Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Feb 18 2021 22:59:09 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2260, for Friday, February 19, 2021 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2260, with a release date of Friday, February 19, 2021, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. The pandemic stirs a radio training surge in the UK. Huntsville's Hamfest is back -- and an antenna reconnects Voyager 2 to earth. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2260, comes your way right now. *** BILLBOARD CART ** SURGE IN DEMAND FOR HAM RADIO IN UK PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week brings us back once again to COVID-19 and its impact on amateur radio. The news here, however, is good. Very, very good. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, explains. JEREMY: The challenge of a deadly pandemic has stirred unprecedented interest in amateur radio in the UK. As the COVID-19 crisis kept most of the country immobilised, last year the Radio Society of Great Britain rolled out remote invigilation of licence exams. Now, some of the free popular distance learning programmes are reporting a surge in applicants: for Foundation licence and upgrade exam training. Approaching its 17th February application deadline, the Bath Based Distanced Learning Team told Newsline its new Full Licence course has had an overwhelming response. Team leader Steve Hartley, G0FUW, said, in an email, that with 100 spaces available, the class is already oversubscribed, as organisers sort through some 250 enquiries. This exceeds the previous annual registration for the course - one of several offered by the Bath & District Amateur Radio Club. Steve continued, that some registrants for the Full licence class are those who had trained in its intermediate class. In another email, RSGB President, Dave Wilson, M0OBW, praised those providing online training, saying the society website offers a list of these groups. RSGB communications manager Heather Parsons added that having more time to devote to radio now was only one reason amongst many given for the upsurge in interest. In Nottingham, the South Notts Amateur Radio Club said enrollment for its Foundation, Intermediate and Full licence online training classes have likewise attracted high levels of applicants. Club secretary Simon Strange, M0SYS, told Newsline that he now has to lead training three nights a week to meet the intense demand. He said the classes include men, women and children. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. PAUL/ANCHOR: To see the full list of organizations offering online training in the UK, see the printed script of this newscast on our website, arnewsline.org We also note that the RSGB has announced a consultation seeking views of a new direct Full License exam to run parallel to the three-tier system in place. The Society's Examinations Standards Committee is keeping the consultation period open until the 14th of March. A link to the proposed syllabus is also on our arnewsline.org website. [FOR PRINT ONLY: www.rsgb.org/online-training] [FOR PRINT ONLY: www.rsgb.org/direct-to-full] (SIMON STRANGE M0SYS, RSGB, STEVE HARTLEY G0FUW) ** HUNTSVILLE HAMFEST GOING FORWARD IN ALABAMA PAUL/ANCHOR: If you'd like to go to a hamfest - really GO to a hamfest - you'll get your chance this August at the Von Braun Center. Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, has the details. DON: Finally, some good news about ham radio conventions. On Tuesday, February 16th it was announced that plans are going forward for the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama. Mark Brown, N4BCD, Huntsville Hamfest chairman made the following statement on the convention website, hamfest.org. The Hamfest Board has met with the Von Braun Center to learn about the current rules & regulations for mass-gatherings. In short, the insurmountable obstacles that prevented us from hosting a Hamfest last year have relaxed to the point where we can host a safe and successful event. Additionally, our survey of commercial and flea-market vendors on their plans to attend returned very encouraging sentiments. Adjustments to the floor plan are being made to keep everyone safe, in particular 12' aisle spacing. Additional space will be utilized this year to accommodate the commercial & flea-market vendors and visitors. Once that floor plan is defined in a few weeks we'll open the web portal up for vendor registration. We highly recommend visitors to purchase tickets on-line this year. Will-Call windows will be set up to streamline the Saturday morning crush. The ticket web portal will open in a few weeks. The Hamfest Board is excited at the prospect of holding a live gathering in a safe way for everyone attending and we look forward to seeing many of our friends again. Thanks and 73, Mark, N4BCD, Huntsville Hamfest chairman. The Huntville Hamfest is a world class ham radio gathering and, since 1993, the home of the Newsline Young Ham of the Year presentation. Mark your calendars for this one, and we will see you there August 21st and 22nd. For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Don Wilbanks, AE5DW. --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .