Ontario Distracted Driving Temporary Exemption Extended

Distracted driving regulations continue to be an area of interest for many Canadian Radio Amateurs. These regulations are made and enforced by provincial governments and can vary considerably from province to province and over time.

In Ontario, RAC Directors Allan Boyd, VE3AJB (Ontario North/East) and Phil McBride, VA3QR (Ontario South) have been working hard on this issue.

On 15th December 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) announced that the current two-way radio exemption for “Amateur Radio operators and specified commercial, public transit, and public function drivers will be extended for a further three-years, effective 1st January 2018 until 1st January 2021.”

Update Regulations - https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r17475

Sun Dimming as Solar Minimum Approaches

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX launched a new sensor to the International Space Station named 'TSIS-1'

Its mission: to measure the dimming of the sun. As the sunspot cycle plunges toward its 11-year minimum, NASA satellites are tracking a slight but significant decline in total solar irradiance (TSI). TSIS-1 will monitor this dimming with better precision than previous satellites as Solar Minimum approaches in the years ahead.

Solar Maximum & Minimum Chart - http://www.auroraborealispage.net/solarmax.html

Australian Broadcaster 4KZ Now on Shortwave

4KZ, a regional radio broadcaster based in Innisfail, Australia has started broadcasting on shortwave from 20th December 2017. 4KZ can be found on 5,055 kHz in AM mode.

The station, currently running at half of it's allowed 1KW power, due to problems on the PA board has been heard around Australia as well as in Canada and California USA.

Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, stopped shortwave transmissions on 15 MHz in January 2017 and despite the issue being raised in the Australian parliament, refused to bring the service back on-air. 4KZ returns broadcast radio coverage outside of large towns in the tropical North Queensland areas and provides emergency warning messages of expected bad weather and other dangers.

4KZ's website - http://www.4kz.com.au/