Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2204 for Friday January 24th 2020 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2204 with a release date of Friday January 24th 2020 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. There's a new CEO at the ARRL. An antenna deal goes bad for the U.S. military -- and software-defined radio and AM radio get their own tributes on the air. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2204 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** ARRL VOTE OUSTS CEO HOWARD MICHEL WB2ITX STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In our top story this week, a new chief executive is in place at the American Radio Relay League. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB has that report. RALPH: In a move that has generated a buzz throughout some of the amateur community, the board of the American Radio Relay League voted against re-electing Howard Michel WB2ITX as chief executive officer. Effective Monday January 20th Barry Shelley N1VXY became interim CEO of the league. This is Barry Shelley's second tour as interim CEO. The league's chief financial officer for 28 years, he was also chosen as interim CEO following the retirement of Tom Gallagher NY2RF in 2018. Howard Michel's short tenure as CEO began in October of 2018. As speculation continues on a successor, a search committee has been created to review candidates. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. (ARRL) ** U.S. MILITARY REPORTEDLY SCAMMED BY ANTENNA DEAL STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you've ever bought a piece of radio equipment that turned out NOT to be quite what you'd ordered, you're in good company with some folks at the Pentagon. Kent Peterson KC0DGY has that story. KENT: The United States Navy's Special Warfare Command thought it was buying 450 VHF/UHF ultra-light wearable body antennas for use by its elite Navy SEAL teams. Instead it got scammed by a delivery of cheap knockoff antennas, according to federal officials quoted in a recent report on the website Quartz. The Navy had been shopping last year specifically for antennas made by the New York-based company, Mastodon Design. The antennas were to be delivered by a small business authorized to be a dealer or reseller of Mastodon products. The winning bid was submitted by California-based Vizocom which -- according to the Navy's account of the deal -- instead delivered lower-cost substitutes that had been provided with fake spec sheets and serial numbers identifying them as Mastodon products. It cost the Pentagon $165,000 but according to investigators' review of the company's purchase order, Vizocom paid little more than $12,000 for the antennas. Details in a government search warrant of Vizocom's premises in December said that when the special operations force received the antennas, their poor quality was evident and they looked different from previous Mastodon products used by the SEALs. According to Quartz, the investigation is still under way. No official charges have been filed. Vizocom has done more than $30 million in recent business with the U.S. government, much of it with the military. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY. (QUARTZ) ** YEAR-LONG EVENT CELEBRATES THE DAWN OF SDR STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For most of 2020 hams will be marking the anniversary of a groundbreaking development more than 3 decades ago. Ed Durrant DD5LP has the details. ED: What began in a lecture given in 1985 by Ulrich L. Rohde, DJ2LR / N1UL, has since transformed much of the amateur radio landscape. His talk came at the dawn of digital signal processing via Software Defined Radio, or SDR. SDR is now considered the standard when it comes to generating or decoding radio signals - and Ulrich Rohde is considered a pioneer. In 1982 he was part of a team working at RCA under a U.S. Department of Defense Contract which led to the first software-defined radio's development. Special event station DL35SDR, which began activity this month, is marking the 35 years since he delivered his lecture in London at a conference on HF communications. The special event station will be on the air throughout much of the year operating from the greater Munich area where Ulrich's family busines, the test-equipment company Rohde and Schwartz, is based. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP. (SOUTHGATE) ** RADIO GETS READY FOR ANNUAL AM RALLY STEPHEN/ANCHOR: As modern as SDR may be, amateurs still appreciate radio's legacy -- in this case, its earliest voice mode. Get ready for a rally on AM. Jack Parker W8ISH has the details. JACK: Ham radio operators are getting a chance to turn back time, at least for a little while, between the 1st and 3rd of February during the fourth annual AM Rally. It doesn't matter whether your rig is a new piece of SDR equipment, or a homebrew rig with vacuum tubes, a trusty old boat anchor or something somewhere in between. It also doesn't matter whether you get on 160 metres, 6 metres or any of the amateur frequencies in between. You can run as few as 5 watts or take your power to the legal limit. This event is all about celebrating amplitude modulation - and celebrating the hams who opt in for the fun of it on that weekend. In addition to awards in different categories there will also be special recognition for longest transmission heard, lowest power used, most unique equipment and working W1AW, the headquarters station of the ARRL, one of the sponsors along with Radio Engineering Associates and iNetRadio. Visit the website at amrally dot com (amrally.com) for more details. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jack Parker W8ISH. ** GERMAN AMATEURS GRANTED ACCESS TO 4 METRE FREQUENCIES STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams in Germany who grew accustomed to making contact on 4m are once again able to enjoy those QSOs. We hear more from Ed Durrant DD5LP. ED: Amateur radio operators in Germany have again been granted use of part of the 4 metre band through to the end of 2020. Holders of a Class A licence will be permitted to transmit using any mode on frequencies between 70.150 and 70.200 MHz, under the same conditions that were in place during 2019. This means only horizontally polarized antennas may be used and a maximum effective radiated power of 25 watts. Use of special call signs, portable operation and remote-controlled stations are not being permitted. Detailed logs must be kept of all contacts. Use of the 4-metre band by hams in Germany was halted in 1957 and amateur use was only returned on a temporary basis starting in 2014. For Amateur Radio Newsline this is Ed Durrant DD5LP. ** NETS OF NOTE: THE HAM STRINGS NET STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our occasional series "Nets of Note" returns this week. Paul Braun WD9GCO tells us why QSOs here can be music to a radio operator's ears. PAUL: This week’s “Nets of Note” feature should really be titled, “Net of Notes” since it’s all about a regular gathering of musicians called “The Ham Strings Net.” I spoke with net control/founder Scott DeMatteo, W3GTR, about how it all came together: DeMATTEO: In Spring of 2019, myself and a few other gentlemen were talking on 40 meters one evening. We were all talking when one of them asked me about my callsign, W3GTR, and I said the “GTR” is a vanity callsign for “guitar” because I kinda have an obsession with guitars — I play them and collect them. And he goes, “Well, I’m a bass player and I own a music store out in Ohio, or used to own a music store out in Ohio!” And then this other gentleman from Florida was talking with us and he’s a musician and before you know it, every night we’d get together and more and more musicians were showing up! ??And I’m thinking this is a weird thing, you know. We’re all ham radio operators but we’re all musicians — there must be a correlation there. So, I said to them one night, “Well, why don’t we get a net going? And seeing as we’re kinda meeting regularly anyway, why don’t we make it a little more official and try to get some people in from the outside involved in it?” They thought it was a great idea. PAUL: The net’s name was suggested by the wife of one of the members, and they all agreed that since most of them played stringed instruments, it was perfect. The net meets on Monday evenings around 7.223 Mhz from 0030 to 0200 UTC. For more information, look for them on Facebook as The Ham Strings Net. The only requirement to join is that you have a valid license. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Paul Braun, WD9GCO. ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world. This week we welcome shortwaveradio broadcasting from Germany into the UK, Ireland and western Europe. Hear Newsline on 3975 kHz on Saturdays at 2100 UTC; on Sundays at 10:00 and 21:00 UTC and on Mondays at 09:00 UTC. For other hours and a schedule of broadcasts on 6160 kHz see the printed version of this script on our website arnewsline.org. [DO NOT READ - FOR PRINT ONLY: Saturdays: 21:00 UTC on 3975 kHz; Sundays, 10:00 UTC on 3975 kHz and 6160 kHz, 14:00 UTC on 6160 kHz and 21:00 UTC on 3975 kHz. Mondays, 09:00 UTC on 3975 kHz and 6160 kHz; 18:00 UTC on 3975 kHz and 23:00 UTC on 3975 kHz; Wednesdays at 14:00 UTC on 3975 kHz and 6160 kHz] ** AUSTRALIA CELEBRATES OSCAR 5'S 50th ANNIVERSARY STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Australia is marking a proud moment right now as it celebrates one half-century since the launch of an amateur satellite built by hams and scientists there. Robert Broomhead VK3DN tells us about Oscar 5. ROBERT: Fifty years ago on the 23rd of January 1970, Australis Oscar A, the first successful satellite to be constructed in Australia, was launched into orbit from the western range of the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was the first amateur satellite to be launched by NASA and following the launch it officially became Oscar 5. Oscar 5 was built during 1966 by members of the Melbourne University Astronautical Society and the amateur radio club together with help from other amateurs and the WIA. It was taken to the United States in mid-1967 but not launched until the 23rd of of Janaury 1970 following the formation of the AMSAT organisation which took over the responsibilities of the by-then defunct OSCAR organisation. Australis Oscar A was launched on a Thor Delta vehicle which also placed a weather satellite TIROS-M, later ITOS-1, into a near-polar orbit at around 900 miles or 1300 km in height. Oscar 5 had no translator facility but it did carry the most elaborate telemetry system of any amateur satellite at that time. Australis Oscar 5 operated successfully until mid February 1970 when its batteries failed although the 29.45 mhz transmitter continued to radiate carrier for another week or two. This pioneering activity is a largely forgotten part of Australia's early space history. After 50 years we salute our citizen scientists and yesterday's makers who are mostly amateur radio operators. Oscar 5 is still orbiting our planet. For Amateur Radio Newsline this has been Robert Broomhead VK3DN. (WIA) ** YOUTH CAMP GETS MATCHING DONATIONS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Organizers of the 2020 Youth on the Air summer camp report that a matching fund drive has begun and will continue until the end of February thanks to the generosity of Steve KM9G. This will be the first such camp for young amateurs in the Americas and the matched donations will increase the number of campers who can attend. For details on how to donate visit youthontheair.org ** TIME TO NOMINATE CANDIDATES FOR HAMVENTION AWARDS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you know an outstanding club or a notable radio amateur, now's the time to tell the Hamvention awards panel about them. Phil Thomas W8RMJ, who brings Amateur News Weekly's reports to hams in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, shares this report with us. PHIL: The 2020 Hamvention Awards Committee has opened nominations for this year’s awards. To make nominations for: Special Achievement, techical achievement, amateur of the year and club of the year, go to the awards page on the Internet for more details and nomination forms. The URL is: hamvention.org/event-details/awards Again the URL is: hamvention.org/event-details/awards Nominations close February the 15th, 2020. For Amateur Radio Newsline and Amateur News Weekly, this is Phil Thomas, W8RMJ. ** FRIENDS HELP FULFILL DREAM HELD BY A SILENT KEY STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For one group of YLs, the bonds of radio friendship can never be dissolved - even after that friend's station has gone forever silent. For that story we turn to Heather Embee K-B-3-T-ZED-D. HEATHER: An international group of YLs is united as much in friendship as in grief for a Silent Key among them. Her name was Carine DuBois and her call sign was F5ISY. She died last November before she could see one of her dreams to completion - the staging of a worldwide contest, "The Day of YLs," to celebrate women on the radio everywhere. Jenni Eileen Jones M0HZT is among the many YLs worldwide working to make it happen. She told Newsline it will take place on the 24th and 25th of May on HF as well as VHF with operators using SSB, CW and RTTY. OMs are welcome too and of course Shortwave Listeners can also log the stations they hear. Jenni said many of the organizers knew Carine or had worked her station. The contest, which she'd dreamed of, is their tribute to her. The event has its own Facebook page where many of the YLs will be posting updates until contest weekend. Jenni said there is also a second contest planned - in November - to mark the anniversary of Carine's death. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Heather Embee KB3TZD. (JENNI EILEEN JONES M0HZT) ** TIGHTER SECURITY SURROUNDS SWEDISH LICENSES STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Candidates for radio permits in Sweden are being asked to have a lot more patience as their paperwork is being processed. The reason? National security. Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains. JEREMY: National security concerns are slowing the handling of amateur radio permits in Sweden, according to a recent report from the SSA, the Swedish society of radio amateurs. The nation's telecommunications regulator is advising applicants to allow extra time for the processing of their paperwork because of a more thorough review required from 1st January. Sweden's Electronic Communications Act has new provisions that require additional oversight by the Armed Forces and Security Police. The SSA estimates the paperwork will now take a minimum of 2 or 3 more weeks beyond the customary waiting period. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE) ** WORLD OF DX On Reunion Island, Roland F8EN will be active as FR/F8EN starting the 29th of January. He will be active until the 19th of March and will be operating CW only on all HF bands. QSL to F6AJA. Listen for Hiro JG1SXP using the call sign 8Q7HK from Maldive Islands from February 19th to 24th. He will be on 80 through 10 metres and possibly 160 metres using SSB, CW and FT8. QSL via LoTW. The TI9A team will be on the air from Cocos Island from the 1st through the 12th of February. Listen for them on all bands using all modes. Send QSLs to UA3DX, ClubLog OQRS or by LOTW. Be listening for Peter DC-ZERO-KK who is on the air as 4S7KKG from Sri Lanka until the 30th of March. He can be most readily found using CW and the digital modes. Send QSLs to his home call sign, direct or by the bureau. He will upload all QSOs to LoTW and ClubLog. (OHIO PENN DX) ** KICKER: DIVING DEEP FOR 'THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS RADIO' STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For our final story, we ask: What extremes would YOU go to to get your hands on an old radio? If that radio is the wireless transmitter that operator Jack Phillips used on April 15, 1912 to summon help for the doomed RMS Titanic, those extremes likely include ocean depths. The United States company that has salvage rights to the wreckage is ready to make that trip - and soon. It's asking a U.S. District Court judge in Eastern Virginia to approve an undersea expedition to the ship's interior to retrieve the Marconi transmitter that summoned the RMS Carpathia. It sent the message: "Come at once. We have struck a berg. It's a CQD, old man." In an agreement reached recently between the two countries, Britain and the United States both have the authority to grant or refuse permission for such missions. RMS Titanic Inc., the U.S. company hoping to make the trip, noted in its court papers that while the radio room itself has stayed somewhat unscathed, holes are forming in the deckhouse directly above it, placing the Marconi set in peril. The Washington Post said that Parks Stephenson, a Titanic expert, called the transmitter "the world's most famous radio." (WASHINGTON POST) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; Jenni Eileen Jones M-ZERO-ZED-H-T; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ.COM; Quartz; Radio Society of Great Britain; SpaceAustralia.com; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the Washington Post; Wireless Institute of Australia; 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, Happy New Year and as always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. **