Ofcom EMF Consultation Deadline

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Ofcom is threatening radio amateurs with EMF regulations that would be onerous and not proportionate occurring to the RSGB.

The deadline for a response to the Ofcom EMF consultation is 12 June 2020.

For further information about the RSGB's response on behalf of all radio amateurs and how to make your own considered response - https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/rsgb-notices/2020/05/22/ofcom-emf-consultation-deadline/

Wireless Power Transfer: CIS/B/737/CDV rejected

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The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR) has rejected a proposal by the Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) lobby that would have resulted in pollution of the precious HF RF spectrum

While Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) systems nominally operate on frequencies below 150 kHz they can pollute the entire HF spectrum up to 30 MHz not only ruining people's enjoyment of radio but also potentially disrupting the communications of key services.

“the business case for WPT systems expects a wide spreading of their usage; in the ideal case, nearly one system per household when mostly electric vehicles will be used in the future.”
— WPT paper notes

Such an outcome could result in horrendous interference levels and ruin the HF radio frequency spectrum which is a precious natural resource.

WPT Paper - https://fe.um.si/images/jet/JET_november_2019_FINAL_splet-11-17.pdf

CIS/B/737/CDV Voting Result - https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:7:3840419693584::::FSP_ORG_ID ,FSP_LANG_ID:1298,25



Icom IC-9700 Firmware Update (Version 1.23)

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Icom Inc. has released a firmware update for the IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1200 MHz SDR Transceiver.

The following improvements have been made:

Changes from Version 1.21

  • Changed the screen drawing sequence to keep the previous frequency screen layout when exiting from a function displayed in full screen.

  • Fixed an issue where the standby beep may sound approximately two seconds after receiving a reply when pushing PTT to key up the repeater.

Changes from Version 1.22

  • Fixed an issue where the DV Gateway function may not work properly when it is turned off and then turned on again.

  • Fixed an issue where the RTTY DECODE screen was displayed while leaving the Mark Frequency and Shift Width settings at other than 2125Hz and 170Hz.

This firmware can be downloaded from the following URL from the Icom Inc website -  http://www.icomjapan.com/support/firmware_driver/2650/