Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Feb 01 2019 09:24 am

LAMAKAAN ANNUAL RADIO CONVENTION DRAWS HUNDREDS IN INDIA

PAUL/ANCHOR: One more gathering - this one in India - just concluded after
more than 400 attended on a busy college campus. John Williams, VK4JJW,
has the details.

JOHN: In India, the two-day Lamakaan Annual Radio Convention drew a crowd
of more than 400 radio amateurs and shortwave listeners to the M.J.
College of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad. According to Thomas
George of the Lamakaan Radio Club, the activity was nonstop on both the
19th and 20th of January, with back-to-back sessions that included
workshops, demonstrations, a flea market, and a contest known as Dev's
homebrew challenge.

Thomas said that the busy agenda did not include an inaugural address or
speech, because the organizers believed the event should be of the hams,
for the hams, and by the hams; and, as he told Newsline [quote] "we didn't
want anything else to come in between." [endquote]

He said one of the convention's highlights was a workshop, in which 100
homebrew enthusiasts took part in building the Micro BITX all-band HF
transceiver and the Antuino, an Arduino-based Antenna Analyser. The
youngest presenter at the event was Rayyan, VU3ECQ. The 13-year-old
demonstrated ways radio amateurs can make use of 3-D printers.

As for the big winner among the homebrew projects, that honor belonged to
B. Sanjay Singh, VU3NOV, for the optical encoder he built into a cabinet.
Second prize was given to Srinivas, VU2SFJ, for his Raspberry Pi-based
WSJT homebrew project.

Thomas wrote: "The overwhelming response that we got during the two-day
convention, and the love that was shown towards us, has indeed been a
humbling experience for all of us at LARC." [endquote]

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW.

**

U.S. ISLANDS PROGRAM ADDS NEW AWARD

PAUL/ANCHOR: No ham is an island - but working or even activating a
station on an island can become addictive. One group is doing something
new about that, as we learn from Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

NEIL: The U.S. Islands Awards Program is celebrating their 25th
anniversary this year. Jay Chamberlain, NS4J, explains what the program
is all about.

JAY: The U.S. Islands Awards Program started back there in 1994, by John,
KL7JR. Of course, the International Islands on the Air was real big, and
has been you know for a lot longer. He really felt that there was a
program that could be sustained in the U.S. And, he kind of put the
program together... quite a bit different from IOTA. Of course, IOTA is
much larger scale... farther separation, you know with all the QSLing and
all the details. So, he really wanted to start a program in the U.S. that
included lake islands, and river islands, and sea or shore islands. And
then, you know, much smaller scale... and also completely on the honor
system, as far as operating and chasing.

NEIL: Specifically in celebration of 25 years of the program, a special
award is available only for this year.

JAY: We have quite a few different awards, just like all the thousands
and thousands of other ham radio awards that are out there for people to
chase, and people to work towards. The U.S. Islands has both chaser awards
and operating awards. For 2019, we decided to do a year-long activity. So,
a chaser can work, and confirm 25 islands. A little more difficult, an
operator can activate 25 islands, and we'll have a special award for that.

NEIL: To find these operations, search for spots on dxsummit.fi tagged
with USI. And, as Jim says, this program can become habit-forming.

JAY: I was immediately hooked. When you work Israel for the first time,
or Jordan for the first time, you're sitting on an island in Washington
D.C. running off a battery, and a TS-50, and a homemade 20m vertical, and
all the sudden, you got a huge pileup because the sunspots in your
favor... you know, you're going, oh my goodness!

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

**

BREAK HERE:

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Tri-Town
Amateur Radio Club's WD9HSY repeater, in Hazel Crest, Illinois, on
Wednesdays.
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