Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Feb 01 2019 09:24 am Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2153, for Friday, February 1, 2019 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2153, with a release date of Friday, February 1st, 2019, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. The FCC is back in business. The 22nd annual Quartzfest sets a new record -- and there's a new way to win awards for contacting U.S. islands. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2153, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** FCC RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER PARTIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week's report with word that the FCC's doors are open again in Washington, D.C. - at least for the next three weeks -- following the end of the recent partial shutdown of the U.S. government. The agency was among those to resume operations on Monday, the 28th of January. During that time, the processing of amateur radio license exams had been stalled. The FCC had cautioned Volunteer Examiners at the time of the shutdown that it would need time to get its systems running properly again, including its Universal Licensing System, before processing could resume. A press release from the agency also noted that any filings that were due between January 3 and January 7, were stil due on Wednesday the 30th of January, but any filings that were due between January 8 and February 7, would now have that deadline extended to February 8. Meanwhile, the FCC also noted on Twitter on Wednesday, January 30th, that the commission was back to having a full bench, following the swearing-in of its newest commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The FCC's five commissioners then got down to the business of their first Open Meeting of the year. Starks, who had been assistant bureau chief in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, immediately launched a Twitter account, where he posted his first video about his new job, and shared his goals and hopes. ** ARIZONA'S QUARTZFEST SETS NEW RECORD PAUL/ANCHOR: If you weren't in Arizona this year at the 22nd annual Quartzfest, you missed a chance to set a record - and you missed a whole lot more, as we hear from Andy Morrison, K9AWM. ANDY: This year's Quartzfest was a record-setter. The 22nd annual gathering had a total of 1,043 attendees, beating last year's record by 191, according to organizer Kristyn Weed, KR1SS. The camping and educational extravaganza kicked off on the 20th of January, in Arizona's Sonoran desert, creating an off-the-grid community of hams and ham friends for one week. There were pot luck dinners, giveaways, seminars, previews of new products, workshops, campfires, and special event station W7Q. That station made more than 500 contacts by the time the week was through. To top it off, Mother Nature offered a total lunar eclipse on Sunday, January 20th, and the Desert Amateur Radio Network offered an on-air discussion about the phenomenon. So how devoted are Quartzfest attendees anyway? So much so, said Kris, that one ham actually traveled west to this RV campground, all the way from Maine. Later, a number of happy campers posted on social media that they were already thinking of ordering T-shirts for Quartzfest 2020. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison, K9AWM. ** 'PERTH TECH' RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA FOR 2ND YEAR PAUL/ANCHOR: In Western Australia, a popular day devoted to ham radio seminars is returning for its second year. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, tells us about "PerthTech." JASON: Last week, we told you about the upcoming Wyong Field Day on the East Coast of Australia, but a mere 3,500 km or 2000 miles to the West, the Western Australian Amateur Radio News group is putting on the second "PerthTech" on Saturday, the second of March, in the Bassendean Community Centre, in the Eastern Suburbs of Perth. This is one full day of seminars on amateur radio-related topics, followed by a communal dinner, and a raffle. The organisers are looking forward to hosting an audience of around one hundred. In addition to locals, presenters are coming from VK7 and VK3 and the USA. The Western Australian Amateur Radio News group records, and puts to air every Sunday, a thirty minute Amateur Radio news program relevant to VK6. Entry to PerthTech is free, with the cost of the event being covered with the proceeds of a raffle, with the main prize an SDR transceiver valued at over four thousand dollars. Details of Perthtech can be found at www (dot) VK6 (not) NET For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW. --- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32 * Origin: RadioWxNet: The Thunderbolt BBS tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .