Italy Gives Radio Hams Access To 70 MHz

It looks as though there will soon be some experimental Amateur Radio activity from Italy on 70 MHz.

From http://www.70mhz.org/

Upon request of Luca Ferrara IK0YYY, the Italian Ministry of Communications, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense, is willing to kindly authorize an amateur radio experimental campaign on the 70-MHz band (4 meters) up toDecember 31, 2007. Activities will however only be possible after the authorization has actually been signed.

Such campaign is being carried out under the technical coordination of Piero Tognolatti I0KPT, Full Professor of the Electromagnetic Fields Group and Director of the Electrical Engineering and Information Theory Department of the University of l’Aquila.

Italian Hams experiment on 70mhz

Ireland On The Air

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Great interest is being expressed worldwide in the Irish Radio Transmitters Society's 75th Anniversary Contest - CQIR, which will take place on the last weekend in September.

The contest is a celebration of Ireland and the Irish, throughout the world, and with 40 million people in the United States alone claiming Irish forefathers, we expect that CQIR will be one of the largest 'one-off' contests ever aired on the Amateur Radio bands.

It is a 24-hour single operator contest with the emphasis on participation rather than winning and to this end every participant gains an entry ticket for a spectacular draw for every 75 QSO’s made during the Contest.

The ticket drawn out of the EI/GI drum will win an all expenses paid long weekend in New York City for two people. ARRL have confirmed that this will include a visit to their national headquarters hosted by ARRL.

Irish Radio Transmitter Society's 75th Anniverary

First Ham Sat QSO Using D-STAR Digital Voice

What is believed to be the first Amateur Satellite QSO using the new Digital Voice Mode D-STAR took place on July 1st between Michael N3UC and Robin AA4RC using the AO-27 Amateur Satellite.

This report from http://www.ao27.org/

On July 1st, 2007 during the 20:00 UTC pass over North America, AO-27 was again providing a new round of enjoyment for Amateur satellite experimenters.

Thirteen years ago, AO-27, which coined the term "Easy Sat" by employing an FM bent pipe in space, provided many hams the ability to use a satellite without the expense of multi mode radios.

Digital QSO via D-STAR

Kenwood Says 'It's Here To Stay'

Once again the bloggers are wrong.

Contrary to what some hams have conjectured on the Internet, Kenwood Communications has no plans to leave the ham radio marketplace. Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the rest of the story:

Kenwood, which has just announced that is acquiring famed consumer electronics manufacturer JVC from Matsushita Electric, says that it sees ham radio as an important part of its overall future business plan.

And in a letter to the Amateur Radio community, Phil Parton, N4DRO, who is the Kenwood's National Sales Manager for Amateur Radio Products makes it clear that the company is in ham radio to stay.

Ham Radio and Kenwood