Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2124 for Friday, July 13, 2018   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2124 with a release date of Friday, July   
   13 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. South African amateurs are on the move. Cuban   
   licensees score big on their exams -- and in the U.S. hams provided needed   
   connections as wildfires swept Colorado. All this and more as Amateur Radio   
   Newsline Report 2124 comes your way right now.   
      
   **   
      
   BILLBOARD CART   
      
   **   
   HAMS HELP AS WILDFIRES STRIKE COLORADO   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's newscast with an update on the more than a    
   dozen wildfires that have swept through the state of Colorado in less than   
   two weeks and the amateurs who've been able to help. Our report comes   
   courtesy of Amanda Alden K1DDN who has been working with ARES in connection   
   with those fires, which resulted in the evacuation of more than 3,000   
   homes.
   
   Amanda tells us that Type 1 and Type 2 Incident Management Teams were called   
   in quickly for many sites once the fires flared so ARES was not called in for   
   all of them. ARES was activated, however, for the Quarry Fire, which was   
   ignited by lightning on the evening of Saturday July 7th, two miles west of   
   Canon City, Colorado. The fire began in rough terrain but also threatened   
   cell tower sites in addition to an important ham radio repeater site. The   
   same lightning caused at least one other spot fire which was extinguished   
   quickly but also struck near two people on the Royal Gorge Bridge.   
      
   Fremont County Incident Management Team asked the R5D1 ARES team to assist   
   with comms for the local wildfire team as well as the fire protection   
   district. As Amanda told us [quote] "We actually fulfilled more of an AuxComm   
   role for the fire." [endquote] The amateur team monitored narrowband VHF fire   
   frequencies, tactical command and air-to-ground.  Incident Command also   
   required hourly weather updates. The ARES comm van also provided IP   
   connectivity and a live camera feed on flare-ups and hot spots. By July 8,   
   air attacks had done their job and ARES was able to demobilize that evening.   
      
   One wildfire team member, who is also a ham, was injured and has since   
   recovered. As Amanda reminded Newsline [quote]: "ARES isn't always about   
   using amateur radio.  When you have these small rural teams fighting a fire,   
   it's about assisting any way possible.  If that includes using public safety   
   radio, that's what we do".   
      
   The Quarry Fire is now 100 percent contained. As of Newsline production time,   
   however, the Spring Fire - the second largest in the state's history,   
   continued to burn.   
      
   (AMANDA ALDEN K1DDN)   
      
   **   
   IRISH HAMS MARK ROLE OF RADIO IN SPORTS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: A group of amateurs in Ireland are showing that radio operators   
   have always been good sports when it comes to sports. Here's Jeremy Boot   
   G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: With the World Radiosport Team Championship about to kick off in   
   Germany and with the World Cup going on in Russia, it's worth noting that a   
   sporting event 120 years ago also involved the use of radio. In 1898,   
   Guglielmo Marconi was invited to set up a wireless station aboard a boat   
   anchored at the finish line of that year's Kingstown Regatta in Dublin. The   
   goal was to be able to transmit the race results to the harbour master's   
   office in Kingstown and from there, phoned into newsrooms from where special   
   editions of the newspapers could be printed and on the newstands well before   
   the yachts returned to port.   
      
   The 120th anniversary of this important "first" in sports reporting by   
   wireless is being commemorated on the 21st of July by amateurs in Ireland   
   using the call sign EI0MAR. They will be operating from the Martello Tower   
   and offering a special QSL card for HF contacts. The station will also   
   monitor 145.525 MHz. Operations will be from about 1000 to 1600 UTC.   
      
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
      
   **   
   HONORING THOSE WHO DIED ON THE USS SAN DIEGO   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: In New York, hams are marking another historic event on the   
   water - in this case, a tragic event. Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT has that story.   
      
   CARYN: What do you do when history happens right on your doorstep - or in the   
   case of one ham club, right on your shoreline? For the Great South Bay   
   Amateur Radio Club in Lindenhurst, New York, the answer to that question was   
   easy: You operate a special event station. One hundred years ago on July 19   
   six U.S. sailors lost their lives when an explosion on board the USS San   
   Diego sank the vessel off the coast of a barrier island known as Fire Island.   
   Club president John Melfi W2HCB explains why this event hits so close to home.   
      
   JOHN: Being that we are the Great South Bay Club, the Great South Bay is a   
   body of water that is on the north side of the barrier island, which is the   
   island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay. The San Diego   
   unfortunately sank ten miles off of Fire Island after its onboard radio   
   failed.   
      
   CARYN: Starting on July 14 and through the end of the month, Special Event   
   Station W2NMY will operate on all bands in all modes honoring the six who   
   perished aboard the only major warship the U.S. lost after its involvement in   
   World War I. Successful contacts will earn a special certificate bearing the   
   sailors' names and a photo of the ship. John said enthusiasm has been   
   widespread but most especially among one group.   
      
   JOHN: We are hoping possibly to get a lot of military veterans who are ham   
   radio operators collecting that very special certificate.   
      
   CARYN: The call sign is also historic. It had been used by the U.S. Coast   
   Guard at the HF station near Fire Island Lighthouse. John said the club is   
   proud to bring it alive again.   
      
   JOHN: Just look for that call sign W2NMY, that's whiskey two november mike   
   yankee.   
      
   CARYN: For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, and a member   
   of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club.   
      
   **   
      
   HAMS ARE ON THE MOVE IN SOUTH AFRICA   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: In just a few days, the practice of operating portable will take   
   on new meaning for some hams in South Africa. Here's Jason Daniels VK2LAW   
   with more.   
      
   JASON: Amateur radio operators in South Africa can expect to be on the move -   
   quite literally - for the second Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio challenge,   
   known by the acronym RaDAR. Some enthusiasts even call this form of portable   
   operation a "shack in a sack."   
      
   The challenge set for Saturday July 14th features hams operating in the   
   categories of fixed, field or moving. The practice encourages hams to be able   
   to operate with self-sufficiency for extended periods of time, bringing along   
   their rigs and power supplies as well as shelter, food, water and protective   
   clothing.   
      
   According to the RaDAR Ops website, Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio was   
   launched in August of 2009.   
      
   The one-day challenge permits hams to use CW, SSB, FM, satellite or any legal   
   amateur radio digital mode - but no repeaters.   
      
   The important part of the challenge isn't just to keep making those contacts,   
   but to keep things moving.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: We also want to congratulate Magda Swart ZS6MMS. She recently   
   became the second YL in South Africa in the SOTA program to achieve 100   
   points for her summit activations. Magda reached that milestone on the 28th   
   of June, joining another YL, Adele ZS5APT who had achieved those points   
   earlier.   
      
   (SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE, RAPID DEPLOYMENT AMATEUR RADIO)   
      
   ***   
   NEW CUBAN LICENSEES SCORE BIG ON EXAM   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: It pays to study hard for your license exam - and some new   
   amateurs in Cuba are celebrating, as we hear from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.   
      
   KEVIN: What's better than a good signal report? How about a 96 percent   
   success rate for new amateur licensees? Cuba gets the bragging rights to   
   this: In a recent report for FRC, the Cuban amateur radio association, the   
   country boasts an overall pass rate of 95.97 percent so far this year for   
   exams taken. Of the 323 who have sat for their exams so far, 310 learned they   
   would be getting their license.   
      
   Add to that another bit of good news: The number of candidates sitting for   
   the exam in 2018 has increased over last year.   
      
   So be listening for those new prefixes from Cuba, CL, CM and CO - and welcome   
   them.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.   
      
   (SOUTHGATE)   
      
      
   **   
   BREAK HERE:   
      
   Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline   
   heard on bulletin stations around the world including the W1AEC repeater of   
   the Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association in Dartmouth,   
   Massachusetts on Sunday nights at 8.   
      
   **   
      
   HAM RADIO PAIRS WITH FRS FOR MARYLAND EMCOMM   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR : Stories about how Amateur Radio operators get involved in   
   emergency communications frequently cross the news desk here. This one,   
   however, has a twist. Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM is the ARRL Section Manager for   
   the Atlantic/MDC area. He is working with community groups in his area to tie   
   other services, such as the Family Radio Service or FRS, into ham radio   
   emcomm operations. As an active member of ARES and RACES, Pittinger  knows    
   that  nonham  groups  in  the  community  can  have  their  own  emergency    
   networks  too  -  thanks  to  this  inexpensive  unlicensed  form  of  radio    
   communication.  Local  groups  distribute  these  radios  in  areas  where    
   they're  needed  to  create  instant  connectivity,  even  for  people    
   without  phones  -  and  this  is  something  hams  can  tap  into  as  well.   
   How  does  it  work?  Pittinger  gave  an  example:   
      
   PITTINGER: This lady who was on oxygen - the power went off one night and she   
   picked up her FRS radio and she said, "Can anybody hear me?" and an amateur   
   radio person who happened to be monitoring FRS said, "Yes, I do."She says,   
   "Well the power went out, I was wondering how long it was going to be." The   
   ham on the other side said, "Let me find out." A little while later, said,   
   "It's only going to be off for about an hour-and-a-half," and she said, "Oh,   
   that will be fine. The battery will last that long," and that was the end of   
   it. Now, to some, that may not seem substantial, but I go one step further.   
   You have a community that are sometimes in need of information, situational   
   awareness that they don't have ready access to. Not everybody has a smart   
   phone. Not everybody has reliable power at their house. Well, if the power   
   goes off, they don't have situational awareness when it comes to, let's say   
   weather situations or power situations. That information that was passed   
   along eliminated the need of sending a health and welfare check or medical   
   services to remove this lady from her house perhaps and take her to a medical   
   facility. She may be there for a long time - puts an undue strain on her   
   family or her close friends or relatives. So the information was passed to   
   her and she was satisfied with it.   
      
   PAUL: Pittinger  sees  these  radios  as  a  simple,  inexpensive  vehicle    
   for  widening  radio  networks  during  an  emergency,  especially  in  areas   
   without  a  significant  ham  population.  He  recommends  that  all  hams    
   who  are  involved  in  emcomm  in  some  way  also  pack  an  FRS  radio  in   
   their  goªkit  and  monitor  it  as  they  would  any  of  the  ham  or    
   civil  defense  frequencies.  For  Amateur  Radio  Newsline,  I'm  Paul    
   Braun  WD9GCO   
      
   **   
   GLOBAL EVENT LIGHTS OUR WAY FOR 21 YEARS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: There are some newcomers in this year's International Lighthouse   
   and Lightship Weekend and organizers consider them to be shining stars, as we   
   hear from Graham Kemp VK4BB.   
      
   GRAHAM: They say there's a first time for everything and nowhere could that   
   be truer than in amateur radio. International Lighthouse and Lightship   
   Weekend which happens the third full weekend in August is marking its 21st   
   anniversary. It has welcomed 250 registered lighthouses so far this year but   
   it's also celebrating the debut of a number of new participants. They include   
   the Ashdod and Mount Carmel lighthouses in Israel, the Shabla Lighthouse in   
   Bulgaria, Porthcawl Breakwater in Wales and Tanjung Datu in Malaysia. Yes,   
   there are even more lighthouses new to the game in Mexico and Cuba. Organizer   
   Kevin Mulcahy VK2CE said the event begins on August 18th at 0001 UTC. That is   
   still a few weeks off and so, as always, the pace of entries is expected to   
   gather momentum in the days ahead.   
      
   Registered participants also include one of South Africa's most historic   
   lighthouses, which will be activated by the Boland Amateur Radio Club during   
   the event. The club is marking its own milestone - their 70th anniversary -   
   with the special event call sign ZS70BAK.   
      
   Kevin and Ted W8TTS maintain the list of lighthouses and expect the list to   
   reach more than 500 by the final week. That's a rate of growth you might say   
   is almost at the speed of lighthouse.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB.   
      
   (KEVIN MULCAHY VK2CE)   
      
   **   
   MELBOURNE STUDENTS READY FOR JULY 17 DATE WITH ISS ASTRONAUT   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Youngsters at one Australian primary school have been waiting   
   for a date with an astronaut - and now they have it. Robert Broomhead VK3DC   
   tells us more.   
      
   ROBERT: It's a date! That would be Tuesday July 17th - that's when the   
   students at the Essex Heights Primary School in Melbourne, Australia will get   
   their long-awaited moment with astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT on   
   board the International Space Station. The hour will be 6:24 p.m. local time,   
   which is 08:24 UTC. While the students have their interaction via telebridge,   
   the rest of the world can get in on the action by participating on the   
   internet. There is a livestreaming link for worldwide viewing and it will be   
   published on the school's website. Just visit www dot essexheightsps dot vic   
   dot edu dot au (www.essexheightsps.vic.edu.au)   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN.   
      
   **   
      
   WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the world of DX, listen for Carsten, OZ4CG  operating through the 31st of   
   July as OZ4SOP from  Bornholm Island for the Sea Of Peace Award. Send QSLs   
   via Club Log, LoTW and eQSL.   
      
   Eric, SM1TDE is active as SJ1SOP from  Gotland Island through the 31st of   
   July also for the Sea of Peace Award. Send QSLs via home call, LoTW and eQSL;   
   or search  on Club Log.   
      
   Pierre, VE3KTB is active through the 21st of July as VY0ERC. He is at the   
   Eureka Amateur Radio Club station located in the weather station on Ellesmere   
   Island. Send QSLs via M0OXO's OQRS.   
      
   Listen for Bruce KD6WW and Mike K9AJ operating primarily in CW as KD6WW/VY0   
   and K9AJ/VY0 from Fafarad Island from the 19th to the 23rd of July. The last   
   operation from this rare  IOTA Group was 18 years ago. Listen on 40 meters   
   through 17 meters. They also plan some SSB and possibly FT8. QSL via Club   
   Log's OQRS, or via home calls, both direct and via the bureau.   
      
   (OHIO PENN DX)   
      
   **   
      
   KICKER: THAILAND CAVE RESCUE WAS A RADIO OPERATION TOO   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Finally, the world is breathing a little easier now with the   
   success of the recent Thailand cave rescue operation -- but did you know that   
   even this has a ham radio connection? Here's Don Wilbanks AE5DW.   
      
   DON: Thirteen young people in Thailand are alive today partly because of   
   radio - a radio system, in fact, that was designed by a British ham nearly 20   
   years ago. The radios are specialized handhelds that transmit and receive on   
   upper side band at the ultra-low frequency of 87 kHz -- and they were   
   instrumental in making contact with the 12 young members of a football team   
   and their assistant coach who were trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand for   
   nearly three weeks. The radios are called HeyPhones, bearing the name of John   
   Hey G3TDZ, now a Silent Key. He designed the bulky, do-it-yourself system 17   
   years ago for use in cave rescues in the UK. The radios allow divers to   
   transmit through solid rock and between cave and surface as well. The ones in   
   Thailand, sent by the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation, allowed divers to   
   make contact with the trapped team as the world held its breath.   
      
   The boys and their coach are safe now. While some observers may say Hey's   
   original design has long since been rendered obsolete by more modern   
   counterparts, no doubt hams like John Hey himself would say instead: this is   
   the kind of radio rescue that never gets old.   
      
   For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW.   
      
   (WIA, WIRED, BCRC WEBSITE, HACKADAY)   
      
   **   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; Amanda Alden   
   K1DDN; ARISS: the ARRL; British Cave Rescue Council; CQ Magazine; Great South   
   Bay Amateur Radio Club; Hackaday; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio   
   Transmitters Society; Kevin Mulcahy VK2CE; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Rapid   
   Deployment Amateur Radio; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO   
   Radio Show; South African Radio League; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana 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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