EI5IX

DX News

EA5GVH will be on the air from Aruba as P40PZ from
January 12th to the 28th. He will operate 80 through
6 meters using SSB and the digital modes only. QSL
via EA5GVH.

G3NKC, G4XUM and MD0CCE will be active as MD4K from the
Isle of Mann during the CQ 160-Meter CW Contest, on
January 24-25.The trio will operate as a Multi-Op
entry. QSL via G3NKC and be sure to include sufficient
return postage with your QSL request.

Palestine update

The E44M Palestine operation is now QRT. you can either
QSL direct or via the bureau. An online log search is
available at:
http://www.hamradioweb.org/e44mlogsearch.html

PLEASE NOTE: The QSL Manager for BUREAU QSL CARDS is
SP3DOI. The QSL Manager for DIRECT QSL CARDS is IZ0BTV.
Also, BUREAU QSL CARDS can be requested via E-mail at:
QSLE44M /at/ gmail.com

Your request must be clear and complete with all the
details (your callsign, time, RST, date, mode...).
Please don't send them multiple E-mails for each QSOs,
only one (with all your QSOs listed) will be enough.
Any incomplete E-mails without these will be ignored.
BUREAU cards will be managed after the direct ones. For
updates, watch the following Web pages. The E44M Web
page at: http://www.dxcoffee.com/e44m





Falkland Islands YL operation

An international group of YLs will activate the
Falkland Islands (SA-002) between January 17-31st.
Each operator will be signing with the callsign
VP8YL*, where the third letter of the suffix will be
assigned to each YL operator at beginning of the
operation. YL operators mentioned at present include:
Janet VP8AIB, Chantal PA3GQG, Unni LA6RHA, Jeanie
WA6UVF, Mio JR3MVF, Liz M0ACL, Victoria SV2KBS*, Nicky
M5YLO and Ruth IT9ESZ.

The YL team will fly into the Falklands on January
17th. Together with Janet, VP8AIB, and other YLs from
Falkland will all activate VP8YL* for 14 days. All the
YLs coming from around the world will be getting their
VP8 callsign on Monday, January 19th.

During the first weekend they will operate as VP8YLC
which is the YL club's callsign on Falkland.



Radio Rallies

The Spring Radio Rally season gets under way shortly,
starting with the Coolmine Rally on Sunday 15th
February. The venue is the Coolmine Community School,
Clonsilla, Dublin 15, and doors open at 9.30 a.m.

Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and
Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on
Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio
Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday
14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally
in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.

The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on
Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place
in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events
include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the
IRTS Annual General Meeting.

More details of these events will be given in later
bulletins, and are also available on the IRTS web site
at www.irts.ie/rallies




Revised Bandplans now on RSGB site

The 2008 IARU Region 1 General Conference held in
Cavtat resulted in some changes to the bandplans which
are now available on the RSGB site. For further
Information regarding Bandplans see the following
website: www.rsgb.org/spectrumforum/bandplans/

Bermuda Anniversary Callsigns

2009 is the 400th anniversary of the settlement of
Bermuda by Sir George Somers. Most local organisations
are having an event of some kind during the year. The
Radio Society of Bermuda has been issued with a special
call sign that can be used all year, it is VP9400/xx.

The xx suffix is the operator's call sign, i.e.
VP9400/LP. There are a few novice licence holders who
have a 3 digit suffix, i.e. VP9400/NMT.Special
pictorial postcards will be used to QSL.





New threat to Amateur Satellite operations on 24 GHz

There is potentially a new threat to Amateur and Amateur Satellite operations in the 24 GHz band.

The European Commission is undertaking this public Call for Input to collect views of interested stakeholders in order to prepare the fundamental review of EC Decision 2005/50/EC of 17 January 2005 on the harmonisation of the 24 GHz range radio spectrum band for the time-limited use by automotive short-range radar equipment in the Community.

The use of this band for automotive (car) Short Range Radars (SSR) was for a strictly limited period with the intention that they would be replaced by the use of more appropriate frequencies in 79 GHz band which had been identified by CEPT as the most suitable band for long term development and deployment of automotive short-range radar.

This review could provide an opportunity for commercial interests to extend, possibly indefinately, the inappropriate use of 24 GHz for SRR applications.

The closing date for comments is 2 February 2008. Comments are to be sent to the Radio Spectrum Committee Secretariat email: infso-rsc@ec.europa.eu

Radio Spectrum Policy
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/
radio_spectrum/index_en.htm

Call to stakeholders for input in the fundemental review of Commission decision 2005/050/EC
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/radio_
spectrum/docs/ref_docs/srr_call_for_input_02feb09.pdf

European Commission Decision 2005/50/EC
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?
uri=OJ:L:2005:021:0015:0020:EN:PDF

Ofcom statement on 24 GHz Automotive Radar
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2008/
ofcom_24ghz_automobile_radar.htm

Ofcom Wireless Telegraphy Licence Exemption - Automotive Short Range Radar
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/srr/

Joint response from the Radio Society of Great Britain, UK Microwave Group, Amsat-UK to Ofcom 2007 SRR Consultation
http://www.microwavers.org/papers/
Dec-2007-Joint-24GHz-SRR-reply.pdf

New date for Amateur Satellite Launch

Masa JN1GKZ reports on the AMSAT Bulletin Board that the new launch date for five new Amateur radio satellites is Friday, January 23rd between 0354-0416z

Links providing details of the new satellites can be found at
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2009/
five_new_cubesats.htm

AMSAT Bulletin Board AMSAT-BB
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination pages
http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/
finished_detail.asp?serial=115

AMSAT-UK produce a quarterly newsletter OSCAR News full of satellite information. Join online at https://secure.amsat.org.uk/subscription/

AMSAT-UK website
http://www.uk.amsat.org/