eHam.net News

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ARRL Reiterates Its Case for New Band at 5 MHz:

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:48 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38873


In comments filed on March 20 with the FCC on its own January Petition
for Rule Making (RM-11785),
ARRL reiterated its case for a contiguous secondary 15-kHz wide,
60-meter band of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz in addition to the four
existing discrete 60-meter channels that fall outside the requested
band, with a permitted power level of 100 W EIRP and retention of
current operating rules. More than 5 dozen comments, all supporting the
proposed allocation, were filed on the League's petition. While some
suggested more spectrum or higher power, or a combination, ARRL said in
its comments that it does not at this time favor any changes in its
initial request for a new band. The League proposal would implement a
portion of the Final Acts of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015
(WRC-15) that provided for a secondary international amateur allocation
of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz at a maximum of 15 W EIRP.


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ARRL Seeking Synergy With Maker Movement:

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:47 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38872


ARRL is reaching out to members of the Maker movement to explore
avenues of cooperation and collaboration, and perhaps to recruit some
new radio amateurs. Considered an extension of the arts and crafts
tradition, the Maker movement gained its own magazine, in 2005. The
philosophy of the Maker
movement is reminiscent of an era when radio amateurs built their own
equipment rather than buying it off the shelf. Those considering
themselves Makers have tended to focus on such areas as electronics and
computers, robotics, 3D printing, metal and woodworking, and even
Amateur Radio, among other avocations.


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The Doctor Will See You Now!

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:46 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38871


"Remote Antenna Tuners" is the topic of the just-released episode of
the "ARRL The Doctor is In" podcast.
Listen...and learn!


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Motorola Solutions Sues Hytera Communications, Alleging Patent, Trade Secre

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:47 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38870


Motorola Solutions
has filed complaints
in federal court (US District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois), alleging that Hytera Communications' digital mobile radio (DMR)
products employ
techniques and systems that infringe on Motorola Solutions' patents and
trade secrets. Already known for its Land Mobile Radio Service
products, Hytera entered the Amateur Radio DMR market last year.
Motorola alleges that proprietary and patented information was taken
illegally by three former company engineers who now work for Hytera, as
"part of a deliberate scheme to steal and copy" its technology.


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Amateur Radio Gains a Champion in FAA Tower Safety Rules Controversy:

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:46 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38869


The owners of certain Amateur Radio towers have a friend in FCC
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who feels that tower-marking provisions
required under the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, now
Public Law 114-190,
"could use tweaks." In a March 10 blog post,
O'Rielly expressed his belief that thousands of tower owners in the US
could face expensive, unnecessary retrofits resulting from the law's
unintended consequences.


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Virginia Engineering Students Tackle Satellite, Ground Station Projects:

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:46 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38868


The University of Virginia (UVA) reports
that some of its engineering students are among those at other
Commonwealth schools working on Amateur Radio satellites and matching
ground stations to track them and collect data. UVA said its
student-built satellite is set to go into space late next year aboard
an International Space Station (ISS) resupply vehicle for later
deployment from the ISS. The UVA project will be part of a joint
mission with other Virginia universities to conduct atmospheric density
studies, to gain a better understanding regarding the rates at which
low-orbiting spacecraft slow down and ultimately leave orbit when
encountering the drag of the atmosphere's outer edges.


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Odd Call Signs On the Loose -- Be On the Lookout!

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:45 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38867


Special event stations sporting unusual call signs are -- or will be --
on the air this spring and later in the year.


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ARISS Deadline to Accept Proposals to Host Contacts with Space Station Crew

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:45 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38866


The deadline is April 15 for schools and formal or informal educational
institutions and organizations -- individually or working in concert --
to submit proposals to host Amateur Radio contacts next year with ISS
crew members. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
anticipates that contacts will take place
between January 1 and June 30, 2018. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits
will determine the exact contact dates. Proposal information and
documents are on the
ARRL website.


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In Brief...

Posted: 23 Mar 2017 08:44 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/38865


ARRL "60-Second Century" Videos Preview QST Editorials: ARRL CEO Tom
Gallagher, NY2RF, is now supplementing each of his QST "Second Century"
editorials with a "60-Second Century" video. These videos offer a
glimpse of the content in each month's QST editorial. ARRL began
producing "60-Second Century" with the March QST editorial, and each
video is posted on the ARRL YouTube channel, as well as made available
through ARRL social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).
Videos will become available on the 10th of each month, when the
digital edition of QST is released to members, and they will be
archived.