Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 07 2018 10:59 am
ONE QSL CARD'S SPECIAL DELIVERY - EVENTUALLY
NEIL/ANCHOR: We all know that waiting for that special QSL card to arrive
can sometimes feel like forever. Well, it took forever - or almost
forever - for one QSL card to reach one amateur in Italy: try a quarter
century! Graham Kemp, VK4BB, tells us this tale of patience, and its great
reward.
GRAHAM: Whether you are working on a kit build, or troubleshooting an
antenna issue, patience is always a virtue that pays off for amateur
radio operators. Then, of course, you have Luigi, IV3XNF, for whom
patience proved a virtue for QSL cards. He only discovered recently
that his 1993 contact with FT4WD on Crozet Island was apparently
overlooked - so quietly in fact that Luigi himself believed that he had
actually got the QSL card from long ago before discovering that no, it
apparently was never sent. Realizing this, Luigi wrote to the QSL manager
Norbert, F6AXX, this past October, and then settled back into his wait.
On Nov. 27, a jubilant Luigi posted a picture of the card on Twitter,
which featured penguin after penguin after penguin on the subantarctic
island - and the proud 5 and 9 signal report for the SSB contact with
a French operator named Christian, who held the call sign FD1NOG at the
time. His contact with IOTA AF008 has thus been confirmed at last.
As Luigi wrote on Twitter, after 25 years: "never say never."
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(TWITTER)
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Midstate Hams
WA9RDF repeater, in Greenwood, Indiana, on Sundays at 7 p.m. local time.
**
HONORS IN OHIO FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
NEIL/ANCHOR: Being a steady, reliable presence when the community needs
them has been the hallmark of one group of amateurs in southern Ohio.
Jack Parker, W8ISH, shares this club's latest achievement.
JACK: Ohio residents who attended this year's Christmas parade in Ironton,
the seat of Lawrence County, may have noticed members of the Southern
Ohio Amateur Radio Association, providing communication for the annual
spectacle. Well, the ARRL has been taking notice of the club too - and
recently presented members with the Special Service award for work
serving the public at everything from annual parades, to emergency work
during communications outages. Club president James Rowe, N8TVO, received
the award on behalf of the club at its last meeting. Club members also
train in first aid, CPR, fire services, and serve as SKYWARN watchers
for the National Weather Service, among their many other community
assistance efforts. Congratulations to the Southern Ohio amateurs.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH.
(IRONTON TRIBUNE)
**
HAM FINDS MORE U.S. LICENSEES THAN EVER BEFORE
NEIL/ANCHOR: If you're licensed in the U.S., and ever feel like you're
in diminishing company, think again: Kyle Pilquist, KD0NDG, reported on
his blog recently that his study of the FCC database, along with some
number-crunching, revealed that our hobby still enjoys good health
indeed. He reports on his blog that the ratio of new members to
cancelled licenses is 1.4-to-1. Kyle writes: [quote] "So you could
say for every cancellation, we have almost 1 and a half new licenses
to replace that with." [endquote] Although the FCC told Newsline it
could not confirm the trend Kyle observed, the ARRL's Dave Isgur,
N1RSN told Newsline that, yes indeed, there is a slight uptick in the
number of licenses the league tracks. Dave said it might be due to the
emphasis these days on STEM education, and a focus on technology, along
with the exposure amateur radio got during the hurricanes of 2017.
Whatever the reason, we all welcome the news -- and the company on the
air.
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
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