New Zealand Spectrum Fees Increase

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New Zealand's Radio Spectrum Management has announced that the date its simplified fee regime will take effect will be 1st October 2017.

Most commercial and amateur licence users won’t need to do anything for the move to the new fee structure.  Licensees will automatically be moved into one of the four new fee categories and will see this change reflected on invoices and the Register of Radio Frequencies.

A letter will be sent to those land mobile licensees holding multiple transmitter location licences to confirm which fee class will apply to their licence.

New Zealand New Fee Structure - http://rsm.cmail20.com/t/r-l-jlyutyht-qbuiqil-s/

1st Emergency Communications Exercise IARU R2 Area G

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An Emergency Communications Exercise aimed mainly at amateur radio stations in the countries of IARU R2 Area G: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay is planned for 26th August 2017

Objectives

  1. Help radio amateurs in Area G acquire experience in Emergency Communications, measure response capacity and promote work and cooperation among operators.
  2. Count on a database of radio amateurs interested in participating in Emergency Communications.
  3. Encourage the operation of stations operating with their own energy, low power, portable and mobile

Participants

  1. Individual radio amateurs, radio clubs and institutions with a valid amateur radio license in Area G countries: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
  2. Idem: from other countries willing to join the Exercise.

Date and time of the event:

Saturday, August 26, 2017, from 21:00 to 23:00 UTC.

Bands, Frequencies and Modes

  1. 40-meter band, 7.050 kHz SSB
  2. 20-meter band, 14.255 kHz, SSB
  3. Radio amateurs that because of their category or equipment don’t have access to these bands can participate as listeners. We suggest that they contact a participating radio club or group to follow the exercise jointly with more experienced radio amateurs so that they begin to understand how traffic is managed within a Net.

Mode of the Exercise

  1. During exercise hours, a Control Station will be on the air for each Area G country; they will operate as Net Control in an alternate manner, in order to have coverage in the entire Area.
  2. The Member Stations from each country in the Area will be available to act as Control Station or must delegate this activity to another station, which will be reported before the Exercise.
  3. The Control Station will identify itself and ask on frequency for stations willing to be present in the Exercise.
  4. Given that it is an Emergency Communications Exercise, the retransmission or “bridge” mode must be used whenever necessary, because if someone wants to be heard by the Control but cannot achieve it, it is important that its presence is acknowledged and its message arrives and is recorded, according to the objectives of the Exercise mentioned above.

Information to be transmitted

Stations reporting in the Net will send to the Control Station their Callsign, Name and Location (location and province, department or region)

IARU Region 2 - http://iaru-r2.org/

Front Yard Ham Radio Antenna Battle

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Gregg Salomone N9NY wants to put up a 26-foot ham radio antenna in his Northbrook, IL, USA front yard if all his neighbors say they are OK with it, which he thinks they are. Some Northbrook officials say they'd like to accommodate him, in that case, as long as everybody in the village didn't, therefore, get the right, along with him, to do it.
 
While it would be perfectly legal in Salomone's backyard, should the front yard have another set of rules entirely? He has too tiny of a backyard for the spider-like underground cable supporting the antenna to fit.
 
Media Story - http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/northbrook/news/ct-nbs-power-to-tower-tl-0803-20170801-story.html