ANOTHER SOTA 'SUPER ACTIVATION'
PAUL/ANCHOR: It's time to put more summits on the air -- and the next
"super activation" is coming, this time between North America and Europe.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Ed Durrant, DD5LP, has the details.
ED's REPORT: North American and European Summits on the Air "Super
activation" November 19th -- After the success of the Australia-Europe
Summit-to-Summit event in October, Gerald, G4OIG, suggested a similar
event, this time between Europe and North America. The SOTA community
has rallied behind him.
Both ends of the event will have to deal with wintery weather, but
despite that, at the time of writing, just under two weeks before the
event, twenty six stations located in Europe, North America, and even
one in Africa, have indicated on the sotawatch.org website that they
intend to participate. Many activators can only confirm the day before
and others don't post alerts at all, so the final number of summits is
likely to be even higher.
Instead of the early morning activations the Europeans had in the VK -
EU event, this time it will be those in North America who will need to
set the alarm clock. For Europe the 1400-1700 UTC time slot makes this
a nice afternoon activation. In the US and Canada this equates to
0900-1200 on the East Coast and 0600-0900 local time on the West Coast.
The full details are as follows: Date: Saturday 19th, November 2016
Time: 1400 to 1700 UTC
Bands: any that are open
Modes: any that you can operate from a summit. As well as SSB and CW, we
have three activators who plan to use PSK31.
Most stations will be running low power. A few, however, plan to take
100-watt capable rigs onto the summit. Antennas in general are
wire-based - both horizontal and vertical polarised.
The aim of the event is to get as many Summit to Summit - "S2S" -
contacts as possible. The summit contacts can be between North America
and Europe, or within the regions themselves. Home-based "chasers" are
also welcome to contact the summit activators, but are being asked to
defer to the S2S contacts.
So if you have portable equipment, and you are in North America or
Europe, why not take a look at the SOTA.ORG.UK website, to find your
nearest summit, and the award scheme's rules, and join in the fun on
the 19th of November. Even if you don't have portable equipment, you
can still take part as a chaser from your home station. The more the
merrier on the 19th.
There's even talk now of an Australia to North America Summit-to-Summit
event, that would then complete the circle around the World by Summits
on the Air!
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.
**
PUTTING THE 'RADIO' IN HAM RADIO
PAUL/ANCHOR: What beats the thrill of getting your ham radio license?
Getting your first radio - free! Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash,
N5ASH, has those details.
SKEETER: The Livingston County Amateur Radio Klub in Michigan has come
up with a unique way to generate interest in ham radio.
LES: We're offering residents of the County that are 21 years or younger,
that get their amateur radio license, it they pass the test, we're
giving them a dual-band handheld radio. And if you're over 21, and
you're in the county, if you pay for 2 years' membership to the club,
we'll also give you a radio, if you pass your test, or an upgrade.
SKEETER: That's Les Butler, W8MSP, Technical Director for the Livingston
County Amateur Radio Klub, or LARK. I asked Les, who came up with the
idea?
LES: The board members of the club. We were thinking of ideas to get more
younger people involved, and more people in general. Our membership's
pretty good, and we've got pretty good participation in our meetings; we
have a few young people, but we'd like to see a few more.
SKEETER: Has there been a noticeable difference since this program started
earlier in the summer?
LES: Not yet; I think it's going to now, because it's getting a lot more
publicity. We did a local radio station interview here in the county. We
generally have two to five people show up for our test sessions every
month. We test the second Tuesday of every month. Walk-ins are welcome,
you don't need to make an appointment. And many months, we have five,
six, or seven people. Generally, it's two to five people.
SKEETER: So, if you know someone in Livingston County, Michigan, who is
interested in getting or upgrading their license - and could use a free
dual-band hand-held transceiver, go to W8LRK dot com, to learn more about
the club's testing program. But hurry - this is a limited-time offer that
expires at the end of 2016. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH,
in Topeka, Kansas.
(LIVINGSTON COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)
**
HAM IN BERMUDA HONORED BY HURRICANE WATCH NET
PAUL/ANCHOR: The sun is shining for one radio amateur in Bermuda, who
just received big honors for his work with the Hurricane Watch Net.
Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Bobby Best, WX4ALA.
BOBBY: Thirty-one years of devoted and reliable reporting, has paid off
big for Antony "Tony" Siese, VP9HK. Tony's decades of volunteer efforts
with the Hurricane Watch Net, have won him the title of Honorary Member
of the Net, and the distinction of being the first non-manager to be
given that honor.
The Net's manager, Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, announced late last month, that
the Bermuda resident had more than earned the title since the start of
his involvement in 1985. Even with having taken one year off - last year -
he has kept busy. Honorary membership is not the only distinction
conferred on Tony. His reports on Hurricane Fabian in 2003 won him the
Message-In-A-Bottle Award for that year's hurricane season after he
reported critical ground-truth information about the storm's activity
in Bermuda.
Tony has been a ham since the 1970's, when he was licensed as G4CIL in
the UK.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA.
(HURRICANE WATCH NET, ARRL)
Posted by VPost v1.7.081019
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* Origin: Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com (57:57/1)
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