Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (D
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 28 2018 11:14 am

WORKED ALL BRITAIN GROUP NOW WORKS A HALF-CENTURY CELEBRATION

JIM/ANCHOR: How do you mark 50 years of giving out awards? By giving out
more awards! Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, explains.

JEREMY: When you make it to the half-century mark, that's cause for
celebration - and that's why the Worked All Britain Awards Group is
introducing three new awards that will be available only in 2019. They
are known as the Golden Squares Award, the 50th Anniversary Award, and
the Fifty Squares Awards.

The celebration will commence on the 1st of January, with special event
station GB50WAB. The station will begin a year-long operation, with a
two-week activation from Square C62 in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile,
GB9WAB will operate for the month of January from Square SK51 in
Leicestershire. GB50WAB will continue its operation until the end of the
year from various locations, and there will be other regional special
event stations. Designations of C62 and SK51 represent "Worked All Britain"
squares, which are 10 kilometres by 10 kilometres in size. QSL cards are
not required for awards.

Meanwhile, the Worked All Britain Christmas Party, which began on the
26th of December, will conclude on the 6th of January. The party is
taking place on the HF and VHF bands.

For more details about either event, visit the Worked All Britain website
at worked dash all dash Britain dot org dot uk (worked-all-britain.org.uk)

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(RSGB, WORKED ALL BRITAIN)

**

And now a shout-out for one of our own: Ed Durrant, DD5LP, who proofreads
most of the pieces contained in the ARNewsline broadcast, as well as
reading the occasional news item, has been acknowledged for his work in
the Summits On The Air award scheme, being given the SOTA Sherpa Award
for 2018. Ed tells us that he got involved in SOTA about 7 years ago when
he was still living in Australia, and was one of a team mapping out
summits in the, then new, VK2 SOTA association. Along with activating
from hill and mountain tops, Ed also chases from his home in Southern
Bavaria.

He told us that, when moving back to Germany from Australia, one of the
things in his airline baggage was his SOTA equipment, so that he could
get on the air as soon as possible, and make contacts with European Hams,
and those friends back in "Oz" as well.

We wish Ed continuing success in SOTA. Ed's blog can be found at DD5LP
(dot) com.

**

KICKER: SPECIAL EVENT "FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US"

JIM/ANCHOR: Finally, as we wrap up this festive season with all its
special event stations, Newsline reminds you that there's still a
chance to work one more station - callsign N1F - created to mark the
holiday of Festivus. What *is* Festivus, you ask? Well, it's a holiday
of sorts that originated on the American TV sitcom "Seinfeld" in 1997.
Festivus symbolizes, among other things, the anti-commercialism of the
season. Tom Alessi, K1TA, who is president of the Greater Norwalk Amateur
Radio Club in Connecticut, told Newsline that he discovered four years
ago that club members loved the idea of operating a station that honored
the holiday known for its slogan "Festivus for the Rest of Us."  That's
how N1F came to be born. N1F's devoted practitioners operate from shacks
in Connecticut, all the way south to Florida, from December 22nd through
January the 3rd. Listen for them calling QR Zed on 75 through 20 meters,
on SSB, CW, and FT8. The traditions of Festivus, as per the "Seinfeld"
show, include the airing of grievances, the display of feats of strength,
and the decoration of a simple alumimum Festivus pole - although in this
case, the airing of callsigns, and the decorating of a dipole will do.

Yes, Festivus cards will be sent - in this case, they are QSL cards. Tom
says the station logs about 800 QSOs each year. If you want to be among
them, visit the QR Zed dot com page for N1F and - let's keep the "festive"
in Festivus!

(TOM ALESSI K1TA)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE:

With thanks to Alan Labs; Amateur News Weekly; the ARRL; CQ Magazine;
Gizmodo; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; IARU; Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin;
JOTA/JOTI Scouts Australia; Lloyd Colston KC5FM; QRZ.COM; Radio Society
of Great Britain; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO Radio
Show; Telengana Today; Tom Alessi K1TA; Wireless Institute of Australia;
Worked All Britain; 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 Jim Damron, N8TMW, in Charleston,
West Virginia, saying 73... and Happy New Year!

As always, we thank you for listening.

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