The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 “The oldest continuously operating Amateur Radio Club in the United States” October 2008 Newsletter Upcoming Meetings: November 14: Hank, K9LZJ, will give a presentation on the new SDR 5000 Software Defined Radio. December 12: Annual Holiday dinner at MCL on West 86th Street. Ham Radio News: DHS INTEROPERABILITY MANUAL >From the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC)-- "The National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is a collection of technical reference material for radio technicians responsible for radios that will be used in disaster response applications. The NIFOG includes information from the National Interoperability Frequency Guide (NIFG), the instructions for use of the NIFG, and other reference material; formatted as a pocket-sized guide for radio technicians to carry with them. If you are not familiar with interoperability and mutual aid communications, start with the "How to Use the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide" section. We encourage you to program as many of these interoperability channels in your radios as possible. Even if geographic restrictions on some channels preclude their use in your home area, you may have the opportunity to help in a distant state where the restrictions do not apply. Maximize your flexibility." For a copy of the manual, see: http://www.npstc.org/documents/NIFOG%20v1.2%204-14-2008.pdf K9DUR WITHDRAWS FROM RACE FOR INDIANA SECTION MGR. Ray distributed this email on September 29, 2008: After further discussions with my doctors about the future course of my cancer treatments, I have decided to withdraw my nomination as Indiana Section Manager. The ballots may have already been mailed. However, I mailed a letter today to ARRL-HQ advising them of my official withdrawal. Therefore. The ballots are of no consequence. Congratulations to John Poindexter, W3ML, on his election. 73, Ray, K9DUR INDIANAPOLIS VE Testing Schedule for 2008 November 1st December 6th Calling in advance to ensure testing availability is suggested but not mandatory. SPONSOR: Indianapolis Radio Club (W9JP) LOCATION: Indianapolis Training Center 2820 N. Meridian Street. CONTACTS: Gale Wuollet, AA9WU (h) 317-849-8449, or Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L 317-203-3335. All testing at the Indianapolis Training Center starts at 9:00 am and the last test will be administered no later than 11:00 a.m. ARRL Files Petition with FCC against Experimental License Using 40 Meter Band On Monday, October 20, the ARRL filed a Petition for Modification or Cancellation of Experimental Authorization (Petition) with the FCC with respect to WE2XRH. According to the FCC, this experimental license -- issued to Digital Aurora Radio Technologies (DART) -- proposes to "test digital transmissions in 4.50-5.10 MHz, 7.10-7.60 MHz and 9.25-9.95 MHz for a terrestrial digital radio service to the citizens of Alaska." The League's Petition states that DART's hopes that this experimentation "will lead to a terrestrial, high-frequency (HF) digital aural (domestic broadcast) service in Alaska. Ostensibly to study the operation of this 'shortwave' system at high latitudes, and apparently in order to roll out this domestic broadcast service, DART specifies exceptionally high power operation in various segments of the HF spectrum. ARRL's interest in this matter is limited to the fact that the experimental license includes the band 7.1 -7.3 MHz, allocated domestically exclusively to the Amateur Radio Service." "It is astonishing that the FCC would grant this experimental license for operation at such a high power level in a band that is allocated exclusively to a service with which such operation is clearly incompatible," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "The only possible explanation is that it was an error; the only reasonable step for the FCC to take is to correct its error immediately, either by cancelling the license or by amending the frequency ranges to delete 7.1 -7.3 MHz." FCC AMENDS WE2XRH EXPERIMENTAL LICENSE In response to the October 20 ARRL Petition for Modification or Cancellation of Experimental Authorization (Petition) concerning an experimental license issued to Digital Aurora Radio Technologies (DART) station WE2XRH, the FCC today issued an amended license that redefines one of the station's frequency ranges to eliminate conflict with the Amateur Radio Service. This revision addresses ARRL's concern that the original 7.10 to 7.60 MHz range would cause unacceptable interference to Amateur Radio operations in the 40 meter band. The amended license narrows the range to 7.30 to 7.60 MHz and gives as the reason for the change, "operation in the band 7.1-7.3 MHz will cause harmful interference to Amateur Radio Service licensees." "We are delighted that the FCC acted so promptly to correct this error and are pleased that the matter has been resolved," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. WE2XRH will be testing a proposed domestic broadcast service using a 20 kHz bandwidth digital emission at a transmitter output power of 100 kW and an ERP of 660 kW within a radius of 1500 kilometers of Delta Junction, Alaska. According to the amended license, the transmissions will take place in the frequency ranges 4.4 to 5.1 MHz, 7.3 to 7.6 MHz and 9.25 to 9.95 MHz. NEXT ROUND OF PAVE PAWS MITIGATION CONTACTS BEGIN On October 22, the FCC notified the ARRL that they would immediately begin making direct contact with owners or trustees of approximately 40 repeaters. The US Air Force identified these repeaters earlier this year as contributors to the harmful interference affecting the Beale Air Force Base PAVE PAWS radar installation near Sacramento, California. "ARRL understands that contact with individual amateurs will be made from the DFCC's San Francisco office," said ARRL Regulatory Information Branch Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "The owners of these newly identified repeaters will be provided the operating parameters determined by the Air Force engineering unit's testing to be necessary to mitigate the interference. The owners will be requested to meet signal strength limits as soon as possible. The ARRL Lab and staff are available to answer specific questions for the owners of these newly identified repeaters and to provide technical information to assist them in implementing the mitigation." Henderson said that as the Amateur Radio Service is a secondary user on the 70 cm band, "It is important for amateurs to remember that it is 100 percent our responsibility to eliminate harmful interference to the primary user. While we realize that this is and will continue to be an ongoing process, this third round of mitigation should mean that each of the known repeaters in the affected area has been tested at least once. How the FCC will address approximately 50 repeaters previously identified as interference contributors -- but which have not apparently completed the required modifications -- still remains. Nor is it clear when a process by which new coordinations can be issued in the area might commence." Henderson reminded amateurs that "It is important to remember that this isn't a one-time solution. The amateur community needs to remain aware of this problem and responsibly utilize the band in the future to avoid any large-scale problems such as those we have experienced in this situation." WELCOME NEW MEMBERS New members at the October meeting: Allen Heacock, KC9OJL Myron Coy, KC9ODW FEEL FREE TO SHARE OUR NEWSLETTER If you belong to any other radio groups, please feel free to share our newsletter with them. They can also sign up to be on our mailing list by filling out the form available at http://www.indyradioclub.org/rqstnewsletter.htm. SEND ME YOUR HAM RADIO NEWS If anyone has any items for the newsletter, please send them to Ken Bandy at kj9b@arrl.net Signals from the Past: >From the April May, 1952 Amachewer: Associated Press reports from Miami Florida that W4RBQ was QSO with a ham in Covington, KY, and the Floridian asked the KY operator about his (W4RBQ’s) ex-wife who lived in the Covington area. She was contacted and the two held a QSO over the air, and as a result were re-married, having been divorced in 1918. Upcoming Area Radio Events: * November 15 – 16: Fort Wayne Hamfest & Computer Expo go to http://www.fortwaynehamfest.com/hfmain.htm for more info. * Wednesday, December 3, at 7:00 pm: Annual Hendricks county Amateur Radio and Volunteer recognition night at the Hendricks county government center on South Washington St. in Danville. Contact Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L, for more information. Current IRC Officers: · President: Tom Chance, K9XV - ..EMAIL k9xv@arrl.net · Vice Pres.: Dave Miller, K9RTT - ..EMAIL dmiller@ivytech.edu · Secretary: Ken Bandy, KJ9B - ..EMAIL kj9b@arrl.net · Treasurer: Jay Willever, K9LJW - ..EMAIL k9ljw@arrl.net · Chief Operator: Steve Wendt, KB9RDS - ..EMAIL kb9rds@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Jim Rinehart, K9RU – EMAIL k9ru@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Tom Price, WB9UNG – EMAIL pricetr@comcast.net · Dir. at large: Hank Wolfla, K9LZJ – EMAIL hwolfla@insightbb.com · W9JP Trustee: Don Hemenover, N9DOO – EMAIL don9doo@lightbound.com