Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2404 for Friday November 24th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2404 with a release date of Friday
November 24th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Radiowaves may be used to help diagnose climate
issues. A launch of the first pink satellite in space -- and can you
turn a can of ham into an antenna? All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2404 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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USING RADIOWAVES TO DIAGNOSE CLIMATE ISSUES

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week asks the question: Can radiowaves
help diagnose climate issues? A team of researchers says "yes," and
Kent Peterson KC0DGY tells us what else they're saying.

KENT: The atmosphere has a message for us and it's possible that we may
be able to receive it thanks to the 6G networks of the future. This
next-generation form of telecommunications is already being eyed for
cellular deployment -- but its range from 100 GHz into the terahertz
frequencies positions it for another - unintended -- use.

According to an article in the IEEE Spectrum, waves utilized by 6G are
easily absorbed by gases in the atmosphere. As such, scientists may be
able to use the radiowaves to discern what kind of atmospheric gases
are present - especially the kind that imperil the well-being of the
planet and those of who live on it. The Spectrum article quoted from a
research paper in the journal, IEEE Network, in which Boston researcher
Josep Jornet suggests that because different molecules absorb
electromagnetic radiation differently, scientists can employ 6G
transmissions in much the same was spectroscopy is used: to identify
which molecules are present and what their concentration is. Jornet, in
fact, calls it "over0the-air spectroscopy."

Although 6G networks are not yet ready for prime time, the study's
authors believe a dual-purpose 6G network of the future could have
immense benefits.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(IEEE SPECTRUM)

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PINK SATELLITE INSPIRED BY BUSINESSMAN'S DAUGHTER

NEIL/ANCHOR: A new satellite inspired by a Slovakian businessman's
daughter is a family-friendly CubeSat with an educational mission --and
it's the first pink satellite to be sent into orbit. Jeremy Boot G4NJH
introduces us.

JEREMY: Slovakian businessman Boris Procik is not just the father of a
little girl named Veronika - he is also the father of a pink
nanosatellite with the same name. The amateur radio satellite was
launched recently as part of a SpaceX mission aboard a Falcon 9 rocket
after a successful build by Spacemanic, a spinoff of the Slovak
Organisation for Space Activities.

Those involved in the mission have declared the 1U CubeSat to be the
first family-inspired satellite and certainly the first one that was
built in the colour pink. Its features include a CW beacon and a
digipeater. The download frequency is 436.680 MHz

Amateur Radio Club OM3KSI is operating the satellite and assisting with
its various goals, which include getting grammar and high school
students involved in receiving its transmissions which will include
special messages in CW and AX.25 packet radio. The Prague Observatory
and Planetarium, PLANETUM, will also share the educational uses of the
little satellite.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(AMSAT NEWS SERVICE, SPACEMANIC)

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SILENT KEY: CHICAGO BROADCASTER, OUTDOORSMAN ORRIN BRAND, K9KEJ

NEIL/ANCHOR: A Chicago-area broadcast veteran and an active radio
amateur has become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Andy
MorrisonK9AWM.

ANDY: Orrin Brand, K9KEJ, didn't just use radio as a licensed amateur.
Listeners in the Chicago area knew him as Mike Jackson, an outspoken
outdoorsman who hosted a radio program and wrote a column for more than
two decades for the Daily Herald. He also spent a half-century working
in radio and TV. According to his page on QRZ.com, his love of radio
began with ham radio in the 1950s when he was growing up in Chicago.

As a radio professional, he hosted a conservative-leaning radio talk
show that was broadcast on WCGO-AM and live-streamed on the station's
web page as well as his own personal Mike Jackson webpage. An
accomplished fisherman, he was inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing
Hall of Fame in 2011 as a "Legendary Communicator."

Orrin Brand died on Wednesday, November 15th, at the age of 79.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(HAP HOLLY, KC9RP; QRZ.com; CHICAGO SUN-TIMES)

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UNIVERSITY'S NEW HAM RADIO TOWER PREPS STATION FOR ECLIPSE

NEIL/ANCHOR: There's nothing like planning ahead, and on one
Pennsylvania university campus the ham radio club has planned well for
the next solar eclipse, as we hear from Sel Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: The amateur radio station at the University of Scranton has a new
shack that will feature a panoramic look of the Pennsylvania city whose
name the school carries but the best, most crowd-pleasing view will
come not from looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows, but rather
the new 40-foot tower and HF multi-band antenna installed there earlier
this month on the campus. Amateur station W3USR will be ready to get on
the air and, even more importantly, will be working to provide a unique
view of its own in April when the sun enters a total eclipse over North
America. Campus hams will be participating in the work of HamSCI, the
citizen science research organization that has been assisting NASA's
studies of how solar eclipses, such as the annular eclipse in October,
affect the ionosphere and radio propagation.

The installation was funded with the help of private donations and an
Amateur Radio Digital Communications grant earlier this year of almost
$200,000 provided to physics and electrical engineering professor
Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, the creator of HamSCI.

Of course, the collegiate amateurs will be keeping a close eye on
terrestrial goings-on as well: The station also has VHF/UHF, satellite
and microwave capability and can be part of the local emergency
response network as well. Nathaniel, the club's advisor, has already
helped many of the students receive the necessary emergency response
training with the Luzerne County Emergency Communication Agency.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(ROYAL NEWS)

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HAM RADIO WORKBENCH GOES ON THE AIR FOR 200TH SHOW

NEIL/ANCHOR: The Ham Radio Workbench podcast is fast approaching its
200th show and it's going to celebrate on December 3rd with a big
HRWBOTA (pronounced: her-wuh-bow-tuh). No, I didn't just mispronounce
another really large word; that's what the organizers are calling the
event - it's short for Ham Radio Workbenches on the air. The hosts are
marking the occasion with a four-hour activation on HF, DMR and AllStar
that allows listeners to make contacts with each of the presenters and
to score points. Be listening between 1800UTC and 2200UTC. No one's
looking to make this difficult: If you work at least two hosts, you get
a certificate of participation. There are bigger certificates too. See
details on the website h r w b o t a dot com

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HAMS BRING MISSING FATHER TO FAMILY AFTER 24 YEARS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Imagine being missing from your family for 24 years. An
alert amateur radio operator in India was able to end one man's long
absence from home by simply keeping his eyes open, asking questions and
- yes - using his radio. We hear the details from Jim Meachan ZL2BHF.

JIM: It was not an amateur radio contact but a visit to a tea vendor at
a bus station that led hams in West Bengal to bring a former military
engineer and his family together after the man went missing 24 years
ago. The family had last seen him when he was 44 years old and his son
was 15. According to news reports, the father disappeared while enroute
home to Uttar Pradesh from a military camp in Assam where he had been
posted with the military's engineering services department.

According to a report on The Statesman website, the family was so
certain he had died that in 2006 that they held a funeral ritual for
him. His son, Rajkumar, told local news media that in spite of that, he
and his two sisters never gave up hope that they would see their father
again. The man's wife, however, died a year and a half ago as the
search for him continued.

The secretary of the West Bengal club, Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA,
told the Statesman that he'd spotted a man repeatedly during his
frequent visits to a tea vendor at a bus station during the past few
months. He began inquiring about the elderly man, who apparently had
only limited information about his family and their whereabouts. The
ham shared with his own club what little information he could gather
about the man's connections to Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal hams
contacted hams in Uttar Pradesh and they located the man's remaining
family members. As Newsline went to production, the hams were working
with local authorities to have the man return home.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(THE STATESMAN, THE TIMES OF INDIA)

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