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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2040, Friday, December 2, 2016

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KB7TBT, Dec 2, 2016.

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  1. KB7TBT

    KB7TBT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2040, Friday, December 2, 2016

    *** CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY ****
    The following is a closed circuit advisory and not for broadcast.
    Newscast #2040 is an expanded edition of Amateur Radio Newsline, containing a special report on Pearl Harbor Day in the third and final segment. This newscast has three segments and there are two breaks for identification.
    And now, here's this week's anchor, Jim Damron N8TMW.
    **
    Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2040 with a release date of Friday, December 2, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
    The following is a QST. An amateur radio operator is killed by a suspect being pursued by police. Hams assist with shelter communications during Tennessee wildfires. An uninhabited Hawaiian island comes alive with radio -- and we share memories of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. All this and more as we bring you Amateur Radio Newsline Report #2040 in an expanded edition this week.

    **

    ***BREAKING NEWS***
    RADIO AMATEUR FATALLY SHOT IN CHICAGO
    JIM: As Amateur Radio Newsline went to production on Thursday, Dec. 1, this news broke about the tragic killing of an amateur radio operator in Chicago. Tyrone Hardin KD9ERC, who worked as a railroad security guard, was fatally shot after his vehicle was stolen by a man being pursued by police for an earlier car theft. He was pronounced dead of bullet wounds to the abdomen at South Suburban Hospital by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. It was 6:25 p.m., not quite two hours after the shooting on Saturday, November 26.
    Tyrone got his license after testing with the 220 MHz Guys Amateur Radio Club in Chicago.
    Police have issued a warrant for 24-year-old Rashad Williams of East Hazel Crest. He is being charged with first-degree murder in Tyrone's killing.
    His wife Gwinette Oliver told the Chicago Sun-Times he was working the security guard post as a second job so he would have enough money to give his family a nice Christmas. She said he asssured her the job wasn't dangerous.
    Tyrone Hardin was 38 years old and the father of a 5-year-old son.
    (CHICAGO SUN TIMES)

    **

    SILENT KEY: WORLD WAR II VETERAN, FORMER CHILD ACTOR JEROME SCHATZ W2MFW
    JIM/ANCHOR: The ham community lost a proud radio amateur on November 23rd, one with a long, interesting and varied life. A World War Two veteran, he was also a former child actor. Amateur Radio Newsline's Kent Peterson KC0DGY spoke recently with his daughter.
    KENT: Jerome Schatz W2MFW has become a Silent Key. If the name doesn't quite ring a bell then maybe Jerry Tucker does. Still don't know the name? Here's Jerry's daughter Renee Wolf KC2SXN.
    RENEE: He got his start by being at a prize fight with his father and the act that didn't show up between the fights, my grandfather put my father in the ring and he recited the poem, “Gunga Din,” from memory. There was a man from Paramount in the audience and that's how he got his start. Off to California they went!
    KENT: Yes, Jerry was a child actor. His screen name was Jerry Tucker and his debut was in the 1931 Buster Keaton comedy, “Sidewalks of New York,” which was followed by his first “Our Gang” comedy, “Shiver My Timbers.” With his freckled complexion, he fit in perfectly with the rest of the "Our Gang" comedies. In his favorite episode, “Hi, Neighbor,” he played a rich snob who uses his fancy fire engine to win the affections of a pretty blond girl.
    RENEE: He worked not just with "Our Gang," he worked with Shirley Temple, Maurice Chevalier, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard. He was in a lot of movies, but he is well-known for his "Our Gang" comedies. When he left show business they always say Jerry Tucker - that was his stage name - died and Jerome Schatz came alive again. If somebody brought it up he absolutely would talk about it, but he would never be the one to bring it up.
    KENT: Jerry was introduced to radio when he joined the Navy during World War Two.
    RENEE: When he was in the Navy he was a radio man on the destroyer ships. Sometimes when they were in battle he was shooting a gun. I think when he got out that's where it came. He was always in my lifetime a ham radio operator. As a matter of fact, he taught ham radio at Copiague High School for a few years.
    KENT: Renee studied for her ham ticket and one day totally surprised Jerry when she called him on the air.
    RENEE: And then I came out to my car and I called him and he was shocked. I totally shocked him, it's not easy to do. I didn't tell him about that either until it was done. I went on to get my General and I didn't tell him about that either.
    KENT: Renee says Jerry was an active ham until his wife became ill. He was devoted to her and his ham radio activity dropped off.
    RENEE: He was a child actor, he was a Mason, he was a Shriner, he was an Odd Fellow, he was a WWII disabled vet with two Purple Hearts, he was a ham radio operator and most of all he was my dad. If you asked my father what he was most proud of, between the "Our Gang" and the Navy, he would always say the Navy.
    KENT: Jerome Schatz, W2MFW was 91.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY

    **

    DEADLY WILDFIRES RAGE IN TENNESSEE
    JIM/ANCHOR: Deadly wildfires are in the news again, consuming hundreds of buildings in and near eastern Tennessee's resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. While no ham radio operators were asked to step in and assist local authorities, hams have been helping with communications at American Red Cross shelters housing evacuees.
    Keith Miller N9DGK, the Tennessee Section Manager for the ARRL, told Amateur Radio Newsline in an email that amateurs were specifically advised not to self-deploy but simply to remain vigilant in case the situation changes.
    Amateur Radio Newsline will follow this story and post any updates on our Facebook page and in our Twitter feed. Meanwhile, we hope everyone stays safe.
    (CNN, KEITH MILLER N9DGK)

    **

    HAWAIIAN PARADISE FOR DX
    JIM/ANCHOR: What could be better than being on an island in Hawaii? Being on an island with your rig and antenna and no one else -- at least to one ham. Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp WB9VPG spoke with him.

    NEIL: Now here’s a type of rare island activation story you don’t hear about very often. Eric Brundage, KH6EB, is on Kaho`olawe Island for 10 days every month where he and an assistant run a base camp to support Hawaii's efforts to restore the island, which is an old Navy facility. But during his free time Eric operates 20 meters using a hex beam from the otherwise inaccessible island.

    ERIC: The island was given back to the state of Hawaii in 1994. But, the Navy retained access to the island so that they could do a cleanup operation to try to clean up the unexploded ordnances that were all over the island. That cleanup effort lasted until about the beginning of 2004. Unfortunately, that cleanup effort wasn’t complete. They only did about 75% of the island. So, there’s still a risk of unexploded ordnances throughout the island. Of that 75%, only about 10% of the island was cleared sub-surface. So there’s still a lot of buried, unexploded ordnances on the island.

    NEIL: You can contact Eric to set up a schedule, but he is generally on the air from 6 to 7 am Hawaii Standard Time (HST), 5 to 7 pm, and again from 8 to 11pm. The next time Eric will be on the island is from December 12th to the 21st. Eric just put up a new antenna, which for the time being restricts him to only 20 meters.

    ERIC: Recently I picked up a KAO Hex Beam, and I just put that up this week. And, that’s only a single band hex beam. I’ve been working exclusively 20 meters starting this week, mostly JT65, PSK31, and a little bit of single sideband. I’m hoping in the future I can set up another antenna where I can go ahead and get on 15 and 40 meters as well. But for right now, I’m limited to the 20 meter band.

    NEIL: Kaho`olawe Island may be a once in a lifetime opportunity as it may be problematic to gain access to Kaho’olawe once the island is restored. Eric explains how the island counts for IOTA.

    ERIC: All of the state of Hawaii is a single IOTA number, OC019. Kaho’olawe does have a different US Islands number, which is HI026S, and that information is located on the front of the QSL card. I do Logbook of the World, eQSL, and also direct. I have a special card that has been made up for Kaho’olawe that has a picture of the island on it, and the back side has some additional information about the history of the island.
    NEIL: If you’d like to schedule a contact, Eric can be reached via email at wh6eey@gmail.com.

    Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

    **

    BREAK HERE:
    Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the 2 meter repeater of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club in Lindenhurst, N.Y., on Mondays at 8 p.m., and on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. on simplex at 147.535 MHz.

    **

    HIS HOPES ARE UP IN THE AIR
    JIM/ANCHOR: The good news is that one New York ham got his ballons and tracker to travel the globe. The bads news is.......he can't find them. Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash N5ASH has the details:
    SKEETER: All Mike Hojnowski KD2EAT may want for Christmas are his missing balloons and his home-built tracker. He launched them in mid-October from Cornell University, where he works as a systems engineer. One month later, after they circumnavigated the globe, the balloons crash landed. Maybe. Maybe not. But they're somewhere.
    The question is: where? Mike traced them to rural Landaff, New Hampshire, somewhere on a slope with an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet. He believes his tracker is somewhere in the mountains and he's already been back twice to look for it. He even got help from one of the local ham clubs and others who want to send up their drones but so far, no luck.
    The tracker, unfortunately, is now offline and he told the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper that he's thinking it was downed by a storm and probably fell or broke one of its solar panels.
    Mike said in an email to Amateur Radio Newsline "The level of interest has been astounding, frankly. I'm hoping someone in their back forty collecting firewood, or a hunter, stumbles upon it and recognizes the tracker. It would be a thrill to have it back!"
    It seems that hope can be like one of those missing balloons - buoyant and floating - but hopefully, in this case, not destined to crash. Mike asks if anyone spots the ballons and tracker, please email him at kd2eat@gmail.com
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.
    (NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER)

    **

    HONORING TWO GREAT WORLD WAR II BATTLESHIPS
    JIM/ANCHOR: Two special event stations on two special World War II battleships are marking one historic day, December 7 1941. Let's hear more from Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins KE5CXP.
    MIKE: Members of the Tri-State Amateur Radio Association in Huntington, West Virginia, are honoring the noted World War II battleship, the USS West Virginia. The ship sustained severe damage at Pearl Harbor where it was among those ships struck by aerial torpedoes and bombs dropped by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. The damage ultimately caused the ship to sink to the harbor bottom, but she was eventually raised and put into dry-dock for repair and did return to military service in the Pacific, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Iowa Jima and Okinawa as well as being one of the ships sent to secure the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945.
    Taking pride in this namesake ship, W8VA will operate on 20 and 40 meters on Saturday December 10 between 1500 and 2300 UTC. Special QSL cards will be available.
    In Los Angeles, California, hams will operate from the Battleship Iowa on Wednesday, December 7 in memory of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The amateurs will be active as NI6BB and will be on the air on board the ship from 1800 to 2300 UTC. One group, known as the "Gray Radio Gang," will operating using legacy gear on 40 meters. The main team of operators will be on the air using both CW and on SSB, on other bands, including 20, 10 and 17. For more details about specific frequencies visit the website biara.org
    Built in Brooklyn, New York, the USS Iowa was commissioned in 1943. In that same year it crossed the Atlantic Ocean with President Franklin Roosevelt for meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The ship opened as a floating museum in July 2012.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.
    (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO, BATTLESHIP IOWA AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, TRI-STATE AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, PACIFIC BATTLESHIP.COM)

    **

    TIME TO WORK SANTA'S WORKSHOP
    JIM/ANCHOR: As most kids will tell you, good things come from Santa's workshop, and something very special came out of last year's special event known as the W2S New Jersey Santa's Workshop. The first-time event led to this year's repeat of that event, which begins Saturday the 10th of December and concludes on Friday the 23rd of December. Be listening carefully and keep the children nearby. According to Chuck Weber W2CCW, you never know when St. Nick will show up in the shack and he has a QSL card with a special message for everyone.

    **

    YOUNGSTERS ON THE AIR IN DECEMBER
    JIM/ANCHOR: Youngsters on the Air - or YOTA - has a special program for December, as we learn from Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
    JEREMY: December is the month for giving gifts -- and young radio amateurs in IARU Region 1 have a special present to give young people curious about what it's like to get on the radio. Hams 25 and younger are activating stations all month long through the Youngsters On the Air Program. In Algeria, station 7X2YOTA will operate from the headquarters of "Amateurs Radio Association" in Algiers. In Lebanon, youngsters will gather in a school to operate as OD5RI/YOTA. At the Vilnius University's amateur radio club station in Lithuania, students will be on the air as LY5YOTA. The station in Saint Lucia, J62YOTA will operate from the shack or if the weather is favorable, at the beach!
    The YOTA program encourages amateurs around the world to listen for these and other stations, remembering that these are young hams - or youngsters who are hoping to someday get their ham license. You can identify most of these special stations because of the YOTA suffix on their call sign. With any luck, you may be the contact they pull out of their first pile-up!
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
    (YOUNGSTERS ON THE AIR)

    **

    ESSAY CONTEST FOR YOUNG HAMS
    JIM: There's another event geared toward enthusiastic youngsters - an essay contest! - as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD:
    HEATHER: In 500 words or less, can you sum up your feelings about amateur radio - what it means to you and what your hopes are for your future on the air? If you are between 12 and 18 years of age, a resident of one of the 48 contiguous United States and are licensed as a Technician or at a higher level, it might just pay to put some of your thoughts on paper. The Dave Kalter Youth DX Adventure is running an essay contest for a complete ham station and the youngster whose words capture the judges' attention most will end up with a nicely equipped shack. The prize includes an Alinco SR8T HF, a 12 V, 30 A power supply (Jetstream or equivalent), vertical antenna (Jetstream JTV680 or equivalent), and 100 feet of coax feed line fitted with PL-259 connectors. The cofounders of the DX Youth Adventure and this year's raffle winner Paul Ewing N6PSE are the generous donors behind this competition. There's bound to be a pile-up, so act fast: Postal mail entries or email entries should either be postmarked or electronically dated by midnight of December 23.
    For rules and an entry form visit qsl.net/n6jrl. Winners will be announced by January 31.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee KB3TZD.
    (DAVE KALTER MEMORIAL YOUTH DX ADVENTURE)

    **

    SCHOFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL A ROUNDUP WINNER AGAIN
    JIM: If you're looking for successful young amateurs, look no further than the Schofield Middle School in Aiken, South Carolina. The results from the ARRL's School Club Roundup are in and the student club placed first nationally in the middle school category, scoring 252,170 points. Known as the Ram Ham Radio Club with the call sign N4SMS, the club scored a repeat of last year's first-place victory.
    A report in the Aiken Standard newspaper notes that the students made a total of 835 contacts in those five days in October -- and that included 17 other clubs, 19 countries, 47 states and 7 provinces. The students operated from their school shack, not far from the cafeteria where the food, no doubt, helped fuel their success.
    (SOUTHGATE, THE AIKEN STANDARD)

    **

    THE WORLD OF DX
    Finally, in the world of DX, find Alex RD1AV at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica where he is working from the 10th of December until February 2018. He will be using the call sign RI1ANC. Listen for him on CW, SSB and Digital. Alex's QSL manager is RN1ON.
    Two operators are active from Fiji. Be listening for Jim, WB2TJO, who is using the call sign 3D2JS from Taveuni Island through March 2017. You can hear him on various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. QSL cards can be sent via his home callsign. You can also find Chris, VK3FY, active as 3D3FY from Fiji between the 6th and 14th of December. He is working holiday style on 80-10 meters using CW and SSB. Send QSL cards via M0OXO OQRS.
    Listen for Dave W5CW using the call sign VP5/W5CW from the Turks and Caicos Islands, where he will be until the 13th of December. Find him on all bands, 6m to 160m, on CW and SSB. Send QSL cards to the home call.

    **

    SECOND BREAK HERE:
    Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Silvercreek Amateur Radio Association's 2 meter repeater, W8WKY, Tuesdays at 7:30 PM local time in Doylestown, Ohio.

    **

    SPECIAL REPORT: PEARL HARBOR AND HAMS WHO REMEMBER DEC. 7 1941
    JIM: In this special third segment of Newsline, we recall the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago with a special report from Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun WD9GCO. Paul talked talked to three hams who are veterans of World War Two and remember that day well. Paul?
    PAUL: As we approach the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I wanted to share some stories from three men I interviewed earlier this year. All three have been hams since before World War Two and are veterans with a tale to tell.
    Arthur Kunst, W - 3 - W - M, was actually on the air when the attack happened. As he recalled:
    ARTHUR: I was operating someplace about the area of about 1:00 to 1:30 or so and suddenly do-gooders on the band started saying, "Get off the band! Get off the band!" and that's something I've never heard before - the kind of commanding presence - and I really didn't know who had that kind of presence or responsibility to do that. So a lot of us just listened and ignored that because we didn't have any other information.
    PAUL: News traveled slow in those days. The family gathered around the broadcast radio to see if they could find anything out:
    ARTHUR: And then later on we listened to the radio, because we had no TV, so we listened to the radio and then further explanations came along as to what was going on. That was the last official time that I operated - it was on Pearl Harbor Day.
    PAUL: Kunst was in the Navy, and was stationed in the harbor at Okinawa when the war ended and hams were allowed back on the air:
    ARTHUR: Some place along the line, while there - this would have been 1946 - we had found out that amateur radio operation was permitted again and somehow the word got down to us and we got back on the air with the naval gear. I had a Collins, which I used there in the harbor and I couldn't believe it - there were so many amateurs among the fleet forces there and we're all having QSOs over there on that band in Okinawa in 1946. Of course it was not official, and technically still banned, so that's the first time I got back on the air again in 1946.
    PAUL: Another World War II veteran, Cliff Kayhart, W-4-K-K-P, is still active on the air at 104 years old. Kayhart was visiting his parents when the attack happened, and was listening to the ham bands on a shortwave receiver he had bought them. He echoed the confusion and disbelief that many felt when they were suddenly told to get off the air:
    CLIFF: My mother had a shortwave radio that I had given her that was capable of tuning in the amateur radio bands - of course I would buy a radio like that! - so I turned on the radio when I got there and I heard an amateur say, "They ought to take his license away from him - he's saying that the Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor! You know that's a terrible thing for him to say!" Well, he was quite accurate.
    PAUL: Kayhart was in the Signal Corp during the war:
    CLIFF: I was in the military, the Signal Corps, the 3116th Signal Service Battalion, headquartered in Hawaii. They sent me out to Iwo Jima when that battle happened, to install the administrative radio station for Iwo Jima, which I did. I landed the day after the Flag was raised on Mount Suribachi.
    PAUL: It was there, on Iwo Jima, that he saw a now-famous airplane fly overhead:
    CLIFF: I was waiting at the airstrip there and we had an air-raid warning and there was no IFF on the airplane so it was a legitimate aircraft warning. However, after a while we looked up and there was a single B-29 flying way overhead, flying right past Iwo Jima. I thought that was very unusual since our B-29's have been taking off and landing now from Iwo Jima... what is he doing? Anyway, I got on my airplane and went to Guam, and in the middle of the night I heard a lot of shouting outside so I got up and went out and asked, "What's all the noise about?"
    They said, "Well, we dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima!" I said, "My gosh, they finally cracked the atom!"
    PAUL: After the surrender of Japan, Cliff started to think radio again:
    CLIFF: Then, the war ended and I began to think ham radio. The first wavelength that the FCC opened was the 112-meter band so I built a rig for that and got on the air and talked to all of the guys down below on the island and I had a wonderful time.
    PAUL: There's also Robert Leo, W-7-L-R, one of the founders of Thailand’s RAST organization. He was also a very skilled CW operator and had developed the ability to copy down the Japanese code transmissions with great accuracy. Near the end of the war, he was assigned close to Midway Island to copy down the Japanese code to make sure the codebreakers could send good intel to the fleet, including Admiral Nimitz:
    ROBERT: Now, most of the admirals back East wanted him to wait until mid- or late-June to get there but he said, "No, I believe in the Japanese code that you guys have figured out," - I mean, I didn't figure it out but I copied it - but anyway, some of the people had figured it out and he believed in it so he got to Midway early and as you know, we didn't have near as many ships as the Japanese. They must have had three or four times as many, but they didn't use them right so they sent some to Alaska and some they held back, and they didn't do their air attack correct, so that was really a turning point in the war because we won that battle of Midway because of some of those things.
    PAUL: So, to Arthur Kunst, Cliff Kayhart, Robert Leo and all of you veterans of World War Two, we here at Amateur Radio Newsline thank you for your service. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

    **

    NEWSCAST CLOSE: Thank you, Paul -- and veterans. With thanks also to Alan Labs; the Aiken, South Carolina Standard; the ARRL; the Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio Association; CQ Magazine; CNN; Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX Adventure; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitter Society; Keith Miller N9DGK; the New Hampshire Union Leader; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Rutherford County ARES; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the Tri-State Amateur Radio Association; Wireless Institute of Australia; WTWW Shortwave; Youngsters On the Air; 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 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston, West Virginia saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.
    Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.
     
  2. KW0U

    KW0U Ham Member QRZ Page

    It was sad to see tragedies such as the senseless loss of Tyrone Hardin and the terrible Tennessee fires, but the rest of this issue was positive and inspiring. What a wonderful tribute to Jerome Schatz, and the Pearl Harbor stories are worth preserving. These are some of the best of what ham radio, and America, can be.
     

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