Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1998, February 12, 2016   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1998 with a release date of Friday,    
   February 12, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. Tragedy strikes Taiwan - and hams are ready! The    
   ARRL renews its long relationship with the American Red Cross. A    
   hospital in Brazil, Indiana, prepares to go on the air. And World Radio    
   Day is coming: what are YOUR plans? All this and more in Amateur Radio    
   Newsline Report 1998 coming your way right now.   
      
   (Billboard Cart Here and Intro)   
      
   **   
      
   AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS TO TAIWAN EARTHQUAKE   
      
   SKEETER: This week's newscast opens with yet another reminder of the    
   life-saving work that radio amateurs can do by stepping in to assist in    
   natural disasters. We hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Graham Kemp, on    
   the latest following the deadly earthquake in Taiwan.   
      
      
   GRAHAM: Sitting on what is known as the "Pacific Rim of Fire," another    
   earthquake - this one, with a magnitude of 6.4 - has rocked the island    
   of Taiwan on Saturday, Feb. 6, It set off the collapse of several    
   buildings, a signal went out from the Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio    
   League, asking that several voice frequencies be kept clear.   
      
   The Hong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting Society reported that they    
   heard it - as a weak transmission - but it was nonetheless heard.    
   Locally, hams were responding to the arduous rescue that would follow,    
   amid the rubble, in the southwest coastal city of Tainan. Frequencies in    
   Taiwan were to be kept clear on 7.060 MHz with backup 7.050 MHz and    
   3.560 MHz. Short range frequencies were being used as well on VHF and UHF.   
      
   And then came the aftershocks, and tremors were felt even in the capital    
   city of Taipei, on the other side of the island from the stricken city.   
      
   Ultimately more than 350 people were rescued in the aftermath, but more    
   than 500 were reported injured, according to the state-owned Central    
   News Agency in Taiwan. Numerous individuals remained trapped inside    
   buildings and rescuers searched for them in the ruins, often by hand.    
   The death toll, by midweek, had risen to nearly 20, and the developers    
   of one residential building in the city were facing charges of    
   professional negligence for alleged shoddy construction.   
      
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp. VK4BB, on the East Coast of    
   Australia, part of the Pacific Rim of Fire.   
      
   (CNN, SOUTHGATE, BBC)   
      
   **   
      
   ARRL RENEWS PARTNERSHIP WITH RED CROSS   
      
   SKEETER: Because emergency preparedness is vital every place disaster    
   strikes, the ARRL and the American Red Cross have a working relationship    
   here in the U.S. It's a relationship they recently reaffirmed, as    
   Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron, N8TMW, reports:   
      
   JIM: The ARRL and the American Red Cross have signed a new memorandum of    
   understanding that spells out their relationship when disaster strikes    
   and when radio operators are called up for emergency response. The    
   document succeeds the agreement the two organizations signed in 2010 and    
   renews their cooperative relationship.   
      
   According to the memorandum, ARES personnal are to be deployed in    
   keeping with a pre-arranged plan in order to keep communications open    
   during emergencies. The document also encourages both organizations to    
   communicate with state and local agencies and to share information    
   regarding disasters and disaster operations.   
      
   The ARRL commits to a role encouraging ARES units to work with Red Cross    
   chapters to create plans for disaster relief and emergency response.    
   And, likewise, the Red Cross field units are being encouraged to    
   communicate in planning with ARRL's field units.   
      
   The new document also makes it clear that for ARES volunteers to assist    
   the Red Cross, they do not need to undergo a prior background check even    
   if they are not registered Red Cross volunteers. However, hams who are    
   registered Red Cross volunteers must abide by the background check   
      
   The document was signed on Jan. 22 and is place for another five years.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW, in Charleston, West    
   Virginia.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   A MONUMENTAL ACTIVATION IN A PARK   
      
   Washington State amateur Clark Johnson, K7LRK, plans to be at the Casa    
   Grande Ruins National Monument on Wednesday, Feb. 17. In fact, you will    
   find him in the parkland's picnic area. But you will also find him on    
   the amateur bands, running 10 watts out of an 18-ounce portable rig.    
   Because Johnson isn't there for a picnic. He's there to activate the    
   site as part of the ARRL's year-long National Parks on the Air event.   
      
   There's one other way to communicate with Johnson, however: Non-hams and    
   hopeful hams can observe him and learn more about amateur radio. He will    
   be there with the Center for Amateur Radio Learning and the Arizona    
   Science Center, and they'll be doing public education and outreach    
   during the event, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time.   
      
   Come to think of it, that might just make for a nice picnic, after all.   
      
   (NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE)   
      
   **   
      
   A RUNNING NEED FOR HAMS   
      
   It's not too early to think "marathon." OK, so the Boston Marathon is    
   still several months away but marathon preparation is going on now - and    
   hams in the Boston area are needed to help with communication for a    
   runners' event, a 13.1-mile race called the Marathon Park Prep. It will    
   be held on Saturday, March 19, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The race follows a    
   Figure 8 course through the Town of Ashland, Massachusetts, about 25    
   miles west of Boston. Runners consider it good training for the big    
   event in the fall.   
      
   For more information, email David Wolfe, KG1H, at dkwolfe@comcast.net   
      
   (DAVID WOLFE, KG1H)   
      
      
   **   
      
   CAROLINA ON THEIR MINDS   
      
   The weekend of Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 has been renamed The Carolina    
   Weekend, with the north and the south getting into the act. The South    
   Carolina QSO Party kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 27, followed by the North    
   Carolina QSO Party the next day. The North Carolina Party will feature a    
   new bonus station, W1VOA, The Voice of America, as well as two new bonus    
   counties, Swain and Warren.   
      
   There's a free barbecue dinner riding on it, as well, with log entries    
   to be put in a random drawing for a dinner featuring the famous flavors    
   of both states. Let's get this party started. In fact, let's get them    
   both started.   
      
   (ARRL, RALEIGH AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY)   
      
      
   **   
      
   EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AT INDIANA HOSPITAL   
      
   SKEETER: In one Indiana community, a hospital isn't just helping people    
   respond with an ambulance. Now they'll have radios. Amateur Radio    
   Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, explains:   
      
      
   PAUL: The newest operating room inside St. Vincent Clay Hospital in    
   Brazil, Indiana will only be used for emergency operations - but no one    
   will need to scrub up before stepping inside.   
      
   The operating equipment here will consist of two-way radios and other    
   components, and the operations will be conducted by the hams who belong    
   to the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.   
      
   The hospital-based radio center is being underwritten by a grant of    
   nearly $2,000 from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. Clay    
   County's Emergency Management Director, Bryan Husband, applied for the    
   grant, with the support of the Clay County Commissioners. The volunteers    
   are to provide assistance during natural disasters and extreme weather    
   events.   
      
   Husband was quoted in a recent article in the Brazil Times as saying    
   that the radio shack would be able to communicate, during these    
   emergencies, with other radio operators outside the county, on behalf of    
   the emergency management office. Seems it's just what the doctor    
   ordered, after all.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun,WD9GCO, in Valparaiso, Indiana.   
      
   (THE BRAZIL TIMES)   
      
   **   
   BREAK HERE:   
      
   Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio    
   Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the    
   WR9ARC repeater of the Riverland Amateur Radio Club in LaCrosse,    
   Wisconsin on Sundays.   
      
   ***   
      
   WELL-GROUNDED GROUNDHOG   
      
   SKEETER: Punxsutawney Phil will never be a ham radio operator. He's a    
   groundhog, after all. But then, he doesn't need a license. He has a    
   devoted group of local hams who go on the air for him. Here's that story    
   from Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD.   
      
   HEATHER'S REPORT:   
      
   While a certain famous groundhog may have put Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania    
   on the map, it took a special event station to put Punxsutawney on the air.   
      
   While weather-watchers everywhere sat tight for the arrival of Tuesday,    
   Feb. 2, when the legendary rodent emerged from his burrow, hams got a    
   jump on things a few days earlier with QSOs celebrating the time-honored    
   tradition that takes place at Gobblers Knob.   
      
   On Saturday, Jan. 30, six members of the Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio    
   Club and three of their guests, went deep into their own burrow - in    
   this case, the radio shack at the Punxsutawney Airport. But the hams    
   there did anything but hibernate: The operators of K-3-H-W-J worked busy    
   conditions on three bands; 20, 40 and 2 meters.   
      
   Club President Steve Waltman, K-B-3-F-P-N told Amateur Radio Newsline    
   that, although lots of activity on the bands made for challenging    
   contacts this year, there were about 100 QSOs by day's end - a    
   respectable number.   
      
   Waltman said this is a longstanding annual tradition for the club -    
   though clearly the annual gig by Punxsutawney Phil predates this one by    
   a couple of decades, and predates the age of radio itself by two years.    
   Still, as even the groundhog would tell you - assuming you even asked -    
   there's nothing wrong with working in the shadow of a celebrity,    
   especially a weathercaster like Punxsutawney Phil.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD in Berwick,    
   Pennsylvania.   
      
   **   
      
   HAM RADIO MOVIE GETS TV PILOT   
      
   The hottest thing on TV these days might just turn out to be radio - ham    
   radio, to be exact. Just as TV's "Last Man Standing" has given viewers a    
   sampling of what goes on inside a ham shack, the CW Network has    
   announced it plans a pilot for the 2000 movie, "Frequency," from New    
   Line Cinema. In that sci-fi thriller, the son of a deceased New York    
   City firefighter, makes radio contact with his dad over the father's old    
   ham radio equipment after an aurora borealis alters band conditions    
   across time.   
      
   The TV pilot recasts things with a new twist. It follows a female    
   detective who uses her ham radio to communicate with her detective    
   father, who'd died 20 years earlier. If all goes well, the producers may    
   end up being more concerned about RSTs than Nielsens.   
      
   (TVLINE.COM, The CW TELEVISION NETWORK)   
      
   **   
   PEOPLE IN THE NEWS   
      
   We also note some recent changes in the lives of some notable amateurs:   
      
   Randy Thompson, K5ZD, is stepping down as the director of the CQ WW    
   Contest, and the search is on for his replacement. Thompson has been    
   director since September 2012, taking on the responsibilities of    
   appointing the contest committee and organizing work that involves    
   log-checking, creating the rules and producing the results, Interested    
   candidates should apply by email to questions@cqww.com. Or send related    
   inquiries directly to CQ Amateur Radio's publisher, Dick Ross, K2MGA, at    
   k2mga@cq-amateur-radio.com. Thompson will stay on until he is replaced.   
      
   ARRL President Emeritus Harry Dannals, W2HD, of Charlottesville,    
   Virginia, was recently honored by the Quarter Century Wireless    
   Association for his 70 years as a ham. The association's chapter in his    
   hometown held a luncheon for him on Feb. 3. Dannals, who is in his late    
   80s, is the oldest living former president of the ARRL and the only    
   person to have been president of both the ARRL and the Quarter Century    
   Wireless Association, which he served from 1989 to 1994.   
      
   And finally, Matt Holden, K-ZERO-B-B-C (K0BBC), has been appointed as    
   the ARRL's Dakota Division Vice Director as of Feb. 4. The Minnesota    
   resident, an ARRL Life Member, succeeds Kent Olson, K-A-ZERO-L-D-G    
   (KA0LDG). Among his other many amateur radio activities, Holden is ARES    
   Emergency Coordinator for the City of Bloomington and a Minnesota    
   Section Public Information Officer. He will serve out the remaining term    
   of the current office, which concludes on Jan. 1, 2017.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   ANTIQUE WiRELESS IN ACTION   
      
   It's all over but the counting! The Antique Wireless Association of    
   Southern Africa, Z-S-ZERO-A-W-A (ZS0AWA) is giving participants in its    
   recent CW Activity Day, held on Feb. 7, until Tuesday, March 1, to    
   submit their logs, either by email or postal service. Certificates will    
   be sent to those who are in first, second and third place, and to the    
   amateur with the highest single band score. Email logs to    
   andy.cairns@xsinet.co.za or mail to the association at Post Office Box    
   12320, Benoryn, 1504.   
      
   (SOUTHGATE)   
      
   **   
   SK: VIRGIN ISLANDS WEATHER NET FOUNDER   
      
   In 1994, George B. Cline, KP2G, of St John, Virgin Islands, began an    
   effort to provide critical weather details and updates for the greater    
   Virgin Islands community via amateur radio. The Virgin Islands Weather    
   Net was born. Cline had a longtime interest in the weather, and often    
   responded during hurricane disasters as a member of the Amateur Radio    
   Emergency Service.   
      
   The New York native died on Jan. 11 at the age of 79. He had been a    
   member of the St. John Amateur Radio Club and had served as a radio    
   dispatcher for St. John Rescue. His many efforts also included leading a    
   team that placed repeaters on St. John Island and throughout the    
   Caribbean for emergency radio communications.   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
   GET READY FOR WORLD RADIO DAY   
      
   Informally, the theme for this year's World Radio Day on Feb. 13 might    
   be "radio to the rescue." But formally, this international event is    
   called "Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster." Indeed, the need for    
   communications certainly keeps hams busy.   
      
   Created by the UN's Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization,    
   known as UNESCO, the event recognizes that the immediate access to radio    
   frequencies is essential in saving lives, and should be protected so    
   they are available in times of emergency. World Radio Day began in 1946.   
      
   A number of amateur radio clubs will be marking the occasion in their    
   own way. In the UK, the Phoenix Amateur Radio Club will be on the air on    
   Feb. 13 and Feb. 14 helping honor British Scientists, a commemoration    
   that is part of the official World Radio Day program. UNESCO has asked    
   that groups in all countries mark the day by planning activities in    
   partnership with regional, national and international broadcasters,    
   non-governmental organizations, national authorities, the media and the    
   public.   
      
   So while it isn't a real holiday, it is certainly reason to celebrate.   
      
   (UNESCO)   
      
   **   
      
   THE WORLD OF DX   
      
   Michael, DF8AN, will be active from Iceland from Feb. 26 to March 1 as    
   TF/DF8AN. QSL via his home call sign.   
      
   Gildas, F6HMQ, and Michel, F6GWV, will be active again from Guadeloupe    
   Island, beginning Feb. 26 to March 14 as TO66R, FG/F6HMQ and FG/F6GWV.    
   Send QSL cards via F6HMQ/   
      
   In a special event marking the visit of Pope Francis to Mexico, members    
   of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE) are using    
   the special callsign 6D0F through Feb. 18. Send QSL cards via XE1LM.   
      
   Masato, JA0RQV, will be active as 6Y5/JA0RQV mainly from the Hotel in    
   Kingston, Jamaica, starting Feb. 21 through April 17. Activity will be    
   mostly on the weekend and spare time. He will work 160-10 meters using    
   CW and SSB. QSL via M0OXO (ORQS) or LoTW.   
      
   (OHIO PENN DX BULLETIN, DXCOFFEE)   
      
      
   **   
      
   KICKER: THE RADIO VOICE OF A CENTURY   
      
   Fred Crockford, who lives in the Borough of Brentwood, recently told his    
   local newspaper in the UK, "I have been retired longer than some people    
   have been at work."   
      
   In fact, Fred, G6YUY, has also likely been on the air longer than many    
   people have been on the planet.   
      
   The retired trolley bus driver first went on the amateur bands in the    
   1920s, when radio operations were governed, he said, by the post office.    
   Now he's not just a licensed ham but a centenarian ham, having just    
   celebrated his 100th birthday.   
      
   He said radio has made every one of his many days an adventure. And he    
   told the newspaper the fun is in the surprise discovery of who is    
   available to talk from anywhere in the world. He said: "We talk to    
   whoever happens to be out there on that particular spot and at that    
   particular moment." A 70-foot-long-horizontal aerial carries his voice    
   everywhere - even to Australia.   
      
   Fred told the newspaper he still sets aside about two hours every    
   evening to reach out, via radio, to the world. And whether he lands in    
   the United States, New Zealand or Australia, the thrill of DXing is no    
   less a thrill to him at 100 than it was when he was a young man.   
      
   It seems that, at 100 years of age, his most treasured birthday gift of    
   all has been the gift of time.   
      
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, in Nottingham, the UK   
      
      
   (THE BRENTWOOD GAZETTE)   
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; The Brazil Times;    
   The Brentwood Gazette; the BBC; CNN; CQ Magazine; the CW TV Network;    
   David Wolfe, KG1H; DXCoffee; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the India    
   Times; the Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; the Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio    
   Club; QRZ.COM.the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society; Southgate Amateur Radio    
   News; TVLine,com; TWiT TV; UNESCO; 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.   
      
   For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,    
   and our news team worldwide, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, in Topeka, Kansas,    
   saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.   
      
   ***   
      
   As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and HAM Operators all over the   
   world, this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the   
   internet and posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, fidonet node 1:3634/12.   
   We hope you enjoyed it!   
      
   Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as   
   described in this posting. If you have any specific questions related   
   to the actual posting of this message, you may address them to   
   hamfdn(at)wpusa.dynip.com.   
      
   Thank you and good day!   
      
   -73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42   
   (text/plain utf-8 7bit)   
      
      
    * Origin: (1:3634/12)