Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri May 24 2019 03:17 am FORTIFY YOUR EFFORTS FOR CASTLES ON THE AIR NEIL/ANCHOR: Feeling like your on-air activities need a little fortification? This 10-year-old event might be for you. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, has the details. ED: This year, the World Castles Award programme hits its 10-year mark, since its founding in 2009 by a group of amateur radio operators in Russia. The castles the activity celebrates, however, are so much older than that. Consider Fortress Calamita, an ancient edifice existing now only as ruins in Crimea. Or picture Castello di Montisi di San Giovanni in Italy. There are also the many German castles that are part of the annual German Castles Day amateur radio program that took place on the 1st of May. All of these castles, and others, are part of the worldwide activity that launches on the 1st of June, and runs through to the 30th with hams operating from fortresses, castles, and other fortifications. The program was created by the RZ1CWC Radioclub. So even if your shack isn't your castle, you can operate from one anyway, and become one of this year's award winners. For more details visit wcagroup dot org (wcagroup.org). For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. ** NEW RESOURCES FOR HAMS IN DUNDALK, IRELAND NEIL/ANCHOR: The bookshelves inside the shack of one amateur radio group in Ireland just got a whole lot busier, as we hear from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. JEREMY: There's a new collection at the headquarters of the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society, EI7DAR. It doesn't comprise dozens of additional QSL cards, or even radios of every shape and size: it's a generously sized library, designed to assist hams at all levels of proficiency. As the club reports on the Irish Radio Transmitter Society website, the lending library of manuals, journals, magazines, and books, was assembled thanks to donations from club members. The reference material contains volumes that are useful to those just starting out in the hobby, but there is also reading material to assist more seasoned hams with decades of expertise. The collection is housed at the club facilities at Marconi House in County Louth. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (IRTS) ** TASMANIAN PARKS GET WITH THE PROGRAM NEIL/ANCHOR: Tasmania doesn't just have pride in its public parks -- it has a few dozen more parks for hams to activate as part of a popular worldwide programme, as we hear from Robert Broomhead, VK3DN. ROBERT: The list of parks that can be activated under the World Wide Flora and Fauna Program, keeps growing throughout Australia, just like all the flora and fauna thriving in each of the country's six states, and two territories. Tasmania has just added 43 more parks to this popular program, raising the total possible parks for activation there to 142. Three types of VKFF awards are presented under this program: They are given to qualifying activators operating portable within the official sites throughout Australia, to hunters who make successful contacts with them, and to shortwave listeners who put the activators in their log. Australia has more than 680 national parks, and because it is isolated geographically, much of its flora and fauna is unique from those found elsewhere in the world. That makes for plenty of good listening on the radio too. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead, VK3DN. ** DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR IARU YOUTH CONTEST PROGRAM NEIL/ANCHOR: If you are 26 or younger, and live in IARU Region 1, there's still time to apply for a big contesting program, taking place from Spain. Here's Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, with details. JEREMY: Saturday, the 15th of June, is the deadline for young amateurs who want to be a part of the IARU's Youth Contesting Program at EC2DX in Spain. If you are younger than 26, and belong to an IARU member society in Region 1, you can apply to be part of the weekend activities on June 22nd and 23rd. Hams will learn how to operate the contest station, while sharpening their skills. Participants don't need to be seasoned contesters - in fact, many are often first-timers when it comes to working a so-called "big gun" station. Although participants must fund their own travel to the location, all other costs are paid for. Member societies have been asked to select candidates for the contest. More information can be found at ham hyphen yota dot com (ham-yota.com) For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (YOUNGSTERS ON THE AIR) --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32 * Origin: RadioWxNet: The Thunderbolt BBS tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .