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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2316 for Friday March 18th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2316 with a release date of Friday
March 18th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A push for shortwave broadcasts to a war zone.
COVID cancels a youth ham camp in Germany -- and Hamvention announces
its award-winners. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2316 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART HERE

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GRASSROOTS PUSH TO BEAM SHORTWAVE TO RUSSIA, UKRAINE

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Our top story this week focuses on the war between
Russia and Ukraine and a grassroots push in the United States to keep
the people of both countries informed via shortwave radio. Dave Parks
WB8ODF has that report.

DAVE: Voice of America news programming may soon be beaming from the
United States to overseas listeners via shortwave - most particularly
Russia and Ukraine - through a citizen-based effort known as Shortwaves
for Freedom.

The US Agency for Global Media, the umbrella under which VOA and Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty operate, is not involved in any of these
planned transmissions. Instead, Shortwaves for Freedom is making use of
the fact that VOA programming is public domain and easily downloadable
from the VOA website for transmission over the air. According to a
report on Washington, DC-based political news website, The Hill, Miami
Radio International in Florida has already agreed to transmit the
broadcasts. The Hill's story said that Shortwaves for Freedom is
receiving technical assistance from Gerhard Straub, who retired as
director of broadcast technologies at the VOA's parent agency.

The general manager of Miami Radio International told The Hill that his
radio station is already transmitting the VOA program "Flashpoint
Ukraine," which is in English. The same news report said there are
plans to add programming in Ukrainian and expand the broadcasts.

Voice of America was originally part of the United States State
Department. In 1947, VOA commenced shortwave transmissions of
Russian-language programming into what was then the Soviet Union.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(THE HILL, POLITICO)

**
NASA: US ASTRONAUT, RUSSIANS TO RETURN TO EARTH TOGETHER

SKEETER/ANCHOR: High above the Earth, a US astronaut who's been active
in numerous amateur radio contacts, will share the return trip to Earth
with two Russian cosmonauts. We hear more from Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

KENT: Despite terrestrial tensions dividing the nations, US astronaut
Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP is preparing to return to Earth from the
International Space Station this month with two cosmonauts on board a
Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The scheduled landing in Kazakhstan on March
30th is being planned in cooperation with the Russian space agency
Rocosmos. According to several news reports, the three crew members'
return comes amid fiercely growing tensions between the two countries
-tensions that have reportedly spilled over into the space program, particularly with the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitri Rogozin,
being a longtime supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
However, despite the fact that SpaceX vehicles are now being used for
travel to and from the ISS, NASA confirmed on Monday, March 14th that
plans continue to go forward for the three men to return to the Earth
together.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(CNN, ABC NEWS)

**
COVID PRECAUTIONS CANCEL FRIEDRICHSHAFEN HAM CAMP

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Citing caution over the continued pandemic, organizers
have cancelled the annual ham camp that was scheduled to be held in
Germany for young amateurs this summer. Ed Durrant DD5LP has thatstory.

ED: The young amateurs who had hoped to attend "Ham Camp" during Ham
Radio Friedrichshafen this coming June will have to wait another year.
Although Ham Radio Friedrichshafen, Europe's largest ham radio event,
is still taking place on June 24th through the 26th, organizers have
said the logistics of housing more than 100 youngsters and supervisors
in close quarters during the same weekend would prove risky under
COVID-19 conditions. The IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group wrote on the
IARU website that the organizers said their decision was not taken
lightly and is based on the need to protect participants of minor age
and under supervision. The camp is expected to be held in 2023.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(IARU REGION 1)

**
ARECIBO REOPENS TO VISITORS IN PUERTO RICO

SKEETER/ANCHOR: The Arecibo Observatory, former home of the iconic
radio telescope, is opening its doors to visitors once more, as Mike
Askins KE5CXP tells us.

MIKE: The powerful radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto
Rico is long gone following a collapse in 2020, but its visitor center
and observation deck are back in business. Guests making reservations
in advance are able to see what's left of the reflective dish that
helped researchers win a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993.

Ricardo Correa, director of communications, told United Press
International: [quote] "Arecibo is not closed anymore." [endquote]. He
said that scientific research still continues at the United States
National Science Foundation facility using such tools as a 12-meter
telescope and a LIDAR scanning to study the atmosphere by bouncing
laser beams off particles above our planet.

There is also a tribute to the iconic radio telescope itself. An
outdoor exhibit features artifacts recovered from the telescope and its platform.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.

(UPI)
**
OHIO SCHOOL HAM CLUB TRANSMITS WISDOM, WIRELESSLY

SKEETER/ANCHOR: In one Ohio school, lessons on electronics theory and
the electromagnetic spectrum have graduated to a level way beyond
theory. Andy Morrison K9AWM brings us that story.

ANDY: On Tuesday nights in a high school biology room, members of the Columbiana Clippers Amateur Radio Club, K8LPS, can be found calling
QRZ. Not only are they logging contacts; they're gaining a deeper
understanding of the lessons about the electromagnetic spectrum taught
at the school since 2018 by Columbiana Police Sgt. Wade Boley, N8YMX,
one of the school's resource officers. The club rig, which was donated
by a local business, puts out 100 watts of power and the students are
putting out immeasurable enthusiasm. Wade told the newspaper that ham
radio has also provided geography lessons since the students always
look up any DX contact they've worked for the first time. The other map
is provided by Wade, teaching youngsters the geography of electronics:
how to read circuits and interpret schematics.

Some students, however, are finding a roadmap for life.

Katie Campbell, KE8LQR, told the Morning Journal News newspaper that
becoming a ham has helped her with leadership skills, giving
presentations, mathematics ability and communications. She told the
newspaper: [quote] "Amateur radio in general has helped me in every
aspect of my life." [endquote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(MORNING JOURNAL NEWS)

**
HAMVENTION AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Congratulations to the winners of this year's awards to
be presented at Hamvention. Club of the Year: The Highland Amateur
Radio Association in Hillsboro, Ohio; Special achievement: Kerry Banke
N6IZW, for his years of work with amateur radio in space; Technical achievement: Adam Farson VA7OJ / AB4OJ, for his ongoing technical
support to hams globally; and Amateur of the Year, Jim Simpson, KF8J.
Awards will be presented in Xenia, Ohio the weekend of Hamvention, May
20th through the 22nd.

(MICHAEL KALTER, W8CI, TIM DUFFY, K3LR)

**
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Hams use less visible parts of the natural world: the electromagnetic spectrum and the ionosphere. And now hams around the
world are getting ready to call attention to that same world's more
visible and treasured parts: the national parks and protected natural
areas in the countries of the Americas. Jim Damron N8TMW has the
details.

JIM: For one week in April, the World Wide Flora & Fauna program is
urging hams throughout the Americas to participate in its "Parks in the Americas Week" between April 3rd and April 10th. Operation qualifies
hams for recognition in the International Awards Program of the WWFF
and it makes each chosen natural setting a winner too. Activation with
a portable station calls attention to these nature preservation areas,
which are listed on the WWFF website. The names of all qualifying
natural areas can be obtained by contacting the national WWFF
coordinator in each country.

Ronaldo, PS8RV, the Brazilian national coordinator, wrote on the WWFF
website that hams will be permitted to operate on CW, SSB, FM and FT8
and there will also be awards for shortwave listeners.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jim Damron N8TMW.

(WWFF.CO)

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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.
**

SILENT KEY: SATELLITE ENTHUSIAST RAY SOIFER, W2RS

SKEETER/ANCHOR: A lifelong amateur whose achievements with ham radio
satellites could be traced to his years as a New York City teenager,
has become a Silent Key. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB, tells us about him.

RALPH: Ray Soifer, W2RS, is credited with achieving the first ham
radio QSO via satellite ionization trail reflection. It was 1960 and
Ray, then K2QBW, and his friend Perry Klein, then K3JTE, made the
contact together as high school students who were enthralled by
satellites. Ray became a Silent Key on March 1. He was living in
Arizona at the time of his death.

After Perry Klein became founding president of AMSAT, Ray took on a
number of posts with the organization, including executive vice
president, acting president and member of the board of directors. Ray's consistent devotion to satellite operation led him in 1975 to achieve
the first reported inter-satellite relay communication, making use of AMSAT-OSCAR 7 and AMSAT-OSCAR 6 when the two were in close orbit to one another. Ray was chairman of the annual IARU Satellite Forum between
1995 and 2005, a member of the IARU's Satellite Frequency Coordination
Panel; and was secretary and later chairman of the IARU Region 2's
VHF/UHF Committee.

He also wrote frequently on satellite-related topics for the AMSAT
Journal, QST and RadCom, the magazine of the Radio Society of Great
Britain.

Ray was 79.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(AMSAT)

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SILENT KEY: SOTA'S JOSE-ANTONIO GURUTZARRI JAUREGI, "GURU," EA2IF

SKEETER/ANCHOR: The close-knit community of SOTA activators is grieving
the loss of a well-known friend to many, on and off the summits. Ed
Durrant DD5LP has his story. ED: Jose-Antonio Gurutzarri Jauregi was
better known as Guru, or by his callsign, EA2IF. A ham since his teens
in native Spain, he embraced participation in Summits on the Air in
2013, combining his love of portable activation with his affinity for
hiking. Guru became a Silent Key on March 11. His death from cancer was announced by Ignacio EA2BD on the SOTA Reflector.

Radio and friendship were common threads throughout his life. Starting
with a friend, Esteban EA2BYG, who introduced him to CB radio in 1980
as a teenager. Another friend, Jose-Ramon, EA2AD, later brought him
into the world of amateur radio. Guru became an adept contester and CW
operator and over the years placed in the top three spots for such
competitions as the CQ World Wide DX contest and the ARRL International
DX CW competition. By 2018, after a few years in the SOTA programme, he
was invited to join the SOTA Global Publicity Team.

According to Ignacio, at the time of Guru's death he was 26 points
short of one last goal he sought despite his terminal diagnosis: He
wanted to achieve Mountain Goat status in the SOTA awards scheme.
Paying tribute to his friend, Ignacio wrote on the reflector: [quote]
"In our hearts, after so many activations - 415 - you are already in
the herd, Guru...73 my friend." [end quote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP and I am proud to have
known Guru. Vale Guru, EA2IF ..... you will be sorely missed by the
SOTA community.

(SOTA REFLECTOR, QRZ.COM)

**
UK BEACON PROJECT GAINS FUNDING FROM RSGB

SKEETER/ANCHOR: In the UK, a beacon project that will help in the study
of meteors has gained some financial support. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has the details.

JEREMY: A partnership between radio astronomers and the amateur radio
community has been recognized by the Legacy Committee of the Radio
Society of Great Britain, which will be providing funds for a 50 MHz
beacon to assist in the study of meteors above the UK.

According to the RSGB website, the beacon will operate from the
Sherwood Observatory of the Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society.
It will make use of circular polarization and will beam up vertically.

The announcement noted that because meteors entering the Earth's
atmosphere create an ionized trail reflecting transmissions at 50 MHz,
that band is extremely useful for the planned range of STEM and citizen
science projects.

The amount of the Legacy Committee gift was not disclosed.

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

(RSGB)

**

WIA WELCOMES YOUTH CORRESPONDENT TO AMATEUR NEWSCAST

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Newsline would like to congratulate Alec,
VK2APC, of Sydney, Australia for joining the Wireless Institute of
Australia's National News team. Alec is 12 years old, got his license
last year and is the son of Pete, VK2LP. Alec will be reading
youth-related news for listeners of the weekly WIA report.

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NOMINATE YOUNG AMATEURS FOR NEWSLINE AWARD

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, young hams who live in the continental
United States have an opportunity to make news of their own as a
recipient of the Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak Memorial Young
Ham of the Year Award. Consider nominating an amateur radio operator 18
years of age or younger with talent, promise and a commitment to the
spirit of ham radio. Find application forms on our website
arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Nominations close May 31st.

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for Don, K6ZO, on air as D60AB between the
16th and 29th of March from the Comoros Islands (AF-007). He will
participate in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest on March 26th and 27th. Don
will also be visiting Mayotte (AF-027), and use the callsign FH/K6ZO
between March 18th and 23rd. Don can be found on 160-6 meters using CW,
SSB and the Digital modes. QSL all callsigns via his home callsign
direct.

A year-long special event will begin in Hungary on March 15th using the callsign HG200PS. Hams are marking the 200th birthday of Sandor
Petofi, a revolutionary and celebrated poet. The station will be on the
air until March 15th, 2023. Be listening on all bands for operators
using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via HA8RD, ClubLog or LoTW.

Listen for Thierry, F6CUK, on the air as TM8C from the Island of Brehat
between the 23rd and 30th of April. Listen for him on 40, 30 and 20
meters using CW, SSB, and FT8. QSL to his home callsign, direct, by the
Bureau, and LoTW.

(OHIO PENN DX)

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KICKER: A MORSE CODE MESSAGE, ACCORDION TO HIM

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Next up, we offer you a serenade that's also a CW
Serenade. Morse Code enthusiasts have often likened the pattern of all
those dits and dahs to music. Now one ham in New Hampshire has taken
things one step further. Paul Braun WD9GCO hits the final high notes
this week with this story.

PAUL: Paul Castonguay [cass-tonn-gay] KC1LBL is a ham who not only
composes messages when he's on the air â-" he can also compose a little
music when he's off the air. It's basic music with these basic lyrics:
"CQ QRP." To get that message sent, he uses a special kind of keyer.
It's not a bug, an iambic paddle or a cootie. Well, actually, it's not
a keyer at all. It's an accordion. Paul performs his one-minute song on
the accordion to an appreciative audience of YouTube viewers. Fear not, music-lovers. Even if you are completely CW-challenged or simply very
QRS, this performance comes with its own automatic decoder. It has
subtitles. You can watch his YouTube performance by using the link
found in the text version of this week's newscast. He's not expecting
any QSL cards. Just applause.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Paul Braun WD9GCO.

[FOR PRINT ONLY, DO NOT READ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKhVRtvHEn4 ]

(YOUTUBE, SOUTHGATE, STEPHEN WALTERS G7VFY)

**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to AARRL; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; DXWorld.net; Facebook; the FCC; Ohio Penn DX; OZSOTA Groups.io;
QRZ.com; the Radio Society of Great Britain; Southgate Amateur Radio
News; shortwaveradio.de; Stephen Walters, G7VFY; YouTube; 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 youall.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and
our news team worldwide, I'm Skeeter Nash N5ASH in Shelbyville
Tennessee saying 73. As always we thank you for listening.

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

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