Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jul 03 2020 08:43:36 SILENT KEY: FORMER NEWSLINE ANCHOR DON CARLSON KQ6FM STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We here at Newsline were saddened to learn of the passing of one of our former anchors and correspondents. We have more about this Silent Key from Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. DON: Don Carlson, KQ6FM, became a Silent Key on Friday, June 21st, from complications to pancreatic cancer. In addition to his work as a familiar voice in the earlier years of Amateur Radio Newsline, Don had a long professional career as a voice talent and radio broadcaster. As the owner of his own company, The Voice Shop, he produced a variety of commercial spots, as well as those for the ARRL on amateur radio. He was active in the ARRL, serving on its National Public Relations Committee, where he helped with the creation of the public information officers' Swiss Army Knife Guide, and its training program. He was also devoted to ARES and Emergency Service, and had served on the board of directors for the annual convention as well as convention emcee. He held a variety of posts with the ARRL, including Public Information Coordinator. In 2010, he was named Ham of the Year in ARRL's Pacific Division. Newsline is proud to have had him on our team. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. ** MOVING DAY FOR HAM EXHIBIT AT NASA FACILITY STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A ham station that doubled as an educational exhibit at a NASA facility, is looking for a new home. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, tells us more. KEVIN: Amateur Radio Station KE4ZXW is leaving its longtime home at the Virginia Air and Space Center, in Hampton, Virginia. Operated by the VASC Amateur Radio Group, with the support of other area amateur radio clubs, the station served as a real-life educational exhibit, giving school groups, and other visitors demonstrations of VHF, UHF, HF, VHF, and satellite communications, using CW, Voice, and Digital modes. The station was also capable of communications with the International Space Station. That ended on June 30th, the station's last day at the center, which is the official visitor center for the Langley, Virginia facility of NASA. The center's executive director and CEO, Robert Griesmer, said the station would be seeking a new home. It had been off the air since March 13, at the request of the center, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE. (QRZ) ** CHINESE LAUNCH COMPLETES NETWORK OF NAVIGATION SATELLITES STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If your radio activities include making use of global navigation satellites, you might be interested to learn that China has just completed its own network, seen as one more option in a mix that includes Europe's Galileo, Russia's GLONASS, and the United States' GPS. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, has that story. JASON: It's called BeiDou (Bay DOO), and the final satellite to complete this Chinese geolocation system was launched aboard a rocket on Tuesday, June 23, in the southwestern Sichuan province. Observers consider the satellite network's completion a significant step toward elevating that nation's status in the lucrative geolocation services market. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told AFP news service, that he believed China would now achieve independence from the systems in Europe and the U.S. The system's name translates from the Chinese into "plough" or "Big Dipper," as in the constellation. BeiDou has been operational since 2012, but was limited to the Asia-Pacific region. Its services have been in use worldwide for the past two years. The network contains 30 satellites. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW. (YAHOO NEWS) ** ADVOCATE SPEAKS OUT FOR INDIAN SATELLITE USE STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In India, authorities are being asked to widen the permissions for amateur satellite use, as we hear from Jim Meachen, ZED L 2 BHF JIM: Although India has a robust amateur radio satellite programme, with many hams building, launching, and using these noncommercial satellites, not all classes of licence in India can take advantage of this experience. One Indian amateur, Rohit Bokade, VU3OIR, is petitioning to change that, and is asking for Indian authorities to permit satellite use for all grades of licence. Call signs such as his, with a VU3 prefix, are for the Restricted grade of licence, and are denied satellite communications, as well as contact with the International Space Station. The petition, seen on the change dot org (Change.org) website, acknowledges the rapid growth in amateur satellites launched in the last decade, and praises their educational value. The petition states that the change being requested would permit easier satellite access for students, permitting more of them to get involved in space technology, either as communicators or designers. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (AMSAT, CHANGE.ORG) --- * Synchronet * The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1) .