Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 for Friday, August 18, 2017 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2077 with a release date of Friday, August 18, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Disappointing news for shortwave fans in Australia. A special plea for QSL cards for a very ill youngster in Michigan -- and we meet a ham with a VERY high-flying antenna! All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** NO REVIVAL OF AUSTRALIAN SHORTWAVE NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story comes from Australia. For a while hope was still alive for some radio listeners after the Australia Broadcasting Corporation pulled the plug on its shortwave service. Not anymore, however. With that update, here's John Williams VK4JJW. JOHN'S REPORT: There will be no restoration of shortwave service for the Australia Broadcasting Corporation. The Australian senate has voted down a measure that would have put the transmissions back on the air. South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon was among those who fought for Radio Australia to go back on the air, following its termination in January. He called the shutdown a foreign policy failure, noting that a number of Pacific Island communities in remote areas, such as the Solomon Islands and Papua, New Guinea, relied on it. The transmissions covered remote parts of northern Australia as well. At the time the service termination was announced, the ABC declared shortwave to be outdated and indicated its closure would save $1.9 million which could be better spent on additional content and services to customers. It said it would reinvest that sum by expanding audience content and services. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams VK4JJW. (RADIO NEW ZEALAND) ** BACK TO DAYTON: THIS TIME FOR THE AIR FORCE NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you need another reason to go back to Dayton so soon after Hamvention? Well, there's a big event happening in September at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and volunteer hams are needed. We hear more about it from Phil Thomas W8RMJ, who shares this report courtesy of Amateur News Weekly. PHIL THOMAS: The U.S. Air Force Marathon is rapidly approaching. Approximately 65 radio operators will be needed to support the marathon on Saturday Sept. 16 at Dayton Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This world class event has over 25 thousand participants, volunteers and spectators in attendance each year. This will also be the 70th anniversary for the U.S. Air Force, which was formed on Sept. 18, 1947. If you are a technician or higher class amateur and would like to help or if you have questions, contact Dave Crawford KF4KWW lead amateur volunteer via email at kf4kww@arrl.net. NEIL/ANCHOR: That was Phil Thomas W8RMJ of Amateur News Weekly. For more news in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana area, visit their website at amateurnewsweekly-dot-com (amateurnewsweekly.com) ** RAC MEMBERS VOTE IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO NEIL/ANCHOR: Things are heating up in the province of Ontario where voting is beginning for the selection of a new regional director. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has more. JEREMY: Balloting has opened to elect a new director for the Ontario South Region of the Radio Amateurs of Canada. The two candidates are Philip McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ and Igor Slakva, VE3ZF/VA3YDX. Ballots should be returned by regular mail to RAC Headquarters by noon on Friday, September 15. The address is: RAC Corporate Secretary, Radio Amateurs of Canada, 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217, Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5 Philip is an IT consultant who has been an RAC member for 14 years and has been active in emergency communications planning for amateur radio. He is a member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System. Igor is a network analyst and an RAC member who is an active DXpeditioner and contester. For a more detailed bio on both candidates visit the RAC website at wp-dot-rac-dot-ca (wp.rac.ca) Meanwhile, RAC volunteers are in the process of sending ballot papers out to the membership in Canada. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (RAC) ** A BOOST FOR BOUVET ISLAND DXPEDITION NEIL/ANCHOR: Paying for a DXpedition can be as big a deal as the DXpedition itself - but the radio operators heading next year to Bouvet Island just got a major boost. Jason Daniels VK2LAW tells us more. JASON'S REPORT: Never mind what the calendar says - 2018 just got a whole lot closer for the Bouvet Island Dxpedition team 3Y0Z. The hams just received a $100,000 grant - the largest ever given by the Northern California DX Foundation - for their ambitious undertaking early next year. The international team has been active on seven continents and, with a fundraising goal of $740,500, is looking to have its operators activate what some have called the world's most isolated island, one thousand miles north of Antarctic, where 97 percent of its surface is covered in ice. The team has already gotten support from the German DX Foundation, the Eastern Iowa DX Association, the Twin City DX Association and the Greater Milwaukee DX Association, among numerous others. Bouvet Island, which has had a handful of activations, is presently the second most wanted entity on the DXCC list. Expecting limited support from its ship, and operating at a high elevation, the team writes on its website [quote]: "This place will challenge our comfort zone." [endquote] It will also challenge the world's amateurs who will key their mics and and hope for the best. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW. (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS) ** RSGB CONVENTION TEAMS UP WITH AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM NEIL/ANCHOR: A gathering of amateurs and radio enthusiasts in Great Britain in October is going to be two events in one. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us about what's planned. JEREMY'S REPORT: When the Radio Society of Great Britain holds its annual convention at the Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton Keynes in October it will share the spotlight with the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium. That is expected to bring a bonus of speakers focused on AMSAT-UK activities. The subjects will include the recent International Space Station contact with the Youngers on the Air activation at Gilwell Park. There will also be a talk by ISS Amateur Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom N5VHO who will cover almost anything and everything about the ARISS program. A presentation on amateur satellites will be given by David Johnson G4DPZ who will give tips on how hams can get started. Open Source software-defined radio will be discussed by Alexandru Csete, OZ9AEC. Both the RSGB and AMSAT-UK will be holding dinners on Saturday, October 14th, each catering to their own groups. The two-day event concludes on the 15th of October. For more details, visit the website at amsat-hyphen-uk-dot-org-slash-colloquium (amsat-uk.org/colloquium). For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH ** ECLIPSE HAS GOT SOLAR POWER NEIL/ANCHOR: Like most of the rest of North America, if not the world, we are awaiting reports on the impact of the sun, Earth and moon's alignment for a few moments on Monday, Aug. 21. A number of amateur radio teams will be experimenting with transmission everywhere, from operators at the new Texas Museum of Broadcasting & Communications in Texas to the Great American Eclipse Special Events Station W4E, in the center of the eclipse's path, during the Eclipse QSO Party. All eyes - carefully shielded, of course - will be looking toward a sun that isn't there - for a few moments, anyway. Find information before, during and after at eclipse2017.nasa.gov and be listening for results. (KILGORE NEWS HERALD) ** BREAK HERE Time to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world including the K7TMF repeater on Fridays at 5 p.m. local time in Spokane, Washington - right in the Zone of Totality for this year's solar eclipse. ** QSL CARDS BECOME BIRTHDAY CARDS FOR AILING LITTLE BOY NEIL/ANCHOR: A critically ill little boy in Michigan has just inspired a new reason to send QSL cards. In this case the cards don't confirm a successful contact - they hopefully can initiate one. This is a QST from Christian Cudnik K0STH, host of the 100 Watts and a Wire podcast, - and he explains why he's reaching out: CHRISTIAN: Oakley is a 6-year-old little boy from Alma Michigan that I ‘ve never met. He was born with a rare birth defect called Prune Belly Syndrome. It’s so rare his future is unknown. As a parent, it’s the unthinkable. His story surfaces in a flood of news that focuses on things that divide us. On September 3rd, Oakley turns 7. With all of the challenges in his life, all he is asking for is birthday cards. Mom says receiving mail keeps him busy and it makes him happy. I am asking the amateur radio community to repurpose their QSL cards. Normally, we send cards after a contact. Let’s use them as birthday cards and do something that’s positive for a little boy and a family that really needs it right now. We all want a better future for our children. Maybe this simple act can help us get closer to the things that bring us together, and maybe… he’ll write back! NEIL/ANCHOR: Thank you, Christian. To send a QSL card and some cheer to Oakley you can write him at Oakley Savickas, P.O. Box 201, Alma, Michigan, U.S.A. 48801. ** ARDF: A-HUNTING THEY WILL GO NEIL/ANCHOR: Ham radio operators of all ages went into an Ohio forest recently, where they found transmitters - and a new group of worldwide friends. For the story, here's ARRL's ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell (MELL) K-zero-O-V. JOE'S REPORT: They came from all over the USA, plus Australia, Canada, Germany and Ukraine. They ranged in age from 13 through 75. They took to the courses with eagerness and many went home with medals. I'm talking about the Seventeenth USA National Championships of Amateur Radio Direction Finding (that's ARDF), which took place near Harrison, Ohio from August 3 through 6. The 4,000-acre Miami Whitewater Forest and other nearby wooded sites attracted over eighty fans of the sport, which is also called foxtailing and radio-orienteering. Rules for ARDF competitions are established by the IARU. The object is always to find as many of the required transmitters as possible in the shortest time and then navigate to the finish line, using only one's own direction-finding equipment plus a compass and the provided map. There were classic competitions on separate days on the two-meter and 80-meter bands with up to five transmitters to find. Course lengths, from start to each required transmitter and then to the finish, ranged from 2.8 to 7.1 kilometers, depending on the age/gender category of the participant. Organizing and staging these championships were members of the OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Society. Additional volunteers were members of Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN), which also provided the event maps. Competitors in all events were divided into six age categories for males and five for females, with medals awarded to winners in each category. The four championship events were preceded by three days of informal training in other nearby parks. USA's national championships are open, meaning that radio-orienteers from other countries are welcome on the courses. These visitors compete for individual medals in a separate division. This year, that division included approximately forty middle- and high-school students from southern China, along with some instructors and parents. Complete results of all events in these Championships are available online in at www.ardfusa.com. Many photos are being posted at www.homingin.com, where there is also much more information about the growing sport of ARDF. That's homingin, as one word, homingin.com. Plans are already under way for next year's national championships. They are expected to take place in early June, in time for selection of ARDF Team USA, which will travel to Korea for the 19th ARDF World Championships in September 2018. Team members will be selected from the best of USA's performers at the 2017 and 2018 USA Championships. For Amateur Radio Newline, this is Joe Moell, K-zero-O-V. ** SCOUTS PREP FOR WORLDWIDE EVENT NEIL/ANCHOR: Barely two months after this summer's Boys Scouts of America Jamboree, scouts around the world are preparing for even more QSOs. We have those details from Ed Durrant DD5LP. ED'S REPORT: Scouts in South Africa await their turn for a jamboree experience, which will come on the weekend of October 20th through 22nd. Their participation in the worldwide scouting event promises to pack some extra promise this year. Based on last year's statistics in South Africa, the 2016 Jamboree saw the number of young licensees in South Africa rise by a dramatic 400 percent. Those statistics were released by Richard Hooper ZS6RKE, the National JOTA/JOTI Coordinator for Scouts South Africa, who will be accepting South African registration for the event in just another week or so. Over the next few weeks Scout organizers are encouraged to plan to host events and to participate. Those young radio operators will be in good company on the air and online. The worldwide event is marking 60 years of connections and at least 1 million youngsters representing more than 150 nations will be involved.Richard asks that anyone in South Africa with questions about organizing, or simply assisting, to contact him directly via email at richard-dot-hooper-at-scouts-dot-org-dot-za. (richard.hooper@scouts.org.za) For Amateur Radio Newsline this is Ed Durrant DD5LP. (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, SCOUTS SOUTH AFRICA) ** WORLD OF DX Doug, W6HB, will be active as E51DLD between Aug. 27 and Sept. 8 from Rarotonga Island. Listen for Doug on 160-10 meters using SSB. He will be operating holiday style. Send QSLs via his home callsign. He only wants QSL cards, no LoTW, no eQSLs or QRZ.com logs. In French Polynesia, listen for Heinz, DF1YP, operating as FO/DF1YP from Moorea Island between September 6th and October 1st. Activity will be holiday style and on 20/17/15 meters using SSB and the Digital modes. Send QSLs via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau, which is preferred. Listen for a pair of South African operators in the Sani Pass area of Lesotho until the 21st of August. They are using the callsigns 7P8VRR and 7P8QM and operating on 40, 20 and 15m. In Samoa, be listening for Bert CX3AN between the 19th and 26th of August. His callsign is 5W0HA and he is on 40 and 30m CW and 20 and 17m SSB. QSLs go via his home call. (IRTS, OHIO PENN DX) ** KICKER: A HAM WITH A HIGH-FLYING ANTENNA NEIL/ANCHOR: We end this week's report with this story of a ham in the British Isles who likes to get his signal out no matter which way the wind is blowing. That's because Nigel Utting GJ7LJJ [Gee-Jay-Seven-Ell-Jay-Jay), sometimes uses a portable kite antenna so if the wind is blowing it takes his wire straight into the sky. Clearly his antenna doesn't fly as high as the signals he hopes to be transmitting but recently the Jersey-based ham got a little extra on-air help: He became part of a televised broadcast report by ITV news weather presenter Sophia Bird. She interviewed him as part of her five-day forecast and asked about his kite antenna. Nigel told her that on that particular day, he was able to copy plenty of other stations but wasn't really having a good day getting his signal out. Think again, Nigel! In those few moments, everyone who was tuned into ITV News knew exactly who you were - and gave you and your kite antenna a 5 and 9. (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS, ITV NEWS) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; ITV News; the Kilgore, Texas News Herald; Ohio Penn DX Bulletin; Scouts South Africa; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Radio Amateurs of Canada; Radio New Zealand; WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Please send emails to our address at newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. 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 Bloomington, Indiana saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.