Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2399 for Friday October 20th, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2399 with a release date of Friday October 20th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A global Solar Eclipse QSO Party offers a world of insights. A record fine from the FCC -- and Amateur Radio Digital Communications is looking for volunteers for four committees. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2399 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** THE WORLD CALLS CQ FOR SOLAR ECLIPSE QSO PARTY NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story looks at the recent annular solar eclipse known as the "Ring of Fire." It was visible in some parts of the Americas, but amateur radio operators and other citizen scientists proved that its impact on the ionosphere was felt around the world. Jack Parker W8ISH brings us that report. JACK: The world was invited on October 14th to the Solar Eclipse QSO Party, part of the HamSCI Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science projects -- and hams, shortwave listeners and university-based researchers accepted the challenge. In the Western United States and parts of South America where the eclipse was most visible, eclipse-watching was combined with making QSOs on all bands using all modes to help generate data about the eclipse's changing impact on propagation. The QSO Party was the largest of a number of experiments and few participants took the research -- and the party theme -- more to heart than Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, HamSCI's founder. His own QTH became a party with a purpose, filled with food as well as operators and assistants. His wife, Rachel, W2RUF, his mother, Ann Marie, KC2KRQ, one of his students, Thomas KE2BAC, and scientist Bob McGwier, N4HY, were on the team. They called CQ, monitored Doppler shift changes throughout the eclipse, watched the Reverse Beacon Network and received PSK Reporter updates from Phil Gladstone, N1DQ, the website owner. Nathaniel told Newsline that results gathered from QSOs made worldwide will be released over time, and will ultimately appear in a peer-review journal. If you were late to the party - or missed it entirely - more experiments are planned for the total eclipse in April of 2024. Hams looking to get involved can join the Google group by visiting the HamSCI website at hamsci dot org (hamsci.org). Noting that hams in places like West Bengal, India, eagerly participated this month, amateur radio community coordinator Gary Mikitin, AF8A, said he encouraged hams there to set up a similar study when Asia experiences its next solar eclipse. Meanwhile, Ed Efchak, WX2R, public information officer, told Newsline that HamSCI is continuing its outreach to clubs whose members want to learn more -- just in time for the QSO party in April. This is Jack Parker, W8ISH. (NATHANIEL FRISSEL, W2NAF; ED EFCHAK, WX2R; GARY MIKITIN, AF8A) ** SILENT KEY: CONTESTER, HAM RADIO LEADER WILLIAM SMITH K4WMS NEIL/ANCHOR: The ham radio community in Virginia and beyond has lost a good friend and longtime leader. We hear about him from Jim Damron N8TMW. JIM: An active and enthusiastic contester and DXer, William Smith, K4WMS, is being remembered by friends who shared time with him at Dayton or worked hard as a team with him operating in DX contests from his shack. Bill became a Silent Key on October 6th after a brief illness. The former US Army captain extended his friendly competitiveness into other areas, such as race boat driving and bowling. He was also a local leader in amateur radio in his Virginia community and had served as president of the Mount Airy VHF Club and the Frankford Radio Club. Bill was also remembered as a frequent visitor to Hamvention in Ohio. According to his QRZ.com page, he first got his license in 1976 when he lived in New Jersey and moved in 1999 to Virginia. In an online tribute, friends remembered him as a radio operator who kept the door to his shack always open, leaving everyone with great memories of days and nights spent contesting together. Bill was 86. This is Jim Damron N8TMW. (QRZ, HAMGALLERY.COM) ** AUSTRALIA MARKS 100 YEARS OF PUBLIC RADIO BROADCASTS NEIL/ANCHOR: There's a new postage stamp in Australia and it's being issued as a tribute to radio. John Williams VK4JJW has those details. JOHN: November of 1923 marked a big moment in public radio in Australia as the station 2BL - which was first licensed as 2SB - went on the air with its first public radio broadcast. To mark the occasion, Australia Post have issued a stamp with an illustration that Catriona Noble, executive general manager of retail, called an "iconic scene." The artist shows a woman listening to a radio console set to the "Music Lovers Hour" on that early station. This was the station that eventually became ABC Radio Sydney. The stamp's first day of issue was Tuesday the 17th of October. It costs $1.20 in Australian currency. This is John Williams VK4JJW. (RADIOINFO AUSTRALIA, AUSPOST.COM, WIA) ** ARDC COMMITTEES SEEKING VOLUNTEERS NEIL/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Digital Communications is looking for volunteers who can serve on one of its four committees in 2024. The ARDC committees handle grant application evaluation; technical advising for 44Net; and conduct review. The ARDC is also looking for volunteers to serve on its newest committee which will evaluate and analyze grant reports. To apply or to get details about each of these committees, visit the link that appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org [DO NOT READ: https://www.ardc.net/ardc-committee-recruitment-2024/ ] The application deadline is October 31st. (REBECCA KEY, KO4KVG) ** FCC LEVIES RECORD FINE UNDER PIRATE ACT NEIL/ANCHOR: Charging a New York City broadcaster with radio piracy, the US regulator is fining them an unprecedented amount, as we hear from Andy Morrison K9AWM. ANDY: In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has levied a record pirate radio fine of $2.3 million against an unlicensed New York City broadcaster. This is one of the earliest actions the agency has taken under legislation passed in January of 2020 to toughen the FCC's enforcement. The law, known as the PIRATE ACT, gives the FCC increased ability to act against pirate broadcasters, authorizing fines of as much as $100,000 per violation up to a total of $2 million. The acronym stands for Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement. According to a report in Radio World, the operators of Radio Impacto 2 received notices of apparent liability in March for their unlicensed operations on 105.5 MHz from a station located in the city's borough of Queens. According to media accounts, Radio Impacto 2 never responded to the FCC, as is required. Radio World's attempts to reach the station operators were unsuccessful. The FCC said that collection of the record forfeiture payment may be referred to the US Department of Justice, which enforces such fines. In taking its further action, the FCC said that the station operators continued to be on the air, even now, and have promoted their programming to a prospective radio audience. According to the Radio World report, one of the station operators, Luis Angel Ayora, had also been issued a $20,000 forfeiture in 2015 which was never paid, resulting in a seizure of broadcast equipment. This is Andy Morrison K9AWM. (RADIO WORLD, FCC) ** CANADIAN BROADCASTER HALTS TIME-KEEPING BROADCASTS NEIL/ANCHOR: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has stopped giving listeners the time of day. Shortwave radio, however, is still at it. Dave Parks WB8ODF explains. DAVE: CBC radio has stopped broadcasting the official time signal of the National Research Council. The broadcasts began in 1939, providing a national time synchronization signal for anyone relying on the accuracy of their clocks. CBC Radio halted the broadcasts on October 9th, noting that any of its transmissions over HD Radio or the web causes a delay of several seconds, invalidating the accuracy of what was being sent. Shortwave radio comes to the rescue, however: The NRC's official time station, CHU, operated by the council's Institute for National Measurement Standards, broadcasts on 3.33, 7.85 and 14.67 MHz, to deliver the time as always, in English and French. Three atomic clocks are located at the transmitter site in Ottawa, Canada. The station began broadcasting the time on an experimental basis in 1929 using the callsign VE9OB. It became known as CHU in 1938. This is Dave Parks WB8ODF. (RADIO WORLD) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world including the K2ADA 2 meter repeater in Ocala Florida on Friday and Saturday nights at 7. ** DARC SEEKS HELP WITH CQGMA PROJECT NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams active in awards programs such as WWFF, Global Mountains Award and Islands on the Air, to name a few, are watching for changes to be made to the cqGMA Project which was taken over by the DARC in Germany during this past summer. IT volunteers have been handling the transfer of the source code and the move to the DARC's servers. Ron Jerke [PRONOUNCED: Yer-Ker], DG2RON, a member of the DARC board, said that additional IT volunteers are needed in related areas, such as handling requests for support. The cqGMA Project is a portal to many outdoor operating award groups including IOTA, WWFF and GMA. Interested parties can contact DARC directly by email to receive further information or to volunteer. The email address is DG2RON@darc.de (DARC) ** SCOUTING'S BIG WEEKEND ON AIR AND ONLINE NEIL/ANCHOR: October 20th marks the start of a special weekend that Scouts everywhere have been waiting for. Bill Stearns NE4RD tells us about their agenda. BILL: This is the big weekend for scouting, Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet is this weekend, October 20th through the 22nd. This is the world's largest scouting event taking place on the air and online, to connect scouts from around the world with each other to share in their culture and experiences. The K2BSA has several portable stations on the air for this event including: K2BSA/1 in Milton, MA, K2BSA/4 in Prattville, AL, K2BSA/5 in Hernando, MS, K2BSA/6 in Bakersfield, CA, K2BSA/7 in Cloverdale, OR, K2BSA/8 in Wheeling, WV, and finally K2BSA/KL7 in Chugiak, AK. Many other clubs and scouting units will be on the air with various callsigns calling CQ JOTA. This is not a contest, and sharing the experience of amateur radio will occur on all bands and all modes in this travel free jamboree. Registration for the event to get your JamPuzID is on JOTAJOTI.INFO. Additional JOTA information can be obtained on our website at K2BSA.NET. For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD ** HAM RADIO UNIVERSITY RETURNS IN PERSON NEIL/ANCHOR: Ham Radio University is back! The day-long program on Long Island, New York, devoted to all things amateur radio will be an in-person event again in January. Sel Embee KB3TZD has the details. SEL: The educational conference known as Ham Radio University is marking its 25th anniversary by returning to its pre-pandemic venue: the campus of Long Island University in Brookville New York. On Saturday, January 6th, experts will lead discussions on more than two dozen topics. HRU has provided its programming without interruption throughout the pandemic, but this is the first time in three years it is returning to real classroom settings. Topics will include software defined radio, how to build an HF station, Morse Code, and Parks on the Air. A testing session will also be offered for those who would like to upgrade their ham radio license or become a ham for the first time. Admission is free but there is a suggested donation of $10. For those unable to attend, videos from the January HRU will be posted on HRU's YouTube channel. The channel also offers videos of previous years' sessions. For additional details or a schedule of presentations visit hamradiouniversity dot org. That's hamradiouniversity - all one word - dot org. (hamradiouniversity.org) This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD. (HRU) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, Volker, DL1WH will be active holiday style as DL1WH/p from Fehmarn Island, IOTA number EU-128, until the 29th of October. He will operate mainly CW, with some SSB. QSL via home call, direct or bureau. Listen for special event station IIØMKFR [PRONOUNCED eye eye zero Emm Kay Eff Arr] being used by members of ARI Roma, IQØRM. They will be operating from the Maker Faire Rome from the 20th to the 22nd of October. For details see QRZ.com In France, the Radio Club de Wingles, F4KLR, will be active with the special callsign TM125ED between the 4th of November through to the 31st of December. The club is marking the 125th anniversary of the public demonstration by radio pioneer Eugene Ducretet of wireless communication between the Eiffel Tower and the Pantheon. All CW and SSB QSOs will be confirmed automatically via the bureau and eQSL. For other details see QRZ.com Listen for John, W2GD, operating as P4ØW from Aruba, IOTA number SA-036, from the 24th to the 30th of October. He will be mostly active during the CQ WW DX SSB Contest. Outside the contest, listen for him using CW on 160, 30, 17 and 12m. Find QSL details on QRZ.com (425 DX BULLETIN) ** CHANNEL ISLAND RADIO OPS ARE CHANNELING FRIENDSHIP NEIL/ANCHOR: For our final story, we go to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English channel and discover that thanks to radio -- in this case, citizens band radio -- these aren't islands when it comes to social geography. Jeremy Boot G4NJH brings us that story. JEREMY: The magic of shortwave radio first enchanted Robert Clancy and Peter Le Page when they were teenagers working together in a small local bakery on Guernsey Island. The words that were carried over the airwaves gave the youngsters' world its shape as they listened to the voices of countries beyond their lives in the English Channel. In 1979, the friends turned the dial one day and discovered voices closer to home: citizens band on Guernsey and on the neighbouring island of Jersey. The frequencies came alive with local voices they found familiar and friendly. Those same voices only grew quieter in the years that followed as mobile phones gained popularity and CB fell out of favour. Now in an era where mobile phones have a stronghold and social media has emerged as a communications giant, the voices of CB operators on Guernsey and Jersey are returning in a loud chorus. CB's resurgence was recently documented in a feature story on ITV Channel Island News. Robert, who uses the handle Deejay, and Peter, whose handle Mebo 2, are still on the air, keeping busy as new friends arrive on many of the 80 CB channels using AM, FM and SSB. Robert told Newsline that the regular voices on Guernsey belong to radio operators with handles like Mermaid, Rubber Lobster, The Bear and Meterman -- and the familiar voices heard on Jersey include Road Sweeper, Little Genie and Catweasle. The islands' CB'ers have different breaking channels but online they share a Facebook group whose membership is growing. Robert told Newsline that the Facebook group has members worldwide, joined by lots of ex-pats and CB'ers from around the world. Peter told the ITV that radio has been [quote] "the best part of my life." Four decades later, Robert and Peter are neighbours as well as friends and finding the connections woven by the unseen thread of radio waves to be growing even stronger. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (ITV NEWS, ROBERT CLANCY) ** 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; AusPost.com; CQ Magazine; the DARC; David Behar K7DB; Ed Efchak, WX2R; 425DXNews; Facebook; FCC; Gary Mikitin, AF8A; HamGallery.com; ITV News; Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF; QRZ.com; Radioinfo Australia; Rebecca Key, KO4KVG; Robert Clancy; Ron DG2RON; 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 Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Union Kentucky saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.