HOSPITAL HELPS WASHINGTON HAMS EXPAND EMCOMM COVERAGE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: When it comes to planning for emergency coverage,
hospitals and hams are a natural team. Christian Cudnik, K0STH, tells
us about one such effort in Washington State.
CHRISTIAN: With the help of a local hospital, hams in Clallam County,
Washington are hoping to provide the county with a security blanket of
RF coverage. Their effort has been a two-year project between the
Clallam County Amateur Radio Club and Forks Community Hospital.
According to club member Joe Wright, KG7JWW, who is also an area
emergency coordinator for ARES in Forks, the goal is to establish
"operational areas" throughout the county including the vast prairie
and serve those areas with more radios and repeaters. While standard
communication will continue to rely on the VHF repeater and vertical
antenna, the goal is to extend the range, linking to UHF repeaters
beyond.
Joe credited the hospital for having established an on-site amateur
radio station after 9/11 for Clallam County ARES. He said the hospital
has also assisted in other ways, including with installation of a
repeater and equipment for an emergency radio site on Gunderson
Mountain, just outside of town.
He told Newsline "the new repeater location has significantly
increased our coverage" and other expansions are in the planning
stages. One of them is for a location that will cover the county's
farthest northwest areas and cross over to Vancouver Island, British
Columbia.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Christian Cudnik, K0STH.
(THE FORKS FORUM)
**
AMATEUR TO CAST HER ABSENTEE BALLOT FROM ISS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Although more voters than ever in the U.S. are
expected to use absentee ballots in November's presidential election,
one amateur radio operator will be casting her ballot from space. Don Wilbanks,
AE5DW, has those details.
DON: Astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, has a few important things on her
agenda following her mid-October launch from Russia to the
International Space Station. Once there, she will begin her research
using the Cold Atom Lab aboard the ISS. She will also work on a
cardiovascular experiment.
And, she plans to cast an absentee ballot, and vote in the United
States presidential election. According to Space.com, her vote will
take the form of a secure electronic ballot which gets transmitted to
Mission Control, and sent on from there to the county clerk back home
in Texas.
Of course, high-flying absentee ballots are nothing new for her.
According to the Associated Press, she and fellow astronaut Shane
Kimbrough, KE5HOD, voted for president the same way in 2016, hoping
their votes would go the distance.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.
(SPACE.COM, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the
N9EOC repeater of the Central Indiana Amateur Radio Association in Noblesville,
Indiana, on Sundays at 8 p.m. local time.
**
AMATEUR SATELLITE MARKS 27 YEARS IN ORBIT
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Imagine 27 years on the job: The team behind a
satellite called AMRAD-Oscar 27 has no trouble imagining it at all.
The satellite just marked its birthday in space, as Neil Rapp, WB9VPG,
tells us.
NEIL: Happy 27th birthday to the satellite that was launched from
French Guiana in September of 1993 and is still on the job. Hams
around the world have made contacts with AMRAD-Oscar 27, which has
also been used for a successful D-STAR mode satellite QSO. Even after
a temporary outage in 2012, the team behind the project couldn't be
prouder of the satellite's longevity and its reputation for being
relatively easy to work. AO-27 was built by the Amateur Radio Research
and Development Corporation (AMRAD) in McLean, Virginia.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
(SOUTHGATE, AMSAT)
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