Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2061 for Friday, April 28, 2017
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2061, with a release date of Friday,
April 28 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams in the UK take on the rising noise floor.
There's a repeater group in Canada that's gone international. And, an
Indiana high school launches a balloon project. All this and more, as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2061, comes your way right now.
**
SOUNDING OFF ABOUT QRM IN THE UK
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We open this week's newscast with word that in the global battle
against the rising noise floor, amateurs in the UK are ramping up
their own efforts against QRM. With those details is Amateur Radio
Newsline's Ed Durrant, DD5LP.
ED'S REPORT: There's more than just a little bit of noise being generated
in the UK lately about QRM. Just as the Radio Society of Great Britain is taking
Ofcom to task over the regulator's handling of complaints about
man-made interference on the radio spectrum, hams, short-wave listeners,
CB radio enthusiasts, and others, are working together to save the bands'
quality. The website, u-k-q-r-m dot O-R-G dot U-K, hosts the organizers'
campaign urging radio enthusiasts to reach out, most especially in these
weeks before the UK's June 8th general election, and have candidates to
commit to solving the problem - even if it means dissolving Ofcom and
replacing it with a new regulator.
In the meantime, the website also advises all radio operators to contact
Ofcom with their noise issues once they have determined the QRM is caused
by something not on their property.
The UKQRM website also shares ways to help track down the QRM's source
and report it. The rising noise floor on the bands has gained attention
in numerous other countries too - most recently in South Africa, where
the South African Radio League held a study group in late April to
formulate a strategy against excessive QRM.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.
(UKQRM.COM)
***
IN INDIA, ATTENTION TO ANTENNAS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In India, where mountaineering and amateur radio are
starting to converge for reasons of navigation and safety, one club is
helping adventurers sort out the important business of antennas. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, has those details.
JASON: Mountaineer Chanda Gayen became the third woman from West Bengal
to successfully scale Mount Everest in 2013. The following year, she and
her two Sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche at an altitude of more
than 26,200 feet on Mount Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest
mountain in the Himalayas.
Members of the West Bengal Amateur Radio Club have not forgotten this
tragedy, particularly now that the club reports that its membership has
been expanding, thanks to mountaineers who hope to learn how to use radio
when disasters like this happen. With this in mind, the club recently
hosted its first antenna workshop in cooperation with the National
Institute of Amateur Radio, coinciding with World Amateur Radio Day on
April 18th.
The 46 participants not only learned about the design of four-element
VHF Yagi antennas, but built them with an eye toward using them with a
handheld transceiver on 2 meters. Workshop leaders Ambarish Nag Biswas,
VU2JFA, and Samar Kumar Biswas, VU3ZHN, both said the antenna and radio
combination will provide vital tools for rescue work, whether on a summit
or any other place where people can get lost.
Organizers said these antennas, which can be used well in foxhunting,
are especially useful in finding distress signals.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.
(WEST BENGAL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)
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