Australian Foundation Licence due for Review

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The 10th anniversary of the new entry level licence in Australia has seen a great turnaround with Amateur Radio being made more accessible to a greater number of people.

When the entry level ticket was proposed as part of the Australian Communications Authority "Big Review", the Foundation Licence was embraced by radio amateurs as the way forward for Amateur Radio.

“...with a decline in the number of candidates, more needs to be done to promote the hobby and review the attractiveness of it as the entry point”
— WIA News

The Foundation Licence has transformed the numbers of active hobbyists from a worrying declining interest in Amateur Radio, to one of growth with new people entering the hobby and most upgrading to the Standard or Advanced levels.

Since 2005 over 5,000 Foundation Licence assessments have held, but with a decline in the number of candidates, more needs to be done to promote the hobby and review the attractiveness of it as the entry point.

Wireless Insitute of Australia - http://wia.org.au/

 

Lotto Grant to buy Radios for Blind

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A charity that provides special radios for blind and partially sighted people in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire is celebrating after being given a funding boost thanks to players of a charity lottery.

Radios_Blind

British Wireless for the Blind Fund was awarded over £4,000 by People’s Postcode Trust, a grant-giving charity, funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The organisation will use the money to provide specially adapted digital radios that also play CDs, cassettes and USB memory sticks and fund volunteers to help them use them.

David Loveridge, regional manager for British Wireless for the Blind Fund, said: “We are delighted that People’s Postcode Lottery chose to support us. Radios are a lifeline to many blind and partially sighted people. Our recipients tell us that their radio entertains, helps to relieve isolation and keeps them in touch with what is going on in the world. It’s essential that people living with sight loss have The radios are designed to be easy to use for people living with sight loss and all recipients receive a home visit and one-to-one support in order to be able to use their new radios independently. To qualify for a free set you must be registered blind or partially sighted, be over the age of eight and be in receipt of a means tested benefit.

British Wireless for the Blind - http://www.blind.org.uk

Swedish 160m Proposal

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In a consultation on licence exempt regulations, the Swedish amateur radio regulator, PTS, has proposed increasing the power in 1900-1950 kHz from 10 to 100 watts

Currently 1 kW is permitted in 1810-1850 kHz and 10 watts in the rest of the band. The Swedish national society, the SSA, says it wants the PTS, when possible, to considering further increase of the allowed power to 1 kW in the whole band 1810-2000 kHz, alternatively an increase to 100 W in the sub-band 1850-2000 kHz.

The proposed changes in the licence exempt regulations cover call signs for training and demonstration, and the use of automatic amateur radio by those who do not have amateur radio licence.

Read the SSA story - http://tinyurl.com/PTS-2015-160m

Amateur radio was made licence exempt in Sweden in 2004 - https://www.pts.se/upload/Documents/EN/Radio_amateurs.pdf

SSA in Google English - http://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA