Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2099 for Friday, January 19, 2018 Audio - https://www.arnewsline.org/s/Report2099.mp3 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2099 with a release date of Friday, January 19, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Radio aids in a dramatic rescue boat rescue. Amateurs start their engines for a return of the AM Rally -- and Summits on the Air takes stock of 2017's accomplishments. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2099 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** BREAKING NEWS: ARRL CEO TOM GALLAGHER NY2RF RESIGNS PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with breaking news. As Amateur Radio Newsline went to production and on the eve of the ARRL board of directors meeting, Tom Gallagher NY2RF, the league's CEO, announced his retirement effective March 2. He told the ARRL that the new federal tax law's impact makes him reluctant to continue working in the state of Connecticut, where the league is headquartered. Tom is credited with, among other things, assisting the league in achieving a turnaround in its finances. A former financial services exec and investment banker, he has been a licensed ham since 1966. We will be following the league's search for his replacement. (ARRL) ** FOR BOATERS, IT'S RADIO TO THE RESCUE PAUL/ANCHOR: We now hear an example of amateur radio doing what it does best: Neil Rapp WB9VPG brings us this dramatic story of a ham radio net and a sailboat rescue off the coast of Jamaica. NEIL'S REPORT: This was one of those times when all that practice paid off. As ham radio operators, we often spend time communicating on our favorite modes and participating in our favorite activities. But the Maritime Mobile Service Net recently had the unfortunate need to make use of their preparation. It’s just another example of the phrase from the bumper sticker, “Ham Radio Saves Lives.” On January 4, net control Ken Porter, AC0ML, received an emergency call on the net’s usual frequency, 14.300. Jim Matusiak, VE0KMP, and his wife were aboard the sailing vessel “Solar Flair” dealing with high winds. Jim reported that the ship had lost the two head sails, and was operating only with the main sail. Ken informed them that the net would be listening in case there were any additional problems. The next day, the main sail was also damaged, and the ship’s motor wouldn’t start. Both Jim and his wife were exhausted and needed to be rescued. Assistant Net Manager Jeff Savasta, KB4JKL, tells us the rest. JEFF: With the help of additional net control stations here on the Maritime Net, we were able to in fact effect a successful rescue via the Jamaican Coast Guard ship HMJS Middlesex that was dispatched to the area and they came on frequency. They actually came on frequency on 14.300 to speak with both AC0ML and the Solar Flair to confirm the positions. And, they’re not licensed amateurs. But of course, in times of emergency, they can come on at anytime. Or, any station can come on at anytime if it’s a declared emergency. NEIL: The rescue was completed, and everyone is just fine thanks to the help of all who assisted. The net is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and meets on 14.300 daily from 1700 to 0200 UTC. Jeff sums up the purpose of the maritime net. JEFF: Our agency motto is “Where emergency communications is a commitment.” And, I think this really exemplifies the fact that the Maritime Mobile Service Network operates daily to just listen for these types of emergencies. And, we’re there serving the public since 1968. And like a lot of the operators who rely on us for this service have said many, many times… “It’s our lifeline." And it truly is. NEIL: Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Neil Rapp WB9VPG. (JEFF SAVASTA KB4JKL) ** RADIO'S A STAR IN BBC DOCUMENTARY SERIES PAUL/ANCHOR: A BBC TV series about British railways has got an unlikely co-star - amateur radio - as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: What's almost as good as listening to amateur radio? How about watching amateur radio on TV? The BBC's "Great British Railway Journeys" series showcased amateur radio earlier this month in two of the program's segments, 20 minutes into the narrative. Journalist Michael Portillo, host of the documentary series, talks with Keith Matthew G0WYS of the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club about Marconi's transatlantic signal and later in Cornwall gets on the air with Brian Coleman G4NNS at the Goonhilly Earth Station using EME to bounce CW and SSB signals off the surface of the moon. Southgate Amateur Radio News notes that this was actually Michael Portillo's second adventure in amateur radio. In 2014, he got a lesson in how to operate in Morse Code from Peter Watkins M0BHY while at Chelmsford, Essex. Meanwhile, if you missed the railway program, the show will remain available on the BBC website for viewers in the UK until the end of the month. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO) ** AM RALLY CELEBRATES THE ORIGINAL PHONE MODE PAUL/ANCHOR: If you want to rack up the contacts in AM mode, don't turn back the clock, simply adjust a few settings on your rig - as we hear from Skeeter Nash N5ASH. SKEETER's REPORT: Last year's AM Rally was so much fun that the organizers have decided to bring it back. On the weekend of February 2nd through 4th, the rally will mix operating nostalgia for oldtimers and give newer hams a chance at adventure in a completely different mode. AM, often considered the original amateur radio voice mode, is friendly to all radios from military and boat anchors to home brew and broadcast - including the newest SDR models as well as vintage radios with tubes. If your radio can run full carrier amplitude modulation, you can be in it to win it. Activity will be on the HF bands except for 60 meters. Rally spokesman Clark Burgard, N1BCG, one of the organizers, said that the goal is simple: to demonstrate that AM is alive and well and that yes, it still works. There'll be plenty of opportunity for certificates of recognition with categories such as most states contacted to most total contacts - all in five different classes of power output. If you hear the call "CQ, AM Rally," go for it. For more details and to download a simple logging program for the event, visit the website at amrally dot com (amrally.com). Logs are due no later than the 14th of February. (CLARK BURGARD N1BCG) ** FOR BLIND AMATEUR, THE GIFT OF A TALKING RIG PAUL/ANCHOR: Amateur radio is truly a hobby with something for everyone, even those with physical challenges, as our own Hap Holly KC9RP knows, and as Kelly Stanfield, W-Zero-YQG recently found out. Like Hap, Stanfield is blind. However, she was introduced to ham radio by a friend, who had something in common: STANFIELD: A visually-impared friend of mine named Craig Martin had me out to his house in the early 2000’s just to visit and he showed me some of his radios and I’m like, “blind people can do this? Cool!” And then my grandpa challenged me in 2008 that if I passed my Technician, he’d get my radio for me. And that’s my TM-V71a that I still have and use today. PAUL: Stanfield, who has been blind all her life, said that she was able to study for her exams using Handi-Hams lectures that she took with her everywhere as MP3s on her phone. She joined the Benton County, Missouri ARES chapter and the Twin Lakes Amateur Radio Club. When she passed her General, some members of both ARES and the club came up with an idea to surprise Stanfield: STANFIELD: And they surprised me to all get-out! I had no clue. I had just been chatting with people at the October meeting and said, “Hey, I just passed the General and I know what radio is recommended for me as a blind user - the Kenwood TS-590.” I was just chatting. Next thing I know, come the December meeting I find out that Craig and my Uncle Joe, who is also a ham - KR0UT - were there, and I’m going, “OK, something is up if these guys made a two-hour drive…” Then they took me and showed me what people in the club had put together money to get, which was my TS-590! I had seen one that a friend had when I was up taking the class and I said to Sam, “Could this be? Are you serious?” and she said, “Yes, it is!” As far as I was concerned, Christmas was done. PAUL: Now two Kenwood radios equipped with factory voice-synthesis boards let her radios talk to her even as she talks to other hams. Amateur radio is connecting Stanfield to a whole new world, and thanks to the kindness and generosity of hams helping a fellow ham, she’s well on her way. 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 our own James Pastorfield's KB7TBT station at 146.520 MHz at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20th and Jan. 27th during Quartzfest and at the Yuma, Arizona proving grounds throughout February. ** 'YL-OM CONTEST' IS NO WAR OF THE SEXES PAUL/ANCHOR: Now here's a twist on boy-meets-girl. It's ham-meets-ham and we'll let Geri Goodrich KF5KRN explain. GERI's REPORT: Let's face it: OMs are almost always out there in search of a good YL -- and it seems a lot of YLs often can't resist a good OM. If you are thinking this is a prelude to hearts and flowers however think again: We're talking about the YL-OM contest so the real nitty-gritty here is all about signal reports and points. Between the 9th and 11th of February, a benevolent battle of the sexes known as the YL-OM Contest will enliven SSB, CW and digital modes. It's being run by the YLRL - the Young Ladies Radio League - and its popularity has been proven through the years. It's a pursuit that is as old as Adam and Eve perhaps except neither one of them had radios. In this contest, YLs count OMs and OMs count YLs -- and everyone counts. For more details, visit ylrl dot org (ylrl.org) For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Geri Goodrich KF5KRN. (YOUNG LADIES RADIO LEAGUE) ** SOTA ACCOMPLISHMENTS CLIMB TO THE HEIGHTS PAUL/ANCHOR: Enthusiasts of Summits on the Air climbed to great heights in 2017 and Ed Durrant DD5LP has this summary. ED'S REPORT: As a review of what has happened in the worldwide Summits on the Air program during 2017, the SOTA management team publicity officer Tom Read, M1EYP has put out a series of emails, which I will summarize. Tom's first highlight, which attracted some publicity in the amateur radio press, was an activation by Colin Evans M1BUU, who, to break the magic 1,000-point "mountain goat" level, took a Rockmite CW transceiver kit and tools with him and actually built the equipment on the 2,415 feet high Whernside summit, soldering all the components together in the wind shade of a tent, before making the needed contacts. Tom's second highlight was a personal one, where he and his son Jimmy M0HGY became only the fourth and fifth activators to complete activation of all SOTA summits in Northern Ireland - well done to both of you in completing this 14-year-long mission. The SOTA scheme awards the "Sherpa" award each year to the amateur who the management team judge to have helped in the expansion of the scheme. This year it was Guru EA2IF from Spain who received the award of a SOTABeams WSPRLite unit for all the assistance he has given to help with the classification of new associations both in Europe and South America. Let me add my personal congratulations to Guru who is ALWAYS there as a chaser when I activate and nearly every weekend is out himself activating a summit. One of the "Stammtisch" of European operators. Following nicely on from the piece about Guru, a list of the Fifteen new SOTA associations that were added in the scheme during 2017. These ranged from Canada to Ceuta in North Africa, from Mexico to Martinique and may more. SOTA is truly a world-wide program. Having helped define just one region of one association myself, I can understand the level of work involved and the scheme could not expand without a lot of work, done by a few people making this all possible. Tom's fifth email shows a list of the all-time top 20 activators of the now over 5,900 registered. The table is by the number of QSOs made. Not surprisingly for a scheme that started in Europe, all but one of the 20 operators are from Europe but there is a US activator, George KX0R in there at number 10. Needless to say I'm no where to be seen in this list but I'm enjoying being part of the SOTA community none the less. Have you climbed a hill taking your radio gear with you lately - if not, why not? All information about the SOTA scheme can be found on the web at www.sota.org.uk PAUL: Our thanks to Ed Durrant DD5LP for that report. ** WARMING UP FOR WINTER FIELD DAY PAUL/ANCHOR: In some regions there's ice on the rooftops, snow on the ground and that can only mean one thing - it's time for Winter Field Day, as we hear from Jack Parker W9ISH, in this report courtesy of Amateur News Weekly. JACK PARKER: That's right, Winter Field Day. It started in 2007 as a way to encourage hams around the world to dress up, set up and enjoy the beauty of operating outdoors in January. Well, if that idea leaves you cold there is always the indoor home station category or how about coffee, donuts and the warm confines of the local EOC of your radio group? Those are all possibilities. There are three categories: indoor, outdoor and home. The rules are similar to those for ARRL Field Day: operation will take place on all HF bands except for 12, 17, 30 and 60 meters. There will be no points for VHF, UF and satellite contacts. One well-known East Coast station has announced its intent to participate: W1AW will be warming the airwaves on January 27 and 28. Winter Field Day begins at 1900 UTC or 2 p.m. Eastern Time. According to the ARRL, the past nine Winter Field Day contests have drawn even more participation each year. So don't let this operating opportunity slip by. This is Jack Parker W8ISH. PAUL/ANCHOR: Our thanks to Amateur News Weekly for this report. For news of the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana area listen at amateurnewsweekly dot com (amateurnewsweekly.com) ** A FAVORITE AMONG PREFIX HUNTERS IS BACK PAUL/ANCHOR: For hams in Australia, Jan. 26 isn't just Australia Day, it's a day for an important call sign prefix, as we learn from John Williams VK4JJW. JOHN'S REPORT: If you're on the air on Friday the 26th of January and log a contact with an Australian ham who has an AX prefix, you haven't stumbled upon some kind of historic "first" for a new license class for Australia. The story behind the prefix is historic in its own right. Radio amateurs have the opportunity to use it to commemorate Australia Day which marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales in Sydney in 1788. AX is much sought-after among prefix hunters and used by Australian amateurs on ANZAC day and World Telecommunication Day as well. For non-hams the day will be marked by flying the national flag, setting off fireworks and welcoming immigrants who've become the newest Australian citizens. Hams expect to be quite busy as always doing what they do best. The Wireless Institute of Australia is urging amateurs to feature the prefix "AX" instead of the usual "VK" on a special QSL card marking the day. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams VK4JJW. (WIA) ** WORLD OF DX In the world of DX, be listening for Rick NE8Z/HC1MD operating from Ecuador between January 20th and February 10th using callsigns HC1MD, HC1MD/2 and HC1MD/7 at various locations there. He will be operating at times from the Amazon Jungle and other times on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Send QSLs direct to K8LJG or via LoTW after the trip. ** KICKER: BUILDING HOUSES, BUILDING HAMS PAUL/ANCHOR: We end this week's report with a story of adventure and volunteerism. It comes to us from Down Under - and with this story, we welcome the newest addition to our Amateur Radio Newsline family, Robert Broomhead VK3DN. ROBERT'S REPORT: Shane Lynd VK4KHZ, a radio amateur from Far North Queensland, has been doing quite a bit of building while on his annual holiday in the Solomon Island village of Busuone. For five weeks, he's worked as a volunteer, helping construct a guest house. He's also been installing underground electrical cable, diesel generators, water tanks and even a flushing toilet and a septic tank. Shane has also been busy building something else in that small remote island village: an amateur radio community. He's been teaching a number of teenagers in the village how to operate on the air in the hopes they'll end up pursuing a license with the H44 prefix. In fact, they've been getting on the air on 6m under supervision and calling CQ. The teens have been in good company for that: In whatever spare time he has, Shane has been operating as H44DA from his holiday home on most of the HF bands -- but mainly on 6 meters. He writes on his QRZ page that he is always happy to recommend the village to visitors but warns the curious that there is no TV or internet. The area however is very ham-radio friendly he goes on to say and especially after his most recent visit which ends this month it may just end up a whole lot friendlier. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN. (WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; Clark Burgard N1BCG; CQ Magazine; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the IARU; the Irish Radio Transmitters Society; Jeff Savasta KB4JKL; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Wireless Institute of Australia; WTWW Shortwave; the Young Ladies Radio League; 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.
