Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Jan 27 2022 19:51:00 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2309, for Friday, January 28th, 2022 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2309 with a release date of Friday, January 28th, 2022 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. There's progress in restoring some of Tonga's communications. Researchers create a new transistor that uses sound waves - and hams in the UK prepare for the Queen's platinum jubilee. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2309, comes your way right now. ** PROGRESS IN RESTORING TONGA'S COMMUNICATIONS STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to the struggling island nation of Tonga, which is still cut off from the world following back-to-back natural disasters. Hams continue to keep a watchful eye. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, picks up the story from here. JIM: Efforts have been ongoing to restore communications to Tonga, where an undersea volcano left a vital fibre-optic cable broken beneath the ocean, isolating the island nation. According to a BBC report, 2G wireless service has been set up on the archipelago's main island with the help of a satellite dish from the University of the South Pacific. Other than the intermittent service of satellite phones, however, outside contact has been limited as the country struggles with a contaminated water supply and other concerns brought on by a subsequent tsunami. Tonga apparently has no active amateur radio operators and hams in the immediate Pacific region have reported that the amateur HF bands are presently unusable. Some marine VHF bands are said to be active. Hayden Honeywood, VK7HH, is among those amateurs using YouTube and other social media channels to provide updates whenever possible. One of Hayden's most recent accounts came from Roly, ZL1BQD, whose friend in Tonga operates a 1-kilowatt broadcast radio station at 91.3 FM. The station was unaffected by the tsunami and is carrying public service messages. 0Meanwhile, New Zealand's ministry of foreign affairs estimate it will take at least a month, if not more, before the cable can be fixed. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (HAYDEN HONEYWOOD VK7HH, BBC) ** FAA SETTLES INTERFERENCE ISSUE WITH MAJORITY OF AIRCRAFT STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The US FAA has made major progress on the issue of interference between 5G transmissions and airline altimeters. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, brings us this update. KENT: For some models of Boeing, Airbus and Embraer aircraft, radio interference isn't just an annoyance; it has the potential for deadly consequences. That was at the root of the US Federal Aviation Administration's concern about 5G cell phone signals, which use the same C-band spectrum as some of the airliners' altimeters. The FAA said planes landing in low-visibility conditions risked interference from mobile phones, naming Verizon and AT&T as two of the carriers. Now, in a dramatic turnaround of its position, the FAA has said that more than three-quarters of planes have altimeters that can filter out 5G transmissions and are in the clear. Some telecom and consumer advocates, such as attorney Harold Feld, publicly criticized the FAA for taking too long to evaluate altimeters after the FCC approved the cellular carriers' use of the C-band in 2020. According to an article on the ArsTechnica website, the FAA only began vetting the altimeters in February 2021 once the FCC had auctioned off the spectrum to the carriers. The ArsTechnica article said that in 40 other countries where C-band spectrum is in use for cellular service, there have been no reports of 5G causing trouble with altimeters. In the US the FCC standards place a 200 MHz guard band between the cellular carriers and the frequencies used by the altimeters. More approvals are expected soon. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. (ARS TECHNICA) ** PORTUGAL CRACKS DOWN ON RADIO INTERFERENCE STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, the Portuguese communications regulator cracked down late last year on what it called abuse and interference on a number of frequencies, including maritime mobile and amateur bands. IARU Region 1 reported that ANACOM, the Portuguese Communications Authority, in partnership with the Maritime Police, sought to verify the proper and legal use of radios by conducting inspections on vessels between the ports of Caminha and Peniche. According to the report, unauthorized use of frequencies was the most common violation. The report indicated that such practices, in addition to being illegal, can cause interference, especially to radios being used for emergency response. ANACOM noted in the report that it was leaving the matter of sanctions to the Maritime Police. (SOUTHGATE, IARU REGION 1) --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .