Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2085 for Friday, October 13 2017

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2085 for Friday, October 13 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2085 with a release date of
Friday, October 13 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Amateur radio assistance deepens amid Puerto
Rico's storm damage. Good preparation serves hams well during Hurricane
Nate -- and a North Carolina centenarian gets a birthday gift only a
ham could love. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2085
comes your way right now.

(Billboard Cart Here and Intro)

**
HAMS CONTINUE POST-MARIA WORK IN PUERTO RICO

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We open with an update on amateur assistance to Puerto
Rico. Not quite a month after Hurricane Maria's devastating hit, hams
are helping to get that struggling island on its feet. Jim Damron,
N8TMW has the details.

JIM: Not all the ham radio assistance going on in Puerto Rico has been
happening on the air. The team of amateur radio operators deployed to
the storm-wracked island has been able to provide some real
boots-on-the-ground aid in assessing the supply needs at area
hospitals, reuniting families and even installing a mountaintop
repeater that now covers more than half of Puerto Rico and serves part
of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The volunteer team who answered the ARRL's
earlier call for assistance included Gary Sessums KC5QCN, Valerie
Hotzfeld NV9L and Andy Anderson KE0AYJ. Hams have also been busy
cataloguing data into the "safe and well" website used by the Red Cross
and providing storm survivors with access to satellite phones or
cellular service to telephone loved ones with their whereabouts and
condition. The volunteers' deployment has been further assisted by
donations of radios and other equipment. Forty Icom handheld radios
were donated by El Paso Communications Systems and the Yasme Foundation
is making a repeater available for installation at the Arecibo
Observatory. Meanwhile, the Northern California DX Foundation has made
a grant of $2,500 to the ARRL's Ham Aid Fund, which provides resources
to hurricane-ravaged regions in the Caribbean and the U.S. The grant
will be available for future storm response.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW

(ARRL)

**
NEW YORK SCHOOL CONNECTS WITH HURRICANE MARIA VICTIMS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In one New York City school, teenage hams are also
helping Puerto Rico. Skeeter Nash N5ASH has that report.

SKEETER'S REPORT: For a group of amateur radio operators attending a
school in Queens, New York, the ham radio shack inside the school
building may as well have been a classroom. There were big lessons
learned there in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Amateur Radio Club K2GSG has about 20 student members and the club
itself - like the students - is still fairly new to the airwaves,
having been founded only two years ago. But the youngsters were ready
to step in and help connect people with people on the storm-ravaged
island so far from their Jackson Heights neighborhood.

With the help of their faculty adviser, John Hale KD2LPM, Station K2GSG
received messages from concerned family members in the United States
and transferred those words to a Radiogram, limiting the message to 25
carefully chosen words. The Big Apple Net and the National Traffic
System sent the message out through the system into Puerto Rico for
relay to their intended recipients.

One high school senior, the ham club's president Lea Marie Medina
KD2RYU, said that sending these important messages has been very much
on her mind since the storm. [QUOTE] "I think of these messages, I read
them and I say this needs to be done and that's what I wake up to every
morning" [ENDQUOTE] she told WPIX/Channel 11.

According to local media reports, not only are the messages getting
through to Puerto Rico but right there in the school, other students in
the Queens school are getting a message too: that it's useful and
downright cool to be a ham.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

(NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

**
HAMS MEET THE CHALLENGE OF NATE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Elsewhere, tropical storm Nate built to hurricane force
and ARES command centers were prepped, as we hear from Bobby Best
WX4ALA.

BOBBY: Tropical storm system Nate left its deadly mark on portions of
Central America; with torrential tropical rains, flooding, and storm
surge. The Southeastern U.S. was spared what, in the last hours before
landfall, was feared would be a far stronger storm, but amateur radio
operators were there to offer communications assistance from Nate's
unorganized appearance on satellites the southeastern Caribbean sea, as
early as October 2.

Nate was officially upgraded from a trough of low pressure to a
tropical depression at 1500 Zulu on October 4.

Early on, National Hurricane NET station WX4NHC along with hams from
Central America and monitoring stations in the States were doing their
best to relay both storm reports and calls for help from Central
America.

Nate was upgraded to a minimal tropical storm at 1200 Zulu on October
5th and moved ashore in Nicaragua shortly thereafter.

By the time Nate had moved off shore and was passing through the very
warm waters off the Yucatan, it had already left just under 40 deaths
in its wake. By October 7th then Category 1 Hurricane Nate had not only
broken the record for the fastest forward moving hurricane in the Gulf
of Mexico but weather models continued to change their forecast with
almost every update.

States of emergency were declared for portions the Florida Panhandle,
the entire state of Alabama, multiple counties on and near the coast of
Mississippi, and multiple parishes of Louisiana.

These declarations put ARES command centers in all four states,
especially Alabama, on alert.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said "Nate was going to be an Alabama
hurricane" and late fears were predicting that by Saturday afternoon
Nate was expected to make landfall along a path similar to Katrina in
2005 and Camille in 1969 but as a Category 2 hurricane.

>From my vantage point, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa County ARES
members manned station WA4EMA at The Tuscaloosa EOC monitoring and
relaying traffic from ARES members at the state EOC in Clanton and on
the coast in Mobile.

Fortunately, Nate never reached Category 2 strength and landfall was
made just before midnight Saturday night in extreme Southeast Louisiana
and secondary landfall was made just West of Biloxi, Mississippi at
12:30am Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane.

Nate then rapidly moved North-Northeast in Alabama, but by 10:14 am
Sunday morning inland tropical storm warnings were already being
canceled in west Alabama as far north as Tuscaloosa.

In the U.S. it seems damage was limited to high surge waters along the
Gulf Coast, inland flooding mainly close to the coast and trees and
power lines down with just over 100 thousand customers at any given
time without power.

Because of Nate's fast forward movement though and quick downgrading in
strength, first responders and power company officials were able to
quickly respond and all in the Southeast was very lucky considering
late fears.

ARES members' pre-planned emergency drills and actual deployment, came
through in great fashion though. S.E.T. drills are what help ARES
members to be prepared for the real thing, like Nate was.

The only U.S. deaths reported were; a rain soaked road related traffic
accident on I-24 in Tennessee and a firefighter struck and killed while
cleaning up road debris in North Carolina.

Reporting from Tuscaloosa, Alabama for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm
Bobby Best; WX4ALA.

**
ARRL FOUNDATION ACCEPTING SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you know a young ham with a promising future, this
report by Geri Goodrich KF5KRN is for you.

GERI'S REPORT: If you're a licensed amateur planning to pursue a
higher education - or if you know someone who is - you might start
thinking now about the ARRL Foundation Scholarship program. There are
some new opportunities and new scholarships for the 2018 award year.
More than 80 scholarships are being made available, with funding in the
range from $500 to $5,000. Each scholarship has different requirements
and qualifications so you'll need to visit the ARRL Foundation
Scholarship Program page on the league's website to sort through the
list. The new scholarships being offered include the Ladies Amateur
Radio Association of Orange County Scholarship, the Medical Amateur
Radio Council Scholarship, the Harry A. Hodges W6YOO Scholarship and
the Old Man International Sideband Society Scholarship, among others.
Applicants should complete form available on the ARRL website and have
until Feb. 15 2018 to send along their most recent academic transcript.
Please note, however, that the applications themselves must be received
by the ARRL by the 31st of January.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Geri Goodrich KF5KRN.

(ARRL)
**
PARACHUTE MOBILE'S UP AND ON THE AIR AGAIN

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: You may remember Newsline's report this summer about
Parachute Mobile's 28th mission held in August. Well, the skydiving,
airplane-jumping hams are ready to call QRZ from the clouds again on
Mission 29. It's taking place Saturday, October 21 in conjunction with
PACIFICON, ARRL's Pacific Division Convention. This time they're going
all out, convention-style: In addition to having volunteers at the Drop
Zone in California and at the relay location, the team will have a
table at the convention site to keep attendees posted on what's
happening. If you're going to the convention, check them out. Or if
you're going to be on the air, be listening on 20 meters and 2 meters
for the big leaps when they happen. For details about the mission,
visit their website parachutemobile dot org (parachutemobile.org)

(ROB FENN KC6TYD)
**
BREAK HERE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the 4GS
Repeater of the Grand Strand Amateur Radio Club in Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina, following the Sunday night 8 p.m. Net.

**
SCHOOL CLUB ROUNDUP? DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Are you ready for School Club Roundup? Jump in but, as
Neil Rapp WB9VPG cautions us, be mindful of emergency frequencies.

NEIL'S REPORT: The fall session of the School Club Roundup starts on
Monday, October 16th and runs through Friday, October 20th. It's a
great chance for schools to get on the air and talk to each other, but
it's also a great chance to expose young people to ham radio by making
contacts with anyone and everyone. So get on the air and listen for
schools participating in the roundup. There is one temporary
last-minute change being made to the semi-annual event. Due to the
number of hurricane-related nets in the usually recommended segment on
20 meters, 14.250 to 14.280, School Club Roundup sponsors are urging
participants to stay clear of these frequencies to avoid unintentional
interference. So look for schools just above and below those
frequencies. While the recommended frequencies on other bands should
not be affected, staying away from similar nets on other bands is still
encouraged. As always, be sure to listen first! For more information
about School Club Roundup, visit arrl.org/school-club-roundup.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG

**
IN WASHINGTON STATE, NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: By the way, there's a rookie in this year's School Club
Roundup with big dreams. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us more.

KEVIN'S REPORT: There's a new freshman in class at Wahkiakum
(wuh-KAI-uh-come) High School in Wahkiakum, Washington State. This
particular newcomer could not possibly want a warmer welcome. It's the
school's new amateur radio club and it has already got more than $3,000
in donated equipment from Northwest Aluminum Outfitters and the
Wahkiakum Amateur Radio Club N7WAH, which is sponsoring these student
hams. The kids have wasted no time in getting on the air and already
have contacts in parts of the U.S. and Canada in their log.

Not content with terrestrial transmissions, however, the youngsters are
aiming higher. According to Ron W7ERY, a retired teacher, Richard
KC4ONA has already begun work with the school district to apply for a
contact with the International Space Station that would involve all
students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Meanwhile, members are
eager to participate in this year's School Club Roundup.

Can the project succeed in a digital age and give kids newfound respect
for the power of RF? Ron says [QUOTE] "we don't have hope because we
are certain! If we do our jobs thoughtfully we will be successful."
[ENDQUOTE]

There's one other certainty here: We here at Amateur Radio Newsline
will be listening for these new kids on the block on the air. For
Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, in Aiken, SC.

(RON WRIGHT W7ERY)

**
SILENT KEY: SATELLITE PIONEER PATRICK GOWEN G3IOR

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Satellite enthusiasts and others are mourning the death
of a major player in AMSAT-UK, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: A pioneer in the world of amateur radio satellites has become a
Silent Key. Patrick Gowen G3IOR, a cofounder of AMSAT-UK died in August
after a length illness. Patrick was not only an advocate for satellite
communications but a polished practitioner of the craft: He was the
first amateur to use a low-Earth obit satellite to work 100 DXCC
entities. He was also known for his contacts with cosmonauts on board
the International Space Station and MIR.

Pat wrote frequently for the AMSAT Journal and Oscar News and was the
satellite columnst for Practical Wireless. Pat made especially big news
in 2002 when he detected a beacon sending slow CW on 2 meters, a
transmission that turned out to be from the Oscar-7 satellite. That
satellite, launched in 1974, was long believed to be dead after a
battery failure during 1979.

A resident of Norwich in Norfolk, Pat was 85.

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

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS)

**
WORLD WAR 2 CODE TALKER DAVID PATTERSON DIES

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Navajo nation is grieving the loss of a World War
II hero, a legendary Code Talker. Mike Askins KE5CXP tells us more.

MIKE: The United States has lost another World War II hero, David
Patterson Sr., a Navajo Code Talker who served in the Marine Corps and
made use of his Navajo language on behalf of the military fighting
Japanese forces in the Pacific. David Patterson's service between 1943
and 1945 won him the Congressional Silver Medal. The Code Talkers' role
during the war was significant; history notes that the Navajo language
was the only spoken code never deciphered by the enemy. The Navajo
nation announced his death on October 8th from pneumonia and
complications from a subdural hematoma in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. David
Patterson was 94. He was to be buried on the military side of Shiprock
Cemetery in Shiprock New Mexico.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP

(KGW.COM WEBSITE)

**
A PORTABLE CHALLENGE FOR SUMMITS ON THE AIR

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Summits on the Air operators have a challenge on Oct.
21 and it's not the upward climb. Here's Ed Durrant DD5LP.

ED's REPORT: Within Summits on the Air participants from time to time
plan activities. The next event is to try to get contacts between
Europe and the Antipodes. While band conditions are slowly improving
allowing home station-to-home station contacts using long path on
twenty and forty metres and even allowing portable to home station
contacts, the most difficult are portable-to-portable contacts and this
is exactly what is being planned.

Stations located on Summits in the UK, Continental Europe, New Zealand,
Australia and Japan with simple antennas and low power will be trying
to make Summit to Summit or "S2S" contacts. While those using CW or the
new FT-8 data mode will probably have some success, the real challenge
will be for SSB contacts.

As always though, even in these low sunspot times, you never know what
is possible until you try.

We wish the best of luck to all taking part in this event on Saturday
October the 21st. If you hear someone calling CQ SOTA from about 0600
UTC on the 21st, why not give 'em a call. I know it'll be appreciated.

For details of the SOTA award scheme and a link to their spotting
cluster SOTAWatch, please go to SOTA dot ORG dot UK.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is SOTA Activator and Chaser Ed
Durrant DD5LP.

**
KICKER: HAPPY SPECIAL EVENT BIRTHDAY OSCAR NORRIS W4OXH

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our final report is about a once-in-a-lifetime birthday
gift to a 100-year-old ham. We'll let Paul Braun WD9GCO tell this story
of generosity and brotherhood.

PAUL: Birthdays are like milestones in a person's life. It's a big deal
when you turn one year old. Or when you turn 16 and get your driver's
license. Your first beer at 21. Turning 30 and then 50.

But not many make it to their 100th birthday. If you do, it is most
definitely something to celebrate, which was exactly the thought that
Dan Kern, W-Zero-D-F-U had during a conversation earlier this year on a
DMR talkgroup. I talked to Kern about his adventure:

DAN KERN: Back in, we'll call it April-ish or May of this year, I had
made a DMR contact with Oscar Norris, whose callsign is W4OXH, and he
was introducing himself to me, telling me he's from Gastonia, North
Carolina and that in September, he'd be turning 100. Now, he doesn't
sound 100 on the air.

And so I said, "That is awesome! What are you doing for your 100th
birthday?"

He said, "Well, I live here in an assisted-living home and just don't
really have any plans." So I think, "Oh, no! This is terrible!" because
the call that preceded mine, he told the gentleman that he was going to
be turning 100 and the gentleman from England said that the Queen
either personally calls or sends a letter to their centenarians.

After hearing that and talking to him, I just felt compelled to do
something special not only because he's a fellow ham but also because
he's one of our seniors. I contacted ARRL and also got a special-event
callsign set aside for him which was November 1 Charlie. He opted for
November 1 Charlie meaning to him "Norris 1 Century." He said it was
his best birthday present, having his own special callsign.

PAUL/ANCHOR: Kern worked with the local club in Gastonia and arranged
to use a church hall for the event, with food, friends and radio.
Norris was touched:

DAN KERN: He sat down with me, and he and I were sitting there talking
and it was more than just a handshake - he grabbed my hand during the
entire conversation he wouldn't let go! He was so tickled that this
event came together and that we were celebrating his 100th.

PAUL/ANCHOR: Despite bad band conditions, Kern said they made around
1000 contacts and the event was a success:

DAN KERN: He was getting calls from all over the world, wishing him a
happy birthday and at the very end they took a group picture, and he
said his thank-you's and then he said, "Oh! I have one more thing to
tell you guys. I just love you all!"

PAUL/ANCHOR: All of us here at Newsline would like to thank Dan Kern
for his thoughtfulness, and a very happy 100th birthday to Oscar
Norris! For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO

**
NEWSCAST CLOSE


NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the
ARRL; CQ Magazine; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; KGW.COM; New York
Daily News; Ohio Penn DX Bulletin; Rob Fenn KC6TYD; Ron Wright W7ERY;
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 Stephen Kinford N8WB saying 73 and as
always we thank you for listening.

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