Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Apr 01 2021 19:43:12

ALABAMA TORNADOES HIT HOME FOR ONE AMATEUR

NEIL/ANCHOR: In Alabama, where tornadoes raged through part of the 
landscape in late March, one radio amateur made an especially painful 
discovery about the importance of preparedness. Randy Sly, W4XJ, brings us 
that story.

RANDY: James Spann, WO4W, is no stranger to severe weather. As chief 
meteorologist for WBMA in Birmingham Alabama, he is a familiar TV face 
during tornado activations, always reminding viewers that they need a 
severe weather plan. If fact, when he and his wife built a new home a few 
years ago, they included a storm shelter 

Last week, tornadoes and other severe weather pummeled the state, wrecking 
buildings and killing at least five people in one county. During his report 
on a long track of violent storms, he suddenly said, "What I'm doing is 
texting my wife to be sure she's in the shelter.." -- He moved off camera
with a co-worker taking over. 

Rejoining less than 15 minutes later, he shared some bad news with viewers. 
His home was hit by a tornado. 

"The reason I had to step out," he explained, "We had major damage at my 
house. I had to be sure. My wife is okay, but the tornado came right 
through there and it's not good. It's bad. It's bad."

However, their preparedness made the difference. "My wife got the warning,"
he said, "she had a plan, she was in the shelter and she's fine."

Then, Spann was back to work making sure others would be informed and safe 
too.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Randy Sly, W4XJ. 

**

RECORDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM HAMSCI EVENT

NEIL/ANCHOR: If you missed the HamSCI virtual event which was livestreamed 
on March 19th and 20th, you can attend via YouTube where videorecordings of 
the workshops are now available. This is the second year HamSCI went 
virtual in response to the global pandemic. The free program, supported by 
the National Science Foundation and the University of Scranton, featured 
presenters on such topics as personal space weather stations, mid-latitude 
sporadic-E, weak signal VHF propagation and related topics.

A link to the recorded programming for Days 1 and 2 can be found in the 
printed version of this week's newscast script at arnewsline.org

FOR PRINT, DO NOT READ: 

FOR DAY 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfhAxuViTYQ

FOR PRINT, DO NOT READ: 

For DAY 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CrvuS0h9XA

**

WORLDWIDE BALLOON LAUNCHES MARK EQUINOX

NEIL/ANCHOR: Spring in the Northern Hemisphere isn't just about flowers 
waking up and starting to bloom. It's also about..... balloons! Mike 
Askins, KE5CXP, explains.

MIKE: When the medium altitude balloon launched by science teacher Jill 
Gravante took to the sky on March 20th from an upstate New York junior high 
school, the event was part of a wide-ranging celebration dispatching 14 
such balloons, linking students and teachers involved in STEM activities 
worldwide. In what was called the Equinox Balloon Launch, each balloon 
carried a lightweight Skytracker APRS and WSPR payload, all solar-powered. 
They were launched from various spots in the US, Argentina and Australia on 
paths that, one week later, had them sailing over Siberia, China and South 
Africa. After the launch at Winburn Middle School in Kentucky, science 
teacher Jenny McCall, and Ron Malinowski, WX4GPS, later tracked the balloon 
named "Bessie" over southern Siberia, heading into Mongolia. Although it's 
not spring in his part of the world, the launch even attracted involvement 
by Melbourne teacher Greg Hellard.

Bill Brown, WB8ELK, the designer of the Skytracker technology, said the 
launches were coordinated by Washington State high school teacher Trevor 
MacDuff, KS1LAS, with help from Los Angeles science educator Joanne 
Michael, KM6BWB. The enthusiasm, however, needed no coordination at all.
In fact, Joanne posted on Facebook that befitting a project that involved 
students, it was a "textbook launch."

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP.

(BILL BROWN WB8ELK)

**

BREAK HERE: 

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, 
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including WA5AIR, the Texas 
Link System which carries Newsline on seven repeaters on Wednesdays and 
Saturdays at 7 p.m. local time.
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33)

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