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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2310 for Friday February 4th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2310 with a release date of Friday February 4th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Radio adventure in the sea north of Russia.
Japan reaches out to young amateurs -- and hams honor one of America's best-known presidents. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2310 comes your way right now.

**
PLANS ARE ON ICE (AND SNOW) FOR RUSSIAN ISLAND ACTIVATION

DON/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a tale of adventure. While many of
us in the Northern Hemisphere may be bitterly complaining about
winter's bite, here are some amateurs who are actively seeking out the
most wintry of winters -- north of Russia. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has the
details.

JEREMY: It is little more than a month before a team of six adventurers
from the Russian Robinson Club departs for Rykachev Island in the Kara
Sea. The island, which is number AS-104 in the Islands on the Air
awards scheme, bears the name of the late Russian meteorologist who was
devoted to the study of Russia's northern seas. The team departs on
March 3rd and will travel to their activation site by snowmobile,
setting up camp and using the call sign R150WS. The call sign is a nod
to the 150 years that have elapsed since Rykachev Mikhail Alexandrovich
and other scientists founded the Russian weather service. According to
a Twitter posting by Andy, EU7A, the team may also try to operate
enroute from Isachenko Island, IOTA number AS-050. If they are
successful, they will be active there as RI0BI. This adventure is the
sixth in the club's series of "Legends of the Arctic" DXpeditions.
According to the club's website, they are also planning a video
documentary similar to those created on previous Dxpeditions.

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

(RUSSIAN ROBINSON CLUB, OHIO PENN DX)

**
CARIBBEAN ISLAND HAMS MARK 27 YEARS SINCE CLUB'S FOUNDING

DON/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, in the much warmer Caribbean, amateurs are
marking nearly three decades of success for their club in Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines. John Williams VK4JJW has that report.

JOHN: The view of Mount St. Andrews could not have been more perfect
for members of the Youlou Radio Movement in Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines. On January 22nd, members of the ham radio organisation and
their families gathered within view of that important summit to mark 27
years since the group was founded atop that peak -- 2,000 feet above
sea level -- by five amateurs. Known originally as the Rainbow Radio
League, its purpose remains the same today: providing a team of
volunteers available for disaster communications by radio. Sean
Patterson, J88CU, one of the original five, spoke at the recent
celebration, sharing the story of the hams' first portable operation as
a formal group in 1995. The anniversary celebration included the
induction of two honoured guests - Ira Harris, VP2EIH, from Anguilla,
and Donald Howe, 9Z4FV, from Trinidad - as Youlou members. The next
day, the celebration continued as some of the hams visited Mary
Barnard, J88AM, and Martin Barnard, J88AA, to thank the two longtime
hams for their years of personal assistance to Youlou. Moving forward,
the group's next step is to consider a name change to the Youlou
Amateur Radio Association and make plans for several SOTA and POTA
activations this year.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW.

(SOUTHGATE, YOULOU RADIO MOVEMENT, SEARCHLIGHT NEWSPAPER)

**
STRAIGHT KEY MONTH MARKS 16TH YEAR OF SPECIAL EVENT

DON/ANCHOR: CW enthusiasts: Were you busy with your straight key for
the first few weeks of the year? You're likely in the log for a very
successful event by the Straight Key Century Club. Randy Sly W4XJ is
here to tell us more.

RANDY: "The Party's Over," says the welcoming message on the Straight
Key Century Club website. That means that January's Straight Key Month,
the club's 16th annual event, ended in a flurry of final contacts fast approaching a total of almost 50,000, according to their website. In
addition to congratulating all club members who signed up to be
operators for this special event, the club also thanked Justin, KF0GZB,
for submitting the design that is being featured in this year's
Straight Key Month QSL card. The event also marked the 16th anniversary
of the Straight Key Century Club, which encouraged all operators to
celebrate the original tools of the early days of radiotelegraphy by
using straight keys, bugs or cootie keys during their shifts on the
air. Official stations operated in all 13 US regional call areas.
Separate stations were on the air from six IARU continental regions
along with those in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Randy Sly W4XJ, operating this year
asK3Y/0.

(SKCC)

**
CANADIAN AMATEURS RECEIVE GRANT FOR EMCOMM WORK

DON/ANCHOR: Congratulations to the members of the New Westminster
Amateur Radio Club in British Columbia which has been given an $8,000
grant from the province to support and develop its emergency radio
response capabilities. According to a report in the New Westminster
Record, the ham club is among 250 nonprofit groups to receive grants
from an estimated $140 million of funding, which supports public safety
and conservation programs. The grant to the amateur radio club is part
of about $5.5 million earmarked specifically for emergency and safety
services.

(THE NEW WESTMINSTER RECORD)

**
PILOTS FAULT ELECTRONIC 'SPOOFING' OF GPS SIGNALS

DON/ANCHOR: No one likes radio interference - not hams and certainly
not airline pilots. Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us about interference that's reportedly impacting planes' navigation.

ED: Radio interference that has created electronic spoofing of GPS
signals is reported to be interfering with aircraft attempting to land
at Israel's Ben Gurion airport, according to several news outlets. The
Times of Israel reports that the signals are coming from defense
systems installed in Syria by Russia and they are having an impact on commercial airliners.

State-owned Israeli TV station KAN said that Moscow has told Israel the
signals are part of defense systems designed to protect Russian
soldiers in Syria. A pilot told the KAN news outlet that the signals
during the last four weeks have been as strong as those experienced in
early 2019. The pilot said however that those earlier signals
eventually stopped. He told the station [quote] ""What we've run into
is [electromagnetic] spectrum interference from the east, which has
taken us a while to understand what it is." [endquote]

The reports said that officials believe the interference with
commercial planes is collateral damage and that the jamming is directed elsewhere.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(KAN ISRAELI TV, THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, THE TURKISH PRESS)

**
PANEL ASSESSES JAPAN'S EFFORT TO ATTRACT YOUNGER HAMS

DON/ANCHOR: In Japan, officials have begun taking extra steps to ensure
amateur radio is accessible for the youngest of the young who aspire to
get their licenses. Jason Daniels VK2LAW has been following that story.

JASON: Members of a new panel designed to make amateur radio more
accessible for beginners in Japan held their first meeting on January
26th. The Amateur Radio Advisory Board for Wireless Human Resource
Development was created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications. One of its members is Yoshinori Takao, JG1KTC,
president of the Japan Amateur Radio League. According to a press
release on the Ministry's website, the goals include fostering
experimentation and research in amateur radio and making activities
more accessible for newcomers, especially the very young. The creation
of the panel follows efforts during the past few years by Yoshinori and
the JARL. Working in cooperation with the Japan Amateur Radio
Development Association, the JARL pressed the Ministry two years ago to
find more opportunities for elementary and junior high school students
to learn about amateur radio. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason
Daniels VK2LAW.

(JARL, SOUTHGATE)

**
AM RALLY PAYS TRIBUTE TO ORIGINAL VOICE MODE

DON/ANCHOR: Amplitude Modulation enthusiasts have been gearing up for
the AM Rally being held from 0000UTC Saturday, February 5th through to
0700 UTC on Monday, February 7th. Plans are in place, even with the
prospect of a CME impacting 40m and up. Technician Class licensees even
have a chance operating AM on 6m, with the preferred frequency of
50.400 MHz. If you don't want to keep a log, you can still submit
details about your participation on the event website. For details,
visit amrally.com Then start listening for the call of "CQ, AM Rally."

**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
the Lookout Mountain Amateur Radio Community's N4LMC repeater and the
LMARC SouthEast Link Digital Systems on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. localtime.

**
AMATEURS CLAIM NEW QSO DISTANCE RECORDS USING SATELLITES

DON/ANCHOR: Some new long-distance records are being claimed for
contacts using amateur radio satellites. Congratulations to Juan Felipe
A65GC and Jerome F4DXV for their QSO on HO-113 made on the 13th of
January between the United Arab Emirates and France. Their contact at
1952 UTC reportedly spanned a distance of 5,298 km, or nearly 3,300
miles. Jerome F4DXV also reported a contact with Sergei ES4RM which
would be a new record for AO-109. That contact between Estonia and
France on the 22nd of December last year, they believe covered 2,445
km, or 1,500 miles, setting a new record for that satellite. Their
contacts were reported on the AMSAT News Service. Well done!

(AMSAT NEWS SERVICE)

**
SPECIAL EVENT MARKS 90 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORP

DON/ANCHOR: Australian amateurs are paying tribute to nine decades of
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. They're doing it by - what
else? - getting on the air. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has those details.

JIM: Just weeks after hams in the UK began operating with a special
callsign marking the 100th anniversary of the British Broadcasting
Corporation, similar on-the-air festivities are taking place Down
Under: Ham radio operators in Australia are using the callsign VK90ABC
to mark the 90-year anniversary of the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. It's a nod to that memorable moment when the nation's
airwaves came alive on the 23rd of November in 1923 with Australia's
first licensed public radio broadcast, which featured the St. Andrews
Choir. All amateur radio operators throughout Australia will be
eligible to use the callsign but must apply for it first through an
email to info at vk 90 abc dot net. (info@k90abc.net) According to the callsign's QRZ page, there will be no QSLs sent direct or by the
bureau. Contacts are to be confirmed via LoTW and eQSL with logs
uploaded once a month.

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

(VK90ABC.NET)
**
SPECIAL EVENT STATION BEING HELD AT LINCOLN HISTORIC SITE

DON/ANCHOR: Another special event, this one in the US, marks the life
of an American president, as we hear from Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

SKEETER: There's a lot of history in the logs of the log cabin in
Lerna, Illinois, home of the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. The
cabin was home to Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and
stepmother of Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer who was to become the 16th
president of the United States. The National Trail Amateur Radio Club
is marking Lincoln's February birthday by putting two callsigns on the
air between February 7th and 13th. Be listening for K9L, which will be
used by members operating from their home QTH; and W9L which will be
used at the historic site itself. There will be commemorative QSL cards
for successful contacts on all bands in all modes. The 86-acre historic
site is no stranger to important moments in history and this amateur
radio event expects to be one of them. To learn more about how to get
in the log - the radio log, in this case - visit the QRZ page for
either call sign.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH.

(NATIONAL TRAIL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)

**

MYSTERIOUS PULSES DETECTED BY AUSTRALIAN RADIO TELESCOPE

DON/ANCHOR: What's that up in the sky? A radio telescope in Australia
has picked up some unusual signals and Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us what
they might just be.

GRAHAM: We've all heard strange transmissions on the air but perhaps
none as strange as these: A radio telescope in Western Australia has
been picking up highly polarised signals in a repeating series of
pulses, suggesting that the bright object which appears to be its
source possesses a strong magnetic field. The scientists at the
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research are detecting the
radio waves at a rate of three times an hour. An astrophysicist at
Curtin University believes this might be a magnetar, something that
only existed in theory until recently. Researchers have known about the
bright object since it was first seen in March of 2018.

The more than 4,000 low-frequency antennas of the Murchison Widefield
Array are picking up transmissions which originate some 4,000
light-years away from Earth. Curtin University astrophysicist Natasha Hurley-Walker has stated that no, this isn't coming from aliens. To
solve the mystery, researchers at the Pawsey Supercomputing Center in
Perth will be exploring data from similar pulsing objects to compare to
this one.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(INTERESTINGENGINEERING.COM)

**
WRTC ORGANIZERS TO ATTEND ORLANDO HAMCATION

DON/ANCHOR: If you're excited about attending HamCation in Orlando,
Florida this month and just as excited about the World Radiosport Team Championships next year in Bologna, Italy, here's a way to combine the
two events. Be sure to look for organizers of the WRTC. WRTC organizers
said they're happy to be finally making the trip after two long years.
WRTC organizers Claudio I4VEQ and Fabio I4UFH will be making a
presentation at Contest University on February 10th at the DoubleTree
by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld and will be attending HamCation,
which runs through February 13th.

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, the Bouvet Island 3Y0J Dxpedition has received
another financial boost in support of its planned activation in
November. The Norwegian Radio Relay League will be providing 20,000
Krone - the equivalent of about $2,200 in US currency. A number of
Norwegian DXpeditioners are participating in the much-anticipated
activation.

Meanwhile, in Antarctica, Chris, W2RTO, is active from the KC4USV
McMurdo Station on Ross Island (AN-011) on 20 meters. Chris is using
SSB and FT8 and will be on the air until mid-2022. QSL KC4USV via K7MT
or LoTW.

In Bulgaria, Anton, LZ1XM, will activate the special callsign LZ150GD
in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Bulgarian
revolutionary Georgi Nikolov Delchev. Georgi is considered a national
hero. Anton will be on the air between February 1st and 28th. QSL via
the Bureau only.

Listen for Lee, K3DMG, on the air in Aruba as P4/K3DMG until the end of
March. He is operating holiday style on various HF bands using mainly
CW, RTTY and the Digital modes. QSL via LoTW and eQSL. Paper QSLs will
not be accepted.

Throughout the month of February, Rob, PA0RDY, will activate the
special callsign PF88ANT from Amsterdam, marking the 19th Antarctic
Activity Week celebration which takes place between February 21st and
27th. Send QSLs via PA0RDY, direct, which is preferred, or by the
bureau.

(OHIO PENN DX)

**
KICKER: WATCHING THEIR QSOS LIKE A HAWK

DON/ANCHOR: For our final story we say - don't look now but there's
something on your tower and it's NOT an antenna! Ralph Squillace KK6ITB identifies the culprit.

RALPH: When it comes to hunting DX, it's always fun to do it as a team.
That partnership works nicely for Anne Elizabeth Manna WB1ARU and her
husband Tony WA1ENO who make good use of their 60-foot tower. It has a
Stepp-IR 3-element beam with a 40m loop about 53 feet up and a 10-meter
beam mounted crosswise above it at a height of about 57 feet. The tower
is also home to a home-brew 3-legged wire antenna that runs off the
tower to trees that are across a pond behind their house. A little
lower down on the tower, a standoff mount holds ladder line that
connects to the wire antenna. While these are all good tools for
hunting those elusive contacts, the tower is frequently home as well to
one of the most successful hunting entities known to ham and non-ham
alike: a local hawk. The hawk doesn't need to key the mic to get a
successful contact. The bird is, of course, a bit more omnidirectional
but it doesn't require any SWR measurements to safely get on - or in
-the air. Anne shared a picture of the latest addition to the family
tower in a recent Facebook post. As he sits in that familiar
hunt-and-pounce position that may be familiar to many contesters, it's
still a little hard to know: Does he have his sights set perhaps....on
Mouse Island off Corfu in Greece?

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(ANNE ELIZABETH MANNA WB1ARU)

**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to AMSAT News Service; Anne Elizabeth Manna
WB1ARU; the ARRL; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; DX-World.net;
Interesting Engineering.com; the Japan Amateur Radio League; KAN
Israeli TV; National Trail Amateur Radio Club; the New Westminster
Record; Ohio Penn DX; QRZ.com; Radio Society of Great Britain; Russian
Robinson Club; the Searchlight Newspaper; Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; Straight Key Century Club; the Times of Israel; the
Turkish Press; VK90ABC.NET; Wireless Institute of Australia; Youlou
Radio Movement; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur
Radio Newsline. You can write to us at newsline@arnewsline.org. We
remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer
non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued
operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and
our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in Picayune,
Mississippi saying 73. As always we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

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