Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jun 07 2019 10:32:10 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2171, for Friday, June 7, 2019 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2171, with a release date of Friday, June 7, 2019, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hams get the message out during Mexico's wildfires. A club in India creates a missing persons safety net - and get ready, Field Day is coming. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Number 2171, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** HAMS GET THE MESSAGE OUT DURING MEXICAN WILDFIRES PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week finds us in Mexico, where amateur radio support on HF and VHF, and across the border became part of the massive support network, as firefighters and others fought to contain wildfires. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, picks up this story. KENT: Mexico has suffered a brutal fire season as hot, dry weather led to more than 100 wildfires in 17 states by the middle of last month. In one hard-hit region of Mexico, cooperation among hams on both sides of the U.S. border provided vital communication support in a remote area south of Monterrey, Mexico. By May 20, a small team of Mexican radio operators was being delivered by helicopter into the fire zone daily until storms rolled in. The volunteers included Alfonso Tamez, XE2O (X-E-Two-Oh), president of the FMRE, the IARU-member society in Mexico. He wrote on the WinLink for EmComm Google Group that the use of WinLink was particularly valuable, because emails could be sent and received directly at the fire scene. Communication tools also included high-speed capable VARA HF, a weak-signal software. Team member Mike Burton, XE2/N6KZB, noted that Tom Whiteside, N5TW, just across the border in Texas, provided [quote] "an instrumental link for the mission" [endquote] by turning his 40 metre and 20 metre antenna arrays in the direction of the operators for their use. The hams' involvement ended on May 31st. Alfonso noted in a meeting afterward that WinLink training will continue, and there is a renewed commitment to increase the number of portable stations for deployment in future emergencies. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. ** CZECH AMATEURS' EXERCISE COULD SHAPE FUTURE OF 6 METRES PAUL/ANCHOR: What are you doing on June 13th? Hams in the Czech Republic could use a helpful QSO with you that day, as we hear from Ed Durrant, DD5LP. ED: The Czech national radio society, and the nation's regulator will be running an exercise on 50 MHz, that is described as part-activity, part-contest. On June 13th, hams in the Czech Republic are being asked to be as active, as they can on 6 metres between 07:30 and 09:00 UTC, and again from 11:00 to 12:30 UTC. Stations are advised to adhere to the 25 watt ERP power limit for Czech hams. The exercise is being held to take advantage of the Sporadic E season, when propagation may be greatly enhanced, and even worldwide contacts can be possible. An earlier test was held in February, when propagation conditions were flat. One of the items on the ITU World Radio Communication Conference agenda in October, is the consolidation and extension of the band in ITU Region 1. Organizers of the Czech event are hoping the increased activity will bolster the proposal. The exercise is designed to show that hams can co-exist, and not interfere with other users of 6 metres, including non-amateur stations, such as those in the military. The IARU would like to see as many logs as possible. Logs should be emailed by June 15, to rtty at crk dot cz (rtty@crk.cz) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP (QRZ.COM, SOUTHGATE) ** INDIAN HAMS CREATE INTERNET SAFETY NET PAUL/ANCHOR: Hams in West Bengal, India, have found their year-old internet portal a successful tool in helping families find missing relatives. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has those details. JEREMY: When a soldier in India went missing from his camp in Nashik, Maharashtra, his family sought help from an amateur radio resource: A one-year-old internet portal operated by the West Bengal Radio Club, in conjunction with a number of public agencies. It has become their source of hope, as it has for nearly 940 families in India looking for help in tracking down relatives who've gone missing. The portal, my ham dot in (myham.in), was launched after members of the West Bengal club were deployed to assist with reuniting people who'd gone missing during last year's Gangasagar Mela festival in West Bengal. Club president Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, told the Times of India, that the festival became the impetus for a more formal network's creation, and that gave rise to the portal. He told the newspaper that 689 people have since been successfully traced by the club's volunteeers. One of the more recent reunions was celebrated, after a forest guard from Tadoba in Maharashtra was returned to his family after a quarter-century. Meanwhile, the search for the missing soldier goes on. According to the newspaper report, he disappeared only three days, before he was to have retired from the military. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (TIMES OF INDIA) --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33) .