The Border Mail

The Border Mail

"Ham it up on the air waves
By ADAM DAVID

A NEW national amateur radio licence has been launched.

The new licence is a joint venture between the Wireless Institute of Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and radio clubs across Australia.
The licence is designed to make amateur radio more accessible.

The new licence requires less study and does away with older skills such as morse code.

Twin Cities Radio Club media officer Graeme Scott believes the revised program will make the world of ham radio more attractive to younger people.

And with a broadcast capacity strong enough to reach people in Europe, the US and Antarctica, a broadcaster is not likely to run out of interesting topics.

The radio club may also be called on to help provide emergency communication, as it did in the 2003 fires.

Individual licences cost upwards of $50 and a training course is being offered on January 14|and 15. "



73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

The Pendulum - News - 01/05/2006 - Local Man Celebrates 90th with Family Friends and Ham Radio

The Pendulum - News - 01/05/2006 - Local Man Celebrates 90th with Family Friends and Ham Radio

"Local Man Celebrates 90th
with Family Friends and Ham Radio
By: Tim Faulkner 01/05/2006

John from West Virginia congratulated Everett Sunderland on his 90th birthday party using Ham radio-speak.

'Happy birthday greetings to W1LX from W3HPQ,' he said citing the operator call signs.

The fact that the party had occurred two days earlier wasn't important, it gave them something to talk about, or in this case holler about as excessive interference caused their radio frequency to crackle.

John and Everett are part of a group of Ham radio enthusiasts that call themselves the Old Goats Network. They are a dozen or so senior amateur radio operators that meet over the radio waves each day at 7:30 in the morning and 1:00 PM to chat about life and say hello.

'John's 79. He's one of the young ones,' Everett said with a chuckle. He noted that most of the Old Goats were over eighty and ninety years old and that the members were declining. 'We lost two last year,' he added.

In addition to John there was Sam from Lakeland, Florida, and Al in Kentucky and a few other voices chiming in to the birthday discussion from other parts of the country.

They comprised an old-school chat room, using only radio hardware and real-time conversations. "




73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > North County -- ROARS is loud and clear in emergencies

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > North County -- ROARS is loud and clear in emergencies

"RAMONA October marked the 16th anniversary of the founding the Ramona Outback Amateur Radio Society, or ROARS.

Local ham radio operators founded the group to provide communications support in emergencies such as fires and earthquakes.


JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune
Lee Pedlow (rear) and his son, Ian, are ham radio enthusiasts. Amateur radios can come in handy during emergencies when cell phone signals aren't available. The Pedlows are part of the Ramona Outback Amateur Radio Society.

Ham radio might seem like a throwback in this age of cell phones. But in the words of ROARS member Chuck Carlson, '9/11, the wildfires and Katrina proved that amateur radio does work.'

People take telephones and cell phones for granted, noted the group's president, Richard Elling, recalling the destruction of power lines and cell phone towers during the 2003 wildfires. "




73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.