Spectrum Management and Registration
Technology (SMART)
The Radio Spectrum Management Group, of the Ministry of Economic
Development, launched its new on-line SMART service at the end of
November 2005.
All licences holders should have received a letter from the MED,
in November, containing their Client Key and Client Password, for
accessing SMART services. This letter should be kept in a safe place.
As with the information about an EFTPOS or CREDIT card, the Key
and Password should not be emailed or divulged to any unauthorised
person.
FMTAG will need to know the Client Key and Client Password when
making changes to some existing repeater / beacon / link licences,
on behalf of Branches. Branches will be advised in writing, not
by email, when this information is required.
External Engineering Of Licences -
All licences holders should have received a letter and brochure
entitled "New Radio Spectrum Licence Fees" from the MED,
in June 2005, explaining the new Fees schedule that came into effect
on the 1st of July. The brochure is also available at: http://www.med.govt.nz/rsm/licensing/fees/index.html
The main impact on the Amateur Radio Service is that the Engineering
Certification, for repeater/beacon/link licence applications, previously
carried out by the MED (Internal Engineering), at no charge, costs
$300 since the 1st of July.
However, suitably qualified persons, approved by the MED: Approved
Radio Certifier (ARC) or Approved Radio Engineer (ARE); can certify
licence applications (External Engineering)
Doug, ZL2TAR, qualified in July 2004 and Fred, ZL2AMJ, qualified
in March 2005.
The MED makes no charge for Externally Engineered licence applications.
The engineering compatibility factors required to be considered
before a certificate is issued: suitability of the selected frequency
band and site, path profiles, co-channel and adjacent channel interference,
image and intermodulation interference, and so on, are described
in publication PIB38, available on the MED web site: http://www.med.govt.nz/rsm/publications/pibs/pib38/index.html
FMTAG has certified 20 repeater/beacon/link licence applications
by the External Engineering route, since the 1st of July, thereby
avoiding the MED’s $300 engineering fee for each one.
The engineering compatibility evaluation of each application takes,
on average, about 3 hours for all the calculations required by the
MED. Applications at, or near, multi-user sites, can take much longer.
One application, involving about 150 other licences within a 2 km
radius, took 6 hours, while one involving over 200 other licences,
within 2 km, took 8 hours
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