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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2470 for Friday, February 28th
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2470 for Friday, February 28th, 2025
  
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2470 with a release date of Friday, 
February 28th, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Astronomers devise a novel way to battle RFI. A 
special event remembers Bloody Sunday, a painful moment in US history -- and 
a prominent figure in amateur radio and a friend to Newsline becomes a 
Silent Key. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2470 
comes your way right now.

** 
BILLBOARD CART

**
COMBINED TECHNOLOGIES HELP ASTRONOMERS FIGHT RFI

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story is about something ham radio operators know all 
too well - the plague of RFI that disrupts communications. Astronomers have 
come up with what they hope is a solution for what's been troubling their 
sensitive radio telescope in Australia, and Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us about 
it.

GRAHAM: An unlikely source of RFI that was compromising signals received by 
a radio telescope in Western Australia has been identified as an airplane 
deflecting broadcast signals. Realising that the ever-growing presence of 
orbiting satellites may pose the same hazard, causing astronomers' data to 
become contaminated, scientists have devised what they hope is a solution.

The stray signals that were interfering with the sensitive telescopes in the 
Murchison Widefield Array were even more puzzling because the array is an 
area designated by the government as a radio quiet zone. Stranger still, the 
signal turned out to be a broadcast signal from Australian TV and appeared 
to move across the sky. Researchers at Brown University in the US who are 
involved with the Murchison project, determined that an airplane had been 
deflecting the signal, and had likely been doing so for nearly five years.

This form of signal deflection, of course, held implications for other 
objects in the sky, most prominently, satellites whose numbers are growing 
each year. With this in mind, researchers at the university devised a method 
of filtering the RFI via a new method that combined two existing 
technologies already in use: Near-field corrections and beam forming. The 
former allows the radio telescope to adjust to closer objects more 
accurately instead of strictly peering into deep space. The latter adds to 
the sharpened focus through use of a beam, just as its name suggests. Using 
this combination, scientists confirmed that the RFI had been deflected off 
an airplane moving at 492 miles per hour and had originally been transmitted 
by Channel 7 on Australian digital TV.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(SPACE.COM, BROWN UNIVERSITY)

**
BRAZILIAN YL DXPEDITION CELEBRATES WOMEN'S PROGRESS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Saturday the 8th of March is International Women’s Day but in 
the amateur radio world, it is being celebrated as International YLs’ Day by 
one group of DXpeditioners. We hear about them from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: The  São Paulo chapter of LABRE, Brazil’s national amateur radio 
society, has organised a two-day DXpedition that will take seven YLs and 
their radio equipment to Ilha Comprida, IOTA number SA-Ø24, an island off 
the state’s south coast. Three of the seven operators are younger than 20. 
The team will be on the air on the 8th and 9th of March to recognise and 
celebrate women’s progress in the world and, of course, to help any and all 
radio operators score contacts toward IOTA, POTA, WWFF and DIB, Brazil’s own 
diploma Island award. The YLs will be calling QRZ as PR2L, using CW, SSB and 
the digital modes.

A commemorative QSL card will be available. For details, visit QRZ.com

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(GUILLERMO CRIMERIUS, PY2BIL)

**
YLRL OFFERING 3 MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Speaking of YLs, the Young Ladies Radio League is offering 
scholarships again to promising young women who have their ham license - and 
the deadline to apply is a little more than a month away. We have details 
from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK: The international list of YLs honoring the memory of Ethel Smith 
K4LMB, Martha Wessel, KØEPE and Mary Lou Brown, NM7N, is a long and 
impressive roster. Scholarships from the Young Ladies Radio League are named 
in memory of each of these three women. 

The YLRL is accepting applications for this year’s scholarships. The 
deadline is April 30th.
The Ethel Smith and Mary Lou Brown scholarships award .500 each. The 
Martha Wessel scholarship awards 0.500. Winners will be announced in July.

An application form and details on how to qualify are available on the 
website. You’ll find a link in the text version of this week’s newscast at 
arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ:   https://YLRL.net/Scholarship   ]

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(YLRL)

**
SILENT KEY: RAIN REPORT'S ALANSON P. "HAP" HOLLY, KC9RP

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our next story is one that Newsline is particularly sad to 
report. The amateur radio community has lost an influential and selfless 
member -- and Newsline has lost a personal friend. We hear about him from 
Don Wilbanks AE5DW.

DON: We at Amateur Radio Newsline are mourning the passing of Alanson P. 
Holly, better known as Hap Holly, KC9RP. Hap is known as the founder and 
moderator of the Radio Amateur Information Network, The RAIN Report, an 
audio information service for amateur radio since 1990. At the age of 4 Hap 
began having vision issues. One morning, at age 7, he woke up totally blind. 
Both of Hap's parents were totally blind as well. A book written by his 
mother in 1988, "What Love Sees", told the story of the challenges of blind 
parents raising a blind child. In 1996 it became a CBS made-for-TV movie 
starring Richard Thomas and Anna Beth Gish. It aired several times a year on 
Lifetime from 1999 through 2002.

Hap earned his Novice license in 1965 at age 14. A year later he earned his 
General and in 1981 his Advanced class license. He was a phone patch station 
and net control for the Westcars traffic net After graduation from college 
in Illinois, he met his future wife, Stephanie. They wed in 1976. 

Hap has said that he owes a great deal of gratitude to Newsline's founder 
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. Hap was a faithful Newsline listener and Bill was 
only too happy to encourage and help Hap with The Rain Report. Hap would 
share his booth space with Newsline at Hamvention when it was at Hara Arena. 
I met Hap there. Bill and I recorded and produced several Newsline eposides 
over the course of a few years on a laptop sitting in that booth.

In 2002 Hap was named Amateur of the Year at Dayton Hamvention. Away from 
ham radio, Hap was a professional keyboardist and a past president of the 
Des Plaines, IL Toastmasters Club. He was an audio engineer and monitor for 
Horizons for the Blind. For Hap, blindness was never a disability, only a 
challenge that fine-tuned his other senses. He was truly an inspiration. Hap 
passed from this world on Monday, February 24th. He was a friend to the 
entire amateur community, a friend to Newsline and a truly inspirational 
presence to anyone having the great fortune to have met him.

Good DX on farther up the dial, Hap. Tell Bill we said 73.

I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.


NEIL/ANCHOR: The 220 MHz Guys Amateur Radio Club in Chicago, where Hap held 
a lifetime membership, told Newsline that a memorial service was being 
planned for this May.

**
ALABAMA ACTIVATION RECALLS 'BLOODY SUNDAY' OF US CIVIL RIGHTS ERA

NEIL/ANCHOR: Two hams who'll be on the air in Alabama in March aren't just 
activating a POTA site but reminding the world of one of the most painful 
moments in the history of civil rights in the US. We hear more from Travis 
Lisk N3ILS.

TRAVIS: The challenging road to defending their constitutional right to vote 
led hundreds of Black civil rights marchers onto another road -- one that 
led them outside Selma, Alabama on March 7th, 1965. There, as they arrived 
at the Edmund Pettus Bridge bound for the governor's office in Montgomery, 
the marchers were assaulted by state and local police and forced back into 
Selma. That violent day came to be known as Bloody Sunday. This protest was 
also an outcry over the killing of civil rights protester Jimmie Lee Jackson 
who was beaten and shot during a march for voting rights one month earlier.

Bloody Sunday marked the first of three historic marches that led to the 
Voting Rights Act of 1965 later that year. Its story is told along the 54-
mile route now known as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.

Sixty years later, amateur radio operators are marking the anniversary of 
Bloody Sunday by calling QRZ on the weekend of March 8th and 9th to call 
attention to that long, painful period in US history. This is a POTA 
activation. The trail is designated by Parks on the Air as US-4580. Listen 
for Tom KB5FHK and Sloan N3UPS, who will be operating SSB on HF and linear 
transponder satellites. Tom told Newsline that the operators will begin on 
40m around 0000 UTC on that Saturday. They will return on Sunday after 1300 
UTC to operate on 10, 15 and 20 metres as well as via linear transponder 
satellites.

Sloan and Tom will be sending commemorative QSL cards featuring an image of 
the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a symbol of turbulence and struggle - and 
ultimately of change.
 
This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.

(TOM GAINES, KB5FHK)

 
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio 
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the UHF 
repeater of the North Shore Radio Club. NS9RC. in Chicago on Thursdays at 8 
p.m. local time as part of its weekly net.

**
(10 minutes, 31 seconds)


YHOTY NOMINATING WINDOW OPENS

NEIL/ANCHOR: It’s time for the amateur radio community to help us begin 
identifying candidates to nominate for the Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial 
Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year award. Amateur Radio Newsline’s 
Mark Abramowicz (pronouncer Abram-a-vich) NT3V is chairman of the award 
committee and has more…

MARK: Do you know a young ham who brings a unique set of skills to the hobby 
we love?

Is it someone who you might have recruited through a Field Day visit or 
exposure to a Scouting Jamboree on the Air event?

How about a young person who joined your local radio club after finding an 
Elmer and getting licensed?

Maybe you are that Elmer.

How about a young ham who found their way from being a regular check-in for 
your club’s weekly 2-meter net to being invited to join the net control team 
and working and organizing public service events?

Is it a young person whose love of earth-space science was stimulated by 
hearing the International Space Station astronauts on the air – thanks to 
your mentorship - and arranging for that person to make contact via ham 
radio with one of them?

Perhaps, this future leader in our hobby got exposed to contesting and 
became competitive thanks to your help and support after getting on the air 
in QSO parties or DX contests.

These are the kinds of young people Amateur Radio Newsline is looking to 
recognize for their accomplishments.

Candidates should be 18 years or younger and from the continental United 
States.

It’s easy to nominate someone.

But you are the one who has to take the initiative and fill out that on-line 
application to bring someone who might be selected as our next Young Ham of 
the Year to the attention of our Amateur Radio Newsline judges.

You’ll find everything you need to know at the awards tab on our website – 
arnewsline.org.

Deadline for online applications is May 31.

I’m Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.

**
GET READY FOR RAPID DEPLOYMENT AMATEUR RADIO

NEIL/ANCHOR: What amateur radio operating strategy combines a little bit of 
being mobile, a little bit of fixed and - if you so choose - a little bit of 
maritime? It’s spelled R a D A R, which is the acronym for Rapid Deployment 
Amateur Radio. Get ready, RaDAR Rally day is just weeks away, as we hear 
from Randy Sly W4XJ.

RANDY: Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE pioneered the operating concept more than a 
decade ago in South Africa with an event known as the RaDAR Challenge which 
was embraced worldwide by portable operators. This year the RaDAR Rally, 
which takes place on April 5th, keeps the spirit and the strategy of the 
original challenge. The four-hour rally is particularly appealing to hams 
who are accustomed to working portable outdoors and this is an activity that 
can be combined with Summits On The Air and Parks On The Air. Operators 
spend four hours setting up a station as quickly as possible, making five 
contacts, then dismantling the station and moving to another location to do 
the same thing again. According to the rules, the required distances vary 
depending on whether the radio operator is walking, cycling, driving or even 
canoeing. All bands and modes are acceptable but use of terrestrial 
repeaters is not.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ

DO NOT READ: www.radarrally.info

**
TECHNIQUE MAY MAKE SOLAR PANELS MORE AFFORDABLE

NEIL/ANCHOR: If you use solar panels in your portable operation, or are 
thinking about it, this development in solar power technology on a much 
larger scale may be of interest to you. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF brings us the 
details.

JIM: Harnessing the sun’s power doesn’t come easily or affordably but 
researchers at the University of Tokyo believe they’re working on a future 
for solar panels that will be cheaper and more efficient: They announced 
recently that they have combined titanium dioxide with selenium, a 
production process that could bring down the heavy costs of extracting 
titanium from its ore so it can be used in a variety of energy-related 
products, including solar panels. The scientists’ method relies on 
introducing an element known as yttrium into the process of purifying the 
titanium. So far, they have been impressed with the resulting performance.

According to recent reports in Business Today and on MSN.com, the only 
drawback is that the element leaves traces of itself behind in the final 
result, enough of a contaminant that it could compromise its durability and 
its resistance to corrosion.

The next challenge? Minimise what is left behind so that a new type of solar 
cell will be available in the future with a higher level of energy 
efficiency and affordability.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(MSN, BUSINESS TODAY)

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Bo, OZ1DJJ, is in Greenland using the callsign OX3LX 
until the 14th of March. He will primarily remain on the main island, IOTA 
number NA-Ø18 but may take a day trip to Manitsoq, IOTA number NA-22Ø. He 
will be operating holiday style since this is a work-related trip. See 
QRZ.com for QSL details.

Dave, G4BUO, is on the air from Samoa, IOTA number OC-Ø97, using the 
callsign 5WØUO until the 3rd of March. Dave operates mainly CW. QSLs will be 
uploaded to LoTW in early April.

In Jamaica, IOTA number NA-Ø97, Iain, G4SGX will be calling QRZ as G4SGX/6Y 
from the 1st through to the 21st of March. Iain operates mainly CW and will 
be on 80-10 metres. Listen for him in the RSGB Commonwealth Contest on the 
8th and 9th of March. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Mamoru, JH3VAA, is on the air with the callsign 8Q7VA from the Maldives, 
IOTA number AS-Ø13, until the 5th of May. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: BROADCAST STUDENTS GET SCHOOLED IN AMATEUR RADIO

NEIL/ANCHOR: We end this week by sharing a happy discovery at a Maryland 
high school where students learning about professional radio have fallen in 
love with the amateur side of things. Here's Kent Peterson KCØDGY to tell us 
what happened.

KENT: There was electricity in the air - or perhaps it was electromagnetism 
- when high school students in Kent County, Maryland, participated in their 
first ARRL School Club Roundup last fall. With the support and some loaned 
equipment from the Kent Amateur Radio Society, K3ARS, the students logged 
contacts in the US and a number of others overseas. For them it was "a 
pivotal moment," the radio society president, Chris Cote, KE5NJ, told 
Newsline. He said it exceeded everyone's expectations.

Earlier this year, the sparks flew again, in a manner of speaking, during 
Winter Field Day. Some of the teens, who are involved with WKHS, Kent County 
High School's FM radio station, returned  to experience once more what the 
amateur side of the medium can do - and just how far it can go - by calling 
CQ from the school parking lot with members of KARS.

Now even more students are along for the ride. With the help of Chris Cote 
and KARS, Chris Singleton, KE3MC, is guiding them on that journey -- one 
that the broadcast engineer took himself not so long ago when he was still a 
student at the school: Chris Singleton teaches the broadcasting course on 
the Eastern Shore, Maryland campus where he is also manager of the school's 
FM radio station. Along with Chris Cote, he is encouraging the students to 
study for their license and to set their sights a little higher. They're 
hoping to reapply for an astronaut contact through Amateur Radio on the 
International Space Station, crossing fingers that the second time will be 
the charm. If they were thrilled about working Moscow during last fall's 
roundup, imagine what a low Earth orbit QSO will feel like to them.

This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.

(RADIO WORLD, CHRIS COTE, KE5NJ; CHRIS SINGLETON, KE3MC)

**
Have you sent in your amateur radio haiku to Newsline's haiku challenge yet? 
It's as easy as writing a QSL card. Set your thoughts down using traditional 
haiku format - a three-line verse with five syllables in the first line, 
seven in the second and five in the third. Submit your work on our website 
at arnewsline.org - each week's winner gets a shout-out on our website, 
where everyone can find the winning haiku.

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to the Amateur Radio Daily; Brown University; 
Business Today; Chris Cote, KE5NJ; Chris Singleton KE3MC; David Behar K7DB; 
Guillermo Crimerius, PY2BIL; MSN.com; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; 
Space.com; Tom Gaines, KB5FHK; Wireless Institute of Australia; YLRL; and 
you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  We remind 
our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit 
organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish 
to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we 
appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our 
newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For 
now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news 
team worldwide, I'm Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Union Kentucky saying 73. As always 
we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2025. 
All rights reserved.

73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 28-fev-2025 08:00 E. South America Standard Time






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