TWIAR News Feed

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FCC probing AT&T Wednesday night 911 outage

Posted: 11 Mar 2017 10:35 AM PST
http://cnb.cx/2mMOSK0

The Federal Communications Commission says it is investigating why AT&T
cellphone customers were unable to call 911 in several states on Wednesday
night.

Law enforcement and government agencies in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and
other states reported the problem and provided alternate numbers for people
to call during emergencies. AT&T later on Wednesday evening said that
service had been restored.

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International Crystal Manufacturing Going Out of Business

Posted: 11 Mar 2017 08:36 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2mtdyVt

International Crystal Manufacturing (ICM) of Oklahoma City has announced
that it will be going out of business, probably at the end of May. Royden
Freeland Jr., son of the company’s founder, posted a letter this week on
the ICM website.

“We will be honoring all orders that we have already taken and will be able
to fill a limited amount of new orders dependent upon raw materials
available,� Freeland said. “We would like to thank you for your past
business. The success of ICM over the previous 66 years has been largely
due to its amazing customer base.�

International Crystal produces RF control devices — quartz crystals,
oscillators, QCM crystals, filters, TCXOs/VCTCXOs, and precision crystals.

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Teen Radio Amateur to Activate Iceland on his Inaugural DXpedition

Posted: 11 Mar 2017 08:35 AM PST
http://ift.tt/2n85gFL

Fourteen-year-old Mason Matrazzo, KM4SII, of Clemmons, North Carolina, will
be on the air from Iceland as TF/KM4SII, March 13-19. Activity will be on
40, 20, and 17 meters, SSB only. Mason, who will be operating with a
portable setup, is calling it his “Buddistick™ DXpedition to Iceland.�

He said on his TF/KM4SII page on QRZ.com page that most operation will be
from the village of VÃ*k, at the southernmost tip of Iceland, although he
anticipates possible operation from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, “if I am
able to find a location to set up the vertical.� If he attracts a pileup,
he may operate split.

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Freeport man keeps ham radio operators returning (Illinois)

Posted: 11 Mar 2017 08:35 AM PST
http://bit.ly/2mTTr5M

If you were to walk into Jim Dorsey's one-bedroom apartment, you might not
expect to see 30 to 50 people gather there each Friday night.
Dorsey, 69, runs Friday Night Fun Net, a weekly gathering of ham radio
operators. Dorsey's net draws people from Freeport to Michigan to his
living room via radio waves. As many as 120 people in a single night have
tuned in to Dorsey's frequency to swap stories.
Dorsey, who is legally blind, got his ham radio license in 2004 after
memorizing all the questions to the test. His love for radio goes back to
when he was growing up in Ridott. Overall, there are 68 people with amateur
radio call signs in Freeport, according to radioreference.com.

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Coquitlam amateur radio operator to take to the airwaves at Vimy Ridge
(British Columbia)

Posted: 11 Mar 2017 08:35 AM PST
http://bit.ly/2mN5cdQ

A Coquitlam man will play a unique role next month at the 100th anniversary
commemorative services at Vimy Ridge, France.

Between April 1 and 9, Keith Witney and 13 other Canadians — as well as two
French citizens — will run an amateur radio station near the historic
battleground to tell the world about Canada's contribution.

The Canadians' success at the German-held Vimy Ridge, in April 1917, proved
a turning point in the Great War and put the country on the map for its
military prowess. Historians have described Vimy as "the moment when Canada
leapt in spirit from colony to nation."