August, 2006

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Montenegro is newest ARRL DXCC entity
A new ARRL DXCC entity has come into being! As expected, the United Nations admitted the Republic of Montenegro as its 192nd member June28, and that action automatically makes the tiny Balkan nation the 336th current DXCC entity. "According to the ARRL DXCC List criteria, entities on the UN list of member- states qualify as political entities," said ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. "Therefore, effective June 28, 2006 (UTC), ARRL has added The Republic of Montenegro tothe DXCC List. Claims for DXCC credit will be accepted immediately." Current Montenegrin radio amateurs reportedly may continue using their YU/YT/YZ/4O/4N-prefix call signs until the International Telecommunication Union designates a new call sign block for the new country. Montenegro declared its independence on June 3 following a national referendum May 21.

UN Makes It Official: Montenegro Now Number 336 on the Current DXCC List
A new ARRL DXCC entity has come into being! The United Nations has admitted the Republic of Montenegro as its 192nd member, and that action automatically makes the tiny Balkan nation the 336th current DXCC entity, effective June 28 at 0001 UTC.

RSGB seeking 60-meter extension in Great Britain
Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) Spectrum Director Colin Thomas, G3PSM, reports progress in efforts to extend Amateur Radio access to additional channels in the vicinity of 5 MHz (60 meters) and on the RSGB's proposal for amateur access to frequencies in the 500 kHz region. Thomas says the society recently submitted proposals to the Ministry of Defence and to telecommunication regulator Ofcom to allow amateurs on 60 meters beyond the experimental period that ends July 31. The Society reportedly wants two channels that are common with those already in use by the US, Finland, Iceland and Norway: 5368 kHz (5366.5 kHz tuning frequency) and 5373 kHz (5371.5 tuning frequency). RSGB says the proposals are in accordance with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) strategy of achieving an amateur allocation at 5 MHz. Regarding 500 kHz, Thomas said discussions were progressing on a 2004 RSGB proposal to Ofcom, and he's optimistic that the Society would be granted its first choice -- an allocation between 501 and 504 kHz. He said there's also a possibility that the frequency of 500 kHz would be designated a maritime memorial frequency, but he caution that this would depend on how long certain countries continue to use 500 kHz as a maritime emergency frequency.

Amateur Radio regulatory changes in Spain, the Netherlands reported
New Amateur Radio regulations became effective in Spain on June 10. The new licensing regime essentially eliminates the former Novice, General and Restricted license classes and extends the same privileges to all radio amateurs. Jose Díaz, EA4BPJ, the general secretary of the Union de Radioaficionados Españoles (URE), Spain's IARU member-society, says the change means EB and EC-prefix call signs will be showing up on all bands now, in addition to the familiar EA prefix. All amateurs in Spain also now may use the 50-51 MHz band, although Díaz notes there are some geographical restrictions on 6-meter operation. These privileges extend to visitors from CEPT countries and other foreign amateurs with a temporary license to operate in Spain. In the Netherlands, Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, the IARU liaison officer of IARU member-society the Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (VERON), reports that as of June 10, radio amateurs in the Netherlands may use the band 7.100-7.200 MHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power output of 250 W.

August, 2006

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