Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2200 for Friday December 27th 2019 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2200 with a release date of Friday December 27th 2019 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. In the Philippines, hams brace for another typhoon. Radio helps an Indian family reunite after 50 years -- and neighbors obstruct another amateur radio tower in the U.S. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2200 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** HAMS RALLY AS TYPHOON PHANFONE HITS PHILIPPINES STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with breaking news. As Newsline went to production, Christmas Day brought misery and destruction once again to the Philippines. JoJo Vicencio DU1VHY told Newsline in a Christmas Eve email that Typhoon Phanfone (fan-PHONE) had moved in. Iver DV6ILA, who was operating QRP inside a church, was already reporting severe flooding in the province of Capiz. Jojo said hams in the Philippines Amateur Radio Association’s Ham Emergency Radio Operations Network had activated. They reported that the island of Samar and Tacloban (TOCK-LOW-BON) City had already lost power and cell phone service, some as a direct action by the power companies. He said hams were continuing to monitor the 40 metre band where they were conducting emergency operations at 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time and also monitoring typhoon status via the government's weather bureau and social media. Newsline will continue to follow this story and post updates on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. (JOJO VICENCIO DU1VHY) ** INDIAN FAMILY REUNITED AFTER 50 YEARS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: This next story is about the timeless power of amateur radio. In India, it's what led to a family reunion that ended a separation that spanned more than 5 difficult decades. Graham Kemp VK4BB has that story. GRAHAM: An elderly man who'd gone missing from home in his 20s - and for whom a death certificate in the meantime had been issued - is back home with his family in Odisha, India with the help of amateur radio operators. The West Bengal Radio Club's secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA, had noticed the 75-year-old resting on a bench. Though the man did not speak to him, Ambarish befriended him over time, bringing him food, a blanket and a mosquito net. When the man finally spoke and said his name was Charu, Ambarish recognized that he was from Odisha. He contacted a ham there - Dushyant Kumar Das - who was able to track down the man's family home based on his memories of what it looked like 57 years ago, the last time Charu had been there. Dushyant found the location and eventually tracked down Charu's younger brother, Ajay who recounted how after Charu had gone missing and could not be located, had been declared dead. The Odisha hams relayed the Charu's return. Subir Datta VU3ZSD president of the West Bengal Radio Club, told the Millennium Post, "We are happy to help a person to reunite with his family after so many years." For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB. STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We remind our listeners that the West Bengal Radio Club was recently chosen Newsline's inaugural International Newsmaker of the Year for 2019. (MILLENNIUM POST) ** CONTEST UNIVERSITY IN DAYTON NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Students have already begun registering for Contest University at the 2020 Dayton Hamvention. Contest University will be held on Thursday the 14th of May, one day before Hamvention itself opens on the fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Classes will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dayton. Organizers expect to post the course outline shortly. Interested hams should visit the website at contestuniversity dot com (contestuniversity.com). This coming spring will mark the university's 14th year in Dayton. Don't wait too long: Organizers report that last year's registration was a sellout. ** GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR AUSTRALIAN YLs STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The cost of becoming licensed in Australia has become a little easier for some YLs, thanks to one amateur radio group down under. John Williams VK4JJW has the details. JOHN: If you live in Australia and you're a YL hoping for a licence upgrade - or simply to get your Foundation level - the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association, or ALARA, can help. ALARA provides grants to qualifying YLs in an amount that is equal to about half the cost of fees for assessment, licence and callsign. The grant also provides YLs will a complimentary one-year membership. According to the ALARA website, applicants need to submit their receipts and any other relevant documentation once they have completed the qualification process. They should be submitted to the ALARA secretary Jean VK5TSX. Application forms and additional details about the timetable for applications are available on the website alara dot org dot au (alara.org.au) For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW. (ALARA) ** AMATEUR RADIO EXHIBIT CLOSING IN LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you're in the Los Altos, California area, you have only a few more days to visit the Los Altos History Museum's exhibit on amateur radio, which opened on December 3rd. "Ham for the Holidays: Amateur Radio Operators Then and Now" is set to close on January 5th. The free exhibit in the J. Gilbert Smith House is a history lesson on amateur radio's public service role and also highlights various types of amateur radio equipment. The display also shares archival photos of radio operators and explains how hams communicate with one another. The amateur radio exhibit is complemented by a larger exhibit the museum is hosting in its main gallery on community preparedness. That exhibit, which is also free, will remain open until January 19th. (LOS ALTOS MUSEUM WEBSITE) ** HISTORIC UK CONTROL TOWER NOW HOME TO AMATEUR CLUB STATION STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A control tower in the UK with an established place in history is now home to a local radio society. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has that story. JEREMY: At one time, the Greenham Control Tower was a focal point for troops during the English Civil War in the 17th century, as well as a significant military establishment in the 18th and 19th centuries. Now the tower, which is owned and restored by the Greenham Parish Council, is a regular assembly spot for amateurs calling QRZ. It officially went on the air on Saturday 14th December with the president of the Radio Society of Great Britain, David Wilson M0OBW and Newbury's deputy mayor Billy Drummond in attendance. NADARS -The Newbury and District Amateur Radio Society G5XV - had worked on establishing the station, which will also be able to work the QO-100 geostationary satellite. The club also has access to a Yaesu Fusion combined digital and analogue FM repeater. The club's chairman Jeremy Willis G4DOQ told the newspaper [quote]: "NADARS has been looking for somewhere to set up a permanent station for some time and the location of Greenham Control Tower exactly fits our criteria." [endquote] The tower is also a visitors’ centre and community gathering spot which opened in 2018 to draw the local public's attention to the tower's military legacy. Now with a ham shack on the premises that story can now be heard around the world. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (GREENHAMTOWERORG.UK, NEWBURY TODAY) ** NEIGHBORS TRY TO BLOCK AMATEUR'S TOWER IN MASSACHUSETTS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's a familiar scene to more than a few hams: The plan for a tower stirs the angry neighbors. Kent Peterson KC0DGY catches up with the latest case in New England. KENT: Neighbors in Framingham, Massachusetts filled the hearing room at City Hall on December 11th hoping their opposition would kill plans for the 80-foot radio tower being built by local amateur Mikhail Filippov KD1MF. Mikhail was granted a building permit for the project but residents have challenged the city's action, taking their case to the local Zoning Board of Appeals. They claim the tower is an eyesore and will hurt property values. Neighbors believe the city issued the permit improperly and that the tower doesn't comply with city zoning. The building commissioner has rejected that argument, calling amateur towers exempt from local laws that apply to so-called wireless communication facilities. The case, however, has not gone forward. Mikhail's attorney Fred Hopengarten notified the zoning board that he was going to be out of town. The board members voted to continue the hearing and rehear the case after reviewing material submitted by both sides. Hopengarten previously argued to officials that amateur radio operators have the protection of state and federal laws because their presence provides an important public service. In the meantime, even with his attorney absent, Mikhail chose to speak directly to his neighbors at the hearing. He told them he would agree to halt construction of the tower until zoning officials reconvene next month. The next hearing is January 8th. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY. (METROWEST DAILY NEWS) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WA9RDF repeater of the MidState Amateur Radio Club in Greenwood Indiana on Sundays at 7 p.m. local time. ** VIRGINIA AMATEUR PAYS TRIBUTE TO FIRST HOLIDAY CONCERT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you were listening on Christmas Eve to 486 kHz, you were probably enjoying a tribute to Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden coordinated by Brian Justin WA1ZMS of Virginia. Thanks to an FCC Part 5 Experimental License WI2XLQ, Brian conducted a 24-hour transmission designed to recreate the world's first Christmas concert broadcast, similar to the one by Reginald Fessenden on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in 1906. Brian made use of more modern equipment, of course, much of it homebrew. In case you missed those sounds of the season, the holiday spirit is not gone just yet: Reports say he will repeat the program on New Year's Eve. (ARRL) ** SOUTH AFRICAN SYMPOSIUM NEEDS PRESENTERS' PAPERS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Papers are needed for presentation at a symposium being held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Robert Broomhead VK3DN tells how to submit your ideas. ROBERT: It's not too early to start thinking about the seminars planned for the second annual symposium on ham radio technology being held by the South African Radio League. The league has issued a call for papers that can be presented in Johannesburg where the symposium will begin on the 3rd of April at the Wanderers Conference Centre. The symposium's theme is "Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology." Interested authors are being asked to submit their proposals no later than the 15th of January by sending a Word document to AR-TO-TODAY at SARL dot ORG dot ZA (artotoday@sarl.org.za). Each speaker will receive a time allotment of no more than 20 minutes, with an additional 10-minute session for questions and answers. Organisers will publish the final programme on the 31st of January. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN. (SARL) ** START THE NEW YEAR WITH AMSAT'S CW ACTIVITY DAY STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Want to start the New Year with things looking up? Try participating in the AMSAT CW Activity Day on January 1st. This is a worldwide event that is being held in memory of Larry Brown, W7LB, and Keith Pugh, W5IU. The two hams were known for their presence on the AMSAT 20-meter net and their efforts helped AMSAT grow. To participate in the event, operate through any amateur radio satellite on the first day of the new year - and feel free to use a straight key or a bug. Even though this event was once known as Satellite Straight Key Night, there are no restrictions on what you use to send code. Amateurs are reminded, however, that use of AO-7 requires QRP operation. (AMSAT) ** BOOK ABOUT ANTARCTICA BY UKRAINIAN HAM BREAKS THE ICE STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A Ukranian biologist is sharing his science and radio adventures in the Antarctic. Ed Durrant DD5LP has the details. ED: Pavlo Tarasoviych UT1KY knows how to break the ice with high school students: He simply shares the adventures he had when he was living on the ice. Pavlo was part of the fifth Ukrainian scentific expedition to Antarctica from 2000 to 2001. Amateur radio operators who are Antarctic chasers likely remember him from his activations in the South Shetland Islands, on Galindez Island and Peterman Island, among others. But students will remember the Ukrainian biologist as the guest author who visited their classroom on December 17th. He was there to discuss his book "Antarctica, the Sixth Continent," which is an overview of the southern continent's history as well as its birds and other animals. The book, which is available in English, is also rich with pictures taken at the time Pavlo was at the Vernadsky Research Base where the Ukrainian Antarctic Program conducts much of its work. It was there that many hams who worked him received a QSL card with a cartoon of him operating alongside penguin onlookers as EM1KY. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP. (QRZ.COM, WORLDWIDE ANTARCTIC PROGRAM) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, a team of Tunisian radio amateurs is traveling to Algeria on a joint Low Bands DXpedition being conducted with a team of Algerian hams. They will be on the air between the 28th of December and the 2nd of January. The operators can be heard on 160 and 80 metres as well as some of the other HF bands and on satellite. They will operate CW, SSB and FT8. Send QSL cards to 7X2RO. You can also QSL via LoTW. Listen for Sergey, RX3AMY, using the call sign 8Q7BS in the Maldives between the 3rd and 23rd of January. He will be operating holiday style, mainly on 40 and 20 metres using mostly SSB but a little CW. Send QSLs to his home call. In the Gambia, be listening for Przemyslaw, SP3PS, who will use the call sign C5SP between the 27th of December and the 17th of January. Listen for him on 20 through 6 metres using SSB and FT8/FT4. He will mainly call on 20m, but has said he will be on the other bands including LF in SSB. Send QSLs to SP3PS, direct, LoTW or on eQSL. You have until the 7th of January to work Arie, PA4ARI, who is active as PZ/PA4ARI in Suriname. Listen for Arie on 80, 40 and 20 metres where he will be using SSB, FT4 and FT8. Send QSLs to his home call, direct or by the bureau. (OHIO PENN DX) ** KICKER: ONE HAM'S MAKER MOVEMENT PROJECT: A FILM SET IN CUBA STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For our final story this week, we celebrate ingenuity. Hams are known for it but, as one filmmaker has learned, so are the people of Cuba. Here's Mike Askins KE5CXP with that story. MIKE: On his first trip to Cuba with an American tour group in 2014, Levi Maaia K6LCM immediately recognized the ingenuity and self-sufficiency of the people there that were threads commonly held with radio amateurs and hobbyists throughout the world. That memory stayed vivid until Levi's next encounter with Cuba, which arrived via the HF bands the following year when he answered the CQ of Cuban station CO2YQ - a ham named Joel. The QSO lasted perhaps 6 minutes but its memory also left an enduring impression. Only weeks later - quite by coincidence - Levi got to visit Joel during a professional research trip to Cuba. In January, Levi is headed back to Cuba once more. Levi, who is a filmmaker, plans to start the new year laying the groundwork for a documentary about the tinkerers and inventive spirits of the Maker movement in this Caribbean island nation. Levi, who has worked for two decades in broadcasting and has been a ham since 2006, told Newsline in a recent email that he has assembled a team of industry veterans including executive producer Noah Mark, whose work has been seen on both broadcast and cable TV. Their film will be called "Making It in Cuba." Its progress can be seen on the website makingitincuba dot com. (makingitincuba.com) It will track Levi and his creative team in this Maker movement project of their own. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP. (LEVI MAAIA K6LCM, QST MAGAZINE) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to ALARA; AMSAT; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; Greenham Control Tower website; JoJo Vicencio DU1VHY; Levi Maaia K6LCM; Los Altos Museum website; MetroWest Daily News; Newbury Today; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ.com; Radio Society of Great Britain; QST Magazine; the South African Radio League; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Worldwide Antarctic Program; 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 at arnewsline.org. For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio saying 73, Merry Christmas and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2019. All rights reserved.