Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Mar 31 2023 04:47:18

NEW AUSTRALIAN LICENSE PUT ON HOLD

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The long-awaited new amateur license class is coming
to Australia - but not as quickly as many had hoped. John Williams,
VK4JJW, brings us up to date.

JOHN: Hams in Australia who have been waiting for the introduction of
the new amateur class licence on July 1st, are going to have to wait
a little longer. The Australian Communications and Media Authority
has announced that it must make certain determinations concerning the
licence's operational policy arrangements, and to further clarify the
implementation of higher power authorisation.

According to the ACMA website, that includes call sign administration,
public register options, amateur operating procedures, arrangements
for amateur club and international reciprocity for Advanced amateurs
traveling overseas.

The ACMA's review also includes, among other things, its proposed 
access for standard-level amateur licensees for the 50–52 MHz band.

The ACMA said it will provide an update in the second quarter of this
year.

This is John Williams, VK4JJW.

(AMCA)

**

ANOTHER VOICE WEIGHS IN TO KEEP AM RADIO IN US CARS

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Another voice has weighed in on the battle to keep AM
radio in cars used in the United States. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has
that update.

KENT: A New Jersey lawmaker has added his voice to the growing call in
the United States asking that AM radio become a required safety feature
for all automakers, including electric cars being manufactured in the
US market.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer said he believes that some carmakers' plans
to discontinue AM radio in cars and trucks will post an unnecessary
danger during national emergencies when many alerts are transmitted over
broadcast AM frequencies. He compared AM radio to other minimum safety
requirements provided in cars, including seatbelts, airbags and brakes.

The lawmaker said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has
an obligation to put AM radio on that list of minimum standards. He spoke
at a press conference in late March in New Jersey, accompanied by Jordan
Walton, the executive director of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association.

A number of carmakers have said that AM radio transmissions are disrupted
by noise generated by electric vehicles, making signal reception poor.

There has been a growing call recently to keep AM radio for motorists in
the US. The most recent voices have been those of seven former officials
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

(RADIO WORLD)

**

SILENT KEY: EMERGENCY RESPONDER DANIEL RAYMOND, KC1PGR

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams and firefighters alike are mourning the death of a
colleague in Caribou, Maine. Daniel Raymond, KC1PGR, became a Silent Key
on March 23rd following an automobile accident. Dan had been involved in
rescue and firefighting for much of his adult life. In 1995, he became a
career firefighter for the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department,
eventually attaining the rank of captain. A devoted public servant on
many levels, Dan was active in community life and taught public-safety 
education. He was charter member of the Caribou Emergency Amateur Radio
Service and an active operator with the Caribou Radio Amateur Civil
Emergency Service.

Dan was 57.

(T.H. MERRITT, KL5YJ)

**

THE ART OF ANTENNA EXPERIMENTATION

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Imagine an antenna that stands seven stories tall, is
30 feet wide and contains 110 tons of stainless steel, bronze and steel.
Well, it's not really an antenna - it's a sculpture on the campus of a
university in New York State - but for just one day in March, it helped
log a contact on 20 meters. Sel Embee, KB3T Zed D, explains.

SEL: The sculpture is called "The Sentinel" and by all accounts, it is
the largest sculpture to stand on any university campus in the United
States. It recently morphed into a 20m antenna that helped log a
successful contact using FT8 on 5 watts. Experiments are a way of life
at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York, and so
members of the amateur radio club, K2GXT, couldn't resist giving in to
their long-simmering temptation to turn "The Sentinel" from a symbolic
campus guardian into a somewhat artful messenger. The hams first checked
the setup with a NanoVNA, and then let those 5 watts loose, keeping
onlookers at a safe distance while they transmitted. A report by one of
the club members on Reddit said: [quote] "With help from our university's
health and safety team, we did this today.....We were able to be heard
almost across the entire eastern half ot the US, at least according to
PSKReporter, despite some less-than-amazing band conditions." [endquote]

While this is the first such attempt by the club - and happily a 
successful one - the story doesn't end here. The club members wrote:
[quote] "We're really impressed with the results and we hope to do this
again with better band conditions." [endquote]

The sculpture cost $800,000 when it was installed 20 years ago. It might
be more cost-effective next time to just toss a wire into the trees.

This is Sel Embee, KB3TZD.

(HACKADAY, AMATEUR NEWS WEEKLY,  RIT, REDDIT)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7)

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