AMATEUR RADIO NEWS FROM THE NET

10746- 10756 of 10756 News Items

FAA Reauthorization Act Language Serves to Exclude Vast Majority of Amateur Radio Towers Responding to Tropical Storm Barry, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and WX4NHC— the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami — have announced plans to activate. The HWN will activate today (July 12) at 2300 UTC on both 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz. "We will operate on 14.325 for as long as propagation allows and will suspend operations on 7.268 MHz at 0300 UTC," HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said. "Net operations will resume Saturday morning at 1230 UTC (on both 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz) or as soon as the Waterway Net concludes operation." Graves said that once the net activates on Saturday, it will remain in operation until further notice. RSGB Announces New FT4 Contests The Radio Society of Great Britain Contest Committee has announced a series of contests using the new digital mode FT4. The three short-duration events on 80 meters (dial frequency 3575 kHz USB) are aimed at offering experience to FT4 newcomers. "As this series is experimental, there are likely to be changes as we develop experience with this mode, so please check the rules prior to each event," the announcement said. The objective is to score as many points as possible based on the distance between stations (subject to a maximum score per contact). ARRL Field Day 2019 Attracts Nearly 3,100 Entries The 30-day deadline to submit ARRL Field Day entries via app upload and (timely postmarked) USPS mail is now past, and the ARRL Contest Branch reports 3,070 entries have been logged into the system. Last year saw 2,903 entries. ARRL Radiosport and Field Services Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, said the total does not include entries postmarked by July 23 and still in transit. A number of entries still show a status of "PENDING." These include 280 incomplete entries that are missing the required list of call signs by band/mode (also known as a "Dupe Sheet"), or a Cabrillo file. AMSAT 50th Anniversary Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced Tickets now are available for the AMSAT Symposium Saturday evening banquet on Saturday, October 19. A panel of guest speakers will present "The Foundations of AMSAT" followed by a question-and-answer session. Guest speakers will include Lance Ginner, K6GSJ (Project OSCAR); George Jacobs, W3ASK (author, diplomat); Perry Klein, W3PK (AMSAT founding president); Owen Mace (Australis-OSCAR 5 builder); Richard Tonkin (Australis-OSCAR 5 builder), and Jan King, W3GEY (founding AMSAT member and Australis-OSCAR 5 Project Manager). The 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting will be held October 18 – 20 in Arlington, Virginia, at the Hilton Arlington. Symposium registration is available for $60 until September 15. Banquet tickets are $55. Visit the AMSAT website for additional information. ARRL Board Pledges to Oppose French Proposal for 2 Meters At its July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors resolved that "at the appropriate time" ARRL will oppose a proposal by France to include 144 – 146 MHz among spectrum to study for non-safety Aeronautical Mobile Service applications with an eye toward sharing the spectrum with the Amateur Services. The action came as the Board met July 19 – 20 in Windsor, Connecticut for its second meeting of 2019. The Board pointed out that 144 – 146 MHz is allocated globally to the Amateur Service on a primary basis and enjoys widespread use for emergency communication. It also pointed to the investment by radio amateurs of money and effort to build repeaters, beacons, space infrastructure, and propagation research systems that have global reach. The AMSAT and ARISS communities would be severely affected as many spacecraft use 2 meters to facilitate communication, the Board noted. ARRL International Affairs Vice President Jay Bellows, K0QB, recommended continuing to monitor the proposal. If it is added as an agenda item for study for WRC 2023, the Board should consider action, he advised. IARU prepares for Key CEPT meeting The final CEPT Conference Preparatory Group meeting prior to WRC-19 takes place from the 26th of August. Most of its papers are now available, including on current hot topics in the 6m, 2m and 23cm bands, where RSGB volunteers have been working hard to support the IARU. In summary:- At 50MHz IARU hopes that the European Common Proposal for WRC-19 will be supported, with as many administrations as possible signing the optional footnote to allow amateurs Primary access on a national basis in the lower part of the band. The 144-146MHz band is subject to the French proposal for a WRC-23 agenda item for aeronautical use. IARU and its Member Societies have been busy in recent weeks. IARU has submitted a paper to the meeting that includes background on amateur usage and regulatory concerns. It also includes a basic technical analysis showing the impracticality of such a proposal and believes there are much more appropriate parts of the spectrum for such an application. Amateur Radio Resources Ready as Dorian Poised to Become a Major Hurricane Amateur Radio resources organized this week as Hurricane Dorian threatened Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and worked its way through the Caribbean. A change in direction spared Puerto Rico — still recovering from hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 — from taking a direct hit; the Virgin Islands suffered downed trees and widespread power outages. As of August 29, Dorian was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds near 85 MPH with higher gusts. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Dorian was expected to become a major hurricane on Friday and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through the weekend, reaching Category 3 or 4 by September 1. Heavy rainfall generated by Dorian could cause flash flooding, the NHC said. "The risk of devastating hurricane-force winds along the Florida east coast and peninsula late this weekend and early next week continues to increase," the NHC said on August 29. Dorian Gains Hurricane Status, Forecast to Strengthen into Major Storm Amateur Radio resources are in position as now-Category 1 Hurricane Dorian gradually moves away from the northeastern Caribbean. It is expected to become a "dangerous hurricane" in the western Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2100 UTC update. Dorian is about 45 miles northwest of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 80 MPH and moving northwest at 14 MPH. The storm could make landfall along the southeastern Florida coast. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Vieques and Culebra, the US Virgin Islands, and the British Virgin Islands. A Hurricane Watch and a Tropical Storm Warning are in effect for Puerto Rico. "Dorian should continue to move near or over the US and British Virgin Islands during the next several hours and then move over the Atlantic well east of the southeastern Bahamas on Thursday and Friday," the National Hurricane Center said. "Dorian is forecast to strengthen and become a powerful hurricane during the next few days over the Atlantic waters." Major Hurricane Dorian Prompts Sustained Activations Hurricane Dorian, now a dangerous Category 5 storm, hit the island of Abaco in the Bahamas with 185 MPH winds and heavy rain. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz (7268 MHz alternate) and the VoIP Hurricane Net (EchoLink WX_TALK Conference) remain activated in conjunction with WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center to keep on top of ground-truth weather information and to handle emergen... Storm Watch Continues Along Southeastern US Coast As of 1500 UTC, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) was reporting that a hurricane warning has been extended northeastward along the North Carolina coast. The storm was located 90 miles east-northeast of Daytona, Florida, and 205 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina. A Category 2 storm, Dorian is packing sustained winds of 105 MPH.The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) activation statu... Tracking Dorian: Hurricane Watch Net Hunkered Down for the Long Haul The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) has been in continuous operation for Dorian since last Saturday at 2100 UTC, and it plans to remain in operation on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz until further notice, HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said. The storm, then a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Grand Bahama Island with maximum sustained winds of 180 MPH, where it stalled for a day and a half. Only on... ARRL Seeking Emergency Management Director ARRL is seeking an emergency management director to oversee a team responsible for supporting ARRL emergency communication programs and services, including the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and National Traffic System (NTS), and to work with staff to develop standards, protocols, and processes designed to support the Field Organization. This is a full-time, exempt position at ARRL Hea... Report: North Korea Testing Digital Broadcasting on 80 Meters Radio World reports that the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) has resumed testing digital radio broadcasting on the 80-meter amateur band after a 2-year absence. North Korea is transmitting with the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) protocol. The latest transmissions on 3.560 MHz began in mid-August.“It appears unclear at this time, however, whether the current series of transmiss... FCC Readies for Hurricane Dorian As Hurricane Dorian nears the US southeast coast, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai reports the agency been working throughout the weekend to finalize preparations for the storm and coordinate with federal and state partners."Our staff has reached out to wireless carriers and broadcasters to offer assistance," Pai said in a statement. "With our government partners, including FEMA, we have worked to ensure... Tokelau Islands ZK3A DXpedition Ceases Operation Early Due to the illness of a ZK3A Tokelau Islands DXpedition team member, the operation has shut down a couple of days ahead of schedule.“ALL TEAM MEMBERS ARE FINE!” said an announcement on the ZK3A website. “A person on the island is ill. So, they have sent the boat there early to get this person medical help. The team has ceased operations and [is] packing up all equipment to get on that boat, bec... New Amateur Radio License Conditions in Effect for Australian Radio Amateurs The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has published changes to the Amateur Radio license conditions, effective on September 21. According to the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), all restrictions on emission modes have been removed for all licensees, and restrictions on permitted transmission bandwidths have been lifted for all licensees on all bands allowed for each lic... Space Weather Update: DSCOVR not to come back online until early 2020 As we have reported before, the real time solar wind monitoring satellite Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) which is located at the Sun-Earth L1 point is being kept in a safe hold at the moment. A glitch in its position system triggered the safe hold and that means it does not transmit any data back to Earth. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel for DSCOVR. IARU Administrative Council Steps Up Efforts to Combat Radio Spectrum Pollution The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Administrative Council (AC) met on September 28 and 29 in Lima, Peru, to conduct a final review of IARU preparations for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19). The Council’s annual meeting took place just ahead of the triennial IARU Region 2 (IARU R2) General Assembly. Responsible for IARU p... FCC Proposes Fining New York Radio Amateur $17,000 for Deliberate Interference A New York Radio Amateur — Harold Guretzky, K6DPZ, of Richmond Hill — is facing a $17,000 fine imposed by the FCC. Guretzky was issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) on October 3 for causing intentional interference on a local repeater and preventing other radio amateurs from using it.“Given his history as a repeat offender, this violation warrants a significant penalty,” the FCC said in the NAL. Lynyrd Skynyrd Founding Member Larry Junstrom, K4EB, SK Southern Rocker Larry “LJ” Junstrom, K4EB, died on October 6. He was reported to be 70.Junstrom was a founding member and bassist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, although he left the group before it recorded its first album. He’s better known as a member of another Southern Rock band, 38 Special, with which he performed from 1977 until retiring in 2014.“The Big Man on the Big Bass has left us,” said a sta... via the RSGB: WRC-19 Day-0: Being Prepared After four years of preparation, studies and proposals, the start of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference is at hand. Opening on Monday Oct-28, and running for four weeks. The recent pattern of WRCs has been every three to four years (WRC-12, WRC-15 and now WRC-19). Most recent events have been held at ITU HQ in Geneva. This time however, Egypt is making a great effort and hosting it in the very glossy Sharm el-Sheikh International Conference Centre (SHICC). via the RSGB: WRC-19 Day-1: A Grand Opening Southern Rocker Larry “LJ” Junstrom, K4EB, died on October 6. He was reported to be 70. Junstrom was a founding member and bassist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, although he left the group before it recorded its first album. He’s better known as a member of another Southern Rock band, 38 Special, with which he performed from 1977 until retiring in 2014.“The Big Man on the Big Bass has left us,” said a sta... via the RSGB: WRC-19 Day-2: The real work begins, inc 50 MHz Following Monday’s opening, the second day saw most committees and sub-working groups stood up and many agenda items having their documents introduced. First thing of particular interest to amateur radio, was the release of two documents via the RSGB: WRC-19 Day-3: kHz, MHz and GHz Amateur radio interests at WRC-19 span an amazing range of frequencies and applications from kHz to GHz. Day-3 saw the start of the Wireless Power Transmission topic. Agenda Item 9.1.6, specifically considers its high power use for charging electric vehicles, termed WPT-EV. Whilst it operates at relatively low frequencies such as 19-21 or 79-90 kHz, the kilowatts involved and nature of the switch-mode electronics create significant concerns regarding spurious emissions from its harmonics that may range up to HF. via the RSGB: WRC-19 Day-4: Consensus, or Not WRC-19 takes decisions based on consensus rather than votes. Day 4, Thursday October 31st provided a few examples of the extremes, of when views converge, or not. Wireless Power for electric vehicles (WPT-EV) managed to reach consensus on one of its core regulatory aspects. Subject to finalisation, ‘No Change’ will be made to the ITU Radio Regulations in line with all submissions by various countries – a remarkably quick consensus result, for a topic of significant attention to amateur radio. Via the ARRL: FCC Seeks Telecommunications Specialist The FCC is looking for a telecommunications specialist to work at the HF Direction Finding Center in Columbia, Maryland. This is a full-time position with a competitive salary.The incumbent would perform “watch duty” and serve as a technical authority, providing technical assistance and guidance to communication systems users to resolve radio interference complaints and problems. Radiocommunication Conference 2019 Opens in Egypt World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) is under way in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. More than 3,500 delegates from 193 member-states around the world are attending the month-long gathering, sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which opened today (October 28). WRC-19 delegates will discuss changes to the ITU Radio Regulations. Amateur radio issues are but a small p... Via the ARRL: Revised AMSAT-NA Website in the Offing AMSAT Treasurer and Vice President of User Services Robert Bankston, KE4AL, has announced that the AMSAT Board has approved his recommendations for an internet-based membership management system, the transition to a digital full-color edition of AMSAT Journal, and a complete overhaul of the AMSAT-NA website. “I have been putting together these proposals for several months and thank the Board of... World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 Special Event Set The Egyptian Radio Amateur Society (ERASD) and Egypt’s National Telecommunications Radio Authority (NTRA) have announced a special event for World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19). SU8X and SU8WRC will be on the air from Sharm el-Sheikh in southern Egypt, the venue of WRC-19. Operation will begin October 26 UTC as SU8X participates in the CQ World Wide DX Contest SSB. Special event s... via the RSGB: Sweden to discontinue 2.3 and 3.4GHz permits Amateurs in Sweden have been able to apply for temporary permits to allow operation in 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands. Their regulator, the PTS, has announced these temporary permits will no longer be issued from 1 January 2020. The reason is 5G. Dayton Hamvention Admission, Fees to Increase in 2020 Dayton Hamvention® is increasing the cost of admission and its booth fees. Hamvention General Chair Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, announced this week that general admission would rise by $4 per ticket to $26 in advance or $31 at the gate for all 3 days. The cost of flea market spots will go up by $5 per space, and inside exhibitors will pay $30 more. ARRL Asks FCC to Dismiss Petition Seeking Declaratory Ruling on Encoded Message Rule ARRL has asked the FCC to dismiss a Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by New York University (NYU), that in ARRL’s view proposes a new interpretation of the rule — Section 97.113(a)(4) — prohibiting “messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning.” In its December 2 filing, ARRL said NYU’s call to “clarify” the rule’s meaning to prohibit “effectively encrypted or encoded messages, including messages that cannot be readily decoded over the air for true meaning,” is not only vague but could weaken the prohibition against encryption. FCC Amending Amateur Radio RF Exposure Safety Rules The FCC is amending its Part 97 Amateur Service rules relating to RF exposure safety. In a lengthy document in ET Docket 19-226 released on December 4 that addresses a broad range of RF safety issues, the FCC said current amateur radio RF exposure safety limits will remain unchanged, but that the amateur-specific exemption from having to conduct an RF exposure evaluation will be replaced by the... UN Headquarters’ 4U1UN has been Back on the Air The United Nations Amateur Radio Club, 4U1UN, at UN Headquarters in New York has been on the air recently. Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA, recently was on site to replace and test a serial cable, and, while there, made some 100 contacts. “Now that all works, we should hear the 4U1UN more often on the air,” he commented. QSL via HB9BOU. Via HACKADAY: Retrotechtacular: 934 MHz CB Radio The radio spectrum is carefully regulated and divided up by Governments worldwide. Some of it is shared across jurisdictions under the terms of international treaties, while other allocations exist only in individual countries. Often these can contain some surprising oddities, and one of these is our subject today. Did you know that the UK’s first legal CB radio channels included a set in the UHF range, at 934 MHz? Don’t worry, neither did most Brits. Behind it lies a tale of bureaucracy, and of a bungled attempt to create an industry around a barely usable product.