Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri May 28 2021 11:14:53 2020's YHOTY CHRIS BRAULT KD8YVJ WINS ARDC SCHOLARSHIP JIM/ANCHOR: Congrats to Amateur Radio Newsline's Young Ham of the Year for 2020, Chris Brault, KD8YVJ. The ARRL announced that he was among the more than 200 deserving winners of scholarships through the ARRL Foundation. Chris is the recipient of a $10,000 Amateur Radio Digital Communications scholarship. Chris will be attending St. Louis University with a major in Aeronautics and a minor in computer science. He's also weeks away from earning his private pilot license. We here at Newsline wish this deserving young amateur all the best. ** DEADLINE CLOSING FOR YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR JIM/ANCHOR: Speaking of the Young Ham of the Year Award, May 31st at midnight Eastern time is the deadline to submit your nominations for this year's recipient. If you know of an outstanding licensed radio amateur under the age of 18 in the US, Canada or any of the US possessions, please download the nomination form from our website, complete it and email it back to newsline@arnewsline.org The award will be presented at the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama in August. ** CALIFORNIA AMATEURS LAUNCH BOATS ON THE AIR JIM/ANCHOR: What's better than having boats in the water? Try having Boats on the Air. Well, one group in California is making it happen. Dave Parks, WB8ODF, explains. DAVE: In the same tradition as POTA, SOTA, and IOTA, now there's BOTA -- that is, Boats on the Air, an activation that its organizers hope will set sail as an activity worldwide. The inaugural Boats on the Air is leaving the dock on Saturday, June 5th, and operators from the San Francisco Amateur Radio Club will be activating watercraft of all kinds. For the organizers, including Kent Carter, AJ6NI, the floating shack will be a sailboat called the Auriah (AH-RYE-AH). Part of the challenge, he said, is to bring mobile ham radio gear into a marine environment and get on FM, AM, CW, SSB, digital voice, or digital data modes. Chasers and activators will be on the air for three hours beginning 2000 UTC. A boat is considered to be activated if it completes four QSOs. The event website says: [quote] "Join us to activate any moving floating object on any body of water." [endquote] In short, that means the boat can be powered by motor, by sail -- even by human effort or....well, use your imagination. In other words, whatever floats your boat. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Dave Parks, WB8ODF. (KENT CARTER AJ6NI) ** RADIO SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN CHANGES 50MHz AWARDS JIM/ANCHOR: Changes are coming to some awards being given by the Radio Society of Great Britain. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, gives us the details. JEREMY: The RSGB will be merging the 50MHz 2-Way Countries award and the 50MHz DX Countries award soon, having determined that the two awards significantly duplicate one another. The new award will be released as the 50MHz Countries award and it will retain the incremental levels of award present in the two it will replace. Hams who have been working towards either of the current 50MHz awards will have until the end of this year to complete them while the RSGB works toward launching the new award. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (RSGB) ** POPULAR D-STAR NET CHANGES CHECK-IN TIME JIM/ANCHOR: Here in the US, a popular D-STAR Net is starting check-ins two hours earlier, and has big plans to get involved in emergency response. Here's Andy Morrison, K9AWM, with those details. ANDY: The Illinois D-STAR Net is on the move. Starting on Wednesday, June 2nd, it is starting two hours earlier. Hams will be able to check in at 7 p.m. Central Time. Net control Steven Reiners, KC9SIO, told Newsline that there are two benefits to moving the time of the Net, which meets on Reflector 51 D. Steven said he is hoping that the move will attract new members, bring back many of the original ones, and fulfil the Net's original mission to foster conversation among stations throughout the state. He said the other goal of the move is to have the Net join a statewide system for emergency communications, eventually attracting the participation by hams in all 102 counties. Meanwhile, the KB0ZSG International D-Star Net continues to take check- ins on Sundays at 7 p.m. Central Time in the US on Reflector 91C. The net carries the name and callsign of founder Connie Ballantyne, who became a Silent Key in February, 2020. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison, K9AWM. (STEVEN REINERS KC9SIO) ** GET READY FOR 'TUNE-UP' EVENT JIM/ANCHOR: If you can't wait for ARRL Field Day, you don't have to. The 100 Watts and a Wire community is encouraging hams to go portable on June 11th through June 13th as part of the annual Tune-Up Activity. It's a way to test your portable antennas and stations in preparation for the big event. If you don't have a portable station, you can still get on the air. Work as an individual or as part of a team, operating on any band and in any mode. The exchange is your Call sign, your 100WattID if you have one, your state, province or DX Country and a true signal report. --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33) .