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PY2BIL > ARNR 30.12.23 16:00l 374 Lines 17155 Bytes #7 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2409 for Friday Dece
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2409 for Friday December 29th, 2023
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2409 with a release date of Friday
December 29th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Set your sights on some most-wanted DX contacts.
Straight Key Month gets under way - and listen to the winning Ham Radio
Haiku for 2023. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2409 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
PLANNING BEGINS FOR DXPEDITION TO PETER THE 1ST ISLAND
DON/ANCHOR: As the new year dawns, we bring you a top story that looks to
the future: We tell you about two big DXpeditions happening Down Under --
and both take plenty of planning and resources. We hear the details from
Graham Kemp VK4BB.
GRAHAM: The year 2024 is a big year of planning for a DXpedition to Peter I
Island, which ranks eighth in ClubLog's most-wanted DXCC list. Like Bouvet
Island, this remote volcanic island is one of three Norwegian territories in
the subAntarctic and Antarctic region. The DXpedition of 19 operators is
being led by Ken LA7GIA, Cezar VE3LYC, Dave WD5COV and Adrian KO8SCA. It's
planned for 14 days in February of 2026.
Dave and Ken are also part of another high-profile DXpedition taking place a
year before Peter I Island: that is the 3YØK DXpedition in January 2025 for
Bouvet Island, the 11th most wanted on the ClubLog list. This expedition
will reuse much of the equipment from the previous year's trip to Bouvet and
is also sharing the website being used by 3YØK.
As fundraising for Peter I Island gets under way in just a few weeks, the
group is concentrating on securing a landing permit from the Norwegian Polar
Institute. The team has reported that it has found a ship and it has two on-
board helicopters. In addition to being a coveted DX, Peter I Island carries
the IOTA designation of AN-004.
This is Graham Kemp VK4BB
(MØOXO WEBSITE)
**
CQ MAGAZINE SUSPENDS PUBLICATION
DON/ANCHOR: CQ Magazine, which has been a resource for the active amateur
radio community for seven decades, has suspended publication until sometime
in 2024. CQ has been a valuable supporter of Newsline's Bill Pasternak
WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award. It is
renowned for its CQ World Wide array of contests and operating awards and
for its hall of fame.
The magazine's editor, Richard Moseson W2VU, told Newsline in a recent
email: [quote] "As all of our loyal readers know, 2023 has been a very
challenging year for us. We continue to pursue all options for getting
things moving again. At this moment, the November and December issues are
delayed but we plan to get them out to the readership as soon as
circumstances permit. We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding."
[endquote]
The widely read magazine, which produces both a print and digital edition,
has been a staple in amateur radio shacks, starting with its first issue in
January 1945.
**
STRAIGHT KEY MONTH CELEBRATES A TRADITION
DON/ANCHOR: This year marks the 18th year for Straight Key Month, a
celebration of traditional communication from the Straight Key Century Club.
Don't have a straight key? You can get in on the action anyway. Kevin
Trotman N5PRE tells us how.
KEVIN: Just as some CW operators think they can rest their fists following
the conclusion of the ARRL's Straight Key Night on the 1st of January,
others are preparing for Straight Key Month. The popular event from the
Straight Key Century Club is a leisurely and friendly activity. The goal is
to contact as many other operators as you can via CW, not just throughout
the United States but around the world. There are various categories in
which operators can set their goals.
You don't need to be an SKCC club member to participate. In fact, you don't
even need to use a Straight Key. Will you get a basic sweep, a full sweep or
a grand sweep? See the SKCC website at skccgroup dot com (skccgroup.com) and
click on the link for SKCC Straight Key Month, which appears under the
heading of "Activities."
Each year club members compete to produce a design for the event's official
QSL card. This year's winning card will also mark the 18th anniversary of
the SKCC.
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(SKCC)
**
ARIZONA DESERT COMES ALIVE WITH QUARTZFEST
DON/ANCHOR: The next big thing in ham radio in the US is the first big
convention of 2024. It's known as Quartzfest and it is one of its kind in
Arizona's Sonoran desert. It features recreational vehicles, portable and
mobile EMCOM systems and off-the-grid living all near Quartzsite. Activities
and seminars are all free. Operators will also have a special event station
W7Q throughout the week. Other hams will be participating in an HF Distance
Challenge, Pico Balloon Launches and POTA activations and hikes. Quartzfest
takes place between the 21st and the 27th of January. For a schedule of
seminars and activities visit quartzfest dot org (quartzfest.org)
(QUARTZFEST, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)
**
HAMSCI ADVISOR BECOMES DIRECTOR OF HAYSTACK OBSERVATORY
DON/ANCHOR: A noted observatory in New England has just chosen its new
director - an amateur radio operator who is also an advisor to HamSCI and
its various projects. We hear more from Sel Embee KB3TZD.
SEL: Congratulations to Philip Erickson, W1PJE, a member of the advisory
board of the citizens science group HamSCI, who is starting an important new
role in January as director of the Haystack Observatory at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology where he has been on staff in various capacities
since 1995. His most recent role has been as associate director.
The observatory has been involved in a number of projects that share some of
HamSCI's own priorities, conducting studies of the ionosphere and other
parts of the atmosphere with the use of electromagnetic frequencies. Philip
notes on his QRZ.com page that Haystack has been involved since the late
1950s in remote-sensing research into the properties of the ionosphere,
neutral atmosphere, overlying plasmasphere, and magnetosphere.
Philip belongs to the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club, which often
conducts activities in collaboration with the Haystack Observatory. He is
also a big fan of working with vintage radios.
This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.
(HAMSCI, QRZ.COM)
**
GET READY FOR HAM RADIO KIDS' DAY
DON/ANCHOR: Just as Youth on the Air month ends on the last day of December,
Ham Radio Kids Day is just getting warmed up. The annual ARRL event takes
place on Saturday the 6th of January as a way of showing youngsters the kind
of fun they can have on the air - and to interest them in science and
technology. Plans are already being made across the country: One such group,
The New Providence Amateur Radio Club in New Jersey. is operating the event
with the youngsters at the Salt Brook School on Saturday, January 6, 2024
from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM.
During the event, youngsters will be on the air under the supervision of
licensed hams. Kids will be calling "CQ Kids Day" and the kid-friendly
exchange will be name, age, location and favorite color.
(ARRL, PATCH.COM)
**
FRENCH AMATEUR'S SPECIAL EVENT HONORS POLISH MARTYR
DON/ANCHOR: Several special event stations go on the air from around the
world each year in August, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of
St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. He was born, however, in January and an event is
coming up to mark the 130th anniversary of that day. Here's Randy Sly W4XJ
with the details.
RANDY: The Polish priest, Maximilian Maria Kolbe, was martyred in Auschwitz
during World War II. Hams often hold special event stations in August to
mark the date of his death. One ham in France -- Jeff, F4IIQ (F 4 EYE EYE
Q) -- has chosen to mark his birth on January 8th. He will be going on the
air with the callsign TM130SMK from the 5th to the 9th of January. The
Franciscan priest, who was canonized in 1982, is considered the patron saint
of amateur radio for having founded a monastery in Poland dedicated to
communications. The monastery housed a short-wave radio station with the
callsign SP3RN. When the monastery was shut by the Nazis in 1941, Maximilian
Maria Kolbe was arrested and sent to Auschwitz where he volunteered to take
the place of another man who was marked to die. The priest was executed by
lethal injection after having been placed in a starvation bunker.
Father Kolbe is also the inspiration for the Saint Maximilian Kolbe Net,
which was founded by two amateurs in the US in 1998. It meets on 80 metres
and 20 metres on Sundays.
This is Randy Sly W4XJ.
(QRZ.COM)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the W4HPL
repeater in Cookeville, Tennessee on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. local time.
**
SOTA ACTIVATORS PREPARE FOR YEAR-LONG 10M CHALLENGE
DON/ANCHOR: SOTA activators, get ready to aim high in the new year. It's
already a fact that SOTA ops aim high or they wouldn't be climbing all those
summits to make contacts, but now the awards scheme is asking everyone to
aim high on the band and accept a year-long 10-meter challenge. This event
is timed to coincide with what is expected to be the peak of Solar Cycle 25.
The SOTA 10m Challenge is not a contest, but the organisers do plan to post
results on its challenge page and hope the activity will encourage as many
ops as possible to make use of the b and. In announcing the activity, Andy,
MMØFMF, compared this challenge to the event conducted on the 12m band in
2013 and 2014. Unlike 12m, 10m is open to all classes of amateurs in most
countries and so this event is considered more inclusive.
(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, EI7GL BLOG)
**
ARISS CONFERENCE TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF HAM RADIO
DON/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio on the ISS is collecting stories and videos that
help tell the story of ham radio in space during the past four decades. Dave
Parks WB8ODF brings us that report.
DAVE: If you've ever had contact with Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station, get ready for Florida in February. The ARISS organization is
reaching out to educators and former students and asking them to send in
stories and videos explaining the impact that important QSO with the
orbiting astronauts has had on their lives.
The stories will become a part of the 40th anniversary Educational Contact
conference taking place at the Center for Space Education near the Kennedy
Space Center's Visitors' Center from February 22nd to the 24th. Both
educators and former students are being asked to fill out a form online
providing details.
ARISS is celebrating the occasion, which marks 40 years since astronaut Owen
Garriott, W5LFL, made the first amateur radio contact from space on board
the Space Shuttle Columbia. ARISS writes on its website [quote] "The
historic 40th anniversary conference will be a retrospective of what has
been accomplished and will highlight our exciting amateur radio human
spaceflight plans on the horizon." [endquote]
To share your story, follow the link that appears in the text version of
this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.
[DO NOT READ: http://tinyurl.com/2p87y7f9 ]
(ARISS, YOUTH ON THE AIR)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, there's still time to get a coveted DX for your logbook:
The Rebel DX Group's T32TT operation from Kiritimati/Christmas Island, IOTA
number OC-024 in East Kiribati will be extended until the 12th of January.
See QRZ.com for QSL and other details.
Be listening for special event station AT24GSM from West Bengal, India,
between January 9th through to the 16th. Members of the West Bengal Radio
Club will be activating Sagar Island, IOTA Number AS-153 and the Gangasagar
Island Beach, BOTA Number 60572. The activation will also include the Sagar
Island Lighthouse, World Lighthouse Number 2262. The occasion for the
activation is the annual pilgrimage known as the Ganga Saga Mela. See
QRZ.com for details.
Members of ARI Padova will be on the air with the callsign II3PUP from the
7th to the 14th of January. The suffix of the callsign is an acronym for the
Latin words connoting Padua the Painted City. This is a reference to the
series of 14th-century frescoes that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list,
where they were added in 2021. QSL via IQ3WW. Find other QSL information on
QRZ.com.
If you are planning ahead for February, be listening for VK5MAV operating as
VK5MAV/4 from Magnetic Island, IOTA number OC-171. They will be on the air
from the 6th to the 11th of February. He will be using mainly CW but may
include some SSB. Listen on 40, 20, 15, and 10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL
details.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: A TREASURED TRANSMITTER'S ENDURING MESSAGE
DON/ANCHOR: As we leave December and step across the threshold of a new
year, it's a comfort to know that some things endure. They were built to
last - and in fact, they DO last. One example is the tradition of a message
of Christmas peace, transmitted from a historic transmitter in Sweden.
Jeremy Boot G4NJH concludes this newscast with this report.
JEREMY: On Christmas Eve morning, the World Heritage Grimeton Radio station
carried a message to the world that is older than the 100-year-old
transmitter itself. It was a message of peace sent via Morse Code. Hams and
non-hams alike from around the wor ld tuned in via SDR or other means to
hear the code being sent via the Alexanderson Alternator SAQ signal on 17.2
kHz long wave. Others simply witnessed the event on YouTube, where
spectators from Poland, Belgium, Colombia, Brazil and Australia left words
of support and appreciation in many languages.
The history behind this transmitter is as cherished as the message it
carries several times each year: With every transmission it underscores the
progress we have made over the years in wireless communication -- while
affirming the progress the world still needs to make in so many other areas.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(YOUTUBE)
DON/ANCHOR: You can see this year's December 24th event in Grimeton by
following the link in the text version of this week's newscast at
arnewsline.org
[DO NOT READ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33B5j7rnBnI ]
**
SEND US NEWS - AND HERE'S OUR HAIKU WINNER
DON/ANCHOR: If you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think
Newsline would be interested in, send it on! We are not talking about
advertising your club's upcoming hamfest or field day participation, but
something that is out of the ordinary. If so, send us a brief overview via
the contact page at arnewsline.org. If it's newsworthy and we would like to
cover it, we'll get back to you for more details. Meanwhile, if you're
feeling even a little bit poetic, visit our website to learn more about the
Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge in 2024.
Speaking of all things poetic, as promised, our crew has chosen the Newsline
Haiku of 2023 from all of this year's weekly top entries. We are proud of
this winner, who received 43% of the vote. We were unfortunately unable to
contact the author in time for him to read it for inclusion in this
newscast. So it's my honor to present the winning haiku, submitted by Greg
Smith, N6NYX, that was featured on December 8. It was a touching and poetic
comment on the potential future of amateur radio. It reads:
The past is prologue,
When the radio captures,
The love of youngsters
We congratulate Greg Smith for his winning haiku and encourage all of our
listeners to submit their own creations at the website. Look for the "Ham
Radio Haiku" link at the top right portion of the menu on the website. We
look forward to another year of you flexing your poetic license as well as
your ham radio license.
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; ARRL; ARISS; CQ
Magazine; David Behar K7DB; 425DXNews; HamSCI; MØOXO website; Patch.com;
QRZ.com; Quartzfest; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; Straight Key Century
Club; Wireless Institute of Australia; YouTube; Youth on the Air; and you
our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our
listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit
organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish
to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we
appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our
newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For
now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news
team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in Picayune, Mississippi saying 73
and wishing you all the very best in 2024. As always we thank you for
listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights
reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
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BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 30-dez-2023 11:15 E. South America Standard Time
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