Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2242, for Friday, October 16th, 2020
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2242, with a release date of Friday,
October 16th, 2020, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is back on the ISS. A
ham in the Netherlands pays tribute to guitarist Eddie Van Halen -- and license
exams are suspended in Belgium. All this and more, as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2242 comes your way, right now.
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BILLBOARD CART
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HAMS IN SPACE: ANOTHER TRIP TO THE ISS
PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week by saying "welcome back to the ISS" for
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins KG5FYJ, who joined two Russian cosmonauts on
the launch pad in southern Kazakhstan Wednesday October 14th, bound for
the International Space Station.
Kate and her fellow travelers will spend six months aboard the ISS. Their
stay in space will coincide with the 20th anniversary of a continuous
human presence on the ISS - an occasion being marked on the 1st of
November.
(CNN)
**
MID-ALTITUDE BALLOONS BEGIN JOURNEY EAST
PAUL/ANCHOR: Something else went up into the sky recently. They looked a little
like party balloons but they weren't. It was a nationwide mid-
altitude ham radio balloon launch and it was festive even if it wasn't a
big party. Jack Parker, W8ISH, explains.
JACK: Fans of amateur radio balloons are reliving the moments of the
October 9th launch of 11 mid-altitude balloons as they floated up and
began their journey from various launch sites across the United States. As they
headed east to begin their two-week trip around the globe, the event
was livestreamed on Facebook by the Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum.
Each helium-filled Mylar balloon is equipped with APRS on both 144.390 MHz
and 144.340 MHZ, and travelling at about 20,000 feet above the Earth.
Students, teachers and other balloon fans are tracking the balloons via amateur
radio and looking online for updates on their locations by
visiting aprsdirect dot com (aprsdirect.com). The balloons were launched
by students and their teachers in Washington, D.C., Alaska, Virginia, Oklahoma,
Utah, Minnesota and Kansas. If you'd like to follow along and
track them, you can find their call signs on the link provided in this
week's printed script of this newscast at arnewsline.org
[FOR PRINT ONLY, DO NOT READ:
https://airandspace.si.edu/events/live-balloon-launch-across-america]
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH.
(SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM)
**
PAUL/ANCHOR: The man arrested in Denver Colorado in connection with the
fatal shooting of a Navy veteran on Saturday, October 10th, during two opposing
political rallies downtown, is an amateur radio operator. The arrested man was
identified in news reports as Matthew Dolloff KE0NKL, who
is said to have been working without a license as a Pinkerton security
guard for a local TV station. The 30-year-old man is suspected of killing
Lee John Keltner, a military veteran attending the protest. Witnesses said
the two men were arguing when Keltner used a pepper spray on Dolloff.
Keltner was then fatally shot. The incident was captured on video by CBS Denver
Channel 4 and on cellphone video, and the scene has been widely
viewed on the internet.
**
SPECIAL TRIBUTE STATION TO EDDIE VAN HALEN
PAUL/ANCHOR: Rock legend Eddie van Halen, who died earlier this month, was
the pride of The Netherlands, where the guitarist was born 65 years ago.
Now, as his distinctive sounds resonate for his fans listening to
commercial radio stations around the world, one additional station joins
them - on the amateur radio frequencies - to pay tribute. Special event station
PA5150EVH will be on the air from October 28th until January 31st, 2021 -- a
few days past the musician's birthday on Jan. 26th. The special event is being
activated by Frank, PF1SCT, a civil engineer who is also a guitarist himself -
and needless to say, a Van Halen fan. A limited number
of QSL cards are available for contacts and those making successful
contacts should QSL to Frank's call sign by the bureau only.
(QRZ.COM, SOUTHGATE)
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (57:57/10)
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