Israel
Ham News
by Ahron
Kirschner 4X1AT
And
Ron
Gang 4X1MK
The
summer doldrums draw to a close we come home from our vacations, and as
the new year approaches, we anticipate a return to activities.
We
take this opportunity to wish all our readers, wherever you may be, wishes
for the new Hebrew New Year:Peace,
Good Health, Happiness and the fulfilment of your hearts’ best desires.
The
code requirement for the Grade B (General Class),and Grade C (Novice) tickets
is now a mere FIVE WORDS PER MINUTE.This falls in line with the United
States, United Kingdom and Australian licencing changes. It appears that
the European CEPT will be lowering the Morse requirement for HF licenses
as well to 5 w.p.m. The code requirement for the prestigious Grade A licence,
which grants power outputs up to 1500 watts, remains at 16 w.p.m.
As
a result, the Technical Plus Class licence has been cancelled, all holders
of this licence receiving Grade B tickets. To remind you, the Tech Plus
test consisted of a Grade B theory test and a 6 w.p.m. code exam, and granted
Novice priveleges on HF and full priveleges above 50 MHz. Now these people
will have full HF priveleges as well.
Since
the Grade B theory test forms the basis for three licence grades (the third
being the code-free VHF-UHF Grade DTechnical Class) the IARC amateur radio
classes will all educate towards this licence. As this test is not difficult,
very few should have a problem passing it. Thus the Novice licence will
remain as a last resource for those who can’t hack the the Grade B theory.
THE LAST EXAMS IN TEL-AVIV
– impressions by 4X1AT
Attending the last exams for the ‘B’ class license as a spectator, I noticed
the dwindling number of applicants for our hobby. Only six applied
for the Morse test, and about the same number for the technical as well
as the procedure part. Most of them were but hams that
tried to update their old lower class licenses. It was a glum reminder
of one tenth of examinees eager to receive new licenses in the past filling
the entire second floor at the Ministry of Communications building.
All of them assembled in small groups, from the various clubs, chatting
away nervously, anxiously waiting for their turn to be called into the
classroom to test their eligibility to hold a radio amateur license.
(To my personal delight all the Morse code candidates passed in good shape.)
Well that all has been a scene from the past. Nowadays, many need
their license because they have sailing boats, were it is advantageous
to have a ham station aboard because there are regular rounds of physicians
on ‘duty’ to give, in case of any emergency, medical advice over the air.
Others are really interested in amateur radio. There is also a group, mainly
people from the electronic industry who like to tinker around, testing
their ideas of certain equipment, some described in the, still rich, radio
amateur magazines. For some of us, who like to tinker around with
the soldering gun, printed circuits and integrated circuits, an opportunity
to learn something about the new IC’s that came onto the market and might
become handy in any shack.
But there is something to be said in favor of the reduced speed for the
Morse code requirements. It gives the radio amateur societies,
probably like in Israel, an influx of highly qualified electronic engineers,
and that, most certainly, is an asset to any club life.
With all these deficiencies in new arrivals in (old timers) our cherished
hobby there doesn’t seem to be a decline in the number of amateurs on the
band – in any modes. As you could see in our last issue, there is
a quest for achievement in the field of Gigahertz communication.
The last Holyland contest could even note a big increase of participation
from all over the world, there is no ‘let down’ in DXpeditions nor do I
notice a decrease of hams taking part in the CW contests. So in summing
up, from my point of view, the big ‘foe’ to amateur radio is not, or not
solely, the Internet. The real ‘foe’, and you can see it in many
foreign countries too, is the unwillingness of youngster to study at all
and passing examinations at that.
From
time-to-time, we would hear Rami memtion an Amateur Radio Esperanto contest.
There are many enthusiasts of this language around the world, and it turns
out that many of them are hams.
Between
July 25 through August 1, the annual world convention of the Esperantists
was held at the Tel-Aviv Dan-Panorama hotel. An amateur station bearing
the call 4X85EUK was established on the premises for the duration of the
event. Its expressed purpose was to further the use of Esperanto and bring
more attention to this language.
Eliezer
Zamenhoff received the idea to devise Esperanto after seeing the distrust
and conflict arising between people who couldn’t understand each other’s
languages. He envisioned Esperanto as a means to bring about world peace.
We salute the Esperantists and our friend Rami 4Z4LX on their working towards
this noble goal!
Every
now and then we bring you items about radio broadcasting in Israel:For
ages, operating in the medium-wave AM broadcast band, Israel Radio’s Arabic
service has been running a 1.2 megawatt transmitter. This powerful voice
has been heard well throughout the Arab world, from North Africa through
to the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, especially in the night-time hours.
Listener surveys have shown this station to boast a very high audience
rating – higher than that of the Voice of Palestine in the Palestinian
areas, and upwards to 20% in many Arab countries, where Israel is still
regarded as an illigitimate and evil entity.S tation policy has been to
air all viewpoints in the Israeli-Arab conflict, and not just to tow the
official government line. This policy has paid off, as it has given the
station an air of credibility and has allowed our neighbours to understand
something about democracy where different viewpoints are allowed and expressed.
The
main transmitter mentioned above has been operating from the Hillel site
in the Sharon plain. Once wide-open-spaces, the population explosion has
caught up with the area, which is now more built up with a nearby village
and a school grounds bordering on the site of the transmitter’s antennas.
Environmentalists
expressed concern about the effects of the radiation of this transmitting
site on its neighbours, especially the school children. The Ministry of
the Environment ordered the site shut down, yet a few days after the station
went QRT, the Foreign Ministry woke up to the fact that a very important
public-relations tool had been lost. So, a compromise has been reached,
and according to the newspaper, the power has been reduced to one-sixth,
i.e. 200 kilowatts. Our ham analysis says that almost 2 S-units have been
lost, the difference between a low power station and a “big-gun” running
a serious amplifier. Obviously, reception in the far-afield countries will
become much more difficult, and many listeners will be lost. It now remains
to be seen when a new transmitting site will be found.
*** The
Technion satellite carrying amateur radio, Gurwin-Techsat II, is reportedly
functioning in the amateur radio store-and-forward digital mode, working
as an orbitting 9.6 kilobaud BBS and digipeater. We hope to have details
for you next month.
***There
was another field-day/picnic at the Silent Keys’ Forest this summer, but
alas the heat, dust and humidity drove away the few participants. The next
events there in the Ben Shemen forests will take place under more conducive
climactic conditions.
***
4X6KJ has been working at updating the Israeli Amateur Radio Callbook.
After soliciting updates and corrections, Yossi has brought this stage
to a conclusion. The book is expected to appear in 2001, which isn’t all
that far away.