Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Oct 09 2020 08:48:37 BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the K2ADA repeater in Ocala, Florida, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. local time. ** RSGB VIDEOS GO BACK TO BASICS FOR NEWCOMERS JIM/ANCHOR: Newly licensed hams in the UK are finding videos to be an increasingly valuable tool in shack lately. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has more on that story. JEREMY: The Radio Society of Great Britain is taking amateur radio back to basics in the hopes of helping beginners. The society has produced a six- part series of videos for the thousands of new Foundation licence-holders who were successfully tested via remote invigilation but were not required to take practical assessments. That's where the videos come in with their practical advice and a look at how to do things, hands-on. Amateurs such as Rob, M0VFC, Bob, G0FGX, and Dan, M0WUT, take the beginners through the basics of setting up a station, and making that first contact on FM and on SSB. Other videos show how to adjust an antenna's length for the lowest SWR and how to use an antenna matching unit or tuner. Another video introduces the digital modes. For hams who would prefer to view all the basics in one sitting, the society has also produced a full 30-minute video highlighting all six skills. All the videos can be seen at rsgb.org/foundation-practicals. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (HEATHER PARSONS, RSGB) ** HAM'S CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE MARTIAN KIND JIM/ANCHOR: There's something to be said for proximity. The planet Mars is approximately 38.59 million miles from Earth, according to NASA, its closest approach until 2035. That means NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is close by too - relatively speaking. The orbiter, which flies just 274 km, or 170 miles, above the surface of the planet, communicates with Deep Space Network antennas on the earth via radio. Recently, however Scott Tilley, VE7TIL, reported he picked up its signal too, using a 60 cm dish in his backyard in British Columbia. Tilley, who is also a satellite radio enthusiast who hunts lost "zombie" satellites and spy satellites, is calling it a close encounter of the best kind. (SOUTHGATE) ** THAILAND'S KING GETS LICENSE, SHACK AND ON THE AIR JIM/ANCHOR: If you find yourself feeling a bit like royalty when you're in your shack, consider the king of Thailand. He *is* royalty - and now he's feeling like an amateur radio operator - because he is one! Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, has that story. JASON: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, officially known as King Rama X, received his crown in May of 2019. Now he's also got an amateur radio callsign. On the air, His Majesty is known as HS10A. At a ceremony held recently in Bangkok in the Dusit Palace, the king received donations of an ICOM IC-7300 transceiver for HF and an Icom-9700 for VHF/UHF. He also received a variety of antennas and other equipment for the royal shack. The advanced class licence and the callsign became his on Sept. 24 at a ceremony attended by the nation's communications regulator, the NBTC Secretariat, represented by General Sukit Khamasundara, and the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King, led by its president, Jakkree Hantongkom, HS1FVL. Be listening on the air for the callsign HS10A. That's not just the king of Thailand, but the patron of the nation's radio society. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW. (SOUTHGATE) ** CALIFORNIA CLUB SERVES AS RADIO AMBASSADORS JIM/ANCHOR: Sometimes the best introduction to ham radio is....non-ham radio! One club in California is counting on that, as Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, explains. RALPH: The El Dorado County Amateur Radio Club hopes that having a booth at the recent National Night Out in Pollock Pines, California was compelling enough to give people a good impression about ham radio. But just in case, the club brought along something perhaps even more compelling: some radios to give away. No, these weren't amateur radios. They were the low-power, license-free Family Radio Service, or FRS, handhelds used often by hikers and campers and - the club hopes - kids. Youngsters won the radios in drawings the club held at the October 3rd event and were soon on the air, spelling out their names in the International Phonetic Alphabet. These are the same kind of handhelds used in combination with GMRS radios in the local Neighborhood Radio Watch public safety program the club implemented. The club's public information officer Alan Thompson, W6WN, told Newsline that its Neighborhood Watch has - quite unexpectedly - become a potent recruiting tool for new hams. Sometimes, after all, starting with low power can make a high-power impression, especially with the youngest future radio operators. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB. (ALAN THOMPSON W6WN) --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .