Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2133 for Friday, September 14, 2018 Audio - https://www.arnewsline.org/s/news.mp3 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2133 with a release date of Friday, September 15, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hams deploy for storm communications. The Voice of Americas Bethany Relay Station marks an anniversary and a tribute to Navajo Code Talkers. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2133 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** BREAKING NEWS: HAMS RESPOND TO ATLANTIC HURRICANE SYSTEMS JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with breaking news. As Newsline went to production, hams in the U.S. were bracing to provide storm response on several fronts. By Sept. 12, South Carolina ARES had been activated and the ARRL had shipped Ham Aid kits to the state in advance of Hurricane Florence. The Hurricane Watch Net was closely following that hurricane as well as Tropical Storm Isaac and other systems. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Network was also preparing for the likelihood of an extended activation. With more details, here's Bobby Best WX4ALA. BOBBY: What just before the start of the official start of the hurricane season was predicted to be an average to slightly above average season by The National Hurricane Center, was later downgraded midseason to an average to below average season, sure seems to have kicked off September with a vengeance. With one named storm, Tropical Storm Gordon already having made landfall along the Alabama/Mississippi Gulf Coast, plus, as of this story being filed, there were three named storms in the Atlantic basin; Hurricane Florence, that is forecast to make landfall somewhere along the southern Atlantic Coast, Hurricane Isaac that could affect the Caribbean, and finally, of the named storms there's Hurricane Helene located just off the coast of Africa. There's also an area of concern that the National Hurricane Center is monitoring that could ultimately affect the western Gulf in the coming days. This area of the Gulf of Mexico is very conducive for the potential of tropical development at this time. So persons in this area or with interest in the area need to closely monitor weather conditions. Be sure to follow the National Weather Service and local media outlets and heed the advice of local government officials. If evacuations are suggested; follow those suggestions, please. Additionally, follow the directions of your local ARES leadership before and after landfall and monitor and report emergency traffic on the National Hurricane Center and the various local SKYWARN NETS on their respective frequencies through this event. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best; WX4ALA ** ANTENNA GIVES BOOST TO FLEDGLING DXers IN UK JIM/ANCHOR: Young members of an amateur radio club at one school in the UK just got the gift of DX, as Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us. JEREMY: If some of the students at the Sandringham School in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, seem to be disappearing at lunchtime or after school, its probable youll find them in the first-floor room that houses the schools amateur radio club station M0SCY. At this secondary school for high-achievers, these particular youngsters are looking for particularly high marks not just in academics but also in DXing. Members of the Sandringham Schools Amateur Radio Club, now in its second year, they recently helped assemble and install a tri-band beam antenna that had been donated by the schools headmaster Alan Gray G4DJX. With extra help from him and the schools caretaker, the team of young hams got the antenna in place early this month and added a donated rotator with the support of a friend and Nevada Radio. Alan told Newsline that the students went on the air and, immediately noticing the improvement of the beam over the multi-band dipole theyd been using, they wasted no time setting themselves up for their next assignment: the challenge of completing DXCC by years end. Alan noted that this wont just be a ham radio achievement for the youngsters but, with a nearby map, a geography lesson as well. He said the students have their eyes on some contests in the coming months and have begun entering the Radio Society of Great Britains 80 metre cumulative contests. These high achievers have done well: the clubs September entry made 68 contacts in an hour and a half, with only four operators. Best of all, Alan said, the students are teaching one another and working together. Now, he says, all he needs is a little extra help around the shack to keep up the encouragement and the knowledge. For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Jeremy Boot G4NJH. ** SILENT KEY: LIGHTHOUSE SOCIETYS JIM WEIDNER K2JXW JIM/ANCHOR: Hams are mourning the loss of a longtime amateur who was as devoted to lighthouses as to radio, as Kevin Trotman N5PRE reports. KEVIN: Just as Jim Weidner K2JXW showed his devotion to historic beacons of safety for maritime travelers when he founded the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, he too was seen as a beacon of friendship to those who knew him. Jim, who founded the organization in 2000 and watched it grow to a worldwide membership of nearly 1,700, has become a Silent Key. His death was announced on the website of the society on September 7th. A resident of Merchantville, New Jersey, Jim had retired from a career of more than 30 years as an English teacher in the Northern Burlington County Regional School District. He was also active in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Office of Emergency Management for the Borough of Merchantville. The organization website noted that it was founded in part to honor the heritage of lighthouses and lightships but also to recognize lighthouse keepers as maritime heroes. Jim had been a licensed amateur since 1954. In an online tribute on the society website, John KX4O, to whom Jim had passed the baton, wrote: Jims friends are numerous and many continue to help me fulfill his goals of the ARLHS .so in a very real way, Jim lives on in all of us as we continue to make ARLHS what it is today. Jim Weidner, who died on the 1st of September, was 77. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Kevin Trotman N5PRE. (AMATEUR RADIO LIGHTHOUSE SOCIETY) ** HAM RADIO HELP FOR SCOUTS JIM/ANCHOR: Everyone needs a little extra help sometimes, and Scouts pursuing their Merit Badges just got another resource as we hear from Neil Rapp WB9VPG. NEIL: Help for scout troops pursuing the radio merit badge and operating Jamboree on the Air is now available. Scott Newman, KC3KKW, from Troop 512 in Springfield, Pennsylvania tells us more about it. SCOTT: Well, there have been a couple of assistant scoutmasters and I have banded together to create what's called Troop Resource. It is basically a program that reaches out to other troops to help them, especially if they are under resourced. What we are doing right now is curating videos, Power Point shows, and we actually put on this live, internet, what we call a TV, show. We've got one coming up which will be all about ham radio and Jamboree on the Air. NEIL: The group produces a live, call-in show on Facebook live about various scouting topics. But this month, it's about ham radio. SCOTT: And, we're having people in. We're having the executive director from the Education Alliance for Amateur Radio. He's going to be on the show telling us about what they are going to be doing for JOTA in October on the weekend of the 20th and 21st. But, they basically come in and they offer scouts, and any other interested party who happens to be there, education on ham radio. And they give them the opportunity to use ham equipment. And they're an awesome group in that they actually bring all of their radio equipment and a 40 foot antenna with them in a military trailer. And, they pull up and unload the equipment and get everything ready. NEIL: As this newscast goes to air, the live show has already happened. But, you can find this and all of their shows archived on YouTube. Just search for Troop Resource to find their channel. And for more information about this program, visit TroopResource.org. Reporting 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 W4GSO repeater in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ** AN OCCASION TO CELEBRATE AT THE VOA JIM/ANCHOR: If youre in the shack anytime on September 22 between 1300 and 2100 UTC, tune to 20 meters or 40 meters and help the Bethany Relay Station of the Voice of America mark the 74th anniversary of its commissioning on Sept. 23, 1944. WC8VOA will be operating a special event station, offering both a QSL card and a downloadable commemorative certificate. Afterward, in another part of the distinctive Art Deco building in West Chester, Ohio, the National VOA Museum of Broadcasting will be hosting a fundraising event from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. local time to support needed building renovations. If you cant get there however get on the air. While WC8VOAs HF equipment and antennas arent the original ones dating back to 1944, the spirit of VOA history is surely still there on the air. ** AIRSHOW INCLUDES RADIO SHOW IN SONOMA COUNTY, CALIF. JIM/ANCHOR: In Californias Sonoma County, organizers are combining an airshow with a radio show special event station K6W. Heres Andy Morrison K9AWM. ANDY: Sonoma County, California, has struggled to rise above the ashes of the recent wildfire devastation and on September 22nd and 23rd, the countys spirit gets a boost from dozens and dozens of wings the kind of wings youll find at the airshow taking place at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport on those two days. The Wings over Wine Country Airshow will feature aerobatic performances, the U.S. Air Foce Academy skydiving team and fly-bys of historic planes from World War Two. Just as the aircraft overhead put on their own shows, the Sonoma County Radio Amateurs will be demonstrating on the ground. Special Event callsign K6W will be activated on 20 and 40 meters, depending on band conditions. No wonder the event theme is Rising Together: A celebration of recovery in Sonoma County. After a challenging season, everyone there will want to know that things are looking up. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Andy Morrison K9AWM. (Darryl Paule KI6MSP) ** A CELEBRATION OF MARCONI DOWN UNDER JIM/ANCHOR: Its been 100 years since Australia and the UK connected via wireless - so something special is being planned, as we hear from Graham Kemp VK4BB. GRAHAM: Every five years, the first successful exchange of messages between Australia and the United Kingdom via wireless in 1918 is marked by contact between the Dragon Amateur Radio Club in Wales and the Hornsby Amateur Radio Club together with the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society. This year, 100 hundred years after the original experimental transmission between the two nations, the experiment is about to occur again this time on the 22nd of September as a re-enactment of the original Morse Code message and a broader celebration. With this being a 100-year anniversary, the Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council is planning to host a celebration that will include displays in the nearby St. Andrews Church hall as well as an amateur radio station operated by the Hornsby and District Amateur Radio Club with the call sign VK100MARCONI. At the same time in Wales, the Dragon Amateur Radio club will operate its own HF station from the site of the Marconi transmitter there, using the call sign GB2VK. The days activities will include replication of the original message sent from Wales by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes to Ernest Fisk, who was at home at his wireless station in Wahroonga. Why wait until the 22nd of the month? The Wireless institute of Australia has been celebrating all month and hams are being allocated state- and territory-based special event call signs for the duration of the observance. The call signs have the prefix VI and the suffix MARCONI with the appropriate number in between designating each state or territory. For Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Graham Kemp VK4BB. ** YLs TO OPERATE ON BOARD USS BATFISH JIM/ANCHOR: A group of YLs plans to honor 2 submarines lost in World War Two and is looking for even more YLs to join them. Heres Heather Embee KB3TZD. HEATHER: The USS Batfish Amateur Radio Club is getting ready to welcome a group of YLs on board the submarine in Oklahoma to call CQ as WW2SUB in October. The YLs will be honoring the USS Wahoo and the USS Dorado which are among the 52 U.S. submarines lost during the Second World War. The lost subs are being honored by the Batfishs amateur club. The YLs will be operating from Oct. 12th through the 14th, even sleeping on board and experiencing life on the submarine, which now houses an exhibit that honors military veterans and is permanently kept in Muskogee, Oklahomas War Memorial Park. The YLs arent just looking for contacts and QSL cards theyre also in search of other YLs whod like to join them on the air. Michelle Carey W5MQC said that any YL who wants to join the operation that weekend should send an email to her at w 5 m q c at yahoo dot com (w5mqc@yahoo.com). Michelle said that the YLs will most likely be operating on 20 and 40 meters mostly SSB. According to club trustee Wade Harris KF5IF, although YLs have operated from the Batfish before, this is the first time for a group of YLs to do so as a formal event. The weekend operation is being done under the auspices of the Young Ladies Radio League, the YLRL, where Michelle is District 5 representative, but any YL can participate regardless of whether she is a member of the league or not. Michelle also noted that any YL who does not yet have her license but is interested in experiencing what its like to be on the air can also stop by and receive some guidance from a licensee. She called the USS Batfish weekend operation a unique opportunity for us to come together and help each other out while calling CQ and honoring those lost during World War Two. For more information about the Batfish radio club visit their website at w w two sub dot org (ww2sub.org) For Amateur Radio Newsline Im Heather Embee KB3TZD. ** WORLD OF DX In this weeks World of DX, Claudio, HB9OAU is on the air as SV5/HB9OAU from Karpathos, Dodecanese through the 20th of September. He is operating SSB and FT8 on 80 through 10 meters. QSL via home call (direct or bureau), LoTW or eQSL; also on Club Log. Members of the Saudi Amateur Radio Society are marking Saudi Arabia's 88th National Day by being on the air from the 16th to the 30th of September with the callsigns HZ88ND, 7Z88ND and 8Z88ND. They will be operating from Riyadh. The celebration marks the September 23rd anniversary of the kingdoms unification by royal decree in 1932. QSL via HZ1BF. Look for the logs to be uploaded to ClubLog and LoTW. Stu, K4MIL, is operating from Guantanamo Bay as KG4SS starting September 25th and through October 9th. Listen for him on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. You will also find him in the CQWW DX RTTY Contest between September 29th and 30th. QSL via home callsign or LoTW. Hans, PA3HGT is operating as 3B8/PA3HGT from Mauritius through the 24th of September. He will be on SSB and possibly some digital modes on 40, 20 and 10 meters. QSL via home call, direct or Bureau. ** KICKER: A PROUD SON CALLS QRZ FOR THE NAVAJO CODE TALKERS JIM/ANCHOR: Youve probably heard of the Navajo Code Talkers. Paul Braun WD9GCO talked with the proud son of one of them and learned how this ham recently honored his dad. PAUL: One of the most fascinating stories to come out of World War II, at least to me, is that of the Navajo Code Talkers, a group of Native Americans who were recruited by the military to exchange tactical messages in a code based on their native language. It was a practically unbreakable code due to the obscurity of the Navajo language and the limited number of people who actually knew it. The Code Talkers have been getting some recognition in recent years, but one man, Herb Goodluck N7HG, a Navajo himself, organized a special event to honor them: GOODLUCK: I started this in 2004 in commemoration of the Navajo Code Talkers. My late dad, he was the one who was doing the code talking back in the South Pacific Theatre. A group of Native Americans were enlisted into the United States Marine Corp. What they were used for was to pass messages from a battleship to onshore islands. PAUL: Goodluck is the son of the late John V. Goodluck and wanted to bring awareness to their story: GOODLUCK: Since my father had become a silent key in the year 2000, I was trying to figure out how to keep the legacy going and this is the only way I know as far as ham radio. And each year I've been sending out QSL cards - different ones - and last year and this year we do have certificates available. PAUL: Goodluck already has next year's event scheduled, at least for the first day: GOODLUCK: The commemoration is located in Window Rock, Arizona, the Navajo Nation Veteran Park. Next year we're going to have it again on August the 14th, 2019. That's just one day in Window Rock and then we're going to figure out how many days we're going to actually run, maybe a whole week again. PAUL: Goodluck said the event is usually listed as N7C in QST and on the ARRL website. We would also suggest that you take some time to research and read up on the story of the Code Talkers, Navajo or otherwise. Those brave men contributed a lot to the war effort and deserve the recognition. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO. ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; Darryl Paule KI6MSP; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Michelle Carey W5MQC; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QST Magazine; 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.
