RBN Gaining 15 New Nodes

 The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) will be adding 15 new nodes, using grants from the Yasme Foundation and Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). According to the ARRL Letter, the nodes will be installed in areas where there is a need for more reception reports on band conditions and where reports will have scientific value for propagation research. Siting advice is being offered by researchers associated with HamSCI. 

 

RBN automatically collects call signs and signal strength readings from stations monitored at various locations around the world. These reports are then posted on a website where the user can see where his/her signals are being heard. The list of additional locations had not been finalized as of press time.

WSPRing Waves

The KQ6RS buoy just after deployment. Its WSPR
beacon has been heard around the world.
(From KA9Q website)

WSPR, the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter, is another very useful mode for spotting band openings and finding out where your signals are being heard. Now, a new WSPR beacon may be able to help hams plot paths across the Pacific Ocean. The ARRL Letter reports that Phil Karn, KA9Q; Randy Standke, KQ6RS, and members of San Diego's Mount Carmel High School Amateur Radio Club have built and deployed a WSPR beacon on board a marine buoy in the Pacific. The buoy is about 435 miles off the California coast and is transmitting WSPR packets on 14.0956 MHz, using Standke's call sign. It's been heard as far away as Australia and South Africa. Karn says the group is already planning a second buoy, which might also include sensors, satellite tracking capability and two-way links.

Call Sign Changes Down Under

An Australian ham's call sign will no longer necessarily be an indication of his/her license class. According to the Wireless Institute of Australia, the country's communications regulator recently approved allowing entry-level Foundation Class licensees to use digital modes. However, the software for some of those modes does not recognize the Foundation Class 2x4 call sign structure (e.g., VK2FABC). As a result, the entire call sign structure is being changed, with all amateur allowed to apply for 2x3 calls and removing the association between callsign suffixes and license privileges. However, 2x2 calls will still be available only to Advanced Class licensees.

Licensing Changes in and Around the Falklands

Alan Cheshire, VK6CQ, reports that the government of the Falkland Islands has abruptly cancelled the "lifetime" VP8 calls issued to amateurs operating from the South Shetlands, South Orkneys, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. No explanation was offered. However, Cheshire says amateurs wishing to operate from those islands must now apply for permission and call signs from the governments of Argentina or Chile, depending on which island group. Those countries have long contested the United Kingdom's claims to sovereignty over these islands. In addition, according to Cheshire, the Falklands government has similarly cancelled the VP8 calls previously issued to visiting hams, reserving those calls only for permanent residents. He says visitors will now be issued only temporary licenses and it is unclear what their call sign structure will be.

AMSAT-DL Wants to Put a Ham Transponder on the Moon

 

Artist's rendering of the European Space Agency's proposed Large European Lander on the moon.
AMSAT-DL has submitted a proposal to include an amateur radio transponder on the lander.
(ESA image)

 

 If Germany's amateur satellite organization gets its wish, EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communications could get a signal boost. According to the ARRL Letter, AMSAT-DL has submitted to the European Space Agency a comprehensive proposal to include an amateur radio transponder on ESA's planned Large European Lander project. The proposed LunART (Luna Amateur Radio Transponder) platform would have an uplink on 2.4 GHz and downlink on 10.45 GHz, with beacons on a variety of other bands, and a second transponder on VHF/UHF. There is no indication as to when or how ESA might respond to the proposal.

Two Spanish Ham Satellites Scheduled for SpaceX Launch

  The world's first non-government space launch company is now scheduled to carry descendants of the world's first non-government satellites into orbit. According to the AMSAT News Service, two amateur satellites being built by AMSAT-EA in Spain are scheduled for launch in December aboard a SpaceX rocket. The satellites – one analog and one digital – are named EASAT-2 and Hades. At least one of them will also carry a camera and transmitter for slow-scan TV images. They being built in partnership with the European University of Madrid and will both have uplinks on 2 meters and downlinks on 70 centimeters

IARU Monitoring System Urges Action on Russian-Ukrainian "Radio War"

One of the biggest sources of interference in the 40-meter band, especially within Europe, is an ongoing "radio war" between Russia and Ukraine, and the coordinator of the International Amateur Radio Union's (IARU) Region 1 Monitoring System is encouraging hams to urge their national regulators to put pressure on both countries to stop it. According to recent IARU R1 Monitoring System newsletters, the stations involved broadcast non-stop streams of insults, hate speech and even hate songs, each aimed at their adversaries. The broadcasts are mostly on or around 7055 kHz, although there reports of other frequencies being used, as high as 7090 kHz.

Monitoring System Coordinator Peter Jost, HB9CET, noted in the May newsletter that "(t)he IARU Monitoring System (Intruder watch) has no means to stop this radio war. Only national authorities can hopefully do something against with international complaints."

The newsletters also report significant interference on the HF ham bands from over-the-horizon radar, commercial fishing vessels and buoys, and other sources.