Thank you and good evening everybody.  From Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 1800, these are the Ham Nation headlines for Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

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Rescuers assisted by the armed forces are hard at work searching for survivors in the quake-ravaged central Philippines.  The 6.8 temblor shook the area February 6th.  At least 56 are confirmed dead and thousands are homeless.  Soon after the shaking ended, ham radio operators were asked to provide a first response effort.  

Hams are now furnishing communications assistance near the quake’s epicenter in the DU6 and DU7 call areas. They are using VHF and UHF for in-country-communications, and are providing message relay and reports of infrastructure damage.

And on 40 meters, there are reports that 7.095 MHz Lower Sideband is also in use for emergency communications into and out of the Philippines.

As the aftershocks continue ham radio remains on-the-job as an important tool in rescue and quake relief communications.

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Here in the United States, new rules governing ham radio operations in the 5 MHz or 60 meter band take effect March 5th.  

As we reported last November, there are a number of FCC rules changes. These include a channel switch. 5.368 replaces 5.358 MHz. The effective radiated power limit is raised to 100 Watts P-E-P relative to a half-wave dipole.  And data, RTTY and CW are authorized. U.S. hams with at least a General class license may operate 60 meters on a secondary, non-interfering basis, 

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Last week was a festive week.  My brother celebrated his 60th birthday, Bill Pasternak celebrated his 70th birthday, I'll be celebrating my 65th birthday next month.  But more importantly, this week the Amateur Radio Newsline celebrates newscast Number 1,800.  The service has provided a report each week, without interruption for – and if I have enough fingers, and I do – for 34 years, six months, and six days.  And who has researched, written, produced, edited, and published each one of these since August 12, 1977?  It was Bill Pasternak.

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I just want to say a word of thank you to all who listen in each week to our Amateur Radio Newsline bulletins.  As we prepare this 1800th consecutive week of bringing the to you, we want to pause for a moment and look back to 1977.  Thats when Jim Hendershot, WA6VQP, and I, produced and issued the first Westlink Radio Network bulletin.  It was devoted entirely to repeater deregulation and only heard by those in the Los Angeles area with a transceiver set to 223.5 MHz simplex.  Likely no more than two dozen people or so. 

Now just shy of 35 years later, Amateur Radio Newsline, which is the successor to Westlink Radio is heard on thousands of repeaters world wide and by tens of thousands over the Internet. And as it was back in 1977, so it remains today as a free listener supported service to the ham radio by some of your fellow radio amateurs.  

So as we begin preparing newscast 1801, I want to say thank-you to all of you who listen in each week and support our efforts to bring you the news of todays new world Amateur Radio.  

For Robert Sudock, WB6FDF, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, saying 73, and as always, we thank you for watching.  See you next time on Ham Nation.