| Regulatory: FCC Looks to Revise, Clarify Vanity Call Sign Rules | | Regulatory: FCC Looks to Revise, Clarify Vanity Call Sign RulesARRL NewsletterOn Wednesday, November 25, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) -- WT Docket No. 09-209 -- seeking to amend the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules to clarify certain rules and codify existing procedures governing the vanity call sign system, as well as revise certain rules applicable to club stations.
According to the FCC, almost 80,000 licensees have replaced their sequentially issued Amateur Radio call signs with a vanity call sign since the program began in 1996. When the program began, the Commission established what they called "the broad outlines" of the vanity call sign system, concluding that call signs generally should not be available for reassignment for two years following the death of a licensee, or expiration or termination of the license for that call sign. In doing so, the Commission made exceptions for former holders of the call sign, close relatives of a deceased former holder and club stations of which a deceased former holder was a member.
The Commission did not, however, specify all of the procedures governing the vanity call sign system, but indicated that the procedures "would be set out in the Public Notices announcing 'starting gates'...Read More >> |
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| Amateur Radio in Space: New Antennas Installed on ISS | | Amateur Radio in Space: New Antennas Installed on ISSLoyd C. Headrick
Watch astronaut Mike Foreman install the 2 meter/70 cm ARISS antenna in this NASA video that highlights the second EVA of STS-129. The antenna installation begins at marker 9:46 and goes until 15:14. [Video courtesy of NASA]
On Saturday, November 21, astronauts Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik completed the second EVA (extra-vehicular activity) -- NASA's term for a spacewalk -- of their mission. While on the 6 hour, 8 minute EVA, Foreman installed the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas for 2 meters and 70 cm on the Columbus module. NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, told the ARRL that this new antenna -- along with another VHF antenna -- was developed by ARISS in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support an experiment involving the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS). "Both antennas were installed on the Earth-facing starboard edge of the Columbus module," he explained. "The AIS antenna is forward and the ARISS antenna is aft. The ARISS team is planning to migrate some stowed Amateur Radio gear to take advantage of the new antenna." Frequencies available for...Read More >> |
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| Scott Robbins | | Scott Robbins, W4PA, to Purchase VibroplexLoyd C. Headrick
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Scott Robbins, W4PA, of Knoxville, Tennessee, told the ARRL that he has signed an agreement to purchase The Vibroplex Company, Inc from present owner Felton "Mitch" Mitchell, W4OA, effective December 21, 2009. "Vibroplex represents the great tradition of CW operation in Amateur Radio going back many, many years," Robbins told the ARRL. "I'm tickled to be able to continue the more than 100 years of history that has gone into th is company."
Robbins -- who has been employed with Ten-Tec Inc since 1995 (he has been Product Manager for Ten-Tec's Amateur Radio
equipment line since 1997) -- will leave his position in mid-December to take over full-time management and ownership of Vibroplex. "It's a great opportunity to continue the more than 100 years of tradition that the Vibroplex name represents," Robbins said. "I've known Mitch for quite a few years and it was an important consideration for both of us that Vibroplex continue operation building quality products for Amateur Radio long into the future. Mitch's experience owning the company will be valuable as we proceed with a seamless ownership transition over the next few weeks."
Robbins told...Read More >> |
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| ARISSat-1 | | Amateur Radio in Space: Students and Teachers Invited to "Fly...Loyd C. Headrick
SuitSat-1 was launched into space from the ISS in February 2006. [NASA Photo]
On February 3, 2006, cosmonaut Valery Ivanovich Tokarev hand-launched the Amateur Radio satellite SuitSat-1 from the International Space Station during an extra vehicular activity (EVA), NASA's term for a spacewalk. A discarded Russian ORLAN spacesuit, SuitSat-1 was equipped with an Amateur Radio transmitter that transmitted telemetry and greetings from youngsters to the youth of the world in several languages. In 2010, an Amateur Radio satellite -- ARISSat-1 -- will once again be hand launched from the ISS. Like its predecessor, ARISSat-1 will transmit messages recorded by students, and teachers and students are invited to "fly a file" aboard this Amateur Radio satellite.
"The ARISSat-1 Team wishes to include a memory stick of files prepared by students on our new satellite," explained Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF. "This should be a .jpg or a PDF of things the student has prepared." He gave such examples as a paper or a study done on a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) topic, a drawing of spacecraft or a schematic, a journal kept on a STEM topic, a...Read More >> |
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