Volcanic Eruption Prompts Call for Clear Frequencies

Eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on St.
Vincent (United Nations photo)

The ongoing (at press time) eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent has prompted a request to keep two HF frequencies clear for volcano-related traffic. 

According to the ARRL, the Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net has been on the air continuously since the eruption began in mid-April, using a combination of linked VHF repeaters and the HF frequencies of 3.815 and 7.188 MHz. The net is asking all amateurs who are not involved with the volcano response to keep these frequencies clear.

ARRL and American Red Cross Renew Agreement

   

The ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the American Red Cross have had a close working relationship for decades as ARES members provide communication backup for the Red Cross during disaster responses. The League and the Red Cross have just renewed their formal memorandum of understanding which lays out the parameters of their cooperation for another five years.  

 According to the ARRL Letter, the renewed memorandum calls on both parties to "maintain open lines of communication and to share information, situation and operation reports, as allowed to maintain confidentiality." The agreement also calls for local ARES and Red Cross units to jointly discuss plans for local disaster response and relief, for the groups to cooperate in joint training exercises and for Red Cross chapters to participate in ARRL exercises such as Field Day and the annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET). Hams are also reminded that if they wish to become Red Cross volunteers in addition to ARRL volunteers, they must undergo the Red Cross's standard volunteer background check.

Friedrichshafen Goes Virtual

Last month, we reported that the annual "Ham Radio" show in Friedrichshafen, Germany – Europe's largest hamfest – had once again been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The show's sponsors now report that the event will be held online from June 25-27, dubbed "Ham Radio World." It will include presentations and discussions on various ham radio matters. Attendees will be represented as customizable avatars that will be able to move around the convention "grounds," visiting booths and attending seminars. Admission will be free. For more information, visit <www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de/>.

Also cancelled for this year is the European Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) summer camp, planned for Croatia. The YOTA group is instead holding a series of online workshops for young hams. On this side of the Atlantic, plans remain in place to hold a Covid-safe in-person Youth on the Air camp in Ohio this July. See the next story for details.

Youth on the Air Camp 2021 Scheduled to Proceed

After being postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first Youth on the Air Camp in the Americas is on track for mid-July in Ohio. It will provide a wide variety of ham radio experiences for up to 30 young amateurs from throughout North, Central and South America. At press time, 28 of the 30 slots were already filled. Additional applications were being accepted through June 1.

The camp is scheduled for July 11-16 at the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting outside Cincinnati. It is modeled after the very successful Youngsters on the Air camps in International Amateur Radio Union Region 1, encompassing Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and is supported by IARU Region 2 (the Americas).

Planned activities include workshops on contesting, VHF/UHF digital modes, kit-building, antenna-building, amateur radio direction finding and satellite operating. Campers will also operate a special event station, K8Y, from the VOA museum.

According to organizers, the camp will comply with COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines as set by the state of Ohio and the Centers for Disease Control, such as requiring the use of masks, distancing, and sanitizing stations.  Some scheduled activities may have to be substituted.  Attendees may be asked to take a COVID-19 test and/or self-quarantine prior to arrival, depending on the recommended guidelines in effect in July.  The entire staff of the camp will have been fully vaccinated by the time it begins.  Most volunteers have also indicated that they are fully vaccinated. 
 

The cost of the camp is $100 plus transportation to and from the VoA museum, with scholarships available to those for whom the $100 fee will be a burden.  Due to the volatility of the public COVID-19 response, attendees are highly encouraged to avoid non-refundable tickets for transportation to Cincinnati. Tax-deductible donations from the broader ham community are welcome via PayPal or GoFundMe.

For details about the camp or making a donation, visit <https://youthontheair.org/cincinnati-2020/>. For additional information, please contact Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, at <director@youthontheair.org>.

Hara Arena Now Officially a Pile of Rubble

Hara Arena ... after closing but before demolition.

The former home of the Dayton Hamvention has been demolished to make way for redevelopment. The ARRL Letter reported in early May that piles of rubble are now all that is left of Hara Arena, which was home to Hamvention from 1964 until it closed in 2016. 

The buildings were severely damaged by a tornado in 2019 and then considered beyond repair. A YouTube video of the current arena site may be viewed at <https://tinyurl.com/f8ctxusy>.

Milestones: More Work for N9JA, Honors for N1UL

ICOM America has announced that Amateur Division Senior Sales Manager Ray Novak, N9JA, will now be responsible for overseeing the company's Marine and Avionics Division as well. The move comes with the departure of Marine and Avionics senior sales manager David McLain. ICOM says Novak will continue working from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Congrats to Ray from CQ.

Across the Atlantic, the German government has bestowed the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on Ulrich Rohde, N1UL/DJ2LR. Rohde, who lives in the U.S., is a pioneer in software defined radio (SDR) and co-owner of the Munich-based Rohde & Schwarz company. Amateur Radio Newsline reports that the honor came in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of microwave and high-frequency radio. He is a 2004 inductee into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.

HAARP Gets New Mission with NSF Grant

Part of the antenna field at the HAARP
facility in Alaska (U. of Alaska Fairbanks
photo)

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska will be home to a new research facility thanks to a $9.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). According to the ARRL Letter, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute – which now runs the former military facility – will use the grant to fund the Subauroral Geophysical Observatory for Space Physics and Radio Science, which will explore the Earth's upper atmosphere.

According to the League, the grant will let scientists learn more about the relationship between the sun and the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere. HAARP Chief Engineer Steve Floyd, W4YHD, says amateur radio "will clearly benefit with an improved understanding of ionospheric propagation and space weather physics, and providing improved HF propagation prediction modeling data."

A second project at HAARP, also funded by the NSF, will add a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument at the facility to help study other regions of the upper atmosphere.

Oregon Ham Group Gets Grant for Solar Powered Go-Kits

A community emergency response group in coastal Oregon has received a $5000 grant from a local utility to build solar-powered "go-kits" to provide both amateur radio and GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) communications in the event of a major disaster. 

According to Newsline, the Emergency Volunteer Corps of Nehalem Bay, in coastal Tillamook County, has already designed self-contained stations consisting of 25-watt radios, antennas, batteries, solar panels and other equipment, which the group plans to deploy around the northern part of the county for use in emergencies and disasters.

Woodpeckers Galore!

There has apparently been a population explosion of over-the-horizon radar transmissions on the HF ham bands. (The first of these, back in the 1980s, was known as the Russian woodpecker, due to its presumed origin and its sound that resembled a woodpecker hammering on a tree.) 

The ARRL Letter reports that the International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 Monitoring Service says about 60% of recent complaints of HF interference can be traced back to these radar systems. The service says it is most likely that there are only a few signal sources but that they change frequencies very often, so the QRM is spread across the band.

WIA Asks Australian Regulators for More HF Spectrum

The Wireless Institute of Australia – that country's national ham radio organization – is asking its communication regulatory agency to consider opening more HF spectrum to amateur use, and is citing increased interference from over-the-horizon radar as its justification. 

In its response to  request for input from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for its Five-Year Spectrum Outlook, WIA says more amateur spectrum is needed between 3 and 12 MHz "to help support increased frequency agility by amateur operators when dealing with over the horizon radar (OTHR) system interference from foreign sources." The institute also asked ACMA, among other things, to consider making amateur allocations primary on 7.1-7.2 MHz and 50-52 MHz.

Registration Open for Contest University and Dayton Award Presentation May 20/21

Registration is now open for a pair of Hamvention-related events – Contest University on Thursday, May 20 and the Hamvention award presentations on Friday, May 21. Contest University will conclude with the announcement of the 2021 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame. 

Both events are virtual and attendance is free, but pre-registration is required and you need to sign up for each one separately, according to Contest University Chairman Tim Duffy, K3LR. Links to both signup pages may be found at <www.contestuniversity.com>.

Ham Astronauts Make History on Return to Earth

Splashdown of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
It was NASA's first nighttime splashdown in
53 years. (NASA photo)

Four ham astronauts returning from the International Space Station made history on their trip back to Earth. Michael Hopkins, KF5LJG; Victor Glover, KI5BKC; Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, traveled to and from the station on the first operational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon cap- sule, the first commercial spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to and from orbit. It was also the first nighttime splashdown for NASA since 1968. 

According to the ARRL Letter, members of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission used the amateur station on board the space station to conduct school contacts as part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.

VP8: Where a Lifetime License is Not a Lifetime License

The Falkland Islands government is requiring all amateurs holding either a full or restricted lifetime license to revalidate that license before August 31 of this year or face cancellation. A widely distributed e-mail from Communications Regulator John Whitby. 

The call for revalidation was originally made last year, but apparently some VP8/Falkland licensees have not followed up, resulting in this third notice. The "Application to Revalidate a Radio License" form must be submitted by August 13, either by e-mail or in person at one of two post offices.  For complete details, see "Notice of Direction" on the communications regulator's web page at <https://www.regulatorfi.org.fk/>.

New FCC RF Exposure Rules Take Effect May 3

Back in 2019, the FCC adopted new rules relating to radio frequency (RF) exposure levels which ended amateur radio's categorical exemption making station evaluations. (The exposure limits have not changed, just the methods used to make measurements and the elimination of categorical exemptions.) The rules were not implemented immediately in order to give hams and other licensees time to figure out how to meet the new requirements. Time's up. The new rules take effect on May 3 and affect all of us. Here are key points relating to amateur stations, according to the ARRL:

* Existing stations have an additional two years in which to determine whether an evaluation is required (and if it is, to do it);

* New stations or existing stations that are modified in a way that affects RF exposure (such as putting up a new tower or antenna) must comply with the new rules before being put into service.

There are still exemptions, and some amateur stations may qualify. You now need to determine that on an individual basis. The ARRL is offering to help hams make the necessary determinations and has made its RF Exposure and You book available for free download from the ARRL website. The League is also working with the FCC to update its official guidance in "OET Bulletin 65" and is developing tools for hams to use in performing exposure assessments.