HAM’S LIFE

While the issue of interference between amateur radio operators on the 440 MHz band and the US Air Force Pave PAWS has been resolved on the east coast the restrictions on amateur operations on the 440 MHz band still remains in effect on the west coast of the United States. 

If you are not familiar with the issue more information can be seen on the January 8, 2008 post (http://hamslife.com/?p=60) and on the February 1, 2008 post (http://hamslife.com/?p=81 ) of this blog site. 

By means of email the Section Manager for the ARRL Sacramento Valley Section, Ronald D. Murdock, W6JK gave an update to ARRL members in the Sacramento Valley Section. 

In his email Ron said that on 8 January 2010 he and other ARRL officials were given a briefing by Lt. Col. Cory J. Keepler the commander of the 7^th Space Warning Squadron at Beal AFB, CA.  In this briefing Lt. Col. Keepler revealed that the Air Force believes the current restrictions on the local Amateur radio operations has improved Pave PAWS operation and thus will remain in effect. 

There is also some other interference which the Air Force has not yet been able to identify.  The Air Force will continue to search for any interference and hopefully will be able to identify all of them. 

October 6, 2009 U. S. Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a companion bill to HR 2160 which was introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18) in April 2009.  Senate bill is 1755 is also known as “The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009”. 

More complete information can be found on ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/10/07/11127/.  I highly recommend each of you with an interest in ham radio study the information on this bill and write your senator and encourage him or her to support this bill.   

There have been and still are several celebrities with amateur radio licenses.  Today is a sad day because we lost one of the most well known hams, Walter Cronkite KB2GSD.  He will be greatly missed all around the world as a ham, as a retired news anchorman, and all around great guy. 

If you have not seen his video on ham radio I highly recommend it.  You can see it on http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walter+cronkite+Ham+radio&search_type=&aq=f . I am sorry but efforts to add hyperlink failed but you can use the search feature.  If you would like your own copy it is available from the ARRL.  See: http://www.arrl.org/ARToday/   

On October 20, 2008 the ARRL petitioned the FCC to modify or cancel the authorization it gave Digital Aurora Radio Technologies (DART) to operate on the frequencies of 7.10 to 7.60 MHz with its experimental station WE2XRH.

DART requested the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) grant them a two year authorization to transmit on the 5, 7, and 9 MHz shortwave bands using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), a digital technology that can give near FM broadcast quality on bands below 30 MHz.  The transmitter to be used has an output power of 100 KW and with the gain antenna system the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) adds up to 660 KW to be operated within a 1500 KM (937.5 Miles) radius of Delta Junction, Alaska.  The request was honored by the FCC and they were allocated the frequency bands of 4.4 to 5.1 MHz, 7.1 to 7.6 MHz, and 9.25 to 9.95 MHz.

7.10 to 7.6 MHz includes 200 KHz of the 40 meter amateur radio band.  The DART DRM transmission is 20 KHz wide.  The interference potential to the 40 meter amateur radio band is obvious thus prompting the quick action by the ARRL to petition the FCC.  

On October 24, 2008, just 4 days after the ARRL submitted the petition, the FCC acted and modify DART’s 7 MHz band to 7.3 to 7.6 MHz.  This would amount to an extremely fast response to the petition if indeed it was a response to the petition.  The word is that the FCC caught the clerical error, made the change and the ARRL petition had nothing to do with their action.  The accuracy that it was an error correction may possible be indicated by the 4.4 to 5.1 MHz band change which had nothing to do with the ARRL petition.  The new frequency band is 4.5 to 5.1 MHz. 

There are some who say the petition was a moot point to begin with because DART has stated they will not transmit on any amateur radio frequency. 

There does not need to be any finger pointing or criticism given for the actions of any the three parties.

The ARRL is to be commended for their quick and decisive action.  If a wait and see attitude had been taken it could have created more difficulty for all concerned.  The action also set a precedence that could help prevent future encroachments on our bands by some who may not have a friendly attitude towards ham radio. 

The FCC deserves our appreciation for their quick action no matter what the reason is for their action. 

Finally DART should also be thanked for their attitude and promise not to interfere with amateur radio communications by not operating in any ham band.  Hopefully DART will not take the petition as an insult but will recognize it as just good stewardship of the frequencies we have been allocated.  There is a saying, “good fences make good neighbors” and in this case the fence between the 40 meter ham band and the 7 MHz DART band has a very good fence by not having any overlapping frequencies.

Hopefully DART will have great success in their endeavor to improve the quality of broadcast radio and to provide a reliable state wide broadcast communication system for the state of Alaska.