Ramsey Kits Calls Time

Ramsey Hobby Kits, a purveyor of inexpensive electronics kits for hobbyists, enjoyed by the Amateur / Ham radio community, have ceased operation.

“We end our heritage with a smile, not a frown, and say thank you, to all our customers and fellow hobbyists,” Ramsey’s announcement said. 

The Victor, New York, company sold a wide array of hobby kits over the years, starting with its LED Blinky kit in the 1970s and eventually including simple ham radio transmitters and receivers, aircraft band receivers, and other devices. Ramsey kits were frequently available at hamfests.

The Ramsey RF Test Equipment Group is unaffected by this change.

ARRL story - http://www.arrl.org/news/ramsey-kits-calls-it-quits

Ramsey announcement - http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/ce.htm

LED Bulbs Tested for Electromagnetic Interference

The Swedish national amateur radio society SSA have produced a report detailing measurements taken of the RF interference generated by 11 different types of LED lamps 

Only one, 38-23717, exceeded the EN 55015 limit. This has been reported to the Swedish Safety Board.

New EMC measurements on LEDs (Google English) - http://tinyurl.com/SSA-LED-EMI-2015

PDF's of the Conducted EMI Test Reports - http://www.ssa.se/sektioner/emc/led-produkter-som-ssa-anmalt-till-elsakerhetsverket/

Netherlands Low-Power AM Broadcasting

After switching off a number of high power transmitters in 2015, at the end of December the Dutch government has launched a public consultation on ‘opening up’ the medium waveband for radio and non-radio applications with 'low power' and with limited government regulation. 

The “low power” operation will be limited to between 1-5 watts from the site coverage, and between 50-100 watts in municipal coverage. It ios hoped that the same frequencies will be available across the whole of the Netherlands.

Ydun's Medium Wave Info - http://mediumwave.info/news.html