Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Nov 11 2021 22:11:52

SPEEDWAY QSL CARDS RACE TO THE FINISH LINE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you're still waiting for your QSL cards from the three 
Indianapolis Motor Speedway special events, they're on their way. Jack 
Parker, W8ISH, gives us a look behind the scenes of the massive mailing 
that's been going on.

[sound clip: envelope being cut open]

JACK: That's the sound of another self-addressed, stamped QSL envelope 
being opened for processing. Members of the W9IMS Special Event Station 
gathered to open, separate and then fill-in and mail out thousands of QSL 
cards following a summer of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

BILL: "This is what we call our Monster card party. We have a few others 
that we do and then they trickle in all year long."

JACK: Bill Kennedy, W9YT, coordinates the special event stations and the 
Monster chore stuffing and returning thousands of QSL cards each fall. A 
behind-the-scenes look at this QSL process found it takes dozens of W9IMS 
members to get the job done. 

BILL: "We have a big following. They want to work us every year and make 
a big effort to get all three races."

JACK: W9IMS is the official special event station for three of the IMS 
races. They operate 24/7 for a week prior to the Grand Prix and 
Indianapolis 500 mile race in May. In August, they again fire up the 
radios for the Brickyard 200-race. A custom-designed QSL card is 
produced for each race. Those stations who log all three race events 
receive a special certificate as well. This is the 18th year for this 
W9IMS special event station. Bill says the summer time operation often 
reflects the solar cycles. This year's total contacts fell just short of 
the 18,000 recorded contacts a few years ago. As the sun cycle fell, so
did the total contacts.

Bill: "You could follow the total card by following the solar cycle. As 
the cycle came down so did our Qs. As the cycle is going back up, our Qs 
are going back up."

Jack: Bill says this crew has become very proficient in not only logging 
contacts but in filling out the QSL cards and certificates after the 
checkered flag falls on the last race of the season.  

Bill: "That's a lot contacts and a lot of cards to do at the end of the 
year."

Jack: For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Jack Parker, W8ISH.

**

NORWAY PLANS ENTRY-LEVEL CERTIFICATE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Norwegian Radio Relay League, Norway's national 
amateur radio organization, is working with a research institute there to 
help introduce an entry-level amateur radio category that would become 
available to operators as young as 12 or 13. Operators would be permitted 
a maximum transmitting power of 10 watts. The goal is to encourage the 
newest amateurs to build their own simple transmitters and receivers and 
spur interest in technology and science to complement ther schoolwork. 
NRRL is working to move this certificate forward with funds provided for 
the study by the Norwegian Research Council. Norway presently has only 
one class of radio operators.

(SOUTHGATE)

**

AUSTRALIAN 2x1 CALLSIGNS DEBUT IN WORLDWIDE CONTEST

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: With the CQ WW SSB contest over, no doubt you have more 
than a few contest callsigns in your log. How many of them are among the 
newest from Australia? Let's hear more from Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

JASON: The long-awaited 2 x 1 VK contest callsigns got their first 
official run on the air during the big CQ WW SSB contest in late October. 
The Wireless Institute of Australia reports that assignment of the calls 
by the Australian Maritime College came just in time for the global 
competition. In fact, three of the WIA's own directors were assigned the 
calls for use in the competition. Some reports say that many amateurs who 
heard the new contest calls were at first confused by the unusual 
single-letter suffixes but everything ultimately ran smoothly. If you 
have thoughts you'd like to share about Australia's new contest 
callsigns, the WIA is eager to hear your comments. Send them on to 
national office at wia dot org dot au (nationaloffice@wia.org.au)

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.

(WIA, SOUTHGATE)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33)

.