Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2349 for Friday November 4th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2349 with a release date of Friday November 4th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams on alert during the Philippine's latest cyclone. Bouvet Island Dxpeditioners announce their pilot team -- and a New York club looks at people who wrote the book - or books - on ham radio. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2349 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAMS AT THE READY IN PHILIPPINE CYCLONE

DON/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to the Philippines where a radio group called Ham Radio Emergency Operations was preparing for the region's latest cyclone. John Williams VK4JJW brings us up to date.

JOHN: A tropical cyclone delivered deadly flooding and landslides in the Philippines in late October, as dozens died and thousands of others sought shelter. Romy Isidro, DU1SMQ, chairman of the National Traffic System in the Philippines, said that Ham Radio Emergency Operations, or HERO, began monitoring emergency frequencies and awaiting further instructions.

Romy said that reports from cities and provinces indicated that much of the traffic over emergency frequencies were from the various localities for flooding, commercial electricity, impassable roads, destroyed bridges and requests for ambulance aid. When a wall collapsed, an amateur radio operator in Central Luzon, in Region 3, volunteered to relay word of that to the nearest Disaster Risk Reduction Office, which was already monitoring the emergency frequencies.

Romy said however that most of casualties and fatalities were reported in very poor regions of the Philippines where the lack of HF radios can complicate emergency communication. Offers of aid to the hardest-hit provinces came in from the United States, China, Japan, and Australia.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(ROMY ISIDRO, DU1SMQ; REUTERS)

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PILOTS SELECTED FOR 2023 BOUVET ACTIVATION

DON/ANCHOR: As the time draws closer for the Bouvet Island activation, new members of the team are being put into place as pilots. We have that update from Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

JIM: In preparation for the Three Y Zero Jay (3YØJ) DXpedition to Bouvet Island in early 2023, the team has announced the addition of pilots. These hams provide a critical role as intermediaries between the DXpedition team and the DX chasers. They will be keeping an eye on propagation in their designated parts of the world to help facilitate contacts. The chief pilot and pilot for Europe is Morten, LA3MHA; North America's East Coast will be covered by Steve, N2AJ. The West Coast of North America will have Rich, KE1B, as pilot. South America's pilot will be Siso, HK3W. Hams in VK/ZL/OC will have Lee, VK3GK, as pilot; and in Asia and Japan, hams will rely on Champ, E21EIC.

The  team expects to activate from the sub-Antarctic island between January 13th and February 28th.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(OHIO PENN DX, FACEBOOK)

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SILENT KEY: PORTABLE OP PROPONENT JANKO SLIVKA OM3WZ/OM3WCF

DON/ANCHOR: Hams in the radio community in the Slovak Republic have lost a leader and a friend. We hear about him from Ed Durrant DD5LP.

ED: Hams in the Slovak Republic are grieving the loss of a respected leader: Janko Slivka OM3WZ/OM3WCF, the former president of the Radio Club OM3VSZ, who has become a Silent Key. His death was announced on a number of online ham radio forums and on Facebook. The club's current president, Vlado Ludrovsky, OM3TWM, remembered him as a radio operator who combined his love of amateur radio with his love of outdoor sports, including cycling and marathon running. He also noted that Janko was an enthusiastic CW operator.

No further details were available.

I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(FACEBOOK, CQ.SK website)

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OHIO PENN DX BULLETIN HALTS PUBLICATION

DON/ANCHOR: DXers and others interested in chasing special callsigns have learned that an important resource for more than three decades is ceasing publication. Jack Parker W8ISH has that story.

JACK: After 31 years of publishing the free Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Tedd Mirgliotta KB8NW, is calling it quits. Tedd, the president of the Northern Ohio DX Association, has made this free resource available on the internet and packet clusters around the world. He announced that the edition of October 31st, 2022 was to be the final bulletin. The bulletin's webmaster, John Papay, K8YSE, said on the website that the archived issues of the bulletin will continue to be available on the EIDX Network, papays.com. John said that readers enjoyed it as an email or on the list servers. He said that thousands of readers saw it on the website as well. He wrote: [quote] "What I found surprising is that people will not only read the current OPDX, but they will read back issues by the hundreds as well. What a great resource it has [become] and will still be." [endquote]

John encouraged people to email Tedd to thank him for his years of DXpedition reports, propagation updates and other relevant information. The email address is kb8nw@arrl.net.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(OHIO PENN DX BULLETIN)

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"RETIRED REPEATER" LIVES ON IN COLORADO

DON/ANCHOR: Where do old repeaters go when they retire? In the case of one very old repeater in California, that would be the Colorado Rockies. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB shares this story, which was told recently on the website eham.net:

RALPH: In the early 1960s, before the area had frequency coordination groups and standards for repeater offsets, a privately owned repeater went up on a place called Contractors Point, high above San Fernando in southern California. The W6AQY solid-state repeater, which operated on VHF FM, relied on the parts of a Motorola walkie-talkie that it was built from.

On the website, eham.net, Paul, WØRW, said he helped install it on the mountaintop long ago with Jim, W6UJX, and Jim's father, facing the challenge of putting a 30-foot telephone pole in a trench in that rocky soil. The repeater itself was protected from the elements inside a waterproof Motorola truck mount box and its batteries needed changing every three months.

He said that the transmitter had an output of about 20 watts ERP and used a three-element beam turned toward Los Angeles and it served all of southern California successfully for much of that decade. It was finally taken out of service in 1969 and after some refurbishment moved to Colorado where it was put back to work -- this time as WRØACR. A half-century later, it is still doing its job - but like most retirees, it is on standby service for much of the time.

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(EHAM.NET)

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POTA QSOs INCREASE BY NEARLY 30 PERCENT

DON/ANCHOR: With the past few weeks bringing great weather for outdoor activations, Parks on the Air QSOs have grown. Matt Heere N3NWV brings us the latest statistics.

MATT: Hi All.  I'm Matt, N3NWV here with your October 2022 POTA stats and news update. October included the fall "Support Your Parks" weekend event and the stats show a big jump from last month.

We had 15,781 activations by 2,808 activators from 5.483 parks. Forty-seven DXCC entities were represented this month and we reached a total of 706,846 QSOs, a month-over-month increase of 29% .

Congratulations to all of our category leaders for October, and as always a big thanks for everyone who participates in the POTA program.

Speaking of participating, our "Park a Day" Bailey-Sprott list hasn't changed notably this month.  We still have five activators and two dozen hunters on track for pressing the POTA button every day in 2022.  Good luck to all now that we're down to the final two months of the year.

The October 15 and 16 "Support Your Parks" weekend was a huge success, generating over 100,000 QSOs.  Nearly 11 hundred activators got to over 15 hundred parks, and worked over 15,000 hunters. All in all, 34 DXCC entities participated in the weekend in one way or another.

That wraps it up for this month. Seven-three and POTA on!

(POTA)

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INTERNATIONAL NEWSMAKER AWARD TO BE ANNOUNCED

DON/ANCHOR: We remind our listeners that in a little more than one month, we will be announcing this year's recipient of the Amateur Radio Newsline International Newsmaker of the Year Award. We began this award in 2019 as a way of honoring individuals, groups or formal clubs whose actions and contributions show the world the value that amateur radio brings to society. Recipients are chosen by the editorial staff of Amateur Radio Newsline. All past recipients have shown themselves to adhere to the high standards of selflessness and community service which ham radio is known for and have also helped garner recognition and a higher profile for ham radio in the mainstream media. Be listening in early December when we announce the recipient who has not only made headlines but made a difference too.

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BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the K4LYL repeater in Bedford Virginia on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time.

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GERMAN AMATEURS AWAIT NEW 'N' OPERATOR CLASS

DON/ANCHOR: Hams in Germany are awaiting a decision by the nation's regulator to add a third class of amateur radio license by early next year. Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us what that could mean.

ED: Germany's proposed new "N" class entry-level licence could be in place as early as January the 1st of 2023. The possible addition, announced earlier this year, is being reviewed by the German regulator, BNetZa, as a way to add a third licence class to the existing E, Novice and A, Full, licence classes. A change in the regulations would give the N class operators call signs with the prefix DN and the current DN callsigns, which are used for training purposes under supervision of a licensed ham, would be cancelled on December 31st of this year, to be replaced by the use of a DN/ prefix .

The new entry level "N" class will grant privileges to use the 2 metre and 70 centimetre bands with up to 10 watts EIRP. The operator will be allowed to build and operate home made equipment as long as it conforms to the regulations. It is possible that usage of the 10 metre band may also be added to the class N licence at the end of 2023.

The content of the licence exam syllabi will also be changed to make them "cumulative" with the ability, it is hoped, to allow the taking of the class N, class E and class A exams in sequence to get to a full licence in one day of testing. The class N exam will cover all legal regulations, operational rules and a limited amount of technical knowledge questions. The class E and A exams will then only cover additional, more technical theory questions, building on the knowledge of the previous level or levels.

This is Ed Durrant DD5LP.

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HAMS IN KOLKATA SOLVE RF ISSUE FOR POLICE RADIOS

DON/ANCHOR: When you have a radio interference problem, who better to turn to than an amateur radio operator? That's just what police officials in one part of India thought when their handheld radios were knocked out of service by holiday lights. Graham Kemp VK4BB brings us the details.

GRAHAM: A group of major Hindu festivals were coming up on the autumn calendar, starting on Sunday October 30th, and police officials in West Bengal, India, were once again struggling with their radios. Something was causing havoc with their handhelds during the autumn Hindu festivals and it appeared that VHF radio communication was again going to be nearly impossible for crowd control and security.

This year, police took their radio dilemma to some local radio amateurs in the West Bengal Radio Club. According to a report by the Indo Asian News Service, the hams conducted a variety of tests on the officers' radios. Ultimately, they noticed the interference peaked when signals had to pass through areas where traditional holiday lights were being used to decorate Kolkata's parks and gardens during the festive season. With the help of physicist Pasupati (posso potty) Mandal (mon dall), VU3ODQ, a club member, the hams determined the interference came from the strings of LEDs manufactured in China, which used cheaper components. According to Dipak (dee pock) Chakraborty (chock rah boar tee), VU3OKT, when they were illuminated, the LEDs emitted a noise on a frequency very close to the one the police radios were using.

The hams recommended replacing the Chinese LEDs with ones manufactured in India, which had different components that did not seem to cause the same issue. According to Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, that seemed to have solved the problem in time for the festivals.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE)

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INDIA LAUNCHES FIRST GROUP OF COMMERCIAL SATELLITES

DON/ANCHOR: India has launched its first group of commercial satellites. Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains what comes next.

JEREMY: The Indian Space Research Organisation is celebrating the launch into orbit of 36 internet satellites from the London-based company, OneWeb. The launch on Sunday, October 23rd coincided with the Indian Festival of Lights, known as Diwali. An Indian GSLV Mark III rocket was substituted for the Russian Soyuz originally planned for the operation before the Ukraine invasion earlier this year.

This was the second flight for the Indian rocket but its first commercial multi-satellite mission. The flight was overseen by the ISRO's commercial division, New Space India Limited.

According to a BBC report, the latest launches mean that OneWeb, which is partly owned by the British government, is almost three-quarters of the way to having its first-generation satellite constellation achieve global coverage. The rollout is expected to be completed by the middle of 2023.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(BBC, SPACE.COM)

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WORLD OF DX

This week's World of DX looks at the various contacts you can make during the CQWW CW contest taking place on November 26th and 27th. They include Henning, OZ1BII (OH ZED ONE BEE EYE EYE) who will be on the air from Pristina, Kosovo as Z68EE during the contest. Listen for Henning on all HF bands.QSL via LoTW, OQRS.

A Slovenian team will be active as TKØC in Corsica during the CQWW CW contest. Before and after the contest, listen for the various team members using their personal calls with the TK/ prefix. QSL via LoTW, eQSL or S5ØC. 

Be listening for Doug, VA3DF, and Anthony, VE3RZ, operating from Grand Turk during the contest using the call sign as VP5Y. QSL via MØURX. Outside the contest, both Doug and Anthony will be operating mainly on CW on 160-10m. They will be using the callsigns VP5/VA3DF and VP5/VE3RZ

Listen for the call sign HQ9X from Roatan Island, Honduras, IOTA number NA-057, during the contest. The call will be used by team members K1TR, K1XM, KQ1F, SM7IUN and W1UE.  QSL via KQ1F, LoTW. 


(DX-WORLD.NET)

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KICKER: GETTING A BETTER READ ON RADIO, PAGE BY PAGE

DON/ANCHOR: Finally, if listening to radio and talking on radio isn't quite enough for you, consider joining a book club that also lets you read all about radio. Let Randy Sly W4XJ be your guide.

RANDY: To amateur radio operators, a lengthy conversation on the air is called a “rag chew” and most “rag chews” are about… you guessed it… ham radio. So when Russell Calabrese, KR2NZ, established a book club for members of the Long Island CW Club, the topic was… you guessed it… ham radio, but with a twist! Meeting approximately every six weeks on Sundays at 6 p.m. Eastern time, the book club digs into the interesting world of amateur radio through fiction, non-fiction, technical and historical books. For example, the current book is “200 Meters and Down” by Clifton DeSoto, which covers the strides and setbacks that were present when radio pioneers were establishing the amateur radio service during its early years.

Interested readers can join anytime. The meeting times and information are posted on the LICW calendar at longislandcwclub.org. Asked what is next for the book club, Russell said he has added a “movie club” aspect, featuring films and documentaries with a connection to… you guessed it… ham radio.

I’m Randy Sly, W4XJ


(LICW)

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NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA; the ARRL; BBC; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; DX-World.net; Facebook; Indo-Asian News Service; Long Island CW Club; Ohio Penn DX; QRZ.com; Reuters; Romy Isidro DU1SMQ; Space.com; shortwaveradio.de;  Wireless Institute of Australia; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in Picayune, Mississippi saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.