Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Aug 10 2017 11:51 pm BREAK HERE Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including W5NWA/R, a DMR repeater in Harrison, Arkansas, on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. local time. ** JOHNSON SPACE CENTER HAMS LAUNCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Few things are more exciting than space - except, of course for ham radio. Combine the two, add in a 50th anniversary, and you have the makings of a special event station at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, spoke to the club's spokesman about this year's big event. PAUL'S REPORT: Everybody loves a good special-event station. And, a lot of us love all things related to space exploration and the Space Program. Coming up in mid-October, both of those things come together as the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club celebrates its 50th anniversary. I spoke with club spokesman Ken Goodwin, K5RG, about the club's plans for the weekend: GOODWIN: In conjunction with our 50th year, we're going to have a special event station, using our club call, W5RRR, which will be operating the weekend of October 13th, 14th and 15th. We'll have the station on air, with a number of dignitaries and club members, and we've gotten support from the astronaut office - nowadays most of the astronauts have their amateur radio license in support of amateur radio onboard the International Space Station, the ARISS project. So, we'll have the center director, who is also an amateur licensee, and come out and just have contacts during that weekend. PAUL: I mentioned to Goodwin that I was definitely going to try for a contact, because I wanted their QSL card, and Goodwin told me: GOODWIN: That's generally why we chose not to apply for a special call - we get lots of business with the station's call, being associated with the Space Program, which we've actively supported since 1967. PAUL: The club is planning to work the General portions of 80 through 10 meters on all three days. The club has three HF stations, and a satellite station in a building, supplied by the Johnson Space Center. Details will be published in QST prior to the event, and you can follow them on the club's website, www.W5RRR.org. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping that by the end of that weekend, I'll be able to say, "Houston, we've got a contact!" For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO. ** VIGILANT GUARD TESTS EMERGENCY READINESS CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Emergency response teams mobilized recently for an important drill in the region around Altus, Oklahoma. Mike Askins, KE5CXP, tells us how things went. MIKE's REPORT: The exercise was called Vigilant Guard. It was a Federal Emergency Management Agency test of how to best manage emergency radio response in the region surrounding Altus, Oklahoma. The exercise, which took place between August third and sixth, went well, according to Lloyd Colston, KC5FM, Altus Emergency Management Director. Radio operators used remotes, WEBSDR receivers, and other equipment through the region in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and points beyond. Lloyd said the drill helped fine-tune emergency response access to offices at the state and federal levels, a necessary ingredient for effective communications management, in the case of an earthquake, or other disaster. Citizens who were not radio operators even got to listen in, too, using the broadcastify website. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP. (LLOYD COLSTON, KC5FM) ** SENATE CONFIRMS FCC NOMINEES CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The Senate has confirmed two commissioners to fill the empty seats on the FCC. One of them is a returnee. With that story, here's Stephen Kinford, N8WB. STEPHEN: Former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, is returning to the commission, and Republican Brendan Carr, the FCC's general counsel, is joining the panel, following the two presidential nominees' confirmation by the Senate this month. The FCC now comprises two Democrats, and three Republicans, filling the panel's two longstanding vacancies. Jessica Rosenworcel's previous five-year term ended in late 2016, when the Senate did not act on her renomination by then-President Barack OBama. The two join Republican Michael O'Rielly, and Democrat Mignon Clyburn, as well as Chairman Ajit Pai (PIE), in Washington. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB. (REUTERS) --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .