XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated, rec.radio.amateur.policy, rec.radio.info

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2340 for Friday September 2nd, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2340 with a release date of Friday September 2nd, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Cambodian equipment rules challenge amateurs
there. Plans are in the works to re-enact historic transatlantic HF
tests -- and get ready to celebrate Route 66, America's so-called
"Mother Road." All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2340 comes your way right now.

**
BILLBOARD CART

**
EQUIPMENT RULES CHALLENGE CAMBODIAN AMATEURS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week concerns regulations that are
having an impact on whether amateur stations can stay on the air in
Cambodia. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF brings us those details.

JIM: Amateurs in Cambodia are struggling to comply with recent
government regulations that they believe may prevent amateurs from
being able to renew their operating certificates. The rules, passed in
2020, state that certificates will only be renewed for amateurs whose transceivers have been granted the approval of the Cambodian Ministry
of Post and Telecommunications by proving they meet government-set
standards for operating, safety and health. The approval is known as
aTA.

According to a post in the QRZ.com forums from Dave Taylor,
XU7AKG/ZL3AIK, hams believe the additional layer of security placed on
amateurs in 2020 will have the effect of banning their equipment.
Dave's post said that because the process of approval appears to be
complex, current efforts are focusing on just one model of transceiver
for now: getting the proper documents for the Yaesu FT-891.

Dave reports that, in the meantime, hams living in Cambodia and those
visiting and wishing to get on the air have been unable to renew their
Cambodia Amateur Certificates.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(QRZ)

**
IARU RAMPING UP ADVOCACY OF AMATEUR USE OF 23CM BAND

NEIL/ANCHOR: The IARU is intensifying its advocacy of amateur use of
the 23cm band, in preparation for next year's World Radiocommunication Conference. Ed Durrant DD5LP has the latest developments.

ED: In advance of next year's World Radiocommunication Conference in
Dubai, the International Amateur Radio Union is preparing for one
especially critical item on the agenda: defence of hams' use of the
23cm band, where EME and Amateur TV operations are popular. Discussion
next year is expected to centre on amateur coexistence with the radio navigation satellite service, or RNSS, on those frequencies. The IARU
already presented its case at the EME conference held in Prague in
August, advocating for continued amateur use.

Barry Lewis G4SJH, chairman of Region 1's Spectrum and Regulatory
Liaison Committee, reports on the Region 1 website that the IARU
acknowledges that compromises will likely have to be made but
negotiators are committed to finding a way to retain amateur presence
on the band. Further studies are expected to take place in early
September when technical details will be explored more deeply.

WRC-23 is scheduled to take place between the 20th of November and the
15th of December of 2023.

I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(SOUTHGATE, IARU REGION 1)


**
PRISON FOR RADIO AMATEUR AND HIS SON CONVICTED IN ASSAULTS

NEIL/ANCHOR: A judge in England has convicted a radio amateur and his
son for assaults going back several decades. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has more
on that story.

JEREMY: An amateur radio operator and his son have been sentenced to
prison following their convictions on rape and indecent assault charges
that date back to the 1980s and 1990s.

A report on ITV.COM identified the men as Arthur William Bowditch, 73
years of age, and his son, Arthur Stephen Bowditch, age 54.

The father was well-known among hams in the Summits on the Air
programme and was identified on the SOTA reflector as having the
callsign G4WSB.

Both men will become registered sex offenders for the remainder of
their lives. William Bowditch received a 21-year extended sentence. He
will be given 20 years in custody followed by a one-year extended
licence. Stephen Bowditch received a sentence of 12 years in prison.

A note on the QRZ.com page for G4WSB marked him "QRT."

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(ITV.COM, SOTA REFLECTOR)

**

ROUTE 66 SPECIAL EVENT KICKS OFF ON SEPT. 10TH

NEIL/ANCHOR: Lyrics for the old American rhythm and blues song advises
people to "get your kicks on Route 66," but for hams, that doesn't
necessarily involve the thrill of automobile travel. The 23rd annual
Route 66 on the Air Special Event will take care of any and all such
adventure by getting on the air celebrating the famous United States
highway that travels between east and west, crossing eight states and
three time zones. Twenty-two stations using one-by-one callsigns will
be activated at locations along the iconic highway, using CW, SSB and
the digital modes. This event was created by the Northern Arizona DX Association but is now run by the Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club. Three
of the 22 stations are being operated by the Northern Arizona
association.

So start listening on September 10th. The event runs through to
September 18th at 23:59 UTC. Come along for the ride!

(CITRUS BELT AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)

**
STARLINK SATELLITES TO ASSIST T-MOBILE SERVICE IN US "DEAD ZONES"

NEIL/ANCHOR: Mobile phones in the United States could start behaving
like satellite phones under an agreement the carrier T-Mobile has
reached with SpaceX Starlink. Kent Peterson KC0DGY has that report.

KENT: T-Mobile and the Starlink satellite internet service are calling
the plan "Coverage Above and Beyond." At a recent press event the two
companies announced a plan to help T-Mobile customers avoid service
dead zones by creating a connection in underserved areas between mobile
phones and satellites. The connection is to provide a total of between
2 and 4 megabits per second across the area for users of 5G mobile
service. A T-mobile press release said the service is entering beta
testing next year and will be available in the continental US, parts of
Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and US territorial waters. The satellite
connection is being called sufficient for texting, MMS messaging and
some messaging apps when the users have a clear view of the sky.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(THE VERGE, T-MOBILE, SOTA REFLECTOR)

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
the N8NC repeater of the North Coast Amateur Radio Club in Brunswick,
Ohio on Sundays at 8 p.m. during the weekly information net.

**
RSGB PREPARES FOR RE-ENACTMENT OF TRANSATLANTIC CENTENARY TESTS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Get ready for the Transatlantic Centenary Tests, coming
this December to an HF frequency near you. The Radio Society of Great
Britain has already started to get things rolling, as we hear from
Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: With the support of Ofcom, the Radio Society of Great Britain
have reactivated five callsigns that date back to the 1920s, at the
dawn of amateur radio communication across the Atlantic. The call signs
are going back on the air for all of December during the Transatlantic Centenary Tests, which took place between 1921 and 1923. The call sign
G5WS is being used from the 1922 tests, as the first to make the ocean crossing. Its signal from South London was heard in North America on
the 24th of December in 1922.

Other call signs will be G5AT and G6XX, both used for the 1923 tests,
G6ZZ, used for tests in 1924 on a moving rail train, and the Scottish
Highlands call GM3DR.

These tests will differ from the original ones in that they will engage stations in two-way communications with UK and Crown Dependency-based
stations. Stations will be in England, Scotland, Wales, Guernsey, the
Isle of Man, Jersey and Northern Ireland.

So get ready for what lies ahead. Additional details can be found on
the RSGB website. See the link in the text version of this week's
newscast at arnewsline.org

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

[PRINT ONLY: https://rsgb.org/transatlantic-tests/ ]

(RSGB)

**
EAST COAST RADIO OPERATORS PUT APPALACHIAN TRAIL ON THE AIR

NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams are signing up to activate POTA and SOTA sites along
the Appalachian Trail in the eastern United States. Kevin Trotman N5PRE
tells us about the event and its participants.

KEVIN: Imagine being part of an event that covers six national parks,
eight national forests, more than 40 SOTA summits and over 65 state
parks and forests that have POTA designations. It's a stretch of land
known as the Appalachian Trail and it's considered a major national
treasure in the United States. For the second year in a row it will be
where you can find activators participating in the second annual
Appalachian Trail On the Air event. It's also where chasers around the
country, if not the world, will be pointing their antennas.

The trail itself has a POTA national designation of K-4556 and on the
weekend on Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2, activators will be
posting their POTA schedules and SOTA alerts. Activators can plan ahead
and sign up in advance now by going to the website www dot A T ontheair
dot net (www.atontheair.net) and complete the form that appears on
screen when you click the button that says "RSVP."

This event was begun last year as the inspiration of Mike WB2FUV, an
amateur living in the mountains of upstate New York. According to his
QRZ page, he fell in love with operating QRP from the mountains and
trails of the northeast two years ago. He writes on his page that last
year's event attracted more than 50 activators on SOTA summits and POTA
parks in 11 states all along the Trail. Chasers were answering their
calls from throughout North America and Europe.

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(QRZ, SOTA REFLECTOR, NORTHEAST SOTA CLUB)

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Michel, F5LRL, is operating as CN2DX in Morocco
through to the 9th of September. He is operating holiday style on
various HF bands using CW, SSB and FT8. He recommends that operators
look for him between 0500-1000 UTC and 1800-2200 UTC. QSL via EA5GL.

Be listening for Mike, VE6TC, operating as ZL4/VE6TC, on the air from
Stewart Island, IOTA OC-203. He is in Grid Square RE43BE. Mike will be operating until early October and can be found on 20m. QSL direct to
the home callsign, via the Bureau, via LOTW or EQSL.

Operators Sven, PA1SVM, "JW," PA7JWC and Maarten, PD2R, will be on the
air as OZ/PA1SVM, 5Q7DX and OV2T, respectively, from North Jutland
between September 11th and the 18th. Listen on 160-2 meters where the
team will be using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. QSL to OV2T via
PA0ABM. QSL to 5Q7DX via PA7JWC or LoTW. No QSL cards will be available
for OZ/PA1SVM.

Listen for Masa, JA0RQV, using the callsign A35JP from Tongatapu
Island, IOTA number OC-049, until September 30th. Masa will be on 80-6
meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via LoTW and ClubLog, or direct with
$2 in US currency. You may also use the Bureau via his home callsign
JA0RQV. He will be unable to send paper QSLs until his return to Japan
in October.

(OHIO PENN DX)


**
KICKER: THIS HAM'S MEMORY ISN'T FOOL-HEARTED

NEIL/ANCHOR: Finally, we end this week's report with a memory that's
sweetest in the mind of one radio amateur, a songwriter who shared the
glory of having a hit single four decades ago. Skeeter Nash N5ASH
caught up with him recently.

SKEETER: Forty years ago, on August 28, 1982, a song co-written by a
young Nashville songwriterâ-"and sung by an up-and-coming future superstarâ-"was at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles
chart. The song was "Fool Hearted Memory," and the singer was George
Strait. What does this have to do with amateur radio, you ask? The
young songwriter was Byron Hill, KD4KMQ. and the song was his first
Number One cut. I recently asked Byron to reflect on how the song
came to be, and how it feels to celebrate this musical milestone...

BYRON HILL: Back in 1981, I was writing on Music Row at a company
called ATV Music. They had film connections and wanted me to write a
song for a movie. They wanted an artist connected with the song, so
that maybe they could have a hit on Country radio. My Publisher
connected me with a young producer whose name is Blake Mevis. Little
did we know that they were writing the very first Number One for George
Strait! So the song, "Fool Hearted Memory," ended up being a lot more successful than the film was, and played such a big role in George
Strait's success.

SKEETER: KD4KMQ then recalled his beginnings in amateur radio, and how
the hobby helped him to write another hit song for another Country
superstar named "George..."

BYRON HILL: I was interested in radio since the time I was very small;
you know, even as a kid, I had a CB base station that my parents got me
from Sears Roebuck...even had a Morse code Morse keyer. When I get a
little older, I went in the Boy Scouts; took Radio Merit Badge. Later
on, I met a friend who is a songwriter in Nashville who was also a ham operator. Started writing songs together; and one of the songs that we
wrote was a song called "High-tech Redneck" for George Jones. So we
kinda leaned on our Ham Radio knowledge for that, even though we didn't
put â-˜ham' in there; but we put a lot of technical stuff that made
George sound really cool...and that cowriter was a guy name Zach Turner
and his call sign was N4ZFM. Anyway, I went on to get my General Class
license, but I kind of went a long period there where I didn't get on
ham radio; but thanks to you, Skeeter, I kind of got a little more
involved. But basically, you know, I'm just a novice radio guy with a
General Class license, and I've got a lot of new stuff to learn if I
want to catch up!

SKEETER: Thanks, Byron! Glad to be part of your ham radio experience!
There's more to the story, and you can access the full interview with
Byron Hill in the "Extras" section at arnewsline.org. Reporting from Shelbyville, Tennesseeâ-"about an hour south of Music Cityâ-"I'm
Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to the the ARRL; CQ Magazine; David Behar
K7DB; DX-World.net; ITV.COM; NASA; Northeast SOTA Club; Ohio Penn DX;
QRZ.com; Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; SOTA
Reflector; T-Mobile; The Verge; Wireless Institute of Australia;
YouTube; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio
Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its
continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our
website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also
remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a
5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us.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 Union Kentucky saying 73. As always
we thank you for listening.Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright
2022. All rights reserved.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)