Tuesday, October 9, 2018

"Black Swan 18" Tests 60-Meter Interoperability

Amateur radio's 60-meter (5 MHz) allocation is secondary to federal government operations on the band, which provides the opportunity for a unique emergency communications exercise. For a week in October - under way as this is posted - hams are conducting an interoperability drill on 60 meters with federal partners. According to the ARRL Letter, Operation "Black Swan 18" couples amateur radio emergency communicators with the Ohio Military Reserve and Air Force MARS, using the federal government's SHARES (Shared Resources High-Frequency Radio) program. The interoperability exercise required (and received) the approval of FEMA's spectrum manager.