Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2366 for Friday March 3rd, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366 with a release date of Friday March 3rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Caribbean island communities strengthen their emergency networks. Hams are asked to join a solar-eclipse study -- and Hamvention organizers announce this year's award winners. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** ISLANDS RECEIVE RADIO DONATION FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE NEIL/ANCHOR: An Australian company's donation of HF radios and antennas is moving amateurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines closer to the development of improved islandwide HF emergency response -- an important element in an area often battered by hurricanes. Graham Kemp VK4BB brings us that report. GRAHAM: When emergency radio equipment from Barrett Communications arrived from Australia on the 14th of February, the director of the Rainbow Radio League/Youlou (YOO LOO) Radio Movement noted that the date was Valentine's Day and declared the delivery [quote] "a gift of love." [endquote] Donald DeRiggs, J88CD, said he was grateful for the donation - the third of its kind provided by Barrett for emergency use in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The equipment is not only a useful way to bolster communications during hurricane season but a way to safeguard areas such as those that were left vulnerable during the eruption of the volcano, La Soufriere in 2021. The Australian company has taken an active role in helping the island communities. Previous donations by Barrett were used to assist the island of Dominica in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Donald said that as soon as this new equipment can be programmed and deployed there will be drills in May or early June to prepare for the coming hurricane season. The latest shipment was transported to Kingstown from the air cargo facility by Leslie Edwards J88LE. It included HF radios, portable solar panels, spare microphones, a portable antenna mast and broadband dipoles. This is Graham Kemp VK4BB. (DONALD DE RIGGS, J88CD) ** SENSORS ON BOARD ISS TO STUDY IONOSPHERE NEIL/ANCHOR: The US military is getting ready to do some intense testing on the ionosphere, via the ISS. We have those details from Kent Peterson KCØDGY. KENT: Two ionospheric sensors will be tested on board the International Space Station this spring in an experiment designed to ultimately improve HF radio communications for the US Department of Defense. The website, Breaking Defense, reported that the sensors are to be sent to the ISS in March. The US military has been revisiting the importance of HF radio as an alternative to satellites, having realized that US satellites could become compromised or destroyed by enemy attack. HF bands are already being used by the three branches of the US military for some long-range communications. Andrew Nicholas, one of the lead researchers on the sensor project, told the Breaking Defense website that the sensors will be measuring ionospheric particle density and its impact on the radio waves passing through it. He said the data from the tests will help in the development of better ionspheric monitoring models. Eventually the military might even consider creating satellites that would constantly monitor such important ionospheric changes to assist in the performance of HF communication. This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (BREAKING DEFENSE.COM) ** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HAMSCI STUDY OF SOLAR ECLIPSES NEIL/ANCHOR: As any ham knows, signal reports matter. Well, they're about to matter even more for those radio enthusiasts who are participating in a citizen science project taking place during two solar eclipses, this year and next year. For that story, we turn to our newest correspondent Patrick Clark, K8TAC, who was also Newsline's Young Ham of the Year in 2001. PATRICK: There will be a little bit of competition and a whole lot of research going on later this year for participants in a QSO party organized by Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, or HamSci. Volunteer radio operators and shortwave listeners will join researchers at a number of US universities sending, receiving and recording signals during the October 14th solar eclipse. The data will be collected and used for testing computer models of the ionosphere to assess its variability. This is the first of two eclipses over North America that HamSci will be studying. The second one is on April 8, 2024. Both Solar Eclipse QSO Parties encourage the use of CW, SSB and digital modes on 160-6 meters. At the same time, hams who operate CW and digital beacons, WSPR and FST4W, will be able to take part in the Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge. Registration starts in July. Organizers stress the importance of this opportunity. As they say on the project's website [quote]: "If we miss the chance to collect meaningful data in 2023 and 2024, it will be decades before North American hams and researchers get another opportunity." [endquote] For details, visit hamsci dot org [hamsci.org] This is Patrick Clark K8TAC. (HAMSCI) ** SILENT KEY: FORMER FCC CHIEF ENGINEER RAY SPENCE, W4QAW NEIL/ANCHOR: A noted contester and DXer who had once been the chief engineer for the Federal Communications Commission has become a Silent Key. We learn more about him from Jim Damron N8TMW. JIM: Raymond Spence, W4QAW, was so devoted to contesting and DXing that a 1984 newspaper interview with him described the traffic-stopping view his collection of towers provided to motorists who would see them from a nearby highway. The Washington Post article noted that much of the six and a half acres of Raymond's property in Virginia served him well. Raymond, who was retired from the post as chief engineer for the FCC in nearby Washington, DC, became a Silent Key on February 18th, due to heart failure. Born in 1929, he was an active ham for much of his life. His basement radio room served as his main contest station and he was a top performer in many major contests. He is listed on the DXCC Honor Roll and was a member of the National Capitol DX Association and the Potomac Valley Radio Club. This is Jim Damron N8TMW. (WASHINGTON POST, DX NEWS.COM, QRZ.COM) ** HAMVENTION AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED NEIL/ANCHOR: If you want to know who's REALLY looking forward to Hamvention this year, consider this list of amateurs who'll be coming to Dayton to receive some awards. Paul Braun WD9GCO has the details. PAUL: Hamvention has announced this year's award recipients. I spoke with awards committee chair Michael Kalter, W8CI, about them. KALTER: First is the special achievement winner, Dr. Jason McDonald, N2TPA. He’s just been instrumental in promoting international friendship and community through amateur radio by forming scouting clubs in Canada, Philippines, and Florida. Right now there are more than 500 youth in these clubs that have been licensed and are on the air. KALTER: This year’s Technical Achievement Award goes to Dr. James Breakall, WA3FET, and his work’s been so instrumental in amateur radio antenna technology development for decades. He’s teamed with experts in the field to develop state-of-the-art advancements with a wide range of applications including the Numeric Electromagnetic Code, NEC. KALTER: Amateur of the Year goes to Carsten Dauer, DM9EE. He’s been active in European amateur radio through WRTC and YOTA for 30 years. But more recently, he has spearheaded a group called DM9EE-Helping Hands, a movement to provide amateur radio equipment to war-torn Ukraine by collecting donations and delivering them personally to communities in Ukraine. PAUL: Amateur Radio Club of the Year goes to The Delaware Valley Radio Association, formed in 1930 to serve the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area. To read more, visit Hamvention’s website, hamvention.org. Congratulations to the winners from all of us at Amateur Radio Newsline. ** MAJOR INDIAN BROADCASTER HONORS WEST BENGAL HAM NEIL/ANCHOR: Congratulations to Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club in India, who were Newsline's International Newsmaker of the Year for 2019 and 2022. At a recent ceremony in Kolkata, he was given the Ananya Samman award from Zee News, a Hindi broadcast channel that is part of one of India's largest media companies. He told Newsline this was a special honor for him as the first amateur radio recipient. The award is in recognition of the club's life-saving work during cyclones, the pandemic and in other areas of public concern. Newsline joins him in celebrating this achievement. (YOUTUBE) ** IN SEARCH OF 'YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR' NEIL/ANCHOR: We remind our listeners that young hams who live in the continental United States have an opportunity to make news, if they aren't already doing so, by being a recipient of this year's Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award. Consider nominating an amateur radio operator 18 years of age or younger -- someone who has talent, promise and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application forms on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Nominations are now open and close on May 31st. ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WA7ABU repeater in Willamette Valley Oregon on Saturdays at 6 p.m. local time. ** FIRST-TIME PARTNERSHIP FOR WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY NEIL/ANCHOR: The theme of World Amateur Radio Day this year is a recognition of the vital role ham radio has played in a number of world crises. John Williams VK4JJW tells us what's planned. JOHN: In an unprecedented partnership, the International Amateur Radio Union is being joined by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security and the World Academy of Art and Science to mark World Amateur Radio Day on the 18th of April. The organisations have declared the theme of the day to be Human Security for All, or HS4A. The theme arises out of the partners' shared belief that hams have a unique means to fulfill the United Nations' mission of providing human security for individuals around the world. The campaign the partnering groups have launched together honours ham radio's proven track record in responding to natural disasters, the pandemic, climate change and even armed conflicts - the many things that undermine individual security without regard to national boundaries. This important concept was declared a priority by the United Nations in 1994. Ham radio gains its advantage as a responder by providing technical knowledge, practical skills and backup systems that provide a security net in times of crisis. The IARU, which has membership societies in more than 150 nations around the world, made the announcement on its webpage for Region 1. A two-week event will be held on the air from April 11th through to the 25th highlighting the HS4A campaign for World Amateur Radio Day. This is John Williams VK4JJW. (IARU REGION 1) ** PARKS ON THE AIR INTRODUCES 48-HOUR CONTEST NEIL/ANCHOR: Operating portable in the park just gained a little more of a competitive edge. Dave Parks WB8ODF explains. DAVE: A new activity being introduced this June by the Parks on the Air organizers is going to be different from the casual portable outdoor operating experience activators and hunters enjoy. This is a contest. For 48 hours, hams will collect contacts and points as part of the new Parks on the Air Plaque Event, which is intended to become an annual competition. In a YouTube interview with Kevin Thomas W1DED, POTA president Jason Johnston, W3AAX, explained the different categories available to both hunters and activators and explained that anyone who made their first POTA contact after June 2, 2022, is eligible for the additional category of rookie. Participants must be registered with POTA and can use CW, SSB and the digital modes. Hams will not be permitted to use the WARC bands. As for multipliers, there are none. This keeps the playing field level so that everything - even multiple reference areas - will be worth a single point. This is Dave Parks WB8ODF. NEIL/ANCHOR: The contest will be held on HF, VHF, UHF and SHF. For a look at the rules and other details for the event, see the link in the text version of this week's Newsline report at arnewsline.org [FOR PRINT ONLY: https://docs.pota.app/docs/award_events/plaque_event/plaque_event.html ] ** LONGTIME 40M NET IN INDIA AVAILABLE AS LIVE STREAM NEIL/ANCHOR: One of the oldest nets held among radio amateurs in India has begun a live stream. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has those details. JIM: The origins of the Belgaum Hambel Net predate the internet by several decades, when a group of young shortwave enthusiasts in the city of Belgaum would get together to study for their ASOC examination in the physics lab of a local college where Pal, VU2PAL, was a professor. By 1973, the group - now licensed hams - had grown. In 1973 they formed the Hambel Amateur Radio Club. By 1988, the hams had agreed to have regularly scheduled QSOs with one another on 7.052.5 MHz - and little by little the on-air circle of friends grew to include those living outside the immediate area. The net was formally launched by Professor Pal in November 1989. He moved it to 7.050 MHz and gave it a name - the Hambel Belgaum Net. He was also its first and most active net control. According to the club's website, by the time he became a Silent Key in 2016, he had logged tens of thousands of QSOs via the net alone. The group's well-established 40-metre net tradition continues today from 7 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Indian Standard Time, but the world has recently begun listening in. The net now uses YouTube to livestream its check-ins, with net controllers Bebu, VU2PNU, Omprakash, VU2KOC, Joshi, VU2BRJ, and Yaseen, VU3PMY. You can listen too. See the link to one of the more recent nets in the text version of this week's script at arnewsline.org This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. [FOR PRINT, DO NOT READ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRw9qluW9WY ] (HAMBEL NET WEBSITE, YOUTUBE) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, Phil, VA3QR, is operating from Panama throughout March, using various call signs depending upon his location. Those call signs include HP1/VA3QR, HP3/VA3QR and HP8/VA3QR. He will be using SSB and the digital modes. QSL to his home call. Listen for Matt, ZL4NVW, who will be activating several SOTA summits on Secretary Island off the Fiordland coast from the 7th to the 13th of March. He will be on 40m through 10m, SSB only. Secretary Island uses the IOTA designation OC-203 for the South Coastal Islands of New Zealand. QSL to his home call. Listen for Robert, OK2PYA, operating as EA6/OK2PYA from various World Wide Flora & Fauna areas on Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, IOTA EU-004 until the 7th of March. He is using CW on 40-10 metres. QSL via Club Log's OQRS and LoTW. (425 DX BULLETIN, DX-WORLD.NET) ** KICKER: THE HEIGHT OF GRATITUDE FOR A SUMMIT RESCUE NEIL/ANCHOR: For our final story, we visit with a SOTA activator who is recovering from serious injuries after a fall on a summit. While he is healing, he plans to active a campaign of gratitude for his rescuers. Here's Jeremy Boot G4NJH with that story. JEREMY: It was just a few weeks ago that Alan 2EØJWA had hopes of scoring 4 points plus a 3-point winter bonus for activating the largest summit in his immediate area, G/SP-001 Kinder Scout in the Peak District National Park. His goal on that day in January came crashing down with him when he fell on a piece of black ice on the well-marked summit path, shattering his left leg. He expects that after two surgeries, he will be back on his feet by mid-May - perhaps even back on the air for a summit by summer. As he tells colleagues on the SOTA Reflector, however, he might not be making those plans at all were it not for the kind souls who first rushed to his aid on the trail to stabilise him -- and then for the welcome arrival of the volunteer team he describes in his blog as "angels in red coats," the Glossop Mountain Rescue Team. It was a complicated rescue but they moved him safely off the hill just as snow showers were threatening to arrive. Alan is now asking others on the SOTA Reflector and the ham community to help inspire some kind of special event or thank-you gesture for helping to keep this SOTA activator alive. To Alan, the winter bonus for that summit truly belongs to the angels in red coats. This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (SOTA REFLECTOR, 2EØJWA BLOG) ** DO YOU HAVE NEWS? NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think Newsline would be interested in? We are not talking about advertising your club's upcoming hamfest or field day participation, but something that is out of the ordinary. If so, send us a brief overview via the contact page at arnewsline.org. If it's newsworthy and we would like to cover it, we'll get back to you for more details. NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Breaking Defense.com; CQ magazine; David Behar K7DB; Donald De Riggs, J88CD; DX-World.net; FCC; 425 DX News; Hambel Net; HamSCI; Parks on the Air; RadioWorld SOTA Reflector; the 2EØJWA Blog; shortwaveradio.de; Washington Post; YouTube and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. We also wish a happy 21st anniversary to the Summits on the Air awards scheme, created March 2nd, 2002. For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Union Kentucky saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.