The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
February 16, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + WRC-12: Amateur Radio Gets Secondary MF Allocation at WRC-12
- WRC-12: IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Chats with ITU
- + WRC-15: WRC-12 Delegates Place Possible 5 MHz Allocation on Agenda
for Next WRC
- +On the Air: ARRL 500 kHz Experimental Group Sparked Interest in MF
Operation
- + On the Air: RAC to Split Ontario into Four Sections
- + Amateur Radio in Space: NASA Selects AMSAT Fox Satellite to Join
Program
- Amateur Radio in Space: Texas Hams Make World Record Balloon Attempt
- Amateur Radio in Space: New Satellites Reach Orbit
- Solar Update
- This Week in Radiosport
- + ARRL HQ: ARRL Headquarters to Close in Observance of Presidents Day
- + Be a Star! Deadline for Second Annual ARRL Video Contest is
February 29
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + WRC-12: AMATEUR RADIO GETS SECONDARY MF ALLOCATION AT WRC-12
It's official -- delegates attending the 2012 World
Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) have approved a new
7-kilohertz-wide secondary allocation between 472-479 kHz for the
Amateur Radio Service. Agenda Item 1.23 had both its first and second
readings in Plenary Session on Tuesday, February 14; to become part of
the ITU's Radio Regulations, each Agenda Item must be read twice in
Plenary Session. While the Final Acts will be signed on Friday,
February 17 at the close of the Conference, the new allocation will not
take effect until it is entered into the Radio Regulations on January
1, 2013. In any case, no amateur can use the band until his or her
national regulations are revised to implement the allocation. Read more
here
.
> WRC-12: IARU VICE PRESIDENT OLE GARPESTAD, LA2RR, CHATS WITH ITU
IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, sat down for a video
interview with the ITU Press Office at 4U1ITU (operating as 4U1WRC),
the Amateur Radio station at ITU Headquarters in Geneva. During the
interview, IARU Region 1 President Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T,
operated CW in the background. Garpestad discussed Agenda Item 1.23 and
what it means to the Amateur Radio Service, what the IARU does at the
WRC, the future of Amateur Radio, and what the Amateur Radio Service
and the IARU are doing for the next WRC. Watch the video here
.
> + WRC-15: WRC-12 DELEGATES PLACE POSSIBLE 5 MHZ ALLOCATION ON
AGENDA FOR NEXT WRC
One of the responsibilities of each WRC delegation is to set the agenda
for the next WRC. WRC-12 delegates approved an Amateur Radio-related
agenda item for the upcoming WRC-15: To consider the possibility of
making an allocation of an appropriate amount of spectrum, not
necessarily contiguous, to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis
within the band 5250-5450 kHz. This will be Agenda Item 1.4 at WRC-15.
"It is always a challenge to have items placed on the agenda for
future WRCs," IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, told the ARRL. "I am
pleased that we were successful in having an Agenda Item for a
potential allocation at 5 MHz on a secondary basis. There will be much
work to do over the next ITU study group cycle. Much appreciation is
owed to the IARU and the national delegation teams in Geneva for their
hard work on this issue."
According to ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, the
original 5 MHz proposal came from Cuba. "The IARU team worked hard to
line up support," he explained. "The factor that worked most in our
favor was that at WRC-07, a proposal for a 5 MHz agenda item for WRC-12
failed to gain enough support, so there was a feeling that the Amateur
Service deserved better treatment this time around. We did have active
support from a number of administrations in Latin America which helped
a lot, but a lot of others also had to agree to get it on the agenda.
The coordinators of future Agenda Items on behalf of the regional
telecommunications organizations, such as CITEL and CEPT, eventually
agreed on a package of Agenda Items that included ours." Read more here
.
> +ON THE AIR: ARRL 500 KHZ EXPERIMENTAL GROUP SPARKED INTEREST IN MF
OPERATION
In September 2006, the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology
granted a Part 5 experimental license -- WD2XSH -- to the ARRL on
behalf of a group of radio amateurs who were interested in
investigating spectrum in the vicinity of 500 kHz. Called the ARRL 500
kHz Experiment, this group of hams -- led by Fritz Raab, W1FR --
received permission to experiment and do research between 505-510 kHz
using narrowband modes at power levels of up to 20 W effective radiated
power (ERP), using CW and PSK31.
The original 500 kHz license called for 23 discrete fixed sites across
the US: at Raab's QTH in Vermont, as well as at sites in Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. In 2008, the FCC
expanded the scope of the experimental license, allowing for more
frequencies, more stations and portable operations: The group could now
operate between 495-510 kHz, the number of stations increased from 23
to 42 and participants could now operate within 50 km of their
designated stations.
At the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-2012), delegates
approved an amateur secondary MF allocation between 472-479 kHz. The
ARRL would like to acknowledge the contributions of the participants in
the ARRL 500 kHz Experiment to the recent approval of a new amateur
secondary MF allocation, and to thank them for their efforts. Read more
here
.
> + ON THE AIR: RAC TO SPLIT ONTARIO INTO FOUR SECTIONS
On February 6, Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) issued a statement on
their website that the Ontario Section would be split into four new RAC
Administrative Sections, effective September 1, 2012. The reason given
for the restructure was "...to create a management model that better
communicates with, and represents the interests of, the overall Ontario
amateur population." The Ontario Section will be dissolved and be
replaced with four new RAC Sections: Ontario North, Ontario South,
Ontario East and the Greater Toronto Area. The new section
abbreviations will be announced when final. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: NASA SELECTS AMSAT FOX SATELLITE TO JOIN
PROGRAM
Project ELaNa -- NASA's "Educational Launch of NanoSat" managed by
the Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center -- announced on
February 10 that the AMSAT Fox-1 CubeSat has been selected to join the
program. NASA will work with AMSAT in a collaborative agreement for
NASA to cover the integration and launch costs of satellites deemed to
have merit in support of their strategic and educational goals. Read
more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: TEXAS HAMS MAKE WORLD RECORD BALLOON
ATTEMPT
A group of Amateur Radio operators hopes to establish a world
distance record for an unmanned helium-filled balloon. The BLT-28
balloon will undertake a journey across the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean, and then on to Nanjing, China. The South Texas Balloon
Launch Team released the balloon at 3 PM (CST) on February 11 from
Katy, Texas, just outside of Houston.
During the trans-Atlantic crossing, when out of range of shore based
stations, the balloon's APRS beacon will operate on the International
Space Station (ISS) packet digipeater frequency of 145.825 MHz. The
balloon payload package weighs only about 5 ounces and contains a high
altitude GPS tracking system and a 144 MHz FM APRS Amateur Radio
transmitter. To conserve weight and battery life, no camera equipment
will be on board. The maximum altitude is expected to be above 19
miles, with horizontal speeds between 100 and 150 miles per hour. Read
more here .
> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: NEW SATELLITES REACH ORBIT
On February 13, a European Space Agency Vega rocket lifted off from
Kourou, French Guiana on its inaugural flight. It carried the Laser
Relativity Spacecraft to orbit along with eight student-built MicroSats
and CubeSats. The student satellites will transmit telemetry in the
VHF, UHF and microwave amateur bands, with one satellite also including
a voice repeater. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "Certain as the Sun rising in the east
" Cook, K7RA, reports: We
are more than halfway through the winter season, as Sunday, February 5
was 45 days after the winter solstice. Propagation should improve as we
approach the vernal equinox on March 20. Solar activity is still in the
temporary doldrums, with sunspot numbers below 100. But the weekly
average of daily sunspot numbers rose this week by over 15 points to
55.6. There was a geomagnetic storm on Wednesday, February 15 (UTC).
Early in the UTC day (Tuesday night in North America), the planetary K
index went to 5, and the planetary A index was 22. The College A index
in Fairbanks was estimated at 46, which is quite high. The disturbance
was probably from a CME a few days earlier. Aurora in North America was
seen as far south as Minnesota. The latest forecast has solar flux
about 55-60 points lower than last month's prediction for the ARRL
International CW DX Contest this weekend.
Latest predicted flux values are 105 on February 16, 110 on February
17-20, 105 on February 21-22, 110 on February 23, and 115 on February
24-26. The predicted flux values bounce around from 105-110 from
February 27-March 13, then go back to 115 on March 14-16 and again on
March 20-24. The predicted planetary A index for February 16-23 is 10,
5, 8, 8, 5, 5, 5 and 9, then 5 on February 24-March 1. Look for more
information on the ARRL website on Friday, February 17. For more
information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Disney's Beauty and the Beast
.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- February 17 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- February 17-18 -- Russian PSK WW Contest
- February 18 -- Feld Hell Sprint
- February 18-19 -- ARRL International DX Contest (CW)
; AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO Party
- February 20 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- February 22 -- SKCC Sprint
- February 22-23 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
Next week:
- February 24 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- February 24-26 -- CQ 160 Meter Contest (SSB)
- February 25-26 -- Mississippi QSO Party; North American QSO Party
(RTTY); REF Contest (SSB); UBA DX Contest (CW)
- February 26 -- High Speed Club CW Contest; SARL Digital Contest
- February 26-27 -- North Carolina QSO Party
- February 27 -- CQC Winter QSO Sprint
All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page , the ARRL Contest Update
and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar for more
information. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out
the ARRL Special Event Stations Web page
.
> + ARRL HQ: ARRL HEADQUARTERS TO CLOSE IN OBSERVANCE OF PRESIDENTS
DAY
ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Presidents Day on
Monday, February 20. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice
transmissions that day.
ARRL Headquarters will reopen Tuesday, February 21 at 8 AM Eastern
Standard Time. We wish everyone a safe Presidents Day holiday.
> + BE A STAR! DEADLINE FOR SECOND ANNUAL ARRL VIDEO CONTEST IS
FEBRUARY 29
If you've ever wanted a way to show the world how exciting Amateur
Radio can be, here's your chance: The ARRL is sponsoring its Second
Annual Video Contest! Shoot a ham radio-related video and send it our
way. All videos must be postmarked by February 29, 2012. Burn your
video to a CD or DVD using the appropriate software and mail it to ARRL
Video Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Do not attempt to send
it via e-mail, as our e-mail system cannot accommodate large files.
Read more here
.
> UPCOMING ARRL SECTION, STATE AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS
- February 17-18 -- ARRL Southwestern Division Convention
,
Yuma, Arizona
- February 18 -- ARRL Arkansas Section Convention
, Hoxie,
Arkansas
- February 25 -- ARRL Vermont State Convention
,
South Burlington, Vermont
- March 3 -- ARRL Santa Clara Valley Section Convention
,
Del Rey Oaks, California; ARRL South Texas Section Convention
,
Rosenberg, Texas
- March 3-4 -- ARRL Alabama Section Convention
,
Birmingham, Alabama
- March 9-10 -- ARRL Louisiana State Convention
,
Rayne, Louisiana; ARRL Oklahoma State Convention
,
Claremore, Oklahoma
- March 10-11 -- ARRL Roanoke Division Convention
,
Concord, North Carolina
- March 17 -- ARRL Nebraska State Convention
,
Lincoln, Nebraska; ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention
,
Stuart, Florida; ARRL West Texas Section Convention
,
Midland, Texas
- March 23-24 -- ARRL Maine State Convention
, Lewiston,
Maine
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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