Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jan 03 2020 11:13 am INDIA PREPARES TO LAUNCH STUDENT-BUILT MINI-SATELLITE JIM/ANCHOR: A group of engineering students in India can be especially proud this year. Their project is about to soar, as we hear from John Williams, VK4JJW. JOHN: Inspired by the world's first satellite Sputnik-1 launched in 1957, a team of Indian engineering students has designed a mini-satellite, preparing it for launch soon with the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation. The 450-gram satellite, named Kesari, will carry a message that hams will be able to hear: It will transmit the words of the Indian national anthem in Morse Code. The anthem was first sung on December 27th, 1911, at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, but was not adopted formally as the national anthem until January 24th, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly of India. According to a report in The Hindu newspaper, the satellite will begin transmitting the anthem once it is in orbit. Equipped with solar panels, Kesari is expected to be able to operate for more than six months. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. ** TROPO CREDITED FOR NEW UHF WORLD RECORD FROM SCOTLAND JIM/ANCHOR: A ham in Scotland is believed to have set a new world record thanks to troposcatter. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has those details. JEREMY: Troposcatter conditions were tops for a couple of ham radio operators who set what they believe to be a new world record. On the 28th of December, Scottish operator Ian White, GM3SEK, made contact with D41CV on the Cape Verde Islands, using FT8 on 432 MHz. At 4,562 kilometres, or more than 2800 miles, this beats the previous tropo record in IARU Region 1, according to the EI7GL Blog. It is also believed to be a new world tropo record for 70 cm. The path for the contact between the two stations was mostly over water, strongly suggesting that marine ducting played a role. Ian's QTH is on the northern edge of the Irish Sea. The blog reports that at the same time, conditions were so exceptional that many stations in Ireland and the UK also made good DX contacts with the Cape Verde Islands station using 144 MHz. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH (EI7GL Blog) ** SILENT KEY: WALTER WENZEL KA2RGI JIM/ANCHOR: An amateur radio operator who was prominent in emergency operations, Skywarn, public service events and Elmering newcomers on Long Island, New York, has become a Silent Key. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, has more about him. KEVIN: By the time Walter Wenzel, KA2RGI, moved to Garner, North Carolina in October of 2017, he had made a name for himself in the Long Island amateur radio community. A life member of the ARRL, he held a variety of posts in the league's New York City/Long Island section, from section manager to assistant emergency coordinator for ARES. After moving to North Carolina, he became part of AUXCOMM. His roles in New York had also included radio officer for the Suffolk County Red Cross Communications Team, as well as for the Town of Babylon, and the County of Suffolk. He was a past race director for the Suffolk County Half Marathon and 5K, which receives major amateur radio support. His work also included being part of local frequency coordination within The Tri-State Amateur Radio Council and MetroCor. A longtime member of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, he served the group a number of times as its president, and also held positions on the executive board, and various committees. Above all, however, he was a teacher and an Elmer. He wrote on his QRZ.com profile page: [quote] "My greatest pleasure in Amateur Radio was handling classes for those trying to obtain their FCC Amateur Radio Licenses. I have always enjoyed instructing persons in the various levels of amateur radio classes." [endquote] Walter Wenzel, who died in late December, was 65. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE. (QRZ.COM, GREAT SOUTH BAY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB) ** IARU GAINS NEW EMCOMM COORDINATOR IN NETHERLANDS JIM/ANCHOR: Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union has a new emergency communications coordinator for the Netherlands. Ed Durrant, DD5LP, has those details. ED: Jan Rozema, PA0NON (P A ZERO N O N), long active in emergency communications work, has become the IARU's emergency communications coordinator for the Netherlands. He has been the National Traffic System traffic handler for the low countries of The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, before taking on this new role. He is a specialist in emergency comms voice and email traffic, using such digital systems as Pactor, Winlink, FL-digi, and those used by the NTS. Jan takes over the post from Wim Visch, PG9W. The role includes the coordination of cross-border emergency communication in and out of the Netherlands. Jan will work closely with the Dutch Amateur Radio Emergency Service, where he is a regional coordinator. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (VERON WEBSITE) --- SBBSecho 3.10-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .