Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (D)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jan 19 2023 20:33:35

TEN METERS PUTS OUT ITS WELCOME MAT

JIM/ANCHOR: A stretch of days with great conditions on 10 meters 
has provided a bonus for a number of events on the band lately. In 
Germany, the DARC held its 10-meter contest on January 8th with 
hams getting on the air using CW and SSB. The Nordic Radio Amateur 
Union's 10m activity contest will be held on February 2nd, with CW 
ops on the air from 1800 to 1900 UTC; SSB users on from 1900 to 
2000 UTC; FM users competing between 2000 UTC to 2100 UTC and 
Digital competitors getting in on the action from 2100 to 2200 
UTC. 

Just two days later, entrants in this year's Ten-Ten International 
Winter QSO Party will hope to make good use of favorable band 
conditions for operators using SSB on February 4th and 5th. The 
nonprofit organization, the Ten-Ten International Net, was created 
in 1962 to encourage activity on the 10m band and promote good 
operating practices.

(TEN-TEN INTERNATIONAL NET, NORDIC RADIO AMATEUR UNION)

**

KICKER: SQUIRRELING AWAY SOME GREAT QSOs

JIM/ANCHOR: We end this week's newscast with the story of a net 
that puts squirrels on the air. Not flying squirrels on the air. 
These are radio squirrels. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, tells us about 
their chatter.

GRAHAM: As anyone who lives in Australia knows, there are no 
native squirrels living here. Or.....are there? If you ask Linda 
G0YLM, a member of the North West Fusion Group in the UK, she 
might insist there are - and for good reason: She has had plenty 
of QSOs with them. Linda and her husband, Ian, G0VGS, participate 
in the group's daily morning Squirrel Net, where Linda is net 
control. The squirrels are all the hams who check in starting at 
0700 UTC from New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, Ireland, 
Sri Lanka, and even the United States.

Ian told Newsline that the net was inspired by early-morning walks 
the couple would take in the local park in the early days of the 
pandemic. Radios in hand, they would chat with friends as they 
strolled. Ian said: [quote] "From time to time we would see a 
squirrel and mention it on the air. This moved to logging the 
first squirrel sighted each morning, and the Squirrel Net was 
born." [endquote]

Conversation topics vary from day to day and the chatter often 
gets as lively as the group's furry little namesakes. Because hams 
are almost always in danger of timing out, the award of the Golden 
Acorn is conferred virtually on any ham who passes the 
conversation along just in time.

You can find the Squirrel Net in WIRES-X room 41755 and on the GB-
NWFG reflector, YSF 26499. As Ian told Newsline, everyone is 
welcome to join the peanut gallery - even those elusive Australian 
squirrels.

This is Graham Kemp, VK4BB.

(NORTH WEST FUSION GROUP)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: 

With thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly; Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA; 
the BBC; CQ magazine; David Behar K7DB; the 425 DX News; The Hindu 
newspaper; Ian Maude, G0VGS; Jim Storms, AB8YK; North West Fusion 
Group; shortwaveradio.de; 3Y0J (THREE WHY ZERO JAY) Website; 
Wireless Institute of Australia; Winter Field Day Association; 
Worldwide Flora and Fauna; and you our listeners, that's all from 
the Amateur Radio Newsline. 

We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-
volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its 
continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our 
website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We 
also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please 
leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. 

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New 
York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW, in 
Charleston, West Virginia, saying 73. As always, we thank you for 
listening. 

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (454:1/33)

.