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   NEWSRELEASE   
      
      
      
   For Immediate Release (July 3, 2012)   
      
      
      
   Contact:   
      
   Bill Pasternak (WA6ITF) / Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)   
      
   661-296-7180 / newsline@arnewsline.org   
      
   Dennis Motschenbacher (K7BV) / Yaesu USA   
      
   714-827-7600 / d.motschenbacher@yaesu.com   
      
   Rich Moseson, (W2VU) / CQ Communications, Inc.   
      
   516-681-2922 / w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com   
      
      
      
   ERIN KING,AK4JG, NAMED 2012 AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE(tm)   
   "YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR"   
      
      
      
   (Santa Clarita, California) - Erin King, AK4JG, a 17-year-old from   
   Columbus,Georgia, who re-founded her high school's radio club and then   
   lofted a hamradio-carrying balloon to over 90,000 feet, recovered the   
   flight data and usedit to produce a truly striking video of that flight,   
   has been named asrecipient of the 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham   
   of the Year Award.   
      
   Erin is the daughter of Paul, K4ETY, and Patricia King. She has two   
   siblings: Brandon, age 16 and Rachel, age 15. Erin became a licensed   
   radio amateur in 2009 and now holds an Extra Class license. She is a   
   member of the ARRL, the Columbus Amateur Radio Club, and the Russell   
   County Radio Club. She enjoys operating on local VHF and UHF repeaters   
   as well as phone and digital modes on the High Frequency amateur radio   
   bands. She is looking forward to mastering Morse Code as her next   
   amateur radio challenge.   
      
   Erin became interested in amateur radio after joining a clubat her high   
   school dealing with robotics and then ham radio-equipped high-altitude   
   balloon launches. This school group has participated in FIRST Robotics   
   competitions, and Erin has twice been Team Lead for Programming. The   
   club also launches several high-altitude balloon missions each year, in   
   a program called DREAMS. They have flown various scientific experiments   
   as part of these missions, in addition to planning, building, and   
   integrating radios, Global Positioning System (GPS) units and TNCs to   
   track and recover the balloons. To facilitate these activities, the   
   group's sponsor, Luther Richardson, KI4AOJ, has encouraged the   
   students to obtain their amateur radio licenses.   
      
   A subset of this group,including Erin, has participated in the   
   Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) "InvenTeam" competition,   
   designing and building a portable lightning detector and early warning   
   system. In addition, Erin re-started the Columbus High School Radio Club   
   and served as its president forthe past two years. The club was active   
   in the 1950s and '60s, and Erin's great-grandfather (the original K4ETY)   
   was one ofits mentors at that time. The new club obtained the callsign   
   W4CHS (Columbus High School) andhas been active on the air.   
      
   Erin's involvement with amateur radio and FIRST Robotics has helped fuel   
   her interest in science and engineering. Last year, she appliedfor early   
   admission to both Georgia Tech and MIT; she was accepted to both and   
   will be attending MIT this fall.   
      
   Inside the shiny tube which contained Erin's MIT acceptance letter   
   was a note suggesting that the students "hack" their tubes,   
   meaning to do something cool with them, in along-standing tradition of   
   MIT hacks or stunts. Erin chose to send her tube to near-space.   
      
   Drawing on her ballooning experience,Erin planned, built, integrated,   
   and tested a complete new tracking setup to fit into the very small   
   shipping tube. The payload consisted of two GPS units, two custom-made   
   antennas, one Argent Data OpenTracker+ kit (which Erinbuilt), one   
   handheld radio, and a fellow ham's Byonics Pocket Tracker, a   
   self-contained 100-milliwatt tracker/radio combination in an Altoids(r)   
   tin. Erin also talked her mother into letting her use mom's brand   
   new GoPro Hero HD video camera.   
      
   With the assistance of a group of hams from the Columbus Amateur Radio   
   club, Erin launched her balloon from Lumpkin, GA. A couple of hours   
   later, she and the tracking team successfully recovered it, along with   
   the complete HD video record of the flight. Erin took this video, as   
   well as other photos and video staken of the launch activities, and   
   compiled it into an 8-minute presentation,complete with background   
   music. She posted it to YouTube, and put a link to it on the MIT   
   hack-the-tube site (see).   
   According to YouTube statistics,Erin's video has been viewed thus   
   far in excess of 82,500times.   
      
   This past May, Erin was invited to participate in no less than three   
   forums and sessions at the 2012Dayton Hamvention(r). These included   
   the 25thanniversary "Youth Forum," the "Ham Radio Town   
   Meeting" and an "ARRL Expo"presentation where her video was   
   screened.   
      
   Award Ceremony   
      
   The 2012 Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) "Young Ham ofthe Year Award" will   
   be presented on Saturday, August 18th at the Huntsville Hamfest in   
   Huntsville, Alabama. As the 2012"Young Ham of the Year," Erin will   
   receive --courtesy of Yaesu USA -- an expense-paid trip to the   
   Huntsville Hamfest, along with a gift of Yaesu brand ham radio   
   equipment. CQ magazine will treat her to an expense-paid week at   
   Spacecamp Huntsville,and will present Erin with a variety of CQ   
   products. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) will provide Erin with a   
   commemorative plaque at the award ceremony. Once again, the cost of   
   year's plaque has been underwritten by Dave Bell (W6AQ), President of   
   DBA Entertainment Inc., Hollywood, California. Heil Sound Ltd. will   
   also be presenting Erin with a ham radio-related gift.   
      
   The presentation of the Young Ham of the Year Award has been a regular   
   feature of the Huntsville Hamfest since 1993. This has been made   
   possible through the generosity and kindness of the event's Planning   
   Committee and the good offices of Huntsville Hamfest Association Vice   
   President Charlie Emerson, N4OKL. (Seehttp://www.hamfest.org)   
      
   This year's award ceremony will be hosted by Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, and   
   Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, of Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), Rich Moseson, W2VU,   
   of CQ Communications, and representatives of Yaesu USA and Heil Sound.   
      
   Award Program Background   
      
   The Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) "Young Ham of the Year" award (formerly   
   the Westlink Report Young Ham of the Year Award) has been presented   
   annually since 1986 to a licensed radio amateur (ham) who is 18years of   
   age or younger and who has provided outstanding service to the   
   nation,his/her community or the betterment of the state of the art in   
   communications through the amateur radio hobby/service. A website with   
   full information on the award program and background material is located   
   at http://www.arnewsline.org/YHOTY.   
      
   Award Sponsors   
      
   The award program is sponsored by the Los Angeles, California-based   
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) with corporate support from Yaesu USA   
   Corporation of Cypress, California, CQ Magazine of Hicksville, New York,   
   and Heil Sound of Fairview Heights, Illinois.   
      
   Since 1976, Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) and its predecessor, the   
   Westlink Radio Network, have been providing radio amateurs around the   
   world with up-to-the-minute news at no cost to them.   
   (Seehttp://www.arnewsline.org)   
      
   The award's three major corporate underwriters are world leaders in   
   their respective areas of Amateur Radio product support.   
      
   Yaesu USA, which has been a corporate underwriter since the inception of   
   the award program in 1986, is considered the trailblazer in the design,   
   manufacture and distribution of high quality amateur gear as well as   
   commercial two-way, monitoring, marine and air-band communications   
   equipment (See http://www.yaesu.com).   
      
   CQ magazine and its sister publications, CQ VHF,Popular Communications   
   and World Radio Online, are published by CQ Communications, Inc., and   
   are considered the trend-setting publications serving today's modern   
   radio amateur. (Seehttp://www.cq-amateur-radio.com)   
      
   Heil Sound Ltd. Is considered as a world leader in the development and   
   manufacture of new technology microphones and related audio products for   
   professional sound reinforcement and amateur radio communications.   
   (Seehttp://www.heilsound.com)   
      
      
      
   -30-   
      
      
   ***   
      
   As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and Ham Operators all around the   
   world, this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the internet   
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   Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as   
   described in this posting. If you have any specific questions concerning   
   the actual posting of this message service, you may address them to   
   hamfdn -at- wpusa.dynip.com.   
      
   Thank you and good day!   
      
   -73-   
      
      
    * Origin: (1:3634/12)