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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2394 for Friday September 15th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2394 with a release date of Friday September 15th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in Belgium gain new 8-metre access.
Wideband communications gets tested above 100 GHZ -- and there's a new challenge facing the recovery of the wireless from the Titanic's
wreckage. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2394 comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**
HAM DEPLOYMENT UNCLEAR IN MOROCCAN, LIBYAN CRISES

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with two developing stories: the
aftermath of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Morocco on September 8th and
deadly massive flooding in northeast Libya. According to reports from
Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union, there was no
apparent organized amateur radio deployment in Morocco where the quake
death toll was reported to be in the thousands. The IARU continues to
monitor the situation. Meanwhile, ham deployments were considered less
likely in Libya, where floods from a storm left more than 5,200 dead.
According to the IARU website, Libya does not have an active member
amateur society. Newsline will update these stories as circumstances
warrant.

(IARU REGION 1)

**
US MILITARY EXPLORES WIDEBAND ABOVE 100 GHZ

JIM/ANCHOR: Despite their potential for use in communications, radio frequencies in the terahertz and sub-terahertz ranges - that is, those
above 100 GHz - are considered underutilized. The United States Air
Force is about to share its plans for a radio they are hoping could
change all that. Kent Peterson KC0DGY tells us about it.

KENT: A project in the works in the US Air Force Research Laboratory is exploring the potential that radio frequencies above 100 GHZ have for
secure wideband communications. The military is looking to develop an ultra-broadband radio that can adjust output power, data rate and even
carrier frequency and are hoping to find defense contractors in the
industry who can assist with the project.

Although frequencies in those ranges, which can be used for 6G
communications, have a high level of atmospheric absorption that can
restrict how far the transmissions travel, the military is hoping to
capitalize on the frequencies' ability to accommodate secure channels.
The Air Force is hosting an informational day for the industry next
month and will be looking for defense contractors who are US citizens
to get on board the project.

Early experiments have already proven successful, according to a report
on the Inside Towers website. Last December, communication was achieved
at frequencies higher than 300 GHZ during flight experiments by the Air
Force, which has been exploring these options for almost a decade.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(INSIDE TOWERS, MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS)

**
US GOVERNMENT BLOCKS SALVAGE OF TITANIC'S WIRELESS

JIM/ANCHOR: In the latest chapter surrounding controversial salvage
operations at the wreckage of the Titanic, the US government is
challenging a company's plans to recover the doomed ocean liner's
wireless telegraph.

JACK: The planned recovery of the Marconi wireless telegraph from the
wreckage of the doomed luxury liner Titanic is being blocked by the
United States government, citing federal law and an agreement with
Great Britain that the ship should be treated as a gravesite.

The salvage company RMS Titanic Inc., based in Georgia, had announced
its plan to visit the wreck site next May to recover items - including
the radio and telegraph used to send the distress call in 1912.

Attorneys for the U.S. government claim the expedition would violate a
pact with Great Britain that classifies the wreckage as a memorial. The government also maintains that the salvage trip would violate
protections that the US Congress granted the TItanic site. The RMS
TItanic company has particular interest in the Marconi room, where
messages in Morse Code were transmitted, signaling that the ship was
damaged after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic while enroute
to New York from Southampton, England.

RMST, which had been granted salvage rights earlier by the court, told
the Associated Press recently [quote] "The company will continue its
work, respectfully preserving the memory and legacy of Titanic, her
passengers and crew for the future generations." [endquote] The company
plans to put the radio in an exhibit that tells the story of the lost
liner. In May 2020, the court gave RMST permission to recover the radio
because of its historical significance but the US government challenged
the plans for the expedition that year. The expedition was called off.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

**

HAMS IN BELGIUM HAVE NEW 8M ACCESS

JIM/ANCHOR: There's new access on the 8M band for amateurs in Belgium.
Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us more.

JEREMY: Hams in Belgium have been given privileges on the 40 MHz band,
joining radio operators in South Africa, Slovenia and Ireland with
8-metre access. The Belgian regulator informed the UBA, the Royal
Belgian Amateur Radio Union, that hams with a Class A operating
certificate, the HAREC licence, are granted the use of frequencies
between 40.660 and 40.690 on a secondary basis. Operators' power is
limited to 5 watts ERP and operating bandwidth cannot exceed 3 kHz.
Hams will also be required to keep a log of all transmissions and must
submit it to the regulator at year's end. The UBA had petitioned the
BIPT some time ago to grant this limited portion of the band for
amateurs' use and, following a period of consultation, anticipated that
the regulator would favour it.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(UBA WEBSITE, WIA)

**

EXPERIMENTAL LOW-PASS FILTER MAKES DEBUT IN LONDON

JIM/ANCHOR: A different kind of RF filter has just been introduced by a
defense company in Sweden to assist in military communications. Again,
here's Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: It is being called the Ultra-Lightweight Camouflage
Screen-Frequency Selected Surface, and it introduces a new capability
for soldiers' communications in the field. It is a filter that permits
certain radio frequencies to pass through the mesh of a camouflage net protecting military vehicles. The surface, which is not yet in service,
was introduced by the Swedish defense company Saab earlier this month.

Saab says that until now, camouflage nets' ability to reduce enemy
sensors' detection of equipment has also prevented GPS signals and
other communications passing through, jeopardizing soldiers who then
must move out of camouflage cover to perform certain tasks. At times
that has even meant sticking antennas through the mesh in order to
transmit or receive signals.

Johan Jersblad, a Saab senior development engineer, told reporters that
the surface functions as a low-pass filter, which allows transmitted or received signals to penetrate the camouflage screen but retains the
screen's ability to be undetected by higher-frequency radar.

The surface was on display for visitors at the DSEI Defence Exhibition
held in London from the 12th to the 15th of September.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(DEFENSE NEWS)

**
SPECIAL EVENT CELEBRATES HISTORIC TOWN'S 275TH BIRTHDAY

JIM/ANCHOR: So what do three sons of William Penn - founder of the
state of Pennsylvania in the United States - have to do with a special
event station being activated in the town of Reading [pronounced
REDDING]? Mark Abramowicz NT3V has the story.

MARK: While history records William Penn as the man who established the American colony first known as Penn's Woods and later Pennsylvania, it
was his sons - Thomas, Richard and John - who laid out the first
streets of the town of Reading, just north and west of Philadelphia.

The city is celebrating its 275th birthday this year thanks to the work
of the Penn brothers.

On Saturday, Sept. 23rd, members of the Reading Radio Club will mark
the occasion by activating the club's call sign - W3BN - as a special
event station.

Club members will put three HF stations on the air from the Reading
area for a 12-hour-period to commemorate the town's historic milestone.

Reading's storied past includes the Reading Railroad, breweries, pretzel-making, and the first factory outlets.

It is also recognized as home to one of the nation's most successful
minor league baseball teams long associated with the Philadelphia
Phillies.

But Reading is best known for its Pagoda, an actual reproduction of a
Japanese structure, which was built atop Mount Penn overlooking Reading
in the early 1900s.

The popular tourist attraction became a historic landmark and a symbol
for the town.

There's more about the Reading Radio Club's special event station and
how you can get in on the fun at QRZ.com. Search for W3BN.

And check out the colorful certificate that will look great on the wall
of your shack.

In Reading, Pennsylvania, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
the K2ADA repeater in Ocala Florida on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m.

**
BUYERS REPORTEDLY INTERESTED IN HAMTESTONLINE

JIM/ANCHOR: The popular online instruction program HamTestOnline may
not be going out of business after all. The creator and owner of the
company, John W1AI (W-ONE-AY-EYE) announced earlier this year that he
was planning to retire and would be shutting the website unless a
purchaser came forward to continue the license-exam coursework that
John had begun. John announced in his most recent newsletter that
several organizations have since expressed an interest and that he
would be negotiating with one of them soon. He said it was his hope
that HamTestOnline would be able to ultimately continue without
interruption.

(HAMTESTONLINE)


**
SILENT KEY: ARRL FORMER DIVISION DIRECTOR DAVID COONS, WT8W

JIM/ANCHOR: A former director of the ARRL's Great Lakes Division has
become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Stephen Kinford N8WB.

STEPHEN: A radio amateur with a long history as an ARRL, club and
Hamvention volunteer has become a Silent Key. Dave Coons, WT8W, died on
the 2nd of September.

Throughout his long association with the ARRL he had served as vice
director and director of the Great Lakes Division and was a Volunteer
Examiner through the ARRL's VEC. Locally, Dave was a leader in the Ohio
amateur radio community, serving as president, vice president and
secretary of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association through the years. At
Dayton Hamvention he was chairman of the Flea Market Committee and was
on the Communications Committee. His volunteer spirit won him the Frank
J. Kirkpatrick Memorial Award in 1993 from the Clark County Amateur
Radio Association, where he was also a member.

Dave was a veteran of the Korean War and served in the United States
Navy. He was a retired postmaster of the Miamisburg, Ohio post office.

Dave Coons was 92.

This is Stephen Kinford, N8WB.

(ARRL, DAYTON DAILY NEWS)

**
HAMS REUNITE WOMAN WITH PARENTS AFTER 16-YEAR ABSENCE

JIM/ANCHOR: In India, amateur radio operators have helped a young
mother locate her parents, ending 16 years of searching for one
another. Jason Daniels VK2LAW brings us those details.

JASON: A 27-year-old woman in India who had been taken by a relative
from her parents' home in West Bengal 16 years ago has ended her long
search for her family with the help of local radio amateurs.

The West Bengal Radio Club was contacted by authorities and was able to
make the reunion happen. The woman had been living in Rajasthan with
her husband and three children.

According to a report by the Indo-Asian News Service, the husband told
police he first encountered the woman as an 11-year-old girl alone and
weeping at a railway station, asking where her parents had gone. A
close relative had reportedly taken her from the home in the hopes of
having her find a better life.

The husband told police recently that he took the young girl to his own
home, where he was living with his mother at the time, and tried
without luck to trace her family. He told police that the girl remained
in the home but that she did not become his wife until much later - and
that it was the wish of his dying mother that he marry her.

The news report said that the woman confirmed the man's story to the
police, saying that her husband has treated her well.

The West Bengal Radio Club was able to make the necessary connections
back in West Bengal after the authorities contacted them, providing
photos and copies of an official government identity card. Ambarish Nag
Biswas, VU2JFA, the club's secretary, told Newsline in a text message
that after the hams located her family, mother and daughter were
reunited on September 7th in a video call. He said that, upon seeing
one another, both began crying.

This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(DAIJIWORLD.COM, IANS, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)

**
GERMAN RADIO CHANNEL TO DEBUT FULLTIME AI PROGRAMMING

JIM/ANCHOR: Earlier this year, Newsline told listeners about a US radio
station on the West Coast that had begun using AI to replicate the
voice of a popular DJ by using something called RadioGPT. A channel in
Germany has just taken that technology a few steps further. Here's Andy Morrison K9AWM with the details.

ANDY: Artificial intelligence is now responsible for fulltime
programming on Antenne Deutschland, which calls the format Absolut
Radio AI. The DAB+ multiplex channel in north-central Germany is using Radio.Cloud, which the broadcaster has already been using in its online streaming version. The AI is capable of providing the on-air voice as
well as scheduling the necessary breaks and other elements. The
broadcaster's managing director told the RadioWorld.com website that
they are hoping to eventually find a nationwide market for the
programming.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(RADIOWORLD.COM)

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Sajid, VA3QY, is on the air as A22EW from Botswana
from the 16th of September to the 8th of October. He will be on 20
through 10 metres and possibly 6m. QSL via eQSL.

Be listening for special callsigns during the 2023 Rugby World Cup
hosted by France. The games will continue through to the 28th of
October. The callsigns are TM23RBY, TM23RUGB and TM63RWC. See the
QRZ.com pages for the individual calls for QSL details.

Don, M0CVZ is active holiday style as 6Y5DH from Jamaica, IOTA number
NA-097, through to the 30th of September. He is using SSB on 40, 20,
17, 12 and 10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: A GRAND IDEA FOR A NET

JIM/ANCHOR: Our last story for this week is about family and the future
of radio. For some amateurs who are old enough to know the joy of being grandparents, showing the grandkids another big joy - radio - makes for
a natural combination, as we hear from Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

JIM: On Sunday, the 1st of October, the magic hour will be 3 p.m. local
time in New Zealand. The magic frequency will be 146.625 MHz -- and the
magic combination for Peter Henderson, ZL1PX, will be the company of
his grandsons, Alex and Dan, sitting with him in his radio shack.
October 1st is Grandparents Day in New Zealand - so earlier this year,
Peter, who is vice president of the Franklin Amateur Radio Club,
thought that hams in ZL might make good use of that special occasion to
pass on the joys of amateur radio to the very youngest generation.
Amateurs throughout New Zealand will be getting on their local 2m
repeaters to kick off the first Grandparents/Grandkids Net in each
region. Peter will be using the callsign ZL1SA on his local repeater in
the Auckland region. After everyone has checked in, the young and the young-at-heart will take turns sharing their best grandparent joke,
best grandchild joke, stories about their grandmum or granddad - and
soon.

Peter suggests starting the day by inviting the grandkids over for
Sunday dinner first. Once the meal is done, it will be time for the
net. Ah, but what if you don't have a grandchild? No problem: Peter
suggests that you borrow one!

This is a chance to create a memory and - as Peter says, who knows?
Maybe even create the next generation of amateurs who, one day, will be grandparents sharing amateur radio with grandkids of their own.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(PETER HENDERSON, ZL1PX, WIA, NZART)

**
DO YOU HAVE NEWS?

If you have a piece of Amateur Radio News that you think Newsline would
be interested in, send it on! We are not talking about advertising your
club's upcoming hamfest or field day participation, but something that
is out of the ordinary. If so, send us a brief overview via the contact
page at arnewsline.org. If it's newsworthy and we would like to cover
it, we'll get back to you for more details. Meanwhile, visit our
website to learn more about the Amateur Radio Newsline haiku challenge.
Use the entry form on our website and please follow the rules for
writing your three-line haiku.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily; Ambarish Nag
Biswas, VU2JFA; ARRL; the BBC; CQ Magazine; Dayton Daily News; David
Behar K7DB; 425DXNews; HamTestOnline; Indo-Asian News Service; New
Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters; Peter Henderson, ZL1PX; Radio
World; Royal Belgian Amateur Radio Union; shortwaveradio.de; Wireless
Institute of Australia; 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 Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston West Virginia saying 73.
As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is
Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.

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