Club member Kathy, NF9G, is doing well and was able to return home on July 12th!
“Space Station Digital Amateur Radio TV System Transmitter Determined to be Defective”
From ARRL News
06/14/2018
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) “Ham Video” digital Amateur Radio TV (DATV) transmitter on the International Space Station (ISS) is reported to be defective, with onboard repair not possible. Also known as HamTV, the DATV system stopped working in mid-April, and a subsequent test on June 1 using a second L/S band patch antenna on the Columbus module had failed. ARISS-EU Mentor Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, said ARISS plans to return the transmitter to Earth to repair, pending space agency approvals and availability of ARISS funds.
“Schools and crew members performing educational ARISS school contacts are delighted to use Ham Video,” Bertels said. “We will do the best we can to restart this service as soon as possible.”
Following extensive testing, the Ham TV system was first used for an ARISS school contact in February 2016. — Thanks to ARISS
Submitted by KD4WX
“FCC Denies Petition Aimed at Preventing Interference from Digital Repeaters to Analog Repeaters”
From ARRL News
FCC Denies Petition Aimed at Preventing Interference from Digital Repeaters to Analog Repeaters
06/01/2018
The FCC has turned away a Petition for Rulemaking from a Michigan radio amateur that asked the Commission to amend Section 97.205 of the Amateur Service rules to ensure that repeaters using digital communication protocols do not interfere with analog repeaters. Charles P. Adkins, K8CPA, of Lincoln Park, had specifically requested that discrete analog and digital repeaters be separated either by distance or frequency and that digital repeaters be limited to 10 W output, the FCC recounted in its June 1 denial letter, released over the signature of Scot Stone, the deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s Mobility Division. According to the letter, Adkins had characterized digital repeaters as “a major annoyance” to analog repeater operators.
“In 2008, we rejected a suggestion to amend Section 97.205(b) to designate separate spectrum for digital repeaters in order to segregate digital and analog communications,” the FCC said in its letter to Adkins. “We noted that when the Commission has previously addressed the issue of interference between amateur stations engaging in different operating activities, it has declined to revise the rules to limit a frequency segment to one emission type in order to prevent interference to the operating activities of other Amateur Radio Service licensees.”
The FCC told Adkins that current Part 97 rules already address the subject of interference between amateur stations, prohibiting, among other things, willful or malicious interference to any radio communication or signal, and spelling out how interference disputes between repeaters should be handled.
“You have not demonstrated any changed circumstances or other reason that would warrant revisiting this decision,” the FCC concluded. “Consequently, we dismiss your petition.”
The FCC did not assign a rulemaking petition (RM) number to Adkins’ petition nor invite public comments.
Submitted by KD4WX
“International Amateur Radio Regulatory Developments Announced”
From ARRL News
Source: http://www.arrl.org/news/international-amateur-radio-regulatory-developments-announced
04/25/2018
Several countries recently have proposed or instituted changes or announced developments with respect to Amateur Radio regulation.
In China, according to the Chinese Radio Amateurs Club (CRAC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing has announced that radio amateurs will gain access to a 60-meter band starting on July 1. The latest edition of PRC Radio Frequency Division Regulations — released on April 18, World Amateur Radio Day — indicates that radio amateurs in China have been allocated the band 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis, and in accordance with the decisions made at World Radiocommunication Conference 2015.
Continue reading ““International Amateur Radio Regulatory Developments Announced””
Swap Meet
New items have been added to the ‘Swap Meet’ page. Be sure to check them out while you’re here!
“ARRL Requests Expanded HF Privileges for Technician Licensees”
From ARRL (source)
ARRL Requests Expanded HF Privileges for Technician Licensees
02/28/2018
ARRL has asked the FCC to expand HF privileges for Technician licensees to include limited phone privileges on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and digital mode privileges on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters. The FCC has not yet invited public comment on the proposals, which stem from recommendations put forth by the ARRL Board of Directors’ Entry-Level License Committee, which explored various initiatives and gauged member opinions in 2016 and 2017.
Continue reading ““ARRL Requests Expanded HF Privileges for Technician Licensees””
Australian Hams Seek Power Increase
From ARRL (source)
Wireless Institute of Australia Seeks Amateur Radio Power Increase
02/02/2018
The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) is seeking a power increase for radio amateurs. WIA is pushing telecommunications regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to bump up maximum power levels for all three licenses classes to 50 W for Foundation licensees, 200 W for Standard licensees, and 1,500 W for Advanced licensees.
WIA Board member Justin Giles-Clark, VK7TW, said comments would be solicited from the membership before the request goes to the ACMA.
For some time the WIA has pushed for higher power limits for Advanced licensees, who feel the current 400 W HF power limit (120 W on constant-carrier modes) puts them at a disadvantage, especially in contests, while other countries permit 1 kW or more.
In 2013, ACMA ended an 18-month trial that allowed participating Advanced licensees to run up to 1 kW on HF. Currently, Foundation licensees on HF may run up to 10 W PEP on SSB (or 3 W on CW, AM, or FM), while Standard licensees have a 100-W PEP HF power limit (SSB) or 30 W for constant-carrier modes.
Submitted by KD4WX
D-Star ONE Phoenix
From ARRL (source)
D-Star ONE Phoenix, First D-Star Communication Spacecraft, Launched
02/04/2018
A Soyuz rocket launched D-Star ONE Phoenix and 10 other satellites into orbit on February 1 from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia. Developed by German Orbital Systems in Berlin in cooperation with the Czech company iSky Technology, D-Star ONE Phoenix carries an Amateur Radio relay payload (call sign DP1GOS). It replaces the D-Star ONE nanosatellite that failed to attain orbit following a November Soyuz launch from Vostochny.
Downlink frequencies are 435.700 MHz for telemetry and 435.525 MHz for D-Star. The uplink is 437.325 MHz.
D-Star ONE Phoenix is a 3U CubeSat equipped with four identical radio modules with D-Star capability, operating in half-duplex mode with a power output of 800 mW. The two telemetry and telecommand modules both receive, and both in sequence, so each telemetry frame is repeated. The other two modules are dedicated to Amateur Radio, although only one will operate at a time.
The modules are configured to work as D-Star repeaters, so they retransmit received D-Star frames on the downlink frequency. They also have a D-Star voice beacon. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service, D-Star ONE
Submitted by KD4WX
FT8 DXpedition Mode
From KW1LL, for those interested in FT8:
http://www.arrl.org/news/view/foxes-and-hounds-ft8-dxpedition-mode-is-in-the-works-for-wsjt-x
“Number Stations” on HF
From ARRL (source)
Secretive “Numbers Stations” Persist on HF
01/22/2018
For many years, unidentified radio broadcasts have been transmitting coded messages, using numbers, such as “6-7-9-2-6. 5-6-9-9-0.” Even today, tuning across the HF spectrum typically will yield a “numbers station,” a mechanical-sounding voice (male or female) methodically announcing groups of single-digit numbers for minutes on end. According to Radio World, you may have tuned into a spy agency’s numbers station transmitting coded instructions to their minions worldwide. Shades of “The Americans” TV spy drama, where characters routinely receive coded messages via radio.
Numbers station transmissions typically consist of a voice “reading out strings of seemingly random numbers,” explained Lewis Bush, author of Shadows of the State, a new history of numbers stations. “These are sometimes accompanied by music, tones or other sound effects,” he said. Paul Beaumont, an associate editor of Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine, a publication dedicated to espionage and intelligence, is quoted in the Radio World article as saying, “Voice (numbers) stations are known to be spy messages.”
The article said that one of the best-known numbers stations was “The Lincolnshire Poacher,” so called due to its use of “The Lincolnshire Poacher” folk song played on a pipe organ as an identifier. Radio amateurs used direction-finding equipment to pin down the station’s eventual location to an RAF base on Cyprus, the article said.
Submitted by KD4WX
White County Amateur Radio Club 