GREENLAND GETS 5 MHZ ALLOCATION

Hams in Greenland should soon be on 5 MHz. This, following reports that government regulators in Greenland has approved the use by radio amateurs of seven spot frequencies in that band.Peter Thulesen is OX3XR. He reports that the Greenland Telecom Administration has approved the use by hams of these center frequencies of 5260, 5280, 5290, 5368, 5373, 5400, 5405 kHz.No effective date was included in Thulesen's information. More should be available at www dot tele dot gl/uk/index.htm

(Southgate)

2008 INTERNATIONAL DX CONVENTION IN VISALIA.

Mark down April 25th, 26th and 27th for the 2008 International DX Convention. This year the host is the Southern California DX Club but the venue remains the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Visalia, California.Those new to ham radio may not be aware that the International DX Convention is the world's premier gathering of D-X operators that attracts the top operators from the US, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania and any other spot you can think of. Also on hand are the worlds top DXpedition operators to share the inside stories on how they managed to put some rare location on-the-air.If you have even a passing interest in D-X operation, this is a show you won't want to miss. Again the dates are April 25th to the 27th at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Visalia, California for the 2008 International D-X Convention. More will be on-line at http://www.dxconvention.org/.

Delhi & NCR Hams Get-together

Dear Friends,

On 24th of February, 2008 we Delhi and National Capital Region Hams went for a picnic-cum-field day at Bhuwaneshwari Temple, Gurgaon-Sohna Road, Gurgaon. The temple has a huge open ground where we did an antenna assembly. It was a very quiet, spacious grounds with lots of greenery, hills for trekking, shaded area and lots of peacocks moving around.

The main organiser of this get-together was OM Bharat (VU2BDX) and OM Rajesh (VU2OEC). I really thanks to them for nice and appropriate arrangements.

During the activity, I have taken some still photographs. Which you can see at http://picasaweb.google.com/vu3orn/DelhiNCRHamGetTogetherOn24Feb2008?authkey=bFWA68BY-q8

My friend Alokesh Gupta a SWL, who also attain the field day. You can see his photographs at http://picasaweb.google.com/alokeshgupta/DelhiHamsPicnicFeb2008

Some other pictures you can see at VU2GTI's webpage http://www.vu2.in/

Three small moving clips also you can see -

1) When homebrewed J-Pole 2 Meter Antenna testing on air - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki1zgqbO_40
2) Discussion for future activities - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Zl1DxQ6gs
3) Discussion for advantage & Disadvantages of BITX & ATS-1 assembling HF TRX - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmeBupFjryc

Hoping that you enjoyed our activities.

73 for the time being and happy Hamming.

Ray (VU3ORN)
New Delhi.

BES EXPO 2008

Dear Friend,

BES EXPO 2008 is the Conference and Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting. It held from 23rd to 25th February, 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. It is the 14th in the series of expos being organised by the Broadcast Engineering Society (India).

Exhibiting companies - included those from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel,Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.A.

While I attain the Exhibition, took some photographs, which you can see here http://picasaweb.google.com/vu3orn/BESEExpo2008. Click on any photgraphs to view larger.

Brochure for BES EXPO 2008 http://www.besindia.com/Brochure%20BES%20EXPO%202008.pdf

With best regards,

SPRATLY ISLANDS COMING OIN THE AIR

If you have waited a ham radio lifetime to work the very elusive Spratly Islands, wait no longer. This with word that Ed Sawyer N1UR and his wife Christine, KB1PQN are expected to be active portable 9M6 from the Layang-Layang Island Resort in the Spratly Islands. This, between 0800 UTC on , March 22nd through midnight UTC on March 30th.The duo have already received their licenses. Once they get permission from the Navy, they will apply for a special 9M0 callsign. Activity will be on 160 through 10 meters, on CW and SSB. 100 watts to omnidirectional verticals will be used from the near-by beach and the operators will be moving bands frequently to take advantage of changing band conditions and openings. Sunset on Spratly is 1040 UTC with sunrise at 2240 by the middle of that week.QSL cards for either operator go via Bob Tomkovich, Jr., K2RET, 405 Hemlock Dr., Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734 in the USA. More information is on line at www dot n1urspratly dot com.

(OPDX)

SARL SAYS NO TO PLT / BPL

The South African Radio League will be taking a very tough stance in its fight to stop the proliferation of Broadband over Powerline Internet access in that nation. According to a society news release, while the draft regulations for the introduction of what they call Powerline Internet Transmission or PLT go some way to protect the High Frequency radio spectrum from interference the general consensus was that the regulations do not go far enough. SARL says that interference limits, the lack of compulsory notching of the Amateur bands and the inadequate mitigation process were identified as some of the issues left open.The decision was reached following a nationwide net on Sunday,
February 24th where the draft PLT regulations and the negative impact the licensing of Powerline Internet Transmission in South Africa will have on HF communication were discussed. The South African Radio League also received input from experts in the field and a major assistance from the ARRL laboratory which has been dealing with BPL interference issues for several years.

(SARL)

RECIPROCAL LICENSING: NEW RECIP LICENSE IN VK-LAND

A new "arrive and operate" reciprocal licensing system has been approved by Australia's Communications and Media Authority. Michael Owen, VK3KI, is down-under in Mount Waverly in Victoria state with the details:Word has reached the WIA that the Australia Communications and Media Authority -- the A-C-M-A -- . has issued a news class of license to allow visiting amateurs to operate in Australia for up to 90 days. This, using their home call sign followed by the suffix VK followed by "portable" and then the location of the station, without doing anything more. That class license comes into effect on the 14th of February.There are 5 levels of visitor license, 3 matching the Australian Advanced, Standard and Foundation licenses, a VHF license, and finally, in effect, a 146 to 148 FM license.The privileges of each level are set out in the class license.The ACMA will publish on its website a table showing equivalencies to the Australian visitor levels for different overseas licenses.