It has been a productive year so far for amateur radio operators in New Hampshire. A memorandum of understanding between the state and New Hampshire-ARES has designated emergency operators as the sole providers of ham radio communication support to the state's Department of Safety, Division of Emergency Services and Communication. Ham radio's important role to the community has since been underscored by a recent proclamation from the governor's office declaring June as Amateur Radio Month in New Hampshire. New Hampshire joins Hawaii in this formal gesture of appreciation for the hams in their state.
KOSOVO DXPEDITION DID NOT GO UN-"HERD"
Anne OH2YL and Marko OH2LG were finally ready for that long-awaited 10 days of intense operating deep in the Balkans as Z68YL and Z68OM, respectively. The contacts came in exhilarating waves as the pair operated from May 20th through to the 30th. Then, just days before the big finish, the two operators were confronted with a pileup like no other:
Cows. A herd of at least 50 of them, rampaging through the antennas and messing with the guy wires. A blog post written by Jari OH6BG, said that [quote] "The guy wires were given the ride of their life," [endquote] As for the feedlines, well, the cows' teeth took the word "feedline" quite literally. The feedlines for the end-fed half-wave wire antenna and the 6-metre dipole were both chewed through.
With some repair work and a new vertical antenna, the operators were soon back in business. By the time they went QRT, despite high winds, QRM and bovine intervention, they managed to work their way to a total of just fewer than 10,000 QSOs.
Resilient, determined and resourceful, they would not be cowed.....in Kow-sovo.
PRIME TIME TV IS BACK ON BOARD THE ISS
Never mind what prime-time TV has to offer - hams who have been missing a chance to make contacts through HamTV will have something to celebrate soon. HamTV was the Digital Amateur Television transmitter operating on the Columbus module of the ISS until failure took it out of service in 2019.
Its repairs here on earth were completed and the newly invigorated HamTV was returned to the ISS via SpaceX CRS-30 in March of 2024. ARISS reports that astronauts will complete its reinstallation in late June in preparation for more contacts with schools around the world. HamTV uses the DVB-S protocol in the 13 cm band to transmit digital video and audio in MPG2 format.
ARISS has high hopes that HamTV will become a long-running series -- without having to resort to re-runs.
JUNE IS 'AMATEUR RADIO MONTH' IN HAWAII
Every year, hams in the US and Canada observe the fourth full weekend in June as Field Day, considered the most important amateur radio weekend of the year. In Hawaii, however, amateur radio recognition will be going on a little longer: the state's governor, Josh Green, has proclaimed all of June to be Amateur Radio Month, in recognition of the 3400 hams operating in the Pacific region.The state has ties to wireless that go back more than 100 years, however. In 1914, its island of Oahu became home to a Marconi wireless telegraphy station. In 1916, the first transmissions were successfully sent to Japan from the US territory, marking the start of wireless communication between the two nations.
PROJECT EYES HAM RADIO ON GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE
AMSAT-DL has sent a Request for Expression of Interest to various other AMSAT organisations and amateur radio associations for a proposed ham radio-focused project known as "futureGEO," operating from a geosynchronous satellite.
The group is hoping to receive proposals no later than the 30th of June. AMSAT-DL's request comes two years after the European Space Agency described its vision of having amateur radio on a geosynchronous satellite, designed to cover the north of North America and Europe, and which drew on proposals from AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK.
Meanwhile, a new satellite-based FM repeater comes online in June. On board the HADES-ICM satellite it will initially be active on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays .
It has an uplink of 145.875 MHz and a downlink of 436.666 MHz. Another repeater, HADES-R, already operates full time with a 145.925 MHz uplink and a 436.888 MHz downlink.
'QUEENS OF THE MOUNTAINS' EVENT RETURNS
True to its name, the Queens of the Mountains event is a challenge worthy of royalty. Paula K9IR and Amy AG7GP have brought the event back for its second year as YLs activate SOTA summits on June 7th and June 8th - and not only YLs around the world chase the activators; men are also invited to join in this year's chase. Anyone contacting 5 or more YLs on a SOTA summit becomes eligible for a certificate.
The biggest honors will go to the YL activators themselves who will be logging contacts and working toward any or all of six achievement awards, including one for a first-time SOTA activator. A special K1LIZ Memorial Achievement Award will be given to the YL with the highest number of achievement awards. Last year the event crowned Lorene W6LOR with the honor, which bears the callsign of top-achieving activator Liz Burns K1LIZ who became a Silent Key in February of 2022.
HAP HOLLY, KC9RP/SK, RECEIVES FINAL NEWSMAKER AWARD, POSTHUMOUSLY
In 2019, Newsline introduced its Newsmaker of the Year Award in recognition of deserving amateurs who raised the profile of ham radio around the world via conventional media channels. The media universe has changed since then. We now communicate reliably via blogs, videos and other forms of social media with conventional media taking a backseat. Toward that end, we are replacing the Newsmaker award with Newsline's Influencer Award, shining a light on those who have had a measurable, far-reaching and positive impact on amateur radio. That award will be presented at year's end.
Meanwhile, it is fitting that we give our final Newsmaker of the Year Award to Hap Holly, KC9RP. Hap, a member of the Newsline family, left an imprint on the world via his Radio Amateur Information Network, or RAIN report, weekly reports he produced for three decades. Hap, who became blind at the age of 7, was an active and influential amateur for most of his 73 years. He became a Silent Key on February 24th of this year. As we remember him with pride and gratitude, we honor him for being the remarkable newsmaker that he was.
OHIO TRAFFIC NET MARKS 50 YEARS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
No one can physically see this devoted community but its presence has been felt strongly throughout the Cleveland and North Central Ohio region for a half-century. The Burning River Traffic Net is still passing important traffic as it has done since its founding in 1975 as a 2m simplex net to deliver messages to recipients who lived outside the local telephone exchange, constituting a long-distance call at the time. Those messages include health and welfare updates, congratulations, emergencies and simple greetings. The net has since become repeater-based and meets every Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 9:30 p.m. local time. Members are called up on an as-needed basis on other days.
The Burning River Traffic Net is about to become visible and meet the community it has served for so long. The net, which is part of the ARRL’s National Traffic System, is inviting all hams and anyone interested in learning more about the net to be part of their anniversary celebration. It’s being held on the 21st of June at the Lorain County Metroparks Duck Pond Picnic Area pavilion at 1 p.m. local time. Net manager Keith Cook, KD8GXL, said “this is more than just a celebration of the past - it’s an opportunity to look forward to the next 50 years.”
SOUTH AFRICA LICENSES 48 NEW RADIO AMATEURS
In South Africa, 48 new ham radio operators are celebrating passage of the Radio Amateur Examination that they took in May administered by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
The RAE, as it is known, has only given exams twice a year. According to various news reports, while 48 candidates passed the exam, 5 others did not.
The next exam is not scheduled until November.
SILENT KEY: DICK JANSSON, KD1K, LONGTIME AMSAT VP FOR ENGINEERING
For years, AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, benefitted from the engineering talents of Dick Jansson, KD1K, whose professional career had included time spent at Sperry Corporation, Martin Marietta, the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory and NACA, the forerunner of the US space agency NASA. In retirement, however, Dick focused his lifetime of skills on a variety of AMSAT spacecraft projects, including OSCARS 10 and 13 and the MICROSAT series. He eventually became AMSAT's vice president of engineering.
Dick became a Silent Key on May 13th.
Dick's longtime work with a variety of AMSAT spacecraft inspired his selection as recipient of the Technical Excellence Award at Dayton Hamvention in 1993. He had been a ham since 1972.
A memorial service is planned for Dick in Florida on June 4th. He was 94.
YASME GRANT WILL FUND RBN NODE ON SOUTH ATLANTIC ISLAND
The world's most isolated settled island is adding an important amateur radio presence: A Reverse Beacon Network node. The node project is being given a supporting grant from the Yasme Foundation and will be hosted by Andy Repetto, ZD9BV, on Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Reverse Beacon Network comprises stations in different parts of the world that monitor the bands and send reports of what - and who - they hear. It is an all-volunteer effort.
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT HAMVENTION
If you were among those at Hamvention, like me, in Xenia, Ohio, in May, congratulations! You helped set a record. Organizers report that a record 36,814 amateur radio enthusiasts came to the fairgrounds for the annual forums, exhibits and of course, the flea market. The event was put together with the help of more than 700 volunteers. Plans are now in the works for Hamvention 2026 to be held on May 15th, 16th and 17th.
SOLO DXPEDITIONER HONORED FOR 61,000 QSOs
Congratulations to Marek Lamachou, FH4VVK/F4VVJ, who logged more than 61,000 QSOs as the solo operator during a DXpedition on the island of Grande Glorieuse operating as FT4GL. The island is the largest in the French-controlled Glorioso Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean and is 7th in the DXCC Most Wanted List.
Marek was honoured at Hamvention by the Southwest Ohio DX Association as DXpeditioner of the Year. The association said that he had [quote] "gone above and beyond the norm to positively affect the DX community." [endquote] The DXpedition took place in May and June of 2024.
FCC EYES GIVING SATELLITES 20,000 MHz MORE OF SPECTRUM
The US communications regulator is hoping to move ahead with the assignment of more than 20,000 MHz of spectrum bandwidth to accommodate expanded satellite-based broadband service. The FCC voted unanimously at its May 22nd open meeting to explore such use across four spectrum bands: the upper portion of the 12 GHz band, starting at 12.7 GHz; the 42 GHz band, the 52 GHz band and four unused sections of the 75-110 GHz W-band totaling 18,000 MHz.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement after the vote that [quote] "each band is a potential game changer." [endquote]. The agency said that the amount of spectrum under consideration is greater than all the spectrum presently available for satellite broadband. He said the additional frequencies were ripe territory for so-called next-generation services.
It was unclear what impact, if any, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would have on the amateur radio service. The move was applauded by the Satellite Industry Association in a statement on its website.
TIME FLOWS ON, THANKS TO 'FOUNTAIN" OF UNPRECEDENTED ACCURACY
Keep your eye on the clock, especially if you've been recording your QSOs like the rest of us, in Coordinated Universal Time. A new atomic clock at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been operating since April at NIST's Boulder, Colorado offices. It will soon have a bigger job as part of a group of timekeepers around the world that assists with the calibration of UTC. Known as NIST-F4, the clock is still awaiting certification by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures before that can happen.
Until then, its unprecedented precision is already hard at work defining the official time here in the United States.
Its creators call it a "fountain" of precision because the cloud of cesium atoms inside the clock oscillate at a rate of more than 9 billion times per second, rising and falling in the same way water does in a fountain. Its resonant frequency is 9 billion, 192 million, 631 thousand 770 hertz - to be precise. That is the frequency that sets the standards for all other clocks.
If you want to see just how NIST-F4 works, see the link to a YouTube video in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
Watching it will take only three minutes and three seconds of your time - more or less.
SPECIAL EVENT OPERATORS RECALL HISTORIC JOHNSTOWN FLOOD OF 1889
In a community 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the disaster has come to be known as the Great Flood of 1889. What began on May 31st of that year ultimately claimed more than 2,200 lives in the western part of the state. The deadliest dam burst in US history followed several days of heavy rainfall, as more than 20 million tons of water rushed uncontrollably into the heavily populated valley. Johnstown, in Cambria County, had the misfortune to be just 14 miles downstream from the dam.
It had 30,000 residents, many of whom were crushed by the sudden, unexpected rush of flood waters.
This is history that is personal to many in the region and amateur radio operators are no exception. They will be on the air starting on Saturday the 24th of May through to the 6th of June, operating from the Johnstown Pennsylvania Flood Museum calling CQ. They are using the callsign N3N and will be on HF and 2 meters. The special event is taking place in cooperation with the Cambria County Pennsylvania Emergency Services and Skywarn Storm Spotters of Western Pennsylvania. Emergency responders know well: Tragic flooding revisited the region again in 1936 and 1977 but neither of those floods compared to this one, which is considered the kind of storm that happens once every 1,000 years.
LUXEMBOURG ISSUES POSTAGE STAMP FOR IARU's CENTENARY
One hundred years ago, Radioamateurs du Luxembourg was among the organisations representing radio amateurs from 23 nations at the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union in Paris, France.
Celebrating the centenary and showing pride in Luxembourg's role, the Post Philately of Luxembourg has issued a postage stamp and a matching postal card marking the anniversary. The stamp will be released in the weeks ahead and will be available for purchase at the Radioamateurs du Luxembourg booth at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen in June. Until then, pre-orders can be sent via email to the address that appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org.
SPECIAL EVENT FOLLOWS TRAIL OF 19TH CENTURY EXPLORERS
Just as the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark tied the landscape of the early North American West together via their travels in the early 19th century, more than 30 ham radio clubs in 16 states are carving out a trail of communications along that same route. Radio operators are calling CQ from May 31st through to June 15th in the Dakotas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky and other states that were eventually established within the explored territory.
The special event, Lewis & Clark Trail On the Air, has expanded since its launch in 2022 with the Clark County Amateur Radio Club in Vancouver, Washington state. Now it encourages chasers to try for contacts of one club in each of the 16 states - or one of two bonus stations who are representing the Jefferson Indian Peace Medal. The explorers handed these medals out to the chiefs of tribes they encountered during their expedition. For information about certificates or participating clubs, visit the website L C T O T A dot org for details (LCTOTA.org)
LONGTIME ELECTRONICS SUPPLIER SHUTS DOORS IN US
Since it was founded in Florida in January of 1972, Marlin P. Jones & Associates gained a loyal following among amateur radio operators looking for everything from power supplies to electronic switches and other components.
The family-owned business closed its doors on the 9th of May and announced on its website that it would no longer be taking phone calls after the 23rd of the month. Its remaining inventory was purchased by another company in Florida - Skycraft Surplus.
Positive reviews of the company’s customer service and the quality of its products reflect the satisfaction that hams and other purchasers of electronic components received after doing business repeatedly with the company, which was also known as MPJ & Associates.
The company's website gave no reason for the closure. A statement said simply: “It has been an honor to have done business with you.”
STUDENTS GET FREE ONLINE LESSONS ABOUT WEATHER SATELLITES
Even as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is halting support for a number of its weather satellites, the importance of these collectors of data and imagery from space remains key to understanding our changing climate. Students in grades 8 through 12 here in the US are getting an opportunity to learn more about these satellites and their contributions to the study of long-term climate behavior through a free online series offered by the AMSAT Youth Initiative.
The coursework is designed to let students progress through the material independently. The first installment is called "An Introduction to Satellite Meteorology," and will be followed by the next release in June. Future topics include Wildlife and Natural Resources, Navigation, Climate Change and Pollution Control.
Visit buzzsat-dot-com to see more details about the course.
