ARRL's Logbook of
the World (LoTW) online contact confirmation system now holds more than one
billion contact records. According to the ARRL
Letter, QSO number 1,000,000,000 was uploaded by the Sahara DX Club,
7X3WPL, for a December 28, 2016 contact with IW1DQS on 20 meter
single-sideband. IW1DQS had previously uploaded his log so the entry resulted
in a match and confirmed QSO.
LoTW has been serving ARRL members and DX hams
for more than 15 years. Confirmed QSOs on the system may be used for all ARRL
awards as well as CQ's WPX and WAZ awards.
WWV will
celebrate a century of broadcasting later this year; AMSAT is celebrating its
50th anniversary of its founding, and the U.S. Islands Award program turns 25
in 2019. All three have special events and activities planned.
The Northern
Colorado Amateur Radio Club, in conjunction with the WWV Centennial
Celebration, is planning a 5-day special event operation between September 28
and October 2, with four HF stations operating simultaneously. Operators will
be needed. An application form will be posted on the "operators" page
of the <www.WWV100.com> website as of February 15.
The Radio Amateur
Satellite Corporation, better known as AMSAT, was founded in 1969. To mark its
50th anniversary, the organization is offering three anniversary awards, the
Satellite Communications Achievement Award, the Satellite Friends of 50 Award,
and AMSAT on HF 50th Anniversary Award. Details are on the AMSAT website at
<https://tinyurl.com/y8hnplt6>, and we will take a closer look in March CQ's Awards column.
Finally,
"OTA" fans will want to learn about the special 25th anniversary
award being offered by the US Islands Awards Program throughout 2019. According
to the ARRL, chasers will need to contact and confirm 25 U.S. islands
during the year, while activators will need to qualify or activate 25 islands.
At least 15 of those contacts or activations must be new islands. See
<usislands.org> for details.
Amateur Radio Newsline reports that California
authorities have charged a U.S. Marine officer with murder in the 2018 death of
Henry Allen Strange, WA6RXZ, of Murietta,
California. Strange's body was
found in June in a shallow grave in Joshua Tree National Park.
First
Lieutenant Curtis Lee Krueger has been charged with murder. Kreuger and his
girlfriend reportedly had been arrested in connection with Strange's death in
August, but released after prosecutors declined to prosecute. Krueger was
arrested again in December following the discovery of new information,
according to the Newsline report.
