomplishment on another level too, according to researcher Erik Kool of the Stockholm team. He told the Journal Nature
that astronomers have been trying to accomplish this kind of detection
by radio for decades.

This is Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB.

(SCI TECH DAILY, SCIENCE NEWS, NATURE)

**

HURRICANE WATCH NET NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

JIM/ANCHOR: In some parts of the US, where it's nearly hurricane season,
it's also the season for volunteering to look out for them, as we hear
from Randy Sly, W4XJ.

RANDY: For 59 straight seasons, the Hurricane Watch Net has been
activating for any hurricanes that make landfall, as well as helping
those in any affected areas before, during, and after a hurricane.
Just ahead of this year's season, the word is going out in the Southern
and Eastern United States and the Caribbean - the HWN needs you! They
are looking for more people who can get on the air from the areas hit
by the storms.

Net manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, quickly offered cautionary words,
telling AR Newsline, "Of course, priority number one for anyone is to
do all you can to protect your property, home, family, and yourself.
It's always safety first." However, if hams are safe at home, or in
a storm shelter, where a portable station can be set up, the net would
like to hear from them. Every piece of weather data, measured or
estimated, is considered to be important information by the forecasters
at the National Hurricane Center.

The Hurricane Watch Net covers the Caribbean, Central America, Eastern
Mexico, Eastern Canada, as well as the US Atlantic and Gulf Coast States.
Hams normally operate on 14.325 MHz by day, and 7.268 MHz by night. In
addition to taking storm reports, they also stand ready to relay any
emergency or health and welfare traffic, as well as relaying the latest information about storms in English and Spanish.

For more information about the Hurricane Watch Net, please visit their
website, www.hwn.org (www.hwn.org).

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2380, for Friday, June 9th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2380, with a release date of Friday,
June 9th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The World Radiosport Team Championship is going forward despite floods. Hamvention organizers report "record" crowds for
Xenia -- and amateur radio comes to a key region within India's protected wilderness. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2380, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

WRTC TO GO FORWARD IN ITALY DESPITE FLOODS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: There's some encouraging news from the flood-stricken
region in Italy where the World Radiosport Team Championship is to be
held next month. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, brings us the latest report.

JEREMY: Despite flood damages that have devastated Italy's Emilia Romagna region, the World Radiosport Team Championship will go forward in July, organisers have said. Luca Aliprandi, IK2NCJ, the WRTC's spokesman, said
the organising committee has found replacement sites for stations whose original operating locations near Bologna have become unusable. In all,
the region has suffered losses costing in excess of 5 billion euros, organisers said.

Reporting on the WRTC's reflector, Luca said that the committee hopes to
have 100 percent of the replacement sites tested and approved well in
advance of the event. He said that the site organiser, Claudio, I4VEQ,
was optimistic, citing the new locations' low noise levels. Some of the
sites have already granted permission for antennas to be installed to
enable the setup teams to do field practice.

Organisers have also begun seeking additional funds because of the extra
costs incurred after the flooding. He said he expected the result of all
these efforts to produce [quote] "an unforgettable and successful competition." [endquote]

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(WRTC2022 REFLECTOR)

**

"RECORD" ATTENDANCE AT HAMVENTION 2023

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, Hamvention organizers are calling this year's
crowd a "record attendance" since the move to Xenia. Just a handful of
weeks after Hamvention, the tally shows 33,861 people were at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Ohio, a total number topping last year's by more
than 2,000. Hamvention's media chair, James Gifford, KD8APT, released the numbers, saying that the total surpasses the previous attendance record
at the fairgrounds, set before the pandemic, at 32,472. Hamvention will
be held again next year on May 17th, 18th and 19th. Save the dates!

**

NEW MOMENTUM TO KEEP AM BROADCAST RADIO IN US CARS

STEPHEN: The struggle to keep AM broadcast radio in cars in the US
continues. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has an update.

KENT: The move to retain AM broadcast service in vehicles sold in the US gained even more momentum recently as state broadcasting associations
passed a resolution of support that underscored AM's role in carrying emergency messages from the federal government during a national crisis;
its ability to carry other messages during extreme weather events and
AM's robust nature among underrepresented communities, such as minorities
and individuals who do not speak English. The association represents all
50 of the US states as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico and it
supports the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, a bipartisan bill passed
recently in Congress.

Although many manufacturers of electric cars claim RF interference to be
an issue between AM broacast radio and the vehicles' electronic systems,
Ford Motor Company recently reversed its decision to do away with the
service in its Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

In a related move the National Association of Farm Broadcasting has also launched a website advocating for the retention of AM service,
reiterating the importance AM has in rural communities.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(RADIO WORLD)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2381, for Friday, June 16th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2381, with a release date of Friday,
June 16th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A youth DXpedition sets its sights on Guyana. Satellites get in the act on Field Day -- and ham radio aids in a
dramatic rescue in Idaho. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2381, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

YOUNG DXPEDITIONERS SET SIGHTS ON GUYANA

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Guyana - that's the
location a young quartet of DXpeditioners has its collective eye on. We
hear about their plans from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: Their trip has been years in the making and now, with the travel precautions of the pandemic behind them, a team of DXpeditioners -- all
in their 20s -- is finally free to travel to their destination: Guyana.
Four friends, Jamie, M0SDV, Philipp, DK6SP, Tomi, HA8RT, and Sven, DJ4MX,
are young: Sven is 21, team co-leader Jamie is 22; Tomi is 24 and co-
leader Philipp is 25.

Their youth hasn't stopped them from becoming veteran DXpeditioners.
Jamie told Newsline: "We have been fortunate enough to visit some amazing locations worldwide." Now they putting together their plan to operate in Guyana between the 14th and the 24th of next February, operating CW, SSB,
FT8, and RTTY, on the HF bands.

They have not yet been assigned a callsign.

The Northern California DX Foundation said it has given the team a $5,000 grant as a way of encouraging the next generation of adventuring
amateurs.

Jamie said that the group's website will be updated regularly to keep DX hunters apprised and, of course, to encourage others to support the activation.

See the text version of this week's newscast on our website,
arnewsline.org, to find a link to the DXpedition. The team will also be releasing a separate website dedicated to the DXpedition itself and will communicate with chasers via social media.

[DO NOT READ: www.8R-2024.com]

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(GUYANA DXPEDITION WEBSITE, JAMIE MØSDV)

**

HAM RADIO PLAYS PIVOTAL ROLE IN SEATTLE DRILL

PAUL/ANCHOR: Residents in the city of Seattle take the notion of being neighborly quite seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they regularly
hold disaster drills to practice ways to help one another out. Of course,
it involves amateur radio. Here's Jack Parker, W8ISH, with a report on
the latest exercise, which was held on June 11th.

JACK: The disaster scenario in the city of Seattle, Washington, was
simulated but there was nothing fictional about the scene of neighbor
helping neighbor. On June 11th, the city's Emergency Communication Hubs rehearsed the all-important coordinated response that everyone would have
in the event of a citywide power outage -- from neighbors to local authorities.

The exercise was called Power Down. Twenty-five hams from the Auxiliary Communications Service of Amateurs were dispatched to transmit messages
using voice and digital modes, such as Winlink and Fldigi. The hams
worked at one of the city's 10 participating hubs, at rally points for
city workers, or in the radio room of the city's Emergency Operations
Center. Many of the hams were asked to move between the various locations
to help balance out resources. Most of the hams communicated via nets
using repeaters that have power generators on site.

According to Susanna Cunningham, WB7CON, the public information officer
for the ACS, the exercise was a successful demonstration of cooperation
but unearthed some challenges: There were coverage issues with repeaters
that are used less frequently -- and hams making use of Winlink did not
always succeed in getting all the ICS forms submitted from the Hubs to
their targeted locations. Susanne said that these issues and others will
be evaluated at the July meeting of the ACS on July 8th.

This is Jack Parker, W8ISH.

(SUSANNA CUNNINGHAM, WB7CON)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2382 for Friday, June 23rd, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2382, with a release date of Friday,
June 23rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams get on the air as a cyclone hits India; the
FCC's systems go back online -- and get ready to chase the 13 Colonies
Special Event stations. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2382, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

HAMS MOBILIZE TO ASSIST DURING CYCLONE BIPARJOY

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to India where hams played a
crucial role in public safety and communication as a cyclone enveloped
the region. More on that from Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

JIM: Amateur radio operators in western India were deployed and kept on
high alert as Cyclone Biparjoy closed in on the western shore near the
port of Jakhau on Thursday, June 15th, tearing roofs off houses, and
leaving thousands without power.

Local news reports from the Indian state of Gujarat said that the state's Disaster Management Authority responded to power outages and other damage
by deploying six ham radio teams, two of them in the district near the
port of Jakhau, as well as a number of mobile units. Pakistan and India
had already moved an estimated 173,000 people to shelters in preparation
for the storm's arrival.

The deadly cyclone killed at least two people in India before weakening
and heading toward Pakistan's southern coastal areas. The name of the
Cyclone - Biparjoy (Bipper Joy) - means "disaster" in Bengali.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(ASSOCIATED PRESS, TIMES OF INDIA)

**

FCC REPORTS ITS ULS BACK ONLINE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In the United States, the FCC reported an end to the long shutdown of some of its systems, much to the relief of hams and others
needing to file documents. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, brings us that report.

PAUL: The Federal Communications Commission's nearly month-long outage of
its Universal Licensing System and related systems has ended. The systems
came back on line, on a limited basis, on Wednesday, June 21st. A public announcement by the FCC alerted users to the remaining unavailability of
the systems' query download function, which permits search results to be
saved as text files.

The shutdown put the brakes on amateur radio filings and other FCC applications that were facing immediate deadlines, causing widespread frustration and much wider speculation as to the cause behind the
shutdown. The FCC's public announcement did not address the cause and
despite repeated requests from Amateur Radio Newsline to clarify what had occurred, the agency referred only to the announcement on its website.
The announcement cited [quote] "technical issues." [endquote] It was not possible to determine specifically where those issues occurred - or why
they occurred - and whether there had been a security breach or if any presumed built-in redundancies failed to operate properly.

The FCC said it has provided deadline extensions for filings that were affected by the shutdown and that it expects high traffic on its systems
in the days to come. Those ULS applications that were impacted will not
need to pay waiver fees, seek waivers, or provide any special attachments.

The FCC said that the deadline extensions and other relief measures only
apply to those filings between the outage period of June 9th to June
29th.

This is Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

(FCC)

**

WRTC GAINS SUPPORT FROM ITALIAN OFFICIALS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The World Radiosport Team Championship, which is about to
open shortly near Bologna, Italy, has gained the official patronage and support of the Ministry of Enterprises and the Made in Italy initiative.
The competition is being held in a region of Italy known as an economic
engine because of the strength of its business ventures in technology and craftsmanship. This recognition adds a much-needed boost, following the devastating floods that swept through the region, challenging the
organizers of the event which takes place July 4th through July 11th.

(WRTC 2022 REFLECTOR)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2383, for Friday, June 30th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2383, with a release date of
Friday, June 30th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Ofcom proposes sweeping license changes in the
UK. The QSO of a lifetime makes one ham's Field Day unforgettable --
and meet Amateur Radio Newsline's Young Ham of the Year for 2023.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2383, comes
your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

OFCOM PROPOSES SWEEPING CHANGES FOR UK LICENSES

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to the UK, where Ofcom is
proposing a major overhaul of amateur radio licensing and
operations. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, brings us those details.

JEREMY: Stating it wants to provide amateurs in the UK with greater
access to licences while delivering greater operating freedom, the communications regulator Ofcom is proposing sweeping changes to its
ham radio licence framework.

None of these changes affects the frequencies or bands amateurs
can use but it does increase the maximum permitted power for
transmitting across the three classes of licence. The proposed
maximum allowances are 20 watts for Foundation; 100 watts for
Intermediate in most bands and 1,000 watts for Full licence
holders who are operating where ham radio has a primary
allocation. Ofcom is also proposing low power airborne
transmission on some bands.

Beacons, repeaters and gateways would no longer require a Notice
of Variation in most cases -- the holders of a Foundation licence
would be permitted on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Foundation
licence holders would also be allowed to build their own
equipment.

In another change, hams advancing to a higher class of licence
would be required to surrender their lower-level licence and call
sign, holding only a single personal licence. This requirement
would not apply to clubs.

This is just a sample of what Ofcom is suggesting. The regulator
is seeking feedback and has set a deadline of the 4th September
for comment. For a link to the document please see the text
version of this week's newscast script at arnewsline.org

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

[FOR PRINT ONLY:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/ updating-amateur-radio-licensing-framework ]

(above URL all on one line)

(OFCOM, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

**

OH BABY! WHAT A GREAT FIELD DAY!

NEIL/ANCHOR: So you think you had a great Field Day? Sorry....but
no matter how amazing a time you had, no matter how many QSOs you
and your club logged, it can never compare to the experience of
one amateur in Alabama who helped organize his club's big weekend.
Jim Damron, N8TMW, tells us more.

JIM: Patrick Nagle, N4GLE, was ready. Field Day weekend couldn't
come soon enough for this member of the Muscle Shoals Amateur
Radio Club. Patrick has been part of the organizing committee for
the club's Field Day for the past three years and everyone was
ready to put the club callsign, W4JNB, on the air.

This year, Rhett Allen Nagle was also ready. In fact, on June 23,
2023, just as Field Day prep was under way, he was so ready that
he was born. With the doctor's help, Rhett's mother, Kaitlyn
Hendrix Nagle, brought him into this world, and into Patrick's
arms.

Patrick told Newsline that he and his wife had hoped for Rhett's
birth to take place a few days after Field Day but the doctor
wasn't available on their chosen date of June 26th. So June 23rd
it was going to be! Holding strong at the Field Day site was
brand-new grandfather, Papa Roy Nagle, KI4UX, who kept things
running smoothly, and stayed in touch with his son.

The happy new father may have been away from the club's operating
site this year, but he told Newsline he knows he had the best QSO
of Field Day weekend. While it may not have been made over the
air, he said that all those eyeball QSOs with his new son included
plenty of snuggles.

This is Jim Damron, N8TMW.

NEIL/ANCHOR: Newsline offers the Nagle family all the best. We
can't wait to hear that Rhett has received his callsign.

(PATRICK NAGLE, N4GLE)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2384, for Friday, July 7th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2384, with a release date of Friday,
July 7th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Gains in attendance at Europe's largest hamfest.
Sri Lanka loses a respected member of the amateur community -- and there
are big plans ahead for radio at Scout camps. All this and more, as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2384 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

GAIN IN ATTENDANCE AT HAM RADIO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Germany. With Ham
Radio Friedrichshafen (Pron: Freed Ricks Harfen) completing two weeks
ago, the attendance figures have been announced and there's some good
news. Over to our European Correspondent Ed Durrant, DD5LP, who attended.

ED: This year's attendance at Ham Radio, Europe's largest Hamfest, was up
by 10% to 11,100 and the number of traders by 15% compared to last year, despite predictions that Hamfests may suffer due to the increase in
online sales during and following the pandemic.

It was clear there was an increase in the number of people both at the
indoor flea market halls and in the main trader and exhibitor hall.
While there were no new major radio announcements -- other than we
already know of from Hamvention -- it was good to see Kenwood back with a stall but a shame that only Yaesu's agents represented them. ICOM was
there with their usual impressive large display area and competing in
size was a new company to the amateur radio market - Aaronia a
manufacturer of high quality test equipment.

All in all, it was a very uplifting event.

Just as important was the announcement that the required legislative
document had just been signed to implement the new German entry level "N class" amateur radio licence. The regulations will come into force on the
21st of June 2024, the week before next years "Ham Radio" event between
the 28th and 30th and indeed the very first examinations for this new
class of licence will take place at "HAM RADIO 2024." The new licence
will allow access to 70cm, 2m and 10m running a maximum of 10 watts and
will conform to CEPT specifications for an entry level licence.

This is Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

**

FCC SEEKS INPUT ON COMMERCIAL USE OF HF SPECTRUM

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Following years of experimental use of the frequencies
between 2 and 25 MHz - a range the FCC considers underutilized - members
of the Shortwave Modernization Coalition have asked the agency for rule changes that would permit fixed, long-distance, time-sensitive
transmission of data by commercial entities. The FCC is requesting public comment on the proposed rule change, which the Commission said would not
have an impact on that part of the spectrum used exclusively by amateur
radio, maritime or aeronautical services.

A rule change would make the frequencies available to regular commercial operations. At present only 61 of the 21,507 active licenses for
frequencies between 2 and 25 MHz are for industrial and business use, according to the FCC.

The businesses seeking access have relied until now on satellite, fiber, microwave and millimeter wave wireless transmissions.

Shortwave Management Coalition members, who include such entities as
companies in the financial markets, believe a rule change could widen
access to other industries such as mining, petroleum and manufacturing.

Comments are due to the FCC within the month.

(FCC, SWLING POST)

**

FCC TO CONSIDER KEEPING FM6 RADIO FOR LOW-POWER TV

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In other action in Washington, it is shaping up to be a
busy month for the Federal Communications Commission, which is
considering whether low power analog TV stations that have a Channel 6 allocation can continue to broadcast analog FM radio. Kevin Trotman,
N5PRE, tells us what's behind the issue.

KEVIN: In a small number of US markets, FM broadcast audio has long been available from TV stations making use of a subcarrier 250 kHz from the
top of the Channel 6 frequencies. At the FCC's open meeting on July 20th,
the FCC will look at an option it favors: permitting these low-power TV stations to continue this practice as a supplementary service even after
the TV stations' conversion to digital.

The FCC believes that preserving the operations for those 13 low-power stations would benefit the public interest, noting as well that there is
no record of TV interference with the adjacent FM channels, known as FM6 stations. The FCC wrote in a fact sheet on its website that it has not received complaints with credible evidence showing anything to the
contrary.

FM6 radio is permitted to operate only on 87.75 MHz and the service may
only be offered within the low-power TV station's coverage area and on a non-interference basis.

This is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(FCC)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2385 for Friday July 14th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2385, with a release date of
Friday, July 14th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The World Radiosport Team Championship heads to
the UK. Campers prepare for Youth on the Air camp in Canada -- and
calling QRZ among a universe of UFOs. All this and more, as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2385 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

UK CHOSEN TO HOST WRTC 2026

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to the World Radiosport Team
Championship. The prestigious international competition wrapped up in
Italy on July 9th and the winners were announced -- including the venue selected to host the competition in 2026. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, brings us
that report.

JEREMY: The World Radiosport Team Championship - a high profile
competition often viewed as the Olympics of amateur radio - has
declared the United Kingdom the winner in the selection process to be
host site for the next international contest. The English counties of
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk - all in East Anglia - were selected
by the Sanctioning Committee to serve as home to the 50 operating
locations for the competing two-person teams.

In an interview with ICQ Podcast presenter/technical editor Martin
Butler, M1MRB, WRTC 2026 President Mark Haynes, M0DXR, said organisers
are going to rely heavily on amateur volunteers throughout the UK to
provide technical help and support during setup and operation.

Meanwhile, as WRTC 2022 concluded, the top three winning pairs - among
the other victorious operators - were identified as UW7LL and VE3DZ for
first place; DJ5MW and DL1IAO, second place; and 9A7DX along with 9A3LG, third. For a full list of winners and their scores, visit the WRTC 2022 website at wrtc2022 dot it (wrtc2022.it).

Newsline would also like to congratulate our colleagues at the ICQ
Podcast, which has been chosen as a media partner, providing updates as
the organising progress goes forward. The announcement was made on the podcast's website on 10th July by its founding editor, Colin Butler,
M6BOY.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(ICQ PODCAST, WRTC 2022, WRTC 2026)

**

STUDY CONFIRMS EMISSIONS FROM SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS

PAUL/ANCHOR: According to a new study, those tiny low-earth orbit
satellites may be delivering something unwanted and much less attractive
than broadband internet access. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details.

JIM: Large satellite constellations that provide detailed Earth imagery
as well as broadband internet access to some regions have been shown to
emit unintended electromagnetic radiation that may prove a challenge to radioastronomers' research. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for
Radio Astronomy in Germany report that interfering signals appear to
come from the electronics on board a number of SpaceX satellites.
Writing in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the researchers said
they made the discovery using the facility's Low Frequency Array
telescope. They drew their conclusions after observing 68 of the
satellites in low earth orbit.

The report's lead author, Federico Di Vruno, said [quote] "This study represents the latest effort to better understand satellite
constellations' impact on radio astronomy." [endquote] The scientist
said that the most recent observations confirm there is a measurable
existence of the radiation.

This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(PHYS.ORG)

**

SILENT KEY: RUSSIAN ROBINSON CLUB'S GEORGE CHLIYANTS, UY5XE

PAUL/ANCHOR: The DX community is grieving the loss of an influential
amateur who helped organize and promote DXpeditions in the polar
regions. We hear more about him from Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

GRAHAM: George Giorgiy Chliyants, UY5XE, was a friend and an advocate to
many. A number of reports say that George recently became a Silent Key.
He has clearly left his mark: In 1993, while attending the IOTA
convention in Spain, George encouraged the creation of what became the
Russian Robinson Club, a group of adventurous amateurs who would come to operate out of particularly challenging locales in the polar regions.
He later became QSL manager for many of the Russian expeditions in bot
h the Antarctic and the Arctic. He had also served as the president of
the UDXC and vice president of the Robinson club. One of his DXpeditions
was EM20YU, in which he activated the Chernobyl exclusion zone in 2006
with Boris, UT7UT.

Licenced in 1966, he was an active ham whose contesting activity had won
him many awards and plaques. He was also a published author and had been
a correspondent for a number of amateur radio magazines, including Radio
and RadioMir, both in Moscow and RadioHobby, in Kyiv.

George was 75.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(WORLDWIDE ANTARCTIC PROGRAM, UT7UT.COM, UY5XE HOMEPAGE)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2387, for Friday, July 28th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2387, with a release date of Friday,
July 28th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams call QRZ to help a flood-damaged region of
Italy. Dangerous conditions cancel a second activation on Rockall -- and a successful orbit for CubeSATS from the Philippines. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2387 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

CALLING QRZ TO RESTORE FLOOD-DAMAGED EMILIA-ROMAGNA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Italy's flood-devastated region of Emilia-Romagna faces a
long period of reconstruction and hams are involved in providing their own kind of support. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, brings us the details.

JEREMY: Although some hams may be more familiar with the Emilia-Romagna
region of northern Italy as the host of the recent World Radiosport Team Championship, it is actually now in the amateur radio spotlight for another reason. Remember the callsign 1A0C (One Ay Zero C). Hams will be calling
QRZ until the 2nd of August to focus attention on the charitable work being done there by the Italian Relief Corps of the Order of Malta, focusing on
the badly damaged Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The historic deadly
floods in May displaced thousands of families, destroyed communities and threatened to wreck many local industries. A multinational team of amateurs will be on the air from the radio station at the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill. The Order of Malta's humanitarian projects are known
throughout the world, assisting 120 nations with medical, social and humanitarian needs. The operators include Fernando EA5C, Simone IK5RUN, Jun JH4RHF, Dmitry RA9USU and others.

At the time Newsline was being produced, the team's website was under construction. Visit the QRZ.com page of 1A0C for updates.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(425 DX BULLETIN, QRZ, ORDER OF MALTA)

**

A TRIBUTE TO BELOVED SOTA SILENT KEY

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: SOTA activators are planning an international tribute to recall the treasured friendship of a ham who became a Silent Key last year.
Ed Durrant, DD5LP, gives us the details.

ED: From his shack in Poland, Jarek SP9MA, is leading the way among his
fellow SOTA supporters. He has issued a call to all friends of the beloved
ham known as Guru who became a Silent Key in March of 2022. Jarek wrote on
the SOTA reflector that he will begin using the callsign SP59GURU on
January 11th of next year, which would have been Guru's 59th birthday. The callsign will remain active through to March 11th, the anniversary of his death. The loss of Jose-Antonio Gurutzarri Jauregi EA2IF to cancer rocked
the SOTA community last year, most especially in Europe, where his
commitment to radio on the summits began in his native Spain in 2013.

Jarek has put out a call to SOTA activators worldwide to join him in this special event activation and to start making plans now, well in advance of January.

Though there will be no diplomas or awards for QSOs, Jarek believes the contact itself will provide a memorable moment. In that way, Guru, who left his mark also as a top contester and CW operator, will get another moment
with his SOTA brothers and sisters.

Or, as Jarek wrote on the SOTA reflector: [quote] "I just think that as
many hearts as possible would connect with the Guru at that time."
[endquote]

This is Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(SOTA REFLECTOR)

**

DANGEROUS CONDITIONS CANCEL REPEAT ROCKALL ACTIVATION

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Radios and other equipment remain on Rockall Island, where
a second attempted activation has failed. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, brings us up
to date.

JEREMY: A second - and very brief - activation of the remote granite islet known as Rockall was called off after hazardous conditions in the North Atlantic had forced the team to return to the mainland.

Cam Cameron, Emil Bergmann, DL8JJ, and Nobby, G0VJG, set sail on the 16th
of July, only to turn back three days later after making several passes at Rockall. The hams were hoping to have a second activation - three hours of
CW and SSB - during their return trip.

The trio was traveling to recover radio equipment left there during the
June activation of MM0UKI. Emil and Nobby had called QRZ for several days before their departure, leaving Cam on Rockall. In a challenge to benefit charity, Cam was hoping to break the previous 45-day stay record set in
2014. He had called for rescue in late June after 32 days of exhaustion and hypothermia.

Describing the team's failed attempt to return, Emil wrote on the Rockall DXpedition's Facebook page: [quote] "Nature has said NO. We reach[ed] the Rockall without difficulty, but the waves [were] extremely high. That's the way of life." [endquote]

Don't be discouraged: The team plans another recovery attempt.

This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(FACEBOOK, DX-WORLD.NET)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)