Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2418 for Friday March 1st, 2024

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2418 with a release date of Friday
March 1st, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. An island expedition in India draws attention
to vital emergency communications. YLs are getting out in the park for
a one-day POTA party -- and prepare for FUNCube-1 to go silent, at
least for a while. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2418 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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EXPEDITION ON INDIAN ISLAND DRAWS ATTENTION TO CYCLONE PERILS

NEIL/ANCHOR: An Islands on the Air expedition in India has raised
awareness of the need for better emergency communications in a remote
region that is prone to deadly cyclones. Graham Kemp VK4BB gives us
those details.

GRAHAM: The recently completed AU2RS IOTA Expedition received public
praise from India's Ministry of Communications for its successful ham
radio activation of cyclone-prone Nachugunta Island. The team chose the
island, which carries the IOTA designation of AS-199, to mark the 60th
anniversary of that global amateur radio programme. The hams were on
the air from cyclone shelters on the Bay of Bengal coastline during the
weekend of the 23rd of February. Operating with five HF stations and
one satellite station, they reached amateurs in Europe, South Africa,
the US, Canada and Japan.

Even as operators were uploading their logs upon return from the
island, a press release from the communications ministry reported an
estimated 4,000 contacts logged.

The hams were applauded by public officials, including those from the
Department of Telecommunications, for their demonstration of radio's
importance in areas vulnerable to natural disasters

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(INDIAN MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

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SILENT KEY: EMERGENCY RESPONDER NORA RODRIGUEZ RODRIGUEZ, CO8NRR

NEIL/ANCHOR: Members of the national emergency network in Cuba are
grieving the loss of a devoted team leader. Nora Rodriguez Rodriguez,
CO8NRR, became a Silent Key in a hospital in Guantanamo, Cuba on
Monday, the 26th of February.

Her death was announced on Facebook by Carlos Alberto Santamaria
Gonzalez, CO2JC, the national emergency network coordinator of the
Amateur Radio Federation of Cuba. The Facebook post said her death was
the result of complications from a chronic illness. Nora had served as
information system coordinator of the Federation of Radio Amateurs of
Cuba in her province. Carlos wrote: [quote] "She was always willing to
cooperate in communications during emergencies and disasters. Until the
last days of her life she kept track of any event that could affect our
archipelago." [endquote]

Carlos told Newsline in an email that there were few additional details
as the family is being given privacy at this time.

(CARLOS ALBERTO SANTAMARIA GONZALEZ, CO2JC)

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LUNAR LANDER STILL FUNCTIONS DESPITE LANDING ISSUES

NEIL/ANCHOR: Troubles with the first US-built lunar lander in 50 years
have apparently not kept the spacecraft from staying in touch. Jack
Parker W8ISH explains what happened.

JACK: Builders of the private moonlander that made its historic
touchdown near a lunar crater on the 22nd of February, said the
spacecraft is successfully sending and receiving communications despite
having tipped over during its final descent near the moon's south pole.
Flight engineers have told the company that Odysseus is now resting on
its side, propped up on a rock, but that the mission is not imperiled.
Intuitive Machines of Houston, Texas has given assurances that five of
the six NASA payloads designed to conduct experiments are on sections
of Odysseus that can send and receive communications. The NASA payloads
will collect space weather and lunar surface information as well as
conduct demonstrations of communication and navigation.

The lander is the first US-built spacecraft to land on the moon in five
decades.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(NBC NEWS, THE HILL, CNN, NASA)

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YLS GATHER IN PARKS FOR A POTA PARTY

NEIL/ANCHOR: Throwing a party that's 24 hours long and inviting as many
YLs as possible isn't such a daunting task when the venue for that
party can be anywhere as long as it's a registered site for Parks on
the Air. Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us about the upcoming festivities.

ANDY: If you are chasing POTA on March 8th at any time of the day or
night you will likely hear even more YLs than ever calling CQ. The
first YL POTA Party is taking place that day to mark International
Women's Day. Activating parks has been a way of life for the organizer,
Shannon KC1OHT, whose limited antenna options in her city neighborhood
in Massachusetts led her to operate portable shortly after getting her
license in 2020. For Shannon, POTA became a way to build confidence
-and build community.

Now that community is getting ready to celebrate: Shannon told Newsline
she has been waiting since last fall to make a POTA party like this
happen. She and the other organizers are hoping that more experienced
YL ops will operate and invite someone new to POTA to join them. No one
will be left out either. YLs who can't get to a park can still come to
the party as a hunter from the home QTH.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(SHANNON, KC1OHT; BARBARA, KC1KGS)

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ARISS CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF HAMS ON THE RADIO IN SPACE

NEIL/ANCHOR: ARISS - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
-had a big celebration recently in Florida, and I was fortunate to
attend. I filed this report while I was still there -- to give
listeners a sense of all the excitement.

NEIL: ARISS celebrated the positive impact of 40 years of amateur radio
on human space flight at its conference held late last month at the
Center for Space Education: Astronauts Memorial Foundation near the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One hundred and ten leaders,
volunteers and fans of the program gathered to hear and see memorabilia
from the past four decades and got a look into how to rocket into the
future. Keynote speaker Richard Garriott, ex-W5KWQ, inspired the group
toward a bold future and passed his license exam at the conference to
become re-licensed. His previous license had lapsed not long ago. ARISS
also had a few announcements, including a new partnership with Estes
model rockets and expansion of the SPARKI radio kit availability for
school classrooms. HamTV will return on the next ISS supply mission,
SpaceX 30, scheduled for mid-March and be returned to service soon
after. Lou McFadin, W5DID, received a special achievement award for his
work in building amateur stations in space since the very first one on
STS-9, which carried the first Spacelab mission and the first astronaut
representing the European Space Agency 40 years ago. Of course, the
crowd was treated to a live contact with astronauts on the ISS as three
youths presented their questions to the astronauts.

>From Kennedy Space Center Florida, this is Neil Rapp WB9VPG

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FUNCUBE TRANSPONDER TO BE SILENT THROUGH MID-MARCH

NEIL/ANCHOR: If you're a fan of AO-73, the satellite called FUNcube-1,
you can expect a period of silence this month. Dave Parks WB8ODF tells
us why.

DAVE: Under the best of conditions, sometimes the fun has to end - even
if you happen to be FUNcube-1, the educational and amateur radio
satellite also known as AO-73. The FUNcube's busy transponder will be
turned off between March 3rd and March 15th to permit the batteries to
take a much-needed short rest. The satellite will still provide
low-power telemetry but it will remain in Safe Mode during this period.
Much of its telemetry data is used for educational programming in
schools.

Since its launch into sun-synchronous orbit in November of 2013,
FUNCube has gained popularity with hams who make good use of its VHF to
UHF transponder. It was created through the joint efforts of AMSAT-UK,
AMSAT-NL, and ISIS-BV in The Netherlands.

This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(AMSAT, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

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VINTAGE RADIO MUSEUM'S HAM SHACK IS BACK ON THE AIR

NEIL/ANCHOR: A beloved radio museum near Dublin is QRV again. Here's
Jeremy Boot G4NJH with the good news.

JEREMY: Amateur Radio Station EI0MAR is back on the air from the Ye
Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio near Dublin. Two powerful
storms in early January left its antenna unusable and the museum went
silent for about three weeks. Tony, EI5EM, who holds the callsign for
the museum station, told Newsline in an email that the historic site
did not stay idle for long thanks to Tom May, EI9LA, who donated an X80
vertical antenna that he had not been using. Tony and Joe, EI2JZ,
installed the replacement antenna, swapping out the coax at the
sametime.

Challenging weather is a way of life at the historic tower that houses
the museum. The location overlooking Howth Harbour played a key role in
the pioneering days of wireless where both Lee de Forest and later, the
Marconi Company, carried out numerous experiments. The museum is open
on weekends from 11 am to 4 pm local time.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(IRTS, TONY BREATHNACH, EI9LA)

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