Meaningful Entry-Level License Privileges are Top Priority, ARRL Says
The ARRL again has urged the FCC to provide meaningful operating privileges to entry-level Amateur Radio
licensees, including access to HF, even if it doesn't want to create a new license class. Commenting in
response to the FCC's July 9 Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (NPRM&O) in WT Docket 05-235,
the League also stood by its stance that the Commission retain the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for
Amateur Extra applicants, but do away with it for General applicants.
Wireless digital TV launched in Albuquerque
A company that has been testing digital, wireless television since the spring of 2004 in three cities --
including Albuquerque -- began offering the service in those areas on a commercial basis Tuesday.
USDTV, a Salt Lake City-based company that has several broadcasting companies as its investors,
will offer subscribers in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Rio Rancho a "low-cost alternative" to cable and
satellite service, says Steve Lindsley, the company's CEO. For a monthly fee of $19.95, and with a
one-time purchase of a conversion, set-top box that costs $24.95, viewers with a conventional antenna
are able to receive a "DVD-quality" picture and programs from local stations along with limited cable
offerings, the company says. Lindsley says the USDTV target markets are households that have
conventional reception and want more channels, but don't want to pay higher cable-connection charges.
The company also hopes to capture current cable viewers who are "over-served by cable," he says.
To send its signals to customers, USDTV buys a portion of a local television station's digital signal
allocation, which has been designated by the Federal Communications Commission for eventual
development of high-definition broadcasting. Lindsley says the company won't disclose which stations
in Albuquerque might have sold a share of their digital signal for the venture. The company has done
extensive research and concludes that "there's a tremendous hole in the market" for its service, he says.
"Our goal would be to be the Southwest Airlines of the cable business." During the testing of the service,
"several hundred" customers signed up in Albuquerque, Lindsley says. The company has partnered
with Wal-Mart to sell the conversion kits, which, when installed, will bring local subscribers 12 local
stations and 11 cable channels. In addition to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, where the company also
conduced tests, USDTV this week also launched its service in Dallas.
Cruise ship attacked by pirates used sonic weapon
The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while
being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday. The Seabourn Spirit
had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a
spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when
pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard. The subsidiary of
Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in warding off the pirates, he said. The
ship's captain also changed its course, shifted into high speed and headed out into the open sea to elude the
pirates, who were in two small boats, he said. He had no further details. Device maker American Technology
Corp. said earsplitting "bangs" were directed by trained security personnel toward the pirates. That, combined
with ship maneuvers, caused the attackers to leave the area, the company said. The LRAD is a so-called
"non-lethal weapon" developed for the U.S. military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a
way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships. The military version is a 45-pound,
dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's
operators or others in the immediate area are affected. American Technology, based in San Diego, compares
its shrill tone to that of smoke detectors, only much louder. It can be as loud as about 150 decibels, while
smoke alarms are about 80 to 90 decibels. The devices have been deployed on commercial and naval
vessels worldwide since summer 2003, the company said.
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