[continued from previous message]   
      
   According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at Harvard University's   
   Center for Astrophysics, four or five of these satellites are   
   incinerated daily. He told the SpaceWeather website that [quote] "the   
   sustained rate of daily reentries is unprecedented." [Endquote] He said   
   that the fireballs are not a surprise to the constellation's planners,   
   who are removing the oldest satellites and replacing them with the next   
   generation.   
      
   All that debris is adding up and apparently having other effects: The   
   SpaceWeather website said that just one of these satellites can produce   
   about 30 kilograms, or 66 pounds,  of aluminum oxide. This compound is   
   known to erode the Earth's ozone layer.   
      
   This is Andy Morrison K9AWM   
      
   (SPACEWEATHER.COM)   
      
   **   
   HAM RADIO OPERATOR IS FRONT-RUNNER TO LEAD GERMANY   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Amateur radio and politics may not always mix but   
   almost everyone knows a few names of public officials who have led   
   their nations. In Germany, one amateur radio operator has set his hopes   
   high too. We hear more about him from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: Although there are numerous amateur radio awards, such as DXCC   
   and Worked All Europe, Frederich Merz, DK7DQ, is hoping for an   
   achievement that could be thought of as "Worked All Germany" even   
   though, in this case, it's outside the realm of amateur radio.   
      
   Frederich Merz is leader of Germany's CDU party and a possible   
   front-runner in this month's elections to replace Olaf Scholz. A win   
   would make the political conservative the nation's new Chancellor and   
   as such he would join the ranks of other licensed heads around the   
   world - most notably the late King Hussein of Jordan, who held the   
   callsign JY1, and the present King of Thailand, whose callsign isHS10A.   
      
   This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   **   
   HAMS INTERCEPT "SUSPICIOUS" RADIO SIGNALS ON INDIA'S BORDER   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: In India, hams have intercepted questionable radio   
   signals on the border with Bangladesh, as we hear from Jason Daniels   
   VK2LAW.   
      
   JASON: Amateur radio operators have told the Ministry of Communications   
   in India that they have been hearing radio signals late at night in   
   South Bengal near the Indo-Bangladesh border, in an area of   
   international unrest. The transmissions are reportedly in coded Arabic,   
   Urdu and Bengali. They have been intercepted by hams since December of   
   last year, according to news reports.   
      
   The Ministry of Communications has forwarded the information to the   
   International Monitoring Station in Kolkata and hams have been advised   
   to continue monitoring and reporting what they hear. Various news media   
   in India said that the radio transmissions have spurred concern over   
   possible activities by extremists, amid escalating Bangladeshi   
   hostilities toward India.   
      
   This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW.   
      
   (ASSAM TRIBUNE, MILLENNIUM POST)   
      
   **   
   PLUTO SPECIAL EVENT IN ITS 5TH YEAR OF ORBIT   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: If you have enjoyed the past four years of logging   
   contacts with W7P, the Pluto Special Event station, you now have your   
   chance to work it again. The Northern Arizona DX Association is putting   
   W7P back on the air from the 15th through to the 23rd of February. This   
   is year five of a 10-year-old special event marking the 100th   
   anniversary of the discovery of Pluto in 1930 from the Lowell   
   Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. One of the operators will be Doug   
   Tombaugh, N3PDT, the nephew of astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh, who   
   discovered Pluto. Doug will be using the callsign W7P/0. See QRZ.com   
   for QSL and certificate details.   
      
   (AMATEUR NEWS WEEKLY)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur   
   Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including   
   the CQ0UAR repeater in Arestal Mountain, Portugal, on Saturdays and   
   Sundays at noon local time.   
      
   **   
      
   ISS CONDUCTS "REHEARSAL" OF FRAM2 IMAGE TRANSMISSIONS   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: The International Space Station is helping with a   
   rehearsal for an important SSTV event sometime this spring. John   
   Williams VK4JJW explains.   
      
   JOHN: TV fans have grown accustomed to previews but most of the time   
   that means they are watching scenes from popular shows or movies from   
   the comfort of their couches. The International Space Station is giving   
   hopeful viewers a different kind of preview via SSTV. To help educators   
   and students prepare to copy transmissions from the Fram2 mission   
   sometime this spring, the ISS is transmitting images on 437.550 MHz   
   beginning February 13th through to the 17th. This is a departure from   
   the ISS' customary 2m frequency but it is designed as a practice   
   session to get participants accustomed to the receiving equipment and   
   Doppler effect they will encounter on 70cm. The Fram2 mission aboard   
   the SpaceX Dragon will be the first spaceflight to orbit the Earth over   
   the North and South poles.   
      
   This is John Williams VK4JJW.   
      
   (AMATEUR NEWS WEEKLY)   
      
   **   
      
   AM RADIO STATION BACK ON FREQUENCY AFTER REPORTED TOWER THEFT   
      
   SKEETER: Alabama AM radio station WJLX, which reported the mysterious   
   theft of its broadcast tower and destruction of its transmitter one   
   year ago, has gone back on the air on its assigned frequency of 1240AM.   
      
   According to a story on the Radio World website, the station's signal   
   was restored quickly before the one-year expiration date of the special   
   temporary authority the FCC granted it after the incident was reported.   
   The station has come under different management following the   
   subsequent death of Brett Elmore, the general manager who had reported   
   the theft and vandalism. The station has been back on the air on AM   
   since the 1st of February using a temporary setup transmitting 100   
   watts. A 195-foot tower is expected to be installed soon. The station   
   also has a new 1kW transmitter. It can also be heard via an iHeartMedia   
   translator on FM and will soon be taking over FM operations at 90.1MHz.   
      
   The case of the missing transmitter and 200-foot tower has not been   
   solved.   
      
   (RADIO WORLD)   
      
   **   
      
   AMATEUR ASTRONOMER ACTIVATES METEORITE'S LANDING SPOT   
      
   SKEETER/ANCHOR: Meet a ham radio operator who loves astronomy so much   
   that he's activating a very old meteor crater in India. We learn more   
   from Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.   
      
   JIM: As an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer, Datta VU2DSI   
   enjoys catching meteors with the lens of his telescopes or camera. As   
   an amateur radio operator, he also chases after them with his radio   
   signal. Here on earth, he often shares his love of the heavens with   
   students by presenting	"Sky Watching" programs in schools and colleges   
   around India.   
      
   So when a meteorite falls to earth, as it did millions of years ago,   
   Datta is not likely to ignore what it left behind. He has traveled to   
   Lonar Lake in the Buldhana district of India's Maharashtra state for   
   his first-time encounter with what he calls an "astronomical wonder,"   
   the crater that the massive impact left behind, with the meteor buried   
   600 metres below. Researchers from the Physical Research Laboratory of   
   India, the Smithsonian Institution  and the Geological Society of India   
   have probed its mysteries.  Now it is Datta's turn to do some   
   exploring. At the edge of the crater, he hopes to discover the wonder   
   and the appeal it holds for amateurs around the world.   
      
   Using the callsign AU6LON, Datta is calling CQ from Lonar Meteor Lake.   
   Operating from what has since been declared a wildlife sanctuary, he   
   will call CQ from the 20th through to the 24th of February. He will be   
   joined by two other radio enthusiasts, Ajay [Uh-JIE] VU3LPQ, and Suhas   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)