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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2423 for Friday April 5th, 2024

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2423 with a release date of
Friday, April 5th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams are on alert after a bridge collapse in
Baltimore. Candidates in Germany prep for the country's newest class
ham license -- and a weather service outage in the US reminds hams of
their vital roles in emergencies. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2423 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
HAMS ON ALERT AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE DISASTER

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story is the ongoing recovery following the
collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore.
Hams were put on alert and several days into the recovery, severe
weather rolled in. Kevin Trotman N5PRE has this developing story.

KEVIN: A call went out for heightened awareness among radio amateurs in
the Baltimore, Maryland area as the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed
on Tuesday, March 26th, after being struck by a cargo ship near the
Port of Baltimore. Shortly after the early morning incident, Chris Van
Winkle, AB3WB, manager of the ARRL Maryland DC section. reached out to
ARES members section wide, asking that they stand by. Meanwhile,
Maryland and Baltimore officials declared a state of emergency.

As Newsline went to production on the 4th of April, hams remained on
alert as severe weather pounded the region, posing potential
complications to recovery operations near the harbor. Sid Caesar, NH7C,
the assistant section manager and public information coordinator, said
section leadership continued to be vigilant, engaging in incident
planning in case the need arose to activate any amateur radio support
in the days ahead.

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(SID CAESAR, NH7C)

**
NETWORK OUTAGE DURING STORM HIGHLIGHTS HAMS' IMPORTANCE

NEIL/ANCHOR: As weather-tracking and communications technology grow
more sophisticated, it's easy to think that system failures won't be a
problem in an emergency. In the American Midwest, however,
weather-watchers - and hams - got a dose of reality, as we hear from
Randy Sly W4XJ.

RANDY: Several areas across the United States received a wakeup call on
the night of April 1st when a national data network outage knocked out
radar and warning capabilities in many cities just as severe weather
began hitting the central part of the country.

In the St. Louis region, just as a storm system brought heavy rainfall,
hail, and even a tornado to the area, the Weather Forecast Office's
radar and warning systems went dark. Meteorologists had to rely on
other resources while calling on the Kansas City office to provide
backup.

Michael Musher, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Weather
Service, told the media, <quote> "During this outage, some warning
services were impacted," <endquote> he indicated that they are working
with network vendors to determine the root cause for the 5 hour
blackout.

Radio amateurs were active across the heartland. For example, Fox 19 TV
in Cincinnati reported ham activity for a tornado in Mason County,
Kentucky. A former SKYWARN Amateur Radio Coordinator for the
Washington DC/Baltimore Weather Forecast Office told AR Newsline that
the best thing we can do for the National Weather Service is always be
ready to serve.

This is Randy Sly W4XJ.

(NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, NY TIMES, KSDK TV5, FOX CHANNEL 19)

**

AMSAT-DL ADVANCES MICROWAVE AMATEUR RADIO PAYLOAD IDEA

NEIL/ANCHOR: AMSAT-DL has outlined a proposed microwave amateur radio
payload for a geostationary satellite, in response to requests from the
IARU and the European Space Agency.

The proposal favors positioning that would include eastern European
countries and large portions of eastern North America with the western
limit including Ontario and points east. In a 31-slide presentation,
AMSAT DL's Kai Siebels, DH0SK, and Matthias Bopp, DD1US, outline a plan
that they believe would include the most suitable orbit, comparing the
intended coverage to that provided by the successful OSCAR-100
satellite.

The suggested main downlink would be in the 10 GHz band, while the
uplink could be on a number of different bands, including 23cm and
13cm, to encourage experimentation. AMSAT-DL also said that the mission
would become an excellent resource for disaster and emergency
communications, noting that a GEO satellite transponder was used during
the earthquake that struck Turkey in 2023.

(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

**
HAMS AID EXPECTED VEHICLE JAMS AT ECLIPSE EPICENTER

NEIL/ANCHOR: While hams prepare to get on the air on Monday, April 8th,
to assist with HamSCI's ionospheric studies during the solar eclipse
over North America, one group of hams in the area of totality will have
some more terrestrial reasons to be active. Jack Parker W8ISH explains.

JACK: Members of the Mid-State Amateur Radio Club in Johnson County
Indiana have been put on high alert for the upcoming Total Eclipse on
April 8th. County EMA officials requested backup ham radio
communications in case their county 800 MHz radio system becomes
overloaded during disaster communications.

With over 300,000 out-of-town visitors descending on Franklin, Indiana,
the Total Eclipse Epicenter, the sheriff is planning on all cell
service and possibly their radio system to be overloaded. When all else
fails, that's when the Mid-State ARC Auxcom Team comes into play.
Nearly two dozen hams will be on hand at six county-wide deployment
sites to handle normal and emergency traffic if needed. The hams have
been part of the planning task force since last fall. Johnson County
has two major interstates and several state highways that carry traffic
through the county and around central Indiana. Johnson county roads are expected to be jammed with traffic before and especially after the
eclipse. In August of 2017, Kentucky had gridlocked highways for hours following the eclipse.

Johnson County is planning for all contingencies including lost
communications. As of last week the Indiana governor declared a state
of emergency until after eclipse weekend. That's why if All Else Fails,
there will be amateur radio.

This is Jack Parker, W8ISH

**
CANDIDATES PREP FOR GERMANY'S NEW LICENSE

NEIL/ANCHOR: In Germany, the DN9 licence is a GO! The race is on for
hopeful would-be radio amateurs to get their applications in for a test
for the new Class N entry-level 2m/70cm/10m licence.

Unlike in some other countries, in Germany all licence examinations are
run by the regulator - the BundesNetzArgentur or BNetzA for short and
places in the first test sessions are limited. On March 20th the
regulator opened the flood gates through an announcement on the social
media platform "X" for applications for the tests to be submitted. The
first test will take place in Dortmund on June 24th the day the new
class of licence becomes legal. Further tests are scheduled during June
in Nuremberg on the 25th and at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen on the 29th.
Ten further tests will take place in July at various locations around
Germany.

Here's to lots of activity from the new hams as soon as they have their licences -perhaps during Ham Radio Friedrichshafen or soon after when
they have bought their new radios at the show?

(BNetzA)

**

M17 PROJECT LAUNCHES NEW SOFTWARE, DIGITAL VOICE PROTOCOLS

NEIL/ANCHOR: The open-source developers of the M17 project have been
busy and they recently announced new releases. We have details from
Stephen Kinford N8WB.

STEPHEN: New open-source software, hardware and UHF/VHF digital voice
protocols have been launched by the M17 Project with the support of
Amateur Radio Digital Communications.

Further refinements to the amateur radio digital communications
protocol include a new remote radio unit, or RRU, that is described as
a "comprehensive, UHF FM/M17 repeater in a box." According to a joint
press release from the M17 project and ARDC, the unit is designed to accommodate close antenna placement, producing better and more reliable
signal strength. Other improvements include the ability to convert a
9600-baud capable radio into an M17 transceiver through the use of the
M17 modem; and an Open HT transceiver, which uses SDR technology for
QRP dual-band operation.

The March 29th press release announced that an RRU transceiver is also
in development with the goal of providing a comprehensive FM/M17
repeater for remote sites or masts. It is expected to feature direct
antenna connection that eliminates the need for a long coax.

This is Stephen Kinford N8WB.

**
EXPANDED HAMVENTION HOURS FOR VOICE OF AMERICA MUSEUM

NEIL/ANCHOR: If your plans to visit Xenia, Ohio next month for
Hamvention include a side-trip to the National Voice of America Museum
of Broadcasting in nearby West Chester, you'll be pleased to know that
the museum will once again have expanded hours. On Thursday, May 16th
and Friday, May 17th, you can visit from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Saturday,
May 18th, from noon to 9 p.m., and on Sunday, May 19th, from noon to 5
p.m. Admission is $10. WC8VOA, the ham radio station of the West
Chester Amateur Radio Association, will be on the air. Visit wc8voa.org
or voamuseum.org for more details.

(JOCELYN BRAULT, KD8VRX/VA2VRX)

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including shortwaveradio.de, broadcasting via shortwave from Germany into the UK,
Ireland and western Europe. Newsline is played at various times
throughout the week on 3975 and 6160 kHz.

**

NOMINATE OUR NEXT YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you know a promising young radio amateur who'd be a
good candidate for the Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year
award? Let Newsline know! Candidates must live in the continental
United States and be 18 years of age or younger. Tell our judges about
your nominee's talent, promise and commitment to the spirit of ham
radio. This is your chance to help honor and acknowledge that person
who will, no doubt, go on to teach and inspire others. Find the
nomination form on our website arnewsline.org under the "AWARDS" tab. Nominations close on May 31st.

**

NEW YORK HAM IS WORLD'S FIRST CANADIAN CENTURY CLUB WINNER

NEIL/ANCHOR: A ham in New York has won a top honor from Radio Amateurs
of Canada - and he's the first recipient of this new award. We hear
about him from Dave Parks WB8ODF.

DAVE: Receiving a top award from the Radio Amateurs of Canada was twice
the honor for Steven Hines, N2PQJ. He is not only a winner of the
Canadian Century Club Award but the first amateur in the world to
receive it. The New York amateur had been chasing stations in Canada
for the longest time in hopes of one day qualifying for its
Trans-Canada Award. That award was discontinued, however, because its requirements were deemed outdated. For one thing, it failed to
recognize the northern territory of Nunavut, which became Canada's
third territory in 1999.

Enter the Canadian Century Club Award, its replacement. To qualify,
amateurs need to show evidence of two-way contacts with a minimum of
100 amateur stations in Canada, with between 1 and 20 in each of the 10 provinces and between 1 and 20 in any of the three territories.

Steven's achievement is celebrated in the latest issue of Canadian
Amateur Magazine, where he is pictured holding the award.
Congratulations on your persistence - and patience!

According to the RAC website, the challenge doesn't end there. The RAC
said it is considering the addition of endorsements for 200, 300 or
more stations.

This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(CANADIAN AMATEUR MAGAZINE, RAC)


**

GRANT SUPPORTS UPCOMING JARVIS ISLAND DXPEDITION

NEIL/ANCHOR: A DXpedition to an environmentally sensitive Pacific
island has just received a substantial grant to help with the
activation, as we hear from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

RALPH: The Northern California DX Foundation is providing a $75,000
grant to the Dateline DX Association for its Jarvis Island National
Wildlife Reserve Dxpedition this summer. The N5J team recently
announced that the trip received the much-needed go-ahead from the US
Fish & Wildlife Service in Hawaii. Government approval was needed for
an activation from this rare entity because it is an environmentally
sensitive location. Three research biologists from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service will accompany the team.

The permit was issued recently to the Dateline group's George AA7JV and
Don N1DG.

The activation of N5J will be done two ways: Four operators will
install six Radio-in-a-Box stations on the island, operating CW, SSB
and FT8 on HF and 6 metres. Radio-in-a-box enables operation remotely
from a boat when land access is restricted.

Twenty-five other operators from Asia, North America and Europe will be
on the air remotely via satellite using CW and FT8 in fox and
houndmode.

The 13-day DXpedition is tentatively set for the 1st of August and is
subject to change, depending on the weather.

Jarvis Island has not been on the air since 1990. It is part of the
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(WIA, JARVIS ISLAND DXPEDITION WEBSITE)

**

NJ AMATEUR RECOGNIZED FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE ROLE

NEIL/ANCHOR: In the US, a federal agency that oversees volunteerism and community service has honored a New Jersey radio amateur for his
leadership in regional emergency response. Sel Embee KB3TZD has
thatstory.

SEL: Congratulations to James Kennedy, K2PHD, who received a bronze
President's Volunteer Service Award from AmeriCorps [pron: A MERRY
CORE], the agency of the US government that promotes community service
and volunteerism. James received the award on the 26th of March in
recognition of having given 100 hours of assistance to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. He serves FEMA Region Two as a
volunteer regional coordinator, meaning he has oversight of activities
and response up and down the coast of the state of New Jersey.

Apart from his FEMA responsibilities, James serves as Northern New
Jersey ARES section emergency coordinator in the ARRL Hudson Division.
He is also the manager of the Community Emergency Management Response
Team for the township of Roxbury.

Licensed as a ham since 1960, James served during the Cold War era as a
US Coast Guard and commercial radiotelegraph and signals intercept
operator.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(TAPINTOROXBURY)

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, be listening for Tev, TA1HZ, operating holiday
style as 8Q7HZ from the Maldives, IOTA Number AS-013 between the 6th
and the 15th of April. He will be using SSB and FT8/FT4 on 30, 20, 17,
15, 12 and 10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Special callsign II1GM [EYE EYE ONE G M] is on the air through the 30th
of April to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Guglielmo
[pron: GOO YEE EL MO] Marconi. You will hear different operators
calling from different call areas, such as II1GM/1, II1GM/2, and so on.
See QRZ.com for QSL information.

The D.A.R.C. special event callsign DA24WARD is on the air through to
the 30th of April, marking World Amateur Radio Day. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Listen for Tom, K7TLM, and Leslie, KD7YZE, operating as E51TLM from
Rarotonga, OC-013, in the South Cook Islands from the 7th through to
the 13th of April. They will operate QRP on 10 metres SSB and slow CW.
See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: EASTER, A HOLIDAY TO EGG ON THE RADIO HUNTERS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Radio has a long tradition of hunting, whether it is for a
rare DX, a SOTA summit or an island. Our final story looks at some of
the more unconventional hunts that went on during Easter Weekend
--hunts that involved anything but Easter eggs. Jim Damron N8TMW has
thatstory.

JIM: On Easter weekend, QRP operators in the US Pacific Northwest went
hunting - their quarry was the Sasquatch, the hairy, mythical forest
creature also known as Bigfoot. On the Friday just before Easter
Sunday, the annual Sasquatch Stomp stepped off, organized by the
Pacific North West QRP Group. Designed for CW operators, the contest's
other distinction was its method of scoring. It awarded negative points
- and the lowest points determined the winner.

Meanwhile, radio enthusiasts throughout Europe were busy hunting too:
They tuned their dials in search of radio pirates. This contest was
just for fun, as it has always been since it was launched during Easter
holiday season in 2016 by a group known as Radioactives of Middle
Finland. Jann, one of the organisers, explained to Newsline in an email
that the Easter holiday break in Europe gives people the free time to
hunt for as many unlicensed broadcast stations as they like. Pirate
stations, also known as free radio stations, are popular in much of
Europe and the playful competition brings extra holiday cheer - not to
mention good listening.

Janne and his friend Jan-Mikael keep the rules simple. Participants
didn't even need a radio - an online SDR receiver works just fine. With
events like these for holiday hunters, who needs Easter eggs?

This is Jim Damron N8TMW.

(RADIOACTIVES OF MIDDLE FINLAND)

**

DO YOU HAIKU?

Don't forget the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. If you're not
too busy tuning your antennas or chasing the latest DXpedition, pick up
a pencil and share your experience by sending an original haiku to us
here at Newsline. Use the entry form on our website, arnewsline.org and
please follow the rules for writing your three-line haiku -- sorry but
we cannot accept any entries that aren't written in traditional haiku
form. Share with fellow listeners the poetry that is inspired by your
ham radio experience!

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; ARRL; CQ Magazine;
David Behar K7DB; DXNews; DXWorld; 425DXNews; Fox Channel 19; GNU
Radio; HamSCI; Jarvis Island DXpedition website; KSDK-TV 5; National
Weather Service; New York Times; QRZ.com; Radioactives of Middle
Finland; shortwaveradio.de; Sid Caesar, NH7C; TapIntoRoxbury.com; 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 2024. All rights reserved.

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