Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2403 for Friday November 17th, 2023

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2403 with a release date of Friday
November 17th, 2023 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A plan to grow commercial use of the radio
spectrum in the US. The FCC removes outdated restrictions on the
digital modes - and a YL in India has a ham radio movie-star moment.
All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2403 comes
your way right now.

**
BILLBOARD CART

**
US STRATEGY TARGETS 5 BANDS FOR EXPANDED SPECTRUM USE

JIM/ANCHOR: We begin this week with word of an official plan to expand
commercial use of the radio spectrum. A US agency is taking on an
ambitious study of how to accomplish it. Sel Embee KB3TZD brings us up
to date.

SEL: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
the US agency that advises the president on spectrum use, has released
a report focusing on the possible repurposing of five bands for
commercial use: the lower 3 GHz band, along with parts of the 5 GHz
band, 7 GHz band, 18 GHz band and the 37 GHz band, according to several
published accounts. In all, 2,786 MHz of spectrum were identified by
the agency at a time when the nation's wireless industry is pressing
for the same kind of expanded spectrum access available to commercial
interests in other countries. Commercial uses include satellite
operations, navigation, wireless broadband, internet-connected vehicles
and drone management.

The NTIA expects to conduct a study to identify the bands further and
to develop a strategy within18 months for the FCC's allocation of users
on the bands. According to Reuters, most of the frequencies being
studied are reserved for various parts of the US government.

I'm Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS)

**
FCC REMOVES OUTDATED RESTRICTIONS ON DIGITAL MODES

JIM/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, in an action that was long-awaited by many, the
FCC has removed what many considered to be outdated restrictions on
digital transmissions. The agency announced on Wednesday, November 13th
that it was establishing a 2.8-kHz bandwidth limitation on amateur
radio HF radio bands to replace the baud rate limitation. The move was
much-sought-after particularly by amateurs involved in emergency
communications. It will also encourage experimentation - a core
principle of ham radio. The FCC is still seeking comment on the
proposed removal of limitations on the baud rate - or symbol rate - in
the VHF and UHF bands as well as in the 2200-metre and 630-metre bands
and would like input on what the appropriate bandwidth limitation
mightbe.

(FCC)

**
FCC EXTENDS WINDOW FOR COMMENTS ON 60M PROPOSAL

JIM/ANCHOR: In other action, the FCC has extended the window to receive
comments on its proposed changes to the 60-metre band. The new deadline
is November 28th. The FCC would like to make changes to the band that
would allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 and 5366.5
kHz for amateur radio on a secondary basis. The proposed new band would
have a limit of 15 watts EIRP.

US General, Advanced and Extra Hams presently have five channels
available to them between 5332 and 5405 kHz - also on a secondary
basis. They are permitted an effective radiated power limit of 100
WPEP.

(FCC, ARRL)

**

VETERANS HONOR VETERANS VIA AMATEUR RADIO

JIM/ANCHOR: When more than 70 percent of your ham radio club's members
are either military veterans or on active duty, the US holiday known as
Veterans Day is no small matter. Kevin Trotman N5PRE introduces us to
just such a club.

KEVIN: Fayetteville, North Carolina marked Veterans Day a few days
early on November 4th with its annual parade but not all the public
attention was focused on those representing the US military in the
annual march. The Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society was on active duty at
the parade too and when the hams called QRZ, people took notice.

Hector Gonzalez, KB4LOA, the society vice president, said visitors had
lots of questions as they heard the hams' QSOs with others who, like
them, were veterans of the armed forces or still in active service.
Almost three-quarters of the North Carolina club's members have
connections to the US military.

Hector told Newsline that the annual event in Fayetteville was designed
to honor those who served but the presence of the hams sparked extra
interest for those who were looking to get involved in radio. Hector
said the hams were especially grateful for the organizing efforts of
Don Talbot, WO4SFA, a retired chief warrant officer from the Special
Forces. Hector said the day's activation showed everyone that hams who
are also veterans still remain in the country's service. He said:
[quote] "This holds a special meaning to all of us as an organization
because not only did most of us serve the grateful nation but [in] one
way or the other we continue to do so by way of serving our community
by rehearsing emergency communications every time we get on the air."
[endquote]

This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

(HECTOR GONZALEZ, KB4LOA)

**
"ROGUE SATELLITE" IS BAG OF TOOLS DROPPED BY ISS ASTRONAUT

JIM/ANCHOR: The newest NASA satellite in orbit some 200 miles above the
Earth isn't one you can contact by radio. In fact, it's not an official
satellite at all but a bag of tools missing from the International
Space Station. Kent Peterson KC0DGY tells us how it got lost in space.

KENT: NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, KI5WSL, and Loral O'Hara,
KI5TOM, were conducting a spacewalk on November 1st. They were tending
to a solar alpha rotary joint that helps the ISS track the sun and they
were conducting maintenance work on a communications antenna. That's
when it happened: the suitcase-size tool bag they were using slipped
free of Moghbeli's grasp and went off into space on a mission of its
own. According to various media accounts, the bag, which has an
exterior that reflects the sun, is now hurtling along at a few thousand
miles an hour on a journey that is expected to end when, just as with
another toolbox lost in 2009, it enters the Earth's atmosphere and
burns up.

So no, you can't make radio contact with this particular rogue
satellite but a number of people, including Japanese astronaut Satoshi
Furukawa, have been able to see it -- and at one point it was directly
over Mount Fuji. It is apparently not difficult to find if you have a
telescope or high-power binoculars. If you've seen this free-floating
toolbox and captured its image, the website EarthSky is hoping you'll
share it with them. All images can be uploaded using the link that
appears in this week's text version of the newscast at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: https://earthsky.org/community-submissions/ ]

This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.

(INDIANAPOLIS STAR, EARTHSKY.ORG)

**
SPECIAL CALLSIGN CELEBRATES WIA'S 90TH YEAR IN PRINT

JIM/ANCHOR: For many of us, if we aren't on the air, we're either
talking about it or reading about it. Hams in Australia are celebrating
a magazine that has helped them do all three - for 90 years. Graham
Kemp VK4BB has the details.

GRAHAM: Amateur Radio Magazine, the Journal of the Wireless Institute
of Australia, has had real staying power - in fact, it is marking its
90th year in 2023 - but the special callsign honouring the magazine
won't be around for too much longer. You have until the 31st of
December to contact special event station VK90AR (VK-ninety-AR), which
is being operated on a roster basis by hams in Australia.

You never know who you're going to work when you answer the call. One
of the operators is Sergio, VK3SO, who designs and lays out each
68-page issue. The magazine has come a long way from its earliest
24-page issue, conceived of by the WIA's then-president, George
Thompson VK3TH. It cost six pence - the price of two ice cream cones in
1933. That is a fraction of the US dollar.

Hams who make a successful contact can count on getting something else
to read courtesy of Amateur Radio Magazine: A commemorative QSL card
from Down Under.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

**
ARRL ANNOUNCES 1ST 'WAS' WINNER ON 33cm BAND

JIM/ANCHOR: The ARRL announces the first Worked All States winner on
the 33 cm band. Here's Patrick Clark, K8TAC.

PATRICK: Congratulations to Al Ward, W5LUA, who is the recipient of the
ARRL's first Worked All States certificate for the 33-Centimeter Band.
The FCC opened the frequencies between 902 MHz and 928 MHz to amateurs
in 1985 and Al immediately began working toward the award. According to
the ARRL website, Al completed his 38-year challenge on the 21st of
October with a QSO with Peter Van Horne, KA6U, in Wisconsin, in an
Earth-Moon-Earth contact. The FCC has permitted secondary use of the
band to amateurs on the condition that they accept interference from
such primary users as medical, scientific and industrial equipment and
agree to create no interference of their own. The ARRL described Al's
station as a 5-metre dish with 400 watts of power from a pair of 300 W
Motorola amplifiers in parallel. He is using a dual polarity patchfeed.

This is Patrick Clark K8TAC.