Amateur radio’s two newest satellites, TMSAT-1 and TechSat-1B, are reported doing very well after a month in space. The two birds were launched jointly in late July from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. Neither satellite is yet ready for general use as they undergo initial loading of flight software. Both satellites also have received OSCAR designations from AMSAT. TMSAT has been dubbed TMSAT-OSCAR- 31 (TO-31), while the Gurwin TechSat 1B will be known as Gurwin-OSCAR-32 (GO- 32). The assignment of consecutive OSCAR numbers to new Amateur Radio spacecraft is a tradition that dates from the launch of the very first Amateur Radio Satellite-OSCAR 1. In order for an OSCAR number to be assigned, the satellite must successfully achieve orbit and one or more transmitters must be successfully activated in the Amateur Radio bands. Then, the builders/owners of the satellite must formally request that a consecutive OSCAR number be assigned to their satellite. TMSAT, the first Thai microsat, was constructed by Thai engineers in cooperation with engineers at the University of Surrey in the UK. It’s primarily designed along the lines of a low-earth-orbiting communications satellite. The TMSAT control station in Bangkok is HS0AM. TechSat-1B is also responding well to ground control commands, and the satellite recently took its first picture from space. The satellite contains an ultraviolet spectro- radiometer, a charged particles detector, and a superconductivity experiment, among other experiments. Images from both satellites and access to additional information are available via the AMSAT Web site, http://www.amsat.org. Both satellites are expected to be available soon for general amateur use.
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The FCC has issued some corrections and clarifications to its recent Amateur Radio rules "streamlining" proposal, WT Docket 98-143. The 13-page Errata document addresses most of the questions and confusion raised by the original NPRM, released in early August.
The FCC said the corrections were issued "to conform the proposed rules to the proposals discussed in the text of the Notice." The FCC noted in some instances the NPRM included sections of rules they did not propose to change. These have been deleted, and only sections of the rules where changes have been proposed remain.
A major change from the original rulemaking proposal was to effectively reinstate the language in Section 97.505(a)(10)--the provisions for a physician’s certification that an applicant is unable to pass a 13 or 20 WPM telegraphy examination. In the NPRM text, the FCC invited comment on this issue and on an earlier ARRL proposal, RM-9196. The ARRL had asked the FCC to require anyone applying for an exemption pursuant to a doctor’s certification to first attempt the higher-speed test before getting exam credit.
The Errata also clarify the Commission’s intention to retain the current 365-day limit for a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) to remain valid.
The FCC also has added the words "Element 1(A), 1(B) or 1(C)" to Section 97.301(e), referring to the 5, 13, and 20 WPM code examination elements, respectively. While this clarifies the need to at least have credit for the 5 WPM Morse code examination to gain Novice/Tech Plus HF privileges, neither the original NPRM nor the Errata list Element 1(A)--the 5 WPM code test—as a specific requirement for any license class. The FCC appears to be proposing to provide that a Technician licensee could gain HF privileges by passing a 5 WPM code test, but how this would actually be done in practice remains unclear. The FCC describes elsewhere in its proposed rules how applicants may claim credit for Element 1(A), however. A proposed change at Section 97.507(d) that would have substituted "no less than 5 WPM" has been dropped. The current wording says "no less than the prescribed speed."
The FCC also addressed apparently inadvertent rules changes in the NPRM to Section 97.305. Under the Errata, no changes are proposed. Language in the NPRM would have eliminated Extra class phone and image privileges in the 20 and 15-meter Extra class phone subbands and data privileges in the 20 and 15-meter Extra class CW subbands. In addition, the NPRM would have dropped data privileges from Novices and phone privileges for current Tech Plus operators on 10 meters. The FCC also eliminated all proposed changes to Section 97.307, including wording that seemingly would have limited Novice CW operation to "only messages sent by hand."
The FCC’s Errata also indicate that the Commission intended to retain the current 200 W PEP power limit on the current Novice/Tech Plus HF bands (and on the 30 meter band and on 7.050-7.075 MHz within Region 1 or 3) in Section 97.313. The NPRM had proposed imposing the 200 W PEP power restriction on HF only when the control operator is a Novice.
The FCC also made it clear that someone holding a Technician class license granted before February 14, 1991, could get examination credit for written Element 3(A). The Errata also add Element 1(B), the 13 WPM code test, to the elements that may be prepared by an Advanced class Volunteer Examiner.
The Errata also correct several apparent typographical errors and makes other minor changes to the original NPRM.
The Errata fail to address another discrepancy in the NPRM that was raised by the ARRL. The NPRM gives an applicant who held a Technician license (expired or otherwise) granted before March 21, 1987, examination credit for written Element 3(B). But the proposed rules do not extend similar credit to an applicant who had held a General or higher class license, once the grace period is past.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a series of self- taught courses that might be of interest to amateurs involved in public service disaster response. Course titles include Emergency Program Manager: An Orientation to the Position; Emergency Preparedness, USA; Radiological Emergency Management; Hazardous Materials: A Citizen’s Orientation; A Citizen’s Guide to Disaster Assistance; and Basic Incident Command System. Course materials are provided as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. See http://www.fema.gov/emi/ishome.htm for details on how to enroll.
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According to Mike Kelly, VE3FFK, there is another remotely controllable shortwave receiver on the world wide web. This one is a Drake R8 located in Reston, Virginia at www.chilton.com/scripts/radio/R8-receiver
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