Fox-1B Satellite Launched, Now AO-91

AMSAT's newest amateur satellite - Fox-1B (also known as RadFxSat) - was launched on November 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and successfully entered orbit and started transmitting. It has been designated as AMSAT-OSCAR 91.
 

According to the AMSAT News Service, the cubesat carries a scientific package - developed by Vanderbilt University - designed to measure the effects of space radiation on electronic components. It also includes an amateur FM transponder with an uplink on 70 centimeters and a downlink on 2 meters.

K6WAO Elected AMSAT-NA President, Announces New Satellite Program

The board of directors of AMSAT-NA has elected Joe Spier, K6WAO, of Reno, Nevada, as the amateur satellite organization's new president. He succeeds Barry Baines, WD4ASW, who stepped down after nine years at the helm. The AMSAT News Service says Spier has previously served as the group's executive vice president and VP for educational relations.
 

Immediately after assuming office, Spier announced the next phase of AMSAT's cubesat program, abbreviated GOLF for "Greater Orbit, Larger Footprint." Tiny cubesats typically are launched into low Earth orbit and have limited coverage areas. The goal of the GOLF program, according to ANS, is to use and build on proven cubesat technology for satellites to be launched "to a wide variety of orbits, including LEO, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), or beyond."

ARRL Launches International Grid Chase

Building on the success of its 2016 National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) program, the ARRL has launched a year-long grid square competition. The goal will be to make contacts during the course of 2018 with stations in as many Maidenhead grid squares as possible, using all amateur bands except 60 meters. 

The program requires the use of the League's Logbook of the World (LoTW) online contact confirmation system. Grid squares will not need to be exchanged on the air, since each station participating in LoTW enters its grid locator into the system upon registration. Full details are in the December 2017 issue of QST.

Hams on TV (Good and Bad)…

(From CBS.com)

Ham radio continued to pop up on TV dramas in November, but was not always shown in a good light. An episode of NCIS used ham radio as a key plot element, but unfortunately portrayed amateurs as societal misfits. 
 

On a more positive note, one of the major characters on MacGyver revealed that his long-deceased father had been an amateur, telling MacGyver that "my dad would have liked you … as long as you didn't take apart his ham radios." MacGyver responded, "You know how much I love taking apart ham radios!" Perhaps we'll get to see him do that on a future episode!

YASME Foundation Announces 2017 Awards

The YASME Foundation in November announced the presentation of five Excellence Awards and one supporting grant for 2017. The awards recognize significant contributions to amateur radio.

According to the ARRL Letter, the five Excellence Awards go to:

   - the Dayton Amateur Radio Association for its smooth transition of the Hamvention® to a newhome on short notice;

   - Paul Verhage, KD4STH, and Bill Brown, WB8ELK, for their ongoing leadership of amateur radio high-altitude ballooning programs, and through them, introducing hundreds of students to amateur radio;  

- Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, and Magda Moses, KM4EGE, for establishing the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) program and sponsoring the Solar Eclipse QSO Party, which YASME says was the largest amateur radio experiment ever conducted;

  - the WSJT Development Team, led by Joe Taylor, K1JT, for their ongoing advancements in digital communications; and

  - Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, for his work representing the interests of amateur radio at the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference, where 60 meters was designated as an amateur radio band worldwide.

  

 - In addition, Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, received a supporting grant to help cover his expenses in producing and distributing videos through his Ham Radio Now podcast.

Milestones: CQ Hall of Famer Mario Ambrosi, I2MQP, SK

Mario Ambosi, I2MQP, president of Italy's national amateur radio association (ARI) and a 2005 inductee into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, became a Silent Key in November. Ambrosi was an active contester and DXer as well as being a prolific author and Editor of ARI's magazine, Radiorivista.

CQWW DX Contest Propagation Update – Focus on the Low Bands

CQ Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, updates us on expected propagation conditions during both the SSB and CW weekends of the 2017 CQ World Wide DX Contest…

CQ WW DX SSB Contest conditions look poor to fair, and somewhat unstable

Poor to Fair Conditions Expected

Here is an updated forecast made a week in advance for the general propagation conditions expected during the 2017 CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest weekend of October 28-29.  Based on the 27-day recurrence tendencies of solar and geomagnetic conditions, we predict poor to fair conditions on both days. Expect the contest to start weak, but to improve slightly as Sunday dawns.

Daily 10.7cm solar flux levels are expected to be around 85 during the contest weekend, so the higher HF bands will be barely productive, with our workhorse remaining 20 meters.  The geomagnetic Planetary A-index is expected to be variable between 10 and 15. The lower frequencies will be more productive, and will allow for weak signals to be heard on higher frequencies when an opening exists on some given path.

Remember that at any time during the contest, if there are sunspots present, a flare may occur.  When flares erupt, it could cause a radio blackout on the Sun-facing side of the Earth.  These last between ten to sixty minutes, depending on the strength and location of the flare.  We don’t expect much solar flare activity. However, as we witnessed recently, a sunspot region may still suddenly develop, and unleash a flare or two (or more).

We're still a month-plus away from the CQWW CW Weekend, but here's how things are looking as of now…

CQ WW DX CW Contest conditions look fair, and stable

Fair Conditions Expected

Here is an updated forecast in late October for the general propagation conditions expected during the 2017 CQ World Wide DX CW Contest weekend of November 25-26.  Based on the 27-day recurrence tendencies of solar and geomagnetic conditions, we predict fair conditions on both days. Expect the contest to start fair, but to improve slightly on Sunday.

As with the SSB weekend, daily 10.7cm solar flux levels are expected to be around 85 during the contest weekend, so the higher HF bands will be barely productive, with our workhorse remaining 20 and 40 meters.  The geomagnetic Planetary A-index is expected to be between 5 and 8; stable. The lower frequencies will be more productive, and will allow for weak signals to be heard on higher frequencies when an opening exists on some given path.

Remember that at any time during the contest, if there are sunspots present, a flare may occur.  When flares erupt, it could cause a radio blackout on the Sun-facing side of the Earth.  These last between ten to sixty minutes, depending on the strength and location of the flare.

For very last-minute updates, visit NW7US's Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/spacewx.hfradio and his propagation website at: http://SunSpotWatch.com

New Ham Bands Occupied and Busy

The two newest ham radio bands – 2200 and 630 meters – are open for general amateur use and are
already being well-used. It appears that the first approval letters from the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) – which must sign off on notices that individual hams intend to use the bands – arrived on October 13, and some stations immediately got on the air. Amateurs wishing to use these bands must notify UTC and wait until an approval letter is received or until 30 days go by with no response before getting on the air.

Location of the 630 & 2200-meter bands/
in relation to surrounding spectrum.

CQ MF/LF Editor John Langridge, KB5NJD, reports that a record-setting 630-meter QSO of just over 7457 miles (12,002 kilometers) was completed on October 17 between Larry Molitor, W7IUV, in Quincy, Washington, and Roger Crofts, VK4YB, of Queensland, Australia using the JT9 digital mode. John says the previous record was 7333 miles (11,802 kilometers), set in 2016 between VK4YB and Steve McDonald, VE7SL, in Mayne, British Columbia (630 meters has been authorized in Canada for several years).

Meanwhile, the ARRL Letter reports that some denial letters have been received as well, including at least two amateurs who had been operating on the new bands under experimental licenses without reports of interference to power line carrier (PLC) systems, which share these frequencies in some locations. The FCC rule granting US amateurs access to these bands prohibits operation within 1 kilometer of power transmission lines on which PLC is in use.

On a related note, the ARRL says updated amateur frequency charts showing the new bands are now available for download, in several formats, from <http://bit.ly/2xhkUjF>.

ARRL Completes Mission in Puerto Rico; VP Pence Visits Hams

The nearly two dozen radio amateurs sent by the ARRL to help re-establish communications in hurricane-wracked Puerto Rico completed their mission there in mid-October and returned home after about three weeks of deployment on the island.

According to the ARRL Letter, the hams' initial mission was to collect outbound health and welfare reports and feed them into the American Red Cross's "Safe and Well" system, but when they arrived, they found the communications infrastructure in such bad shape that they were redeployed to provide communications for hospitals while other volunteers handled the Safe and Well messages.

On October 6, the hams working at the Puerto Rico Emergency Operations Center – which had been set up at the San Juan Convention Center – got a visit and a pep talk from Vice President Mike Pence. CQ Emergency Communications Editor Walt Palmer, W4ALT, provides a comprehensive report on amateur radio hurricane relief activities throughout the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast in his column in the December issue of CQ. 

In addition, we will be posting audio of Walt's interviews with two major players in the emergency response on our website at <www.cq-amateur-radio.com>. Check the site for links.