KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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License fee date still not set

Posted: 21 Mar 2021 09:37 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


Theres been some talk going around that the FCC will begin charging the $35
license fee real soon now. According to the ARRL, this IS NOT the case. In
an email to Great Lakes Division members, director Dale Williams, WA8EFK,
writes:

Several individual have incorrectly reported that the proposed fees
forÂ*amateur Radio licensing have taken effect.

This is NOT TRUE.

The FCC fees Report and Order adopted last December was published in
theÂ*Federal Register this past week. To quote from ARRLs Legal Counsel,Â*I
want to note to everyone that although generally the rules takeÂ*effect on
April 19, collection of the amateur fees will NOT begin on that date.

The effective date for new amateur radio fees has not yet been established.
The FCC explicitly states in the published Notice (at p. 15061, para. 44)
that the fees will not takeÂ* effect until the requisite notice has been
provided to Congress, the FCC’s information technology systems and internal
procedures have been updated, and the Commission publishes notice(s) in the
Federal Register announcing the effective date of such rules. I expect that
the effective date will be some time this summer, but in any event we will
have advance notice.

Please, let us not contribute to the spread of incorrect information.

The post License fee date still not set appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio
Blog.


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Operating Notes: ICQPodcast talk group, spooky, a satisfied customer

Posted: 21 Mar 2021 08:49 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


Recently, Martin, M1MRB, was able to pull a few strings and get a
Brandmeister talk group—TG9480—assigned to the ICQPodcast. Its been up and
running for a couple of months now, and Martin has been encouraging all of
the presenters to get on regularly to chat with our listeners.

I admit that Ive been a slacker when it came to getting on this talk group.
If youre like me, you dont reprogram your radio very often (it had been
more than a year since Id made any modifications to mine) and you hate
fooling around with the code plug if you dont have to. But, after Martin
prodded me a little the last time I appeared on the podcast, I decided I
should bite the bullet and get on TG9480.

Since I hadn’t touched the code plug for more than a year, I had to
re-learn how to do it, but that didnt prove to be too difficult. I just
futzed around with it until I got it working.

When I finally did get it all programmed, there was something else going on
on time slot 2 of our DMR repeater, so I wasn’t able to get on just then.
The next day, however, I fired it up, gave out a call, and got an immediate
reply from W5WTH in Austin. I thought that was pretty cool. Not only did I
get the programming right, I even talked to someone on the first call.

On my second call, I found Martin, and we had a nice chat. I made my third
call this morning, and immediately got a call from Phil, VK6ADF. So, Im
3-for-3!

The ICQPodcast crew are interesting people to talk to, and our listeners
are pretty interesting folks, too. So, if youre looking for a new talk
group to try out, add TG9480 to your code plug.
Spoo-kay

On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, I worked Tom, NG4S, at 2244Z on 10.111 MHz.
Our previous contact was on March 17, 2020 at 2228Z on 10.111 MHz.
A satisfied customer

Yesterday, while working the Virginia QSO Party, I was on 40m phone working
a few stations. I called one guy, who came back sounding a bit befuddled.
KB6NU? he asked.

Roger, I replied.

Hey, cool, he answered, still sounding a bit flummoxed. Im looking at one
of your books right now! I replied that I was happy that he found them
useful and wished him good luck in the contest. Its nice to be appreciated.
grin

If you ever hear me on the air, I hope that youll give me a call. I love
talking to readers.

The post Operating Notes: ICQPodcast talk group, spooky, a satisfied
customer appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.