FCC Wireless Bureau gets new acting chief

Sworn into office 4 November 2013, Tom Wheeler, the new FCC chairman, has named current Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman as his chief of staff.

Replacing Milkman as acting Wireless Bureau chief will be Roger Sherman, a communications attorney with strong links to the Democratic Party. The WTB oversees Amateur Radio within the FCC.

Sherman previously served as the Democratic Chief Counsel to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and as Democratic Staff Director to its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

During the 111th Congress (2009-2011), Sherman was chief counsel for communications, technology, and the Internet. He previously served on the staffs of US Representative Henry Waxman and US Senator Alan Cranston. Earlier he was an attorney at Sprint Corporation and at the firm of Wiley, Rein.

Previous RSGB General Manager

The Radio Society of Great Britain has issued a statement regarding the previous General Manager.

The RSGB Board is pleased to be able to report to Members that the debt owed to the Society by its previous General Manager, who left the Society in early 2011, has been repaid in full, together with statutory interest and the Society’s court fees. This will be reflected in the 2013 accounts as a write-back of the provision taken against the debt in the 2011 accounts. Details will be in the annual report and accounts which will be published in time for the AGM in 2014.

The Board expresses its thanks to the Society team which has brought about the recovery of this debt and now regards the matter as closed. No further comment will be made.

More information - http://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/2013/10/16/previous-general-manager/

Ham Radio exams increase at Cal Poly

The Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club has seen a 71 percent increase in amateur radio exam session attendance

When the Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club (CPARC) hosted its quarterly Amateur Radio test session this month, 91 individuals turned up to earn their Technician tickets. That broke the club’s previous record of 53 new licensees in the fall of 2010. The October 19 session was the largest in the history of San Luis Obispo County, California, the club says. CPARC President and electrical engineering senior Shaun Koide, KH6EI, credited the school’s Electrical Engineering Department.

“The Electrical Engineering Department has been instrumental in making clubs like ours successful this year,” he said. EE Department Chair Dennis Derickson, AC0P, responded, “It’s been wonderful to give students access to such a great hobby that really exemplifies Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy.”

— Shuan Kolde, KH6EL

Active in public service, the club maintains an emergency communications station on campus for the San Luis Obispo Emergency Communications Council (SLOECC). The station is equipped with emergency power and radio gear to support public safety agencies in the event of a disaster.

More information -  http://www.arrl.org/news/cal-poly-arc-marks-71-percent-increase-in-exam-session-attendance

Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club (CPARC) - http://www.w6bhz.org/