HAGAL INTERNATIONAL
3
3
conducted by Ron Gang 4X1MK
5768
The Hebrew year
5768 has begun (believed to be marking the number of years since the creation
of the world) is now upon us. May we
wish ourselves a healthy, happy and peaceful new year. May all negativity be removed from the hearts
of mankind so we can realize our true potential and make this earthly existence
as pleasant as possible for all concerned.
Flags at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen,
summer
As this is
being written, the summer doldrums are drawing to a close. In
Since our last
issue, not much has happened in Israeli hamdom, so
this will be a brief issue. Nonetheless,
there are items to report on. Special
thanks to Tsachy 4Z4TL for his protocols of the IARC
council meetings which we have pilfered to bring you most of the following.
_ . . . _
THE ANTENNAS AND RADIATION COMMITTEE, headed by Gadi Reches 4Z4JW submitted a
report of its proceedings. In a meeting
with the Ministry of the Interior
positions and reservations were noted.
At this stage there is a tendency to aid the radio amateurs in the
matters regarding the regulations governing electro-magnetic radiation despite
the practical difficulties in this matter.
Likewise, the contacts with the IARC’s legal
advisor were renewed.
The antennas
committee chairman, Ehud Zager
4Z4UR reported that the committee met with the Ministry of Environment Quality which
was co’ordinated by the Communications Ministry. Here as well we received a certain amount of
aid and understanding of our needs, as was shown in the exchange of letters
with the Ministry of Communications.
Still, the road ahead is long.
_ . . . _
Paul Gross
4X6UU, IARC treasurer, presented the budget updates in accordance to the Annual
General Meeting’s decision. The main point
was setting aside 40,000 sheqels (about $10K) for the
activities of the Antennas and Towers Committee and reducing the number of
issues of HaGal magazine for the year to save the
money necessary. (As you see, the
magazine continues to appear bi-monthly almost with the accuracy of a Swiss
clock, as the council decided to continue regular publication at least until
the end of this calendar year. 25,000 sheqels were
set aside for the defense of our antennas.)
The Antennas
and Towers Committee’s budget is estimated to be about a third to a half of the
IARC’s overall budget. We will pay for legal help and PR as we do
our best to protect our members’ antenna installations against the sometimes
hysteric onslaught of those fearing “radiation” and “eyesores”. A ham without an antenna is not much of a
ham.
Death defying stunts by the IARC’s
repeater committee at work on the R12 repeater (photo courtesy of 4X4GT)
November 29th
2007 marks the beginning of “60 Years of
Special
stations to mark the declaration of Independence – for example at the Bible
Museum on Rothschild Street in Tel-Aviv, originally the Tel-Aviv Museum where
the declaration of independence was made by Ben Gurion,
where the historic hall has been preserved – and/or from Ben Gurion’s cabin in Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev highlands.
Stations will
operate with the special prefix 4Z60 or 4X60, including home stations. The main stations will open their operation
with a special ceremony to which the media will be invited.
Another idea
is a special postage stamp and first day cover.
How about a special book summing up 60 years of Israeli ham radio with
accents on public and national service of the hams? Or special diplomas and QSLs. Another
idea is a gala social event around Independence Day in 2008.
_ . . . _
Following on
the heels of what was reported a page back, Joe 4X6KJ and Tsachy
4Z4TL met in August with Mr. Moshe Galili of the
Ministry of Communications in his Tel-Aviv office. Also present from the Ministry were Mrs.
Miriam Shtessel 4X6KT, Mr. Haim
Mazar and Mr. Shaul
Katz. Essentially the IARC would like to
help out the MoC in the light of people retiring from
the positions of licensing, examinations, call sign assignments, etc.
The opinion of
the MoC was voiced vis a vis the easing up on
the Morse requirement, where the Grade A (Extra-Advanced) Morse requirement
will apparently be retained. Views where expressed on the “radiation” issue.
_ . . . _
Treasurer Paul 4X6UU reports a 10% drop in dues-paying
members since last year (525 members in 2007).
_ . . . _
Amateur Radio was demonstrated to about 60 trainees at
the Israel Defense Forces training school by 4Z4KX and 4Z4JW. Thanks go to Yaacov
4Z4GT and Ziv 4X1UK who assembled the station for the
event.
_ . . . _
More to come in the next issue!
May this New Year be a blessing.
73, 88 es
18.