Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (D)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Apr 15 2021 22:39:43

MEMBERSHIP REBOUNDS IN JAPAN'S RADIO LEAGUE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In Japan, even as the ranks of licensed amateur 
radio operators has declined, the Japan Amateur Radio League reports 
a remarkable—and welcome—turnaround in membership. Jim Meachen, 
ZL2BHF, has that report.

JIM: Struggling against steadily declining membership for nearly 
three decades and a drop in licensed amateurs in that nation, the 
Japan Amateur Radio League has posted some encouraging news about 
its growing ranks. By the end of the previous fiscal year, ending 
March 7th, the league gained 574 members, compared to the same 
period of the previous year. The JARL declared this was the first 
steady year-on-year increase since 1994. 

It is a particular source of pride to the league since the growth 
comes against the backdrop of a global pandemic that has all but 
shut down most in-person activities supporting amateur radio. During 
this time, JARL leadership has fortified its membership campaigns 
and engaged in more robust public relations on its own behalf. The 
league said that with ham radio licenses declining throughout the 
nation it will now commit its efforts to promoting amateur radio 
overall, hoping to boost the overall numbers of licensees.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm  Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.

(JARL, SOUTHGATE)

**

KICKER: THE QSL CARD OF A LIFETIME

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: When you're expecting a QSL card you really want, 
the wait can seem forever. But what is it like when you receive the 
QSL card of a lifetime–or in this case, TWO lifetimes? Find out in 
this story from Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB.

RALPH: The father and son not only shared a name – Byron Sell - but 
a lifelong hobby: amateur radio. They saw the world together by 
communicating to that world together from inside the home shack. 
Byron Sell, KB3CQX, lost his father and radio buddy, when the elder 
Byron, W8VPF, became a Silent Key in 2012. This month, the 
Pennsylvania amateur was given something else that belonged to his 
father, a piece of his dad's own personal amateur radio history: It 
was a QSL card marking the elder Sell's first amateur radio contact 
80 years ago, as a youngster. The Horseshoe Amateur Radio Club had 
received it as a donation from a card collector in Michigan, and 
presented it earlier this month to a very grateful Byron Sell, a 
longtime club member.

The card confirms the contact with a Michigan amateur at 8:07 p.m. 
local time on April 8th, 1941. The young amateur added this message: 
[quote] "You are my first contact." [endquote]

In an interview with the Altoona Mirror newspaper, Byron recalled 
his father and their radio days together, saying "we've made a lot 
of memories along the way." [endquote] Now he doesn't just have the 
memories; he has a keepsake too.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB.

(ALTOONA MIRROR)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: 

With thanks to the Airline Ratings website; Altoona Mirror; Amateur 
News Weekly; AMSAT; the ARRL; Carlos Alberto Santamaria, CO2JC; CQ 
Magazine; Cornish Amateur Radio Club; the Daily Dx; DARC; David 
Behar, K7DB; the Japan Amateur Radio League; Kevin Duplantis,
W4KEV; Ohio Penn DX newsletter; QRZed.com; Rohde & Schwartz; 
Southgate Amateur Radio News; shortwaveradio.de; Sputnik News; Ted 
Randall's QSO Radio Show; Tim Helming, WT1IM; Walt Grosser, W2TE; 
WRTC; WTWW Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the
Amateur Radio Newsline.

Please send emails to our address at newsline@arnewsline.org. More 
information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official 
website at arnewsline.org.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New 
York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB, in 
Wadsworth, Ohio, saying 73. As always, we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.
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