Subj : Newsline Part 1 To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jan 20 2017 07:03 pm Amateur Radio Newsline Report #2047 for Friday, January 20th, 2017 *** CLOSED CIRCUIT ADVISORY **** The following is a closed circuit advisory, and not for broadcast. Newscast #2047 is an expanded edition of Amateur Radio Newsline, containing a tribute to Charlie Emerson, N4OKL, of the Huntsville Hamfest, who has become a Silent Key. This newscast has three segments, and there are two breaks for identification. And now, here's this week's anchor, Jim Damron N8TMW. ** Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2047, with a release date of Friday, January 20, 2017, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Congress gets a new Amateur Radio Parity Act. There are new efforts to save an imperiled New York repeater -- and we devote a special segment to Huntsville's Charlie Emerson N4OKL, Silent Key. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2047, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** BREAKING NEWS: DISCUSSIONS ATTEMPT TO SAVE LONG ISLAND REPEATER JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a late development on the fate of an imperiled Long Island, New York repeater. Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, has an update. PAUL: A dialogue has begun between Delaware North, the new owner of the hotel that is home to 2 Long Island repeaters, and John Melfi, W2HCB, the emergency coordinator for the nearby suburban Town of Babylon. Both sides are hoping to resolve the issue, and prevent the repeaters' eviction. The parties are now in the process of drafting a memorandum of understanding, in the hopes of keeping the threatened repeaters where they are. Nothing has been resolved yet, however, and we continue to follow this story. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO. ** U.S. HOUSE GETS AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT JIM/ANCHOR: There's also big news on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers on Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill are calling it H.R. 555, but hams also know it as the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The measure was reintroduced on Friday, Jan. 13 into the 115th Congress, where it is sponsored by Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican. His cosponsors are Congressman Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, and Congressman Greg Walden W7EQI, a Republican from Oregon. Walden is also chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where the new bill is headed. It will first get consideration in the subcommittee on Communications and Technology. The act directs the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit the application of deed restrictions that ban amateur radio operations. Hams are hoping Walden's outspoken support of the bill's previous version will help it gain traction again. ** HISTORIC SHORTWAVE SITE TO BE CLEARED JIM/ANCHOR: On a marshy section of New Jersey coastline known as Good Luck Point, the final bits of radio history are about to disappear. We hear more from Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. NEIL: Luck has finally run out for the coastal New Jersey site, Good Luck Point. It was home to Ocean Gate radio, the Atlantic coast hub for the high seas shortwave service of American Telephone and Telegraph. The service provided phone communications to ships at sea, and used the call sign WOO. Now, the federal government wants the site cleared. Beginning in the early 1930s, it was home to a transmitter station providing vital links between the shore and U.S. ships. Its operation allowed mariners to make telephone calls simply by contacting the AT&T marine operator. This was, of course, right up to the dawn of cellular phone service. The transmitter worked with a receiver about 15 miles south on the salt marsh, and both were also part of AT&T's national "long lines" system. The stations provided single-sideband radiotelephone service until AT&T halted that practice in 1999. The New Jersey sites eventually were abandoned, and Good Luck Point was bought in 2003 by a nonprofit trust for donation to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge, which suffered major damage during superstorm Sandy in 2012, is now being cleaned up and cleared out. That cleanup includes 500 antennas and poles. Some poles, however, will remain on long after evidence of radio activity is gone: They'll be used as platforms to support nests for osprey, which are federally protected. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. (WORKBOAT.COM) ** PORT ELIZABETH CONTEST A 44-HOUR RADIO FEST JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in the Republic of South Africa are focusing attention on the VHF and UHF bands -- and maybe a little camping out too. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Jason Daniels, VK2LAW. JASON: Think of it as 44 hours of making long-distance contacts, setting records, and following changes in propagation on the VHF and UHF bands. It's the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society's annual VHF and UHF contest, where the ultimate goal is to stimulate activity on these bands, whether in digital or analogue mode. Because both 22-hour sessions are designed to reflect changing propagation, operators are advised to watch for Tropo Ducting or Meteor Scatter in the mornings or at night, on 2 meters and 6 meters, and to be mindful of Aircraft scatter, Sporadic-E, and Rover stations during the day. The competition heats up on Friday, Jan. 20th, and ends on Sunday, Jan. 22nd. According to the Port Elizabeth organizers, the contest is also a great opportunity to do some camping, and set up field stations. If you are a licensed amateur in the Republic of South Africa, or any neighboring states, this competition is for you. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW. (PORT ELIZABETH AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY) Posted by VPost v1.7.081019 .