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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2255 for Friday January 15th 2
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2255 for Friday January 15th 2021
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2255 with a release date of Friday
January 15th 2021 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hamvention is cancelled for the second time. Spain's
satellite launch is postponed -- and propagation research gets a new tool in
Finland. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2255
comes your way right now.
***
BILLBOARD CART
*****
HAMVENTION 2021 CANCELLED
JIM/ANCHOR: With distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine falling behind
schedule in the U.S., organizers of Hamvention 2021 have called off the
annual event for the second consecutive year. The executive committee posted
the news on various social media outlets on Monday, January 11th, citing
several setbacks related to the pandemic, with the vaccine delay named among
them.
The posting said: [quote] "We make this difficult decision for the safety of
our guests and vendors. Those who had their tickets deferred last year will
be deferred again." [endquote]
The theme for this year's Hamvention was to have been "The Gathering."
Instead, a Hamvention QSO Party is planned instead on the dates the event
was to have taken place.
The organizers added: [quote] "We’ll be back next year!!!"
(HAMVENTION)
**
IARU EVENT ADOPTS THEME SPURRED BY PANDEMIC
JIM/ANCHOR: The same pandemic that has forced cancellation of so many events
has also given radio amateurs a reason to step up their game on the air. One
of the next big events has been announced by the International Amateur Radio
Union. Jason Daniels VK2LAW has those details.
JASON: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided inspiration for a World Amateur
Radio Day theme similar to a popular campaign in the UK. The IARU has chosen
the theme of "Home But Never Alone" when World Amateur Radio Day kicks off
on Sunday April the 18th. The theme also carries forward the activities that
sprang up around the world last year, from special event stations that
reminded people to stay home and safe, to local wellness nets where the
elderly and others in isolation could check in regularly.
According to the IARU, on-the-air activity reached unprecedented levels and
participation in major contests soared in 2020.
World Amateur Radio Day is observed every year on the 18th of April to mark
the date in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in
Paris.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.
(IARU, SARL)
**
EARLY-BIRD TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR QSO TODAY'S 2ND VIRTUAL EXPO
JIM/ANCHOR: Early bird tickets have become available for the second QSO
Today Expo, which is being held online on March 13th and 14th. Forty-eight
hours of panel discussions, kit-building workshops and an array of new
speakers will be part of the experience, which is being organized in
partnership with the ARRL in the United States. The wide range of topics
includes 3D printer basics; Arduino in the shack; and DXpeditioning to the
DXCC's Most Wanted locations.
Early bird tickets are 00. During the event itself, the tickets will be
02.50. Tickets to the live event include access to the 30-day on-demand
period that follows, continuing until April 12.
The first QSO Today Expo held last August attracted more than 16,000
participants.
To register visit qsotodayhamexpo.com.
(QSO TODAY)
**
REVERSE BEACON NETWORK ADDS NODE IN FINLAND
JIM/ANCHOR: Researchers whose studies focus on propagation have gained a new
tool in their arsenal. It's in Finland - and Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us about
it.
ED: A new node has become active in northern Finland as part of the Reverse
Beacon Network, thanks to the support of the Yasme Foundation. The new node
was set-up at Radio Arcala OH8X, near the Lapland border to help in the
study of a propagation mode known as the Polar Path. This propagation occurs
in northern Europe during winter. At night the Polar Path provides several
hours' worth of coverage over North America.
Radio Arcala's node will become one of the research tools being used by the
researchers in that part of the world. The Yasme Foundation's grant
programme was announced last year, providing grants to regions studying
reception reports and conducting geophysical research. A Yasme-funded node
was installed last October in Tunisia, bolstering the Reverse Beacon
Network's presence in northern Africa.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.
(WIA, EHAM.NET)
**
POPULAR TV PERSONALITY GETS HAM RADIO LICENSE
JIM/ANCHOR: It seems that "Last Man Standing" actor Tim Allen isn't the only
main player on a TV
show to get a ham radio ticket. Meet Donna Snow, who has been a fixture on a
popular DIY Network program in the U.S. Kevin Trotman N5PRE introduces her
to us.
KEVIN: Donna Snow of the long-running reality show "Texas Flip 'N Move"
recently became Donna Snow W5SML. Although her call sign is a lot newer than
the name she made for herself on the popular home-makeover series, she is
hoping for changes in her own shack soon. Inspired by her ham radio mentor
Rex King W5EAK, a Vietnam veteran and a former Navy radioman and officer,
Donna is exploring ways to use ham radio as a tool to connect veterans
struggling with life after military service. She has already accomplished
that through renovation projects that included making a bathroom safer for a
Vietnam vet, and repairing a flood-damaged American Legion Post. She is
presently redoing the yard outside the home of a widow of a veteran who
fought at Iwo Jima.
While studying to upgrade to General class, she is also making plans for a
TV show featuring amateur radio and, of course, the veterans themselves. Her
progress reports appear every week on her QRZ page.
Donna told Newsline in an email: [quote] "I am on a mission to tell everyone
about ham radio and the benefits it offers to all, no matter their age."
[endquote] She said she is living the spirit of her vanity call sign W5SML -
SML for "Snow Much Love."
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
**
LAUNCH OF SPAIN'S HAM RADIO SATELLITE POSTPONED TO MARCH
JIM/ANCHOR: Two ham radio satellites from Spain have had their launches put
off for a few more weeks. Jeremy Boot G4NJH explains.
JEREMY: A delay by SpaceX has postponed Spain's scheduled amateur radio
satellite launch on January 14th. The departure of the EASAT-2 and Hades
satellites is now on the calendar for sometime in March to coincide with the
Starlink mission.
According to the AMSAT-EA website, both satellites are carrying an FM / FSK
repeater and are capable of voice and digital communications. EASAT-2 is
assigned the callsign AM5SAT and Hades is assigned AM6SAT.
SpaceX is to launch the satellites via the in-space transportation provider
Momentus aboard the Falcon 9 Launcher.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(AMSAT-EA, SOUTHGATE)
**
SPACECRAFT COPIES FM SIGNAL NEAR JUPITER'S MOON
JIM/ANCHOR: Think of this as perhaps the world's tiniest space QSO. NASA
reports that its Juno spacecraft which is orbiting Jupiter copied an FM
radio signal from its largest moon, Ganymede (GANNY-MEED). It turns out that
the radio emissions were the result of electrons oscillating at a lower rate
than they were spinning, causing them to amplify radio waves. Juno picked it
up as it was passing by a polar region of Jupiter where the magnetic field
lines connect to Ganymede.
It's called "cyclotron maser instability" and it's a natural occurrence. The
excitement only lasted 5 seconds -- but it was a first.
(EOS.ORG)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the N2XPM
repeater in Cedarhurst New York on Saturdays at noon local time.
**
HAMCATION NAMES NEIL RAPP WB9VPG 'EDUCATOR OF YEAR'
JIM/ANCHOR: This next story is a personal one, celebrating one member of our
Newsline family. Our anchor and correspondent Neil Rapp WB9VPG, who teaches
high school chemistry in Indiana, has been named Carole Perry Educator of
the Year by Orlando HamCation. Newsline editor Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT spoke
to Neil about his commmitment to amateur radio education.
CARYN: Licensed since the age of 5, Neil Rapp knows better than most of us
that ham radio is the best teacher.
NEIL: Especially when I got into high school, ham radio helped me understand
science. When I got to Chemistry, when everybody else was having a hard
time, I already knew my metric system, when I got to Physics, I already knew
Ohm's law -- because I did all of that when I was 5.
CARYN: Those early lessons became the foundation for the path his life took
as sponsor of school ham clubs, in the ARRL Teacher Institute and as one of
the founders and camp director of Youth on the Air for IARU Region 2. For
Neil, ham radio doesn't get old -- it gets YOUNG.
NEIL: Yeah we do have youth in ham radio and we do have kids doing great
things with it. There are some opportunities to make sure this continues. It
amazes me that the kids that are really into CW at a time when a lot of
people didn't want to learn CW and that's what kept them out of the hobby.
They're also into all these cool new digital modes that are becoming more
efficient and setting the pace for the commercial radio industry and cell
phones and public service and all the digital stuff. A lot of that came from
ham radio.
CARYN: His next project? A Youth on the Air mini-camp that mixes science
with the science of socializing.
NEIL: What we are trying to do is build some of those social connections
between the kids and that's why there is a lot of YOTA time that's at an
amusement park, at Dave & Buster's, at this place and that place that may
not have a thing to do with ham radio because it's social interaction time.
The whole YOTA thing isn't just learning about radio and learning about
technology; it's getting the social aspect there so that kids know other
kids. We have seen in Europe that perpetuates the hobby. That keeps the kids
in the hobby.
CARYN: So congratulations Neil. Your well-deserved Carole Perry trophy will
now sit beside your autographed oscillator from Carole's Youth Forum at
Hamvention.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT.
**
COUNTDOWN TO PLUTO'S BIG ANNIVERSARY
JIM/ANCHOR: Whether or not you still think of Pluto as a planet, its
discovery is still something to celebrate. Randy Sly W4XJ tells us why.
RANDY: The Northern Arizona DX Association is about to launch the first
event in its 10-year special event countdown to the 100th anniversary of its
discovery in the Kuiper (KY-PURR) Belt. Be listening for club members
operating between February 13th and the 21st as W7P. They'll be at the
Lowell Observatory from which Pluto was first spotted and their home QTHs.
One of the operators will be Doug Tombaugh N3PDT, nephew of Pluto's
discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh. He will operate as W7P/0.
There will be special QSL cards each year leading up to the 100th
anniversary event. A certificate with endorsement stickers for each of the
10 years of the special event and for a contact with Doug and his team will
be available later as well, Visit the QRZ.COM page for more details.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Randy Sly W4XJ.
(QRZ)
**
FANS OF RADIO'S FIRST VOICE MODE PREP FOR AM RALLY
JIM/ANCHOR: Amplitude Modulation, or AM, was the first voice mode over
radio. It has three parts - a carrier, an upper sideband, and a lower
sideband - and in just two weeks, it will be gaining a fourth part: The AM
Rally. This is an annual event designed to encourage AM activity for
newcomers as well as longtime fans who may be firing up their vacuum tube
rigs to make contacts.
This year's event will be held from 0000Z on Saturday, February 6th to 0700Z
Monday February 8th - or for those in the United States, 7 p.m. Eastern Time
on Friday February 5th to 2 a.m. Eastern time Monday February 8th.
Organizers said YLs in particular are invited to return, based on the
success of last year's "Ladies' Night" feature. All types of radios are
permitted, from modified military and broadcast equipment to homebrew and
those commercially manufactured.
For additional details and to find operating and logging guidance, visit the
website amrally dot com (amrally.com)
(CLARK BURGARD N1BCG)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, AMSAT Argentina, LU7AA will celebrate the 31st
anniversary of the LUSAT satellite (LO-19) between January 16th and 24th. Be
listening on the HF bands on SSB, CW and the digital modes. A special
certificate is available. Visit QRZ.COM for additional details.
In Israel, listen for 4X0RMN to be operating from the Ramon Crater, Israel's
largest national park, in the Negev desert between the 30th of January and
the 1st of February. Send QSLs to 4X6ZM, LoTW and eQSL. A certificate will
be available for working three out of the four special stations that are
operating as part of the ongoing Land of Craters Program that kicked off
last year. For more details visit QRZ.COM.
Be listening for Bo, OZ1DJJ operating in his spare time as OX3LX from
Tasiilaq (TAZZY-Uh-LACK) Island in Greenland through the 30th of January.
Send QSLs to LoTW, Club Log's OQRS or direct to OZ0J.
**
KICKER: GOT A MINUTE? ER, 59 SECONDS?
JIM/ANCHOR: Got a minute? Or maybe a millisecond less? It's time for Graham
Kemp VK4BB and our final story of the week.
GRAHAM: Things might just get a little challenging for UTC - Coordinated
Universal Time, that is - the time-keeping system so familiar to us hams who
pursue precision in our DX contacts or use some of the newer digital modes.
As reported on the UK news website, The Telegraph, scientists are now
suggesting that the world's atomic clocks, which control UTC, shorten the
minute so that UTC can better keep pace with the irregular rate of the
Earth's rotation, which most people measure using the less precise method
known as "solar time."
Let's face it, it's hard to stay in sync. When the Earth's rotation was seen
to be slowing, scientists added something called a "leap second" to the end
of a particular year. They've done this 27 times since 1972 to keep atomic
clocks and UTC sympatico with solar time. Scientists believe Earth's 24-hour
rotation has grown swifter now, making the days ever-so-slightly shorter.
They also believe 2021 could well be the shortest year we've had in many
decades. They say this will ultimately have an impact on navigation systems
and satellite communications and anything else that requires precision in
cosmic timekeeping.
This very subject is up for discussion at the World Radiocommunication
Conference in 2023 which is at least two years - and many, many, many, many
seconds away.
Now that's a thought that could probably make our own heads spin a lot
faster too.
Having the time of my life with that report for Amateur Radio Newsline I'm
Graham Kemp VK4BB.
(NTIA, BUSINESS INSIDER, TELEGRAPH)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur News Weekly; AMSAT-EA; the ARRL;
Business Insider; Clark Burgard N1BCG; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB;
Hamvention; EOS.org; the NTIA; Ohio Penn DX newsletter; Orlando HamCation;
QRZ.com; QSO Today; the Radio Society of Great Britain; Southgate Amateur
Radio News; South African Radio League; shortwaveradio.de; Southgate; the
Telegraph; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the 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
newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline's only official website at 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. As always we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 17-jan-2021 16:00 E. South America Standard Time
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