New Ham on Christmas Island

/

A new Amateur / Ham Operator is now available and working from Christmas Island.

Cliff Tindall, VK9VKL self studied straight to a standard level licence, ensuring he was able to operate at his desired power output of 100w.

He will be transmitting using a Yaesu FT DX1200, after it completed a 6,000 km journey to him.

More information - http://vk9vkl.island.cx

AMSAT Calendar Update

/

AMSAT have advised a list of upcoming planned events they are attending / demonstrating.

  • Friday and Saturday, 17-18 February 2017 - Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ
  • Saturday, 18 March 2017 - Scottsdale SpringFest in Scottsdale AZ
  • Friday through Sunday, 31 March2-April 2017, NVCON in Las Vegas NV
  • Wednesday, 5 April 2007 - presentation for Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club in Scottsdale AZ
  • Friday and Saturday, 7-8 April 2017, Green Country Hamfest in Claremore OK
  • Saturday, 6 May 2017 - Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest in Sierra Vista AZ
  • Friday and Saturday, 9-10 June 2017, HAM-COM in Irving TX
  • Saturday, 10 June 2017 - Prescott Hamfest in Prescott AZ

Amateur / Ham Radio Licence Status

/

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) Manager Maria Somma AB1FM has reported another successful year, increasing the number of Amateur / Ham Radio Licences issued.

New licence issues were up by 1% compared to 2015 - a third year of increases. In 2016, 33,552 licences were granted.

Since the removal of the requirement to pass a morse code exam in 2007, the number of amateur’s in the US has continued to rise. Since 2007, the net rise of Ham Radio Operators is nearly 87,000.

The FCC database shows the number of US licence holders currently stands at 742,787.

Full ARRL Story - http://www.arrl.org/news/another-outstanding-year-for-amateur-radio-licensing

Potential Changes to US Entry Exam

The ARRL are currently consulting members in relation to possible changes to the US entry level exam.

For consideration is to either make changes to the existing Technician licence, or to introduce a new entry level exam before the Technician level.

An online member survey has been created to gather feedback - http://www.arrl.org/license-1

Declines in Australia and Germany

To counter the success of the increase of operators in America, worrying statistics show a decrease in operators in Germany and Australia.

In Australia, the total number of licences is 14,617, a decline of nearly 1%. To counteract this decline, the WIA is looking to modernise the hobby to recruit more members.

Germany has shown a decline in operators, losing 4,000 operators since 2010.