COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY TO EASE AMATEUR LICENSING RULES

On November the 27 a delegation from the IARC met with officials of the Ministry of Communications. The clauses appearing below still have to be passed through the normal channels of the Ministry, so they are not yet law. Celebrations will have to be kept on hold until these matters are official... and there will be certainly what to celebrate about!

1) The sale of transceivers for the 70 cm band, to non amateur business with the maximum output of 100 milliwatts, will be ceased. The equipment offered was way above the permitted power output and was used for purposes not intended by law. We have written about the undesirable use of the above mentioned equipment in previous issues and our protest finally yielded success.

2) The Class B (“General”) licencees will no longer be restricted in frequencies, and will enjoy the same spectrum privileges as afforded the Class A (Advanced-Extra) licence holders.

3) Class B amateurs will be permitted a maximum output power of 750 watts (up from their previous 200 watt limit).

4) On the 50 MHz band the maximum power output will be increased to 150 watts. The frequency range will be expanded to an entire Megahertz, from 50 to 51 MHz.

5) The CW requirements will change as well. The Morse test for the Class B class licence will be at the speed of 6 words per minute, instead of the previous 12 w.p.m. This is of course much easier to master. It should be mentioned that the requirements must be in harmony with those of the CEPT, of which we are members.

6) All amateurs will be issued a certificate of their respective license classes in the size of a normal credit card. As many of you will remember, the IARC asked to such cards issued quite a long time ago. The IARC had printed the cards, but they got stuck at the ministry. Now, new ones will be printed by the Ministry of Communications and issued in reasonable time.

7) About a year ago we were asked by the Ministry of Communications to pay 180 Sheqels (about $50 at the time) for our licence renewal for the period of two years. As a result there was quite an outcry by the Israeli hams. 180 Sheqels for a two years - too much! Eli Stern, chairman of the IARC, had the same impression and protested immediately. Now, after the meeting at the ministry, the sum we paid will make our licences valid for a 4 year period. The two year fees will henceforth be only 70 Sheqels. (So my question why should we,, law abiding citizens who paid their due promptly, are going to be punished? We paid 180 Sheqels - so why didn’t the ministry extend the extend the time to 5 years instead of the 4 years? Even then we paid 5 Sheqels for nothing [4X1AT]).

Whatever we would like to congratulate our chairman for his efforts and success at the ministry. One observation is that since the Grade C (novice class) code requirement is 6 w.p.m. and the Grade D (codeless technician) theory requirement is the same as that of the Grade B licence, those who have passed both these tests should be upgraded automatically to Grade B. The ministry has seen that the amount of new hams is in a steady decline and that there are almost no active amateur radio clubs. Around the world the conditions to receive a amateur license are getting easier. As pointed out in the beginning whatever our authorities agree to do is, of course, in concert with the rulings in all other countries and especially with the CEPT.

UPCOMING I.A.R.C GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ASSEMBLY

The annual meeting is scheduled for February 25, taking place either, as in the previous years, at Tel-Aviv University’s Lev Auditorium or at the Mikve Israel Agricultural School. The location will be announced in January. As noted in previous issues of this newsletter, Mikve Israel, just south-east of Tel-Aviv, is the site of the future home of the IARC. This is an opportunity to meet amateur radio friends we haven’t seen over the last year. Since transportation will be provided from Haifa, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva, we hope to see hams from all over the country. So keep this date in mind! See you there.

REGIONAL GET-TOGýETHERS, ETC.

As well as the meetings at the Tel-Aviv IARC headquarters (where Tuvia 4X4GT is reported to be continuing preaching the gospel of Slow-Scan TV), the hams of the north and south have been convening. Recently at Bet Miller in Haifa, Bentzi 4X1IL demonstrated an extremely high-speed wireless data link. Using a $150 card plugged into a computer the machine was linked to the Internet using UHF frequencies. And don’t eulogise Packet Radio.... yet! Rumours, apparently based on fact, say that a high-speed 23 cm. backbone is in the works for our national Packet system. Usage, nonetheless, on the system is at an all-time low. The few users are enjoying this, as the time for data to fill the computer screen is quick due to not having to share the resource. In the south, last month 28 hams and some of their mates from Beersheba, Arad, the Western Negev kibbutzim and Ashdod got together at the Nof Arad hotel for culinary delights and a social get-together. Hats of to Itzik 4Z7ACF for organising the affair. The new sunspot cycle has begun to manifest itself in a big way, with beautiful DX openings on the HF bands... keep your ears perked!

NEW YEAR’S WISHES

To all our readers who observe the Gregorian calendar we would like to extend our heartiest wishes for the new year 1999. The events all over the world pile up, one on top of the other, and before one realises the passing of time, yet another year has gone by. Sometimes I have the feeling that our hobby, amateur radio, is like a quiet island in this so very troubled world. As we, except a very few, do not speak politics during our communications, treat our fellow hams with utmost courtesy and friendliness and respect each other’s religion, we seem to be at a far away site, detached from the problems around us, which we are actually a part of. If you read our newsletter you will never find an article, outside of obituaries, that criticise things and bring disturbance to our daily life. I, and I am sure that you too, can hardly take any newspaper into the hand without being confronted with news you rather wouldn’t like to read. But reading any of the radio amateur magazines is always interesting, refreshing and rejuvenating, helping us to relax. The only caveat today is asking you for the annual dues. The price hasn’t changed for the last few years. It is still $30 per year. A cheque to the IARC, at P.O.Box 17600 in Tel-Aviv 61776, will do. You can see the last year for which you have paid up on our label. We can only stress again: Our work has been over last 12 years on a voluntary basis. The only expenses are the printing, envelopes and air mail stamps, and these are barely covered by your contributions.

Until next time, 73 de Ahron and Ron