Contents
- GB0AEL (Amelia Earhart Legacy)
- Travels in Perú LU2VYL Marisa Del Prete
- Out-and-About
- Editorial & Contact
- Silent Keys Lynda Jopson, G6QA; & VK7HSC Shirley Hardstaff
- Calendar
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GB0AEL (Amelia Earhart Legacy)
On May 20-21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She left Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, Canada, and landed about 15 hours later near Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Date: 5th - 31st May 2025. to commemorate the 93rd anniversary,
Special event callsign GB0AEL (Amelia Earhart Legacy) will be activated by club station MN0NWG ‘’North West Group", in N Ireland.
Amelia Earhart July 24, 1897, Atchison, Kansas, U.S.—disappeared July 2, 1937, near Howland Island, central Pacific Ocean), she was one of the world’s most celebrated aviators. Her disappearance during a flight around the world in 1937 became an enduring mystery.
pic: Amelia Earhart Holding Bendix Radio Direction Finder Loop Antenna
Interesting video attached: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTDFhWWPZ4Q
00:00 Amelia Earhart’s final flight
03:33 Who was Amelia Earhart?
05:36 The flight plan
07:13 How celestial navigation works
09:16 Invention of radio technology
12:02 Radio waves explained
22:44 Earhart makes her critical decision
24:55 Communication failures
28:30 “Gas is running low”
31:39 Her desperate final message
33:01 The small detail that could have saved her
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Travels in Perú LU2VYL Marisa Del Prete
You asked me for information about my trip to Peru, where I worked as a radio presenter. I visited various radio stations run by colleagues OA4DAG Luis de Azambuja in Punta Hermosa; and colleague Giancarlo Passalaqua's station OA4DSN in Lima.
I attended the Peruvian broadcast that airs daily at 10:00 from the Peruvian Radio Club in Lima. I participated in the Peruvian Radio Club (OA4O) activation for the Bicentennial of the Battle of Ayacucho OC200A. Best regards. 73, 88 LU2VYL Marisa, Argentina.
Out-and-About
19 to 30 May 2025 Anne - OH2YL and Marko OH2LGW from Finland, will be active from the Republic of Kosovo QRV as Z68YL and Z68OM respectively from 10 to 160m in CW, SSB and ft8. They will use 2x Yaesu FT DX10 and Elecraft K3, amplifier 2x SPE Expert 1.3K-FA As antennas EFHW-8010-1K, special vertical OH2YL from 10M-30M, dipole for 60M and L-vertical for 160M QSL: via OH2YL
Editorial:
Hello ladies, you will find the format of this month's newsletter different.
I have added a 4 page PDF file at the end. It contains a great article from Amy Haptonstall, AG7GP, with several photographs. She tells us all about Building a Sisterhood through SOTA (Summits-on-the-Air) and how the 'Queens of the Mountains' event came about. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Feedback about the format would be appreciated.
CONTACT yl.beam news: Editor Eda (Heather) zs6ye.yl@gmail.com
published on: https://wrarc-anode.blogspot.com/
Italian Radio Amateurs Union: QTC U.R.I.
https://www.unionradio.it/qtc-la-rivista-della-unione-radioamatori-italiani/
West of Scotland Amateur Radio Society https://wosars.club/category/yl-news/
https://www.facebook.com/CT2ISX YLs-Amateur Radio Ladies-Portugal
Unsubscribe: If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please email: zs6ye.yl@gmail.com
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Silent Key Lynda Jopson, G6QA – 4 April 2025
It is with a deep sense of loss that Bury Radio Society (BRS) Lancashire, England announce that their beloved friend and fellow amateur Lynda Jopson, G6QA (Queen Anne) passed away peacefully on 4 April 2025 following a prolonged battle with cancer, surrounded by her family. Lynda was a long time BRS member as well as the 1st Lady Chair, and treasurer. Lynda filled these roles with dedication and enthusiasm, contributing greatly to the success of the Society.
14 Sept 2024 at the CHOTA event at Ainsworth Methodist Church,UK
Lynda’s interest in radio first began in the CB boom of the 1980s. She worked the morning channel, chatting to regular drivers and anyone else in the area at the time. She was known in those days as ‘Spectrum’ and worked with her friend Dorothy (‘Bookworm’) who looked after the channel.
She subsequently passed her City & Guilds RA exam in 1993 and joined her local radio club, which met at Rawtenstall fire station in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Her grandad and his friend and relative Arnold Whiteley were radio amateurs during both World Wars when not away at sea. She acquired Arnold’s G6QA callsign in April 1994, as she wasn’t able at the time to find grandad’s callsign. She felt very proud and privileged to use G6QA, even though she frequently got ‘DR OM LYNDA‘ on CW. The callsign led to her becoming affectionately known as ‘Queen Anne’ by her friends.
Lynda was a passionate CW operator and was always keen to pass her skills on to other amateurs. One BRS member recalls “Morse Code was a must and Lynda had a one-track mind about this. Once you started to learn Morse it was like a religion with Lynda. She would go to any lengths to help teach CW and it did not matter how long it took.”
She always used her organisational skills to excellent effect, directing many of BRS’s activities (field days, fox hunts, and NARSA to name just a few) as well as mentoring new club members. One BRS member wrote eloquently of the help she gave him as a new member “From my first visit to the club to our last phone call Lynda’s kindness and good humour shone through. I can’t thank her enough for the many happy hours that she spent teaching me morse. Our last sked was on 20M when she welcomed me onto the HF bands. She encouraged me throughout my radio journey with words of encouragement and support for which I am eternally grateful.”
BRS’s shack will be a lot quieter without Lynda and, although we shall all miss her greatly, we will be comforted by our fond memories. Paul Anthony Stocks, M0OWS
https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/silent-keys/2025/04/17/lynda-jopson-g6qa-4-april-2025/
GB2RS News Team | April 17, 2025
BYLARA (British Young Ladies Amateur Radio Ass.) Judith Brooks 22 April 2025
G4IAQ Judith Brooks & Sharon M7SHZ attended the Narsa Rally with a book of remembrance for G6QA Lynda Jopson. They have received a lovely letter of thanks from St Ann's Hospice for the donation in memory of Lynda Jopson.
Lynda Jopson, G6QA - A new YL with an old call sign
Over 50 years ago, Arnold Whiteley, G6QA, used the skills honed in Amateur Radio to serve his country. During World War II, Arnold was a member of the secret Radio Security Service and for three hours a day, from 1940 to 1945, he copied code from France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland on his home-built receiver. As a group leader, overseeing eight other interceptors, he never knew the contents of the thousands of messages that he copied. He was instructed to simply copy the five letter code groups and then send them to a specified postal box number for British Military Intelligence to decode. Accuracy was paramount so if a letter was missed, a space was left to help the decoders. After the war, Arnold was active in Amateur Radio until his death in 1977, and he kept his wartime activities secret for over 30 years.
But G6QA is back on the air. Lynda Jopson, the granddaughter of one of Arnold’s closest friends, who was also licensed, tried to get her grandfather’s original call sign when she qualified for a full license. When she was unable to track down his call sign, Lynda then contacted Arnold’s daughter, Mrs. Pat Barnes, and asked if she could receive the call sign G6QA. Mrs. Barnes was so delighted at the thought of her father’s call sign being back on the air that she gave the special permission needed for the call sign to be allocated to Lynda and wrote a formal letter of confirmation to the Radio Communication Agency.
In June, 1994, a schedule was set up between Lynda, now G6QA, in Kearsley, and Mervyn Rigg, G0EUP, who lives in Mrs. Barnes’ hometown of Rochdale, so that Mrs. Barnes could hear her father’s original call sign on the air again. While that QSO was in progress, all three were surprised when Phil MacKimm, G8HDS, who had also known Arnold, joined them on the air.
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Amateur/World-Radio/90s/World-Radio-1995-04.pdf p34 WORLDRADIO. April 1995
Shirley was born on the 1st June 1941 in Tasmania. Shirley met the love of her life Max, while living in Wynyard. Max would gain the callsign VK7KY, Shirley became a qualified seamstress. Like Max, Shirley ended up working at the APPM Pulp Mill in Burnie; in the packing area, sorting and packing photocopy paper etc. Max and Shirley married and built a house at Sulphur Creek.
Shirley and Max were quite the adventurers, touring Australia with a caravan, enjoying boating, fishing and camping. They were blessed with daughter Paisley.
Eventually Shirley wanted to get her amateur licence and was surprised when Max came home with a heap of amateur learning material and said to Shirley, I now cook tea, you study for your licence. After a while, she passed her licence and gained the callsign VK7HSC.
Shirley dived right into amateur radio, enjoying chatting on the repeaters, playing on HF and loved packet radio. Shirley was a regular on the Sewing Circle net and loved attending Amateurs events. The NTARC gatherings at Myrtle Park, the yearly 'Meet the Voice' at Ross, where one year Shirley won the 'Meet the Voice trophy'. She also loved attending The Miena Hamfest and the Lighthouse event at Low Head Lighthouse on the north coast of Tasmania.
Shirley joined ALARA in 2007 and attended ALARAmeets. She joined their regular nets via HF or Echo link. She was a VK7 rep from 2010 to 2014. After that she continued to support ALARA in the North West and invited local members to afternoon tea from time to time.
Unfortunately, Max was ill for quite a while and eventually he ended up in care, becoming silent key 17.9.2020.
Shirley wanted to get back into amateur radio. So one Sunday morning, she kept trying her 2-metre radio, on various coaxes in the kitchen, till she heard the Broadcast. Fortunately, in 2017, numerous amateurs descended on Shirley‘s QTH, erecting a new HF antenna system and installed 2m and 70cm antennas and radios, to improve her station.
In February 2020, Shirley was elected President of NWTARC, and straight away communicated, that the members are the club, not the committee, and encouraging members to meet up outside club meetings. Shirley wanted meeting business a minimum, and chatting, and show and tell a priority.
She might have looked like a little old lady, but we soon learned not to underestimate her abilities. Shirley proposed many ground breaking and innovative ideas in her Presidency till 2023, when she declared due to her hearing etc., she wouldn't stand for re-election.
A great champion of JOTA, she attended at the campsite until the last couple of years and then she operated from home to make sure the scouts got a contact.
Shirley loved the innovation in amateur radio, she was an avid user of the VK7RAA IRLP node, communicating to a friend in Canada, as well as others. When we started a SSTV net on Mt Duncan, Shirley joined in sharing pictures of crafts she had made. Shirley was an avid participant on the Wednesday Mt Duncan Net and joined in on DMR Radio through a hotspot, joining weekly DMR Nets.
The last few years, beside amateur radio, Shirley enjoyed puzzles, games on the iPad, crafts and sewing. At age 80 she started crocheting.She bought a crochet hook, wool and with the book beside her, she set out to learn every pattern in the book, from the first simple one through to the most complicated. ALARA members enjoyed hearing about her latest projects on the EchoLink net.
Shirley passed away peacefully, at 0415 am on Saturday the 5th April, surrounded by family. She was 83 years old. Vale Shirley VK7HSC
alara.org.au ▪ ALARA Newsletter Issue 193 April 2025 page 11
Silent Key Another Sparky puts down the microphone forever.
With sadness we remember every radio station that goes dark.
Calendar
May 5, 2025 ALARA - AGM (Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Ass.)
1030 UTC, EchoLink ALARA Conference Station and 80 M 3.635 Mhz
ALARA Conference Station - IRLP node is 9509
May 10 Dia de Madre/ Mothers Day, RC Ce4ylc Chile www.CE4YLC.cl
May 11 Mothers Day - Carnations are the official Mother's Day flower,
May 17 World Telecom Day (WTISD) theme gender equality in digital transformation
May 23 Grupo YL Argentina 5th Anniversary, created May 23, 2019
June 7 – 8, 2025 2nd Annual Queens of the Mountains YL SOTA Special Event Weekend 0000Z June 7 - 2359Z June 8
