eHam.net News

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Amateur Radio Group and Grimes EMC Connect with Scouts:

Posted: 07 Nov 2016 04:04 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/37951


Boy Scout Troop 361 members joined with the Grimes County Amateur Radio
Group and Grimes County Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Lilly in the
first Radio Jubilee in Grimes County. The Jamboree-on-the-Air is in its
59th year, but the newly formed Grimes County Amateur Radio Group (GCARG),
hosted the first of many events in the county as a means in which to
highlight the importance of Ham use during emergency events. The event was
held at the Navasota Center on Stadium Drive. The GCARG is sponsoring the
Troop 361 endeavor of the Radio Merit Badge. The Scouts were able to
connect to others around the world and the State. Contact was made as far
away as England and the U.K., while other participants in Laredo and
Florida connected with members of Troop 361. More than 500,000 Scouts in
100 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe participate in JOTA each year. As
part of the event, all participants received a special JOTA patch, and a
designated QSL card for the JOTA.


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Snaggin' the Waves:

Posted: 07 Nov 2016 04:03 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/37950


For the preceding eight weeks, my senescent brain has been subject of an
onslaught detailing electronic theory, facts, figures, and technical data.
I cling to the prospect this cognitive effort may lend in delaying
Alzheimer's grip. United with 29 other hopefuls, for three hours every
Tuesday evening, we have striven to attain the title of "Technician" in the
world of Amateur (Ham) radio. As I type this, the lot of us are cramming
for the "day of judgment," when FCC examiners put us through our paces in
the final test. Class organizer Bill McAlpin (WD9GIU) echoed the fact that
we should study but needn't worry. Too late buddy, I'm losing sleep.


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Lone-Wolf Radio Hoaxer Hacks Melbourne Air Traffic Control -- Police:

Posted: 07 Nov 2016 04:02 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/37949


Australian federal police are hunting a lone-wolf radio hoaxer who made 15
illegal transmissions to air-traffic controllers and domestic passenger
pilots last month - including one telling a Virgin pilot to abort a
landing. The agencies investigating the incidents believe only one person
has made the transmissions by finding a way to tap into the air traffic
control frequency and communicate directly with planes and control towers.
Flight data shows the plane came close to the runway as it approached
Tullamarine Airport on an October evening. Then, three minutes later, the
plane climbed to 3,800 feet and started circling over north-west Melbourne
- all under orders from the hoax air-traffic controller. Later that
evening, the hoax caller impersonated the pilot of a light aircraft. He
issued a mayday call and pretended to be experiencing engine trouble. John
Lyons, president of Virgin Independent Pilots Australia, said rogue radio
transmissions were "a concern" because pilots must obey instructions from
air traffic controllers but may not be able to verify who is or isn't a
legitimate controller. Lyons said rudimentary amateur VHF radio equipment
could be used in such a hoax. "It's not hard for someone to obtain," he
said. "There's a lot of people that spend a lot of time observing aircraft
at airports, and many of them have radios that monitor frequencies. But
most of them just listen.