Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2409 for Friday December 29th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2409 with a release date of Friday
December 29th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Set your sights on some most-wanted DX
contacts. Straight Key Month gets under way - and listen to the winning
Ham Radio Haiku for 2023. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline
Report Number 2409 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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PLANNING BEGINS FOR DXPEDITION TO PETER THE 1ST ISLAND

DON/ANCHOR: As the new year dawns, we bring you a top story that looks
to the future: We tell you about two big DXpeditions happening Down
Under -- and both take plenty of planning and resources. We hear the
details from Graham Kemp VK4BB.

GRAHAM: The year 2024 is a big year of planning for a DXpedition to
Peter I Island, which ranks eighth in ClubLog's most-wanted DXCC list.
Like Bouvet Island, this remote volcanic island is one of three
Norwegian territories in the subAntarctic and Antarctic region. The
DXpedition of 19 operators is being led by Ken LA7GIA, Cezar VE3LYC,
Dave WD5COV and Adrian KO8SCA. It's planned for 14 days in February
of2026.

Dave and Ken are also part of another high-profile DXpedition taking
place a year before Peter I Island: that is the 3Y0K DXpedition in
January 2025 for Bouvet Island, the 11th most wanted on the ClubLog
list. This expedition will reuse much of the equipment from the
previous year's trip to Bouvet and is also sharing the website being
used by 3Y0K.

As fundraising for Peter I Island gets under way in just a few weeks,
the group is concentrating on securing a landing permit from the
Norwegian Polar Institute. The team has reported that it has found a
ship and it has two on-board helicopters. In addition to being a
coveted DX, Peter I Island carries the IOTA designation of AN-004.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB

(M0OXO WEBSITE)

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CQ MAGAZINE SUSPENDS PUBLICATION

DON/ANCHOR: CQ Magazine, which has been a resource for the active
amateur radio community for seven decades, has suspended publication
until sometime in 2024. CQ has been a valuable supporter of Newsline's
Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the
Year Award. It is renowned for its CQ World Wide array of contests and
operating awards and for its hall of fame.

The magazine's editor, Richard Moseson W2VU, told Newsline in a recent
email: [quote] "As all of our loyal readers know, 2023 has been a very
challenging year for us. We continue to pursue all options for getting
things moving again. At this moment, the November and December issues
are delayed but we plan to get them out to the readership as soon as
circumstances permit. We appreciate everyone's patience and
understanding." [endquote]

The widely read magazine, which produces both a print and digital
edition, has been a staple in amateur radio shacks, starting with its
first issue in January 1945.

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STRAIGHT KEY MONTH CELEBRATES A TRADITION

DON/ANCHOR: This year marks the 18th year for Straight Key Month, a
celebration of traditional communication from the Straight Key Century
Club. Don't have a straight key? You can get in on the action anyway.
Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us how.

KEVIN: Just as some CW operators think they can rest their fists
following the conclusion of the ARRL's Straight Key Night on the 1st of
January, others are preparing for Straight Key Month. The popular event
from the Straight Key Century Club is a leisurely and friendly
activity. The goal is to contact as many other operators as you can via
CW, not just throughout the United States but around the world. There
are various categories in which operators can set their goals.

You don't need to be an SKCC club member to participate. In fact, you
don't even need to use a Straight Key. Will you get a basic sweep, a
full sweep or a grand sweep? See the SKCC website at skccgroup dot com
(skccgroup.com) and click on the link for SKCC Straight Key Month,
which appears under the heading of "Activities."

Each year club members compete to produce a design for the event's
official QSL card. This year's winning card will also mark the 18th
anniversary of the SKCC.

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(SKCC)

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ARIZONA DESERT COMES ALIVE WITH QUARTZFEST

DON/ANCHOR: The next big thing in ham radio in the US is the first big
convention of 2024. It's known as Quartzfest and it is one of its kind
in Arizona's Sonoran desert. It features recreational vehicles,
portable and mobile EMCOM systems and off-the-grid living all near
Quartzsite. Activities and seminars are all free. Operators will also
have a special event station W7Q throughout the week. Other hams will
be participating in an HF Distance Challenge, Pico Balloon Launches and
POTA activations and hikes. Quartzfest takes place between the 21st and
the 27th of January. For a schedule of seminars and activities visit
quartzfest dot org (quartzfest.org)

(QUARTZFEST, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

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HAMSCI ADVISOR BECOMES DIRECTOR OF HAYSTACK OBSERVATORY

DON/ANCHOR: A noted observatory in New England has just chosen its new
director - an amateur radio operator who is also an advisor to HamSCI
and its various projects. We hear more from Sel Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: Congratulations to Philip Erickson, W1PJE, a member of the
advisory board of the citizens science group HamSCI, who is starting an
important new role in January as director of the Haystack Observatory
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he has been on staff
in various capacities since 1995. His most recent role has been as
associate director.

The observatory has been involved in a number of projects that share
some of HamSCI's own priorities, conducting studies of the ionosphere
and other parts of the atmosphere with the use of electromagnetic
frequencies. Philip notes on his QRZ.com page that Haystack has been
involved since the late 1950s in remote-sensing research into the
properties of the ionosphere, neutral atmosphere, overlying
plasmasphere, and magnetosphere.

Philip belongs to the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club, which often
conducts activities in collaboration with the Haystack Observatory. He
is also a big fan of working with vintage radios.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(HAMSCI, QRZ.COM)

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GET READY FOR HAM RADIO KIDS' DAY

DON/ANCHOR: Just as Youth on the Air month ends on the last day of
December, Ham Radio Kids Day is just getting warmed up. The annual ARRL
event takes place on Saturday the 6th of January as a way of showing
youngsters the kind of fun they can have on the air - and to interest
them in science and technology. Plans are already being made across the
country: One such group, The New Providence Amateur Radio Club in New
Jersey. is operating the event with the youngsters at the Salt Brook
School on Saturday, January 6, 2024 from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM.

During the event, youngsters will be on the air under the supervision
of licensed hams. Kids will be calling "CQ Kids Day" and the
kid-friendly exchange will be name, age, location and favorite color.

(ARRL, PATCH.COM)

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FRENCH AMATEUR'S SPECIAL EVENT HONORS POLISH MARTYR

DON/ANCHOR: Several special event stations go on the air from around
the world each year in August, coinciding with the anniversary of the
death of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. He was born, however, in January
and an event is coming up to mark the 130th anniversary of that day.
Here's Randy Sly W4XJ with the details.

RANDY: The Polish priest, Maximilian Maria Kolbe, was martyred in
Auschwitz during World War II. Hams often hold special event stations
in August to mark the date of his death. One ham in France -- Jeff,
F4IIQ (F 4 EYE EYE Q) -- has chosen to mark his birth on January 8th.
He will be going on the air with the callsign TM130SMK from the 5th to
the 9th of January. The Franciscan priest, who was canonized in 1982,
is considered the patron saint of amateur radio for having founded a
monastery in Poland dedicated to communications. The monastery housed a
short-wave radio station with the callsign SP3RN. When the monastery
was shut by the Nazis in 1941, Maximilian Maria Kolbe was arrested and
sent to Auschwitz where he volunteered to take the place of another man
who was marked to die. The priest was executed by lethal injection
after having been placed in a starvation bunker.

Father Kolbe is also the inspiration for the Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Net, which was founded by two amateurs in the US in 1998. It meets on
80 metres and 20 metres on Sundays.

This is Randy Sly W4XJ.

(QRZ.COM)

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BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
the W4HPL repeater in Cookeville, Tennessee on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m.
local time.

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SOTA ACTIVATORS PREPARE FOR YEAR-LONG 10M CHALLENGE

DON/ANCHOR: SOTA activators, get ready to aim high in the new year.
It's already a fact that SOTA ops aim high or they wouldn't be climbing
all those summits to make contacts, but now the awards scheme is asking
everyone to aim high on the band and accept a year-long 10-meter
challenge. This event is timed to coincide with what is expected to be
the peak of Solar Cycle 25.