Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Dec 31 2020 19:49:07 Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2253, for Friday, January 1st, 2021 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2253 with a release date of Friday, January 1st, 2021, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A satellite 'first' for a small island nation. A California community rallies around a damaged radio tower - and hams in the US face new fees for their licenses. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2253 comes your way right now. ** HAM RADIO IS PART OF MAURITIUS' FIRST SATELLITE PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to a small island nation in the Indian ocean that is poised to enter the world of amateur radio satellites in the new year. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details. GRAHAM: Get ready for a history-making satellite to launch in February of 2021: Mauritius is preparing to send MIR-SAT1, the nation's first CubeSat, to the International Space Station. The nanosatellite will be carrying an amateur radio digipeater and a whole lot of national pride. It is the creation of a team of engineers from Mauritius working with a ham radio operator from the Mauritis Amateur Radio Society. The project was also a collaboration with AAC-Clyde Space UK. "MIR" stands for Mauritius InfraRed satellite. According to the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, the satellite will use the digipeater to enable experimental communication with other islands via the satellite, both for emergency purposes and scientific research. The CubeSat will also collect land and ocean data. Management of ocean resources is a top priority of the government of the Republic of Mauritius. It is expected to be deployed in May or June from the Japanese Experimental Module on board the ISS. MIR-SAT1 has an expected lifetime of between two and three years and during that time it is expected to make ground contact with Mauritius four to five times daily. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB. (AFRICA NEWS, MAURITIUS RESEARCH AND INNOVATION COUNCIL) ** NEW FCC FEE REQUIRES US HAMS TO PAY $35 PAUL/ANCHOR: In an action that many hams throughout the US had been watching closely for months, the Federal Communications Commission is now requiring amateurs to pay a $35 application fee for new licenses, renewals, and vanity call signs. The controversial move by the agency is a modification of its earlier proposed fee of $50. The FCC announced its decision on December 29th, after reviewing nearly 4,000 public comments submitted. Commissioners said they determined that amateurs, who previously paid no fees for their licenses, were not considered exempt from such payments. In another action, US hams are also being required to post their email addresses in the FCC's Universal Licensing System, or ULS, enabling the agency to email their licenses to them. Hams may either log into the ULS itself or apply for an administrative update through a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator. This change is an important step for hams, because the FCC plans to use email for all notifications to licensees. (FCC) ** COMMUNITY RALLIES TO REPAIR CALIFORNIA RADIO TOWER PAUL/ANCHOR: Efforts are under way to help rebuild a California radio tower that was devastated by wildfires in the summer of 2020. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, has that story. RALPH: When wildfires ignited by lightning swept through northern California this past summer, they consumed more than 86,000 acres in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The fires also left another casualty: the Empire Grade Radio Tower and its equipment. The tower provided critical connections for firefighters, hams and Community Emergency Response Teams. The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz has pledged $25,000 from its Fire Response Fund to the restoration of this important radio tower and is using the pledge to match donations, many of which are being collected via the GoFundMe site. The nonprofit organization wrote on the fundraising site: [quote] “The loss of this tower has impacted several community organizations. Fire departments relying on the Alertwildfire camera; community fund-raisers like bike and horseback rides that rely on the ham radio communicators who used repeaters at the tower site; and emergency preparedness, like the CERT teams and equine evacuation teams that also relied on the communication resources made possible by this tower. According to the Salinas Valley Repeater Group website, the tower's destruction impacted the W6WLS 2 meter repeater, the W6DXW 70 cm repeater, and the WB6ECE 70 cm simulcast repeater. The website said that the W6WLS repeater returned to the air in October with a temporary setup in the Santa Cruz mountains, running analog only and on battery or generator power. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB. (SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL) --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33) .