Ria's Ham Shack News for June 18, 2023
WRMI legends schedule, FCC ULS down, Police radio shenanigans, radio stations on google smart speakers QRT, ARRL tries again for HOA relief, Cyclone Biparjoy
Send your news tips to ria@n2rj.com - we always appreciate them!
Aye Trinidad and Tobago! Happy Labour Day!
Hey America, happy Juneteenth - celebrating freedom!
In this issue:
WRMI Legends changes schedule
Ham Radio Friedrichshafen - coming up!
FCC licensing system down - extends deadlines for filing
FCC issues notice for unlicensed operation on police frequencies
Google smart speakers no longer playing radio station apps?
ARRL and Congress make another attempt to get relief for hams in HOAs
Ham radio to bring relief after Cyclone Biparjoy
WRMI Legends changes schedule
Shortwave broadcaster WRMI Legends is changing their schedule, and adding another frequency.
WRMI will now broadcast starting at 9PM Eastern on 5050kHz and then shift at Midnight Eastern to 9455kHz. Previously the station broadcast from 6PM Eastern to Midnight on 5050kHz. This change allows more coverage to the West coast, Central America and the Pacific.
WRMI Legends runs an oldies format, playing music from several decades such as the 60s, 70s and 80s. The station features several veteran DJs who play the hits. The station also features messages to the people of Ukraine and Russia recorded by listeners via a call-in telephone line. You can also listen to the livestream on wrmilegends.com or via your Alexa smart speaker by saying “Alexa, Play WRMI Legends.”
The Ria’s Ham Shack radio show will also be moving to the 9PM EDT time slot on Thursday, which is 0100 UTC Friday.
Ham Radio Friedrichshafen - coming up!
The celebration is getting close! Radio amateurs from all across Europe and others from different parts of the world will be gathering in Friedrichshafen, Germany this week.
The theme will be “Hams are STEM champs” and we agree! STEM is one of the best things about amateur radio. Your editor will be in attendance and I cannot wait to see all the wonderful things at the show.
FCC licensing system down - extends deadlines for filing
The FCC’s Universal Licensing system has been unavailable since 6:30PM on Friday, June 9, 2023. According to DA 23-506, this is due to “technical issues that the agency anticipates resolving in the near term.”
FCC issues notice for unlicensed operation on police frequencies
After a complaint by Herkimer County Office of Emergency Services, the FCC has issued a warning to a Utica man for allegedly interfering with police frequencies. Stacey Snell, of Utica, was warned by the FCC about transmissions on 155.610 MHz which are assigned to emergency services including Police in the area. According to the notice, he has 10 days to respond.
Google smart speakers no longer playing radio station apps?
Google, who has several model of “Google Home” smart speakers, has made changes to how these speakers can be programmed. On June 13, Google has sunset “conversational actions” which used to allow speakers to provide custom voice-first experiences to smart speaker users.
Unexpected collateral damage from this are radio stations, who previously used conversational actions to play streaming audio. A suitable replacement is media actions, but as of now has not opened that up beyond a small set of providers.
Radio stations have the option of third party streaming apps such as TuneIn, but that is not a perfect solution as TuneIn has changed the model of accepting new radio stations in its catalogue.
ARRL and Congress make another attempt to get relief for hams in HOAs
In Congress, there is now (another) bill to provide relief for radio amateurs restricted from putting up effective antennas for amateur radio due to restrictive covenants. Reps Bill Johnson (OH-06) and Joe Courtney (CT-02) have reintroduced the bill - now numbered HR 4006 in the 118th Congress. Last year, the bill was introduced by Rep. Johnson as HR 9670 in the 117th Congress in 2022.
The efforts have been led by the ARRL Legislative Advocacy committee with John Robert Stratton, N5AUS as the chair. Former Director Fred Hopengarten, K1VR has also assisted with the efforts. Hopengarten is a renowned expert on antenna zoning, having written several books on the topic and as a long time ARRL volunteer counsel. Stratton has led successful efforts in his home Division, West Gulf which comprises the states of Oklahoma and Texas.
Ham radio to bring relief after Cyclone Biparjoy
Cyclone Biparjoy has made landfall in parts of India and Pakistan. Authorities have planned to use amateur radio to backup communications systems affected by the storm.
In Gujarat the State Disaster Management Authority has six amateur radio teams deployed, with two in Kutch. There are also mobile units for comms near Jakhau port. Amateur radio is proven to be reliable for disaster communications worldwide, especially after disasters both natural and human-caused.
The storm has so far claimed six lives and injured many others as well as causing widespread damage from Pakistan to Mumbai. It is the only cyclone to have struck Western India in the past 60 years.
That’s it for this week! See you around.
73
ULS has gone down several times over the past few months, in my experience. When I caught it "up" a few weeks ago, I renewed my license while I could!