Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Nov 05 2020 22:22:17 SILENT KEY: JIM TIEMSTRA K6JAT, ARRL PACIFIC DIVISION DIRECTOR NEIL/ANCHOR: A prominent radio amateur on the U.S. West Coast has become a Silent Key. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, has that story. RALPH: ARRL members on the West Coast have lost a leader: The ARRL's Pacific Division Director, Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, has become a Silent Key. The Oakland, California amateur died on October 30th. Before becoming director in 2018, Jim had served as vice director from 2009 through 2017. He also served on a variety of committees and had a number of board assignments. An ARRL Life Member, Jim became a ham in 1970 in his Chicago, Illinois hometown where with the call sign WN9ELU he was president of his high school radio club. Jim was best known for his enthusiasm for contesting and DXing and his commitment to public service and emergency response. He belonged to the Oakland Amateur Radio Emergency Service Group and was part of the team responding in 1989 to the Loma Prieta earthquake and in 1991 to the Oakland Hills firestorm. Jim, a retired attorney, was the first president of the Oakland Radio Communication Association, which he incorporated in 1998 and served as a founding director. He was trustee of the club's call sign WW6OR. Jim Tiemstra was 65. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB. (ARRL) ** TURNING TO VINTAGE PUBLICATIONS ABOUT VINTAGE GEAR NEIL/ANCHOR: Because radio waves are as old as nature itself, even the oldest books rarely go out of style - just out of print. However one ham in Romania is making them available as free digital downloads. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, picks up the story from here. ED: There are hams who enjoy vintage rigs and antique straight keys but how about hams who appreciate historic publications about radio? Iulian Rosu, YO3DAC / VA3IUL, an accomplished QRP contester in Romania who loves homebrew in addition to QRP operating, is one of those enthusiasts. Now he is sharing free downloadable PDFs of some old books about radio that date back as much as 100 years. The titles include "The Wireless Experimenters Manual," by E. Bucher, published in 1920, and "Radio, Miracle of the 20th Century," by F. Drinker and J. Lewis, published in 1922. He also has a collection of old radio magazines in downloadable format - publications such as the archive collection of Radio Times, dating to 1923 and The Wireless Constructor, from 1926. There's even a General Electric handbook on sideband, first published in 1961. They are all there -- for the curious as well as the collector -- the website URL appears in the printed version of this newscast on our website at arnewsline.org For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. [FOR PRINT ONLY: DO NOT READ - https://www.qsl.net/va3iul/Files/Old_Radio_Frequency_Books.htm] (SOUTHGATE, QSL.NET) ** FCC OKS DIGITAL OPERATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL AM RADIO NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams who have great enthusiasm for various modes of digital operation are getting some more company on the air - just in a different part of the spectrum. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has told commercial AM radio stations that they will be allowed to convert to an all-digital broadcast if they are presently using analog or a hybrid of analog and digital signals. The stations' changes are to be voluntary. The FCC's late October announcement clears the way for AM stations to provide an all-digital signal that gives better coverage over a wider area of listeners and enables the signal to carry additional information, such as the title and artist for a particular song -- details that are visible on a compatible digital radio receiver. The stations are required, however, to notify the FCC at least 30 days before making their change. They are still required to be a part of the Emergency Alert System. (FCC) ** IRELAND'S 1st SATELLITE SEEKS AMATEUR RADIO INPUT NEIL/ANCHOR: Ireland takes particular pride in the fact that it is launching its first satellite in 2021 - but the team behind it is looking for some amateur radio help. Here's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, to explain. JEREMY: The Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 or EIRSAT-1, will be launched sometime early next year, carrying three science experiments on behalf of students at University College Dublin and other researchers. The Low Earth Orbit CubeSat was designed by engineering and space science students and academic staff as part of the European Space Agency's Fly Your Satellite programme. Hams are being asked to help out with signal acquisition shortly after the satellite's launch on the Vega rocket. Hams, scanner, listeners and others are being asked to help with ground station operations. In a recent visit to the South Dublin Radio Club, David Murphy EI9HWB, and Fergal Marshall of the EIRSAT-1 team explained the satellite's operations and how hams can assist. Their talk is available on YouTube where the two explain the uplink and downlink schemes and the role amateurs can play. To see the video, visit the club's website at southdublinradio club dot weebly dot com (southdublinradioclub.weebly.com). Then get ready for the new year when Ireland's first satellite will make history. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE, EIRSAT-1) --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .