2015-02-24

QRZ Forums - Amateur Radio News

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Amateur radio based group rescues released broadcast frequency

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 02:18 AM PST
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...y&goto=newpost

Amateur radio based group rescues released broadcast frequency

When the 'Deutsche Welle' decided to close down one of

their 500 KW short wave broadcast transmitters near Munich at the end of

2012, a group containing some German radio amateurs applied for and were

allocated the then available short wave frequency of 6070 KHz in 2013.

This group now have an operational 10KW station on the

frequency, using the driver stages from the old Deutsche Welle

transmitter. The rest of the transmitter was built by and is run by Rainer

DB8QC . The licence allow transmission 24/7 but at present most

transmissions are on a weekend during daylight hours.

Content is mainly provided by existing Internet Radio

stations wanting to get their material "on-the-air" this includes several

soceities that remember the days of the Pirate Radio pop music stations in

the North sea between England and Holland and a lot of their music content

is from the 60's and 70's.

Additional content is being sought and at only 15 Euros

an hour, this is not a corporate big business rather a facility where

smaller groups can afford to buy time to transmit their content. One such

group is the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club, the National Amateur Radio

Soceity in Germany, who hope to have a weekly 2 hour slot on the station

from mid-March to send a DX orientated program, probably from 6pm local

time on Sundays.

The DARC DX magazine will be in the German language and

targeted towards German speaking listeners. Amateur radio is an

international medium however so there are thoughts of also producing an

international / English hour in addition, to reach out across Europe not

only to radio amateurs but also to short wave listeners and the general

public.

When I talked with another Rainer DF2NU who is one of

the group running the station and the president of the Munich South

section of the DARC, he told me that they hope to be able to broadcast

more often once sufficient content is available however they are already

seeing other broadcasters such as Radio China moving onto the frequency in

the evenings as those stations percieve 6070 KHz as a free frequency.

Rainer told me that currently "Channel 292" has airtime

bookings for 20-25 hrs a week, mostly on weekends at which times it runs

at 10 kW output. When the station is idle (as there is no booking), the

transmitter power is reduced to 1kW and transmits an infinite music-loop

with no actual program. Late evenings, after 8pm local, the transmitter is

switched off completely in order to save energy costs. Rainer stressed

that the license is for 24/7 so they can use the frequency at any time

when they have content.

With a current rate of EUR 15,-- per hour airtime you

cannot earn any money. This broadcast station is an extenion of the

amateur radio hobby and the group seek to simply cover their costs.

Thinking back to the very start of amateur radio, Hams

were allowed to transmit music, news and entertainment programs, so it's

nice to see some of this coming back onto the short wave bands thanks to

the efforts of groups like this one.

I wonder as we see more and more broadcasters leaving

the short wave bands in favour of Internet broadcasting, whether we'll see

more licences and surplus transmitters being picked up by amateur radio

groups? This seems to be somewhat of a repeat of the situation when it was

said 200 metres and up is useless for broadcasting - give it to the

amateurs. We all know what then followed.

Perhaps amateur Radio groups around the world can put

new life into released shortware broadcast frequencies?

For program information about "Channel 292" simply go to their website at
www.channel292.de

Why not give 6070KHz AM a listen?

Channel292 coverage map

The Channel292 station covers a lot of Western Europe but has also been

heard in Russia and the US

coverage_map.jpg

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Attached Images

coverage_map.jpg

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Stunning results from ISS SSTV

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 02:09 AM PST
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Stunning results from ISS SSTV

The ISS Slow Scan Television

transmissions have already produced some great pictures, more will be sent

Monday on 145.800 MHz FM until 2130 UT

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) Clint Bradford

K6LCS posted:

Receiving SSTV from the ISS really CAN be simple:

For my first time ever, I simply fired up a $3 iOS app, and held my iPod

touch near my Yaesu FT-60R's speaker, and downloaded one of the images

from the ISS.

I didn't think there was too much left in the hobby to excite me - but I

was WRONG!!!

Greg KO6TH said “I’ve never received a clearer SSTV picture from

anywhere, let alone outer space!”

Twelve different images depicting space pioneer Yuri Gagarin - the first

human to orbit Earth - are being sent on 145.800 MHz using the SSTV mode

PD180, with a 3-minute off time between transmissions.

The transmitter on the ISS uses 5 kHz deviation FM. If your rig has

selectable FM filters (most mobiles do) make sure you choose the wider

setting designed for 20 or 25 kHz channel spacing, usually marked FM or

FMW.

Images received so far by radio amateurs world-wide are at

http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/

Find out more about receiving these transmissions and

links to decoding software at

http://amsat-uk.org/2015/02/11/more-iss-slow-scan-tv/

ISS SSTV image 2 - Andrew Garratt M0NRD 20150222-1731Z.jpg

ISS SSTV received by Andrew Garratt M0NRD

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Attached Images

ISS SSTV image 2 - Andrew Garratt M0NRD 20150222-1731Z.jpg

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S8 E4 ICQPodcast - Q and A and Repair Tips has been released.

Posted: 22 Feb 2015 10:10 AM PST
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Series Eight EpisodeFour of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast - Q and A

and Repair Tipshas been released.

In this episodeMartin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP and

MartinRothwell M0SGL to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news.

ColinM6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Q and

Aand Repair Tips.

Newsstories include:-

Essex 2m Activity Day March 2015

Rotary Celebrates its 110th birthday

Cansat - Rocket Launched Instruments in a 330ml Can

New Open Source Data Mode FSQ

D-STAR, DMR and C4FM Repeater Maps

WG2XPN 70 MHz Beacon update

Amateur Radio Based Group Rescues Released Broadcast Frequency

Indoor Marijuana Growers caught due to radio interference

Radio Astronomy and SDR Dongles

TheICQPODCAST can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com

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Dayton Hamvention System Fusion Forum Announced

Posted: 21 Feb 2015 12:15 PM PST
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The first System Fusion forum at the Dayton Hamvention has been scheduled.

The System Fusion Forum will be Sunday morning, 5/17 at 10:30 am in Forum

Room #1

We understand that Sunday morning is not exactly an optimal time, but it

will be a good start for the first forum.

We'd like thank the Hamvention & the Forums Chairman for making the time

available for the forum since the forum was requested at a late date.

We have been assured that future System Fusion forums will be scheduled on

Friday or Saturday in a large room.

We will be working with Yaesu and hams active in the System Fusion

community to schedule the agenda by mid-March.

We look forward to your attendance at the forum and if you would like to

present at the forum please reach out to me directly as soon as possible.

In the meantime, you can learn more about System Fusion by joining the

System Fusion group at:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...temFusion/info

See you at the Hamvention!!

73, Mark, WB9QZB

System Fusion Group Moderator

Email:

Attached Images

System Fusion Logo.jpg

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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1953 February 20 2015

Posted: 20 Feb 2015 08:32 PM PST
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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1953 February 20 2015

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1953 with a release date of Friday,

February 20th, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The International Amateur Radio Union Region One

Executive Committee meets to discuss issues affecting the future of ham

radio; the ARRL tells a broadband company to use caution experimenting on

the High Frequency bands; a radio club in Canada gets a government grant

to expand its emergency repeater network; the K1N Nevassa Island DXpedition

comes to an end, so now, which DXpedition moves up on the Most Wanted

list? All this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1953

coming your way right now.

(Billboard Cart Here)

**

RADIO POLITICS: IARU-R1 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING IN FRANKFORT

The future of amateur radio is discussed at the annual IARU meeting.

Here's Jeremy Boot G4NJH with more...

[Jeremy:] The Executive Committee of Region 1 of the International Amateur

Radio Union held its annual meeting on February 7 and 8 in Frankfurt,

Germany. During the two day session, the committee discussed the strategic

priorities for the region, the financial report and budget. Spectrum

matters discussed in the External Relations Committee included High

Frequency and VHF reports, core issues such as electromagnetic

compatibility, the member society and its regulator, activities involving

young people and the Support To the Amateur Radio Service program.

In the discussions about activities involving young people, the Executive

Committee agreed that proper child protection policies and practices must

be in place. A child protection policy has been drawn up and will soon be

made available across the region. Amateur Radio in disputed geographic

areas and second societies were also discussed.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH reporting from

Nottingham in the U.K.

(IARU-R1, SARL)

**

RADIO CONFRONTATION: ARRL WARNS MITRE OVER HF BROADBAND EXPERIMENT

INTERFERENCE POTENTIAL

The ARRL has asked the Massachusetts company that plans to conduct

experimental transmissions over wide portions of the High Frequency

spectrum either to avoid Amateur Radio allocations or to announce the times

and frequencies of their transmissions in advance.

Last fall the FCC granted MITRE Corporation of Bedford, Massachusetts, a

2-year Part 5 Experimental License, WH2XCI. This allows MITRE to operate

21 transmitters at 10 fixed New York and Massachusetts sites.

MITRE plans to test wideband HF communication techniques on a variety of

bands between 2.5 MHz and 16 MHz. But in a February 12th letter to MITRE,

ARRL Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, says that it will not be possible for MITRE

to operate these transmitters within the Amateur Radio Service allocations

without causing harmful interference to a large number of Amateur Radio

operators on an ongoing basis. Imlay added that if MITRE does not agree to

avoid ham radio bands or to announce times and frequencies of transmissions

ahead of time, it will ask the FCC to rescind the company's Experimental

License or to impose a prior notification requirement in real time for each

and every use of the transmitters authorized at each site.

More is on the ARRL website at tinyurl.com/arrl-vs-mitre (ARRL)

**

RESCUE RADIO: CANADIAN CLUB GET $25000 GOVERNMENT GRANT FOR EXPANDED

REPEATER NETWORK

The Government of Canada will provide over $25,000 to the Saint Lucia

Amateur Radio Club to improve amateur radio coverage and communication in

the event of a disaster. Using the funds the club plans to install two

repeater systems including solar back-up power, train 90 radio operators

and increase coverage for all 18 districts.

The Saint Lucia Amateur Radio Club secured support for this project

through the Canada / Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Fund, part of

Canada's Caribbean Regional Program. The Repeater System for the Saint

Lucia Amateur Radio Club will provide enhanced two-way communications

during normal and disaster conditions, allowing for amateur radio coverage

in all communities, especially in the known high-risk areas. (WIA News)

**

RESTRUCTURING: MALTA HAMS GET 4 METER ACCESS

Hams on Malta have been given access to the popular European 4 Meter

band. The permission was effective as of Monday, February 16th in the

spectrum from 70 and 70.5 MHz. Use by hams is on a secondary basis and was

included in the National Frequency Plan as published by the Malta

Communications Authority on February 13th. (9H1GB, Southgate)

**

DX UP FRONT: NAVASSA 2015 DXPEDITION QRT

The long awaited K1N Navassa Island DXpedition is now QRT.

[Don:] The operation came to an end at 11:30 UTC on Sunday, February 15th

after the team of highly skilled operators had spent a week on the

island. And what a historic week it was for ham radio as the team ranked

up big QSO totals on all bands, as well as conducting operations on 60

meters, 6 meters and some satellites.

According to co-Team Leader Glenn Johnson, WZ0GJ, the final helicopter

flight left the island at 1500 UTC on the 15th carrying the last three team

members who overnighted to keep stations operational until the last

possible moment. Johnson reports that there was an excellent opening to

Asia and Oceania during the last 24 hours.

While these numbers are preliminary, the K1N QSO log showed they made

138,409 QSOs with 35,702 unique callsigns. Of these 71,297 were on CW,

54,801 on SSB, 12,111 were accomplished using RTTY and 29 were on FM. More

detailed information can be found in their oQRS on ClubLog at

tinyurl.com/navassa-log-2015. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don

Wilbanks AE5DW in south Mississippi.

There are several ways to QSL the K-one-N operation. Paper cards go

either via the bureau or direct to the Navassa 2015 DXpedition, in care of

Bob Schneck, N2OO at Post Office Box 345, Tuckerton, New Jersey 08087.

Electronic QSL's go via Logbook of the World. (OPDX, navassadx.com)

**

DX UP FRONT: VK0EK HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION

With the K1N Navassa Island operation now over, Heard Island appears to be

the next up as far as top 10 Most Wanted entities in the DXCC Program's

list. With the story from Down Under, here is Graham Kemp VK4BB...

[Graham:] Heard will also rise to number 4 in the DX Publications Most

Wanted List, but this is, of course, always subject to change due to those

who participate in the poll each year. It will be number five in the

Clublog Most Wanted List but this also changes based on those who upload

their log files,.

Based on this need, the next Heard Operation sponsored by Cordell

Expeditions is tentatively scheduled for the 2015 southern hemisphere

summer. The voyage to the island is scheduled for November 10th to

December 22nd with actual operation running from about November 22nd to

December 8th. The callsign to be used will be VK0EK.

Heard Island was last activated eighteen years ago back in 1997. Before

that an operation from Heard was part of a 1980's era scientific expedition

chronicled in the Australian theatrical motion picture to the White

Volcano. On that expedition the scientific team relied totally on the ham

radio operators for communications with the outside world.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB reporting from

Queensland. (KY6R, ARNewsline)

**

BREAK 1

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,

heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W8HVG repeater

serving Southern Michigan.

(5 sec pause here)

**

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS: HAMVENTION WEEK AUXCOMM COURSE REGISTRATION NOW

OPEN

The Department of Homeland Security s Office of Emergency Communications

will again offer its Auxiliary Communications or AuxComm course May 12th to

the 14th in Dayton, Ohio, just prior to Hamvention 2015.

The intensive 3 day course provides facilitated lectures, student

exercises, and interactive discussions. Applicants must meet all

prerequisites and provide documentation to attend this class. The class is

limited to 50 qualified students.

More than 1000 Amateur Radio operators have completed the course, which

trains qualified hams to assist local, county, and state government with

emergency back-up communication. Details and registration requirements are

available on the web at hamvention.org. (W8HJR, Hamvention 2015)

**

ENFORCEMENT: UK TEENAGER CHARGED WITH WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY ACT OFFENCES

Police in Edinburgh, Scotland, have arrested and charged an 18 year old

with some twenty violations committed under the Wireless Telegraphy Act.

The crimes, which included offensive remarks, took place between June 2014

and January 2015. They related to interference with communications on

private radio networks that caused disruption to various locations in the

city.

Those involved in the five-month long investigation included British

telecommunications regulator Ofcom, the British Transport Police and a

local Community Policing team. A search was conducted on Monday, February

9th, resulting in the seizure of radio equipment at the location. The

matter was then reported to a prosecutor for further action.

More is on the web at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-fife-31417329 (BBC)

**

ENFORCEMENT: ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CB RADIO HARASSMENT

Meantime from down-under comes word that an Adelaide, Australia man has

admitted using a citizen band radio to abuse other people using the

channels.

[Jim:] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation news reports that

46-year-old John Alexander Kiss was due to stand trial but instead pleaded

guilty to operating a radio communication device to harass and two counts

of possessing a radio communication device without a license when he

appeared at the District Court.

Kiss was accused of using CB radios to make harassing and offensive

comments about people, including users of the service, between April and

June 2013. It was also alleged he caused substantial disruption or

disturbance to the citizen band radio station 477.400 MHz by operating the

station in a way that precluded other users from transmitting on the

frequency.

He was charged after an investigation by the Australian Communications and

Media Authority into allegations of abuse on the service. Sentencing

submissions will be heard in April.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen ZL2BHF, reporting from

Marybank, Nelson, in New Zealand. (ABC Australia News)

**

RADIO REGULATIONS: NAB SAYS MORE SPECTRUM NEEDED FOR WIRELESS MICS

The National Association of Broadcasters wants the FCC to preserve some

exclusive spectrum space for wireless mics, which have already had to do

with less following the Digital TV transition.

Currently, there are two reserved channels in each market for wireless

mics for a total of 12 MHz, and sometimes local broadcasters need even more

spectrum than that. Under the FCC's incentive auction proposal, there is

no spectrum reserved exclusively for wireless mics, though there is

spectrum in whats called the duplex gap between wireless upload and

download spectrum that wireless mics can use. That is, provided that the

mics can operate successfully sharing with numerous other unlicensed

devices.

The Radio Television Digital News Association has said that using the

duplex gap poses potential interference issues, particularly in emergency

situations when the media's ability to disseminate information is

critical. There is also the situation where some TV stations may have to

be relocated in the gap. In these cases there will be no exclusive

wireless mic spectrum.

The National Association of Broadcasters wants the FCC to find a new band

for wireless mics given the impact of repacking and unlicensed use on the

current band, and do so before the May incentive auction. They also

believe that they should also be able to keep using the 600 MHz band until

the FCC has identified new spectrum space and wireless bidders are actually

ready to deploy. (B&C)

**

PUBLIC SERVICE: THE ANNUAL ASHLAND HALF-MARATHON AND 5K RACE

Hams in and around Boston, Massachusetts take note. The annual Ashland

Half-Marathon, 5K Race and Walk takes place on Saturday, March 21st and

ham radio operators are needed to supply communications for the event. A

good dual band H-T with an extended length antenna is required. If you

are in the area and interested in volunteering please contact Mark Richards

K1MGY by e-mail to kmalittl1(at) gmail (dot) com. (KG1H)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SELMA

The Alabama Section ARRL will be conducting a special event to commemorate

the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March on March

7th and 8th.

Pending FCC approval, the call sign used will be W4F which stands

for "Walk for Freedom." Operation will be on 75, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.

Exact frequencies will be announced closer to the actual date.

This event coincides with the weekend of the Birmingham Hamfest and

operators all over the state are being asked to participate. If you wish

to take part please contact K4LIA by e-mail to k4lia (at) hotmail (dot)

com. (Facebook)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: PALM SPRINGS HAMFEST 2015

The 2015 Palm Springs California Hamfest will be held at the Palm Springs

Pavilion, near the Palm Springs Baseball Stadium on Saturday, March 14 from

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This years keynote speaker is Gordon West, WB6NOA, of

Radio School and Ham Nation. Parking is free and the hamfest will offer a

VE testing session before the opening of the regular event. Full details

are at palmspringshamfest.com (Via e-mail)

**

HAM HAPPEINGS: CETRAL STATES VHF SOCIETY CONFERENCE PUTS OUT CALL FOR

PAPERS

The Central States VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers,

presentations and posters for the upcoming 49th Annual Central States VHF

Society Conference. Suggested topics include but are not limited to

antennas, propagation, satellites, test equipment, digital modes,

contesting and the like.

Non-weak signal topics, such as FM, Repeaters, packet radio and other

utility communications modes are generally not considered acceptable,

however, there are always exceptions. Please contact the Proceedings Chair

John Maxwell if you have any questions about the suitability of a topic.

His e-mail is w0vg (at) arrl (dot) net.

The Central States VHF Society Conference is slated for July 23rd through

the 26th in Denver, Colorado. Registration is online now at
www.csvhfs.org. (Central States VHF Society Conference)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: ARRL FIELD DAY 2015 PACKETS VAILABLE

The ARRL 2015 Field Day packet is now online.

ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the

US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June, more than 35,000 radio

amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate

from remote locations.

Participants are encouraged to register their Field Day operations using

the FD Site Locator. Field Day gear will be available by March 1st. There

are no rule changes for 2015. This years Field Day takes place June 27th

and the 28th. (ARRL)

**

PUBLIC RELATIONS: NEW TV ADD FEATURES HAM RADIO AND ISS

The latest advertisement from Internet service provider MTN Global

features amateur radio and the International Space Station. The commercial

tells the story of a little boy who discovers, via the internet, that it is

very simple to build a homemade radio that will allow him to actually speak

to an astronaut in space. He tries and fails and tries again, using the

internet to embark on a journey of discovery that takes a rather unexpected

and very positive turn. We don't want to spoil the happy ending for you so

take your web browser to tinyurl.com/mtn-global-iss and enjoy the moment

for yourself. (Southgate)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS: THE YOUNG HAM LENDS A HAND CONTEST

Some names in the news. Carole Perry, WB2MGP, has announced the opening

for nominations for the "Young Ham Lends A Hand" contest. Any licensed ham

18 years or younger is eligible. A simple e-mail to Carole detailing why

the nominated youngster should win is all that is required.

The young ham should be someone who is meeting one of our amateur radio

basic tenets of giving back and service. Among the possibilities are such

activities as helping other youngsters to get licensed, reading to a senior

citizen, helping military personnel in some way, providing communications

at a local community event, or other volunteer service to the community.

The winner will be announced at the 2015 Dayton Hamvention Youth Forum

where he or she will receive $100. The youngster need not be present to

win.

All nominations should be by e-mail sent to

before April 1st. (WB2MGP)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS: ZR6KF APPOINTED AS NEW SARL YOUTH COORDINATOR

Koos Fick, ZR6KF, has been appointed as the new South African Radio League

Youth Coordinator. Koos is a 16 year old in the 11th grade at the

Helpmekaar secondary school in Johannesburg. He has been the net

controller for South Africa's Youth Net since last November and operated

special event station ZS9YOTA during December 2014. Fick replaces Mitchel

Mynhardt, ZS6YH, who is resigning as he is in the last year of school and

needs to concentrate on his schoolwork. (SARL)

**

WORLDBEAT: GULF WAR RADIO STOLEN IN THE UK

A camouflage British army radio used in the Falklands and Gulf wars was

recently stolen from the back of a car parked in Northampton, England. The

distinctive radio, which is carried in a large camouflage backpack is now

more usually used by amateur radio enthusiasts.

If you see this unit show up on an on-line auction site or hear of it

being offered for sale please contact the call Northamptonshire Police or

the independent charity Crimestoppers. You can do the latter anonymously

using the form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. (GB2RS)

**

BREAK 2

This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. We are the Amateur Radio

Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at
www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the

following radio amateur:

(5 sec pause here)

**

HELP WANTED: AMSAT ENGINEERING KICKING OFF GROUND STATION DEVELOPMENT

AMSAT Engineering is looking for hams interested in developing ground

station equipment for future satellites. This as part of the recently

approved technology funding the development of an inexpensive L-Band uplink

converter for Low Earth Orbit or LEO satellites.

If you are interested in helping in this or other space related projects

please contact AMSAT Engineering by completing the form on the website to

tell Jerry Buxton, N0JY, the Vice President of Engineering, how you can

assist. The form is at tinyurl.com/amsat-engineering-volunteer (AMSAT)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: MORE ISS SLOW SCAN TV ACTIVITY ANNOUNCED

The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has announced another round of

amateur radio Slow Scan Television activity will soon take place from the

International Space Station. As part of it twelve images depicting space

pioneer Yuri Gagarin will be sent on 145.800 MHz using the SSTV mode PD180.

The equipment used on the ISS will be the Kenwood D710 transceiver located

in the Russian Service Module. It is thought the transceiver is producing

about 25 watts output which should provide a very strong signal.

The D710 uses 5 kHz deviation FM. If your rig has selectable FM filters

make sure you choose the wider setting designed for 20 or 25 kHz channel

spacing, usually marked FM or FMW. There will be a three minute off time

between transmissions. Additional details including exact dates and times

will be released as soon as information is made available. (AMSAT-UK,

Roscosmos)

**

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMSAT-BR FORMED IN BRAZIL

There's a new AMSAT organization in South America, with the formation in

Brazil of AMSAT B R.

AMSAT BR is said to have three specific goals. These are are to better

organize the Brazilian amateur satellite activities, to better represent

that nations amateur radio community to organizations developing CubeSat

projects and to attract more amateurs in different regions of the country

to join in space related activities..

AMSAT BR is a special interest group under Brazil's national amateur radio

society LABRE. LABRE in turn is registered as a member of the

International Amateur Radio Union. (IARU).

**

RADIO FROM SPACE: NASA ANNOUNCES SUBMERSIBLE TO EXPLORE OCEANS OF TITAN

NASA has announced that it will develop a new nuclear robotic submersible,

which they could use to explore the oceans on Saturn's frozen moon Titan

and radio its findings back to Earth. With more on this story, Jim Damron

N8TMW...

[Jim D.:] Describing the submarine in a recently released PDF document,

the space agency said it was proposed as a way to explore Kraken Mare, a

body of liquid on Titan spotted by the Cassini spacecraft in 2007. Kraken

Mare is believed to be the largest sea or lake in the northern portion of

Titan.

Powered by a radioisotope Stirling generator power source, the submarine

would be efficient enough to complete a 90-day, 2000-kilometer under sea

journey.

Researchers working on this project admit that they are concerned that it

would be hard for the submarine to send signals from under the liquid on

Titan back to Earth, as the direct transmission. They believe that doing

so would require a large antenna and one option being considered is

concealing it in the submersible vehicle's fin.

The submarines design will be unveiled at the 46th Lunar and Planetary

Science Conference in March. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron

N8TMW, in Vero Beach, Florida. (PerfScience.com)

**

SWL CORNER: VOICE OF GUYANA BACK ON THE AIR

From the SWL corner comes word that radio technician, Jamie Labadia has

repaired the shortwave transmitter and antenna at Radio Guyana and has

brought the station back on the air. Listen out for it to be broadcasting

on 3 dot 290 MHz at 1 kilowatt double sideband full carrier AM.

(SWLING.com)

**

ON THE AIR: SPECIAL CALLSIGNS FOR COOK ISLANDS

Resident amateurs in the Cook Islands have been issued E50 single letter

suffix callsigns instead of the usual E51 two letter to celebrate 50 years

of self governance. The seven residents may opt to use them for all or

part of 2015 in place of their regular E51 two letter suffix call signs.

Visitors to the Cooks will still be issued the standard visitor E51 triple

letter callsigns. The mail out of specially designed QSL cards won't

start until late March at the earliest. The Cook Islands are Islands on

the Air reference OC-013. (Press release)

**

ON THE AIR: GB1BST CELEBRATING BRITISH SUMMER TIME 2015

Woody's Top Youth Hostel in Lincolnshire will be the venue for the 2015

GB1BST Special Event Station, celebrating the start of British Summer

Time. Radio operations are scheduled to start late on March 27th with

test transmissions on the 40, 20, 17 and 2 meter bands all of which will

be used during the two day celebration. (WIA)

**

DX

In DX, JR1JYR will be active as V63JYR from Phonpei in the Federated State

of Micronesia between March 5th and the 11th. Operation will be on 20

through 10 meters including 17 and 12 meters using mainly CW, SSB and the

digital modes. QSL via JR1JYR direct or electronically using Logbook of the

World.

7K2TTJ will be operational as T88YD from Palau between March 14 and 18th.

Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via his home callsign.

DL9NBJ will be active stroke PJ2 from Curacao through March 10th using an

Elecraft KX3 with 12 watts into a vertical wire dipole. Listen out for him

on the High Frequency bands operating CW and SSB. Skeds are possible by

making arrangements using E-mail or Echolink. Logs will be uploaded to

ClubLog. QSL via his home callsign, direct or via the bureau.

DF2WO will be on the air signing XT2AW from Burkiuna Faso between May 20th

and June 25th. Activity will be holiday style on CW and SSB. QSL via

M0OXO.

Lastly, Members of the Belgian International Police Association Radio Club

will be active as HB0 stroke OO6P from Lichtenstein between June 21st and

the 26th. Their operation will be on 160 through 6 meters using SSB, RTTY

and PSK. QSL 's go via ON6ZV.

(This weeks DX report courtesy of the Ohio-Penn DX Newsletter)

**

THAT FINAL ITEM: DUST DEBUNKS DETECTION OF COSMIC INFLATION SIGNAL

And finally this week a follow-up on a story dealing with a discovery made

by the BICEP2 researchers at the South Pole. BICEP2 is a microwave

polarimeter designed specifically to target the B-mode signature of

inflation in the cosmic microwave background polarization. In other words

it looks for certain cosmic signal anomalies from the edge of space. Hence

the acronym BICEP2.

In 2014 researchers had claimed that after conducting the BICEP2

experiment at the South Pole that they detected swirly polarization

patterns called B-modes in the cosmic microwave background. However, a new

analysis has debunked the discovery, showing foreground dust led the

researchers to misread the signal.

When the researchers made the earlier announcement about the discovery, it

created a sensation in the scientific community as it seemed to provide

evidence that the universe ballooned rapidly a split-second after its

birth. This phenomenon is also known as cosmic inflation.

But now, Brian Keating of the University of California, San Diego, a

member of the BICEP2 team, has claimed that the detection was flawed.

After the new analysis was conducted by BICEP2 researchers and scientists

who worked with the European Planck satellite, it was determined that there

was a high possibility that the source of the signal likely came from dust

in our galaxy, faltering the evidence BICEP2 had claimed last year.

During the new analysis, the BICEP2 Keck and Planck teams combined forces.

The team made it clear in a paper published on January 30th that the cosmic

claim was flawed, as it could have been explained by our galaxys own dust.

According to the researchers, only half of the observed signal could have

been made by gravitational waves from inflation, at most.

A 400 square degree patch of sky near our galaxys south pole is a region

free of much of the dust that fills the solar disk. It was observed by

BICEP2 and the Keck Array for the revised analysis. The complete story is

on the web at tinyurl.com/space-theory-revised. (Uncover Michigan, Science

OnLine)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio

Penn DX Bulletin, Rain, the RSGB, the South African Radio League, the

Southgate News, TwiT-TV, Australia's WIA News and you our listeners, that's

all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our e-mail address is newsline (at)

arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio

Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can

also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin

Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350.

For now, for producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF in Los Angeles and our news

team world wide, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, in Topeka saying 73 and as always

we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2015.

All rights reserved.

///////////////////////////////////////////

HamRadioNow: CQ 'Comes Clean'

Posted: 20 Feb 2015 05:37 PM PST
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...n&goto=newpost

HAMRADIONOW.tv

Episode 189:

3 Years Ago in OrlandoHamRadioNow launched 3 years ago with a series of

programs at the Orlando HamCation. I returned this year with a little less

ambition (and no hernia), but I did get some good video. Episode 189 is a

short tour that looks at a new full-fledged QRP SDR from Elad in Italy, and

a prototype of the FreeDV Speaker-Mic. I also give Chairman Peter Meijers

some grief about a hamfest that hits Friday the 13th and Valentine's Day in

the same weekend.

Episode 190:

CQ 'Comes Clean'

Click-bait is a deliberately provocative title that gets you to click the

link and, maybe, read the story. I did talk (at length) with CQ editor Rich

Moseson W2VU, and he was generally candid about the state of CQ and its

potential future. I don't think he reveals much that we don't already know,

but it's good to hear it from the source. Watch this episode here.

Watch all our programs on our web page:

HAMRADIONOW.tv

HamRadioNow is supported by viewer contributions

If you enjoy the programs, visit www.HamRadioNow.tv and "click the pig"

THANK YOU to all our contributors!

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