Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1981 October 16 2015
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1981 with a release date of
Friday, October 16, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. American hams prepare for a historic
partnership with hams in Havana. The Pope Francis Special Event
stations count tens of thousands of successful QSOs. The International
Amateur Radio Union presses governments to ease restrictions on
amateurs' antennas. And hams in Nepal share how they assisted after
April 25's devastating earthquake. All this and more in Amateur Radio
Newsline report 1981 coming your way right now.
(Billboard Cart Here and Intro)
**
QSOs IN CUBA
[SKEETER]: The team of radio amateurs operating on Oct. 24 and 25 from
Havana, Cuba, under the call sign T42US, won't just be another group of
competitors in the CQ World Wide SSB contest. They're a historic
collective of radio ambassadors, a partnership of American and Cuban
hams whose joint effort symbolizes the newfound ease in relations
between the two nations. Jim Milner, WB2REM, is the U.S. team leader.
The Florida-based ham recently talked with Amateur Radio Newsline's Hap
Holly, KC9RP, about how this Cuban-American matchup came to be.
[HAP'S REPORT]
**
A HOSPITAL HAM SHACK
The newest operations taking place inside the Sylvan Grove Hospital in
Jackson, Georgia have nothing to do with scalpels or anaesthesia. The
operators, in this case, are licensed radio amateurs and they are
breathing new life into the hospital's emergency radio shack. There, in
the hospital basement, a collection of state-of-the-art rigs provides
access to the UHF and VHF bands as well as D-STAR for station WX4BCA.
The Butts County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Group is using the
hospital-based equipment to make critical connections with fire and
health departments, as well as 911. Ken Wallis, a member of Butts
County ARES, says six people serve as the hospital's response team,
ready to get on the air in an emergency. He says: QUOTE "With this
radio, we can talk across the street, nationally or internationally if
we have to." ENDQUOTE
The radios were purchased with a grant from the Georgia Hospital
Association. ARES member Buzz Kutcher calls the equipment typical of
what's at other local hospitals, making Sylvan Grove one more link in
the area's chain of safety.
(THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS NEWSPAPER)
**
YES, YOU CAN SURPRISE A HAM OR TWO OR THREE
For 20 years, Ronald Uhlman, KC6MTO, has been just what the doctor
ordered for the Benicia, California Police Department. It helps, of
course, that the longtime radio amateur also happens to the doctor. The
retired podiatrist has spent the past two decades in various jobs as a
volunteer with the Benicia police. And now, as he and his wife make
plans to relocate to Washington State, the department has done
something for him: He has been honored for his selfless work by Police
Chief Erik Upson and the rest of the force.
Now 75, Uhlman began volunteering in various jobs with the police in
1995, and ultimately worked his way up to community service officer.
Responding to the surprise award just as he is finishing his tenure,
the humble Uhlman says simply QUOTE"It's embarrassing. I didn't do
anything special. I was just doing what I was supposed to do and having
a good time doing it." ENDQUOTE
No doubt Hal Post, AK2E, of Middle Grove, N.Y., and Jay Buscemi, NY2NY,
can relate. Post and Buscemi have been chosen to receive the 2015
"Grand Ol' Ham" award for the American Radio Relay League's Hudson
Division, in the New York-New Jersey area.
Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco described Post and other award
recipients as "very worthy individuals who have had an impact on
amateur radio in the Hudson Division." Other honorees are: Rachel
Weiss, AJ4WD, Bruce Baccaro, K2ULZ, and John Melfi, W2HCB, three
Amateur of the Year award winners. The Technical Achievement award went
to Blair Hearth, KD2EPA.
The awards luncheon is Sunday, Nov. 8.
(TIMES HERALD ONLINE, THE SARATOGIAN NEWSPAPER, ARRL HUDSON DIVISION)
**
JAM SESSION
Now there's nothing wrong with THIS kind of radio jamming: It's Hamjam
2015, taking place in Alpharetta, Georgia on Nov. 14. This is the
seventh such free gathering put together by the North Fulton Amateur
Radio League, as a way to promote ham radio in the southeast. Raffle
tickets sold at the event fund the league's education programs as well
as scholarships for youth.
The half-day program at the Metropolitan Club features an array of
speakers including Mike Corey, K-I-ONE-U (KI1U), ARRL Emergency
Preparedness Manager; Jamie Dupree, NS3T, radio news director of Cox
Media Group's Washington Bureau and Glen Popiel, KW5GP, author of the
ARRL's book, "Arduino for Ham Radio," who will present his talk
viaSkype.
Veteran hams as well as prospective hams are invited. For more details,
visit www.hamjam.info
(North Fulton Amateur Radio League)
**
POPE SPECIAL EVENT BLESSED BY BIG NUMBERS
[SKEETER] Pope Francis' visit to Washington D.C., New York, and
Philadelphia drew big crowds and lots of close encounters with the
leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. It also made quite
an impact on the ham bands. We get the story from Amateur Radio
Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.....
[MARK'S REPORT]
"The number of contacts were really incredible. The band conditions
weren't that great while the event went on or we probably would have
made more."
That's Jim Nitzberg WX3B from the Potomac Valley Radio Club, one of the
coordinators of the special event stations put on the air by amateurs
in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"The number of contacts that we made are just shy of 27,000 and that's
on a various array of high-frequency bands, VHF bands, internet/ham
radio communications, satellite communications and Earth-Moon-Earth
communications," Nitzberg says.
He says there was a lot of interest in the Pope special event stations
once they hit the air Sept. 22. They were on the air until the pope was
wheels up out of Philadelphia on Sept. 27.
"The United States and the European countries were the highest
interest," Nitzberg says. "The majority of the contacts were made on
the HF bands, and, specifically, the 20 and 40 meter bands. There was
more contacts made using voice (or SSB) than Morse Code. But there were
a lot of contacts made using the Morse Code as a method of
communication as well."
And, Nitzberg says, even the Vatican station got on the air for a short
period to take part.
"I saw them active on our DX spotting networks and they were on 17
meters," Nitzberg says. "It was during one of the last days of the
event so that must have been really exciting for those that got to make
contact with them."
Now it's it's time to begin answering all the requests for QSLs and
certificates.
"We have several hundred requests for cards, several hundred awards
certificates that have been printed already," Nitzberg says. "And I
noticed the Philadelphia group that's managed by Sig, N3RS, and my
group are just ordering cards and we're ordering a total of 4,000 cards
because we think that's how many people are going to request cards."
For more on QSLing, go to our website www.arnewsline.org and click on
the script version of the program for this week and scroll down to the
Pope Special Event story and you'll find the link for information
there....
http://www.silverfishdevelopment.com/papalEvent/
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in
Philadelphia.
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OH-KY-IN) Amateur Radio Society repeater,
146.670 MHz, in Cincinnati, managed by Bruce Vanselow (VAN-sloh), N8BV.
** **
IARU SPEAKS OUT FOR ANTENNAS
Antenna restrictions have got to go. So says the International Amateur
Radio Union's Administrative Council, which recently opted a resolution
urging its members to press their local governments to ease limitations
on amateur radio antennas.
The resolution says, in part, that societies need to QUOTE"advocate for
planning and development regulations that properly recognize the
importance of an Amateur Radio antenna and do not place undue
restrictions."ENDQUOTE Those restrictions included any fees that might
be imposed which, the resolution said, could pose a problem
QUOTE"particularly in view of the non-pecuniary nature of Amateur Radio
and its popularity in the student and senior communities."ENDQUOTE
The measure was passed during the IARU's meeting in early October in
Bali, Indonesia.
(ARRL)
**
RUNNING FOR THE WARRIORS
The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club in New York, and the Babylon
Town ARES has issued a QST for at least 100 volunteer radio operators
for this year's Hope for the Warriors Run on Saturday, Nov. 7. The 10K
and 5K race shuts more than 200 streets on Long Island's busy south
shore, allowing runners to safely navigate the course with the
intention of raising funds to aid wounded veterans. The Hope for the
Warriors organization not only helps rehabilitate newly returned,
injured veterans but assists with their medical needs and helps their
families find appropriate housing for the disabled. The race begins in
Lindenhurst, New York, near Babylon Town Hall.
Ham radio operators with handheld radios and an interest in helping
ensure runner safety can email club president John Melfi at
, or simply sign up on the club's website,
www.gsbarc.org.
(Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club)
**
FCC TO WEIGH IN ON TINKERING
The ARRL is listening for a clear signal from the FCC that it's OK for
hams to modify non-amateur equipment to use on the air, especially WiFi
network devices. Recently proposed FCC rules, affecting the
authorization of RF equipment, have spurred concern in some corners of
the amateur community that these rules would restrict or prevent hams
from going on the air with equipment they'd modified.
The ARRL comments say, in part: QUOTE"The Amateur Radio Service has a
very long tradition of modification and adaptation of commercial
communications equipment." The League also pressed the FCC against
limiting Software Defined Radios to SDRs intended for use exclusively
in the Amateur Radio Service. The ARRL filed its comments on Oct. 8.
ARRL, QRZNOW
**
COASTING TO ANOTHER ANNIVERSARY More than 50 ham radio stations
throughout the United States will be on the air beginning Friday, Oct.
16 through Sunday Oct. 18 as special event stations marking the 76th
anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The stations will
operate mainly with 1 x 1 calls from lighthouses, battleships, vessels
and other venues, using both voice and digital modes, including CW and
PSK-31. Participating stations include N7B, a mobile station near the
Alki Light House in Seattle, Washington; N3G, operating portable CW &
PSK-31 from Augustine Beach, Delaware and NJ2BB, the Battleship New
Jersey.
(U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary)
**
DOLLARS FOR SCHOLARS
A scholarship fund has been established by the ARRL Foundation in
memory of Alan G. Thorpe, K-ONE-T-M-W (K1TMW), a Connecticut radio
amateur who became a Silent Key in 2011 at 65. Thorpe was a longtime
member of the Stratford, Connecticut Amateur Radio Club, and had key
emergency coordination roles in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. He
was known by Stratford club members as community-minded and an
educator. Longtime friend and fellow ham, Bob Betts, N-ONE-K-P-R
(N1KPR), tells the ARRL that Thorpe had left a trust fund to help
continue his work after his death, and made a bequest as well to the
ARRL. Betts says: "Al believed in the basic tenets of our hobby:
Education, promotion and community service, and he directed all his
available efforts toward those goals."
The Thorpe memorial fund hopes to award its first $1,000 scholarship in
2016 to a licensed amateur enrolled in a four-year undergraduate
program, with studies in any major. The ARRL Foundation is
administering the scholarship.
(ARRL)
**
HAMS REVISIT NEPAL'S EARTHQUAKE
Ham radio operators who responded last April to the devastating
earthquake in Nepal still haven't forgotten the scenes of devastation
in that Himalayan nation. And they are sharing the drama of that damage
- and the successful rescue work - by recreating that experience during
a puja, or Hindu worship gathering, in Kolkata. Members of the West
Bangal Radio Club will demonstrate how ham operations assisted the
distressed area on April 25, and how the radio amateurs' operations in
the days afterward helped restore stability.
Organizers say that the experience will be recreated with a simulated
earthquake of a very low magnitude, courtesy of special light and sound
effects, accompanied by vibrating motors. Says Anupam Das, one of the
organizers, QUOTE"As one steps into the tunnel at the entrance, they
will feel slight tremors. When they pass through, a scene of
devastation will lie before them. But our theme is not the damage
itself, rather how India helped Nepal in rescue and relief. Our theme
is humanity."
The amateur radio club's secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas, says amateurs
who were present to assist in the search and rescue in Nepal will be
conducting the live demonstration.
The quake caused widespread damage and was responsible for the deaths
of thousands.
TIMES OF INDIA, THE SOUTH ASIAN TIMES)
**
THE WORLD OF DX
A 12-man German Expedition Team is operating as V73D from Majuro in the
Marshall Islands until Oct. 28th. They will have four stations on all
bands CW, SSB and RTTY. IOTA reference is OC-029. Send QSLs via
ClubLogOQRS.
A multi-national team is operating as D4D from Boa Vista in the Cape
Verde Islands between Oct. 17 and 24th. They can be worked on 80m to 6m
on SSB, CW and RTTY. Send QSL cards to EB7DX.
Oliver, W6NV, is operating as ZD7W from St. Helena through Nov. 2 on
all bands, 160 meters to 10 meters. He will be using SSB and CW and
will also participate in the Worked All Germany CW Contest and the CQ
World Wide DX SSB Contest. Send QSLs to W6NV.
Beth M-W-ZERO-V-O-W, (MW0VOW) and John, ZS5J, will be working as C91B
during a DXpedition in Mozambique between Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. They will
be working all bands from 160 to 6 meters, using CW and SSB. They have
expedition status on Club Log with leaderboard facility. Logs will be
uploaded daily, free, to Logbook of the World and Club Log.
(DX World, Irish Radio Transmitters Society, OHIO PENN DX NEWSLETTER)
KICKER: HAM SCHOOL
The middle school students in Kingman, Arizona, aren't licensed hams
yet, but they were still able to give a 5 and 9 to their teacher, Dan
Miller, K3UFG. Miller, a teacher's aide at Kingman Middle School, has
been a ham since 1962. He drew upon his years of experience to teach
radio science to youngsters during an enrichment program during school
intercession earlier this month.
Miller's lessons included battery-testing, use of a volt-ohm meter, and
the differences between direct current and alternating current. He gave
them a sampling of what Morse Code is like and even helped them build
their first dipole antenna from wire he'd had stored at home.
When it came time to put that antenna to the test, however, the kids
made a seamless transition from radio science to archery: In order to
get a string over the rung of a pole so they could hoist their dipole
up, they shot it there using a bow and arrow. Not long after, Miller
successfully guided them through a QSO with a ham named Walt in
Torrance, California.
Later, the enthusiastic kids told Miller that yes, they're ready to
start studying for their licenses. And even if their eventual ham
careers never call upon their skills at archery again, Miller can be
pretty sure he hit a bull's-eye that day.
(THE DAILY MINER)
** **
NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, the ARRL; CQ Magazine; the
Daily Miner; DX World; the FCC; Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club; Hap
Holly and the Rain Report; The Irish Radio Transmitter Society; The
Jackson Progress-Argus newspaper; North Fulton Amateur Radio League;
the Ohio-Penn DX Newsletter; the Saratogian; Southgate Amateur Radio
News, the South Asian Times; the Times of India; the Times Herald
Online; TWiT TV, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary; and you our listeners,
that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our email address is
. 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, CA 91350.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, in Topeka,
Kansas, saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.