eHam.net News

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Historic Transatlantic Contact:

Posted: 10 Dec 2016 04:50 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38212


On 11 December 2016 a special amateur radio event will commemorate the 95th
anniversary of the first transatlantic shortwave reception between
Greenwich, Connecticut, and Ardrossen, Scotland. On that day in 1921, a
radio signal transmitted from a Radio Club of America (RCA) test station --
located in a small shack on the property of Minton Cronkhite, 1BCG in
Greenwich -- was received in Ardrossen as part of a series of ARRL
transatlantic tests. The special event will begin at 1200 on Sunday 11
December and end at 0300 UTC on 12 December. It will include an attempt at
a two-way contact between N1BCG (the commemorative call sign being used in
Greenwich) and GB2ZE, operated by Jason O'Neill, GM7VSB, in Ardrossen. It
is hoped the contact will take place during the afternoon of 11 December on
20m, if conditions allow.


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Mysteries at the Museum: Sending Code, Victorian Style:

Posted: 10 Dec 2016 04:49 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38211


On display in your Vanishing Texan Museum is a Vibroplex Telegraph Key. It
is number 65,000 of over 300,000 that have been made and was used in the
Jacksonville, TX train depot sometime in 1913. Although the key is over 100
years old it is in superior to excellent condition. We'll tell you more
about Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse Code, in a column next year. For
now, let's start on May 4, 1844 when Morse transmitted the message "What
Hath God Wrought?" from Washington D.C. to Baltimore, MD. This was the
beginning of what many today call the "Victorian Internet." For the first
time in history worldwide communications were possible at a speed never
before imagined. The telegraph key that was to send Morse's message was
invented earlier in 1844 by Alfred Vail, an associate of Morse, and was
called the "Vail Correspondent." It was basically a switch with a knob
mounted on a spring-loaded lever. The design evolved until a more reliable
key (called the Triumph Key) was invented and patented by Jesse Bunnell in
1881.


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Australia Ends Major Shortwave Broadcasts:

Posted: 10 Dec 2016 04:48 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38210


Radio Australia will turn off its shortwave service to the Pacific and
Papua New Guinea on January 31, in favour of more localised FM radio
outlets and internet streaming. The independent international media
organisation is part of the government-funded public Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC International shortwave services
will be replaced by a more robust FM transmitter network and an expanded
content. While shortwave has served audiences well for many decades, it was
now nearly a century old serving a very limited audience.


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Indonesian Earthquake Comms:

Posted: 10 Dec 2016 12:21 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38209


The earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday struck at 5am local time. It has
been reported that it took two hours for the ham radio group to reach the
earthquake damage zone with emergency communications.