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Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the EARS Wide Area
Repeater Network, W9EAR, in Vincennes, Indiana on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.
**
LIGHTHOUSE SHINES ITS WAY TO A QSO
NEIL/ANCHOR: Imagine what it would be like if your ham shack were a
lighthouse on Canada's Prince Edward Island. This report from Amateur
Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, may help.
PAUL: For hundreds of years, mariners relied on lighthouses to navigate
and avoid hazards in the dark, and in foggy conditions. Today, sonar and
GPS has mostly rendered lighthouses obsolete. But many still exist, and
one ham, George Dewar, VY2GF, has great plans for some of them on Prince
Edward Island. He explains:
GEORGE: They have been taken over by community groups, and turned into
tourist attractions. A lot of them have gift shops and museums associated
with them. Even though they're not used for marine navigation much now,
they are an integral part of the community here on Prince Edward Island, because
tourism here in Prince Edward Island is our third-biggest industry after farming
and fishing.
So, my friend Bernie, from Monkton, is a bit of an antenna expert, so he
brings some verticals over, and we set up and have fun for the weekend.
This year is Canada's one hundred and fiftieth birthday, and the idea of
Canada started here in Prince Edward Island in 1864. So they've designated
the lighthouse at East Point as the Confederation Lighthouse, because it's
the only lighthouse still standing that was built in 1867.
So, basically what I'm doing, is extending an invitation to anybody and
everybody, to come to Prince Edward Island for activating a lighthouse for
a particular weekend. We'd sure like people to sit in with us and operate,
and there are a lot of lighthouses around, so if somebody wanted to do an
individual activation it'd be quite easy to do. As a matter of fact, a gentleman
called Bob from Ohio, November 8 Golf Uniform, he's going to
activate a lighthouse at Cape Bear, which has the distinction of being the
only radio station in Canada that made a contact with the Titanic in 1912, while
she was sinking.
PAUL: I asked George where people could go to get more information on the
lighthouses and activations:
GEORGE: If you go onto my QRZ page with this callsign, VY2PLH, I've got
our past activations listed there, I've got the upcoming ones, and there's
also a link to a website there for the PEI Lighthouse Society. On my page, there
I've got my email address and I would welcome people if they were to
send me an email, and I'll help them out all I can.
PAUL: So if you enjoy collecting special activations, or even if you're
interested in activating a lighthouse yourself (according to the society
website, there are 63 of them), look George up, and send him an email.
He'll be happy to have you come visit.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
**
FIRSTNET FOR THOSE FIRST ON THE SCENE
NEIL/ANCHOR: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced a deal for a
nationwide wireless network for first responders. It's called FirstNet,
as we hear from Phil Thomas, W8RMJ, in this report courtesy of Amateur
News Weekly.
PHIL: The U.S. government has awarded AT&T the FirstNet Project. It is a
$6.5-billion deal with AT&T to build a nationwide wireless network for
first responders, a project that was first proposed after the 911
terrorist attacks. This decision is a major step forward for FirstNet.
This will be a nationwide wireless broadband network that police, fire,
and other police responders will use exclusively during a major emergency.
This is one of a dozen of recommendations made by the 911 Commission in
2004. Currently, the first responders share wireless networks with regular
customers, meaning communications get clogged due to network congestion
during a major emergency. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross
announced a 25-year contract with AT&T and its partners, which include
Motorola Solutions. Working with FirstNet, AT&T will build and manage a
network that will strengthen and modernize public safety communications
capabilities enabling them to operate faster, safer, and effectively,
when lives are on the line. AT&T will work with FirstNet to deliver a
system that will cover all 50 states, five U.S. territories, and the
District of Columbia. Work on FirstNet is expected to generate 10,000
jobs across the company, as well as its contractors over the next two
years. The network buildout is scheduled to begin later this year.
NEIL: That report was from Phil Thomas, W8RMJ, of Amateur News Weekly.
For more of Amateur News Weekly, visit their website at
amateurnewsweekly.com
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