Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Dec 25 2020 12:45:18 IN AUSTRALIA, SPORADIC-E GOES THE DISTANCE SKEETER: Two meters has been going the distance recently in Australia. John Williams, VK4JJW, picks up that story for us. JOHN: A remarkable opening recently on 144 MHz helped radio amateur transmissions in Australia span 3,200 km, or not quite 2,000 miles on the 15th of December. According to a report on the EI7GL blog, summer Sporadic-E season takes the credit for the big opening in which WSPR signals from John, VK2IJM, and David, VK2DVM, in Sydney, were copied in Western Australia near Perth by Peter, VK6KXW. One-hop Sporadic-E is typically limited to a distance of 2,300 kms, or 1,429 miles. The blog post goes on to say that the amateurs believe this distance was perhaps accomplished with two Sporadic-E hops. They noted that it is rare for this to occur at 144 MHz and more commonly seen on the 6 metre band. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. (EI7GL BLOG) SKEETER: From that same EI7GL blog comes another bit of news -- this time by way of meteor scatter. During this year's Geminid meteor shower, a 144 MHz signal from Jon, OY9JD, in the Faroe Islands was heard 3,075 kms - or 1,910 miles -- away in Bulgaria by Stamen, (pronounced STAMMIN) LZ1KU. The blog notes that typically meteor scatter contacts' maximum distance is about 2,300 kms, similar to that of Sporadic-E. So the contact couldn't be attributed to one-hop meteor scatter. According to the blog, it's now believed that Jon's signal may have bounced off the International Space Station as it passed over Europe. ** EXTENSIONS GRANTED FOR GERMAN RADIO OPERATORS SKEETER: German authorities have granted extensions to temporary operations on various bands for radio amateurs - and they did it right on deadline. Here's Ed Durrant, DD5LP, with the details. ED: Just a little more than a week before a December 31st expiration date, the German regulator BNetzA has extended the temporary use of a number of bands for amateur radio operators and increased weekend top band power levels, ensuring continued operations there through until the end of 2021. The IARU Region 1 website reports the weekend power increase to 750 watts output for class A and 100 watts for class E operators on the 1850-2000 kHz part of the German 160 metre band at which time contest stations are allowed to use the band. The regulator is also extending temporary use for 2320-2450 MHz (13cm), 5650-5850 MHz (5cm), 50-52 MHz (6m) and 70.150—70.200 MHz (4m) bands. Amateurs in Iceland have also received a renewed authorisation for the use of 1850-1900 kHz in international contests in the new year. The national group - Icelandic Radio Amateurs or IRA received the approval on December the 4th from the Post and Telecom Administration (PTA). The use is subject to the same requirements as use of the frequency range 1810—1850 kHz. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (SOUTHGATE, IARU REGION 1) ** AUSTRIAN HAMS GAIN ACCESS TO 60 AND 630 METRE BANDS SKEETER: There's more room on the bands as well for amateurs in Austria. Hams now have access to the 60 metre band from 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz with a maximum EIRP of 15 watts and to 472 – 479 kHz at 1W EIRP. This is consistent with other countries 60 metre access under the ruling made at the ITU's World Radio Conference in 2015 and 630 metre access from the ITU's WRC in 2012. Hams are secondary users on both 60 and 630 metres in countries where the bands are available. (SOUTHGATE, SOTA REFLECTOR) ** WHEN MORSE CODE GROWS ON TREES SKEETER/ANCHOR: You may remember Newsline's story earlier this month about London's Shard building sending Morse Code holiday messages from its uppermost lights. In a similar way, a market town in Cheshire England is using the lights on this season's Christmas tree to send the dits and dahs of CW. Here's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, to decode that tale. JEREMY: This Christmas, the residents of Macclesfield are learning what many military and ham radio operators have known all along: if you want to ensure that a message gets out, send it in Morse Code. That's particularly true this year with the town's Christmas tree. The tree has traditionally been decorated with paper stars bearing handwritten messages - but that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the town council had a bright idea - an idea as bright as the lights on the Macclesfield tree itself. The council commissioned a local art collective to install holiday lights that would be able to flicker messages sent in CW. People now send those messages by texting to a dedicated phone number and they are converted into the flickering language of illuminated dits and dahs. The installation is being called Message in Lights, and it is designed to encourage appreciation of the tree for everyone from a safe distance. Who knows? It might also encourage appreciation of Morse Code, too. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (SOTA REFLECTOR) --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .