I thought some of you might find this interesting. It is via a team of Monitoring Times writers. My thanks to them for sharing this info. 73 Larry Van Horn, N5FPW Assistant Editor/Milcom Columnist Monitoring Times Magazine ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Gayle Van Horn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Monitoring Times magazine Frequency Manager > Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 10:03 AM > Subject: ARO activity in Vatican City > > > > ** VATICAN. HAM RADIO DYING IN THE VATICAN > > > > Ham radio could soon be a thing of the past in the Vatican. This is > > because there are no longer any H-V prefix stations to man the > > controls. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Mark Abramovich, NT3V, was in Rome > > covering the selection of the Catholic Church`s new pontiff when he > > discovered that ham radio operations from all three Vatican stations > > may soon be QRT for good: > > > > This was one of those stories I really didn`t expect to find. I knew > > the challenge of going over to Rome to cover the election and > > installation of a new pope would be enormous. I had been there in > > 2000 to cover the elevation of St. Katharine Drexel from > > Philadelphia. This time, this ham was determined to take a little bit > > of personal time to investigate the status of amateur radio at the > > Vatican and also to look into the possibility of visiting one of the > > few Vatican ham radio stations. > > > > Much to my surprise, e-mails sent a week in advance of the visit to > > some of the call signs I managed to find went unanswered. A quick > > call to the American Radio Relay League for an assist produced a call > > sign at Vatican Radio, but there was no response to an e-mail sent > > there, either. > > > > When I finally got to Rome, the days were long and the story of the > > papal conclave and the elevation of the new pope kept all of us in > > the news media busy. It wasn`t until near the end of my eight days > > covering the story that I learned the shocking news - ham radio may > > be disappearing from the Vatican. > > > > It came at the end of a briefing from the director of the Vatican`s > > TV operations about the papal installation Mass. I approached one of > > the engineers handling sound for the news briefing and asked him > > about ham radio. He pointed me to Monsignor Lombardi, who handles > > communications for Vatican TV and Radio. > > > > I asked Monsignor Lombardi about the Vatican`s ham stations and was > > shocked to learn that they had all fallen silent. That`s right, he > > says HV1CN - assigned to Vatican Radio - as well as HV5PUL, operated > > out of the Pontifical Lateran University, and HV3SJ, held by the > > Jesuit house in the Vatican City - were all inactive. > > > > Now I had learned just days earlier that the North American College > > located on Vatican territory on the Geniculum Hill above St. Peter`s > > Square had a ham station - I spotted the beam on a trip up there to > > meet seminarians studying there who are from the Camden area just > > across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. > > > > Monsignor Lombardi said as far as he knew, that was the only station > > left in Vatican territory. But the seminarians and another monsignor > > who was responsible for clearing communications with the North > > American College, were unable to tell me anything about it. One said > > he heard it was going to be dismantled because there were problems. > > > > I was unable to learn more about those problems due to the press of > > my work covering the installation Mass for the new Pope Benedict XVI > > and the aftermath for my commercial news station in Philadelphia. > > However, e-mails are going back and forth to find out the status of > > the North American College`s station and to press for more > > information about getting it re-activated. At this point, I don`t > > even know whether it has an active call sign. > > > > If Vatican ham radio is to survive, it looks like it will take an > > experienced DXer with some good diplomatic skills to get in touch > > with the Vatican or the North American College to offer an assist in > > keeping it alive. > > > > In the meantime, Amateur Radio Newsline will stay on top of > > developments and report them to you here. For now, making ready to > > depart from Rome, I`m Mark Abramowicz NT3V signing /HV from St. > > Peter`s Square for Amateur Radio Newsline. > > > > If all this comes to pass as Mark says, then the only way you will > > ever again hear HV stations I if a Dxpedition is mounted to put the > > Vatican back on the air. According to the 425 DX Newsletter, stations > > in the Vatican are among the most wanted contacts, worldwide. > > (Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1447 May 6, 2005 via John Norfolk, > > dxldyg via Glenn Hauser's DXLD) ---------------------------------------------------------- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options ----------------------------------------------------------
