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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2458 for Friday December 6th,
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From: PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2458 for Friday December 6th, 2024
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2458 with a release date of Friday,
December 6th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Satellites get the OK for direct-to-cell phone
service. At two universities in India, ham radio is not just academic -- and
repeaters in the Pacific Northwest light up with a flurry of FM activity.
All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2458 comes your
way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
FCC APPROVES SATELLITE-TO-CELL COVERAGE FOR STARLINK
PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week comes from Washington, D.C., where
Starlink satellites recently received the FCC's go-ahead to provide
emergency service for mobile phones, particularly in emergencies. Kent
Peterson KCØDGY brings us up to date.
KENT: SpaceX has received permission to provide Starlink satellite service
to cellular phones in areas of the US where terrestrial cellular networks do
not operate. The Federal Communications Commission gave its approval in late
November for direct-to-cell capability, known as Supplemental Coverage from
Space, using second-generation Starlink satellites that will be launched
soon. There will be as many as 7,500 of these new satellites that will be
capable of providing this kind of mobile phone service. SpaceX has a lease
agreement with cellular provider T-Mobile for this service in the
continental US, Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Earth-to-space communication
will occur on the frequency range between 1910 and 1915 MHz; space-to-Earth
communication will use the range between 1990 and 1995 MHz.
The FCC order, dated November 26th, said that direct-to-cell capability is
designed to provide a more robust link to emergency services when severe
weather or other conditions do not make conventional connections possible.
The FCC said that before Starlink can provide this service to mobile phones
outside the United States, it would need permission and licenses from those
countries' governments. The FCC said that various sub-bands between 1429 MHz
and 2690 MHz would be used for this purpose.
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
(ARS TECHNICA, FCC)
**
FORUM IN SRI LANKA EXPLORES SATELLITES' NEW ROLES
PAUL/ANCHOR: A recent online forum hosted by the Radio Society of Sri Lanka
takes a look at how low-earth orbit satellites are changing the world of
communication. Graham Kemp VK4BB brings us up to date.
GRAHAM: Satellites are playing a greater role throughout the world -- from
communicating directly with mobile phones to providing a network that
enables disaster response at different levels. On December 1st, a
presentation hosted by the Radio Society of Sri Lanka outlined these
revolutionary changes that have been happening in countries throughout the
world and the roles that low-earth orbit satellites are playing. The guest
speaker was Kusal Epa [pron: COO-SAL OPPA] 4S7KE/VK2KSL, a senior wireless
architect based in New South Wales, Australia.
The 90-minute session, which was called "The Future of Connectivity," was
livestreamed on YouTube and is available for viewing at the link in the text
version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.
[DO NOT READ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OxWLWysAHI ]
(YOUTUBE)
**
HAMSCI LAUNCHES FREE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
PAUL/ANCHOR: There's always something fascinating going on with the citizen
science team at HamSCI and now there's a new way to keep track of what
they're up to. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us how.
KEVIN: The amateur radio citizen science investigation team known as HamSCI
has begun publishing a new quarterly newsletter focusing on hams and the
scientific community.
The newsletter, which is delivered as a free download, contains updates on
ongoing projects and any related activities.
HamSCI's founder, Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, expects that the new
publication will enhance communication among supporters and observers.
In addition to bringing readers up to date on various projects, the
inaugural issue features a number of profiles of volunteers deeply involved
in HamSCI's work, including data analyst Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL. The WSPR
enthusiast has been deeply involved in various propagation studies.
The newsletter download is available at hamsci.org/newsletter. You can also
visit the HamSCI website at hamsci.org to add your name to the mailing list.
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(HamSCI)
**
IN INDIA, BACK TO SCHOOL AND BACK TO BASICS
PAUL/ANCHOR: Amateur radio operators aren't just communicators; they're
teachers. Two groups of these radio teachers visited college campuses in
India recently and imparted some important lessons. Here's Jim Meachen
ZL2BHF with the details.
JIM: The first college in India to add amateur radio studies to its
undergraduate curriculum hosted a seminar geared toward young ham radio
operators on December 1st and administered a test to students seeking the
required operating certificate. It was a final exam of sorts for 75 of the
undergrads at the Ramakrishna [Rama Krishna] Mission Vivekananda Centenary
College. The date of the programme was significant: It marks the 166th birth
anniversary of the pioneering scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose. The ham radio
coursework began in July, conducted by hams of the Indian Academy of
Communication and Disaster Management and the West Bengal Radio Club. Now
all that's left for the students is to await their test results to learn
whether they qualify for the Amateur Station Operator Certificate from
India's Ministry of Telecommunications, allowing them to set up stations at
home.
A few days earlier on a college campus in Kolkata, 156 students at the
Women's Christian College received another kind of lesson in amateur radio.
The same two organisations offered an overview of radio's essential role in
disaster mitigation. The one-day workshop was led by Debdutta Mukherjee,
VU3JXA, Suvonkar Saha, VU3XSO, Soumo Chakraborty, VU3FWK and Ambarish Nag
Biswas, VU2JFA. The college principal said she expected to introduce amateur
radio formally into coursework at the school soon.
This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
(MILLENNIUM POST, STATESMAN, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)
**
RADIO SUPPORT IS FAMILY AFFAIR AT CONNECTICUT ROAD RACE
PAUL/ANCHOR: Half of the members of a community service-based amateur radio
club in Connecticut turned out to recently provide radio support for a major
fundraising road race. The radio team included the youngest member of the
club, a newly licensed 10-year-old boy who teamed up with his grandfather.
Dave Parks WB8ODF has that story.
DAVE: The Manchester Road Race isn't just an established fundraising
tradition in Connecticut; it's now a family affair for Jack Robinson KA1GCZ
and his 10-year-old grandson, Aiden Karp, KC1TWN. Both of them are members
of the BEARS of Manchester. The club's acronym stands for Better Emergency
Amateur Radio Service and has the club call W1BRS. On Thanksgiving Day, the
28th of November, the two amateurs helped their fellow club members relay
information about the whereabouts and the well-being of the 12,000
participants running along the 4.7-mile course. They also kept a watchful
eye on the more than 30,000 spectators.
This kind of public service radio became a regular family affair after Aiden
got his license last December, joining his three cousins as well as his aunt
and uncle as hams. Jack said Aiden, who is an active member of BEARS, also
enjoys fox hunting activities that the club hosts and keeping a watchful eye
on the weather as a SKYWARN spotter.
Aiden is the youngest amateur to have ever provided this kind of support for
the road race -- but because the sixth-grader has inspired other kids, that
might just change soon. Jack told Newsline that ever since Aiden was seen in
the spotlight with his radio, lots of area youngsters will be signing up to
study for their license.
This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.
(JACK ROBINSON, KA1GCZ)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the AA9RT
Repeater in Shiloh, Illinois on Sundays at 7 p.m., following the PRIME
Amateur Radio Association K9JHQ Net.
**
PRESENTERS NEEDED FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE
PAUL/ANCHOR: If you're involved in using digital modes to deliver vital
information during a crisis - or want to learn more about how others do it -
the Utah Digital Communications Conference might be a good place to start.
Conference planners are also looking for presenters to share their ideas and
methods. Here's Sel Embee KB3TZD with the details.
SEL: Amateurs with insights into some of the roles that digital modes can
play in emergency communications are invited to be presenters at the 8th
annual Utah Digital Communications Conference. The one-day event will take
place on Saturday the 22nd of February on the Miller campus of the Salt Lake
Community College in Sandy, Utah.
The organizers hope to be able to offer an array of topics, including the
use of Winlink, VARA FM and the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network, or
AREDN.
The conference is being held in collaboration with the Utah VHF Society.
There is an online form for submitting proposals on the conference website,
where you can also find information about attending. Guests under the age of
18 are admitted for free.
See the link to the website in the text version of this week's newscast at
arnewsline.org
This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.
[DO NOT READ: https://utah-dcc.square.site/ ]
(ZERO RETRIES NEWSLETTER, UTAH DCC)
**
MEET THE NEWEST OP IN AUSTRALIA: SANTA!
PAUL/ANCHOR: Yes there a lot of opportunities at this time of the year to
work Santa Claus on the air -- but have you ever thought of a QSO with Santa
from his QTH near the SOUTH Pole? Amateur radio can make it happen - and
John Williams VK4JJW tells us about the magic involved.
JOHN: If you believe in Santa Claus - and who doesn't, am I right? - you
probably believe that he lives only at the North Pole. Wrong! Santa has a
summer home and here in Australia, you can find him in Wangara, Western
Australia, where he is in his shack, excited to have finally got his
Australian callsign. It's VK6SANTA and he's making good use of it right now
through to the 24th of the month by hosting the VK6 Santa Amateur Radio Net.
Santa is a very happy new Australian op and he is spreading holiday cheer.
Visit his page on QRZ.com and you'll find that Santa is eager to work local
hams as well as some DX - he's on 2 metres as well as 10, 20 and 40 metres.
If all you want for Christmas is to get Santa in your Yuletide Log, you
might just get your wish.
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(NEWSWEST, QRZ.com)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, listen for the Bahrain Amateur Radio Society using the
callsign A91ND through to the 16th of December to mark the Kingdom of
Bahrain's National Day. QSL via EC6DX. Other amateur radio groups will be
joining the celebration on the air, including the Emirates Amateur Radio
Society, calling QRZ as A60BHR from the 11th through to the 16th of
December. The Saudi Amateur Radio Society will be on the air as HZ1BHR, the
Kuwait Amateur Radio Society will be calling as 9K9BHR and the Royal Omani
Amateur Radio Society will be using A43BHR. See QRZ.com for individual
callsigns for activation and QSL details.
Listen for Take [Tah-Kay], JI3DST, calling QRZ as JS6RRR from Miyako Island,
IOTA Number AS-079 through to the 31st of March 2025. Take will be using a
variety of callsigns throughout the stay, including JJ5RBH/6, JR8YLY/6,
JS6RRR/6 and JS6RRR/p on FT8. Visit the JS6RRR page on QRZ.com for QSL
details.
On Wake Island, IOTA Number OC-053, Allen, KH7AL, is operating as KH7AL/KH9
holiday style. Listen for him on SSB and some CW on 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 and
10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.
The special event callsign PH24XMAS will be on the air to celebrate
Christmas and the New Year from the 6th to the 28th of December. The
callsign PH25HNY will follow from the 28th of December through to the 5th of
January. See QRZ.com for details.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: ROUNDING OUT SOME ACTION ON LOCAL REPEATERS
PAUL/ANCHOR: For motorists here in the US, a roundabout is another word for
a traffic circle, the kind of road that isn't always easy to navigate. In
two western states, however, ham radio operators recently enjoyed a repeater
roundabout -- and it became a happy weekend journey for an ever-widening
circle of friends. For our final story this week, we turn to George
Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.
GEORGE: For the third year in a row, hams in Idaho and Washington state took
a special adventure together on dozens of the region's VHF and UHF
repeaters. The event was known as the Repeater Roundabout and this year's
roundabout - held on the weekend of November 23rd and 24th - was put
together with 186 regional repeaters and 70 radio groups.
The event's creator, Quentin K7DRQ, said the goal has always been simple
since the first year: getting hams to meet new people and work repeaters
they don't ordinarily make use of. Quentin said it is also a great way to
introduce ham radio contesting to those operators who use repeaters. Unlike
the roundabouts of the two previous years, which counted contacts made on
Echolink, IRLP, Allstar, DMR and D-STAR, this year's event was FM-only. To
help everyone prepare and learn to practice programming their rigs with the
repeaters' frequencies, Quentin said participants were provided with a CHIRP
file.
Both Quentin and co-organizer Matt, KI6KTE could readily see that even
before all the logs were submitted, there was one early -- and immediate -
measure of the roundabout's success: Quentin told Newsline [quote] "This
year, a new ham made his very first contact during the event." [endquote]
That turned this particular roundabout.....into a Winner's Circle.
This is George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.
(QUENTIN, K7DRQ)
**
HAIKU AND CLOSE:
What? You haven't sent in your amateur radio haiku yet for Newsline's haiku
challenge? Take a break - go QRT for just a few minutes - and set your
thoughts down using traditional haiku format - a three-line verse with five
syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third.
Share your ham radio experience, poetically, and then submit your work on
our website at arnewsline.org
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; AMSAT News Service; Ars
Technica; David Behar K7DB; FCC; 425DXNews; HamSCI; Jack Robinson, KA1GCZ;
Millennium Post; NewsWest; Quentin, K7DRQ, QRZ Forums; shortwaveradio.de;
Statesman; Utah Digital Communications Conference; YouTube; Zero Retries
Newsletter; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in
Valparaiso Indiana saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur
Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2024. All rights reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 06-dez-2024 08:01 E. South America Standard Time
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