Ham Radio News
…because we don’t live in a vacuum
World Scout Jamboree Gearing Up for
Significant Amateur Radio Presence
Amateur Radio will be a part of this summer's 24th World Scout
Jamboree in West Virginia, the first World Jamboree held in North
America since 1983. The Jamboree has chosen the theme "Unlock a
New World." Thousands of Scouts and Scout leaders from some 200
countries are expected to attend. The Jamboree's Amateur Radio
Exhibit will use the call sign NA1WJ -- North America's 1st World
Jamboree. It will be on the air during the event, July 22 until August 2,
at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the
US. Amateur Radio testing is expected to begin as early as July 14.
Operating frequencies will be posted in real time via Facebook and
Twitter or via an NA1WJ email group.
"The goals of the Amateur Radio station at the World Scout Jamboree
are to introduce Amateur Radio to Scouts and Scout leaders through
hands-on participation in two-way communication with other stations
across the globe. This activity will also serve as the Amateur Radio
voice of the Jamboree," the World Scout Jamboree Amateur Radio
Exhibit Operational Vision document states. Other facets of Amateur
Radio at the Jamboree will include Amateur Radio direction finding
(ARDF), Amateur Radio satellite contacts, and a scheduled Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with an ISS
crew member.
"We also expect to launch one or two balloons with Amateur Radio
payloads and track them as they cross the Atlantic," the vision
document continues.
Organizers are encouraging radio amateurs around the globe to get
on the air during the World Jamboree to help NA1WJ demonstrate
Amateur Radio for Jamboree visitors.
The 2019 World Scout Jamboree operation at the Summit Bechtel
Scout Reserve will take advantage of lessons learned by the K2BSA
Amateur Radio operation during the 2013 and 2017 USA National
Jamborees. It will also take advantage of the existing infrastructure,
which includes three VHF/UHF repeaters installed by Icom America, as
well as the utility poles for installing antennas. K2BSA ham gear stored
in West Virginia includes antennas, rotators, and cables.
Evening operation from NA1WJ will involve at least two operators
using the buddy system. VHF/UHF repeaters will offer full coverage of
the Jamboree area via handheld transceivers, facilitating networking
as well as emergency communication. The exhibit will include an
Amateur Radio station with the special event call sign W8J.
The demonstration station will include multiple operating positions
offering a variety of modes. These include six stations with 100 W HF
transceivers, computer logging software, and large screen computer
displays; two VHF/UHF stations for demonstrations and repeater
monitoring, and two satellite communication systems. The antenna
farm will include two HF directional antennas, three HF dipoles, three
HF vertical antennas, VHF/UHF verticals and satellite antennas with
azimuth and elevation control, a trailer-based crank-up tower, a five-
band Yagi, a 40-meter rotatable dipole, and a 6-meter Yagi.
Each station will be able to accommodate four participants at a time,
plus one control operator. The goal is to give each participant up to
about 10 minutes of operating time.
The K2BSA Amateur Radio Association will host a "Radio Scouting"
booth at Dayton Hamvention® (Booth 2205 in Building 2).
-ARRL Letter
Locals keep ham radio alive and well
In a time when social media platforms are often criticized more for
their divisiveness than praised for their ability to bring people
together, a number of Seacoast residents are tapping into a different
network to forge connections worldwide. Local interest in ham radios
has been growing at an accelerated rate in recent years thanks to
lower entry hurdles, according to clubs and operators. They say it’s put
new generations one twist of a dial or tap of a touchscreen away from
the rush that comes from a meaningful chat with people on the other
side of the globe.
World explorers: WCS students travel across radio
waves.
The U.S., Canada, Central America and Europe represent just a
handful of global locations Worthington Christian School students
have been able to explore with no passport required. Using radio
frequency technology, WCS students have made contact with
hundreds of people across the world by way of radio waves. “You get
to know people you wouldn’t otherwise know,” said WCS fifth-grader
Cali Visser of her experience transmitting shortwave radio signals.
Led by longtime amateur radioer Randy Shirbroun, students
interested in learning about amateur (ham) radio have had several
hands-on experiences over the past two years during both casual and
organized radio operating events via the school’s club station, W0WCS.
-Dan Romanchik KB6NU
ARRL Reply Comments Stress Need to
Update Technician Privileges in a Digital
World
In reply comments to the FCC (comments on comments already filed) on its
Petition for Rule Making (RM-11828), ARRL has stressed that updating HF
privileges for the entry-level Technician license "is the sole subject and
intent" of the petition. ARRL filed its reply comments on April 29, urging the
FCC to disregard comments irrelevant to its petition and maintaining that
Technician privileges must be relevant within the context of today's
technological environment.
"[T]he increasingly rapid pace of change in communications technologies,
coupled with the national need for self-training in science, technology,
engineering, and math" necessitate the rule changes requested, ARRL
asserted. "ARRL made its request because of the gap between today's digital
technologies and the privileges accorded the current entry-level Technician
license." ARRL characterized its proposal to update the rules as "balanced
and modest."
"If adopted, there would be no change to the operating privileges for all
license classes other than those of the Technician class," ARRL said. In 2018,
ARRL asked the FCC to expand HF privileges for Technician licensees to
include limited phone privileges on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and
digital mode privileges on 80, 40, and 15 meters. The FCC invited comments
on the proposal in April.
ARRL pointed out that some comments filed on its petition address subjects
related to other open proceedings rather than expanding Technician
privileges, citing comments cross-filed in such proceedings as WT Docket 16-
239, RM-11708, RM-11759, and RM-11831. "Those filings should be
considered in the proceedings that they address, rather than here," ARRL
said.
ARRL said some opposition appears based on fears of increased interference
potential due to additional digital operation by Technicians. "It is improbable
that all, or even a majority, of Technician licensees suddenly would develop a
passion for the same digital technology," ARRL said. "Our hope and
expectation is that many will engage with digital modes on the high-
frequency spectrum at issue, but it is unrealistic to suggest that every
Technician licensee blessed with new privileges would suddenly appear on
the same band."
The comments note the development of very efficient digital modes, such as
FT8, which occupies just 90 Hz of spectrum per signal. "The experience with
FT8 clearly demonstrates the attraction of the digital modes and the
spectrum efficiencies that can be achieved," ARRL said. "This is why opening
up limited digital opportunities to new radio amateurs so clearly would serve
the broad public interest as well as the specific purposes of Amateur Radio
in experimentation and innovation, as enumerated in the governing FCC
rules."
ARRL further said that comments regarding disagreement on the definition
of encryption for masking the content of certain digital transmissions are
also "out of place in this proceeding" and "should not delay initiation of a
proceeding" proposing to update Technician privileges.
"Technology has changed dramatically in the Amateur Radio domain, and
ARRL believes the requested Technician license enhancement would foster
the regulatory goals for the Amateur Service and continue to increase
amateurs' historical experimentation and service in a meaningful way," ARRL
concluded.
-ARRL Letter
Faster, More Contest-Friendly FT4 Digital
Protocol
initially in beta form. WSJT-X developers say serious work on the new FT4
protocol began shortly after the FT8 Roundup held last December 1 - 2. The
goal was a mode that could compete with RTTY contesting in terms of
contact rates, while preserving many of the benefits of FT8.
"Over the past month, a small group of volunteers have been conducting on-
the-air tests of FT4," the WSJT-X development group -- Joe Taylor, K1JT; Steve
Franke, K9AN; and Bill Somerville, G4WJS -- announced this week. "The early
tests were very successful and helped us to make a number of important
design decisions. We believe FT4 has considerable promise for its intended
purpose."
The developers say FT4 soon will be ready for testing by a larger group and
they're seeking interested participants who can offer their "considered
feedback." They suggest reading The FT4 Protocol for Digital Contesting first.
A general release of the WSJT-X suite that includes FT4 is anticipated in July.
According to the document, FT4 is an experimental digital mode designed
specifically for radio contesting that -- like FT8 -- uses fixed-length
transmissions, structured messages with formats optimized for minimal
contacts, and strong forward-error correction. Transmit-receive sequences
are 6 seconds long, making it 2.5 times faster than FT8 and about the same
speed as conventional RTTY for radio contesting. FT4 can work with signals
10 dB weaker what would be required to decode RTTY while using much less
bandwidth.
Spectra of an FT4 signal transmitted with GFSK (blue), FT4 with FSK (red), and
RTTY with continuous-phase FSK (purple).
Transmissions last for 4.48 seconds, compared to 12.64 seconds for FT8.
Modulation uses four-tone frequency-shift keying at approximately 23.4
baud, with tones separated by the baud rate. The occupied bandwidth is 90
Hz.
"We plan to post downloadable installation packages for WSJT-X version
2.1.0-rc5 on Monday, April 29," the Development Group said.
"A few parameters and operating behaviors of FT4 are still being tested and
optimized," the initial FT4 guide says. "It will be very useful to hold several
more mock contest practice sessions, with a larger group of active
participants."
Even if these practice sessions reveal no serious bugs or inadequacies, the
WSJT-X development group believes FT4 is still too new to be used in the
ARRL VHF Contest (June 8 - 10) and ARRL Field Day (June 22 - 23). For that
reason, release candidate WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 will "time out" on June 7.
A general availability release is expected in mid-July.
-ARRL Letter