Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Apr 12 2019 09:13 am
Amateur Radio Newsline 2163, for Friday, April 12, 2019
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2163, with a release date of
Friday, April 12, 2019, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. The FCC reviews a controversial proposal to
regulate digital modes. Hams in Poland end a big contest weekend --
and some encouraging words from the Bouvet Island team's ship captain.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Number 2163, comes your
way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
PETITION TO FCC TARGETS DIGITAL MODES
JIM/ANCHOR: We open this week's report with news that the FCC is
receiving comments on one ham's petition that wants to change the
way hams use digital modes. Here's Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
KENT: The debate continues as the FCC reviews a rulemaking petition
from a Nebraska amateur who wants the agency to require all protocols
used in digital codes to be open source, publicly available and
unencrypted. The petition by Ron Kolarik K-ZERO-IDT is known as
RM-11831, and it has sparked a debate creating a digital divide in
the ham community. The proposal has been endorsed by noted researcher
Ted Rappaport, N9NB, founder of the NYU Wireless research center at
New York University, who believes the transparency being sought is
part of the spirit of amateur radio, and that the spectrum is, in his
words, "a gift" that should be available for everyone to share.
Dissenting opinions filed with the FCC argue that enactment of such a
proposal would seriously stifle the use of data modes on the radio
bands. Opponents of the proposal include Loring Kutchins, W3QA,
president of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, which oversees
Winlink.
The worldwide radio messaging system used on the ham bands for emergency
services that include email with attachments, position reporting, and
weather bulletins.
Time is running out: Those wishing to comment to the FCC have until the
29th of April to do so.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
(NYU WIRELESS, FCC)
**
GIVING MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS THE TIME OF DAY
JIM/ANCHOR: In the U.S., two government shortwave stations are giving
support -- and a time slot -- to help the Department of Defense. Jack
Parker, W8ISH, has that story.
JACK: WWV and WWVH, the shortwave radio stations of the U.S. National
Institute of Standards and Technology, are making provisional time slots
available to the U.S. Department of Defense for announcements of military
communications exercises on the HF bands - activities that include
amateur radio. The first announcements will be heard between the 20th of
April, and the 3rd of May, in connection with an interoperability exercise
in Wisconsin.
The announcements can be heard at 10 minutes past the hour on WWV, and at
50 minutes past the hour on WWVH. The U.S. Army Military Auxiliary Radio
System's program manager Paul English, WD8DBY, said that the defense
department's use of the broadcast time slots will be a big help in the
MARS program's mission to reach out to the ham community.
WWV and WWVH transmit on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz.
Another transmission will occur in June for an exercise in Ohio.
The government-funded stations faced closure under the agency's 2019
budget proposal last year, but were saved. However the agency is now
facing a cut of one-third of its current $1 billion budget under the
president's 2020 fiscal year request.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jack Parker, W8ISH.
(QRZNOW, ARRL, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS)
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