Southgate Amateur Radio Club News, 26 August 2018

Young people are the future leaders in Amateur Radio
“You are the future of Amateur Radio”, YOTA 2018 Patron, Gary Immelman, ZS6YItold YOTA 2018 delegates in his address on the last evening of the event that is now heralded worldwide as the best ever

QSO Today – Frank Brickle – AB2KT
Frank Brickle, AB2KT, took a professional path to music composition at Princeton.
He combined his musical composition skills with his technical knowledge of computer programming and background in amateur radio to develop the first software defined radio (SDR) software used first by the US government and later by private industry

Strong geomagnetic storm
Surprising forecasters, a strong and unexpected G3-class geomagnetic storm is underway during the early hours of today, August 26th

New SARL Hamnet National Director appointed
The SARL Council at its meeting on Tuesday evening 21 August, appointed Glynn Chamberlain, ZS6GLN as the new SARL Hamnet National Director

Applications for the Irish Radio Amateur Licence Examination now open
The Irish Radio Transmitters Society have announced that the next Amateur Station Licence Examination will be held on Thursday 15th November 2018 in the ComReg offices in Dublin and at other centres if warranted by the numbers

Big sunspot alert
For most of 2018, the solar disk has been blank without a trace of even the smallest sunspot. This weekend something different is happening

W9DXCC DX Convention and Banquet
The W9DXCC DX Convention and Banquet in suburban Chicago is just a few weeks away – Sept. 14-15th – but there’s still time to register and secure discounted hotel rates to enjoy the program and win a shot at a prize kitty that’s grown to more than 12,000 USDs thanks to our generous donors

Ham radio gear ready for Hawaii deployment
ARRL report they are monitoring the progress of Hurricane Lane, and amateur radio equipment is available to deploy

Hawaii Hurricane ‘Lane’ and event updates
IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator Greg Mossop G0DUB has posted an update on amateur radio emergency operations in Hawaii, Venezuela and India

Orfordness 648 kHz
Two articles by radio amateurs Dave Porter G4OYX, Chris Pettitt G0EYO and Alan Beech G1BXG describe the Radio Caroline antenna system and the history of 648 kHz at Orfordness in Suffolk

A green comet approaches Earth
Beautiful green comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is approaching Earth for a 58 million km close encounter in early September, when it is expected to approach naked-eye visibility

Austria ÖVSV: Amateur Radio only “toy”! ??
The Austrian national Society ÖVSV has responded robustly to a press release put out on August 17, 2018 by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)

Propagation de K7RA
There is a chance of a glancing blow from a slow moving coronal mass ejection (CME) that may arrive over the next 24 hours resulting in periods of Active to Minor Storm conditions

Honduras: Donation of Ham Radio equipment for Emergency Comms
On August 22, 2018, the National Telecommunications Commission of Honduras (abbreviated CONATEL in Spanish), delivered radio communications equipment to COPECO, donated by ITU for emergency communications

Proposed WWV cuts ignored by Congress
In February, NIST proposed drastic cuts to its FY2019 budget, including shutdown of time-and-frequency stations WWV, WWVB and WWVH. This has raised concerns on social media, echoed by the ARRL

VKS-737 Radio Network – Codan Envoy raffle
The Australian National Four Wheel Drive Radio Network, otherwise known as the VKS-737 Radio Network is in the middle of yet another Codan Envoy Raffle, with tickets available until the draw on Friday 14th September

Foundations of Amateur Radio #168
How to start your own net …
In the past I’ve talked about a weekly net I run, called F-troop. It’s intended to be a place where new and returning amateurs find their feet, have a chat, test their gear, meet new friends, ask questions and sometimes get answers

Summer Section Manager election results announced
Two incumbent ARRL Section Managers have been declared re-elected in balloted elections this summer, and two new Section Managers will begin initial terms of office on October 1

Ofcom confirms arrangements for PMSE equipment grant scheme
Ofcom has confirmed arrangements for a grant scheme to support owners of Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) equipment, who have to replace equipment due to work to clear spectrum in 700 MHz spectrum band

USCGC Courier/VOA alumni install new exhibit at VOA Museum
While many Americans were driving big-finned cars and enjoying the prosperity of the 50s, the citizens of Rhodes, Greece were still digging themselves out of rubble remaining from their location as a Nazi stronghold during World War II

What will you do if WWVB goes silent?
Buried on page 25 of the 2019 budget proposal for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), there’s a short entry that has caused plenty of debate and even a fair deal of anger among those in the amateur radio scene

DX News from the ARRL
The American Radio Relay League’s round-up of the forthcoming week’s DX activity on the amateur radio bands