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ARRL Defends 902-928 Amateur Radio Band |
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ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio®
has filed comments [PDF]
with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging that the 902 – 928 MHz amateur radio band be protected.
ARRL joins hundreds of licensed radio amateurs who utilize the band in opposing a proposal from NextNav Inc., a licensee in the 900-MHz Location and Monitoring Service (LMS), to completely reconfigure the 902 – 928 MHz band and replace the LMS with high-powered 5G cellular and related location services.
Read more about NextNav’s proposal on ARRL News (8/15/2024)
ARRL’s comments, filed by our Washington, D.C. Counsel on behalf of ARRL members and radio amateurs, point out several problems with NextNav’s request.
“Contrary to NextNav’s assertions, the band is extremely crowded with millions of devices and transmitters in operation in multiple services, including the Amateur Service.
Adoption of the proposal would result in either massive interference that would prevent proper operation or displacement to other bands.
The difficulty is that there are no other bands known to be available, and in fact, some of the Amateur operations in this band are here because they were displaced when a portion of the 420 – 450 MHz band North of “Line A” was closed to the Amateur Service some years ago.
Others were displaced from the same band when new Federal Government defense radars were initiated and continued Amateur secondary operations would have interfered with their operation.”
Pushing amateur radio out of heavily used spectrum is a risk to public service, ARRL argues in the comments.
“When space can be found in this band, Amateurs employ it to establish wide-area voice and some television signal repeaters.
Others are actively experimenting with digital mesh networks and associated control links.
These networks are a testbed for digital design and experimentation, but also are available and used for back-up emergency communications purposes.
Still others operate low power beacons for propagation research.
Weak signal work – tuning and experimenting to communicate over the longest paths with the least power – also is popular and leads to improvements in equipment.”
Mesh networks are becoming increasingly useful in emergency communications. Just this past week, the ARRL Utah Section announced
that dozens of Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®)
volunteers are working to expand the mesh network around the state.
“The needs of participating agencies have evolved to require more than analog voice and low-speed data modes,” said ARRL Utah Section Public Information Coordinator Scott Rosenbush, K7HSR. “High-speed mesh networks using AREDN® [Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network] software will allow amateur radio to play a larger role in supporting these agencies in emergencies.” The ARRL Utah Section already has a five-county mesh network in place.
The proposal from NextNav make it more difficult to operate networks like this one.
“Under NextNav’s proposal, the much higher-powered transmitters would be ubiquitous and operating 24/7. The resulting interference would effectively exclude many of the current Amateur operations that are operating in the 902-928 MHz band.”
The FCC docket remains open for reply comments from the public until September 20, 2024. As of September 6, over 800 comments have been filed by Amateurs and others who use this spectrum.
The comments can be viewed at this link: https://tinyurl.com/ypxh583p.
Click here for an ARRL Guide to Filing Comments with FCC.
ARRL will continue to defend amateur access to this and other threatened amateur allocations.
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Ham Radio Volunteers Serve During Hurricane Francine |
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A satellite image of Hurricane Francine’s remnants. | | |
Ham radio operators volunteering with the ARRL® Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®)
have successfully completed operations for Hurricane Francine, now a tropical storm. “We had a huge positive showing of ARES team members checking in and doing the ‘thing.’ I sincerely appreciate everyone leaning into this activation,” said Robert Hayes, KC5IMN, Section Emergency Coordinator of the ARRL Mississippi Section.
The National Hurricane Center reported at 4:00 AM on Thursday, September 12, 2024, that Hurricane Francine made landfall early Wednesday evening in Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 hurricane, before weakening to Category 1. It has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Currently the storm is moving inland over southeastern Louisiana with heavy rainfall spreading across Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Early Thursday morning, the storm was 20 miles northwest of New Orleans with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (MPH) and moving northeast toward Mississippi at 14 MPH.
At least 419,942 people were without power early Thursday morning. PowerOutage.us
reported 392,440 people without power in Louisiana and 27,502 in Mississippi.
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A radar image of Hurricane Francine as it made landfall. | | |
A turn toward the north-northeast and north is expected during the next day or so, with some decrease in forward speed.
On the forecast track, the center of Francine will move over central and northern portions of Mississippi through early Friday.
The Hurricane Watch Net has secured operations but remains at HWN Alert Level 2 monitoring mode. During their 14-hour activation, Net Manager Bobby Graves said they collected and forwarded over 40 surface reports from southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the National Hurricane Center by way of WX4NHC. A copy of these reports is available upon request.
Also, they had direct contact, on many occasions, with the Louisiana State EOC (WB5LHS) in Baton Rouge on 14.325 MHz. The VoIP Hurricane Net secured formal net operations on Wednesday, 9/11/24, at 1100 PM EDT/1000 PM CDT. A total of 58 reports were submitted to WX4NHC, the amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center, some of which were used in NHC Advisories and Tropical Cyclone Updates.
Reports ranged from wind damage to buildings, tree and wire damage reports, coastal storm surge flooding, wind measurement, rain gauge and rain-related street flooding reports.
A complete listing of the reports can be seen in the VoIP Hurricane Net Report Viewer at the following link:
https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK
ARRL will monitor the path of Francine and issue updates as warranted.
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National Preparedness Month: Ensuring Family Safety |
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September is National Preparedness Month. In coordination with our partners at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®)
is producing a series of weekly articles to help radio amateurs and their families stay safe.
See previous stories:
https://www.arrl.org/news/resilience-through-amateur-radio-for-national-preparedness-month
https://www.arrl.org/news/national-preparedness-month-have-a-go-kit
For a ham or any other public safety responder, whether paid or volunteer, it is not uncommon to be called out to provide assistance during disasters.
We often do not know when we will be called or exactly what the call will involve.
We also do not know how long we may be deployed.
In the last edition, we focused on our go kit and the tools we should have to deploy as an amateur radio volunteer.
But have we made sure our family is prepared for these times, whether we are deployed or will be staying home?
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As the theme of this month suggests, ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, says it comes down to being prepared. “Make a plan with your family and ensure basic supplies are available including water, food and first aid capabilities. Do you have a generator or alternate power capabilities and do your family members know how to use it? Have a communications plan, including backup communications, with family members and friends,” he said.
Johnston says to ensure your family knows where to go if they must evacuate for some reason. Always remember your family and your health and safety should always come first.
“Remember that there may be a time that you are the victim. There may be a time that you must turn down a request for assistance because you must take care of your family first. Ask if you can be put in a slot later down the roster to allow time to get your family to safety or have everything settled to ensure your family is cared for before deployment,” said Johnston.
ARRL recognizes the tremendous work ham radio volunteers put into serving their communities. “If your mind is not on the mission, you may be putting yourself and others at risk. Therefore, you should ensure your family’s wellbeing before, during and after a major event,” Johnston continued.
Learn about how to become an ARES Volunteer on the ARRL website at www.arrl.org/ares.
Learn more about how to keep your family safe at www.ready.gov.
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This Weekend: ARRL Fall VHF/UHF Contests |
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The ARRL September VHF Contest
will be held September 14 - 16 from 1800 UTC on Saturday through 0259 UTC on Monday. All amateur frequencies above 50 MHz may be used.
The second weekend of the ARRL 10 GHz and up Contest
will be held the weekend of September 21-23 from 0900 UTC Saturday through 0759 UTC Monday. Any amateur band from 10 GHz through light may be used.
The VHF Fall Sprints, a series of single-band mini contests sponsored by the Mt. Airy VHF Club, will be held on Tuesday, September 17 (222 MHz); Wednesday, September 25 (432 MHz), and Saturday, October 5 (902 MHz and above.) For more information, visit https://www.packratvhf.com/sprints/2024_Fall_Sprint_Rules_Final.pdf.
Remember, US amateurs of all license classes may participate in these events.
With the change in seasons, conditions may be ripe for enhanced propagation on the VHF and UHF bands.
ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE, said cool nights and warm days create some unexpected propagation, especially near waterways and coastal areas.
“Tropospheric ducting is a primary form of propagation in the late summer and early fall.
We may also see a little sporadic E, meteor scatter or even Aurora if we are lucky,” said Bourque.
With good conditions, stations hundreds of miles away can be worked on 6 meters and up. Keep your eye on VHF propagation tools such as https://vhf.dxview.org
and https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html
for when you might be able to expect enhanced propagation in your area.
Need an antenna for 6-meters? Consider the ARRL Momobeam Antenna. It features a 10-meter Moxon (28 MHz) and 6-meter Yagi (50 MHz.) Learn more at www.arrl.org/beam
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Amateur Radio in the News |
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“Ham radio operators to work from Blennerhassett Island” / Marietta Times (Ohio) September 5, 2024 -- The Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub is an ARRL Affiliated Club.
“Local Radio Club provides emergency communication, connects radio enthusiasts” / The Union – Recorder (Georgia) September 6, 2024 -- The Piedmont Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.
“Amateur Radio group invites participation” / The Tehachapi News (California) September 8, 2024 -- The Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association is an ARRL Affiliated Club.
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On the Air
Sponsored by Icom
A Tour of 10 Meters
The 10-meter band offers something for hams of every license class, including Technicians, who can use voice, Morse code, and digital modes on this band. Scott Freeberg, WA9WFA, joins this episode of the podcast to take us on “A Tour of 10 Meters,” and to explain why right now is the best time to get on the band, thanks to the terrific radio wave propagation being generated by Solar Cycle 25.
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ARRL Audio News
Listen to ARRL Audio News, available every Friday.
ARRL Audio News is a summary of the week's top news stories in the world of amateur radio and ARRL, along with interviews and other features.
The On the Air podcast and ARRL Audio News are available on blubrry, iTunes, and Apple Podcasts.
On the Air
| ARRL Audio News
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The Reading Radio Club (RCC) in eastern Pennsylvania plans to make some history of its own with a special centennial event involving an iconic name recognized by railroad buffs around the world. The RRC will honor the 100th anniversary of the historic Reading Railroad with two special event stations on Saturday, September 21, 2024. Club call signs W3BN and W3CCH will be on the air in two separate operations 25 miles apart. The daylong celebrations will see club members use W3CCH on HF stations set up inside two retired passenger railroad cars parked outside the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, PA. A separate group of club operators and friends will use W3BN on two HF stations of long-time contester Steve Dobbs, NE3F (SK), in Spring Township, Berks County, PA. Dobbs was involved in the planning for the celebration using his station and array of towers, beams, and wire antennas. He passed away August 30, 2024, and it was his family’s wishes that the event still proceed from NE3F’s QTH. Activity on all four HF radios will be on 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters with frequent spots on the DX clusters. The Reading Railroad earned its place in history starting in the 1830s as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Its network of tracks and trains was established to carry anthracite coal from the mines in northeastern Pennsylvania to the port in Philadelphia. More information about the celebrations can be found at either W3BN or W3CCH on QRZ.com.
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The Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association (BIARA) will activate NI6BB in memory of Operation Chromite, the Battle of Inchon in the Korean War, on September 15, 2024, from 0800 to 1600 PDST; 1500 to 2300 UTC. Modes and frequencies will be as shown on the https://biara.org
front page. Bands and modes activated will be dependent on propagation and BIARA associate participation.
QSL per instructions found on the BIARA web site.
During the Korean War, 1,789,000 United States military personnel served in the Korean theater of operations, resulting in 137,250 casualties with 36,940 killed in action. There were 3,737 soldiers missing in action.
The activation of NI6BB will be to honor American veterans and their United Nations allies who served during the Korean War.
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This image was taken on September 12, 2024. [Photo courtesy of NASA SDO/HMI] | | |
For this Friday’s ARRL Propagation Bulletin, ARLP037:
With sunspot numbers up and solar flux decreasing, we saw ten new sunspot groups this week, 2 on September 6, 3 on September 7, 2 on September 8, 1 on September 9, and 2 on September 11.
Average daily sunspot numbers increased from 155.3 to 178.4, while average daily solar flux declined from 230.3 to 223.7.
Geomagnetic indicators were quiet, with the average daily planetary A index dropping from 14 to 7.9 and middle latitude numbers from 12.7 to 11.7.
The solar flux forecast calls for the 10.7-centimeter numbers to be at 200 on September 12-14; 195 on September 15 -18; 215, 225, 225 and 220 on September 19-22; then 225 on September 23-24; 230, 235, 230, 225 on September 25-28, and 240 on September 29-30.
Predicted planetary A index is 25, 35, 25, 15, 12, 10 and 8 on September 12-18; 5 on September 19-25; 25, 25, 15 and 10 on September 26-29, then 5 on September 30 through October 4.
Sunspot numbers for September 5-11 were 167, 188, 179, 176, 213, 147, and 179, with a mean of 178.4. The 10.7 -centimeter flux was 240.7, 248.9, 221.7, 227.6, 214.8, 205.2, and 207, with a mean of 223.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 7, 8, 7, 9, 9, 7, and 8, with a mean of 7.9. Middle latitude A Index was 8, 8, 9, 19, 9, 7, and 18, with a mean of 11.1.
Send your tips, questions, or comments to k7ra@arrl.net.
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
the Propagation Page of Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA.
A propagation bulletin archive
is available. For customizable propagation charts, visit the VOACAP Online for Ham Radio
website.
Share
your reports and observations.
A weekly, full report is posted on ARRL News.
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September 14 - 15 -- WAE DX Contest, SSB (phone)
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September 14 -- Africa FT4 DX Contest (FT4)
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September 14 - 16 -- ARRL September VHF Contest (CW, phone, digital)
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September 15 -- North American Sprint, RTTY (digital)
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September 15 -- BARTG Sprint PSK63 Contest (PSK63)
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September 15 - 16 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
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September 16 -- RSGB FT4 Contest (FT4)
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September 17 -- 222 MHz Fall Sprint (CW, phone, digital)
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September 19 - 20 Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
Visit the ARRL Contest Calendar
for more events and information.
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Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions |
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September 20 - 22 | Duke City Hamfest, sponsoring the ARRL New Mexico State Convention, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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September 21 - 22 | Midwest Superfest, sponsoring the ARRL Illinois Section Convention, Chillicothe, Illinois
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September 28 | Red River Radio Amateurs Hamfest, sponsoring the ARRL Dakota Division Convention, West Fargo, North Dakota
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October 5 | Wichita Area Hamfest, sponsoring the ARRL Kansas State Convention, Wichita, Kansas
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October 5 | Northstar Radio Convention, sponsoring the ARRL Minnesota State Convention, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
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October 12 | Rock Hill Hamfest, sponsoring the ARRL South Carolina Section Convention, Rock Hill, South Carolina.
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October 18 - 20 | Pacificon, sponsoring the ARRL Pacific Division Convention, San Ramon, California
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November 2 | Wisconsin ARES/RACES Conference 2024, sponsoring the ARRL Wisconsin State Convention, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Search the ARRL Hamfest and Convention Database
to find events in your area.
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Have News for ARRL?
Submissions for the ARRL Letter and ARRL News can be sent to news@arrl.org. -- John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, ARRL News Editor
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ARRL -- Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information
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Listen to ARRL Audio News, available every Friday.
The ARRL Letter is available in an accessible format, posted weekly to the Blind-hams Groups.io
email group. The group is dedicated to discussions about amateur radio as it concerns blind hams, plus related topics including ham radio use of adaptive technology.
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