[Attachment(s) from James KB7TBT included below]
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2064 for Friday, May 19, 2017
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2064 with a release date of Friday,
May 19, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Germany gets a new band on a trial basis. A
former amateur with a long combative history becomes a Silent Key -- and
we meet two hams honored at Hamvention. All this and more as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report 2064 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
AT HAMVENTION, HAMS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE
DON/ANCHOR: We begin with - what else? - Hamvention which gets underway
as this report goes to production. One of the highlights of this annual
event is the recognition of amateurs who've made a difference for others
in our hobby. The honorees this year have done just that. Let's hear
more about them from Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp WB9VPG.
NEIL: The celebration of ham radio that is the Dayton Hamvention is
underway as we go to broadcast. And part of the celebration is
recognizing the Hamvention award winners. Two of the winners accepted
the invitation to be featured on a recent episode of Ham Talk Live! This
years Amateur of the Year is Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. Frank is the
international chairman of the Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station project. He worked for NASA and other space related companies
for 4 decades. Frank has worked on several projects tying ham radio with
space. And, his current one involves maintaining a ham radio presence on
the ISS.
FRANK: It is hard to believe that two weeks after the first crew came on
board, we inaugurated the amateur radio station. And, we have been
operational ever since. And so, that was back in November of 2000. Since
then, we've done over a thousand contacts. Were almost up to 1100
contacts at this point. And what the team has accomplished has been
phenomenal
being able to allow hams around the world to talk to the
astronauts on orbit. When we get a crew member that [is] interested in
talking to hams on the ground, and all of the students
and getting
students excited about amateur radio. That's a very important thing
not
only excited, but actually getting licensed.
NEIL: Bauer also reflected on the connection between space and ham radio.
FRANK: This is that melding of amateur radio into other activities,
scientific activities and engineering activities, where this hobby is
just phenomenal. And, Ill say Im forever grateful for the fact that I
got involved in amateur radio because it has helped my career, and it
has helped everyone on earth from that perspective.
NEIL: Ram Mohan, VU2MYH is this years Special Achievement Award winner.
Ram is the Executive Vice Chairman & Director of the National Institute
of Amateur Radio in Hyderabad, India. Rams efforts to bring youth into
amateur radio in India has been exemplary.
RAM: Evidence of this activity in India is still on the lower side, I
would say. We are just trying to introduce and create awareness on the
activities for the youth to get involved, and join, have fun, and
interacting with people all over the world
get to learn things about
wireless communications, as they practice the art of amateur radio. And
interestingly, this grown into leaps and bounds. A lot of young people
getting involved into the activity. They're all excited to get into the
world of amateur radio. Do-it-yourself concept helps in building a skill
for them. And a lot of technical institutes are coming forward and
encourage the students to get involved in amateur radio. And it is our
effort to get the message across to all the young people who want to get
involved in the amateur radio activity.
NEIL: Ram has also been involved in communications efforts for several
natural disasters, such as the recent Nepal earthquake.
RAM: In India, we have several kinds of natural calamities hitting the
region
really pretty bad ones. The ones that happened Gujaratin 2001.
The earthquake took a toll on a lot of people, and there was a major
disaster and hams could provide instant communications at that point in
time. The super cyclone of 1999 was a major disaster here in India, and
the tsunami of 2004.
NEIL: Ram is grateful for the recognition from the Dayton Amateur Radio
Association.
RAM: We are very fortunate that the award comes back to our organization
again after so many years.
NEIL: Another winner of the prestigious awards is Rob Brownstein, K6RB,
who won the technical achievement award for his work with CW Ops. And
the Clark County Amateur Radio Club W7AIA, which serves Southwest
Washington and Northwest Oregon, received the Club of the Year award for
their efforts with youth, licensing, and visual situation reporting. For
more information about this years award winners, go check out the
official Hamvention program at Hamvention.org, or tune into the entire
broadcast on hamtalklive.com.
Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
**
SILENT KEY HAD LONG COMBATIVE HISTORY WITH FCC
DON/ANCHOR: For most hams, the call sign K1MAN was once synonymous with
the name Glenn Baxter, an amateur with a long combative history with
regulators. Earlier this month, three years after losing his license, he
became a Silent Key. We hear the details from Amateur Radio Newsline's
Mike Askins KE5CXP.
MIKE'S REPORT: A former radio amateur long known for his disputes with
the FCC over malicious interference and other illegal transmissions has
become a Silent Key. Glenn Baxter of Belgrade, Maine died May 5. He
first became a licensed amateur in 1956 but at the time of his death,
Baxter had long since lost his Amateur Extra call sign, K1MAN, which is
now held by another radio operator.
Baxter was well-known for his enforcement battles with the FCC and his
disputes with the ARRL, with whom he had also locked horns. He lost his
license in 2014 when the FCC denied his renewal application based on his
failure to pay a $10,000 fine from previous violations. The Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau dismissed Baxters long-pending renewal
application from 2005 without prejudice, indicating that if he wanted
to become licensed again, he would have to file a new application.
An obituary on the Maine Today website said Baxter was a registered
professional engineer.
Glenn Baxter was 75.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP
**
BELIZE CLUB ADMITTED INTO IARU
DON/ANCHOR: It took some time, but Belize radio amateurs are back in the
IARU. That's good news for everyone who worked hard to be included, as
we learn from Amateur Radio Newsline's Graham Kemp VK4BB.
GRAHAM: Less than a week ago, the top news story among the headlines on
the Belize Amateur Radio Club website was about....the Belize Amateur
Radio Club! After much waiting, the ham radio group received its
hard-won admission into the International Amateur Radio Union in an
overwhelmingly positive vote - 77 member societies voting yes to
membership status, where only 55 votes were needed.
Although IARU membership is new to this club, the group adopted the same
name of an organization that previously belonged to the IARU but no
longer exists. Now the right to membership in IARU Region 2 rests
exclusively with this Belize club, after IARU officials determined the
group met requirements established by the IARU constitution and its bylaws.
The club's website, barc-dot-bz (barc.bz) proudly displays the IARU
press release, issued the 11th of May, announcing the club's new
official status. According to its website, the club was established in
2015 to promote technical education, encourage wireless experimentation
and advance international partnerships. Speaking of partnerships, the
Belize club's admission into the IARU makes it one of 167 member
societies involved in this ever-widening global community.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(BELIZE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, SOUTHGATE)
**
LAST DAYS TO NOMINATE YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR
DON/ANCHOR: If you haven't already thought of a young amateur to
nominate for Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham
of the Year Award, you don't have too much more time to come up with a
candidate. Time is running out! This award is our commitment to honoring
young talent. Is there a young radio operator who particularly impresses
you? Nominations are still open -- but not for much longer - for
amateurs 18 years of age or younger who reside in the United States, its
possessions or any Canadian province. Find application forms on our
website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. The award will be
presented on August 19th at the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama.
Visit our website for details. Nominations close May 31. Look at your
calendar - that's not too many days from now!
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
the K2SPD repeater of the Suffolk Police Amateur Radio Club in
Farmingville, New York, during its Monday Night Net at 8 p.m. The net
can also be heard on the AB2M conference server on EchoLink.
**
GERMANY GETS NEW 4 METER BAND
DON/ANCHOR: Things are about to get very busy on 70 MHz in Germany. From
now until late summer, hams will be enjoying a test period on the band.
That includes Amateur Radio Newsline's Ed Durrant DD5LP, who has that
story.
ED'S REPORT: The German regulator "BNetza" in its announcement 384/2017
released on the 16th. May, a day earlier than originally expected,
reports that German Amateurs may use a section of the 70MHz band from
70.150 to 70.180MHz for a test period starting from immediate effect
until August 31st this year. The same conditions apply as were in place
for the previous test in 2015.
These conditions are - the amateur is a secondary user on a
non-Interference basis (the primary users are the national Railway and
the Military), no portable or mobile operation, 25 watts ERP maximum on
any mode up to 12KHz bandwidth and horizontal polarisation only. All
transmissions, including equipment tests must be entered in a station
log book.
Four meters is a little-used section of the amateur spectrum and not
available in many countries. The lack of suitable commercially made
amateur radio equipment has been a problem until more recent Software
Defined Radios have been able to provide 70MHz access.
The 70 MHz band performs especially well during times of Sporadic E
propagation - typically occurring during the summer months which permits
radio communications throughout Europe.
Additional details are available at 70MHz.de website, which is in German
but has translations into various other languages available.
Already having sent a CQ on 4 meters with no replies as yet, for Amateur
Radio Newsline this is Ed Durrant DD5LP in Bavaria, Germany.
(SOUTHGATE)
**
SCOUT CAMPS GET ON THE AIR
DON/ANCHOR: The young radio scouts of K2BSA are busy again on the air,
activating the call sign at a variety of locations - and showing up in
Ohio for Hamvention! Here are the details from Amateur Radio Newsline's
Bill Stearns NE4RD.
BILL: This week in Radio Scouting we have 3 activations from Scout Camps
on the Air and we'll be seeing you in Ohio.
Douglas Sharafanowich, WA1SFH, will be activating WA1BSA at Camp Sherman
Hoyt in West Redding, CT on Saturday May 20th. This activation is for
the Radio Merit Badge Requirement 9(a)(6) and will have 20 scouts. Part
of a STEM Merit Badge weekend.
Larrie Deardurff, AF7NU, will be activating his callsign at the Benton
District Camporee in Alsea, OR on Saturday May 20th. Larrie will demo
radio to Scouts at the Camporee with an Icom-7100 and a Butternut HF9V
HF Vertical.
BSA Troop 20 ARC, WS5BSA, will be activating Black Mesa in Kenton, OK
on Sunday May 28th. This active group will set up Yaesu FT-817 from top
of Black Mesa and operate SSB on 17m & 20m. They will use either Gipsy
Dipole or MFJ-1899T Vertical antenna. They will also carry portable 2m
Yagi and attempt to hit multiple repeaters in OK, TX, KS, CO, and NM
using FT-817.
Hamvention is this weekend May 19th through the 21st. K2BSA will be
present and will be answering your questions on how you can get involved
in radio scouting. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as we
can. We'll be in booth 2205.
For more information on K2BSA and radio scouting, please visit
http://www.k2bsa.net/.
For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this
is Bill Stearns NE4RD.
**
ONE CLUB'S HOMEBREW SOLUTION
DON/ANCHOR: When it comes to ham radio, there's homebrew.....and then
there's homebrew. When one New Jersey ham club realized it was facing a
major overhaul of its repeater system, they knew they couldn't just pass
the hat to raise money. So they came up with a solution that was
strictly homebrew....and it involved a project that was also strictly
homebrew. We hear more in this report from Amateur Radio Newsline's
Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
CARYN: How can a portable HF magloop antenna help an aging system of UHF
and VHF repeaters? Actually, it can save the day when it becomes a
homebrew fundraising project for a ham club. Rob Fissell K2RWF,
president of the Tri County Radio Association in Union, New Jersey, said
this magloop was the right choice at the right time.
ROB: W2LI has been in existence now for over 80 years at this point and
one of the big things we provide is a very wide area coverage repeater
sytem, both VHF and UHF. That equipment is starting to show its age. We
wanted to be proactive about coming up with replacements for it and
ensuring that whatever we bought would last us for a decade or two to
come and with that comes with the expense of it. Rather than kind of
wait for something bad to happen and all of a sudden we need to
scramble, we thought we'd take the proactive approach of fundraising
through a number of different avenues or at least explore a number of
different avenues and work to get the money ourselves.
CARYN; Work is just what they did! Gathering on weekends with antenna
components and an order of Chinese food or donuts, they held "antenna
building parties." Working assembly-line style, they have already
shipped 40 mag loops and the club continues to receive pre-orders for
the next batch. Rob says the little antennas are downright popular!
ROB: It's a club-raising effort and people like the concept that not
only are they getting a quality product but they are also supporting a
cause at the same time.
CARYN: The antennas cost $165 and every sale helps the bottom line, says
Rob. Best of all, this venture is all about hams building something for
other hams - and in turn, it's about hams buying something that will
benefit fellow hams. Like a mag loop antenna itself, the effort all
comes full circle.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT
DON/ANCHOR: If you'd like to order a magloop antenna, visit the club
website at w2li.org/magloop - all sales include shipping and are used to
fund the repeater system.
**
WORLD OF DX
In the world of DX, John, KK7L, is using the call sign T2R from Funafuti
Atoll between May 23rd and 29th. He will be operating on various HF
bands and may also take part in the CQWW WPX CW contest. Send QSL cards
via N7SMI, LoTW or ClubLog.
Listen for Ken, LA7GIA, active as TN5E from Brazzaville between May 25th
and June 4th. Find him on 80-10
meters -- and possibly even 6 meters -- operating CW and SSB. Send QSL
cards via M0OXO, LoTW or ClubLog's OQRS.
Janusz SP9FIH will be on the air as E44WE from Bethlehem in Palestine
until May 30th. He is operating with 100 watts and focusing on 17
meters. Be listening as well on 10 meters and 6 meters. Send QSLs via
Club Log OQRS.
Finally, we have an update on the latest Summit-to-Summit event. In the
Europe to North America Summit-to-Summit event last Saturday the 13th.
of May, a total of 36 European summits and 18 North American summits
were activated. Despite abysmal radio conditions with deep QSB and high
QRN levels several trans-Atlantic QSOs were made, including some summit
to summit contacts. Overall everyone enjoyed the event and many are
already looking forward to the next event on the 18th of November when
it is hoped that conditions will be significantly improved.
(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY, OHIO PENN DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: SPECIAL DELIVERY
DON/ANCHOR: Our last story, which comes from Australia, isn't exactly
about amateur radio but it IS about changing times and changing
communication. It's the story of John Riddett, a longtime postal service
employee who obviously knows all too well that a message delivered
effectively is always a welcome message. John isn't a ham, sorry to say,
but his telegraphy skills are something many CW operators would envy. He
trained in Morse Code as a teenager in 1953 at the Postmaster General's
office and he used his talents afterward to help send telegrams. That's
a practice now out of use for about 50 years. Now John gets the message
across by demonstrating his skills to children visiting the Telstra
Museum in Hawthorne, Melbourne. This spring, however, he took a trip to
Alice Springs for a ten-day gathering of former postal workers who, like
him, were once fluent in the poetry of dots and dashes. It was his 24th
such gathering but this year only John and two other former telegraphers
showed up. He told ABC Australia that judging from the size of the
turnout, the get-together was probably going to be one of the last. With
that kind of turnout, he said, he got the message - unfortunately
well-delivered.
(ABCNET.AU)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to ABCNET.au; Alan Labs; Amateur News
Weekly; the ARRL; Belize Amateur Radio Club; Chelmsford Weekly News; CQ
Magazine; the FCC; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the IARU; Irish Radio
Transmitters Society; K2BSA; the Lambton (Ontario) Shield newspaper;
Ohio Penn DX Bulletin; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO
Radio Show; WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the
Amateur Radio Newsline. Please send emails to our address at
newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in Picayune,
Mississippi saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.
***
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