Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Aug 09 2019 01:38 pm
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the WI9HF repeater
of the Capital City Repeater Association in Madison, Wisconsin, on
Tuesdays, at 7:30 p.m.
**
IRELAND GAINS NEW CROP OF DMR REPEATERS
NEIL/ANCHOR: Ireland is growing a new crop of DMR repeaters, and the
network promises great coverage, as we hear from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
JEREMY: As DMR's popularity continues to expand in Ireland, so too does
the number of Brandmeister network repeaters that are a part of the
Galway DMR Repeater Network. The new repeaters, primarily on 70cm, are
Loughrea, EI7LRD; Galway City, EI7RHD; Abbeyknockmoy, EI7AKR, and
Inishbofin Island, EJ7IBD.
This last repeater, installed in July of this year, is the first repeater
to be installed on an offshore island. According to Steve Wright, EI5DD,
it is the only repeater with an EJ prefix. Steve said its installation
coincided with the annual holiday-DXpedition of the Galway Radio Club,
and its participation in the IOTA contest.
The Abbeyknockmoy repeater is expected to be on the air in September.
Time Slot 1 on these repeaters is being used for international calls,
and TG 9 local. On Time Slot 2, the repeaters offer static talk groups
2722, 2723, and 2724, offering almost total coverage of County Galway
as well as the neighbouring counties of Clare, Roscommon, and Mayo.
Steve told Newsline in an email, that the Galway VHF Group also runs a
multimode digital gateway, EI2GCD, for D-STAR, DMR, and Fusion, and a
Wires-X gateway, EI2SHD. Galway has a Fusion Repeater, EI2TBR, which is
to be placed on the same site as the EI7LRD Loughrea repeater. DMR, he
said, is slowly gaining popularity in Ireland, and 170 Registered
operators have accessed the system during the last two and a half years.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
(GALWAY VHF GROUP, STEVE WRIGHT EI5DD)
**
SMALL BEACON FOUND TO HAVE BIG VIOLATION
NEIL/ANCHOR: In New Zealand, regulators tracked down - and cracked down -
on registration of small beacons, designed for use in emergency
situations. Here's Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, with more.
JIM: A Personal Locator Beacon, that was transmitting on 406 MHz in New
Zealand, and was unregistered, was successfully tracked down recently
by Radio Spectrum Management's compliance team, with assistance from the
New Zealand Police. The life-saving tracking devices, known as PLBs, are
used for distress situations only, and the law requires registration of
all beacons transmitting on the emergency radio frequency of 406 MHz.
New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre had requested help in finding
the beacon, which also put out a homing signal on 121.5 MHz. The RSM
picked up the 406 MHz transmissions about 2 km, or 1.2 miles, from the
beacon's location, and then detected the homing signal some 100m, or 328
feet, away.
Published reports say the police were called in, because of health and
safety concerns, with respect to the address to where the beacon had
been traced, but offered no other details. Registering a beacon that
uses the emergency frequency, helps the Rescue Coordination Centre find
the owner's information, if their device is activated. Beacons can be
registered for free at beacons dot org dot nz (beacons.org.nz)
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.
**
FT8 DIGITAL MODE CLUB OPERATES ACTIVITY FOR 2ND ANNIVERSARY
NEIL/ANCHOR: The FT8 Digital Mode Club is as rapidly growing as the
popularity of the mode it celebrates - and there's a real celebration
happening this month. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, tells us more.
KEVIN: The fast-growing global community, known as the FT8 Digital Mode
Club, has grown from an initial group of 100 members in its earliest days
to become a collective of 10,230 members, spanning 134 countries. That's
something to celebrate - and that's exactly what the club is doing between
the 10th and 24th of August. Members are marking the club's second
anniversary with FT8 Digital Mode Club Activity Days, when stations from
Bahrain and Luxembourg, to Guadeloupe and Lebanon, will be operating with
a suffix of either FTDMC, or FTDM. All logs will be uploaded to Logbook
of the World, and eQSL. Anniversary awards will be presented at Bronze,
Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels - with Platinum given to radio operators
who have achieved 30 QSOs with all of the commemorative stations. According
to the club website, the award is available for free in digital format.
For more details, visit the club's website at ft8dmc dot eu (ft8dmc.eu).
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.
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