Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jun 19 2020 08:52 am IRELAND GETS NEW NATIONAL RADIO SOCIETY NEIL/ANCHOR: A second national organization has been created in Ireland to help represent the interests and concerns of hams there. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, tells us about it. JEREMY: The Republic of Ireland has a new national nonprofit organisation representing hams, shortwave enthusiasts, and wireless experimenters. The group, the National Radio Society of Ireland, was founded this year, and has also become a member association of EURAO, the European Radio Amateurs' Organization. To further serve its amateur radio membership, the organisation also maintains a national/Irish QSL bureau. The National Radio Society of Ireland has opened its membership to anyone who either lives fulltime in Ireland, or has spent at least two months there as a visitor, and has an interest in amateur radio communications. The society has tutors operating at 10 training centers across the country, but also provides online training - especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is being done through a newly established networking portal called MyHam, which most recently has listed activities, and events that are part of the public safety STAYHOME campaign, and its related radio activities. The new group arrives on the amateur radio scene in Ireland, where the Irish Radio Transmitters Society was established in 1932. The IRTS represents Ireland in the International Amateur Radio Union as one of 160 organisations representing ham radio interests and concerns worldwide. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (NRSI) ** REWARDS FOR GOOD OPERATING BEHAVIOR NEIL/ANCHOR: Formal notices recently went out to a number of hams concerning their operating behavior on the air. Believe it or not, these notices weren't just welcome - they were appreciated. Jim Damron, N8TMW, has that report. JIM: The notifications are called Good Operator Notices, and they're part of the Volunteer Monitor Program established by an agreement between the FCC, and the ARRL in the United States. The purpose? To acknowledge hams for exemplary on-air conduct, and to encourage further compliance with FCC rules. Those notices went out recently to 17 operators in 15 states, according to program coordinator Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH. The notifications were sent out after a lot of listening in May: a total of 2,035 hours of monitoring on HF and 2,856 hours on VHF/UHF, and other frequencies. Recipients included a 13-year-old in North Carolina, for CW operation during a Youth on the Air Special Event, and a 14-year-old in Wyoming, who was operating on SSB. Newcomers and veteran hams alike were recipients, Riley said. One operator in Pennsylvania, received a notice for having established, and run a 2-meter COVID-19 net on a repeater there. According to Riley, Volunteer Monitors are trained to look for the good operators, as well as those whose on-air behavior requires a report to the FCC. The monitors have been keeping an ear to the bands, since February 1st, when the program had its "soft rollout" and is now fully operational. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Damron, N8TMW. (ARRL) ** DREAMS OF A SUMMER HAM CAMP DOWN UNDER NEIL/ANCHOR: Young hams in Australia and New Zealand may be getting a different way to spend their summers soon. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has been following this development. JIM: The organisation is called Youngsters On The Air Oceania, and it's something of a youngster itself, having only come into being in late May of this year. Its members, however, can surely relate: they are the youngest ham radio operators in New Zealand and Australia, and they share a youthful devotion to radio operating, and all it entails, from antenna-building, to participating in nets. Benjamin Isaacs, ZL2BCI, told Newsline he has created the group to fill a gap in services and mentoring for this next generation of hams -- a safe place to ask technical questions, or any questions at all relating to ham radio. Benjamin is also hopeful that by next summer, there might be a YOTA Oceania camp possibly held in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, or Auckland. He told Newsline that in its short lifetime, YOTA Oceania has already attracted more than 80 members. The group also needs adults who can offer skills, contacts and experience. Look for updates on the group's Facebook page and, of course, here on Newsline, where we will be reporting important developments as YOTA Oceania grows and matures. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .