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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2382 for Friday June 23rd, 202
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2382 for Friday June 23rd, 2023
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2382 with a release date of Friday June
23rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams get on the air as a cyclone hits India; the
FCC's systems go back online -- and get ready to chase the 13 Colonies
Special Event stations. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2382 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
HAMS MOBILIZE TO ASSIST DURING CYCLONE BIPARJOY
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to India where hams played a crucial
role in public safety and communication as a cyclone enveloped the region.
More on that from Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
JIM: Amateur radio operators in western India were deployed and kept on high
alert as Cyclone Biparjoy closed in on the western shore near the port of
Jakhau on Thursday, June 15th, tearing roofs off houses and leaving
thousands without power.
Local news reports from the Indian state of Gujarat said that the state's
Disaster Management Authority responded to power outages and other damage by
deploying six ham radio teams, two of them in the district near the port of
Jakhau, as well as a number of mobile units. Pakistan and India had already
moved an estimated 173,000 people to shelters in preparation for the storm's
arrival.
The deadly cyclone killed at least two people in India before weakening and
heading toward Pakistan's southern coastal areas. The name of the Cyclone -
Biparjoy (Bipper Joy) - means "disaster" in Bengali.
This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS, TIMES OF INDIA)
**
FCC REPORTS ITS ULS BACK ONLINE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In the United States, the FCC reported an end to the long
shutdown of some of its systems, much to the relief of hams and others
needing to file documents. Paul Braun WD9GCO brings us that report.
PAUL: The Federal Communications Commission's nearly month-long outage of
its Universal Licensing System and related systems has ended. The systems
came back on line, on a limited basis, on Wednesday, June 21st. A public
announcement by the FCC alerted users to the remaining unavailability of the
systems' query download function, which permits search results to be saved
as text files.
The shutdown put the brakes on amateur radio filings and other FCC
applications that were facing immediate deadlines, causing widespread
frustration and much wider speculation as to the cause behind the shutdown.
The FCC's public announcement did not address the cause and despite repeated
requests from Amateur Radio Newsline to clarify what had occurred, the
agency referred only to the announcement on its website. The announcement
cited [quote] "technical issues." [endquote] It was not possible to
determine specifically where those issues occurred - or why they occurred -
and whether there had been a security breach or if any presumed built-in
redundancies failed to operate properly.
The FCC said it has provided deadline extensions for filings that were
affected by the shutdown and that it expects high traffic on its systems in
the days to come. Those ULS applications that were impacted will not need to
pay waiver fees, seek waivers or provide any special attachments.
The FCC said that the deadline extensions and other relief measures only
apply to those filings between the outage period of June 9th to June 29th.
This is Paul Braun WD9GCO.
(FCC)
**
WRTC GAINS SUPPORT FROM ITALIAN OFFICIALS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The World Radiosport Team Championship, which is about to
open shortly near Bologna, Italy, has gained the official patronage and
support of the Ministry of Enterprises and the Made in Italy initiative. The
competition is being held in a region of Italy known as an economic engine
because of the strength of its business ventures in technology and
craftsmanship. This recognition adds a much-needed boost, following the
devastating floods that swept through the region, challenging the organizers
of the event which takes place July 4th through July 11th.
(WRTC 2022 REFLECTOR)
**
13 COLONIES OPERATING EVENT MARKS 15th YEAR
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It’s a historic milestone for an on-air event that
celebrates America’s revolutionary past. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Mark
Abramowicz (Abram-o-vich) NT3V, has the story.
MARK: It’s back and marking its 15th year on the ham bands.
It’s the annual 13 Colonies Special Event running this year from July 1 to
July 7.
Bob Josuweit WA3PZO is coordinator for WM3PEN, a special call sign activated
from the “Cradle of Libertyö in Philadelphia.
“It’s a relatively easy event for many people to operate,ö Josuweit
explains. “It’s making contact with one or more of the 13 special event
stations in each of the 13 colonies.
“Plus, we’ve added over the years three bonus stations – WM3PEN in
Philadelphia, GB13COL in England and, recently, TM13COL in France.ö
Josuweit says activity during the 13 Colonies Special Event has been
climbing rapidly in recent years and there are some occasional pile-ups so
you may need a little patience and persistence to get through.
“Last year we were well over a quarter million contacts for all the stations
combined,ö he recalls. “And, for WM3PEN, back in 2013 I believe it was we
were just around 3,000 contacts. Last year, we were closer to 13,000.ö
There’s a special certificate offered to operators working the event. And
each of the groups running stations in the original 13 colonies has special
QSL cards tied to this year’s theme surrounding the signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
“We’ll be on all modes at different times, using HF and satellites. There
will even be some SSTV,ö Josuweit advises. “The best thing to do is watch
the various spotting networks such as DX Summit. There’s a 13 Colonies
Facebook page which people can monitor as well.ö
Josuweit says you don’t have to be a contester to work the stations. He says
the operators at each station realize how much interest there is. Many,
Josuweit says, will be operating long hours, even on the Fourth of July
holiday, to make sure every station they can work gets into the log.
For a link to the group’s website <PRINT ONLY: DO NOT READ:
http://www.13colonies.us/> go to the text version of this story published on
our website, arnewsline.org.
I’m Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.
**
SATELLITE ENTHUSIASTS ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THE 'LEDSAT' CHALLENGE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The challenge is on - are you up to it? The European Space
Agency and S5Lab (pronounced: Ess Five Lab) are inviting hams around the
world to get involved in making a special contact through the digipeater of
an educational CubeSat known as LEDSAT. Neil Rapp WB9VPG tells us how to get
involved.
NEIL: LEDSAT, an LED CubeSat developed by university students in Rome with
assistance from AMSAT Italia, was created primarily to demonstrate an LED-
based payload to be used with ground-based optical tracking. Starting on
June 26th and through to July 30th, it takes on a secondary purpose: It is
part of a challenge to hams that will win them the prize of a personalized
QSL card designed just for this competition. Hams are being asked to send a
digital message via satellite to PI9ESA, the ground station of the ESA's
Education Office. The CubeSat follows a sun-synchronous orbit and its
digipeater will be activated at certain times. It has two communication
windows, one around midday and one at midnight. Operators will be based at
the ESA ground station to copy the messages. Hams are encouraged to use
their preferred pass-prediction software to assist in the contact.
LEDSAT's digipeater has the ability to store and forward digital messages
with a delay of up to two days.
For details about frequencies being used and other procedures of the
operation, visit the ESA website at esa dot int (esa.int) and search for
LEDSAT.
The challenge was organized to celebrate the launch of LEDSAT in August of
2021.
(EUROPEAN SPACE AGENY, S5LAB, AMSAT NEWS)
**
BUSINESSMAN AND ALMA MATER'S HAM CLUB SHARE A MILESTONE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The chief executive officer of iFixit, a business that
provides toolkits and repair guides for do-it-yourselfers, distinguished
himself on the California campus of his alma mater recently. Kyle Wiens
[WEENS], who graduated from California Polytechnic State University, took
his ham radio license exam under the watchful eye of volunteer examiners
from the Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club, W6BHZ. He passed, becoming the newest
licensee - number 2,000, It was a different kind of graduation for Kyle, who
founded his company with a friend in a campus dorm room in 2003 while he was
still a student at Cal Poly.
Six years later - in 2009, the on-campus amateur radio club began offering
license exams for students and the public.
According to an article on the club's website, Kyle wasn't the only one from
iFixit to claim newfound status as a licensee. Several members of the iFixit
team were also there and passed - right along with the boss.
(W6BHZ.ORG, iFIXIT WEBSITE)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the KD2SL
repeater in Syracuse, New York at 8 p.m., following the Monday Night Hobby
and Information Net.
**
JAPAN'S HAM FAIR 2023 RETURNS TO TOKYO VENUE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Japan's Ham Fair, continues to be the largest Hamfest in the
world and the Japan Amateur Radio League has high hopes that at the 2023
event visitors will enjoy a new era in amateur radio this coming August. In
fact, that new era is the very theme of the two-day event - August 20th and
21st - at Tokyo's Big Sight Convention Center.
This will be the 45th year for the league's ham fair, which was cancelled in
2021 due to concerns about the pandemic.
Before Japan's HamFair however the weekend of the release of this newscast,
Europe's largest Hamfest, the 46th HAM RADIO event in Friedrichshafen was
getting underway in the new messe (Pron: Mess Ah) expo centre.
(JARL, WIA)
**
FCC POLICY RESPONDS TO GROWTH IN WIDEBAND DEVICES
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In Washington, D.C., the FCC's policy on wideband devices
has once again responded to changes in the market. We have details from Kent
Peterson KCØDGY.
KENT: The FCC's policy concerning ultra-wideband devices appears to be
broadening to allow for expanded growth in the way the technology is used,
according to a recent report.
A June 13th posting written by Venable LLC and posted on the website
JDSupra.com noted that the agency granted a waiver of Part 15 rules to the
Schlage Lock Company LLC to enable the security firm to put one of its
ultra-wideband home security locks on the market. The report said it was the
first waiver of its kind to be granted this year but the action appears to
show that the FCC is continuing on a 20-year trajectory to relax its
permissions for ultra-wideband technology. Nearly 20 such waivers have been
granted over the years for this unlicensed use of low power RF signals,
generally employed for security uses, medical imaging and even robotic lawn
mowers. The Schlage company made the request on behalf of its smart
residential door locks which make use of ultra-wideband signals in
combination with Bluetooth.
The website's report notes that the Commission bases its approval of a
waiver request if it determines that licensed radio services would not face
harmful interference when such a device is in use. The Commission's Office
of Engineering and Technology concluded that there was a low likelihood of
harmful interference in this case, especially with transmissions taking
place in a small space relatively close to the ground.
The Venable article did say, however, that the FCC has not indicated it was
considering a policy change or any kind of overall update for ultra-wideband
technologies.
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
(VENABLE, LLC)
**
JOIN NEWSLINE'S HAIKU CHALLENGE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Are you enjoying Newsline's weekly ham radio haiku? Join our
challenge! We're inviting listeners to share the joy of amateur radio in the
form of a haiku. On our website, arnewsline.org, you will find a submission
form for sending your most creative offering. Be sure you follow the
traditional form to qualify: The first line is five syllables, the second
line is seven syllables and the finishing third line has another five
syllables. Be sure to match that format to qualify.
Our team will pick from the best submissions that follow the 5/7/5 syllable
rule and represent the love of amateur radio. Your prize? Bragging rights --
and a featured spot for your haiku on the Amateur Radio Newsline website.
Meanwhile, visit our website at arnewsline.org to see this week's winning
haiku.
**
RSGB SEEKS IDEAS FOR NATIONAL CODING WEEK
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In amateur radio, there's Code, as in Morse Code, and then
there's coding, the kind of coding some hams use in programming for their
equipment. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us how the Radio Society of Great Britain
has big plans for newcomers to coding.
JEREMY: Ham radio learning has been transformed by the BBC Micro:bit and the
Arduino and hams attracted to the kind of coding involved are rapidly
gaining enthusiasm. The Radio Society of Great Britain is preparing for
National Coding Week, which takes place during the third week of September
and is looking for volunteers who can help develop activities to encourage
newcomers to coding - newcomers of all ages - to explore this new
experience. The RSGB will be putting an extra emphasis on coding skills
during the third week of September and hopes hams will offer some creative
approaches for amateurs of all ages. If you have an idea, please contact
John Hislop, G7OHO, of the Exam and Syllabus Review Group. You can find his
email in the text version of this week's Newsline script.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
[JOHN'S EMAIL: g7oho@rsgb.org.uk ]
(RSGB)
**
AUSTRALIAN AMATEUR GROUP MARKS 100 YEARS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In Australia, hams who belong to one radio group know that a
lot has happened in the last 100 years - and they're celebrating all those
years, for a good reason. John Williams VK4JJW tells us what it's all about.
JOHN: Congratulations to the Ballarat Amateur Radio Group, VK3BML, which is
marking its 100th anniversary with a month-long on-the-air event. It was big
news in June of 1923 when the Ballarat Star newspaper announced the
formation of a ham radio group and informed readers of its first general
meeting on the 23rd of June. At the time, the organisation was identified as
the Ballarat Amateur Radio Club. Under the leadership of Ben Daniel, VK3NRD,
the members themselves are not certain how the original ham groups may have
changed, especially with the slight difference in its name, and they
continue to research their history. Meanwhile, members are celebrating their
cententary. There is no special event callsign but hams around the world are
being asked to listen for individual stations from Ballarat in the state of
Victoria, Australia and share in the special occasion.
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(BALLARAT AMATEUR RADIO GROUP, WIA)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, be listening for Dave, W9DR, on the air as VP2V/W9DR
from Anegada in the British Virgin Islands, IOTA number NA-023, from the
23rd to the 29th of June. He is using FT8, Q65, SSB and CW on 6m only. QSL
direct to his home call.
Be listening for Ken, K4ZW, and Bob, W9XY, operating with the callsign
ET3AA, the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society's club station at the Addis Ababa
University's Institute of Technology from June 19th to the 29th. They will
be using CW, SSB and FT8 on 6 metres and all HF bands except for 80 metres.
See QRZ.com for QSL details.
In the Amami Islands, IOTA number AS-023, Masa, JF3ELH, will be using the
callsign JF3ELH/6 for CW and SSB and will be using the callsign JF3ELH/p for
FT 8 operations. He will be operating on 80-6 metres. QSL via home call.
Listen for Yas, JA1QQU, on the air as KH2/JA1QQU from Guam, IOTA number OC-
026, from the 29th of June until the 4th of July. See QRZ.com for more
details.
(425 DX NEWS)
**
KICKER: SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES SEEN AS GPS REPLACEMENT
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Fans of GPS - Global Positioning Satellite navigation -
might soon be feeling a little fickle about their allegiance to this system.
There's a new option in town - or there will be, soon enough. Graham Kemp
VK4BB concludes this week's report with this story about the promises
offered by a special kind of sub-atomic particle.
GRAHAM: They're known as muons, sub-atomic, high-energy particles that
always travel at the same speed. They can be found all over the Earth and
researchers at the University of Tokyo are studying these readily available
muons as the basis for wireless navigation that can also function indoors,
underwater and beneath the ground.
Hiroyuki Tanaka calls it the muometric positioning system. Unlike GPS
devices, which gather information from low-earth orbit satellites, muometric
positioning uses the reference point of muon-detecting sensors. Researchers
acknowledge that while this shows promise, accuracy needs to be further
fine-tuned before the system can be deployed in devices such as smartphones
-- but it certainly means that navigation itself could travel in a whole new
direction.
This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.
(IFLSCIENCE)
**
DO YOU HAVE NEWS?
Do you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think Newsline would be
interested in? 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.
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; AMSAT News Service;
ARRL; ARISS-USA; Associated Press; Ballarat Amateur Radio Group; Cal Poly
Amateur Radio Club; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; DX-World.net; eHAM.net;
425DXNews; iFixit website; IFLScience, QRZ.COM; Radio Society of Great
Britain; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; Times of India; Venable LLC;
Wireless Institute of Australia; 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 Stephen Kinford N8WB
in Wadsworth Ohio saying 73. 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
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 25-jun-2023 11:15 E. South America Standard Time
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