Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2053 for Friday, March 3, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2053 with a release date of Friday, 
March 3, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Australian hams turn a retired public bus into a 
classroom and ham shack. Texas amateurs donate books to inspire and 
teach new licensees -- and amateur radio becomes a tool for police in 
India. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2053 comes 
your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAM RADIO ADDED TO POLICE RESOURCES IN INDIA

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes a look at how one police 
organization in India has been busy integrating amateur radio into its 
well-established strategy of radio response. That's going to mean more 
ham radios - and more licensed hams! Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's 
Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: The Assam Police Radio Organization, which uses wireless 
communication for law enforcement and crises, is working to integrate 
amateur radio use more deeply into its operations, particularly for 
disaster preparedness. According to a recent article in the Assam 
Tribune, the strategy gained traction during a February APRO seminar on 
disaster response and planners said priority needed to be given to 
communication methods that did not rely on the existing communications 
grid.

The director general of Assam's police, Mukesh Sahay, said during the 
seminar that the need for more trained and licensed amateur radio 
operators is paramount.

The police will be working with S. Ram Mohan VU2MYH, director of the 
National Institute of Amateur Radio in Hyderabad, to develop a system. 
Police in Assam have used various forms of wireless communications since 
1946 and an independent communications network was expanded following 
India's independence the following year. Disaster response was taken to 
a new level in 2005 when the Amateur Radio Center VU2VKP was opened at 
the APRO Training School.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(ASSAM TRIBUNE, ASSAM POLICE, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AMATEUR RADIO)


**

WORLD-CLASS PLANNING FOR HF CONTEST

NEIL/ANCHOR: Staging a world-class HF contest takes a lot of planning 
and preparation, so organizers of next year's World Radiosport Team 
Championship in Germany can't start too soon. With some milestones 
already under their belts, planners still have a few more to go -- as we 
hear from Amateur Radio Newsline's Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT.

CARYN'S REPORT: It's around 500 days to the 2018 World Radiosport Team 
Championship and preparations are well under way. A successful test was 
already performed on one of the planned sites in July 2016 and now, from 
June 23rd to the 25th, several stations will be set-up and taken down in 
the Jessen/Wittenberg area of North East Germany where the 2018 event 
will take place.
From antenna and mast assembly through power supplies and tents, 
everything will be tested to find any possible problems. The processes 
for the volunteers supporting the event will be "fine tuned" and 
documented so that when the pinnacle of HF contesting comes to Germany 
next year all will be ready and everything will run smoothly.

For anyone wishing to help with the financing of this major event full 
details of how to sponsor the event, a team or a tent can be found on 
the WRTC2018 website at   W R T C TWO ZEROONE EIGHT DOT D E.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT

**
HELPING PROSPECTIVE HAMS, BY THE BOOK

NEIL/ANCHOR: Elmering has a long tradition in amateur radio and one 
Texas club takes it so seriously, they have invested some grant money in 
a special book to recruit and encourage new licensees. Let's hear more 
from Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

SKEETER: Members of the Cedar Creek Amateur Radio Club K5CCL don't 
consider prospective hams to be dummies - and they're not calling them 
dummies. They'd actually like to call them fellow hams. That's why 
they're making free copies available of the ARRL book, "Ham Radio for 
Dummies." The Athens, Texas club believes that wide distribution of the 
book to libraries and schools will give people greater access to radio 
knowledge and perhaps help cultivate new licensees. The book, which is 
in its second edition, is by ARRL contributing editor Ward Silver N0AX. 
A grant from LDG Electronics of St. Leonard, Maryland, made it possible 
for the club to purchase copies and nearly every school and public 
library in the tri-county area around this Texas community received a 
copy from Glenn Hughes KF5CTG, a former teacher who coordinated the 
project for the Cedar Creek club.

An estimated 30 copies were distributed now await their new readership 
and the club hopes some VE sessions will eventually follow.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

(CEDAR CREEK LAKE NEWS, THE ATHENS REVIEW, CEDAR CREEK AMATEUR RADIO 
CLUB BLOG)

**
A WINNING WYONG FIELD DAY

NEIL/ANCHOR: Amateurs from the Central Coast of New South Wales, 
Australia, had a full day recently - a VERY full day - during Field Day 
at Wyong. With that story is Amateur Radio Newsline's Ed Durrant DD5LP.

ED'S REPORT: After months of preparation and hard work, the Central 
Coast Amateur Radio Club's Field Day at Wyong took place Sunday, the 
26th of February.

Aerial shots of the hamfest from a drone showed the car parks to be 
full, in fact overflowing and lots of people walking around the flea 
market.

Many positive comments have already been received regarding the variety 
of topics being covered in the two, parallel lecture streams. A big vote 
of thanks goes to Bob VK2AOR for putting both lecture streams together.

The ATV and DMR demonstrations on the upper floor of the race club were 
well attended with all seats being filled and standing room only for the 
Brandmeister and DMR demos. Ian VK2HK, who ran these demonstrations, 
tells me he was only able to get away for 10 minutes during the day, so 
high was the interest and questions about this new digital voice mode. 
Ian had to be supplied with food and drink by other club members, so 
again thanks to Ian for his dedication.

Along with the DMR demonstrations, the other hits of the day were the 
lecture on Space Weather from the Australian Government's Bureau of 
Meteorology and the Drone flying demonstrations. These demonstrations 
were so effective that the drone retailer left at the end of the day 
with no stock left.

While lectures and demonstrations were taking place on the upper floors, 
there was also lots happening at ground level with the traders and flea 
market stalls getting lots of attention and the testing room busy not 
only with Australian but this year also US amateur radio examinations.

For a hamfest that has been going almost 60 years, it is good to see the 
CCARC expanding into new areas of interest to their visitors and having 
a very successful Wyong Field Day 2017.

Through involvement of a local radio station and attendance of 
youngsters from local schools, it is hoped that the message about 
Amateur Radio will be passed on to a new generation of club members but 
before the CCARC Field Day in 2018, the club has a lot to prepare in 
it's celebrations of the club's 60th. birthday in October. Long may the 
CCARC continue in its efforts of promoting Amateur Radio in "God's 
Country" the Central Coast of New South Wales Australia.

For the Central Coast ARC this has been Ed DD5LP VK2JI

**

NOMINATE YOUR "YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR"

NEIL: Amateur Radio Newsline would like to remind listeners that the 
nomination period has opened for the Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham 
of the Year Award. Although we accept nominations through May 31, don't 
wait too long to download your application from our website and get your 
documentation together to support your nominee. Young Ham candidates 
must be 18 or younger and be a resident of the United States, its 
possessions or any Canadian province. Application forms are available on 
our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Please read the rules 
carefully. Applications are being accepted between Wednesday, March 1 
and May 31. The award will be presented on August 19th at the Huntsville 
Hamfest in Huntsville Alabama. Join us in helping celebrate young, 
talented, community-minded amateurs by nominating a youngster you admire.

**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur 
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including 
K8SCH, the 2-meter repeater of the OhKyIn (Oh-KY-Yin) Amateur Radio 
Society, on Wednesday nights following the Tech Net.

**

GETTING ON BOARD THE HAM RADIO BUS

NEIL/ANCHOR: In Australia, one lifelong amateur has turned an old public 
bus into a kind of school bus - the school of radio - as we hear from 
Amateur Radio Newsline's John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: An out-of-service bus sits outside town in the central Victoria 
community of Castlemaine, and the vehicle's not likely to be going 
anywhere soon. The same can't be said for the small group of teenagers 
inside: They are Castlemaine Venturers, scouts who have just begun their 
journey into ham radio. Their tutor, Tony Falla VK3KKP, is igniting in 
them the same wonder he felt as a child.

TONY: When I was 5, my dad brought home radios from work. He was working 
connected with the military. I was playing with radios, dismantling them 
and putting them in boxes and every weekend I would bring them out and 
take them into even smaller parts. Then I went to primary school. I must 
have been about 7 years old. I was next to an army training camp and the 
soldiers invited us all into the trucks and into the tanks to listen to 
headphones. We heard the whole battles, the pretend battles going on and 
I think that really got me in. I remember that moment so vividly. So 
when I introduce these ideas to kids these days I do see that they have 
the same excitement. I just put some earplugs into my first grandchild, 
she was about 5, and it was a radio station there. To see the look on 
her face was amazing!

JOHN: Sometimes, Tony said, even well-taught classroom theory and radio 
simulation can't compete with the power of the real thing.

TONY: When we were just talking across the car park, somebody broke in 
from New Zealand and we got talking to them. The scouts saw that was a 
genuine contact that hadn't been set up and the scouts talked to the 
chap. He was up a mountain, one thousand meters high, camped in a little 
cabin with a radio and a battery. Again because they are scouts, they 
knew this person was in a remote area. Chatting to us one evening 
suddenly made it real again, you see. So I think what we were talking 
about before, making all these examples real, not just simulating them 
over Echolink or Skype, we were actually doing it for real -- and that 
person was isolated! So it did tweak them as well.

JOHN: A member of the Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club, Tony 
said the enthusiasm for ham radio has now gotten a bit infectious.

TONY: We've had teachers approach us and other members of the public and 
we are going to be teaching the teachers hopefully. We are going to 
teach the scoutmasters so they can go on and teach other scouts. We 
think we should move up a level so that we don't get burned out -- but 
at the same time just keep using these arguments to demonstrate why we 
think it is important.

JOHN: The first group of students takes the Foundation exam this month. 
We wish them luck as they ride the ham radio bus and bring more 
passengers on board.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW.

**
NEW MANAGER FOR ARRL WEST VIRGINIA SECTION

NEIL: Leadership of the ARRL's West Virginia section has just changed 
hands. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Damron N8TMW tells us who's in 
charge now.

JIM: Here in West Virginia, a new ARRL Section Manager has been 
appointed as of March 1st.  He is Morgantown attorney Dan Ringer K8WV, 
and he will succeed Phillip Groves, N8SFO.  Phil has served since July 
2015 and is stepping down for personal reasons.  Dan will fill the 
remainder of the term, which concludes on September 30th.  The new 
two-year term for section manager begins on October 1st and nominating 
petitions are due at the ARRL’s Connecticut headquarters no later than 
June 9th. I talked with Dan about his new position.

DAN: I took the position because first of all I have been deeply 
involved in amateur radio for most of my life.  I was first licensed 
when I was 13 years old...and I have been involved with the ARRL during 
most of that time.  I was an assistant director for the Roanoke Division 
for a number of years.  I have been an assistant section manager for a 
longer period of time.  I’m an attorney so I’ve volunteered as a 
volunteer counsel with the ARRL.  And because I’m an attorney, I tend to 
know people involved in local government so I have been a local 
government liaison.

JIM: Any closing thought on our ham radio hobby?

DAN: It’s a wonderful hobby. It’s an important hobby, and it’s a useful 
hobby. Everybody...there’s a role for everybody in amateur radio.

JIM: That was Dan Ringer, K8WV, newly appointed WV ARRL Section Manager.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Jim Damron, N8TMW

**

THE WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, listen for Makoto JI5RPT from Ogasawara Island, 
operating as JD1BLY from March 7th to 10th. He'll be on 160m to 10m CW, 
SSB and digital. QSLs go to the home call.

In Ghana, a group of 6 operators from the UK will be using the callsign 
9G5X between the 7th and 21st of March. They will operate on all bands 
from 160m to 10m. Send QSL cards via M0OXO OQRS.

Peter HA3AUI will be using the call sign J5UAP in West Africa in early 
March for a few days. Listen for him on CW running 100w to a Spiderbeam. 
QSL via the on-line log on cqafrica.net.

Between March 3rd and March 5th, members of the Kuala Lumpur DX Team 
will sign 9M4IOTA from Tioman Island on all bands from 80 meters to 10 
meters, using CW, SSB and digital modes. This will count as AS-046 for 
the Islands on the Air Award. QSL manager is 9M2OOO.


**

KICKER: HEARING DUBAI'S VICE PRESIDENT LOUD AND CLEAR

NEIL/ANCHOR: In our final story this week, we hear how the leader of 
Dubai is sharing a message with the world via satellite -- relying on 
more than just a little help from ham radio. Amateur Radio Newsline's 
Graham Kemp VK4BB has those details.

GRAHAM: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, 
may not have his ham radio license, but his message is traveling far and 
wide on the HF bands, the first message to be transmitted from a newly 
launched satellite of the United Arab Emirates.

The satellite is a Nayif-1 launched in late February from the Satish 
Dhawan Space Center in India and it is Dubai's first nanosatellite. The 
sheikh's message, being sent out in Arabic, translates to say [QUOTE] 
"The renaissance of peoples, nations and civilizations starts with 
education and the future of nations starts at their schools." [ENDQUOTE]

At one school in particular, the American University of Sharjah, 
engineer students worked with the space center in India to design, 
build, test and operate the nanosatellite. Now the school is monitoring 
it. Its main objective is to send and receive messages on amateur radio 
frequencies, transferring messages mainly among speakers of Arabic.

So far the sheikh's message has been heard loud and clear by hams in 
Haiti, the U.S., Sweden and Spain, as the satellite flies high over the 
earth at an altitude of 600 kilometers, or not quite 375 miles high. Its 
telemetry and transponder data are available online at the AMSAT-UK 
website.

Now, if the sheikh happens to hear his own message endorsing the power 
of education, perhaps he will undertake some study himself and get on 
the air in a more conventional manner - as a brand new ticket.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB

(AMSAT-UK, THE UAE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; AMSAT-UK; 
the ARRL; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitters 
Society; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ.COM; Southgate Amateur Radio News; 
Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; The UAE National Newspaper; 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 Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Bloomington, 
Indiana saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.


***

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