Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Oct 08 2021 05:09:03 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2293, for Friday, October 8th, 2021 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2293 with a release date of Friday, October 8th, 2021, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A breakthrough in licensing for several British islands and territories in the South Atlantic. In the US, the Appalachian Trail comes alive with amateur radio - ham radio gets a supporting role in a new short film. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2293, comes your way right now. *** BILLBOARD CART ** NEW CALLSIGN PREFIX SETTLES FALKLANDS ISLAND DILEMMA JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with report of a development that spells good news for DXpeditioners and chasers: At long last a new callsign prefix has evolved out of a long-simmering issue over licensed operations in the former Falkland Islands Dependencies. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, brings us that report. JIM: Ofcom, the communications regulator in the UK, has agreed to use of a new prefix for the former Falkland Islands Dependencies, which had been mistakenly omitted from the Falkland Islands Communications Ordinance in 2017. The prefix Victor Papa Zero, VP0, has been assigned to these territories, and the Falkland Islands Communications Regulator, which was part of the discussions with Ofcom, is to administer these licenses on behalf of the governments of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. The prefix will also apply to the British sector of the Antarctic mainland, including the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands as well as the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands. This brings welcome news to DXpeditioners and others who have been unable to use VP8 licenses in these former dependencies for years. The new call signs will only be issued with three-letter suffixes. Hams assigned VP8 call signs under the old Falkland Islands Communications Ordinance will remain valid until the licenses require revalidation. At that time, they will be reassigned a VP0 call sign. Hams may coment on the draft of this policy until the 18th of October, Falklands Island Time. Follow the link that appears in the script for this week's newscast at arnewsline.org. [FOR PRINT, DO NOT READ: www.gov.gs/amateur-radio-licences-policy- consultation/] (above URL all on one line) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (OHIO PENN DX, SOUTHGATE) ** WEST BENGAL HAMS ASSIST MOTHERS OF NEWBORNS JIM/ANCHOR: In India, West Bengal hams turned their efforts recently to aiding two displaced mothers of newborn babies. John Williams, VK4JJW, has more. JOHN: Relying on their amateur radio skills and the vast network of connections that enables members to reconnect missing persons with their families, members of India's West Bengal Radio Club came to the asssistance of two women shortly after they had given birth. According to a report in the Sujanya News, a woman who was in the advanced stages of pregnancy was taken to Diamond Harbour Super Specialty Hospital in West Bengal by police who found her at the local railway station and noticed she appeared to be mentally challenged. The child was born on September 10th, and according to the news account her family was located in Punjab after police requested intervention by the amateur radio club. Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of the club, said the connection was made with the help of Satnam Singh Birdi, VU2COR, in Punjab state. According to the newspaper story the woman's brother told the hams she had been missing for more than two months and that her husband also appeared to be suffering from mental illness. The brother made the trip to the hospital, accompanied by other relatives, to retrieve the woman and her newborn baby. In another more challenging case, however, the fate of another mother and her newborn child at that same hospital is less certain. The West Bengal hams learned that the woman, who also appeared to be mentally challenged, is a widow and the mother of two older children who are now being cared for by neighbours. Ambarish Nag Biswas told the newspaper that no one has stepped forward to bring the woman home, claiming her pregnancy was the result of sexual assault, and a stigma to her family. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. (SUJANYA NEWS, WEST BENGAL RADIO CLUB) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33) .