Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2052 for Friday, February 24, 2017

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2052 with a release date of Friday, February 24, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in the UK mark a broadcast station's birth 95 years ago. Australian amateurs receive honors from the navy -- and there's big news for the International Space Station. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2052 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

NEW AMATEUR RADIO ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

JIM/ANCHOR: This week's report opens with good news for the International Space Station: They're expecting a special delivery. It's a new radio that's been very much needed for several months now. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins KE5CXP with the story.

MIKE's REPORT: The newest amateur radio aboard the International Space Station is on its way: It's an Ericsson 2 meter VHF radio and it took off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center with the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday February 19th. Its mission? To replace the Ericcson radio that failed aboard the space station several months ago. The Ericsson will be used for contact with educational groups and schools and for amateur packet radio in the Columbus module.

Frank Bauer KA3HDO, ARISS' International Chairman, reports that the Ericsson will be installed in the Columbus module and will take the place of the UHF radio that has been used in the meantime for some school contacts and APRS packet. Frank announced in a statement that he believed ARISS was making QUOTE "great progress on the development of the new interoperable radio system that we hope to use to replace our aging radio infrastructure in the Columbus module and the Service module." ENDQUOTE

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins KE5CXP.

(ARISS)

ARISS: BOOK EARLY, DON'T GET LOST IN SPACE

JIM/ANCHOR: If you're part of a school or other educational institution that's hoping for student radio contact with the crew on board the ISS, you'll want to plan ahead - but first you'll want to hear this report from Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

NEIL'S REPORT: Educators and school officials have only until April 15 to apply for a chance to make radio contact with the International Space Station in 2018. ARISS is already looking to book its crew's schedule between January 1st and June 30 of next year. Applicant schools should be able to engage large numbers of participants and show how the radio contact will be used as part of an overall education plan. As the astronauts and cosmonauts answer questions about living and working in space, students will also get to learn about space research, radio science, satellite communication and wireless technology. The contacts over FM are expected to last about 10 minutes. If you need guidance putting your application together, ARISS has information sessions online which last about an hour. The next sessions will be on Monday March 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and Tuesday March 16th at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

For further details contact ARISS directly by emailing ariss-at-ariss-dot-org (ariss@ariss.org)

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

(ARISS)

NAVAL HONORS FOR AUSTRALIAN AMATEURS

JIM/ANCHOR: You don't have to be in the military to receive Navy honors - not if you're one of the Australian hams who were involved in a special event marking a noted World War I battle at sea. Amateur Radio Newsline's John Williams VK4JJW has that story.

JOHN'S REPORT: The Royal Australian Navy's role in WWI was a point of pride back then, even as it is now. Just ask Mike VK4QS, Alan VK4SN, Bob VK4RJ, Peter VK4QC, Mike VK4MIK and Doc VK5BUG. The six hams, operating as VI4SEA last November, marked the Navy's first single-ship action at sea during the war as HMAS Sydney engaged Germany's SMS Emden. The hams' efforts were hailed in a letter their team leader received from the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, who said he was encouraged by amateur radio's promotion of the nation's military heritage. The team had also operated two other stations during the ANZAC centenary in 2015 -- VI4AE2 honoring the Australian submarine at the Dardanelles in April and VI4ANZAC noting the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train in December.

(WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA)

RADIO SCOUTING

JIM/ANCHOR: More Scouts are getting on the air this week, and Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Stearns NE4RD tells us where and when.

BILL'S REPORT: This week in Radio Scouting we have one activation of the K2BSA callsign, one activation from Scout Camps on the Air, and JOTA planning.

Jeffrey Kent, KB0GVI, is the control operator for the K2BSA portable 0 station at the Old Capitol Valley District Winter Camporee at Lake Iowa State Park in Ladora, Iowa, on February 26. Look for Jeffrey on the cluster and help make his event a success for the scouts.

Chuck McBride, WS5ADV, is the control operator for WS5BSA at the Troop 20 Hut in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 11th. Chuck will have the scouts active on 20 through 10 m on SSB from a Yaesu Ft-840 if the bands are open. This is a pretty active group, and they'll be on our activation list regularly.

We're just finishing up our 9th month in the countdown to Jamboree on the Air. If you haven't found a location, scheduled the event on the district calendar, or found some partners, now is the time to get cracking! Merit Badge Colleges and Fairs are popping up on many districts calendar over the next few weeks, this is a prime time to recruit help, advertise your desire to have an event (if you haven't scheduled it), or promote your event by helping with a Radio Merit Badge program.

For more information on K2BSA and radio scouting, please visit http://www.k2bsa.net/.

For Amateur Radio Newsline and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns NE4RD.

NEWFOUNDLAND HAM BECOMES RAC'S ATLANTIC DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JIM/ANCHOR: Radio Amateurs of Canada has had a new deputy director appointed in its Atlantic Region. He is Frank Davis VO1HP, who is known as an enthusiastic DXer on 160 meters and a contributor to a project that would bridge the Atlantic on 144 MHz using terrestrial propagation modes. Frank, who lives in Newfoundland, has been a licensed ham for more than a half-century.

Frank's appointment took effect on February 8th. He replaces Len Morgan VE9MY of New Brunswick, who will continue on as manager of the RAC's incoming QSL bureau.

(RADIO AMATEURS OF CANADA)

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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 WW8GM General Motors Amateur Radio Club in Michigan on the club's 70cm RenCen Repeater at 443.075 MHz every Saturday at 9pm.

CONTACT WITH THE CONCORDE

JIM/ANCHOR: The supersonic airplane known as the Concorde was taken out of service in 2003, but a Seattle-area amateur is marking the 48th anniversary of its test flight with a special event station that begins next week. With that report is Amateur Radio Newsline's Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT.

CARYN'S REPORT: Starting on March 2, Greg Magone (Kilo-Bravo-7-Quebec-Papa-Sierra) KB7QPS, a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is celebrating the test flight of a supersonic jet aircraft that forever changed the world's concept of air travel.

GREG: The Concorde certainly was a revolution for transatlantic jet travel. It shrunk the number of hours for being able to cross the pond, so to speak, and it was revolutionary for that. It was a unique airplane with a unique design for a commercial aircraft. I thought that it was an important event to commemorate in the history of mankind because the Concorde was such a unique aircraft out there.

CARYN: Special Event Station Whiskey 7 Charlie is the latest installment in Greg's year-long Air, Space and Technology Operating Event. Greg will be flying solo as the lone operator for those four days in March and he's looking forward to hearing what hams have to say:

GREG: "I imagine many are going to comment as to whether or not they have actually flown on the Concorde and if they have not flown, certainly they would have memories of seeing it fly in and out of airports or otherwise some other connection they have to the Concorde when they come and make contact."

CARYN: Greg himself has actually been on board the Concorde a few times, not as a passenger but a visitor to the museum where the aircraft is on display. There's no question it has captured his imagination. Still, he does have one regret:

GREG: "I have never seen the Concorde fly, unfortunately. It would have been fun to see but I never had that opportunity."

CARYN: The Concorde gets back in the air - or rather, ON the air, between the 2nd and 6th of March, traveling this time at the speed of light courtesy of radio waves. Be listening on 20 meters around 14250 kHz. A beautiful, full-color QSL card awaits you.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT.

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HAMS HELP CELEBRATE RADIO STATION'S 95 YEARS

JIM/ANCHOR: A beloved old broadcast station came to life again in the UK, thanks to an amateur radio club with a sense of history, respect and great enthusiasm for its legacy. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: Ninety-five years ago, radio came alive inside a small broadcast station -a former military Marconi hut - in Essex as Britain welcomed its first regular broadcast station 2MT. The date was the 14th of February 1922 and it is considered by many to mark the birth of British broadcasting. Earlier this month, that same historic hut rang out with different radio sounds -- amateur radio -- as the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society transmitted from there as station GB952MT, calling CQ to commemorate the anniversary.

Taking radio from its deep past into the digital present, club member Jim Salmon 2E0RMI also made use of an internet radio station to air vintage comedies, radio-related documentaries and other historic material during the three-day celebration, which took place the 12th through the 14th of February.

As the website for Radio Emma Toc noted,the amateurs were not looking to recreate the original station 2MT, just to celebrate it along with its spirit.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH

(THE MALDON AND BURNHAM STANDARD, CHELMSFORD AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY)

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THE WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, Elvira IV3FSG is in Burkina Faso until March 13th operating as XT2SE on CW, SSB and Digital. Her QSL Manager is IK3GES.

Listen for Lot DJ7ZG and Babs DL7AFS in Antigua where their call sign is V21ZG through the end of their station's operation on March 26th. They are operating on all HF bands on SSB and will be uploading logs to Logbook of The World. You can get QSLs through Club Log OQRS.

Mike W0MU and Jonathan G0DVJ are in Belize until February 28th operating as V31MU and V31DV, respectively. Listen for them on SSB, CW and RTTY. Send QSL cards to the home calls.

Jonathan KK7PW is in Uganda until March 7th operating as 5X1O. Listen for him early in the morning or late in the evening on 40, 20, 15 and 10m on CW, SSB and Digital. His QSL Manager is EA5GL.

(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY)

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IN SEARCH OF YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR 2017

JIM/ANCHOR: We close this week's newscast with an announcement that has long since become a treasured annual tradition at Amateur Radio Newsline: The Bill Pasternak Young Ham of the Year Award. Just as Bill helped create Newsline for hams of the present, he believed in nurturing hams of the future. We carry on that mission this year by inviting listeners to look around them at the promising young operators they know who are making a difference in their communities and making contributions to advance radio science. Nominees must be 18 or younger and be a resident of the United States, its possessions or any Canadian province. Application forms are available on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Please read the rules carefully. Applications are being accepted between Wednesday, March 1 and May 31. The award will be presented on August 19th at the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville Alabama. In the weeks ahead, you'll hear some of our past winners speaking on Newsline, explaining the award's impact on their life. For now, look around you, find that deserving young ham and make that nomination.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; ARISS; the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society; CQ Magazine; Hap Holly and the RAIN Report; Irish Radio Transmitters Society; K2BSA; the Maldon and Burnam Standard; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin; QRZ.COM; Radio Amateurs of Canada; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show; the Wireless Institute of Australia; WTWW Shortwave; the YL Beam Newsletter; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. Please send emails to our address at newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston, West Virginia saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.