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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2341 for Friday September 9th, 2022

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2341 with a release date of Friday September 9th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Radio waves bring remarkable images from the
James Webb telescope. Romanian students embark on a first-time
satellite challenge -- and statistics from Brazil provide encouraging
news for amateurs. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2341 comes your way right now.

**
BILLBOARD CART
**

**
WEBB TELESCOPE TRANSMITS DIRECT IMAGES OF EXOPLANET

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story comes to us from space. Radio waves have
transmitted something remarkable to astronomers here on Earth
--long-awaited imagery from outside our solar system. Kent Peterson
KC0DGY has more on that story.

KENT: The James Webb Space Telescope's first direct image of a planet
outside of our solar system has been transmitted to scientists,
offering promise for deeper research into exoplanets. NASA reported
that astronomers received the image of the planet in orbit around a
star estimated to be 385 light-years from Earth. The image was taken
with a near-infrared camera and the Mid-Infrared Instrument, which each
focus on different portions of the infrared spectrum.

There have been only a few dozen direct imaging of exoplanets such as
this one. Astronomers have identified over 5,000 exoplanets, but only
by an indirect method of observing starlight dimming as the planet
passes in front of the star they are observing.

NASA expressed hope that these new infrared images will be a gateway to
deeper study of exoplanets.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(NASA, SPACE.COM)

**
SATELLITE WILL BE FIRST OF ITS KIND FOR ROMANIAN STUDENTS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Construction is to begin in Madrid on a small ham
satellite that will be a "first" for the Romanian teenagers who
designed it. Ed Durrant DD5LP gives us a closer look.

ED: AMSAT-EA is giving its support to a small amateur radio satellite
designed by students in Romania, a project considered the first of its
kind for Romanian students. Known as the ROM-2 mission, the satellite,
built with the support of the Romanian organisation ROMSpace, is to be assembled in Madrid at the AMSAT-EA facilities. AMSAT-EA, which has
registered the satellite internationally, will be responsible for the
satellite once it has entered orbit.

The satellite's maintenance data will be transmitted via CW. The
satellite will fulfill its mission to take photographs with a 2
MegaPixel camera and transmit them to hams who will be able to
retransmit them from their own stations using the SSDV protocol. They
will use the frequency of 436.235 MHz. SSDV packets will be
transmitted from the satellite using GFSK.

The students attend the International Computing High School in
Bucharest and are between the ages of 15 and 18.

This is Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(AMSAT-EA)

**
CONNECTICUT CW CLUB HOSTS FIRST CONTEST

PAUL/ANCHOR: Whoever said that fresh beginnings can't be fun probably
didn't belong to this small but growing group of CW enthusiasts. Randy
Sly W4XJ tells us about them.

RANDY: You don't have to live in the state of Connecticut to be a
member of the Connecticut CW Club but yes, it helps if you enjoy
sending and receiving Morse Code. Members are going to get that chance
in a big way this month: The club is having its inaugural CW contest
starting on September 17th at 1200 UTC and ending September 18th at the
same time. To participate and qualify for a certificate, you need to
join the club -- and membership is free! Members have already signed up
from North Carolina, California, Arkansas, New Hampshire and yes.....Connecticut.

Operators who have the three highest scores - and the operator who
makes the longest-distance QSO - will receive certificates.

According to its website, the club has other goals too: sharing
portable operations, including SOTA and POTA, having biweekly social
meet-ups and teaching newcomers the ins and outs of CW. The group's
meetings are held in person and in Zoom so members who don't live
locally can still attend. See the website ctcw dot club (ctcw.club) for details.

This is Randy Sly W4XJ.

(CONNECTICUT CW CLUB)

**
AMATEUR RADIO MENTORS TRAIN CANDIDATES ON INDIA'S 'TEACHERS DAY'

PAUL/ANCHOR: In India, where the birthday of the nation's second
president is celebrated as Teachers' Day, amateur radio educators
marked the occasion with a half-day training session for young license candidates. John Williams VK4JJW has the details.

JOHN: In the spirit of a national holiday that honours mentors and
educators, 35 students at Sodepur High School in Kolkata, India
attended a practical class on electronics and amateur radio in
preparation for testing for their licences. The course was offered by
the Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management, an
organisation founded at the school in 2010 with the help of the West
Bengal Radio Club.

Nearly four hours of classes were conducted in the spirit of Teachers'
Day, a holiday marking September 5th, 1888, the birthdate of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a scholar, professor and philosopher who was elected
president of India in 1962.

The classes were taught by Pasupati Mandal, VU3ODQ, Dipak Chakraborty,
VU3OKT, and Rinku Nag Biswas, VU2JFB, the secretary of the Indian
amateur organisation. The students are expected to sit for their
licence tests soon.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(INDIAN ACADEMY OF COMMUNICATION AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT)

**
BRAZIL REPORTS HIGHEST NUMBER OF HAMS ON AIR

PAUL/ANCHOR: The numbers have brought good news to the amateur radio
community in Brazil, where the figures show there are even more hams
this year than previously. Jeremy Boot G4NJH picks up the story
fromhere.

JEREMY: More amateurs than ever are on the air in Brazil and most of
them are Class C entry level operators, according to a recent study by
the The Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emissão, the national
amateur radio society. The organisation used data provided by the
nation's regulator, ANATEL, and analysed by Ricardo Benedito, PY2QB.

The data shows that this year's amateur radio ranks grew by 2.2 percent
over last year, with more than 40,000 now holding a radio licence. The
state with the most hams is São Paulo, where more than 10,000 amateurs
reside. Likewise, the city of São Paulo has the most amateurs among
Brazilian cities - with 2,430 operators - followed by Rio de Janeiro,
which has 1,521.

The number of stations also grew, according to the data: There were
about 60,000 stations in 2021. The number is now in excess of 63,000,
counting repeaters, mobile, fixed, beacons and terrestrial stations
-with more than 17,000 of them in the state of Sao Paulo.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(LABRE, SOUTHGATE)

**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
D-STAR Reflector 91 C in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesdays at 7:30
p.m. Australian Eastern Time.

**
W1AW MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF ITS SHACK'S DEDICATION

PAUL/ANCHOR: Congratulations to W1AW, the headquarters station of the
American Radio Relay League. The station is marking the anniversary of
the dedication of the brick building in Newington, Connecticut, that
became its shack on September 2nd, 1938. The league's official station
has the callsign of its founding president, Hiram Percy Maxim, who
became a Silent Key in 1936. Following his death, the league applied to
replace its callsign of W1MK with Maxim's. The busy station is known
around the world for the welcome it gives to guest operators as well as
for its bulletin transmissions and on-air practice sessions of
MorseCode.

(ARRL)

**
YOUTH PLAQUES ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION IN OCEANIA DX CONTEST

PAUL/ANCHOR: There's extra excitement for younger amateurs in this
year's Oceania DX contest. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us why.

GRAHAM: Two new, youth-related, plaques have been added to the phone
section of this year's Oceania DX contest on October 1st from 0600 UTC, sponsored by Oscar Reyes, VK3TX, a noted DXer and an IARU Region 3
director.

The two new plaques are intended to engage younger hams. The "World
Youth Phone plaque" will recognise the highest-scoring amateur of 25
years or younger from outside of Oceania. The "Australia Youth Phone
plaque" will recognise the highest-scoring amateur 25 years of age or
younger from within Australia.

This is the 77th running of the contest whose aim is to get non-Oceania stations to contact those around the Pacific region and the bands
promise to be busy with VK and ZL operators calling CQ Oceania DX
contest.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(OCEANIA DX CONTEST, WIA)

**
OBSERVATORY EDUCATOR HONORED FOR WORK IN ASTRONOMY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Hard work in the field of astronomy education paid off
recently for one longtime educator who's been honored for her years of
advocacy at facilities around the United States. We hear more from Sel
Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: The assistant director for education and public outreach at the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory has been honored for her work by
the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Suzanne Gurton is being
recognized with the Klumpke (Klumm-Key) Roberts Award for nearly four
decades of her effort helping educators develop and present astronomy
programs to further the public's understanding. Before joining the
Observatory in 2016, Suzanne Gurton worked at a number of planetariums
around the United States and also served as an astronomy lecturer at
the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. She is a former writer and
producer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Previous recipients of this award have included Isaac Asimov, Carl
Sagan, Timothy Ferris and Walter Sullivan.

The observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation.

I'm Sel Embee KB3TZD.

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, George K5KG, Steve K4EU and Tom K4NMR are active
from Iceland, EU-021, until September 20th. They will be using the TF/
prefix with their home calls. Listen for them in various contests. QSL
via the home calls or LoTW.

Be listening for Steve, WB4GHY, active from Diego Garcia Island, IOTA
AF-006, between the 16th of September and the 16th of November. He will
be using the callsign VQ9SC. Be listening on 160 - 10m, where Steve
will be using SSB and FT8. Send QSLs via WB2REM.

Michal, OK1WMR (OK1M), is active as FR/OK1M from Reunion Island, IOTA
number AF-016, until the 12th of September. Listen for him on 20, 15
and 10 meters using SSB, RTTY and possibly FT8. QSL via OK1M.

Be listening for Mike, VE6TC, active as ZL4/VE6TC from Oban, Stewart
Island (IOTA OC-203). He will be on the air until early October. QSL
via the Bureau, direct to his home call, eQSL or LoTW.


(DXNEWS.COM, OHIO PENN DX)

**
KICKER: THEY GOT ON THE AIR TO SAY FAREWELL AND THANKS

PAUL/ANCHOR: We end this week with a story of grief among friends in a close-knit California radio group. They celebrated her life recently by
doing just what she wanted them to do, as we hear from Ralph Squillace
KK6ITB.

RALPH: Getting on the air became a way of life after retirement when
Kathi Mixon, KD6CAF, joined with her husband Ken KC6WOK, and some
amateur radio friends to create the GOTA Hams, a group that celebrated friendship and family. The couple's RV soon became the club's mobile
shack, gaining the callsign WG6OTA.

Kathi, who lived in Covina, California, became a Silent Key on the 10th
of August. The last few years of her life were filled with club
activities: radio in the park, drilling EmComm skills and social
gatherings inside the GOTA Home RV at San Dimas Canyon Park. Shortly
after her death, the GOTAHams website devoted a section of its home
page as a memorial to the woman they affectionately called the Mother
of GOTAHams.

According to a notice in the YLBeam newsletter, Kathy had a congenital
liver disease known as primary biliary cirrhosis and after a difficult
final year, she died in hospice care this summer. Ten days after her
death, the club held a celebration of Kathi's life in a local park.
Everyone was asked to bring some food and memories to share. Organizers
also made one more request: Bring your radios too and get on the air.
That surely would have pleased the woman known as the Mother of
GOTAHams.

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.


(YLBEAM, GOTAHAMS.COM)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to AMSAT-EA, the ARRL; CQ Magazine; David
Behar K7DB; DXNews; GOTA Hams; the Indian Academy of Communication and
Disaster Management; OceaniaDX contest; Ohio Penn DX; QRZ.com;
Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; Space.com; Wireless
Institute of Australia; the YLBeam; and you our listeners, that's all
from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur
Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs
expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please
visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you
all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please
leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For now, with
Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana saying 73. As
always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is
Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

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