Queen's Award for Wood & Douglas

Radio amateur Alan Wood G4EEE started his business from his back room in the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee – now 36 years later, his company has received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Wood & Douglas Ltd gets its name from the original partnership between amateur radio enthusiasts Alan Wood G4EEE and John Douglas.

Both were employed in government service, John as a draughtsman and Alan as a physicist, when they began trading as a design consultancy in March 1977. Initially they provided PCB design and manufacture on a subcontract basis.

By 1979 the Company had leaped ahead, with designer Mike Telkman G8DCA, a work colleague and fellow radio-amateur, joining the business. Mike designed a range of products to be sold by mail order, aimed at the radio amateur hobbyist market. In 1981 John Douglas resigned with Alan becoming the first full-time employee of Wood & Douglas, followed by Mike in July 1983.

The supply of "kit of parts" to radio amateurs grew into providing complex, high quality RF design solutions to commercial customers.

They now specialise in wireless broadcast technology,

Wood and Douglas - http://www.woodanddouglas.co.uk/

Florida man cited for causing interference to Ham Radio

The FCC has issued a Citation and Order to Ruben D. Lopez Jr of Pomona Park, Florida. The Citation, issued April 23, is in response to several complaints about a well pump at Lopez’s residence that was acting as an incidental radiator and causing harmful interference to local radio amateurs.

According to the Citation, in October 2012,  in response to another interference complaint, FCC agents “used direction finding equipment to identify Mr Lopez’s well pump as the source of transmissions on the frequency 1800 kHz.

Lopez was found by the FCC to be in violation Section 15.5(b) and (c) of the FCC’s rules by operating an incidental radiator and causing harmful interference. He was instructed by the FCC to “take immediate steps to ensure that he does not continue to cause harmful interference, including repairing or replacing his well pump and associated control circuitry.”

The FCC advised Lopez that if he continues to violate the Communications Act or the FCC’s rules, it “may impose monetary forfeitures of up to $16,000 for each such violation, or in the case of a continuing violation, up to a maximum forfeiture of $112,500 for any single act or failure to act. In addition, violation of the Communications Act or the [FCC’s] rules also can result in seizure of the equipment through in rem forfeiture actions, as well as criminal sanctions, including imprisonment.”

More information - http://www.arrl.org/news/florida-man-cited-for-causing-harmful-interference-to-radio-amateurs

Radio Society of Harrow

The Radio Society of Harrow will be running a demonstration station GX3EFX, at the Harrow Museum Mayday celebrations. Located at the Headstone Manor in Harrow on Bank holiday, Monday 6th May 2013.

The location consists of a 12th Century manor house with moat, 14th Century Barn, 17th Century Tithe Barn, 18th Century grain store.

Harrow Museum - http://www.harrow.gov.uk/info/200070/museums_and_galleries/936/harrow_museum_buildings

Radio Society of Harrow - http://www.g3efx.org.uk