Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Oct 06 2017 07:43 am ASTRONAUTS ARE STARS ON NASA TV JIM/ANCHOR: Some of the stars in the sky are also on television. Three of them are Space Station astronauts -- and two of them happen to be hams. Christian Cudnik, K0STH, has more on this story. CHRISTIAN: You think there's nothing on TV? Think again! Tune into NASA Television, as well as the NASA website, for the latest episode of "hams in space." Astronauts Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, and Joe Acaba, KE5DAR, are going outside the International Space Station, along with their expedition commander Randy Bresnik, on the 5th, 10th and 18th of October. This is strictly a business trip for the three American astronauts of Expedition 53: they have important station maintenance to do. Check the NASA website for local times in your part of the world. While Joe and Randy are veterans of a few spacewalks, this will be the first for Mark, the flight engineer. Joe will join his two crew colleagues on the third and final spacewalk on the 18th. You can watch it all at nasa dot gov forwardslash nasalive (nasa.gov/nasalive) Best of all, there'll be no commercial interruptions. For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Christian Cudnik, K0STH. ** YOU'RE INVITED TO A PENNSYLVANIA QSO PARTY JIM/ANCHOR: It's the second biggest QSO party in the nation, and it will hit the bands the second weekend in October. Mark Abramowicz ( Abramo-vich ), NT3V, has a preview. MARK'S REPORT: The Pennsylvania QSO Party, run by the Nittany Amateur Radio Club in State College - the home of Penn State - runs the weekend of Oct. 14 and 15th. It's earned the label - the "Friendly QSO Party" - because it encourages non-contest stations and first-timers to get on the air, and just have some fun making contacts. In fact, the contesters who do use the PA Party as a tune-up for the CQ Worldwide SSB contest at the end of the month, tend to be a little more understanding of the newbies, and will slow down for the exchanges. Mike Coslo, N3LI, PA QSO Party chairman, says a club whose members have a long history of amateur radio contesting, will be in charge of the bonus station operation. "Frankford Radio Club will be our bonus station," Coslo says. "They're having their 90th anniversary this year. So, it will be multi-station, multi-call sign, multi-county effort." And, to mark the occasion, Coslo says the club is going all out to make its presence heard on the air... "We'll have their base call, W3FRC, and then some special event call signs like W3F, W3R, and W3C," Coslo says. "And, this should provide for a lot of different bonus contacts." The FRC will activate 17 bonus stations in 15 Pennsylvania counties. Coslo says, given how propogation is at this time of the year, the 200 points for each bonus station contact per band, per mode can add up... Look up PA QSO Party in a Google search, and that will get you right to the club's website. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia. ** QSOs OF FAITH AND FRIENDSHIP JIM/ANCHOR: Ever activate a church or a chapel? A number of amateur radio groups around the world believe it's a great way to call attention to their churches, and the religious community that adds wattage to their power of the spirit. Here's more from Kevin Trotman, N5PRE. KEVIN: From Belgium to New York State in the U.S., and in a great many counties in the UK, amateur radio operators were sharing their hobby - and their faith. Churches on the Air, which is run by the World Association of Christian Radio Amateurs and Listeners, is an annual global event that makes the world a little bit smaller for a few hours, connecting people of faith via RF signals and antennas. At the St. Ive Methodist Church in Cornwall, Mark, M0WMB, was among those making contacts with Brazil, Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco, on the 9th of September as GB5IVE. In New York, the Peekskill Cortlandt Manor Amateur Radio Association, W2NYW, operated from Old St. Peter's Church in Cortlandt Manor, organized by David, K2WPM. The New York church was also marking its 250th anniversary. As Mark in the UK told a reporter for the Cornish Times, although the main purpose of any church is for worship, a ham radio activation also emphasizes the congregation and its importance. [QUOTE] "I believe that the church is the people, not the building. We are losing so many of our buildings, and it would be good to encourage others to use their church for events like ours." [ENDQUOTE] For Amateur Radio Newsline, in Aiken, South Carolina, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE. (THE CORNISH TIMES) --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .