Electrocuted While Helping Another Amateur

Beloved DXer, contester and referee for WRTC this year - Richard King, K5NA, of Texas, had become a Silent Key just a week ago. He was electrocuted while helping another amateur take down a Yagi from a tower. The antenna hit a live power line and he was thrown to the ground and died shortly thereafter. A very tragic reminder here that safety, safety, safety always comes first and that doesn’t always mean just wearing a helmet or a belt.

Three Hams Chosen for Artemis Moon Mission

The next NASA radio amateurs in space are preparing to be part of a four-person team flying near the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have announced the members of the Artemis II crew comprising NASA's first crewed mission to establish a presence near the moon next year. Three members of the four-person team are amateur radio operators: commander Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, pilot Victor Glover, KI5BKC, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU. The other mission specialist is Christina Hammock Koch. The mission is scheduled for November of 2024. The previous mission, Artemis I, was not crewed.

This will be a flight test lasting about 10 days and will validate the life-support systems of the Orion spacecraft, along with other demonstrations.

Unlike his fellow crew members, Hansen is making his first trip into space. He is a Canadian citizen and is the first Canadian to train astronaut candidates from both Canada and the US.

American Clubs Grow with Collaboration

The Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club (FLARC) and the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group (WPBARG) recently held a series of joint HF club contacts in February and March.

The clubs, which agreed in late 20222 to a unique one-year partnership, have begun sharing ideas, activities, and best practices to better encourage the growth and development of each other’s amateur radio club and have also extended their fraternal relationship by participating in club nets, programs, newsletters, and initiatives such as youth and new member development. Both clubs are enthusiastic about the new relationship and satisfied with the progress made to date. Experiments in slow scan television were part of the March HF contact exchange.

WPBARG currently has approximately eighty members and meets regularly at the Cox Science Centre and Aquarium in West Palm Beach. FLARC has approximately 225 members and has an operating clubhouse as part its association with the Borough of Fair Lawn just outside of New York City. Both clubs are highly visible within their communities, and each brings its own set of diverse assets to the experiment.

West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group - http://www.wpbarg.com

Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club - http://www.fairlawnarc.org