Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Aug 25 2017 08:50 am
NEW FCC FORM ASKS 'THE FELONY QUESTION'
PAUL/ANCHOR: If you're heading to a VE session anytime soon, pay
attention - there's an updated form to watch for. Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, has
the details.
NEIL'S REPORT: The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators,
better known as the NCVEC, has updated its unofficial Form 605 that is
used at volunteer exam sessions to coincide with the revised FCC Form 605.
All exam sessions were required to start using the new version of the form
on August 21st, in preparation for the FCC deadline of September 7th. The
change to the form questions applicants if he or she has been convicted of
a felony in any state or federal court. This question has been on other
FCC forms, and the omission on the form 605 was not previously noticed.
Applicants that answer yes to the question, must provide a statement
directly to the FCC, concerning the circumstances of the conviction, for
qualification review. All previous versions of both FCC and NCVEC form 605
should be discarded.
Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, in
Bloomington, Indiana.
**
STATIC OVER AMATEUR TOWER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
PAUL/ANCHOR: Being able to put up a tower doesn't necessarily put an end
to the controversy over it, as some amateurs know. Kevin Trotman, N5PRE,
tells us how one ham in Canada is handling things with his neighbors.
KEVIN'S REPORT: Just in time for the August 21 solar eclipse, a ham in
British Columbia received approval from Innovation, Science and Economic
Development Canada for a 50-foot-tall radio tower in his backyard, that
will enable him to follow the effect the sun has on radio signals.
Brian Summers, VE7JKZ, got the approval, despite a tide of opposition
from neighbors, who had circulated a petition, asking that his tower
plans be halted. Summers told the Victoria News that previous towers he
has had, when he lived in Ottawa, Calgary and Richmond, never faced such
obstacles, and this was his first experience having to apply for formal
approval.
He told the newspaper [QUOTE] "I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. It went on
for too long, quite frankly, and people get very emotional about this."
[ENDQUOTE]
Neighbors were claiming that the antenna was disrupting residents' WiFi
reception in their homes, meaning that some subscribers to Netflix were
unable to use that service. A few area residents have said they plan to
follow up in court.
Meanwhile, Summers has advised neighbors that if they keep a log of WiFi
interruptions, he will work with them on tracking his antenna use to see
if it is indeed the cause of interference. And if need be, he said, he
will correct it.
He told the newspaper [QUOTE] "I will be more than happy to work with
their internet supplier to come up with a solution. That's part of my
responsibility as a radio operator." [ENDQUOTE]
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.
(VICTORIA NEWS)
**
FIRST IT WAS TOWERING, NOW IT'S NOT
PAUL/ANCHOR: Speaking of towers, a big radio tower just came down in a
Kentucky park. The demolition was deliberate, as we hear from Jack Prindle,
AB4WS.
JACK'S REPORT: If you heard a loud explosion around noon on Tuesday,
August 16th, in the Devou Park area in Covington, Kentucky, you witnessed
the sounds of a 300-foot radio tower coming to the ground. The tower was
part of the Kenton County Public Safety radio system for police and fire
departments, and had to be taken down. County Administrator Joe Shriver
said it was discovered that a tree had fallen, and put pressure on the
guy wires, which help hold up the 300-foot tower. When the tree's weight
came down on the guy wires it pulled and twisted the tower. The safest
thing to do was a controlled demolition, otherwise the tower would have
collapsed on its own. After placing a charge of a couple of pounds of
explosives at the tower's base, and anchoring points for the guy wires,
Jeff Sizemore of O'Rourke Wrecking, was able to bring down the tower in a
predetermined fall zone. After demolition, the crews began removing the
tower pieces. The tower was first built in 1942, for the U.S. Navy. Kenton
County acquired the tower in the early 1990s, for its public safety
communications system, and an emergency tower is being used to replace
this one for the next 30 days. After that, Kenton County will use the
Cincinnati tower for coverage until the new public safety radio
communications system is installed sometime next year. Covering your
amateur radio news in the Greater Cincinncati area, and the Commonwealth
of Kentucky for Amateur News Weekly, this is Jack Prindle, AB4WS, in Big
Bone, Kentucky.
PAUL/ANCHOR: Our thanks to Amateur News Weekly for sharing that report.
For more news of the Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky area, visit
amateurnewsweekly.com.
---
� Synchronet � The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
