CQ Newsroom: CQWW DX Contest Propagation Update - Focus on the Low Bands

[CQ Newsroom via rec.radio.info Admin]

CQ Newsroom

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CQWW DX Contest Propagation Update - Focus on the Low Bands

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 06:23 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/cqww-dx-contest-propagation-update.html

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The two newest ham radio bands –
2200 and 630 meters – are open for general amateur use and are
already being well-used. It appears that the first approval letters from
the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) – which must sign off on notices
that individual hams intend to use the bands – arrived on October 13, and
some stations immediately got on the air. Amateurs wishing to use these
bands must notify UTC and wait until an approval letter is received or
until 30 days go by with no response before getting on the air.

Location of the 630 & 2200-meter bands/
in relation to surrounding spectrum.CQ MF/LF Editor John Langridge, KB5NJD,
reports that a record-setting 630-meter QSO of just over 7457 miles (12,002
kilometers) was completed on October 17 between Larry Molitor, W7IUV, in
Quincy, Washington, and Roger Crofts, VK4YB, of Queensland, Australia using
the JT9 digital mode. John says the previous record was 7333 miles (11,802
kilometers), set in 2016 between VK4YB and Steve McDonald, VE7SL, in Mayne,
British Columbia (630 meters has been authorized in Canada for several
years).
Meanwhile, the ARRL Letter reports that some denial letters have been
received as well, including at least two amateurs who had been operating on
the new bands under experimental licenses without reports of interference
to power line carrier (PLC) systems, which share these frequencies in some
locations. The FCC rule granting US amateurs access to these bands
prohibits operation within 1 kilometer of power transmission lines on which
PLC is in use.
On a related note, the ARRL says updated amateur frequency charts showing
the new bands are now available for download, in several formats, from
<http://bit.ly/2xhkUjF>.

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ARRL Completes Mission in Puerto Rico; VP Pence Visits Hams

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 06:13 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/arrl-completes-mission-in-puerto-rico.html

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The nearly two dozen radio
amateurs sent by the ARRL to help re-establish communications in
hurricane-wracked Puerto Rico completed their mission there in mid-October
and returned home after about three weeks of deployment on the island.

According to the ARRL Letter, the hams' initial mission was to collect
outbound health and welfare reports and feed them into the American Red
Cross's "Safe and Well" system, but when they arrived, they found the
communications infrastructure in such bad shape that they were redeployed
to provide communications for hospitals while other volunteers handled the
Safe and Well messages.


On October 6, the hams working at the Puerto Rico Emergency Operations
Center – which had been set up at the San Juan Convention Center – got a
visit and a pep talk from Vice President Mike Pence. CQ Emergency
Communications Editor Walt Palmer, W4ALT, provides a comprehensive report
on amateur radio hurricane relief activities throughout the Caribbean and
US Gulf Coast in his column in the December issue of CQ.
In addition, we will be posting audio of Walt's interviews with two major
players in the emergency response on our website at
<www.cq-amateur-radio.com>. Check the site for links.

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Milestones: Senate Confirms Pai, Trachtenberg

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 06:09 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/milestones-senate-confirms-pai.html

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai
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The U.S. Senate has confirmed FCC
Chairman Ajit Pai for a second term as a commissioner, retroactive to last
July, when his previous term technically expired. Had the Senate not acted
on the nomination, he would have had to leave the Commission at the end of
December. The vote was 52-41, with most of the "no" votes based on Pai's
opposition to so-called "net neutrality" rules. Pai is also a strong
proponent of broadcast radio.


The Senate also confirmed David Trachtenberg, N4WWL, as Principal
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. According to the ARRL Letter,
Trachtenberg is also National Planning Coordinator and Northeast Division
Director for U.S. Air Force MARS, and an active member of the Pentagon
Amateur Radio Club. He owns a national security consulting firm
called "Shortwaver Consulting," whose website – which says the company
is "currently dormant" – explains that the name comes from Trachtenberg's
early interest in shortwave broadcasting led him to his career in national
security matters.

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Milestones: N4AA, G3IOR, Silent Keys

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 06:06 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/milestones-n4aa-g3ior-silent-keys.html

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CQ DX Hall of Fame member and
former CQ magazine DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, became a Silent Key in
October at age 77. Carl was also the owner of DX Publishing and publisher
of QRZ DX and DX Magazine and one of the co-founders of the W4DXCC
Convention (which happens to be featured in December CQ's DX column).


Amateur satellite pioneer Patrick J.A. Gowen, G3IOR, became a Silent Key
over the summer. He was 85. According to the AMSAT News Service, Pat was a
co-founder of AMSAT-UK, served as a board member of AMSAT-NA and was a
longtime satellite columnist for independent British ham magazine Practical
Wireless. Gowen was also the first person to work 100 DX entities via
satellite (although he was 4th to get all the confirmations to secure the
satellite DXCC award); he and W2RS made the first transatlantic
handheld-to-handheld QSO – via satellite, of course – and it was Pat who
discovered that AMSAT OSCAR-7 had come back to life in 2002 after decades
of silence.

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HamSCI Workshop in the UK

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 06:05 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/hamsci-workshop-in-uk.html

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Ham radio operators and scientists gathered at the first
HamSCI meeting in the UK in October.
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The first HamSCI, or Ham Radio
Science Citizen Investigation, meeting outside the United States was held
in October in the United Kingdom.

The workshop, which brought together both hams and professional scientists
from the U.S. and Europe, was held just before the Radio Society of Great
Britain's annual convention. The sessions focused on collaboration between
hams and scientists, using amateur radio-gathered data in scientific
studies and ham radio uses of space science instrumentation.

U. S. participants included Lead HamSCI Organizer Nathaniel Frissell,
W2NAF; former WorldRadio Online columnist Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, and MIT
Haystack Observatory Atmospheric Sciences Group Leader Phil Erickson, W1PJE.

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IARU, SARL Look to Ham Radios Future

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 05:58 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/iaru-sarl-look-to-ham-radios-future.html

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The president of the International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU) told delegates to the association's Region 1
general conference in September that amateur radio must broaden its scope
in order to appeal to the next generation of prospective hams, and the
South African Radio League (SARL) has offered some specific recommendations.


According to the ARRL Letter, IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, told
the group representing amateur radio societies in Europe, Africa and the
Middle East that his personal observation is that many younger amateurs are
interested in ham radio primarily as an adjunct to other, possibly
unrelated, interests – rather than its traditional aspects – but urged
member societies to "embrace these individuals in their activities and …
promote amateur radio as meeting their needs, rather than promoting the
historical view of what amateur radio has to offer." The South African
Radio League, responding in a commentary in its online SARL News, said
amateur radio "needs a renaissance (and) the first step is to break away
from this hobby attitude and to realize that it is an amateur radio science
with which to experiment, research and pioneer. Secondly, the amateur radio
service should broaden its field and include radio astronomy for future
space communications," adding that a "wider radio field enhanced by the
latest radio technology will be more exciting, attractive and have a far
greater appeal to the new generations with their open and inquiring minds."
This change in approach, the SARL concluded, "could extend the lifespan of
amateur radio … for another 100 years."

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ARRL Foundation Accepting Scholarship Applications

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 05:54 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/arrl-foundation-accepting-scholarship.html

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The application window for
scholarships administered by the ARRL Foundation is now open, with a
deadline of January 31, 2018.

The foundation administers several dozen scholarships and adds five new
ones this year, according to the ARRL Letter.

All applicants must be licensed amateurs and some scholarships have other
specific requirements. For more information, see the ARRL Foundation's
scholarship webpage at <www.arrl.org/scholarship-program>.

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Satellite Roundup

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 05:48 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/satellite-roundup.html

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AMSAT's Fox-1B satellite, also
known as RadFxSat, was scheduled for launch by NASA on November 10 (well
after this issue's deadline). The ARRL reports that it is one of four
cubesats traveling as secondary payloads aboard the Joint Polar Satellite
System-1 mission launch. It carries a 435/145 MHz FM transponder.


The AMSAT News Service is cautioning users of high duty cycle digital modes
– such as FT8 or MSK144 – to be very careful of power levels used on
transmissions made via satellites, as a high-power signal can affect all
other users of a satellite transponder. AMSAT suggests possibly avoiding
the use of these modes on satellites due to problems encountered by other
users.
The SSB/CW linear transponders on China's CAS-4A and CAS-4B satellites were
turned on in mid-October, according to the AMSAT News Service. Uplink
frequencies are 435.220 MHz for CAS-4A and 435.280 for CAS-4B.
Corresponding downlink frequencies are 145.870 and 145.925 MHz. Each has a
20-kHz passband.

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Ham Radio Industry Notes

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 05:44 PM PDT
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/ham-radio-industry-notes.html

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