Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Feb 23 2018 12:00 pm

JAPANESE YLs GEAR UP FOR FESTIVAL

NEIL/ANCHOR: The month of March brings a special festival for YLs in Japan,
and they're going - where else? - on the air to celebrate. Jeremy Boot,
G4NJH, has those details.

JEREMY: If YLs in Japan are a little busier than usual right now, it's
because they're preparing to take part in a celebration that's believed
to be at least 900 years old. It's called the Doll Festival, also known
as Hina-matsuri, and it celebrates the birth of a baby girl, while
offering hope and prayers for her future happiness. Japanese families do
that with an elaborate display of dolls at home, figurines dressed in
ancient costumes.

The day of the festival is March 3 - or on the calendar, three-three,
the same numbers that YLs use to say goodbye to one another in ham radio.
So on that day, the Japan Ladies Radio Society is operating the "3.3 Hina
Contest" as a way of encouraging YLs to use three-three to say hello
instead.

Yukiko Maki, 7K4TKB, told Newsline that the event grew into a national
contest from its humble beginnings 14 years ago. She said it's a way for
YLs to meet other YLs on the air. By the way, it's not just for YLs -
although a contact with a YL counts as 10 points while non-YL counts as
only 1 point. The contest begins on the 2nd of March at 1500 UTC, and
continues until 1500 UTC on March 3. All modes and all bands, except for
the WARC bands, may be used.

For more details, visit the JLRS website at triple w dot jarl dot com
forward slash jlrs forward slash, and click on "Hina Contest" for contest
rules in English. (www.jarl.dot.com/jlrs)

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

**

NORWAY CONTESTERS GET A CALL SIGN BOOST

NEIL/ANCHOR: Avid contesters in Norway just got encouraging news about
the call signs they will be able to use, as we hear from Ed Durrant,
DD5LP.

ED'S REPORT: Hams in Norway with big plans for radio contesting, just got
a boost from Norwegian authorities: amateurs can now apply for 2x1
contest call signs that have the prefix LC. According to the NRRL - the
Norwegian radio relay league - the call signs can only be used in
national and international contests, and are valid for five years after
being assigned. The call signs cannot be used during Lighthouse Weekend,
Field Day, or Jamboree on the Air. In Norway, there is only one class of
Amateur Radio license, and it permits an operating output of up to 1,000
watts. While the 2x1 call signs should give the hams something of a
competitive edge, they're still going to have to win those contests on
their own.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(SOUTHGATE, NRRL)

**

IN SEARCH OF AN AUSTRALIA-SOUTH AFRICA CONNECTION

NEIL/ANCHOR: It's a long way between Australia and South Africa, but one
ham is looking to bridge that distance on 6 meters, as we hear from
Robert Broomhead, VK3DN.

ROBERT: An amateur in western Australia is trying to stir up interest
among hams, to explore a VHF path between Australia and South Africa.
Andy Hemus, VK6OX, who lives in a suburb of Perth, believes that if
there is a VHF path from Eastern Australia to Argentina, Chile, and
the South Shetland and nearby islands, then surely there must be one
between South Africa's east coast, and Australia's western coast. He's
looking for a ham to try 6 meters with him using SSB, CW, JT65A or FT8.

Noting that the season for Es propagation is pretty much done in the
Southern Hemisphere, he'd still like to be able to plan for later in the
year.

This sort of challenge is nothing new. The South African Radio League,
acknowledging the great and longstanding challenge of Indian Ocean
contacts, notes that there have been attempts before - without success.
A more recent campaign to stir up interest came from Ken Bainbridge,
VK6RH, of the West Australian Radio Group. Ken had hoped at the time
South African VHF operators would participate in chirp modulation tests,
but support for that experiment waned.

Andy, meanwhile, remains hopeful someone will answer his call. Andy said
he is reachable via email at vk6ox at wia dot org dot au
([email protected]) or through ON4KST chat. As he told Newsline in an
email [quote] "the six meter band has not been labeled 'the Magic Band'
for no good reason, so anything's possible for those of us dedicated
enough and around at the time of some weird and wonderful opening!"
[endquote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead, VK3DN.

(SARL, ANDY HEMUS VK6OX)
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