Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Jul 10 2020 09:09:13

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2228, for Friday, July 10, 2020

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2228, with a release date of
Friday, July 10, 2020, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Radio assists a dramatic rescue at sea. Swiss
SOTA activators mark 15 years on the air -- and love is in the air
and on a summit. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2228, comes your way right now.

**

BILLBOARD CART

**

SAILOR IN DISTRESS GETS HAM RADIO HELP

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with news of a sailing vessel in distress,
and the hams who stepped in to help. For that story, we turn to Dave Parks,
WB8ODF, who happens to be a proud former net controller for the group
involved, the Maritime Mobile Service Network.

DAVE: In a dramatic rescue, amateur radio operators came to the aid of a
sailing vessel set dangerously adrift in the ocean by engine failure off
the Florida coast. According to an account from the Maritime Mobile
Service Network, Captain Ian Cummings, KB4SG, was piloting the Mystic
Lady, in the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 miles off the Florida coast, when
the vessel's engine died, and a strong current began pulling him back out
to sea. His distance from shore made it impossible for him to reach help
on any of the VHF marine frequencies. On 14.300 MHz, he reached out to the
Maritime Mobile Service Network, advising Net Control Operator Steven
Carpenter, K9UA, that he was in distress. The contact with Steven, and
fellow net control operator Robert Wynoff, K5HUT, came just as the captain
reported he was now being pushed by the wind toward the South Carolina
coast, possibly toward a shallow area known as a Lee shore, where boats
often run aground, and break up. The U.S. Coast Guard kept watch, as hams
with the net kept the captain's family updated via land line. Hours later,
the Mystic Lady was close enough to shore to allow Sea Tow, which provides
boat assistance, to assist with the ride back to port. The vessel's return
was monitored by the Pacific Seafarers Net, which continues operations
from the West Coast on 14.300 MHz after the Maritime Mobile Net is off the
air.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Dave Parks, WB8ODF.

(JEFF SAVASTA KB4JKL) 

**

SWISS SOTA ACTIVATORS MARK 15 YEARS ON AIR

JIM/ANCHOR: How do SOTA activators mark a special occasion? Hint: It often
involves mountains, but it always involves radio. Here's Ed Durrant, DD5LP,
with a report about some special radio events across the world.

ED: Fifteen years ago, a group of amateur radio operators in Switzerland
decided to join the growing world-wide community activating Summits on the
Air, becoming an association.

With 15 years, and countless QSOs behind them, SOTA Group Switzerland is
marking this anniversary year with special event station HB15SOTA, and
will keep this call sign on the air until May 8, 2021.

Awards are available for summit-to-summit contacts, as well as those from
chasers.

Be listening for HB15SOTA, but please be patient for QSL cards, which will
be sent after the special call sign period ends. It won't take another 15
years, of course, but it may take awhile.

Last week, we told you about the planned Austrian SOTA activity day on
September 19th, and how it started to expand into a Europe-wide event.
This week, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, and Croatia, have added their names
to the list from last week, which included Austria, Switzerland, Germany,
Italy and France, let's hope for a lot more European country associations
committing to take part in the next couple of months.

Meantime, over the other side of the pond, not to be outdone, the "SoCal
SOTAfest" is scheduled for August 1st and 2nd. This will be a two-day
summit-to-summit event, with activators from both southern California,
and southern Colorado, taking part from some of the highest summits in
the Rocky mountains. Details at socalsota (dot) com.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(SOTA GROUP SWITZERLAND)
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33)

.