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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2450 for Friday October 11th, 2024
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2450 with a release date of
Friday, October 11th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams respond as Hurricane Milton engulfs
Florida. More funding will be used to strengthen broadcasters in
disaster areas -- and in India, ham radio is being promoted as a tool
for the well-being for women. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2450 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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HAMS RESPOND TO 2ND HURRICANE IN SOUTHERN US

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: As Newsline went to production, our top story was still developing: Hurricane Milton was rampaging through much of Florida in
the US. As Randy Sly W4XJ tells us, hams were prepared for the worst
when it came.

RANDY: While emergency communications were still continuing in the wake
of Hurricane Helene's impact on the Southeastern United States, hams in
Florida had to begin their own activation for Hurricane Milton on
Wednesday, October 9th. In addition to the Hurricane Watch Net on 20
and 40 meters, the Statewide Amateur Radio Network, or SARNet, was busy handling traffic from the state's Emergency Operations Center. SARNet
is a network of linked UHF repeaters run out of the EOC covering most
of the state of Florida.

Approaching the state's western coast south of Tampa with Category 3
winds, Milton was already producing a number of tornadic supercells in
southern Florida before making landfall, causing the storm's first
deaths. More than 3 million were without power as the hurricane moved
out to sea on Thursday morning.

As with North Carolina's Mount Mitchell repeater during Hurricane
Helene, SARNet was linked to Broadcastify, allowing individuals from
around the world a front-row seat as amateurs passed emergency traffic. Unfortunately, in addition to hearing a professionally-run net,
listeners also witnessed malicious interference on the repeaters, which
could have endangered clear communications. With handheld radios so
easy to obtain nowadays, it is hard to know whether the interruptions
came from licensed hams or not.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ

(SARNet, BROADCASTIFY)

**
FEDERAL FUNDS TO STRENGTHEN BROADCASTERS' RESILIENCY

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Public radio and TV stations are getting an extra dose
of federal funds to strengthen their ability to operate during
disasters. We have those details from Patrick Clark K8TAC.

PATRICK: With disaster resiliency on almost everyone's mind in the US,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made an additional $40
million available to public radio and TV stations to permit them to
upgrade their infrastructure. The money is being released through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The funds are designed to permit
radio stations' investments in new transmitters, generators, backup
power supplies, antennas and related equipment for handling emergency
messages. The equipment is capable of handling messages through the
federal agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System and its
Common Alerting Protocol. For TV stations, the funds are to support
training their personnel in the use of new or upgraded equipment. FEMA
has already released two rounds of funding to public broadcasters This
third round will mean that $136-million has been spent during the
course of three fiscal years to assist public media's capabilities
during disasters.

This is Patrick Clark K8TAC.

(RADIO WORLD)

**
HAMS HELP AMPUTATION PATIENT IN INDIA FIND HIS WAY HOME

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A ham club in India with a specialty in helping
families reunite with lost relatives has assisted in the homecoming of
a man recovering from an amputated leg. We hear more about him from
John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: The suffering of a man separated from his family was amplified by
the agony of having just endured the amputation of his left leg - the
result of an apparent accident near the Sodepur and Agarpara railway
station tracks in West Bengal, India. Authorities were not clear how
the man had become injured but following his surgery at the Sagar Dutta
Medical College and Hospital. They knew they could at least help heal
one part of his pain: his sense of isolation and the onset of
depression.

While the man recovered physically, the hospital superintendent sought
help to get him family support. On the 26th of September, the hospital
official Zahid Hossain, contacted the West Bengal Radio Club, an
amateur radio organisation with a proven track record of helping in missing-persons cases.

According to a report in the Millennium Post, the hams used their vast
network of contacts to locate the man's family in the West Bengal
district of Birbhum. The club's secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA,
told the newspaper that when the hams got in touch with the man's elder
sister, they learned that she had reported him missing about a year
ago. The siblings were put in touch with one another and the man
recognised his sister. When he was considered healthy enough to be
released by the hospital, he returned home with her to the family's
village.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(MILLENNIUM POST)

**
COLORADO CHOSEN AS SITE FOR NEXT YOUNG AMATEURS' CAMP STEPHEN/ANCHOR:
As many as 50 licensed amateurs between the ages of 15 and 25 will be
headed for Colorado next June as the Youth on the Air Camp for the
Americas enters its fifth season. The online application period begins
on December 1st and is open to young radio operators from North,
Central and South America. The camp will take place from June 15th
through to the 20th.

Prospective campers living outside the United States are being given
priority and are encouraged to leave sufficient time to obtain the
required passport and tourist Visa, where applicable. First-time
campers are also being given priority. Attendees from past years are
welcome to apply to serve as leaders.

Meanwhile, plans are in the works to inaugurate two other camp
experiences next year: subregional camps and a YOTA Junior USA camp
serving hams younger than 15.

Visit youthontheair dot org - that's youthontheair - one word - dot org (youthontheair.org) For additional information, please contact Camp
Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG via the email address, director at
youthontheair dot org (director@youthontheair.org)

(YOUTH ON THE AIR)

**
SILENT KEY: ALBANIAN AMATEUR RADIO LEADER JOVAN BOJDANI, ZA1H

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A leader in Albania's amateur radio community has
become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: From the very beginning, radio was almost certain to be in the
future for Jovan Bojdani, ZA1H. He grew up watching his father at the
helm of Radio Tirana, Albania's first broadcast radio station which
transmitted its powerful signal on 7050 kHz. Jovan's own history-making involvement in radio came with the creation of the Albanian Amateur
Radio Association, which he served in as secretary. Jovan had been one
of the first students to be trained in the ZA1A IARU amateur radio
program in 1989, in preparation for amateur radio's reintroduction into
Albania the following year.

Notices posted on a variety of DX websites praised Jovan's efforts to
welcome international operators to Albania and to provide whatever
guidance he could to local hams. A note posted on DX News said that
[quote] "Jovan worked tirelessly to unite competing amateur radio
groups in Albania though sadly, he did not live to see the fruits of
his efforts." [endquote]

Details about the date and cause of his death were not available when
Newsline went to production.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(425 DX NEWS)

**
SILENT KEY: KEITH LAMONICA, W7DXX, PIONEERED INTERNET-REMOTE HAM
STATION

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A lifelong ham radio enthusiast and former broadcaster
who co-developed the first Internet-remote amateur radio station has
become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Dave Parks WB8ODF.

DAVE: If you've ever operated an amateur radio station remotely via the Internet, you have Keith Lamonica, W7DXX, to thank. The former
broadcaster, who was the recipient of numerous awards including the
noted Peabody Award, was perhaps best known among hams for working with
another amateur, Bob Arnold, N2JEU, to establish an internet-controlled
base for amateur radio enabling radio operators without antennas to get
on the air remotely with computers. This groundbreaking station was
profiled in a 1999 article in CQ magazine. Both Keith and Bob were
inducted into CQ's Hall of Fame in 2016.

Keith died on Thursday, the 26th of September following a series of
illnesses, according to a notice on QRZ.com. His accomplishments as a
ham started very early on in his life when he made front page-news in
the local California newspaper for being the first person in the area
to hear radio transmissions being sent by the Soviet satellite Sputnik.

A satellite enthusiast, he developed the satellite radio talk show as a
format, creating a program known as FM America. He also hosted a Sun
Broadcast Network radio talk show.

His long professional career in radio and TV had him crisscrossing the
US to markets from the East Coast to the West Coast. The Peabody Award
was presented to him for his coverage of the trial of James Earl Ray,
who was convicted of the assassination of US civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Keith was 81.

This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(QRZ.COM)

**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, like the
George County ARES repeater in Lucedale, Mississippi Wednesdays at 7:37
p.m. local time.

**
SEMINAR FOCUSES ON RADIO AS TOOL FOR WOMEN'S WELL-BEING

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A recent seminar on a university campus in India
focused on ham radio as a tool for the well-being of women. Jim Meachen
ZL2BHF tells us what the students learned.

JIM: As part of their efforts to promote amateur radio and STEM careers
among women in India, Sister Nivedita University and OSCAR India, a
programme of the All India School of Management and Information
Technology, spent a day exploring the value that involvement in radio
can bring to women's lives.

The all-day seminar, held on September 30th on the university's Kolkata
campus, placed a special emphasis on radio communication's vital role
in ensuring women's security.

Undergraduates enrolled in the university's Mass Communication and
Engineering departments were given an opportunity for hands-on
experience with radio equipment, especially gear used in emergencies.
OSCAR India's Convener Nilkantha Chatterjee, VU2OII, shared a sample of VoIP-based communication, traditional radio modes and Morse Code.

OSCAR India, which has conducted training seminars across 20 states in
India during the last eight years, has placed a greater emphasis in its
recent programmes on young women using radios. The organisation, whose
name is an acronym for Open Source Convention for Amateur Radio, is
encouraging young women in particular to use ham radio as a gateway to
greater personal security. These seminars are designed to increase understanding of technology and general societal well-being through
radio connections.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(TELEGRAPH INDIA)

**
BALLOON TO TAKE HAM PAYLOADS ALOFT IN SOUTH AFRICA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The liftoff of a balloon from a South African air strip
will carry a variety of ham radio payloads into near space. Jason
Daniels VK2LAW has more details for us.

JASON: A dramatic early-morning weather balloon launch on Saturday, the
12th of October, is scheduled to lift a series of CubeSats into a
near-space environment above South Africa as hams follow and track the
balloon from locations as far away as possible. The hams were
encouraged to use the various payloads, which included cross-band
repeaters, LORA and APRS trackers, parrot repeaters, WSPR beacons and
SSTV payloads The CubeSats remain aloft until the hydrogen-filled
balloon bursts and then they parachute back to earth.

The launch at a model air strip near Secunda, coordinated by the
Secunda Radio Club, ZS6SRC, is known as BACAR-12. The acronym stands
for Balloon Carrying Amateur Radio.

This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(SARL)

**
VOICE OF AMERICA GETTING NEW HQ

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The parent agency of Voice of America is preparing for relocation to new headquarters in Washington, D.C., leaving the
historic Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building that VOA has called home
since 1954.

Beginning this year, the US Agency for Global Media will begin moving
VOA and its four other international broadcast entities: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting
Networks and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. The relocation to 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue NorthWest is being called a financially sound move.
The media agency said that it will save taxpayers more than
$150-million over the lease's 15-year lifetime.

(RADIO INK)

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, there will be an earth-moon-earth event based in
Dwingeloo, The Netherlands, during the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree
On The Air activation on October 18th and 19th, It will be hosted by
the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope. Be listening for Scout stations on
432.050 MHz on both days, between 17:00 UTC and 22:30 UTC. You can also
monitor the audio via CAMRAS WebSDR.

Listen for Sam, 7K1EAS, on the air as JR6/7K1EAS from Yonaguni Island,
IOTA Number AS-024, starting on the 13th of October through to the
17th. He will be using FT8/FT4 and SSB on 40, 10 and occasionally 6
metres. QSL via the bureau.

Volker, DL1WH, will be active holiday style as PA/DL1WH/p from
Ameland Island, IOTA Number EU-038 from the 12th of October through to
the 26th. Volker will be using CW and some SSB. See QRZ.com for QSL
details.

There is still time to work Francesco, IK0FUX, who is operating holiday
style as 8Q7UX from the Maldives, IOTA Number AS-013. He is on the air
through the 14th of October, using CW primarily and some FT8. See
QRZ.com for QSL details.

Listen for Harold, DF2WO, whose 12-day operation from Rwanda begins on
the 10th of October. He is using the callsign 9X2AW, using CW, FT4 and
SSB on 80-10 metres. You may also hear in him on 6m. He will focus
on stations in Asia. Harold may also be heard via the QO-100 satellite.
See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: A BEAST OF AN EVENT FOR "SASQUATCH AWARENESS"

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We end this report with a reminder that it's October
-the same month as Halloween - and things are about to get a little -
well OK, a lot - hairy. Ralph Squillace explains.

RALPH: You may no longer believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or
even the Tooth Fairy but do you believe in Sasquatch? The sizable
simian of popular American folklore has a sizable following -- and when
he puts his foot down, he leaves his mark. Bigfoot - that hair-covered
mythical presence reportedly sighted in Western states of the US - does everything in a big way. So the Radio Club of Tacoma in Washington
state is taking its cue from him by devoting six days to mark National Sasquatch Awareness Day - October 16th through to the 21st.

Whether you call the beast Sasquatch or Bigfoot, you can celebrate
Awareness Day by chasing this legendary creature of the woods. Listen
for W7 callsigns with suffixes that spell "BIGFOOT," starting with W7B,
W7I, W7G and so on. Sasquatch Spotters will be posting his whereabouts
on CW, phone, FT8/FT4, RTTY and PSK on the HF bands.

Just remember before you get on the air: put your best - and possibly
your biggest - foot forward.

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

**
HAIKU FOR YOU

Don't forget the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge. Share with
fellow listeners the poetry that is inspired by your ham radio
experience! If you're not too busy tuning your antennas or chasing the
latest DXpedition, pick up a pencil and share your experience by
sending an original haiku to us here at Newsline. Use the entry form on
our website, arnewsline.org and please follow the rules for writing
your three-line haiku -- sorry but we cannot accept any entries that
aren't written in traditional haiku form.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; AMSAT News; ARRL; Broadcastify; David Behar K7DB; FCC; 425DXNews; Millennium Post;
QRZ.com; Radio Ink; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; SARNet; South
African Radio League; Telegraph India; 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 Stephen Kinford N8WB in
Wadsworth Ohio saying 73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur
Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2024. All rights reserved.

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