Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Mar 03 2023 02:25:26 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2366 for Friday March 3rd, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366, with a release date of Friday, March 3rd, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Caribbean island communities strengthen their emergency networks. Hams are asked to join a solar-eclipse study -- and Hamvention organizers announce this year's award winners. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2366, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** ISLANDS RECEIVE RADIO DONATION FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE NEIL/ANCHOR: An Australian company's donation of HF radios and antennas is moving amateurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines closer to the development of improved islandwide HF emergency response -- an important element in an area often battered by hurricanes. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, brings us that report. GRAHAM: When emergency radio equipment from Barrett Communications arrived from Australia on the 14th of February, the director of the Rainbow Radio League/Youlou (YOO LOO) Radio Movement noted that the date was Valentine's Day and declared the delivery [quote] "a gift of love." [endquote] Donald DeRiggs, J88CD, said he was grateful for the donation - the third of its kind provided by Barrett for emergency use in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The equipment is not only a useful way to bolster communications during hurricane season but a way to safeguard areas such as those that were left vulnerable during the eruption of the volcano, La Soufriere in 2021. The Australian company has taken an active role in helping the island communities. Previous donations by Barrett were used to assist the island of Dominica in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Donald said that as soon as this new equipment can be programmed and deployed there will be drills in May or early June to prepare for the coming hurricane season. The latest shipment was transported to Kingstown from the air cargo facility by Leslie Edwards J88LE. It included HF radios, portable solar panels, spare microphones, a portable antenna mast and broadband dipoles. This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB. (DONALD DE RIGGS, J88CD) ** SENSORS ON BOARD ISS TO STUDY IONOSPHERE NEIL/ANCHOR: The US military is getting ready to do some intense testing on the ionosphere, via the ISS. We have those details from Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. KENT: Two ionospheric sensors will be tested on board the International Space Station this spring in an experiment designed to ultimately improve HF radio communications for the US Department of Defense. The website, Breaking Defense, reported that the sensors are to be sent to the ISS in March. The US military has been revisiting the importance of HF radio as an alternative to satellites, having realized that US satellites could become compromised or destroyed by enemy attack. HF bands are already being used by the three branches of the US military for some long-range communications. Andrew Nicholas, one of the lead researchers on the sensor project, told the Breaking Defense website that the sensors will be measuring ionospheric particle density and its impact on the radio waves passing through it. He said the data from the tests will help in the development of better ionspheric monitoring models. Eventually the military might even consider creating satellites that would constantly monitor such important ionospheric changes to assist in the performance of HF communication. This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. (BREAKING DEFENSE.COM) ** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HAMSCI STUDY OF SOLAR ECLIPSES NEIL/ANCHOR: As any ham knows, signal reports matter. Well, they're about to matter even more for those radio enthusiasts who are participating in a citizen science project taking place during two solar eclipses, this year and next year. For that story, we turn to our newest correspondent Patrick Clark, K8TAC, who was also Newsline's Young Ham of the Year in 2001. PATRICK: There will be a little bit of competition and a whole lot of research going on later this year for participants in a QSO party organized by Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, or HamSci. Volunteer radio operators and shortwave listeners will join researchers at a number of US universities sending, receiving and recording signals during the October 14th solar eclipse. The data will be collected and used for testing computer models of the ionosphere to assess its variability. This is the first of two eclipses over North America that HamSci will be studying. The second one is on April 8, 2024. Both Solar Eclipse QSO Parties encourage the use of CW, SSB and digital modes on 160-6 meters. At the same time, hams who operate CW and digital beacons, WSPR and FST4W, will be able to take part in the Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge. Registration starts in July. Organizers stress the importance of this opportunity. As they say on the project's website [quote]: "If we miss the chance to collect meaningful data in 2023 and 2024, it will be decades before North American hams and researchers get another opportunity." [endquote] For details, visit hamsci dot org [hamsci.org] This is Patrick Clark, K8TAC. (HAMSCI) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .