On July 28, the FCC issued a Citation to Hobby Lobby International (HLI) for marketing non-compliant radio frequency devices. According to the Commission, these devices were in violation of the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended and the Commission's Rules, as well as United States Customs and Border Patrol regulations.

The space shuttle Endeavour is due to land Friday, August 31, but before it leaves orbit it will deploy four student-built satellites, all with telemetry downlinks in the 2 meter, or 70 cm, amateur bands.

On Friday, July 23 at 2 PM, Sacramento City CERT activated Sacramento City Fire CERT and Sacramento County ARES® for a large natural gas leak in South Sacramento. According to ARRL Sacramento Valley Section DEC and CERT Communications Manager Frank Reshke, N6SNO, a two block area was evacuated due to the leak. “Around 30 people came to a shelter that had been set up at a local church,” he said. “This is where the CERT and ARES amateurs established a communications network with the Unified Command of Sacramento City Fire and Police and the Red Cross.” Reshke said the incident lasted for four hours: “At 6:05 PM, the Unified Command allowed the evacuees back into the neighborhood.” -- Information provided by Frank Reshke, N6SNO

When you live on a remote island with numerous mountains and valleys, communications can be tricky. Add interference that blocks the main communications frequency used by the local emergency rescue squad and you've got a disaster waiting to happen. That's what responders and residents on St John in the US Virgin Islands recently found themselves facing.

AMSAT-UK has announced a new amateur satellite project -- FUNcube -- an educational single cubesat project that features a 435-145 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW operation. According to AMSAT-UK, FUNcube will "enthuse and educate" young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. "The idea of FUNcube is to combine an educational project to excite young people with a simple linear transponder for radio amateurs to use with either legacy modes like CW and SSB, or, still to come, digital ones," said IARU Region 1 Satellite Coordinator Graham Shirville, G3VZV. Shirville is also affiliated with AMSAT-UK and ARISS-Europe.

Registration remains open through Sunday, August 23, 2009, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, September 4, 2009: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

On Friday, July 24, the Senate confirmed the nominations of Meredith Attwell Baker and Mignon Clyburn as FCC Commissioners. Both nominees appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on July 15 to be vetted by the 25 members of the committee. Baker and Attwell were nominated by President Barack Obama on June 25; no date has been set for their swearing in.

The June 2009 event wasn't my first Field Day. Several years ago the members of the St Charles Amateur Radio Club invited me out to their site. I accepted and spent several hours wandering around taking pictures, poking my nose into tents, and tripping over things. Since I didn’t do anything, I counted that as Field Day 0.1. A few years later I was invited to and attended the Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club's Field Day event. And since I didn't do anything there, either, I figured that was number 0.2.

America desperately needed heroes in the late 1950s. Our country was still trying to recover from the nonvictory in Korea. Our space program was literally blowing up on the launch pads down at Cape Canaveral. Then the Russians launched Sputnik. That single event sent a shiver through the Free World.

Ham Humor -- #1