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The ARRL Letter
Vol. 25, No. 47
November 27, 2006
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NOTE: The new Amateur Radio rules detailed in the recent "omnibus" FCC
Report and Order (R&O), WT Docket 04-140, will go into effect at 12:01
AM
EST December 15. See "Amateur Radio 'omnibus' rule changes," below.
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IN THIS EDITION:
* +Amateur Radio "omnibus" rules changes to go into effect Dec 15
* +Hensley is New Vice Director in Roanoke Division
* +Broadcasters intervene to support ARRL in BPL court appeal*
* +ARRL 500 kHz experiment kicking into high gear
* +W1AW sporting brand-new antennas
* +SKYWARN Recognition Day coming December 2
* +Delegates elect new ITU Secretary-General
* +Hams headed for space
* Solar Update
* IN BRIEF:
This weekend on the radio: The ARRL November Sweepstakes (SSB)
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
Celebrate a birthday on the air!
Great thing to do for our troops
+Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/
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==Delivery problems: First see FAQ
< www.arrl.org/members-only/faq.html#nodelivery">http://www.arrl.org/members-only/faq.html#nodelivery, then e-mail
<letter-dlvy@xxxxxxxx
==Editorial questions or comments only: Rick Lindquist, N1RL,
<n1rl@xxxxxxxx
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NOTE: ARRL Headquarters will be closed Thursday and Friday, November
23 and
24, for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will be no editions of The
ARRL
Letter and ARRL Audio News or W1AW bulletin and code practice
transmissions
on Friday, November 24. ARRL Headquarters will re-open Monday,
November 27,
at 8 AM EST. The ARRL Letter and ARRL Audio News will return Friday,
December 1. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday!
===========================================================
== AMATEUR RADIO "OMNIBUS" RULES CHANGES TO GO INTO EFFECT DECEMBER
15
A little over a month after the Federal Communications Commission
released
the Report and Order (R&O) in the so-called "Omnibus" Amateur Radio
proceeding, WT Docket 04-140 (FCC 06-149) to the public, a revised
version
appeared November 15 in the Federal Register
< a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.go">http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.go
v/2006/pdf/E6-19189.pdf. The changes in the R&O will take effect
Friday,
December 15, at 12:01 AM EST, 30 days after its publication.
As expected, the Report & Order clarified two items that had raised
some
concerns when it was first released last month: That the 80/75 meter
band
split applies to all three IARU Regions, and that FCC licensees in
Region 2,
which includes North America, can continue to use RTTY/data emissions
in the
7.075-7.100 MHz band.
Still to be resolved are three controversial aspects of the
Proceeding:
* Expansion of the 75 meter phone band all the way down to 3600 kHz
(thus
reducing the privileges of General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class
licensees, who had RTTY/data privileges in the 80 meter band, and CW
privileges of General and Advanced class licensees)
* The elimination of J2D emissions, data sent by modulating an SSB
transmitter, of more than 500 Hz bandwidth. This will make PACTOR III
at
full capability illegal. Other digital modes effectively rendered
illegal
below 30 MHz include Olivia and MT63 (when operated at bandwidths
greater
than 500 Hz), 1200-baud packet, Q15X25 and Clover 2000.
* The elimination of access to the automatic control RTTY/data subband
at
3620-3635 kHz.
The ARRL Board is discussing the possibility of a petition to
reconsider
several items in the R&O.
ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, commented:
"The
release of the R&O in the Federal Register has started the countdown
clock.
We are all looking forward to being able to use the refarmed
frequencies
starting on December 15. We are still anxiously awaiting the release
of the
Report and Order for 05-235, the Morse Code Proceeding. We are hopeful
that
the Commission will be able to move on that petition and address the
outstanding issues in the Omnibus R&O soon."
For more information, see the band chart
< www2.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt04-140/Hambands3_color.pdf">http://www2.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt04-140/Hambands3_color.pdf
and
the Frequently Asked Questions on WT Docket No. 04-140
< www2.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt04-140/faq.html">http://www2.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt04-140/faq.html. Both
have been
updated to reflect the R&O as it was published in the Federal
Register.
== HENSLEY IS NEW VICE DIRECTOR IN ROAOKE DIVISION
Patricia Hensley, N4ROS, was elected as Vice Director of the Roanoke
Division today. She defeated incumbent Rev Les Shattuck, K4NK, 2280 to
996.
A total of 3281 ballots were received; five ballots were not able to
be
counted, being declared spoiled or invalid. The three year term begins
at
noon EST January 1, 2007.
Hensley, a retired school principal from Richburg, South Carolina, has
served in ARRL volunteer positions for the past 15 years, serving as
South
Carolina Section Manager from February 2000 to December 2002. She is a
recipient of the ARRL Instructor of the Year award and is currently
the
South Carolina state director for Air Force MARS.
Hensley ran on a platform wanting to make the term "Amateur Radio
operator"
a highly respected title. She said she feels, "?an Amateur Radio
license no
longer fosters respect from community and national leaders. Even FEMA
finds
it 'more comfortable' to hire part-time individuals to provide
emergency
communications because amateurs are 'volunteers.'"
She went on to acknowledge that ARRL membership is declining, and
leadership
positions are "?filled by default because few want to serve. More is
required than smiling faces behind a hamfest table to solve these
problems."
She said she sees restrictive covenants and interference to
frequencies as
major issues affecting the Amateur Radio community.
Stepping forward to run for election for what she calls "proactive
change,"
she said the members of the Amateur Radio community "must be regarded
as
individuals who are knowledgeable about our avocation and are willing
and
competent to serve our communities in time of need."
Rev Shattuck became Vice Director in 2000 after serving as South
Carolina
Section Manager. He has been licensed for over 40 years. In the past,
Rev
Shattuck has served as president of QRP ARCI, and is a member of QCWA,
the
A-1 Operator Club, DXCC, VUCC, FISTS CW Club and ARES/RACES. He is
currently
serving as pastor of Gilgal United Methodist Church. He lives in
Anderson,
South Carolina.
== BROADCASTERS INTERVENE TO SUPPORT ARRL IN BPL COURT APPEAL
The Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) and the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have filed a joint motion for leave
to
intervene in support of the ARRL in its court appeal of the Federal
Communications Commission's Broadband over Power Line (BPL) rules.
The motion to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit
is dated November 9 and states: "MSTV and NAB believe that the
regulations
under review are arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law, and will
adversely impact their members by, among other things, permitting
unlicensed
users of radio spectrum to interfere with licensed uses of the
spectrum."
MSTV and NAB are entitled to intervene as a matter of right, so the
Court is
expected to grant the motion. As expected, some BPL proponents are
seeking
to intervene on the side of the FCC.
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, welcomed the support
of
MSTV and NAB. "It is gratifying that these two prestigious
broadcasting
organizations recognize the danger posed to all FCC licensees by the
FCC's
flawed BPL rules. It's good to have them on our side."
==ARRL 500 kHz EXPERIMENT KICKING INTO HIGH GEAR
The group of Amateur Radio operators researching the radio spectrum in
the
vicinity of 500 kHz already have recorded a few successes. The 500 KC
Experimental Group for Amateur Radio < www.500kc.com/">http://www.500kc.com/ is
operating
under Part 5 experimental license WD2XSH, which the FCC Office of
Engineering and Technology granted September 13 to the ARRL. Project
manager
Fritz Raab, W1FR, says WD2XSH participants have been heard across both
the
Atlantic and the Pacific as well as all around the US.
"Things took off much faster than I had ever imagined," Raab told ARRL
early
this month. "Eleven station are on the air now." Others in the
21-station
group included on the Experimental license continue efforts to cobble
together the transmitting and antenna systems necessary to put out a
signal
on what group members call "the 600 meter band."
Raab says the 600-meter signal of well-known low-frequency enthusiast
"Dex"
McIntyre, W4DEX, in North Carolina -- operating as WD2XSH/10 -- was
copied
October 10 in Germany using very slow-speed CW (QRSS). Other stations
have
since duplicated that feat. Rudy Severns, N6LF, operating as WD2XSH/20
from
Oregon, not only is heard regularly throughout the western half of the
US
but has been copied in Hawaii and, possibly, in New Zealand, Raab
says,
noting that the New Zealand reception was "not sufficiently clear" to
make a
claim.
While not a part of the experimental group, Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, has
assumed
the role of official record keeper and has noted more than two dozen
one-way
reception reports of more than 1000 miles. The list included "by ear"
CW
reception from Colorado to Massachusetts, nearly 1800 miles. The best
distance as of earlier this week: 4515 miles from Conard Murray, WS4S,
operating as WD2XSH/11 in Tennessee to Germany using QRSS (reception
using
computer software).
Operating as WD2XSH/14 from Vermont, Raab says he's managed three QSOs
with
his "meager 42-foot vertical" -- New Hampshire, Massachusetts and
North
Carolina -- plus reception in Ohio. He envisions at least a secondary
600-meter Amateur Radio allocation from 495 to 510 kHz that would
support
Amateur Radio emergency communication via groundwave.
The two-year WD2XSH authorization permits experimentation and research
between 505 and 510 kHz using narrowband modes at power levels of up
to 20 W
effective radiated power (ERP). The Midwest stations are limited to
505 to
508 kHz for the time being, Raab notes. The first QSO took place
September
21 between the stations in Tennessee and North Carolina ? a distance
of some
300 miles.
To get on the air, WD2XSH participants have repurposed some older gear
and
even some text equipment. Paul Signorelli, W0RW, operating as
WD2XSH/21 from
Colorado, has modified a vintage Heath DX-100 transmitter for LF CW
operation. "I match the DX-100 output to a 5-turn link of #10 wire,"
he
reported in a detailed description of how he was able to get the old
rig to
transmit just below the AM broadcast band. Getting "down there" points
up
the need to increase physical component size by several orders of
magnitude.
"The link is on a 13-inch diameter cardboard hoop," Signorelli
continues.
"It slips up and down over the antenna loading coil and is adjusted
for
lowest SWR." That antenna loading coil itself is a foot in diameter,
wound
with #10 solid, insulated wire. A 30-gallon trash can provides the
weatherproofing for the coil. The DX-100 generates 100 W of RF on 500
kHz.
Signorelli advises against using conventional-sized coax. "This
transmitter
will smoke your coax if you have high SWR," he said. He's using
hardline
instead.
While Raab notes that while the current license cannot accommodate
more
participants, he plans to re-evaluate the situation in a year. "At
that
time, we may request a revision to the license that makes
substitutions for
stations that have not gotten on the air and possibly add some new
stations," he says on the group's Web site. "Substitutes and additions
will
be selected based upon their potential to contribute to the
experiment." He
cautions, "This is an experimental license, not just ham radio on a
new
frequency!"
The experimental group does invite reception reports
< w5jgv.com/500kcreportform.htm">http://w5jgv.com/500kcreportform.htm of transmissions made by group
members. You do not have to be a member of the experimental team to
send a
reception report.
==W1AW COMPLETES "THE BIG (ANTENNA) PROJECT"
Can you hear us now? W1AW's typically strong signals may be pushing S
meters
a tad higher now, following the recent replacement of nearly every one
of
the station's antennas. The last major upgrade was in 1989. Despite
wear and
tear inflicted during numerous New England winters, the old antennas
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