Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (D)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Feb 02 2018 08:00 am

WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, you have only a few days left to contact Dutch
operators Johannes, PA5X, and Gerben, PG5M. They are operating as C8X
and C81G respectively, from Ibo Island off the coast of Mozambique.
The contact counts as AF-061 for the Islands on the Air Award. They
will be on CW, SSB, and FT8 on 80 - 10m. QSL via Club Log OQRS.

Ofcom has issued the special event callsign GB80GGCN to commemorate the
80th anniversary of the launch of HMS Belfast. Be listening for the
RNARS London Group, operating it from the 1st of March, until the 31st
of May. The callsign signifies "GGCN" which was the maritime callsign
of the HMS Belfast, launched in March of 1938. For QSL information,
visit the QRZ page of G-Zero-TOC.  (G0TOC)

Arnaud, JG1XMV, will be operating as FK/JG1XMV, from New Caledonia,
starting February 17th. He will operate from a number of islands in
the IOTA reference group. Arnaud will be operating holiday style on
40, 20, 17, and 15 meters, using SSB. QSL via his home callsign,
direct, LoTW, or eQSL.

Finally, in case you missed a chance to contact any of the WRTC
volunteers who were on the air on the 14th of January, you're getting
a second, and even a third, and fourth chance - if not more. From now
until the WRTC in July, volunteers will be on the air, and making
contacts Fridays from 1700 to 1800 UTC. So, if you are collecting VOTA
numbers for the VOTA awards, listen out for stations calling "CQ VOTA"
across whichever HF bands are open.

(ED DURRANT DD5LP, IRTS)
 
***

KICKER: ASHES TO ASHES, STARDUST TO STARDUST

PAUL/ANCHOR: Finally, before we say goodbye to our listeners this week,
here's a story about a somewhat more unconventional goodbye - one that
involves a launch pad. With that story is Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.

DON'S REPORT: If the old Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song lyrics are
true, and we all are, in fact, stardust, it was only a matter of time
before funerals in space came along. A company called Elysium Space,
which bills itself as a memorial spaceflight business, has plans to
begin sending ashes into space on rideshare missions. It expects it
first launch to be aboard one of the SpaceX rockets of Elon Musk.

The concept isn't totally new. "Star Trek" fans will recall that James
Doohan, who portrayed Enterprise chief engineer Scotty, had his ashes
sent into orbit in 2012, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

But for common folks the ritual hasn't been quite so common. Elysium
Space executives hope to change that, and claims there are already
100 such reservations for its inaugural mission, the Elysium Star II.
It is apparently popular with aerospace fans, and military veterans.
Reservations for the one-way trip start at $2,490.

The Elysium website itself offers a glimpse into its vision, for lunar
and orbital memorials, that have come of age. No longer do aging space
enthusiasts have to wish upon a star.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.

(NEWSWEEK, ELYSIUM SPACE)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; AMSAT; the ARRL; CQ Magazine;
Dayton Daily News; Dayton Hamvention; Elysium Space; Hap Holly and the
Rain Report; Intrepid DX Group; the Irish Radio Transmitters Society;
New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters; Newsweek; Ohio-Penn DX
Bulletin; Richard Bascom, KB4SVP; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted
Randall's QSO Radio Show; Wireless Institute of Australia; WTWW
Shortwave; and you, our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio
Newsline. Please send emails to our address at newsline@arnewsline.org.
More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official
website at www.arnewsline.org.

For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO, in Valparaiso,
Indiana, saying 73, and as always, we thank you for listening.

Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
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