Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Aug 18 2017 09:05 am Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077 for Friday, August 18, 2017 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2077, with a release date of Friday, August 18, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Disappointing news for shortwave fans in Australia. A special plea for QSL cards for a very ill youngster in Michigan -- and we meet a ham with a VERY high-flying antenna! All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2077, comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** NO REVIVAL OF AUSTRALIAN SHORTWAVE NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story comes from Australia. For awhile, hope was still alive for some radio listeners after the Australia Broadcasting Corporation pulled the plug on its shortwave service. Not anymore, however. With that update, here's John Williams, VK4JJW. JOHN'S REPORT: There will be no restoration of shortwave service for the Australia Broadcasting Corporation. The Australian senate has voted down a measure that would have put the transmissions back on the air. South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon was among those who fought for Radio Australia to go back on the air, following its termination in January. He called the shutdown a foreign policy failure, noting that a number of Pacific Island communities in remote areas, such as the Solomon Islands and Papua, New Guinea, relied on it. The transmissions covered remote parts of northern Australia as well. At the time the service termination was announced, the ABC declared shortwave to be outdated, and indicated its closure would save $1.9 million which could be better spent on additional content and services to customers. It said it would reinvest that sum by expanding audience content and services. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. (RADIO NEW ZEALAND) ** BACK TO DAYTON: THIS TIME FOR THE AIR FORCE NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you need another reason to go back to Dayton so soon after Hamvention? Well, there's a big event happening in September at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and volunteer hams are needed. We hear more about it from Phil Thomas, W8RMJ, who shares this report courtesy of Amateur News Weekly. PHIL THOMAS: The U.S. Air Force Marathon is rapidly approaching. Approximately 65 radio operators will be needed to support the marathon on Saturday Sept. 16, at Dayton Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This world class event has over 25 thousand participants, volunteers and spectators in attendance each year. This will also be the 70th anniversary for the U.S. Air Force, which was formed on Sept. 18, 1947. If you are a Technician or higher class amateur, and would like to help or if you have questions, contact Dave Crawford, KF4KWW, lead amateur volunteer via email at kf4kww@arrl.net. NEIL/ANCHOR: That was Phil Thomas, W8RMJ, of Amateur News Weekly. For more news in the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana area, visit their website at amateurnewsweekly-dot-com (amateurnewsweekly.com) ** RAC MEMBERS VOTE IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO NEIL/ANCHOR: Things are heating up in the province of Ontario, where voting is beginning for the selection of a new regional director. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, has more. JEREMY: Balloting has opened to elect a new director for the Ontario South Region of the Radio Amateurs of Canada. The two candidates are Philip McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ, and Igor Slakva, VE3ZF/VA3YDX. Ballots should be returned by regular mail to RAC Headquarters by noon on Friday, September 15. The address is: RAC Corporate Secretary, Radio Amateurs of Canada, 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217, Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5 Philip is an IT consultant, who has been an RAC member for 14 years, and has been active in emergency communications planning for amateur radio. He is a member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System. Igor is a network analyst, and an RAC member who is an active DXpeditioner and contester. For a more detailed bio on both candidates, visit the RAC website at wp-dot-rac-dot-ca (wp.rac.ca) Meanwhile, RAC volunteers are in the process of sending ballot papers out to the membership in Canada. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (RAC) --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .