Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Oct 20 2017 09:12 am UK REPEATER GROUP SHUTTING DOWN NETWORK CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: In the UK, one repeater group is calling it quits, and Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, tells us why. JEREMY: The decision to close down a repeater is never taken lightly, so when the South Yorkshire Repeater Group elected recently to close the seven repeaters in its network, the move was unprecedented. The group's announcement, which was also made on its Facebook page, said that it was simply unable to continue service at the level it has maintained for a number of years. The seven stations to cease operations include four D-Star repeaters, one Fusion repeater, and two analog voice repeaters. In making its decision, the group said it hoped that interested parties might have the time or funding to take over operation of one or more of the repeaters, and encouraged them to write them at comms at southyyorkshirerepeatergroup dot co dot uk (comms@southyorkshirerepeatergroup.co.uk) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (SOUTH YORKSHIRE REPEATER GROUP) ** AT LAST, JAMBOREE ON THE AIR CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The worldwide event Scouts have been waiting for, just lit up the calendar, between Friday, October 20th, and Sunday, October 22nd. Here's Bill Stearns, NE4RD. BILL'S REPORT: This week in radio scouting, is all about this weekend on the air, and on the internet. Jamboree on the Air starts Friday, October 20th, and goes through Sunday, October 22nd. Over 3,300 stations from all over the world, will be getting scouts on the air. This event will go throughout the weekend, so expect a lot of young voices making their way to your station, while tuning around the scouting frequencies. In addition to voice traffic, expect a lot of these scouts to experience the various digital modes, that amateur radio provides. Since we're mentioning digital modes, we did have one concern reported about the new FT8 frequency on 17 meters, overlapping the existing PSK31 frequency on that band. Remember, that these are suggested frequencies, so feel free to tune the dial a little bit, to give yourself some separation on that band. In addition to K2BSA being on the air in all the call districts, we're hearing from our neighbors overseas about their operations. VK3CUB from Australia, will be on the air with the Bendigo District Scouts in Longlea, Victoria. SCOUT and SCOUTJAM from Sweden will be on the air, with the RadioScouts of Stockholm. ST60JOTA will be on the air from Sudan with the Sudan Technological Scouts. What a great opportunity to connect with youth all over the world, using Amateur Radio. The internet will also be busy with scouts on October 21st, for Jamboree on the Internet. Scouts will be busy chatting with other scouts through IRC, Skype, Teamspeak, and other modes of internet-based communications. If you haven't registered your station yet, head over to our website, and follow the instructions for station registration like the other 437 stations in the U.S. have done. For more information on JOTA, and Radio Scouting, visit our website at www.k2bsa.net. For Amateur Radio Newsline, and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD. ** VIRGINIA AMATEUR CONFIRMED FOR DEFENSE POST CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: David Trachtenberg, N4WWL, an active member of the Pentagon Amateur Radio Club, has been confirmed by the Senate for a position in the Department of Defense. The 60-year-old radio amateur has served in other posts within the department, and in his new post will be principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for Policy. David lives in Burke, Virginia, and is president and CEO of the national security consulting company based there, Shortwaver Consulting, LLC. He is also Northeast Division Director, and national planning coordinator for the U.S. Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio System. (ARRL) ** CHINESE SPACE LAB ON CRASH COURSE WITH EARTH CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Look out below! Well, maybe. China's space laboratory is headed toward Earth, as we hear from Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. JIM: The Chinese space laboratory Tiangong 1, launched in 2011, is on a crash course with Earth, according to a Harvard astrophysicist, Jonathan McDowell. He said he expects that the decay in the space station's orbit to bring it back to earth later this year, or perhaps in early 2018. Communications was lost with the spacecraft last year, and by all accounts, there is apparently no way to halt the crash landing. At the time of its launch, the Chinese had hopes that Tiangong 1 would serve as a symbol of that nation's abilities in space, and solidify its status there as a superpower. The Chinese space agency used the spacecraft for a variety of missions, some of them manned, and had referred to space lab as the "Heavenly Palace." One of the scientists to work aboard the space lab was, Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut. She was on board in 2012. The spacecraft is expected to break up upon entering the atmosphere, with some of the resulting debris weighing as much as 100 kilograms or 220 pounds. The Chinese have assured the United Nations that there is only a remote chance that anyone will be harmed by the debris. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (THE INDEPENDENT) --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .