Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2031, Sept. 30, 2016

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2031 with a release date of
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Devil's Tower National Monument is activated
in Wyoming -- Maine's first YL turns 108 --and the International Space
Station prepares for a radio upgrade! All this and more as Amateur
Radio Newsline's Report #2031 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART HERE

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TOWERING QSOs AT DEVIL'S TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT

JIM DAMRON/ANCHOR: We begin this week's newscast in Wyoming, the latest
stop in a series of National Park activations by a ham radio family
hitting the road. Newsline's Paul Braun WD9GCO caught up with the
father and son at Devil's Tower.


PAUL's REPORT: Most families, when planning a road trip, try to come up
with games to play on the road like "find the road sign" or "name that
car." Or singing a song like "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" until you
can't take it anymore.

Unless you're a ham radio family, that is, like David Hellman, WD7I and
his father Sandy, K7FRG. They recently planned a family road trip and
instead of games, planned a string of National Parks on the Air
activations. I caught up with them right after they had finished
activating Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming. I asked them
about their trip:

DAVID: My dad and I are just finishing up a two-week trip where we
drove from Wisconsin all the way out to Yellowstone to meet up with my
sister and her partner there. We spent a week out there, but on the way
to Yellowstone and on the way back we chose some of the National Park
units to activate and Devil's Tower was the ninth out of the ten that
we will be doing - we'll be doing one more today on the way home.

I asked Helman how the activation at Devil's Tower went:

DAVID: Oh, it was great - it was a beautiful site, and we had a nice
view of the monument. And we, in 45 minutes we made 90 contacts. [Paul]
What was your furthest one away?] Now, let's see - we had Honolulu
yesterday. We haven't had many Hawaii stations - along our trip we've
had some from Croatia and France but not too many DX stations but
yesterday the farthest I think was Honolulu.

What did the Helmans enjoy most about their road trip?

DAVID: My dad and I really enjoyed it, just of course being at the
parks and it's nice to be able to go to all these beautiful parks and
have a nice activity in amateur radio to do there to enjoy it. So we
really enjoy the combination of the activations and the beauty of
theparks.

The A-Double-R-L's National Parks On The Air program is rapidly coming
to a close, but based on all of the stories we've been hearing over the
past months, it is succeeding in not only celebrating the 100th
anniversary of the National Park Service, but also in getting hams out
of their shacks and into beautiful parts of our country.

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

**

MAKING CONTACTS FOR THE TRIBES

JIM/ANCHOR: If you were lucky enough to land a contact with N8V, the
Special Event station of the National Tribal Amateur Radio Association,
you know what the excitement was all about. If you missed them, well,
listen up and start planning for next year. Here's Amateur Radio
Newsline's Mike Askins KE5CXP.

MIKE: The week of Sept. 19 marked five days of "firsts" for the
National Tribal Amateur Radio Association. The growing organization,
which assists American Indians with amateur radio on tribal lands,
operated its first Special Event Station N8V from the National Tribal
Emergency Management Conference in Leemore, California. The station had
the support of the Tulare County Amateur Radio Club and the Fresno
County ARES group, both of which provided equipment and operators for
the 20 meter operation. NTARA's national president, Nathan Nixon N7NAN,
said that the special QSL cards commemorating the event will be sent
soon to the 380 successful contacts made both on SSB and PSK 31.
Operators worked with a Yaesu FT-897 and FLdigi for PSK 31 and used a
Yaesu FT-897 and FT-450D for phone. The operation made use of a
three-element beam and some vertical antennas -- and some enthusiastic
operators. Grateful but tired, Nathan directs all questions now to the
QRZ page for W7NTV as well as Facebook and Twitter.

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

**

CELEBRATING MAINE'S FIRST YL AT 108

JIM/ANCHOR: We'd now like to wish a happy birthday to Mary Cousins.
Happy birthday to the woman once known as W1GSC.These wishes come a few
days late but then, turning 108 as the Maine resident did this past
Sept. 20 has likely cultivated a lot of patience for this retired
librarian.

Mary Cousins was the first woman in the State of Maine to become a
licensed radio amateur, a feat she accomplished in 1933, when her name
was Mary Sibyl Wallace and she was 24 years old. The licensing
authority back then was the Federal Radio Commission, an entity that
did not even exist in 1908, the year she was born.

Even though it has been some time since she operated as W1GSC, Mary did
enjoy a sweet moment with her old call sign: the likeness of her
license decorated the dessert at her party in Deer Isle, Maine. In
fact, you might say it was the icing on the cake.

(ARRL, THE ELLSWORTH AMERICAN)

**

ARISS INSPIRES THE NEXT GENERATION

JIM/ANCHOR: In the UK, one special presentation is about to celebrate
the role the International Space Station has had with thousands of
youngsters. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us more.

JEREMY: Take the number 10 and multiply it many times over. That is in
fact what happened this year with hundreds, if not thousands, of school
children in the UK who experienced one of 10 radio contacts with
International Space Station astronaut Tim Peake GB1SS during his
Principia mission. The youngsters' experience will be the subject of a
presentation on Saturday the 8th of October by Susan Buckle, the UK
Space Agency's Astronaut Flight Education Programme Support Manager
when she speaks at the Radio Society of Great Britain's convention. The
convention takes place from the 7th of October until the 9th.

She and Ciaran Morgan M0XTD will discuss the 10 ARISS school contacts
with the astronaut, exchanges which sparked interest in amateur radio
among the young in a new and meaningful way. The two will also present
an RSGB video about the contacts at the schools, where many of the
student participants were already newly licensed amateurs.

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

(SOUTHGATE ARC)

**

ARISS GETS AN UPGRADE

JIM/ANCHOR: All those ARISS radio contacts are about to get a little
bit better, thanks to an upgrade in the works. Here's Newsline's Neil
Rapp, WB9VPG.


NEIL'S REPORT: The International Space Station is in the final stages
of getting an upgrade! For some time, the radio equipment onboard
the station has needed to be replaced. While new equipment has been
graciously donated, significant funding has been needed for testing,
certification, and delivery of the equipment to make sure it meets NASA
standards- and the post office doesnÕt have free 2 day shipping to the
space station. Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, the ARISS International Program
Chair, explains the details.

FRANK: Basically, the interoperable radio systems we're developing for
the International Space Station will have both the JVC Kenwood D710
radio in it which will provide higher power and more capability for
both the schools and make the contact more robust, as well as for the
hams on the ground. Also as part of that we are developing a
multi-voltage power supply that will support not only the new radio
system but more capabilities for the future that we are planning on
deploying on space stations. It's actually going to be something for
not only the present but the future. And also we are working with NASA
and the other space agencies to certify this across all of space
stations.

NEIL: Contact between schools and the space station have inspired young
people to study science and technology, and is one of the more
publicized demonstrations of the power of amateur radio to communities
that are involved. Frank reports that funds are still needed to
complete the equipment upgrade.

FRANK: This fundraising activity we're doing right now is critically
important to get this radio system ready for flight. It is very
expensive to test and certify for NASA and the other space agencies'
standards. And so it is way over $100,000 -- almost $200,000 to make
this happen.We would appreciate anything. At the AMSAT.ORG website we
have a "donate" button for ARISS and you are welcome to donate. Anyone
that donates $100 or more gets the specially developed ARISS
ChallengeCoin.

NEIL: Corporate donors should contact Frank Bauer directly at
.

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

**
BREAK HE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including W5AW,
the Big Springs Amateur Radio Club Repeater in Big Springs, Texas, on
Thursdays at 8 p.m.


**

'LAST MAN STANDING' BUT FIRST ON DSTAR

JIM/ANCHOR: Great news if you're a fan of TV's "Last Man Standing" -and
also a fan of DSTAR - you will get to enjoy both on the air on Tuesday,
Oct. 11. That's one of the nights the crew shoots the ABC-TV sitcom and
two special guests, Ed Woodrick WA4YIH and Amy Woodrick KE4IKF will be
visiting KA6LMS, the set in Studio City, California, during the crew's
dinner break. Ed and Amy will be on DSTAR via Reflector 30C while
seated in the office of the show's main character Mike Baxter KA0XTT,
played by Tim Allen. So be listening: The fun should last an hour and
start at about 2245 UTC.

(JOHN AMODEO NN6JA)

**
CW CLUB LOOKING FOR ANNIVERSARY OPERATORS

JIM/ANCHOR: The North American QRP CW Club needs help for its on-air
anniversary event. We hear more from Newsline's Bobby Best WX4ALA.

BOBBY: It's not quite a distress call being sent in CW but a definite
call for help is being transmitted by the North American QRP CW Club.
The group is planning its anniversary event on Oct. 10th through Oct.
16th and has learnt that a number of the volunteer operators had to
back out of their commitments due to health matters and schedule
conflicts. So they're hoping a few more amateurs, particularly in
District 5, 6 and 9, will want to step forward, paddles at the ready,
to work as N5A, N6A and N9A.

Operating schedules are flexible, according to the group's president
Paul N8XMS, and even if an operator can give only an hour or two during
the week, that will suit the game plan fine. Paul also noted that hams
must be members of the NAQCC. They can use their regular gear operating
QRP in CW all week, and submit logs and summary information later.

To get details and contact information, visit naqcc.info

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA.

**

THREE MORE ACTIVATIONS FOR K2BSA

JIM/ANCHOR: The call sign K2BSA has three more locations on the air
this week. Here's more from Newsline's Bill Stearns NE4RD.

BILL'S REPORT: This week in Radio Scouting we have 3 activations of the
K2BSA callsign in IA, NJ, and OH.

Mike Miller, AC0BD, will be the control operator for the portable 0
station at ScoutJam held at Camp Mitigwa in Boone, Iowa on October 8
from 1400 to 2100 UTC. "ScoutJam" will feature dozens of activities
for hundreds of scouts, Tiger through Eagle, and celebrates the
100-year anniversary of scouting in central Iowa. Operators, including
those from the Ankeny Centennial High School Amateur Radio Association,
AC0HS, will be active on 20 meter voice.

Gary Wilson, K2GW, will be the control operator for the portable 2
station at ScoutFest 2016 in Lambertville, NJ on October 8 from 1300
to 1930 UTC. This all council event expects attendance at 4000
participants. The Washington Crossing Council Radio Scouting Committee
will have the station active on 20 and 40 meters.

Eric Koci, KD8ZSO, will be the control operator for the portable 8
station at the Peterlook Camporee in Loveland, OH on October 8 from
1400 to 2100 UTC. Hosted by the Dan Beard Council, this biannual event
will host 5500 Scouts and Scouters and has been in operation since
1927. The West Chester Amateur Radio Association and the Butler County
Radio Association will be on the air on 40, 20 and 2 meter bands, as
well as having a Fox Hunt.

Remember Jamboree on the Air is the weekend of October 14th through the
16th. Contact your local radio club, scouting council or district, and
see what you can do to help make the 59th JOTA a success.

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

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

**

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: THE UK's DAVE DEANE EI9FBB AND FOUR IN NEW YORK

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams are being honored on both sides of the Atlantic.
Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash N5ASH with the details.

SKEETER'S REPORT: Dave Deane EI9FBB, a devoted DXpeditioner, IOTA
activator and chaser, has been given the prestigious Clipperton Award
of Distinction for his contributions to amateur radio, most
particularly his three new IOTA activations accomplished with other
IOTA groups. They are NA-247, AF-119 and AS-202. Dave was given the
honor recently during Clipperton's 38th Convention in Brest, Brittany,
where he spoke on the subject of IOTA.

Dave had been nominated for this award during the Ham Radio fair in
Friedrichshafen, where he also gave a presentation on IOTA.

Meanwhile, in New York, four amateurs are being honored for their
contributions by the ARRL's Hudson Division. The annual Awards Luncheon
will be hosted by the Orange County Amateur Radio Club at the Ramada
Cafe International in Newburgh, N.Y. on November 5. The Amateur of the
Year award goes to Lee Hatfield K2HAT and three other amateurs have
been declared "Grand Ol' Hams." They are Andy Bodony K2LE, Gordon
Shacklett, KB2SSZ and Joe Dreifuss W2KQ.

Luncheon tickets are $37 and can be ordered now. Proceeds will go to
the ARRL Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH.

(IRTS, ARRL HUDSON DIVISION)

**

THE WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, Polish operators will be operating from Central
Kiribati starting on 4th October for about 4 weeks. The callsign will
be T31T and they will be on all bands 80m to 6m. They are also hoping
to train local residents in the use of Emergency Radio Communication
systems. Send QSL cards via Club Log OQRS.

Stan LZ1GC and Emil DL8JJ will use the call sign H44GC from the Solomon
Islands until 3rd October. Listen for them anywhere between 160m and
10m on CW, SSB and RTTY. Their QSL Manager is LZ1GC.

New Zealand amateur operators will be active from Norfolk Island as
VK9NZ until the 8th of October. They hope to have 3 stations operating
simultaneously. Send QSL cards to ZL3PAH. Logs will also be uploaded to
Logbook of The World.


(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY)

**

KICKER: RECIPES ON THE AIR

JIM/ANCHOR: We end this week's newscast with this simple message: If
you are hungry, really hungry, for a good radio contact, this report
from Graham Kemp VK4BB is just for you.

GRAHAM: What is the recipe for a good QSO? Perhaps the question really
ought to be: Where do you find a QSO for a good recipe?

Why, on 20 meters of course, on Monday nights. That's where you will
find ROTA. That's R-O-T-A for "recipes on the air." This is a weekly
Net in Australia that really cooks, whether the food-prep method is
boiling, roasting or baking. Begun in May 2012 by Australian native
Bruce ZD7VC, the on-air gathering immediately follows the ANZA DX Net,
as it did at the very start when Bruce's YL Charmaine, ZD7A began one
day to chat about food with Lyn VK4SWE. Lyn told Newsline in an email:
QUOTE "It was fun to chat with another YL and learn of different styles
of cuisine and we exchanged recipes by email. We soon discovered that
many of the ANZA OMs had XYLs who were licensed but not very active."
ENDQUOTE Soon Bridgette ZS1V and Sue ZS1AFR joined in, as did others,
some of whom lived on rare IOTA destinations.

The fickleness of propagation adds spice to the whole activity of
course and Lyn says that Monday nights have never been the same. The
group starts checking in around 0630 UTC after the ANZA DX Net on
14.183.

They'll chew the rag and then plan on chewing whatever else they've got
on the stovetop or in the oven to share.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.


**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; ARDF World Championships; the
ARRL; CQ Magazine; the Ellsworth American; Hap Holly and the Rain
Report; the IARU; Irish Radio Transmitter Society; John Amodeo NN6JA;
K2BSA; National Tribal Amateur Radio Associaton; North American QRP CW
Club; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted
Randall's QSO Radio Show; USS Oklahoma & USS Batfish Amateur Radio
Club; 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 . 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 2016. All rights reserved.