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CQ Newsroom

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Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z, Named Newsline Young Ham of the Year

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:10 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/faith-hannah-lea-kd3z-named-newsline.html

Faith Hannah Lea,
KD3Z (Photo
courtesy AR Newsline)


Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z, of Palm Coast, Florida, has been selected as the
2021 Bill Pasternak Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year.
Lea, who's 16, is already a junior in college. She has operated from three continents, attended the Youngsters On The Air camp in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was part of the 2016 Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX team
operating PJ6 from the Dutch island of Saba. A member of an all-ham family, Faith Hannah has also had two articles published in CQ and served as an
ARES net control during three different hurricanes. Completing high school
via home schooling and earning an Associate of Arts degree at age 15, Faith Hannah is currently a junior at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. She
is working toward degrees in both molecular and cellular biology and
business administration. The YHOTY award was presented virtually this year during a live webcast of W5KUB's Amateur Radio Roundtable. It is
traditionally presented during the Huntsville Hamfest but Newsline opted
for the online ceremony because of the spike in the Delta variant of
Covid-19.

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FCC to Allow FM on CB, Automatic Location Transmissions on GMRS/FRS

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:07 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/fcc-to-allow-fm-on-cb-automatic.html


In a rare reversal, the FCC has agreed to two petitions for reconsideration
of earlier decisions relating to permitted transmission modes on Citizens
Band (CB), the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Family Radio Service (FRS). In its first major change to CB rules in over 40 years, the FCC has agreed to allow FM transmissions on the band along with traditional AM and single sideband (SSB). It was persuaded that interference concerns were unfounded and that "users who hear unintelligible audio on a particular
channel can simply select another channel or switch modes." CB radios manufactured with FM capability would still be required to offer an AM
option. For some time now, the FCC has permitted the manual transmission of short data messages in the GMRS and FRS services, but has balked at
allowing automatic transmissions of location data out of interference
concerns. Motorola has successfully petitioned the Commission to OK
automatic data transmissions as well, noting that it would help in the
location of lost or injured users who could not manually send out emergency messages.

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Michigan Radio Club Considering Group E-Mail Address for FCC Applications

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:04 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/michigan-radio-club-considering-group-e.html

As of the end of June, the FCC is requiring all amateurs to include a valid e-mail address on license applications. But some hams, especially older
ones, do not have e-mail addresses or access to the internet. The ARRL
Letter is reporting that the Big Rapids Area Amateur Radio Club in Michigan
is working to establish a single e-mail address for all of its members who don't have their own, citing one member who is in a nursing home and
doesn't have internet access. The account would be monitored by a club
officer and any FCC messages would be relayed to the appropriate member.
ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma said this is perfectly legal, as the FCC's
only concern is being able to get in touch with a licensee as needed.

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Utah Club Receives ARDC Grant to Engage Youth

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:03 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/utah-club-receives-ardc-grant-to-engage.html


The non-profit Amateur Radio Digital Communications group (ARDC) has
awarded a grant of nearly $18,000 to the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club in northern Utah to support its efforts interest and engage young people in amateur radio.
The ARRL Letter reports that the club has an 18-month timeline for its
proposed projects and activities intended to use amateur radio to further
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs for young people. Among its projects is building a portable ground station for Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts which can be
transported to different schools for making contact with astronauts in
orbit.

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CQWW Creates New Categories for Youth and Experimenters

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 07:57 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/cqww-creates-new-categories-for-youth.html



The CQ World Wide DX Contest (CQWW) has added two new "overlay" categories beginning with this year's competition – "Youth" for operators age 25 or younger on the date of the contest and "Explorer" to permit greater experimentation with internet-linked stations and other new technologies.

The new Explorer overlay category has been established to allow amateurs
to participate in the CQ WW contest while creatively experimenting with Internet-linked stations and other new technologies. The goal of this
category is to encourage innovation in operating strategies, station
design, and technology adaptation. Specifics for each of these new overlay categories may be found in the complete contest rules at
<cqww.com/rules.htm>.

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MARS Members Help in Response to Maritime Emergency

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 07:54 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/mars-members-help-in-response-to.html




In early July, an Army MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System) HF training
net for members in New York and New Jersey was interrupted by a series of distress calls on their frequency (which is shared with the maritime
service.

According to the ARRL Letter, several net members tried unsuccessfully to establish radio contact with the vessel in distress while the net control station alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. The vessel was eventually identified
as a fishing boat traveling from Jamaica to Guatemala, which apparently capsized without warning on the night of July 6. Ten of the 15 individuals
on board the boat were rescued by a passing oil tanker. Unfortunately, five others, including the captain, did not survive.

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Industry News: Expansion for DX Engineering and HRO

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 07:39 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/industry-news-expansion-for-dx.html

DX Engineering announced in mid-July that it had acquired Top Ten Devices, Inc., a manufacturer of contesting-focused ham station accessories. DX Engineering will take over manufacturing and distributing three popular Top
Ten products, the Op Swapper, the A/B Station Selector and the Band Aide
Band Decoder. Top Ten Devices was founded 30 years ago by N3RD and W2VJN.

Ham Radio Outlet says it plans to open a new store in Florida, but is
playing close to the vest on specifics. Newsline reports that an
announcement from the company on social media said "We're not telling yet"
in response to speculation on possible locations, adding, "We're open to suggestions." HRO currently has 12 stores across the US, from California to
New Hampshire. At present, the closest one to Florida is in Atlanta.


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Milestones: MFJ Production Manager KB5YJF SK

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 07:32 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/milestones-mfj-production-manager.html


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MFJ/Ameritron Production Manager Mike Enis,
KB5YJF (SK). (Photo courtesy MFJ)
Covid-19 has claimed another member of the amateur radio community and industry. Michael Enis, KB5YJF, became a Silent Key on August 6 at age 53.
He was Production Manager for MFJ Enterprises and its Ameritron line of amplifiers. Mike was described in his obituary as "a loving father, son, brother, uncle and fixer of all things." He is survived by his son,
daughter and son-in-law as well as his parents, sister and brother. His was predeceased by his wife, Tammy.

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Satellite Roundup

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 07:19 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/08/satellite-roundup.html

Several news items from the world of amateur satellites:
AMSAT is looking to return to building and launching high-Earth-orbit (HEO) satellites as part of its strategic plan for the future. These provide
extended windows of operation with significant coverage areas. According to
a Twitter post by the organization, the plan also includes continued partnership with ARISS on human spaceflight as well as continuing to build
and launch low-Earth-orbit satellites.
The AMSAT News Service reports that AMSAT-OSCAR 109 (AMSAT
Fox-1E/RadfxSat-2) has now been opened for amateur use. The satellite
features an inverting linear transponder with an uplink on 2 meters and downlink on 70 centimeters. Controllers advise using spectrum-efficient
modes such as CW or FT4 rather than SSB voice due to technical issues with
the satellite. Finally, amateurs in Switzerland may have to get a special permit – and pay the government a fee - to use the QO-100 satellite. The
ARRL Letter reports that the Swiss communications regulator is worried
about hams causing interference to industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) users on 2.4 GHz (the satellite's uplink band) and is considering requiring
a special permit for hams to use the first (and so far only) geostationary amateur satellite. The permit would cost roughly $75US if implemented.

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