The Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) installed 21 ham (amateur) radios in ten districts, including six coastal ones, recently. Last year, UNDP provided the ham radios to OSDMA for installation. Due to non-availability of trained ham radio operators the installation of radios was delayed, said Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra, deputy general manager and coordinator of OSDMA.

Four keen radio hams spent 24 hours transmitting to the world from Kildonan last weekend.

The idea is to contact as many other amateur radio enthusiasts from all parts of the globe and the hams get more points for transmitting from an island.

Meredith Attwell Baker is now Commissioner Baker, as she was sworn in Friday as the newest member of the FCC.

The sounds of this year's Jefferson County Fair may have faded, but some of its participants are still making noise on the airwaves.

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.

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.

The space shuttle Endeavour is due to land Friday, July 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 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.

On the afternoon of July 16, ARRL Elko County (Nevada) Emergency Coordinator Greg Barker, K7CWL, was making his way home from Eureka on Nevada Highway 278 when a van sped past him. About 60 miles into his trip, he saw the van slow down and pull over to the side of the road. Barker, a physical therapist, pulled over and asked if he could assist. An elderly couple, their daughter and granddaughter were on the way to the hospital in Elko -- another 60 miles -- as the grandmother was experiencing what they believed were a series of mini-strokes.