New Technician Class Exams Being Given as of July 1

A revised and updated question pool for the Element 2 FCC Technician Class license exam goes into effect on July 1, meaning that all exams given on or after that date will use the new questions. According to the ARRL VEC, the new pool has three fewer questions than the previous one, along with questions based on three schematic diagrams. These questions will be in use through June 30, 2022. Question pools for each exam element rotate on a four-year basis and are updated by the Question Pool Committee of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (www.ncvec.org). 

Next up for revision is the Element 3 General Class exam, with an updated pool due to take effect in July 2019.

Milestones: WP4OXB, K1DAJ and W3KLQ are Silent Keys

One of the nine Air National Guard members killed in the May 2 crash of a cargo plane in Georgia was a ham, Eric Circuns, WP4OXB, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Newsline reports that the 60-year-old plane was on its way to Arizona for decommissioning. The ARRL reported that the plane had been used in relief and recovery efforts during both Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
 

ARRL Business Services Manager Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ, became a Silent Key on May 17 after a lengthy illness. According to the ARRL Letter, Jahnke was 66 and had served on the ARRL staff for nearly 40 years, starting as a file clerk. She was well-known throughout the amateur radio industry as QST's advertising manager, a post she held prior to becoming Business Services Manager. She is survived by her husband, ARRL Contest Branch Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, and two daughters, Samantha and Ashley. The family has asked that anyone wishing to do so may make contributions in Debra Jahnke's name to the American Cancer Society, Shriners Hospitals for Children or St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Finally, Frank Victor Tarkington, W3KLQ, of Silver Spring, Maryland, may not have been well-known among his fellow hams, but he literally brought the White House into the television age. While working for RCA in 1948, Tarkington was tasked with installing a 10-inch TV in the Oval Office for President Harry Truman. According to Newsline, he was a Navy radioman in World War II and witnessed the arming of the Enola Gay with the first atomic bomb while operating the radar station on Tinian island. Tarkington was 102.

"Last Man Standing" is Still Standing

The TV comedy "Last Man Standing" will return in the fall for a seventh season, but on a different network. The program stars Tim Allen, KK6OTD, as Mike Baxter, who is also a ham and whose station has appeared prominently in the background on most episodes and was written into several of them.

ABC cancelled the program last year after six seasons, despite being the network's second-most watched comedy, according to deadline.com. Amid an outcry by fans and a petition that gathered nearly a half-million signatures, the Fox Network decided to pick up the show for a seventh season. Fox's production arm had produced the program for ABC since its launch. 

Co-Executive Producer John Amodeo, AA6JA, told fans in May that he hopes to return to the show as well, but already had other production commitments so couldn't be sure at that point.

FCC: No Separation Rules for Digital Repeaters

The FCC has turned down a petition from a Michigan ham to require that digital repeaters be separated from analog repeaters, either geographically or by frequency, in order to prevent interference. The ARRL reported that Charles Adkins, K8CPA, filed the petition, claiming that digital repeaters pose "a major annoyance" to operators of analog repeaters. 

The FCC said no, citing a 2008 action in which it turned down a similar suggestion for designating separate spectrum for digital repeaters. The denial letter also pointed out that the rules already prohibit intentional interference and spell out procedures for resolving interference issues between repeaters. It said nothing had changed in the past 10 years to warrant revisiting the issue.