Subj : Newsline Part 2 To : ALL USERS From : DARYL STOUT Date : Fri Dec 18 2015 04:46 am QUARTZFEST BRINGS A DESERT TO LIFE The gathering bills itself as the ultimate in "hands-on for hams." And, it's taking place in the middle of nowhere....well, almost. It's the annual Quartzfest meetup just outside Quartzsite, Arizona. From Jan. 17 through 23. Quartzfest brings life, activity and good QSOs to a remote publicly owned campsite in the Sonoran desert. In addition to giving attendees a chance to preview the latest advances in radio technology, organizers of this free specialty convention will also be conducting classes in radio theory, and other ham-related interests. With star-gazing, cooking classes, campfires and children's programs listed as some of the many other non-radioactivities, Quartzfest is not the typical hamfest. It grew out of years of informal meetings that began in 1995 among ham radio operators who were also RV enthusiasts. And then, it just grew from there. The hands-on classes are part of the educational focus at Quartzfest, and workshops include everything from global positioning, to portable antennas, to PSK. Visit the website, quartzfest.org to see the complete program schedule. (QUARTZFEST.ORG) ** KOSOVO AMATEURS JOIN IARU Hopes were on-again, off-again, on-again for quite some time among radio amateurs in Kosovo, but the wait is over: It's on-again! The Kosovo Amateur Radio Association, also known by the initials SHRAK, is now part of the International Amateur Radio Union, following a second vote by its member societies. Kosovo, formerly known as Yugoslavia, had been a candidate for membership as early as 2014, but failed to gain admission after the sufficient number of votes did not materialize before balloting deadline. The IARU's Region 1 then requested a revote, which has since taken place, admitting the nation into the union. Meanwhile, the Kosovo amateurs will be on the air through the end of this year as Special Event Station Z60IARU, commemorating the International Amateur Radio Union's 90th anniversary -- and they'll be doing it as as an official member of the union, at long last. (ARRL) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including WB3GXW, the Laurel Amateur Radio Club, in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. ** ECHOLINK UPDATE If you're among the Newsline rebroadcasters offering this newscast on your nets via EchoProducer, we're aware you've had struggles with audio and other technical issues. We've been working on it, too, because we'd like to get things resolved. Well, thanks to some insights from longtime friend Kevin Duplantis, W4KEV, a broadcast engineer in Knoxville, Tennessee, we may, at last, have a solution. The issues may have been the result of EchoProducer pointing to the wrong directory on our Newsline website. So if you are using EchoProducer to share our report, please visit the Amateur Radio Newsline website where you'll find the correct URL for your system. Kevin reports that it is working for him - and so it should work, as well for you. A big thanks to Kevin, W4KEV, for his hard work, as well as another Kevin - Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, our web guru, who posts the audio files to our website so they're available for downloading and podcast use. Everyone here at Amateur Radio Newsline thanks you for your patience as we have sorted things out. http://www.arnewsline.org/storage/audio/news.mp3 ** KEYING IN ON FOR ROOKIE ROUNDUP Think of it as Straight Talk for Straight Keys: The ARRL's Rookie Roundup will be held Sunday, Dec. 20, and everyone who wants to get their Code in shape - or perhaps up to a greater speed - is encouraged to jump in. Anyone licensed for three years or less qualifies as a Rookie, and can get on the air calling CQ RR. More seasoned amateurs are encouraged to call CQ R, for CQ-Rookies, and go in search of newcomers. The ARRL is also hoping that veteran operators will let new amateurs give CW a try at their stations, or perhaps assemble a group of newbies at their shack for a multi-op. Practice now - Straight Key Night is coming too, on New Year's Eve. (ARRL) ** PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: ALEX SHOVKOPLYAS Speaking of Morse Code, Radio Amateurs of Canada has presented its Amateur of the Year award to Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA, the developer of the free software program known as CW Skimmer. According to various reports, the honor is being given to the Ontario resident for QUOTE "outstanding and consistent contribution to the welfare of amateur radio" ENDQUOTE Although various news reports list the honor as being given this past fall, there is no official statement, or press release, on the Radio Amateurs of Canada website. The award is being given for the year 2014. CW Skimmer is a contesting tool that interprets call signs sent in CW over a wide receiver bandwidth, and also identifies waterfall traces by call sign. Once extracted, the call signs can be exported for DX spotting. (ARRL) --- BgNet 1.0a12 - The Thunderbolt BBS wx1der.dyndns.org Little Rock, AR .