Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 15 2017 10:31 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2094, for Friday, December 15, 2017
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2094, with a release date of
Friday, December 15, 2017, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams respond to the California wildfires.
A group of Jewish radio operators make a wish at Hanukkah -- and
in Illinois, a terminally ill ham gets the gift of a lifetime.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2094, comes
your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES SPUR HAM RESPONSE
DON/ANCHOR: We open this week's newscast with a report about
amateur radio response to the California wildfires. As Amateur
Radio Newsline went to production, firefighters were still
struggling to contain the massive Thomas Fire in southern
California, where residents were being evacuated. As more
evacuations were being planned on account of winds spreading
the blaze, the need for ham assistance remained an open
situation, especially in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Hams were actively supporting shelter communications and
staffing at least four evacuation centers. Amateur Radio
Newsline will continue to follow this story and updates will
be posted on our Facebook page and on Twitter.
**
AMATEURS NOT SNOWED BY WINTER WEATHER IN U.S. SOUTH
DON/ANCHOR: In other extremes of weather, hams stepped up
recently to the challenge of major snow in the American South,
as we hear from Stephen Kinford, N8WB.
STEPHEN'S REPORT: The weather system that dumped the earliest
snow that portions of Alabama have had in 54 years, may have
defied all reliable and trusted weather models, but it was no
match for amateur radio. The Dec. 8 snowfall surprised broadcast
meteorologists and many at the National Weather Service, but
hams had already got down to helping the Alabama Emergency
Management Agency pass along traffic from their various posts
at EOC stations around the state. Hams staffing WA4EMA in
Tuscaloosa County passed traffic to ARES members in the field
across western Alabama throughout the day. One of the state's
primary SKYWARN repeaters, the regional 2-meter station W4CUE
in Birmingham, passed along reports that went to the Birmingham
National Weather Service. In the east, WB4GNA, Alabama's highest
2-meter repeater at Cheaha (CHEE-HAH) Mountain, got reports from
the east and west, and even from Georgia.
The Alabama State ARES Net frequencies were also buzzing,
especially into Saturday as the snowfall was being tallied up.
By Sunday, the city of Jacksonville, Alabama, had the distinction
of the highest snowfall recorded - 12 inches - in Alabama.
Jacksonville is located just west of the Georgia border. The rare
snowfall turned out to be tough sledding for many in Alabama except,
of course, the hams.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB.
(BOBBY BEST WX4ALA)
**
VISITING AS A MOBILE IN NEW BRUNSWICK? NOT SO FAST
DON/ANCHOR: If your travels have you thinking of operating mobile
from Canada's province of New Brunswick, Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has
this cautionary tale.
KENT: Since 1952 Canadian and American Amateur Radio licensees have
been able to operate in each others countries. But the language in
a recently passed distracted driving law in the province of New
Brunswick allows mobile radio operation to only licensed Canadian
hams. Newsline spoke with George Dewar, VY2GF, who lives in the
neighboring province, Prince Edward Island.
GEORGE: I think the American amateurs should know that if they come
to New Brunswick, and use their microphone here, that they could be
held in violation of the highway traffic act. News Brunswick was
the only one that came up with this business, you can't use a
microphone in a car There were certain exceptions like a CB in a
semi trailer was OK, you could use it for commercial purposes.
KENT: Dewar points out driving regulations are not set by the
Canadian federal government, and can vary from province to province.
GEORGE: I think somebody would be doing a great service, if they
could draw up a matrix of Canadian provinces of what the rules are,
and how you might be caught in them.
KENT: Dewar hopes a ham organization might be able to influence,
perhaps the New Brunswick tourism ministry.
GEORGE: The third biggest industry here in Prince Edward Island is
tourism. If the minister of tourism in New Brunswick got wind of the
ARRL putting out a press release saying the 750,000 licensed amateurs
in the US were to avoidance going to new Brunswick, they'd get the
message.
KENT: And Dewar shared with me his opinion of the new regulation.
GEORGE: The legislation is ill conceived, and what the did was
declared amateurs who have a long history of public service to be
idiots, and as far as I'm concerned, only an idiot texts while
driving.
KENT: Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
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