Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 18 2020 08:15:38

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2251, for Friday, December 18, 2020

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2251 with a release date of Friday,
December 18, 2020, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Ham Radio University and Winter Field Day gear up 
for action, despite the pandemic. A government report calls RF the source 
of workers' illnesses -- and a Christmas tradition here at Newsline's own 
shack. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2251,
comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

**

RF TRANSMISSIONS EYED AS SOURCE OF ILLNESSES

NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with an ominous report from a U.S. agency 
that believes RF transmissions may have contributed to the illnesses of 
numerous government employees overseas. Dave Parks, WB8ODF, tells us more.

DAVE: A report commissioned by the U.S. State Department has concluded that 
radiofrequency transmissions, including microwaves, may have been 
responsible for neurological symptoms in American spies and diplomats 
abroad in the past several years. The National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering and Medicine called the headaches, dizziness and other ailments 
the result of so-called "sonic attacks" in its report published this month.

The findings by experts in medicine and related fields attempt to explain 
what came to be known as "Havana syndrome" suffered by employees of the 
U.S. government at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in late 2016. U.S. workers 
assigned to China, Russia and elsewhere also suffered similiar symptoms.

The report did not conclude, however, that the microwaves were transmitted 
to cause deliberate harm but noted that such transmissions could indeed be 
used for those purposes.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Dave Parks, WB8ODF.

(CNN, NYTIMES)

**

PREP CONTINUES FOR WINTER FIELD DAY

NEIL/ANCHOR: A number of activities are taking place despite the continued 
global pandemic. With barely a month to go, Winter Field Day organizers are 
getting ready for the big event, with allowances for COVID-19 precautions. 
Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, has that story.

KEVIN: The need for emergency preparedness doesn't drop when the 
temperatures do, so organizers of the Winter Field Day event are putting 
the final details in place for the next activations on the final weekend of 
January 2021. They have posted the official rules noting that there are no 
basic changes from last year's exercise - with the exception that COVID-19 
rules are going to be in effect for clubs and groups. As always, modes that 
can transmit the exchange without a conversion table are being allowed. For 
this reason, FT8 and FT4 are excluded. Allowable modes include CW, SSB, AM, 
FM, D-STAR, C4FM, DMR, satellite and others that are posted on the Winter 
Field Day website. Remote station operation is also permitted.

Club members operating as a group, but not congregating on one site for the 
activation, are advised to check the rules on the website to ensure their 
scoring methods comply with the rules to simply the tallying of points.

For more details, visit winterfieldday dot com (winterfieldday.com). Winter 
Field Day, which began in 2007, is taking place on January 30th and 31st.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(WINTER FIELD DAY ASSOCIATION)

**

REGISTRATION FOR HAM RADIO UNIVERSITY, PROPAGATION SUMMIT

NEIL/ANCHOR: Another popular winter event, Ham Radio University, has opened 
registration to all its forums taking place on January 9th, 2021. HRU will 
not be held in its usual location on Long Island but is going forward as a 
virtual event through GoToWebinar. This means, of course, you don't have to 
be in New York to attend this annual daylong amateur radio convention. If 
you are interested in attending you need to register individually for each 
of the forums you wish to attend. Each forum's attendance is capped at 500 
participants. Details are available at the website hamradiouniversity dot 
org slash forums (hamradiouniversity.org/forums) That's hamradiouniversity 
- one word - dot org slash forums.

Meanwhile, Contest University which was held as a virtual event in May, has 
a free virtual propagation summit planned for the 23rd of January. It's 
being held as a Zoom webinar and runs from 1600 UTC to 2000 UTC, covering 
such subjects as HF ionospheric propagation, predictions for Solar Cycle 
25, maximizing antenna performance with irregular terrain and an update on 
HamSCI activities for the year ahead. To register, visit contestuniversity 
dot com (contestuniversity.com) 

Don't forget Contest University itself. Registration for that begins on 
February 1st!

(CONTEST UNIVERSITY, HAM RADIO UNIVERSITY)
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