Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Oct 20 2017 09:12 am
TWO MORE UK LICENSE EXAMS GO ONLINE
CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: If you're in the UK, you can soon look forward to a
new option for taking your license exams, as Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, tells
us.
JEREMY: Get ready for more online licensing tests in the UK. The Radio
Society of Great Britain has given the OK for Foundation and
Intermediate licensing exams to be administered online. The action
comes on the heels of positive feedback from exam centers, clubs and
license candidates, following the online launch of Full examinations
this past March. Now, starting November 1st, applications will be
accepted by the society's exams department for intermediate exam-taking
online. The application process will begin on January 2nd of next year
for online exams for Foundation licenses.
Of course, this doesn't mean you can take your test in the comfort of
your own home. Like paper exams, these online counterparts must still
be overseen at designated exam centers with the same level of supervision.
The Radio Society calls the decision a win-win in that it reduces
paperwork on their end, and gives more immediate results to test-takers
waiting to hear their fate.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
(WIA)
**
SIRENS GO OFF BUT IT'S ONLY A TEST
CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: Planning and drilling for emergencies is one of the
things amateurs do best. A group in Arizona is getting ready for their
turn as we hear from Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
CARYN: Imagine a meltdown at a U.S. nuclear power plant. Hopefully that's
all you may ever need to do - imagine it - but a group of hams in Arizona
are taking it one step further next month by simulating a meltdown, or
other accident by testing the warning sirens that alert the public near
the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. On November 8th, a team from
the West Valley Amateur Radio Club, the Tri-City Amateur Radio Club,
Arizona ARES, and other hams, will be stationed at 58 sirens going off
during the test. David, N7TWT, who has been at the helm of this mandatory
exercise since 2007, says he is counting on some dedicated volunteers -
husbands, wives, retirees and others - to show up as usual with their 2
meter radios at the starting point, Buckeye Municipal Airport.
DAVID: We start going out at 10 in the morning to get to the sirens, and
it takes til almost noon to get everyone on the sirens covered. We will
do a countdown "10.....9...." and we wll count down, and then they turn
the sirens on. Within a few minutes you hear all the sirens going off.
They go for about three minutes, and then they stop. If a person calls
into me and says "my siren did not go off," we do some troubleshooting,
and do some checking, and then we set it off again at 12:30, and if it
goes off at that time, we can diagnose what's going on.
CARYN: The public is notified well in advance, that it's only a test.
As for the hams, they start their day early, coordinating with the
Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management, and other offices.
They get water and earplugs during the exercise -- and afterward, they
get a real nice thank you.
DAVID: Oh yeah, a nice meal from Dillon's! It's catering - they come
out. APS always comes out with nice thank you gifts every year for the
people who come out and do it. They don't restrict me as to how many
people come out. If I have 10 or 15 extra people they don't care, they
understand, because it's difficult. Some people may just go out
together, because they know I have extra people. Most people say we
can still do everything we need to do, and and enjoy the day.
CARYN: Another group of hams doing good public service work. Sirens
aside, everyone seems to have a real blast. For Amateur Radio Newsline,
I'm Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The test is one of many around the U.S. relying on
amateur radio participation near nuclear power plants. Another one is
scheduled for the Limerick Power Plant in Pennsylvania, which will take
place on Nov. 14, coordinated by the Reading (REDDING) Radio Club.
**
FCC TO FINE NY MAN $400,000 FOR INTERFERENCE
CHRISTIAN/ANCHOR: The FCC has announced that it will be assessing a
$400,000 fine against a New York City man, who they said has failed to
respond to an April Notice of Apparent Liability from the agency. The
FCC action against Jay Peralta, of Queens, New York, was prompted by
malicious interference on police radio frequencies, including false
distress calls, and false bomb threats. The agency said the 20-year-old
admitted to the interference, which the FCC said occurred between April
and August of 2016. Peralta is presently in custody on related charges,
and is awaiting trial. He and two other men were arrested in the fall
of 2016. The FCC said that the Justice Department will begin collection
proceedings if no payment is received within 30 days.
(ARRL)
**
BREAK HERE
Time to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard
on bulletin stations around the world, including The W8GK repeater, in
Charleston, West Virginia, on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. after the ARES Net,
during the KARC Club Net, following check-ins.
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