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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2327 for Friday June 3rd, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2327 with a release date of Friday
June 3rd, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. RFI rears its head, even on the dark side of
the moon. Australia approves remote-testing for kids seeking ham
licenses - and get ready for Youth on the Air camp. All this and more
as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2327 comes your way right now.

**
BILLBOARD CART

**
MOON'S DARK SIDE NO REFUGE FROM RFI

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with the question: Just how
far would you be willing to go to get away from RFI? Graham Kemp VK4BB
tells us of one far-reaching attempt to do so -- that, unfortunately,
didn't go far enough.

GRAHAM: There were high hopes for the radio telescope aboard China's
Chang'e 4 lander when it touched down on the dark side of the moon
three years ago. Chinese scientists believed that such a remote,
unilluminated location would be free of radio noise because the moon is
a shield against RFI from the Earth. They were wrong about the absence
of noise altogether, however: The low-frequency radio spectrometer on
board the lander's relay satellite cannot do its work to unlock the
mysteries of the universe until another mystery is solved: How to block
the noise from the moon lander's own radio emissions. Knowing early on
that these emissions would pose an issue, scientists took preventive
measures but they apparently have not succeeded. One of the causes is apparently the electromagnetic leakage from the lander's power source. According to an academic paper cited in the South China Morning Post,
the lander's noises are two to three times greater than the signals
that the radio telescope had hoped to observe and even block the
strongest pulses emitted by the sun.

Researchers are now studying a mathematical solution that they hope
will boost the sensitivity of the radio telescope, which is designed to
receive frequencies under 30 MHz.

As an aside, according to Chinese mythology their Goddess of the Moon
bears the name "CHANG'E

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)

**
HAM RADIO CANDIDATES 18 AND YOUNGER CAN TEST REMOTELY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Good news for the youngest ham radio candidates in
Australia. Remote testing has been approved. Jason Daniels VK2LAW
shares the details.

JASON: In a reversal of their earlier policy, the Australian
Communications and Media Authority and the Australian Maritime College
have announced they will permit amateur radio candidates under the age
of 18 to sit an exam session remotely. Online sessions for these
younger candidates had previously been prohibited, even as those older
than 18 were able to complete their exams in this manner to comply with
health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes are being
allowed under certain conditions, including the requirement that a
parent or guardian be present in the room while the test is under way.
Remote exams are conducted by AMC Level 3 assessors.

The Wireless Institute of Australia praised the decision, calling it a
big win for everyone.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(WIA)

**
STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT COMES TO NEw ZEALAND

PAUL/ANCHOR: CW enthusiasts in New Zealand are getting ready to turn
back time, turn off the amps and put everything but their straight keys
into storage for the night. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us what's goingon.

JIM: If you're in New Zealand, set aside the second Sunday in June and
be in the shack between 8 and 9 p.m. local time. Winter Straight Key
Night will be going strong - at least as strong as the 100-watt limit
-and amateurs will be paying tribute to sending code the old-fashioned
way. Listen for radio operators calling CQ SKN or just SKN. The
exchange will be RST, Location, Name, Key, Transmitter and Power.

Straight Key Night is being held with the support of the New Zealand
Morse Code Telegraph Key Directory. Remember, it's a casual event and
there won't be any certificates awarded. There will be lots of QSOs,
however, and a whole lot of nostalgia.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(NZART)

**
SKYHUBLINK CONNECTS NEWSCOMERS, LIGHTS UP 'QUIET' REPEATERS

PAUL/ANCHOR: When is a linked repeater system more than just a linked
repeater system? When it's called SkyHubLink, as we hear from Neil Rapp
WB9VPG.

NEIL: There's more to the Colorado-based SkyHubLink repeater system
than meets the ears. The interlinked repeaters and their internet
connections bear the fruit of the efforts of broadcast engineer Jack
Roland KE0VH, and Skyler Fennell, W0SKY, whose name is familiar as
Newsline's 2016 winner of the Young Ham of the Year.

With Jack as system administrator and Skyler as chief engineer, the
network has specific goals, as Jack told Newsline:

JACK: One of the premises of SkyHub Link is to connect to repeaters
that get little or no use on a daily basis, link them to others to
bring traffic to them and activate them. You know, so many repeaters
are quiet and really don't see any use anymore. As I am fond of saying:
"What is the use of a quiet repeater?"

NEIL: As Jack tells us, the more active the repeater, the more value it
has to everyone, especially newcomers.

JACK: We encourage new hams to get on and ask questions and get
information from those of us who have maybe been in the hobby for a
long time. You know we as old hands, old timers, need to be more like
this as much as we can in amateur radio. SkyHubLink is a welcoming
system to new hams and we always want them to feel comfortable
coming on, getting on the repeater, asking questions and feeling like
they are welcome and wanted in the community.

NEIL: Connections are made through Allstar, DMR, Yaesu System Fusion,
Wires-X, D-Star and P25. The system also supports M17, IRLP and
Echolink protocols, has a weather net with trained weather spotter Gary
NC2WX, a system-wide net on Monday night run by Jack and an
international Wires-X one on Saturday evenings

Visit skyhublink.com for more details.

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

**
LOW-BAND EXPERIMENT TESTS GROUND WAVE ON 630M

PAUL/ANCHOR: What are you doing on weekends at 9:30 a.m. local time?
One ham would like you to do some very low-band operation, calling CQ,
as part of an experiment. George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU has those details.

GEORGE: Clark AA8SH is calling it his ground wave experiment: He wants
hams everywhere with 630 metre access to get on 474 kHz every Saturday
and Sunday at 9:30 local time and try to make contacts. He'd like them
to monitor other transmissions and post signal reports in the forums
section of QRZ.com Clark, who has been testing 630m operation from his
shack in West Virginia, told Newsline he's hoping this experiment can
provide a sense of what kind of local range 630m has in each community.
He hopes the results help grow a greater interest in 630-metre band.

Clark said that based on ITU findings, a 630m signal of a certain
strength can travel about 150 miles, presenting communications options unavailable on 160 and 75, which have a shorter range at the same
signal level. Power limits are set at 5watts EIRP by the ITU and the
FCC. Clark said the potential for the band remains untapped for amateur
radio but his own transmissions, conducted at a strength of 3 to 5
watts, are promising: They've been heard in Cincinnati, Ohio, about 100
miles away, and Marietta, Ohio, about 90 miles away.

Clark told Newsline in an email [quote]: "I want as many participants,
both transmitting and receiving, as possible. The more the merrier!"
[endquote]

Morning operation is best, he said, because the band is quiet and free
of static crashes so common in the evenings.

Clark told Newsline: [quote] "There's nothing like hearing a signal to
make one sit up and listen!" [endquote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.

(CLARK AA8SH)

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
the Spokane, Washington UHF Repeater of K7TMF and K7MMA on Fridays at 5
p.m. Pacific Time.

**
FCC REMINDS AMATEURS TO CREATE ACCOUNT IN NEW REGISTRATION SYSTEM

PAUL/ANCHOR: In the US, the FCC has issued a reminder to all amateurs
that the agency's legacy Commission Registration System, known by the
acronym CORES, is being retired effective July 15th. Hams who are
already using the current version of CORES, also known by the name
CORES2, are not impacted by the retiring system. Legacy CORES users
must make the transition by establishing a username account and then
accessing CORES2 to associate their registration numbers with their
usernames.

(FCC)

**

QUEEN'S JUBILEE REFLECTED IN SOME UK CALL SIGNS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Amateurs in the UK have the opportunity to celebrate the
Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II simply by calling QRZ. Jeremy
Boot G4NJH brings us those details.

JEREMY: The arrival of June has brought an extra element of distinction
for amateur radio operators in the UK who are looking to celebrate the
Queen's Platinum Jubilee on the air. Hams who have applied for a notice
of variation from Ofcom will be inserting a "Q" into their call signs throughout the month to mark the occasion. Those who have not applied
for the NoV can still add /70 (slash-70) to the end of their call signs
as an alternative.

Be listening on the bands for that extra touch for the royal
celebration. The opportunity has been made available to hams at
Foundation, Intermediate and Full licence levels. The addition of Q to
call signs had also been authorised for the Queen's earlier jubilees in
2012 and 2020.

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

* SPECIAL EVENT STATION A HIGHLIGHT OF YOUTH ON THE AIR CAMP

PAUL/ANCHOR: There will be lots to do for youngsters attending Youth on
the Air camp this month in Ohio. The good news is that there's also
plenty happening for those of us who aren't even campers. Sel Embee
KB3TZD explains.

SEL: Even if you're no longer young enough to go to summer camp
anymore, you can still be a part of the action happening this month at
the Youth on the Air Camp for young hams from North, Central, and South America. You can try to get into the log when the young operators
activate the special-event callsign W-8-Y while the camp is in session
between Sunday, June 12th and Friday, June 17th. If you wish to attend
the opening and closing ceremonies, these will be live streamed on
YouTube on the "Youth on the Air" channel.

The camp is taking place this year at the National Voice of America
Museum of Broadcasting in Ohio and at a nearby hotel. Nathaniel
Frissell, W-2-N-A-F, founder of HamSCI will speak at the opening
ceremony on Sunday, June 12th starting at 2100 UTC. Closing ceremonies
will begin at 1700 UTC on Friday, June 17th.

For details, visit the webpage youthontheair dot org
(YouthOnTheAir.org).

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Sel Embee, K-B-3-T-Zed-D.


(YOUTH ON THE AIR)

**
WORLD OF DX

Be listening for the special callsign EI90IRTS which was issued to mark
the 90th birthday of the Irish Radio Transmitters Society. Amateurs
throughout Ireland are calling QRZ with this callsign on all bands and
using all modes. According to a report from the IRTS, the call is
already attracting pileups, so be ready. The callsign will be active
for the remainder of this year. QSL via Bureau, LOTW or eQSL. Direct
QSLs can be sent to EI6AL enclosing $2, or payment via Paypal or
Clublog.

Harald, DF2WO will be using the callsign 9X2AW until the 22nd of June
from Rwanda. He will be using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on 160m, 20m, 17m,
15m and 10 meters. QSL to M0OXO OQRS

Take (Tah-Kay), JS6RRR/JI3DST/JJ5RBH is on the air from Shodo island,
AS-200, until July 4th. Listen for the three call signs on 80m through
70cm using CW, SSB, FT8, RTTY, FM. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(DX-WORLD.NET, SOUTHGATE)

**
KICKER: THE DX TO END ALL DXES

PAUL/ANCHOR: We end this week's report with the story of the latest
radio message that targets some receivers you might not necessarily
find listed on QRZ. Ralph Squilllace KK6ITB tells us what's going on.

RALPH: A group of Calfornia researchers is planning what some might
call "the DX to end all DXes." They recently announced they'll be
transmitting a message from a deep space network at Goonhilly, England,
to an alien solar system 39 light years away. The message targets
TRAPPIST-1, a dwarf star outside our solar system. Unlike amateur
radio, the message to be sent in early October will be able to transmit
music, and it will, along with details about the environmental crisis
we are having here on earth.

The researchers are part of a group called METI International, a group
of scientists devoted to pursuing interstellar messaging. In fact, the
acronym stands for "messaging extra-terrestrial intelligence."

Their planned message follows in the tradition of the most famous radio transmission to date, sent almost 50 years ago from the Arecibo radio
telescope in Puerto Rico. A decade later, another mode of messaging was
used involving the so-called "Golden Records," phonograph records sent
on board the two Voyager spacecrafts.

None of those attempts at communication reportedly got replies even
though in Voyager's case, instructions were included on how to play the records. Perhaps radio will win the day, after all, and this new
message will succeed where others seem to have failed.

Well, let's hope the band conditions are promising and hope someone is
still around if any reply comes.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(BIG THINK.COM)

**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to the ARRL; the Australian Communications
and Media Authority; BigThink.com; Clark Ackison, AA8SH; CQ Magazine;
David Behar K7DB; Ohio Penn DX; QRZ.com; the Radio Society of Great
Britain; South China Morning Post; Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; the Wireless Institute of Australia; Youth on the
Air; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.
You can write to us at newsline@arnewsline.org. 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.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and
our news team worldwide, I'm Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana
saying 73. As always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

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