Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Mar 18 2022 10:57:14 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2316 for Friday, March 18th, 2022 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2316, with a release date of Friday, March 18th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A push for shortwave broadcasts to a war zone. COVID cancels a youth ham camp in Germany -- and Hamvention announces its award-winners. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2316 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART HERE ** GRASSROOTS PUSH TO BEAM SHORTWAVE TO RUSSIA, UKRAINE SKEETER/ANCHOR: Our top story this week focuses on the war between Russia and Ukraine and a grassroots push in the United States to keep the people of both countries informed via shortwave radio. Dave Parks, WB8ODF, has that report. DAVE: Voice of America news programming may soon be beaming from the United States to overseas listeners via shortwave - most particularly Russia and Ukraine - through a citizen-based effort known as Shortwaves for Freedom. The US Agency for Global Media, the umbrella under which VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty operate, is not involved in any of these planned transmissions. Instead, Shortwaves for Freedom is making use of the fact that VOA programming is public domain and easily downloadable from the VOA website for transmission over the air. According to a report on Washington, DC-based political news website, The Hill, Miami Radio International in Florida has already agreed to transmit the broadcasts. The Hill's story said that Shortwaves for Freedom is receiving technical assistance from Gerhard Straub, who retired as director of broadcast technologies at the VOA's parent agency. The general manager of Miami Radio International told The Hill that his radio station is already transmitting the VOA program "Flashpoint Ukraine," which is in English. The same news report said there are plans to add programming in Ukrainian and expand the broadcasts. Voice of America was originally part of the United States State Department. In 1947, VOA commenced shortwave transmissions of Russian- language programming into what was then the Soviet Union. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Dave Parks, WB8ODF. (THE HILL, POLITICO) ** NASA: US ASTRONAUT, RUSSIANS TO RETURN TO EARTH TOGETHER SKEETER/ANCHOR: High above the Earth, a US astronaut who's been active in numerous amateur radio contacts, will share the return trip to Earth with two Russian cosmonauts. We hear more from Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. KENT: Despite terrestrial tensions dividing the nations, US astronaut Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, is preparing to return to Earth from the International Space Station this month with two cosmonauts on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The scheduled landing in Kazakhstan on March 30th is being planned in cooperation with the Russian space agency Rocosmos. According to several news reports, the three crew members' return comes amid fiercely growing tensions between the two countries - tensions that have reportedly spilled over into the space program, particularly with the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitri Rogozin, being a longtime supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. However, despite the fact that SpaceX vehicles are now being used for travel to and from the ISS, NASA confirmed on Monday, March 14th that plans continue to go forward for the three men to return to the Earth together. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. (CNN, ABC NEWS) ** COVID PRECAUTIONS CANCEL FRIEDRICHSHAFEN HAM CAMP SKEETER/ANCHOR: Citing caution over the continued pandemic, organizers have cancelled the annual ham camp that was scheduled to be held in Germany for young amateurs this summer. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, has that story. ED: The young amateurs who had hoped to attend "Ham Camp" during Ham Radio Friedrichshafen this coming June will have to wait another year. Although Ham Radio Friedrichshafen, Europe's largest ham radio event, is still taking place on June 24th through the 26th, organizers have said the logistics of housing more than 100 youngsters and supervisors in close quarters during the same weekend would prove risky under COVID-19 conditions. The IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group wrote on the IARU website that the organizers said their decision was not taken lightly and is based on the need to protect participants of minor age and under supervision. The camp is expected to be held in 2023. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (IARU REGION 1) --- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .