Subj : Newsline Part 1
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 23 2016 07:23 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2043, December 23, 2016
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2043, with a release date of Friday,
December 23, 2016, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams regroup to revive Missouri's Amateur Radio
Parity Act. A British rocker upgrades his license -- and Norway's going
digital. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2043, comes
your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
MISSOURI AMATEURS RENEW PARITY ACT PUSH
JIM/ANCHOR: We lead this week's newscast with a story of perseverence:
Hams in Missouri say they're anything but discouraged about the failure
to pass the state's Amateur Radio Parity Act. We hear why from Amateur
Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
PAUL: We have covered the progress of two different Amateur Radio Parity
Acts - the national version, and the more localized version in Missouri.
Both followed similar trajectories, both suffered the same fate. Both
efforts were passed by the House of Representatives, both were summarily
dismissed by a single Senator before they could be added to the calendar.
I spoke with Larry Scantlan, K-E-zero-K-Zed, the man spearheading the
Missouri effort, about his strategy for regrouping and starting the
process all over again.
LARRY: We're very active in that process right now. Our original sponsor
of the bill, who authored it with me, State Representative Bryan Spencer,
has pre-filed our second attempt, and it is on the record of the House
of Representatives of the State of Missouri, and it's named the House
Bill 136.
The text of that bill is identical to the previous bill because, well,
it had gone through the discussion hearing committee the first time, and
was amended and had actually passed through the House of Representatives
without issue, so we felt that there was no need to change, or make issue
with the content of the text of the bill, and after the first of the year
when the session begins, they will be putting it on the calendar, and it
will be assigned to a committee for its first initial hearing.
PAUL: Scantlan went on to explain the change in strategy for working with
the Senate this second time around:
LARRY: The first issue right up front is to find a Senator that will
sponsor a companion bill that will be working through their side
simultaneously, rather than waiting until the House bill gets all the
way through all of its parts, and then try to get it into the Senate - we
just ran out of time. I've already been calling on Senator Bob Onder here
in the St. Louis region, who was a proponent of the bill the first time,
try to sit down with him to get him to sponsor a Senate version, so that
will be moving through the Senate at the same time that the House bill
will be moving through the House.
We're hopeful then, that we won't run out of time, and the thing will be
sitting in the Senate at the last minute.
PAUL: Other new strategies include dividing the state up into regions
with section leaders to help with the workload, and to facilitate better
communications. Scantlan has created a Facebook page called "Missouri
Amateur Radio Parity Act," as well as a website at triple-w dot
M-A-R-P-A dot U-S. The key, he said, is to convince all Missouri hams,
of which there are fifteen thousand, to get involved, and contact their
congress member, whether the bill affects them today or not, because,
as Scantlan said, you never know when life changes will land you under
a restrictive H-O-A.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
**
AUTHOR DECIPHERS SDR -- AGAIN
JIM/ANCHOR: Interested in SDR? One New Zealand ham wrote the book, and
he spoke with Amateur Radio Newsline's Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
NEIL: There's a new book written by a New Zealander about Software
Defined Radios available. Andrew Barron, ZL3DW, has just released his
second book that explains Software Defined Radios that is intended for
Amateur Radio Operators, Short Wave Listeners, and anyone interested in
radio as a hobby. Andrew explains some of the things included in this
308 page book.
ANDREW: It tells you why you would want to buy a software defined radio,
why they are in some ways better than a conventional radio, what makes
them different, what makes them better, (and) how you test them, because
some of testing is different.
NEIL: So if you're interested in how software defined radios work, or
maybe you're considering purchasing one, this book could have just the
information you need.
ANDREW: It's rounded out with a big section on just the basics. We
explore about 65 radios that I found online, most of them receivers of
course, but some transceivers, because it's a bit baffling as to which
generations these radios are; what the capabilities are, what sort of
frequencies they can cover, whether they're a transceiver or not, so
just the basics specs on a whole pile of radios.
NEIL: Andrew notes another reason why he decided to write the book.
ANDREW: SDR is changing all the time. It's quite dynamic, and it's
coming a long way. And, we see the big three manufacturers starting
to get on board. And, I think that it will be the way of the future
for these big three radio producers because it's cheaper.
NEIL: The book is available on Amazon, and is both in print or in Kindle
form for most e-Readers. You can find the link to it on Amazon in the
text version of this newscast.
https://www.amazon.com/Software-Defined-Radio-Operators-Listeners/dp/
1534992421/
(above URL all on one line)
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
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