Successful Radio Symposium Supported by Harvard Wireless Club

The symposium, which took place on 29 April 2017, featured speakers from the University and elsewhere, including appearances by W1AF’s incoming president Ben Lee, K7JS, and the club’s outgoing president Douglas Maggs, KK4UHK. Both men were joined by Yale University Amateur Radio Club (W1YU) President Scott Matheson, N3NFP; First Vice President James Surprenant, AB1DQ, and past president Martin Ewing, AA6E, in recounting the distinguished histories of these two collegiate Amateur Radio clubs.

Flavio Jorge, CT7AQK, of the University of Aveiro, discussed microwave propagation for space systems in his presentation, “Knocking down walls, changing mentalities and breaking rules — a case study on radiowave propagation for space systems.”

Emeritus professor of electrical engineering Paul Horowitz, W1HFA, delivered a thoroughly enjoyable presentation and discussion of the ultimate DX — monitoring the universe in a search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Matheson and Ewing participated in a roundtable forum, “Youth in Amateur Radio.”

That group was joined later via Skype by Martin Atherton, G3ZAY, the master of Cambridge University’s G6UW and two of his student colleagues. Vasiljie Perovic, M0HZC, spoke on   “Extremely Low-Frequency meteor detection,” while William Eustace, M0WJE, discussed “LoRa spread spectrum radio.”

Others taking part were Daniela Marcelino, CR7AQM, and Micael Rebelo, CR7AQL, of the University of Aveiro, and Nicolas Weninger, KC1GLI, and Saahil Mehta, KG5HEW, both of Harvard.

Also on hand was ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, who presented a progress report from League Headquarters and emphasised the need to welcome new hams into the Amateur Radio community. Attorney Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, shared some of his career highlights in his talk, “Ham radio pays my mortgage and other thoughts.” Hopengarten is the author of the book Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur.

“The Harvard Wireless Club made a strong showing on Saturday. They combined excellent material with a fast-paced program that never bogged down — from Professor Paul Horowitz’s description of chasing DX across the universe to live transatlantic conversations with Cambridge University’s radio club members.”

— ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF

Attendee George Allison, K1IG, summed up the proceedings this way: “A full day with no fluff...accomplished and proficient speakers…absorbing and enlightening…wholehearted League support...and all-you-can-eat free ice cream is always a winner!”

Last fall, ARRL announced its Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative (CARI) to assist college and university ham radio clubs in collaborating and networking. The community has grown rapidly since then, with membership in the Facebook CARI group growing fivefold to nearly 500 individuals.

Harvard Amateur Radio Symposium (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr2sUtDldXI

Taiwan to Drop Ham Radio Morse Code Test

National Communications Commission (NCC) of Taiwan is to abolish the amateur radio Morse requirement and permit 432-440 MHz operation, having already approved the amendments with frequency and resources department deputy director Chen Chun-mu

The commission is obligated to make the amended regulations available for public view for two months and then make any changes deemed necessary before they can take effect.

Following requests from amateur radio operators, the amended regulations stipulate that they can use frequencies between 432-440 MHz, he said.

The amendments also extend the validity of amateur radio operating licenses from five years to 10 years, however to gain the extensions amateur radio operators must pass tests first.

In addition, the amendments stipulate that amateur radio operators would be able to start renewing their licenses five months before their licenses expire.

Current regulations allow them to do so one month before the expiration date.

Commission data showed that 42,900 licenses for qualified amateur radio operators were issued between 2012 and 2016.

Media Story - http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/05/01/2003669754

CTARL (Google English) - http://tinyurl.com/TaiwanCTARL

Antenna Insulators

SOTABeams have announced a new range of insulators made from modern high-performance material to provide good quality antenna insulation.

Two types are available: a ribbed centre or end insulator and an open wire line insulator for high Z low-loss lines.Both are lightweight and strong. They are suitable for permanent as well as temporary installations.

Ribbed Insulators - http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/insulators-end-or-centre/
Open Wire Line Spacers (long) - http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/open-wire-line-spacers-long/