Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2025, August 19, 2016   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2025 with a release date of Friday,   
   August 19,2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST.  The FCC prepares to study the radio spectrum's noise   
   floor. Radio Caroline returns triumphantly as a Special Event station in the   
   UK. Australian hams celebrate innovation. These stories and an extended   
   special report on amateur response to Louisiana's flooding crisis -- now in   
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2025.   
      
   ***   
      
   BILLBOARD CART HERE   
      
      
   ****   
   SPECIAL REPORT: HAMS RESPOND TO LOUISIANA FLOODING   
      
   PAUL: We open this week's newscast with a special expanded report, an indepth   
   look at what's being called the worst natural disaster in the U.S. since   
   superstorm Sandy: Louisiana's floods. Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash,   
   N5ASH, has been following that story closely.   
      
   SKEETER'S REPORT: The National Weather Service is now calling it, “The One   
   Thousand Year Rain.”   
      
   BOBBY: At this point, according to reports from Louisiana Governor John Bel   
   Edwards, 30,000 people and 1,000 pets have already been rescued. Forty   
   thousand people have registered with FEMA for disaster assistance and at   
   least 11 people  have died in the floods thus far.   
      
   SKEETER: That’s Alabama meteorologist Bobby Best WX4ALA. Amateur Radio   
   volunteers are springing into action in the wake of flooding of historic   
   proportions that inundated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi the weekend of   
   August 13th and 14th.   
      
   BOBBY: Louisiana ARES was requested to be activated by the Louisiana office   
   of the American Red Cross. There are shelters set up across the region. There   
   are at least, as of last word, 40 additional shelters that are needing   
   communications to be connected. Everything is being run out of headquarters   
   at the Red Cross office in Baton Rouge. That, according to Louisiana ARES   
   assistant section emergency coordinator John Mark Robertson, K5JMR.   
      
   SKEETER: Louisiana ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Adam Tamplain KD5LEH   
   tells Amateur Radio Newsline how many residents displaced by the flood waters   
   are in the shelters.   
      
   ADAM: The latest number I had heard was between 12,000 and 13,000 in   
   shelters. That may be off by 1,000 or 2,000. Flooding is still affecting some   
   newer areas as conditions change with some of the backwaters coming down in   
   the river basin.   
      
   SKEETER: Tamplain outlines the initial response by ham operators in the Bayou   
   State, and surrounding region…   
      
   ADAM: We activated the Louisiana section late Sunday evening and   
   unfortunately the response has not been nearly what we were hoping for. Right   
   now we actively have around 15 or so hams at various shelters. Some are   
   affiliated with ARES, some are not, and they are handling tactical   
   communication beween the shelters and the Red Cross headquarters in Baton   
   Rouge. Mississippi called and offered their support to us. We also had   
   Alabama call and offer their support to us, and we are coordinating with   
   those sections to see if we can get some help from them or not.   
      
   SKEETER: And what is the current state of communications in the affected   
   areas?   
      
   [Adam Tamplain cut 02  Q: “…those issues are improving.”]   
      
   SKEETER: Tamplain says in addition to localized repeater and simplex   
   frequencies in Louisiana, 2 HF frequencies may be utilized for urgent amateur   
   radio traffic related to this disaster.   
      
   [Adam Tamplain cut 05  Q: “…regional offices for the Red Cross.”]   
      
   SKEETER: Bobby Best says, even though the storms have moved out of the area,   
   the effects have been far-reaching, and residents who have lost their homes   
   need to be prepared for a long road ahead.   
      
   [Bobby Best cut 03  Q: “…could have to be deployed long-term.”]   
      
   SKEETER: Hams outside of Louisiana are being asked to not self-deploy. Those   
   who would like to make their availability known should coordinate through the   
   Louisiana ARES headquarters by contacting Steve Irvin WA5FKF at area code   
   225-933-4993.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Skeeter Nash N5ASH, reporting from Topeka,   
   Kansas.   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Newsline will continue to follow the radio   
   response to this crisis.   
      
   **   
      
   FCC EMBARKS ON NOISE FLOOR STUDY   
      
   PAUL: Having trouble hearing that other station? Sometimes it's the signal   
   but sometimes it's also the noise. The FCC, at long last, is moving ahead   
   with a look at noise, as we hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron,   
   N8TMW.   
      
   JIM: When it comes to managing the electromagnetic spectrum, the FCC is   
   hoping to hear the right kind of noise -- and plenty of it. The FCC's   
   Technological Advisory Council plans a comprehensive study of the noise floor   
   and until earlier this month, had been receiving input on how to conduct the   
   study - and what to look for along the way. Hams and other interested parties   
   were invited to comment on where the problem exists, what devices make it   
   worse, what bands are most affected and how natural propagation effects can   
   be accounted for when undertaking such a study. The agency was also looking   
   for suggestions on the study's methodology, and ways to take meaningful   
   measurements   
      
   When the study was announced earlier this year, the ARRL responded to the   
   news by calling it encouraging, adding that the league hopes the findings   
   will provide guidelines for decisions on band allocations, enforcement and   
   other spectrum-management matters.   
      
   The amateur radio community has been anticipating such a study since the FCC   
   first requested one in 1999. The comment period closed August 11 and the   
   amateur community now awaits the agency's next move.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW.   
      
   (FCC)   
      
   **   
      
   TWO NEW MEMBERS JOIN EURAO   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: The global radio community just welcomed two relative newcomers.   
   Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: The European Radio Amateurs' Organization has added two organizations   
   to its roster that are also fairly new to the world of amateur radio. They   
   are the Ukrainian Amateur Radio League and the Romanian radio club known as   
   Clubul Sportiv Cafe Gratis. The Romanian club was founded in 2015 and the   
   Ukrainian group was created just this year as an effort by 13 regional clubs.   
   According to the EURAO website, about 1,500 members belong to this radio   
   league in the Ukraine.   
      
   The European organization itself comprises independent radio amateurs'   
   associations globally for collaboration on projects, sharing activities and   
   when necessary, lobbying public officials on common interests.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH   
      
   (EURAO WEBSITE)   
      
   **   
      
      
   BREAK HERE:   
      
   Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,   
   heard on bulletin stations around the world including W5AW, the Big Springs   
   Amateur Radio Club Repeater in Big Springs, Texas, on Thursdays at 8 p.m.   
      
   **   
      
   THE RETURN OF RADIO CAROLINE, SORT OF   
      
   PAUL: It's been a long time since Radio Caroline's offshore broadcasts were   
   heard in the UK. But special event station GB5RC recently brought back the   
   memory, it not the actual sound. Here's Amateur Radio *Newsline's Ed Durrant,   
   DD5LP.   
      
   ED'S REPORT: In the radio operators' own words, it wasn't the Radio Caroline   
   of old, but hams devoted to the spirit of offshore broadcasting in the UK   
   still had an authentic thrill participating in the GB5RC special event on   
   Friday the 5th of August through Monday the 8th of August. Amateur radio   
   organizers reported about 2,500 QSOs with 80 countries, all successfully   
   breaking through what were, at times, some massive waves of calls.   
      
   The ship was a busy place as described by Keith G6NHU, writing on the   
   Martello Tower Group's website. He wrote QUOTE: "We heard many tales of how   
   people used to listen to Caroline back in the 60s and 70s and we also spoke   
   to a lot of people who had worked on the Ross Revenge, both in her offshore   
   radio days and also in her days as a trawler." ENDQUOTE   
      
   Keith added: QUOTE "It was a great feeling for all of us to know that for the   
   first time in many years, a lot of RF was being transmitted from the ship."   
   According to the blog, amateur radio stations have worked on board the Ross   
   Revenge before but not on this scale. Indeed, Keith proclaimed the event   
   historic.   
      
   There was no 1960s rock and roll played, of course, but the station itself   
   became the biggest hit of the weekend.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.   
      
   (SOUTHGATE, MARTELLO TOWER GROUP)   
      
   **   
      
   IN TASMANIA, WHAT'S THE BRIGHT IDEA?   
      
   PAUL: At a recent celebration in Australia marking National Science Week,   
   amateur radio not surprisingly took center stage. Here's more from Amateur   
   Radio Newsline's Graham Kemp, VK4BB.   
      
   GRAHAM: What's the Bright Idea? Well, in Tasmania, organizers like to think   
   it's the Festival of Bright Ideas, part of the annual National Science Week.   
   Not surprisingly, amateur radio played a big role in this celebration of all   
   things scientific and the Radio and Electronics Association of Southern   
   Tasmania enjoyed particularly active traffic at its stand at the festival,   
   with student groups stopping by throughout the day on Friday, August 14th.   
   According to Justin, VK7TW, writing on the group's Facebook page, the   
   youngsters took a crack at Morse Code decoders, tried out an SDR receiver,   
   had hands-on experience with microwave transceivers and got some information   
   on school amateur radio clubs that they could take back to their classrooms.   
      
   Last year, the first such festival attracted more than 5,000 visitors in   
   search of creativity and a little bit of science magic on subjects ranging   
   from space exploration to chemistry. The event serves as a showcase for the   
   nation's science sector in general and the spirit of innovation that drives   
   it - even beyond that brightest of ideas, amateur radio.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.   
      
   (VK7WI NEWS, REAST FACEBOOK)   
      
   **   
      
   IN INDIA, A DAY OF PRACTICAL RADIO   
      
   PAUL: There's nothing like a full day's immersion in amateur radio to help   
   create the next generation of hams. Students in India recently got to sample   
   the full range of the amateur experience. We hear again from Graham Kemp,   
   VK4BB.   
      
   GRAHAM'S REPORT: Some 250 engineering students in the Indian state of Gujarat   
   ended the month of July with a practical lesson in radio science like no   
   other: It was a one-day session at the prestigious Marwadi Education   
   Foundation Rajkot, conducted by Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP, a regional coordinator   
   in the West India Zone for AMSAT-India and a life member of the Radio Society   
   of India.   
      
   Beyond the day's introductory sessions, the students got a full day's   
   experience, which also included a look at SatCom, live demonstrations of SSTV   
   and Morse code, SDR and various events that round out the varied ham radio   
   experience on July 30   
      
   Rajesh's wife, Kiran, a short-wave listener, assisted him, as did several   
   other amateurs, including Shailesh Nadiapara VU3HNT.   
      
   A member of a noted ham radio family in Gujarat, Rajesh is a radio educator   
   and lifelong ham who put his best efforts that day into helping inspire a few   
   more.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.   
      
   (AMSAT INDIA, QRZ)   
      
   **   
      
   FOR WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the world of DX, it's worth noting that the website for the planned Bouvet   
   3Y0Z DXpedition has gone live. Even though the activation in this second   
   most-wanted DXCC entity won't set out until early 2018, you can learn more   
   about the team members and their detailed plans for three weeks on what they   
   are calling QUOTE "the most remote island on Earth." ENDQUOTE The island was   
   last activated as 3Y0E during the winter of 2007 to 2008. Visit   
   www.bouvetdx.org   
      
   In Brazil, special event station ZY157CAT will be on the air until the end of   
   August to celebrate the founding of the city of Catalao 157 years ago.    
   Listen for the station on the HF bands using CW, SSB and various digital   
   modes.  Send QSLs directly to PP2BO.   
      
   The CY9C St. Paul Island DXpedition is under way, as of August 19th, and will   
   continue through August 29th. Log data will be posted live, using ClubLog and   
   OQRS. They will be working the HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY and will also   
   work 6m, 2m EME and Satellite. Send QSL cards directly to WA4DAN. For more   
   details, visit their website at www.cy9dxpedition.com   
      
   (OHIO PENN DX, ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   KICKER: SMALL POSTAGE STAMPS GO A LONG WAY   
      
   PAUL: And finally, in closing, we ask ALL of our listeners: Do you have a   
   couple of stamps laying around from collecting all those QSL cards? A radio   
   club in the Philadelphia area can put them to good use. Amateur Radio   
   Newsline's Mark Abramowicz (pronouncer - A-Brom-o-vich) NT3V has the story....   
      
   MARK: The Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club is ramping up a drive to get hams   
   across the country and around the world to contribute to the "Stamps for the   
   Wounded" program supported by the Lions International Stamp Club.   
      
   Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, president of the Holmesburg club says it's easy...   
      
   BOB: "Canceled stamps are collected and then distributed to local V-A   
   hospitals and other convalescent facilities where our wounded warriors can   
   receive occupational therapy using the stamps either to put into albums or to   
   make decorative items," Josuweit says. "It's a good way of passing their   
   time."   
      
   Josuweit says somebody brought the program to the attention of the Holmesburg   
   club a couple of years ago...   
      
   BOB: "Each year, the club participates in several special events," Josuweit   
   says. "The most notable one is the 13 Colonies Special Event which is held   
   over the Fourth of July. We get literally thousands of QSL cards coming in to   
   the club and we're looking for what could we do with all these envelopes that   
   we're essentially throwing out.   
      
   "And we learned about the 'Stamps for the Wounded' program. And that we've   
   now been collecting the stamps from those cards and are collecting them and   
   shippping them down to the program which is actually located in Viriginia."   
      
   MARK: Josuweit says if you'd like to help out, send an email to   
   WM3PEN@arrl.net and someone from the club will respond with where to send the   
   stamps.   
      
   If you're thinking maybe this is project your club might want to undertake,   
   Josuweit says get in touch...   
      
   BOB: "Send it to us or if they want to start their own program, there are   
   many special event stations around the country or QSL managers," Josuweit   
   says. "Just drop us an email and we'll tell them where the actual address is   
   and they can start their own little program."   
      
   MARK: Again, that email address is WM3PEN@arrl.net.   
      
   For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.   
      
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; AMSAT India; the ARRL; CQ Magazine;   
   DX Coffee; European Radio Amateurs Association; the Holmesburg Amateur Radio   
   Club; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the IARU; Irish Radio Transmitter   
   Society; Martello Tower Group; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ; Southgate Amateur   
   Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; Wireless Institute of Australia;   
   WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio   
   Newsline. Please send emails to our address at 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 Paul Braun, WD9GCO in Valparaiso, Indiana, saying 73   
   and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline (tm) is copyright 2016.  All rights reserved.   
      
      
   --    
      
      
      
   73   
   James   
   KB7TBT   
   www.arnewsline.org   
      
      
      
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   ***   
      
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