Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2102 for February 9, 2018

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2102 with a release date of Friday, 
February 9 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. The Bouvet Island DXpedition is scrapped. School 
Club Roundup gears up in the U.S. - and in Australia, an amateur TV 
repeater is on the move. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline 
Report 2102 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

TOP STORY: BOUVET ISLAND DXPEDITION SCRAPPED

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is the Bouvet Island DXpedition 
3Y0Z, a journey that turned out to be different from the one so 
long-awaited by the amateur radio community. After experiencing problems 
with the weather and one of the ship's engines, the team reluctantly 
aborted their mission on Saturday the 3rd of February for safety reasons 
- even with Bouvet itself clearly in view. As they reversed course, 
ocean conditions diverted their planned return to Chile and the ship was 
rerouted to Cape Town, South Africa where the radio operators plan to 
catch flights home. In the meantime, they are safe and have been 
operating maritime mobile as time permits using CW and FT-8 with their 
100-watt rigs said their lead pilot, Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L. The team is 
also making plans to ship the radio equipment back home.
Val said their estimated arrival on U.S. soil should be sometime around 
the 15th and 16th of this month. The saga of what is easily one of the 
most expensive DXpeditions ever is not over yet. Plans are being worked 
on to try again.

(VALERIE HOTZFELD, NV9L)

**
FIRST-TIMERS ENTER SCHOOL CLUB ROUNDUP

JIM/ANCHOR: The chase to contact school ham radio clubs is on again and 
this time there's a brand new club in the contest. Neil Rapp WB9VPG has 
more.

NEIL'S REPORT: It’s time once again for School Club Roundup! Twice each 
year, school clubs from elementary through college get on the air for a 
week to make as many contacts as possible. The event takes place Monday, 
February 12th through Friday, February 17th. The exchange is RS(T), 
class (individual, club, or school) and state, province, or country. So 
get on the air and give these budding students someone to contact. They 
will be on all bands and modes but there are suggested frequencies on 
each band. That’s where you will find most of the schools.  At least one 
of those school clubs is so new that it's getting on the air for the 
first time during the Roundup! Ben Piecora, K2CPU, a 15-year-old student 
at West Islip High School in New York, worked School Club Roundup 
stations from home in the past and decided to get permission to add his 
school, complete with a vanity callsign W2WIH, to those participating.

BEN: Originally, the whole story of the starting this club is... I got 
my license and he got his license, and we met at the VE session.  And 
then towards the the end of the year, I jokingly suggested that we start 
a radio club.  He was like, "That's actually a cool idea."  So, this 
September we started going through with it, and requested the callsign 
and got the vanity callsign, and all that stuff...  and set up the 
logbooks.  So, we are all ready to go with the contesting software.

NEIL: Ben explains that they are starting with a temporary setup to get 
the ball rolling.

BEN: My teacher, KD2FKP... he just bought his 7300 for his home 
station.  So we're just going to use that.  We're planning on setting up 
a 40 and 20 meter dipole up about 30 feethoping to make some contacts.

NEIL: The event is sponsored by the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio 
Club and ARRL. Look for hashtag arrlscr on Twitter, and for complete 
rules visit ARRL.org/school-club-roundup. For Amateur Radio Newsline, 
I’m Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, hoping to hear YOU on the air from K9SOU.

**
ALABAMA OLD-TIMERS GET THEIR BIG NIGHT

JIM/ANCHOR: On the opposite end of the ham radio timeline are the 
old-timers - and they had their big night recently in Huntsville, 
Alabama. Here's Paul Braun WD9GCO with more.

PAUL'S REPORT: You don't need to rely on DMR and digital modes to 
generate excitement in amateur radio. Sometimes even the newest hams 
enjoy a trip back to radio's roots. The February 2nd meeting of the 
Huntsville Amateur Radio Club in Huntsville, Alabama turned back the 
clock and turned over the proceedings to veteran hams for "Old Timers' 
Night." Leading the road back was club vice president M.D. Smith WA4DXP, 
who emcee'd the parade of memories back to the 1960s and beyond. One ham 
told how he had turned an old AM radio receiver into a low-power AM 
transmitter which used a record player as its input. M.D. himself 
recalled the first electronic keyer he built in 1962, the year he got 
his license. These are the kinds of tales older hams are famous for, of 
course, but the audience included a good many enthusiastic young Tech 
tickets. The response was a mix of amazement and perhaps inspiration as 
many told the storytellers: Gee whiz, I can't believe you did all that 
with so little stuff!

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun WD9GCO.

(HUNTSVILLE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)

**

AMATEURS PREPARE TO MARK ALABAMA'S BICENTENNIAL

JIM/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, Alabama hams everywhere are poised to celebrate. 
What's the big deal? Stephen Kinford N8WB tells us.

STEPHEN: Fresh from celebrating its 198th birthday on December 14th, the 
State of Alabama is ready to party, ham-radio style. It's a big blowout 
that will continue for the next two years until the state's bicentennial 
year. The Alabama Bicentennial Amateur Radio Club AL2C marked the 
occasion late last year with Gov. Kay Ivey and control operator Otto 
Arnoscht N4UZZ but that on-air moment is hardly the end of it. Special 
event stations will be operating throughout the state in the months 
ahead, beginning with a station at the BirmingHamFest on March 2nd and 
3rd on HF and possibly D-Star on REF058B. Any special event operations 
that happen subsequently on DMR can be found on Brandmeister TG-3101 
Alabama.

You can keep track of happenings on the club's Facebook Page or on the 
website al2c dot org (al2c.org) or QRZ. Send QSLs via Logbook of the 
World. Hams wanting a certificate can download and print one out at the 
club website.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB.

(Grady L. Evans W4GLE)

**
IN THE UK, SOTA ENTHUSIAST REACHES NEW PEAK

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in the Summits on the Air program always set their 
sights on new peaks - and one ham in the UK just reached a new one, as 
we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: There's nothing like having a cooperative spouse if you're going 
to achieve great heights in amateur radio. For one UK amateur active in 
the Summits on the Air program, it proved invaluable to his achieving 
the honor of Mountain Goat status. On his latest SOTA expedition, Simon 
Melhuish G4TJC reached the qualifying 1,000 points as an activator, 
earning him that honor. The Derbyshire amateur was operating in the 
company of his friend Allan Jones GW4VPX, himself a Mountain Goat. To 
achieve his goal, Simon had to collect four distinct QSOs from a summit 
in the Arenig range of Snowdonia. His friend Allan wasn't his only 
inspiration, however. That all-important fourth QSO was what made the 
difference - it was with Simon's XYL Helen 2E0VMP/P who was operating 
from Derbyshire on a local hill. Helen can not only be proud of her 
husband but perhaps share in some of that credit.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.


(ED DURRANT DD5LP)


**
GETTING IN SHAPE FOR AMATEUR RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING

JIM/ANCHOR: It's ham radio on the run.  Finding hidden transmitters in 
the woods is a growing sport. Here's Joe Moell (MELL) K-zero-O-V with an 
upcoming opportunity.

JOE'S REPORT: Spring is still a few weeks away, but the season has 
already started for Amateur Radio Direction Finding, or ARDF. 
California's first introductory session of on-foot transmitter hunting 
took place in Irwindale on January 28.

And later this month, there will be nine days of intense ARDF training 
near Raleigh, North Carolina.  It's sponsored by the Backwoods 
Orienteering Klub and it will be led by Illia Ivanko. He's a former 
member of the elite Ukrainian ARDF team and now lives in the USA.  Illia 
was a multi-medal-winner at the 2017 IARU Region 2 ARDF championships 
with the best in both classic events in the age category requiring the 
finding of all five-fox transmitters.  At the 2012 World Championships 
in Serbia, he was silver medalist in both the two-meter and 80-meter 
classic competitions, beating competitors from a dozen other countries.

This month's training sessions will begin on February 17 and will take 
place in The Triangle area near Raleigh-Durham Airport. More information 
is at backwoodsok.org.

From southern California, this is Joe Moell K-zero-Oscar-Victor.

**

BREAK HERE:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio 
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the 
N8VAA repeater, serving parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and 
Pennsylvania and the Potomac Highlands Amateur Radio club from 
Moorefield, West Virginia on Monday nights at 8.


**

GROUNDHOG DAY SPECIAL EVENT CASTS SHADOWS

JIM/ANCHOR: In Pennsylvania, Groundhog Day awakens a special 
weather-forecasting rodent and also inspires local hams. Here's more 
from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

KEVIN'S REPORT: It's a proud tradition on Groundhog Day for the 
Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club K3HWJ to run its special event 
station around the same time that Punxsutawney Phil, America's celebrity 
groundhog, wakes up and goes in search of his shadow to find out how 
many more weeks of winter we should expect. Phil, of course, always gets 
the limelight at Gobbler's Knob while the hams call QRZ on the Saturday 
closest to the holiday using their shack at the Puxsutawney Airport. 
According to Steve Waltman KB3FPN, it's a longstanding tradition and 
it's as seasonal as the arrival of spring or - in the case of this 
year's prediction - as seasonal as the wintry weeks some of us still 
have left. Steve said conditions on 40 and 20 meters were a little more 
challenging for this year's event on Saturday the 3rd of February but 
the handful of contacts kept the proud tradition going for another year. 
Next year should bring especially good timing since Groundhog Day falls 
on a Saturday. Maybe next year Phil will even find a little spring in 
his step.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

**
AFTERLIFE FOR STATIONS AFTER WRTC

JIM/ANCHOR: After this summer's World RadioSport Team Championship ends, 
the equipment isn't likely to gather dust. Here's Ed Durrant DD5LP with 
the details.

ED's REPORT: What happens to equipment after the World RadioSport Team 
Championship is finished?

As of February 1st, radio clubs and groups around Germany have been 
allowed to request purchase of a "Station Packet" for a discounted price 
of €2000. These are the actual equipment packs that will be used in the 
WRTC, and to be collected by their new owners after the event is finished.

The packs consists of a Spiderbeam 40 through 10 meter antenna, an 80 
meter dipole antenna, three 50 meter lengths of low loss coax, a Yaesu 
G1000DXC rotator, cable and controller, a Spiderbeam 14.5 meter 
aluminium mast, a Honda EU20i generator, a 50m reel of power cable with 
a 6-outlet board, a "High Peak Benito" tent, 3 tables and 3 chairs and 
various small items such as fan, table lamp, etc.

It is expected that all packs will be sold by the time this report goes 
to air.

For details of WRTC 2018, please go to WRTC2018 (dot) DE on the web.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Ed Durrant DD5LP.

**

AUSTRALIAN AMATEUR TV REPEATER'S ON THE MOVE

JIM/ANCHOR: In Victoria, Australia, an amateur TV repeater is looking 
for a new home, as we hear from John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: The Amateur Television repeater VK3RTV which has been the mainstay 
for greater Melbourne and Geelong is enroute to a new home - somewhere. 
Its operations at Olina have been shut down and the site was 
decommissioned after the repeater's tower was taken down. Surrey Hills 
is being eyed as a possible new site and test transmissions are being 
sent to determine its suitability. VK3RTV's transmissions will be moved 
from an output of 446.5 MHz to 445.6 MHz so that a guard band can be 
created to reduce transmissions out of band.

Although operators will miss the good coverage from Mount Dandenong, the 
Surrey Hills site and one other possible site -- Mount View in Mount 
Waverly -- show promise.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams VK4JJW.

(AMATEUR RADIO VICTORIA)

**

FCC SEEKS INPUT ON WEATHER RESPONSE

JIM/ANCHOR: The FCC wants to hear from you about emergency response to 
this past Atlantic hurricane season. Here's Heather Embee KB3TZD.

HEATHER'S REPORT: In the U.S., the Atlantic hurricane season is over - 
but in a way it's not really finished. The Federal Communications 
Commission has been trying to assess emergency response to the deadly 
2017 season, which included the four major hurricanes Maria, Nate, 
Harvey and Irma in the U.S. and its territories.

The agency's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau was receiving 
public comments until the 22nd of January and is now awaiting reply 
comments which are due no later than the 21st of February. The notice, 
which is on the FCC website, is PS Docket Number 17-344.

Comments are being sought on broadcasters' response, government agency 
response and of course amateur radio response. The FCC is looking for 
answers in particular as to whether ham radio services should be 
increased to assist in the planning, testing and delivery of emergency 
response and recovery communications.

For assistance in filing your comments online, call the FCC's Electronic 
Comment Filing System at 202-418-0193. You can also file directly from 
the website at fcc dot gov forward slash ecfs (fcc.gov/ecfs)

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee KB3TZD


(FCC)

**

THE WORLD OF DX


In the world of DX, members of the Veron Club station PI4FL in the 
Netherlands are active until the 28th of February. They are on the air 
marking the 40th anniversary of their club. According to QRZ, QSL cards 
are being accepted by PA3HEB via the bureau.

On Bonaire, John, K4BAI, is active as PJ4/K4BAI until February 23rd. Be 
listening for him with the PJ4A team during the ARRL International DX CW 
Contest which runs February 17th and 18th. Send QSLs to PJ4A and 
PJ4/K4BAI via K4BAI.

In Barbados, Richard G3RWL will once again be active as 8P6DR between 
March 20th and April 29th. He will be working holiday style on 80-10 
meters using CW and some RTTY. Send QSLs via his home callsign, direct 
or by the Bureau using ClubLog's OQRS.


(OHIO-PENN DX)

**

KICKER: ALIVE AND STILL KICKING

JIM/ANCHOR: Finally, we hear the story of one ham in Canada who went 
searching for a atellite and surprised even NASA. Here's Mike Askins 
KE5CXP.

MIKE: Scott Tilley VE7TIL is almost always in search of a somewhat 
unusual QSO: He's often listening for secret military satellites. One of 
his more recent attempts to sniff out something interesting put him on 
the trail of the Zuma satellite. Zuma was a secret U.S. government 
payload that had gone missing shortly after its launch in January. No 
one really knows what happened to Zuma - it was a secret mission, after 
all -- but that didn't stop Scott, an amateur radio astronomer, from 
trying.

Enroute to his hoped-for contact with the super-secret spy in the sky, 
Scott instead came across another one that turned out to be a voice from 
the undead. He heard a transmission -- clear and unmistakable - from 
what he believed was the NASA satellite called IMAGE. The only thing is 
this: IMAGE had long since severed communications with NASA back in 
2005. The satellite had gone high above the Earth in 2000 in the hopes 
of studying the magnetosphere but NASA believed a power malfunction took 
it out of service permanently.

As Scott might say, rumors of its death may be greatly exaggerated. He 
soon realized this could indeed be IMAGE and it was still transmitting 
quite actively. He even successfully matched its rotation rate to the 
rate associated with the IMAGE satellite. That, of course, piqued NASA's 
interest.

NASA told the aerospace website AmericaSpace that if this is indeed 
IMAGE, it would like to put the satellite back on the job. In other 
words, death is no excuse for not showing up to work - even after 13 years.

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


(ARSTECHNICA)


**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur Radio Victoria; 
Arstechnica; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; the FCC; Grady Evans W4GLE; Hap 
Holly and the Rain Report; Huntsville Amateur Radio Club; Ohio-Penn DX 
Bulletin; QRZ; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio 
Show; Valerie Hotzfeld NV9L; Wireless Institute of Australia; 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 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 2018. All rights reserved.


***

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