New Foundation Formed to Administer IOTA Program

The original, and arguably most popular, "OTA" program is the Radio Society of Great Britain's (RSGB's) Islands on the Air (IOTA), which has been encouraging "activations" of islands around the world since 1964. Since celebrating the program's 50th anniversary last year, the RSGB's board has been looking at ways to keep it growing and to meet its challenges, including a computer system to allow online credit submissions similar to the ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW).
 

The RSGB announced in October that it is forming a new organization - the IOTA Foundation - to manage IOTA in partnership with RSGB and to spearhead development of an online credit system with a target completion date of 2017. Initial leaders of the foundation will be Roger Balister, G3KMA; Bob Barden, MD0CCE; Cezar Trifu, VE3LYC, and Johan Willemsen, PA3EXX.

Satellite Roundup - Multiple Launches in Sept/Oct.

AMSAT Fox-1A lifts off from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California aboard the US National
Reconnaissance Office's Atlas-5
launch on October 8. (NRO photo)

The skies are once again filling up with amateur radio satellites, with eight new "birds" launched in late September and early October. 

AMSAT's Fox-1A satellite, now known as AO-85, was successfully launched on October 8 and the AMSAT News Service reportst that signals were heard on its first orbit. For more information, visit <http://bit.ly/1McAMcG>.

The week before, Indonesia's LAPAN-2 satellite (now IO-86) was launched from India. This satellite carries an FM transponder and an APRS digipeater. Primary access will be to stations located in the tropics, between 30 degrees north latitude and 30 degrees south latitude.

China followed its mid-September launch of nine amateur radio satellites with the liftoff of three more on September 25 (Tianwang 1-A, 1-B and 1-C), according to the ARRL. Another Chinese ham satellite - LQSat - was launched on October 7. All four lifted off from a launch facility in Inner Mongolia.

Finally, two Danish ham satellites - AAUSat-5 and GomX-3 - were deployed from the International Space Station on October 5. The AMSAT News Service says the crew used the station's robotic arm to place the cubesats in orbit. As of this writing, no OSCAR numbers were available for either the Chinese or the Danish satellites.

ARRL.Net Users: Beware of "Phishing" Scheme

(Federal Trade Commission image)

Newsline reports that the ARRL's e-mail forwarding service has been hit by a "phishing" attack, in which members using arrl.net e-mail addresses are receiving e-mails claiming to be from the League and requesting personal information.

The e-mails purportedly come from "Arrl Webmail Admin," carry a subject line of "account upgrade," and warn recipients that their accounts will be cancelled unless they provide their usernames and passwords. ARRL officials state emphatically that these e-mails are bogus and urge anyone receiving them to simply ignore them. 

Meanwhile, the League's IT department was working to block the sender's e-mail address at its "upstream server."

Hurricane Watch Net Secures

The Hurricane Watch Net has shut down operations for Hurricane Joaquin after the storm skirted Bermuda without causing significant damage, according to Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV. Graves thanked the many reporting stations for a considerable amount of data, all of which was forwarded to the National Hurricane Center. He also thanked the everyday users of the net's main frequencies - 14.325 and 7.268 MHz - for changing frequencies during the net's activity. More information on the Hurricane Watch Net may be found online at <www.hwn.org>.

Uncertainty Over Status of Hara Arena

Will Hara Arena still be open when it's time for the 2016 Dayton Hamvention®? That is the basic question being faced by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA), the owners of Hara Arena and local government officials, all of whom want to be sure the world's largest ham radio gathering remains where it has been since 1964. Last year, according to news reports, the Hamvention was responsible for contributing $8.5 million to the region's economy.

There have been rumors for years that the arena was about to close, but an announcement at the end of the 2015 show promised improvements at the half-century old exhibition center in time for the 2016 event. However, news reports in early October cast new doubts on the arena's ongoing viability.

The reports - first on WHIO-TV and then in the Dayton Daily News - centered on a July e-mail sent by Hara Marketing Director Karen Wampler to the city manager and a city councilman in Trotwood, the municipality in which Hara Arena is actually located. A consultant hired by Hara recommended this summer that the city purchase the venue, but Trotwood officials felt such a move would be too risky, according to the reports. A Dayton Daily News article in late 2014 reported that Hara owed more than $300,000 in back taxes, but was working with local authorities to pay down that balance.

Wampler's e-mail, which the TV station and newspaper (both owned by Cox Media Ohio) received through a public records request, informed the local officials that they had briefed the Hamvention's chairman and select board members on the arena's status and said "they are reeling" after being told that the venue might be forced to close. "They … like us, believed we were close to stabilizing Hara for future growth, rather than ending her nearly 60-year run," Wampler wrote, adding that "(t)here may be one last chance to add Hamvention investment dollars to the proposal before their Board puts all its resources into relocating their event - most likely out of Montgomery County - in 2016."

She told the Daily News in an interview for the October 3 article that the arena is now in much better shape than it had been in July, when that e-mail was written, and that there are no current plans to close.

Hamvention General Chairman Jim Tiderman, N8IDS, shared Wampler's current optimism in a statement issued after the news reports ran. He said DARA "is fully committed to (holding) the 2016 Dayton Hamvention at Hara Arena and Exposition Center … on May 20, 21, 22, 2016," and told the newspaper that "We do not have any plans whatsoever for relocating."

Tiderman dismissed other reports as "speculation," but added that DARA is "still (keeping) an open mind to alternate plans in case they become necessary." The news articles had reported that Hamvention officials had met with the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau and others to examine other possible venues within the Dayton area in the event that Hara was no longer an option.

Bottom line: As of early October, Hara Arena remains open and intends to host the Hamvention next May; and DARA will hold the 2016 Hamvention at Hara as long as the facility is still open. However, uncertainty continues and contingency plans are being considered in case a move is necessary.

Hurricane Watch Net Activates for Joaquin

The Hurricane Watch Net went on the air today (Sept. 30) at 11:00 AM EDT, as Hurricane Joaquin set its sights on the Bahamas and ultimately - perhaps - the U.S. east coast. According to Hurricane Watch Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, "Joaquin is expected to make a very sharp turn to the north-northeast sometime Thursday.  This is due in part to a frontal system moving towards the Bahamas.  The timing of this system will dictate the timing of this turn. Due to the close proximity to land, whether or not this storm makes landfall in the Bahamas, the Hurricane Watch Net will be active until no longer a threat in this region."

The Hurricane Watch Net's primary frequencies are 14.325 MHz during the day and 7.268 MHz at night.  Please keep these frequencies clear for HWN-related traffic.

Graves says residents in the path of this storm should take every precaution to protect their families and property.  And for the latest information on this storm, and other active systems in the tropics, including Net Activation Plans, please visit the Hurricane Watch Net website at www.hwn.org.

Western Wildfires Take Toll on Ham Community

The rash of wildfires in the western U.S. this summer has taken a significant toll on the ham community. Sixty-six-year-old Mark McCloud, K6YCV, of Caleveras County, California, was one of two people who died in the Butte fire in mid-September after refusing to follow an evacuation order. According to the ARRL Letter, the county coroner said McCloud and the other victim were both found dead in their homes, which were destroyed by the fire. 
 
 

The Lake Chelan Amateur Radio Club's 2- and 6-meter
repeaters, housed in the building seen here, were
destroyed by the First Creek fire. (Photo from the Lake
Chelan ARC website,
<http://lakechelanradioclub.webs.com/photo-gallery>

In Washington State, the First Creek fire in late August destroyed two repeaters belonging to the Lake Chelan Amateur Radio Club. The ARRL Letter reported that the building housing the club's 2-meter and 6-meter repeaters was completely leveled by the fire.

Hams up and down the west coast provided communications support for a variety of firefighting efforts. 

Sheriff's Deputy/Ham Killed in Line of Duty

Courtesy Okaloosa County Sheriff's Dept. website

Okaloosa County, Florida, Sheriff's Deputy William Myers, KK4KF, was shot and killed while attempting to serve an injunction in a domestic violence case. Newsline reports that Myers, 64, of Shalimar, Florida, was attempting to serve a restraining order on 33-year-old Joel Smith when Smith pulled out a gun and shot him. Myers died of his injuries a short time later. Smith was later shot and killed by police during a standoff at a nearby hotel.

According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department website, an estimated 2000 people attended a memorial service for Myers on Sept. 28, including Florida Governor Rick Scott and state Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

Special Event Stations Mark Pope's US Visit

 

A string of special event stations stretching from New York to Virginia took to the amateur airwaves the last week in September in honor of Pope Francis's visit to the United States. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church made stops in Washington, DC; New York City and Philadelphia. 

According to Newsline, four radio clubs in the region teamed up to operate at least as many special event stations, and expected to make between 20,000 and 50,000 total contacts. The Potomac Valley Radio Club operated N4P in northern Virginia and K3P in the DC/Maryland area; while the Frankford Radio Club and Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club in the Philadelphia area operated W3FRC/WMF (for World Meeting of Families, which the Pope was attending in Philadelphia) and WM3PEN, respectively, in addition to a separate W3P special event station; and K2P was on the air in New York City and southern New Jersey. The New York end of the operation was anchored by the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club. 

QSL information is available at <http://bit.ly/1KDQO8p>.

Progress on 60 Meters Ahead of WRC-15

The International Telecommunication Union's 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) will be held this fall in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates representing ITU member countries will vote on international telecommunication policy issues during the nearly monthlong conference (Nov. 2-27). 

Of primary interest to hams are competing proposals to create a worldwide secondary amateur allocation at 5 MHz (60 meters). The South African Radio League reported in mid-September that Europe's ITU members had agreed to a European Common Proposal to create a 100-kHz allocation between 5350 and 5450 kHz. 

There was no word at press time as to whether other countries or blocs of countries were falling in line behind this proposal or sticking to others. Sixty meters in the U.S. is available on a very limited, channelized, basis.

Growing Number of Ham Band Intrusions Reported

The International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 Monitoring System is reporting a growing number of non-amateur intrusions on the HF ham bands. According to Newsline, monitors in Europe are picking up Russian navy transmissions as well as Russian and Iranian over-the-horizon radar on 20 meters, Chinese over-the-horizon radar on 75 meters, Spanish fishing boats on all HF bands and taxi drivers from various countries on 10 meters.

Chinese Satellite Cluster Finally Launched

 After multiple delays, China launched a group of nine satellites carrying amateur radio into orbit on September 19th. All traveled together on a single launch vehicle.

 According to the AMSAT News Service, six of the satellites have inverting transponders supporting SSB and CW operation, all with uplinks on 70 centimeters and downlinks on 2 meters; one has both APRS (2-meters up/down) and FM voice (2 meters up, 70 cm. down) repeaters, and two more are downlink-only, transmitting telemetry on 2 meters and 70 centimeters.

Fox-1D Satellite to Share Launch with Fox-1C

The AMSAT News Service also reports that AMSAT and Spaceflight, Inc. have agreed to have the Fox-1D amateur satellite share a launch with Fox-1C (recently renamed Fox-1Cliff in memory of Cliff Buttschardt, formerly K7RR, a longtime AMSAT supporter who became a Silent Key in 2008). Both satellites will offer FM repeater capabilities on different frequencies. In addition, 

Fox-1D will carry the University of Iowa's HERCI (High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument) experiment. The launch is scheduled for early next year, and AMSAT is seeking additional donations to help cover the added costs of launching two satellites instead of one.

On the topic of the Fox-series of satellites, the ARRL Letter reports that AMSAT has released version 1.0 of the Fox Telemetry Decoder software in advance of the scheduled October 8 launch of Fox-1A, which will also carry an FM transponder with an uplink on 435.180 MHz and downlink on 145.980 MHz. The Fox satellites are also supposed to transmit continuous telemetry as they orbit. The cubesats are intended to be reachable with a dual-band handheld radio and simple 2m/70cm beam antenna.

Carolina DX Foundation Launched

One of the premier DX organizations in the southeast has established a new foundation to help provide financial support for DXpeditions.

The Carolina DX Association recently established the Carolina DX Foundation, a separate entity with its own officers, to collect tax-deductible donations and then make donations in support of DXpedition efforts. The group is starting out with $15,000 in seed money earned from selling a collection of radios donated by Frank Dowd, K4BVQ.

According to a report on the Southgate Amateur Radio Club's news page, the goals of the foundation include "the furtherance of scientific research exploring electromagnetic wave propagation in the high frequency domain, and education through public presentations by DXpeditions supported by the CDXF." For more information, or to make a donation, contact Secretary-Treasurer Cliff Wagoner, W3ZL, at PO Box 577, Davidson, NC 28036 or via e-mail at <jcw53@cornell.edu>.

K1JT: Beware of "Unauthorized" Versions of WSJT-X Software

WSJT-X Screen shot from
WSJT home page

Digital communications pioneer (and Nobel Laureate) Joe Taylor, K1JT, is warning users of his WSJT-X HF digital software only to use those versions of the software developed by his team and officially released on his website. 

According to the ARRL Letter, Taylor says some individuals are making their own "releases" of WSJT-X using open-source code, but warns that if you use them on the air, "you have no idea what you've got." He adds that subsequent observations of what does and doesn't work are "worse than useless" in that they "waste your time and ours." WSJT-X is currently in experimental form.

Spanish Amateur Group Urges Hams to Get on CB

How do you provide CBers with examples of good operating techniques and encourage those with the interest to "upgrade" to ham radio? By meeting them where they live, according to Spain's national ham radio association, the URE.  

Newsline reports that URE is encouraging hams in Spain and elsewhere to get active on CB. Its website even has a 27-MHz "portal" to encourage greater use of CB by hams and anyone else with an interest in radio communications.

Vanity Call Sign & GMRS Regulatory Fees Eliminated

As of September 3, 2015, there will be no fee to apply for or renew an amateur radio vanity call sign, and the cost of a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license will drop from $90 to $65.

In a Report & Order released September 2, the FCC announced that "regulatory fees" for both amateur vanity calls and for General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licenses would be eliminated as of the 3rd. The Commission had previously announced its intention to remove these fees but had not published an effective date until now.

The order noted that this change applies only to so-called "regulatory" fees and that any application fees associated with these licenses remain in effect. There are no application fees for amateur licenses (even though there are exam fees), but there is a $65 application fee for a GMRS license, which remains in effect. Only the separate $35 GMRS "regulatory" fee has been dropped.

The complete text of the FCC Report & Order is at <http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0902/FCC-15-108A1.pdf>.  The section on amateur and GMRS regulatory fees is on pages 11 and 12. (Please note that due to a computer system upgrade, this document may not be available until after Labor Day.)

FCC Web Services - Including Amateur License Database - to Be Offline, Possibly Through Labor Day

Hams will not be able to access the FCC's amateur radio licensing database or file comments on rulemaking proposals beginning at 6 PM EDT  on Wednesday, September 2, and possibly extending through the Labor Day weekend or beyond.

In an announcement on September 1, the FCC said the planned shutdown of its interactive public-access web applications - including the Universal Licensing System (ULS) and Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS)- is necessary to permit and upgrade to its "legacy IT systems."

During this shutdown, hams will not be able to look up call signs on the FCC database or file license renewals or updates. In addition, new licenses and upgrades will not be posted during this period. 

According to the FCC announcement, "We will work to have these web applications upgraded and available again by the morning of Tuesday, September 8." The FCC says it does not plan to release any official documents during this planned shutdown.

Helping Hams Face Fire Threat in Northwest

Volunteer ham radio operators in Ferry County, Washington, were "standing (their) ground" at the local emergency operations center / evacuation center in late August despite an ongoing threat from a large wildfire. The ARRL Letter reported that amateurs working at the shelter in Republic, Washington, were on the front lines of the battle against the so-called "Kettle Complex" of three forest fires in the north central part of the state. 

Sam Jenkins, WA7EC, the county's RACES radio officer and ARRL Emergency Coordinator, said his volunteers expected to be on post for several weeks despite the ongoing danger. He added that "the firefighters say they are going to attempt to defend our emergency operations center/emergency shelter at all costs."

Hams in other parts of the west were also active in providing communications support for firefighting efforts in one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.

No Consensus on 60 Meters Going Into WRC-15

With the next World Radiocommunication Conference approaching in November, it appeared in late summer that there might not be a consensus on proposals for a worldwide secondary amateur allocation on 5 MHz, also known as 60 meters. In the U.S., the band is currently available to hams on a very restricted basis, with five discrete channels and limitations on modes and power that are not found on other amateur bands.

According to the ARRL, as of late August, proposals from various countries were "all over the map," and it was beginning to look like there might not be a unified proposal for the WRC delegates to consider. Options ranged from no change to a 175-kHz wide option between 5275 and 5450 kHz.