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| Message 13010 |
| Rug Rat to All |
| AR Newsline 2502 - 10 Oct 2025 |
| 12 Oct 25 13:31:42 |
MSGID: 1:135/250@fidonet 68ec021f PID: C-NET AMIGA BBS 5.36b Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2502 for Friday, October 10th, 2025 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2502 with a release date of Friday, October 10th, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. The world's largest radio telescope gets RFI protection. The founder of the 13 Colonies special event becomes a Silent Key -- and Sri Lanka launches its third CubeSat. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2502 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** WORLD'S LARGEST RADIO TELESCOPE GAINS RFI PROTECTION STEPHEN/ANCHOR: As construction continues on the world's largest radio telescope - known as the Square Kilometre Array - Faraday cages have been installed at the site in Australia as additional protection against RFI. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us what's happening there. GRAHAM: Two Faraday cages have been put in place at the Square Kilometre Array site in Western Australia to protect the giant radio telescope from interference caused by RF leaks coming from inside the data centre. The data centre and the array are being built in Murchison, a remote location that provides a needed environment of radio quietness. Despite the radio silence at the location, the data centre's computers, which connect to the city of Perth, generate stray RF, spurring the need for Faraday cages to prevent the electromagnetic energy from escaping. The international massive array, which will have 131,072 antennas, is still a work in progress since it was started in 2022. The site in Australia is home to the array's low-frequency antennas; South Africa is housing the mid-frequency antennas. The observatory and headquarters are at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in northwest England. Although the array will still be a work in progress through to 2029, Philip Diamond, director of the SKA Observatory, recently told The Register website that tests may be run on the facility as early as 2027. He told The Register: [quote] "By then we will have the largest physical low-frequency telescope on the planet." [endquote] This is Graham Kemp VK4BB. (THE REGISTER.COM) ** SRI LANKA'S BIRDS-X CUBESAT IS IN ORBIT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Six years after launching its first nano satellite, Sri Lanka has launched its third - and the ham radio CubeSat is orbiting the Earth. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us what to listen for. JIM: The BIRDS-X Dragonfly CubeSat has marked a milestone for Sri Lanka, becoming that nation's third nano satellite in space. Developed with help from the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies an the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, it began its orbit last month following its launch from SpaceX-33. Its mission is to serve as an APRS digipeater and to test a new low-cost communication system. It will also demonstrate the relay of store-and-forward data. Its callsign is JG6YOW. The APRS FM digipeater frequency is 145.825 MHZ and its CW beacon is on 437.375 MHz. The 2U CubeSate project was funded by Amateur Radio Digital Communications. To file a reception report for the CW beacon, follow the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org. [DO NOT READ: https://tinyurl.com/mw35fzmc ] This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. (THEMORNING, BIRDS-X PROJECT,COM, SATNOGS.ORG) ** FCC DENIES APPROVAL OF 4 CHINESE-OWNED ELECTRONICS LABS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In the US, the FCC has continued its actions against foreign-owned laboratories that test imported electronics for sale and use in the country. Kent Peterson KCØDGY has that report. KENT: Four foreign-controlled testing laboratories that evaluate electronics imported for use in the United States have been denied recognition by the Federal Communications Commission. Just days before the shutdown that affected much of the US government, including the FCC, the commission announced that the four laboratories, like the 11 the commission denied in early September, were controlled by Chinese interests. That makes for a total of 15 such labs rejected so far by the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, as part of the administration's goal to give US-owned companies the responsibility of certifying electronics for import and sale in the US. All approved equipment must demonstrate that it is not a threat to US national security and must comply with FCC standards. This move is the latest following the commission's adoption in May of the order. At the time the order was announced, the FCC disclosed that about 75 percent of all electronics sold in the US are being tested by Chinese labs. This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (FCC) ** SILENT KEY: KEN VILLONE, KU2US, FOUNDER OF 13 COLONIES SPECIAL EVENT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The founder of a popular and much-loved annual tradition - the 13 Colonies Special Event - has become a Silent Key. We learn more about him from Travis Lisk N3ILS. TRAVIS: With the birth of the 13 Colonies Special event here in the US as a four-day event in 2009, Ken Villone, KU2US, began a ham radio revolution. Inspired by the fun of the ARRL Sweepstakes, the military veteran had hoped to organize a special on-the-air event that would spotlight American history and celebrate the nation's independence during the days surrounding the July 4th holiday. As Ken told the ARRL earlier this year, the 2008 Sweepstakes spurred him to try his luck [quote] ....for one year only, to see what happens and to have some fun." [end quote] The man who made sure that the fun would continue each year afterward became a Silent Key on the 2nd of October following a lengthy illness. In the years before his death, the 13 Colonies event had become an internationally popular activity with bonus stations and chasers around the world. Only weeks before this year's event, with his health worsening, Ken transferred the event's leadership to his friend Tony Jones N4ATJ, coordinator of North Carolina's K2J station. With the help of Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, the 13 Colonies event went forward. Ken stayed active as the state manager for the K2A operators in New York. Tony told Newsline that the event's 2025 certificate was one that Ken himself designed -- and that only one change was made to it so it reflected that the event was honoring him, as its founder, this year. One event operator wrote on Facebook: [quote] "Ken had no idea just what he had created. What started as a small event, over the next 17 years became one of the most participated and celebrated Ham Radio events, not only in the United States, but worldwide." [endquote] Next year's event will mark the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence and Tony will be looking for ways to mark that milestone while continuing to honor Ken. He told Newsline: [quote] "I will miss Ken and his guidance." [endquote] Ken was 76. This is Travis Lisk N3ILS. (TONY JONES N4ATJ, LEGACY.COM, FACEBOOK, ARRL) ** FLORIDA BAPTIST CHURCHES GROW EMERGENCY RADIO NETWORK STEPHEN/ANCHOR: People in Florida who turn to their churches in times of need will soon find refuge there in another kind of storm - hurricane season - with the help of amateur radio. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us about creation of a new church radio network-in-progress. JACK: His role as the associational mission strategist for the Marion Baptist Association doesn't require Mark Weible, N4GPA, to have a ham license - but Mark, a former pastor, took his FCC test successfully a year ago and since then he has been finding ways to harness ham radio's power for churches' emergency communications during hurricane season. The Ocala, Florida Baptist association has already added a radio shack and has plans for a tower. Under Mark's direction, the group is also looking to create a network of hams within its 67 member churches. Pastors are helping Mark locate licensees within their congregations. Meanwhile, the association has a telescoping radio antenna donated after an upgrade done by the Marion Emergency Radio Team, a radio group Mark belongs to which handles disaster communications at the county's Emergency Operations Center. Mark plans to give church leaders a tour of the association's radio shack in the hopes it will inspire them to install a shack for their own local congregations. He told the Baptist Press that church involvement makes good sense. He said [quote]: "If we were to have a hurricane, Id need to know which churches have power, which churches are not damaged and which churches can host disaster relief teams. Id need to know which churches need help and which ones can help. [endquote] Meanwhile, he is busy being helpful even without a radio in hand. His chaplaincy training assists him in helping distraught families cope during or after disasters. This is Jack Parker W8ISH. (BAPTIST PRESS, FLBAPTIST.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 AA7WI repeater in Tucson, Arizona on Fridays at 7 pm local time. ** FCC CHARGES HAM WITH ILLEGAL 40M OPERATION STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Even with the government shutdown here in the US, the clock is still ticking for the FCC to receive a response from the Florida ham charged with illegal one-way communications on the air. A notice of violation was issued in late September to Mike F. Conte; KA2FPZ, for having operated last March on 7.200 MHz, engaging in apparent one-way communication with a station for which there is no active amateur radio callsign. According to the Notice of Violation, he confirmed to the agent from the Enforcement Bureau that his transmission was a one-way communication. The FCC has ordered him to submit a response and explanation in writing within 20 days of the notice, which was dated the 29th of September. According to a notice on the FCC website, the shutdown has no impact on filings related to enforcement matters. A statement on the website reads: [quote] "Except as specified by the Enforcement Bureau, there are no extensions of deadlines relating to enforcement investigations and other enforcement proceedings that involve specific parties." [endquote] (FCC) ** IARU FORUM HOSTS TOP DX CONTESTER, OFFERING TIPS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: This month, contesters who are used to hearing a familiar callsign on the air from Japan will get a chance to hear him off the air - in a forum designed to help them sharpen their own contest scores. We have those details from John Williams VK4JJW. JOHN: There's no guarantee that Katsuhiro Kondou, JH5GHM, will be giving away any of the secrets that have made him one of Japan's top DX contesters but....you never know. Don, as he is also known, is presenting a one-hour virtual talk to DX contesters - or those aspiring to become one - on the 19th of October. His presentation on Zoom begins at 0600 UTC. IARU Region 3 is hosting the workshop because, according to the region's website, the number of contesters in Asia has been steadily growing. Don had been an avid contester as a teenager in the 1970s but after a hiatus of a decade or so in the '90s, he returned to ham radio and to contesting in 2010. To hear his tips and maybe give yourself an edge in the next big event, register by following the link that appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org [DO NOT READ: https://forms.gle/xL74BfWALEHoDmDD9 ] This is John Williams VK4JJW. (IARU REGION 3) ** HURRICANE WATCH NET LAUNCHES PODCAST STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Most of you have certainly heard the Hurricane Watch Net on the air but.....have you heard it as a podcast or even seen it on YouTube? Now you can do either - or both - as we hear from Randy Sly W4XJ. But first, listen carefully: |
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