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Canadian Licensing Changes Proposed
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) has proposed formally that Industry Canada (IC) eliminate Morse code as a
ham radio testing requirement for operation in bands below 30 MHz in Canada. RAC wants Industry Canada to continue
to make Morse testing available to Canadian amateurs still wishing to have that qualification specified on their certificate, however.
At the same time, the RAC wants IC to require applicants for the Basic examination to score at least 80 percent before permitting
operation below 30 MHz. Under the proposal, present Basic plus Morse holders would be considered as holders of the new
Intermediate qualification. Basic holders who have not passed the Morse exam would continue to hold that class with
existing operating privileges. Current Basic-without-Morse licensees who retake the Basic examination and obtain at least
80 percent would be upgraded to Intermediate. RAC also recommends that the passing grade for the Basic and Advanced examinations
be raised from 60 to 70 percent when the Morse requirement is dropped. Ultimately, RAC wants the passing grade to be upped to 75
percent for all examination elements. Anyone holding both the Basic and Advanced qualifications would have HF privileges, and the
Intermediate qualification or Basic plus Morse would become a prerequisite to obtaining the Advanced. The RAC also wants IC
to create a new entry-level qualification. RAC President Daniel Lamoureux, VE2KA, says Canadian amateurs can anticipate
implementation of a first phase of the RAC recommendations by year's end. Details are available on the RAC web site:
http://www.rac.ca/downloads/morserec.pdf
Still time to comment in "omnibus" Part 97 rule making
(Aug 17, 2004) -- Because the complete text of the FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (NPRM&O)
in WT Docket 04-140 failed to make it into the Federal Register until August 17, interested parties now will
have until September 15 to comment. Released in April, the so-called "omnibus" NPRM seeks comments on a wide
range of proposed Amateur Service (Part 97) rules changes as well as certain changes to Parts 1 and 2 of the FCC's
rule (see "FCC Proposes Wide-Ranging Changes to Amateur Rules"). It does not deal with Amateur Radio license
restructuring or the Morse code examination requirement for HF privileges. Among other things, the NPRM&O recommends
adoption of the ARRL's "Novice refarming" plan and proposes eliminating FCC rules prohibiting manufacture or marketing
of Amateur Service power amplifiers capable of operating between 24 and 35 MHz. Interested parties may comment on the
NPRM via the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Click on "Submit a filing." To view filed comments, click on
"Search for filed comments." In both cases, enter "04-140" (without the quotation marks) in the Proceeding field.
AMSAT-UK Announces New Amateur Satellite Project
If you geared up for the apparently now-defunct AMSAT Phase 3B (AO-40) satellite, don't get rid of that
U/S-band equipment just yet. AMSAT-UK Chairman Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, has announced that an
Amateur Radio transponder will be part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Student Space
Exploration and Technology Initiative (SSETI) "Express" satellite. Onboard will be a 2.4 GHz transmitter
and a 437 MHz receiver. The pair will be turned into an amateur FM voice transponder after the transmitter
serves initial telemetry duty. [ARRL Web Extra]
ON6SAT: New Amateur Satellite Website!
the ON1CAU Satellite page is after almost 7 years history! The redesign of our new website has reached the stage for
testing. It's a complete new design with a new name (ON6SAT Amateur Satellite Links) and a new address http://on6sat.com/links/
Don't forget to update your bookmarks! The site contains more than 1200 amateur and weather satellite related links and
the database is always growing. General Amateur Radio links are not indexed here, just links having some special connection
to amateur radio in space. I hope you will drop by and let me know what you think! 73, Berto ON6SAT (ex ON1CAU) [eahm.net]
September 2004 (page 3)
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