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The ARRL Letter February 6, 2020
- ARRL HF Band Planning Committee Seeks Comments on Recommendations
- "The Auroral Connection" to Be Focus of 2020 HamSCI Workshop
Undersea Expedition Planned to Retrieve Titanic's Radio Gear
- The K7RA Solar Update
- Just Ahead in Radiosport
- Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, Elected AMSAT President
- ARISS Announces Hosts for Space Station Ham Radio Contacts
- 7X7X DXpedition Showcases Cooperation and Youth
- President Signs PIRATE Act to Combat Illegal Broadcasting
- In Brief...
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
ARRL HF Band Planning Committee Seeks Comments on Recommendations
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The ARRL HF Band Planning Committee is seeking comments and suggestions from
the amateur radio community on its report to the ARRL Board of Directors. At
the Board's January meeting, the committee presented its specific
recommendations in graphical form for each HF band and each US license
class, with the goal of increasing harmony on the HF bands, particularly
between CW and digital users.
"In general, the committee is of the opinion that there is justification for
additional space to become available for digital modes, as well as for the
operation of digital stations under automatic control," the committee told
the Board. "The very changes in spectrum usage that have required our
committee's resurgence indicate that digital modes of communication are
already increasing in popularity, and the trend is expected to continue or
even accelerate. To this end, we have tried to ensure that digital
allocations are sufficient for at least a modicum of growth."
The committee also anticipates an increase in automatically controlled
digital stations (ACDS). The report further points to "significant use" of
modern data modes in emergency communication and said its recommendations
provide significant support for the evolution and continued relevance of
amateur radio. "Our failure to adapt to these needs could consign amateur
radio to the technological scrap heap," the report said.
The committee was revived last summer to consider conflicts between FT and
JT modes and other modes. The panel's approach has been to designate
distinct assignments for CW, narrowband (NB) data <500 Hz, wideband (WB)
data <2800 Hz, and ACDS. For its work, the committee presumed approval of
three ARRL petitions to the FCC: RM-11708 (WT Docket WT 16-239 -- "symbol
rate" proceeding), RM-11759 (80/75 meter allocations), and RM-11828
(enhanced Technician privileges). The committee also assumed that users can
agree to sharing arrangements within a given allocation -- narrowband versus
wideband sharing within the ACDS allocation, for example. It also took into
consideration how mode usage is regulated or planned elsewhere in the world.
In terms of mode classes, the committee agreed on CW, NB data, WB data, NB
with ACDS, and WB with ACDS. The committee said it considered these mode
classes incompatible and that they should not have overlapping allocations,
with the exception of CW, which is authorized within any amateur radio
allocation. The committee's approach would maintain the existing low-end 25
kHz CW-only sub-bands for exclusive use by Amateur Extra-class licensees.
The panel encouraged CW identification and a listen-before-transmitting
protocol for ACDS, if feasible. It also decided that a single allocation for
ACDS without regard to bandwidth would be the best approach. "We note that
this will put responsibility on the digital community to hold an effective
dialog on the issue and to then self-regulate the users of this segment to
adhere to the eventual agreement." A need for flexibility in allocations is
desirable, the committee said, and considered whether allocations might be
time-of-day or time-of-week dependent, for example.
"Modern amateurs must expect to adapt to this kind of fluid assignment of
spectrum to incompatible uses, using time-based sharing, rather than only a
single assignment," the committee said, expressing the hope that as band
plan/sharing agreements are reached that they consider the advantage of
"non-simultaneous sharing possibilities."
Reiterating the position ARRL has taken in recent FCC filings, the committee
said it sees encryption and open-source enforcement matters as being outside
the scope of the Band Planning Committee.
The Committee would like comments by February 19.
"The Auroral Connection" to Be Focus of 2020 HamSCI Workshop
------------------------------------------------------------
Registration is open for the third annual HamSCI Workshop for amateur radio
operators and professional scientists, Friday and Saturday, March 20 - 21,
at The University of Scranton. The theme of this year's workshop is "The
Auroral Connection," and will include addresses by guest speakers, poster
presentations, and demonstrations of relevant instrumentation and software.
All radio amateurs, scientists, and anyone interested in ionospheric and
space physics are welcome.
The workshop will serve as a team meeting for the HamSCI Personal Space
Weather Station project, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project
awarded to University of Scranton physics and electrical engineering
professor Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF. The project seeks to harness the power
of a network of radio amateurs to better understand and measure the effects
of weather in the upper levels of Earth's atmosphere. Through the grant,
Frissell, a space physicist, will lead a collaborative team that will
develop modular, multi-instrument, ground-based space science observation
equipment and data collection and analysis software. He will also recruit
multiple universities and ham radio users to operate the network of Personal
Space Weather Stations developed.
In addition to Scranton, the Personal Space Weather Station project includes
participation from TAPR; the Case Western Reserve University Amateur Radio
Club, W8EDU; the University of Alabama; the New Jersey Institute of
Technology Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research; MIT Haystack Observatory;
Dartmouth College, and the ham radio community at large.
Noted contester and DXer Tim Duffy, K3LR, will deliver the keynote address.
The chief operating officer and general manager at DX Engineering, Duffy
chairs Contest University, the Dayton Contest Dinner, and the Top Band
Dinner, as well as coordinates the Contest Super Suite. He is the founder
and moderator of the popular RFI Reflector. Duffy serves on the ARRL
Foundation Board of Directors as well as on the board of the World Wide
Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF), and as chairman and president emeritus
of the Radio Club of America.
Other speakers at the workshop include Elizabeth MacDonald, the NASA
researcher who founded and leads the Aurorasaurus project. She will discuss
fundamentals of auroral physics, its optical signatures, and the
Aurorasaurus citizen science project. James LaBelle, a professor of physics
and astronomy at Dartmouth University and auroral radio physicist, and David
Hallidy, K2DH, a retired microwave engineer who is also well-known for his
work in auroral-mode propagation will also speak.
Additional information on the conference is available on the HamSCI Workshop
2020 website.
Undersea Expedition Planned to Retrieve Titanic's Radio Gear
------------------------------------------------------------
The company with sole rights to salvage artifacts from the RMS Titanic has
gone to court to gain permission to carry out a "surgical removal and
retrieval" of the Marconi radio equipment on the ship, a Washington Post
article reports. The Titanic sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage after
striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. As the radio room filled with
water, radio operator Jack Phillips transmitted, "Come at once. We have
struck a berg. It's a CQD, old man," and other frantic messages for help,
using the spark transmitter on board. CQD was ultimately replaced with SOS
-- which Phillips also used -- as the universal distress call. The passenger
liner RMS Carpathia responded and rescued 705 of the passengers. As might be
expected, the deteriorating Marconi equipment is in poor shape after more
than a century under water. The undersea retrieval would mark the first time
an artifact was collected from within the Titanic, which many believe should
remain undisturbed as the final resting place of some 1,500 victims of the
maritime disaster, including Phillips. The wreck sits on the ocean floor
some 2 1/2 miles beneath the surface, remaining undiscovered until 1985.
A just-signed treaty between the UK and the US grants both countries
authority to allow or deny access to the wreck and to remove items found
outside the vessel. "This momentous agreement with the United States to
preserve the wreck means it will be treated with the sensitivity and respect
owed to the final resting place of more than 1,500 lives," British Transport
and Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani said in a statement.
The request to enter the rapidly disintegrating wreck was filed in US
District Court in Eastern Virginia by RMS Titanic, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia,
which said that it hopes to restore the Titanic radio transmitter to
operating condition, if it is allowed to go forward.
The company plans to use a manned submarine to reach the wreck and then
deploy a remotely controlled sub that would perforate the hull and retrieve
the radio equipment.
The K7RA Solar Update
---------------------
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: We saw a nice run of Cycle 24 and Cycle 25
sunspots from January 24 through February 1. The daily sunspot number
reached a short-term peak of 18 on January 26.
Average daily sunspot numbers declined from the 11.1 reported last week to
4.7 during the current reporting week, January 30 - February 5.
Predicted solar flux for the next 45 days is 70 on February 6 - 13; 72 on
February 14 - 20; 73 on February 21 - 22; 74 on February 23 - 29; 72 on
March 1 - 3; 71 on March 4 - 11; 72 on March 12 - 18; 73 on March 19 - 20,
and 74 on March 21.
Predicted planetary A index is 12 and 8 on February 6 - 7; 5 on February 8 -
24; 10 on February 25 - 26; 5 on February 27 - 29; 8 on March 1 - 3, and 5
on March 4 - 21.
Sunspot numbers for January 30 through February 5 were 11, 11, 11, 0, 0, 0,
and 0, with a mean of 4.7. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 74.1, 73.9, 72.5,
72.2, 72.1, 70.3, and 70.6, with a mean of 72.2. Estimated planetary A
indices were 12, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5, and 5, with a mean of 6.7. Middle latitude A
index was 9, 6, 4, 4, 3, 5, and 4, with a mean of 5.
A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL website. For
more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service, read "What the Numbers Mean...," and check out K9LA's
Propagation Page.
A propagation bulletin archive is available. Monthly charts offer
propagation projections between the US and a dozen DX locations.
Share your reports and observations.
Just Ahead in Radiosport
------------------------
February 8 -- FISTS Winter Unlimited Sprint (CW)
February 8 -- RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest (CW)
February 8 -- Asia-Pacific Spring Sprint (CW)
February 8 - 9 -- CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest
February 8 - 9 -- SARL Field Day Contest (CW, phone, digital)
February 8 - 9 -- KCJ Topband Contest (CW)
February 8 - 9 -- Dutch PACC Contest (CW, phone)
February 8 - 9 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (CW)
February 8 - 10 -- YLRL YL-OM Contest (CW, phone, digital)
February 8 - 9 -- OMISS QSO Party (Phone)
February 9 -- Balkan HF Contest (CW, phone)
February 9 - 12 -- Classic Exchange, Phone
February 10 -- CQC Winter QSO Party (CW)
February 10 -- 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint (CW, phone)
February 10 - 14 -- ARRL School Club Roundup (CW, phone)
February 12 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
February 12 -- RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (Digital)
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth reporting
on amateur radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest Update via your
ARRL member profile email preferences.
Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, Elected AMSAT President
-----------------------------------------------
During a teleconference meeting this week, the AMSAT Board of Directors
elected Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, of Granbury, Texas, as AMSAT President.
Coleman had served as a member of the Board of Directors and as AMSAT
Secretary from 2017 until 2019, and he has volunteered in several other
capacities for AMSAT, including as chair of the 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium.
He succeeds Joe Spier, K6WAO, who resigned recently, citing personal
reasons, after being in office since October 2017.
Coleman was introduced to amateur radio in space through the SAREX program
-- the forerunner to ARISS -- and the Russian Mir space station. His
interest in setting up an AX.25 BBS and nodes in the early 1990s led him to
try making contacts via the Mir Personal Message System (PMS) and
digipeater. In 2011, Coleman became interested in OSCAR satellites and began
chasing operating awards.
Coleman's focus as president will be working with members to improve
organizational processes and aligning them with strategic goals.
Professionally, Coleman works in the industrial process control sector both
as a consultant and business development manager.
AMSAT members will have an opportunity to meet Coleman at Orlando HamCation
on Saturday, February 8, when he will greet visitors at the AMSAT booth from
9:30 - 10:30 AM and 2 - 3 PM. He will also speak at the AMSAT Forum at 12:30
PM on Saturday in Room CS III at the Lakeside Pavilion. -- Thanks to AMSAT
News Service
ARISS Announces Hosts for Space Station Ham Radio Contacts
----------------------------------------------------------
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has announced the
names of schools and organizations selected to host amateur radio contacts
with International Space Station crew members during the second half of 2020.
Ten proposals were accepted to move forward in the selection process and
placed in a scheduling queue for an amateur radio contact between July and
December 2020. Although ARISS expects to schedule all 10 during this period,
changes to NASA crew availability may force postponement of some contact
opportunities until the first half of 2021.
The schools and host organizations are:
Estes Park Elementary School, Estes Park, Colorado
Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, Green Bank, West Virginia
Tecumseh Public School, Tecumseh, Oklahoma
Regional School Unit 21, Kennebunk, Maine
John F. Kennedy High School, Denver, Colorado
Oregon Charter School, Mill City, Oregon
Newcastle High School; Newcastle, Wyoming
Tarwater Elementary School, Chandler, Arizona
Kopernik Observatory and Science Center, Vestal, New York
Salem-South Lyon District Library, South Lyon, Michigan
7X7X DXpedition Showcases Cooperation and Youth
-----------------------------------------------
A cooperative agreement the Algerian and Tunisian IARU member-societies
signed in 2014 to reinforce relations through joint activities bore fruit
with the 7X7X DXpedition to Algeria late last year. Preparations began in
late October 2019, with the goal of activating Algeria on the low bands to
benefit from the slump in the solar cycle.
Co-leader Ash Chaabane, 3V8SF/KF5EYY, said organizers wanted to take
advantage of the DXpedition to boost interest among younger hams. Four young
people were involved in the event as a result: Sarra, 7X2QV; Lotfi Kara,
7X2QC; Marwa, 3V8CB, and Ahmed Boubaker, 3V1B/KG5OUE, who are all in their
20s. Three of them have participated in Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) events
sponsored by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Chaabane said the
youthful contingent was involved from setup to tear down, in addition to
operating.
In addition to Chaabane, the team included co-leader Afif Ben Lagha, 7X2RO;
Brahim Mohamed, 7X3TL; Redha el Bahi, 7X5QB, and Abdelghani Mesbah,
7X2TT/M0NPT. The Tunisian team flew from Tunis to Algiers, arriving on
December 28 in Bejaia to join the Algerian team. "We immediately started
putting up antennas," Chaabane said.
7X2TT kicked off the operation through the Es'hail satellite, demonstrating
for the benefit of the younger operators how ham radio satellites work. The
rest of the team built a nearly 40-foot tall inverted L for 160 meters; a
full quarter-wave vertical for 80 meters; a two-element Fritzel Yagi for the
high bands; a seven-element Yagi for VHF; a K9AY receiving loop, and a
ground plane for 30 meters, which operated on 40 meters as well with the
addition of a loading coil.
"We did our best to operate two stations at a time," Chaabane recounted. "We
had quite few technical issues, but we overcame them." 7X7X ended up logging
5,800 contacts in 4 days, and the operating schedule was intentionally
flexible.
The mode breakdown showed 38% CW, 55% SSB, and 7% FT8. "We had 1,121 QSOs on
160 and 798 on 80," Chaabane said, with 356 US and 30 JA contacts on 160
meters.
One objective of the DXpedition was to bond and form a strong team capable
of larger operations in the future, Chaabane said.
The DXpedition team expressed its appreciation for the support from the
Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF), the Lone Star DX Association
(LSDXA), and the Mediterraneo DX Club (MDXC), as well as some individual
hams. "This support is a solid investment into the future of the ham radio
hobby," Chaabane said. "We urge all DXpeditioners to involve youngsters in
their future trips and do their best to make it easy and least costly for
them." -- Thanks to IARU
President Signs PIRATE Act to Combat Illegal Broadcasting
---------------------------------------------------------
On January 24, President Donald Trump signed into law the "Preventing
Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act," or the PIRATE Act. The
measure, which amends the Communications Act of 1934, authorizes enhanced
penalties for violators. Under the new law, pirate radio broadcasters would
be subject to a fine of not more than $2 million, and violators could be
fined up to $100,000 for each day during which an offense occurs. The new
law stipulates that the FCC "shall not decrease or diminish the regular
enforcement efforts targeted to pirate radio broadcast stations for other
times of the year."
The FCC is to submit to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a report
summarizing the implementation of this section and associated enforcement
activities for the previous fiscal year. The new law also requires "annual
sweeps," during which FCC personnel will be assigned to "focus specific and
sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting within
the top five radio markets identified as prevalent for such broadcasts." The
Commission also "shall conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain whether the
pirate radio broadcasting identified by enforcement sweeps is continuing and
whether additional pirate radio broadcasting is occurring."
Under the new law, the FCC will change its rules so that it proceeds
directly to issuance of a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) without first
issuing a Notice of Unlicensed Operation (NOUO).
The FCC will develop and publish a database of all licensed AM and FM
broadcasters, accessible directly from the FCC home page. The FCC is also
required to publish a list of "all entities that have received a Notice of
Unlicensed Operation, Notice of Apparent Liability, or forfeiture order," as
well as "each entity...operating without a Commission license or
authorization."
The law defines pirate radio broadcasting as transmitting within the AM and
FM bands without an FCC license, but excluding unlicensed operations in
compliance with Part 15.
In Brief...
-----------
Brief Interruptions of ARRL Headquarters Systems are planned for Thursday,
February 13. The ARRL IT Department anticipates two short interruptions to
these Headquarters-based systems: Logbook of The World; Online DXCC;
International Grid Chase Archive; National Parks on the Air Archive;
Centennial QSO Party Archive, and the W1AW EchoLink Conference Server. The
interruptions should occur on Thursday, February 13, between 1200 - 2200
UTC. Each interruption should be less than 10 minutes in length.
Former ARRL East Bay Section Manager Ti-Michelle Connelly, NJ6T, of Yuma,
Arizona, died late last week. She served as SM from 2003 until 2007. An ARRL
Life Member, she was 72. The California native also held other Field
Organization appointments, including Net Manager, Affiliated Club
Coordinator, Assistant Section Manager, and Official Emergency Station.
Connelly was also an ARRL VEC and W5YI VEC Volunteer Examiner. "Her spirit
and fun will be sorely missed by many of us this year," said a friend,
Kristen McIntyre, K6WX.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has completed the makeover of
its main website and the three regional websites -- all with the same basic
design. The three regional sites can be accessed directly from the IARU home
page. All of the updated pages are organized to broadly mirror the structure
of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and its related regional
telecommunication organizations. The Region 2 web page is available in
English or Spanish. Each page offers a look at recent IARU news and events.
-- Thanks to IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ
Amateur radio volunteers in Turkey supported the response to a powerful
magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck the province of Elazig on January 24.
Radio amateurs affiliated with the national International Amateur Radio
Union member-society TRAC assisted in the response. Aziz Sasa, TA1E, at TRAC
Headquarters reported, "The affected area was very small and the intensity
limited; our involvement was also limited." He said two TRAC branches in the
affected area stepped in, assisting by providing tactical communication in
the affected area and supporting the Ministry of Health by installing and
getting their mountaintop repeater operational. "Due to the relatively
limited scale of the disaster, foreign assistance was not needed," he told
IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator Greg Mossop, G0DUB. The
earthquake caused about 40 deaths and more than 1,600 injuries as well as
considerable property damage.
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
------------------------------------------------------
February 7 - 9 -- Northern Florida Section Convention, Orlando, Florida
February 14 - 15 -- Southwest Division Convention, Yuma, Arizona
March 7 - Delta Division Convention, Russellville, Arkansas
March 13 - 14 -- North Carolina Section Convention, Concord, North
Carolina
March 14 - 15 -- Great Lakes Division Convention, Perrysburg, Ohio
March 14 -- Nebraska State Convention, Lincoln, Nebraska
March 14 -- West Virginia Section Convention, Charleston, West Virginia
March 21 -- West Texas Section Convention, Midland, Texas
April 10 - 11 -- Oklahoma State Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma
April 11 -- Roanoke Division Convention, Raleigh, North Carolina
April 18 -- Delaware State Convention, Georgetown, Delaware
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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