Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
The Owatonna Fire Department is holding training for the (CERT) program. A program began in late July and plans are in made for another session in mid September. The program helps train people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities.

The CERT training program is a 20-hour course, typically delivered over a seven-week period. Training sessions cover disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team operations. The training also includes a disaster simulation in which participants practice skills that they learned throughout the course.

If you are interested in participating, contact Val at the Owatonna Fire Department during normal business hours. The non-emergency phone number is 444-2454. Information is also available at the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Personal Locator Beacons
The CGC Communicator reports that retail stores in the continental United States are now being allowed market the pricey beacon transmitters which can be activated when a person is in a dangerous situation. Proponents of Personal Locator Beacons claim that they will assist rescue teams in finding lost persons in emergency situations. According to CGC, each beacon must be registered with NOAA before alert activations can be relayed via satellite to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Actual beacon alerts are recieved over the SARSAT COSPAS satellite system which is a long term cooperative effort between the United States and Russia.
More information is on line at NOAA

Want To Rethink RF Exposure?
The Chambersburg, Pennsylvania borough hired a Louisiana attorney to try to force the owners of a broadcast radio station to cease operating long enough for workers to finish a 2-million-gallon water storage tank project in the nearby business park. The effort to build a new, elevated, 150-foot-high water storage tank on land adjacent to WCBG's towers have stalled because workers complained of receiving RF burns. Complicating the situation are allegations that the storage tank interferes with WCBG's signal, presumably warping its radiation patterns.
From Amatuer Radio Newsline

2-Meter J-pole Antenna Design
If you are looking to build a J-pole antenna from copper pipe, check out the sites below for help:
From World Radio

New FCC Vanity Fee
The new $16.30 fee for a Amateur Radio vanity call signwill go into effect September 9. Like the current $14.50 fee, the enhanced fee covers the 10-year license term. There were 9800 Amateur Radio vanity call sign applicants during Fiscal Year 2003. That's up by almost $30,000 and 800 applications from FY2002. A copy of the Report and Order is available at the FCC Web site.

New Entry License Proposal
The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) has formed a committee to develop an FCC rule making proposal for a newentry-level Amateur Service license. At the same session, the NCVEC also approved plans to draft and submit a rule making petition to eliminate the current 5 WPM Morse code requirement (Element 1) and to give Novice/Tech Plus HF privileges to all current Technician licensees.
From Amateur Radio Newsline

New Prefixes For The Netherlands
A New call sign prefix went into effect in the Netherlands on August 7th. On the High Frequency bands, the PA, PB, PC, PF, PG and PI prefix callsigns will now be be heard with one, two or three letter suffixes. On VHF and above, the PD, PE and PH are the prefixes, again with one, two or three letter suffixes. For example, the former PBZ0AIU, who sent in this news story, is now PC2A. From Amateur Radio Newsline

WARC '03 No Code Update
In addition to the UK and Switzerland eliminating the code requiremet, activities in other countries include:

• Class 2 hams in Belgium can now trade up to a full access license without having to pass a Morse proficiency test.
• The Wireless Institute of Australia - the W-I-A - says that it will seek an end to Morse testing.
• German Class 2 VHF/UHF-only licensees will be permitted access to the HF bands on an equal footing with current Class 1 licensees.
• Belgians holding ON1-prefix Class B tickets can get new Class A HF licenses and ON4, 5, 6 or 7 prefixes by applying to Belgium'stelecommunications authority and paying a 5 Euro fee.
• Radio Amateurs of Canada is conducting a national on-line Morse survey to record Canadian amateurs' preferences on the current 5 WPM Morse requirement for HF access. The RAC Board of Directors will consider the results of the survey in arriving at a recommendation for Industry Canada, which will decide the matter in Canada.
• The Netherlands Radiocommunications Agency announced that Morse proficiency will cease to be a requirement for HF access as of September 1.
• Norway combined three former license classes--with LA, LB and LC call sign prefixes were combined into one class on August 19.
• The Austrian Radio Transmitters Union indicates that country will grant provisional HF access to all CEPT Class 2 licenses "sometime in September," pending formal changes.
• New Zealand telecommunications authorities plan to remove the requirement for Morse competency from the General class later this year.
• In the US, six unrelated petitioners have requested the FCC to delete the requirement that applicants pass the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse code test to gain HF access.

Something to Sell or Buy? Something to Add?
Don't forget the "classified" section of the OSCAR web site. The editor is always looking for ideas and submissions for future newsletters. Send ideas, articles, event dates, and updates.