Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2137 for Friday, October 12 2018 Audio - https://www.arnewsline.org/s/Report2137.mp3 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2137 with a release date of Friday, October 12, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hurricane Michael targets the southern U.S. Yellowstone National Park celebrates a new repeater - and what's this about Lizards on the Air? All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2137 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** BREAKING NEWS: BRACING FOR HURRICANE MICHAEL PAUL/ANCHOR: We open this week with breaking news. As Amateur Radio Newsline went to production, northern Florida was being slammed by Hurricane Michael. The ARRL asked Field Organization leaders to keep them apprised of its emergency frequencies, activation status and any requests for equipment to assist if necessary. WX4NHC, the amateur radio station at the National Weather Center, was activated as of early Wednesday, October 10th, as was the VoIP Hurricane Net and the SATERN's Southern Territory SSB Net. The Cuban Federation of Radio Amateurs reported emergency nets were up and running on 40 and 80 meters, in digital modes and on SSB. The storm was expected to make landfall on the Florida Panhandle and hit southern Alabama and south-central Georgia and North Carolina declared a state of emergency. The VoIP Hurricane Net requested that hams in the hurricane's path or with relay messages into it provide surface and damage reports for relay into WX4NHC. For story updates, please visit Amateur Radio Newsline's page on Facebook. ** SATELLITE ENTHUSIASTS' HELP FROM ABOVE PAUL/ANCHOR: If you've ever thought you might enjoy a QSO via satellite, there'a a new forum especially for newcomers. Ed Durrant DD5LP has that story. ED: The amateur radio satellite community keeps growing and so does the number of satellites. Now the universe of online satellite forums has also grown and added one more venue, as reported by the president of AMSAT-Deutschland Peter Gülzow DB2OS. He has announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board that the new forum is geared especially toward newcomers in the hopes of opening up a new experience for amateurs and sharing encouragement and tips for first-timers. Although AMSAT-Deutschland is hoping as many people will register as possible, guests are also welcome to stop by and visit. The topics are expected to be extensive and are designed to encourage wide-ranging discussions. Peter noted that especially with the launch later this year of Qatars Eshail 2 communications satellite and its amateur radio payload, theres plenty of room for more satellite communicators. AMSAT-DL has been providing the commercial Qatari satellite project with technical support. Once it is in orbit, it will be capable of linking hams from Thailand to Brazil and will supply the first amateur radio geostationary communications. Satellite enthusiasts or hams who would like to become one can find the forum at this address: forum dot amsat dash dl dot org (forum.amsat-dl.org) For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Ed Durrant DD5LP. (SOUTHGATE) ** 'PEGGY SUE' WAS ROCK AND ROLL AND RADIO PAUL/ANCHOR: Our next story celebrates a Silent Key who music fans may have only known through a song lyric. Andy Morrison K9AWM explains. ANDY: Music-lovers of a certain age will remember Buddy Hollys classic hit Peggy Sue from 1957 and certainly Texans of a certain age might even have known Peggy Sue Gerron, the young girl from Lubbock, Texas who inspired the rockabilly number. Amateur radio operators of a certain age however may remember Peggy Sue as the former K5PSG. First licensed as KE5AKW in 2004, she was able to get the vanity call later. She wasnt exactly an aspiring ham however when her former high school classmate Holly turned her into song lyric. Holly died in 1959 in a plane crash that killed two other rock-and-rollers. When she took part in special event station W5B in Lubbock, which commemorated Holly in 2004, she was hooked and got her ticket later that year. Though her license expired in 2014, we can still consider Peggy Sue Gerron a Silent Key. She died on October 1st at the age of 78. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Andy Morrison K9AWM ** PARACHUTE MOBILE JUMPS TO CONCLUSION PAUL/ANCHOR: Look - up in the sky! It's time again for Parachute Mobile, as we hear from Mike Askins KE5CXP. MIKE: Parachute Mobile is what a team of skydiving hams for whom going on the air means being IN the air are calling themselves. They are holding the last of this years missions on the 20th of October to coincide with Pacificon, the Pacific Division Conference of the ARRL, taking place in San Ramon, California. While the hams make their jumps from a small plane elsewhere, the team will have a presence at the Marriott Hotel where a GOTA station will be set up to help convention-goers make contact with the skydivers. Two overhead monitors will also livestream the action as the jumps happen, starting at 10 am local time. This will be Mission 33 and the jumpers will be Mark AF6IM and Rob KC6TYD, using their own call signs as they call QRZ from beneath their parachutes. They will be operating on 146.430 simplex, 14.250 on HF and on EchoLink at NE6RD-L. Hams who make contact are being asked to send an email to skydivinghams at gmail dot com (skydivinghams@gmail.com) with details such as the jumpers name, the jump number and the time of the contact. Rob KC6TYD told Newsline in an email that this wraps it up for the team for this year. So in this case, the team truly IS jumping to conclusions. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Mike Askins KE5CXP. ** NEW HAMS MAKE REPEATER HISTORY IN YELLOWSTONE PAUL/ANCHOR: If you think newcomers to this hobby can't make a difference, guess again. Neil Rapp WB9VPG shares this tale of a triumphant repeater project. NEIL: Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the US. It's around 63 miles north to south, and 54 miles east to west. About 4 million people visit the park each year. With a park this size in a sparsely populated area, communication options are slim at best. But that's where ham radio came in. About 3 years ago, Michael Kalter, W8CI, the spokesperson for the Dayton Hamvention and his wife Linda, W8AAV were asked to teach a class on amateur radio at a ranch in Paradise Valley just outside of Gardiner, Montana. They programmed a 2 meter radio with all the repeater listings for the region they could find. They were shocked when they arrived. MICHAEL: I was using 50 watts, but it's pretty depressing. I could not make any contacts at all... couldn't even light up any of the repeaters. And, so this kind of led us to begin mapping out ideas of how to possibly locate a 2 meter repeater in such a way to cover large areas of the park. We really emphasized just how important this repeater could be for the region. NEIL: Twenty-five eager students took the challenge of learning about amateur radio. Linda, put her teaching skills to use, and the class graduated some new hams in a 2 day crash course. Recently, they learned of the fruits of their labor. MICHAEL: I got an email the other day that was just absolutely astonishing... that a group of them had worked really hard and they started NYARC, North Yellowstone Amateur Radio Club. And, it's a recognized as a non profit in the Montana corporation. So that just happened on August the 1st. So giving these classes... I want to recognize that my wife is a professional teacher, and she really worked hard with Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD at ARRL and also with Gordon West, and had a lot of his material and CDs in tow, as well as Ward Silver's book. So that was what we used, and she had mapped the whole program out. And now, if you're around Gardiner, actually if you're anywhere from on highway 89 from Livingston all the way to the other side of Lamar Valley (and that's only 10 miles west of the Silver Gate entrance... beautiful, beautiful part of Yellowstone)... but it has coverage on the repeater is 146.98 and that has a 100 Hertz tone. So tune into that. Acutally, they are having... they are active with nets and things like that and there's usually someone monitoring that. Very exciting to see this take place... NEIL: So now if you're in Yellowstone, there's no longer a need to ask, "Can you can hear me now?" 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 KJ3LR repeater in Bradenton Florida on Fridays at 10 p.m. ** JAMBOREE ON THE AIR IS ON THE HORIZON PAUL/ANCHOR: This is probably the busiest time of year for the young hams in Radio Scouting and Bill Stearns NE4RD tells us why: BILL: This week in Radio Scouting, we're one week away from the largest scouting event in the world. Jamboree on the Air is the weekend of October 19th through the 21st. All bands and all modes, look and listen for CQ JOTA. If you're an Amateur and have not got involved yet, contact your local club. If your local club is not participating, and you still want to, contact your local Scout council and see what may already be planned in your area and how you can help. You can find your council using the Council locator on the scouting.org website. If nothing is currently planned, or if current plans arent reaching your area, you can work with the council or a local unit (pack, troop, crew) to set up a JOTA station or arrange for visits to your ham shack. You can also participate just by making QSOs with the many JOTA stations that will be on the air. Currently registered stations around the world are approaching 3000, while stations in the U.S. are approaching 400. Get your station locked in today and get registered through our shortcut at JOTA2018.k2bsa.net. It's never too late to become involved. For more information on JOTA or Radio Scouting please visit our website at k2bsa.net. For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD. ** IN CALIFORNIA, A DAY OF DISCOVERY PAUL/ANCHOR: Hams in California's Bay area are getting ready for a day of discovery, as we hear from Dave Parks WB8ODF. DAVE: For members of the Sonoma County Radio Amateurs club in California, the eighth annual North Bay Science Discovery Day on October 27th may as well be called North Bay Radio Discovery Day. During the festivals hours from 10 am to 4 pm local time at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, the club will be operating Special Event Station K6S, hoping for contacts on 10 meters, 20 meters and 40 meters. Theyll be operating the station to demonstrate radio to anyone and everyone who stops by. Club activities coordinator Darryl Paule (PAUL) said he is working on a special event QSL card as well for the event. Meanwhile, SCRA member Keith Payea (rhymes with PayDay) AG6CI will be talking about satellites, satellite signals and demonstrating how radio astronomy works using what he calls his IBT for itty bitty telescope a converted satellite TV dish. He is also hoping to show his portable SuperSID system SID for Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance. The device uses software on a laptop to display a realtime spectrum of signals between Zero and 48 KHz, a range that includes some U.S. military signals around 25 KHz. Keith, who is a director of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, explained to Newsline that the system monitors those signals around the clock and records ionospheric changes caused by the sun. If theres time, he said, hed also like to operate special event station K6S too. So stop by if you are in the area or be listening if youre not. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Dave Parks WB8ODF. ** CALLING QRZ ALL OVER EUROPE PAUL/ANCHOR: The weekend of October 13th and 14th has been set aside for Europe's big international QSO Party and Ed Durrant DD5LP has the details. ED: The next big international QSO party is being hosted by European Radio Amateurs Organization and the group is calling it journey of discovery. The activity is entirely on 60 meters, or 5 MHz, and its been organized to encourage use of this relatively band for hams in many countries. Get on 5 MHz on October 13th and 14th and operate on SSB, CW and digital modes its that easy. Participating hams are being asked to call CQ EURAO Party and you neednt worry about a contact turning into a ragchew. That kind of exchange is being encouraged, with discussions on every topic ranging from the weather, ham shack equipment or even the city youre operating from. Hams are also encouraged to exchange QSL cards but this is not a contest and even QSL cards are not necessary. To help organizers gather statistics, logs can be submitted to the email address party at eurao dot org (party@eurao.org) in ADIF format with the filename as the hams callsign. Logs will not be submitted for prizes; however, if you submit a log on which at least 10 percent of your QSOs are confirmed, you will receive a certificate of participation. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Ed Durrant DD5LP. (EURAO NEWSLETTER) ** OHIO HAMS JOIN HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DRILL PAUL/ANCHOR: A hospital emergency drill in Ohio got some very real response from hams there recently, as we hear from Phil Thomas W8RMJ, courtesy of Amateur News Weekly. PHIL: MARA, the Mound Amateur Radio Association located in Miamisburg Ohio assisted the Kettering Health Network in a simulated exercise on Thursday Sept. 20th. MARA provided communication support at Sycamore Hospital located in Miamisburg Ohio and at the Ketterings new Franklin emergency urgent care facility located in Franklin Ohio. MARA club members assisting in this exercise included Frank KM8N, Mike W8BMR, Ken AC8AB, Bill KE8JDU and Dave N8DAT. The Mound Amateur Radio Association was formed in 1962 by employees of the Mound Atomic Energy Facility. MARAs club meeting room and operational amateur shack is now located in the Mound Historic Park, also in Miamisburg Ohio. PAUL/ANCHOR: That was Phil Thomas W8RMJ of Amateur News Weekly. For more news of the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana area visit amateurnewsweekly dot com. ** WORLD OF DX In this week's world of DX, Sigi, DL7DF, is operating until October 15th as SV8/DL7DF from Zakynthos Island. Listen for him on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB, and RTTY. His log will be uploaded within six months after the activation has concluded. Send QSLs via DL7DF, direct or by the DARC Bureau. Listen for Bertrand, DF3FS, operating as TU5MH from the Ivory Coast between the 20th and the 29th of October. Bertrand will be on various HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via DF3FS or LoTW. QSL requests are being accepted via ClubLog's OQRS and your own card is not needed. Please do not send QSLs via Bureau, use the OQRS system from ClubLog for confirmation via the Bureau. ** KICKER: WHERE THE LIZARDS ARE QRV PAUL/ANCHOR: Our final story is about some low-power transmitters making their way through the swamps of the UK. As Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains, they're operating mobile - atop a group of endangered lizards. JEREMY: Satellites, weather balloons and other more traditional venues for transmitters have just gotten some unusual company: Twenty four sand lizards living in Eelmore Marsh in Farnborough in the UK. Just think of it as Lizards on the Air but without any clever awards scheme. These lizards are the UKs rarest and, according to a report in the Warrington Guardian, two dozen are now wearing the lightweight radio trackers to help scientists at Marwell Wildlife Zoo follow them and study their behavior. The trackers are not even 5 percent of the creatures body weight. University of Southampton PhD student Rachel Gardner told the newspaper that the lizards blend in very well with the environment and, as such, would be lost from sight in the dense undergrowth. She said having them wear transmitters will make them easier to follow as they make their way through the habitat. The lizard is found throughout Europe and Asia but has become the focus of conservation efforts in England and Wales where its numbers have been diminishing. The radio tags are expected to stay in place for a while or at least until the animals shed their skins at which point one can assume the lizards will be going QRT. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE ARC) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; EURAO Newsletter; Lloyd Colston KC5FM; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; K2BSA; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Sonoma County Radio Amateurs Club; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Variety; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
