Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2395 for Friday September 22nd, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2395 with a release date of Friday September 22nd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A club goes QRT after vandals destroy their equipment. Hams in Latvia celebrate the mechanical key -- and hams, it's almost time to head for the bunkers in the UK. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2395 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** VANDALS DESTROY CLUB'S SHED, EQUIPMENT, IN CANADA PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the story of a ham radio club in Canada that is struggling with the loss of important radio equipment that was the heart and soul of the group. We hear about them from Sel Embee KB3TZD. SEL: The Cambridge Amateur Radio Club VE3SWR went QRT earlier this month following a break-in at the shed where the club stores its equipment. The Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club helped get them back on the air. While the Cambridge club sorts out the damage and the losses from the early September incident, members have been given use of the Kitchener-Waterloo club's equipment and repeaters. Harry Niezen, VE3HZ, president of the Kitchener club, told the CBC that it was natural for the club to open its doors to help fellow hams. According to a story on the CBC website, Scott Mitchell, VA3GGT, president of the Cambridge club, said that the club's electric generator went missing along with numerous tools after the break-in. Part of the storage shed had been set on fire and the club's repeaters suffered smoke damage. The club's duplexer had been thrown to the other side of the shed and was destroyed. Scott said he discovered the damage in early September after going to the shed to check on why the club repeater had not been on the air for a few days. He thought perhaps the extreme heat in that part of Canada had caused the shutdown. Temperatures were 40 degrees Celsius, including the humidity index. Scott posted on the club's Facebook page that although much of the shed was ransacked [quote] "thankfully our repeaters were the only thing they didn’t break into." [endquote] The incident has been reported to police. According to a report on iheartradio Canada, the losses and damage are estimated at between $2,000 and $3,000. This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD. (CBC, IHEARTRADIO. CAN, FACEBOOK) ** MAINE HAMS ADDING EMERGENCY RADIO TOWER PAUL/ANCHOR: In Maine, hams are getting ready to take on a lifesaving project that addresses a need in one part of their region of the state. Andy Morrison K9AWM fills us in. ANDY: An amateur radio club in Maine says there is something important missing in one region of Aroostoock County: an emergency amateur radio tower. The group, the Caribou Emergency Amateur Radio Service, plans to change that. Members are raising the estimated $35,000 they will need to build a 190-foot tower filling the radio void that exists between Caribou and the St. John Valley. The hams plan to install the tower on a 1.5-acre plot of land donated by Caribou Emergency Amateur Radio Service president T.H. Merritt, KL5YJ, and his wife, Terri. They said the land's high altitude makes it an especially good location for a tower. When completed, this will be the Caribou group's fourth tower for use by area hams for communications every day and in emergency situations. The new tower will also be a welcome addition to communicators around the region, according to Darren Woods, KC1ERZ, the director of Aroostook's Emergency Management Agency. He told the Bangor, Maine, Daily News that all first responders in the area will benefit from having this kind of expanded radio access in a crisis. The funds being raised are expected to cover the cost of the tower, a backup generator that relies on solar and battery power, and other items. The Caribou radio group, which is a nonprofit organization, has also applied for a $8,590 community safety grant from the local utility, Versant Power, to purchase a repeater. This is Andy Morrison K9AWM. (BANGOR DAILY NEWS) ** MISSOURI HAMS ADD DEFIBRILLATOR TO EMERGENCY TOOLKIT PAUL/ANCHOR: The amateur radio operator's tool kit for disaster assistance usually consists of towers, radios, antennas and other communications equipment. Now one club in Missouri has just added a new device - one that communicates with the heart. Randy Sly W4XJ brings us the details. RANDY: The Sedalia-Pettis Amateur Radio Klub has a new addition to its emergency communications trailer. It's an AED, an automated external defibrillator which is capable of restoring the heart's natural rhythm in cases of cardiac arrest. The small device was donated by an organization called Wear Red for Women, which raised the funds to buy it during a luncheon and auction earlier this year. The club's vice president, Richard Camirand, KEØQYA, told local media that the AED will be placed in the emergency communications trailer that hams use during disaster drills as well as real emergencies. This is Randy Sly W4XJ. (KMMO RADIO, THE SEDALIA DEMOCRAT) ** HAMS IN LATVIA CELEBRATE THE MECHANICAL KEY PAUL/ANCHOR: You may have worked the Latvian Contest Group YL1ZX in any number of major contests on the band over the course of any year. Well, now those same hams are involved in another activity - one that its members have organized as a kind of celebration. We hear about it from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: Something special will be happening on 80 metres in a few short weeks: It's a celebration of the mechanical key used by many CW operators. This one-hour activity featuring bugs, side-swiper and straight keys will encourage amateurs to shake the dust off on the 13th of October and engage in as many QSOs as they can using a simple exchange. The activity frequencies will be between 3.520 MHz and 3.560 MHz. Operators will be calling "CQ MK," of course, for "mechanical key." This is the third activity of this kind that the group will have hosted this year in the hopes of recognising these keys' increasing popularity. For details and to see the operators' simple exchange, see the link that can be found in the text version of this week's newscast. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. [FOR PRINT ONLY: http://yl3jd.fizioikskile.lv/mkey/ ] (QRZ.COM, LATVIAN CONTEST GROUP) ** AMATEURS AMONG RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA HONOREES PAUL/ANCHOR: The ham radio community can once again be proud of some of the award-winners being recognized by the Radio Club of America. Who are they? Neil Rapp WB9VPG tells us. NEIL: A number of amateur radio operators are being recognized by the Radio Club of America for their contributions to radio and the wireless community. Ruth Willet KM4LAO, was chosen as the first recipient of the Radio Club of America's Carole Perry Young Professional Award. According to the RCA website, her selection was based on her work with the RCA's Youth Activities Program and recognizes her pursuit of a career in the wireless industry. Ruth previously received the RCA's Young Achiever Award while she was an undergraduate at Kettering University in Michigan. The other recipients include Ray Novak N9JA of Icom America, who will receive RCA's Special Service Award. Tim Duffy, K3LR, the CEO of DXEngineering is being recognized for products their business has provided to the wireless industry. They will join a number of others at an awards banquet in November in Denver, Colorado. The RCA has also announced the inauguration of two awards named for scientsts prominent in the field of radio. The awards are named for entrepreneur and scientist Ulrich Rohde N1UL/DJ2LR and Nobel Prize-winning radio astronomer Arno Penzias. The first recipients will be named next year. The Ulrich L. Rohde Award for Innovation in Applied Radio Science and Engineering recognizes innovation and major contributions to wireless communications. The Arno A. Penzias Award for Contributions to Basic Research in the Radio Sciences recognizes research in RF and related subjects. This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG. (RADIO WORLD) ** SPECIAL EVENT STATION SAYS 'COME AND GET WYOMING' PAUL/ANCHOR: If your heart is set on getting that elusive Worked All States award and the state of Wyoming is still missing from your log, wait no longer. Special event station W7Y will be listening for you from September 22nd to October 2nd. When operators around the state call "QRZ" what they're really saying is "Come and Get Wyoming" - which just happens to be the name of the event being organized by the ShyWy Amateur Radio Club. Just as in previous years, Wyoming contacts are out there for the taking so get on the air and go for it. For additional details visit QRZ.com and look for W7Y - "come and get Wyoming." (ROBERT BRAGG, WY7AA; QRZ.COM) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club's KV3B repeater in Rockville Maryland on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. local time. ** WISCONSIN RADIO CAMPOUT EXPANDS PAUL/ANCHOR: What's better than camping out with friends and radios? How about camping out with MORE friends and MORE radios? That's why three Wisconsin amateurs are sharing their annual autumn tradition with the immediate world. Kent Peterson KCØDGY tells us what's going on. KENT: In autumn, you'll find Michael KB9VBR, Travis W9HDG, and Joe KD9CJX in the park together, camping and calling CQ as they have done for a few years now. This year, as October rolls around, they've decided to put out another call - a QST to anyone and everyone in the area, or who'll be visiting, to join them at the Clear Lake Campground in the Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest. That park carries the POTA designation K-7260 so you know what that means. The three ham hosts are calling this the inaugural Wisconsin Ham Radio POTA Campout and it's taking place on October 13th to the 15th. According to the event website, you can activate as much or as little as you like and use any mode you wish. Come for the weekend - or just for a day. However, if you're going to camp, you'll need to make a reservation through the Wisconsin state parks system. If you want to attend, you can use the contact form on the event website or email Michael directly. His email address and the campout website both appear in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org Oh, and arrive prepared for the kind of the outdoor weather that mid-October in Wisconsin can bring. The campout even has its own official T-shirt and hoodie, with either to be worn, depending on the weather. As for the weather, well, the organizers say that this event will take place, rain or shine -- or anything else! This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (DO NOT READ: Michael's email is kb9vbr@jpole-antenna.com Event website is: https://www.jpole-antenna.com/2023/08/14/join-us-for-the-1st-ever-wisconsin-pota-campout/ ] (AMATEUR RADIO DAILY) ** UK HAMS PREPARE FOR A MONTH OF ACTIVATING BUNKERS PAUL/ANCHOR: History will come alive next month at numerous military bunkers around the UK. This is a radio exercise, not a contest, and organizers hope it will become a popular event every year. We learn more from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: Throughout October, hams and shortwave listeners around the world are getting a new chance to make contact with hundreds of Royal Observer Corps bunkers throughout the UK, including the Isle of Man. Activators will be stationed all month at these important defence watching posts just as other hams have done over the years when the event was managed by a team at Castles and Stately Homes on the Air. Organisers of this event are dedicating it to the memory of Chris Darlington, MØDOL, who helped create the programme for the previous group. Chris became a Silent Key in the spring of 2017. The origins lie with the Coventry Amateur Radio Society, which made bunker activations a club event for some four years. Two hams, Brian G8GMU and Joshua M3HBM, are credited with starting the activity as a low-power VHF and UHF exercise. Bunkers, of course, are used as observation posts and in keeping with that mission, the organisers will be doing just that to see whether this is a viable programme that can be launched in earnest starting in November. Visit the event website at the link that appears in the text version of this week's newscast script at arnewsline.org This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. [FOR PRINT, DO NOT READ: https://bunkersontheair.wixsite.com/october23 ] (WIA, BOTA) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, listen for Darren, VK4MAP, operating holiday style as 3D2RAT from Rotuma Island, IOTA number OC-060, until the 29th of September. Darren is using SSB on 80, 40, 20, 15, 12 and 10 metres. QSL direct to his home call. The Emirates Amateur Radio Society is marking Saudi National Day with a special callsign A6ØARS. The station will be on the air through to the 23rd of September. Details are available on QRZ.com. The callsign A91ARS will also be on the air through the 23rd, operating by the Bahrain Amateur Radio Society. QSL via EC6DX. Listen for John, AG7N, using the call DL/AG7N as he operates holiday style from Norderney Island, EU-047, through to the 23rd of September. Listen on 20 metres where he will be using CW. See QRZ.com for details. Vincent, K6VVK, is operating holiday style as FO/K6VVK from two islands in French Polynesia. He is on Moorea, IOTA number OC-046, from the 25th of September to the 1st of October and then he is moving on to Rangiroa, IOTA number OC-066, where he will operate from the 2nd to the t6th of October. He will be using SSB, CW and FT8/FT4 on the HF bands and 6 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details. (425 DX BULLETIN) ** KICKER: BIOGRAPHY CELEBRATES A UNIVERSE OF CONTRIBUTIONS PAUL/ANCHOR: In our last story, we introduce a prominent figure in radio astronomy, the late Australian researcher Joe Pawsey. How big are his contributions? As we hear from Graham Kemp VK4BB, they're as big as the universe itself. GRAHAM: It took 15 years and the efforts of three authors on two continents to complete the project - but the fruits of their labour would likely have brought a smile to Australian radio astronomer Joe Pawsey. His biography has been published. W.M. Goss, Claire Hooker and Ronald D Ekers collaborated on the book, "Joe Pawsey and the Founding of Australian Radio Astronomy." On Wednesday, the 27th of September, scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico are preparing to celebrate the coauthors' achievement, which maps the researcher's life and work and its relevance to radio astronomy today. The story tracks the researcher's earliest studies following the Second World War, when Joe Pawsey was at the helm of Australia's first radio astronomy research group. He is credited with inspiring the creation of the radio astronomy group of the Radiophysics Laboratory at Australia's national science agency in Sydney. The book explains how his study of the interference between radio waves later paved the way for creation of the Very Large Array, antennas that create a single telescope spanning great distances. The book launch, like the book itself, has also spanned great distances. In July, the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Perth hosted the event in his native Australia -- a nation whose profile he helped elevate in the world of science. As Ronald Ekers writes on the NRAO website [quote] "The book explains how an isolated continent with limited resources grew to be one of the international leaders in the study of radio astronomy and the design of instruments to do so.” [endquote] This is Graham Kemp VK4BB. (NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY) PAUL/ANCHOR: For copies of the book, please see the links in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org [DO NOT READ - FOR TEXT VERSION ONLY: For Europe it is available at: https://herrholgersson.de/shop/item/9783031079153/joe-pawsey-and-the-founding-of-australian-radio-astronomy-von-w-m-hooker-goss-gebundenes-buch# For the US from: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-07916-0 In the UK from: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9783031079177 and in Australia from: https://www.booktopia.com.au/joe-pawsey-and-the-founding-of-australian-radio-astronomy-w-m-goss/book/9783031079153.html ] ** DO YOU HAIKU? ROGER ROGER! PAUL: What's the one ham radio competition you can enter without turning your rig on? The Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. In the spirit of fun and perhaps a little bit of literary adventure, we've been inviting listeners to channel their most creative selves and share the joy of ham radio in the form of a haiku. On our website, arnewsline.org, you will find a submission form. Use it to send your most poetic offering that follows the 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; ARRL; Bangor Daily News; the BBC; Bunkers on the Air; CBC; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; Facebook; 425DXNews; iHeartRadio; Latvian Contest Group; National Radio Astronomy Observatory; QRZ.com; Radio World; Robert Bragg, WY7AA; The Sedalia Democrat; 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 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.