Amateur Radio in the News

Amateur radio in the news: Amateurs help USGS with earthquakes, VT towers OK’d, ham club on BBC

March 5, 2021 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Amateur Radio Operators Help Fill Earthquake Donut Holes

If you’ve ever seen tall antennas rising from everyday residences in your community and wondered what they are for, it could be that those homes belong to ham radio enthusiasts who enjoy communicating with each other over the airwaves. In addition to having fun with their radios and finding camaraderie, many ham radio operators are also prepared to help neighbors and authorities communicate during disasters. One such group of radio enthusiasts is poised now to serve yet another important role: They will be contributing to a more robust delivery mechanism for critical seismic intensity reports after major earthquakes through the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Did You Feel It? (DYFI) system.

….read more

Over neighbors’ objections, Shelburne operator gets the green light for ham radio towers

SHELBURNE – One-on-one talks with fellow amateur radio operators as far away as Moscow are now firmly on the horizon for a Shelburne man.

The erection of two antenna towers on Zachary Manganello’s rural property on Dorset Street — a source of contention with his neighbors for at least a year — was approved by the Telecommunications Review Board this week.

On paper, and later, in balloon tests that attempted to approximate the towers’ altitude, the structures struck some folks as too tall for the neighborhood.

…read more

Ham radio on BBC Radio Lincoln

The Lincoln Short Wave Club, hosts of the National Hamfest, celebrated their 100th anniversary in February and Steve Burke M5ZZZ / G6TVP was interviewed on BBC Radio Lincoln

The club’s inaugural meeting was held in the Spread Eagle Hotel in Lincoln on February 10, 1921. Eleven people attended and it was agreed the group would be known as the Lincoln and District Wireless Society.

In May 1923 they held an exhibition in the City School. The event was open to the public for three days and attracted 322 visitors.

The BBC interview was broadcast on Wednesday, February 17, on BBC Radio Lincoln’s Breakfast Show. A recording is available, fast-forward to 01:17:49 into the show
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0954hgx

Lincoln Short Wave Club history
http://www.g5fz.co.uk/official-club-buisness/a-brief-history-of-lincoln-short-wave-club/

Amateur radio in the news: More ISS SSTV, AMSAT-DL Satellite Symposium video now online, Seattle club’s testing triumph

September 27, 2020 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

An SSTV image sent by the ISS in August 2020.

More SSTV from the ISS

Southgate reports that slow-scan TV (SSTV) transmissions will probably occur from the International Space Station (ISS) next week:

Wed 2020-09-30 13:05 UTC to 18:45 UTC
Thu 2020-10-01 12:30 UTC to 17:40 UTC

Images will be downlinked at 145.8 MHz and the expected SSTV mode of operation is PD 120. If you receive the transmissions, you can post and view images on the ARISS SSTV Gallery at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ .

I just got my ARROW antenna yesterday, so I’m hoping to try it out and get better images than I did last time.

AMSAT-DL Satellite Symposium video now online

More space news….

The video of the AMSAT-DL Online Satellite Symposium 2020 held on Saturday, Sept 16, can now be watched on YouTube. Most of the talks are in English to cater for an international audience. See the schedule of talks at
https://amsat-dl.org/en/amsat-dl-online-satelliten-symposium/, and the 8-hour video is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRahMn2dYE.

The schedule is heavy on QO-100 talks, but even though that satellite is not accessible here in the U.S., you should find something of interest.

Seattle club’s testing triumph

The West Seattle Amateur Radio Club recently provided a round of testing with unique challenges posed by the pandemic and more. Five people took the test. Three passed the Technician exam, one ham moved up from Technician to General, and one ham moved up from General to Extra.

The exam session was held under adverse conditions. Not only is the Northwest is the COVID-19 pandemic still active there, there are high levels of smoke from wildfires. The test was planned for outdoors but was moved indoors to avoid the smoke hazard and was held with safe distancing and COVID-19 precautions. As each participant signed in, their temperatures were taken with a forehead infra-red thermometer to verify they had normal temperatures. Masks were worn by everyone. Hand sanitizer and wipes were plentiful.

Amateur radio operators in the news: Ham takes on cycling challenge to raise money,

June 18, 2020 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Father and daughter from Hoo determined to complete cycle challenge from Land’s End to John O’Groats

A teaching assistant spent much of lockdown in his garage on a charity virtual cycle ride. Kevin Richardson and his teenage daughter Lauren had planned an epic trip from Land’s End to John O’ Groats this summer to raise money for the RNLI.

But amateur radio enthusiast Kevin had to settle for a solo challenge around “the coast of Britain” from the family home in Hoo. He hooked his radio equipment to his bike so he could broadcast to others who follow his hobby.

Kevin, 55, who works at Burnt Oak Primary in Gillingham, said: “To keep focused and occupied while riding, I converted my garage into the site of a radio room. I had two amateur radios strapped to the handlebars and used one to communicate with other radio amateurs in Kent and Essex. When things got a little quiet and I had nobody to talk to, I listened to Classic FM.”

After 64 years, NZ’s oldest practising dentist retires aged 88

At 88, New Zealand’s oldest practising dentist has pulled his last tooth. I’ve had enough,” said Terry Lealand, who has worked in Hāwera for 64 years.

Now that he’s closed the practice, he is looking forward to tackling some of the retirement projects stacked up in his basement workshop. Lealand’s 1962 certificate as an amateur radio operator hangs alongside his degree in dentistry, over a desk crowded with ham radio equipment. Cabinets and shelves are crammed with electronic components, walls are festooned with hand tools, while welding gear and a lathe sit near a hospital bed converted to a workbench.

Amateur radio in the news: Lockdown edition

May 8, 2020 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Ham operator holds nightly check-ins

“All is well.”

“Everything is hunky dory here.”

These were just two of the 13 responses on Friday, May 1, sent to K4FZE during the Greene County Virginia Amateur Radio Club’s Wellness Network (Net). Club member Bill Steo, 73, of Stanardsville has been reaching out through this network nightly at 7 p.m. since March 15.

Using technology to connect with each other is old hat for ham radio operators

BARRHEAD (Alberta, Canada) — Amid the coronavirus outbreak and people being forced to spend more time at home, people are using technology to bridge the physical gap and stay connected.

However, this is not new to amateur radio operators. From the early days of radio, “ham radio operators”, they are more commonly known as, have been using the airways to connect with other amateur radio enthusiasts.

Ham radio operators reach out to people with critical illness

Kolkata, May 4 (PTI) Ham radio operators have been scanning the city round the clock during the ongoing lockdown to get medicines required by critically ill patients of West Bengal and outside.

With the help of police, these Good Samaritans have supplied medicines for cancer, hepatitis-B, HIV positive patients in several districts of West Bengal and a couple of Northeastern states, the apex body of Ham Radio operators said.

Amateur radio in the news: UK, Canada edition

April 18, 2020 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

The General Manager of the RSBG, Steve Thomas M1ACB, and Paul Devlin G1SMP, of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) were interviewed on BBC Three Countries Radio about the RSGB’s Get On The Air To Care (GOTA2C) program.

The RSGB website notes:

In these challenging times when there are growing concerns about the effects of social isolation on people living in lockdown, “Get on the air to care” encourages the 75,000 radio amateurs across the UK—as part of the 3,000,000 worldwide—to use their radio licences to chat and support each other across the airwaves.

I love this expression of community in the UK.

Mervyn Foster, G4KLE, who is an RSGB District Representative 121, an NRC Volunteer, and chair of Huntingdon Amateur Radio Society appeared on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on April 2. The interview starts around 2 hrs 23 minutes into the recording. The interview starts at the 1:23:48 point of the recording.

Amid pandemic, amateur radio societies across the North are seeking new recruits.

Amateur radio enthusiast Ron Thompson has made contact with Russia from Yellowknife [the capital city of Canada’s Northwest Territories]. He’s also used it to reach his wife to get milk from the store. He’s part of the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society, which is joining other radio societies to recruit people to study as licensed operators during their self-isolation. Amateur radio is useful for emergency communications during natural disasters, but it can also be used for fun, for local non-commercial communications.

Amateur radio operators in the news: 96-year-old ham makes out-of-this world QSO, K1ALL, WA4YO (SK)

February 9, 2020 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

96-year-old ham radio operator makes an out-of-this world connection

TORONTO — For decades, Jean Moffett, VE3WAD has been reaching out over the airwaves. An amateur—or ham—radio operator, Moffett has connected with people around the globe. “You can always talk to other people, in other parts of the world,” Moffett said, speaking to CTV News Toronto.

“You can send your signals to satellites. I’ve talked to people from the Arctic to the Antarctic.” And on Wednesday at the Ontario Science Centre, the 96-year-old got to go even further.

A ham radio connection, relayed through northern Italy, allowed the senior and a group of students to speak with Commander Luca Parmitano aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Ham radio: A hobby still alive and thriving

Alan Lewis (K1ALL) pledged to do two things when he retired: learn to weld and get an amateur radio license. He did both, and then took his amateur radio license one step further. Almost immediately after getting his license, Lewis said he started getting involved in the public service aspects of amateur radio, including emergency communication.

Dr. Edmun B. Richmond, WA4YO (SK)

Dr. Edmun B. Richmond, 86, passed away on January 17, 2020 in Allendale after an extended illness….He got his first ham license when he was in middle school and his excitement for DXing continued until he was unable to do so. He contacted ham operators from all corners of the world and made many friendships along the way. Once when asked to name a famous person he contacted as a ham, he said King Hussein of Jordan. During his ham operation he received a letter of appreciation from the United States Department of Commerce Weather Bureau in 1960 for keeping communities updated with conditions during Hurricane Donna.

CW in the news: KPH maritime station on TV, BBC story on high-speed telegraphy in Eastern Europe

December 10, 2019 By Dan KB6NU 1 Comment

Here are a couple of news stories that I’ve run across lately that are CW-related…..Dan

My friend, Tom, W8TAM, actually got a chance to visit and operate this station when he was in Northern California on a business trip. He got this opportunity after a serendipitous meeting with Richard Dillman, W6AWO, at a Northern California ham radio store.

This is a BBC story on how high-speed Morse Code competitions became popular in Eastern Europe.

Must have been a slow news day…

December 2, 2019 By Dan KB6NU 1 Comment

….because I was featured in a Southgate news post. It reads:

UK Beginners licence and M17 DMR in KB6NU blog

Dan Romanchik KB6NU is well known from his appearances on the amateur radio ICQ Podcast. In his blog he looks at the proposal by the RSGB VHF Manager to introduce a Beginners license in the UK

Dan notes that basically, what John G4SWX is proposing is a low-power VHF/UHF (144/430 MHz) license. See the UK Beginners license blog post at
https://www.kb6nu.com/rsgb-vhf-manager-proposes-beginner-license/

Dan also looks at the M17 DMR project started by Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP which is a community-driven, truly open, free to use digital radio system. It’s a DMR alternative, if you will. All schematics and source code is available for free on github, see
https://www.kb6nu.com/m17-an-open-source-dmr-like-system/

Amateur radio in the news: Hamfest edition

October 14, 2019 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

The first two stories in this post are stories about upcoming hamfests. The point being, send out a press release before the event to get more people to come…..Dan

Hamfest

Hamfest kicks off at fairgrounds. The Cleveland County (NC) Fair is still a ways away, but the county fairgrounds are a buzzing with activity this weekend. The 63rd annual Hamfest is taking place this weekend at the fairgrounds. The event draws thousands of people from across the country who normally speak to one another via ham radio. Hosted by Shelby Amateur Radio Club, the event is one of the largest festivals of its kind in the region, and one of the few of its size left in the state.

“There used to be one in several counties, but most got so small that they just stopped. While we’ve gotten smaller over the years, we are still big enough that we take up all this space out here,” said Jane Hamrick, Hamfest event chairwoman. “A lot of the larger festivals don’t really give people a kind of personal touch, but we try to give that here. We take people around on courtesy shuttles, treat them like members of our club.”

57th annual Hamfest to take place at New Baptist Church on Aug. 10. “It’s a gathering of ham radio operators for flea marketing and sales and swaps and a general good time,” said Judy Taylor. “Buy, sell, trade, eat food, shake hands and tell tall tales.”

Taylor said an important part of any Hamfest is meeting people face to face. “A lot of times ham radio is a thing you do by yourself, in your basement or your garage, and you talk to people all over the world, but you don’t necessarily meet them in person,” she said. “We do like to get together and see each other.”

Hamfest promotes hobby. BAZETTA, OH — Communicating with others by radios and other electronic devices highlighted the annual Hamfest held at Mosquito Lake State Park and hosted by the Warren Amateur Radio Association. Larry Oliver of Braceville, president of the WARA, said the morning of the event started with rain but cleared up for the show.

“We were a little worried, but it cleared up for the event. The Hamfest is our main annual fundraiser and get together for people to buy and trade some ham radio equipment especially for those who want to get into the hobby. This lets all the ham radio operators in the area to get together,” he said. Oliver said being a ham radio operator is a hobby that is growing across the country, with digital communications growing.

Amateur radio in the news: Recent SKs

September 16, 2019 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

I’ve noticed more obituaries than normal recently in my amateur radio news feed. 73 my friends….Dan

MURRAY, Marion P. “Pat” (Enigan), NW2I

Age 95, passed away peacefully in her home in East Aurora on August 16, 2019. Pat was an amateur radio enthusiast (HAM radio operator NW2I) and a member of Lancaster Radio Club and Stars Radio Club & Pros.

David D. Beatty, Sr., KC8WY

David D. Beatty, Sr., 74, passed away Tuesday, August 27, 2019.

He worked for General Motors as an assembler, where he retired after 27 years of service. He was a member of Western Reserve Amateur Radio Club. He loved motorcycles and ham radio; his call sign was KC8WY.

Allen C. Clausen, WD9DTJ

Allen Cleo Clausen, age 75, passed away peacefully at Wisconsin Veterans Home – Boland Hall in Union Grove on Friday, August 16, 2019 following a longtime struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.

Among his interests, Al was a ham radio operator “WD9DTJ” and was a longtime member of local amateur radio clubs; was an accomplished pilot; Past-President of the Racine Police Credit Union; was an avid fisherman who always looked forward to participating in Salmon-A-Rama; and enjoyed socializing with friends over a cup of coffee.

Hal R. Warren

Hal R. Warren, 71, of Weston, Ohio died Saturday, September 14th, 2019 at Regency Hospital, Sylvania, Ohio.