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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 KC0DGY 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 KC0DGY.
(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.
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