GB2RS NEWS

Sunday 3rd June 2018

The news headlines:

Threat to Belgian 70cm allocation

Schoolboy makes silicon chips at home

Details of FIFA World Cup stations

Amateurs in Belgium are facing severe restrictions on their 70cm band operations even though, unlike in the UK, it is a Primary allocation for amateurs. The Regulator is proposing to reduce amateur privileges in the middle of the band to just a few milliwatts, and to ban certain modes outright. These may include digital and analogue ATV, packet radio, and possibly others on the affected frequencies. We believe it is unprecedented for any Primary user being overridden and restricted in such a way. Details are on the website of UBA, the Belgian national society, at tinyurl.com/BelgiumUBA

We normally think of silicon chip fabrication as being a cutting-edge practice, requiring huge investments and hundreds of people. However, we learned recently of Sam Zeloof, a 17-year-old high school student in the USA, who is making his own chips in his garage. Using ingenuity and equipment purchased via eBay, including things like an electron microscope he bought for less than the cost of shipping, Sam can fabricate features down to about 2 microns, though he says contamination issues mean 10 microns is the practical limit for functioning devices – because, after all, he’s working in a garage, not a clean room. More details are on the IEEE Spectrum website, accessible via tinyurl.com/GB2RS-0306A

The Russian National Society, RRC, has organised an amateur radio marathon to commemorate the FIFA World Cup finals. It runs from the 1st of June to the 15th of July. Five awards are available, some of which are achievable at several different levels. Most bands from Top Band to 70cm can be used, on all modes. A full list of participating stations, and details on how to apply for the awards, can be found at www.rsgb.org/fwc The UK is participating with special event stations in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales at various times throughout the event. Look out for GB18FWC, MB18FIFA, GB18FIFA and, first, GB18FWC, which kicks things off this Monday from the RSGB’s National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park. In addition, G6XX, GI6XX, GM6XX and GW6XX will be activated to represent the FIFA member countries. Any RSGB Member who holds