HAGAL INTERNATIONAL
3
3
conducted by Ron Gang 4X1MK
GETTING OFF THE HOOK-
THE ONGOING
RADIATION SAGA
Our faithful readers of the past few years may see this
reportage as the turning in the present struggle to preserve our hobby.
Over the past
few years the public hysteria has grown vis
a vis the specter of cellular telephone antenna
installations popping up like toadstools after the rains.
A few weeks (before penning these words) this
reached a crescendo when a huge riot took place in the northern town of
The preceding
was written just to underscore with the general paranoia with regard to antenna
structures, our amateur radio skyhooks not being excepted.
Naturally,
politicians jump on the bandwagon to show their constituents that they are out
there to protect them from the great unknown.
And a new job-generating industry has grown up in our fair land – that
of producing licenses and permits for everything. We could ramble on about this, yet I fear
that we are already overstepping the bounds that this podium should provide…
Fortunately
the IARC has been blessed with a lot of good people who have risen to the
challenge and are doing fine work clearing the debris for the clear sailing of
amateur radio in the
From the minutes of the IARC council of
October 30th (reproduced elsewhere in these pages in the Holy
Tongue) we learn that diligent work our people is bringing results in the
decisions of the Knesset’s Internal Parliamentary Committee dealing with the
quality of the environment. Thankfully,
it appears that radio amateurs are being differentiated from the cellular
telephone operators and will be exempted from the regular inspections.
Instead of
having to pass a radiation inspection, the hams will fill out a application form detailing their station equipment and
operation. The “quantity” of their
transmissions will be calculated over the 24 hour daily period by a
sophisticated formula. This idea, put
forward by Ehud 4Z4UR, won the support of the
Ministry of Communications. Supposedly
here will be a low fee (tax) charged for this authorization of station
operation which will have to be renewed every five years.
It must be
pointed out that this all has yet to be finalized, so what has been written
above is not yet the law.
There have
been deliberations in the IARC council about doing a pilot survey of antennas
of our members with regard to the installations’ licensing. Also, radiation inspections will be done only
in cases where there has been a complaint or problem. The IARC is considering having some our
people become authorized radiation inspectors to aid in the operation, which is
probably quite cost-effective.
In summation: Once the final formulizations have been made,
the relevant documents will be passed on to the IARC members. An explanation and example of the station
installation application will be printed in HAGAL. At this time, our members are requested not
to independently enter into dealings with Ministry of Quality of the
Environment. Anyone wishing to become
volunteer radiation inspectors is requested to contact the IARC council,
stating their vocational background, geographical area of operation and means
and time at their disposal.
There is still
much work to be done and we give our blessings to Hanan
4Z1DZ, Ehud 4Z4UR, Dani
4X1SK and David 4X4WH for all their activities and energies.
_ . . . _
REPEATERS
We’ve got
troubles! There is a tendency for the sites that have been hosting the IARC
repeaters to demand huge sums of money for our repeaters continuing to live
there. Some examples – the Ariel
municipality wants from us 2000 shekels a year for the repeater’s electricity
there; Cellcom (a cellular telephone company) wants
thousands of shekels for our repeater in Yatir (that
links the center of Israel with the south) to be installed in their site. The “umbrella” that
Motorola had provided for our repeaters at their sites in the past years is no
longer as it was.
The IARC
council deliberated on the issue. Some
felt that we should try to publicize better the public service aspect and uses
for our repeaters at times of emergency.
Some felt that the time has come to re-evaluate our repeater network and
possible down-size it. At any rate, the
repeater committee and IARC council have mapped out a plan of action.
_ . . . _
60th Anniversary of
We’re getting closer to our 60th
birthday. Even a young country like
It looks like
by the time you’ve read this 4X6O (four ex six oscar) will have been a special callsign
in the CQWWDX CW contest at the end of November.
There has been
a proposal to allow all amateurs the use of the 6Ø suffix from the 29th
of November through Independence Day 2008 (May 8th). Proposed is the use of the 4X6Ø prefix
by anyone who was a ham back in 1948.
_ . . . _
Michael 4X4KF, editor of our HAGAL magazine, spoke
eloquently on the popular radio station, Radius 103 FM, to calm the public
hysteria on the subject of “radiation”.
_ . . . _
THE 4X6KJ REPORT
by Joe Obstfeld 4X6KJ
Main Reading room
The Library of Congress
During the early months of the year I think it
was May or June, the IARC received a letter from the Library of Congress,
explaining that some anonymous person has send them a copy of our magazine “HaGal”. In the
letter was the request if IARC could send as many back issues as possible.
Ruth 4X4CM and
Gail Shirazi in her office
A number of
e-mail messages were exchanged, as to why the request,
and our magazine is in the Hebrew language, where will it be displayed etc. The
answer came quickly, the Library collects everything that is printed and
circulated.
After checking
in the Office a number of back issues of HaGal were
dispatches to the “African & Asian Acquisitions Department” of the above
mentioned Library. A letter of thanks
followed and each month IARC is sending a copy to the Library of Congress in
The mail room where this issue of HAGAL will first
arrive
While being on
a family visit in
And so we
did. Tuesday morning at around 10 am we
presented ourselves at the security office of the Library of Congress main
building, and asked for our contact person.
Mrs. Gail Shirazi.
Mrs. Shirazi,
arrived within a couple of minutes and took us to her Office in the giant
building complex that houses the Library.
We received a tour, and followed with much interest our private guide. Through the underground connecting tunnels we
went from building to building. From the mail room, where everything from all
over the World arrives, to the exquisite reading rooms of the 18th
century building.
The
Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and
serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the
world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and
manuscripts
in its collections.
The
Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress
and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of
knowledge and creativity for future generations. One can find there written,
printed, recorded material in any language from all over the World. These include bumper stickers of political rallies,
slogans etc. It is being used for saving
the material, for research and just to collect it.
For more information about the Library of Congress go
to –
http://www.loc.gov/about/history/
Another Reading/Research room
Our HaGal can be found in the
“on-line web cataloque” and can be ordered for reading
or for research purposes in the “
Quotation of the on-line registration:ha-Gal
: biṭʾon Agudat ḥoveve ha-radyo be-Yiśraʾel.
-de 4X6KJ
_ . . . _
Well, dcar friends and
neighbors, that’s it for this month.
Wishes to you all for the holiday season and into 2008 when you should
see the next edition of our ongoing narrative.
73, 88 es 18 de 4X1MK and the
Gang
