<*>[Attachment(s) from James KB7TBT included below]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2057 for Friday, March 31, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2057 with a release date of Friday, 
March 31 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Amateur radio continues its advances in digital 
technology. In Italy, one amateur creates a detailed online map that 
locates repeaters -- and it's time for an exclusive report from our 
roving correspondent, Pierre Pullinmyleg, who's back to break some 
exclusive April Fool's Day news! All this and more as Amateur Radio 
Newsline Report 2057 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
WHEN SOUND CARDS ARE A SOUND IDEA

JIM/ANCHOR: We open this week's newscast with two stories about digital 
advances which continue to transform amateur radio. We hear first from 
correspondent John Bartholomew KD9ECH. His report comes to Newsline 
courtesy of Amateur News Weekly.

JOHN BARTHOLOMEW: Amateur Radio operators have been on the cutting edge 
of technology since the beginning of the hobby. When the hams were sent 
above 200 meters in the early part of the 20th century, they proved that 
communications around the world was possible. They pioneered single 
sideband transmission and satellite communications. Now the computer is 
playing a vital role in emergency communications. Recently the Indiana 
Elmer Network, under the umbrella of the Laurel Amateur Radio Club, 
sponsored a workshop and demonstration of the various digital soundcard 
modes. Bob Burns W9BU was one of the presenters and says the technology 
uses the soundcard in a computer to send data over the airwaves. A short 
time ago this technology did not exist, but leave it to the hams to 
figure out how to develop it.

BOB: As more and more personal computers had soundcards in them, the 
hams that were technically astute started figuring out ways to interface 
these soundcards with their radios and use them to send and receive 
data. For the most part, these modes have been developed by amateur 
radio operators and it is part of the technical basis of amateur radio.

JOHN: Burns says that while this started out as purely experimental, 
there are other reasons to use it.

BOB: If you are in an auxiliary communications situation where you have 
to move a large amount of data, you want that data to be accurate. Also 
most of the sound card modes are fairly narrow in bandwith, narrower 
than a single sideband signal, and that way you can pack more signals 
into a given amount of spectrum.

JOHN: One scenario for using the digital modes would be a hospital 
receiving a large amount of patients and the facility is running low on 
supplies.

BOB: The hospital folks put together a list of things that they need, 
you can send that information using voice and take a lot of time and 
maybe have trouble getting things spelled correctly -- or you can use 
the soundcard digital modes to send it as a piece of data and then you 
don't have to worry about the spelling and everything gets through 
accurately and in a minimum amount of time.

JOHN: What new technologies will come forth in the coming years remains 
to be seen but you can bet if it involves communciations amateur radio 
operators will have a hand in it. Reporting for Amateur News Weekly, 
this is John Bartholomew KD9ECH.

JIM/ANCHOR: Our thanks to Amateur News Weekly for providing that report. 
For more of Amateur News Weekly, visit their website at 
amateurnewsweekly.com

**
DIGITAL CROSSES THE FINISH LINE

JIM/ANCHOR: In this next report on digital radio modes, we hear about 
one amateur radio club in Ireland that took this new technology for a 
test run in County Galway and found it roadworthy. Amateur Radio 
Newsline's Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains.

JEREMY'S REPORT: Runners in the annual Kinvara Rock and Road Half 
Marathon and 10K run in County Galway, Ireland, can always expect a 
stunning finish as the race winds up on the quay in Kinvara. In this 
year's contest, however, another group celebrated a fine finish of their 
own: Hams in the Galway VHF Group were providing radio assistance to 
runners along the seaside route and these hams ended up feeling like 
winners too: This was the club's first time making use of C4FM 
technology -- and the effort was deemed a success. It may have been the 
club's first all-digital operation for an Amateur Radio Emergency 
Network-supported event but it won't be their last. According to the 
club, it has been decided that similar operations in the future will 
feature DMR radios or radios equipped with Yaesu Fusion.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH

(KINVARA ROCK AND ROAD MARATHON, GALWAY VHF GROUP, IRTS)

**

103-YEAR-OLD HAM IN RUSSIA, A SILENT KEY

JIM/ANCHOR: In his lifetime, Victor Sokkolov U5FS of Izmail, Russia, had 
seen World War I, the Russian Revolution and World War II, in which he 
served in the military. Victor, who became a Silent Key on March 25 at 
the age of 103, was believed to be among the oldest amateurs in Russia, 
if not the world.

A less active ham in his later years, Victor was proud of his military 
service and would often tell of the action he was involved in, including 
the Russian landing on the Kerch Strait which aimed to recapture Crimea 
from Germany.

His death was reported in the Daily DX.

(SOUTHGATE, DAILY DX)

**

PUTTING ITALY'S REPEATERS ON THE MAP

JIM/ANCHOR: Anyone who has ever searched for a repeater only to be 
frustrated should get to know a ham like Andrea (ON-DRAYA NOOT-ZI) Nuzzi 
IZ8WNH. Over the course of two to three months, he researched and 
created an interactive map of amateur radio repeaters throughout Italy, 
with downloadable data for programming transceiver memory. Andrea 
explains here how he accomplished it.

ANDREA: Greetings from IZ8WNH to all Amateur Radio Newsline followers. 
The map was conceived to easily visualize repeaters' data based on Ham 
radio operator's position. It's not obvious to find information when 
moving from a place to another so the map allows OM/YL to find easily 
what they are looking for. Italy's repeaters' data are unofficially 
distributed through IK2ANE Walter's spreadsheet, which means they are 
not either exhaustive or accurate. I am doing a huge effort to find new 
data and validate the existing ones by verifying more than 1850 records, 
one by one and asking the collaboration of local OM/YL. So far, 40% of 
records have been positively validated and there's still a lot to do.
The map offers additional tools like four combinable filters based on 
italian regions, counties, the type of repeater and the band. Filtered 
recordsets are automatically shown on the map and on demand in a table. 
Collected data are exported as pdf and csv files. There are two 
different csv formattings to help OM/YL in setting RTX memories with 
Chirp or dedicated Yaesu softwares.

The website works with some HTML and PHP, a lot of JavaScript and MySQL 
database. It took me about 2-3 months to write down the complete code, 
create a database, insert additional code to provide a fully responsive 
website and fix incompatibilities among IE- and FF-based browsers. 
Nevertheless, maintaining the website up and running as well as updating 
the database are never-ending processes!


JIM/ANCHOR: Thank you, Andrea. A link to his repeater map can be found 
at iz8wnh.it/en.html

**
IARU GUIDE: NOTHING LOST IN TRANSLATION

JIM/ANCHOR: Another ham - this one in Romania - has taken a different 
kind of creative initiative. He has translated the IARU Emergency 
Telecommunications Guide into Romanian. The guide is an invaluable 
resource for amateurs wanting to set up a state-of-the-art National 
Emergency Network and provide training for operators. Hams in Romania 
now have additional help in doing this, thanks to the efforts of one 
amateur, Francisc Grunberg (Fran-Sick Groon-berg) YO4PX who has 
translated its 93 pages.

The guide is now available in HTML and PDF format on the website of the 
Romanian Federation of Radio Amateurs at radioamator.ro.

The IARU guide is the latest body of ham radio literature translated by 
Francisc, whose profession is that of a translator and writer.

(SOUTHGATE, QRZ)

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur 
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including 
the WA3PBD repeater of the Two Rivers Amateur Radio Club in McKeesport, 
Pennsylvania during the 8 pm. Monday Night Net.

**

DON'T FORGET: YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

JIM/ANCHOR: Just another reminder that April is here and the deadline 
approaches to nominate a young candidate for Amateur Radio Newsline's 
Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award. This is our 
commitment to honoring young talent. Is there someone who particularly 
impresses you? Nominations are open to amateurs 18 or younger who reside 
in the United States, its possessions or any Canadian province. Find 
application forms on our website at arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" 
tab. The award will be presented on August 19th at the Huntsville 
Hamfest in Alabama.

Visit our website for details. Nominations close May 31 and that date is 
coming up fast!

**

RADIO SCOUTING UPDATE

JIM/ANCHOR: Radio Scouts are starting this month with a bit of activity. 
We hear about 2 activations and some progress on merit badges from 
Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Stearns NE4RD.

BILL: This week in Radio Scouting we have 1 activation of the K2BSA 
callsign, 1 activation from Scout Camps on the Air, Radio Merit Badge 
numbers are in, and we're moving into 7 months out for Jamboree on the Air.

Laurence Galle, K9EYZ, will be the control operator for the K2BSA 
portable 5 station  at the Jamboree Shakedown Campout at Camp Tiak in 
Wiggins, MS, from April 7th to April 9th.  Troop 4125 will be preparing 
for this summer's great adventure at the National Jamboree.  Hopefully 
other councils having these shakedown campouts leading up to the event 
will consider activating amateur radio stations.

Hatchie Crew 32, KB5WAX, will be activating K5BSA at the Venturing 
Rendezvous for Southern Region Area 2 at Camp Wisdom in Dallas, TX, from 
March 31st to April 2nd.  Along with a Low Cope Course, Rock Climbing, 
and Water Sports, this active venture crew is activating an amateur 
radio demonstration station.

The Boy Scouts of America have released the rankings and numbers for all 
the merit badges earned during 2016.  From the Byran on Scouting blog 
the Radio Merit Badge came in at 74 with 6,442 badges earned during 
2016.  A big thanks goes out to all of our Radio Scouters involved in 
making this happen throughout the year.  This year we expect to see a 
bump in numbers with the roughly 300 plus scouts going through this 
program at the National Jamboree this summer.

As we move into April, we're only 7 months out for Jamboree On the Air.  
A lot of clubs are starting to plan Field Day operations. Consider 
inviting your local council, district, or troop, out to your event.  
Remember, the GOTA station is free and receives bonus points for each 20 
QSOs made by the same guest operator.  What a great opportunity to get 
Scouts involved with your club!

For more information on K2BSA and radio scouting, please visit 
http://www.k2bsa.net/.

For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this 
is Bill Stearns NE4RD.

**

HAMS' TRADITION OF SURVIVAL

JIM/ANCHOR: A husband-and-wife team of amateurs in South Africa has a 
special reason for going on the air with a most unique call sign. 
Amateur Radio Newsline's Jim Meachen ZL2BHF explains.

JIM MEACHEN: For South African radio operators Tom ZS1AFS and Sue ZS1AFR 
the annual tradition of being on the air as ZT1T is one for which 
they're immeasurably grateful. The activation marks the Morgans' 
dramatic rescue from their yacht which became disabled in the South 
Atlantic Ocean in 2011, while they were sailing to South Africa from the 
UK. The prefix of their call sign makes their radio operation all the 
more meaningful too, not just for Tom and Sue but for those who contact 
them, because "ZT" is a one-of-a-kind prefix for a South African call sign.

Having marked the anniversary date of their Feb. 25 rescue not long ago, 
Tom and Sue Morgan are now preparing for their next big radio operation. 
That will be Easter weekend. In an email to Amateur Radio Newsline, Tom 
said they operate every Christmas and Easter and often use the ZT1T call 
sign as well in events such as the WPX SSB Contest to provide a 
multiplier to operators. They will begin their Easter operation starting 
on Thursday the 13th of April, mostly on SSB but with some PSK-31 as well.

There's lots to celebrate, since the Morgans' on-air operations are 
always immensely popular -- especially because they're still here and 
still on the air.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS)


**
THE WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, Jean-Marc, F5SGI, will be active between April 9th 
and 15th as EA6/F5SGI from Minorque Island. He will be operating on the 
HF bands, CW only. Send QSL cards to his home callsign, direct or by the 
Bureau.

Listen for Marc, ON5SM, in the Philippines where he is operating from 
April 4th through May 24th as DU9/ON5SM. He will be active on 80 meters 
through 6 meters using SSB and the Digital modes. Send QSL cards via his 
home callsign, direct or by the Bureau.

Between April 18th and 27th, listen for Stephen/WF2S and Ralph/K1ZZI, 
operating from St. Lucia. You can hear them on various HF bands, most 
likely on SSB, RTTY, PSK and JT65. They will also operate some CW. Send 
QSL cards to their home callsigns, direct or LoTW, which is preferred.


**
KICKER: PIERRE PULLINMYLEG AND A LICENSE WITH CLASS!

JIM/ANCHOR: And finally - no fooling - it's April Fool's Day time again 
but....we don't have to tell you what that means. We'll let our special 
correspondent Pierre Pullinmyleg do that. Pierre?

"PIERRE:" It is, mes amis, a happy development we report today that zee 
FCC is about to approve a newer, easier entry level class for amateur 
radio. Amateur Radio Newsline has confirmed zis in an exclusive 
interview with the new FCC commissioner Ajit Pai. The interview, she was 
so very very exclusive, in fact, that zee FCC commissioner himself was 
not even aware it took place!! What we have learned is that it will be 
so very simple, so very easy, tout de suite, for beginners to get on the 
air with this new radio license. Even your dog, she will be able to get 
her license. Rumors, they are true: This license exam is bringing back 
zee old Morse Code requirement -- but worry not, you must only be able 
to copy zee dashes, don't worry about zee dots. I, Pierre Pullinmyleg, 
have been given some super-secret advance access to the question pool as 
well which I share with you now: You must know the shoe size and birth 
date of zee last three FCC commissioners and you will be asked to write 
a limerick using words that rhyme with "propagation" and "DXpedition." 
Zere will also be a spelling bee. To get your license, you must be able 
to spell QRV, QST and QRZ and yes, even FCC. How about mathematics! Zoot 
alors! You must show you can add 73, 88 and 33 -- all without help from 
zee calculator or your fingers and toes. Now, mon cheri, please remember 
this license will be ONLY for hams using mobile operation. Zee vehicle 
must have an engine with no more than 4 cylinders and a horsepower of 
150 or less. It must use zee unleaded fuel and cannot be a minivan. Your 
new entry level license is good for three years or 30,000 miles, 
whichever comes first. The test will be given only one day a year - on 
the 31st of April. BONNE CHANCE MES AMIS!! For Amateur Radio Newsline, 
this has been Pierre Pullingmyleg saying 73.

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; 
Daily DX; Galway VHF Group; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the IARU; 
Irish Radio Transmitters Society; Kinvara Rock and Road Marathon; K2BSA 
Amateur Radio Association; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ.COM; Southgate 
Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston West 
Virginia saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

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

***

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