Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 for Friday, August 18, 2017

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 for Friday, August 18, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2077 with a release date of
Friday, August 18, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Disappointing news for shortwave fans in
Australia. A special plea for QSL cards for a very ill youngster in
Michigan -- and we meet a ham with a VERY high-flying antenna! All this
and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 comes your way rightnow.

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BILLBOARD CART

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NO REVIVAL OF AUSTRALIAN SHORTWAVE

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story comes from Australia. For a while hope was
still alive for some radio listeners after the Australia Broadcasting
Corporation pulled the plug on its shortwave service. Not anymore,
however. With that update, here's John Williams VK4JJW. JOHN'S REPORT:
There will be no restoration of shortwave service for the Australia
Broadcasting Corporation. The Australian senate has voted down a
measure that would have put the transmissions back on the air.

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon was among those who fought for
Radio Australia to go back on the air, following its termination in
January. He called the shutdown a foreign policy failure, noting that a
number of Pacific Island communities in remote areas, such as the
Solomon Islands and Papua, New Guinea, relied on it. The transmissions
covered remote parts of northern Australia as well.

At the time the service termination was announced, the ABC declared
shortwave to be outdated and indicated its closure would save $1.9
million which could be better spent on additional content and services
to customers. It said it would reinvest that sum by expanding audience
content and services.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams VK4JJW.


(RADIO NEW ZEALAND)

**

BACK TO DAYTON: THIS TIME FOR THE AIR FORCE

NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you need another reason to go back to Dayton so soon
after Hamvention? Well, there's a big event happening in September at
the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and volunteer hams are needed. We
hear more about it from Phil Thomas W8RMJ, who shares this report
courtesy of Amateur News Weekly.

PHIL THOMAS: The U.S. Air Force Marathon is rapidly approaching.
Approximately 65 radio operators will be needed to support the marathon
on Saturday Sept. 16 at Dayton Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
This world class event has over 25 thousand participants, volunteers
and spectators in attendance each year. This will also be the 70th
anniversary for the U.S. Air Force, which was formed on Sept. 18, 1947.
If you are a technician or higher class amateur and would like to help
or if you have questions, contact Dave Crawford KF4KWW lead amateur
volunteer via email at kf4...@arrl.net.

NEIL/ANCHOR: That was Phil Thomas W8RMJ of Amateur News Weekly. For
more news in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana area, visit their website
at amateurnewsweekly-dot-com (amateurnewsweekly.com)

**

RAC MEMBERS VOTE IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO

NEIL/ANCHOR: Things are heating up in the province of Ontario where
voting is beginning for the selection of a new regional director.
Jeremy Boot G4NJH has more.

JEREMY: Balloting has opened to elect a new director for the Ontario
South Region of the Radio Amateurs of Canada. The two candidates are
Philip McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ and Igor Slakva, VE3ZF/VA3YDX. Ballots
should be returned by regular mail to RAC Headquarters by noon on
Friday, September 15. The address is: RAC Corporate Secretary, Radio
Amateurs of Canada, 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217, Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5

Philip is an IT consultant who has been an RAC member for 14 years and
has been active in emergency communications planning for amateur radio.
He is a member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System. Igor is a
network analyst and an RAC member who is an active DXpeditioner and
contester. For a more detailed bio on both candidates visit the RAC
website at wp-dot-rac-dot-ca (wp.rac.ca)

Meanwhile, RAC volunteers are in the process of sending ballot papers
out to the membership in Canada.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(RAC)

**

A BOOST FOR BOUVET ISLAND DXPEDITION

NEIL/ANCHOR: Paying for a DXpedition can be as big a deal as the
DXpedition itself - but the radio operators heading next year to Bouvet
Island just got a major boost. Jason Daniels VK2LAW tells us more.

JASON'S REPORT: Never mind what the calendar says - 2018 just got a
whole lot closer for the Bouvet Island Dxpedition team 3Y0Z. The hams
just received a $100,000 grant - the largest ever given by the Northern
California DX Foundation - for their ambitious undertaking early
nextyear.

The international team has been active on seven continents and, with a
fundraising goal of $740,500, is looking to have its operators activate
what some have called the world's most isolated island, one thousand
miles north of Antarctic, where 97 percent of its surface is covered in
ice. The team has already gotten support from the German DX Foundation,
the Eastern Iowa DX Association, the Twin City DX Association and the
Greater Milwaukee DX Association, among numerous others.

Bouvet Island, which has had a handful of activations, is presently the
second most wanted entity on the DXCC list.

Expecting limited support from its ship, and operating at a high
elevation, the team writes on its website [quote]: "This place will
challenge our comfort zone." [endquote]

It will also challenge the world's amateurs who will key their mics and
and hope for the best.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS)

**

RSGB CONVENTION TEAMS UP WITH AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM

NEIL/ANCHOR: A gathering of amateurs and radio enthusiasts in Great
Britain in October is going to be two events in one. Jeremy Boot G4NJH
tells us about what's planned.

JEREMY'S REPORT: When the Radio Society of Great Britain holds its
annual convention at the Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton
Keynes in October it will share the spotlight with the AMSAT-UK
International Space Colloquium. That is expected to bring a bonus of
speakers focused on AMSAT-UK activities. The subjects will include the
recent International Space Station contact with the Youngers on the Air
activation at Gilwell Park. There will also be a talk by ISS Amateur
Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom N5VHO who will cover almost
anything and everything about the ARISS program.

A presentation on amateur satellites will be given by David Johnson
G4DPZ who will give tips on how hams can get started. Open Source
software-defined radio will be discussed by Alexandru Csete, OZ9AEC.

Both the RSGB and AMSAT-UK will be holding dinners on Saturday, October
14th, each catering to their own groups. The two-day event concludes on
the 15th of October.

For more details, visit the website at
amsat-hyphen-uk-dot-org-slash-colloquium (amsat-uk.org/colloquium). For
Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH


**
ECLIPSE HAS GOT SOLAR POWER

NEIL/ANCHOR: Like most of the rest of North America, if not the world,
we are awaiting reports on the impact of the sun, Earth and moon's
alignment for a few moments on Monday, Aug. 21. A number of amateur
radio teams will be experimenting with transmission everywhere, from
operators at the new Texas Museum of Broadcasting & Communications in
Texas to the Great American Eclipse Special Events Station W4E, in the
center of the eclipse's path, during the Eclipse QSO Party.

All eyes - carefully shielded, of course - will be looking toward a sun
that isn't there - for a few moments, anyway.

Find information before, during and after at eclipse2017.nasa.gov and
be listening for results.

(KILGORE NEWS HERALD)


**

BREAK HERE

Time to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard
on bulletin stations around the world including the K7TMF repeater on
Fridays at 5 p.m. local time in Spokane, Washington - right in the Zone
of Totality for this year's solar eclipse.

**

QSL CARDS BECOME BIRTHDAY CARDS FOR AILING LITTLE BOY

NEIL/ANCHOR: A critically ill little boy in Michigan has just inspired
a new reason to send QSL cards. In this case the cards don't confirm a
successful contact - they hopefully can initiate one. This is a QST
from Christian Cudnik K0STH, host of the 100 Watts and a Wire podcast,
- and he explains why he's reaching out:

CHRISTIAN: Oakley is a 6-year-old little boy from Alma Michigan that I
've never met. He was born with a rare birth defect called Prune Belly
Syndrome. It's so rare his future is unknown. As a parent, it's the
unthinkable.

His story surfaces in a flood of news that focuses on things that
divide us.

On September 3rd, Oakley turns 7. With all of the challenges in his
life, all he is asking for is birthday cards. Mom says receiving mail
keeps him busy and it makes him happy.

I am asking the amateur radio community to repurpose their QSL cards.
Normally, we send cards after a contact. Let's use them as birthday
cards and do something that's positive for a little boy and a family
that really needs it right now.

We all want a better future for our children. Maybe this simple act can
help us get closer to the things that bring us together, and
maybe-he'll write back!

NEIL/ANCHOR: Thank you, Christian. To send a QSL card and some cheer to
Oakley you can write him at Oakley Savickas, P.O. Box 201, Alma,
Michigan, U.S.A. 48801.

**
ARDF: A-HUNTING THEY WILL GO


NEIL/ANCHOR: Ham radio operators of all ages went into an Ohio forest
recently, where they found transmitters - and a new group of worldwide
friends. For the story, here's ARRL's ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell
(MELL) K-zero-O-V.

JOE'S REPORT: They came from all over the USA, plus Australia, Canada,
Germany and Ukraine. They ranged in age from 13 through 75. They took
to the courses with eagerness and many went home with medals. I'm
talking about the Seventeenth USA National Championships of Amateur
Radio Direction Finding (that's ARDF), which took place near Harrison,
Ohio from August 3 through 6. The 4,000-acre Miami Whitewater Forest
and other nearby wooded sites attracted over eighty fans of the sport,
which is also called foxtailing and radio-orienteering.

Rules for ARDF competitions are established by the IARU. The object is
always to find as many of the required transmitters as possible in the
shortest time and then navigate to the finish line, using only one's
own direction-finding equipment plus a compass and the provided map.
There were classic competitions on separate days on the two-meter and
80-meter bands with up to five transmitters to find. Course lengths,
from start to each required transmitter and then to the finish, ranged
from 2.8 to 7.1 kilometers, depending on the age/gender category of the
participant.

Organizing and staging these championships were members of the OH-KY-IN
Amateur Radio Society. Additional volunteers were members of
Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN), which also provided the event maps.

Competitors in all events were divided into six age categories for
males and five for females, with medals awarded to winners in each
category. The four championship events were preceded by three days of
informal training in other nearby parks.

USA's national championships are open, meaning that radio-orienteers
from other countries are welcome on the courses. These visitors
compete for individual medals in a separate division. This year, that
division included approximately forty middle- and high-school students
from southern China, along with some instructors and parents.

Complete results of all events in these Championships are available
online in at www.ardfusa.com. Many photos are being posted at
www.homingin.com, where there is also much more information about the
growing sport of ARDF. That's homingin, as one word, homingin.com.

Plans are already under way for next year's national championships.
They are expected to take place in early June, in time for selection of
ARDF Team USA, which will travel to Korea for the 19th ARDF World
Championships in September 2018. Team members will be selected from
the best of USA's performers at the 2017 and 2018 USA Championships.

For Amateur Radio Newline, this is Joe Moell, K-zero-O-V.

**

SCOUTS PREP FOR WORLDWIDE EVENT

NEIL/ANCHOR: Barely two months after this summer's Boys Scouts of
America Jamboree, scouts around the world are preparing for even more
QSOs. We have those details from Ed Durrant DD5LP.

ED'S REPORT: Scouts in South Africa await their turn for a jamboree
experience, which will come on the weekend of October 20th through
22nd. Their participation in the worldwide scouting event promises to
pack some extra promise this year. Based on last year's statistics in
South Africa, the 2016 Jamboree saw the number of young licensees in
South Africa rise by a dramatic 400 percent. Those statistics were
released by Richard Hooper ZS6RKE, the National JOTA/JOTI Coordinator
for Scouts South Africa, who will be accepting South African
registration for the event in just another week or so.

Over the next few weeks Scout organizers are encouraged to plan to host
events and to participate. Those young radio operators will be in good
company on the air and online. The worldwide event is marking 60 years
of connections and at least 1 million youngsters representing more than
150 nations will be involved.Richard asks that anyone in South Africa
with questions about organizing, or simply assisting, to contact him
directly via email at richard-dot-hooper-at-scouts-dot-org-dot-za.
(richard...@scouts.org.za)

For Amateur Radio Newsline this is Ed Durrant DD5LP.


(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, SCOUTS SOUTH AFRICA)


**
WORLD OF DX

Doug, W6HB, will be active as E51DLD between Aug. 27 and Sept. 8 from
Rarotonga Island. Listen for Doug on 160-10 meters using SSB. He will
be operating holiday style. Send QSLs via his home callsign. He only
wants QSL cards, no LoTW, no eQSLs or QRZ.com logs.

In French Polynesia, listen for Heinz, DF1YP, operating as FO/DF1YP
from Moorea Island between September 6th and October 1st. Activity will
be holiday style and on 20/17/15 meters using SSB and the Digital
modes. Send QSLs via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau, which
is preferred.

Listen for a pair of South African operators in the Sani Pass area of
Lesotho until the 21st of August. They are using the callsigns 7P8VRR
and 7P8QM and operating on 40, 20 and 15m.

In Samoa, be listening for Bert CX3AN between the 19th and 26th of
August. His callsign is 5W0HA and he is on 40 and 30m CW and 20 and 17m
SSB. QSLs go via his home call.

(IRTS, OHIO PENN DX)


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KICKER: A HAM WITH A HIGH-FLYING ANTENNA

NEIL/ANCHOR: We end this week's report with this story of a ham in the
British Isles who likes to get his signal out no matter which way the
wind is blowing. That's because Nigel Utting GJ7LJJ
[Gee-Jay-Seven-Ell-Jay-Jay), sometimes uses a portable kite antenna so
if the wind is blowing it takes his wire straight into the sky. Clearly
his antenna doesn't fly as high as the signals he hopes to be
transmitting but recently the Jersey-based ham got a little extra
on-air help: He became part of a televised broadcast report by ITV news
weather presenter Sophia Bird. She interviewed him as part of her
five-day forecast and asked about his kite antenna.

Nigel told her that on that particular day, he was able to copy plenty
of other stations but wasn't really having a good day getting his
signal out. Think again, Nigel! In those few moments, everyone who was
tuned into ITV News knew exactly who you were - and gave you and your
kite antenna a 5 and 9.

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, ITV NEWS)

**


NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the
ARRL; CQ Magazine; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio
Transmitters Society; ITV News; the Kilgore, Texas News Herald; Ohio
Penn DX Bulletin; Scouts South Africa; Southgate Amateur Radio News;
Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Radio Amateurs of Canada; Radio New
Zealand; WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the
Amateur Radio Newsline. Please send emails to our address at
news...@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 2017. All rights reserved.