Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2118 for Friday, June 1, 2018

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2118 with a release date of Friday, 
June 1, 2018, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. In Montana and Maryland, hams respond to floods. 
In Australia, amateurs take on on-air bullies - and South Africa awaits 
use of 60 meters. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 
2118 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
YELLOWSTONE ARES STEPS IN DURING MONTANA STORM

NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's newscast with reports of amateur 
response to flooding. While most of the U.S. concentrated on their 
holiday celebrations over Memorial Day weekend, hams in two parts of the 
country dealt with crisis conditions. We begin in Montana with the 
Yellowstone Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Here's Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

KENT: Amateur radio operators in the Billings, Montana area mobilized 
over the Memorial Day holiday weekend as a "perfect storm" brought 
massive flooding to the region brought on by melting mountain snowpack, 
heavy rain and an anticipated crest of the Yellowstone River. There were 
concerns too that the region's complex canal system that feeds local 
farms could further complicate the scenario. As the holiday weekend 
began on Friday, May 25th, Brad Shoemaker, Disaster and Emergency 
Services Director turned to YARES, the Yellowstone Amateur Radio 
Emergency Services. Ron Glass WN7Y, the ARRL's Emergency Coordinator for 
Yellowstone County, activated a net, 23 hams checked in and staffing got 
under way. Five hams went the next morning to sandbag centers where they 
helped manage traffic and ensure that no one ran out of bags or sand. In 
some cases, said Ron, the hams even helped residents load the sandbags 
into their vehicles. Others staffed the Emergency Operations Center and 
Net Control while still others served as "loggers" tracking callouts. 
The weekend operation brought logistics challenges and long work shifts, 
Ron told Newsline, but the hams kept their duties covered. By Monday, as 
the anticipated rainstorm began to hit hard, hams were dispatched for 
River Watch Duty and at roadway locations to identify any threatened 
bridges, flooded roads and other trouble spots identified by the county. 
The damage ultimately turned out to be less than predicted. Ron told 
Newsline: [quote] "Even though the storm dropped over an inch of rain in 
the first 15 minutes and we were driving through flooded streets the 
rest of the day, the event was NOT as large as expected." [endquote] By 
3 p.m. that same afternoon, the flood warning was dropped and the EOC 
went into standby mode, said Ron. He told Newsline that YARES was 
officially deactivated within the hour.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(RON GLASS, WN7Y)

**
HAMS PREP FOR FLOODED MARYLAND MILL TOWN

NEIL/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, not quite two years after the historic mill town 
of Ellicott City Maryland was nearly swallowed up by flood waters, it 
was being described again as a "war zone." Memorial Day weekend storms 
and flooding that affected other parts of Maryland brought particular 
devastation to this Howard County community where there were reports 
that one man had gone missing and a body was recovered two days later 
from the water. Maryland hams wasted no time. Marty Pittenger KB3MXM, 
the ARRL Maryland-DC Section Manager told Newsline that just as the 
flood alerts started popping up in early evening on Sunday May 27th, the 
ARES team activated. Marty said the word went out - "this is NOT a 
drill" - and a half-hour later, at 7 p.m. when the governor declared a 
state of emergency, stations had already been checking in. As they 
remained on standby, hams began sharing weather information, agency and 
SKYWARN reports and other situational details. According to Marty the 
quickly-assembled team comprised 40 hams across five repeaters covering 
an area of about 5600 square miles across six counties. Hams were also 
monitoring EchoLink and conducted a quick test on 80 meters in case HF 
was needed to pass messages.

Marty said that the nets remained active until instruction to stand down 
came at 10:15 p.m. Marty said there was ultimately no need for the hams 
to be deployed to assist.

(CNN, Marty Pittenger KB3MXM)

**

SLENT KEY: JIM SELLARS N0UAM

NEIL/ANCHOR: Net control operators are the heart and soul of emergency 
response and one noted weather-watcher has become a Silent Key, as we 
hear from Geri Goodrich KF5KRN.

GERI: Jim "Mad Dog" Sellars N0UAM became a Silent Key on May 22nd - but 
for all the years before he was an active radio amateur who lived, some 
might say, in the eye of the storm. An enthusiastic storm-chaser, Jim 
was perhaps best known as Assistant Director of VoIP Hurricane Net 
Operations and Net Control.

He most recently made a name for himself as a tireless net control 
during the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season which included Maria, Irma and 
Harvey. He also played a big role in the National Weather Service 
Springfield Missouri SKYWARN program.

The Springfield, Missouri resident had battled a heart condition for 
years. He was 64 at the time of his death.

A certified meteorologist, Jim wrote his own obituary for the local 
newspaper and described his final wishes: he wanted to be cremated and 
then have his ashes scattered into a tornado. He wrote "that'll be fun."

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Geri Goodrich KF5KRN.

NEIL/ANCHOR: There was a Final Call for Jim on May 26 just prior to the 
WX4NHC annual test. Rob KD1CY was net control. Please listen to this 
tribute on our website. Go to arnewsline.org and click on the "Extra" 
tab on the left.

**
TIME TO TALK TO A MINESWEEPER

NEIL/ANCHOR: What are you doing on the air June 1st through June 3rd? 
It's Museum Ships Weekend and you have a chance to work a Navy 
minesweeper. Paul Braun WD9GCO talked to one of the team members.

PAUL: If there’s one thing that gets hams excited, it’s a special-event 
station. And when you can combine a group of special-event stations into 
a major happening, all the better. Such is the case with Museum Ships 
Weekend, where groups of hams activate from various historic ships that 
have been turned into museums. One of those ships is the USS Lucid, the 
last of the ocean-going wooden minesweepers.

A group of YL’s from the Stockton-Delta Amateur Radio Club will be 
activating the Lucid that weekend. I spoke with one of the members, 
Emelia Seiferling KI6YYT about how they got involved:

SEIFERLING: My husband and I were presenting a program for the Stockton 
radio club. It was concerning an activation that I had participated with 
a YL group - KM6CIR - Ladies of the Net. They had organized a session on 
the USS Hornet. And after the program, the president there, John, N6ZQ, 
said, "Well, we should have something like that here in Stockton!" And 
after a little talk over the next few days, it was decided to activate 
the USS Lucid that the Stockton club is affiliated with and have a YL 
afternoon on Museum Ships Weekend.

PAUL: Seiferling originally got involved with activating ships through 
contacts she had made on a net:

SEIFERLING: When I retired, my schedule got flexible enough that I could 
check into the 40 meter Ladies' Net, KM6CIR it's just a general net for 
all YL's - all YL's are welcome. One of the first things they were 
talking about after I started trying to check in on a regular basis was 
an activation that they were doing at the USS Hornet because one of 
their members had connections there. Then several months later we did an 
activation on the Queen Mary, because again there was another member who 
had some connections to get us permission to use the radio room. So, 
when this thing came up with the Lucid, I contacted the ladies and 
hopefully we'll have several people from our group show up.

PAUL: You can find out more details at the club’s website, triple-w dot 
W6SF dot org. Museum Ships Weekend runs from June 1st through the 3rd. 
The Lucid is the only ship of her kind left in the USA, so the hope is 
that events like this will bring more attention to the restoration efforts.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Paul Braun, WD9GCO.

**

SCOTLAND's 'UNICORN' TO LAUNCH FROM ALASKA

NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you believe in unicorns? Some hams in Scotland do - and 
Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us why.

JEREMY: Radio amateurs in Scotland are going to be mighty proud later 
this year. The PocketQube satellite they constructed at Alba Orbital in 
Glasgow is being prepared for launch sometime during the third quarter 
of this year. It will be sent into space from Kodiak, Alaska on board a 
Vector Launch Inc. rocket for a mission that is expected to last about 
45 days.

The launch is considered a milestone for Scotland's space industry and 
will mark the first time an orbiter built in that country has not been 
piggybacked aboard another launch vehicle. Alba Orbital has collaborated 
on the project with the University of Aachen in Germany as well as its 
amateur radio club DL0FHA.

The satellite has been named the Unicorn-2A and it will have downlinks 
in both the 437 MHz and 2400 MHz bands and one of its transmission modes 
will be LoRa, a long-range, low-power wireless platform. The Unicorn is 
the creation of amateurs Constantin Constantinides MM6XOM, Alejandro 
Gonzalez Garrido EA7KDU and Sajimon Chacko 2M0DSY.


For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(BBC)

**

BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline 
heard on bulletin stations around the world including the WB0QXW 
repeaters in St. Louis Missouri on Monday nights following the World 
Friendship Net which begins at 7 p.m. local time on EchoLink.

**

NEW 100 kHz ALLOCATION ON 60 METERS for SOUTH AFRICA

NEIL/ANCHOR: South African hams are getting some new frequencies for 
their QSOs as we hear from Robert Broomhead VK3DN.

ROBERT: There's encouraging news for amateurs in South Africa waiting to 
get on 60 metres. Hams have been granted access to the band between 5350 
and 5450 kHz on a shared non-interference basis. They have also been 
given 5290 kHz for a South African Radio League propagation research 
project involving WSPR beacons. The South African Radio League reports 
that the Council will publish a band plan as soon as possible, 
permitting the start of 60-metre operations on the new allocation. The 
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa published the good 
news in the new National Radio Frequency Plan on Friday, May 25th. The 
South African Radio League Council has meanwhile issued a special appeal 
to hams, reminding them to guard against misconduct on the air. The 
message from SARL President Nico ZS6QL was issued following the 
resolution of a situation of abuse reported on 20 metres by the Namibian 
Amateur Radio League.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN.

(SOUTHGATE, SARL)

**
NO ROOM FOR AMATEUR RADIO BULLIES

NEIL/ANCHOR: On the subject of on-air behavior, an unfortunate side to 
our hobby is the bullying and trolling that happens on the air. One ham 
in Australia is trying to help others make the best of a tough 
situation. Here's Jim Meachen ZL2BHF with that report.

JIM MEACHEN: Yes, there are bullies on the air. Onno Benschop VK6FLAB 
discovered this first-hand as a beginner licensee in December 2010 when 
he said he was regularly harassed by amateurs with more advanced 
licenses and subjected to rude remarks. For the past few years, the ham 
and amateur-radio podcaster has spent time trying to provide guidance 
for all those who've had to endure that same painful experience. In 
addition to speaking locally at amateur radio classes about ways to 
deflect the abuse rather than engage it, Onno provides suggestions and 
confidence and hosts a weekly net for new and returning amateurs.

Since July 2014 he has also maintained a bully reporting form at vk six 
dot net (vk6.net), the NewsWest website. Hams who've felt bullied can 
use the online form to report all the details. There are also links to 
articles and sources of additional support, including directions on how 
to report any recording of the incident. The website indicates that any 
pattern of repeat offenses is turned over to the ACMA with 
recommendations that official action be taken.

Onno told Amateur Radio Newsline in an email that while bullies may 
always be out there in the world, these efforts provide victims with 
recourse and support. He told Newsline [quote] "they have given new 
entrants a level of confidence that was simply not available when I 
started." [endquote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

**

OHIO HAMS KEEP THAT HAMVENTION FEELING ALOFT

NEIL/ANCHOR: A team of hams in Dayton has discovered that even though 
Hamvention is over, there's a really good way to keep that Hamvention 
feeling aloft: Launch a balloon! Andy Morrison K9AWM explains.

ANDY: It's helium-filled, it's high-flying at 30 thousand feet and it's 
communicating with the world via APRS as it circumnavigates the globe. 
This is the balloon that was launched just outside Building 5 on the 
Greene County Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 19, during Hamvention. One 
week later the Mylar balloon and its 13-gram payload, which includes a 
25 mW solar-powered transmitter, headed toward Morocco and points 
beyond. These launches are nothing new said Joe Muchnij N8QOD, the 
committee chairman for the Dayton Amateur Radio Association. In fact, 
Bill Brown WB8ELK, who oversaw the technical side of the beacon's 
launch, has sent quite a few ballons into space - including one launch 
for a school in which the balloon has already gone around the world four 
times, Joe said. Reports have already come in from Nova Scotia, the 
Azores and the Canary Islands as the ballon, traveling at 55 miles an 
hour, travels powered by the wind and that Hamvention spirit. Keep 
listening!

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Andy Morrison K9AWM.

**
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN LETS HAMS OPERATE AERONAUTICAL MOBILE

NEIL/ANCHOR: The Dayton high altitude balloon is not the only Ham Fair 
that's up in the air as we hear now from Ed Durrant DD5LP.

ED: That's right! Some lucky visitors to the Ham Radio Friedrichshafen 
event this weekend have already booked their seats in one of two 
chartered Zeppelin Airship flights leaving from the airport next to the 
show grounds where, as well as getting some great views of the area, 
they will also be able to operate Aeronautical Mobile!

Great as that may be there's more happening in Freidrichshafen this 
weekend....

Dib Dib Dib or Dot Dot Dot ? This years Ham Radio event at 
Friedrichshafen Germany has the theme of Amateur Radio working with The 
Scouting Association. There has long been links between Scouting and Ham 
Radio and this year, the 43rd. International Ham Radio exhibition wants 
to celebrate Radio Scouting. There will be radio Fox Hunts, a youth tent 
camp within one of the Zeppelin sized halls and several related free 
teacher training forums for school teachers and scout leaders. This year 
will see a two day "Ham Camp" with Ham Radio activities including 
Quizzes, kit building (this year it's the "Ham Camp Bell"), telecoms 
experiments, radio operation,  go-kart racing and Morse code.

As well as the Radio Scouting theme there will of course be the usual 
large inside Flea Market, the regional Makers Faire and 180 exhibitors 
and traders from 30 countries making this Europe's largest and the 
worlds third largest hamfest after the Tokyo Ham Fair and Dayton.

Exam tests for both German and US licences will take place. Food is 
available either inside or outside in the Beer Gardens. We'll see what 
the weather brings but forecasts are good at the moment both for sunny 
weather and the fun and excitement at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen 2018!

Looking forward to bringing you some highlights of the event in next 
weeks show, this has been Ed Durrant DD5LP for Amateur Radio Newsline.

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for Thomas, F4HPX operating as FR/F4HPX from 
Reunion Island through the 15th of June. He is operating on SSB, digital 
modes and a little CW on 40 through 15 meters. QSL via LoTW, Club Log's 
OQRS or via home call (direct or bureau).

The EIDX Group is preparing to activate ALL Irish IOTA Groups. Using the 
'Echo Juliet' prefix, EJ0DXG will be active from IOTAs EU-006, EU-007, 
EU-103 and EU-121 this summer. The first activation will be "Little 
Saltee Island" which is EU-103 between June 15th and 18th. The group 
will be active on the HF and 6m bands using CW, SSB and the Digital 
modes. QSL via M0OXO.


(DX WORLD, OHIO PENN DX)

**
KICKER: BROWN UNIVERSITY'S LATEST "GRADUATE" IS A SATELLITE

NEIL/ANCHOR: We end this week with a college story - and as Skeeter Nash 
N5ASH reminds us, graduates aren't all a university can launch.

SKEETER: In this season of commencements, speakers often address the new 
graduates urging them to aim high - but there's one graduate of Brown 
University in Rhode Island that didn't need any encouragement to be 
launched: It's the EQUiSat satellite sent to the International Space 
Station and it was sent into the sky on May 20 from NASA's Wallops 
Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.

EQUISat was built by students at Brown and if you look real carefully 
into the sky you might even see the bright blinking LED lights that are 
on board as the satellite travels some 250 miles upward over the earth. 
The satellite will transmit a CW beacon and 4FSK 9k6 telemetry on 
435.550 MHz. Its XDL Micro radio transceiver has the ability to 
communicate with radio amateurs as well as other ground stations, which 
can receive data from its sensors and current operation.

The  primary ground station for EQUISat is being built at the Ladd 
Observatory in partnership with the Brown Amateur Radio Club.

The goal is for the satellite to depart the Space Station, enter orbit 
and using the earth's magnetic field, point its lights toward Rhode 
Island. Now that's a fitting homecoming for any college graduate.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

(BROWNSPACE.ORG)

*

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; 
BBC; Brownspace.Org; CNN; CQ Magazine; DX World; Hap Holly and the Rain 
Report; Marty Pittenger KB3MXM; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Ron Glass, WN7Y; 
South African Radio League; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's 
QSO Radio Show; 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 
www.arnewsline.org.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York, 
and our news team worldwide, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Bloomington Indiana 
saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.


-- 



73
James-KB7TBT
www.arnewsline.org
www.ylsystem.org




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