Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Dec 18 2020 08:15:46 VIDEOS AVAILABLE FROM QRP VIRTUAL CONVENTION NEIL/ANCHOR: If you weren't able to attend the convention of the G-QRP Club this past September, there's still time to attend - virtually. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, tells us how. JEREMY: The G-QRP Club, which devotes itself to low-power ham radio, is making presentations from its two-day Virtual Convention available on its new YouTube channel and on the 9th of December began uploading videos of the various sessions. Welcoming visitors to the opening session, Nick Bradley, G4IWO, called the virtual event "a first for the QRP community" and called the attendance overwhelming. It was a new experience for the club, which was founded in 1979 by the Rev. George Dobbs, G3RJV. George became a Silent Key in March of 2019. The club's call sign is G5LOW. Its virtual convention was the concept of club chairman Steve Hartley, G0FUW, who said during the opening session [quote] "I am proud we have been able to do something and see everyone turn out." [endquote] This was one of the ham radio events to take its activities online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presentations covered such topics as HF propagation tools, going portable QRP with SDRs, battery technology for QRP use and the FT4 and FT8 modes. To find the archived presentations from the convention, visit the G-QRP Club channel on YouTube. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (G-QRP CLUB) ** SOLAR CELL SETS UNPRECEDENTED EFFICIENCY NEIL/ANCHOR: If you make use of solar energy when doing portable operations, this next story may be a ray of sunshine - literally. Here's Ed Durrant, DD5LP, with the details. ED: An international team headed by scientists has announced the development of a solar cell that has beat the world record for efficiency. The research center Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin said that the development of a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell has created a 29.15 percent efficiency, pushing it ahead of the existing maximum of 28 percent. This is an important increase in the amount of energy produced using the same amount of sunshine hitting the same surface area. The efficiency rating means that these panels convert 29.15 percent of the incident light into electrical energy. The researchers are encouraged that they will reach their long-range target of more than 30 percent. Silicon cells are the global standard used in solar farms and it has been developed separately from perovskite as a semiconductor for solar panels. The researchers' published paper on the development calls the tandem solar cells "a promising option." The researchers also noted that combining the two semiconductors doesn't notably increase the cost of the panels' manufacture. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP. (SCIENCE ALERT, SCIENCE MAGAZINE, HZB) ** CHANGES TO NEW ZEALAND'S GENERAL USER RADIO LICENSE NEIL/ANCHOR: In New Zealand, there have been some changes to the General User Radio License, Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, gives us the details. JIM: Recent changes by New Zealand regulators to the General User Radio Licence now permit the use of an increased number of unlicenced low-power wireless devices across frequencies that include the HF spectrum. The changes permit the use of wireless microphones and Radio Frequency Identification transmitters in the gigahertz bands and Radio Spectrum Management is now allowing frequencies starting with the AM medium wave band right up to 10 metres to be used for other low-power purposes, such as wireless charging devices. The devices must be used in a manner that does not cause interference to licensed radio services, such as military, broadcast or amateur radio. If that happens, the user must stop using the device. The GURL requires use of equipment that complies with radio standards and the technical parameters of the licence and mandates that each device carry a label saying it is RSM-approved. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF. (NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, SOUTHGATE) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the KV3B repeater in Rockville, Maryland, on Sundays after the net at 7:30 p.m. local time. --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .