Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Jul 14 2022 20:00:57 DIGITAL CONFERENCE PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER JIM/ANCHOR: Yet another amateur radio conference is taking place in person this year following COVID cancellations. Stephen Kinford, N8WB, gives us those details. STEPHEN: Hams interested in any and all forms of digital communication are welcome to attend the 41st ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, from September 16th to the 18th. In the meantime, organizers are looking for technical papers on such topics as digital satellite communications, digital signal processing, HF digital modes. software defined radio, global positioning systems, peer-to-peer wireless networking and the role of homeland defense digital communications in amateur radio. If you have expertise to share on these or other related subjects, you can submit your papers no later than September 1st to ARRL production coordinator Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB. The three-day conference will be held at the Hilton Charlotte Airport Hotel. Maty's address is m a t y at arrl.org (maty@arrl.org) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB. (ARRL) ** PRESENTERS NEEDED FOR QSO TODAY VIRTUAL EXPO JIM/ANCHOR: Preparations are already in the works for the next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, and organizers are putting out a call for presenters. Topics can be most amateur-radio related subjects worth sharing: an insight into technology, a skill, a ham radio project or invention - even a story. The expo is being held on September 17th and 18th. According to an announcement by organizer Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, there will be a particular effort to seek young active amateur radio operators as speakers. For additional details about how to get involved, follow the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org [FOR PRINT ONLY: https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/speakercall.html ] ** DIT DAH CW GANG CARRIES MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP JIM/ANCHOR: There's more to Morse Code than just successfully logging QSOs, and few hams know that better than this next group. Randy Sly, W4XJ, tells us about them. RANDY: One of the things we experience each Field Day is that food, fellowship and QSOs go together well for amateur radio operators. This formula has also been followed for many years by a group in Michigan called the "Dit Dah CW Gang." Established by Ted Rachwal, K8AQM, Jeremy Downard, K8JAD and his father, Greg Downard, KE8CEW, the gang is an informal group of CW operators who come together during the year for various events of the Straight Key Century Club as KS8KCC. Ted told Amateur Radio Newsline that the friendships developed during those weekends and at other times is what draws amateurs from the region to join them. "Our plan," he said, "is to consume more calories than QSOs." But don’t let that fool you. As seasoned operators with a lot of power and great antennas, they are always working pileups while on the air. In fact, when they call CQ they mean business! If you've already been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one of their unique QSL cards, you'll recognize right away that the card's humorous but slightly menacing cartoon characters depicting different members of the "gang" can be quite misleading: This is a decidedly friendly bunch that wants to hear from as many operators as possible. Since receiving their vanity call in 2016, the Dit Dah CW Gang has now been joined by other quasi-official clubs in all US call areas who obtained an SKCC-related call. So get out your straight key, dust off your bug and listen for KS8KCC and its cousins during the next event. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Randy Sly, W4XJ. (DIT DAH CW GANG) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Utah Amateur Radio Club's W7SP repeater on Sundays as part of the club's 9 p.m. net. --- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33) .