Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2044, December 30 2016 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2044 with a release date of Friday, December 30, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hams respond to the typhoon the Philippines. Radio Australia begins its shortwave shutdown -- and we talk to possibly the oldest continuously operating phone net. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2044 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** HAMS RESPOND TO SUPER TYPHOON IN PHILIPPINES NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with an update on amateur involvement in the deadly Super Typhoon Nock-Ten, a deadly Category 4 storm that raged through the Philippines at Christmas, killing at least six and stranding thousands. The Philippines Amateur Radio Association activated its Ham Emergency Radio Operations Network at the approach of the storm, which caused mudslides, flooding and power interruption in five provinces. The hams kept communications open using both HF and VHF radios as the storm made landfall repeatedly. Authorities tuned into the emergency net where amateurs sent them damage reports. Our thoughts are with them all as the nation begins the recovery process. (ARRL) ** RADIO AUSTRALIA ENDING SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS NEIL: It's the end of an era in shortwave for one Australian broadcaster. Amateur Radio Newsline's Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us more. GRAHAM: There's only one month left in the lifetime of shortwave broadcaster Radio Australia's transmissions in the Pacific. The broadcasts, which are in the 31, 25, 19 and 16 meter bands, are expected to cease on Jan. 31, 2017. The Australian Broadcast Corporation said in a news release that the decision was consistent with the broadcaster's desire to expand its digital content offerings and phase out technology that is no longer current. Other Radio Australia programming will continue to be available via satellite and streaming services. The broadcaster's decision to drop shortwave was recently challenged by Senator Claire Moore of Queensland, a member of the Australian Labor party. Moore, who is Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific, is concerned that this decision will have a negative impact on Australia. She recently expressed particular concern about what the absence of Radio Australia would mean during cyclones if other nations' broadcasts do not step in to fill the void. There were also reports that the public was being encouraged to press for a reversal through a petition on Change.org urging the Australian government to cancel the decision. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB. (ABC.NET.AU) ** NO WALK IN THE PARK NEIL/ANCHOR: One Arizona ham radio club is staging a demonstration in two local parks, as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins KE5CXP. MIKE: The Queen Creek Amateur Radio Club is hoping for maximum participation by radio amateurs and maximum engagement with visitors during its public park event on January 7th in Mesa, Arizona. The club is calling it "Radio Under Sun Shade," and also "Radio In The Park," and there are two locations where club members will be operating at portable stations: Dennis, KF7RYX, will be at the ballfield pavilion behind the Queen Creek West Stake Center near Hawes Road and Ocotillo Road. Doug, WB7TUJ, will be in Emerald Park in Mesa. According to the club, this isn't just a demonstration but an open invitation to anyone interested in trying out ham radio - and even getting on the air. Hams will be on 2 meters simplex as well as 40 meters, trying to make as many contacts as possible using solar and other off-the-grid power. Visitors are welcome to join them from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP. ** SILENT KEY: ALAN HEATHER G0PQA NEIL/ANCHOR: As the old year ends, another notable veteran ham has become a Silent Key, as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. JEREMY: Alan Heather G0PQA, a longtime radio amateur whose radio contacts included King Hussein of Jordan JY1 and Helen Sharman GB1MIR, the UK's first astronaut, has died. Alan was the author of a biography of Oliver Heaviside, the mathematician and electrical engineer whose work included discovery of a layer of ionized gas above the ground that reflects radio waves, allowing signals to travel past the horizion. The layer is known as the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer. The scientist died in 1925, before Alan was born but he was considered a distant cousin whose career influenced Alan's own life later. Alan's local work in commercial radio as well as on citizens' band was to later earn him the nickname "Radio Man." The former newspaper reporter, historian and broadcaster was 88. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, THE TORQUAY HERALD EXPRESS) ** SILENT KEY: CANADA'S WILLIAM JAMES 'BILL' GILLIS VE1WG NEIL/ANCHOR: We also note the passing of William James 'Bill' Gillis, VE1WG, the former president of Radio Amateurs of Canada. Bill died on Monday, Dec. 26. He had been president of the RAC from 2002 to 2003 and was director of the Maritimes Region. He was also a two-term president of the Moncton Area Amateur Radio Club and a member of the Montreal Amateur Radio Club and the Oakville Radio Club. Bill was 87. (ARRL) ** HAMS KEEP PACE IN PARADISE NEIL/ANCHOR: What's better than running a marathon in paradise? Doing it with amateur radio support, as Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron N8TMW tells us. JIM: The 44th running of the Honolulu Marathon had the power of radio to keep them on the move. The Honolulu Marathon on December 11th wasn't just a feat of endurance for the more than 30,000 runners. The hams who provided communications and safety for the race's 44th running also went the distance in their own way. According to the ARRL Pacific Section, radio operators went on the air as early as 4 a.m. and some stayed on the air for as many as 18 hours for this, the fourth largest marathon in the U.S. With Net Control operated by Ralph Toyama NH6PY, 35 hams operated on both 2 meters and 70 centimeters. Some were also on the air using 800 MHz digital radios - nonamateur radios but nonetheless crucial in providing those links to aid stations, medical teams, transportation vehicles and police. Hams were also at the finish line, feeling just as victorious as if they'd run the race themselves which, in a way, they did. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW (ARRL PACIFIC SECTION) ** NO QTH TO CALL THEIR OWN NEIL/ANCHOR: As 2016 was winding to a close, we revisited the Massachusetts amateur radio club that is facing homelessness in the new year. Here's Newsline's Paul Braun WD9GCO PAUL: Earlier this year we spoke with Sumner Weisman, W1VIV, about the Framingham, Massachusetts amateur radio club and their urgent search for a new home. The city building that they had been located in for 38 years had a boiler failure, and the city had determined that it was too expensive to fix. Unfortunately, as of this week, the club still hasn’t found a new home. I spoke again with Weisman about where the situation stands: WEISMAN: We have a “mentor,” I guess you could call her an Elmer in ham radio terms, who’s a Town Meeting member - she’s an attorney - and she came to us and said, “Help me help you.” And she advised us to get a hundred signatures on a petition and go to the Town Meeting, which we did, and the Town Meeting gave us $500 towards a new home which we’re appreciative of, but it really doesn’t get us a new home. She’s been working with us, and I went to the Board of Selectment meeting with her advice and asked them for some time in one of their upcoming meetings and they gave us fifteen minutes to explain what our dilemma is. They were very sympathetic - they gave us twenty, twenty-five minutes and they didn’t watch the clock. We had a good discussion. I had asked that as many club members as possible show up to show that we’re serious and they were quite impressed - we had twenty to twenty-five of our members there and they commented on that. Generally, I think they were quite sympathetic. We need a point of contact and we asked who that should be, and they said, “Contact the Town Manager after the first of the year” which I fully intend to do. PAUL: They have gotten some support from the city: WEISMAN: What we’re looking for - I told them if we had a broom closet we could set up a radio station - but we’re really looking for something larger, perhaps twelve by twenty or twenty by thirty, something like that would be ideal because that would allow us to have enough room to hold VE tests and also to give lessons there to people who want to upgrade. PAUL: Weisman also explained why they are looking for rent-free, city-sponsored space: WEISMAN: Our big fundraising event is a swap meet or flea market in April and what we do with that money is that it helps support the club, but we like to take about half of it and use it for college scholarships for kids. We give three or four college scholarships a year. The college scholarship chairman of our club has told me that we’ve given away over $20K already. PAUL: According to Weisman, If you are in that area, the best thing you can do to help is to attend club meetings to show support, and also show up to council meetings so that they understand the amount of interest. More information can be found on their website at www.w1fy.org. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Paul Braun, WD9GCO ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the KB3LSM repeater in Evans City, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. ** VIRGINIA FONE NET, AN 'OM' AMONG NETS NEIL/ANCHOR: As we talk about time marching on in the new year, how about a look back at an AM PHONE net that got its start in the 1930s? JIM OWEN: We think that it's the oldest continuously operating phone net in the United States maybe in the world. no one operated during the war so we were off the air then, but when amateurs could operate, we've been continuously on there. KENT: That's Jim Owen K4CGY of the Virginia Fone Net. Jim started checking into the net in 1960 but became a regular net control in about 1964 JIM: I probably hold the record for the most net controls, I'm up to 2162 now. KENT: According to research by Phil Sager WB4FDT there were two nets formed in January 1934 both called Virginia phone net Jim describes what phone operation might have been like in the 1930s. JIM: It was experimental I know from talking to some of the old guys. they came up with just about any scheme they could to modulate their CW transmitters. They didn't have money for modulation transformers so they used screen grid modulation and a few even used antenna modulation where you put a carbon microphone in the antenna lead. That's way before my time, but they worked They got them on the air and eventually new things improved and especially after the war there was a lot of gear available. KENT: Jim says the net has run nearly continuously JIM: The only times we've ever skipped is when one of the emergency nets took over the frequency. KENT: The net has slowed down a bit JIM: As most phone nets go these days, there's not a whole lot of traffic from the public. 30-40 years ago someone wanted to get a message to grandma on the west coast they would come to us because they didn't want to spend the money to a phone call. Now they just text. Its morphed into a net for old friends and new friends. Whatever you'd talk about on ham radio . KENT: Jim recalled hearing about the very early days of the net JIM: One of the members, W4BAD Doc Tamer was on spark in 1916. Doc passed in the mid 1970s. He gave a lot of information on how they were operating back then and what he was running. These old timers were good to talk to. Now I guess I'm one of the old timers, hey that's the way it goes people come and go and nets are the same way. Fortunately we've managed to make it all these years and we hope to go a while longer. KENT: The words of Jim Owen K4CGY talking about what might be the worlds oldest phone net, the Virginia Fone Net. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY ** THAT'S THE SPIRIT! LOOK OUT FOR INTREPID DX AWARDS NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams prepare to honor the notable DXers of 2016 while preparing for a major international DX convention in 2017 in Visalia, California. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee KB3TZD. HEATHER: If you're a DXer and know a fellow DXer who's got a spirit that's fearless, generous, bold, innovative and dedicated - and that's just for starters! - you may want to nominate them for the 2016 Intrepid Spirit Award. The honor is conferred annually in recognition of an individual or a group who possesses these qualities. Winners will join the ranks of noted DXers such as Zorro Miyazawa JH1AJT, the 2015 honoree and Dmitri Zhikharev RA9USU who was chosen in 2014. For more details, see the website at www.intrepid-dx.com While we're on the subject of DX, don't forget the 68th annual International DX Convention being held in California April 21st through 23rd. Registration is now open for the gathering, which is sponsored by the Northern California DX Club. Planning is still under way and convention events are still taking shape but already there are DX and technical seminars on the schedule as well as basic and advanced level training on contesting. Get updated details at www.dxconvention.com For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Heather Embee KB3TZD (NORTHERN CALIF. DX CLUB, INTREPID DX GROUP) ** SCOUT MERIT BADGE FINDS NEW DIRECTION NEIL/ANCHOR: There are some big changes in the Radio Merit Badge program for Boy Scouts, as we learn from Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Stearns NE4RD. This week in Radio Scouting we have updates to the Radio Merit Badge program to announce. A big new addition to the Radio Merit Badge is a new option of Amateur Radio Direction Finding. This combines orienteering and foxhunting and opens a new interactive component to this program. Cellular telephone topics have been added and different types of radio modulation have been included. Key requirement changes were dropping open, closed, and short circuits as well as schematic symbols and components as these are covered in the Electricity and Electronics merit badges. Other revisions include: minor edits and reordering of requirements in the Amateur Radio option; Radio Broadcasting option now includes Internet streaming, regulations, and power levels; Medium Wave and Shortwave Listening option includes both types of listening as well as listening via streaming services on your smartphone. These updates will take effect in 2017, and those scouts working on the previous set of requirements generally can finish them up the same year. For this and more information on K2BSA and Radio Scouting, please visit www.k2bsa.net. For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD ** WORLD OF DX In the world of DX, you can hear DXpeditioner Mek SP7VC in the Azores until January 3rd. He will operate on all bands from 10m to 160m using the callsign CU2/SP7VC. Activity will be mainly on SSB. Send QSLs to his home call sign and via Logbook of The World. Listen for Neven LZ1COM in the Maldive Islands through the 5th of January, operating as 8Q7ND on the HF bands. Send QSLs to his home call sign. Between January 1st and 7th, an IOTA expedition will operate from Al Safliyah Island near Qatar using the callsign A70X. (A Seven Zero X). Expect large pileups: The island has not been activated since 1995. QSL manager is M0OXO. ** KICKER: A NET GAIN FOR THE SANTA NET NEIL/ANCHOR: And finally, with Christmas 2016 behind us, we reflect on Santa's popularity. It's big, because he has his own 80-meter Net. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron N8TMW has more: JIM: Christmas is over and the results are in: Santa is apparently more popular than ever on ham radio. The 3916 Nets, which run the annual Santa Net, connecting youngsters to the voice of Santa on ham radio, reports that 426 stations and 656 children spoke to the big elf this year. According to Pete Thomson KE5GGY the stations were from all over the U.S. and into Canada. Best of all, the number represents an increase of 54 percent over the check-ins in 2015. No doubt this gives the Santa Net operators, and even folks at the North Pole, a lot of ho-ho-hope for Christmas next year. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW. ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; CNN; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Intrepid DX Club; Irish Radio Transmitter Society; Northern California DX Club; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; the Santa Net of the 3916 Tailgaiters and Freewheelers; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; The Torquay Herald Express; 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 Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Bloomington, Indiana saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2044, December 30 2016 - AUDIO http://www.arnewsline.org/storage/audio/2016/Report2044.mp3
