Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Feb 11 2022 05:30:46 ISS TO BE DISPOSED OF IN WATERS OF 'POINT NEMO' JIM/ANCHOR: The deep waters of the South Pacific have been chosen as the final resting place for the International Space Station in the years ahead, as we hear from Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. JIM: The region is known as Point Nemo, the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area - and it's been selected by NASA as the final resting place of the International Space Station. The United States space agency intends to retire the space laboratory by 2031 by having it crash into this remote section of the ocean. While it is no surprise that plans were in the works for its retirement, NASA had been quiet until recently about its specific plans. The ISS was launched in 2000 and NASA has said, in announcing its plans that it intends to keep the space station operational until the very end. Its experiments and its many contacts through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program, have kept it and its more than 200 astronauts and cosmonauts in the spotlight over the years. NASA plans to yield the space station's position among the stars to commercial ventures. The final destination for the ISS is about 2,000 miles north of Antarctica and 3,000 miles off the eastern coast of New Zealand. Since 1971, it's been a place that has become home to space debris from other nations, including Russia and Japan. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (CNN) ** PROBE CONCLUDES THAT RADIO WAVES SICKENED US DIPLOMATS JIM/ANCHOR: Radio waves have been pinpointed as the source of some health issues suffered by US diplomats overseas. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has that update. KENT: A panel of investigators working for United States intelligence agencies has concluded that highly directional electromagnetic pulses are partly to blame for a baffling set of brain injuries reported by American spies and diplomats working abroad as far back as 2016. The scientists' conclusions affirm one previous theory for what has come to be called "Havana Syndrome." The findings indicate the radio signals were transmitted by an external device, afflicting some Central Intelligence Agency officers and diplomats. The panel's probe did not include attempts to determine who was behind the transmissions of the pulsed electromagnetic energy. The syndrome takes its name from the first group of people who exhibited such symptoms while assigned to the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Officials have said that similar symptoms have since been reported by Americans working for the US government in 70 different countries. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson KC0DGY (NYTIMES, NBC) ** SILENT KEY: PACKET RADIO PIONEER BOB BRUNINGA, WB4APR JIM/ANCHOR: A pioneer in the development of APRS has become a Silent Key. With those details, here's Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. NEIL: The developer of the Automatic Packet Reporting System, or APRS, has become a Silent Key. Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, died on Monday, February 7th, according to a post on AMSAT's Facebook page quoting his daughter, Bethanne. He had been battling cancer for two years and was also diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the post. More than a quarter-century ago, Bob developed the now-widely-used packet radio technology that enables real- time tracking over ham frequencies. Bob, a US Navy veteran, had also been senior research engineer at the US Naval Academy's small satellite lab in Annapolis, Maryland. He, was author of the book "Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur," published by the ARRL. Bob wrote on his QRZ page that his ham radio journey began in 1963 with the Novice callsign WN4APR. He was a life member of AMSAT organization and belonged to the IEEE National Committee on Transportation and Aerospace Policy. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. (AMSAT, IEEE, QRZ, FACEBOOK) ** SPECIAL EVENT MARKS 80 YEARS SINCE VOA'S 1ST BROADCAST JIM/ANCHOR: The original 75Kw transmitter that went on the air for the first Voice of America broadcast 80 years ago this month is the centerpiece of a special event station celebrating that historic anniversary. The transmitter no longer works and is part of an exhibit at the VOA museum in West Chester, Ohio, but there are plenty of working transmitters - and transceivers - to celebrate the day it went live on February 1st, 1942. Hams will be calling QRZ as W3V, W8O and W4A - on February 19th and 20th - from VOA sites in Washington, DC; West Chester, Ohio; and Greenville, North Carolina. Jocelyn Brault, KD8VRX, of the West Chester Amateur Radio Association, WC8VOA, said certificates will be available for anyone who works any or all of the three stations. There will also be digital QSL cards for each individual site as well as paper QSLs. Be listening on CW, SSB and FT8 both days between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time. For details, visit any of the three stations' pages on QRZ.com. (JOCELYN BRAULT, KD8VRX) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .