Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Apr 01 2021 19:43:14 AUSTRALIAN REGULATOR SEEKS INPUT ON 5-YEAR PLAN NEIL/ANCHOR: Do you have an opinion on radio spectrum use in Australia? The Australian Communications and Media Authority wants to hear from you. Here's John Williams, VK4JJW. JOHN: The ACMA is looking for input on a draft of its five-year spectrum plan, a key document that will guide its priorities in allocating and managing frequencies in the years ahead. The proposed changes are being drawn up in consultation with members of the telecommunications industry, radio hobbyists and others in the community. This is the first such draft to be created under the Radiocommunications Legislation Amendment (Reform and Modernisation) Act 2020. Priorites are expected to be heavily impacted by the ACMA's goal to support deployment of 5G services throughout Australia. A review is also ongoing to replace apparatus licences with non-assigned amateur licensing arrangements as a way of keeping licensees' costs affordable and to reduce the burden on regulators. The ACMA has a number of options for replacing the current apparatus licence but prefers the establishment of non-assigned amateur and outpost stations under a class licence. The agency also plans to review the prospect of creating licences for higher-power operations and intends to consult with the amateur community on this issue. Feedback may be submitted to the ACMA no later than April the 28th. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm John Williams, VK4JJW. (ACMA) ** UTAH AMATEURS CELEBRATE CENTENNIAL NEIL/ANCHOR: The Ogden Amateur Radio Club, one of Utah's oldest ham radio clubs, bears the call sign of its founder Dr. W. Glen Garner, W7SU. He became its first president shortly after its founding 100 years ago this May. The club is marking its centennial with an array of activities, including a special event station in May and a centennial QSL card contest for its members. Newsline congratulates the Ogden amateurs on 100 great years. (OARC WEBSITE) ** IARU REGION 1 EYES INVOLVEMENT BY YOUNGER GENERATION NEIL/ANCHOR: IARU Region 1 is assessing its future and hoping for a younger perspective. Here's Ed Durrant, DD5LP, to tell us what's up next. ED: Faced with eroding enrollment in many of its member societies, IARU Region 1 has begun organising a workshop on keeping amateur radio vibrant as its licensees age. Discussions about the workshop were held at its General Conference on March 24. The workshop itself will be held in October of this year, hosted by the Serbian Amateur Radio Society. If COVID restrictions are still in place at the time, the workshop will be conducted virtually instead. Participants are particularly concerned about the lack of top leadership among amateurs 35 and younger. The committee wrote on the IARU website: [quote] "The IARU Region 1 Executive Committee shares that it's time for change and we need to start moving forward. Working together and changing the current trends. We need to focus our thinking and way of operating." [endquote] Towards that end, the committee said it was committed to bringing new people into the discussion. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (IARU REGION 1) ** MISSILE RANGE DEEMED VULNERABLE TO INTERFERENCE NEIL/ANCHOR: RF control links being used at 420 and 430 MHz to set up a linked repeater system in New Mexico are being cited as potential sources of interference to critical systems at the nearby White Sands Missile Range, the largest open air test range of the United States Department of Defense. The department's Regional Spectrum Coordinator, the FCC and the ARRL worked together to track down the amateur radio communications, which were discovered to come from the repeater system's RF control links on 70 centimetres. Amateur radio is a secondary service on the band. The owners of the control links have been asked to re-coordinate the frequencies by May 31st. (SOUTHGATE, ARRL) ** NEW ZEALAND YOUTH NET EXPANDS ITS REACH NEIL/ANCHOR: A popular net among the youngest amateurs in New Zealand just got a little bigger and a little more ambitious. Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, tells us how they're growing. JIM: Like everything that starts out in life young and small, the net formerly known as Young Transmitters New Zealand has grown up. It has rebranded and expanded to become the YOTA Oceania Net. The net's founder Thomas Bernard, ZL3TOM, announced the change in a recent newsletter, telling Newsline that the net is now run in partnership with Youngsters on the Air, recognising that participants hope to connect with other hams in more regions than before. The net is held Mondays at 0600 UTC on All-Star and Echolink. Tom uses the special event callsign ZL6YOTA during the net to encourage more young amateurs to check in. For more information about the net, and ways to join this growing community, visit his website at zl3tom dot com [zl3tom.com] For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33) .