Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2117 for Friday, May 25 2018

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2117 with a release date of Friday, 
May 25 2018, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hamvention 2018 has come and gone. North 
Carolina amateurs go mobile in an ambulance -- and there are new hams in 
China and South Africa. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline 
Report 2117 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
HAMVENTION: MORE THAN FAIR AT THE FAIRGROUNDS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: With Hamvention 2018 a memory, plans for next year have 
already begun - but first, Kevin Trotman N5PRE takes stock of this 
year's experience.

KEVIN: Are you ready for Hamvention 2019? OK - not so fast - it's only 
days since the big gathering in Xenia wrapped things up. General chair 
Ron Cramer KD8ENJ told Newsline the final attendance count wasn't in 
yet, but he expected this year's attendance to top the nearly 30,000 
amateurs who visited the fairgrounds in 2017. The theme of "Amateur 
Radio, Serving the Community" didn't just find its way into various 
award ceremonies and forums but even turned up in informal gatherings 
near the food trucks where hams from Puerto Rico and other storm-ravaged 
places enjoyed eyeball QSOs for the first time with hams who shared last 
year's storm assistance efforts with them. Ron said some of the greatest 
strengths of the weekend event were the new weather-resistant tents and 
the 767 volunteers who came in from around the world to keep operations 
running smoothly. Meanwhile there were special hours at the Voice of 
America Museum in nearby West Chester Ohio which opened its doors to 
more than 250 hams from around the world who got immersed in broadcast 
history and even got on the air. To quote Ron, when Newsline asked him 
about the overall positive feedback so far: "If you have any complaints 
about Hamvention 2018 you probably weren't there."

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(RON CRAMER KD8ENJ)

**
NEW CQ HALL OF FAMERS INDUCTED AT HAMVENTION

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Their contributions to the amateur community landed 11 
notables in the limelight at Hamvention. Mike Askins KE5CXP has those 
details.

MIKE: The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame inducted 11 new members during 
Hamvention, including Silent Keys ranging from the late actor Marlon 
Brando FO5GJ to the three astronauts killed in the Challenger shuttle 
disaster of 2003: Laurel Clark KC5ZSU, David Brown KC5ZTC and Kalpana 
Chawla KD5ESI.

The list also includes open-source QRP kit designer Ashhar Farhan 
VU2ESE, Silent Key Grady Fox W4FRM, one of the pioneers of SSB; 
African-American broadcaster and college radio supporter Wendell King, a 
Silent Key who was formerly 2ADD and Fred Lloyd AA7BQ who founded 
QRZ.com. The list also included well-known educator and youth advocate 
Carole Perry WB2MGP; cybersecurity's Mark Pecen KC9X/VE3QAM and U.S. 
Army photographer Ed Westcott W4UVS.

The Hall of Fame was created in 2001 by CQ Magazine and has since 
inducted 321 members.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.

(CQ MAGAZINE)

**
THIS "HAMBULANCE" ANSWERS THE CALL

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Going mobile is part of the amateur radio experience - 
and is there any better vehicle for public service than a refurbished 
ambulance? One club doesn't think so and Kent Peterson KC0DGY tells us why.

KENT The Johnston County North Carolina ham club does what many clubs 
do. They have around 65 members who support hurricane evacuees when they 
come inland. They run and support a repeater. They participate in field 
day.  And they have their very own "hambulance."

MARK: Somebody called it a hambulance (chuckles).

KENT That's right. They have a converted ambulance which once belonged 
to the county. Club member Paul Dunn KD4BJD spotted an unused ambulance 
as club president Mark Gibson N4MQU explains.

MARK: He kept seeing this ambulance parked and saw grass growing over it 
they just weren't using it and he started asking asking questions one 
thing led to another and Johnston County donated the ambulance.

KENT Mark says its still a work in progress, but currently has two 
operating positions.  The truck has some Icom HF gear as well as the 
ability to monitor public safety frequencies.

MARK The first part of April we put 10 mounts up on top and we can add 
more operating positions if we need to.

KENT And the hambulance has also been tasked with educational outreach.

MARK:The general public doesn't know anything about communication and 
that's the vision for the truck. We had some elementary school students 
who have a ham radio club and they took a tour in the truck and were 
fascinated by it.

KENT And they've driven it to a truck and tractor show to showcase 
amateur radio as well.

MARK His vision is to help any community who needs it and we should be 
able to hook up into their system, we're just excited as a club to help 
them out with that.

KENT  For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY

**
AMATEUR EXAMS ARE A FIRST FOR ST. JOHN

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Another way to respond to emergencies effectively is to 
Elmer candidates who want their licenses. That happened recently, for 
the very first time, on the Island of St. John in the Caribbean. Here's 
Andy Morrison K9AWM with more.

ANDY: There are many things the U.S. Virgin Islands are known for - blue 
skies and clear water among them but - ham radio operators? Guess again. 
The Island of St. John has doubled its modest amateur radio population 
following the island's first VE session held May 6 in cooperation with 
St. John Rescue and the islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas. After 
September hurricanes Irma and Maria knocked out communications for the 
remainder of 2017, Jennifer and Larry Pruss believed the island needed 
more than 10 active hams. Motivated by last year's 100 days of 
post-storm outages, there are now 18.

JENNIFER: "We had complete loss and blackout of all power and 
communication services. So I think that made everyone heightened to the 
fact that ham radio is extremely useful when all else fails."

ANDY: That was Jennifer Pruss who took - and passed - both her 
Technician and General that day. She and her husband Larry NP2LP are 
proud that their 12-year-old daughter, Skylar, got her Tech ticket that 
day too. Larry says many of the hams expect to become active and useful 
to St. John Rescue, which is providing the new hams with free radios.

LARRY: "My wife and I are both members of St. John Rescue and we were 
going to do this regardless of their help however they stepped up and 
offered to help pay for  materials and ultimately they are going to pay 
for radios. They have given us a grant to pay of $4,000 for us to buy 
handheld transceivers so people who have taken the study courses and 
successfully passed are going to get a radio compliments of St. John 
Rescue."

ANDY: With the help of volunteer examiners from sister islands as well 
as the area ARRL section coordinator, Larry and Jennifer know this won't 
be the only VE session ever to be held on the island.

LARRY: "The next step is to get them their radios and get the radios 
distributed and programmed and to teach the General exam. Concurrent 
with all that is to get the ARRL section coordinator to come over from 
St. Croix. He has put together a grant for I think about $25,000 to get 
some repeaters because our repeater system was damaged pretty severely 
during the storm so we are going to be putting up new repeaters as well.

ANDY: They expect to have a lot more General class licensees by the time 
storm season rolls around this year. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Andy 
Morrison K9AWM.

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur 
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including 
the N50ZG repeater in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sundays at 8 p.m., 
following the net.


**
YOUNG HAMS PREP FOR DAVE KALTER MEMORIAL DX ADVENTURE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's going to be a great summer for a group of young 
amateurs. They're headed to Curacao and Neil Rapp WB9VPG tells us what 
they're up to.

NEIL: Four young hams have been selected for the Dave Kalter Memorial 
Youth DX Adventure this summer. This group will be headed to the famous 
PJ2T contest station in Curacao from July 19th through July 24th. Each 
year, a small group of young people and a parent travel to an exotic 
location to be the DX, and work the pileups. Leading the team will be 
Jim Storms, AB8YK and Ron Doyle, N8VAR.  Jim tells us about what they 
hope to accomplish.

JIM: What we want them to do is actually experience being the DX. We 
call it an adventure, because we don’t take everything... we stay in 
hotels and we fly in. But, we want them to be the DX, hear that first 
pile up, and it is so much fun to watch their eyes when they hear it the 
first time. And then start beating through it. And then watch as they 
grow and learn how to do pileup management and how to pick the right 
antennas and point the right areas at the right time. That’s what we try 
to do is help them grow in their radio knowledge plus give them a great 
experience and hopefully light that fire to actually be on a DXpedition 
sometime in the future.

NEIL: This year's youngsters include 13 year old Violetta Latham, KM4ATT 
of Greencastle, Pennsylvania; 13 year old Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX of Normal, 
Illinois; 14 year old David Samu, VE7DZO of Prince George, British 
Colombia; and 15 year old Mason Matrazzo, KM4SII of Clemmons, North 
Carolina. Mason tells us about finding out that he was selected for the 
trip.

MASON: They sent me an email, the YDXA people, and it was like 11 
o’clock at night. I was just checking my email one more time before I 
went to bed. And it came through right as I was about to close the 
computer, and literally did a happy dance and kinda ran a couple of laps 
around the bedroom and things like that. I was definitely extremely 
excited when I found out.

NEIL: When I asked Mason what part of the trip he's looking forward to 
the most, this is what he had to say:

MASON: I'm pretty much looking forward to everything down there, 
especially getting to operate from such a nice station as PJ2T is. I 
hear them in contests all the time, and they always have one of the big 
signals on the band so being able to operate from that kind of station 
is going to be super exciting. And, there will be quite sizable pileups 
I’m sure... and I kind of have an addiction to running pileups so that’s 
going to be extremely enjoyable to say the least.

NEIL: Listen for these young hams running the pileups this summer from 
Caracao, and be sure to give them a call. It will be an experience of a 
lifetime.

Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG

**
NEW BANDS FOR AMATEUR USE IN IRELAND

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Things are about to get a little roomier on the amateur 
bands for radio operators in Ireland, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: Hams in Ireland are looking forward to making use of two new ham 
radio bands and a lot more spectrum under a new band plan being worked 
out by the Irish Radio Transmitters Society. The proposal would create 8 
metres between 30 and 49 MHz and 5 metres between 54 and 69.9 MHz. 
Digital television would also be accommodated, among other modes, on the 
expansive 5 metre band. The IRTS calls the draft plans a focus for input 
and discussion on the national use of the expanded bands and welcomes 
views and suggestions. Those thoughts can be sent via email to 
newspectrum at irts dot ie (newspectrum@irts.ie) up until the 30th of June.

Meanwhile, effective immediately, use of the 4 metre band has been 
extended making 69.9 MHz to 70.5 MHz available for amateur use. This 
also establishes an FM calling channel of 70.450 MHz.

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

(IRTS)

**
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS IN CALIFORNIA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you're within easy traveling distance from Long 
Beach, California, the organizers and athletes in the Special Olympics 
could use a little - or a lot - of your time. For that story, here's 
Jack Parker W8ISH, the newest addition to our Newsline family.

JACK: Let the games begin - but not without amateur radio operators! The 
Special Olympics Summer Games are set to kick off in Long Beach, 
California on June 9th and 10th on the campus of California State 
University. Hams are needed to assist with 2 meter communications on 
both days between 8 am and 4 pm. Even if you can only cover for half a 
day, you are welcome to volunteer. The organizers are looking to provide 
communications coverage for events such as track and field, flag 
football and swimming along with Games headquarters as well as medical 
and supply sites. If you're a first-timer at passing messages at these 
kinds of events, same-day training will be provided. It's a good chance 
to learn emergency and event communications and experience what it's 
like working in a high-traffic controlled net. Hams will be covering 
routine communications as well as any more urgent needs. For details 
contact ke6tnm at scran dot org (ke6tnm@scran.org)

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jack Parker W8ISH.

(MARK LIDIKAY KE6TNM)

**
NEW LICENSEES GET ON THE AIR IN CHINA AND SOUTH AFRICA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Licensing exams were held recently in China and South 
Africa and Ed Durrant D5LP has the results.

ED'S REPORT: China's first Class C licensing exam has been held for 
amateurs, resulting in 35 new holders of the license, which is the 
highest class in the nation. Class C licensees are permitted as much as 
1 kW of power on frequencies below 30 MHz and 25 watts on higher bands. 
The Chinese Amateur Radio Club administered the test to a total of 56 
candidates. The organizers report that the exam marked the first use of 
an identification card image recognition system to verify the 
test-takers' identities.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, there are 17 new young licensees. The South 
African Radio League reports that 17 youngsters from the Bhisho Scout 
Group who attended a boot camp have successfully tested in that rural 
community. They are now holders of the Class B license, which is an 
introductory level license carrying a ZU prefix and is the equivalent of 
the Foundation license in the UK. It is issued to amateurs younger than 25.

Congratulations to everyone.

For Amateur Radio Newsline this is Ed Durrant DD5LP.

**

WORLD OF DX:

In the world of DX, Mike, VK4DX, will be active as VK4DX/P from Russell 
Island in the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, between June 1-3rd. Listen 
for him on 80-20 meters where he will be using CW and SSB. QSL via 
VK4DX, direct, LoTW or OQRS.

Listen for Eric, K0EAP, Eric, active as KH6/K0EAP from the Big Island of 
Hawaii through June 2nd. He is on 40/30/20/15
meters using CW and SSB and has plans to activate at least 1 SOTA and 
WWFF. QSL via LoTW, QRZ, by the
Bureau or Direct.

On Bonaire Island, Lauren/W0LD and Jon/N0JK will be active on 6 meters 
with a special PJ4 callsign from the PJ4G station during the ARRL VHF 
Contest which is June 9 and 10th). Before and after the contest, find 
them on HF and 6m using CW, SSB
and FT8. QSL via W0LD.

(OHIO PENN DX)

**

KICKER: THEIR FAMILY HOME IS THEIR FAMILY SHACK

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We end this week's newscast with the story of a ham 
family adventure. You'll recognize one of the names in this report - 
Neil Rapp WB9VPG mentioned her in his report just a few minutes ago. Now 
let's hear the rest of the story from Don Wilbanks AE5DW.

DON'S REPORT: It seems the Latham family almost didn't need to leave 
their home to attend Hamvention in nearby Ohio. Every day at their house 
in Greencastle, Pennsylvania is Hamvention. Of the seven children, six 
have licenses as do parents Rachel KM4ATS and Shannon KA8JRQ. The 
Lathams were all at Xenia together recently and Violetta, KM4ATT, who is 
13, spoke at the Saturday morning Youth Forum. The family's youngest ham 
is Aaron KM4LEJ, who's 10 but has had his ticket for two years. Ohio, 
however, is a short trip compared to one of their next journeys - 
they're heading to Curacao. Don't expect to find the Lathams lounging on 
the beach, however. They're going on DXpedition and the only waves 
they'll be surfing are radio waves.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW.

(SOUTHGATE)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; Dayton 
Hamvention; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Mark Lidikay KE6TNM; 
Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ; Ron Cramer KD8ENJ; Southgate Amateur Radio 
News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the 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 Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio 
saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.

-- 



73
James-KB7TBT
www.arnewsline.org
www.ylsystem.org




-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links:

You receive all messages sent to this group.

View/Reply Online (#1031): https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline/message/1031
View All Messages In Topic (1): https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline/topic/20268183
Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/20268183/929223
New Topic: https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline/post

Change Your Subscription: https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline/editsub/929223
Group Home: https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline
Contact Group Owner: ARNewsline+owner@groups.io
Terms of Service: https://groups.io/static/tos
Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/ARNewsline/leave/2103143/...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


***

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)