Subj : Newsline Part 1
To : ALL
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jun 16 2016 08:08 pm
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2016, June 17, 2016
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2016, with a release date of Friday,
June 17, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A noted DXer dies after a fall from a tower.
Amateurs and CB radio operators team up - seriously! - to watch the
weather. Another NASA astronaut becomes a ham, and a California city
takes earthquake lessons from Nepal. All this and more, in Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2016, coming your way right now.
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BILLBOARD CART HERE
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MILT JENSEN, N5IA: DEATH OF A DXer
STEPHEN: This week's newscast opens with word of a tragic accident that
has hit hard within the international ham radio community: Well known
DX-peditioner and DXer, Milt Jensen, N5IA, of Virden, New Mexico, died
on June 9th, after falling from a ham radio tower. Newsline's Kent
Peterson KC0DGY spoke with Jensen's wife Rulene (Roo Lean), KB5VTM
RULENE: He was just an avid DXer contest person, if we got in the car,
he was on the radio all the time. He loved building new things. The
challenge of building a better antenna system.
KENT: Newsline reached out to Milt Jensen's wife Rulene, KB5VTM, who
shared some of her memories of Milt's DX-peditions.
RULENE: Actually he did three, He went to Myanmar twice ... the first
time, I went along with him, that was an eye opener to me. He had me
get on. I think I had two minutes and everybody was getting irritated
with me, because I didn't know what I was doing, and I got off, and
gave it back to him. He loved it. They were there to do the 160 part,
that was his main joy, he loved doing 160. Other than Myanmar, he went
to Ducie Island with an international group. I got on his Facebook
over the past couple of days. They all responded to it from Germany,
Lithuania. I always teased him about living on Gilligan's island.
That's what that island looked like to me with the pictures.
KENT: Rulene got her ham license just to stay in touch with Milt.
RULENE: He was always gone to a mountain top to do something. We didn't
have cell phones back then. He convinced me to get my license. I got my
license, so that I could get hold of him when I needed to, that didn't
always work either.
KENT: Milt worked for a power utility, and learned climbing safety from
them.
RULENE: He was trained in all the safety stuff, he always said ...
Tie off ... Tie off ... Tie off. Have your gear on. He wasn't careless
about climbing.
KENT: On June 9th, Milt was in Tuscon to help a fellow ham.
RULENE: The tower he was working on was for a friend, and fellow ham,
that lives in Tuscon, that doesn't climb, and so he went to do whatever
tower work was needed on his tower for him.
KENT: Besides Rulene, two of Milt's sons also have ham licenses.
RULENE: My husband had told our oldest son sometimes his hand went to
sleep, and he couldn't hang on, and so we're thinking that's what it
was, because he stressed safety. If that was the case, I'm going to slap
him when I get up to Heaven.
KENT: Milt Jensen, K5IA, was 73 years old. For Amateur Radio Newsline,
I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
STEPHEN: As a postscript to Milt's passing, we also note that a day
later, in Radcliff, Kentucky, police reported that a man was seriously
injured after a fall of about 30 feet from an amateur radio tower. He
remained conscious while emergency workers transported him to a hospital
in Louisville where, at press time, there were no further updates on his
condition, or what led to his fall. With both these stories in mind,
Amateur Radio Newsline urges listeners, on a personal note, to please
adhere to strict safety practices when doing any tower work.
(THE NEWS ENTERPRISE)
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UNLIKELY PARTNERS, LIKELY WEATHER-WATCHERS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Can CBers and ham radio operators work hand-in hand? The
answer is yes, in one Alabama County, where we hear more from Newsline's
Bobby Best, WX4ALA.
BOBBY'S REPORT: In the community of weather watchers, the critical
information passed by storm spotters who receive formal training from
the National Weather Service is known as "ground truth." Those details
are lifelines. When serious weather and tornadoes hit places like Dixie
Alley, comprising much of the Southeast, the weather is severe, and right
now, the region is bracing for the Atlantic hurricane season, which just
started on June 1.
In Jefferson County, Alabama -- the most populated county in that southern
state - a unique kind of partnership has become paramount. Amateur radio
operators, passing along this vital "ground truth" alongside another group
of radio operators as part of what some might consider an unlikely team.
These other spotters, who are also trained by the weather service, work on
the 11-meter band. That's right, you can find them on CB radio. The
deployment of CB'ers and hams has been a priority for the Sylvan Springs
Amateur Radio Club in western Jefferson County, and they're proud of their
effort.
According to James Keller, KF4JQP, a charter member, and current president
of the club, QUOTE "We've reached out to members of the community that are
NWS trained spotters, but that don't hold an Amateur Radio license, and
invited them into our meetings and circles"... "While we would hope that
one day, they will become interested in gaining their Amateur Radio
license, but until that day comes, there is a way that they can assist at
saving lives!" ENDQUOTE
The Sylvan Springs Amateur Radio Club has installed at their E.O.C. an
11-Meter or CB radio base station, with its antenna located high atop
their ham tower. Keller added; "whenever we go into a stand-by alert
status, in addition to monitoring our own 2-Meter repeater, as well as
other severe weather NETS, we also monitor 27.065 Mhz or channel 9,
which is a reserved and restricted channel, by The FCC, for emergency
communication only!" Any information we receive that meets The NWS'
criteria for severe weather, damage reports, or any other emergency
traffic, we can then immediately pass on via Amateur Radio, to stations
at; The NWS, The EMA, The Red Cross, or even to Alabama's State E.O.C.
via 80-Meters on our state's designated HF emergency frequency on
3.965 Mhz" ENDQUOTE
CB and ham radio operators may seem, at times, to be on different parts
of the spectrum - in more ways than one - but the idea of this kind of
teamwork is catching on in Jefferson County, Alabama!
From the perspective of this meteorologist, such creative deployment of
radio operators can only lead to expanded weather coverage and, in
Dixie Alley, that's a good thing.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA in Jasper, Alabama.
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