HAWAIIAN PARADISE FOR DX
JIM/ANCHOR: What could be better than being on an island in Hawaii? Being
on an island with your rig and antenna and no one else -- at least to one
ham. Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, spoke with him.
NEIL: Now here's a type of rare island activation story you don't hear
about very often. Eric Brundage, KH6EB, is on Kaho`olawe Island for 10
days every month, where he and an assistant run a base camp to support
Hawaii's efforts to restore the island, which is an old Navy facility.
But, during his free time Eric, operates 20 meters using a hex beam from
the otherwise inaccessible island.
ERIC: The island was given back to the state of Hawaii in 1994. But, the
Navy retained access to the island, so that they could do a cleanup
operation to try to clean up the unexploded ordnances that were all over
the island. That cleanup effort lasted until about the beginning of 2004.
Unfortunately, that cleanup effort wasn't complete. They only did about
75% of the island. So, there's still a risk of unexploded ordnances
throughout the island. Of that 75%, only about 10% of the island was
cleared sub-surface. So there' still a lot of buried, unexploded ordnances
on the island.
NEIL: You can contact Eric to set up a schedule, but he is generally on
the air from 6 to 7 am Hawaii Standard Time (HST), 5 to 7 pm, and again
from 8 to 11pm. The next time Eric will be on the island is from December
12th to the 21st. Eric just put up a new antenna, which for the time being,
restricts him to only 20 meters.
ERIC: Recently I picked up a KAO Hex Beam, and I just put that up this
week. And, that's only a single band hex beam. I've been working
exclusively 20 meters starting this week, mostly JT65, PSK31, and a little
bit of single sideband. I'm hoping in the future, I can set up another
antenna, where I can go ahead and get on 15 and 40 meters as well. But,
for right now, I'm limited to the 20 meter band.
NEIL: Kaho`olawe Island may be a once in a lifetime opportunity, as it may
be problematic to gain access to Kaho'olawe, once the island is restored.
Eric explains how the island counts for IOTA.
ERIC: All of the state of Hawaii is a single IOTA number, OC019.
Kaho'olawe does have a different US Islands number, which is HI026S, and
that information is located on the front of the QSL card. I do Logbook of
the World, eQSL, and also direct. I have a special card that has been made
up for Kaho'olawe, that has a picture of the island on it, and the back
side has some additional information about the history of the island.
NEIL: If you'd like to schedule a contact, Eric can be reached via email
at wh6eey@gmail.com.
Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the 2 meter
repeater of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club in Lindenhurst, N.Y.,
on Mondays at 8 p.m., and on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. on simplex at 147.535
MHz.
**
HIS HOPES ARE UP IN THE AIR
JIM/ANCHOR: The good news is that one New York ham got his ballons and
tracker to travel the globe. The bads news is.......he can't find them.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, has the details:
SKEETER: All Mike Hojnowski, KD2EAT, may want for Christmas are his
missing balloons, and his home-built tracker. He launched them in
mid-October from Cornell University, where he works as a systems engineer.
One month later, after they circumnavigated the globe, the balloons crash
landed. Maybe. Maybe not. But they're somewhere.
The question is: where? Mike traced them to rural Landaff, New Hampshire,
somewhere on a slope with an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet. He believes
his tracker is somewhere in the mountains, and he's already been back
twice to look for it. He even got help from one of the local ham clubs,
and others who want to send up their drones but so far, no luck.
The tracker, unfortunately, is now offline, and he told the New Hampshire
Union Leader newspaper that he's thinking it was downed by a storm, and probably
fell, or broke one of its solar panels.
Mike said in an email to Amateur Radio Newsline [QUOTE] "The level of
interest has been astounding, frankly. I'm hoping someone in their back
forty collecting firewood, or a hunter, stumbles upon it, and recognizes
the tracker. It would be a thrill to have it back!" [ENDQUOTE}
It seems that hope can be like one of those missing balloons - buoyant
and floating - but hopefully, in this case, not destined to crash. Mike
asks if anyone spots the ballons and tracker, please email him at
kd2eat@gmail.com
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash, N5ASH.
(NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER)
**
HONORING TWO GREAT WORLD WAR II BATTLESHIPS
JIM/ANCHOR: Two special event stations on two special World War II
battleships are marking one historic day, December 7, 1941. Let's hear
more from Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins, KE5CXP.
MIKE: Members of the Tri-State Amateur Radio Association in Huntington,
West Virginia, are honoring the noted World War II battleship, the USS
West Virginia. The ship sustained severe damage at Pearl Harbor, where
it was among those ships struck by aerial torpedoes and bombs dropped
by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. The damage ultimately caused
the ship to sink to the harbor bottom, but she was eventually raised,
and put into dry-dock for repair, and did return to military service
in the Pacific, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Iowa Jima, and
Okinawa, as well as being one of the ships sent to secure the Japanese surrender
in Tokyo Bay in 1945.
Taking pride in this namesake ship, W8VA will operate on 20 and 40 meters
on Saturday, December 10, between 1500 and 2300 UTC. Special QSL cards
will be available.
In Los Angeles, California, hams will operate from the Battleship Iowa,
on Wednesday, December 7, in memory of the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. The amateurs will be active as NI6BB, and will be on the air on
board the ship from 1800 to 2300 UTC. One group, known as the "Gray Radio Gang,"
will operating using legacy gear on 40 meters. The main team of operators will
be on the air using both CW and on SSB, on other bands, including 20, 10 and 17.
For more details about specific frequencies,
visit the website biara.org
Built in Brooklyn, New York, the USS Iowa was commissioned in 1943. In
that same year, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean with President Franklin
Roosevelt for meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The ship opened as a floating museum
in July, 2012.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP.
(SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO, BATTLESHIP IOWA AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION,
TRI-STATE AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, PACIFIC BATTLESHIP.COM)
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