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Ärende: The Weekly ARRL Letter
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The ARRL Letter
November 14, 2019
* HamSCI Founder Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, Wins $1.3 Million
Ionosphere Study Grant
* World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 Enters Its Third Week
* RF-Seismograph Gets Traction in Hackaday
* So Now What? Podcast
* The K7RA Solar Update
* Just Ahead in Radiosport
* More Than 1 Million Contacts Logged During 2019 ARRL Field Day
* AMSAT Says HuskySat-1 is Paving the Way for Further Cooperation
* IARU and Amateur Radio Are Reaching "An Inflection Point"
* In Brief...
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
HamSCI Founder Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, Wins $1.3 Million Ionosphere
Study Grant
Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, now a University of Scranton physics and
electrical engineering professor, has won a $1.3 million National
Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study weather effects in the
ionosphere by leveraging a network of amateur radio stations. Frissell
is perhaps best known within the amateur radio community as the founder
of HamSCI, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation initiative. The
Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments (DASI) project will be
implemented over 3 years. As principal investigator, Frissell -- a
space physicist -- will head a collaborative team that will develop
ground-based space science observation instruments and software. His
research effort will recruit multiple universities and radio amateurs
to operate a network of personal space weather stations.
"I'm very excited," Frissell told ARRL. "This grant is extremely
exciting for both ham radio and ionospheric research. Perhaps more than
the money, it means that the NSF is recognizing the good work that we,
as hams, are doing and the contribution we can make in the future."
Frissell said the grant demonstrates that the scientific community is
taking amateur radio seriously. "This is great for ham radio, as it
provides yet another avenue for us to contribute to the art and science
of radio in a meaningful way," he said.
The space weather equipment will be developed at two levels of
sophistication -- one at a low-cost, easy-to-use level for radio
amateurs, and another, more complex version for university partners
that will allow the collection of additional data.
"The equipment and network allows us to measure and characterize
ionospheric and geomagnetic short-term, small-scale variability on a
large geographic scale in order to understand the response of the
ionosphere to sources from above (space weather) and below (atmospheric
forcing)," Frissell explained in his grant proposal. "By designing
personal space weather station variants at multiple price points, open
sourcing the hardware and software, and directly engaging with the ham
radio community, this project maximizes the chances of widespread
adoption of this system." Frissell intends to focus his recruitment
efforts through HamSCI and TAPR. Read more.
World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 Enters Its Third Week
Intense discussions of the most contentious agenda items marked the
second week of World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), but
very little was resolved.
"It is clear that long days and nights are ahead in the last 2 weeks,"
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ,
observed earlier this week. Representatives of the IARU and its
member-societies -- 14 in all -- are attending all or part of the
conference. IARU is admitted in a non-advisory capacity. Those
representing IARU may attend meetings but may not participate unless
asked by the chairman to provide information. Sumner reported on where
issues affecting the amateur services stand at the midway point of the
conference.
50 MHz in Region 1: While a couple of details remain to be worked out
as to how other existing services in Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and the
Middle East) will be protected from interference, there is agreement
that the amateur service should gain entry at 50 MHz in the
international Table of Frequency Allocations for Region 1. The present
6-meter allocations in Regions 2 and 3 will be unchanged. Region 1
administrations came to the conference holding disparate views on this
agenda item, ranging from a 4 MHz primary allocation to no allocation
at all. Sumner said a delicate compromise led to a positive outcome.
"While it is too early to celebrate, we are cautiously optimistic that
the compromise will hold," Sumner reported. In a separate report, Radio
Amateurs of Canada Special visor Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN, said that
hammering out a 6-meter Region 1 allocation "has been a long and
frustrating process," and that a 4 MHz primary allocation similar to
that available in Regions 2 and 3 is an unlikely outcome.
IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ
(left), gives an encouraging thumbs
up at WRC-19. On the right is IARU
Region 1 representative Dave Court,
EI3IO. [Photo courtesy of the Radio
Society of Great Britain]
Future Agenda Items: The IARU is not seeking any agenda items for
future WRCs at this conference. With the spectrum from 8.3 kHz to 275
GHz fully allocated and some bands above 275 GHz already identified for
particular uses, any proposal for new allocations involves sharing with
one or more incumbent services.
"The pressures for spectrum access to accommodate new uses for
commercial purposes are intense; for an established service such as
ours, any WRC that does not reduce our own useful spectrum access is a
success," Sumner said.
The notion of including 144 - 146 MHz in a study of non-safety
aeronautical mobile service applications has not resurfaced at WRC-19.
The IARU is, however, concerned about a proposed item for WRC-23,
"Review of the amateur service and the amateur-satellite service
allocations to ensure the protection of the radionavigation-satellite
service (space-to-Earth) in the frequency band 1240 - 1300 MHz." A
single, well-documented and quickly resolved case of interference to a
Galileo (GPS) receiver 5 years ago prompted the proposed agenda item.
"The IARU recognizes the concern and does not want the amateur service
to affect the operation of the Galileo system in any way," Sumner said.
WRC-19 will conclude on November 22. Read more.
RF-Seismograph Gets Traction in Hackaday
Alex Schwarz, VE7DXW, has theorized for some time now that his
RF-Seismograph, initially aimed at indicating band openings, seemed to
also act as a real seismograph of sorts, with effects of earthquakes
affecting HF noise levels and -- going out on a limb -- actually
briefly enhancing HF propagation (click on image). Schwarz has some
support from Professor Kosuke Heki of Hokkaido University in Japan, who
has been researching whether changes occur in the ionosphere as a
result of an earthquake.
[IMG]The work of both citizen scientist Schwarz and space geodesy
expert Heki caught the attention of Hackaday, the online publication
with a stated goal of promoting "the free and open exchange of ideas
and information." A November 12 Hackaday article, "HF Propagation and
Earthquakes," outlines the observations of both men. According to the
article, Heki "knew that changes in the ionosphere can affect GPS and
GNSS receivers on the ground, and with Japan's vast network of
receivers to keep track of the smallest of movements of the Earth's
crust, he was able to spot an anomalous buildup of electrons directly
above the devastating 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake that preceded the
earthquake by 40 minutes."
Heki's theory is along these lines: Chemical bonds in the rock --
specifically peroxy bonds between two oxygen atoms -- are broken by
microfractures, leaving one side of the peroxy bond with excess
electrons and the other with a positive hole. "These holes tend to
migrate from high stress to unstressed areas of the rock, which leads
them to eventually reach the surface, leaving it with a net positive
charge," the Hackaday piece says. "As stress in the rock below
increases, the number of positive holes reaching the surface rapidly
multiplies, drawing electrons from the atmosphere to balance the
charge. The moving charges generate an enormous electromagnetic field
that can reach all the way up to the ionosphere, creating just the kind
of anomalies that Professor Heki observed."
Alex Schwarz, VE7DXW, spoke at
the 2015 ARRL-TAPR Digital
Communications Conference.
[Photo courtesy of
HamRadioNow]
This week, Schwarz reported that the US Geological Survey recorded nine
"significant earthquakes" on November 11, eight of which also were
recorded by his RF-Seismograph. According to Schwarz, several small
quakes early in the morning "opened the 40-meter band slightly, but the
precursor of the quake [in Neiafu, Tonga] created a disturbance
starting 4 hours prior to the quake and a total radio blackout between
0330 UTC and 0550 UTC. The quakes in late morning did not have a great
effect on the local propagation. The one from Vanuatu created 80-meter
propagation for 10 minutes only. At 2340 UTC, another quake from
Indonesia opened the 30-meter band again," Schwarz said.
The Hackaday article concludes, "Clearly, the RF-Seismograph is not yet
ready to claim to have a solid predictive ability for earthquakes. For
that matter, Dr. Heki's space-based observations aren't ready to stake
that claim either. But it certainly looks like ionospheric changes can
be correlated to earthquakes, both in time and space..."
So Now What? Podcast
"Navigating the Nets," with guest Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL Field
Services Supervisor, will be the focus of the new (November 14) episode
of the So Now What? podcast for amateur radio newcomers.
If you're a newly licensed amateur radio operator, chances are you have
lots of questions. This biweekly podcast has answers! So Now What?
offers insights from those who've been just where you are now. New
episodes will be posted every other Thursday, alternating new-episode
weeks with the ARRL The Doctor is In podcast.
So Now What? is sponsored by LDG Electronics, a family owned and
operated business with laboratories in southern Maryland that offers a
wide array of antenna tuners and other amateur radio products.
ARRL Communications Content Producer Michelle Patnode, W3MVP, and ARRL
Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, co-host the podcast. Presented as a
lively conversation, with Patnode representing newer hams and Carcia
the veteran operators, the podcast will explore questions that newer
hams may have and the issues that keep participants from staying active
in the hobby. Some episodes will feature guests to answer questions on
specific topic areas.
Listeners can find So Now What? on Apple iTunes, Blubrry, Stitcher
(free registration required, or browse the site as a guest) and through
the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices. Episodes
will be archived on the ARRL website.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: With little to no solar activity,
it's amazing how many HF DX contacts are possible, even without taking
advantage of so-called weak-signal modes such as FT8. Recent
DXpeditions, such as the ones on Pitcairn Island and the Marquesas, had
little trouble piling up the contacts, even on 10 meters. It helps that
fall is upon us.
No sunspots over the past week, and average daily solar flux was about
the same as last week, 70.3 compared to 70.4. Geomagnetic indices were
still quiet, with average daily planetary A index at 4 (last week was
4.1) and middle latitude A index at 3 (compared to 2.7).
Predicted solar flux is 71 on November 14 - December 3; 70 on December
4 - 18; and 71 on December 19 - 28.
Predicted planetary A index is 5 on November 14 - 15; 12 and 8 on
November 16 - 17; 5 on November 18 - 19; 18, 25, 18, 12, and 10 on
November 20 - 24; 8 on November 25 - 26; 5 on November 27 - December
16; 15, 25, 18, 12, and 10 on December 17 - 21; 8 on December 22 - 23,
and 5 on December 24 - 28.
Sunspot numbers for November 7 - 13 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with
a mean of 0. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 69.8, 70.2, 69.6, 70.8, 69.5,
70.8, and 71.1, with a mean of 70.4. Estimated planetary A indices were
5, 3, 4, 3, 7, 4, and 2, with a mean of 4.1. Middle latitude A index
was 3, 2, 3, 2, 7, 3, and 1, with a mean of 2.7.
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 K9LA's Propagation Page.
A propagation bulletin archive is available. Monthly charts offer
propagation projections between the US and a dozen DX locations.
Share your reports and observations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Just Ahead in Radiosport
* November 15 -- YO International PSK31 Contest
* November 16 -- Feld Hell Sprint
* November 16 -- All Austrian 160-Meter Contest (CW)
* November 16 -- RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest (CW)
* November 16 - 17 -- REF 160-Meter Contest (CW)
* November 16 - 17 -- ARRL EME Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* November 16 - 17 -- LZ DX Contest (CW, phone)
* November 16 - 18 -- ARRL November Sweepstakes (Phone)
* November 17 -- Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment Party (CW)
* November 18 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
* November 19 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
* November 20 -- RSGB 80-Meter Autumn Series (Phone)
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth
reporting on amateur radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest
Update via your ARRL member profile email preferences.
More Than 1 Million Contacts Logged During 2019 ARRL Field Day
ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE, reports that nearly
1.1 million contacts were made during the 2019 ARRL Field Day -- the
most popular operating event in North America. Bourque reported the
2019 ARRL Field Day results, which are available starting on page 64 of
the digital edition of the December 2019 issue of QST. Bourque says in
his article that more than 36,000 radio amateurs took part in 2019
Field Day across all 83 ARRL/Radio Amateurs of Canada Sections, up
slightly from the 35,250 reported last year. The total number of
contacts was down by about 7% from 2018's 1.18 million contacts.
The Williamsburg Area Amateur
Radio Club (WAARC) operated Field
Day 2019 from Virginia using the
club's call sign K4RC. GOTA
Station operator Solana Stevenson
beams, with her mother Mari Ann
Stevenson in back at the left and
grandfather Randy Altona, KM4YSN,
in back at the right, with GOTA
Coach Chuck White, AI4WU. [Dan
Ewart, WG4F, photo]
"This year, 3,113 entries were received from local clubs and emergency
operations centers (EOCs), as well as individual portable, mobile, and
home stations," Bourque wrote in QST. Most entries were in Class A --
club or non-club groups of three or more.
Of the nearly 1.1 million contacts, approximately 46% were made on
phone, and 456,000 (42%) of contacts were made on CW. The remaining
138,000+ (12%) of the contacts were made on digital modes, such as FT8
and RTTY.
"This is a substantial increase compared to 2018, when total QSOs on
the digital modes numbered just over 56,000," Bourque reported. "With
the late 2018 release of WSJT-X (which now supports Field Day
exchanges), many participants made use of FT8's ability to communicate
when band conditions weren't being cooperative."
Top 10 scores ranged between W3AO's Class 14A entry from Maryland-DC,
with 32,356 points, to W1NVT's 14,876-point Class 2A entry from
Vermont.
Bourque said that 95% of the 3,113 entries received came through the
Field Day web applet.
"Not only is ARRL Field Day an opportunity to sharpen operating skills
in temporary and portable locations, it's also an occasion to showcase
amateur radio to the local community," Bourque wrote.
Soapbox comments for Field Day 2019 are available on the ARRL website.
ARRL Field Day 2020 will take place June 27 - 28.
AMSAT Says HuskySat-1 is Paving the Way for Further Cooperation
AMSAT says it had to maneuver some regulatory challenges in
establishing its partnership with the University of Washington to share
the just-launched HuskySat-1. The satellite went into space on November
2 aboard a Cygnus cargo vessel, which docked to the International Space
Station. HuskySat-1 will be boosted into a higher orbit and deployed in
January, and once it completes its primary mission, it will be turned
over to AMSAT for operation of its linear transponder sometime in the
second quarter of 2020. AMSAT Vice President-Engineering Jerry Buxton,
N0JY, explained this week that the AMSAT-UW partnership presented some
regulatory challenges, but has paved the way for similar partnerships
in the future.
"The [FCC] Part 97 license that AMSAT will operate under does not
include or allow the use of any of the experiments on board," Buxton
explained. "As those experiments were not able to conform to Part 97's
so-called 'educational exemption,' including the K-band radio, two
licenses were required." UW obtained a Part 5 Experimental license to
cover the telemetry downlink of the AMSAT transponder module, but the
transponder must remain off during that operation. The AMSAT
transponder module will operate under an FCC Part 97 Amateur Service
license.
"This was the first partnership with an educational institution where
an AMSAT radio was flown on a non-AMSAT (UW in this case) CubeSat,"
Buxton said. "In the process of working with the FCC and NASA to obtain
a single Part 97 license that was not complicated or restricted by
'pecuniary interest,' the experience developed an understanding with
FCC as to how a mission such as HuskySat-1 could be fully licensed
under Part 97."
AMSAT Vice President-Engineering
Jerry Buxton, N0JY.
Buxton said delays and difficulties encountered in executing all of the
requirements to qualify under Part 97 ultimately bumped up against the
mission deadline to have a license in hand, so the CubeSat could be
integrated on the launch vessel. "The only way forward at that time, in
order for UW to make the launch, was to do the separate licensing,"
Buxton said.
"I thank and commend our partners at University of Washington as well
as the FCC for their work to make it happen, and our friends at NASA
for giving us the opportunity to push for a path to amateur radio
licensing for more of the CubeSat launches they sponsor," Buxton
remarked. "I believe that it has resulted in a known path toward fully
Part 97-licensed educational (e.g., university) CubeSats. That should
in turn offer more opportunities for AMSAT radios to fly as the
communications package for a mission as well as an operating amateur
radio satellite, in the same way as the CubeSats we produce."
After deployment, HuskySat-1's 1,200 bps BPSK beacon on 435.800 MHz
should be active and decodable with the latest release of FoxTelem.
HuskySat-1 is expected to run its primary mission for 30 days --
testing a pulsed plasma thruster and experimental 24 GHz data
transmitter -- before being turned over to AMSAT for amateur radio
operation. HuskySat-1 will feature a 30 kHz-wide 145-435 MHz linear
transponder for SSB/CW. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service
IARU and Amateur Radio Are Reaching "An Inflection Point"
Participants at the 45th meeting of the International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU) ministrative Council (AC) in late September discussed
the organization's role in advancing amateur radio. The IARU released a
summary record of the meeting last week. IARU President Tim Ellam,
VE6SH/G4HUA, who chaired the AC meeting in Lima, Peru, observed that
the IARU and amateur radio are reaching what he called "an inflection
point." He asserted that amateur radio is changing, but the IARU and
its member-societies are not.
Ellam's remarks prefaced a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges to
be overcome if the IARU and amateur radio itself are to remain
relevant. After several hours of discussion, AC participants agreed on
four top-level headings to identify the challenges that must be faced:
* What is amateur radio?
* The roles of IARU and its member-societies
* Recruitment into amateur radio
* IARU finances
The AC also agreed that it is essential to involve younger people from
outside the Council in determining how to address these challenges, and
the three IARU regions were asked to identify individuals who "could
take ownership of these topics."
A small working group was named, consisting of IARU Region 2 Vice
President Ram¢n Santoyo, XE1KK; Region 2 Area A Director George
Gorsline, VE3YV, and IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ. Using
topics discussed to develop a starting point, the panel will aim to
have a draft version of a plan by mid-December to address the
challenges that would serve as a basis for further discussion.
IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and the Middle East) has been a leader
in marshalling interest among next-generation radio amateurs,
sponsoring Youngsters On The Air (YOTA), and other youth-related
activities, including an annual summer camp attended by young radio
amateurs from around Region 1. IARU Region 3 noted at the Council
meeting that it plans a Youth on the Air activity in Thailand next
October and expressed the hope that Regions 1 and 2 can participate.
To keep informed on IARU happenings, subscribe to the ARRL-IARU online
group, moderated by IARU Secretary Dave Sumner, K1ZZ. Read more.
In Brief...
There's still time to work TX7T in the Marquesas Islands. The Marquesas
TX7T DXpedition, sponsored by the CAN-AM DXpedition Group, moved onto
Hiva Oa on November 6. The team will head home on November 19.
Typically, three or four stations are on the air on CW, SSB, and FT8 on
all of the 160 - 10 meter bands. Europe is a key target area, and
"every attempt will be made to take advantage of propagation," the
DXpedition has indicated. The DXpedition is mostly funded by the
operators themselves, but contributions are welcome and will go toward
freight and shipping costs. The Marquesas Islands rank #59 on the Club
Log DXCC Most Wanted list. The TX7T logs are available on OQRS.
A spectrogram
of the Russian
"Contayner"
OTHR. [Image
courtesy of
Wolf Hadel,
DK2OM]
OTH Radar is now reported to be "everywhere." The latest International
Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) newsletter
reports the Russian "Contayner" over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) has been
active in the 7, 10, 14, and 18 MHz amateur radio allocations (amateur
radio is primary on 40, 20, and 17 meters). The OTHR transmissions have
been 40 sweeps/second, FM on pulse, and 12 kHz wide. ditionally,
IARUMS reports a significant increase in Russian military traffic using
F1B, PSK, and orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) on 40, 30,
20, and 15 meters. IARUMS on November 13 reported an OTHR in northern
Iran on 6.078 - 7.022 MHz, AM on pulse, 81 sweeps/second, 44 kHz wide.
Access to 60 meters continues to expand. According to the latest
edition of The 5 MHz Newsletter, regulatory agencies in an expanding
list of countries have granted amateur radio access to a 60-meter band.
A secondary allocation of 5.351.5 - 5.366.5 MHz was released to radio
amateurs in Kuwait, where they will adhere to the World
Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) allocation, permitting a
maximum power of 15 W EIRP. Indonesian and Greek hams recently gained
access to the same allocation. Meanwhile, Israel has extended
authorization of 5 MHz amateur permits to the end of December 2023 and
added a Channel 0 to the existing eight channels, where hams may run
100 W PEP on several modes, depending upon the channel. Still under
discussion is ham radio access to a 5 MHz secondary band in Australia,
where the band is used by some emergency services and law enforcement.
Nearly 80 countries offer some level of amateur access to the 5 MHz
band. In the US, ARRL petitioned the FCC shortly after WRC-15 to
allocate a secondary 60-meter band and to permit 100 W PEP, as already
authorized on the existing channels there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
* November 16 -- Indiana Section Convention, Fort Wayne, Indiana
* December 13 - 14 -- West Central Florida Section Convention, Plant
City, Florida
* January 4 -- New York City-Long Island Section Convention,
Brookville, New York
* January 17 - 18 -- North Texas Section Convention, Forest Hill,
Texas
* January 19 - 25 -- Quartzfest, Quartzsite, Arizona
* January 24 - 26 -- Puerto Rico State Convention, Hatillo, Puerto
Rico
* January 25 -- ARRL Midwest Conference (Winterfest), Collinsville,
Illinois
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
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