Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2416 for Friday February 16th, 2024

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2416 with a release date of Friday February 16th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in South Carolina rally for antenna rights. Australia prepares for its new licensing arrangements -- a simplex net provides a safety net in Hawaii. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2416 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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PROPOSED LAW WOULD PROTECT HAM ANTENNAS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week in South Carolina, where hams are planning to rally on the 21st of February for a bill that would remove private land restrictions for some amateur radio antennas. This is one state of many throughout the US where such restrictions are a paramount concern. Kevin Trotman N5PRE has that report.

KEVIN: A rally is planned at the State House in Columbia, South Carolina, as a show of support for the Amateur Radio Antenna Protection act, which eight Republican lawmakers are introducing into session that day. The bill is designed to ensure amateur radio operators' rights to install antennas that let them get on the air effectively. According to an email sent to amateurs in the state from E. Gordon Mooneyhan, W4EGM, of the ARRL's South Carolina Section, a strong presence by radio operators will go a long way toward making several points in favor of the measure's passage. Calling ham radio a [quote] "incubator for education, exploration and experimentation within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields," Gordon also noted that active hams have provided some 6,000 hours of volunteer community service during the past two years. He said that although most log periodic antennas and satellites used for TV reception over the air are more obtrusive, Homeowners Associations, or HOAs, have imposed restrictions that bar even the simplest amateur radio antennas, providing an obstacle to short- and long-range emergency communications.

The widespread concern about HOAs and amateur radio in many states throughout the US has led to introduction of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, which would provide antenna protection on the federal level. The US Congress has not yet acted on the bill, which is opposed by many HOAs.

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(E.GORDON MOONEYHAM, W4EGM; CONGRESS.GOV)

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LAWMAKERS SEEK FEDERAL PROTECTION FOR HAM RADIO ANTENNAS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a new effort to grant sweeping protection across the country was introduced in the US Senate. The bipartisan measure would mandate that private homeowners associations accept the installation of outdoor ham radio antennas. The Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act of 2024 was presented by Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. The measure underscores the value of ham radio's lifesaving potential during natural disasters and other emergencies such as the hurricanes that are common in both of the sponsoring lawmakers' home states.

(WICKER.SENATE.GOV)

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NEW LICENSE PROCEDURES TAKING EFFECT IN AUSTRALIA

PAUL/ANCHOR: A new way of handling and issuing amateur radio licenses is about to take effect in Australia. John Williams VK4JJW tells us what's changing - and what's not.

JOHN: A new era in amateur radio licences dawns in Australia on the 19th of February as the Australian Communications and Media Authority implements the new Class Licence arrangements. The transition from apparatus licences requires no action for most hams but holders of recently renewed amateur apparatus licences may be eligible for a pro-rated refund upon surrender of those licences. The changes include the administration of examination services by the ACMA and a new accreditation process for examiners that is intended to increase the availability of assessors to those wishing to sit the exams. That process includes working with volunteer assessors who previously supported from the Australian Maritime College to bring them on board with the new ACMA arrangements. The college's services to the ACMA do not extend past the 18th of February.

The Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia Class Licence is to be available to those amateurs whose licence is conformant with the HAREC standard under CEPT arrangements. Operators from overseas whose licences are not HAREC compliant may be eligible, upon application, to operate under an amateur class licence for 365 days if they meet certain qualifications.

The arrangements have been designed to minimise the cost of licences for ham radio operators and to reduce the regulatory burden on the ACMA. Repeater and beacon licensing remains unchanged as apparatus licences.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(ACMA, WIA)

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EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SEEKS HAM INPUT ON PROPOSED SATELLITE PAYLOAD

PAUL/ANCHOR: Satellite partners in Europe will soon be reaching out to hams for suggestions for the next payload in geostationary orbit. We have those details from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: The European Space Agency expects to engage in  dialogue soon with amateur radio operators about a proposal for a geostationary satellite payload that would serve as a follow-up to QO-100. The ESA, the IARU and various members of the AMSAT community began pursuing the concept last year. At the recent FOSDEM 2024, held on the first weekend of February in Brussels, the ESA's Frank Zeppenfeldt, PDØAP, announced that ESA's satellite communications group is now actively seeking the ham community's input, especially from those operators familiar with SDRs.

The Es'hail-2/Qatar-QO-100 satellite was launched in November 2018, carrying the first amateur radio transponders to be in geostationary orbit.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, FOSDEM)

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LIFETIME AWARD FOR 50 YEARS OF RADIO COMMITMENT

PAUL/ANCHOR: Congratulations to Jose [PRON: JOES] Jacob, VU2JOS, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Bengal Amateur Radio Society for 50 years of involvement in radio that included broadcast DXing and later, amateur radio. The award was presented to him on the 13th of February, which was World Radio Day. Licensed since 1985, he has participated in nearly a dozen DXpeditions by the National Institute of Amateur Radio.

(NORTH BENGAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY, QRZ.COM)

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SILENT KEY: CQ DX HALL OF FAMER BOB ALLPHIN, K4UEE

PAUL/ANCHOR: An accomplished DXpeditioner and veteran contester has become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK: When it came to contesting or participating in DXpeditions, Bob Allphin [PRON: ALL FIN], KN4UEE, could often be found at the center of activity. He had been involved in DXpeditions that traveled to most of the DXCC top 10 most wanted locations. He was also a CQ DX Hall of Famer and a competitor in two World Radiosport Championships.

Bob became a Silent Key on the 10th of February at his home in Georgia of kidney failure and Merkle Cell carcinoma.

According to a posting on DX World, Bob's participation in 10 major DXpeditions over the years helped the team log more than 1.25 million QSOS, many of them from rare locations. He was also an avid contester, qualifying for the WRTC events in 1996 and 2000. Thirty-eight of his Dxpeditions during the mid-80s and into the early 200s were for contesting. He also held the callsign VU3RQA and was a member of the VU7RG Lakshadweep DXpedition organized by the National Institute of Amateur Radio in India.

Bob was a member of the First CLass Operators Club and the Southeastern DX Club Hall of Fame. At the time of his death Bob served as president of the KP1-5 Project, which advocates for the use by amateur radio of the environmentally sensitive Navassa and Desecheo islands by coordinating efforts with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Bob was 79.
 
This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(DX-WORLD)

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SILENT KEY: DMR's TGIF FOUNDER MITCH SAVAGE, EA7KDO

PAUL/ANCHOR: One of the founders of the DMR Network known as TGIF has become a Silent Key. A notice posted on the network website reports that Mitch Savage, EA7KDO, died on the 6th of February. No other details were given. The TGIF net that was held on Friday, February 9th was dedicated to him.

Mitch wrote on his page on QRZ.com that he got his amateur radio license in 1964 and was an active ham, gravitating into digital radio starting in 2016. He was most active on DMR, Fusion D-Star, P25, NXDN and WiresX. He relocated to Spain from Texas in 2017 and in October 2018 he became one of the founding fathers of the TGIF Network, which grew out of a net the group originally held on a Brandmeister Talk Group.

A message on the TGIF site said: [quote] "Mitch leaves behind a remarkable contribution to ham radio and beyond." [endquote]

(QRZ.COM, TGIF)

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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 North Coast Amateur Radio Club's N8NC repeater in northeast Ohio on Sundays at 8 p.m. local time during the Weekly Information Net.

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HIGH MARKS FOR PROTOTYPE ANTENNA SYSTEM AND SATELLITES

PAUL/ANCHOR: An antenna system has received high marks for its ability to communicate with large numbers of satellites around the clock. Dave Parks WB8ODF gives us those details.

DAVE: Tests of a digital phased array antenna system in Fairbanks, Alaska, showed it to be capable of handling more than 300 satellite contacts daily - and doing it around the clock, according to the company that developed it. In reporting the results on the 7th of February of its three months of testing, L3Harris Technologies said that the prototype system also demonstrated the ability to handle as many as eight contacts at the same time.

L3Harris senior scientist Brian Haman later issued a statement saying that the company was very pleased with the results.

L3Harris has said that this kind of technology will prove especially useful in helping to achieve simultaneous horizon-to-horizon communications. It is also able to reduce any RFI it locates. L3Harris developed the array in response to government and commercial customers' needs to reach constellations in different orbital planes as well as large constellations in low-Earth orbit.

The research and development was done in agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Satellite and Information Service to develop a means of collecting data from an increasing number of satellites in a cost-effective way.

This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(SPACENEWS.COM)

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SIMPLEX RADIO NET SEEN AS SAFETY NET IN HAWAII

PAUL/ANCHOR: Amateurs in Hawaii are rediscovering the power of simplex, especially when they need to rely on making connections in an emergency. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us how they're accomplishing this.

GRAHAM: It's just for practice - and it's just for fellowship too - but a monthly meetup of hams on the Hawaiian island of Oahu holds greater potential than just the regular check-ins and discussions of local news events. This is the Leeward Simplex Radio Net and it grew from a ragchew into a net after the radio operators realized their on-air activity presented a great opportunity to keep the community, county and state connected during a crisis on the island without relying on repeaters. Stacy Holbrook, KH6OWL, one of the net control operators, told Newsline that during a recent impromptu Friday night net, one station made a 26-mile contact to the north shore of the island - an important connection that could prove vital in passing traffic and information in emergencies.

The next Leeward simplex net will be held on Friday, the 23rd of February. Stacy and the other net control operators, Todd, KH6TOD, and Allan, WH6GRO, are hoping to see the number of participants grow so everyone is prepared in an emergency.

The hams believe in simplex so much that they participate in a separate net using WINLINK to send emails or messages from their computers over the radio digitally without relying on external power or the internet. The next scheduled simplex WINLINK net will be on Sunday, February 18th and the operators will practice sending safe-at-home messages.

Stacy told Newsline that these small nets play a big role in making this island more resilient. He said that a heavily populated place like Hawaii, with such an isolated location in the middle of the Pacific, must always be prepared.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(STACY HOLBROOK KH6OWL)

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W. VIRGINIA FIRST RESPONDERS ORGANIZE NEW HAM CLUB

PAUL/ANCHOR: Sometimes an emergency response plan isn't complete without amateur radio. Recognizing this, a number of first-responders in West Virginia are looking to change things. Patrick Clark K8TAC has that report.

PATRICK: When emergencies happen, the Upshur County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Upshur County Community Emergency Response Team are at the ready. Now, however, they're looking to become even more responsive by adding amateur radio to their resources. The groups recently announced a new effort to create a club that would include amateur radio operators and others with an interest in ham radio. In an announcement made jointly on social media, they opened the door to anyone living in Upshur and surrounding counties. The group's first meeting will be held on the 21st of February at the Buckhannon Public Safety Complex. An amateur radio license is not required to join the new club, which will provide classes, hold public events and provide training in emergency communications. The club organizers hope to affiliate eventually with the ARRL and Amateur Radio Emergency Services.

This is Patrick Clark K8TAC.

(FACEBOOK)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, be listening for Bernard, DL2GAC, who is operating as H44MS in the Solomon Islands until the end of April. He is on HF, using SSB and FT8. QSL via Club Log's OQRS.

Listen for Borut, S53BV, on the air holiday style as 5R8BV from Nosy Be, IOTA Number AF-057, Madagascar, from the 17th of February until the 3rd of March. He is operating on 80 and 40 metres using CW and SSB.  QSL via Club Log's OQRS, or direct to home call.

David, OK6DJ, will be on the air from the 20th to the 27th of February from Mauritius Island, IOTA Number AF-049. He is using the callsign 3B8/OK6DJ. QSL via Club Log's OQRS.

Listen for Sylvia, OM4AYL, who is on Pemba Island, IOTA Number AF-063, Tanzania, using the callsign 5H4AYL. Sylvia will be on the air from the 18th to the 28th of February on 80 through 10 metres using SSB, CW and FT8.  For QSL details visit QRZ.com.

(425 DX BULLETIN) 

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HAMS TEST ORIGINAL VOICE MODE IN AM RALLY

PAUL/ANCHOR: We end this week by sharing an event the evokes nostalgia - and good warm sound on the air. If you took part in this year's AM Rally, the annual celebration of the original ham radio voice mode, you were not alone, as we hear from Sel Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: There was a strong showing among hams who took part in the operating event known as the AM Rally on February 3rd through the 5th. For some operators, it celebrated the special fondness they have for the voice mode that predates single sideband. Other operators were curious to see how their homebrew, tube, military or modern rigs would perform and many ended up making their first AM contacts.

Organizers said weekend participation was strong on 20, 40 and 75 metres. Clark N1BCG, one of the organizers, said he heard one AM contact from the UK on 10 metres. Extra excitement was generated by the participation of W1AW, the station at the headquarters of the ARRL in Connecticut. 

Hams were encouraged to log contacts but it wasn't required. Friendly ragchew and good memories were, of course, mandatory.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(CLARK BURGARD, N1BCG)

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DO YOU HAIKU?

Don't forget the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. If you're not too busy tuning your antennas or chasing the latest DXpedition, pick up a pencil and share your experience by sending an original haiku to us here at Newsline. Use the entry form on our website, arnewsline.org and please follow the rules for writing your three-line haiku -- sorry but we cannot accept any entries that aren't written in traditional haiku form.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to the Australian Communications and Media Authority; Amateur Radio Daily; ARRL; Clark Burgard, N1BCG; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; DXWorld; E. Gordon Mooneyham, W4EGM; 425DXNews; FOSDEM; North Bengal Amateur Radio Society; QRZ.com; shortwaveradio.de; Spacenews.com; Stacy Holbrook, KH6OWL; TGIF Network; Wireless Institute of Australia; Worldwide DX; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2024. All rights reserved.