ARRL Warns Experimental Licensee to Avoid Interference to HF Ham Activity

23 Pages·2012·1.17 MB·English

March 2015
Club President:
Larry Unfried ARRL Warns Experimental Licensee to Avoid
(WA9KJV)
Interference to HF Ham Activity
Vice President:
William Dusenbery
02/13/2015
(N9OQK) The ARRL has asked a Massachusetts company that plans to conduct experimental transmissions
Secretary: over wide portions of the HF spectrum either to avoid Amateur Radio allocations or to announce
Mary Ellen Sundstrom the times and frequencies of their transmissions in advance. The FCC last fall granted MITRE
(KA9ZTJ) Corporation of Bedford, Massachusetts, a 2-year Part 5 Experimental License, WH2XCI, to
Treasurer: operate 21 transmitters at 10 fixed New York and Massachusetts sites. MITRE plans to test
wideband HF communication techniques on a variety of bands between 2.5 MHz and 16 MHz.
Mike Phillips
(N0RSP) “[I]t will not be possible for MITRE to operate these transmitters within the Amateur Radio
Board Members: Service allocations…without causing harmful interference to a large number of Amateur Radio
Bill Schmidt operators on an ongoing basis,” ARRL Chief Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, said in a February 12
(WA0JCO) letter to MITRE.
Frank Shears Imlay said that if MITRE does not agree to avoid ham radio bands or to announce times and
(K7RMJ) frequencies of transmissions ahead of time, it will ask the FCC to rescind the company’s
Repeater Chair: Experimental License or to impose a prior notification requirement “in real time for each and
Marty Schultz every use of the transmitters authorized at each site.”
(N9PPJ)
The WH2XCI Experimental License authorizes maximum bandwidths of 5 kHz, 500 kHz, and 1
Newsletter Editor: MHz at effective radiated power levels of 6 W, 24 W, or 122 W. MITRE has indicated that most
Jason Cato bandwidths would be between 100 and 300 kHz.
(KB9LBC)
“At these power levels with the operating parameters proposed, it will be impossible to conduct
your tests at any time within the Amateur Radio allocations and, at the same time, avoid harmful
Our website is; interference,” Imlay said. He noted that MITRE already conceded this point in a technical exhibit
www.w9aiu.org submitted to the FCC with respect to its 1 MHz bandwidth mode.
Our Facebook Page is;
Imlay said that when interference from MITRE’s wide-bandwidth transmitters “inevitably occurs
https://www.facebook.com/
in the narrow-bandwidth, sensitive receivers” hams use, amateur licensees will have no way to
W9AIU determine the source of the interference or know to whom they might complain. “Thus, your
Our Facebook Group is ; assurance of operation on a ‘non-interference basis’ is meaningless under the circumstances, and
https://www.facebook.com/ yet that is both a special condition of operation” of the WH2XCI license and under FCC Part 5
groups/765454553468182/ regulations, Imlay told MITRE.
“It is ARRL’s intention to ensure that this experimental authorization, improvidently granted to
Our repeaters are: the extent that it includes heavily used Amateur Radio allocations, is not permitted to cause
146.760 – PL 141.3 in interference to ongoing Amateur Radio HF communications,” Imlay concluded.MITRE obtained
downtown St. Louis, MO the Experimental License to investigate high data rate wideband HF communication systems that
with an EchoLink Node exploit polarization diversity multiple input, multiple output concepts to expand the bandwidth
#541608 of the communication channel.
146.790 – PL 127.3 in
Edwardsville, IL
224.060 – No PL in
Edwardsville, IL
442.400 + PL 127.3 in
Edwardsville, IL
RadioShack’s Long, Slow Downward Slide Nears the End
The end is near for RadioShack. It seems inevitable that the once
seemingly ubiquitous electronics and cell phone retailer will liquidate
its assets, after which RadioShack would cease to exist. A number of
legal steps would come first, including a likely bankruptcy filing. The
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) delisted RadioShack on February 2,
after the company failed to provide a plan to address a lack of
compliance with NYSE rules related to maintenance of company
value. BloombergBusiness has reported that behind-the-scenes talks
are under way to sell approximately half of RadioShack’s owned-and-
operated stores to Sprint and shutter the remaining outlets, although
other scenarios involving other entities are possible.
The nearly century-old Fort Worth, Texas, based retailer — once a go-
to shop for electronic components and, at one point, even Amateur
Radio and shortwave receivers — has lost 90 percent of its value over
the past year, despite efforts to refinance and modernize its stores.
Before it was delisted on Monday, RadioShack’s stock was selling for
just 24 cents a share.
The hedge fund Standard General LP loaned the retailer $535 million
last fall and would be the lead bidder in a bankruptcy filing and
debtor-in-possession financing, BloombergBusiness said.
RadioShack once offered entry-level short-wave receivers, Citizens
Band gear, a wide array of discrete components — including
transistors, resistors, and capacitors — and, for a time, a fairly
popular 2 meter hand-held transceiver and two different models of
10 meter single-band transceivers, although it failed in its effort to
market a VHF/UHF hand-held radio. Over the years, RadioShack has
offered fewer discrete components in its brick-and-mortar stores,
moving that stock and other products to its online outlet, as it shifted
its marketing focus to cell phones, consumer electronics, and various
battery-operated gadgets.
A year ago, after a dismal holiday showing, RadioShack announced
plans to close 1100 stores, including 900 company-owned outlets.
Due to the high costs involved with closing the stores, liquidating
merchandise, lease penalties, and severances, however, the company
has been able to shut down fewer than 200 outlets. RadioShack was
reported to have about $60 million in cash heading into the 2014
holiday season.
RadioShack has had no comment on the reports.
From the top...
**Did you get them? Did you hear them? K1N from Navassa Island is history. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has said that this
won't happen again for at least another 20 years (Insert long discussion as to why this would be so about a rock covered in bird
poop). Hopefully, you got your contact. I heard very little in the moment about deliberate QRM during the exercise, although I'm
sure that it was out there. Some people just can't help themselves.
**The crew from Navassa did make a request early on for folks to turn off the speech processors. Apparently, those without
amplifiers (and some with them!) feel that the best way to crack the pileup is to crank up the processor. And, you will get noticed:
as the lid who's trashing that frequency and several kHz to either side. In any case, it's a sound practice to use minimal or no
processor. Just because the button is there doesn't mean that we have to push it.
**Now, all that we need to do is get Dennis Rodman to ask his close personal friend Short Round about allowing a DXpedition to
the DPRK.
**No new version of HR-4969

Get informed...
**Concerning is a 2 year duration Part 5 Experimental License issued to the MITRE Corporation. The license allows them to test
wideband communications transmitters in the bands between 2.5 and 16MHz. The maximum bandwidth permitted for the
duration is 1MHz. That can raise a lot of Cain with Amateur communications in that range. The League has already gone on record
stating that MITRE should not plop their tests in the allocated Amateur bands. More disturbing is that MITRE appears to be a fair
sized government contractor. We can safely assume that there is a perceived need somewhere for this type of wideband
communications. Which is my long way of saying that it's not just 2 meters and above that are attractive to commercial interests.
Now, the HF bands are also under attack. The FCC has not really shown great concern for our allocations recently. Witness the
Recon Scout debacle, where a piece of 70's technology was given a home in the 70cm band and marketed to public safety as the
greatest thing since sliced bread. Never mind that the thing uses obsolescent and unencrypted technology that anyone with a
sliver of technical prowess can monitor or take control. But, I digress. We need to be aware of these encroachments and be
prepared to make a stiff fight as they are made reality.
**Severe Weather spotter training season is in full swing, with spotter talks scheduled by each local Weather Service forecast
office. Check with your local NWS office or with your local/county EMA/ESDA.
**News that the FCC will stop issuing paper licenses has created no small irritation. My personal concern is the ability to produce
an 'official' paper license to public safety so as not to be charged with hands-free violations. Most of us have ink-jet printers whose
cartridges cost more than the printer itself. Not very conducive to producing an FCC quality copy from the website. Also hoping
that there's an option to produce something without "Reference Copy Only" across it.

Around the Section...
**While we're discussing severe weather, John Simon N9TMM sends news of the upcoming Tri-State Severe Weather and
Preparedness Conference. This is to be held on 28 March in Quincy at the Salvation Army Kroc Center. There is a fee as they are
going to feed you and the presenters appear to be top notch. Details at the Adams County EMA website.
**I've given word that I will again speak at the West Central Illinois Hamfest on 1 August in Carlinville. It was a good crowd last
year and a nice ride The flyer hasn't yet been posted, but details will appear on the Macoupin County ARC websitewhen available.
If invited to speak somewhere, I'll do my best to be there.
**In their Feedline Newsletter, the Western IL ARC contains a pretty comprehensive list of other DXpeditions and DX of note.
There is some other stuff going on.
**Closing with a hearty congratulations to all involved in the Navassa exercise, especially our own Craig Thompson K9CT and Jerry
Rosalius WB9Z. The total? 138409 contacts!
DALE BAGLEY, K0KY MO SM
I am looking forward to the new and improved Missouri QSO Party that will be held April 4, 2015 to April 5, 2015, sponsored
by the Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society. Randy Wing, N0LD, and the BEARS team have made some significant changes
that will increase the participation and the competition in the 2015 MO QSO Party. Randy wrote a really great article that
appeared in the February Midwest Division Newsletter. If you missed it, check out the link
athttp://www.arrlmidwest.org/newsletter/newsletter.pdf. A few of the changes for the QSO Party 2015 include a simplification of
the exchange. In 2015 participants will give their name, RST and Location and no sequence number. There will be more operating
categories, non-repeater VHF operation and digital modes. You can check out all of the rules at the
linkhttp://www.w0ma.org/mo_qso_party/Rules/MOQP-Rules-2015.pdf . There will be at least 19 plaques for the top scores of
each class. Clubs and individuals can sponsor one of these plaques; the cost will be $50.00. Prospective sponsors can contact
Randy at [email protected] .
I want to encourage the Missouri Section members to take advantage of Weather Spotter Training in their Area. In the
Kansas City and Northwest MO area you can find the NWS Spotter Training Schedule at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?
n=outreach-schedule . In the St Louis Area you should check outhttp://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=schedule and in the Springfield
area the website for the Spotter Training can be found at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=spotter_classes_index . The Southeast
MO area training is part of the region that includes Kentucky and Illinois and the link to that schedule
ishttp://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/?n=spottertraining . I’m sure that there are some Counties I have missed, but almost everyone
can find some training using one of these links.
JANUARY HAMFESTS 2015 REPORT
The St. Louis and Suburban Radio Club, Winterfest 2015 was held January 24, 2015, in Collinsville, IL at the Gateway
Convention Center. As usual the tables were sold out, and folks were elbow to elbow in the aisles for most of the morning. The St
Louis and Suburban Radio Club did a wonderful job coordinating the event and making Winterfest one of the largest Hamfest in
the Midwest.
AFFILIATED CLUB NEWS KEITH HAYE, WE0G, ACC
The Macon County Amateur Radio Club has re-elected Larry Ballew, AB0HP, as President, Ralph Howard, WD6BGN, as V.P.
and Charlie Roberts, WB0HLW, is the Sec/Treas. President Ballew announced that the Club QSO party would be January 31 and
Feb 1, 2015. Some of the other 2015 activities that MCARC will include four VE Sessions, participating in ARRL Field Day,
upgrading the MCARC Emergency Trailer, continuing the MCARC Mentoring program and sponsoring the Lester Dent – Doc Savage
Special event. The MCARC meets on the last Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Macon Community Development Building.
The Callaway Amateur Radio League will be electing their 2015 officers at the February meeting because the January
meeting was cancelled due to illness.The Boone County Simulated Emergency Test had 29 participants. The CARL members
provided simplex relay from County Health Station, and repeater contact for emergency communications. At the December
meeting it was reported that the Repeater was working well and work on the Shack, Grounds and other issues will be dealt with in
the spring.
The Hannibal Amateur Radio Club will hold Their February Dinner Meeting at Golden Corral the 14th of February at 6:30 pm.
Don Vary, KD0HHN, HARC President reported the “Member of the Year “award has been ordered. Howard (K0DFW) was selected
last month as “Member of the Year” and will be presented the award at the Dinner Meeting. Don announced at the January
meeting that Long time DX reporter for the HARC News, Mike Nowack, NA9Q, has informed the club that he will not be doing the
DX column in the newsletter and that a replacement is needed. Don thanked Mike for all the interesting stories he has written
over the years and expressed the HARC appreciation for his effort.

wb0hsi.org http://www.wb0hsi.org/class-exam.html
The Saint Charles Amateur Radio Club
Amateur Radio Classes
The St. Charles Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring an Amateur Radio Technician License Course, an Amateur Extra
Class License Upgrade Course and an Introduction To Emergency Communications courses. The courses will be
held at St. Charles Community College, 4601 Mid Rivers Mall DR, Cottleville, MO 63376.
Class Descriptions:
Technician
Ham radio provides the broadest and most powerful wireless communications capability available. An entry-level ham
radio license class that will give you the ability to communicate with other hams around the world using a variety of
modes. Textbook required, Ham Radio License Manual 3rd Edition Order # 0222 (ISBN 978-1-62595-013-0) $29.95.
Buy from SCARC and save shipping, from the ARRL or from Gateway Electronics.
Class ID: 7442 Register on-line here
Wednesday 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm; 10 sessions starting March 25, 2015 ending May 27, 2015 (exam date).
Tuition: $10.00
Instructor: Rick Crockett
Location: St. Charles Community College , Rm. SSB 2408
Registration Closes On: March 25, 2015 11:59 PM
Amateur Extra Class License
Instruction will lead you through all of the knowledge you need to pass the exam: rules, specific operating skills and
more advanced electronics theory. As an Amateur Extra Class license, you will have full privileges on all frequencies
authorized by the FCC for Amateur Radio.
Please read:
Prerequisite: Must already hold a General Class license. Textbook required, ARRL Extra Class License Manual 10th
Edition Order # 5170 (ISBN: 978-0-87259-517-0), Ward Silvers $29.95. Buy from SCARC and save shipping, or from
the ARRL.
Class ID: 7441 Register on-line here
Wednesday 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm; 10 sessions starting March 25, 2015 ending May 27, 2015 (exam date).
Tuition: $10.00
Instructor: Rick Crockett
Location: St. Charles Community College , Rm. SSB 2402
Registration Closes On: March 25, 2015 11:59 PM
Introduction to Emergency Communications (EC001)
An introductory course designed for Amateur Radio volunteers who want to serve as part of an ARES® response
team. Learn the skills and procedures required for basic disaster communications. Training is a vital step for
upgrading skills to a level that follows the FEMA guidelines.
Please Read:
Prerequisite: Must hold a valid Amateur Radio license.Textbook required, Introduction to Emergency Communication
Course 4th Edition Order # 7303 (EC-001) (ISBN: 978-0-87259-730-3) $24.95. Buy from SCARC and save shipping,
or from the ARRL.
Class ID: 7443 Register on-line here
Thursday 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm; 10 sessions starting March 26, 2015 ending May 28, 2015 (exam date).
Tuition: $10.00
Instructor: Rick Crockett
Location: St. Charles Community College , Rm. SSB 1406
Registration Closes On: March 25, 2015 11:59 PM
Monthly Examination Sessions
Exam sessions are usually held before club meetings at 6:30 pm on the 4th Monday of the month (except December)
at the club meeting location.
Please register in advance by email to [email protected] or [email protected]
You will need to bring:
Two forms of ID, at least one of which is a government issued photo ID (usually a drivers license)
Both the original and a photocopy of your existing license if upgrading
Your Federal Registration Number (FRN)
(Get one from the Federal Communications Comission at FRN Registration
You may bring a calculator if you wish; any memories must be cleared before the exam
$15 cash
Net
Notes
02/03/2015
Net was called to order at 8pm St Louis time

Net Control Station is K7RMJ, Frank in Florissant

Emergency Traffic = None

Special Announcements

- WA9KJV, Club meeting Feb 5th at Anderson Hospital. Also Feb 12 and
26 we will be meeting at the club house . The 12th is our first class, about
OHMs Law. On the 26th will be about Transformers and AC power Supplies. Also
we would like to gather on the 14th, 10 am. Weather permitting and put the
pass through window in. and possibly move some furniture in. The Boy Scouts
are very interested and we need volunteers to be merit badge councilors.
Also on the 21st the Antenna Buildedrs Guils will meet at 10 am. To design
and engineer antennas and possibly put some up., Pop Luck lunch.

Short Time QNI =
- K9FGO, John, doing well, thanks for the net, good evening to all.
- WA0RRZ, Ken, Going to get a little snow this evening. Stay warm.
Thanks for the net.
- KC9MDC, Jean, doing better tonight. Hoping to get to the meeting
Thursday if she can get a ride with Marty.

Echo Link QNI = Nobody on Echo Link at this time

Regular QNI =

- KC0ZIW, Pat, Good evening net, Carlton brought out a newsletter, he
brought out the PDHN a few days ago and recently put up a blurb on the
Raspberry Pie about the mesh network for $35. Also regarding the Hex Beam,
he says it looks like what you would expect as a hex beam but has a stinger.
He wonders if it will work on 40 meters. Pat emailed Emit at Radio Wavz
antennas and asked for a copy of the manual. The hex beam may be a good
project for the Antenna Builders. Might be tough to reverse engineer.
- WA0LIS, John, Don't worry about the transformer because it sat on
his desk for a while. He has been working on cleaning the bench and now
actually has a clean area on the bench. John has the dummy load Bill was
talking about and John has it started. He put the kit together and it is
ready to go. He has no oil in it yet but will take it to the meeting.
- N9PPJ, Marty, Doing well, been playing a lot lately with SDR
dongles. Some of the ones are being modified replacing the reference
crystals and replacing them with TXCO (Temperature Controlled Transmit
Oscillator). Giving a stability factor down to 0.5 ppm accuracy.
Off-the-shelf they have about a 5 ppm accuracy. Marty says the dongle drifts
a little using his FT950 but he is going to see where we can get some of
those oscillators. Perhaps we can get another group buy with them. If
interested you can email Marty at [email protected]
- WA0KUZ, Jim, Howdy folks, doing okay. Not much going on., Munching
on tater chips. Just checking in for the count.
- N0RSP, Mike, at home for a change on Tuesday evening. Not much
going on. Been going to the chiropractor in Collinsville and making good
progress. He was really happy to see everyone who showed up at Winterfest.
Thursday evening will be regular meeting at Anderson HOSPITAL, WE START
SHOWING UP AT 6 AND MEETING STARTS 6:30. We are working on getting PDHN in
print for those who want it mailed. PO Box 562, Granite City, IL 62040.
- KA9BGT, Checking in this evening, Jim in Granite City a couple
doors down from WA9KJV.
- AA9KC, John, He commends NCS on his total recall, you remembered
near but not IN Horseshoe Lake. He needs someone to explain to him something
about LEDs. Someone said they had their whole house lit with them. He is
thinking about replacing an outside light with one but he doesn't know about
the brightness but the normal bulb he uses is 1200 lumen. Are the LED bulbs
brighter? Also will they work outside?
- Comment = WA0LIS says he paid about $8 for one he put in the garage
and it draws 9 watts and is rated at 600 to 800 lumen and works great. They
also have those flood lamps too. He has seen some that have candelabra base
(small screw in base) and they are much brighter than regular ones and
expected life is 23 years.
- Comment = KC0ZIW says he got on the LED band wagon early and put
them in his camper. The regular bulbs were getting black on the inside and
he replaced them with LEDs. They make multiple LED bulbs, one bulb socket
with several LEDs in it and is nice and bright.
- WA0JCO, Bill, Good evening all. Regarding the LEDs. He has a
house-full of the CFL stuff and they do not bother radio with noise. The
brand name was CRE or CREE or something. He bought one and put it in the
shack and tested them and found no additional noise. They reduce the CFL by
3 to 4 watts and have a longer life. He had one die and they swapped it out
no charge. He also bought a couple strips from Jason Schmidt at Winterfest,
12 volt versions for camper use. $10 for a strip 15 feet long. They save
energy and are probably the wave of the future. Bill will be at the meeting
and take the dummy load to her. She has an LED light in her shack that
lights up when on the air that is pretty cool. Bill has been working on the
AMP. However, the caps hit the breakdown voltage of the insulation. So he
took it apart and the insulation has a fairly high resistance. So he rebuilt
the capacitor pack, version 2.1 now. He is putting 10 caps in where there
used to be 8 but they are roughly ½ the length of the old ones. 220 MF at
450 volts. Total MF is about 44 and the original was 50 but should work. Has
not caught DX expedition on Navassa Island on the air yet but they just
started and will be on the air two weeks so there is plenty of time to catch
them.

- NCS commented the Navassa Islands have not had any stations on the
air for over 20 years so they are a very desirable DX contact for those who
collect DX contacts.

Marty has RAIN report regarding Ham Radio and the American Legion 12 minutes
29 seconds.

N9PPJ, Marty began the RAIN report at 8:43 PM.

Are you active with the local American Legion Hall? DO they have a ham
station set up there? The American Legion magazine will have an article
about ham radio in the March, 2015 issue. They are a great organization of
over 2 million American military Veteran members. They have re-dedicated
themselves to helping in national emergencies and they believe ham radio is
very appropriate for that goal so they are open to installing a Ham Radio
station in many of the American Legion Halls around the US.

The best way to get a ham station in the hall is go to the legion web site
www.legion.org and you will find the information on how to get it done.

The legion accepts members of either active military or past military. K9TAL
is an American Legion call for their radio club. The club just recently
passed 2000 members.

To approach a Legion club a ham should remember they are not necessarily
caught up with recent technology. Amateur radio has advanced along with the
technology. We are no longer all wires, tubes and lots of noise coming out
of the basement. There are now many aspects of the hobby and things you can
do with it. Portable, mobile, space technology, put it in your car or RV,
put a new island on the air or a new mountain summit on the air. Not
everyhbody knows about this new technology in the hobby and would probably
be interested in getting licensed if they did know.