[continued from previous message]   
      
   Remember, operators are not accepting or sending QSL cards - but they   
   ARE sending their very best for the season.   
      
   (12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EVENT)   
      
   **   
      
   SABLE ISLAND DXPEDITION GETS $25,000 GRANT   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Next year's DXpedition to Sable Island has just received a   
   boost in funding to support the team, as we hear from Andy   
   MorrisonK9AWM.   
      
   ANDY: A $25,000 grant from the Northern California DX Foundation is   
   being provided to the team heading to Sable Island in March for the   
   CY0S activation.   
      
   According to the team's website, the dates have been set for March 19   
   -31.   
      
   The team leaders are Murray, WA4DAN and Glenn, W0GJ, who will operate   
   alongside veteran DXpeditioners Pat N2IEN, Lee WW2DX, Ralph K0IR, Jay   
   K4ZLE, Mike K9NW, and Scott NE9U. In a comment on the DXNews.com   
   website, Murray acknowledged the Northern California DX Foundation's   
   ongoing support for various DXpeditions like this one -- support that   
   spans a period of more than 33 years.   
      
   Sable Island weather is expected to be a challenge at the time the   
   team's airplane arrives. It is usually a cold and snowy time, sometimes   
   with gale-force winds. The island is about 300 km, or 186 miles, east   
   of Halifax, Nova Scotia.   
      
   This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.   
      
   (DX-WORLD.NET)   
      
   **   
   SILENT KEY: BOB WHELAN, G3PJT, FORMER RSGB PRESIDENT   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: In the UK, the Commonwealth Contest Community and the   
   Radio Society of Great Britain are grieving the loss of an advocate and   
   a friend -- an active ham who twice served the radio society as its   
   president. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us about him.   
      
   JEREMY: Although he made his living in the world of high-tech as a   
   solid-state physicist, Bob Whelan, G3PJT, was, in so many ways, a full   
   time radio amateur. He received his licence in 1961, focusing on CW   
   operating on HF and LF. As his enthusiasm grew for contesting, he made   
   a name for himself as a supporter of the Commonwealth Contest, a CW   
   contest for operators in British Commonwealth countries such as   
   Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, of course, the UK. He also built an   
   online presence for its widely scattered participants, eventually   
   writing a book about the contest's evolution.   
      
   Bob had also been actively involved in the IARU and the First Class   
   Operators Club, with a growing involvement in the Radio Society of   
   Great Britain over the years. His participation grew from being a   
   volunteer on the society's HF Committee to becoming president, serving   
   from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2014.   
      
   Bob became a Silent Key on 4 December.   
      
   This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   (RSGB)   
      
   **   
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur   
   Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including   
   the AH6LE repeater in Beavercreek and Wilsonville, Oregon, on Sundays   
   at 6 p.m. local time.   
      
   **   
      
   ARRL TO HOST HAMSCI WORKSHOP AT NEARBY COLLEGE   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: If you are looking to attend the next workshop of HamSCI,   
   you will find yourself right in the backyard of the ARRL headquarters.   
   We have more details from Jack Parker W8ISH.   
      
   JACK: Through the years, the annual workshop of HamSCI, the citizen   
   science investigation organization, has been hosted at a number of   
   locations in a number of US states. Next year it moves to Connecticut   
   for the 9th annual event, which will take place on March 14th and 15th.   
   It's being hosted by the ARRL on the campus of Central Connecticut   
   State University. ARRL's headquarters is located in nearby Newington,   
   Connecticut, which means the league will be welcoming workshop visitors   
   to headquarters and encouraging many to get on the air from W1AW, the   
   Hiram P. Maxim Memorial Station.   
      
   The workshop theme is "Discovering Science through Ham Radio." The   
   varied presentations will showcase how HamSCI's cooperative   
   relationships between researchers, ham radio operators, citizen   
   scientists and students have brought about notable advances in weather   
   studies, propagation sensing and ionospheric research.   
      
   For details and registration information, visit the link in the text   
   version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org   
      
   This is Jack Parker W8ISH.   
      
   [DO NOT READ:    https://hamsci.org/hamsci2026  ]   
      
   (ARRL, HAMSCI)   
      
   **   
   VERMONT MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS WELCOMES FORMER RACES HAMS   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: Our next story takes us to Vermont where former members of   
   the newly dismantled RACES program are learning new skills as part of a   
   new team. Randy Sly W4XJ has the details.   
      
   RANDY: Hams in Vermont who had been members of the recently dismantled   
   Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service - or RACES - have begun joining   
   the team at the Medical Reserve Corps of the state's Department of   
   Health.   
      
   According to Kate Hammond, KC1DUY, manager of the Medical Reserve   
   Corps' communications section, Vermont's shift in deployment of radio   
   volunteers is part of a changeover going on in many states. She told   
   Newsline in an email that [quote]: "...emergency communications is   
   emerging as a Medical Reserve Corps mission in more states, but the   
   creation of the mission set in Vermont is a work that is specific to   
   us." [endquote] She said that toward that end, John Colt NV1Y, the   
   hospital net coordinator for the Medical Reserve Corps, and Heather   
   Rigney KC1PMR, the corps statewide coordinator, are overseeing the   
   creation of documents for the newly configured team. Former RACES   
   materials are being used to help guide future practices of Medical   
   Reserve Corps operators, who will attend orientation meetings soon. The   
   Vermont Healthcare Net has also become more active. Kate said that   
   members will be affiliated with one of the eight local Medical Reserve   
   Corps Units for any drill or event -- and could be deployed as well to   
   shelters when a communications outage occurs.   
      
   Although Josh Cohen, KB1NIJ, a longtime RACES member and an experienced   
   net control operator, told Newsline that he is sorry to see the RACES   
   program go, he is preparing to join the Medical Reserve Corps team.   
   Josh is among many hams eager to continue using their skills.   
      
   This is Randy Sly W4XJ.   
      
   (KATE HAMMOND, KC1DUY; JOSH COHEN, KB1NIJ).   
   **   
      
   WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the World of DX, there are some more holiday stations to add to the   
   on-air festivities. The YO3KRM Radio Club of Romania is putting three   
   Christmas Special Callsigns on the air through to the 31st of December.   
   Listen for the Santa callsign YO0HOHO [WHY OH ZERO HO HO], the   
   Christmas spirit callsign YO0XMAS [WHY OH ZERO X MAS] and the Rudolph   
   callsign YR0UDOLPH [WHY R ZERO YOU DOLPH]. Certificates are available   
   for successful contacts.   
      
   The annual Russian New Year radio marathon will be on the air from the   
   29th throuh to the 11th of January. The Miller DX Club and the Rostov   
   Oblast branch of the Russian Amateur Radio Union will be putting a   
   number of special callsigns on the air, including R2026A, R2026C,   
   R2026L, R2026N, UE26HNY and UE26NY, among others.   
      
   Listen for the special event callsign HB70IPA marking the 70th   
   anniversary of the International Police Association's Swiss branch.   
   They will be on the air until the 31st of December on various HF bands   
   and via the QO-100 satellite.   
      
   Jan, DL4XT will be active holiday style as 4K/DL4XT from Azerbaijan   
   between the 26th of December and the 3rd of January, using CW, SSB and   
   FT8. Find Jan on 40 metres as well as bands from 20 through 10 metres.   
      
   (425 DX BULLETIN)   
      
   **   
   KICKER: NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HAM RADIO STYLE   
      
   PAUL/ANCHOR: We end this newscast with a Newsline holiday tradition - a   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)