Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2409 for Friday December 29th, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2409 with a release date of Friday December 29th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Set your sights on some most-wanted DX contacts. Straight Key Month gets under way - and listen to the winning Ham Radio Haiku for 2023. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2409 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** PLANNING BEGINS FOR DXPEDITION TO PETER THE 1ST ISLAND DON/ANCHOR: As the new year dawns, we bring you a top story that looks to the future: We tell you about two big DXpeditions happening Down Under -- and both take plenty of planning and resources. We hear the details from Graham Kemp VK4BB. GRAHAM: The year 2024 is a big year of planning for a DXpedition to Peter I Island, which ranks eighth in ClubLog's most-wanted DXCC list. Like Bouvet Island, this remote volcanic island is one of three Norwegian territories in the subAntarctic and Antarctic region. The DXpedition of 19 operators is being led by Ken LA7GIA, Cezar VE3LYC, Dave WD5COV and Adrian KO8SCA. It's planned for 14 days in February of 2026. Dave and Ken are also part of another high-profile DXpedition taking place a year before Peter I Island: that is the 3YØK DXpedition in January 2025 for Bouvet Island, the 11th most wanted on the ClubLog list. This expedition will reuse much of the equipment from the previous year's trip to Bouvet and is also sharing the website being used by 3YØK. As fundraising for Peter I Island gets under way in just a few weeks, the group is concentrating on securing a landing permit from the Norwegian Polar Institute. The team has reported that it has found a ship and it has two on-board helicopters. In addition to being a coveted DX, Peter I Island carries the IOTA designation of AN-004. This is Graham Kemp VK4BB (MØOXO WEBSITE) ** CQ MAGAZINE SUSPENDS PUBLICATION DON/ANCHOR: CQ Magazine, which has been a resource for the active amateur radio community for seven decades, has suspended publication until sometime in 2024. CQ has been a valuable supporter of Newsline's Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award. It is renowned for its CQ World Wide array of contests and operating awards and for its hall of fame. The magazine's editor, Richard Moseson W2VU, told Newsline in a recent email: [quote] "As all of our loyal readers know, 2023 has been a very challenging year for us. We continue to pursue all options for getting things moving again. At this moment, the November and December issues are delayed but we plan to get them out to the readership as soon as circumstances permit. We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding." [endquote] The widely read magazine, which produces both a print and digital edition, has been a staple in amateur radio shacks, starting with its first issue in January 1945. ** STRAIGHT KEY MONTH CELEBRATES A TRADITION DON/ANCHOR: This year marks the 18th year for Straight Key Month, a celebration of traditional communication from the Straight Key Century Club. Don't have a straight key? You can get in on the action anyway. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us how. KEVIN: Just as some CW operators think they can rest their fists following the conclusion of the ARRL's Straight Key Night on the 1st of January, others are preparing for Straight Key Month. The popular event from the Straight Key Century Club is a leisurely and friendly activity. The goal is to contact as many other operators as you can via CW, not just throughout the United States but around the world. There are various categories in which operators can set their goals. You don't need to be an SKCC club member to participate. In fact, you don't even need to use a Straight Key. Will you get a basic sweep, a full sweep or a grand sweep? See the SKCC website at skccgroup dot com (skccgroup.com) and click on the link for SKCC Straight Key Month, which appears under the heading of "Activities." Each year club members compete to produce a design for the event's official QSL card. This year's winning card will also mark the 18th anniversary of the SKCC. This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE. (SKCC) ** ARIZONA DESERT COMES ALIVE WITH QUARTZFEST DON/ANCHOR: The next big thing in ham radio in the US is the first big convention of 2024. It's known as Quartzfest and it is one of its kind in Arizona's Sonoran desert. It features recreational vehicles, portable and mobile EMCOM systems and off-the-grid living all near Quartzsite. Activities and seminars are all free. Operators will also have a special event station W7Q throughout the week. Other hams will be participating in an HF Distance Challenge, Pico Balloon Launches and POTA activations and hikes. Quartzfest takes place between the 21st and the 27th of January. For a schedule of seminars and activities visit quartzfest dot org (quartzfest.org) (QUARTZFEST, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY) ** HAMSCI ADVISOR BECOMES DIRECTOR OF HAYSTACK OBSERVATORY DON/ANCHOR: A noted observatory in New England has just chosen its new director - an amateur radio operator who is also an advisor to HamSCI and its various projects. We hear more from Sel Embee KB3TZD. SEL: Congratulations to Philip Erickson, W1PJE, a member of the advisory board of the citizens science group HamSCI, who is starting an important new role in January as director of the Haystack Observatory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he has been on staff in various capacities since 1995. His most recent role has been as associate director. The observatory has been involved in a number of projects that share some of HamSCI's own priorities, conducting studies of the ionosphere and other parts of the atmosphere with the use of electromagnetic frequencies. Philip notes on his QRZ.com page that Haystack has been involved since the late 1950s in remote-sensing research into the properties of the ionosphere, neutral atmosphere, overlying plasmasphere, and magnetosphere. Philip belongs to the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club, which often conducts activities in collaboration with the Haystack Observatory. He is also a big fan of working with vintage radios. This is Sel Embee KB3TZD. (HAMSCI, QRZ.COM) ** GET READY FOR HAM RADIO KIDS' DAY DON/ANCHOR: Just as Youth on the Air month ends on the last day of December, Ham Radio Kids Day is just getting warmed up. The annual ARRL event takes place on Saturday the 6th of January as a way of showing youngsters the kind of fun they can have on the air - and to interest them in science and technology. Plans are already being made across the country: One such group, The New Providence Amateur Radio Club in New Jersey. is operating the event with the youngsters at the Salt Brook School on Saturday, January 6, 2024 from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. During the event, youngsters will be on the air under the supervision of licensed hams. Kids will be calling "CQ Kids Day" and the kid-friendly exchange will be name, age, location and favorite color. (ARRL, PATCH.COM) ** FRENCH AMATEUR'S SPECIAL EVENT HONORS POLISH MARTYR DON/ANCHOR: Several special event stations go on the air from around the world each year in August, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. He was born, however, in January and an event is coming up to mark the 130th anniversary of that day. Here's Randy Sly W4XJ with the details. RANDY: The Polish priest, Maximilian Maria Kolbe, was martyred in Auschwitz during World War II. Hams often hold special event stations in August to mark the date of his death. One ham in France -- Jeff, F4IIQ (F 4 EYE EYE Q) -- has chosen to mark his birth on January 8th. He will be going on the air with the callsign TM130SMK from the 5th to the 9th of January. The Franciscan priest, who was canonized in 1982, is considered the patron saint of amateur radio for having founded a monastery in Poland dedicated to communications. The monastery housed a short-wave radio station with the callsign SP3RN. When the monastery was shut by the Nazis in 1941, Maximilian Maria Kolbe was arrested and sent to Auschwitz where he volunteered to take the place of another man who was marked to die. The priest was executed by lethal injection after having been placed in a starvation bunker. Father Kolbe is also the inspiration for the Saint Maximilian Kolbe Net, which was founded by two amateurs in the US in 1998. It meets on 80 metres and 20 metres on Sundays. This is Randy Sly W4XJ. (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 W4HPL repeater in Cookeville, Tennessee on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. local time. ** SOTA ACTIVATORS PREPARE FOR YEAR-LONG 10M CHALLENGE DON/ANCHOR: SOTA activators, get ready to aim high in the new year. It's already a fact that SOTA ops aim high or they wouldn't be climbing all those summits to make contacts, but now the awards scheme is asking everyone to aim high on the band and accept a year-long 10-meter challenge. This event is timed to coincide with what is expected to be the peak of Solar Cycle 25. The SOTA 10m Challenge is not a contest, but the organisers do plan to post results on its challenge page and hope the activity will encourage as many ops as possible to make use of the b and. In announcing the activity, Andy, MMØFMF, compared this challenge to the event conducted on the 12m band in 2013 and 2014. Unlike 12m, 10m is open to all classes of amateurs in most countries and so this event is considered more inclusive. (AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, EI7GL BLOG) ** ARISS CONFERENCE TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF HAM RADIO DON/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio on the ISS is collecting stories and videos that help tell the story of ham radio in space during the past four decades. Dave Parks WB8ODF brings us that report. DAVE: If you've ever had contact with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, get ready for Florida in February. The ARISS organization is reaching out to educators and former students and asking them to send in stories and videos explaining the impact that important QSO with the orbiting astronauts has had on their lives. The stories will become a part of the 40th anniversary Educational Contact conference taking place at the Center for Space Education near the Kennedy Space Center's Visitors' Center from February 22nd to the 24th. Both educators and former students are being asked to fill out a form online providing details. ARISS is celebrating the occasion, which marks 40 years since astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made the first amateur radio contact from space on board the Space Shuttle Columbia. ARISS writes on its website [quote] "The historic 40th anniversary conference will be a retrospective of what has been accomplished and will highlight our exciting amateur radio human spaceflight plans on the horizon." [endquote] To share your story, follow the link that appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org This is Dave Parks WB8ODF. [DO NOT READ: http://tinyurl.com/2p87y7f9 ] (ARISS, YOUTH ON THE AIR) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, there's still time to get a coveted DX for your logbook: The Rebel DX Group's T32TT operation from Kiritimati/Christmas Island, IOTA number OC-024 in East Kiribati will be extended until the 12th of January. See QRZ.com for QSL and other details. Be listening for special event station AT24GSM from West Bengal, India, between January 9th through to the 16th. Members of the West Bengal Radio Club will be activating Sagar Island, IOTA Number AS-153 and the Gangasagar Island Beach, BOTA Number 60572. The activation will also include the Sagar Island Lighthouse, World Lighthouse Number 2262. The occasion for the activation is the annual pilgrimage known as the Ganga Saga Mela. See QRZ.com for details. Members of ARI Padova will be on the air with the callsign II3PUP from the 7th to the 14th of January. The suffix of the callsign is an acronym for the Latin words connoting Padua the Painted City. This is a reference to the series of 14th-century frescoes that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, where they were added in 2021. QSL via IQ3WW. Find other QSL information on QRZ.com. If you are planning ahead for February, be listening for VK5MAV operating as VK5MAV/4 from Magnetic Island, IOTA number OC-171. They will be on the air from the 6th to the 11th of February. He will be using mainly CW but may include some SSB. Listen on 40, 20, 15, and 10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details. (425 DX BULLETIN) ** KICKER: A TREASURED TRANSMITTER'S ENDURING MESSAGE DON/ANCHOR: As we leave December and step across the threshold of a new year, it's a comfort to know that some things endure. They were built to last - and in fact, they DO last. One example is the tradition of a message of Christmas peace, transmitted from a historic transmitter in Sweden. Jeremy Boot G4NJH concludes this newscast with this report. JEREMY: On Christmas Eve morning, the World Heritage Grimeton Radio station carried a message to the world that is older than the 100-year-old transmitter itself. It was a message of peace sent via Morse Code. Hams and non-hams alike from around the wor ld tuned in via SDR or other means to hear the code being sent via the Alexanderson Alternator SAQ signal on 17.2 kHz long wave. Others simply witnessed the event on YouTube, where spectators from Poland, Belgium, Colombia, Brazil and Australia left words of support and appreciation in many languages. The history behind this transmitter is as cherished as the message it carries several times each year: With every transmission it underscores the progress we have made over the years in wireless communication -- while affirming the progress the world still needs to make in so many other areas. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (YOUTUBE) DON/ANCHOR: You can see this year's December 24th event in Grimeton by following the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org [DO NOT READ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33B5j7rnBnI ] ** SEND US NEWS - AND HERE'S OUR HAIKU WINNER DON/ANCHOR: 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, if you're feeling even a little bit poetic, visit our website to learn more about the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge in 2024. Speaking of all things poetic, as promised, our crew has chosen the Newsline Haiku of 2023 from all of this year's weekly top entries. We are proud of this winner, who received 43% of the vote. We were unfortunately unable to contact the author in time for him to read it for inclusion in this newscast. So it's my honor to present the winning haiku, submitted by Greg Smith, N6NYX, that was featured on December 8. It was a touching and poetic comment on the potential future of amateur radio. It reads: The past is prologue, When the radio captures, The love of youngsters We congratulate Greg Smith for his winning haiku and encourage all of our listeners to submit their own creations at the website. Look for the "Ham Radio Haiku" link at the top right portion of the menu on the website. We look forward to another year of you flexing your poetic license as well as your ham radio license. ** NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; ARRL; ARISS; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; 425DXNews; HamSCI; MØOXO website; Patch.com; QRZ.com; Quartzfest; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; Straight Key Century Club; Wireless Institute of Australia; YouTube; Youth on the Air; 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 and wishing you all the very best in 2024. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.