Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu Jul 11 2019 11:00 pm NEW WIRELESS NETWORK USES RADIO AS ALTERNATIVE TO CELLULAR JIM/ANCHOR: A California company is developing a new wireless alternative to cellular service. Stephen Kinford, N8WB, has details. STEPHEN: A San Francisco-based wireless network developer is working with an estimated $51 million in cumulative funding to fuel its plans, already under way, to launch a wide-range Internet of Things wireless network, that it hopes will become an alternative to 5G and other cellular communications. The company, Helium, was founded in 2013. It has used radio technology for data transport in earlier projects, making use of the Industrial Scientific and Medical Band, or ISM band, between 902 MHz and 928 MHz, to capitalize on the band's propagation characteristics. The FCC has reserved the band for low-power unlicensed devices and consumer use, but those same frequencies are also used for amateur radio on a secondary basis. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB. (TECH CRUNCH, NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, FIERCE WIRELESS) ** FAA REVIEWING TOWER-SAFETY MEASURE FOR LOW-LEVEL FLIGHTS JIM/ANCHOR: Proposed federal regulations are under review in the United States that would have an impact later this year on certain types of towers that are between 50 feet and 200 feet tall, and could affect agricultural and other low-level flight operations. A July 8 report in General Aviation News, noted that this mainly refers to meteorological evaluation towers, commonly used in rural areas to measure wind speed. Those towers must be entered into an FAA database, and also be visibly marked. Ian Gregor, communications manager in the FAA's Pacific Division, said in an email that the provision does not mention amateur radio towers specifically, but noted that owners of any communication tower that falls within the law's criteria - but is not a meteorological evaluation tower - must choose to either mark the tower, or register it in the FAA database. Towers are excluded from provision, however, if they are already registered with the Federal Communications Commission under the Antenna Structure Registration program. The database is being developed by the FAA for pilots, to consult before flying at low altitudes, and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 requires it to be in use by October. ** K2B PREPS FOR WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE JIM/ANCHOR: It's summer, and Radio Scouts are camping it up! We hear more from Bill Stearns, NE4RD. BILL: This week in Radio Scouting, we are in the middle of Summer Camp Season, and World Scout Jamboree kicks off officially in 10 days. Walt Beattie, AA3WB, is continuing to activate K2BSA/3 from the Camp Horseshoe Summer Camp in Rising Sun, MD. One day each week, usually on Tuesdays, a portable amateur radio station will be activated from approximately 10:00 am to 8:30 pm Eastern, running voice and digital operations. Mike Newman, K3MJN, will be activating K3R from the Rodney Scout Reservation in North East, MD from July 14th through the 20th. Troop 44, from Lititz, PA, will be heading to summer camp for the week, and decided to activate it. Catch them on the air next week! The 24th World Scout Jamboree opens on July 22nd, however, the team that will be supporting the Amateur Radio Operation, NA1WJ, will be hitting the road and skyways this weekend and early next week, to begin setting up the station that will support the operation. With radios from Icom America, antennas from DX Engineering, and JK Antennas, and supporting equipment from MFJ Enterprises and Geochron, this will be a very well equipped and active station. Station activation and testing begins towards the end of next week. For more information on this and radio scouting, please visit our website at k2bsa.net. For Amateur Radio Newsline, and the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association, this is Bill Stearns, NE4RD. --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .