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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2112 for Friday, April 20, 2018

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KB7TBT, Apr 20, 2018.

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  1. KB7TBT

    KB7TBT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2112 for Friday, April 20, 2018 Audio - https://www.arnewsline.org/s/Report2112.mp3

    Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2112 with a release date of Friday, April 20 2018, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

    The following is a QST. A dramatic radio rescue amid Colorado wildfires. A Minnesota ham's killer gets life in prison - and Art Bell becomes a Silent Key. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2112 comes your way right now.
    **
    BILLBOARD CART
    **
    TOP STORY: DRAMATIC RADIO RESCUE AS COLORADO WILDFIRES RAGE
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: On Tuesday April 17, eight wildfires broke out in Colorado where the National Weather Service had declared a Red Flag day, due to dangerously high winds and low humidity. Evacuations began quickly during one fire about 20 miles southeast of Colorado Springs. Fifty-foot high flames swept through at 35mph. Ron Cook, KE0ILD looked outside his home and saw he was surrounded by heavy black smoke. He dialed 911 and got a busy signal. Panicked, he called on a widely used repeater system asking anyone listening to call 911 for him. Amanda Alden, K1DDN and Jeff Carrier, K0JSC, heard him and placed the call. Knowing this was a fire with ongoing evacuations she reached out to El Paso County dispatch to find out if Ron was in the evacuation zone. Meanwhile, Jeff told him to remain in place.

    [AUDIO INSERT]
    Dispatch said he was safe -- then called back 30 seconds later saying he should evacuate immediately. Amanda relayed the info and Ron prepared to leave. Amanda heard then of a house just blocks away that was engulfed in flames. A half-hour later, Ron reported that he and his family were safe. It is unknown if his home survived. At Newsline production time, several wildfires continued to burn throughout Colorado. ARES was on standby, involved in different areas of assistance. Amanda, K1DDN is a Colorado ARES Region Emergency Coordinator and keeps on top of most disasters there.
    **
    PRISON FOR BEATING DEATH OF MINNESOTA AMATEUR
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: A judge gave a 28-year-old man life behind bars for the beating death of a 95-year-old amateur radio operator. Kent Peterson KC0DGY has that story.
    KENT: A Minnesota man has received life in prison for beating death of a 95-year-old ham while burglarizing his home. Isaiah Thomas was sentenced April 9 for the killing of Albert Loehlein (LAY-LINE) WØNHW in his Anoka Minnesota home on Thanksgiving Weekend in 2016. Albert, who was also a retired radio engineer who worked at AM radio station WCCO. Albert was found beaten to death with a flashlight and clock in the home where he and his wife raised their six children. An amateur radio operator and World War II veteran, he had lost his wife Hannah to cancer several years ago. Thomas, who is 28, pleaded guilty March 6 to the killing. He could be eligible for parole in 30 years.

    For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY
    (MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE)
    **
    SILENT KEY: RADIO HOST ART BELL W6OBB/4F1AB
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: A giant in broadcasting and a well-known longtime amateur has become a Silent Key. Mike Askins KE5CXP has that report.
    MIKE: The unmistakable voice of Art Bell, whether on amateur HF or on commercial radio, has gone silent. Art Bell W6OBB became a Silent Key at his southern Nevada home on Friday, April 13. Radio listeners knew him for his late-night syndicated show "Coast to Coast AM" a radio program he created to explore crop circles, UFOs and all things paranormal. Hosting the program from the home studio of his FM radio station KNYE in Pahrump, Nevada, he created a broadcast phenomenon that soared to popularity in the 1990s when it was carried by more than 500 radio stations and gained a following from such celebrities as William Shatner and singer Josh Groban and earned him the title "King of the Weird" from ABC News. But amateur radio operators who heard his distinctive voice on the HF bands also knew Bell as a fellow ham. Art had been licensed since the age of 13, when he got his ticket as a Technician class operator. He was also licensed as a Class A operator in the Philippines with the call sign 4F1AB.
    Art Bell was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008. Art Bell was 72.
    A note on the show's website says: "As he begins his journey on the 'Other Side,' we take solace in the hope that he is now finding out all of the answers to the mysteries he pursued for so many nights with all of us."

    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.
    (ABC NEWS, COAST TO COAST WEBSITE, TIME MAGAZINE)
    CHRISTIAN: To hear excerpts of a 2016 interview between Art Belll and QSO Today's Eric Guth (GOOTH) 4Z1UG, visit arnewsline dot org and click on the left-hand tab that says "EXTRA." These excerpts are provided as a Newsline Extra courtesy of Hap Holly's RAIN report.
    **
    SILENT KEY: 'WIREMAN' PRESSLEY JONES N8UG
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: We report on another Silent Key, a ham radio operator known for providing the essentials to the amateur community at large. We hear from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
    KEVIN's REPORT: A South Carolina businessman well-known and respected in the amateur radio community has become a Silent Key. Pressley Jones N8UG - also known as "The Wireman" - died on Tuesday the 10th of April at the age of 89. Press was widely known for the business from which he got his nickname, which has been serving hams with coax, connectors, wires and other components since 1976.
    A note on the company website said: "We are thankful for his dedication and contributions to the Amateur Radio community for over 45 years. He was a great teacher and speaker with his one-of-a kind approach to communications, and a down-to-earth mentor."
    Rest in Peace.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
    (WIREMAN.COM)
    **
    A FIRST-CLASS IDEA FOR CW
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Get your straight keys, bugs or paddles out - Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains why:
    JEREMY: What's more challenging than making it to the age of 80 or copying code at a respectable rate? Combining the two activities! That's what the First Class CW Operators Club, or the FOC, will be doing throughout the month of May to mark its 80th anniversary. Its global membership will take to the bands using CW and special call signs which incorporate the number "80."
    The club is calling it the 80th Anniversary On-Air Challenge and participants are competing for the highest ranking possible on the leaderboard in order to qualify for awards at Gold, Silver or Bronze Levels.
    The club recommends locating other club members by using the DJ1YFK skimmer or the G7VJR FOC Cluster. For more details, visit the website at g4foc dot org
    For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
    (FIRST CLASS CW OPERATORS CLUB)
    **
    BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Tri-Town RAC's WD9HSY repeater on Wednesday nights at 8.
    **
    YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS STILL OPEN
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Another reminder: Don't wait too long to send in your nominations for this year's Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award. We are accepting nominations through May 31 and it's coming up fast. Candidates must be 18 or younger and be a resident of the United States, its possessions or any Canadian province. Application forms are available on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab.
    **
    MILITARY TRIBUTE TO AUSTRALIA'S VINTAGE RADIOS
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Hams in Australia are getting ready to honor military veterans - especially the radios that served so well. Here's Graham Kemp VK4BB.
    GRAHAM: A group of hams here in Australia has decided it's time to put a very select group of military veterans back into service - their vintage radios, many of which served during World War II right up through the Vietnam War. From the 28th to the 29th of April you can hear these operators throughout the HF bands during the inaugural Australian Military Radio Operators Weekend. Their outputs range from QRP to 400 watts PEP, their modes range from CW to AM and even SSB. So be listening for the call "CQ Military Radio Weekend" or if you happen to have one of these fine vintage vets in your possession, answer the call of duty and get on the air.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB.
    (WIA, NIC VK7BEE)
    **
    JAPAN LADIES RADIO SOCIETY ENDS SPECIAL-EVENT YEAR
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: YLs in Japan have finished a year of celebrations and Jason Daniels VK2LAW has the details.
    JASON: Special Event station 8N60JLRS is off the air. The Japan Ladies Radio Society has concluded its 60th anniversary activation which began last year with the special event callsign assigned to the club. Despite on-again, off-again band conditions, club members could be heard for 12 months calling CQ from Hakkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. According to club chairperson Yukiko Maki 7K4TKB, the year's operations ended with more than 20,000 QSOs logged which she said was more than expected. She told Amateur Radio Newsline in an email that the special event station accomplished so much more than that. She wrote: "This excitement led to the restart for those who had stopped ham radio activities. Some members purchased the state-of-the-art transceivers, repaired their antennas, and are getting ready for their renewed enjoyment." Now THAT is a happy anniversary indeed.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.
    (JAPAN LADIES RADIO SOCIETY)
    **
    WRTC 2018 HAS PLANS FOR NON-COMPETITORS TOO
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The time is edging closer for the World Radio Team Championships in Germany -- and not just for competitors, as we hear from Ed Durrant DD5LP.
    ED'S REPORT: Tours and events at the World radio team championships.
    WRTC 2018 is not just a radio contest. It also provides competitors and their families the opportunity to gather and visit interesting and educational places around the Wittenberg region.
    The WRTC organisers are very aware of their responsibility to provide interesting activities for the non-competing guests who are coming to support friends and family on the various teams.
    It's not just the visitors and families who get to go sightseeing though. The committee members have made time in the seven day schedule to allow competitors also to join trips to visit Leipzig on Thursday and to Berlin on Monday. During the times that the teams are busy (Friday through Sunday) the non-contesters are well taken care of with tours to Dresden and the beautiful, calm Worlitzer country Park.
    All tours use first class buses with English speaking and optionally Russian speaking tourist guides.
    All attending WRTC can also join walking tours in Wittenberg around which the WRTC is based. This historical town in the heart of Europe has guided tours covering the history of Martin Luther and showing the place where Wilhelm Weber was born. Our hobby owes much to Weber who invented wire-based telegraphy with Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1833. Without their work there would be no CW in our hobby today.
    If there's enough interest, there's also talk of a "Beer DX-pedition" we're told this would be a scientific approach to beer drinking with a visit to the historical brewery in Wittenberg.

    Visitors to WRTC 2018 in Germany can book tours and tickets via booking.wrtc2018.de/en/offers
    As well as the tours, there are a limited number of tickets for the WRTC opening (Thursday) and closing (Monday) formal events.

    For Amateur Radio Newsline and counting down the weeks to the event, this is Ed Durrant DD5LP.
    **
    INDIANA GETS READY TO QSO PARTY HEARTY
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: It's a party - and Indiana amateurs are hosting. Bring your best signal and your best on-air manners. Here's Neil Rapp WB9VPG.
    NEIL: Spring time in Indiana means it's time to start planning for the Indiana QSO Party. The Hoosier DX and Contest Club sponsors the event, and offers an award for working all 92 Indiana counties. But wait, there's more! Not only is the Indiana QSO Party on May 5th, but there's also three other QSO Parties that day! One of the committee members, Mark Musick, WB9CIF, explains.
    MARK: There's always a lot of excitement about the first Saturday in May because there's four QSO parties going on simultaneously, and so there's a lot of activity. The four QSO parties are: the Indiana QSO Party, the New England QSO Party which is all six of the New England states, the Delaware QSO Party, and the 7QP QSO Party. What the clubs out west have done is all eight states in the seventh call district have got fixed and mobile stations on so they are trying to activate all the counties in all eight of those states. And all the major contest logging software people have set up their software so that you don't really have to be participating, say, in the New England QSO Party. You just work people in all four. And, all four QSO parties have worked together here so that you submit your log to each one of them, and they score their QSO party from your log individually.
    NEIL: For the county hunters, this is a great chance to finish off your Indiana checklist.
    MARK: We started in '02, and all but two or three years we've gotten all 92 counties on the air at some time during the contest period.
    NEIL: You can find all the details at hdxcc.org/inqp. Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline from the Hoosier state, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG in Bloomington, Indiana.
    **
    WORLD OF DX
    In the world of DX be listening for Jan, PA4JJ operating holiday style as 9A/PA4JJ from mainland Croatia between the 27th of April and the 8th of June. Expect him to operate mainly FT8 on 40-10 metres. QSL via LoTW, Club Log's OQRS or via home call.
    Sergei, R4WAA is active from Nepal as 9N7WA through the 27th of April. Listen for him operating CW and digital modes on the HF bands. QSL via his home call.
    Listen for Tak, JR1LZK/6 and Mitsu, JE1HXZ/6 on 80 through 6 meters from Kita Daito Island from the 27th of April to the 7th of May. They will operate CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL via home calls (direct or bureau), Club Log and LoTW.
    (THE DAILY DX, OHIO PENN DX)
    **
    KICKER: HAM RADIO GETS PRIME-TIME TV ROLE, SORT OF
    CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Finally, we ask: What's happening here? Amateur radio's in the movies and now amateur radio's on one more TV show. We'll let Don Wilbanks AE5DW explain.
    DON: As anyone who's ever been in a ham shack knows, you don't need to be able to see something to expect great things from it. Take radiowaves, for instance. You can't see them but on a good day with good band conditions they can deliver the world.
    So what's the deal with Dan Conner? The character on the American TV series "Roseanne" is hiding something from his family and we the audience can't see it either. On the April 17 episode of "Roseanne," the recently revived situation comedy on the ABC Network, Rosanne's husband Dan has some kind of amateur radio rig tucked away in the garage that he's fixing. (show audio: It's like that ham radio Dad tinkers with in the garage. If it was gonna work it would've worked by now. Dad just got that radio working. He's got a friend in Duluth that's 102.") Could Dan, portrayed by actor John Goodman, secretly have gotten his ticket? Is he carrying the legacy of the character Mike Baxter from TV's "Last Man Standing"? That popular show was cancelled on the same network not long ago. Well, we didn't see Dan's rig in this recent episode but like radio waves, Santa and The Tooth Fairy, that doesn't mean we can't believe in it. Perhaps the reality of one more ham radio operator on TV is out there just below the noise floor....so we'll keep tuning in, listening and watching.
    As anyone who's ever been in a ham shack knows, you don't need to be able to see something to expect great things from it. Take radiowaves, for instance. You can't see them but on a good day with good band conditions they can deliver the world.
    For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW
    (ABC-TV, CARSEY-WERNER PRODUCTIONS)
    **
    NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to ABC-TV; ABC News; Alan Labs; the ARRL; Carsey-Werner Productions; Coast to Coast AM website; CQ Magazine; the Daily DX; First Class CW Operators Club; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Minneapolis Star-Tribune; Nic VK7BEE; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Time Magazine; Wireless Institute of Australia; Wireman.com; WRTC 2018; 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 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 Christian Cudnik K0STH in St. Louis, Missouri saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.
    Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
     

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