Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2128 for Friday, August 10, 2018 Audio - https://www.arnewsline.org/s/Report2128.mp3 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2128 with a release date of Friday, August 10, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Indonesian hams help after a deadly quake. No new building for next year's Hamvention - and it's time for a QSO with TV's "Last Man Standing." All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2128 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** INDONESIAN AMATEURS RESPOND FOLLOWING DEADLY QUAKE JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with breaking news. As an Indonesian earthquake's death toll climbs, hams deploy to assist communications. John Williams VK4JJW tells us more. JOHN: Members of the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organisation, known as ORARI, were deployed not long after a deadly 6.9 magnitude quake rocked Indonesia on Sunday August 5th, leaving a death toll that was fast approaching 100 as Amateur Radio Newsline went to production. Hardest hit were the resort areas on Lambok where tourists emerged from a landscape of massive debris and swarmed the beaches. The quake could be felt as far away as the island of Bali. More than 300 were reported injured. The hams established counter-disaster communications on 7110kHz and a call was issued to amateurs worldwide to keep the frequency clear. Stations within the immediate region were being asked to monitor emergency traffic and assist where they could. ORARI also established radio operations on VHF at 145.5 MHz and 147 MHz. The quake came on the heels of an earlier one, on July 29th, which hit the same area with a magnitude of 6.4, killing 16 and injuring several hundreds, many of them hikers who were at the summit of a mountain in Lombok that collapsed into the mouth of a volcano. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im John Williams VK4JJW. (NEWS.COM.AU, CNN, Greg G0DUB and Ewan VK4ERM) ** NO NEW BUILDING FOR HAMVENTION 2019 JIM/ANCHOR: In the U.S., hopes for a new building in time for next year's Dayton Hamvention have been dashed. Andy Morrison K9AWM has that report. ANDY: There will be no new building after all for Hamvention 2019 when it opens in Xenia, Ohio next spring. Hamvention General Chairman Jack Gerbs WB8SCT announced on Aug. 5 that negotiations have failed to reach an agreement on a contract between Hamvention organizers and the Green County Fairgrounds and Expo Center. He said the county and the fairs board still have a good relationship with Hamvention at this point but there will not be a building in time for the next gathering. Jack made the announcement jointly with Hamvention assistant chair Rick Allnutt WS8G, noting that the improvements attendees saw at the 2018 Hamvention site will continue into next year: tent shelters will be improved, there will be another forum room and the flea market area will feature permanent paths. Both Rick and Jack expressed hope that the amateur radio community would continue to give Hamvention their full support. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Andy Morrison K9AWM (ARRL) ** YOUNG LADIES RADIO LEAGUE HOSTS SUCCESSFUL CONVENTION JIM/ANCHOR: Further west in the U.S., a successful gathering of YLs wrapped up recently in Oklahoma City. We turn to Heather Embee KB3TZD for those details. HEATHER: For attendees at this years Young Ladies Radio League Convention in downtown Oklahoma City, its all over now but the memories. YLRL president Marilyn Melhorn AF7BI welcomed the group of 43 YLs and 22 OMs who traveled from 21 states and the Canadian provinces. The local SCARS club sent five OMs to work as volunteers at the event, which ran from August 2nd to 5th. There was a forum on digital modes led by Ria Jairam N2RJ, rovering by Andrea Slack K2EZ and Mission Kosovo led by Jim Fenstermaker K9FJ. NASA research scientist Nancy Hall KC4IYH delivered the keynote speech at the convention banquet. According to one member of the three-person organizing committee, Michelle Carey W5MQC, the prize table was chock full of goodies from convention sponsors and Saturday also featured Elmira roundtable sessions offering help on DMR, antennas, CW, logging, programming rigs and just about anything else. YLs got to make Morse Code bracelets. Carol Milazzo KP4MD treated the YLs to a talk on the right way to organize a DXpedition style holiday. There were also moments of personal triumph: Pamela Saalbach KC3LCX became a General class and a new ham, Aria Cunningham, passed her Technican test. The YLRL convention only happens once every three or four years so these are memories and moments that are sure to last. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Heather Embee KB3TZD. (MICHELLE CAREY, W5MQC) ** LAND MOBILE RADIOS GET NEW BAND IN NEW ZEALAND JIM/ANCHOR: There's nothing like getting a new part of the spectrum and that's good news to land mobile radio users in New Zealand where Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has this report. JIM: Almost everyone welcomes the approval of new radio bands to use and in New Zealand, a new band has been created for use by land mobile radios. Its known as the G band and it allows transmissions between 174 MHz and 184 MHz. Users wanting to operate must possess licenses certified by an Approved Radio Engineer. Although the band became available for licencing effective the 2nd of August, licencees will not be able to begin transmissions until the 1st of September. According to RSM, the band is being made available following a technical consultation that took place in 2017. Use of the band is covered under Crown Spectrum Management Rights and a band plan is available on the website of Radio Spectrum Management, a business unit of the Ministry of Business. Learn more about the band plan by navigating from the home page at rsm dot govt dot nz (rsm.govt.nz). For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. . (SOUTHGATE) ** HAM IN IRELAND GOES RECORD DISTANCE ON VHF JIM/ANCHOR: A recent contact between a ham in Ireland and a ham off Africa's coast is being called a record. Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us how it happened. ED: World records arent easy to come by so when Mark EI3KD made contact from his QTH in Ireland with D4Z on the Cape Verde Islands off Africas coast on the 5th of August, it was a big deal. For one thing, it was on CW at 144.300 MHz, and for another this was a distance of 4163 kilometres, or not quite 2600 miles. As reported on Southgate Amateur Radio News, this constitutes a new record for tropo in IARU Region 1, besting a record set in July 2015 of 4130 kilometres, or roughly 2560 miles. The news was first reported on the blog written by John EI7GL on Monday the 6th of August. The blog speculates that marine ducting most likely helped propagation. With marine ducting, the waters surface and a layer in the lower atmosphere trap the VHF and UHF signals enabling them to travel a greater distance than normal. August 5th was apparently a good day as well for D4Z, the Monteverde Contest Team, based in Cape Verde. The team also worked G7RAU and G4LOH on 2m SSB in the southwest of England. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Ed Durrant DD5LP. (SOUTHGATE) ** 'LAST MAN STANDING' CALLING QRZ JIM/ANCHOR: If you are a fan of TVs Last Man Standing but never got a QSL card from KA6LMS the amateur radio station on the set be near your shack on Tuesday the 14th of August. The Facebook page of the newly revived show has announced that even as the popular sitcom returns to the air this season this time on Fox - its ham radio station is doing the same on HF. Be listening around 4 p.m. Pacific Time for KA6LMS club member Rob AA6RA. Rob is not only an original member of the club but was a VE who took part in the exam that gave the shows star Tim Allen his license. Watch the shows Facebook page and spotting sites for details. (FACEBOOK) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WW8GM repeater of the General Motors Amateur Radio Club in Detroit, Michigan on Saturdays at 9 p.m. local time. ** HAMS SCORE HOME RUN HELPING BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS JIM/ANCHOR: When the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York inducted six new membrs, hams helped keep things safe and orderly for tens of thousands of fans, as we hear from Neil Rapp WB9VPG. NEIL: A crowd of about 53,000 turned out in Cooperstown New York to see six athletes inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame but looking out for these tens of thousands was a much smaller crowd: ham radio operators whod been activated under RACES to provide communications support at the event on behalf of the countys office of emergency services. Brian Webster N2KGC, the Otsego County Amateur Radio Officer and an ARRL District Emergency Coordinator, said about 15 amateurs were directly involved at stations on the air. He said another half dozen or so were assigned directly to various agencies where they also worked as communications technicians. Volunteers came from Otsego and three surrounding counties as members of the Oneonta Amateur Radio Club. They operated primarily on a 2 meter analogue repeater using two 440 analogue repeaters for backup near area hospitals. July 29th was a big day for players Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell who drew the second largest crowd in the history of such inductions. Although a few medical transports were required, Brian said the big event was largely uneventful except of course for the inductions. The amateur radio operators role is significant at this event, Brian said, because you never know what dignitaries may show up or what kinds of security concerns there might be. Baseball fans, if you think this meant a free pass to the event think again: Brian told Amateur Radio Newsline: We only had two hams on the actual site and they were both involved supporting the EMA activities. The rest of us watched the ceremony on TV like many others. Still, with a crowd that size, the teamwork scored a home run. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Neil Rapp WB9VPG. (BRIAN WEBSTER N2KGC) ** U.S. COAST GUARD HAS HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND GOOD SIGNAL REPORTS JIM/ANCHOR: Members of two U.S. Coast Guard amateur radio groups kicked off the month of August by marking the Coast Guard's 228th birthday on the air. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us about the celebration. KEVIN: What do birthday celebrations call for, other than a cake? Conversation, of course. There was plenty of conversation happening on the air Friday August 3rd and Saturday August 4th as two separate Coast Guard Ham Radio groups helped celebrate the U.S. Coast Guards 228th birthday. According to Dick KE7A, president and trustee of the Coast Guard Amateur Radio Club, the events goal was to make hams more aware of Coast Guard history and to encourage more meaningful chatter instead of the usual rapid-fire exchanges found during such events. The Coast Guard CW Operators Association joined in the celebration on Friday by operating special event station K1CG on CW at 10 different locations, including Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Washington state. Members of this group are all Coast Guard veterans and have stood a CW watch in the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard stopped using CW in 1995. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard Amateur Radio Club special event station W5CGC operated that Saturday on SSB, FT8, PSK31 and RTTY from 12 different locations including a park in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, Marine Mobile moored at Reedville, Virginia and aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham Museum Ship in Key West, Florida. Dick said there are 915 members active in the U.S. Coast Guards Amateur Radio Club who are either active on duty in the Coast Guard or are veterans of the Coast Guard. Band conditions were poor on both days but despite that the CW operators logged 95 QSOs on 4 bands and the Coast Guard ARC logged 512 on five bands. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Kevin Trotman N5PRE. ** ** SCOUTS BUSY WITH JAMBOREE PLANS AND K2BSA ACTIVATION JIM/ANCHOR: Radio Scouts continue with their activations as Bill Stearns NE4RD tells us. BILL: This week in Radio Scouting we have 1 activation of the K2BSA Callsign, Jamboree on the Air is just around the corner, and World Jamboree programs are coming together. Mike Cullen, K1NPT, will be activating K2BSA/1 at Camp Yawgoog in Rockville, RI from August 19th through the 26th. BSA Troop 3 out of Newport, RI will be heading to this camp, the fourth-oldest continuously run scout camp in the United States. Troop 3 will be operating 20M/40M/80M voice & digital using battery and solar power. Jamboree on the Air 2018 is the weekend of October 19th - 21st. The JOTA-JOTI team have established trusted partnerships for connecting units digitally during the event with JOTI Radio, JOTI.TV, and Scoutlink. JOTI Radio is the official JOTA-JOTI radio station with trusted partner status. They will be providing non-stop, live broadcasts throughout JOTA from their UK studios and are powered by the wonderful team at Avon Scout Radio. JOTI.tv is another trusted partner that will gather all the webcams of scout groups all over the world and build them together in one big mosaic. This will give you a look inside JOTA-JOTI from the perspective of the participating stations. ScoutLink is a global, non-profit organisation that aims to connect Scouts and Guides from all over the world. They do this in many ways, but their 3 main services are IRC/Webchat (text chat), TeamSpeak (voice chat), and Minecraft. Finally we're looking forward to NA1WJ at the World Jamboree next year in North America. The team has been busy putting plans together and organizing the program offerings that will include Amateur Radio demo stations, ARDF on VHF and HF, multiple balloon launches with VHF APRS and HF WSPR payloads, and hopefully an ARISS contact. Please stay tuned to our website for ways you can help the team provide these programs. For more information on JOTA or Radio Scouting, or to signup for our JOTA newsletter, please visit our website at k2bsa.net. For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD. ** IN MALAYSIA, A PREFIX AND A PARTY JIM/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, if you happen to hear the prefix 9M61 on the air, you're hearing the sound of a special Malaysian celebration. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us more. GRAHAM: Its been 61 years since Malaysia declared its independence, first known as the Federation of Malaya, with a new prime minister. The new country raised its own flag for the first time and everywhere there was dancing, bonfires and even fireworks. On the 16th of September 1963 the federation, along with North Borneo or Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, formed into a larger federation of Malaysia. This year the ham radio community is setting off its own fireworks of sorts by calling QRZ under special event call signs that are regional, but all of them bear the prefix 9M61. The celebration is already ongoing and will be active through the 1st of September. Successful contacts can earn you four different certificates from the Malaysian DX and Contest Group at bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels. The event is in keeping with the mission of the contest group which is to promote and raise the profile for HF contesters and encourage DXing throughout Malaysia. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Graham Kemp VK4BB. (SOUTHGATE, HISTORY TODAY) ** KICKER: BRITAIN'S INLAND WATERWAYS GET THEIR OWN EVENT JIM/ANCHOR: Finally, amateurs who love radio - and radio by the water - have an event all their own in Britain as we learn from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: Now here is an all-purpose event that would combine Bicycles on the Air, Boats on the Air and even Running Shoes on the air if they existed: Its the British Inland Waterways on the Air event being held between the 25th and 27th of August which is the August bank holiday weekend. Amateurs who are making use of reservoirs, rivers, lakes, canals and tow paths will be activating them either as individuals or as a club event, some even using Special Event Station call signs. A number of them may be using their own call signs while they operate portable or mobile. Stefan Lattimer 2E0VKM, a member of the Nunsfield House Amateur Radio Club, has been keeping track of which stations will be participating. Primary bands will be 40 meters and 2 meters but operators are not being restricted from using any band. The event is as a way of encouraging hams to use their radios to celebrate the UKs waterways and of course amateur radio. Organisers are hoping that everyone will, of course, be inspired by their closeness to the water and simply go with the flow. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (RADIO SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; ARISS; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; Greg G0DUB; Ewan VK4ERM; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; History Today; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; John Desmond EI7GL; Michelle Carey W5MQC; News.com.au; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ; Radio Society of Great Britain; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Wireless Institute of Australia; 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston, West Virginia saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
