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- May 11, 2008: ARRL DX Bulletin 2008 #17
- May 10, 2008: Wilmington, N.C., to test TV change over to digital
- May 10, 2008: Sprint, Clearwire to build national Wi-Max network
- May 10, 2008: ARRL DX Bulletin 2008 #16
- May 9, 2008: HELP WITH THE BRATS HAMFEST!
- May 9, 2008: FCC Looks to Raise Vanity Call Sign Fees
- May 9, 2008: Guest Speaker at June BRATS Meeting
- May 8, 2008: FCC Denies Two Amateur Radio Petitions for Rulemaking
- May 8, 2008: Newspaper Reports "BPL plan is dead in Dallas"
- April 28, 2008: Robert Beasley, K6BJH, Silent Key
ARRL DX Bulletin 2008 #17
May 11, 2008 by kb3ljm.
- IRAN, EP.
- Hamid, EP4HR has been QRV on 17 meters around 1500 to1600z. QSL via I2MQP.
- WESTERN SAHARA, S0.
- Mohamed, S01MZ has been active on 20 meters around 1700z. QSL via EA1BT.
- TUVALU, T2.
- Udo, DL9HCU is QRV as T20HC. The length of his stay is unknown. He is generally active on 20 meters around 0500 to 0800z and 17 meters around 0800 to 1000z. QSL to home call
OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT.
The following operations are approved for DXCC credit:
Uganda, 5X1NH, 2007 operation; Burundi, 9UXEV, 2008 operation; Saudi Arabia, HZ1PS; Western Sahara, S05A, 2007 operation; and Syria, YK9G, 2008 operation.
http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/2008-arld017.html
Posted in ARRL DX BULLETIN | Comments Off
Wilmington, N.C., to test TV change over to digital
May 10, 2008 by kb3ljm.
Residents of Wilmington, N.C., will soon become laboratory rats in the nation’s transition to digital TV.
The Federal Communications Commission plans to make the greater Wilmington area a digital-TV test market to work out any bugs before the entire nation goes all digital on Feb. 17.
All four commercial broadcasters in the Wilmington region — with a population of about 400,000 — have agreed to turn off their analog signals and broadcast in digital only starting Sept. 8. The switch will be preceded by an intensive consumer-education campaign, including TV and radio ads.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in USA Today | Comments Off
Sprint, Clearwire to build national Wi-Max network
May 10, 2008 by kb3ljm.
Sprint (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) are forming a new company to build a nationwide “WiMax” wireless network, with the goal of offering advanced wireless Internet services to millions beginning next year, the companies said Wednesday.
Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) are major investors. Under terms of the $3.2 billion collaboration, Sprint and Clearwire will form a separate, publicly traded company — called Clearwire — to oversee the nationwide buildout.
Read the rest of this entry »
ARRL DX Bulletin 2008 #16
May 10, 2008 by kb3ljm.
- QATAR, A7.
- Bill, NM7H will be QRV as A7/G0MKT through the middle of June. Activity will be on 40 to 6 meters using mainly CW with some SSB and PSK31. QSL to home call.
- BAHRAIN, A9.
- John, A92HB has been QRV on 17 meters around 1500 to 1700z. QSL via GM6TVR.
- IRAN, EP.
- Pooyan, EP3PK has been active on 20 meters around 1400. In addition, EP4HR has been active on 17 meters around 1330z. QSL via I2MQP.
- DJIBOUTI, J2.
- Jean-Claude, J28JA has been QRV on 15 meters around1230z and then 20 meters around 1730z. QSL via F5JFU.
http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/2008-arld016.html
Posted in ARRL DX BULLETIN | Comments Off
HELP WITH THE BRATS HAMFEST!
May 9, 2008 by kb3ljm.
Howard County Fairgrounds
Call: 410-461-1212, leave a message; or visit our website: http://www.bratsatv.org We need your help NOW, on the day of the hamfest, the day before and the day after….
Thanks!
Posted in Hamfests | Comments Off
FCC Looks to Raise Vanity Call Sign Fees
May 9, 2008 by kb3ljm.
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM) on May 8 seeking to raise fees for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a vanity call sign costs $11.70 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $12.30 for 10 years, an increase of $.60. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new term. Instructions on how to comment on this NPRM are available on the FCC Web site.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/08/10089/?nc=1
Posted in ARRL Web Extra | Comments Off
Guest Speaker at June BRATS Meeting
May 9, 2008 by kb3ljm.
Tuesday, June 17, 7:15 PM at the Pikesville
Library; 1301 Reisterstown Rd., Pikesville.
Jim Cross, WI3N, our ARRL MD/DC Section
Manager, speaking on Using ATV for emcomm.
PLAN TO JOIN US AND BRING A FRIEND!
Posted in Meetings | Comments Off
FCC Denies Two Amateur Radio Petitions for Rulemaking
May 8, 2008 by kb3ljm.
In two separate decisions released today, the Federal Communications Commission denied two Petitions for Rulemaking (PRM) having to do with Amateur Radio. These two PRMs, one filed by Mark Miller, N5RFX, of Arlington, Texas, concerning digital spectrum issues, and the other filed jointly by Ken Chafin, W6CPA, of La Crescenta, California, and Leon Brown, KC6JAR, of Los Angeles, California, concerning additional spectrum for more repeaters, including digital systems. Miller’s PRM was assigned RM-11392, while the Chafin and Brown petition was not afforded an RM number by the FCC. According to ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, the ARRL filed no comments on either petition in accordance with the League’s standard policy on bare petitions for rule making that do not deal with spectrum allocations.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/07/10087/?nc=1
Posted in ARRL Web Extra | Comments Off
Newspaper Reports “BPL plan is dead in Dallas”
May 8, 2008 by kb3ljm.
The Dallas Morning News has reported that “an ambitious plan for using power lines to deliver fast Internet service to 2 million Dallas-area homes collapsed Thursday.” Current Group, LLC has announced plans to sell its Dallas BPL network to Oncor, a regulated electric distribution and transmission business, for $90 million. Oncor reportedly has no plans to offer Internet service but will use the network to detect distribution network issues. While Current originally touted the network as a way to offer Internet service to consumers and had entered into a marketing arrangement with DirecTV, the Houston Chronicle quotes Oncor spokesman Chris Schein as confirming that Oncor will use the network only for monitoring the power grid: “Our business is delivering electricity, not being an Internet provider or a television provider.”
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/02/10078/?nc=1
Posted in BPL, ARRL Web Extra | Comments Off
Robert Beasley, K6BJH, Silent Key
April 28, 2008 by kb3ljm.
Amateur radio cartoonist Robert Beasley, K6BJH, whose deft drawings sparked many a grin, died February 16, 2008; he was 82. His wife, Helen, survives Bob. According to his autobiography, he was first licensed in southern California in 1953. Following retirement, Bob fulfilled his lifelong desire to become a cartoonist. His work was featured in QST, Worldradio, Electric Radio, Spec-Com Journal, Radioscan and Badger State Smoke Signals. Collections of his cartoons were published as: The Best of Beasley and The Best of Beasley: K6BJH on Amateur Television.
Source: K9YA Telegraph, 5/2008
Posted in Silent Key | Comments Off