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oicu812

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    Morse Code Requirement Dropped by ITU.

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    All,

     

    I received this email this morning about the code requirement and the ITU:

     

    BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE:

     

    Well, it finally happened. The ITU has adopted language at the just

    concluded WARC-03 that drops the international treaty obligation for

    member nations to require proficiency in morse code to issue an amateur

    radio license for shortwave (HF) frequencies. Follows a quote from the

    International Amateur Radio Union webpage:

     

    "The old regulation that Morse was a requirement for the operators of

    amateur stations below 30 MHz was found in a provision that read as

    follows:

     

    "'Any person seeking a license to operate the apparatus of an amateur

    station shall prove that he is able to send correctly by hand and to

    receive correctly by ear texts in Morse code signals. The

    administrations concerned may, however, waive this requirement in the

    case of stations making use exclusively of frequencies above 30 MHz.'

     

    "That was replaced with a provision giving each administration the right

    to decide whether or not Morse is a required qualification as follows:

     

    "'25.5 Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a

    license to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to

    send and receive texts in Morse code signals.'

     

    "The alternative of simply deleting the old provision was rejected

    because a number of administrations thought that the matter was so

    important that a positive decision not to require Morse as a

    qualification was appropriate. The effect is actually the same: Morse

    code is no longer an internationally required qualification for an

    amateur license, though an administration may still require it." (End

    quote)

     

    This is BIG NEWS for potential American licensees because the FCC has

    implied in the past that the only reason they were retaining even the

    feeble and easily circumvented code requirement in place was the

    international treaty obligation.

     

    It is difficult to accurately predict how soon this will affect US

    licensing procedure; however, as it is the stated intention of the FCC

    to get of the requirement as soon as possible, it seems logical to

    assume that after the Senate ratifies the treaty (which, in the past,

    has occurred without much debate), in a year or two the FCC will

    completely eliminate the code requirement for US Amateur license

    candidates.

     

    END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE

     

    Here's a link to article 25 at the International Amateur Radio Union's web page.

    What do you use, part 2

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    Sorry, I’m partial to Class C plate modulation. Kind of hard to do that mobile and still be heard, but I like the way the military solved that problem. They towed a large generator on a trailer. Cool!

    5 Mhz band ready for use on July 4.

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    Yeah, I've got the R-390 non A version which is rarer than the more common R-390A. The one in the photos is built by Motorola but I also have a Collins.

     

    Looks like you've got a R-390A. I hope you have replaced the famous Death Capacitor C-553. Otherwise you will have to replace your mechanical filters when it does go, and those filters are not cheap. That little .01 uF at only 300VDC is the only thing blocking the plate voltage to those filters. And I've seen a number of dead R-390A receivers because that little cap.

    5 Mhz band ready for use on July 4.

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    quote:
    Be careful. Notice the NTIA specs for that allocation. 2.8 Khz, not 3.0 Khz. Also, this is a window freq, not a dial freq. Learn about it before you jump in. I am not sure I want to be on those freqs.... not sure my radio meets requirements for bandwidth.

     

    DW, you might want to check out the ARRL FAQ link, might help you with these issues. A very interesting read to say the least.

     

    5 Mhz FAQ

    5 Mhz band ready for use on July 4.

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    Anybody else notice today's ARRL web site that indicates the 5 channel 5 Mhz band will be ready for use at 12 midnight July 3 local time? I take it they mean it will be ready July 4th, the midnight time seems fuzzy to me.

     

    Also, in a rather strange twist, only USB will be allowed. No CW or PSK31 allowed. Power must be kept to under 50 watts ERP.

     

    In my 27 years as a ham, thses rules seem a little strange to me, but I'll take them since 40 Meters is impossible on LSB at night. And yes, I have a rig that will work 5 Mhz.

    GPS Satellites shutting down???

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Perhaps this might calm your fears, from AMSAT-NA News Service May 4, 2003:

    Upgraded GPS Satellite Shipped to Cape for July Launch

     

    As the U.S. Air Force prepares to launch its third Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite this year, prime contractor Lockheed Martin has set a new record for operational checkout of the recently-launched GPS IIR-9 satellite.

    Following the March 31 launch of GPS IIR-9, Lockheed Martin executed an accelerated on-orbit payload initialization in just 11 days -- a record for any GPS satellite -- so that the satellite could be quickly placed into service in support of the current military operations. Two months earlier, the team achieved a 20-day check out of GPS IIR-8, which was launched on Jan 29.

    The next satellite, designated GPS IIR-10, was recently shipped to Cape Canaveral from Lockheed Martin's facilities in Valley Forge, PA for a scheduled launch in late July.

    The satellite features significant performance upgrades, including a modernized antenna panel and increased power for GPS receivers. There are eight new-generation GPS IIR spacecraft currently on orbit out of a total GPS constellation of 28 satellites.

    The GPS IIR satellites are compatible with the current system and provide improved navigation accuracy, achieved by using an ITT Industries payload system. Additionally, increased autonomy and longer spacecraft life are inherent in the Lockheed Martin satellite design.

    To bring new capabilities to the GPS constellation, Lockheed Martin is under contract to modernize eight existing GPS IIR spacecraft already built and in storage.

    GPS modernization is being performed at the Space & Strategic Missiles - Valley Forge, PA facilities and ITT Industries, Clifton, NJ facilities. The first launch of a GPS IIR-M satellite is scheduled for July 2004. The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, El Segundo, CA is the contracting agency.

     

    AMSAT-NA News Service

    Hunt for Iridium flares???

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Renegade,

     

    A possible explanation of your Iridium flare failure could be that the Iridium satellite, that was to produce the flare, is tumbling in its orbit. I do know that a handful of the Iridium satellites have started to tumble in their orbit and have had to be replaced with newer satellites. A tumbling satellite will not produce a flare at the predictive time. It can sometimes produce a flashing flare but that’s about impossible to predict.

     

    One additional note to people using www.heavens-above.com, please pay close attention to the format requirements of the coordinates. I think most people here on this forum understand that, I’m just stating this to the casual observer who may not be aware of the different formats of LON/LAT.

    Hunt for Iridium flares???

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    We look for geocaches and benchmarks, why not Iridium flares? The neat thing about this is that on just about any clear night you can see one. The challenge is using your GPS to get you to the right location to log that Iridium flare.

     

    What is an Iridium flare? They are dazzlingly bright flares from Iridium satellites as they pass over head in the morning just before the sun comes up or evening just after sunset. The flare is really a reflection of the sun off of the huge mirror like antennas on the satellite. I’ve seen about a dozen over the past few years and they are very very bright! It last for about 6 of 7 seconds and are just a trip to see if you have never seen one.

     

    What’s the rub? Well, this reflection is only on a very small area (or footprint as they say in satellite terms) on the earth surface. You are going to need your GPS to get you in the center of this footprint. Second, timing is everything here. You are going to keep a very close eye on your GPS clock. Your GPS clock is vary accurate, it get it’s timing from the GPS satellites, which is why you didn’t have to set it.

     

    Try entering in your coordinates at this URL:

     

    http://www.heavens-above.com/

     

    Along with giving you the time and date of the Iridium flares over the next 7 days, it will also tell you which Iridium satellites will produce the flare for those coordinates.

     

    So why not make a special section for Iridium flares? Just like we have a special page for each cache, let’s have one for each Iridium satellite. When you see an Iridium flare, log the sighting under the page for that satellite.

     

    So, I propose that for a change of pace, that we look up rather than down. Any comments?

    Cross-band repeat with ID

    in Ham Radio

    Posted

    I think the FCC is a little fuzzy on this issue. I’m not 100% sure of what the difference is between a cross band repeater and a remote base. I run a remote base at the top of the church across the street. I use 440 Mhz to access it and it connects me with a 2 meter repeater 111.2 miles away. The 440 output of the remote base is 5 watts and has a CWID on it and it does require a tone access. The whole system works real well and I can talk to my friends in the next state with my 440 handheld. It is set up on the 440 band to work in the remote base/cross band section. I’ve had a few high ranking club members of some of the clubs around here look at it and they said they found no problems with the setup. The repeater coordinating group that covers our area said also that it does not require any coordination given the way I have it setup. No one told me to put the CWID on the 440 output, I just thought that might be a good idea.

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