Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1985 November 13 2015

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1985 November 13 2015

Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1985 with a release date of
Friday, November 13, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A historic radio frequency gets its own special
event. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station marks 15
successful years. The Radio Club of America and Radio Amateurs of
Canada celebrate hams' contributions. And a conference in India reaches
out to the youngest amateurs. All this and more in Amateur Radio
Newsline report 1985 coming your way right now.

(Billboard Cart Here and Intro)

MEDIUM WAVE, MAXIMUM ENTHUSIASM

We begin this week's newscast with a special recognition of a wartime
radio legacy dating back 107 years. In 1908, the international distress
frequency of 500 kHz took effect, as established by the Berlin
International Radiotelegraphic Convention. It's this historic slice of
the radio spectrum where the action will be happening on Friday, Nov.
13 and Saturday, Nov. 14. Experimental operators in the U.S., Canada as
well as U.S. heritage maritime stations, will work the event carrying
special messages. Five Canadian operators will be participating,
including VE7CNF in Burnaby, British Columbia and VO1NA in Torbay,
Newfoundland. The ARRL's Medium-Wave Experiment coordinator Fritz Raab,
W1FR, said most messages being carried will go out as CW. Says Raab:
QUOTE"Some stations will run beacons with special messages, and some
will offer special QSLs. Other stations will simulate maritime
communication. They will call CQ on a designated calling frequency and
then QSY to complete the QSO."ENDQUOTE

Operators won't be sticking entirely to Medium Frequency, though: Be
listening as the Canadian amateurs engage in cross-band communication
tests on 80 meters and 40 meters.


(ARRL, Radio Amateurs of Canada)

**

ARISS: TOWARD NEWER HORIZONS

[ANCHOR/DON]: Of course, there's also radio history that was made a
little more recently - like 15 years ago. Imagine being a student in
the year 2000 having a QSO with a ham somewhere out in space. That's
what students at the Luther Burbank School in the Chicago suburbs did
at the dawn of a program called Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station Amateur Radio Newsline's Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, talked to
the science teacher who was lucky enough to help her students be chosen
to talk with ISS astronaut William M. "Shep" Shepherd, KD5GSL.

[KENT's REPORT]:

[Rita] Growing up you live in a certain block and it is like your world
is first is just that block and you go to school and slowly your
horizons they keep expanding as you progress through school. We opened
their eyes to a horizon they didn't even know about and that was out
inspace.

[Kent] In 1996 a junior high school teacher filled in a application for
her school to make a contacts with astronauts.

[Rita] My name is Rita Wright my call sign is KC9CDL I was a science
teacher so I was always looking for something new or different to
implement or put into my lesson plans to make science exiting and more
attractive to to my students.

[Kent] The first full mission in the newly completed International
Space station happened in the fall of 2000. Wright's school was
selected to make that very first ham radio contact.

[Rita] We became aware of this program and started learning all about
it and participating a bit. These opportunities came up and we just
grabbed them.

[Kent] Finally in December the students all gathered in the school
auditorium for the first school contact with the brand new Space
Station.

[Rita] The whole school was involved with the process they all knew
about it . The actual contact was in our auditorium. All the students
were there and we had set up on stage the radios. It was very very
exciting the actual contact, the students were well behaved and anxious
and extremely interested.

[Kent] Wright says a ham radio school contact wasn't quite in the
regular curriculum.

[Rita] It was not something that was ordinarily done a in a class room
situation. You go in you're give a text book and you each page one page
two page three etc. What I tried to do was do that plus bring into the
classroom the excitement of what is out there today and what could be
tomorrow for them/ Of course they had to learn the basic lessons in
science, that's what I taught them. But I also tried to bring to them
what else is out there and what opportunities they could follow I
always tried to open up the world as much as i could to the kids as
much as I could.

[Kent] Retired school teacher Rita Wright recalling the very first
international space station to school ham radio contact fifteen
yearsago.

For the amateur radio newsline, I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY


[DON:/ANCHOR]: We should note too that this historic moment wasn't the
last the kids got to talk with Shepherd. The next friendly exchange
between him and the students came in person - during his visit to the
school in May of the following year. Needless to say, the reception was
perfect.


**

LICENSE CHANGE FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S YOUNGEST HAMS

New regulations from the Independent Communications Authority of South
Africa now allow amateur radio applicants who are younger than 20 and
who pass the Class B exam to hold a ZU or Class B license until age 25.
After that, they must upgrade by taking the Class A exam in order to
receive a Class A license, designated by a ZS or ZR call sign.

The authority's decision had been based on its belief that the Class B
license's primary role is to serve as an introduction to amateur radio
and serve as youngsters' entry point into the hobby. The regulations
were implemented after much input from the South African Radio League,
which had pressed for a reasonable interval of time for the upgrade to
Class A. As a result, the authority has declared that, effective April
1, 2017, all amateurs older than 25 will become ineligible for ZU
license renewals.


(SARL)

**

USING MICROWAVES AS A MAGNET

Speaking of young hams, the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society of
the IEEE is seizing the opportunity to attract students to amateur
radio during its flagship conference in India in early December.

The International Microwave and RF Conference in Hyderabad will be
hosting a special event station, AU2MTT, that will be operating for two
weeks in conjunction with the gathering.

One society member, Jim Rautio, AJ3K, told the ARRL: QUOTE"The special
event is intended to draw attention to ham radio, STEM, and MTT, both
from conference participants and any and all active hams in India." In
addition to encouraging them to pursue their licenses, organizers want
to see more youngsters consider careers in engineering, science,
technology or mathematics.

Rautio said the effort's emphasis will be on amateur radio's role in
disaster communications and addressing humanitarian needs. This is
being done through a program known by the acronym, SIGHT, for Special
Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology.

(IEEE, ARRL)

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
the Stephens County Amateur Radio Society, N4DME repeater, in Toccoa,
Georgia Tuesday nights at 8PM.


**

NOW ON 60 METERS

Christmas is going to come a little early for amateurs in The
Netherlands, who got the gift of a new band for operating. The 60 meter
band, from 5350 kHz to 5450 kHz, was incorporated into the Netherlands
National Frequency Plan, allowing Dutch amateurs with an F-registration
to use the new band on a secondary basis, beginning the middle of this
month. Other nations granting similar privileges recently include
Hungary, Oman and Honduras. Hams in the U.S. have had secondary access
to channelized operation on the band since May 2003, when the FCC gave
its approval.

Sixty meters has also been in the news at the World Radiocommunication
Conference in Geneva, where attendees are considering a new,
15-kHz-wide secondary allocation on the band, with operators limited to
15 watts of EIRP. At press time on Nov. 11, the latest report was that
consensus on the matter was looking optimistic.

ARRL, SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, VERON, The 5 MHz newsletter)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS


[ANCHOR/DON}: Several distinguished radio amateurs are being honored by
the Radio Club of America at its Awards Banquet and Technical Symposium
Nov. 21 in Cupertino, California. Amateur Radio Newslines Heather
Embee, KB3TZD, has the details:

[HEATHER]: The annual gathering of the Radio Club of America is one of
the top events in wireless communications - and the group uses the
opportunity to tap radio standouts and acknowledge them for their hard
work. The extensive list of honorees this year includes a number of
hard-working hams. Dr. Nathan Cohen, W1YW, has been chosen to receive
the Alfred H. Grebe Award, honoring his work in engineering and
manufacturing of radio equipment. The Ralph Batcher Memorial Award
winner is David Bart, KB9YPD, for helping preserve the history of radio
and electronic communications, including the Radio Club of America's
own history.

Timothy J. Duffy, K3LR, has been chosen to receive the 2015 President's
Award for his support to the club. And the Edgar F. Johnson Pioneer
Citation is being given to Gerald L. Agliata, W2GLA, work his work, as
well, with the radio club.

Carole Perry, WB2MGP, a well-known ham radio education advocate, is
being presented with the Vivian A. Carr Award, recognizing her
contributions as a woman in wireless communications.

The keynote speech at the banquet presentation will be delivered by
David Leeson, W6NL. He will discuss Silicon Valley's bountiful
community of entrepreneurs in the communications field.

But as the list of awardees shows, opportunity and creativity is
everywhere. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in
Berwick, Pennsylvania.


HAMS IN THE HALL OF FAME

Radio Amateurs of Canada is also paying tribute to two notable amateurs
by appointing them to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. The
recent appointees are Jim Dean, VE3IQ, of Ottawa, Ontario, and Farrell
(Hoppy) Hopwood, VE7RD, of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Inclusion
in the Hall of Fame means the amateurs have achieved outstanding
efforts in their service to amateur radio in Canada or amateur radio in
general.

More details about the awards and the honorees' contributions will
appear in a forthcoming edition of Canadian Amateur magazine.

(RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA)

**

THE WORLD OF DX

Harald, DF2WO, is operating as XT2AW from Burkina Faso until November
27. Harald will likely be operating on slow CW. QSLs go to his
manager,M0OXO.

Andi DL9USA and Jan DJ8NK will be active as VP2ECC and VP2ENK
respectively from the Caribbean island of Anguilla until November 18.
They are using CW, SSB and digital and QSLs go via the home call signs.

Martin, LU9EFO, and Faber, HK6F, are operating until November 17 from
San Andres. Call signs will be HK0-slash-followed by their home call
signs. QSL manager is SP5QAZ.

Dave, EI9FBB, is activating Coetivy Island in the Seychelles for the
IOTA program and will operate as S79C. He will be there Nov. 16 through
Nov. 22.

Steve, G0KIK, will is operating holiday style as E51KIK from the South
Cook Islands through Nov. 15. QSLs go to his home call.

(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTER SOCIETY)


KICKER: RERUNS IN SPACE OR-..RADIO REDUX?

It seems that old jokes, unlike radio waves, have an uncanny ability to
bounce back and return to earth. Take the case of a news prank the BBC
staged a few years ago. A fictonal radio astronomer at an observatory
in Puerto Rico happened upon some old broadcast signals floating out in
space, while attempting to track extra-terrestrial signals from his
lab. Or so the story goes.

He then identified those surprise signals as the transmissions from old
TV broadcasts - identifying them even to the point that he could name
the very TV shows the signals were carrying. Well, the story, like the
signals, got very decent air play for the April Fool's Day prank the
British broadcasters pulled a couple of years ago. The fictional
astronomer, a Dr. Venn who was not even given a first name by the
creator of this story, had theorized at the time that the signals
likely bounced off some far-away asteroid cloud and thus returned to
earth. Some of the TV shows he identified were said to be 50 years old
- or more.

Well, it didn't take 50 years but something has apparently bounced back
to earth for real - and it's the old story about these ancient reruns.
Twitter feeds, and other forms of social media, have come alive with
this bizarre tale that old radio waves don't die, and don't even fade
away. All of which makes for very poor science - but a very good joke
-even if it's not April Fool's.

Perhaps, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we might just
consider it someone else's old turkey.

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs; AMSAT; the ARRL; the BBC; CQ
Magazine; The 5MHz Newsletter; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; IEEE, The
Irish Radio Transmitter Society; the Ohio-Penn DX Newsletter; Radio
Amateurs of Canada; The South African Radio League; Southgate Amateur
Radio News; TWiT TV; VERON, and you our listeners, that's all from the
Amateur Radio Newsline. Our email address is news...@arnewsline.org.
More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official
website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or
support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa
Clarita, CA 91350.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW in Picayune,
Mississippi, saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.