Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Mar 03 2022 21:12:04 BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the N7OEI repeater in Navajo and Apache counties, Arizona, on Thursdays at 7 p.m. local time. ** IN NEW ZEALAND, GOING TO ANY LENGTH FOR A QSO STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Many, many amateurs search for the "Biggest and best antenna." At their recent field day, however, some hams in New Zealand proved they would go to ANY lengths - and we do mean ANY lengths. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, brings us that story. JIM: "That's not an antenna! THIS IS AN ANTENNA!" Chris, ZL4RA, led a group on the South Island of New Zealand, looking to try something "different" in the 2022 Jock White Memorial Field Day on the last weekend in February. Chris had scouted out a ZL3 SOTA Summit. He, Russ, ZL4JW, and Jim, ZL4JI, had a plan: operating portable with a quarter-kilometre long-wire. Yes, portable. The antenna was to cross a gully pointing north-northeast to cover NZ and perhaps into VK as well. That's three wavelengths on 80 metres and six on 40 metres! Or, as Chris describes it, "ridiculously long." It took some effort to install the 20-foot masts in the wind and rain and to run the wire. One back stake support was a problem due to the strain on it from this length of wire, but it survived." The results? Success, even with just 100 watts maximum power. Although the antenna bandwidth was a bit narrow, both transmit and receive signals were strong. Saturday brought some unexpected QRM but by Sunday the antenna was truly "going the distance." And that's the long and short of it! For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (CHRIS RIO ZL4RA) ** REGISTRATION OPENS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE SYMPOSIUM STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If the technical side of amateur radio interests you, this next report from John Williams, VK4JJW, might be of special interest. JOHN: Registration has begun for the South African Radio League's technical symposium, which will explore amateur radio technology. The virtual event is being held on Saturday the 9th of April on the Bluejeans platform. Presenters include Sylvain Azarian, F4GKR, president of IARU Region 1, who will talk about software defined radio and various ham radio applications. Cor Rademeyer, ZS6CR, will discuss ways to analyse GPS position data to detect RF propagation disturbances. Brian Jacobs, ZS6YZ, will update everyone on the league's next-generation beacon project. Other discussions will cover the AMSAT-South Africa AfriCUBE satellites and SARL100 project, which is preparing for the league's centennial celebration. The symposium is free for members of SARL and AMSAT-South Africa. Find the link to register in this week's text version of this Newsline report. [FOR PRINT ONLY, DO NOT READ: https://tinyurl.com/rapc2kdu ] For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. (SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE) ** THOUSANDS MAKE CONTACT DURING PLUTO SPECIAL EVENT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The pileups have quieted down and it's all over, but the counting after the Pluto Anniversary Special event held last month. Randy Sly, W4XJ, has the numbers. RANDY: Over 6,500 hams reached for the stars last month but were happy to reach a dwarf planet instead. From February 14th to the 21st, amateur radio operators celebrated the discovery of Pluto by contacting W7P and W7P/Ø for the Pluto Anniversary Special Event. This annual countdown will last until the centennial of the discovery in 2030. Most of the operation took place from a trailer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona where Clyde Tombaugh changed the understanding of our solar system on February 18th, 1930. Held in conjunction with the "I Heart Pluto Festival" at the observatory, the event is in its second year, organized by the Northern Arizona DX Association, under the coordination of Bob Wertz, NF7E. The final tally may show as many at 7,500 contacts logged by the 18 operators on W7P and the five operators on W7P/0, which was led by Doug Tombaugh, N3PDT, nephew of the famed astronomer. The team was contacted by stations from all 50 US states and 57 countries. For QSL information, look up W7P on QRZ.com. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Randy Sly, W4XJ. ** ACTIVATORS GET TO NAME NEW UNNAMED SUMMITS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you claim it and it has no name, you name it: that's the concept behind a new challenge from managers of the international HEMA summit awards scheme. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, tells us what's going on. ED: The Southern Bavaria Association of HEMA added 101 summits to its list of those that can be activated under the award scheme on February the 26th. HEMA summits have a prominence of between 100 and 150 metres. They all have a code with a latitude and longitude designation but several are lacking a name. The new option allows the first activator of any summit currently described as "No Name" to give that summit a name within the HEMA system. The name cannot be rude, slanderous or contain any words that are trademarked. Otherwise, use your best operating strategy when you're on the summit and then....come back down and use your imagination: Submit your log, along with a proposed name. For details of the scheme, visit HEMA dot ORG dot UK. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (DD5LP ASSOCIATION MANAGER HEMA DL) --- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .