[continued from previous message]   
      
   participants who tackle their shorter route as a 1-mile walk. Tom said   
   that next year's operations may be conducted with the addition of a   
   mobile repeater.   
      
   The day is serious business but in a light, family-friendly party   
   atmosphere. The Mud Mosey hour passes quickly and then the focus turns   
   to the search-dog demonstrations, the DJ and the food and beverage   
   trucks. That makes it all - hopefully - more fun-packed than   
   mud-packed.   
      
   This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.   
      
   (TOM COSTELLO, KC3TMT)   
      
   **   
   HAM RADIO NEWS PRESENTER RETIRES AT 101   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: From time to time, we here at Newsline like to   
   acknowledge some of our colleagues in amateur radio media, people who   
   -like us - work to keep hams around the world informed. One of them is   
   retiring from the GB2RS newscast in the UK at the age of 101 - and we   
   are about to learn more about him from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: Happy birthday and happy retirement to Peter Valentine, G0NQZ,   
   who upon reaching the age of 101 on the 12th of April, has decided to   
   take things a little easier.....but only just a little. Peter is still   
   an active radio ham and participant in regular nets, including the HF   
   nets of the International Short Wave League and the Radio Amateurs Old   
   Timers' Association. Peter has to his credit an enviable record as a   
   presenter for the Radio Society of Great Britain's GB2RS report. Best   
   wishes and see you on the air, Peter!   
      
   This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   (RSGB)   
      
   **   
   NOMINATE OUR NEXT YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Each year, the Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak   
   Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award receives nominations of promising   
   young hams who truly impress our judges. It is time once again to give   
   them an opportunity at the recognition they deserve. Consider   
   nominating an amateur radio operator 18 years of age or younger here in   
   the continental United States. Consider someone who has talent, promise   
   and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application forms on   
   our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. We are accepting   
   nominations through May 31st.   
      
   **   
   THE WORLD IS MARKING WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Hams around the globe are marking World Amateur Radio   
   Day on April 18th and ham radio clubs and other groups have been   
   devoting a day - or even the whole month - to a variety of activities   
   to celebrate the 100th year since the founding of the International   
   Amateur Radio Union in Paris, France.   
      
   The IARU has declared the theme of this year's celebration - "Entering   
   the Next Century of Amateur Radio Communications and Innovation."   
      
   Although the theme of the anniversary is forward-looking the IARU urged   
   hams to appreciate the gains made in previous decades too. A message on   
   its webpage noted that this is [quote] "a time to reflect on our   
   achievements." [endquote]   
      
   Member societies in each region of the IARU will be marking the   
   occasion in a variety of ways. Some are hosting open houses to   
   demonstrate amateur radio to the public; others have already been on   
   the air this month activating special event stations with callsigns   
   ending in the suffix "W A R D."  In Canada, the mayor of the capital   
   city of Ottawa has issued the first municipal proclamation ever of   
   Amateur Radio Day, as the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club and West Carleton   
   Disaster Relief present demonstrations for the public at several   
   locations.   
      
   (IARU, QRZ.COM)   
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur   
   Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including   
   the W4HPL repeater in Cookeville, Tennessee on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m.   
   local time.   
      
   **   
   MONTANA CLUB GIVES HAM RADIO BOOKS TO REGIONAL LIBRARIES   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Avid readers might argue that the best books are the   
   ones with a happy, or at least a pleasantly unexpected ending. A number   
   of public libraries in Montana just received a new collection of   
   donated books that contain no endings at all - just beginnings that   
   hold promise. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB picks up the story from here.   
      
   RALPH: The possibilities are endless in amateur radio and so are the   
   new books in the newest collection on the shelves of the Great Falls   
   Public Library and other public libraries in Montana. The books were   
   donated by the Great Falls Masonic Amateur Radio Club, which received a   
   grant from the ARRL to provide library patrons with study guides for   
   the Technician, General and Amateur Extra exams administered by theFCC.   
      
   John Ross, KD7HKF, the club's vice president, said the Great Falls   
   library's bookmobile will also carry a set of the books. The ARRL grant   
   has also funded collections of books for Montana's Cascade Library,   
   Fairfield Library and the library at the Malmstrom Air Force Base.   
   Meanwhile, the library and the club have agreed that ham radio   
   orientation sessions will be held at the Great Falls library if enough   
   community members are inspired to learn even more.   
      
   The relationship between amateur radio clubs and libraries in the US is   
   a strong one. Previous such gifts of books have occurred at other   
   libraries around the US, including the Jackson Amateur Radio Club,   
   which donated books last year to the Madison County Library System in   
   Mississippi and the Cowley County Amateur Radio Club, which made a   
   similar donation earlier this year to the Arkansas City Public Library.   
      
   This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.   
      
   (GREAT FALLS MASONIC RADIO CLUB, ARRL)   
      
   **   
   THIS BATTERY LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER BECAUSE IT'S PAPER   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Whoever said that in this electronic age we are   
   becoming a paperless world obviously hasn't been introduced to some of   
   the newest technology in batteries. Several of these highly portable   
   sources of energy are still experimental. They do boast of being   
   environmentally friendly -- and all make use of paper as a key   
   ingredient. Kent Peterson KC0DGY tells us about them.   
      
   KENT: Researchers are developing batteries that are made partially of   
   paper and the results have been showing varying degrees of promise,   
   though none of them appear ready yet for portable ham radio. In France,   
   a company called BeFC is pioneering what it considers to be a   
   single-use, eco-friendly alternative to the small button battery that   
   is fully compostable when the user is done with it. More of a   
   paper-based bioenzymatic fuel cell than an actual battery, it releases   
   energy when moisture is released and comes into contact with the sugar   
   and enzymes that are infused into a layer of paper between the unit's   
   carbon electrodes. Generating only .75 (point seven five) volts, it   
   still has a long way to go before it can power more than perhaps a   
   sensor or medical device someday.   
      
   In Singapore, researchers at the startup company, Flint, claim that   
   they have a rechargeable battery-in-the-works that will ultimately   
   replace lithium batteries for use in grid storage and electric-vehicle   
   power. Like the French battery, it too is designed to be compostable   
   and it makes use of the cellulose in paper for the transfer of ions.   
      
   Ten years ago, researchers in the US, at Binghamton University in   
   upstate New York, developed what they called "microbial paper-based   
   batteries," that is, they derive their power from bacteria's   
   metabolism. Like its French counterpart, however, the output has been   
   deemed too low for practical use.   
      
   So the research continues. To scientists, for now, it all looks good   
   onpaper.   
      
   This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.   
      
   (YOUTUBE, NEWATLAS.COM, BINGHAMTON.EDU)   
   **   
   WORLD OF DX   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)