MSGID: 1:135/250@fidonet 6898d73e   
   PID: C-NET AMIGA BBS 5.36b   
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2493 for Friday, August 8th, 2025   
        
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2493 with a release date of Friday,   
   August 8th, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. An international partnership creates a satellite to   
   aid disaster response. Hams honor the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II --   
   and finding a 20m dipole in a cornfield! All this and more as Amateur Radio   
   Newsline Report Number 2493 comes your way right now.   
      
   **    
   BILLBOARD CART   
      
   **   
   JOINT INDIA-US SATELLITE FOCUSES ON NATURAL DISASTERS    
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to space where a satellite created through   
   the partnership of two nations will provide a window into some of the natural   
   disasters plaguing us here on Earth. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has the details.   
      
   JIM: An unprecedented joint satellite project between the Indian Space   
   Research Organization and NASA is giving researchers the hope of better   
   studying the Earth's climate and helping improve responses to natural   
   disasters by monitoring the most subtle changes on Earth, including in its   
   glaciers and wetlands.   
      
   The satellite is known as NISAR, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar   
   mission. Its launch aboard an ISRO spacecraft on the 30th of July from the   
   Satish Dhawan Space Centre, sent it on its mission to send microwaves to   
   collect data from different surfaces on the planet. When processed, the data   
   will be visible in an exceptionally high resolution. An estimated 80 terabytes   
   of data will be collected daily. Scientists have said that the method has   
   [quote] "unprecedented accuracy." [endquote]  Researchers and governments   
   around the world will be able to view the data via a cloud platform where they   
   will have open access.   
       
   The project is being praised as the first collaborative satellite mission of   
   its kind between the Indian and US space agencies.   
      
   This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.   
      
   (CNN, AMSAT NEWS SERVICE)   
      
   **   
   AST SPACEMOBILE DEFENDS PROPOSED AMATEUR-SPECTRUM USE   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: A Texas telecommunications company asking for FCC permission to   
   use amateur radio frequencies between 430 and 440 MHz has submitted a response   
   to the US regulator, defending itself against concerns from ham radio   
   operators over interference. The letter, written by AST SpaceMobile assures   
   the agency that its satellites are designed to [quote] "mitigate   
   interference." [endquote] The company also said it would shut down its use of   
   the band if interference was found. The company's filing, reported on the PC   
   Magazine website, reads in part that the FCC has found that AST SpaceMobile?s   
   prior demonstrations of no interference conform to ITU regulations and are   
   [quote] "sufficient to authorize a limited, nonconforming use.? [endquote]   
      
   The PC Magazine website noted that the FCC has received more than 2,500   
   comments in protest of the company's proposed use of the band.   
      
   (PCMAG)   
      
   **   
      
   CREW-11 ARRIVES, BEGINS WORK ABOARD ISS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Elsewhere in space two more hams have arrived aboard the ISS   
   after a brief delay of their launch, as we hear from Travis Lisk N3ILS.   
      
   TRAVIS: NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 arrived at the International Space Station in   
   the early hours of Saturday, the 2nd of August after a launch that suffered a   
   one-day weather delay due to poor weather   
      
   Commander Zena Cardman, KJ5CMN and pilot Mike Fincke, KE5AIT were accompanied   
   by two mission specialists, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut   
   Oleg Platonov. During their seven-month tenure aboard the orbiting laboratory,   
   the team will conduct experiments on the impact of microgravity on   
   bacteria-killing viruses. They will also study plant-cell division and human   
   stem cells.   
      
   The ISS assignment marks the first time in space for both Zena Cardman and   
   Oleg Platonov.   
      
   This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.   
      
   (NASA, CBS)   
      
   **   
   SPECIAL EVENT HONORS NAVAJO CODE TALKERS OF WW2   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Although the 14th of August has been designated as Navajo Code   
   Talkers Day, a group of proud amateur radio operators are taking several days   
   to honor this special unit of brave Marines who served in the US military   
   during the second World War.   
      
   Few of these hams could be prouder than Herb Goodluck N7HG, whose late father,   
   John V. Goodluck, had been one of the Marines who used their own Navajo   
   language to craft a wartime code that could not be broken.   
      
   Herb will be among those calling QRZ from the 10th to the 15th, using the   
   callsign N7C. Operators will be using CW, phone and FT-8. Additional details,   
   including operating frequencies, can be found on QRZ.com   
      
   The hams will be operating from Window Rock, Arizona at the Navajo Tribal Park   
   and Veterans Memorial.   
      
   (QRZ,COM)   
      
   **   
   PROJECT BY INDIAN STUDENTS, HAMS SEEKS PATENT   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: In rural India, students at a school for boys are being rewarded   
   for their faith in the technical expertise of amateur radio operators.  The   
   lightning-arrester project they have been collaborating on for several years   
   with the hams is ready to be considered for a patent. GrahamKemp VK4BB tells   
   us what comes next.   
      
   GRAHAM: Leave it to ham radio operators to know how destructive, and even   
   fatal, a lightning strike can be. That's why a number of years ago educators   
   at a school in rural West Bengal, India, sought input from local hams for a   
   project by physics students to help protect farmers when they are caught in   
   the fields during storms and lightning strikes. According to reports in the   
   Indian media, the homebrew, affordably built device, which resembles a   
   bicycle?s wheel, has been evaluated by the Central Power Research Institute.   
   It also received recognition in 2020 at the National Children's Science   
   Congress, a national showcase for innovative technology devised by youngsters   
   between the ages of 10 and 17. Newsline described the simple device in its   
   first report on the project in November of 2019, noting that it affixes a   
   wheel-like component to the top of a high bamboo pole. An electrical wire   
   connects it to metal in the earth  to ground it.   
      
   The secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club said in media reports that 40 such   
   devices have already been put in place at 40 locations throughout northern   
   Bengal where the fields for the farmers and their animals are moist and marshy.   
      
   Now the waiting begins: The Times of India reported that the patent   
   application for the project was filed on the 27th of July.   
      
   This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.   
      
   (TIMES OF INDIA, ANALYST IP)   
      
   **   
   SILENT KEY: FORMER ARRL SE DIVISION DIRECTOR FRANK BUTLER, W4RH   
       
   PAUL/ANCHOR: A longstanding and well-respected member of the amateur radio   
   community has become a Silent Key. Frank Butler, W4RH, had been active in ham   
   radio since the 1940s, when he received his commercial and his amateur   
   licenses. He spent part of his professional career as a broadcast engineer at   
   several radio stations. By many accounts, he gave back generously to amateur   
   radio over many decades. He served for nearly 30 years as the Southeastern   
   Division director of the ARRL until he stepped down in 2007. He had begun his   
   service with the league in 1957 as communications manager for the Western   
   Florida Section.   
      
   According to a posting on the Facebook page of the Alabama section of the   
   ARRL, Frank became a Silent Key on Tuesday the 5th of August. He was 100 years   
   old.   
      
   On March 6th of this year, on the occasion of his becoming a centenarian, the   
   Okaloosa County Board in Florida proclaimed the date "Frank M. Butler Jr. Day."   
      
   Hams throughout the division and beyond posted on social media, recalling him   
   as a gentleman and a frequent and prominent guest at Huntsville and other   
   hamfests. His generous spirit was also widely known: He was a member of the   
   ARRL Maxim Society, which recognizes donors for their extraordinary monetary   
   gifts to the league.   
      
   (FACEBOOK, OKALOOSA COUNTY BOARD)   
      
   **   
      
   ARRL'S RADIO ALPHA MUSEUM TRACKS HAM RADIO'S EVOLUTION   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: A museum project being hosted online by the ARRL is tracking   
   amateur radio's life story and its impact on society. We have more details   
   from George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.   
      
   GEORGE: What began as the project of Chuck Penson, WA7ZZE, is slowly growing   
   into Radio Alpha, a ham radio museum and research resource hosted by the ARRL.   
   The historian's vision is to build a tool where documents detailing amateur   
   radio equipment and technology - and its evolution - can be accessible to   
   everyone in a central location.   
      
   Announcing the project on the ARRL website, Chuck wrote: [quote] "This   
   database will be a living resource, regularly updated and expanded through   
   ongoing research and community contributions, fostering a deeper appreciation   
   and understanding of amateur radio's profound impact on communication,   
   technology, and society,? [endquote] Chuck is looking for volunteers to assist   
   him in building and collecting the content, especially hams with deep   
   knowledge of particular product brands or operating modes.The project is being   
   supported by the ARRL's Historical Preservation Fund   
      
   If you are interested in assisting him, he can be emailed at radioalpha at   
   arrl dot org [radioalpha@arrl.org] That's radioalpha - one word - at arrl dot   
   org   
      
   To see how the collection has already grown, visit the link in the text   
   version of this week's newsline script at arnewsline.org   
      
   This is George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.   
      
   [DO NOT READ: arrl.org/radioalpha or arrl.org/museum]   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio   
   Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the AH6LE   
   repeater in Beavercreek and Wilsonville, Oregon, on Sundays at 6 p.m. local   
   time.   
      
   **   
   KATIE CAMPBELL, KE8LQR, PRESENTED WITH NEWSLINE'S YHOTY AWARD   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Viewers of the Ham Nation podcast shared a proud moment with   
   Newsline's Young Ham of the Year, and Don Wilbanks AE5DW is here to tell us   
   about it.   
      
   DON: On Wednesday, July 30th it was my honor to present the 2025 Bill   
   Pasternak WA6ITF Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year award to Katie   
   Campbell, KE8LQR. As Katie will be in Germany as a foreign exchange student   
   for her senior year in high school on the weekend of the Huntsville Hamfest,   
   we presented the award live on Ham Nation, a first for us. Our corporate   
   partners Yaesu USA, Heil Ham Radio and RadioWavz Antennas will have some gifts   
   to show their appreciation.   
      
   Appearing with Katie, along with our Ham Nation regulars Josh Nass KI6NAZ,   
   Amanda Alden K1DDN and Gordon West WB6NOA, were Young Ham of the Year   
   committee chairman Mark Abramowics NT3V, judge Rich Moseson W2VU, Newsline   
   editor Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Newsline's Neil Rapp WB9VPG, DX Engineering's   
   Tim Duffy K3LR and Huntsville Hamfest chairman Mark Brown N4BCD.   
      
   If you missed it live, you can watch the replay on YouTube on the Ham Radio   
   Crash Course channel, or just type Ham Nation in the YouTube search bar. Our   
   sincere congratulations go out to Katie for her amazing contributions to the   
   amateur radio hobby and service. We're looking forward to next March when we   
   again open nominations for the 2026 Young Ham of the Year award. Again, many   
   thanks to our corporate partners Yaesu USA, Heil Ham Radio and RadioWavz, as   
   well as you, our listeners and the folks who continue to nominate the best of   
   the best young radio amateurs.   
      
   I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.   
      
   **   
   ENIGMA MACHINE-STYLE EVENT CHALLENGES DECODING SKILLS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: This next story is straightforward and, we hope, easy to   
   understand but it's about a radio-transmitted message that is deliberately --   
   very deliberately --  cryptic. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB tells us why.   
      
   RALPH: The Enigma machine that the Germans used during World War II to create   
   encoded secret messages is about to be put back into action. KPH, the maritime   
   radio station in California, will be transmitting messages using Enigma   
   encryption for broadcast via both CW and RTTY. Listeners copy the message and   
   then, using an actual Enigma machine they may have in their shack or a   
   simulated one available online, work to decrypt the message which will be sent   
   in groups of five letters each.   
      
   This annual tradition recalls the hard work of World War II era cryptographers   
   who ultimately cracked the code.   
      
   Certificates are awarded for proof of successful decode, first to decode and   
   for use of original or replica hardware.   
      
   The broadcast begins at 2000 UTC on the 30th of August on all KPH CW and RTTY   
   frequencies.    
      
   For more details, visit the link in the text version of this weeks newscast at   
   arnewsline.org   
      
   [DO NOT READ: https://tinyurl.com/4hfb2y5c   ]   
      
   This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.   
      
   (MARITIME RADIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY)   
      
   **   
   WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the World of DX, two Scout stations are finishing up their activations.   
   Scout station CR5OCEAN is on the air until the 9th of August, operating from   
   the  National Maritime Scout Camp "Oceanos" at the Alqueva Dam in southern   
   Portugal. Be listening on 40 and 20 metres. QSL via CR6CNE. In Slovenia,   
   another Scout station, S5?ZLET, is being operated by members of Radioclub   
   Sezana, S59ABL, and Radioclub Koper, S59CST, until the 8th of August for the   
   Slovenian National Jamboree. See QRZ.com for details.   
      
   Operators with the Sommers Island Expedition, IOTA Number EU-133, are on the   
   air until the 14th of August. They are using the callsign RI1E [R EYE ONE EE].   
   Listen for Vasily, R7AA  and  Mikhail, RA1ALA  operating CW, SSB and the   
   digital modes on 40-10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.   
      
   The special event callsign 9A169TESLA is on the air  until the 31st of   
   December marking the 169th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla. See   
   QRZ.com for QSL details.   
      
   In Canada, members of the Atlantic Coast DX & Contest Group are celebrating   
   the 100th anniversary of the International  Amateur Radio Union by going on   
   the air throughout August as CG9IARU. They will activate POTA , World Wide   
   Flora &  Fauna and Canadian Historical Sites On the Air locations. See QRZ.com   
   for QSL and other details.   
      
   (425 DX BULLETIN)   
      
   **   
   KICKER: STALKING SOME QSOS IN HIS FIELD OF DREAMS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: You don't need to be a farmer to celebrate corn season this time   
   of year, Neil Rapp WB9VPG, introduces us to one home brewer in Iowa who says   
   it's not just corn season -- but antenna season!   
      
   NEIL:  The smiling radio operator greeting viewers of his YouTube videos calls   
   himself "Cornfield Kevin," and yes, Kevin K?KLB is outstanding in his field --   
   which happens to be an Iowa cornfield. There, in August of 2022, Kevin   
   harvested two SSB contacts between Iowa and Texas while operating on 5 watts   
   using a 20m vertical antenna fashioned ... from cornstalks. He called his   
   creation "The CornTenna."   
      
   This year, Kevin is making the QSOs -- and the corn -- pop all over again. In   
   his latest video, he shows how he put cornstalks back to work recently, this   
   time using stalks from a fresh harvest to build a horizontal 20 metre dipole.   
   He tested the corn-tenna over a two-day period and, sadly, made no contacts on   
   the first day. The next day, after cutting fresh new stalks, he worked his   
   brother Bruce, KE?QQE, on 10 metres. Bruce, who was nearby, gave him a 5 5.   
   Then a POTA activator in Ohio copied him and gave him a 4 4, telling him he   
   was [quote] "down in the weeds." [endquote]   
      
   Well those weren't exactly weeds Kevin was standing in but the POTA op was   
   correct about the challenging RST. Nonetheless, satisfied with his project,   
   Kevin is sharing the build on his YouTube channel, "Ham Radio QRP - K?KLB."   
   While you're there, check out Kevin's earlier project for the original   
   vertical corn-tenna. After all, when you're a ham on a farm in Iowa, every day   
   can be field day.   
      
   This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG.   
      
   (YOUTUBE)   
      
   **   
   We hope you've been enjoying the ham radio haikus that our listeners have sent   
   in - have you written one yet? The Newsline haiku challenge is as easy as   
   writing a QSL card. We can only accept the correct haiku format - that is, a   
   three-line verse with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second   
   and five in the third. Submit your work on our website at arnewsline.org -   
   each week's winner gets a shout-out on our website, where everyone can find   
   the winning haiku.   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
      
   With thanks to Amateur News Daily; AMSAT News Service; Analyst IP; ARRL; CBS;   
   CNN; David Behar K7DB; Facebook; 425DX Bulletin; FCC; Jeffrey Dahn Foundation;   
   Maritime Radio Historical Society; NASA; Okaloosa County Board; PC Magazine;   
   shortwaveradio.de; Times of India; Wireless Institute of Australia; 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   
   2025. Amateur Radio Newsline retains ownership of its material even when   
   retransmitted elsewhere. All rights are reserved.   
      
   *** Audio file available in .mp3 format at The Rats's Den BBS   
      
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