Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2126 for Friday, July 27, 2018
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2126 with a release date of Friday, 
July 27, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A ham in Japan achieves his goal after 4 
decades. More than 300 lighthouses prepare for activation – and meet 
Amateur Radio Newsline’s Young Ham of the Year for 2018! All this and 
more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2126 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
TRIUMPH ON 6 METERS AND BEYOND
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a story of personal triumph. One 
ham. One goal. One award. And 41 years. With those details, here’s John 
Williams VK4JJW.
JOHN: Say the words “worked all states” to hams who have ambitions for 
this ultimate ARRL award in American contacts and they’ll likely tell 
you stories of perseverance, pileups and no doubt, dreams. Ask Tac 
Hirama, JA7QVI, a radio amateur in Japan, and he’ll tell you that he 
finally got to live that dream. On the 17th of June, almost 41 years to 
the day after he began his Worked All States journey on 6 meters, Tac 
had a successful QSO with New Jersey ham Andy N2NT via EME, or moon 
bounce. It completed the protracted effort he began on June 11, 1977 in 
a QSO with Fred W6PVB.
Tac told Amateur Radio Newsline in an email that his chase for a New 
Jersey contact took a decade and he had expected it would be, like the 
other 49 states, either via F2 or Sporadic E propagation. Moon bounce, 
however, did the trick.
He hasn’t just collected an award however: Along the way Tac has amassed 
a number of friends – Dan K1TO, Andy N2NT, John N2NC, Morris N1IBM, 
Dr.Joe K1JT among them.
We note that there’s a little bit more to this adventure: With this 
recent 6 meter accomplishment, Tac now boasts Worked All States awards 
on 10 bands from 160 meters to 6 meters.
It pays, he said, not to give up on one’s dreams.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m John Williams VK4JJW.
**
WHEN RADIO IS A BRIDGE TO THE WORLD
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Get ready to hear hams calling QRZ from bridges, 
honoring a very special style of structure, as Jack Parker W8ISH tells us.
JACK: If amateur radio is a bridge to the world, well, it’s only natural 
to expect to find hams on or near bridges on the 18th of August. In 
Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio, they’ll be setting up stations on or 
near covered bridges. In Ohio, clubs such as the Miami County Amateur 
Radio Club and the Highland Amateur Radio Association will be among many 
activating these bridges and calling QRZ to mark Covered Bridge Day. The 
Miami County club will be operating at the Eldean Covered Bridge in 
Troy, out of the nearby shelter house. The bridge itself was declared a 
National Historic Landmark in 2017. It was built in 1860 and is 
recognized as the longest “long truss” style bridge in the U.S. The 
Highland club amateurs have a list of 7 bridges to be activated, 
including the Blackwood Covered Bridge in Lodi Township and the 
Lynchburg Covered Bridge. Meanwhile that same day in New York’s Thousand 
Islands region, hams will be marking the 80th anniversary of the opening 
of that region’s International Bridge System. The Thousand Islands 
Repeater Club KC2TI will be on the air from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time. 
The International Bridge System runs between Collins Landing, New York, 
to the Ontario mainland, spanning 8.5 miles.
The weekend of August 18th and 19th promises to be a busy one since the 
bridge activations are taking place at the same time hams will be taking 
part in the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend activations.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Jack Parker W8ISH.

(THOUSAND ISLANDS REPEATER CLUB, MIAMI COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)
**
LIGHTHOUSE NUMBER 300 IS REGISTERED
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: As hams prepare to activate lighthouses in August, the 
numbers keep growing, as we learn from Ed Durrant DD5LP.
ED: Kevin VK2CE, one of the organisers of the International Lighthouse & 
Lightship Weekend, sent the following report to ARNewsline regarding the 
event that will take place in just three weeks time: Almost right on 
schedule the 300th entry for this year’s event came in from Germany and 
it is the lighthouse on the West Mole harbour wall at Lindau on Lake 
Constance. This lovely and much-photographed lighthouse is accompanied 
by a Lion on the East Mole both sheltering the town's harbour.
The lighthouse was built and operated by the railroad (now called 
Deutsche Bahn) until the railroad dropped its ferry routes and sold its 
Lindau harbor facilities to Stadtwerke Konstanz, which operates the 
ferry service from Lindau to Meersburg on the German side and Romanshorn 
on the Swiss side of the lake. In 2010 the town of Lindau acquired the 
lighthouse and opened it to the public as a museum. The museum and the 
tower are open daily except when bad weather makes the pier unsafe.
Kevin told ARNewsline that he often gets 150 or more registrations in 
the last three weeks, sometime as late as the weekend itself or even 
after the event. The record so far was in 2014 with 544 lights 
registered from 56 countries. Whether this total will be beaten this 
year remains to be seen, the main point is to get out there, demonstrate 
amateur radio to the public and promote conservation of these important 
parts of all our histories.
This year’s highly popular fun event takes place on the 18-19 August 
coinciding with the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers 
annual open day on the Sunday. It is not a contest, logs are not 
required all that is needed is some portable gear and permission to site 
yourselves somewhere "near" to the Lighthouse or Lightship. Some clubs 
get a special event callsign to go with their operation but that is in 
no way mandatory. Full information and the online registration form are 
at I L L W (dot) net .
For AR Newsline this has been Ed Durrant DD5LP, getting ready to do his 
lighthouse activation in just three weeks’ time.
(KEVIN VK2CE)
**
YHOTY
STEPHEN: speaking of awards, the judges reviewed an outstanding crop of 
nominations and have finally reached their decision on who will be 
presented the Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline 
Young Ham of the Year award. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz 
(Abramo-vich), NT3V, the chairman of the committee, has the story...
MARK:
3:00
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur 
Radio Newsline heard on bulletin stations around the world including the 
ZS0MOT repeater in South Africa on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. local time.
**
A BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE FOR A BLOCKBUSTER CONTEST
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Imagine a storyline of both friendship and intense 
competition against a backdrop of picturesque European scenery. It has 
the makings of a movie, no? Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us that radio 
amateurs can expect exactly that following the recent World Radiosport 
Team Championship in Germany.
ED: After an extreme high level of activity during the WRTC 2018 in 
Wittenberg, the work was not finished with the core team staying on for 
a few more days to double check all sites were cleared, everything was 
put back to normal in the HQ Hotel and all non-sold equipment returned 
to the warehouse where it was packed and shipped off before the 
warehouse itself was cleaned and handed back to its owners. Even then 
the work is not finished with such a large event: Paperwork and 
financial matters will take some time to complete. On a lighter note 
more creative work is also under way. A film about the WRTC in the 
Wittenberg & Jessen area is being made as is an official book with many 
photos and stories from all parts of the event. It is hoped that both of 
these projects will be completed before years-end.

The WRTC 2018 will remain in people’s memories for some time to come and 
now with the film and the book, it will be possible to get a permanent 
reminder of one of the largest Amateur Radio projects in Europe for many 
years.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Ed Durrant DD5LP
(WRTC)
****
NEW TEAM TO MONITOR AIRWAVES IN GREAT BRITAIN
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Radio Society of Great Britain is making changes in 
how operator behavior gets monitored. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us more.
JEREMY: In Great Britain, an official team of volunteers that has been 
reporting problematic on-air behaviour and equipment issues is being 
disbanded.
The Radio Society of Great Britain, the RSGB, has long relied on the 
efforts of the Amateur Radio Observation Service for second opinions on 
a variety of these issues and has decided to re-focus on how to address 
these important operating matters.
During the next few months the Society will convene a new team called 
the Operating Advisory Service, or OAS. OAS participants will monitor 
the bands for such misuses as call-sign pirating, abuse of repeaters and 
on-air harassment of amateurs. Announcing the change, the Society said 
it had taken a hard look at the previous way of doing things and decided 
to give the new team responsibility for developing written 
recommendations to be published on the website. The team will 
concentrate on ideas for best practice.
The RSGB noted that this change does not have any impact on Intruder 
Watch which is the Society’s portion of the overall IARU monitoring 
system that reports on non-amateur signals that are heard on the HF 
amateur bands.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Jeremy Boot G4NJH
(RSGB)
**
CALIFORNIA CLUB’S TRADITION OF TEACHING AND REACHING
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A special event station operating at California’s Sonoma 
County Fair has a special mission, as Paul Braun WD9GCO tells us.
PAUL: When the Sonoma County Radio Amateurs show up to do their radio 
demonstrations at the Sonoma County Fair on the 3rd and 4th of August in 
Santa Rosa, California, members will be keeping with an eight-year-old 
tradition of reaching out to the community and showing what ham radio 
can do. Operators will be on SSB on 40, 20 and 10 meters and also 
showing how to transmit in CW, APRS and possibly satellite. Darryl 
Paule, KI6MSP, the club’s outreach coordinator, said the 186-member club 
has been growing steadily during the last few months and this is yet 
another way to show what radio can do under emergency and non-emergency 
conditions. So be listening for Special Event Station K6P on both days 
between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time. Yours might be the contact that 
impresses a potential newcomer.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Paul Braun WD9GCO.
(DARRYL PAULE KI6MSP)
**
QRP AND HOMEBREW BY THE BAY
STEPHEN: Another outdoor event, this one a winter outing by the water, 
is being held just south of Melbourne, Australia. Robert Broomhead VK3DN 
has the details.
ROBERT: For Peter Parker VK3YE the event started with the realisation 
that, at the time, there were no organised gatherings of hams who enjoy 
QRP. That was almost five years ago. Now, says Peter, the afternoon 
happening known as QRP By the Bay, has gathered momentum. Although it is 
traditionally held twice a year at Victory Park in Chelsea when it’s a 
bit warmer, winter doesn’t stop these enthusiasts from showing up on the 
Melbourne waterfront for at least three hours. One previous outing 
focused on amateur satellite operation. At the one on Saturday, July 
28th the focus is Bitx/uBitx [Bitx Micro-Bitx] kits.
Peter said that people bring their homebrew projects, their rigs and 
their antennas and they get on the air but the real point of it all is 
just being together as friends. He invited this year’s attendees by 
saying [quote] “bring a project, an interesting item or an idea.” 
[endquote]
Even for hams who will always prefer 5 to 10 watts, it’s an idea that 
has grown in power.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Robert Broomhead VK3DN
(PETER PARKER VK3YE)
**
WORLD OF DX
Be listening for Tev TA1HZ who will be operating as 9H3HZ from a bed and 
breakfast in Malta for the 2018 IOTA contest July 28th and 29th. He will 
be operating as an "Island Station-Dxpedition" on 100 watts. He also 
hopes to operate FT8 while on Malta. QSL direct via his home call sign; 
LoTW preferred.
Listen for members of Japan’s Nara DX Association as they operate from 
Micronesia as V6J until the 31st of July. They are on all bands 40 – 6m 
on SSB, CW, FT8 and RTTY and are focusing on contacts into Europe and 
North America. QSL via Club Log OQRS.

We also want to make note of a 10-year anniversary. This week marks one 
decade since the first ICQ Podcast, a UK-based podcast “for amateurs by 
amateurs.” Congratulations to our colleagues!
**
KICKER: CANADIAN SIGNAL MAKES WAVES IN NORTHERN IRELAND
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In our final story we ask: Turn on the radio and what do 
you expect? Jeremy Boot G4NJH has that answer.
JEREMY: Not too long ago, Paul Logan spent a nice evening listening to a 
radio programme on CBC Radio 1 from Newfoundland. Nothing unusual about 
that, right? Except Paul MI3LDO is an avid FM DXer and he was tuning in 
from Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was 21:35 UTC, or 
22:35 local time for Paul and his adventure in North American listening 
was especially unusual because it was on 88.5 MHz. Strong multi-hop 
sporadic E signals aren’t all that uncommon on 28 and 50 MHz but on this 
night 88 MHz was the maximum usable frequency.
As John Desmond EI7GL reported in his blog: [quote] “this really is a 
remarkable catch.” Paul managed this bonus DX across 3200 kms – or not 
quite 2,000 miles - with an SDR receiver and a 5 element beam. The blog 
noted that this is the fourth time since 2003 that Paul has heard a 
station from Canada on the band between 88 and 108 MHz.
Paul himself notes on his QRZ page that his interest in radio dates to 
the early 1980s and back then it involved mostly listening on the 
broadcast bands. However, he writes, he also enjoys transmitting on his 
Icom 703 or his Yaesu FT-817 – and when he does – you can expect to hear 
him at 5 watts or perhaps even less. Who knows? Next time perhaps the 
CBC will be on the receiving end of his very QRP signal.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Jeremy Boot G4NJH
(BLOG OF JOHN DESMOND EI7GL)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; 
CQ Magazine; Darryl Paule KI6MSP; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; Irish 
Radio Transmitters Society; John Desmond EI7GL; Kevin Mulcahy VK2CE; 
Miami County Amateur Radio Club; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; Peter Parker 
VK3YE; QRZ; Radio Society of Great Britain; Southgate Amateur Radio 
News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the Thousand Islands Repeater Club; 
Wireless Institute of Australia; WRTC; 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 Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio 
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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