ONE CLUB'S HOMEBREW SOLUTION
DON/ANCHOR: When it comes to ham radio, there's homebrew.....and then
there's homebrew. When one New Jersey ham club realized it was facing a
major overhaul of its repeater system, they knew they couldn't just pass
the hat to raise money. So they came up with a solution that was strictly
homebrew....and it involved a project that was also strictly homebrew.
We hear more in this report from Amateur Radio Newsline's Caryn Eve
Murray, KD2GUT.
CARYN: How can a portable HF magloop antenna help an aging system of UHF
and VHF repeaters? Actually, it can save the day when it becomes a
homebrew fundraising project for a ham club. Rob Fissell, K2RWF, president
of the Tri County Radio Association in Union, New Jersey, said this
magloop was the right choice at the right time.
ROB: W2LI has been in existence now for over 80 years at this point, and
one of the big things we provide is a very wide area coverage repeater
system, both VHF and UHF. That equipment is starting to show its age. We
wanted to be proactive about coming up with replacements for it, and
ensuring that whatever we bought would last us for a decade or two to come
and with that comes with the expense of it. Rather than kind of wait for
something bad to happen and all of a sudden we need to scramble, we
thought we'd take the proactive approach of fundraising through a number
of different avenues, or at least explore a number of different avenues
and work to get the money ourselves.
CARYN: Work is just what they did! Gathering on weekends with antenna components
and an order of Chinese food or donuts, they held "antenna
building parties." Working assembly-line style, they have already shipped
40 mag loops, and the club continues to receive pre-orders for the next
batch. Rob says the little antennas are downright popular!
ROB: It's a club-raising effort, and people like the concept that not
only are they getting a quality product, but they are also supporting a
cause at the same time.
CARYN: The antennas cost $165, and every sale helps the bottom line, says
Rob. Best of all, this venture is all about hams building something for
other hams - and in turn, it's about hams buying something that will
benefit fellow hams. Like a mag loop antenna itself, the effort all comes
full circle.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
DON/ANCHOR: If you'd like to order a magloop antenna, visit the club
website at w2li.org/magloop - all sales include shipping, and are used to
fund the repeater system.
**
WORLD OF DX
In the world of DX, John, KK7L, is using the call sign T2R from Funafuti
Atoll between May 23rd and 29th. He will be operating on various HF bands
and may also take part in the CQWW WPX CW contest. Send QSL cards via
N7SMI, LoTW or ClubLog.
Listen for Ken, LA7GIA, active as TN5E from Brazzaville between May 25th
and June 4th. Find him on 80-10 meters -- and possibly even 6 meters --
operating CW and SSB. Send QSL cards via M0OXO, LoTW or ClubLog's OQRS.
Janusz, SP9FIH, will be on the air as E44WE from Bethlehem in Palestine
until May 30th. He is operating with 100 watts and focusing on 17 meters.
Be listening as well on 10 meters and 6 meters. Send QSLs via Club Log
OQRS.
Finally, we have an update on the latest Summit-to-Summit event. In the
Europe to North America Summit-to-Summit event last Saturday the 13th
of May, a total of 36 European summits, and 18 North American summits
were activated. Despite abysmal radio conditions with deep QSB and high
QRN levels several trans-Atlantic QSOs were made, including some summit
to summit contacts. Overall, everyone enjoyed the event, and many are
already looking forward to the next event on the 18th of November, when
it is hoped that conditions will be significantly improved.
(IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY, OHIO PENN DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: SPECIAL DELIVERY
DON/ANCHOR: Our last story, which comes from Australia, isn't exactly
about amateur radio, but it IS about changing times and changing
communication. It's the story of John Riddett, a longtime postal service
employee who obviously knows all too well that a message delivered
effectively is always a welcome message. John isn't a ham, sorry to say,
but his telegraphy skills are something many CW operators would envy. He trained
in Morse Code as a teenager in 1953 at the Postmaster General's
office, and he used his talents afterward to help send telegrams. That's
a practice now out of use for about 50 years. Now John gets the message
across by demonstrating his skills to children visiting the Telstra
Museum in Hawthorne, Melbourne. This spring, however, he took a trip to
Alice Springs for a ten-day gathering of former postal workers who, like
him, were once fluent in the poetry of dots and dashes. It was his 24th
such gathering, but this year only John and two other former telegraphers showed
up. He told ABC Australia that judging from the size of the
turnout, the get-together was probably going to be one of the last. With
that kind of turnout, he said, he got the message - unfortunately
well-delivered.
(ABCNET.AU)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to ABCNET.au; Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly;
the ARRL; Belize Amateur Radio Club; Chelmsford Weekly News; CQ Magazine;
the FCC; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the IARU; Irish Radio Transmitters
Society; K2BSA; the Lambton (Ontario) Shield newspaper; Ohio Penn DX
Bulletin; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show;
WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio
Newsline. Please send emails to our address at newsline@arnewsline.org.
More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official
website located at www.arnewsline.org.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York, and
our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, in Picayune, Mississippi,
saying 73, and as always, we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.
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