Subj : Newsline Part 2
To : ALL USERS
From : DARYL STOUT
Date : Thu Dec 03 2015 10:01 pm
SORRY WRONG (HOUSE) NUMBER
Speaking of contests, the ARRL says "Oooops, sorry about that."
Participants in last year's 10 Meter Contest who received certificates
may have discovered quickly that they were intended for someone else.
The problem, it seems, was a formatting error in a data file, that
caused confusion over the mailing addresses.
The ARRL's Interim Contest Manager, Dan Henderson, N1ND, said: QUOTE
"We have heard from several certificate recipients recently that they
were receiving certificates for other award winners. After checking,
we determined that some address data retrieved from submitted Cabrillo
logs in the data file were misidentified, which resulted in many
certificates being sent to the wrong recipients."
He quickly clarified that the error is limited only to addresses, not
anyone's scores or standings.
So be patient, advises Henderson. The plan is for new certificates -
the correct ones - to be in the mail no later than Dec. 11. Yours may
be on the way very soon.
(ARRL)
**
HAM RADIO IN A DAY?
It takes more than 24 hours to learn enough to qualify for an amateur
radio license, but the Holland Amateur Radio Club in Michigan thinks
it's a good beginning. That's why the group is offering a class called
"Ham License in a Day", on Dec. 12, at the American Red Cross of
Ottaway County.
And it's actually a five-hour session. The coursework will be presented
from 1 to 6 p.m., and the licensing test will be given afterward. The fee
for the half-day program is $35.
For more information, or to register, contact Tom Bosscher at
[email protected] or phone 616-648-0058.
(MICHIGAN LIVE)
**
A FLARE FOR SUCCESS
[DON/ANCHOR]: An emergency drill, in the form of a huge coronal mass
ejection, sent radio amateurs scrambling early last month. And though
their response was real enough, the chaos was simulated - with good
results. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bobby Best, WX4ALA, has more:
[BOBBY'S REPORT]
Imagine an outage of all conventional communications throughout the
U.S. Imagine too, massive solar flares known as coronal mass ejections,
as the source of the stirred-up ionosphere behind the blackout. This
was the reality for members of the Military Auxiliary Radio System,
and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service for two days beginning Nov. 8.
It was only an exercise but, for two days, it was still a challenge.
And ultimately, said the organizers, it was a success.
MARS operators were given the directive to make direct contact with as
many radio amateurs in the nation's 3,142 counties as possible, using
mainly HF NVIS bands, along with VHF and UHF repeaters. Other methods,
such as store-and-forward messaging systems and Internet-linked systems,
were necessarily off limits.
Paul English, WD8DBY, the U.S. Army's MARS program manager, praised the
work of the radio operators at the conclusion of the exercise. He told
the ARRL that MARS members got messages through to 816 counties around
the country - or 26 percent of the nation's total. He said advance
publicity helped boost performance during the two-day drill, and
inquiries about participation had poured in from 41 states, and more
than 50 ARES groups who wanted to be part of the test.
Best of all, he said, the mission was accomplished. He said: QUOTE "The
purpose of these exercises is to reach beyond interoperability, and
focus on our ability to exchange usable and relevant information from
the local level to the national level following a crisis event. Only
through the cooperation among MARS and the larger Amateur Radio community
can we hope to achieve that synergy." ENDQUOTE
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA, in Jasper, Alabama.
(ARRL)
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Lakes Area
Amateur Radio Club repeater, W5JAS, in Jasper, Texas, Monday nights at
7:30.
**
INDIAN HAMS AIR THEIR FRUSTRATION
[DON/ANCHOR]: What happens when hams, who expect to be called to public
service, aren't? That's the situation right now in the Indian state of
Andhra Pradesh. Amateur Radio Newsline's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has the
details:
[JEREMY]:
Radio amateurs are accustomed to action, and not sitting idly by, but in
Andhra Pradesh, India, a group of otherwise enthusiastic radio amateurs
claims their only call to public service lately has been to play a
waiting game. Amateurs who formerly coordinated the Ham Radio Training
Centre in Krishna district, have been urging state officials to engage
their services next year during the Hindu festival known as the Krishna
Pushkarams. The hams say the need is especially pronounced, in the wake
of stampedes that occurred this past July during the Godavari Pushkarams.
That riverside festival, well-attended by devoted pilgrims, was held
July 14 through 25. Twenty-seven were killed, and more than 30
critically injured at the gathering.
In a Dec. 1 issue of The Indian Express newspaper, the government has
said that, while it regretted the stampedes that occurred, the number
of those in attendance had greatly exceeded the number expected.
That's all the more reason, say the Indian amateurs, for their services
to be sought at the next festival. The Krishna Pushkaram is to be held
August 12 through 23 in Vijayawada.
Says Arza Ramesh Babu, coordinator of the now-defunct Ham Radio Training
Centre in Krishna district, "At least in the ensuing Krishna Pushkarams,
we want the government to use HAM radio operators as a parallel
communication network." The hams have left that training centre,
established by the local Urban Development Authority, and are meeting
in the Regional Science Centre at Bhavanipuram.
Speaking to the newspaper, The Hindu, Ramesh Babu adds: "A growing number
of people, especially engineering students, are evincing interest in this
mode of communication. The government should develop the sector."
He said there are nearly 500 ham radio operators in and around Vijayawada
who are ready to serve at times of disaster or large gatherings, but for
now, they simply wait.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, in Nottingham, the UK.
(THE HINDU, INDIAN EXPRESS)
--- BgNet 1.0a12 - The Thunderbolt BBS wx1der.dyndns.org Little Rock, AR
