Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2065 for Friday, May 26, 2017

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2065 for Friday, May 26, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2065 with a release date of
Friday, May 26, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Ham radio operators help answer a boat's Mayday
call. The Special Olympics needs some hams to make a special effort
--and we share some of the sounds of Hamvention 2017. All this and more
as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2065 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
HAMVENTION 2017 IS HISTORY


JIM/ANCHOR: So you couldn't get to Hamvention? Well, there's always
next year. Meanwhile, we open this week's report with a sampling of
sounds direct from Ohio's Greene County Fairgrounds as reported by
Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephen Kinford N8WB.

STEPHEN: Hamvention brought new products, forums, award ceremonies,
contests and more than 1,000 exhibitors plus a huge flea market. Yes,
there was rain and mud and traffic delays part of the time but there
was also fellowship among the thirty thousand or so attendees. Here are
a few we spoke to:

"My name is Frank Roman. I'm KC8VKA and I've been coming to the
Hamvention for about the past six years and this one here surprisingly
is very nice and well-organized. The people in town are friendly and
it's a good thing that they moved. The other one was kind of a little
bit embarrassing when people from another country come and they see
that place falling apart. I can see people coming into this little
town. Everything is clean, the grass cut, the whole town went way out
to make sure that everything looked good. As I drive through town, I
can see that they're proud of their town and they want everyone to
seeit.

"Randy W9ZR from Columbus Ohio. I've been coming to Dayton since 74 and
I love the flea market. There are always special finds out here in the
flea market that can only be found at Dayton. We are enjoying the new
venue here - just a little bit too much rain this weekend.

"My name is Gary Shorter the call is AA8CS. I am from the Akron Ohio
area. I love the Hamvention, I love the new facility but could do
without the mud in the flea market.

"My name is Ken Dorsey, my call is KA8OAD and I'm loving the new venue
here. I am really liking the Hamfest this year. I think it's a great
opportunity to get a new chance to have a new venue so enjoying it
alot.

"I'm Brian K3USC from Cleveland Ohio, licensed since 1962. It'll be 55
years this summer.

[STEPHEN: And how many years have you been selling equipment?]

I would say 54 years of the 55. Sure, as a kid, this was a way that I
can upgrade my equipment by buying and selling and I haven't given
itup."


STEPHEN: Best of all, we get to do it all again next year. Hamvention
2018 will be held May 18th through the 20th. For Amateur Radio
Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB.


JIM/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Newsline had a presence there too - at the
Ham Nation booth. If you did get to Hamvention and we missed you, see
you there next year.

**

HAMS NEEDED FOR OLYMPIAN EFFORT

JIM/ANCHOR: What is the essence of ham radio? It's people, of course.
The Virginia Special Olympics, which takes place in June, is offering a
unique opportunity for amateurs who want to really make their on-air
time count for people. Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun WD9GCO has
the details.

PAUL: If you've ever known someone who's been involved with Special
Olympics, you know just how uplifting of an event it can be. But it
doesn't go on without a lot of logistics and support personnel, and
quite often, Amateur Radio is part of that staff. The Virginia Special
Olympics are coming up on June 9th and 10th of this year, and they're
looking for additional help. I spoke with Matthew Kimball, K4MTK, about
how hams can help:

MATTHEW: Paul, I started about eight or nine years ago actually. I took
over as the director and I got involved in amateur radio then and it
kinda just fell into my lap, to be honest. From the first time I
volunteered working Special Olympics it hits ya, being around these
athletes who have no fear, they show nothing but love, and they're
always just so excited. It's amazing - they just come up to you and
high-five you and hug you and from then on I was hooked. So, I took
over the director's position and we've grown it ever since.

PAUL: I asked Kimball who they're looking for:

MATTHEW: We're looking for amateurs who would like to participate
locally at the event and we've got three different venues that we
provide amateur radio support at.

We've got stationary positions, we've got positions where you are gonna
run until you're dead. We learned last year that we need to have more
people with the medical staff so we'll be filling that out even more so
this year as well to make medical response even faster.

Secondarily, I would love to have some amateurs that would like to do
some HF just promoting Special Olympics during that weekend using the
call sign K4O. I've already gotten QSL cards complete and ready, I just
need people to complete logs and send them to me and I will be more
than happy to mail out QSL cards to those people who made contact with
those stations as well.

PAUL: They are even offering incentives for out-of-the-area hams:

MATTHEW: The best way to reach out to us is through RVAHams.com, that's
Romeo Victor Alpha Hotel Alpha Mike Sierra dot com. You can go to the
"Events" tab and there's a dropdown there for Special Olympics and it
will tell you all about the event and it will also give you the page
where you can sign up. We're also taking amateurs from out-of-town, so
if anybody from the Northern Virgina, Eastern Virginia, wherever would
like to participate, we'll be more than happy to get hotel rooms
forthem.

PAUL: Sure, DX'ing and contesting is fun, but it's events like this
that show the community at large what ham radio is really all about.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

**
THE EAGLE FLIES HIGH FOR ARNEWSLINE's NT3V

JIM DAMRON: On a personal note, Amateur Radio Newsline would like to
congratulate one of its own - correspondent Mark Abramowicz NT3V, whose
reports you may have heard on some of our newscasts. In addition to
working hard as part of the Newsline team, Mark is active in Scouting
as he has been for most of his life - having achieved status of Eagle
Scout in 1973. Becoming an Eagle Scout is a difficult challenge. It's
an honor that only a small percentage of Scouts get to achieve. On May
18, Mark - who considers himself an Eagle Scout for Life - received
another honor: The Outstanding Eagle Scout Award of the National Eagle
Scout Association. He was recognized for his devotion to public service
and for upholding the values and traditions of the Boy Scouts of
America.

We at Amateur Radio Newsline already know personally Mark's selfless
work not just on the air but behind the scenes. Mark also chairs the
committee that selects each year's winner of the Bill Pasternak
Memorial Young Ham of the Year award. Although some might say this kind
of devotion comes naturally to hams, we know with even greater
certainty it comes naturally to Mark, a professional journalist whose
talents and generosity have served Newsline so well over the years.

Congratulations Mark Abramowicz NT3V from all of us at Newsline. (THE
READING EAGLE)

**

NOMINATE A YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

JIM/ANCHOR: Speaking of awards and honors.....we are down to the days
to receive nominations for the Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak
Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award. Nominations are open to licensed
hams 18 or younger who reside in the United States, its possessions or
any Canadian province. Find application forms on our website at
arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. The award will be presented on
August 19th at the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama. Nominations close on
Wednesday, May 31.


**
BREAK HERE:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the
West Chester Amateur Radio Club repeater WC8VOA in West Chester, Ohio,
on Monday nights.

**
A MAYDAY FOR MARITIME MOBILE

JIM/ANCHOR: The real strength of radio isn't its signal but its
potential to save lives. Just ask hams who participate in the Maritime
Mobile Service Network, as Amateur Radio Newsline's Kent Peterson,
KC0DGY did.

KENT's REPORT: May 12th started as a typical day for the net control
operators of the Maritime Mobile Service Network until around 1825 UTC.

KEN: I monitor all the time, I leave my radio on 14.300 and I heard
faintly a voice saying May Day May Day emergency traffic.

KENT: That Mayday call was heard by net control operator Ken Porter
AC0ML. Porter thinks he's handled about 20 emergency calls during
his 10 years as net control operator.

KEN: I took charge of the net and told everyone to focus only on the
emergency traffic.

KENT: Meanwhile control operator Scott Roberts KK4ECR was reaching out
to other control operators.


KEN: Scott was calling several of the other net controls and getting as
many sets of ears on frequency as possible for us to offer assistance.

KENT: The captain of the sailing vessel Ubiquity is ham operator Brian
Stipak KF7QCX who was in VHF marine radio contact with the Free Spirit
and relayed their location to the Maritime Net using his shipboard SSB
ham radio.

KEN: The captain of Ubiquity reported the Free Spirit was taking on
water and the engine would not start and they were taking on water and
they were preparing to abandon ship. The Ubiquity had lost contact with
the Free Spirit. There was a lot of concern at that time.

KENT: Meanwhile the 20 meter band had closed as well.

KEN: I had lost contract with the Ubiquity I made several calls over
the course of an hour, no one was able to reach him. And I also asked
other net control stations but no one was able to reach him either

KENT: Porter was able to reach the U.S. Coast Guard in San Diego who
also came on frequency in an attempt to reach the vessel Ubiquity, but
band conditions had changed and they too were unable to reach the boat.
The U.S. Coast Guard relayed the information provided by Porter to the
Mexican Navy who located the ship in distress and towed the ship and
passengers to the Port of San Carlos in Mexico.

KEN: We didn't find out the disposition of that event until the
following morning.

KEN: I've had a number of different vessels in life-threatening
situations calling frantically for help and just to know that you can
give that help is really rewarding. It is one of the best types of
service work I've ever found, I'm a member of my ARES group in this
area and that's nice to be part of. But this is something on an
entirely different level.

KENT: For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY

**
HAM RADIO GOES TO CAMP

JIM/ANCHOR: Some youngsters prefer swimming and soccer when they go to
camp. In Gujarat, India, however, one group of kids were learning about
soldering and signal reports. We hear more from Amateur Radio
Newsline's Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY's REPORT: This wasn't the average summer camp experience for
students in Gujarat, India. This was summer camp, ham radio style, and
the young attendees at Science City Ahmedabad got all the basics - from
station setup to propagation to different modes of communication. They
even learned, much to their surprise, that ham radio can put them in
touch with astronauts aboard the International Space Station and help
them communicate with satellites.

The program on the 20th of May was coordinated by Rajesh Vagadia
VU2EXP, regional coordinator of AMSAT-INDIA.

As an added measure, Rajesh's nephew, Priyesh Vagadia VU3GLY, gave a
demonstration on VHF to encourage his peers. The teenager, a high
school student, is a big fan of digital modes. He has been ticketed
since 2013.

Finally, in a somewhat optimistic gesture, summer camp organizers also
included a detailed discussion of the licensing procedure in India
-because there's life - and there's radio - after summer camp.

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

(QRZ.COM, SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO)

**

GET READY FOR 100WAAW ACTIVITY

JIM/ANCHOR: If Field Day is considered a rehearsal for a real
emergency, what do you call a rehearsal for Field Day? Here's Amateur
Radio Newsline's Paul Braun WD9GCO with the answer.

PAUL: Christian Cudnick, K0STH, the host of the 100 Watts and a Wire
podcast, has announced the next activity day for the 100 Watts and a
Wire community.

The event, called The TUNE UP, is being considered a rehearsal for
Field Day and will be held on June 10th and 11th. According to Cudnick,
there are no formal rules and it's not a contest. Anyone with a 100
Watts ID - and there are over 2,000 of them - is encouraged to just get
on the air and call CQ. If you have an ID you can exchange with fellow
100 Watters. If not, they're available for free from the website. Most
members will be spotting themselves on the Facebook Group. The event is
on any band, any mode.

For more information, go to 100wattsandawire.com, that's the number
100, then wattsandawire dot com and click on the "Activity Days"
button.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO

**
WORLD OF DX

Members of the Gotlands Radioklubb SK1BL are operating through December
31st using the special callsigns 7S1GRK and SK70BL from Gotland Island.
This is a celebration of the club's 70th anniversary. Listen on various
HF bands. A special award is available. All QSOs are being confirmed
automatically via the bureau. The club requests no return QSL cards.

Two German amateurs, DF3MC and DL8JJ, are on the air from the Faroe
Islands until the 25th of May using the callsigns OY/homecall. They are
focusing on operating from summits as part of the Summits on the Air
program but will also be heard on HF.

Listen for Henning OZ1BII as ZA/OU2I while he operates from Albania
until the 29th of May. Listen for him as well during t he CQ WW WPX CW
contest on the 27th and 28th of May. QSL via Club Log OQRS.

Tom KC0W hopes to be active from Zimbabwe as Z25DX from the 23rd of May
to the 18th of June. He will operate CW only. QSL cards go via KC0W.

**

KICKER: CHASING AFTER HAM NATION GLORY

JIM/ANCHOR: And finally, if you tune in for your weekly dose of Ham
Nation, you know our friends on the podcast are marking Episode 300
with a special event station. What does that mean? Well, something
pretty exciting. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins KE5CXP,
who can DEFINITELY feel the excitement as he shares it with you now.

MIKE: Ham Nation fans, are you up for the ultimate chase? You have
until 0500z on the 1st of June to meet the challenge of an on-air event
that celebrates Episode 300 of the Ham Nation podcast. What began on
Wednesday, May 24 can only get better: Hams taking to sideband and
digital mode in dogged pursuit of the show hosts and after-show net
control operators. Most of them are using special-event 1 x 1 callsigns
and yes, they're worth points! You can earn a Ham Nation 300
certificate by working six of the 9 special event call signs, and a
clean sweep sticker for that certificate if you work all nine.

There are commemorative QSL cards as well as "wild card" stations using
their own call signs - Bob, Gordon, Randy and George.

Again, you have until the 1st of June to chase after contacts with
Dale, Kevin, Don, Steve, Amanda and the rest of the crew, using the 1 x
1 call signs.

For details, visit qrz.com and search for the page for call sign
W-ZERO-H [w0H]. Then....expect pileups with the excitement around
thisevent!

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

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the
ARRL; CQ Magazine; the FCC; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Hamvention;
the IARU; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; K2BSA; Ohio Penn DX
Bulletin; QRZ; The Reading Eagle; 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston, West
Virginia saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.