Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2388 for Friday August 4th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2388 with a release date of Friday August 4th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams respond to deadly landslides in western India. Antenna issues plague the Voyager 2 probe -- and the co-founder of Ten-Tec becomes a Silent Key. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2388 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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DEADLY MUDSLIDES SPUR AMATEUR RESPONSE IN INDIA

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story brings us to the scene of tragedy in western India, where Hams were on the scene as monsoon rains caused a deadly landslide. Graham Kemp VK4BB has those details.

GRAHAM: Amateur radio seemed to be the only way to communicate among rescue workers as a torrent of rain and high winds lashed the remote mountain village of Irshalwadi in western India's Maharashtra state, causing a massive landslide in the middle of the night.

With their handheld radios tuned to 2 metres, the Ham Radio Search and Rescue Team - amateurs from Mumbai, Pune and Dombivli - helped in the effort during the 48 hours of rainfall that began in the hours following the July 19th landslide. Members of the National Disaster Response Force found at least 27 people had been killed; scores more were feared trapped or missing.

Hams were deployed in teams to operate at the basecamp, assisting Jaiprakash Pullakudy, VU2JPN, a veteran radio operator at many of these disasters. Other hams were deployed to the top of the hill, directed by Bimal Nathwani, VU2CFE, assisting rescue workers who focused their efforts from there.

According to a report on the National Public Radio website, although monsoons are not uncommon in the region at this time of year, scientists say their pattern has become more erratic due to climate change.

(INDIAN EXPRESS, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, MIDDAY.COM)

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FAIR RADIO SALES SHUTTING DOORS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Fair Radio Sales, a well-known supplier of surplus electronic military equipment for more than a half-century, has announced that it is closing its doors at the end of the year. Its 30,000-square-foot location in Lima, Ohio has been a destination for local radio amateurs and those making a pre-Hamvention visit each spring in Ohio. The company, founded in 1947, has been in its second-generation of ownership under Phil Sellati, along with his late brother.

(FAIR RADIO SALES, QRZ.COM)
 
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SATELLITE RETURNS VIA GUIDED RE-ENTRY

PAUL/ANCHOR: A satellite completing its five-year mission returned to Earth using a method designed to minimize stray space debris. More on that from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: A British-built weather satellite achieved an unprecedented re-entry to Earth on Friday 28th July, guided by the European Space Agency.

The spacecraft, known as Aeolus, had outlived its usefulness in gathering data and monitoring weather after a five-year mission. It returned to Earth in an assisted crash into the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite, named after the Greek god of the winds, had served weather centres across Europe.

Its guided re-entry, accomplished by the European Space Agency's mission control team in Germany, was seen as an alternative to the more conventional method of simply letting it burn up upon re-entry. The ESA was hoping to minimise the risk of space debris going astray, adding that it believed the mission would inspire other such guided re-entries.

In addition to accomplishing the first-time re-entry of its kind, Aeolus claims another distinction as the first satellite to use space as a vantage point for measuring the Earth’s winds, and since 2018, it had been measuring the movement of winds at any location on the planet by firing a laser down into the atmosphere.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(BBC, THE GUARDIAN, SPACE.COM

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SILENT KEY: TEN-TEC CO-FOUNDER JACK EDWARD BURCHFIELD, K4JU

PAUL/ANCHOR: The co-founder of a popular US-based ham radio equipment manufacturer has become a Silent Key. According to an online obituary, Jack Edward Burchfield, K4JU, who created Ten-Tec with partners Albert Kahn and Tom Mitchell in the late 1960s, died on July 15th in South Carolina. The original line of products carried by the company were of his design, as were many other products that were developed in the years afterward.

Jack distinguished himself as an amateur radio operator as well as a businessman. He was inducted into the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2004. For years, the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington DC had many of his radios on display.

Jack was 88.

(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL)

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SILENT KEY: CANADIAN BROADCAST VETERAN RON MCFADYEN, VE3YXY/VY1RM

PAUL/ANCHOR: From Canada, we hear of another Silent Key: A lifelong amateur radio operator who retired from a distinguished broadcast radio career in the Yukon. We hear more about him from Andy Morrison K9AWM.

ANDY: In  professional radio, Ron McFadyen (MC FADD-YEN) was known for delivering an eloquent newscast just as smoothly as for presenting a vibrant sports report. In amateur radio, a passion he had for most of his life, he devoted himself to community service, emergency response and volunteerism.

His fascination with the inner workings of radio began early and by high school he had built his first shortwave set. Shortly afterward, he began exploring career options at small radio stations in Canada which eventually led him to arrive at a new station, CKRW, starting up in Whitehorse, in the Yukon, in 1969. He left professional broadcasting briefly, only to return in 1973 to work in the Whitehorse offices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His voice soon became a familiar source of news and sports updates as he interviewed local people everywhere along with political and entertainment luminaries.

In 1976 Ron received the amateur radio callsign of VE8AD and became the charter president of the Yukon Amateur Radio Association. Two years later, when the Yukon became VY1, his callsign changed to VY1RM.

Longtime friend Jeff Stanhope VA7JPS, who had been a member of the Yukon Amateur Radio Association, told the CBC that Ron, as a ham radio advocate and promoter of emergency response and communications, was [quote] "essentially the face of amateur radio in the Yukon." [endquote] 

Ron was 80.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(CBC, WHITEHORSE DAILY STAR)

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FCC PROPOSES FREQUENCY PRIVILEGES FOR COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCHES

PAUL/ANCHOR: Commercial space launches would enjoy some new and expanded allocations on the spectrum under rules proposed by the US FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. A new allocation would be established for these operations on a secondary basis on frequencies between 2025 and 2110 MHz. They would also gain use of the part of the band between 2200 and 2290 MHz, where they have privileges on a secondary basis. The proposed change here would expand access from four-channel to full access. Finally, the proposed rules would permit federal space stations' use of the allocation between 399.9 and 400.05 MHz. A press release from the FCC called the announcement the latest initiative to be taken through the agency's Space Innovation agenda.

The FCC chairwoman said that the new rules would ensure stable and reliable communications for private companies as they transport astronauts, launch and operate satellites and explore space. 

(FCC)

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PAKISTAN LAUNCHES DRM RADIO WITH TRANSMITTER PROJECT

PAUL/ANCHOR: In Pakistan, a massive antenna project is being built to bring Digital Radio Mondiale service to the nation's public radio listeners - and beyond. John Williams VK4JJW has the details.

JOHN: Calling Radio Pakistan's analogue and shortwave broadcast technology outdated, the nation's minister for information and broadcasting formally launched a project on July 30th designed to bring 1,000-kw digital signals from the public broadcaster to listeners in Pakistan and beyond. The upgrade begins at a time when the majority of Radio Pakistan's transmitters have been declared obsolete and have been shut down.

According to the DRM website, DRM was approved in January of 2020 as the standard in Pakistan for all frequency bands on AM and FM radio.

The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation's digital transmitter project is being built in Rawat, which has been declared as the nation's first media city. Pakistan's new broadcasting system is based on Digital Radio Mondiale, or DRM, technology. Its ability to transmit as many as four signals at the same time has found favour with Pakistani government officials who believe this will save energy costs and be more efficient. The minister for information and broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb, said that the boost in signal strength and range will benefit listeners in the Middle East, the Far East, Central Asia, South Asia and Eastern Europe.

According to the DRM website, the technology is enjoying a robust rollout elsewhere. Thirty-five medium-wave transmitters are sending signals to more than 900 million people in India, where cars are also being outfitted with DRM receivers. Indonesia, China and Romania are among the many nations that also have various forms of DRM broadcasting.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(RADIO PAKISTAN, BUSINESS RECORDER)


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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 K4EX repeater in Dade City, Florida on Tuesdays after the 7 p.m. net.

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VOYAGER 2 PROBE STRUGGLES WITH ANTENNA ISSUES

PAUL/ANCHOR: We've all had antenna issues at one time or another but what happens when changes in your antenna take you off the air and your antenna is more than 12 billion miles away? That's the problem facing the Voyager 2 deep space probe, as we hear from Kent Peterson KCØDGY.

KENT:  NASA lost communications with the Voyager 2 probe after sending it a set of commands on July 21st. Those commands caused a change in the spacecraft antenna's orientation by 2 degrees and that was enough to interrupt communications between the spacecraft and the Earth. However Voyager is programmed to reset its orientation on occasion to keep its antenna correctly pointed. The next regularly scheduled reset is October fifteenth

However, by using the multiple antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network or DSN mission engineers were able to detect a carrier signal from Voyager 2. They hope to use the DSN to shout a command for Voyager to reorient its antenna.  This intermediary attempt may not work, in which case the team will wait for its automatic orientation reset this October.  

This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY

(GIZMODO, NASA)

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NYC POLICE JOIN MOVE TO ENCRYPT RADIO SIGNALS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Police in New York City are the latest to join the move among municipal law enforcement to encrypt their radio transmissions, as we learn from Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

NEIL: Amid calls of protest from the news media and from local New York City officials, the New York City Police Department has begun encrypting its radio transmissions, following a practice taking place at police departments around the United States. Six police precincts in northern Brooklyn were the first to implement the use of encrypted transmissions recently, and the NYPD confirmed to various media outlets that more are to follow. In response, members of the New York City Council issued a statement on July 28th saying, in part: [quote] "Transparency is key to achieving and maintaining public safety. It is troubling that the NYPD began encrypting its radio system without an adequate transparency plan implemented first, which can jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers. Journalists, volunteer first responders, and other key stakeholders across diverse neighborhoods rely on the system to help keep people safe and deliver important information." [endquote]

Police radio transmissions have traditionally been transparent and first responders, members of the media and others often monitor scanners to learn what is going on.

New York City's change to its police radios follows similar actions in California, Colorado, the city of Chicago and elsewhere.

An NYPD statement defended its decision by saying, in part: [quote] "The safety of our first responders and the community at large will always remain our top priority. From preserving the integrity of active crime scenes to restricting those who intentionally transmit on police frequencies to disrupt emergency communications, there are many reasons encryption is vital." [endquote]

This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

(AM NEW YORK, RADIO TELEVISION DIGITAL NEWS ASSOCIATION, NYPD)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, George, F5MAG, is using the callsign TMØMM from the Frioul archipelago, IOTA number EU-095, through the 19th of August. He is using CW, SSB and FT8 on 40 through 60 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL information.

Operators Lazio and Molise are using the special callsign II6PN to celebrate the centenary of the National Park of Abruzzo. They are on the air from now until the 31st of October. Most of their activity will be from the 1st to the 17th of September. Certificates are available. See QRZ.com for further details.

Anton, RGØC, will have a low-power CW operation as RGØC/p from the Shantar Islands, IOTA number AS-044, until the 10th of August. Listen for him on 20 metres. QSL via his home call.

 Listen for special event station PA14JAMBO in the Netherlands until the 14th of August. Operators are marking the 14th Haarlem Jamborette, a large international scout camp. Operators are using CW, SSB, and the digital modes. For QSL details, see QRZ.com

(425 DX BULLETIN)

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KICKER: 'DIVINE' MEMORIES FOR CLUB'S 50th ANNIVERSARY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our final story is about history, celebration and some happy memories of a celebrated - and celebrity - local amateur. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB brings us that report.

RALPH: The Hualapai Amateur Radio Club was barely four years old when much-loved American character actor Andy Devine died in 1977. Distinctly gravel-voiced and garrulous, Andy was perhaps less known among his film and TV fans for the off-screen role he played regularly as WB6RER - or Whiskey Bravo Six Red-Eyed Rooster, as he spelled it out.

Born in Flagstaff, Arizona, Andy had grown up in Kingman where the Hualapai club was founded in 1973 --  so it was natural after Andy's death for the club to ask his family to grant permission for them to apply to the FCC for his callsign.

Whiskey Bravo Six Red-Eyed Rooster has been back on the air ever since. The club marked its 50th anniversary with special event station between July 15th and the 23rd. Mike Risser, KG6ECW, the club secretary, said that band conditions were challenging but like the late actor himself, the radio operators took on an important role.

Mike told Newsline in an email: [quote] "Not a lot of people under the age of 60 even know who he was. Many of those who do know who he was didn't know that he was a ham -- but we're hoping to change that." [endquote]

To fans of a certain age, Andy is remembered for his screen appearances, some of them alongside such icons as Roy Rogers and John Wayne. Baby Boomers will grew up with the popular children's TV show Andy hosted in the 1950s: It was called "Andy's Gang" and it featured an assortment of memorable characters.

The show went off the air in late 1960 but as Mike told Newsline [quote] "We're proud to be 'Andy's Gang' and look forward to doing more to keep his call and his memory alive." [endquote]

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(MIKE RISSER, KG6ECW)

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THE POETRY OF AMATEUR RADIO

PAUL: Do your QSOs inspire poetry? Is there a haiku perhaps waiting to be written about the last QSL card you got? Join the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. In the spirit of fun and perhaps a little bit of literary adventure, we invite you to share the joy of ham radio in the form of a haiku. On our website, arnewsline.org, you will find a submission form. To qualify, you need to follow traditional haiku form: The first line is five syllables, the second line is seven syllables and the finishing third line has another five syllables. We cannot accept any other formats.

Our team will pick from the best submissions that follow the 5/7/5 syllable rule and represent the love of amateur radio. Your prize? For now, bragging rights -- and a featured spot for your haiku on the Amateur Radio Newsline website. We may have a surprise for you at the end of the year, however. So visit our website at arnewsline.org and take a look at this week's winning ham radio haiku.


DO YOU HAVE NEWS?

If you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think Newsline would be interested in, send it on! We are not talking about advertising your club's upcoming hamfest or field day participation, but something that is out of the ordinary. If so, send us a brief overview via the contact page at arnewsline.org. If it's newsworthy and we would like to cover it, we'll get back to you for more details.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; AM New York; Bobby Graves, KB5HAV; Business Reporter; CBC; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; 425DXNews; FCC; Gizmodo; the Guardian; Mike Risser, KG6ECW; NASA; NY Police Department; QRZ.COM; Radio Pakistan; Radio-TV Digital News Association; shortwaveradio.de; SPACE.COM; Whitehorse Daily Star; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.