Subj : Newsline Part 1
To : ALL
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jun 23 2016 08:47 pm
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2017, June 24, 2016
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2017, with a release date of Friday,
June 24, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. New Mexico ARES teams respond to deadly wildfires.
There's upheaval inside the ARRL's National Traffic System. Some DXing
friends prepare to take a big step. And, it looks like the North Korea
activation is about to happen! All this and more, in Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2017, coming your way right now.
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BILLBOARD CART HERE
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HAMS FACE NEW MEXICO WILDFIRE CHALLENGES
JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with the deadly New Mexico
wildfires which spurred evacuations, and prompted activation of local
Amateur Radio Emergency Service volunteers. The fires also put a number
of Field Day operating sites at risk. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bobby
Best, WX4ALA, has that story.
BOBBY: The Dog Head fire that began its deadly sweep on Tuesday, June
14, through more than 16,000 acres northwest of Tajigue, New Mexico,
was still only marginally contained by the start of the week beginning
Monday, June 20. As evacuation centers for both people and their pets
were established in Bernalillo and Torrance counties, nearly 1,000 New
Mexico responders stepped in - and New Mexico ARES members were among
them. ARES teams were activated in Valencia and Torrance counties, with
Sandoval County ARES placed on standby.
The main emergency channels being used for Dog Head Fire responders
have been the Capilla Peak 146.96 repeater, and the Tapia Mesa 147.06
repeater. New Mexico Section Emergency Coordinator Bill Mader, K8TE
told the ARRL that the repeater coverage was likely sufficient for
communications needs in this emergency.
Meanwhile, the fire continued its deadly progression as blasting record
heat pressed down upon states in the desert southwest region. Fire
officials said efforts to contain the wildfires were being complicated
by the excessive temperatures.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA.
JIM/ANCHOR: At press time, at least one Field Day site, to be operated
by the Albuquerque DX Association W5UR group, had to be relocated, as
others assessed their own situations. Officials said the cause of the
fire was still under investigation as of Wednesday, June 22.
(KOB-TV, ARRL, NBC NEWS, ACCUWEATHER)
**
HONORS AND UPHEAVAL IN THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM
JIM/ANCHOR: Major upheaval has shaken the ARRL's National Traffic
System, just a day after a key ARRL committee praised the NTS for its
valued public service contribution. The league's executive committee
has removed the system's Eastern Area Chair, Joe Ames, W3JY, who has
also been relieved of his position as Eastern Pennsylvania Section
Manager. His ousting became effective immediately.
According to the ARRL website, the executive committee determined that
Ames acted on behalf of the NTS and ARRL, without authority to do so,
and had made commitments to FEMA, violating ARRL Field Organization
rules and regulations, which state that NTS communication with FEMA
should happen only through authorized ARRL representatives.
Ames' removal was announced barely 24 hours after the league's Programs
and Services Committee asked the ARRL board to recognize the NTS for
its public service role, calling its members QUOTE "the lifeblood of
this important ARRL program." ENDQUOTE
(ARRL)
**
FRIENDS GO THE DISTANCE IN SEYCHELLES
JIM/ANCHOR: What's better than starting out as a DXpeditioner? Doing it
with friends! Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, tells us about one group
that's going the distance.
PAUL'S REPORT: They're just a group of friends who like two main things:
adventure and ham radio. And from July 1st through the 10th, they're
going to combine both of them as they venture to the Seychelles to mount
an expedition. I spoke with Martin Wennergren, A65DC, about their plan.
MARTIN: I haven't been there before. I guess the reason why we are
choosing the Seychelles is that -- as it says on the web we are a small
group of hams from the United Arab Emirates, and we want to do cooler
and greater and bigger DXpeditions in the future. But, we need to start
somewhere. We are all kids in the beginning. So I guess the choice, we
were playing around with Bhutan and Vietnam, and some other places that
might actually be slightly higher up on the list of wanted countries,
but the Seychelles came naturally. It's easy to get to from Dubai.
PAUL: Wennergren spoke briefly about their radio setup.
MARTIN: We have two stations running and one backup station with us that
we hope we are not going to use. But two TS-590s are going to be
operating all the time we hope.
PAUL: He said that the best way to keep up with them and to see if you
got in the log is to watch their website, A6DX.com
MARTIN: Yeah absolutely. We will try to have the current operating
frequencies, we will try to communicate what we are looking for. We will
have kind of short windows into North America so we are going to
communicate on our website where our antennas are headed at the moment
and what we are looking for, for shorter periods of time.
PAUL: So listen in and add a new island to your collection -- and keep
an eye on this group of hams. They've got big plans for the future! For
Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
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