In a lengthy Report and Order (R&O) in a proceeding (WT Docket No. 10-119) dating back 7 years, the FCC has announced rule changes affecting the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), the Family Radio Service (FRS), the Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS or “CB”), as well as other applications that fall under the FCC’s Part…
International Crystal Manufacturing (ICM) of Oklahoma City has announced that it will be going out of business, probably at the end of May. Royden Freeland Jr., W5EMH, son of the company’s founder, posted a letter this week on the ICM website. “We will be honoring all orders that we have already taken and will be…
Commentary – The March issue of a well-respected magazine published by The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) will most likely latch onto the literal lunacy award for depicting in a photograph the most egregious tie-off violations one could imagine. Tower-Climber-SafetyIn QST’s latest edition, their antenna issue, the cover shows a picture of Chase Mertz…
Norway is the first country in the world to start switching off its analogue radio signals. The Nordic nation will start turning off the FM signal at 11:11 local time (10:11 GMT) on Wednesday, in favour of Digital Audio Broadcasting, or DAB. The digital signal gives better quality and coverage than analogue – and for…
New Digital Modes Gain Traction for Moonbounce, but Occasionally Show Up on HF. In December, Joe Taylor, K1JT, released the latest version (1.7) of his WSJT-X software suite, designed to facilitate basic Amateur Radio communication using very weak signals (WSJT stands for “Weak Signal communication by K1JT”). Version 1.7 included the new modes MSK144 and…