Subj : Newsline Part 2 To : ALL USERS From : DARYL STOUT Date : Fri Feb 12 2016 10:16 am EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AT INDIANA HOSPITAL SKEETER: In one Indiana community, a hospital isn't just helping people respond with an ambulance. Now they'll have radios. Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, explains: PAUL: The newest operating room inside St. Vincent Clay Hospital in Brazil, Indiana will only be used for emergency operations - but no one will need to scrub up before stepping inside. The operating equipment here will consist of two-way radios and other components, and the operations will be conducted by the hams who belong to the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. The hospital-based radio center is being underwritten by a grant of nearly $2,000 from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. Clay County's Emergency Management Director, Bryan Husband, applied for the grant, with the support of the Clay County Commissioners. The volunteers are to provide assistance during natural disasters and extreme weather events. Husband was quoted in a recent article in the Brazil Times as saying that the radio shack would be able to communicate, during these emergencies, with other radio operators outside the county, on behalf of the emergency management office. Seems it's just what the doctor ordered, after all. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun,WD9GCO, in Valparaiso, Indiana. (THE BRAZIL TIMES) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the WR9ARC repeater of the Riverland Amateur Radio Club in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on Sundays. *** WELL-GROUNDED GROUNDHOG SKEETER: Punxsutawney Phil will never be a ham radio operator. He's a groundhog, after all. But then, he doesn't need a license. He has a devoted group of local hams who go on the air for him. Here's that story from Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD. HEATHER'S REPORT: While a certain famous groundhog may have put Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the map, it took a special event station to put Punxsutawney on the air. While weather-watchers everywhere sat tight for the arrival of Tuesday, Feb. 2, when the legendary rodent emerged from his burrow, hams got a jump on things a few days earlier with QSOs celebrating the time-honored tradition that takes place at Gobblers Knob. On Saturday, Jan. 30, six members of the Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club and three of their guests, went deep into their own burrow - in this case, the radio shack at the Punxsutawney Airport. But the hams there did anything but hibernate: The operators of K-3-H-W-J worked busy conditions on three bands; 20, 40 and 2 meters. Club President Steve Waltman, K-B-3-F-P-N told Amateur Radio Newsline that, although lots of activity on the bands made for challenging contacts this year, there were about 100 QSOs by day's end - a respectable number. Waltman said this is a longstanding annual tradition for the club - though clearly the annual gig by Punxsutawney Phil predates this one by a couple of decades, and predates the age of radio itself by two years. Still, as even the groundhog would tell you - assuming you even asked - there's nothing wrong with working in the shadow of a celebrity, especially a weathercaster like Punxsutawney Phil. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD in Berwick, Pennsylvania. ** HAM RADIO MOVIE GETS TV PILOT The hottest thing on TV these days might just turn out to be radio - ham radio, to be exact. Just as TV's "Last Man Standing" has given viewers a sampling of what goes on inside a ham shack, the CW Network has announced it plans a pilot for the 2000 movie, "Frequency," from New Line Cinema. In that sci-fi thriller, the son of a deceased New York City firefighter, makes radio contact with his dad over the father's old ham radio equipment after an aurora borealis alters band conditions across time. The TV pilot recasts things with a new twist. It follows a female detective who uses her ham radio to communicate with her detective father, who'd died 20 years earlier. If all goes well, the producers may end up being more concerned about RSTs than Nielsens. (TVLINE.COM, The CW TELEVISION NETWORK) ** PEOPLE IN THE NEWS We also note some recent changes in the lives of some notable amateurs: Randy Thompson, K5ZD, is stepping down as the director of the CQ WW Contest, and the search is on for his replacement. Thompson has been director since September 2012, taking on the responsibilities of appointing the contest committee and organizing work that involves log-checking, creating the rules and producing the results, Interested candidates should apply by email to questions@cqww.com. Or send related inquiries directly to CQ Amateur Radio's publisher, Dick Ross, K2MGA, at k2mga@cq-amateur-radio.com. Thompson will stay on until he is replaced. ARRL President Emeritus Harry Dannals, W2HD, of Charlottesville, Virginia, was recently honored by the Quarter Century Wireless Association for his 70 years as a ham. The association's chapter in his hometown held a luncheon for him on Feb. 3. Dannals, who is in his late 80s, is the oldest living former president of the ARRL and the only person to have been president of both the ARRL and the Quarter Century Wireless Association, which he served from 1989 to 1994. And finally, Matt Holden, K-ZERO-B-B-C (K0BBC), has been appointed as the ARRL's Dakota Division Vice Director as of Feb. 4. The Minnesota resident, an ARRL Life Member, succeeds Kent Olson, K-A-ZERO-L-D-G (KA0LDG). Among his other many amateur radio activities, Holden is ARES Emergency Coordinator for the City of Bloomington and a Minnesota Section Public Information Officer. He will serve out the remaining term of the current office, which concludes on Jan. 1, 2017. (ARRL) ** ANTIQUE WIRELESS IN ACTION It's all over but the counting! The Antique Wireless Association of Southern Africa, Z-S-ZERO-A-W-A (ZS0AWA) is giving participants in its recent CW Activity Day, held on Feb. 7, until Tuesday, March 1, to submit their logs, either by email or postal service. Certificates will be sent to those who are in first, second and third place, and to the amateur with the highest single band score. Email logs to andy.cairns@xsinet.co.za or mail to the association at Post Office Box 12320, Benoryn, 1504. (SOUTHGATE) --- BgNet 1.0a12 - The Thunderbolt BBS wx1der.dyndns.org Little Rock, AR .