Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Sep 17 2021 03:56:44 REPLICA TRANSMITTER BEING PREPPED FOR DECEMBER EVENT NEIL/ANCHOR: Big plans are being made to mark the day radio amateurs proved they could send signals across the Atlantic. Jack Parker, W8ISH, tells us what's happening. JACK: December 11th, 1921 was a significant day for amateur radio: It was the day of the Transatlantic Test Project, when hams' shortwave frequencies showed themselves to be capable of transatlantic radio communications, even at 200 meters or less. The experimental transmission of station 1BCG, using a tube-based transmitter, was conducted by the Radio Club of America on 1.3 MHz and resulted in successful reception in Scotland. One hundred years later, December 11th, 2021 will be an equally significant day. A replica of that transmitter will be used to re-enact that CW transmission on 160 meters not far from the spot in Connecticut from which the original CW transmission was sent. Longtime Antique Wireless Association member Bob Raide, W2ZM, now a Silent Key, (SK) built the replica for a special event 25 years ago. AWA volunteers have spent lots of time lately refurbishing it, wiring a plate supply, building a filament power supply and sorting out usable tubes. For a day that comes along once every hundred years, radio operators -- and the transmitter -- need to be ready. AWA trustee, Joe Stoltz, K2AEI, told Newsline: [quote] "We have had the transmitter powered up and are able to get 350 watts RF on 160 meters with one amplifier tube. The next step is to construct a 160 meter antenna so we can do some actual on-air testing before December." [endquote] Then be listening for the contact of the century. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH. (ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION, JOE STOLTZ K2AEI) ** US, UK STATIONS ALSO MARK TRANSATLANTIC ANNIVERSARY NEIL/ANCHOR: Some equally important modern-day contacts are being planned for the big anniversary and they involve radio societies in the US and the UK. Here's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, with those details. JEREMY: The Radio Society of Great Britain also has big plans for the centenary of the first transatlantic personal message between radio amateurs. Nick Totterdell, G4FAL, the society's HF contest committee chairman, told Newsline that the ARRL and RSGB members are organising a number of activities surrounding the anniversary. There will also be a Transatlantic QSO Party to be held on the 13th and 14th of November, being sponsored by the Radio Club of America. Nick said other activities will be disclosed soon on the society's website and will appear in the society's RadCom magazine. The society is hoping to maximise participation in the US and the UK and increase worldwide awareness of this achievement 100 years ago. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. ** POTA ADDS MORE THAN 1,000 PARKS TO ITS SYSTEM NEIL/ANCHOR: If you activate or even chase Parks on the Air, you'll want to hear the first of this new monthly POTA report from Vance Martin, N3VEM. VANCE: This month in Parks on the Air news, we have two exciting updates to share with everybody. Our first: We are excited to announce that we have recently added over 1,000 parks to the Parks on the Air System. For the last several months we've had a small contingent of volunteers combing through user requests to add additional parks, validating that those requested parks meet the criteria for inclusion in POTA and formatting the list so they can be added to the system. After hundreds of volunteer hours the lists are now in the system and ready for you to go activate. Check out the maps and search pages at the POTA.APP website to see if any of these new units are in your area. Also in POTA news, we are excited to share that we are formalizing a Parks on the Air support desk. You can always continue to get community support via the Facebook group or via the POTA Help Channel in the POTA Slack Group. But we have a small group of volunteers who have agreed to be on a rotating schedule to help you with your official technical support questions. To reach the official POTA support desk, all you need to do is send an email to help@parksontheair.com We have coverage for most days of the week so you will usually get a response within 24 hours but no worse than 48 hours based on our volunteers' schedules. We won't solve every problem that fast but you'll know that we're on it. Issues requiring Level 2 support are generally resolved within the week. This is N3VEM. Be sure to visit Parks On the Air dot com for more info about the program and POTA.APP for spotting, park information, leaderboards and more. (VANCE MARTIN, N3VEM, POTA) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (454:1/33) .