In Brief: Scout Sets up Ham Station in Florida Firehouse, plus News Shorts from All Over
07/09/2014
- Scout Sets Up Firehouse Ham Station for Back-Up Communication: Florida TV station Bay News 9 has reported that an Eagle Scout project turned into an “Everyday Hero” nomination for a Pinellas County teenager. According to Bay News 9, Parker Mitchell, KI4YAV, of Clearwater, Florida, the 18-year-old ham decided to create a backup communications system for a Palm Harbor fire station. “I decided since we have so many hurricanes in Florida, emergency communications would be a really good thing to do it on,” Parker said. Parker got donations for the $4000 worth of necessary equipment and built the station. He also recruited a volunteer to climb the station’s tower to install the antenna. Fire Chief Craig Maciuba said the project provides firefighters with an additional communication route to the county emergency operations center and to other hams, should the 911 system fail. Parker also held licensing courses for the firefighters, and all passed the test. — Thanks to Todd Hockert, KC0MPD/Bay News 9
- OSCAR Numbers Assigned for CubeSats QB50p1 and QB50p2: AMSAT OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO, has announced the assignment of OSCAR numbers for the QB50p1 and QB50p2 CubeSats. Tynan said he’s designated QB50p1 as European OSCAR 79 (EO-79) and QB50p2 as European OSCAR 80 (EO-80). — AMSAT News Service
- ARRL 2013 Bill Leonard Award “Audio” Category Plaque Presented: Jim Rash, a talk show host at WGMD-FM in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, won the ARRL 2013 Bill Leonard Award in the “Audio” category. The award honors professional journalists who report on Amateur Radio in the mainstream media in an especially positive way. Rash was cited for his November 2013 interview with Delaware Section Emergency Coordinator and Volunteer Examiner Bill Duveneck, KB3KYH, about an upcoming ham radio class and how Amateur Radio serves the community. Winners receive an award plaque from ARRL, along with a $250 donation made in their name to a charity of their choice. The ARRL Bill Leonard Award was created in 1999 as a tribute to Bill Leonard, W2SKE, an avid Amateur Radio operator who was a longtime employee of CBS as a reporter, manager and ultimately President of CBS News. He died in 1994 and was posthumously inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.
- Massachusetts House Congratulates ARRL on its 100th Anniversary: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ House of Representatives has extended its congratulations to the ARRL in recognition of the League’s centennial. It also recognized the ARRL-affiliated Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association, “for providing service and education to the Cape Ann Community.” “The entire membership extends the very best wishes and expresses the hope for future good fortune and continued success in all endeavors,” the June 28 House resolution said.
- West Coast DX Bulletin Archive Now Available: The original West Coast DX Bulletin by Hugh Cassidy, WA6AUD, is now available, from the first issue up to and including the last issue, which was published in 1979. The West Coast DX Bulletin was originally mailed weekly to all subscribers, in the pre-Internet and pre-desktop publishing era. When Cassidy decided to stop publishing the bulletin, he shipped his entire collection to Paul, Dunphy, VE1DX, for safekeeping. Dunphy recently shipped the entire collection back to the West Coast, where the Northern California DX Club scanned every issue and made it available on the Internet. The collection ultimately will be moved to its permanent home in the W6CF Memorial Library at the California Historical Radio Society in Alameda. — Thanks to The Daily DX
- 4U1UN Beacon is Back on the Air: After more than four years, the NCDXF-IARU beacon at 4U1UN has resumed transmitting. The beacon was deactivated during the UN Headquarters building renovation. It was restored to operation on June 18.
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