Friday, May 21, 2021

Announcing: 2021 Inductees to the CQ Amateur Radio, Contesting and DX Halls of Fame


 CQ magazine is pleased to announce its 2021 Hall of Fame inductees, including two new members each for the CQ DX Hall of Fame and the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, along with six inductees to the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. This year's inductions are again being conducted online due to event cancellations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

             The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet. This year, we are inducting six new members, bringing to 339 the total number of members inducted since the hall's establishment in 2001.

 The 2021 inductees (listed alphabetically) are:

  • Archibald Doty, W7ACD (SK), engineer, inventor, researcher into efficient radial systems for vertical antennas and pioneer of college radio; co-founded what is now WESU at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1939, the second-oldest college radio station in the U.S.; also served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II.
  • Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, founder of HAMSci (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation), a collaboration between radio amateurs and ionospheric scientists; organizer of the 2017 Solar Eclipse QSO Party, which also served as a research project on the effects of a total solar eclipse on HF propagation.
  • Lorin Hollander, WA1PGB, world-renowned classical concert pianist who has performed with virtually every major philharmonic orchestra in the United States, along with many others overseas; heavily involved in music and arts education and in relationships between music and medicine.
  • Christopher Imlay, W3KD, ARRL Counsel and General Counsel from 1982-2018; represented the League before the FCC on a wide variety of issues, including PRB-1, now enshrined in FCC Rule 97.15 b), that requires state and local regulations to reasonably accommodate amateur radio antenna structures.
  • Cathryn Mitchell, M0IBG, Academic Director of the University of Bath Doctoral College (UK) and recipient of the 2019 Edward Appleton Medal "for pioneering research in tomography and data assimilation revealing a completely new perspective on Earth's ionosphere in response to extreme space weather."
  • Admiral Charles "Chas" Richard, W4HFZ, commander of USSTRATCOM, the United States Strategic Command, one of eleven unified commands of the Department of Defense; served previously as Commander of U.S. submarine forces and Director of Undersea Warfare at the Pentagon.


CQ DX and Contest and Halls of Fame

The CQ DX and Contest Halls of Fame honor those amateurs who not only excel in personal performance in these major areas of amateur radio but who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways.

The CQ DX Hall of Fame was established in 1967 to recognize those amateurs who have made major contributions to DXing and DXpeditioning. This year, we induct two new members. The 2021 inductees are:

  • Jacky Calvo, ZL3CW/F2CW, a veteran of the French Air Force and the International Committee of the Red Cross, with postings that took him (and his ham station) to a dozen countries around the world; a participant in more than two dozen DXpeditions and WRTC (World Radiosport Team Championship) competitions from 2010-2018 and is a team leader for 2022.
  • Francesco Valsecchi, IK0FVC/HV0A, who has regularly activated Vatican City for the past 30 years using HV0A and other call signs, as well the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) as 1A0KM. Along with fellow operators. Francesco has logged more than 300,000 QSOs for the two tiny entities, averaging roughly 10,000 contacts per year for hams around the world.

The CQ Contest Hall of Fame was established in 1986 to recognize those amateurs who have made major contributions to the art of radio contesting. The 2021 inductees are:

·       Robert Wolbert, K6XX, a "renaissance man" of contesting, advancing the state of the art in designing amateur equipment at Elecraft, a participant in more than 1100 contests over 35 years and a many-time winner (he is a 9-time recipient of the Jim Maxwell Memorial Trophy for the highest-scoring California single-op unassisted station in the ARRL DX CW Contest); member of the organizing committee for the first WRTC in 1996 and a team leader in 2000 and 2014; has authored many articles for amateur contesting publications, presented at multiple conferences and is a longtime member and leader of the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC).

·       David A. Pruett, K8CC (SK), author of the NA contest logging program as well as a log-checking program and host of many multi-multi operations from his Michigan contest station over 30 years; longtime chairman of the Michigan QSO Party; former editor of the National Contest Journal and longtime member and leader of the Mad River Contest Club.

Formal inductions to the CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame are being conducted online once again, as a result of the COVID-19-related cancellations of the Dayton Hamvention® and associated contest and DX dinners. CQ World Wide DX Contest Director John Dorr, K1AR, led the Contest Hall of Fame induction at the conclusion of Contest University's online seminar on May 20, while CQ DX Editor Bob Schenck, N2OO, will conduct the DX Hall of Fame induction on May 26 during the "Ham Nation" podcast on the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

New License Applicants Must Get FRN Before Taking Exam


As of May 20, everyone taking an amateur radio license exam must provide examiners with their FCC Registration Number, or FRN, before taking the test. Current hams and other FCC licensees will already have one, but prospective amateurs must sign up for a number ahead of time. The process is simple: Go to the FCC's website at <https://tinyurl.com/njmmjjbv>, follow the prompts and fill out the form.

The ARRL notes that you will need this number after taking your test to log into the FCC website to print out your license, which the Commission no longer sends in the mail. In addition, as of June 29, all amateur applications will be required to include a valid e-mail address.

FCC Considers UHF/Microwave Ham Bands for Commercial Space Launch Frequencies



The FCC in April issued a Report and Order allocating spectrum in the 2200-2290 MHz range for  private space travel and satellite launch companies to use for pre-launch testing and space launch operations. The order creates a non-federal secondary allocation for these uses in spectrum that is currently reserved exclusively for federal government use.

The action also includes a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which seeks comment on possible additional spectrum for private space launch purposes. Among the frequencies specifically mentioned are 420-430 MHz in the 70-centimter amateur band and 5650-5925 MHz, which is the 5-centimeter ham band. Amateur radio has a secondary allocation in each of these bands, and the NPRM made no mention of the bands' current occupants and/or whether they would be displaced. The 5.6-GHz band is already shared widely with home WiFi networks.

FCC Repeats Warning: Don't Use Radio for Illegal Activities


The FCC has reminded amateurs and users of other personal radio services that it is illegal to use radios in those services "to commit or facilitate criminal acts." A similar notices was issued on January 17 in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and in advance of the presidential inauguration on January 20. 

There was no indication in the April 20 "reminder" as to what prompted its issuance, as no major national events were scheduled around that time.