Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Jul 17 2020 11:44 am

HAMS FILE OBJECTION TO SHORTWAVE PLANS NEAR CHICAGO

PAUL/ANCHOR: An application to the FCC for a shortwave station in the
Chicago area, has drawn fire from a number of ham radio operators.
Andy Morrison, K9AWM, has been following that story.

ANDY: A group of ham radio operators has challenged a shortwave
broadcaster's plan for an international radio station, in a suburb of
Chicago, Illinois, and has filed an objection with the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission. Parable Broadcasting Company, requesting
the call sign WPBC, has told the federal agency it plans to include
religious and educational programming that would be heard in some
parts of Europe, and would also be capable of transmitting data
content provided by third parties as a point-to-point message facility.
The station hopes to operate with 15 kW of power on the six international
shortwave broadcast bands between 5.9 and 15.8MHz.

Bennett Zobb, AK4AV, Christopher Rumbaugh, K6FIB, and Kim Andrew Elliott,
KD9XB, filed a joint comment to the FCC, saying they believe the data
transmission portion of the station's operation may disqualify its
application. They contend that the for-hire portion of their transmissions
would not be a broadcast for listening by any members of the public. They
wrote: [quote] "The applicant proposes to use the Digital Radio Mondiale
(DRM) standard. All data messages from this station must be in a form
readily decoded by ordinary DRM receivers, and rendered as publicly
accessible content, without encryption or obscuration of their purpose
or meaning." [endquote]

Parable has said it intends to use Digital Radio Mondiale modulation, and
told the FCC that this plan fulfills a request by the National Association
of Shortwave Broadcasters to expand the DRM market yet further. The
publication Radio World, which carried this story, requested comment from
Parable's attorney, who said the applicant is reviewing the hams'
objections, but said the application complies with all FCC rules.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(QRZFORUMS, RADIO WORLD)

**

GALWAY DIGITAL RADIO GROUP COMPLETES DMR NETWORK

PAUL/ANCHOR: In Ireland, amateurs are celebrating the completion of a
long-awaited network of DMR radio repeaters. We pick up that story from
Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: The fourth and final repeater of the Galway Digital Radio Group's
DMR network, has been installed, and the network is complete. The
repeater, EI7LRD, became active on Saturday, the 11th of July, allowing
the repeater group to realise its goal to provide DMR repeater coverage
for most of County Galway, and some areas of nearby counties. According
to Steve Wright, EI5DD, the coverage is designed to be uninterrupted,
because the four repeaters are set up to permit roaming, which allows
for as much of a continuous connection as possible, when switching
between repeaters. DMR has been growing in popularity throughout Ireland
in recent years. Steve told Newsline he believed that probably the Galway
area now likely has Ireland's best digital radio facilities.

The four-repeater network is supplemented by a 2-metre multi-mode gateway
for DMR, D-STAR, and Fusion, as well as a 2-metre C4FM Wires-X gateway
serving Galway City. There is also a 2-metre Yaesu Fusion repeater, with
Wires-X in the southeast of County Galway, and a 70cm D-STAR repeater,
covering Galway City.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
 
**

HAMS PAY TRIBUTE TO HISTORY'S 'BUFFALO SOLDIERS'

PAUL/ANCHOR: Black soldiers who served in the American military after
the Civil War, have found a place in history - and ham radio operators
are honoring them, too; with a special event later this month. Here's
Kevin Trotman, N5PRE, with the details.

KEVIN: Amateur radio operators will be paying tribute on HF, as well as
satellite, in honor of the soldiers who made history, when they joined
the United States Army in Texas, following the end of the American Civil
War. Members of the six regiments of Buffalo soldiers, as they came to
be known, were Black Americans, whose military service was authorized by
Congress on July 28th 1866, creating two units for cavalry, and four for
infantry.

Using the call signs W5W and W5B, hams in Texas will operate in the
worldwide special event on July 25th and 26th. Commemorative QSL cards
and certificates will be made available. Shortwave listeners are also
being invited to take part in the event, which will also be made
available for listening live on Facebook on Saturday, July 25th, at 1pm,
Central Time. Look for the livestream on the Facebook page called Buffalo
Soldiers Program - Texas Parks and Wildlife. Texas Parks officials are
devoting the month of July to celebration of the legacy of the Buffalo
soldiers who served in the American West.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kevin Trotman, N5PRE.

(QRZ.COM, AMSAT)
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