Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2375 for Friday May 5th, 2023

[Amateur Radio Newsline]

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2375 for Friday May 5th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2375 with a release date of Friday
May 5th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Hams in Australia have only another month to
weigh in on a new class license. The FCC proposes changes to the 60
metre band -- and a controversial bill about RF emissions has hams in
Maine worried. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2375 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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PLAN TO STUDY 5G IN MAINE WORRIES STATE'S AMATEURS

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to the state of Maine,
where hams are expressing concern over a telecommunications bill that
proposes a study on radio frequency emissions. Andy Morrison K9AWM has
an update.

ANDY: Ham radio operators in the state of Maine are keeping an eye on a
bill in which lawmakers call for a study of radio frequency radiation
emissions and the environmental impact of 5G technology. The bill is
stalled for now in the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology
but according to a recent story in the Maine Monitor, hams in the state
are concerned that such a study of 5G holds the potential for
unintended restrictions of frequencies shared by amateur radio
operators. Phil Duggan, N1EP, the ARRL section manager for Maine, told
Newsline in an email that amateurs are seeking wording to be added to
the bill that exempts amateur radio and public safety communications.
Phil said that ARRL New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC,
had advised hams to be on the alert as anti-5G bills are introduced in
a number of state legislatures, with wording that could impact
hamradio.

The bill in Maine, introduced by Republican lawmaker Tracy Quint,
targets the telecommunications industry specifically and its language
does not mention amateur radio. Hams nonetheless have submitted written
testimony protesting the bill, noting that hams are already required to
conduct evaluations of their radio frequency radiation in compliance
with FCC regulations that ensure safety.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

(NEWS CENTER MAINE, MAINE MONITOR)

**
FCC PROPOSES CHANGES TO 60 METER BAND

JIM/ANCHOR: The US Federal Communications Commission has changes
planned for the 60m band and wants to hear from you. Patrick Clark
K8TAC tells us more.

PATRICK: Following the lead set at the World Radiocommunications
Conference in 2015 and adopted most recently by Canadian regulators,
the US Federal Communications Commission has proposed changes to the
60m band that would allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between
5351.5 and 5366.5 kHz for amateur radio on a secondary basis.

US General, Advanced and Extra Hams presently have five channels
available to them between 5332 and 5405 kHz - also on a secondary basis
- with an effective radiated power limit of 100 W PEP The proposed new
bandwidth would set a limit of 15 watts EIRP.

The FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was released on April 21st and
aligns itself with terms advocated for by the ARRL.

The band's primary user in the US is the federal government.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration favors
adoption of the new proposed bandwidth, with hams losing the ability to
use four of the five permitted channels. The remaining channel would be
included within the new contiguous portion of the 60m band. The ARRL,
however, previously asked the FCC to keep the four 60-meter channels
that fall outside the new band and to retain the 100w power limit.

The notice is to be published in the Federal Register in May and
comments from the public are due no later than 60 days after the notice
appears.

This is Patrick Clark K8TAC.

(FCC, ARRL)

**
AUSTRALIAN REGULATOR MOVES AHEAD ON NEW CLASS LICENSE

JIM/ANCHOR: The Australian communications regulator is moving ahead
with a proposed new class license. Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us what's
involved.

GRAHAM: Amateurs with a VK license have until Thursday the 1st of June
to have their say on proposed changes by the Australian Communications
and Media Authority that would create a class license with
considerations for a staged implementation of higher power
authorization. The ACMA states on its website that intends to implement
the proposed class licensing arrangements starting on the 1st of July
and expects to give the amateur community ample notice before this
change comes into effect.

The ACMA also says that the revised class license proposal was created
by incorporating suggestions from representative bodies, amateur radio
clubs and individual amateurs.

The Wireless Institute of Australia does not support this change,
however, saying it could only support the change on a "no
disadvantage"basis.

On May 1st, the ACMA website published submissions from the public that
were not made anonymously.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

JIM/ANCHOR: Amateur satellite and SHF enthusiasts in Australia can
expect to lose all or part of the 9cm band under another proposal by
the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The regulator has
been looking at the frequencies between 3.4 GHz and 3.6 GHz for
possible use in long-term earth station protection zones. As with other
ACMA proposals, the deadline for public comment to the regulator is
July 1st.

(ACMA)


**
GRANT FUNDS STUDENT COURSE ON SPECTRUM AT OBSERVATORY

JIM/ANCHOR: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank,
West Virginia, is offering a select group of young students an
opportunity to study the electromagnetic spectrum, as we hear from Sel
Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: Twenty science-minded students between the ages of 18 and 20 are
being given an opportunity to enroll in an intensive course about the
electromagnetic spectrum being hosted by the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. This is the second year the
observatory has conducted the course, which begins in September of this
year and runs through May of 2024. The program is being overseen by the
observatory's director of Diversity & Inclusion and is funded by a
grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications. A special effort is
being made to find enrollees who are Black, indigenous or people of
color as well as students from the LGBTQIA community who wish to gain
experience, particularly as it applies to amateur radio and any future
careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Students accepted
into the 40-week program will receive a stipend of $4,000.

Lyndele von Schill, director of Diversity & Inclusion, can be reached
for questions at her email address at lvon...@nrao.edu

The observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(ARDC)


**
SILENT KEY: JOHN KNIPPING, AA9KC, OF THE 'FREEWHEELERS NET' ON 80M

JIM/ANCHOR: A founding member of a popular net that is a fixture on 80m
has become a Silent Key. We hear about him from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

KEVIN: John Knipping, AA9KC, was one of the original "Freewheelers" on
3916 kHz. In November of 1998 he answered a call put out by Ken Odom,
W4FCW, on 3916 kHz and out of that early QSO bloomed a friendship and
ultimately a popular net where everyone was welcome.

John became a Silent Key on April 29th at the age of 92.

According to his online obituary he was a Korean War veteran, a
musician and a member of the Egyptian Radio Club.

The tradition of easy camaraderie lives on, however: The net continues
making new friends and welcoming old ones every night on 80m, starting
at 10 pm Eastern Time.

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(LEGACY.COM, 3916 FREEWHEELERS NET)


**
JOIN US AT THE NEWSLINE "TOWN HALL FORUM" IN DAYTON

JIM/ANCHOR: Just a reminder to our listeners that there's more to
Amateur Radio Newsline this month than just this newscast. If you're
going to Xenia, Ohio for Hamvention, be sure to stop in Forum Room 2 on
Friday, May 19th, starting at 11:35 a.m. local time. The popular Town
Hall forum is back after many years, and we have three guests. Riley
Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, will take questions about the ARRL Volunteer
Monitor Program. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, will discuss issues
facing the IARU that affect amateurs worldwide -- and Mark Smith,
N6MTS, will take questions about a proposal to standardize headset
connectors for interoperability. Come along and join us!

**

BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard in bulletin stations around the world including
the shortwave broadcast station of shortwaveradio.de in Lower Saxony,
Germany on 6160 kHz AM. The station's European summer schedule will be
07:00 to 17:00 UTC on weekends, 15:00 to 17:00 UTC Monday to Friday.
Broadcasts can also be heard from 17:00 to 23:00 UTC daily on 3975
kHzAM.


**
MILLING ABOUT ON THE AIR FOR A SPECIAL RADIO EVENT

JIM/ANCHOR: In Australia and in the UK, hams will be milling about
-literally - for this outdoor special event. We learn the details from
John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: There's more to mills than wheat, corn or flour. Some mills can
produce QSOs. Well, at least that's going to be the case in Australia
during the Mills on the Air radio event being held in conjunction with
the Mills on the Air taking place at the same time in the UK. That
would be the 13th and 14th of May. Hams are on the air activating the
mills and also hoping to score points at the same time for SOTA, POTA
and World Wide Flora and Fauna. The Bendigo Amateur Radio and
Electronics Club is proud to be the first to get things started in 2017
with the activation of Andersons Mill in Smeaton, Victoria - but now
mill activation are grinding along quite nicely throughout Australia.

They will be joining more than 300 windmills and watermills being
activated throughout the UK to celebrate its industrial heritage. If
you wish to receive a certificate from the Denby Dale Amateur Radio
Society, which organises the event in the UK, be sure to register there
at the link in the text version of this week's newscast at
arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: www.ddars.net/register.html ]

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(DDARS.NET, MILLS ON THE AIR)



**
CELLPHONE USERS LOG DIRECT CONTACT VIA SATELLITE

JIM/ANCHOR: A space-based cellular phone network that relies on
satellites instead of towers may not be so far off as you think. Kent
Peterson KC0DGY has that story.

KENT: Imagine being able to have a cellphone signal delivered directly
to your mobile device from space instead of from a cell tower. Two
smartphone users reported recently that they had just that experience.
A call between a phone user in Texas and another in Japan was
reportedly routed through a low Earth orbit satellite manufactured by
AST SpaceMobile. These were standard, unmodified smartphones: a Samsung
Galaxy S22 in Texas and an iPhone in Japan. The BlueWalker3 satellite
that made the call possible is powerful enough to pick up cellphone
signals from over 1,000 miles away thanks to an array of 100,000
individual antenna elements on board.

Smartphones and satellites typically do not share the same part of the
spectrum for direct communication, leaving phones to rely on local cell
towers instead. According to an article in The Verge, AST SpaceMobile
was able to adapt its network architecture so it was similar to 3rd
Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP, standard that cell
networksuse.

Some smartphones are already capable of message-based satellite routing
solutions in emergencies but a full-service call with a voice
connection like this is said to be breaking new ground. The article
said there will be further testing.

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(THE VERGE)


**
UK HAMS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF 'DAM BUSTERS RAID'

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in the UK are marking the 80th anniversary of the
famous World War II "Dam Busters Raid," and Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us
what's involved.

JEREMY: The Royal Air Force sent a squadron of bombers into the night
to complete a mission known as Operation Chastise, but better known as
the Dam Busters Raid. Its targets, in the heart of industrial Nazi
Germany's Ruhr Valley, were three dams for destruction, but which were
heavily protected from any underwater or air assault.

The successful mission, which set off on the 16th of May in 1943, is
being commemorated from the 14th to 16th of May this year by the
Stockport Radio Society with the callsign GB0DBA.

Stockport is an industrial town in Greater Manchester, a region with
strong ties to the mission that employed the now-famous "bouncing
bombs." The planes, modified to carry the bombs, were manufactured at
Chadderton and assembled at Woodford. The aircrew trained over the
Derwent Reservoir.

Manchester University has a building dedicated to Barnes Wallis, the
creator of the bouncing bomb -- and to Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who
was later proposed as a candidate for the UK Parliament.

Listen on the HF bands, with a focus on 20 and 40 metres, for operators
using SSB, CW and RTTY. There will also be radio activity on VHF using
FM, C4FM and FT8 on 2 metres, and SSB and CW using the QO-100
satellite.

Please visit the QRZ.com page of GB0DBA for QSL details.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(QRZ.COM)

**
HAMS PREP FOR ARMED FORCES DAY CROSSBAND TEST

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams are getting ready to participate once again in the
Armed Forces Day Crossband Test - an exercise with an important
mission. Jack Parker W8ISH explains.

JACK: From Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, to Camp Foster in Okinawa,
military stations will be making two-way radio contacts with amateur
radio operators on various ham frequencies as part of an important
interoperability test that has united hams and government radio
operators for a half century.

This year, the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test will be held on May
13th, testing two-way communications between hams and the military.
It's an important exercise that does not have any impact on use of the
bands by hams or other private radio operators. All communications are
conducted on upper sideband unless the instructions specify otherwise.
An internet search for DoD MARS - Armed Forces Day provides complete
information, including participating stations, time periods and details
about QSL cards.

Created in 1925, the Military Auxiliary Radio System, also known as
MARS, relies on the skills of more than 3,000 civilians - most of them
licensed ham radio operators - who assist the US military with
communications at every level from local to international, especially
in emergency situations.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, WWW.MARS.AF.MIL)

**
NOMINATE NEXT 'YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR'

JIM/ANCHOR: Time is running out to nominate your choice for Amateur
Radio Newsline's Bill Pasternak Young Ham of the Year award. Candidates
must reside in the continental United States and be a licensed ham 18
years of age or younger. We are looking for someone who has talent,
promise and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application
forms on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. Nominations
close on May 31st - that's at the end of this month!

**
KICKER: FOR RADIO'S PROBLEM, THIS TOILET PAPER WAS ON A ROLL

JIM/ANCHOR: If you've ever been troubled by noisy speakers - no, we
don't mean the kind you suffer through at an awards banquet - our story
of this week may be of interest to you. We should advise you, however,
the solution to this problem is somewhat bizarre, even in the opinion
of its creator. Here's Jeremy Boot G4NJH with that story.

JEREMY: When Richard Langer received a second-hand DAB radio from a
friend, he realized right away that listening to it at lower volume was
going to be a challenge: there was a noticeable scratching sound that
went away only if the radio volume was made louder.

Using the kind of ingenuity we amateurs also know quite well, Richard
tried to find a way to fix the problem without the need to replace the
speaker. Looking among some everyday household items, Richard
ultimately got to the bottom - and yes, we do mean the bottom - of the
situation. He reached for a roll of toilet tissue.

The speaker's paper cone had apparently warped, causing the voice coil
to rub against the magnet assembly. The friction had worn out the
insulation on the turns of the coil and taken it out of proper
alignment. Crumpling the toilet tissue, he determined that if he
inserted it at just the right spot between the cone and the metal
housing, it would exert sufficient pressure to restore the alignment.
The result? Good, noise-free sound.

Richard shared this simple solution in a recent video on his YouTube
channel. The solution was picked up as well by the website Hackaday.
With a clever permanent solution as close as one's own bathroom,
Richard is no doubt pleased there will be no need for the little radio
to be flushed.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(HACKADAY, YOUTUBE)

**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to the ACMA; Amateur News Weekly; AMSAT
News Service; the ARDC; ARRL; CQ Magazine; David Behar K7DB; Dignity
Memorial; DX-World.net; the FCC; 425 DX News; Hackaday; Legacy.com;
MARS; Maine Monitor; Mills on the Air; News Center Maine; QRZ.COM;
shortwaveradio.de; 3916 Freewheelers Net; US Dept. of Defense; The
Verge; YouTube; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur
Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is
an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its
continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our
website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also
remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a
5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For now, with Caryn Eve
Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news team
worldwide, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston West Virginia saying 73.
As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is
Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.