Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2419 for Friday March 8th, 2024

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2419 with a release date of Friday March 8th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams race against time to get medicine to an ailing train passenger. A new look at recharging batteries, via infrared - and Amateur Radio Newsline presents a special tribute to Silent Key Bob Heil K9EID.  All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2419 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAMS RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK TO DELIVER MEDICINE TO RAIL PASSENGER

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to India, where hams assisted in a dramatic race against time - and a railroad schedule - to deliver medicine to an ailing passenger on a train. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF brings us that story.

JIM: Two hams in India raced against the clock - and a fast-moving express train - to provide medicine to an ailing passenger en route from Hyderabad [hydra-BOD] this month. According to several reports in the local Indian media, the 35-year-old man had fallen ill and was being accompanied back home on the train by his brother when his condition worsened. His throat pain became severe and he began to cough up blood. Another passenger who was a doctor suggested a remedy that could help the man but the train was not scheduled to stop until the next station. The ailing man's brother phoned their father, a social worker, who put an alert out on social media via WhatsApp. It was seen by Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, of the West Bengal Radio Club, who went on the air with an emergency call on behalf of the passenger. Sai Likhith, VU2TFN, a member of the Dolphin Amateur Radio Repeater Club, heard the call and responded, receiving the information he needed. He was able to locate the necessary remedy. He arrived at the station just in time to hand over the medicine during the train's five-minute stop.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(TELANGANA TODAY, THE TIMES OF INDIA)

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WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER USES INFRARED

PAUL/ANCHOR: Need to charge your batteries? Have you ever thought about transferring that power wirelessly? A company in Israel doing just that - and Kent Peterson KCØDGY tells us about it.

KENT: Technology developed 10 years ago in Israel to permit wireless transfer of power has begun showing up in some world markets. The over-the-air system uses infrared sent from transmitters that transform electricity into infrared beams which they then send to nearby devices that need their batteries recharged. Line of sight is necessary for the transmission to be successful and one transmitter's signal can cover about 130 square meters of area. For it to work, each device needs to have receivers attached to convert the infrared signals back into electricity.

The company, Wi-Charge, has trademarked this far-field wireless technology under the name "AirCord." It is designed to replace the traditional need to plug devices in using cords to recharge them. According to the company website, the technology is already in use in some countries in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors. Wi-Charge states that AirCord sends narrow beams that focus only on the devices equipped with receivers and has been certified as safe by the Food and Drug Administration and Underwriters Laboratories in the US and by the International Electrotechnical Commission in the UK.

This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.

(FORBES, THE JERUSALEM POST)

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OVERSEAS HAMS GET EXPANDED PRIVILEGES UNDER AUSTRALIA'S NEW LICENSE SYSTEM

PAUL/ANCHOR: If you're planning to visit Australia anytime soon and want to get on the air, John Williams VK4JJW  has some encouraging news to share.

JOHN: Whether you are a US Technician class operator, a Foundation licence holder in the UK or a ham with entry-level privileges in certain other countries, the new class licence arrangements in Australia now permit you to get on the air - up to a maximum of 365 consecutive days. Visitors from a list of countries no longer need to make a separate application for a licence; they need only append VK slash before their home callsign.

The Australian Media and Communications Authority has posted a list of countries with currently recognised foreign licence equivalents who may operate under Australian licence rules. Visit the ACMA page at the address given in the text version of this newscast script at arnewsline.org

The ACMA makes it clear, however, that hams seeking to relocate to Australia will still need to apply for a licence in VK and receive a new VK home call.

[DO NOT READ: https://www.acma.gov.au/overseas-amateurs-visiting-australia  ]

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(ACMA)

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NEW LICENSE CLASS FOR ENTRY LEVEL OPS IN LUXEMBOURG

PAUL/ANCHOR: Luxembourg has introduced a new license class for entry level ops. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us what happens next.

JEREMY: A third class of amateur radio licence has been introduced by the Luxembourg Institute of Regulation to provide entry level operators with access to selected bands. Known as the BASE level certificate, it permits operation on 2 metres, 70 cm and 10m. Operators may use a maximum power of 25 watts PEP and are limited to dipole-type antennas and quarter-wave vertical ground plane antennas. They must have no more than two radiating elements and a gain of less than 3 dBd.

The licence became available on the 26th of January and first exams are to be offered this coming June. The regulator finalised the agreement in consultation with the Radioamateurs du Luxembourg, whose education team had submitted the proposal last year. BASE call signs will begin LX7.

The Radioamateurs du Luxembourg says on its Facebook page: [quote] "With this new licence class, the start with amateur radio now becomes simplified. After just a short introductory course by our experienced radio amateurs and a brief exam at the regulatory authority, you can apply for a licence and participate in amateur radio." [endquote] The Luxembourg amateur radio group said it hoped operators would eventually sit for the exams for the higher-level NOVICE and HAREC class. The BASE licence exam syllabus follows the CEPT/ECC 89 report.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(RADIOAMATEURS DU LUXENBOURG)

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DEADLINE FOR ARDC GRANTS IS APRIL 1ST

PAUL/ANCHOR: If you or your club or school have a project that helps further the mission of amateur radio for everyone, now is the time to consider a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications. Stephen Kinford N8WB explains what's available.

STEPHEN: April 1st is the deadline to apply for grants from Amateur Radio Digital Communications for this year. The grants are distributed across three categories that are consistent with ARDC's mission. The first type of grant supports and grows ham radio by helping to fund emergency communications initiatives, licensing instruction and repeater infrastructure.

In another category, ARDC also supports education in the schools directly, funding support and mentorship of STEAM programs that link to ham radio, digital communications or wireless technology. Education grants also include support of scholarships.

Finally, research and development projects, such as the M17 Open Protocol Project and Tangerine SDR - two previous recipients - are given support to ensure ham radio has access to state-of-the-art technology.

Any projects receiving an ARDC grant must be made available to the public and in the case of software, must be open source. Visit the website ardc dot net to read more about the grants and to find an application form.

This is Stephen Kinford N8WB.

(ARDC)

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FRIEDRICHSHAFEN THEME IS IOTA'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Oceans separate us but because of one amateur radio programme, oceans have also been uniting us. Sixty years ago, the first amateur radio Islands on the Air operators began calling CQ from remote ocean islands around the globe. That spirit of adventure is being celebrated this summer at Europe's largest amateur radio event. Ham Radio Friedrichshafen (PRON: FREED RICKS HAR VEN) has chosen IOTA's 60th anniversary as the theme for its 47th amateur radio event taking place June 28th to the 30th on Lake Constance in southern Germany. In the words of the promoters, it is a celebration of "60 years of Islands on the Air: technology meets adventure!"

(HAM RADIO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN)

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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.

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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 D-STAR Reflector 91 C at 7:30 p.m. Melbourne Australian time on Wednesdays, or 0830 UTC.

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NASA RETIRES MARS HELICOPTER

PAUL/ANCHOR: NASA's Mars helicopter, known as Ingenuity, has officially been retired. Images sent late last month to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory by Perseverance, the Mars rover, showed that an upper rotor blade had broken off, preventing additional takeoffs. After three years, however, the mission is nonetheless being called a success. It had been deployed to Mars to determine if controlled flight might be possible from the surface of the planet - and it proved it was. Those experiments were to include only five flights - not the 72 it had completed by the time it became disabled.

(NASA, FUNKAMATEUR MAGAZINE)

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AUTISM AWARENESS EVENT NEEDS OPS WORLDWIDE

PAUL/ANCHOR: Do you want to be part of an on-air team that makes a difference? Consider signing up to call CQ for World Autism Awareness. Patrick Clark K8TAC, who will be one of those activating the W2A special event callsign, has this report.

PATRICK: From April 1st through to the 7th, hams around the world will be on the air to educate people about what it means when someone is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disability that affects all nationalities.

The organizer, James Gallo KB2FMH, launched the week-long event last year with tremendous success and is hoping this year's group of volunteer operators will have an even greater impact. Those making contacts with the special event stations are directed to the W2A page on QRZ.com where they can learn more about autism.

To make the voice of awareness even stronger this year, organizers are looking for additional operators. If you want to be part of this important team, send an email to hamradioevents [at] gmail.com and in the subject line, write "A A W 2024 - I Want To Help."

This is Patrick Clark K8TAC.

(AUTISM AWARENESS)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for Iain, G4SGX, operating from Jamaica, IOTA Number NA-097, with the callsign G4SGX/6Y through the 13th of March. He will be using CW on 80 through 10 metres. He will also be participating in the RSGB Commonwealth Contest on the 9th and 10th of March. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Jacek, SP5APW, is on the air as 9W2/SP5APW  from Langkawi Island, IOTA Number AS-058, West Malaysia through the 17th of March, using SSB and FT8 in fox and hound mode. He will operate mainly on 6 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

The callsign TO5LA will be on the air from Mayotte, IOTA Number AF-027, by operators Ros 4Z5LA,  Ruben 4Z5FI  and  Slava 4Z5MU. Listen on various bands where they will operate in various modes between the 28th of March and the 2nd of April. They will also participate in the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest. QSL via 4Z5FI.

Be listening for Phill VK7ID who will be on Tasman Island on Saturday the 9th of March at noon local time - or 0100 UTC - logging contacts for SOTA, POTA and for VK Flora & Fauna. He will be inside Tasman National Park, which carries the designations of VKFF-0481 and, for Parks on the Air, VK-0535. The island's SOTA designation is VK7/SC055. Listen for him running 20 watts into a linked dipole. See QRZ.com for QSL information.

(OZSOTA GROUPS.IO, 425 DX BULLETIN)

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A TRIBUTE: BOB HEIL K9EID

PAUL/ANCHOR: We devote the rest of this week's newscast to remembering an innovator, a mentor, a friend - a fellow ham.
Bob Heil K9EID. Once in a while, a person comes into your life who inspires you and changes the course of your life. I want to personally thank Bob for being that person for me and for so many others. Among them was Academy Award-winning audio engineer Tomlinson Holman, creator of Lucasfilm's THX sound system. He told Newsline in an email that Bob gave him his early start in the industry by having him work on some of his first live-sound consoles. From there, he said, he grew his business.

Here is Don Wilbanks AE5DW with Amateur Radio Newsline's tribute to Bob.

DON: On February 28th at the age of 83, the worlds of amateur radio and music lost a giant.  

Robert G. Heil was born on October 5th 1940 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in nearby Marissa, Illinois. Bob was a gifted musician, performing on the theater organ at local restaurant at age 14. He became the house organist for the Wurlitzer theatre organ at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Learning how to tune the thousands of pipes in the Wurlitzer taught Bob how to listen, mentally picking apart the discrete tones and nuances that became the backbone of his future endeavors. These included early satellite dishes and home theaters.  

His teens were when he became a ham radio operator, earning the call K9EID. 

In his early 20s, Bob began designing and building theater organ installations, and playing six nights a week. In 1966 he founded Ye Old Music Shoppe in Marissa, later renamed Heil Sound. In 1970 one fateful phone call led to Bob and Heil Sound creating an innovative sound system for The Grateful Dead after the band’s sound engineer had been arrested in New Orleans. Bob finished the tour, which led to a new career, creating the de facto modern rock concert sound with such bands as The Who, James Gang, Jeff Beck, ZZ Top and many more. It was with the James Gang that he met his lifelong friend and fellow ham, Joe Walsh.  

In 1973 Bob invented the Talk Box, a device what transfers the sound of a guitar via a tube to the artist’s mouth, where the sound is shaped much like it shapes the human voice. Joe Walsh was given the first one. Later, Peter Frampton began using it. Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi and countless others still use the Heil TalkBox. 

In the 1980s as musical tastes began changing and many of the acts he toured with came off the road, Bob gravitated back to ham radio. He was not happy with the sound of the modern radios at that time, calling the sound “mushy with no articulation." Heil sound entered the ham radio market, creating lines of headsets and microphone elements. The famous HC series was born. 

The worlds of pro audio and ham radio came together in 2006 when Joe Walsh suggested that Heil Sound should develop concert microphones. A full line of vocal, drum and instrument mics came from that idea. The PR35 and PR37 have been the choice for top entertainers like Charlie Daniels, Carrie Underwood and many more. The PR30 and PR40 studio mics are very popular in the broadcasting and podcasting arena.  

Podcaster Leo Laporte won a PR40 at a podcast convention. He was so impressed with the microphone that he invited Bob to his studio in California to be a guest on his show Triangulation. Triangulation episode 8 can still be seen and heard via twit.tv. Bob sat in to talk about his life in audio. The online chat room was full of ham radio callsigns, leading Laporte to insist that Bob do a ham radio program on Leo’s network, TWiT. Ham Nation episode 1 debuted May 25, 2011 with Joe Walsh performing the theme music and as the shows first guest. Ham Nation is still on the air, now on the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel. 

Bob continued to host Ham Nation on the Twit network until the COVID pandemic forced changes at TWiT, leading to the cancellation of several programs due to a drastic drop in advertiser budgets. As Ham Nation transitioned to YouTube, Bob transitioned to appearing as a guest at hundreds of club meetings and presenting his audio demonstrations via Skype and Zoom.  

Sadly, Bob lost a yearlong battle with cancer on February 28th. He passed surrounded by his family. 

Many of his musician friends left their memories via social media.  

Peter Frampton wrote: “I am so sorry to hear of the loss of my friend for so many years, Bob Heil. A musician, inventor, ham radio expert, Heil Sound and microphones. He gave me a very important present mid seventies. The Heil Talkbox!! Can never thank Bob enough. Rest in power my friend.” 

Joe Walsh, who had visited Bob recently, said: “So waddya got that doesn't work?" I can hear Bob Heil's voice in the back of my mind. An amazing musician (especially behind the wheel of a pipe organ at your favorite old movie house), a mad scientist, a ham radio aficionado and evangelist, a tireless problem solver, a mentor to me and guide on my guitar journey, Bob was our wizard in the Midwest. He was also my friend for more than 50 years. "So waddya got that doesn't work?" Well, I don't think my phone is working because you're not picking up... RIP, man. I love you and miss you already. Sending love to Sarah and to the world of audioheads you leave behind.”

My phone must be acting up as well, Joe. 

Farewell, Bob Heil. See you a bit farther on up the band. 

I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. 

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NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to ACMA; ARDC; Autism Awareness; Amateur Radio Daily; AMSAT; CQ magazine; David Behar K7DB; DXWorld; FCC; Forbes; 425DXNews; FunkAmateur Magazine; Jerusalem Post; NASA; OzSOTAGroups; shortwaveradio.de; SpaceNews; Telengana Today; Times of India; 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.