04-10-2019, 07:35 AM
From text edition for SEPTEMBER 29 2019 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA : http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/
Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2019-09-29.mp3
On the 21st of September, the Australian Communications and Media Authority arranged for the world to come to an end.
Or, perhaps they arranged for the world to have a new beginning.
The A C M A has published changes to the Amateur licence conditions, set out in its Omnibus Amendment Instrument 2019, Number 1. The changes have been in effect from 21 September.
In summary, the chief changes are as follows:
All restrictions on emission modes have been removed for all licensees;
Restrictions on permitted transmission bandwidths have been removed for all licensees across all bands allowed for each grade pf licence, with the exception of the 2200 metre and 630 metre bands, which only Advanced licensees can use;
The impact of these two changes is that from now on all licensees are now able use any transmission mode including those not yet invented provided the transmission remains wholly within the band being used!
However, the A C M A has seen fit to retain the three-tier licensing structure of Foundation, Standard and Advanced. There are no changes to the bands permitted for each licence grade and the power limits have been retained: 10 watts for Foundation, 100 watts for Standard and 400 watts for Advanced.
But and this is a big but all the contentious restrictions on Foundation licensees that have long been viewed as a general hindrance to precious new entrants to the world of amateur radio, have been removed.
Foundation operators can now build and use their own transmitters and transceivers, they can operate their rig using computer control and automatic mode (think WSPR) and explore the wonderful world of digital modes even more so once the 7-character callsign issue is addressed (more on which, later). Further, still Foundation operators can allow unlicensed buddies to use their station; one presumes while the licensee is present in the shack.
Among other details, further geographic restrictions on the use of the 3.6 GHz band have been advised, to the chagrin of microwave operators across the land.
As callsigns are not part of amateur licence conditions even though we all have to have one the unfortunate issue that some digital transmission modes cannot accommodate the 7-character Foundation callsigns will need to be addressed later in the course of the ACMAs Five-year workplan hopefully, sooner rather than later.
Undeterred, the DMR network has quickly responded to enable Foundation operators to get their ID, and FT8 has been getting a hammering on various bands from the day the ACMA announcement hit its website.
The matter of access to the 5.3 MHz band for Advanced licensees will be the subject of a discussion paper to be released shortly.
All that work, since 2014, on gaining improved licence conditions has come to fruition. But, like the Curates egg its good in parts. And like that Year 7 report card says more work needed.
This has been Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.
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The legislative Omnibus is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L01226
The best document to peruse is the explanatory statement in file F2019L01226ES.pdf
F2019L01226ES.pdf (Size: 726.46 KB / Downloads: 509)
as it explains the changes in plain english.
This thread has specifically been divorced from the general comments under thread Proposed Changes to Licence Conditions (https://www.ahrdf.net/forum/thread-826.html)
Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2019-09-29.mp3
On the 21st of September, the Australian Communications and Media Authority arranged for the world to come to an end.
Or, perhaps they arranged for the world to have a new beginning.
The A C M A has published changes to the Amateur licence conditions, set out in its Omnibus Amendment Instrument 2019, Number 1. The changes have been in effect from 21 September.
In summary, the chief changes are as follows:
All restrictions on emission modes have been removed for all licensees;
Restrictions on permitted transmission bandwidths have been removed for all licensees across all bands allowed for each grade pf licence, with the exception of the 2200 metre and 630 metre bands, which only Advanced licensees can use;
The impact of these two changes is that from now on all licensees are now able use any transmission mode including those not yet invented provided the transmission remains wholly within the band being used!
However, the A C M A has seen fit to retain the three-tier licensing structure of Foundation, Standard and Advanced. There are no changes to the bands permitted for each licence grade and the power limits have been retained: 10 watts for Foundation, 100 watts for Standard and 400 watts for Advanced.
But and this is a big but all the contentious restrictions on Foundation licensees that have long been viewed as a general hindrance to precious new entrants to the world of amateur radio, have been removed.
Foundation operators can now build and use their own transmitters and transceivers, they can operate their rig using computer control and automatic mode (think WSPR) and explore the wonderful world of digital modes even more so once the 7-character callsign issue is addressed (more on which, later). Further, still Foundation operators can allow unlicensed buddies to use their station; one presumes while the licensee is present in the shack.
Among other details, further geographic restrictions on the use of the 3.6 GHz band have been advised, to the chagrin of microwave operators across the land.
As callsigns are not part of amateur licence conditions even though we all have to have one the unfortunate issue that some digital transmission modes cannot accommodate the 7-character Foundation callsigns will need to be addressed later in the course of the ACMAs Five-year workplan hopefully, sooner rather than later.
Undeterred, the DMR network has quickly responded to enable Foundation operators to get their ID, and FT8 has been getting a hammering on various bands from the day the ACMA announcement hit its website.
The matter of access to the 5.3 MHz band for Advanced licensees will be the subject of a discussion paper to be released shortly.
All that work, since 2014, on gaining improved licence conditions has come to fruition. But, like the Curates egg its good in parts. And like that Year 7 report card says more work needed.
This has been Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The legislative Omnibus is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L01226
The best document to peruse is the explanatory statement in file F2019L01226ES.pdf
F2019L01226ES.pdf (Size: 726.46 KB / Downloads: 509)
as it explains the changes in plain english.This thread has specifically been divorced from the general comments under thread Proposed Changes to Licence Conditions (https://www.ahrdf.net/forum/thread-826.html)
Doug VK4ADC @ QG62LG51
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.