Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2076 for Friday, August 11, 2017

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2076 for Friday, August 11, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2076 with a release date of
Friday, August 11, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Amateur radio celebrates Radio Caroline's
return to the air. The Radio Club of America honors hams for their
ingenuity and selflessness -- and organizers of the Boy Scouts'
National Jamboree count their QSOs and their successes. All this and
more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2076 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

**

REVIVAL OF RADIO CAROLINE

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with news that offshore
radio is making a comeback in the UK with Radio Caroline. Its recent
special event station has something to celebrate as we hear from Ed
Durrant DD5LP.

ED'S REPORT: Last weekend the Martello Tower radio group from Essex,
England, were once again on board the Ross Revenge, the last Radio
Caroline ship, to celebrate 50 years of offshore broadcasting. This
year is a little more important than last year with the news that Radio
Caroline will soon be back on Medium wave rather than just the
Internet. Ofcom the UK regulator issued Radio Caroline on May 17th.
this year a license to run a 1KW ERP local community broadcast station
on 648 KHz to cover Essex and Suffolk. On August 13th. The Radio
Caroline group are holding a celebration of exactly 50 years to the day
before the British Government brought in the "Marine Broadcasting
(Offenses) act" effectively making operation of off-shore radio illegal
and closing down most but not all of the radio ships. Radio Caroline is
the most notable station, that stayed on the air despite the new law.
The celebration being held at the Princes Theatre in Clacton, Essex as
well as having historic displays, talks and short films will also have
an update on how plans are going to get the new 648KHz Radio Caroline
station on the air, which is expected to happen before the end of 2017.
Even with simple wire and vertical antennas, that salt water ground
plane of the River Blackwater under the MV Ross Revenge made sure their
400w signal was easy to hear around Europe and at the right times, the
world. Here's a clip of some of the pile-up the Martello Tower group
enjoyed during last weekend's special event. [ insert GB5RC.MP3 clip
here] - For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Ed Durrant DD5LP

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: If you happened to be on the receiving end of their
shortwave signal, be sure to send GB5RC your SWL report, giving the
exact frequency and time and a list of two of the stations you heard
operators talking to.

**
THE NEWEST CLUB IN TOWN

CHRISTIAN: Ham radio clubs love to welcome newcomers -- but what
happens when the newcomer is the club itself? That's just what's
happening in London, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY's REPORT: Visitors to the QRZ page can plainly see that the
Hammersmith Amateur Radio Society M0XHS is stirring up a bit of
excitement. The radio club in the heart of West London has just
received its license and all that remains now are for amateurs in and
around that part of the city to get in touch and help get things
rolling. Selim M0XTA has established the club and is hoping area hams
who are looking to share radio projects and other aspects of the hobby
will enjoy finding a convenient meeting place and set an agenda. Selim
is an IT professional who has been an active ham since 2003 when he got
his Foundation license. He is also a newsreader for GB2RS. If you're
interested in becoming part of this new startup amateur radio society,
reach out to Selim by email at M0XTA-at-outlook-dot-com.
(M0...@outlook.com)

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

**

RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA HONORS AMATEURS

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Amateurs are known for giving of themselves to the
on-air community but nothing feels quite so rewarding as formal
recognition. Heather Embee KB3TZD tells us who's been chosen for this
year's prestigious honors from the Radio Club of America.

HEATHER'S REPORT: A number of radio amateurs are listed among the
winners of this year's awards and fellowships from the Radio Club of
America, the world's oldest professional wireless communications group.
The awards will be presented November 17 in Pittsburgh. Winners include
Dayton Hamvention spokesman Michael Kalter W8CI, recipient of the Barry
Goldwater Amateur Radio Award. Michael was a prime mover behind
Hamvention's move this past spring to the Xenia, Ohio fairgrounds
following Hara Arena's closure. Michael is also treasurer of the Dayton
Amateur Radio Association.

Other recipients include Ulrich Rohde N1UL of Florida, who received the
Lifetime Achievment Award and antenna designer and university professor
James Breakall WA3FET of Pennsylvania, the recipient of the Sarnoff
Citation. The Fred M. Link Award has been given to Peter J. Madsen,
K2PM of Michigan for his work in land-mobile radio communications.

Another radio amateur, Robert Hobday, N2EVG of New York, who had been
named RCA Fellow in 2016, was awarded the Jack Poppele Award for his
work in radio broadcasting. Fellow ham Charles Kirmuss, W0CBK of
Colorado was given the RCA's Special Services Award recognizing his
involvement in the RCA's Youth activities Program.

A number of hams were also announced as RCA Fellows: they are David P.
Bart, KB9YPD; Nathan Cohen, W1YW; Brent Finster, K6BEF; James M. Roden,
W5JR and Bruce Roloson, W2BDR.

Congratulations everyone! For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee
KB3TZD.

(RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA)


**
K2BSA HAD JAM-PACKED TIME AT JAMBOREE

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: While Scouts are resting up after a very full week at
their National Jamboree, organizers are counting the QSOs and the merit
badges. Here's more from Bill Stearns NE4RD.

BILL'S REPORT: This week in Radio Scouting we are reporting that the
Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree was a great success. While our
full after-action report is not available at this time, I can happily
report that we feel our goals were met. Our entire team of volunteers
really pulled it together to produce a great event.

The tentative numbers that I have are that 2,457 scouts visited the
demonstration station, 305 radio merit badges were earned, 1,259
contacts on HF and VHF were made, 2 balloons were launched with APRS
payloads, 3 SOTA activations of Garden Ground Mountain were completed,
140 satellite contacts were made, and 198 unique callsigns on our
nightly net were logged. While the final numbers from the BSA have not
been released, we feel that we did meet our planned goals for the
station and merit badges.

All of the gear provided by our sponsors worked extremely well in spite
of poor band conditions. We thank the many operators on the other end
of the QSOs that helped provide the scouts the opportunity to make a
contact that met the requirement of their merit badge or provoked an
interest in the hobby. QSL cards are already going out for the event.
Our second balloon launch was picked up over the Dominican Republic
this weekend, but our first balloon is still missing in action.

Please visit our website for QSL information and balloon tracking. For
more information on radio scouting, please visit www.k2bsa.net.

For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association this
is Bill Stearns, NE4RD.

**

NEWCOMER OPERATING NEAR FIRE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: New York's Fire Island Lighthouse is going to be a
busy place during International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend -- and
a new call sign will be operating there, as we hear from Caryn Eve
Murray KD2GUT.

CARYN'S REPORT: The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club W2GSB has
activated the Fire Island Lighthouse since the beginning of the
International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend in 1997. On August 19th
and 20th, the suburban New York club is getting a friendly neighbor
operating less than a thousand feet away from their setup at the
lighthouse. The Fire Island Lighthouse Radio Annex Memorial Club W2NMY
will be on the air in the nearby annex building used as the park
rangers' official residence. While W2GSB will operate on single
sideband, W2NMY will be sending CW. The lighthouse club was created
about two months ago by Howard WB2UZE so that its annex activation
could call attention to the role the building played in naval
communications right up through 1973. Walter KA2CAQ, who also works as
a volunteer at the lighthouse, said both clubs will be operating until
6 p.m. local time on both days.The two clubs won't just be sharing
space at the beach - they also share some of the same members and a
purpose: to keep lighthouses out there in the spotlight.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT

**
BREAK HERE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
W5NWA/R, a DMR repeater in Harrison, Arkansas, on Thursdays at 8:30
p.m. local time.


**
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER HAMS LAUNCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Few things are more exciting than space - except, of
course for ham radio. Combine the two, add in a 50th anniversary, and
you have the makings of a special event station at the Johnson Space
Center in Houston. Paul Braun WD9GCO spoke to the club's spokesman
about this year's big event.

PAUL'S REPORT: Everybody loves a good special-event station. And a lot
of us love all things related to space exploration and the Space
Program. Coming up in mid-October, both of those things come together
as the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club celebrates its 50th
anniversary. I spoke with club spokesman Ken Goodwin, K5RG, about the
club's plans for the weekend:

GOODWIN: In conjunction with our 50th year we're going to have a
special event station using our club call, W5RRR, which will be
operating the weekend of October 13th, 14th and 15th. We'll have the
station on air with a number of dignitaries and club members, and we've
gotten support from the astronaut office - nowadays most of the
astronauts have their amateur radio license in support of amateur radio
onboard the International Space Station, the ARISS project. So we'll
have the center director who is also an amateur licensee and come out
and just have contacts during that weekend.

PAUL: I mentioned to Goodwin that I was definitely going to try for a
contact because I wanted their QSL card, and Goodwin told me:

GOODWIN: That's generally why we chose not to apply for a special call
- we get lots of business with the station's call, being associated
with the Space Program which we've actively supported since 1967.

PAUL: The club is planning to work the General portions of 80 through
10 meters on all three days. The club has three HF stations and a
satellite station in a building supplied by the Johnson Space Center.
Details will be published in QST prior to the event, and you can follow
them on the club's website, www.W5RRR.org. I don't know about you, but
I'm hoping that by the end of that weekend, I'll be able to say,
"Houston, we've got a contact!"

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO
**
VIGILANT GUARD TESTS EMERGENCY READINESS

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Emergency response teams mobilized recently for an
important drill in the region around Altus, Oklahoma. Mike Askins
KE5CXP tells us how things went.

MIKE's REPORT: The exercise was called Vigilant Guard. It was a Federal
Emergency Management Agency test of how to best manage emergency radio
response in the region surrounding Altus, Oklahoma. The exercise, which
took place between August third and sixth went well, according to Lloyd
Colston KC5FM, Altus Emergency Management Director. Radio operators
used remotes, WEBSDR receivers and other equipment through the region
in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and points beyond.

Lloyd said the drill helped fine-tune emergency response access to
offices at the state and federal levels, a necessary ingredient for
effective communications management in the case of an earthquake or
other disaster.

Citizens who were not radio operators even got to listen in too using
the broadcastify website.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.

(LLOYD COLSTON KC5FM)

**

SENATE CONFIRMS FCC NOMINEES

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The Senate has confirmed two commissioners to fill
the empty seats on the FCC. One of them is a returnee. With that story,
here's Stephen Kinford N8WB.

STEPHEN: Former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, is
returning to the commission and Republican Brendan Carr, the FCC's
general counsel, is joining the panel following the two presidential
nominees' confirmation by the Senate this month. The FCC now comprises
two Democrats and three Republicans, filling the panel's two
longstanding vacancies. Jessica Rosenworcel's previous five-year term
ended in late 2016 when the Senate did not act on her renomination by
then-President Barack OBama. The two join Republican Michael O'Rielly
and Democrat Mignon Clyburn as well as Chairman Ajit Pai (PIE) in
Washington.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB.

(REUTERS)

**

THE WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX be listening for Alex F4GHS operating holiday style
from the South Cook Islands until the 25th of August using the call
sign E51GHS. Send QSLs via his home call.

Listen on SSB and CW for a group of South African operators active as
ZS9V from Robben Island until the 13th of August. Robben Island is
where the late South African activist and former president Nelson
Mandela had been held in prison until his release in 1982. Its IOTA
reference number is AF-064. Send QSL cards via M0OXO OQRS.

Be listening for the call sign 4L0GF operating in Georgia by members of
the Black Sea Contest Group. They will be on all the bands between 160
and 10 meters, operating on SSB, RTTY and CW. Send QSL cards to F5RAV.

Mike VE7ACN is activating two Alaskan IOTA islands. He will be on
Hinchinbrook Island operating as AL3/AA7CH until August 15th. The
Island is IOTA reference number NA-042). He will then move to Kayak
Island and operate as NL6/AA7CH from August 18th through the 28th. Send
all QSL cards to his home call in Canada.


(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY)

**

KICKER: FOR WHOM THE BELL DOESN'T TOLL

CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Our final story this week is about working phone
during an emergency - namely an outage of another kind of phone, the
telephone. Kevin Trotman N5PRE explains.

KEVIN: How can you hear a call coming in when the phones aren't even
working? Ask residents, retailers and emergency responders in Atlantic
Canada. Phone service on Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia recently
suffered a massive outage after two of the fiber-optic lines became
damaged, cut off accidentally by construction workers. Companies
affected included Telus, Virgin, Koodo and Bell Aliant.

So what did that leave? Amateur radio, of course.

Jeremy Fowler VE1JHF of the Halifax Amateur Radio Club and Chris Vessey
VY2CRV a Prince Edward Island amateur were among the hams ready to
respond in case of an emergency. Vessey told the Canadian Broadcasting
Company that he and other radio operators were on standby. It's what
hams do, after all.

The outage, as it turns out, didn't last more than a few hours -- but
as Vessey noted, after this, it might pay for more people to think
about getting their licenses and then getting some radios. Even without
any phones ringing, the few hours of that outage surely brought the
most important kind of call -- a wake-up call.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(CBC NEWS)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the
ARRL; CBC News; CQ Magazine; the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club;
Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; K2BSA;
Lloyd Colston KC5FM; Radio Club of America; Reuters; Southgate Amateur
Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; 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 Christian Cudnik K0STH in St. Louis,
Missouri saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

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