From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 06 / 06 / 2017 
Author : Roger Harrison VK2ZRH and the Spectrum Strategy Committee

Phase 2 – proposed changes to each licence grade – opens 5 June 2017, closes 25 June 2017.

To provide your responses to Phase 2, click here.

Phase 1 – general principles: extended to 20 June 2017. 
If you haven’t already done so, you can provide your responses to Phase 1, click here.

As Advised previously, this consultation is being conducted in three phases.  Phase 3, covering outstanding issues, opens on 17 June and closes on 30 June.

Background

The WIA has advocated and promoted reform of the Amateur licence conditions since it was invited by the ACMA to provide a submission on the subject in 2014.  The Board and Spectrum Strategy Committee made extensive efforts since then to “prepare the ground” with the ACMA on the proposed changes to Amateur licence conditions and the principles underlying the proposals.

In April 2016, an updated submission was provided to the ACMA, again, at its request, which consolidated what had transpired over the period since the first submission, along with Amateur community and member feedback, periodic discussions with the ACMA, and the federal government’s Spectrum Review.  That submission can be downloaded here.

In summary, the underlying purpose is to enable greater self-determination for the amateur service, along with proposing updates to the licence conditions for all licence grades in order to ensure amateur radio remains relevant in the digitally-connected age. Key proposals include:

• enabling use of digital modes for Foundation licensees
• access to more bands for Foundation and Standard licensees
• relaxing permitted bandwidths for all license grades
• removing mode restrictions
• enabling DIY construction for Foundation licensees
• review of Foundation callsigns to provide 3-letter suffixes
• increased maximum power for all licensees.

This consultation exercise is to provide the ACMA with formal evidential support for the proposed changes to the Amateur licence conditions.

The key principle is that future licence conditions should not unnecessarily limit the breadth and depth of experimentation amateurs can explore and the technologies capable amateurs may wish to adapt and exploit.

WIA member or not, your responses have equal weight.

60 metre band: Note that, as the ITU adopted a world-wide secondary allocation at 5.3 MHz at the World Radio Conference 2015, the WIA is already working with the ACMA to make this band available to Australian amateurs.  It is already noted in the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan, which came into effect on 1 January 2017.  See more here.

From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 05 / 06 / 2017 
Author : Jim Linton – VK3PC

An excellent Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held with 19 questions being asked by cadets at the Australian Air League (AAL) South Australia Wing, Elizabeth, South Australia.  The AAL is for boys and girls aged 8-18 years of age, founded in 1934 to encourage an interest in aviation as a career, or as a hobby.

Gathered for the hook-up were 100 including Air Force personnel.  All observed a minute’s silence in respect of one of their staff, an experienced pilot killed with two others the day before when their Cessna Conquest crashed shortly after take-off from Renmark airport.  Then the ARISS contact on May 31 began, despite initial difficulties with the new phone system that were overcome by Australian ARISS Coordinator Shane Lynd VK4KHZ.  There was great audio from astronaut Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG (pictured) who used the callsign NA1SS via the Santa Rosa Junior College Amateur Radio Club W6SRJ telebridge.

Among questions asked by the cadets was the space junk hazard, the experiments conducted, the training required to be involved, how a 3D printer element acted in zero gravity space, through to more personal matters like food and having a haircut in space.  Thomas KG5FYG also talked about the views he had from space, achievements being made, his spare time activity and the return to earth.

Thank you to Bill Hillendahl KH6GJV and Don Dalby KE6UAY who were at the W6SRJ telebridge from 2am local time, and Shane VK4KHZ who moderated the contact.

From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 01 / 06 / 2017 
Author : Roger Harrison – VK2ZRH

To develop a comprehensive response to the government’s draft radiocommunications legislation, the WIA is calling for input from the radio amateur community – including anyone with an interest in the hobby, but not yet licensed.

The Department of Communications and the Arts released the Radiocommunications Bill 2017 and an extensive package of information on its website right on the eve of the WIA’s Annual General Meeting in Hahndorf, last month.  (A Bill is draft legislation, before being debated and agreed in parliament).

The Department is seeking stakeholder feedback, with a closing date for submissions of 30 June 2017 and the WIA’s Spectrum Strategy Committee is in the throes of developing a submission on behalf of the amateur radio community.

It is notable that the objects of the new legislation include arrangements for providing spectrum for public or community purposes.

A single licensing system – parameters-based licensing – is the centrepiece of the Bill. Licences may be issued for periods up to 20 years.

According to the Department, the new legislation seeks to make Australia’s spectrum framework simpler, more efficient and flexible to use and better support innovative communication technologies and services. The proposed legislation is to:

• simplify regulatory structures for planning, licensing and equipment regulation; 
• streamline regulatory processes, particularly for allocating licences; 
• clarify the role for government, the ACMA and spectrum users; 
• provide for graduated and proportionate enforcement and compliance tools; and
• enable the delegation of functions or powers to eligible Australian corporations.

It is recommended that you download the exposure draft of the Bill and the package of information papers from the Department’s website here.

Apart from a “walk-through” explanation of the Bill, information papers of particular interest to radio amateurs – current and prospective – cover the licensing system, equipment rules, interference management, delegation and management rights, and enforcement mechanisms.  Some of these are in the form of short introductory fact sheets, produced by the Department of Communications, while more details papers on the same topics have been produced by the ACMA.

When you’re ready to provide your observations and views, go to the WIA Consultation page, which you can access here.

From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 01 / 06 / 2017 
Author : Jim Linton – VK3PC

By early June at least 150 people have logged on to register for the WIA trial exams with feedback from them asking that the initiative been expanded.  Among these are potential upgraders and people wanting to enter the world of Amateur Radio and are encouraged by what they see.

In response Fred Swainston VK4FE/VK3DAC has now uploaded two Advanced Licence trial exams and a Regulation trial exam to add to the existing Standard level exams.  He advises that following requests, a couple of Foundation Licence exams will join them soon.  Fred Swainston VK4FE/VK3DAC says the response to the trial was higher than expected and the demand is continuing.

The online trials are similar to the actual examinations using the same mix of questions.  The system is still being tested but the registration process has achieved the desired result.

To log on simply click here.  If you’re already registered please revisit the site for further updates.

From the ARRL, original post here.  Published 10th May 2017.

The Mumbai Mirror in India reports that a complaint by radio amateurs has prompted the Telecommunications Ministry to order online purveyors, including eBay and Amazon, to stop selling wireless transmitting equipment.  According to the newspaper, a group of hams wrote the Wireless Advisor in the Telecommunications Ministry last fall to warn that online sales of wireless equipment could pose a national security threat.

Their warning followed reports of “highly suspicious” 2-meter transmissions along the Bengal-Bangladesh border.  Their letter drew the attention of the Intelligence Bureau, the prime minister’s office, and the military.

The Telecommunications Ministry now has ordered e-commerce websites to stop selling transmitting gear online, effective immediately.  The law in India requires that those selling such equipment have a dealer’s possession license and users have a license to transmit.

Ankur Puranik, VU2AXN, spokesperson of the Mumbai Amateur Radio Society, told the newspaper, “…our concern is that the powerful equipment can fall into wrong hands and be misused.  More importantly, these two-way radios can tune into any frequency including confidential frequencies used by law enforcement agencies.  They can be misused to listen to confidential wireless conversations.”