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

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2089 for Friday, November 10, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2089 with a release date of Friday, 
November 10, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The Baker Island DXpedition gets a big boost. 
Morse Code averts a boating tragedy -- and Pope Francis makes a heavenly 
contact - via satellite feed! All this and more as Amateur Radio 
Newsline Report 2089 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART HERE

****
BIG BOOST FOR BAKER ISLAND DXPEDITIONERS

JIM/ANCHOR: If you like chasing DX -- really challenging DX -- our top 
story this week is for you and it comes to us courtesy of the HamTalk 
Live podcast. Here's Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

NEIL'S REPORT: A team heading to Baker Island for a DXpedition in June 
just received a major boost. The team of eleven people will be heading 
to the Pacific to the small island located between Hawaii and Australia 
for the first activation since 2002.

DON: Baker Island is currently number four on the wanted list, and it's 
going to be number three on the list after the folks going to Bouvet get 
done.

NEIL: Like most DXpeditions, the expenses for the trip are extensive.

DON: Any large, far away place requires a lot of money because it's a 
long sail from anywhere.  All your equipment has to be frozen, has to be 
be purchased new.  We are not taking any chances of bringing any 
invasive species or new bugs onto the refuge.  We hope to make lots of 
Qs.  So, when people work us and request a QSL card, they put in a 
little tip for our good efforts.  We just started the fundraising 
because we only got permission to go a couple of months ago, and then we 
had to negotiate with the Fish and Wildlife Service on the actual 
operating conditions and had to find a boat.

NEIL: The cost of the trip is in excess of $430,000.  Team members are 
paying for about half of the cost, while the other half must come from 
contributions from individuals and foundations.  A major donation was 
just announced last week by team leader Don Greenbaum, N1DG on Ham Talk 
Live!

DON: We've applied to the Northern California DX Foundation for 
support.  They let us know this morning that we will be receiving a 
grant of $75,000.  To put that into perspective it's the second largest 
grant ever given by NCDXF, the biggest one being $100,000 to the 
upcoming Bouvet.  So we're honored they had so much faith in this group 
that the wallets were opened in quite a substantial way.

NEIL: For more information about the KH1 Baker Island DXpedition or to 
make a contribution, be sure to visit baker2018.net and their Facebook 
group.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG

(HAM TALK LIVE)

**

JAMBOREE STATIONS START REPORTING IN

JIM/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, radio scouts are back on the air as results pour 
in from the recent worldwide Jamboree on the Air, as we hear from Bill 
Stearns NE4RD.

BILL'S REPORT: This week in radio scouting we have one activation from 
Scout Camps on the Air and we check up on our Jamboree on the Air Reports.

BSA Troop 20 Amateur Radio Club, WS5BSA, will be on the air from John 
Nichols Scout Ranch in Mustang, Oklahoma, on Saturday November 11th from 
8am to 5pm Central Standard Time.  They will operate SSB on 40m through 
10m, and VHF/UHF FM on the WX5LAW and KB5LLI linked repeater systems 
throughout the day.

With over 12,000 locations registered for JOTA-JOTI world-wide, 
including an astonishing 990 from the United States, we need reports 
from all those locations to determine the number of Scouts, amateur 
radio operators, and guests, in attendance.

Here's a couple of the great reports we've received so far:

William Mitchell, W0WMM, from their station from WoodSmoke in Gibson 
Island, Maryland, reports that the scouts enjoyed DXing and making 
contacts with Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the UK.  The highlight of the 
event was when they talked to scouts on the Nuclear Submarine Savannah 
in the Baltimore harbor.

Jeremy Brown, KA7BIF, with the K7MVA activation from the Snake River Boy 
Scout Council in Twin Falls, ID,  reported that this was their first 
time doing JOTA and that they had a blast and can't wait for next year. 
With the local Council's help it was a success and we helped 22 boy 
scouts earn their Radio Merit Badge.

For more information on radio scouting and to file your JOTA report, 
please visit our website at www.k2bsa.net.

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

**

COMMEMORATING A DOOMED GREAT LAKES FREIGHTER

JIM/ANCHOR: Two special event stations have been marking a Great Lakes 
tragedy that happened 42 years ago. Kevin Trotman N5PRE has that story.

KEVIN's REPORT: It's a tragedy that still captures the American 
imagination: the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald 42 years ago in the 
storm-tossed waters of Lake Superior. The entire 29-person crew was lost 
on November 10th 1975 shortly after the Great Lakes freighter passed the 
Split Rock Lighthouse. Minnesota's Stillwater Amateur Radio Association 
kept the HF bands busy November 3rd, 4th and 5th as operators made 
contacts from Split Rock Lighthouse State Park during a Special Event 
Station that it has organized for 13 years.

Hams who missed making contact with W0JH get to try again, though. 
Special Event Station W8F is also commemorating the sinking. In 
Michigan, the Livonia Amateur Radio Club's station goes on the air on 
Sunday, November 12th at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Island 
in Detroit. Even if you're not able to work W8F on that Sunday, stay 
tuned to the HF bands anyway. Members of the club are operating from 
their own QTHs and keeping the Special Event Station going right through 
the 20th of November.

For Amateur Radio Newsline in Aiken, South Carolina, I'm Kevin Trotman 
N5PRE.

(STILLWATER ARA; LIVONIA ARC)

**
MORSE CODE TO THE RESCUE

JIM/ANCHOR: Another boating story - one that didn't end in tragedy - 
comes to us from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. It happened in late October.

JEREMY'S REPORT: Now here's a twist on the saying: "When all else fails, 
there's amateur radio." This version says: "When all else fails, there's 
Morse Code."

A yacht sailing off the coast of Cornwall recently was observed as being 
on a collision course with the Dales rocks which are submerged at high 
tide and not visible. The rocks posed a definite risk for grounding. A 
watchkeeper at the National Coastwatch Institute at Bass Point, however, 
could not reach the crew. They did not have an Automatic Identification 
System beacon and could not be reached on VHF radio to be warned of the 
danger ahead.
The watchkeeper turned to an old relic - an Aldis lamp, which emits 
pulsing light, and he flashed the crew a Morse Code message - the letter 
"U" - which warns of danger. The craft had come within 10 boat lengths 
of the rocks when it was seen to respond by changing its course to head 
south where it resumed its journey to Falmouth.
Bass point NCI station manager Peter Clements was quoted in news reports 
afterward as saying that such flashing lamps are more commonly seen 
these days in vintage movies about the Second World War. But in this 
case, an old wartime tool turned out to take on a hero's role in 
peacetime too.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(CORNWALL LIVE)

**
SILENT KEY: MARIO AMBROSI I2MQP

JIM/ANCHOR: The president of the Italian radio association and a CQ 
amateur Hall of Famer has become a Silent Key. We hear more from Ed 
Durrant DD5LP.

ED'S REPORT: Hams are grieving the loss of a noted DXer and active 
member of Italy's amateur radio community. Mario Ambrosi I2MQP has 
become a Silent Key. Mario, who was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio 
Hall of Fame in 2005, was president of the ARI - the Italian amateur 
radio association. He had a lifelong love of radio that began at age 14 
when he heard the first Sputnik satellite broadcasts using homemade 
equipment.

On Oct. 25 1975 Mario made his first QSO - that was just the beginning. 
At the time of his death he had logged more than 222,000 QSOs in 352 
countries and collected numerous top awards, including those given for 
operation in CW and RTTY.

Mario had been president and secretary of the A.R.I. - the Italian radio 
amateur association - a director of Radio Rivista, a writer for the DX 
News Bulletin and a QSL card checker for the DXCC and WAS programs of 
the ARRL as well as several programs for CQ Amateur Radio.

Mario Ambrosi died on November the 6th. Vale Mario I2MQP.

JIM/ANCHOR: Thanks for that report Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(FILIPPO RICCI IK7YCE)


**

BREAK HERE:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline 
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the Lookout 
Mountain Amateur Radio Club's W4EDP Repeater in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.


**
HONORING VETERANS ON THE AIR

JIM/ANCHOR: If you want to thank military veterans for their service to 
the U.S., be listening November tenth through twelfth for this special 
event station. Paul Braun WD9GCO tells us how.

PAUL's REPORT: Most of us enjoy a good special-event station. And when 
it's tied into something remembering our veterans, it makes it even more 
special. This weekend, Wentzville, Missouri will be on the air 
celebrating a historic event, as organizer Larry Scantlan, KE-Zero-KZ 
tells us:

LARRY: I live in Wentzville, Missouri, which is just West of St. Louis 
proper, and back in 1967, December - I want to say the 12th, I believe, 
they erected the very first Vietnam War memorial.

PAUL: Scantlan saw an opportunity to tie ham radio into the celebration:

LARRY: The city of Wentzville is planning a commemorative celebration of 
that accomplishment hosted by the VFW Post 5327, and so I saw that as a 
great opportunity to partner with them as ham radio operators knowing 
how hams love special events. And since I myself am a Vietnam veteran I 
thought it was a perfect marriage, if you will.

PAUL: The station will be on the air as W-Zero-W starting on Friday the 
10th, through Sunday the 12th working as many of the HF bands as they 
can, primarily single-sideband with other modes if they have enough 
operators. Scantlan sees this as not only fun for hams, but also as a 
way to build public awareness of our hobby:

LARRY: It is drawing a lot of public attention - we expect to have all 
three TV stations covering this. We're also opening this up to the 
public to let them come through and see ham radio in action. For me, I 
think that's the critical element because I think we need to do a lot 
more promoting of ham radio in the public sector.

PAUL: You can find out more on the event's QRZed page. Here's a chance 
for a fun new contact, and a way to help celebrate an important event 
remembering our veterans and their sacrifices for our country. For 
Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.


**

A MIGHTY MICROWAVE ACHIEVEMENT

JIM/ANCHOR: One ham in South Africa has truly gone the distance - 
achieving a record contact on microwave. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has more.

JIM MEACHEN's REPORT: South African amateur Alex Artieda ZS6EME feels 
like he's in the record-books - and indeed he is, at least in the 
microwave record books. Alex logged the first microwave EME QSO from 
South Africa on 10 GHz in a contact with HB9Q in Switzerland on October 
22nd. Alex was operating QRA64D, a new digital mode, on 50 watts. That 
was only the beginning for him. The very next day Alex was able to make 
10 more EME QSOs on the same frequency. One day later - on the 24th of 
October - Alex was on the air again at 5.7 GHz and completed the first 
Digital EME QSO with PA3DZL in the Netherlands. His good fortune 
continued and he had 7 more QSOs after that. Making note of his 
achievements, the South African Radio League proudly announced that Alex 
was "putting South Africa back on the world microwave map."

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jim Meachen ZL2BHF

(SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE)

**

TEEN INSPIRES SCHOOL'S ASTRONAUT CONTACT

JIM/ANCHOR: Thirteen-year-old Dhruv (DROOVE) Rebba (REH-BAH) KC9ZJX and 
his father Hari (HAH-ree) VU2SPZ are hams who know that sometimes you 
have to try more than once to make a coveted contact. The eighth-grader 
and his father were among those who worked for two years to help Chiddix 
Junior High School in Normal, Illinois get selected for a QSO with the 
International Space Station.

According to Dhruv's former science teacher, Daniele Hopper, the school 
applied to the ARISS program at the urging of father and son when Dhruv 
was in the sixth grade. It didn't happen. Undaunted and undiscouraged, 
the two reached out to the Central Illinois Radio Club W9AML, the 
Challenger Learning Center at Heartland Community College and the 
Children's Discovery Museum and this year - success!

The contact with astronaut Joe Acaba (Uh-COB-buh) KE5DAR happened on 
Oct. 23. Hopper called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 
school and the district. She said Dhruv worked many hours with Grant 
Zehr AA9LC of the Central Illinois Radio Club and was on the planning 
commmittee for the big event for two years.

As for Hopper, she ended up with a lesson from Dhruv in what ham radio 
is all about and, she siad, she hopes his classmates will be inspired to 
go for their licenses too.

(DANIELE HOPPER, WGLT RADIO)

**
WORLD OF DX

Nuri, TA3X will be active as TC630MECCA from Izmir, Turkey from the 
first of November to the 14th of January 2018. He will operate CW, SSB 
and digital modes on 160 to 10 metres. QSL via TA3X, direct or bureau.

Rob N7QT is leading a team of 9 radio operators from Mellish Reef in 
Australia as VK9MA through the 16th of November. The team will be active 
from Heralds-Beacon Islet, the only permanent land in the reef on all 
the HF bands, using SSB, CW and RTTY. The operators ask all amateurs to 
please note that they are always going to be working split. Send QSLs to 
N7QT.

Get ready! November the 18th sees the next annual Europe to North 
America SOTA Summit to Summit event where SOTA activators will be out on 
both continents trying to make contacts. Look for stations to be spotted 
on the SOTA Cluster at SOTAWATCH dot ORG between around 12 and 1500 UTC 
on the 18th. and give the activators a call, they appreciate all calls. 
We are hoping for better propagation conditions for this weekend where 
both SSB and CW stations will be heading up some hills and mountains for 
the event.

(OHIO PENN DX)

**

KICKER: PAPAL 'VISIT' TO THE ISS

JIM/ANCHOR: Students aren't the only ones who get excited to talk to the 
Space Station. Mike Askins KE5CXP tells us about one recent contact that 
was blessed - truly blessed - by good fortune.

MIKE'S REPORT: It's a given that when Pope Francis has some big 
questions to ask about life and the universe, he looks to the heavens. 
That's just what he did on October 26th, in fact - and he got some 
answers - only this heavenly exchange didn't come from the source you 
might imagine. The pontiff got a chance to chat via a satellite feed 
with the six astronauts on board the International Space Station and his 
questions were understandably tough. Like the rest of us, he was seeking 
to understand humanity's place in the universe - but these were 
challenges that space travelers such as Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA, and Joseph 
Acaba KE5DAR could only take a stab at from a scientific point of view.

NASA'S Randy Bresnik, the Expedition 53 commander, told the Pope, 
however [audio clip]: "People cannot come up here and see the 
indescrable beauty of the earth and not be touched in their souls."

With this exchange, Pope Francis became the second pope to speak with 
astronauts, following Pope Benedict in 2011.

Paolo, of course, did take the opportunity to make a kind of confession. 
Humbled at not knowing all the answers to the pope's questions he said 
"our aim here is to spread knowledge [but] the more we learn the more we 
realize we do not know."

So together, they will all continue to look to the Heavens.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.

(SPACE.COM)


NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; Cornwall Live; the 
CQ Magazine; Daniele Hopper; Filippo Ricci IK7YCE; HamTalk Live; Hap 
Holly and the Rain Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; K2BSA; 
Livonia Amateur Radio Club; Ohio Penn DX Bulletin; South African Radio 
League; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Space.com; Stillwater Amateur 
Radio Association; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; WGLT public radio; 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.


***

As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and HAM Operators all over the world,
this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the internet and
posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, fidonet node 1:3634/12. We hope you
enjoyed it!

Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as
described in this posting. If you have any specific questions related to the
actual posting of this message, you may address them to
hamfdn(at)wpusa.dynip.com.

Thank you and good day!

-73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42
(text/plain utf-8 quoted-printable)


 * Origin: (1:3634/12)