Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jul 23 2020 10:53 pm

MARS INTEROPERABILITY EXERCISE SCALES DOWN

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A scaled-down communication exercise between the amateur
radio community, and members of the Military Auxiliary Radio System, or
MARS, began on Monday, July 20th. It was held in place of the larger
quarterly Department of Defense exercise, because of the COVID-19
pandemic. The drill did, however, have the same purpose -- to sharpen
interactivity between the hams and MARS members. Christian Cudnik, K0STH,
picks up the story from here.

CHRISTIAN: As Amateur Radio Newsline went to production, ham radio
operators and MARS members, were wrapping up an HF Skills Exercise,
that ran from Monday, July 20th, to Friday, July 24th. Army MARS program
manager, Paul English, WD8DBY, told Newsline that tens of thousands of
hams around the country, were instructed to listen to WWVH and WWV, twice
a day, for instructions on monitoring 60 meters. MARS members reached out
on that band, seeking meteorological information, along with various
counties' traffic information, detailed reports about local utilities,
and outages as well as any road closures.

Paul told Newsline that 99 percent of the time, the hams' subsequent
reports to MARS members, were expected to contain simple factual
information, indicating everything was fine. MARS members were also
communicating with hams in the Automatic Link Establishment, and the
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network. He added: [quote] "This
is about practicing skills and procedures, not the information content."
Even under non-emergency conditions, he said, the partnership is
necessary, for MARS to be successful in its mission.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Christian Cudnik, K0STH.

(PAUL ENGLISH WD8DBY)

**

CHANGES FOR ILLINOIS D-STAR NET

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The popular Illinois D-STAR Net is on the move. The
Wednesday night net, which takes place at 9 p.m. Central Time, has
migrated to Reflector 51-D, that's 51 Delta, because of issues with
hotspots on the previous reflector. The change took effect Wednesday,
July 22nd. Reflector 1C, where the Net had previously been, will
remain the home of the KB0ZSG International D-STAR Net, which takes
place on Sundays at 7 p.m. Central Time.
 
(DARYL STOUT WX4QZ)

**

AMSAT LAUNCHES REFLECTOR FOR D-STAR USERS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Speaking of D-STAR, AMSAT now has a reflector available
to hams who enjoy using that mode. Jack Parker, W8ISH, tells us more.

JACK: AMSAT has announced the creation of a new D-STAR Reflector
supporting four different reflector names: XLXSAT, XRFSAT, DCSSAT, and
REFSAT. Hams using hotspots to connect to D-STAR, are advised to refresh
or update their BlueDV or PiStar host files, to see the new entries.
Walter Holmes, K5WH, says that the new D-STAR reflector is not bridged
into the system the way AMSAT's DMR Talk Group and its Yaesu System
Fusion reflectors are. He said bridging was likely after a bit more
testing. AMSAT has had a DMR talkgroup, and a Fusion reflector, for
more than a year, and their success is credited with sparking interest
in adding D-STAR to the system.

The DMR TalkGroup is 98006, and the Fusion YSF Reflector is 11689.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH.

(AMSAT)

**

SIGNAL REPORTING NETWORK EXPANDS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams in Australia are especially proud of their success
in expanding a signal-reporting network in the west. Robert Broomhead,
VK3DN, gives us the details.

ROBERT: In western Australia, the Northern Corridor Radio Group, VK6ANC,
has once again expanded a work-in-progress: the RBN automatic CW HF
signal reporting network. With the help of FISTS Down Under, the hams
have added a new station to the network, to fill a void, and earliest
tests showed it to be successful, as far away as the southeastern part
of Australia. Radio operators in Australia are being encouraged to test
it out on all bands, between 3.5 MHz and 24 MHz, and report back on
their experience. It is expected to be an especially useful tool for
operators in the Summits on the Air programme.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead, VK3DN.

(JOHN VK6NU via FACEBOOK)

**

BREAK HERE:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the K7EFZ repeater,
in Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the end of the Eagle Rock Emergency Practice Net
at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesdays.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2)
 þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com

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