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It’s now official. The Singapore licensing authority has now announced that temporary amateur licenses are available to radio amateurs visiting Singapore. The application should be made three weeks before arrival and the license is typically valid for a three-month period. A fee of 50 Singapore Dollars will be charged. The application process and forms are posted on the Singapore Infocommunications Development Authority government website. Visitors must use their callsign preceded by Singapore’s 9V1 prefix while on the air.
— Southgate, ARNewsline
Southern California's Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club was recently honored for its contributions during last year's 10,000-acre wildfire. Called the Rice Fire, the blaze destroyed 206 homes, two commercial buildings and 40 outbuildings in and around the Fallbrook area.
Fire Chief Bill Metcalf has acknowledged several groups that provided valuable help when the town of Fallbrook was evacuated. First on his list was the Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club which Chief Metcalf said put its people in the city’s Emergency Operations Center and helped with communications.
Chief Metcalf termed the club as being a great group of community volunteers who function behind the scenes. He said that his hat is off to the Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club for a job well done.
The fire chief added that he and his staff are currently looking at ways to strengthen the club’s involvement. Fallbrook, California is located north of the city of San Diego.
— W6VR, ARNewsline
The fishers are out there and in this case we spell fishers p-h-i-s-h-e-r-s. These are electronic scam artists who want your personal information to rob you blind and they will go to great lengths to get you to release it, even claiming that it’s needed in some way for Amateur Radio.
The American Radio Relay League says it has received several reports from members with arrl.net e-mail accounts who have recently been contacted via e-mail asking for personal information such as user names and passwords.
The ARRL says these e-mails are fraudulent attempts at “phishing” and did not originate from ARRL. There is never a time when the League would ask via mass e-mail for user names and passwords of arrl.net users.
If you receive an e-mail asking for personal information do not respond, even if it appears to come from some legitimate source you know and trust. Instead delete it and go on with life. Both you and your bank account will be happier that you did.
— ARRL, ARNewsline
Roy Stokes, AG5D, says that astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT has turned on the crossband repeater on board the International Space Station and early reports indicate its coverage is quite good to those within its ever-shifting radio range.
The worldwide frequencies are 437.80 MHz as your uplink while you listen on 145.80 MHz as the downlink or output channel. Operation is similar to working the Amsat Oscar 51 satellite or any ground-based crossband system. The big difference is that in this case you literally talk through the repeater on board the ISS to other Hams within range of the ISS radio footprint on the ground.
How long the crossband repeater will remain in operation is not known. 145.8 MHz is also used for normal QSOs and school contacts, you can expect it to be off during those times. Also, the crossband repeater uses the crossband repeat function of the on-board Kenwood D 700 radio. This unit is also used for other on-orbit Amateur Radio operations and during those periods the repeater will likely be off line.
— ARISS Refector, ARNewsline
The ninth most sought-after DXCC entity will be activated in 2009 by F4DYW, who will take to the airwaves from Crozet Island between 01 December and 30 November of next year. Crozet is listed in the top ten most wanted contacts in the DX Magazine’s listing. F4DYW says that he will use the callsign FT5WO while on Crozet and his activity will be SSB only on 40, 20 and 15 Meters using 100 watts into dipoles. QSL will go to his home callsign, either direct or by the bureau. Watch for updates at http://f4dyw.free.fr/index.php?langue=uk&contenu=home.php
Ham Radio Outlet in Anaheim, California, has a low power D-Star repeater set up in the store. W6HRO operates on both 70 and 23 centimeters. It was originally established to help demonstrate the D-Star equipment but according to store manager Janet Margelli, KL7MF, it was found to have pretty fair coverage around parts of Orange County.
The actual operating frequencies are W6HRO A on 1282.550 with a –12 MHz input offset and W6HRO B on 447.800 out with a –5 MHz input offset. Both receive and transmit in the normal D-Star format and are connected to the national gateway. Both bands also retransmit these Newsline reports once every week. As far as we know, W6HRO is the first D-Star repeater to serve as a Newsline outlet.
— KL7MF, ARNewsline
A word of congratulations to Robin Cutshaw AA4RC who recently got on the air to demonstrate Amateur Radio and amateur satellites to 10,000 scouts. The scouts were camped out at Alabama's Talladega Speedway as part of an outing. Robin also the team hosting the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium in Atlanta. He’s to be congratulated on doing both jobs — well done, Robin.
— ANS, ARNewsline
The Dayton Hamvention® now is accepting nominations for its 2009 Amateur of the Year, Special Achievement, and Technical Excellence awards. The deadline for nominations is 18 Feb. 2009. All Amateur Radio operators are eligible. The winners will be recognized at the 2009 Hamvention®, which runs 15-17 May.
The Amateur of the Year Award goes to an individual who has made a long-term, outstanding commitment to the advancement of Amateur Radio. The Technical Excellence Award is for the person who has made an outstanding technical advancement in the field of Amateur Radio. The Special Achievement Award honors someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Amateur Radio, usually someone who has spearheaded a significant project.
The Hamvention® Awards Committee makes the decision on all awards based in part upon the information it receives and not on the number of nominations submitted.
Documentation that informs the Awards Committee of a candidate’s accomplishments may include magazine articles, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and even videos (these materials become the property of Hamvention® and will not be returned).
Additional details on these awards and a nomination form are available on the Dayton Hamvention® web site. Nominations also are accepted via U.S. mail to Dayton Hamvention® Awards, P.O. Box 964, Dayton, OH 45401.
— ARNewsline
Members of Oceania Amateur Radio DX Group Inc. will spend 10 days on Lord Howe Island for the 2009 CQ WPX Contest. VK4FW announced the operation will take place 24 March - 03 April 2009. The group has successfully obtained accommodations and booked flights for the trip. To date they have nine confirmed operators and a total of 13 people going. They still have room for a couple more, but you must be super-quick as both the accommodations on the island are almost full and so is the plane. If interested, contact vk4fw@westnet.com.au
— ARNewsline
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