Categories
- Contents
Welcome New YLs from South Africa & thoughts about. - Break-Break – Oldest Cuban YL & Siggi Becker, DK2YL honoured
- YL Reflections from Italy
- Ladies on the Indian YL net
- Silent Keys
- Contact & Calendar
Welcome New YLs
Welcome to our 8 new members from South Africa, who passed the May, 2021 RA exam.
ZS6AKZ Aimée Kotzee ; ZR6MK Michelle Kotzee;
ZS6QAK Analita Kriegler; ZS5BSR Louise Larsen;
ZS6SLR Rita Schroder; ZR2AS Anmar Swart;
ZS6CHE Cherrea Thomas; ZS1MER Merinda Wessels.
Newly licensed YL from South Africa
30 May 2021 ZS5BSR Louise Larsen of Shelley Beach, KZN South Africa.
Hi there, You asked me to provide you with a bit of a report regarding me and my obtaining my Ham Radio Licence. It is a bit of a long journey and there is a bit of a history behind my story.
I come from a long line of operators starting with my Grandfather. Mr JD Berry (G4DDW). He is my Mom’s father and lived in the UK. I can remember visiting him as a child and hearing the radio that was in his shack outside as my Granny wouldn’t let him have the radio in the house in the early days. In his later years he had the radio set up next to his comfortable chair in the kitchen where everyone always was and where it was warm. My Grandfather whom I knew as Poppy was a keen teacher of the Amateur Radio hobby and everyone in my extended family from my Uncle and Aunties to my cousins were all at some stage being roped in to get their licences as they became old enough. My memories are of a huge setup of aerials in the garden on their farm in the UK. I believe it was an antenna that you could winch up and it also tilted over for him to have easy access. Every time my mom would visit he would have her help him as there was always maintenance that needed to be done. When he passed away a few years ago my mom brought the radio back from the UK for husband Tim (ZS5TIM) to use.
So how did I get to achieve my call sign of ZS5BSR? Tim has been an operator for quite a number of years and I have always been with him on most of his outings whether they are field events or lighthouse weekends of blackout exercises. Always having the kettle hot for the coffee or the lunch or breakfasts cooked up so that those taking part were fed and watered so that there was never a break in the calling for contacts.
Every time the other operators got a chance they would pester me as to when was I going to sit for my ZS licence. Well eventually I surprised both them and myself by saying well I might as well do it this year. In January the studying started, the fees were paid and the date was set for May, 2021. I was always encouraged and helped and no matter how silly I thought a question might be it was never a stupid one to the members of our local club (Hibiscus Coast Amateur Radio Club) they are all real gentleman and so supportive of the hobby and of me trying to learn it.
When the time came to do the HF station set up the nerves kicked in and after a bit of stumbling over call signs and my words I seemed to get it right and away we called my five contacts. It was over and done in a matter of minutes and then I thought what was all the fuss and stress about, again the stations I called for were patient with me and helped me along. The exam was the last hurdle and again no amount of studying prepared me for the paper that was set before me on that Saturday morning, I attacked it one question at a time and before I knew it that was done too. The week that it took to hear the results was a bit agonising. The words PASS sprung out of the email and literally five minutes after being given my results Tim had the local gentlemen on the air with the good news and I was chatting with the club members and super proud to be a member of this amazing hobby.
My call sign is ZS5BSR. BSR stands for Body Stress Release, this is the work that I do. I am a Body Stress Release Practitioner. Below: Hibiscus ARC 2020 field event in Mpenjati nature reserve, Louise & friends.
Break-Break
María del Carmen Ruiz Pérez (CO6MQ), the oldest woman in the Federation of Radio Amateurs of Cuba (FRC), has donated more than 100 photos from her personal album, part of her history as a radio amateur since the last century. Her way of celebrating the 55th anniversary of the FRC on July 15, 2021. Fb: 27/06/2021 –
Read more https://www.frcuba.cu/…/donan-testomonio-grafico-a-la…
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Siggi Becker, DK2YL, receives 2021 trophy plate from the YL section at
HAM RADIO WORLD VIRTUAL EXHIBITION 25-27 June 2021
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YL Reflections from Italy – IZ2ELV Emanuela
They call us YL, we are women who have entered a male hobby, that of radio, electronics, antennas and physics, notions that must be known well also to never be found unprepared by the OM, acronym for old men, or radio amateurs.
We are the YL, young lady , it would not have been nice if for a level playing field they had called us old woman. Our modulation pierces the ether thanks to the high tones of the female voice and this is the only advantage we have over our male colleagues. Like them we have passed, without discounts, ministerial exams to obtain the license of radio amateur station operator, one of radio engineering and, in my day, of reception and telegraph transmission, a test that has been abolished for years.
On the radio we are treated as equals, often with a pinch of gallantry giving us priority in the connections, but sometimes it also happens to hear us say “but go and make the sock!” by someone who does not have the courage to identify himself anyway.
But what are the side effects for a woman who chooses radio as a hobby? None, if not some oddity that immediately catches the eye. When we spell on the phone it is difficult for us to use the names of the cities and not the international phonetic alphabet, our daily bread when we are on the radio. In everyday life, when we listen to some repeated sound, we immediately identify it as a letter of the Morse alphabet, whether it is a honking of the horn or some buzzer. When we are on a public transport, bus or train and we look out the window, we go through all the roofs in search of some amateur radio antenna and we scan it to understand the amateur radio tastes of its owner. We don’t back down if we have to use soldering iron and tin to solder a connector to the coaxial cable.
Then there are certain situations that also create a little embarrassment, like what happened to me several years ago in the office. My boss’s father was a SWL (short wave listener) and he had a mania for buying antennas despite I kept repeating that for listening, a piece of electric wire connected to the radio and thrown out the window is enough. One day he ordered a useless and small Yagi antenna (to be clear of the directional type also used to receive digital terrestrial television signals), among other things not suitable for listening to short waves, thinking of receiving it ready for the use. When he opened the box he was faced with a series of aluminium tubes and what were strange contraptions to him, accompanied by vague assembly instructions that spoke of booms, directors, reflectors and gamma match, terms that sent him into total confusion. He thought it best to close the packaging, take a screwdriver and come to the office to myself politely asking me to assemble it. Delighted to put aside paperwork to devote myself to my hobby, I went to work under the curious eyes of my colleagues, who did not spare me a few ironic jokes with the result of making me smile only.
But the pure fun is when we turn on the radio. Last weekend we women monopolized the frequencies a bit and I too got involved in a sort of contest where as many YLs as possible had to be connected, especially from another continent to get a higher score. My participation in the contest itself did not go well, I only connected Raisa, a Russian YL who kindly confirmed the connection with the usual postcard that radio amateurs exchange. But it is not the result that matters, the important thing is to participate, spend time on the radio looking for distant signals and connect whoever answers my call, both YL and OM, because beyond the acronym, we are all radio amateurs united by the same passion, which makes us all friends on frequency and very often beautiful friendships are born that last over time.
Emanuela, on radio IZ2ELV
Donne orgogliosamente radioamatori.
VU3UFD .Lakshmi
Ladies on the Indian YL net
28/6/21 Last week dx YL s conducted Indian YL net . Thanks to Carole, Shannon and Corliss.
Today our net controller is from Telangana state. She is Mrs Lakshmi Bhargavi Kandru VU3UFD .
She is active only because of YL net . She is very much afraid of talking to anyone on the radio. Nowadays she conducts the YL net and sometimes Pune net in EchoLink. Now she is happy to conduct any net. Her husband Mr Ashok kumar’s VU3UFE is very helpful to her.
She says about herself: My mentors are Bharathi (VU2RBI), my husband & my son, they are also hams.
I am a homemaker. my Hobbies are painting, reading and music. We have HF IC 7300 and VHF in our radio shack. I try to be active in HF radio soon,
VU2RBI Bharathi Devulapalli 16/06/2021: Today’s net controller VU3SVZ Mrs Sangeeta . She was not active for a long time. Recently she got VHF radio from her brother Mr Rajini VU2HW She conducts theVHF net in Patna.
We remember her father VU2MMP Mr Madan Mohan Prasad. Earlier he was the only one active from Patna, but after he passed away his children became radio active. Now you will find lots of hams from Patna, Bihar because of SORA (Society of Radio Amateurs).
It’s a real surprise to find so many yls currently active from Patna (a city in NE India). Sangeeta is very active on the VHF network. This was her first time conducting YL net on the India conference echolink. Her inspiration is VU2IO Sumitha. from SORA. Nowadays there are a lot of YL s conducting the VHF net. It’s great.
VU2IO Sumitha Sahi
The SORA (Society of Radio Amateurs) group based in the capital city of Patna, India, has over 40 dedicated members who are coordinating and providing help and relief to people in need during the current Covid crisis. During COVID-19 lockdown, HAM stands for Helping All Mankind in Patna.
The radio group is doing its bit to make things easier for affected people. Made up of HAM radio operators who connect locally and all over the world using their independent wireless sets. The group consisting of about 30 dedicated radio operators who are spread all over the city, connect on the network every day for 15 minutes to handle emergency traffic and expedite supply of food and medicines to the needy. The team also has 6 YLs (female hams).
The President of SORA is YL Sumita Sahi, VU2IO, and with secretary Rajiv Ranjan, VU2VFB OM, they are involved in coordinating the relief and rescue operations. Such is their motivational level that Rajiv Ranjan himself drove during lockdown to provide medicines and emergency requirements to quarantined people.
During COVID-19 lockdown, HAM stands for Helping All Mankind in Patna
Silent Keys (RIP/ QEPD)
KD9HIW Ellyn M Baril – SK Manitowoc, WI July 25, 1958 – June 21, 2021. age 62
Technician license in November 2016 and General in March 2017 She was an honor student, and continued her education at NWTC. She loved going to musicals and fulfilled her final wish of going to Las Vegas with her family.
Special thanks to the staff of Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice and Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic in Green Bay.
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S/k KW0LF/ KB9HYH Kathleen Frances (Parr) Brentlinger of Terre Haute, IN (USA)
June 16, 1945 – May 25, 2021
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Kay grew up loving nature and was a good photographer, She was a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and cherished her Irish Catholic heritage.
Kay spoke and taught Spanish. Kay was an active member of the Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Club and served them in many capacities. In her later years of physical disability she stayed connected with friends through her ham radio.
QRZ.COM I got my first ticket in 1992 as KB9HYH, upgraded first to General and then to Extra. I wouldn’t have changed call signs except that my friend told me KW0LF was available. (I love wolves !) I also got my Volunteer Examiner credentials shortly after the upgrade to Extra. I enjoy working at the testing sessions and meeting new hams. One of my dogs comes to get me if she hears my call sign being called and I am where I can’t hear it!
I am involved with ARES and Illiana Skywarn, the latter usually in the capacity of net control — keeping track of who is signed in, and especially who is out there mobile so we can keep them updated and be sure they are not in danger and get home safely when they need to check out. (Indiana has lots of tornados!)
On HF my favourite thing is getting to exercise my Spanish from time to time on the air. My HF rig is a Yaesu FT847 and my antenna is the GAP TITAN DX.
One of the best benefits I have derived from becoming active in amateur radio is that it gets me out of the house and involved with other hams, many of whom have come to be wonderful friends.
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LU7GBR Carina Gabriela González Fantuzzi from Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina.S/k 9/06/2021
She became a Covid victim suddenly and unexpectedly at 54 years of age.
Born in Rosario, SF, on January 6, 1967. she lived in the Chaco province for many years.
She was a member of the Chaco Radio Club and had been a radio amateur for almost 25 years, holding a general category license.
Carina was also a well-known lawyer from the city of Resistencia. Our condolences to her two children and husband.
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VK6YF. Poppy Bradshaw S/k Ex WAAAF. Passed away peacefully at Carramar Morley on 4th June 2021 aged 94.
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ZS6PGC Paulina Cooper, S/k 12/06/2021
From the Polokwane area, Paulina was licensed in 2015 together with her husband Henry ZS6HCO, to whom we extend our condolences.
CONTACT US: https://web.facebook.com/ham.yls?_rdc=1&_rdr ‘HAM YL’
yl.beam news: Editor Eda zs6ye.yl@gmail.com
Earlier newsletters can be found on the website of WEST RAND ARC
wrarc-anode.blogspot.com & https://wrarc-anode.blogspot.co.za/
and: Italian Radio Amateurs Union: QTC U.R.I.
also @ https://www.darc.de/en/der-club/referate/yl/ (erman ARC)
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Calendar July 2021
July 2 – 9 La Radio in Rosa U.R.I. (IZ0EI) 2021 Giro d’Italia Femminile women’s road cycling stage race.
July 3 YL Net 1st Saturday of month, 2000 (UK) on GB3DA Danbury 2m repeater.
July 3-4 Marconi Memorial HF contest
July 4 SAQ Grimeton transmission 2021
July 10 Ra-DAR Challenge;
July 10-11 IARU HF Championships
July 11 JLRS YL CQ Day SUN, 9:00 AM UTC+09 – 4:00 PM UTC+09 (2nd Sunday)
July 18–20 CLARA (1967 founded) 54 anniversary – 2021
July 24 ALARA Birthday Net 4th Saturday in July 1000-1200 UTC ; 3.570
2021 – 46 anniversary ALARA (LARA), founded 21st July 1975
July 24 -25 RSGB IOTA Contest
July 26 YLs Portugal 5th Aniversário (started JULY 26, 2016)
July 20-22 Finding Ada Conference 2021