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                     DX information along with news, events
                                           and ideas from around the world

News
Radio New Zealand International’s DRM transmissions.
Drake and Heathkit designer becomes Silent Key.
Montenegro is newest ARRL DXCC entity
International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend
Russian Amateur Licence CallBook
FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes
Canada's 7.335 MHz “CHU” Time Signal could go silent or shift frequency
Free Licenses and Deregulation of CB Radio and Low Power Devices in the UK.

 

Ideas
The Station Notebook
Tips For Preserving Your Club's History
 

Latest from the ARRL - December 16, 2006

FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes

    In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The FCC only issued a public notice at or about the close of business and not the actual Report and Order, so some details -- including the effective date of the move remain uncertain at this time.

    Also today, the FCC agreed to modify the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will carve out the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations.
Prior to the long-awaited action on the Morse code issue, Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The Commission said today's R&O eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra applicants.

    Perhaps more important, the FCC's action appears to put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent HF privileges, whether or not they've passed the 5 WPM. This would eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician and Technician Plus class licensees.

   The wholesale elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory tradition in the requirements to gain access to Amateur Radio frequencies below 30 MHz. Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register. That would mean the Morse requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late January 2007.

That was an extract from ARRL Bulletin 30 dated December 16
Submitted by Peter VK2EMU

Check out the pages of www.arrl.org for full details of this report
 

Canada's 7.335 MHz “CHU” Time Signal could go silent or shift frequency

    Changes in international frequency allocations could force Canada's CHU time-standard signal on 7.335 MHz to go off the air, change frequency or get another license by next spring. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has reallocated the 7300-7350 kHz band from "fixed service" to "broadcasting," effective April 2007. CHU now operates there as a fixed service facility. CHU's other frequencies -- 3.330 and 14.670 MHz -- are not affected. The station has been including messages in English and French in its 7.335 MHz transmissions to solicit information from CHU listeners and to help shape recommendations regarding which direction to go. 

    Canadian time transmissions using the CHU call letters commenced in 1938 on the current frequency, but the service itself dates back to the early 1920s. The facility changed to cesium atomic clocks in 1967. In 1970 the responsibility of operating CHU shifted from Dominion Observatory to the National Research Council. 

    The CHU code is also used as a radio clock, which can be used as a reference clock for an NTP time server. Software drivers have been written that can obtain the date and time from the code and that tune a digitally tuned radio to one of CHU's three frequencies to get the best signal. 

    The English version says "On April 1, 2007, CHU needs to stop operating, change frequencies, or re-license. Contact radio.chu@nrc.gc.ca  or mail CHU Canada K1A 0R6,"  

    CHU invites reception report and will respond with a QSL card. Send reception reports to Radio Station CHU, National Research Council of Canada, 1200 Montreal Rd, Bldg M-36, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6 or via e-mail <radio.chu@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca>. 

Extract from the ARRL Letter Vol. 25, no. 48, December 8, 2006
Submitted by Tim VK2ZTM
 

Check out the pages of www.arrl.org for full details of this report
 

Free Licenses and Deregulation of CB Radio and Low Power Devices in the UK.

    John Alcorn, VK2JWA, reports that UK Lifetime licences come into force from 1 December 2006. It is understood that while the new Terms and Conditions will apply to all licensees from 1 December, it is planned to send out over 60,000 paper copies over the next few months. These licences will then remain valid for an initial period of five years or until personal circumstances such as address changes need to be notified.

     Reminders will not be sent out when the five year period is drawing to a close. It will be the responsibility of the licensee to notify Ofcom that the details held on record are correct. The RSGB however are hoping to come to an agreement with Ofcom to enable the Society to offer a reminder service to their members.

John VK2JWA also reports on UK Deregulation of CB RADIO and LOW POWER DEVICES.

    From 8 December this year UK CB operators will no longer need to obtain a licence. Certain low power FM transmitters, which wirelessly connect MP3 players to radios and in-car entertainment systems, will be legal for use in the UK from 8 December 2006.

They will have to meet stringent specifications aimed at preventing interference to other wireless devices. More spectrum will be available 169.4-169.8125MHz band.

Extract from SARC Report of 10-12-2006
 

RUSSIAN CALLBOOK available.

    The English Version of the Russian Amateur Radio CallBook containing information on all Russian HAM radio operators is now available to western operators.

    It also contains details of DX Expeditions which will take place in the nearest future and about the diplomas or awards offered.
An interesting addition to the CallBook is a list with names and addresses of Russian collectors of HAM equipment.
Should you be interested in ordering this directory or would like more information please email the supplier at zakaz@poste.ru

The price is 52 US dollars, including the shipping to your country.
This message originated from Mr. Andrey Pronin of the HAM Radio Association of Russia.

And was submitted by John Alcorn VK2JWA
 

2006 International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend

 - International Lighthouse/ Lightship Weekend - held over the 18th to 20th August 
    This is an International Communications Event held weekend late in August, it involves many local Hams along with overseas operators. Basicly it 
involves Amateur Radio clubs or individuals "activating" or setting up a Ham radio station inside or close to Lighthouses or Lightships. In Australia at 
least, many of these are no longer manned or even functional. Add to this that most of them are on what is now Crown or National Parks lands, considerable
organisiation is required to get the event going at a given location. Operation of equipment is usually further complicated by lack of power to run the 
equipment, requiring battery banks to stay on air. 

  The event involves radio contact between the Lighthouse/Lightship stations, however other Ham operators often get involved to provide signal reports.
AS many operators as possible should get on the air and support the clubs and individual operators in Australia and overseas in this exiting event. An 
excellent, enjoyable radio outing. Great public relations for your Club and Ham radio in general. Those concerned should contact the appropriate 
authorities to access your lighthouse.

Following Clubs have advised of their involvement in the event..
Summerland ARC ( Northern NSW)         Cape Byron - John VK2JWA, Ballina, Richmond Head - Wal Munn VK2JHN.
                                                              Evans Head - Graeme VK2JUB, Yamba, Clarence Head - Les VK2ALH.
                                                              No operators to do Point Danger or Fingal Head. Maybe next year
Waverley Amateur Radio Society whose members will be activating two sites for this event. 
Oxley Amateur Radio Club station VK2BOR will be operating portable from the Tacking Point Lighthouse on Saturday 19th August. 

    International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend normally starts at 0001UTC on Saturday and ends at 2359UTC on Sunday. But this year a minute’s silence will be held at 0001UTC in honour of the event’s founder and main organiser Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, who died in December last year. The event will therefore kick off one minute later than usual at 0002UTC.

   According to the weekend’s promoters, the event is not a contest, so participants are encouraged to chat with stations rather than simply exchanging reports. The event is not only a great opportunity to increase DXCC contacts and other lighthouse awards but also on Sunday provides people with a chance to visit lighthouses in person. This is because many lighthouses are open to the public on Sunday as part of International Association of Lighthouse Keepers’ Lighthouse Open Day.

For more information about the event, including full guidelines, an online entry form and a list of entrants, visit the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend website – http://www.illw.net/
 

Chinggis Khan lives on (pronounced Gen-giss Kahn)

    Amateur radio operators from Mongolia have been authorised to replace their prefix with JV800 for the rest of the year to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Mongolian statehood initiated by Chinggis Khan in 1206.

An extract from the text of the RSGB News 2nd July, 2006
 

An extract from the text of the ARRL DX Bulletin 26 dated 29th June, 2006
 

Radio New Zealand International’s short wave service has commenced DRM transmissions.
      Radio New Zealand International’s short wave service has commenced DRM transmissions. Intended prime use for these transmissions is to provide a feed to various Pacific Island radio broadcasters.
      They already operate AM services and the DRM will operate on the existing frequencies which will include 7145, 9440, 13730 and 15720 KHz. The 7145 KHz allocation is in use from 0659 to 1259 UTC with DRM and from 1300 to 1650 UTC in the AM mode. These time slots are beamed due north from New Zealand. From 1651 to 1850 UTC DRM returns and is beamed 35 degrees East.

Some DRM tests have also commenced on frequencies within the broadcast band in Australia.

Submitted by Tim VK2ZTM
 

     Transceiver Designer Michael F. Elliott, W8KRR, SK (Apr 20, 2006) -- The man behind the development of the Heathkit SB-104 and Drake TR-7 transceivers, Michael Elliott, W8KRR, 66, of Centerville, Ohio, died April 14.
     Elliott received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the  Northwestern University in 1963.
     He went on to figure greatly in the development of the Heathkit SB-104. Released in 1974, it was the first transceiver to incorporate solid-state design, come with a digital frequency readout and be priced for the mass market. The SB-104 was a mainstay until 1982, when radios that covered the new WARC bands superseded it. It was one of the last Amateur Radio kits that Heathkit developed.
     Elliott was also influential in the design of the Drake TR-7. This transceiver was the standard for competition-grade transceivers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In his 1979 QST Product Review, David Sumner, K1ZZ, called the TR-7, "...the most convenient this reviewer has ever used. The styling is functional, and is similar to that used in modern, high-fidelity audio equipment." Even today, he calls it "the breakthrough radio of its time."
     The two transceivers represented state-of-the-art technology from two American manufacturers. A memorial service was held April 19 in Centerville. Contributions in memory of Michael Elliott, W8KRR, may be made to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave, Dayton, OH 45420. -- some information provided by The Dayton Daily News

This item was contributed by Chris VK2QV who sourced it from the ARRL "Amateur Radio News". http://www.arrl.org/ 

The Station Notebook
By Wayne Greaves, W0ZW  w0zw@arrl.net

     Your station is one-of-a-kind. Do you have a record of how it's put together? Here's how to capture important details about your station for future reference.

The W0ZW Station Notebook.
     There is a station accessory that no Amateur Radio shack should be without. It works with stations that operate HF, VHF, UHF, microwave and even moonbounce. It is useful to both "Big Gun" and QRP stations, casual operators, contesters, DXers and rag chewers alike. It doesn't matter if you operate phone, CW or data modes. Best of all, it is readily available and costs under five bucks. This amazing addition to your shack is the Station Notebook. Every ham should maintain one for his or her station. Here's what it is and how to use it. Quite simply, the station notebook is a collection of technical or operational details specific to your station that you document in a journal. The Station Notebook is a living document that grows over time as your station evolves.

      What kind of information goes into the Station Notebook? Some examples include:

        Station block diagram
        List of equipment models and serial numbers
        Antenna descriptions and dimensions
        Record of measured SWR versus frequency for each antenna
        Document radio memory settings for stored frequencies and other variable settings
        Station RF exposure evaluation
        Results of tests and experiments
        Description of changes, additions, or modifications to equipment

     Your notes can be as simple or as detailed as you want, but the important thing is that they get written down! My concept of the Station Notebook is based on the engineer's notebook. For commercial purposes, the engineering notebook is considered a legal document used to record the invention process, which is essential for obtaining patents. While the requirements of the typical Amateur may not be identical to those of the practicing engineer, there are format similarities between the two notebooks.

     My personal preferences for a Station Notebook are as follows:
 
       Use a bound composition notebook, 9¾ in. by 7½ inches or larger (80 to 100 sheets per notebook are typical).
       Select a notebook with a ¼ inch grid page format (also called"quadrille") instead of a ruled page. It's easier to sketch graphs,
               plot antenna layouts and draw block diagrams.
       Make entries in ink and date each entry.
       Write legibly, but don't be overly concerned about neatness, the information content is what's most important.
       Write your call sign and the title "Station Notebook" on the front cover.

      While it might make sense to some to use a three-ring binder instead of a bound notebook, I believe the bound notebook is handier and therefore more likely to be written in and actually used. The bound notebook is easier to take out into the field for recording those antenna measurements. It also takes up less space on the bookshelf than most three-ring binders. The photos show the cover and an example page from my own Station Notebook.
      The utility of the Station Notebook was demonstrated to me one day when I accidentally erased the memory contents in a VHF transceiver. Ordinarily this would have meant spending several hours with the Repeater Directory recreating the list of the dozens of channels that had been lost. Instead, all I had to do to recover was refer to my Station Notebook where I had a written list of the frequencies and tone settings that had been programmed in the radio. This episode alone proved the value of documenting my station.
      Every station should have an up-to-date block diagram that describes the major system components and how they are interconnected. System components include transceivers, receivers, exciters, transverters, preamps, amplifiers, antennas, signal switching boxes, lightning arrestors, power supplies, as well as their interconnection. The Station Notebook is an idea place to document this.
      As your station architecture changes, simply modify the drawing or make a new one. Do you remember how long a length of coax is to your 40 meter dipole or when you last checked the connection at the feed point? Use the Station Notebook to capture a sketch of each run of transmission line you have, along with its length, type, and when you installed it or last inspected it. When you write it down, you can simply refer to your Station Notebook without having to rely on your memory. You already have enough on your mind!

The information above is an excerpt from an article appearing on the ARRL "Amateur Radio News" 20th April,2006 http://www.arrl.org/ 

Keep Things Organized
     Organization is the key to being able to retrieve documents in the future. Perry recommends that you use a manila folder or large envelope at the very least to organize your documents. Keep in mind that it will most likely be someone other than yourself who will be looking for these archived items.

Protect Sensitive Material
     Be sure to store poor quality items such as telegrams, newspaper clippings, mimeographs in a store-bought food storage bag. Newspaper articles turn brown and brittle in ten years. Perry says that folks who wish to archive club materials may purchase acid-free bags called stiffeners from an archiving supplies company librarians use.
    Keep documents out of direct sunlight. If you receive a box of artifacts that smells musty and mildewy, try Odor Eliminator. This is an air freshener made of non-toxic volcanic ash in a net bag. It has a negative charge that ionizes the air. Refresh it in the sunlight for six hours, and it smells great again.

Catalog and Record Items
     For your photos, write the name, date, photographer, anything unique in the picture, and a brief description of the occasion for example: 2005 ARRL Forum, Dayton Hamvention. Include the names and calls of the people in the photograph.
     When placing pictures in a photo album be sure that you don't write directly on the picture because some inks can deteriorate on the back of photos over time.
     It is suggested that you write the documentation on a label to the side of the photograph in an album.

Souvenirs
    Be sure to save one memento from each event or special occasion such as badges, pins, programs, etc., and store these in stiffener bags so they don't get damaged.
   When saving papers, be sure to X out the side you don't want. Often notes are written on recycled paper, and it isn't always clear many years later which side is important.
    I hope that these pointers can help your club preserve its history and allow you to tell the story to those that will come after you. I would also suggest that you save obituaries, memorial programs and cards for a documentation of your Silent Key members.
    If you would like to have Perry save something that is noteworthy to your club that hasn't been documented in an article, please send him the information. A special file cabinet has been set aside just for that purpose. Noteworthy events may include a milestone anniversary or service award received by your club.

By Rose-Anne Lawrence, KB1DMW
ARRL Affiliated Club Assistant

The information above is an excerpt from an article appearing on the ARRL "Amateur Radio News" 4th May,2006 http://www.arrl.org/