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Subject: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2449 for Friday October 4th, 2024
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2449 for Friday October 4th, 2024 Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2449 with a release date of Friday,
October 4th, 2024 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Heroism among the devastation of Hurricane
Helene. New life at the former site of the Arecibo radio telescope
--and the Wilderness Protocol helps with the dramatic rescue of a hiker
in Idaho.  All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2449 comes your way right now.

** 
BILLBOARD CART

**
HEROICS AMID HURRICANE HELENE'S DEVASTATION

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our top story is Hurricane Helene, which swept through the
United States' southern states, bringing what is being called
"unprecedented tragedy." Amateur radio can be at its best when times
are at their worst, and Randy Sly W4XJ shares an example of that in one
area of hardest-hit North Carolina.

RANDY: Since making landfall on the evening of September 26th,
Hurricane Helene not only left a trail of devastation but also produced
thousands of acts of heroism, especially in the remote areas of the
United States impacted by flood waters. In addition to emergency
personnel and first responders, those involved included helicopter
pilots, teams with pack mules, and other volunteers, including hams
providing emergency communications. 

Examples of live-saving communication could be heard around the clock
on the W4HTP repeater at Mt. Mitchell North Carolina. On Saturday
morning, September 28th, Dan Gitro, K2DMG, was in his ham shack and
knew that the area was experiencing heavy rains. He got on the W4HTP
repeater, which was surprisingly not busy, put out his call to see if
anyone needed assistance and immediately received a number of responses
from hams in the flooded areas. Since that time, he and the other net
controls handled hundreds of health and welfare calls, maintaining
continuous communications with the areas of Western North Carolina most
seriously affected. 

Not only was the net professionally run as it passed health and welfare
traffic but it maintained a personal touch, bringing news, hope and
encouragement to those in the affected areas. Through the efforts of
the repeater's owner, Harold Perry, W4HTP, listeners from across the
country were able to hear the repeater's traffic as it was re-broadcast
through the web service, Broadcastify. Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL, who
was active on the repeater, also provided in-person coverage from
Western North Carolina on his website QRPer.com

Hurricane Helene produced a path of destruction for nearly 800 miles
from Florida's Big Bend to Asheville North Carolina and farther north,
leaving over 180 dead and hundreds more missing. The aftermath of this
Category 4 hurricane brought flood waters of historic proportions and
spawned more than 50 tornadoes in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, the
Carolinas and nearby states. 

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

(ASSOCIATED PRESS; MT MITCHELL REPEATER W4HTP; QRPer.COM; NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER)

**
BROADCAST STATIONS HIT HARD BY HURRICANE HELENE

NEIL/ANCHOR: Just as Hurricane Francine had done two weeks earlier in
Louisiana, Hurricane Helene knocked numerous broadcast stations off the
air -- this time, in a number of US southern states. Kent Peterson
KC0DGY has that report.

KENT: Hurricane Helene, which had a death toll of over 180 and caused
landslides, flooding and power outages, also knocked nearly 50
broadcast radio and TV stations off the air by Sunday, September 29th
in a number of Southern states. Radio stations took the more severe
hit, cutting off one source of critical emergency broadcasts.

Based on outage data received after the storm made landfall in Florida
on September 26th, the FCC's Disaster Information Reporting System
looked at broadcast stations in Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Georgia,
North Carolina and South Carolina, where the storm passed through.
Forty-eight broadcast stations - both AM and FM - were knocked off the
air while 6 TV stations were reported as having gone dark. Georgia took
a particularly severe hit with 3 TV stations, 19 FM radio stations and
3 AM radio stations out of service. North and South Carolina also
suffered major broadcast station outages. According to The Desk, an
industry website, most stations went off the air because they had lost
power. Others reported transmitter damage as the cause.

The multi-state scene was a larger replay of what happened two weeks
earlier in Louisiana, when at least five radio stations were knocked
off the air after Hurricane Francine, a Category 2 storm, struck the
region.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(FCC; THEDESK.NET)

**
WILDERNESS PROTOCOL AIDS RESCUE IN BACKCOUNTRY IDAHO

NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams' ability to follow the Wilderness Protocol proved
lifesaving for one injured man in the hilly backcountry of Idaho.
George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU has that story.

GEORGE: In January of 2023, Clearwater County Emergency Management's
Don Gardner, W7PJ, gave a presentation to other members of the
Clearwater Valley Amateur Radio Club about Wilderness Protocol, a
method of monitoring frequencies outside repeater range in case
emergencies occur in remote areas unserved by regular means of
communication. That protocol was kicked swiftly into action for a group
of hams on September 21st, after one of them found a severely injured
man who had apparently suffered an accident on a gravel road with his
four-wheeled off-road vehicle. According to a report in the Clearwater
Tribune, Mac W7ENZ, found the man and while he tried to assist him,
handed the ham radio he was carrying to Ed K7ELC. Ed called for
assistance using 146.520 MHz, the VHF simplex radio frequency
designated for Wilderness Protocol. Greg, WX7Z, heard the call and
phoned 911. Don told Newsline that Greg knows the area well and was
able to give specific directions for EMS and other responders to follow
to reach the man. Greg also recommended a landing site for
transportation by Life Flight.

Don told Newsline that the injured man, who had difficulty breathing,
was in serious condition and transported by Life Flight to a hospital.
He was determined to have suffered head injuries, a broken collarbone
and broken ribs.

Don told the Clearwater Tribune: [quote] "The more that ham radio
operators listen to the radio, the more the chance there is that
someone will be listening to take your emergency call." [endquote]

This is George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU

(DON GARDNER, W7PJ; CLEARWATER TRIBUNE)

**
MILESTONE: IARU HANDLES 1,000TH REQUEST FOR AMATEUR SATELLITE FREQUENCY

NEIL/ANCHOR: The International Amateur Radio Union, which coordinates
the radio frequencies used by ham radio satellites, announced that it
recently processed request number 1,000 for a satellite frequency. The
IARU's Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel has faced new challenges
in recent years with the increasing popularity and growth of CubeSats.
With less onerous costs to launch these small satellites, the focus has
been on carefully managing the spectrum and ensuring minimal
interference with terrestrial services. The IARU issued a statement
saying: [quote] "As Earth's orbit becomes more crowded, the IARU's work
in frequency coordination will remain critical for future missions."
[endquote]

(AMSAT NEWS SERVICE)

**
SILENT KEYS: SRI LANKAN NOTABLES, VASANTH GURUGE, 4S7VG; SADEEPA
SEPALA, 4S6SAD

NEIL/ANCHOR: The Sri Lankan amateur community has suffered the loss of
two prominent, well-regarded amateurs, who became Silent Keys one day
apart. We have that report from Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

JASON: It did not take long for Vasanth Guruge, 4S7VG, to make a name
for himself among prominent DXers not long after receiving his licence
in the mid-1970s. He was also devoted to making amateur radio better
for all involved Sri Lankans. His devotion to that mission landed him
twice in the role of president of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka -first
from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2016. The radio society
referred to him as a [quote] "cornerstone of the Sri Lankan amateur
radio community" [endquote] His many efforts included the establishment
of key repeater stations at sites in Sri Lanka that improved
communication and connectivity. The radio society statement said:
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