Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Aug 18 2017 09:05 am
BREAK HERE
Time to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard
on bulletin stations around the world, including the K7TMF repeater on
Fridays at 5 p.m. local time in Spokane, Washington - right in the Zone
of Totality for this year's solar eclipse.
**
QSL CARDS BECOME BIRTHDAY CARDS FOR AILING LITTLE BOY
NEIL/ANCHOR: A critically ill little boy in Michigan has just inspired
a new reason to send QSL cards. In this case, the cards don't confirm a
successful contact - they hopefully can initiate one. This is a QST
from Christian Cudnik, K0STH, host of the 100 Watts and a Wire podcast, -
and he explains why he's reaching out:
CHRISTIAN: Oakley is a 6-year-old little boy from Alma, Michigan, that
I've never met. He was born with a rare birth defect called Prune Belly
Syndrome. It's so rare, his future is unknown. As a parent, it's the
unthinkable.
His story surfaces in a flood of news that focuses on things that divide
us.
On September 3rd, Oakley turns 7. With all of the challenges in his life,
all he is asking for is birthday cards. Mom says receiving mail keeps
him busy, and it makes him happy.
I am asking the amateur radio community to repurpose their QSL cards.
Normally, we send cards after a contact. Let's use them as birthday
cards, and do something that's positive for a little boy, and a family
that really needs it right now.
We all want a better future for our children. Maybe this simple act can
help us get closer to the things that bring us together, and maybe;
he'll write back!
NEIL/ANCHOR: Thank you, Christian. To send a QSL card and some cheer to
Oakley, you can write him at Oakley Savickas, P.O. Box 201, Alma,
Michigan, U.S.A. 48801.
**
ARDF: A-HUNTING THEY WILL GO
NEIL/ANCHOR: Ham radio operators of all ages went into an Ohio forest
recently, where they found transmitters - and a new group of worldwide
friends. For the story, here's ARRL's ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell (MELL),
K-zero-O-V.
JOE'S REPORT: They came from all over the USA, plus Australia, Canada,
Germany, and Ukraine. They ranged in age from 13 through 75. They took
to the courses with eagerness, and many went home with medals. I'm
talking about the Seventeenth USA National Championships of Amateur
Radio Direction Finding (that's ARDF), which took place near Harrison,
Ohio from August 3 through 6. The 4,000-acre Miami Whitewater Forest
and other nearby wooded sites attracted over eighty fans of the sport,
which is also called foxtailing and radio-orienteering.
Rules for ARDF competitions are established by the IARU. The object is
always to find as many of the required transmitters as possible in the
shortest time, and then navigate to the finish line, using only one's
own direction-finding equipment, plus a compass, and the provided map.
There were classic competitions on separate days on the two-meter and
80-meter bands, with up to five transmitters to find. Course lengths,
from start to each required transmitter, and then to the finish, ranged
from 2.8 to 7.1 kilometers, depending on the age/gender category of the
participant.
Organizing and staging these championships were members of the OH-KY-IN
Amateur Radio Society. Additional volunteers were members of Orienteering
Cincinnati (OCIN), which also provided the event maps.
Competitors in all events were divided into six age categories for males
and five for females, with medals awarded to winners in each category.
The four championship events were preceded by three days of informal
training in other nearby parks.
USA's national championships are open, meaning that radio-orienteers
from other countries are welcome on the courses. These visitors compete
for individual medals in a separate division. This year, that division
included approximately forty middle- and high-school students from
southern China, along with some instructors and parents.
Complete results of all events in these Championships are available
online in at www.ardfusa.com. Many photos are being posted at
www.homingin.com, where there is also much more information about the
growing sport of ARDF. That's homingin, as one word, homingin.com.
Plans are already under way for next year's national championships.
They are expected to take place in early June, in time for selection
of ARDF Team USA, which will travel to Korea for the 19th ARDF World
Championships in September 2018. Team members will be selected from
the best of USA's performers at the 2017 and 2018 USA Championships.
For Amateur Radio Newline, this is Joe Moell, K-zero-O-V.
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