Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1978 September 25 2015   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1978 with a release date of Friday,    
   September 25, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. In separate tragedies, two radio amateurs become    
   Silent Keys. Area hams lend support to a Massachusetts cycling event to    
   benefit ALS research. A new island gets activated in Connecticut's    
   Housatonic River. And pigs fly, transmitting to receivers on the Earth    
   below. All this and more in Amateur Radio Newsline report 1978 coming    
   your way right now.   
      
   (Billboard Cart Here and Intro)   
      
   **   
      
   TWO SILENT KEYS LOST TO TRAGEDIES   
      
   The amateur radio community is grieving the loss of two members - one, a    
   victim of California's Butte Wildfire, and the other, killed in the line    
   of duty in a Florida shooting. They are Mark McCloud, K6YCV, of    
   Mokelumne Hill, California and William Myers, KK4KF, of Shalimar, Florida.   
      
   McCloud was confirmed as being among the latest death toll in the    
   wildfires that have been sweeping the West Coast state since Sept. 9.    
   His body was found outside his house on Sept. 16, one of two fatalities    
   in the Butte fire raging east of Sacramento.   
      
   The Calaveras County coroner, Kevin Raggio, said the 66-year-old    
   McCloud, who lived in Mountain Ranch, died of thermal injury as a result    
   of the fire. Raggio told the Los Angeles Times that McCloud had refused    
   to leave the scene and ultimately succumbed. Neighbor Donny Moore told    
   KCRA-TV that the retiree, who was disabled, could not be convinced to    
   abandon his residence despite the risks. The Butte Fire has been    
   spreading since it first broke out on Sept. 9, and has burned more than    
   70,760 acres. According to McCloud's profile on QRZ, he was an avid    
   gardener who devoted the balance of his time to his HF antenna projects.   
      
   The death of Myers, a Okaloosa County, Florida, Sheriff's Deputy, came    
   in the line of duty on Tuesday, Sept. 22, while he was serving an    
   injunction in a domestic violence case. Before he could serve    
   33-year-old Joel Smith the document to protect Smith's partner and call    
   for removal of firearms, Smith fired a previously concealed weapon at    
   him. Myers died of his injuries a short time later at the hospital,    
   following surgery. Smith was shot and killed by authorities during a    
   standoff at a nearby hotel.   
      
   According to Myers' QSL.NET profile, he was an Air Force retiree and the    
   father of two sons, one of whom is also a ham. He was an enthusiastic    
   QRP operator and a fan of kit-built radios, including some vintage    
   Heathkits. Myers became a Silent Key at age 64.   
      
   (ARRL, The Los Angeles Times, KCRA-TV)   
      
   **   
      
   FIGHTING ALS   
      
   The Ride to Defeat ALS, taking place Sunday, Sept. 27 in Massachusetts,    
   marks the tough journey that begins whenever a person receives a    
   diagnosis of ALS -- or Lou Gherig's Disease -- a terminal neuro-muscular    
   disease. Perhaps one of the most high-profile people to be diagnosed is    
   New Orleans Saints star player Steve Gleason, who created Team Gleason    
   as a public-awareness foundation following his own diagnosis in 2011.    
   Echoing that same spirit of charity and awareness, the ALS Association    
   Massachusetts Chapter and the Worcester Emergency Communications Team    
   are counting on amateur radio operators in the region to support    
   cyclists participating in the benefit ride. Radio operators are needed    
   to provide roving communications for safety and aid as well as staffing    
   stations along the courses, which run for 75, 50, 25 and 10 miles. The    
   route begins at The Longfellow Club in Wayland and the longest routes    
   continue through several towns with rest stops in Hudson, Bolton, Acton,    
   Concord, and Sudbury. The event concludes at 3 p.m. Some operators may    
   need to bring a mobile radio to their station because of the large area    
   being covered. Any ham who would like to be a part of the event should    
   email directly to events@wect.org and indicate what type of radio you    
   have, frequency, and whether you prefer to be roving communications or a    
   station course.   
      
   (ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter website, Worchester Emergency    
   Communcations Team)   
      
   **   
      
   NO HAM IS AN ISLAND   
      
   There's lots of celebrating going on at the Newport County Radio Club,    
   which has just activated Turnip Island, now known as CT036R. The crew on    
   the island, in Connecticut's Housatonic River, consisted of Rich, KC1ARO    
   and Paul, N1PSX, who logged 30 contacts, ranging from nearby New York    
   and Virginia to farther-away Oklahoma and South Dakota, but also Canada    
   and Aruba. The crew worked mostly on 20 meters with some QSOs on 40 meters.   
      
   Paul Silverzweig, N1PSX, and Rich Russell, KC1ARO, report on the Newport    
   County club website that on Sept. 19, the day they set up operations,    
   QUOTE "river water was very low, complicating transport with rocky    
   interjections, but we got out there with two radios, two antennas and    
   lunch. The island was official by noonish."   
      
   Then, the crew, which had operated as call sign W1SYE, no doubt sat down    
   to a lunch that had just become a celebration feast.   
      
   (NEWPORT COUNTY RADIO CLUB)   
      
   **   
      
   RAMPING UP AGAINST RADIO INTRUDERS   
      
   A recent report from the International Amateur Radio Union has put radio    
   amateurs on alert to some new and persistent sources of interference on    
   the bands. An increasing amount of Russian military traffic has turned    
   up at 40 meters and 20 meters, according to the September newsletter    
   from the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System. Monitors in Europe reported    
   strong daily interference and frequent splatter in particular in    
   Gorodezh on 14.108 MHz from a Russian over-the-horizon radar, and found    
   the Russian Navy using FM CW frequently on 14.192 MHz. Other monitors,    
   based in Germany, reported Chinese over-the-horizon radars operating on    
   other bands, including 75 meters. Region 1 monitors have also detected    
   interference from Spanish fishing vessels on all bands, and an    
   interfering transmission from a beacon in Kazakhstan on 7027.5 kHz, sent    
   as a continuous letter "V." European-based monitors have also detected    
   interference on 10 meters, as transmissions between taxi dispatchers and    
   drivers.   
      
   Wolf Hadel, D-K-2-OH-M (DK2OM), a coordinator and monitor with the    
   program, has told members of the Rusk County Amateur Radio Club in East    
   Texas that Russian and Iranian over-the-horizon operations are among the    
   worst offenders, especially on 20 meters. Hadel has been encouraging    
   more hams to become volunteer monitors.   
      
   (IARU Region 1)   
      
   **   
      
   AT THE END OF THE PAPER TRAIL   
      
   License applicants, welcome to the age of paperless paperwork: In    
   keeping with its announcement earlier this year, FCC has stopped    
   printing and mailing license documents as part of its plan to economize    
   and streamline. And that has made things busier than ever at the ARRL's VEC.   
      
   VEC Manager, Maria Somma, A-B-ONE-F-M, (AB1FM), says her offices are    
   receiving three times the number of calls from amateurs who may be    
   confused about the change, or need additional information on how to get    
   copies of their license. Somma has responded by creating a web page    
   called "Obtain License Copy," which walks website visitors through the    
   ways to receive an official document from the FCC. She also recommends    
   that amateurs wanting a license copy call the FCC directly at    
   877-480-3201 and select option 4 from the menu.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
   LICENSE CHANGES OVERSEAS   
      
   Changes are coming to two European amateur radio licensing systems. In    
   the UK, starting on Oct. 1, amateur radio license exams will be overseen    
   by the Radio Society of Great Britain, which is picking up the    
   responsibility from the Radio Communications Foundation.   
      
   The RGSB has been assuring applicants that nothing, other than that,    
   will really change. A recent statement says: QUOTE "The same people will    
   be doing the same things; they will just be reporting to the RSGB Board    
   instead of the RCF. This will free the RCF Trustees to concentrate on    
   their charitable work and will further streamline the administration of    
   the examinations, building on the foundation established over the last 8    
   years." The tests had been given by the RCF since 2007.   
      
   The RGSB concludes its statement by saying: QUOTE "Examinations will    
   continue to be available to all, regardless of RSGB membership, and    
   these changes will have minimal impact on the conduct of the    
   examinations at local level."   
      
   In the meantime, the formerly free licenses issued in The Netherlands    
   are now subject to a fee of 31 euros. The Dutch government announced the    
   imposition of the new fee on Budget Day, Sept. 15. The move is being    
   protested by the Dutch radio communications agency, VERON.   
      
   (RGSB, VERON)   
      
   **   
      
   WHEN PIGS FLY   
      
   Now here's a real case of a ham being on the air: Pinky Pig was set to    
   head into near-space at noon on Friday, Sept. 25 from the National    
   Hamfest at the Newark Showground in the UK. The little pink pig figure    
   is being launched by Andrew Garratt, M-ZERO-N-R-D (M0NRD), who has    
   outfitted Pinky with a headset worthy of his trip aboard a High Altitude    
   Balloon. Images of the airborne porker are to be transmitted via Slow    
   Scan Digital Video to waiting amateur receivers home on Earth. The    
   payload carries the call sign - naturally - PINKY - and the pig will    
   transmit on 434.575 MHz USB RTTY 300 bps Hz shift ASCII-8, no parity, 2    
   stop bits.   
      
   Hopefully, Pinky won't end up hogging the airwaves.  And with luck, his    
   signal won't be reduced to a squeal.   
      
   (Southgate Amateur Radio News)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE:   
   Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio    
   Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including K7MRG,    
   the Mingus Mountain Repeater Group, in Prescott, Arizona, on Tuesday nights.   
      
   **   
      
   YLS and XYLS ARE "ALL EAARS"   
      
   [ANCHOR]: The Gals' Night Net, based in Arizona, is part    
   emergency-preparedness exercise and part supportive sisterhood for the    
   YLs and XYLs who check in. And after a summer break, it's back in    
   business. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, has the details:   
      
   [HEATHER]: After a successful spring season, and break in the action    
   during August, Angie Buchanan, N7EMB, is back to hosting a Monday night    
   on-air gathering of women amateurs on the Eastern Arizona ARS Repeater    
   System, or EAARS, at 7:30 Mountain time. The net resumed in early    
   September. Hams participating don't need to be a member of EAARS to use    
   the wide-reaching 11 repeater system.   
      
   Angie writes, in an email to Amateur Radio Newsline, that the net    
   evolved as a way to get licensed females on the air and to get to know    
   one another. It's also a way to improve operating skills and check how    
   well the radio equipment is working. And, she says, QUOTE "feel more    
   relaxed behind the mic, just in case we are ever needed in an emergency    
   situation." Angie says she   hopes to make it fun, even for the shyest    
   amateurs. If that sounds like you, you can email her instead at    
   emberfire@cox.net. Include your call sign, and SHE will call YOU on the    
   air, instead. She says, QUOTE "I want them to be able to handle a radio    
   in an emergency situation and not have their husbands to direct them."    
   ENDQUOTE   
      
   Sorry guys, OMs are banned from this net. But as Angie says, most of    
   them understand perfectly and accept it.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick,    
   Pennsylvania   
      
   [ANCHOR]: For a list of repeater frequencies and PL codes, visit the    
   radio society's website, www.eaars.com   
      
   **   
      
   DXPEDITION ON THE MOVE   
      
   We're barely into autumn but already the Intrepid DX Group is thinking    
   ahead to January 2016. That's when the radio operators are heading to    
   South Sandwich/South Georgia on their next DXpedition. These are coveted    
   spots, with the South Sandwich Islands being Number 3 on ClubLog's Most    
   Wanted DXCC List, and South Georgia Number 8.   
      
   Paul Ewing, N6PSE, said the team expects to arrive on South Sandwich on    
   Jan. 17, weather permitting, and will spend 10 days there operating as    
   VP8STI, before moving on to South Georgia Island, where they will    
   operate as VP8SGI beginning Feb. 1.   
      
   Ewing told the ARRL that the South Sandwich operation is a top    
   consideration: QUOTE "Our main priority is to make a great impact to the    
   need for South Sandwich contacts, and we will sacrifice our time at    
   South Georgia to ensure that we make that impact from South Sandwich."   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   HAM AND CB: WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE   
      
   The URE, the national amateur radio society of Spain, is trying to get    
   licensed amateurs interested in Citizens Band. The URE website now has a    
   27 MHz portal to CB and is encouraging everyone, especially licensed    
   radio amateurs, to give it a try.   
   The website is promoting CB not just in Spain but in other countries.    
   According to the website, the use of the CB frequency has not been    
   considered special use, since May of 2014, and no special application or    
   license is required from the Secretary of State for Telecommunications    
   and the Information Society. The site goes on to say, in translation,    
   "any approved equipment can be used by anyone without paying fees or    
   (having) licenses." Inquiries are directed to the email address at    
   cb27@ure.es   
   (URE, Southgate Amateur Radio News)   
      
   **   
      
   BIG BUSINESS IN BALI   
      
   Region 3 of the International Amateur Radio Union will hold its    
   triennial conference on Oct. 12 in Bali, hosted by the Indonesian radio    
   society, OARI.   
      
   The special event station, YB16IARU will be operating at the conference    
   venue, the Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel, through the gathering's    
   conclusion on Oct. 16. This is the second time Indonesia has hosted the    
   event.   
      
   Attendees will include representatives from the ARRL US Pacific    
   Territories, NZART New Zealand, JARL Japan and VARC Vietnam, among    
   others. The agenda will include the push by the UN to have Morse Code    
   granted heritage recognition, the World Radio Conference to be held in    
   Geneva in November and the IARU's role in CubeSat launches.   
      
      
   **   
      
   NEW UNITY FOR ALBANIAN HAMS   
      
   The Albanian Radio Amateur Club has announced its arrival to the world.    
   And to local hams.   
      
   Although amateurs have been active in that country since 1952, as the    
   Federation of Radio Amateurs, the new club's website notes that    
   activity, including contesting, had been limited even into the 1990s.    
   The website says that once the democratic process took hold in Albania,    
   replacing communism, amateur radio began to grow and expand, inspired by    
   ham radio efforts in nearby Hungary.   
      
   The new organization, which replaces the federation, is the brainchild    
   of three hams who, according to the website, wanted to provide QUOTE "an    
   opportunity to bring together our personal experiences in order to    
   create a meeting point for all those passionate [about] radio in Albania."   
      
   They are urging members and prospective members to be patient.   
      
   A banner at the bottom of the new club's webpage says: "We are newborn,    
   give us time to get organized."   
      
      
   (Albanian Radio Amateur Club)   
      
   **   
      
   THE WORLD OF DX   
      
      
   Three Czech amateurs are operating in Zimbabwe as Z-21-M-G (Z21MG)    
   through Oct. 1. They are focusing on the CQ World Wide RTTY Contest on    
   Sept. 26 and 27 but will also be using SSB and CW. QSLs are available    
   via ClubLog OQRS.   
      
   The Amateur Radio Club of Chios Island, SZ8XIO, is hosting a special    
   event station through October. Using the call sign SX8HOMER, the Greek    
   Island station will operate on 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 and 10 meters, using    
   SSBm PSK31 and JT65. The call sign honors the author of the epic poems,    
   "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." QSL cards are not necessary but a    
   certificate is available for $5, or is free for a .PDF. Write the QSL    
   manager SV8GXQ.   
      
   Willi, DJ7RJ, will be operating on Mauritius on 160 through 10 meters as    
   3B8/DL7RJ beginning Oct. 5 through the end of the month. He will focus    
   on 160m using CW and SSB. QSL via his home call sign.   
      
   John, W2GD, will be active again in Aruba as P40W on Oct. 24 and 25th    
   during the CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest. QSL via Logbook of the World or    
   direct to N2MM. Bureau cards are no longer accepted.   
      
   Moto, J-A-ONE-G-Z-V (JA1GZV) is operating as TX7A from Moorea Island in   
   French Polynesia until the end of October.   
      
      
   (OHIO PENN DX NEWSLETTER, IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY, QRZ)   
      
   **   
      
   KICKER: THE CODE OF SISTERHOOD   
      
   Only one person could possibly be prouder than a 10-year-old ham herself    
   after successfully competing her first QSO in CW. And that, of course,    
   would be the young ham's dad. Faith Hannah Lea, AE4FH, did just that    
   recently from her Florida home, with her father, Jim Lea, WX4TV,    
   alongside her. He recently told Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek    
   that it was one of the many proud moments given him by his homeschooled    
   daughter, who earned her Extra class this year. Said her father, QUOTE:    
   "When she decides that she wants to do something, she simply does    
   it."ENDQUOTE That also includes speaking this past May at the Dayton    
   Hamfest with her brother Zechariah, WX4TVJ.   
      
   Faith Hannah is also big fan of CW because, she noted, it is one of the    
   last communications options available when the Internet and the grid    
   have failed. And she credits her dad - her Elmer - with helping her    
   practice, practice, practice - especially, she said, sending "weird    
   messages" back and forth to amuse themselves while she learns.   
      
   With any luck, in a few years - actually, QUITE a few years - Faith    
   Hannah may know the Morse Code accomplishment celebrated some months ago    
   by Carol McGee of Reno, Nevada. Shortly before her 95th birthday, the    
   former World War II Navy nurse was honored with a Legacy Award from the    
   Sisterhood of Amateur Radio for her service as a radio operator during    
   the war and beyond. McGee had been licensed in the 1930s, as W8UCY. Tom    
   Loughney, AJ4XM, general manager of the Quarter Century Wireless    
   Association, said his group was also present at the annual dinner, where    
   McGee expressed an interest in perhaps becoming more active again. We    
   eagerly await word of her next QSO in CW.   
      
   (Sisterhood of Amateur Radio, Quarter Century Wireless Association)   
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
   With thanks to Alan Labs, the ARRL, AMSAT News Service; CQ Magazine, DX    
   Coffee, Hap Holly and the Rain Report; The Irish Radio Transmitter    
   Society; The Information Press; IARU Region 1; the ITU; KCRA-TV, the Los    
   Angeles Times; the Newport County Radio Club; the Ohio-Penn DX    
   Newsletter; Southgate Amateur Radio News, TWiT TV, the Quarter Century    
   Wireless Association; QRZNOW; Sisterhood of Amateur Radio; Southgate    
   Amateur Radio News, and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur    
   Radio Newsline. Our email address is newsline@arnewsline.org. More    
   information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official    
   website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or    
   support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita,    
   CA 91350.   
      
   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 New Orleans,    
   saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.   
      
      
   ***   
      
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   -73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42   
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