SOAR calls for change of law

A newly formed amateur radio group called SOAR - Space Observation with Amateur Radio - is aiming to get the regulations surrounding airborne experiments changed.

The group wants to use meteorological balloons to carry amateur radio experiments to altitudes in excess of 90,000 feet but current licensing restrictions do not allow the use of amateur radio equipment in airborne vehicles.

SOAR is currently negotiating with Ofcom and the Civil Aviation Authority to have the rules relaxed to allow experiments of this nature in balloons and other non-commercial craft. Such a change would allow the group to provide payload space for experiments by other amateur radio organisations and schools.

The UK is currently the only country in the world where experiments like this are prohibited. But, as a SOAR spokesman pointed out, such projects could help build bridges between the amateur radio community and schools and colleges. “It seems a real shame that old fashioned thinking is restricting such an exciting and important project,” he said.

URL: www.eham.org.uk

Source: GB2RS News - Courtesy of the RSGB

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