Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2122 for Friday, June 27, 2018   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2122 with a release date of Friday,    
   June 27, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. Field Day is done, the World Radiosport Team    
   Championship looms large -- and the International Space Station eyes new    
   radios. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2122 comes    
   your way right now.   
      
   **   
      
   BILLBOARD CART   
      
   **   
   WORLD RADIOSPORT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We open this week's newscast with a question: Are you    
   ready for the World Radiosport Team Championships? Ed Durrant DD5LP    
   found some people who are.   
      
   ED: The Amateur Radio World Championship in Germany can attract whole    
   families. HereÂ’s an example from Chemnitz - Rita G”rner, DG0EQ, her OM    
   Carsten G”rner, DG0JCG, were able to inspire their son Tim, a shortwave    
   listener, to volunteer with them to help on the WRTC. Rita and Carsten    
   have been licensed since 1992 and participate in Field days and other    
   activities with their local club. The prospect of experiencing their    
   Field Day atmosphere (which is always very enjoyable) at the World    
   Championships was reason enough for the family to apply to help out as a    
   team. Rita and Tim G”rner look after the competitors. Carsten G”rner    
   assumes the coordinating role of the so-called site manager and said "In    
   the club we spoke extensively once the venue was announced, about how we    
   could help. You have to be part of world championship when it takes    
   place in your own country. That was very clear to us." Although the    
   family team was prevented from attending the test days in the Wittenberg    
   - Jessen region last year, they are looking forward to their tasks in    
   July. "It's going to be a great experience and we'll do everything we    
   can, to make sure competitors and referees feel comfortable on our    
   site," says Rita. "And getting to know the best Contesters in the world    
   and being able to look over their shoulders will be really great," says    
   a delighted Carsten. Tim G”rner, who caught the radio bug as a SWL, is    
   still in the stress of exams at school but soon will complete a course    
   for his ham license. Creating the best conditions for the competition    
   teams was one of the most important tasks in the entire organization.    
   The organizing team also wanted to offer opportunities to around 370    
   helpers, that they gain new experiences and meet interesting people.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, this has been Ed Durrant DD5LP.   
      
   (WRTC)   
      
   **   
   WRAPPING UP SEA-PAC IN OREGON   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's been a big season for ham radio gatherings and    
   amateurs on the Pacific Northwest just had one of their own, as we hear    
   from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.   
      
   KEVIN: Add to the list of large successful amateur radio gatherings this    
   year SEA-PAC. Held at the Seaside Convention Center in Oregon, it is    
   billed as the NorthWestern United State's largest ham convention. Delvin    
   Bunton NS7U, event chairman, said that by the time it concluded on June    
   2nd, more than 2,000 hams had come in from the Pacific Northwest,    
   including Canada, as well as Nevada, Hawaii, Idaho, Connecticut and even    
   Great Britain.   
      
   The event kicked of with all-day workshops on antenna modelling as well    
   as emergency communication and preparedness. The weekend seminars    
   covered a range of subjects from the solar eclipse to nurturing your    
   home town club and helping it grow.   
      
   The ARRL's Division and Section leaders attended from the NW Division's    
   six sections. Looking to the future, SEA-PAC hosted guest speaker Steve    
   Hicks N5AC of FlexRadio Systems at the Saturday night banquet. Two    
   amateurs from the NorthWest also landed in the spotlight as recipients    
   of the Mickley/Berg memorial college scholarship. They are Joseph Boyd,    
   Jr., KG7ULU, and Joseph Heil, KF7FME. The scholarship is provided each    
   year by the Oregon Tualatin  (too-ALLA-tin) Valley Amateur Radio Club.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.   
      
   (DELVIN BUNTON NS7U)   
      
   **   
   A LESSON IN SPACE STATION COMMUNICATIONS   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In Melbourne, Australia some students can't wait to get    
   to class. Robert Broomhead VK3DN tells us why.   
      
   ROBERT: Students are known for asking tough questions - ask any teacher.    
   In mid-July, however, some questions from kids at one Melbourne,    
   Australia school can be expected to rise to a whole new level -- more    
   like 200-plus miles above the earth. Where will they find the answers?    
   Hopefully aboard the International Space Station which will be talking    
   to the Essex Heights Primary School sometime between July 16th and the    
   22nd. The connection will be made via telebridge, which involves an    
   amateur radio ground station elsewhere establishing the contact and then    
   facilitating the conversation via phone patch.   
      
   The school's website describes the occasion as both a school and a    
   community event.   
      
   So bring on those questions! Organizers have indicated that the    
   astronaut addressing the curious youngsters is likely to be either be    
   Ricky Arnold KE5DAU or Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT.   
      
   No doubt the students are looking forward - and looking up.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN   
      
   (ARISS)   
      
   **   
   NEW GEAR FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: To keep those space station communications open, new    
   radios are needed, as we hear from Paul Braun WD9GCO.   
      
      
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: The current amateur radio equipment on the International    
   Space Station dates back to the year 2000, and after 18 years in    
   conditions the designers never originally considered, components are    
   beginning to fail. The biggest problem is that you can't just pop up    
   there on a Saturday morning after breakfast to fix or replace the gear    
   because it's 250 miles straight up, moving at 17,200 miles per hour.   
      
   However, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station    
   organization, or ARISS, is working on new gear that will be flown up to    
   the ISS beginning later this year. I spoke with Dave Taylor, W8AAS who    
   is the U.S. operations manager for ARISS, about what's been happening:   
      
   TAYLOR: Right now, all we have is the Kenwood in the Russian module and    
   that was not originally set up as ARISS equipment. That belongs to the    
   Moscow Aviation Institute and they've been using that for various tests.    
   People have seen their MAI SSTV experiments from time to time. We use    
   that for our voice contacts with the schools.   
      
   PAUL/ACHOR: Taylor said that getting the packet digipeater back on the    
   air is the first priority. The existing packet module has failed and    
   attempts at remote troubleshooting have been unsuccessful:   
      
   TAYLOR: We were able to come up with another copy of the packet module    
   that was built at the same time, so it dates back to 2000. We replaced    
   the backup battery in it, did some tests and it's still working. Because    
   it is identical to what's up there, paperwork is minimal. "Minimal" is    
   still a lot, but it's a lot less than it would have taken if it was new    
   hardware.   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Next will be a replacement for the primary radio system in    
   the U.S. module, says Taylor.   
      
   TAYLOR: The Inter-operable Radio System is going to be a customized    
   Kenwood TM-D710 unit. Kenwood donated the radio and also a lot of    
   software design and engineering time to modify the hardware and software    
   specifically to ARISS' needs. We will have that radio and a ham-designed    
   multi-voltage power supply which will supply the Kenwood radio and will    
   provide power for the ham TV and several other things that we might want    
   to do in the future.   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: For many hams, myself included, ARISS combines two passions    
   into one - space exploration and amateur radio:   
      
   TAYLOR: It's hard to say how cool it is to stand outside and night and    
   watch the Space Station go over and listen to it at the same time!   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: If you wish to donate or just want more information, please    
   visit their website at triple-W dot A-R-I-S-S dot org.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Space Station also made news recently for another    
   reason. Here's Ed Durrant DD5LP.   
      
   ED: Europeans were experiencing some Space QRM in late June. No it    
   wasn't from Mars or Jupiter or even the Sun, it came from the    
   International Space Station! Operators across Europe heard English and    
   Spanish stations on the 2 metre FM calling frequency of 145.50 MHz - Was    
   this some special "tropo" propagation that lasted in bursts of 10 to 15    
   minutes? But why didn't the stations respond to calls?   
      
   What happened was that after testing some yet-to-be launched satellites    
   inside the ISS, the Kenwood transceiver was left on in cross-band    
   repeater mode and somehow had been set to 145.5 rather than the usual    
   145.8MHz output frequency. It went unnoticed except by a few avid ISS    
   followers who happily used it for a couple of days until it was turned    
   off by the astronauts.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP   
      
   (ARISS)   
      
      
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur    
   Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world including the    
   W6CDW repeater at Lake Elsinore peak in California on Tuesdays at 6:30    
   p.m. local time.   
      
   **   
   SILENT KEY: KEYER-CHIP PIONEER JACK CURTIS K6KU   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: CW enthusiasts are no stranger to the name Jack Curtis    
   or his eponymous Curtis Morse Keyer Chip. The man who gave hams a new    
   way to key Morse Code has become a Silent Key. Here's Andy Morrison    
   K9AWM with more.   
      
   ANDY: The radio amateur who revolutionized CW keyers with the  use of an    
   IC chip has become a Silent Key. Jack Curtis K6KU - formerly W3NSJ - was    
   the father of the Curtis Morse Keyer chip, reshaping the way keying    
   could be done with the use of memory. His first chip, known as the 8043,    
   was released in 1973 followed by a series of others, ending with a    
   20-pin chip in 1986. The 20-pin chip incorporated A or B iambic modes    
   and output for a speed meter.   
      
   His chips found their way from commercial keyers into commercial amateur    
   rigs and were popular in homebrew projects as well. The Pennsylvania    
   native, an electrical engineer, worked for Sperry Rand and later Corning    
   Glass, after serving in the Navy. His side business, Curtis Electro    
   Devices, was founded to market his Morse Code iambic keyer and later    
   provided memory chips for the emerging cellular industry. The company    
   closed in 2000.   
      
   At the time of his death on June 4 he was a resident of Granite Bay,    
   California. Jack Curtis was 87.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison K9AWM   
      
   (ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   FIELD DAY AFTER DARK   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Although Field DAY attracted lots of attention in North    
   America, some operators were busy working Field NIGHT, as Mike Askins    
   KE5CXP tells us.   
      
   MIKE: For many hams in North America, Field Day is part Olympics, part    
   emergency drill and part camping adventure. It's an annual exercise that    
   also raises our hobby's public profile. In Cicero in upstate New York,    
   local officials recognized the Liverpool Amateur Radio Club W2CMX    
   operating at William Park -- and the city of Goose Creek, South Carolina    
   proclaimed Amateur Radio Week. So many hundreds of hams worked out of    
   the spotlight on June 23rd and 24th, however. Among them, Howard    
   Bernstein WB2UZE of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, was among    
   thousands working the late-night and overnight shifts. As we await    
   results, Howard reminds us that hams are just known for losing sleep    
   when they're needed.   
      
   HOWARD: Great South Bay was short on CW operators because a couple of    
   their very experienced contest operators couldn't make it this year.    
   There are actually three CW positions - a fourth if you consider that    
   the VHF position is there too: 6 meters where you can send CW. They have    
   to be covered. So I stayed as long as I possibly could without losing my    
   attention. So it's not so much that I wanted to stay at that hour but I    
   felt that I had to.   
      
   MIKE: Thanks to all the hams who participated, especially those in the    
   "off hours." For Field Day updates, keep listening. For Amateur Radio    
   Newsline I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.   
      
   (GREAT SOUTH BAY ARC)   
      
      
   **   
   A MACQUARIE ISLAND EVENT WITHOUT SUB-ANTARCTIC EXTREMES   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Get ready for a winter event from Australia that    
   promises a lesson in sub-Antarctic history. Here's John Williams VK4JJW.   
      
   JOHN: Australian amateurs are using the call sign VI70MI to mark 70    
   years since the establishment of the first Australian National Antarctic    
   Research Expedition radio station on Macquarie Island. They're getting    
   on the air from the Australian mainland however not taking a trip to the    
   sub-Antarctic island. The call sign however recognizes the first radio    
   communication station commissioned on the island on the 21st of March in    
   1948. That came just months after Australia had established the very    
   first of its sub-Antarctic stations on Heard Island, the previous    
   December. Macquarie Island's station allowed expeditioners to spend the    
   winter there and stay connected with the world they left behind thanks    
   to radio. Presently there's only one active operator on the island -    
   Norbert VK0AI. Unlike Heard Island, there have been no DXpeditions so    
   far to Macquarie Island.   
      
   So if you want to get in on the action without going to any    
   sub-Antarctic extremes, be listening for VI70MI from hams on the    
   Australian mainland until the 31st of August.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW.   
      
      
   (WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA)   
      
   **   
   WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the world of DX, we remind you that the Baker Island DXpedition is on    
   the air with four stations. Be listening for the KH1/KH7Z team which has    
   been heard on 160 CW, 40 CW and SSB, and 20 SSB. Pay special attention    
   to 60 meters where operators expect to be very active. The KH1/KH7Z    
   frequency plan is on the DXpedition website. The hams will be operating    
   split.   
      
   Be listening for Dominic ON4AZP who is operating holiday style from    
   Senegal as 6W/ON4AZP. He will be on the air until July 5th. Find him on    
   SSB on 10, 15, 20 and 40m. QSL to his home call.   
      
   You can find Oleh, KD7WPJ, operating between July 2nd and July 4th from    
   Santa Rosa Island. Oleh will be primarily on 50 MHz, using FT8, CW and    
   SSB, but will also have some CW QRP operations on IOTA frequencies. To    
   QSL direct, please send funds to his Livermore address to cover mailing    
   expenses.   
      
   Daniel SM0UDH is in the Maldives through the 9th of July and is    
   activating holiday style as 8Q7DT on SSB and Data. QSLs go via his home    
   call.   
      
   Antonio EA5RM is in Bolivia until the 10th of July using the call sign    
   CP1XRM. He can be found on 40 - 10m SSB and Data. QSL via his home call    
   and also LoTW.   
      
   (IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY, OHIO PENN DX)   
      
   **   
      
   KICKER: ROAD RALLY BECOMES A RADIO RALLY   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For one ham in England, a charity road rally to Spain    
   turned into a mobile activation as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: When James Preece, M0JFP, a member of the Chertsey Radio Club,    
   set out with friends on a 1,400-mile four-day charity drive from Dover    
   in the UK to Benidorm in Spain recently, he and his fellow travellers    
   had hopes for great fundraising possibilities for the local Chertsey    
   children's hospital. They also took with them a Yaesu FT-857 and an    
   SPX-200 multi-band HF antenna, borrowed from Moonraker UK Ltd.   
      
   In keeping with the spirit of the charity rally, they drove an old    
   Vauxhall Vectra fitted with stickers and flags and other trappings on    
   the theme of pirate radio, in a mobile tribute to Radio Caroline and    
   Radio Luxemburg. Their destination was "Benidorm or Bust" - the title    
   given to the main event to benefit women and children's services there.    
   It featured nearly 200 decorated older cars, fellow travellers all    
   driving for the main cause, but also supporting those nearer and dearer    
   to home.   
      
   The rally left town on the 12th of June with road and ferry crossings    
   still ahead. Operating as both M0JFP and the U.S. callsign WO2I, James    
   logged contacts into the UK, Germany and France along the way whenever    
   possible. He said that as a smaller team within the larger rally, the    
   pirate radio run raised several hundred pounds for the children's ward    
   of Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital.   
      
   Having logged all those contacts and all those miles, James told Amateur    
   Radio Newsline in an email that it was one of those experiences he'd    
   never forget.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   (CHERTSEY RADIO CLUB, JAMES PREECE M0JFP)   
      
   **   
   NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; ARISS:    
   the ARRL; Chertsey Radio Club; CQ Magazine; Delvin Bunton NS7U; George    
   Dewar VY2GF; Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club; Hap Holly and the Rain    
   Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; James Preece M0JFP; Ohio-Penn    
   DX Bulletin; QRZNOW.COM, 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 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 Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio    
   saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.   
      
   --    
      
      
      
   73   
   James-KB7TBT   
   www.arnewsline.org   
   www.ylsystem.org   
      
      
      
      
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