ICQPodcast Digital Project Annouces Connection to M17

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The ICQPodcast Digital Project have announced successful integration of the M17 protocol into the project.

Following on from a listener query, and subsequent confirmation that M17 had become open-source and didn’t require any additional licencing or hardware requirements, the team set about programming the required connections to the existing set-up.

“I am pleased we can add another mode of communication to the ICQPodcast Digital Project, which enforces our believe that radio should be about communicating between groups of likeminded people, without the restrictions of protocols”
— Martin Butler, M1MRB

To find out more about the ICQPodcast Digital Group - digitalgroup.icqpodcast.com

New Entry-Level Licence Class 'N' on its Way

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New Entry-Level Licence Class 'N' on its Way

The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport presented the draft of a new amateur radio regulation that will bring some innovations for all radio amateurs.

The chairman of the DARC e. V. and the Round Table Amateur Radio (RTA), Christian Entsfellner, DL3MBG was pleased: "The new regulation implements long-standing requirements of the DARC and the Round Table Amateur Radio. Remote operation will finally be allowed in the future. The Ministry has also implemented our demand for a beginner class, which has existed since 2008.

This makes it much easier to get started with amateur radio.” While the existing classes E and A are raised in level due to the introduction of new topics from digital technology, class N focuses on operational knowledge, regulations and basic knowledge of the technology.

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More African Countries Arrive on 60 m

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South African Radio League (SARL) have announced that three new African countries have joined the ranks of 5 MHz / 60 m operators.

They are Botswana, Lesotho and eSwatini (formerly known as Swaziland).

Each has the new WRC-15 Amateur Secondary Allocation of 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz

This makes a total of 89 countries now on the band worldwide.