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The National Association for Amateur Radio Sacramento Valley Section Serving Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo & Yuba Counties in Northern California Sacramento Valley Section is located in the ARRL Pacific Division. ARRL National Page: www.arrl.org/Groups/view/sacramento-valley Thanks to Greg Kruckewitt KG6SJT for maintaining our Section ARES web page and for assisting with our Facebook page and Twitter feed. Submit Section News updates to kp4md(at)arrl.org
Past Section News Archive
Amateur Radio License Classes and Volunteer Exam (VE) Information and Schedules
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December 2018 News
From the Section Manager
Here are the latest news and happening from clubs and members around our section.
This month's news features reports, photos and videos from radio amateurs and clubs around our Section.
December 1 ARRL Pacific Division Leadership Summit
On Saturday December 1, ARRL Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT and Vice Director Kristen McIntyre, K6WX convened the annual ARRL Pacific Division Leadership Summit at the Livermore City Council Chambers. Also attending were East Bay Section Manager, Jim Siemons, W6LK, Sacramento Valley Section Manager, Carol Milazzo, KP4MD, Nevada Section Manager John Bigley, and various other ARRL Field Organization officials and representatives from ARES and affiliated clubs throughout the ARRL Pacific Division.
Thanks to ARES Members for Support to Camp Fire Red Cross Shelters
Thanks to all the ARES Members who supported the Camp Fire Red Cross Shelters.
Well Done! Please pass our thanks to all of your operators.
- Plumas County ARES: Kathy KF6CCP, Keith AI6OO, Larry Trotter KI6YUK.
- Butte County ARES: Dale KK6EVX, Theodore N6TBC, Robert KK6WUG, Stephan KM6RSO, Daniel N6APX, Rick KI6VOS.
- Yuba-Sutter ARES: Andy KJ6IYM, Bill WA6OHP, Neil N6CNY, Brandon KM6JID, Ted KN6TED, Michael AG6IP, Brad KM6RIW.
- Glenn County ARES: Michael KJ6KIZ , Philip KI6SMN, Hank KM6VFF.
- Sacramento County ARES: Michael KK6ZGB, Carl KK6RAS, and James KK6FON
Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT, ARRL Sacramento Valley Section Section Emergency Coordinator
& Carol Milazzo, KP4MD, ARRL Sacramento Valley Section Manager
To all operators that assisted The American Red Cross during this trying time! Your hard work and dedication made my job much easier! Thank you again.
Michael Joseph, American Red Cross Amateur Radio Liaison
Section Wide Net Thursday, December 20
Mark Thursday evening, December 20, on your calendar to check in to our ARRL Sacramento Valley Section Wide Nets on 146.085 MHz and 3880 kHz LSB. See the details below.
Our Section website, Facebook and Twitter pages are a work in progress, and your suggestions and submissions are always welcome.
This website is visited most during the first week of each month, but do check back as it is often updated with late breaking news.
73, Dr. Carol Milazzo, KP4MD
American Radio Relay League Sacramento Valley Section Manager
kp4md(at)arrl.org
You can always send compliments, suggestions and submissions for inclusion in our Section News to kp4md(at)arrl.org
ARRL VHF & HF Section-Wide Nets Thursday, December 20
On Thursday December 20, ARRL Sacramento Valley Section will hold an ARRL SECTION-WIDE NET, first on the WD6AXM repeater on 146.085 MHz IMMEDIATELY after the 7 pm Yuba-Sutter ARES net closes, then followed immediately by an HF net on 3880 kHz LSB +/- 3 kHz. All radio amateurs are encouraged to participate. We will issue an Official Bulletin reminder during that week.
ARRL Sacramento Valley Section Nets are conducted only on the third Thursday of the month when announced, following the 7 pm Pacific Time Yuba-Sutter ARES net on the WD6AXM 146.085 MHz FM repeater, followed by the HF Section Net on 3880 kHz LSB +/- 3 kHz. During spring and summer months the HF net may be conducted on 5330.5 kHz USB as propagation permits.
All Sacramento Valley Section radio amateurs are welcome to check into our Section Nets. The nets carry announcements of interest to our section and test our section-wide station communication capabilities.
and Listen to our HF net on a web receiver.
| W6DRZ receiver at Half Moon Bay | 3880 kHz | No 60m |
|---|---|---|
| W7RNA receiver in Sedona, AZ | Tune Kiwi SDR | |
| Northern Utah web receiver | 3880 kHz | 5330.5 kHz |
Hourly Northern California NVIS Observations
This chart shows colors that represent the recommended HF frequencies for contacting stations for a particular hour. Both stations should use the SAME frequency denoted by the color at the location of the target station. The chart is in Universal Time (UTC). More information at http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/HF_Systems/6/6
ARRL Sacramento Valley SEC Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT, Reports on the ARES Response to the Camp Fire
In TWiT.tv's Ham Nation episode 376 on November 14, Sacramento Valley SEC Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT, gave a detailed question and answer report on the role that radio amateurs played in supporting communication needs during the tragic Camp Fire in Butte County. The interview begins at the 45:50 point in the program. Read more about the amateur radio response to the Camp Fire in the ARRL News and on our Section Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Yuba Sutter ARES EC Andy Boone, KJ6IYM Interviewed on Amateur Radio Newline
In Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2142 for Friday, November 16 2018, Yuba-Sutter EC Andy Boone described the ARES response to the Red Cross call for support in the aftermath of the devastating Camp Fire. Click to read the script.
Dave Otey, WB6NER, Appointed Pacific Division Assistant Director for ARES Connect
During the Saturday December 1, ARRL Pacific Division Leadership Summit in Livermore, Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT appointed Dave Otey, WB6NER, Assistant Division Director. Dave will be our division resource for ARES Connect registration and maintenance.
January 12, 2019 - Sacramento County ARES Training
Posted December 2, 2018
The next Sacramento County ARES training and meeting is scheduled for Saturday January 12, 2019 from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Sacramento Sheriff's Central Division, 7000 65th Street, Sacramento, CA 95823.
Vince Cracchiolo KI6NHP is the Sacramento County EC.
For more information, visit the Sacramento County ARES web site at www.saccountyares.org
Pot grow lights interfere with Ham Radio
Submitted by Rene Smythe, WB6PSY, posted March 4, 2017
I have experienced this interference for the past few years. I found the interference by swinging my 10m Yagi monobander around until the noise became over S9. I then went outside to see where the beam was physically pointed and discovered a garage where indoor pot is being grown. The lights are on a time cycle so the interference comes and goes. 40º degrees in either direction takes the noise out.
Now that marijuana is being legalized in more states, more hams are going to experience this noise.
WB6PSY
Radio Frequency Interference
posted February 3, 2018
ARRL and the FCC have a cooperative agreement in radio frequency interference matters. You may submit interference reports together with your supporting documentation to ARRL EMC Engineer Mike Gruber W1MG who then files the report with the FCC Gettysburg office.
You may also contact our Section Technical Coordinator Bob Wortman, WB6VYH, or our Section Official Observer Coordinator Bob Hess, W1RH, for assistance. More information is posted under the "From the Section Manager" notes in the November 2016 Section News - Carol KP4MD
Our Official Observer Coordinator Bob Hess, W1RH, shares this helpful web page by NK7Z for identifying sources of Radio Frequency Interference http://www.nk7z.net/rfi-snapshots
Club and Member News - December 2018
Update from River City ARCS
Posted December 2, 2018
Our Membership Holiday Dinner will be held on Thursday December 13 @ 6-9 PM at Sam's Hof Brau, 2500 Watt Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821 This is a Family Event!
For current members only! Bring your family or a guest for dinner, the prestigious Lyle Aufranc Award presentation, prize drawings and great company! Optional: Bring an unwrapped toy donation for WEAVE (up to $10 value) for collection at our Holiday Dinner Meeting. Volunteer to help with this event decorating. Please contact Marie Martin at sierracougar@elkgrove.net
This event takes the place of our usual meeting on the 1st Tuesday of December. Our General meetings are the 1st Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm and are open to the Public. Check into our Wednesday night nets at 8:00 pm on the 145.25 MHz N6NA repeater
Our Regular Meetings are held at Sacramento County Corp. Yard, 5026 Don Julio Blvd (corner of Elkhorn Blvd) Sacramento, California 95842. Newsletter
Update from Sierra Foothills ARC
Posted December 3, 2018
SFARC Meetings - Monthly Members second Friday Monthly at Auburn City Hall, Rose Room. Everyone is welcome.
On-air Nets - Thursday night at 7:30 on the W6EK repeater system is the weekly club net. Then every 1st and 3rd Wednesday at 7:30pm is the Elmer Net. Please join us. W6EK Repeaters: 145.430 - 162.2Hz, 223.860 - 110.9Hz, 440.575 + 162.2Hz
Our November program was on using and understanding Smith Charts presented by Bob, WE6C.
Orion, AI5JB set-up stations at the Beal AFB JOTA Event. Carl, WF6J demonstrated Ham Radio to Cub Scout Pack in Loomis, CA. Both events stirred up a lot of interest in our young ham hopefuls.
Tyghe, W6TJR has setup a Christmas Gift fund to benefit the Kids of our Friends and Neighbors of Paradise and the Camp Fire area. Please call Tyghe at 530 320-5554 for donating gifts.
Hamfest 2019 -the date is set for March 16th, 2019. Location will be at the Historic Loomis Train Depot in Loomis, CA
Our Groups.io is now at 126 members. This replaced the Yahoo Group function.
Jim, WA8MPA has assembled a Member's Library that allows the membership to check out any of over a hundred ARRL and other publications on Ham Radio.
Club activities for December boil down to our Members Christmas Dinner on the 15th, and the Breakfast at Mel's Auburn on December 29th.
We will be having a Youth Ham Scholarship in 2019. Details will be announced at the January meeting.
As with any SFARC net or meeting, we love visitors, so come on down and join the membership and check out our website at: w6ek.org
VE Exams - Every 1st Saturday each month at Raley's Granite Bay. Starts at 8am. Walk ins welcome. Contact is Al, NI2U at vechair2015@w6ek.org.
Carl, WF6J, PIO Sacramento, CA
Newsletter at: http://www.w6ek.org/newsletters/SFARC%20November%202018%20newsletter.pdf
VE Report December 2018
Thanks again for all the VE's that were able to come to the session. We had a very successful session again. We administered 17 elements to 11 candidates. 3 earned a Technician, 6 earned General and one earned Extra Class license.
Thanks Al NI2U
Update from North Hills RC
Posted December 2, 2018
NO December meeting...It's the holiday season!
The North Hills Radio Club will hold our annual Christmas dinner on Tuesday evening, December 18 at Brookfield's Restaurant, located at 4343 Madison Avenue, near I 80.
The dinner will take place from 6:00 Until 8:00 P.M. on that evening. All who are members in good standing of the NHRC are welcome to attend.
You are also cordially invited to invite a family member or friend to accompany you to the dinner. You will be permitted to order anything you wish from the main menu. You will be responsible for paying your own check.
There will be a drawing for door prizes plus lots of fun and fellowship with our NHRC friends and guests.
The officers and directors of The North Hills Radio Club sincerely hope that many of you will plan to attend this once-a-year event which will bring to a conclusion, another successful year in the on-going history of NHRC.
The NHRC would like to wish everyone in the ham radio community a most joyous holiday season and a Happy and Bright New Year.
From Doug Emerson. Vice-President, North Hills Radio Club. Amateur radio callsign N6NFF
Club meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of every month, at the former (SMUD) building located at 5026 Don Julio Blvd, at the northeast corner of Don Julio and Elkhorn Blvds. The board meeting begins at 6:00 P.M., followed by the general membership meeting at 7:30 P.M.
Update from Samuel F Morse ARC
Updated December 2, 2018
Our next SFM ARC inperson meeting will be held at its normal time and location Dec. 6th (followed by our Jan.3rd meeting). The SFM ARC in-person meeting is held in the Howard Crowley room upstairs at the Carmichael Presbyterian Church. Directions, including a Google Map are available at the bottom of the W6SFM.com homepage.
At our December meeting, we will be discussing the recap of our Bug Roundup Event and participation level. We will also be discussing January’s North American QSO party event to be held at a member’s home QTH. As always, we will have our Tech (show and tell) portion. Members and visitors are asked to share their Ham Radio related items they find of interest. Visitors are always welcome to join us at our meetings.
On-Air Net Meeting
Each Tuesday of the week 8:00 PM on 3.545 MHz the SFM ARC enjoys getting on the air with CW for our weekly Nets. You do NOT need to be a member of the SFM ARC to check into our nets and we encourage you to invite a friend to join us as well. Although our nets usually run around 15 wpm code, we are all happy to accommodate those that are slower and need us to oblige. If you are unable to copy Morse Code or need some code practice, please feel free to visit our on-line LIVE streaming broadcast of both the Audio and a CW to Text decoding of the meeting. The “LIVE FEED” link can be found on our home page of our website. With our YouTube Live streaming system, you can watch the Live Feed on your Apple IOS or Android devices. You do not need to have a YouTube account to access the feed.. However, you will need one to subscribe to our channel.
Those visiting viewing can chat with others watching on-line as well. This of course is not mandatory, but rather just a way of making everyone feel more involved in our on-air nets.
If you like, you can “checkin” using the chat window and you will be included with our On-Air Net log. Simply announce your call letters in the chat window.
Tell A Friend
Do you know someone in need of a Ham Club to call home? Perhaps someone that wants to learn Morse Code, are interested in CW or already knows and uses it? The SFM ARC would love to be their new Club home. Our in-person meetings are held each 1st Thursday of the month at 7PM. Please use the rear parking lot and entry for best access to the meeting. A map and directions can also be found on our website.
We hope to see you at our next meeting! Thank You, Chris AI6U SFM ARC Secretary 2018
Update from Western Placer ARC
Posted December 2, 2018
Ham License Testing - Wednesday, December 5, 6 PM
WPARC offers Ham radio license testing on the first Wednesday of each month at Round Table Pizza at 6 PM (see below for map and directions.) For more information please email Chuck KK6DOA
WPARC Board Meeting - Wednesday, December 5, 7:30 PM
WPARC conducts Board Member meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at Round Table Pizza at 7:30 PM (see below for map and directions.) The board welcomes members and guests who wish to observe or bring business before the board.
WPARC holds Member Meetings on the third Tuesday of each month at Round Table Pizza at 7 PM (see below for map and directions.) Come out to enjoy some camaraderie, food, beverage, and tales of the radios! Round Table Pizza offers a pizza and salad bar buffet dinner on Tuesday evenings for about $12/person. Scheduled Topic: TBD
WPARC Meeting and Testing Location
Join us at Round Table Pizza, 1020 Pleasant Grove Blvd #170, Roseville. This location faces Roseville Parkway at the northeast corner of the complex, just around the corner from the CVS store.
View map and directions
The club website, http://wparc.us/index.html, has a new look and new information. Jey KQ6DK is now club web master and is updating the the site on a regular basis. Thanks to Jey for all his work on the website.
Don’t forget about our WPARC Facebook page. It is at: https://www.facebook.com/WPARC
Want more? We now have a Twitter account! Just search for @k6pac (the club repeater call sign with the “@” symbol). We are following the ARRL, the ARRL Sacramento Valley Section, Kenwood, and Yaesu and a few others. If you think of someone we should follow, please email me. I know there are a few local clubs with Twitter accounts and I will add them.
73, Michael Buck. K6BUK
WPARC on Facebook and TwitterCheck us out on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter (@k6pac)
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Update from El Dorado County ARC
Posted December 2, 2018
Club Holiday Dinner
Club Holiday Dinner: Fifty Grand Steakhouse, 6401 Pony Express Trail, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Sunday, December 9th 5pm to 8:00pm
Door prizes for club members and raffle prizes for everyone.
Please R.S.V.P via SignUpGenius with head count and menu choices by December 1st
Menu Choices: Herb Crusted Prime Rib $32.00 per person, Chicken Piccata $25.00, Broccoli and cheese stuffed Portobello mushroom $21.00
All meals include artisan bread, mixed garden green salad & herb roasted red potato. Chocolate Mousse peppermint cake w/ganache and coffee for dessert.
Bar will be open for beverage purchase.
January 12th, 2019 at 9:00am. Held at the American Legion Post 119, 4561 Greenstone Road, Placerville CA 95667. Testing Fees $14.00. Contact Ken Vogele, W6KWV at 530-642-9523
2019 Coloma Special EventThe El Dorado County ARC will be commemorating 171st anniversary of the discovery of gold in Coloma, CA. The special event station will be on the air as AG6AU from the gold discovery site January 26th and 27th. More information to coming soon./p>
Jay, KE6GLA Newsletter
Update from Oroville ARS
Updated December 2, 2018
OARS Christmas Dinner
The OARS Christmas Dinner will take place Saturday, 15 December, 5-8 pm at Oroville First United Methodist Church, 45 Acacia Ave, Oroville, CA 95966.
OARS Monthly BreakfastThis month’s OARS Breakfast will take place Saturday, 29 December 2018, 9 am, at the Acorn Cafe (second floor) of the Gold Country Casino and Hotel, 4020 Olive Hwy, Oroville, CA 95966
Update from SOTARS/QCWA Chapter 169
Posted December 10, 2018
The SOTARS/QCWA meeting is Wednesday, December 12. You may choose lunch or breakfast. Lunch is at eleven and Denny's serves breakfast all day.
Our president is on a cruise, so he will be absent this month.
The meeting will be called to order at noon in the restaurant's back room. The program this month will be the video on soldering connectors to coaxial cables using a very unique method I had never seen anywhere before.
The meeting as usual is at: Denny's Restaurant on the southwest corner of Howe Ave. and College Town Drive, one block North of Highway 50. 7900 College Town Drive, Sacramento Phone (916) 383-7071
Please plan to attend. 73, Dan WA6VPJ
Update from Nevada County ARC
Updated December 2, 2018
Next Meeting: Monday December 10, 2018 7pm-9pm. This will be the Holiday Party.
NCARC Holiday Party - Monday December 10th. Same location as our monthly meetings. Turkey and Ham provided by the club. Bring a side dish or a dessert. A signup sheet will be going around or contact a club officer and let them know if you can attend.
Holiday Raffle drawing will be at the Holiday Party. Tickets again will be $5.00 each. The prize this year will be a complete 2 meter mobile installation package. Radio is a Kenwood TM-V71a Dual Band 2m/440. A very nice radio for home or mobile. The more tickets you purchase the better your chances!
Nevada County Amateur Radio Club members hold impromptu meetings at the Omega Rest Area on highway 20. Elevation is around 5000 ft and the views are tremendous. Our activity always draws the interest of motorists coming through the rest stop.
73, Cal McKitrick AI6MC, NCARC President 2018 Newsletter Facebook Group
COFFEE CHAT (Ham n' Coffee)
Thursdays, 8 am at Valentina's Bistro, 841 Sutton Way, Grass Valley
Update from Yuba-Sutter ARC
Posted December 2, 2018
UPCOMING EVENTS
04 Dec – 7:00 P.M. Club Christmas Party, Marysville First UMC, 730 D Street, Marysville 18 Dec – 7:00 P.M. Board Meeting, Cancelled
CAMP FIRE HAMSLarry / KA6GND is one of our ham friends who had to evacuate his house in Forest Ranch due to the fire. He is back home now and gave me some information on some of our fellow hams also affected. Thought you might like to know in case you're acquainted with them:
"The one who lost 2 homes in Old Magalia is Ron, K6RG. The ones who have been staying with us but were able to return home to Magalia last night are John, N6NTM and Scott AD6DX. Others who I have heard lost their places are Doug / KD6LOK, Stephen / W6AKF, Ron / WB6IAG (Winsystem), Bill / K6IWY, Larry / N7MRN. Larry / KE6LAW also lost the house he just moved into this year and I believe Robert / KK6WUG also lost his house. Submitted by Chris, KK6VZD
Jim, KG6UDW and Anna, K6ZOA lost everything too. Submitted by Russ Decker
The majority of PARS members lost their homes. Don't have an exact number at this time but probably at least 90% of 22 members. Submitted by Douglas Poppelreiter. This is a post from Facebook on November 20, 2018.
YSARC ELECTIONS RESULTSPresident: Chris McLain KK6VZD, V. Pres.: Daniel Weber KM6RHC, Secretary: Linda Maas KK6SOZ, Treasurer: June McJunkin N6JEY, Board Members: John Rogers KI6UDF, Neil Bossard N6CNY, Mark Peters KA6FFM, Joe Visalli N9BD, Joe Peterson K6JFP. Thanks to all who volunteered.
TECHNICIAN CLASSComing in January and February 2019 is the next technician class. Do you know of anyone interested in becoming a ham? Encourage them to attend and then become their Elmer. Help your hobby to grow. Classes will be held on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. at the American Red Cross Center in Yuba City beginning Jan. 7, 2019. They will run through Feb 27th. The Red Cross building is located at 125 E. Onstott Road, Yuba City. We will be meeting in Classroom 2.
EDITORS COMMENTS✓YSARC’s new web page is: www.ysarc.net - click on the upper right-hand icon on the homepage to join the club’s Facebook page. Past issue’s of the VHN are available on our new website.
✓Send your ham related articles and pictures to share in your VHN. Pictures of ham shacks, antenna projects, antenna parties, etc. are appreciated KI6CSN@arrl.net or KF6FVP@arrl.net
Update from Elk Grove-Florin ARC - pending
Posted July 9, 2018
Elk Grove-Florin ARC—Section News
Remember how much fun the Install-O-Rama was last August? Attached is the announcement for this year's event. Please share it with your radio club and others who may be interested. Thanks... Dave Reingold, KK6MVJ
Christine Lay, KG6JFO, President EGFARC, 916/715-8091 Install-O-Rama Flyer
Update from Glenn ARS - pending
Posted July 9, 2018
Prez Says for July 2018
Greetings to all club members and guests. It’s almost Independence Day and I want to thank you for your service this club and to this great country. I hope you find the club newsletters and ‘Prez Says” message useful and informative.
Mike Ellithorpe, KF6OBI President, GARS kilofox6obi@yandex.com 530-518-3730 Newsletters
Update from Golden Empire ARS - pending
Posted July 9, 2018
The Prez' Says:
73 de KI6VOS, Rick +1.415.624.5865
73, Tom Rider W6JS, President GEARS rustyboyrider@aol.com Newsletter
Member Updates and Feedback
Please send your feedback to kp4md@arrl.org to be included in this section.
The 70 cm Pave PAWS Radar at Beale AFB
Posted December 8, 2018
The Sacramento Valley has the distinction of being home to Beale AFB—one of the Pave PAWS (Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System) 420-450 MHz radar installations in the continental US. Since 1979, Pave PAWS has been a key component of the US national missile defense and satellite surveillance mission.
The Beale AFB AN/FPS-132 Pave PAWS radar is housed in a 105 foot high five story triangular building with two 20° tilted faces that each contain a phased array of 2,677 circular polarized crossed dipole antennas with a gain of 38.6 dB and beam width of 2.2°. The radar beam can be steered rapidly within microseconds by computers that electronically control the phase of the antenna elements. The facility can scan from 3° to 85° elevation over a 240° arc of azimuth with a range of 3000 nautical miles for objects of 10 m2 size. Each array face transmits 600 kW peak power output with a normal 18% duty cycle. Pave PAWS radar signals can be observed as random pulses of about 300 kHz bandwidth that are centered every 1 MHz throughout the 420-450 MHz band.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is the primary user of the 70 cm band shared with the Amateur Radio Service as the secondary user. FCC Part §97.313 (f) limits our amateur radio transmitter power to 50 watts PEP within a distance of 150 miles radius from the Beale AFB Pave PAWS in Yuba County. Since its 2007 system upgrade, the Beale AFB Pave PAWS radar has required additional power restrictions on some 440 MHz repeaters in this areas. Radio amateurs may continue to operate on 70 cm thanks to our voluntary cooperation with limits coordinated among the ARRL, NARCC, the DoD and FCC. A status report is posted at http://www.narcc.org/NARCC-ARRL-PAVE-PAWS-Update-2014a.pdf
Read more about Pave PAWS at https://www.afspc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/249015/pave-paws-radar-system/ and https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/env_gmd_eis_append_h.pdf
Keep Our Digital Transmissions Legal on 60 Meters
Posted January 29, 2017
Our decreasing solar activity and residential antenna restrictions have attracted increasing numbers of radio amateurs to operate CW and weak signal digital modes on our lower HF frequencies including 60 meters. The five frequency channels that US amateur radio operators share on a secondary basis with US federal government users on 60 meters (5 MHz) pose unique requirements for CW and digital operators. As explained on http://www.arrl.org/60m-channel-allocation, US radio amateur emissions on our 60m channels must be precisely centered in the center frequency of each assigned channel, that is, 5332.0, 5348.0, 5358.5, 5373.0 or 5405.0 kHz. Thus, for example, a CW signal on channel 3 (USB Dial frequency 5357.0 kHz) must be precisely on 5358.5 kHz. The same ARRL page explains that all digital emissions must also be centered in the channel center.
This may appear unreasonable to radio amateurs because a 2.8 kHz channel can accommodate many digital and CW transmissions simultaneously, and requiring multiple stations to operate on the same exact frequency would result in mutual interference. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)* explains this requirement in https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/7021871884.pdf which states: "Allowing multiple emissions within the necessary bandwidth of the widest authorized modes (2.8 kHz) increases the possibility of harmful interference from secondary amateur stations to primary federal stations, and would make it more difficult for a federal station to identify an interfering amateur station. In addition, NTIA is concerned about the aggregate equivalent isotropically radiated power from multiple amateur stations transmitting within a single 2.8 kHz channel. Accordingly, NTIA requests that 47 C.F.R. Section 97.303(h) continue to require that amateur stations transmit only on the five center frequencies allocated to the amateur service." (See http://www.arrl.org/what-the-fcc-rules-say-97-303-h)
| Observed Violations of US 60 Meter Frequency Regulations | |
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JT65This screenshot photo shows JT65 signals received on 60 meter Channel 3 (5357 kHz USB dial frequency) from 0300-0309 UTC on January 29, 2017. In the photo, the 5357 kHz dial frequency is at 0 Hz on the left side of the waterfall and the 5358.5 kHz channel center is at the 1500 Hz mark. Decodes of several US radio amateurs are seen transmitting JT65 emissions simultaneously on various frequencies throughout the channel 3 frequency range 5357-5360 kHz. This is the familiar appearance of a JT65 waterfall display on all other amateur radio bands; however, it violates the NTIA requirement that each US radio amateur transmission be centered on the 1500 Hz mark (the 5358.5 kHz channel center frequency).ARRL Official Observer Richard Saunders, K6RBS, has posted the proper WSJT-X program settings for legal 60m JT mode operation here. |
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WSPRThe link http://wsprnet.org/olddb?band=60&sort=callsign&reverse=on&unique=on lists WSPR mode emissions on the 60 meter band. One can scroll down that list and see how many A, K, N and W call signs have been transmitting WSPR mode on 5288 kHz outside the authorized 60 meter center channel frequencies.US WSPR transmissions continue to be observed on the WSPR software default 60 meter frequency of 5288 kHz, a completely unauthorized frequency for US radio amateurs. |
Each licensee has the final responsibility for the lawful operation of his or her station. Unfortunately, the increasing automation in our radios has apparently accustomed some to falsely assume that the radio will correct for operator carelessness and ignorance of regulations. Our cooperation with NTIA requirements is essential for our continued access to the 60m channels and for possible future access to the new ITU worldwide 60 meter allocation at 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz. (See http://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-asks-fcc-to-allocate-new-5-mhz-band-retain-channels-and-current-power-limit and http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-invites-comments-on-arrl-petition-to-allocate-new-5-mhz-band). Please be aware of these requirements if you intend to or currently operate CW or digital modes on our shared 60m allocations. The Amateur Auxiliary is documenting this matter and hopes to raise its awareness in the wider amateur radio community.
-Carol Milazzo, KP4MD
*The NTIA is the federal authority that coordinates radio spectrum use for the US military and federal government while the FCC serves in this capacity for US civilian radio spectrum users.
