October 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

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October 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

The Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program is a joint initiative between ARRL and the FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service. This is the October VM Program report.

Technician operators in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Texas, received Advisory Notices after making numerous FT8 contacts on 40 and 20 meters. Technician licensees are not allowed to transmit data on 40 meters and have no operating authority on 20 meters.

Operators in Mims, Florida; Moorefield, West Virginia; State Road, North Carolina, and Grottoes, Virginia, received Advisory Notices concerning excessive SSB bandwidth on 40 and 75 meters. The operator in Moorefield, West Virginia, previously received an Advisory Notice for out-of-band operation on 7.138 MHz. His case will be referred to the FCC for further enforcement action, which could include removal of voice privileges from, or revocation of, his General-class license.

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Calling All Payphone Users - Thousands of Call Boxes Set for Protection

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Calling All Payphone Users - Thousands of Call Boxes Set for Protection

Thousands of vital phone boxes around the UK will be protected from closure, under Ofcom plans announced today.

With 96% of UK adults now owning a mobile phone, and mobile signal improving significantly in recent years, the way people make calls is changing.

As part of the move to digital phone lines, which will require investment to upgrade phone boxes, BT is currently assessing which ones are no longer needed and can be decommissioned. But under the current process for removing payphones, some that are needed by local communities risk being withdrawn.

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Alike, but Not Alike: Broadcast vs Ham Radio

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Starting in the 1920s and through the ’60s, almost every broadcast engineer was a licensed amateur radio operator. That has changed a bit, but the importance of being a ham has not.

Both environments involve getting an RF signal from Point A to Point B. But it is interesting to note that radio broadcast and amateur radio are similar and yet so different.

What I find valuable is applying what I know about amateur radio in my work as a broadcast engineer.

And, of course, it works both ways. Forward power, reflected power, transmission line loss, antenna gain, transmitter power amplifier efficiency and path loss are all dictated by the same rules. The mysteries and science of RF propagation to a new broadcast engineer are facts of life for radio amateurs.

Hams deal with the wave propagation challenge every day. Communicating across the world via radio waves may be lost on the internet/millennial generation, but it can be a real challenge for those who want more out of life.

Full Article - https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/tech-tips/alike-but-not-alike-broadcast-vs-ham-radio