FCC Opens Door for Return of 'Expired' Hams, Remote Exam Sessions
Acting
on several long-pending rule-making proposals, the FCC in early June made it
easier for former hams to regain their licenses, and for hams/prospective hams
in remote areas to take license exams.
In
addition, the FCC gave the green light to Volunteer Examiner Coordinators - at
their discretion - to offer remote exam sessions, with VE supervision via
audio/video links. This should increase exam opportunities in hard-to-reach
locations. The Commission also decided against its own proposal to reduce the
minimum number of Volunteer Examiners at a test session from three to two, to
grant lifetime credit for Certificates of Successful Completion of Examinations
(CSCEs) and to change the license renewal grace period and the timetable for
making expired call signs available to the vanity call system.
Finally,
the FCC approved the ARRL's request to specifically permit certain TDMA (Time
Domain Multiple Access) modes on amateur frequencies.
NASA/NOAA Agree that Solar 'Mini-Max' is Here
Members
of the joint NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle Prediction Panel are in agreement that we
are currently at the peak of Solar Cycle 24, and that, according to NASA
Science News, "it is not very impressive." In fact, says the report,
"there are only a few Solar Maxima weaker than this one," and many researchers,
it says, are calling this a "Mini-Max."
Nonetheless,
the panel warned that significant solar events, "such as strong flares and
significant geomagnetic storms," can be expected during the downward slope
of any solar cycle, regardless of its strength.
WRTC Awards for the Rest of Us!
The
main competition in this month's World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC 2014)
is among the 59 teams from 38 countries who will be operating with special 1x1
call signs on the weekend of July 14-15. But recognizing that those teams need
to work the rest of us, the WRTC organizing committee has put together a series
of awards to encourage the general ham population to join in the fun.
Included
are several levels of activity awards for contacting at least 30 of the 59 team
stations, as well as an "Assistant Judge" award for hams who submit
logs within six hours of the end of the contest to help in log-checking. For
more information, visit <www.wrtc2014.org>. [Also see "Those
Flying Finns…", Contesting, and "On the Cover" in this issue. -
ed.]
FCC Again Going After 14.313
FCC
Special Counsel Laura Smith cited Larry King, KI8NGS, of Michigan for operating
on 14.313 for at least 20 minutes without identifying (FCC direction-finding was
used to identify his station); and Tennessee ham Daniel Churovich, N9RSY, was
cited for repeatedly communicating with a station on 14.313 who failed to
properly identify himself. Smith noted that it is also a rule violation to
communicate with an unidentified station, as that station may not be a licensed
amateur.
In
addition, according to the ARRL Letter, four hams in three states were
warned in late March that the Commission expected them to "abide by the
request of the trustee and/or control operator" of specific repeaters (or
any others) not to operate on them.
'Baofeng' Becoming 'Pofung'
Having
trouble correctly pronouncing the names of various Chinese radio manufacturers?
Well, at least one of them feels your pain and is taking great pains to help. Baofeng
announced recently that it is "rebranding" its products as
"Pofung" in international markets in order to help customers
pronounce the name correctly. In a news release on its website, the company
says "Baofeng" is "a literal Pinyin translation of our Chinese
character name," but that it "may be difficult for a hobbyist across
the ocean to pronounce." The new name, it says, is easier to pronounce
"while maintaining the phonetic symbolism of our brand." The
company's website, www.baofengradio.com, will not be changed. The company also
encouraged consumers only to purchase its equipment from authorized
distributors, including amazon.com, radioddity.com and baofengtech.com. [Tnx
WA6ITF]
Spain's Ham King Stepping Down
 |
| Courtesy of DXCoffee.com |
Juan
Carlos assumed the throne in 1975 after the death of former dictator Francisco
Franco, and helped guide the country successfully into democracy. He is 76. (Maybe
we'll be hearing EA0JC on the ham bands more frequently! - ed.)
Russia Blocks U.S. Access to Space Station
International Ham Satellite Cooperation May Be Restored
The
U.S. government is reportedly easing restrictions on sharing technology with
other countries that has virtually stopped U.S.-based AMSAT-NA from taking part
in any multinational amateur satellite projects for the past 15 years. Newsline
reported at the end of May that the State Department will be reclassifying
satellites and related components so that they are no longer considered weapons
subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. Violations
of those rules carried the threat of jail time or huge fines.
Satellite Roundup
There's
quite a bit of news from the world of amateur satellites this month, so we're
providing a quick summary here, courtesy of the AMSAT News Service and the ARRL
Letter:
*
The launch of AMSAT-NA's Fox-1 satellite has been delayed from this December to
next summer, due to scheduling changes made by the U.S. Air Force, which is
providing the launch.
*
KickSat, the crowd-funded satellite that was supposed to deploy thousands of
tiny "sprites," each with its own experiment and radio transmitter,
re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up without deploying what would
have been the smallest satellites ever orbited. An unexpected reset of the
satellite's master clock was blamed.
* "FUNcube-2," a joint project of AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL in the Netherlands, has been scheduled for a June 19 launch. FUNcube-1 has been highly successful in
promoting science and technology - along with amateur radio - in UK schools.
*
The Japanese SPROUT satellite was successfully launched in late May. It
operates on the 70-centimeter ham band and includes a slow-scan TV transmitter,
a digitalker and a digipeater.
*
Lithuania's LituanicaSAT-1 has been designated as LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or
LO-78. It carries an FM transponder with a 2-meter uplink and 70-centimter
downlink.
*
Several hams are key players in private efforts to keep an old NASA satellite
up and running. ISEE-3 was launched 36 years ago, repurposed as the
International Cometary Explorer and then retired. The group hopes to bring it
back to its originals orbit where it could again study the effects of solar
weather on the Earth's magnetic field.
Congressional Committee Affirms Support for MARS, Repeats Call for Unified Leadership
ARRL Offers Free Exam Review Website
The
ARRL has been publishing amateur radio license manuals for decades, and it is
now expanding its license preparation efforts to the Internet. The ARRL
Letter reports that the League is now offering free practice exams on its
website, made up of questions from the actual license exam question pools. ARRL
membership is not required.
IARU Officers Re-Elected
