Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Mar 17 2023 00:42:36 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2368, for Friday, March 17th, 2023 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2368, with a release date of Friday, March 17th, 2023, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Severe weather strikes the US on both coasts. A two-year DXpedition sets sail with two missions -- and when line-of-sight communication can serve as a lifeline. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2368, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** SEVERE WEATHER UNDERSCORES HAMS' OF VITAL ROLES PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story brings us tales of extreme weather on both coasts of the United States. These severe conditions have served as a reminder of hams' vital roles during these challenging times. Randy Sly, W4XJ, brings us up to date. RANDY: With life-threatening floods, heavy rain and snow in California and severe winter storms barreling through the Northeast, amateurs involved in emergency communications in the United States were hard at work recently providing support to emergency management officials and other organizations such as the Red Cross. While offering assistance to served agencies, these hams were also bringing about an additional benefit: increasing confidence in the amateur radio service. For example, in the San Joaquin Valley area of California, the Tuolumne County Amateur Radio Emergency Services was asked to assist in passing traffic via ham radio in the Emergency Operations Center. Daniel Sohn, WL7COO, San Joaquin Valley Section Emergency Coordinator, told AR Newsline that the group was invited to assist as a "work in progress" training exercise to distribute announcements on the air and solicit Situational Awareness as eyes and ears of the EOC. He also reported that Amateur Radio Service volunteers have been alerted for potential deployment by either the Sheriff's Office or County OES Officers in other counties as well. In addition, hams across the Northeast, if not working in SKYWARN nets, were self-activating in order to provide reports of strong winds, snowfall, and damage reports to the National Weather Service. Remembering the health and safety of "Self and Family First," amateurs on both coasts are proving their worth now, and for the future during severe weather events. This is Randy Sly, W4XJ. (DANIEL SOHN, WL7COO, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE) ** 2-YEAR ADVENTURE TESTS OUT 'REMOTE' DXPEDITIONING PAUL/ANCHOR: A two-year journey is well under way for two hams from the US on board a catamaran crossing the South Pacific Ocean. They have two missions to accomplish, and Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, tells us what they are. KEVIN: George Wallner, AA7JV, and Michael Snow, KN4EEI, left Costa Rica in late February, setting sail and getting on the air as KH7Z/MM - the callsign for the Dateline DX Association. They are on board George's yacht, Magnet. Using their personal calls as well as the DX association call, the two are active on HF as well as 6m. They will be on the Marquesas islands through to the end of the month, then head to the Tuamotu Archipelago, IOTA number OC-066, where they hope to be on the air from late March to the 5th of April. This is a two-year journey with two goals: The hams are activating grids on their journey in the Pacific and they are testing out the possibility of remote operations for DXpeditions. Their stops include various rare or semi-rare DXCC entities as the opportunity allows They also have three stations. Two of them are 100-watt remotely operated Radios in a Box, or RIBS, that will be operating FT8. A Radio in a Box contains a transceiver and amplifier, along with cooling and control systems, all inside a waterproof case. Using their third station, the two are operating on HF using CW and SSB. This is the latest remote-operation test undertaken by George and Michael on their travels. George writes on his page on QRZ: [quote] "The goal is to develop the capability for future DXpedtions to have remote operators, working from home or wherever." This is Kevin Trotman, N5PRE. (QRZ.COM) ** MICROWAVE ENTHUSIASTS PREPARE FOR CONFERENCE PAUL/ANCHOR: If you're interested in exploring the microwave part of the spectrum, you're about to get your chance. Jack Parker, W8ISH, tells us about an international conference devoted to just that. JACK: In less than a month, microwave enthusiasts will be getting together in Connecticut to share ideas, equipment design and operating stories at the first Microwave Update Conference to be held since the pandemic was declared in 2020. The international conference at the Hilton Garden Inn at Bradley Airport in Windsor, Connecticut will include the 46th Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference. It will be held on April 14th and 15th and will be hosted by the North East Weak Signal Group, a regional group in Massachusetts devoted to operations on 50 MHz and above. Although speakers and activities will focus on operations on the microwave bands, discussions are not limited to that part of the radio spectrum. Talks will center on circuit design, the latest microwave devices, software-defined radios, small-dish EME and microwave propagation, among other topics. At the Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference, speakers will discuss antennas, propagation, roving, SDRs, digital modes and activity nights. Additional activities are planned for this conference on April 13th and 16th. For details, visit the website microwaveupdate - that's one word - dot org. (microwaveupdate.org) This is Jack Parker, W8ISH. (MICROWAVEUPDATE.ORG) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .