Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2397 for Friday October 6th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2397 with a release date of Friday October 6th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A communications safety net is restored in Wisconsin. Park activators in Serbia honor a beloved pioneer -- and on the islands off Scotland, a SOTA enthusiast and his family activate 10 previously unactivated summits.  All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2397 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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REPEATER RESTORATION PROJECT A SUCCESS IN WISCONSIN

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the story of how a group of volunteer radio operators restored a local safety net in one Wisconsin county where vital emergency communication had been lost for years. Well, that's all history now, thanks to the skill and generosity of a number of local amateur radio operators. Kent Peterson KCØDGY tells us what they did.

KENT: SKYWARN services and other forms of emergency communication are finally back in business for Waushara County Amateur Radio Emergency Services in Wisconsin. There's a new 20-foot commercial-grade antenna on the Wautoma water tower to assist hams as they pass vital information to one another and first responders during crisis situations. Local businessman Ben Janke, N9NOJ, and his partner, Brad Wilson, were among those to complete the installation, saving thousands of dollars in potential expenses. The antenna serves the hams' VHF repeater, which had been knocked off the air about a dozen years ago by a lightning strike. The lightning that damaged the old antenna had also destroyed the repeater's circuit board. Other hams, such as Glenn Haroldson, N5IIA, took up the task of radio repair.

The volunteer efforts were coordinated by George Lampere, AB9CQ, who saw a need to revive the ARES group which had grown dormant without use of their repeater. By late September, the ARES hams were back on the air, testing the repeater's operation and collecting signal reports. It was time to get down to business now for the long winter season ahead.

This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.

(THE WAUSHARA ARGUS)

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MEMORIAL EVENT HONORS SERBIAN PIONEER OF WWFF ACTIVATION

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in Serbia have not forgotten one of that country's pioneers in the Flora and Fauna program. Once again, they honored him by doing what he himself loved to do. Jeremy Boot G4NJH gives us the details.

JEREMY: Search for the name Goran Savić on YouTube and you will find some compelling memorial video tributes along with the YouTube channel maintained by the late Serbian military test pilot, showcasing some of the dramatic and ethereal views he captured from the cockpits of various planes.

The Air Force Major was known in the amateur radio community as YT2A and in the US as AD7JQ. The global ham community grieved when, in September 2012, he became a Silent Key in a plane crash. According to news reports, the tragic accident happened as, rather than eject, he steered the plane to avoid crashing into homes in a residential area.

Serbian hams most especially in the Worldwide Flora and Fauna community have not forgotten Goran. On Saturday 30th September, they worked international pileups during the annual memorial event for the family and outdoors man, who was also an active pioneer and advocate of the Flora and Fauna programme.

As always, there will be diplomas awarded, downloadable after the 1st of November -- and the friends of this much-loved Silent Key will begin planning their tribute for the 12th anniversary of his death in 2024.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH

(YUFF SERBIAN FLORA AND FAUNA, YOUTUBE, YLRAISA R1BIG)

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MILITARY AUXILIARY OPS PREPARE TO MARK 75th ANNIVERSARY

JIM/ANCHOR: Ham radio operators will be at the Pentagon and other military sites around the United States next month to mark the 75th anniversary of a program in which hams support our national defense. Andy Morrison K9AWM has that story.

ANDY: The Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio System is marking its 75th anniversary of service to the US military with a special event on all HF bands using all modes during the first week of November. Stations in each of the system's 10 wings will be calling CQ, as will the MARS station located at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, using the callsign K 4 A F. Another station at Travis Air Force Base will be using the callsign K E 6 U E U. Certificates are being awarded for contacts. Stations contacting five wings will receive a Bronze endorsement; stations logging all 10, plus the stations at the Pentagon and Travis Air Force Base, will receive Gold endorsements on their certificates.

The event begins on November 5th and ends on November 11th - which is observed as Veterans Day in the United States.  Certificates will be downloadable after the 30th of November.

MARS radio operators are volunteer members of a civilian auxiliary providing communication assistance for the US military when needed. The organization was created in 1948. There are MARS volunteers serving the US Air Force and the US Army.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(AFMARS)

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AT AGE 10, NEW AMATEUR TAKES UP REINS ON WEEKLY NET

JIM/ANCHOR: In the Philippines, hams are discovering that there is no "right" age for becoming a leader. One 10-year-old girl, a newly licensed radio operator, is showing everyone how it's done. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us her story.

GRAHAM: The newest operator handling a weekly evening net for the Philippines Ham Radio Cebu DX7CBU is also a very new ham who has wasted no time showing her leadership skills. At the age of 10, Summer Mina, DY7SUM, is the youngest member of the club, where her parents, Bjorn, DW7KGB, and Bopbop, DW7OIC, run nets on other nights. With the help of her parents and her mentor, Jet, 4F7MHZ, the club's founder and trustee, Summer sat for her Foundation exam from the National Telecommunications Commission this past June and received her licence. Now she is actively taking check-ins on 2 metres.

Jet told Newsline in an email that Summer was inspired by her parents' activities as amateur radio operators, calling her a natural achiever. Her leadership abilities extend to her academic life off the air. When she's not running the show on the local repeater, Summer is in her third term as president of her class at the Maria Montessori International School in Cebu.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(JET MANUEL, 4F7MHZ)

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"DREAM RIG" ESSAY CONTEST CHALLENGES YOUNG AMATEURS

JIM/ANCHOR: For some people, it's the easiest question in the world. For others, it's one of the toughest. "What attracted you to amateur radio?" The Intrepid DX Group is challenging young radio operators to answer this question as part of its 4th annual "Dream Rig" Essay Contest. The two-page essays must be written by amateurs who are 19 years of age or younger and who hold a Canadian or US amateur radio license. Contestants must reside in Canada, the US or a US territory and must promise to use the radio on the air for at least one year and not sell or trade it. The top prize is an ICOM IC-7300. The second and third place winners will receive an ICOM ID5100AD dual band mobile radio with D-Star and an ICOM ID52A dual band handy talkie with D-Star, respectively.

Entries may also be mailed to: The Intrepid-DX Group, 3052 Wetmore Drive, San Jose, California 95148, USA.

All entries are due by November 30th.

(THE INTREPID-DX GROUP)

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SOFTWARE UPGRADE IN THE WORKS FOR MULTIMODE DIGITAL VOICE PROJECT

JIM/ANCHOR: If you use DMR, D-STAR or any other digital mode, better days are ahead: A software upgrade is in the works for the system that supports many of these modes, as we hear from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK: The Multimode Digital Voice Modem project, which supports most of the digital voice modes used by amateur radio, is about to get a software upgrade through the efforts of Jonathan Naylor, G4KLX, and with funding from Amateur Radio Digital Communications. The open-source project supports D-STAR, Yaesu System Fusion, NXDN and more than 80 percent of the hotspots and repeaters on the Brandmeister-DMR network. Jonathan, who is a developer of digital voice software, has been hired full time to tackle a variety of issues including bug mitigation, the creation of a portable user interface on additional hardware platforms, and adding support for such industry standards as Message Queuing Telemetry Transport. According to a press release from ARDC, work has already begun in the development of packet modes for 9600, 19200, and 38400, supporting narrow bandwidth using a modulation similar to DMR. The open-source project itself began in 2015.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(ARDC)

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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 N8VAA repeater, serving parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Potomac Highlands Amateur Radio club from Moorefield, West Virginia on Monday nights at 8.

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YL CW NET RESUMES ON 40M

JIM/ANCHOR: The YL CW net is back! After a summer hiatus, the check-ins have resumed for this one-hour net on October 1st. Fast and slow operators are both welcome. The net starts at 0100 UTC every Sunday on 7.045 MHz. The use of Netlogger is strongly suggested. The net controller, Niece KA1ULN, describes the net as a place to learn and get comfortable and all the operators practice various exchanges. Niece writes on Facebook [quote] "We teach, we don't compete." [endquote]

(FACEBOOK)

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ACMA RELEASES NEW FIVE-YEAR SPECTRUM OUTLOOK

JIM/ANCHOR: The Australian regulator is taking a second look at how microwave frequencies are being used in light of growing competition for those parts of the band. John Williams VK4JJW brings us an update.

JOHN: The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released its five-year spectrum outlook which acknowledges possible changes in the range between 2.300–2.302 GHz where amateur radio operators have privileges on a secondary basis for activities that include earth-moon-earth operations. Primary use is allocated to fixed and mobile services. The ACMA notes in its report that there are competing interests for the 2.3 GHz band, including for wireless broadband. The ACMA expects to address that in next year's report.

Meanwhile, the regulator is scrutinizing the middle of the band between 3.4 GHz and 4.0 GHz. This is an effort to accommodate 5G services as they are rolled out in the country. The ACMA is also looking to add three bands: The extended L band at 1.5 GHz, between 1.518–1.525 GHz and 1.668–1.675 GHz and 1.9 GHz, looking toward an allocation of 2 GHz mobile satellite service from 1.980–2.005 GHz and 2.170–2.195 GHz.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(ACMA)

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FCC FINES US SATELLITE TV COMPANY FOR "SPACE JUNK"

JIM/ANCHOR: A United States satellite TV company has been fined $150,000 by the FCC for improperly disposing of a satellite that is no longer in service. The unprecedented fine against The Dish Network showcases the new priority the federal agency has been giving lately to so-called "space junk." The FCC told the Washington Post newspaper that the penalty was a "breakthrough settlement" underscoring the FCC's focus on disposal of satellites, rocket parts and other debris with the potential to collide with spacecraft such as the International Space Station. The Washington Post report said the FCC fined the company after it failed to comply with the plan of de-orbit maneuvers contained in its license. The FCC said the company used a lower orbit than stated for the satellite's disposal.

A statement from The Dish Network reaffirmed that the company has [quote] "a long track record of safely flying a large satellite fleet and takes seriously its responsibilities as an FCC licensee.” [endquote] Dish said that the satellite was launched in 2002 and was exempt from the FCC requirement for a minimum-disposal orbit.

(THE WASHINGTON POST)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, be listening for Ken, KH6QJ, operating as T 32 AZ from East Kiritibati, IOTA number OC-024. He will be on the air until the 17th of October. QSL to his home call.

Special event station TM 23 RUGB will be active on the HF bands from the 16th to the 22nd of October during the Rugby World Cup. QSL via F 5 KHG.

Frank, PH2M, will be operating holiday style as SV8/PH2M from Santorini Island, EU-067, from the 13th to the 20th of October. He will be using FT8 on 80m through 10m. See QRZ.com for QSL information.
 
The ONZ Oostkust Radioclub, ON6HC,  will be on the air on all bands using all modes with the callsign O R 79 C L M  between  the 13th of October and the 12th of November. The major parts of the operation will be on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of November. The callsign's suffix stands for Canadian Liberation March, which celebrates the liberation of the Belgian town of Knokke on the first of November in 1944. QSL via the bureau. A certificate is also available. For more details visit QRZ.com

(425 DX BULLETIN, EHAM.NET)

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KICKER: NOT BOGGED DOWN BY SOTA TRIP TO SCOTTISH ISLANDS

JIM/ANCHOR: For our final story, we ride along on one family's holiday trip to the islands. The islands, in this case, include some remote locations in the Outer Hebrides off Scotland. The family includes two amateur radio operators, one of them a seasoned SOTA operator looking to activate 10 summits for their first time ever. Here's your tour guide for the adventure, Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: It took Ben Lloyd a lot of kayaking across the sea, finding a ride on a local fisherman's boat, battling strong winds and doing a whole lot of hiking through bogs before he could achieve some personal firsts.

Ben, GW4BML, Martha and and 2-year-old Lyra, had set off on their holiday on the 23rd of September with their camper van. Ben's goal for the family's 12-day trip to the Scottish islands was to activate 10 summits that had never been activated before. In doing so, Ben was also achieving a personal first.

As he told Newsline in an email, he had never before been the first person to activate any SOTA summit, he said that there were no easy routes or paths on these islands and added: [quote] "underfoot has been dreadful at times, bogs up to my waist on occasions but I'm really enjoying the experience!" [endquote]

A number of YouTube videos take viewers along for the often arduous trip on the Islands of Lewis, Harris, Seaforth and Pabbay. The videos can be found on the RSGB's YouTube channel.

Ben is also a board director for Radio Society of Great Britain, and so it was fitting that his first contact, made on Seaforth Island, was with RSGB President John McCullagh, GI4BWM. John was 200 miles away in County Antrim in Northern Ireland and was using the president's callsign GB4RS. Each gave the other a 5 9 during the 40m contact and John also gave a thumbs-up to Ben's invitation to join him on his next SOTA challenge: The two will be activating summits together next year when he visits.

Hopefully there won't be the same kind of footing to bog them down.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(BEN LLOYD, GW4BML; HEATHER PARSONS, YOUTUBE) 

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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.

Meanwhile, give some thought to the true poetry of amateur radio and let your literary self shine through. Visit our website to learn more about the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. Use the entry form on our website and please follow the rules for the number of syllables you must use to write your three-line haiku. We cannot accept entries that do not follow traditional haiku form.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; Amateur Radio Digital Communications; Air Force MARS; Australian Communications and Media Authority; Ben Lloyd GW4BML; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; eHam.net; 425DXNews; Facebook; Heather Parsons; Intrepid-DX Group; Jet Manuel, 4F7MHZ; Serbian Flora and Fauna; shortwaveradio.de; Waushara Argus; Washington Post; Wireless Institute of Australia; YL Raisa R1BIG; YouTube; 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston West Virginia saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.