KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Amateur Radio in the News

Ham Radio in the News – 4/18/12

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Here’s the next installment of Ham Radio in the News….

Ham radio grows at Two Rivers. Sixth- through eighth-graders at Two Rivers School learned the intricacies of ham radio during a two-day, hands-on activity that turned part of the school into an amateur radio studio. It’s always nice to see a story about kids learning about ham radio.

Area amateur radio groups have common bond. This is a fairly typical story about how amateur radio operators provide emergency communications, but the reporting is decent, and it has contact info for both the clubs covered in the article and the ARRL.

‘Ham’ takes over city park. Wires were strung from tree to tree and from pole to pole at Brewton City Park Saturday when the Brewton Amateur Radio Union (WB4ARU) set up for broadcasting (sic) and demonstrations. The reporter didn’t get the difference between broadcasting and transmitting, but that’s OK. It’s still a good story.

Ham Radio in the News – 4/6/12

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Knobs, Dials, and Crackles.  BBC Radio 4’s Today programme is producing a limited edition, digital radio – sold to raise money for Children in Need. Aspiring UK designers – and listeners with a touch of creative flair – are being encouraged to submit designs. For inspiration, reporter Nicola Stanbridge went to look at one of the country’s largest private collections of vintage radios.

Wales remembers young radio amateur who monitored and reported Titanic distress calls. As the Titanic was sinking in the North Atlantic, its more than 2,000 passengers and crew scrambling in the dark for lifeboats, a young man far away in Wales heard the ship’s distress calls on his homemade radio. The local Blackwood & District Amateur Radio Society will be using a special call sign to send messages on April 13-15 from Gelligroes Mill, where Moore built and operated his device.

Billy Burdette, K4NJS, SK. Mr. Burdette was a past member of the Spartanburg Amateur Radio Club and he was a current member of the Old Friends Amateur Radio Group. He was a dedicated amateur radio operator having the call letters K4NJS. Billy was a colorful figure attending dozens of hamfests over the years.

Ham Radio in the News – 3/14/12

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James and Sue Stiles
James and Sue Stiles are headed to Edgely, ND where the conditions are perfect for antenna farming.

Ham Heads for North Dakota
The Grand Forks Herald reports:

Jame Stiles, 57, retired for five years from a career as a computer whiz with the U.S. Department of Defense, recently bought with his wife Sue a house sight unseen — on the Internet auction site eBay, no less — in the small southeast North Dakota town of Edgeley.

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Stiles said the state is ideal for his hobby because there’s less congestion on the radio frequency and the Aurora conditions, or Northern Lights allow for communications over greater distances. In addition, no place is the best place for a ham radio operator, many of whom compete to find people in obscure places.

I searched the QRZ.Com database for Stiles callsign, and found several James Stiles, but none of them currently live in Myrtle Beach, SC, where the story says the couple currently resides.

Expecting the worst, “Preppers” aim for self sufficiency
This article describes how a group of South Florida residents are preparing for “a smorgasbord of end-of-the-world scenarios out there: supervolcanoes, meteor strikes, electromagnetic radiation, natural disasters, plague and economic meltdown.” Part of this preparation includes ham radio.

Robotics team hosting LEGO Tournament
In Pell City, AL, the high school robotics team is hosting its first St. Patty’s Day LEGO Tournament and Science, Engineering and Technology Expo this Saturday. Two high school ham radio clubs are taking part – the St. Clair HS ARC and the Pell City HS ARC. Some of the funds raised will help the Pell City HS robotics team compete in the 2012 Central Alabama BEST Robotics Competition.

Ham Radio in the News –

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Forget Skype: this whiz kid prefers radio. Jason Brand, a nine-year-old in Dulwich Hill, passed his Foundation ham radio test earlier this month. “I felt very happy. I was really excited to pass the test,” he said. My dad was quite pleased.”

 

Harvey Chase, W4TG
Harvey Chase, W4TG

Silent Key. What other hobby includes nine-year-olds and those that are north of ninety? Unfortunately, this item is bad news. Harvey Chase, W4TG, was 96 when he became an SK recently. This is a great tribute to him by an on-the-ar friend, AC0US.

Amateur radio groups given donation. The Berks County (PA) ARES/RACES group receive a donation of $3,600 for equipment. “The donation from Houston-based GenOn will pay to buy equipment that will be stored at the Berks County Department of Emergency Services near Reading Regional Airport in Bern Township and be available for whenever emergencies are declared, officials said.”

Ham Radio in the News – 2/23/12

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Deltona youth loves to ham it up on amateur radio. Nine-year-old Mikaila, KI4DS, is perhaps the  youngest Extra Class licensee in the U.S.

Clear Lake Amateur Radio Operators Spot For National Weather Service. Houston-area amateurs particpate in SkyWarn.

Mont. ham radio operator helps with emergency communications, talks with Space Station. Doug, K7YD, is an all-around ham, not only working DX, but also providing local emergency-communications services.

Ham Radio in the News – 2/16/12

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Amateur radio club remembers fallen astronauts. Nine years later members of the Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club gather at the Patricia Huffman Smith Museum, to honor the volunteers who helped with the rescue effort after the crash of the space shuttle Columbia.

New MIT student launches acceptance letter into space. Seventeen-year-old Erin King of Georgia aimed high … really high. King sent a tube containing her MIT acceptance letter on a high-flyingballoon ride to near-space.

Ham Radio in the News – 2/3/12

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Ham radio in the new for February 3, 2012:

Ham radio: Last means of communications in a disaster. This short spot appeared on KVAL-TV in Eugene, OR. The two-minute video describes how ham radio operators helped out  during the recent flooding in the Eugene area.

Scout training (and ham radio) saves the day for backcountry skiers. Ham radio plays a part in the rescue of two Colorado skiers.

GET INVOLVED: Club helps keep area safe. The San Angelo Amateur Radio Club works with the county and city Offices of Emergency Management, the police and sheriff, and all the fire departments in the Concho Valley. They are willing to work with anyone if it will help make Tom Green County a safer and better place to live or a more effective community.

 

Amateur Radio in the News – Obituaries, 11/17/11

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This Ham Radio in the News is a little different. Below, find links to three recent SKs.

  • Dr. John Henry Thomas III, W3FAF, of Sellersville, formerly of Mahtomedi, Minn. and Bucks County, Pa., died Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, at Rockhill Mennonite Community where he was a resident. He was 70.In addition to holding a PhD in physics, Dr. John Thomas was a ham radio operator for more than 50 years. He was an active member of several radio clubs, and was recently honored with the American Radio Relay League’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was an Official Relay Station for 52 years and an Official Observer for more than 20 years.
  • Kenneth D. Marker, N9KM, age 82, of Richmond, died Friday, November 11, 2011, at Golden Living Center.He was an engineer at NATCO for 38 years, a former member of Earlham Heights Presbyterian Church, a member of the Whitewater Valley Amateur Radio Club, and USA Defenders of Greyhounds.
  • Donald James Wilson, WB8ZOS, of Muskegon died peacefully at his home on Wedneday, November 9, 2011 after a brief illness. He was 88. Don had a long career as an engineer with Sealed Power Corporation and had many hobbies throughout his life, including building and flying model airplanes and helicopters and amateur radio.

Ham Radio in the News – 11/7/11

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Here’s the latest Ham Radio in the News….

Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML
Richard Harbus/Daily News

NYC Marathon: Cancer won’t keep this volunteer down. Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, provides public service communications for his 36th consecutive NYC Marathon, despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Pumpkin patrol protects drivers, highways. “The Madison-Oneida (NY) Amateur Radio Club manned 13 overpasses in Madison and Oneida Counties on Halloween…..Since 1988, state police say the presence of the Pumpkin Patrol has reduced the rate of Halloween incidents from approximately five per year to zero.”

Plano Amateur Radio Klub honored. “InTouch Credit Union, the title sponsor of the Plano Balloon Festival, Plano, TX honored the Plano Amateur Radio Klub (PARK) at the 2011 festival. PARK was honored with a $500 grant from InTouch Credit Union for its many years of working behind the scenes handling communications for the festival.”

Ham Radio in the News – October 31, 2001

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Here is the latest Ham Radio in the News:

99-year-old Ham radio operator still tuned in. This story speaks for itself. I hope I’m still making QSOs when I’m 99.

KL7OT Makes a Contact
Arlene “Buddy” Clay, 99, with her Ham radio set up. After 67 years living along the Kuskokwim River, in January she moved from Aniak to the Primrose Retirement Community in Wasilla. (from The Frontiersman)

Radio club helps to make Halloween a treat. I like this article because it describes ham radio providing a public service that is not emergency communications. I also like the name of the newspaper: The Daily Gleaner.

150 years ago, a primitive Internet united the USA. While not directly related to ham radio, this article puts our current communications technology in perspective. The telegraph was the invention that set the stage for today’s Internet.