News Archive

ARRL Experiment featured in November 2007 issue of the Swedish Amateur Radio magazine "QTC"

Click HERE for a PDF file of the article.

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Part 5 Experimental Station WE2XGR joins in experimental project on the 600 Meter band.

The license for WE2XGR was issued by the FCC on September 5 with the following specifications:

Power 200 Watts ERP, Frequency 505-515 KHz , Modes CW, SSB, and data, Term 5 Years (expires Sept 1 2012)

For information about individual WE2XGR stations, click HERE. For the WE2XGR license, click HERE.

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The November 2007 Status Report for the WD2XSH project is available for downloading at THIS LINK.

Thanks to Fritz Raab, W1FR, the Experiment Coordinator for preparing this report.

WE2XGR/2 seen running in Hellschreiber mode on 600 Meters

ARGO capture by WD2XSH/13

Quoting John, "At 0140 copied a very clear Hellschreiber transmission from XGR Burlington VT. It surprised the hell out of me!!! 506.600 KHz. It was clearly readable in spite of relatively high level of QRN to the East. It popped up on the ARGO screen running in normal mode. John O. /13"

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Do trees work as 600 Meter antennas? Yes! See THIS PAGE for details. Be sure to follow the link to the RF preamplifier that I built for the antenna. It has power-over-the-coax, and can be used with many types of antennas. Lots of gain, and low noise. (tnx K06BB)

During the past three months, the WD2XSH stations have added 2250 hours of operation, bringing the total to 4629. Twenty-seven additional QSOs have been made, bringing the total to 75. Over 3100 reception reports have been filed on our web site. A map showing the QSOs appears below, and statistics for each station are given in the appendix of the latest report. Most of the "records" for QSO and reception distances that were set in the first quarter have not been broken. The longest distance over which a QSO has been maintained is 884 mi from New Hampshire to Tennessee. Station /10 (W4DEX) completed a cross-band (500 kHz - 137 kHz) QSO with WD2XNS (W1VD) in Connecticut.

WD2XSH Station QSO Paths as of 28 FEB 2007

Reception Reports for some of the WD2XSH Stations are shown in the maps below.

Reception Reports for Station WD2XSH / 6

Reception Reports for Station WD2XSH / 10

Reception Reports for Station WD2XSH / 19

Reception Reports for Station WD2XSH / 20

K2ORS files application for Part 5 License for 505 - 515 KC

From the ARRL Web Site:

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 15, 2006 -- (As of September 13, 2006) The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology has granted a Part 5 experimental license to the ARRL on behalf of a group of radio amateurs interested in investigating spectrum in the vicinity of 500 kHz. Experimental license WD2XSH was issued September 13. The two-year authorization permits experimentation and research between 505 and 510 kHz (600 meters) using narrowband modes at power levels of up to 20 W effective radiated power (ERP). ARRL Member Fritz Raab, W1FR, of Vermont, will serve as experimental project manager for "The 500 KC Experimental Group for Amateur Radio."

Monday, May 1, 2006 - There is a move being made by some in the "Maritime" radio community to have the 600 Meter band and 500 KHz remain (silent except for certain memorial stations) as a permanent memorial to marine radio history. This, of course, would effectively eliminate any possibility of obtaining an Amateur allocation in the 600 Meter band.

Fritz Raab, W1FR, has written a concise report on this potentially divisive situation. This topic is so important that I have printed his entire report here. You may download his report as a PDF file by clicking HERE.

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GMRR M06-1A COOPERATION ON THE FUTURE OF THE 600-METER BAND

Prepared by Fritz Raab, W1FR, 8 March 2006

Two groups are interested in preserving the 600-meter band (495 - 510 kHz) that was formerly used for maritime telegraphic communication. The "Amateur" community would like to see the 600-meter band become an amateur band. The "Maritime" community would like the band to remain silent except for use by the historical maritime CW stations (HMS). Of course, it isn't quite this simple and a number of us have interests in both areas. The start of the new year seems to be a good time to suggest we all think about cooperating and working together to preserve this historic piece of spectrum.

First here are some basic facts:

(1) The 600-meter band *was* for a century an extremely important maritime-communication band. However, the SOLAS treaty and subsequent creation of the GMDSS ensured the demise of maritime communication on 500 kHz. 600 meters has since become virtually abandoned for real maritime communication and is now used only for occasional special-event transmissions by organizations such as the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS).

(2) There is *no* chance that real maritime communication at 500 kHz will be revived. The equipment costs 100 to 1000 times as much as UHF equipment, and trained operators would be needed.

(3) The spectrum at 500-kHz is very valuable and has many potential uses, including DGPS, traffic-information service, broadcasting, homeland security, and NAVTEX. None of these potential users will tolerate sharing the band with historical maritime stations.

(4) Occasional use by historical stations is not going to hold the band against commercial pressures and other national interests.

(5) No regulatory agency - national or international - is going to allocate useful frequencies for "silence." Our FCC would no doubt like to find a way to auction it off! I expect that in one or two more WRC cycles, we will see a reallocation.

(6) In the USA, 435 -495 kHz has been claimed by the USCG for their new HA DGPS. The bands from 190 to 285 kHz and 325 to 435 kHz are being used by aeronautical NDBs. The band from 285 to 325 is filled with marine DGPS beacons. Thus the only MF range that can potentially be reallocated to amateurs are 495 - 505 kHz internationally plus 505 - 510 kHz in Region II. Now I think all of us -both maritime and amateur groups - can agree that we do not want to see DGPS, broadcasting, TIS, or NAVTEX in the 600-meter band. Most all of us would like to see CW and historical maritime communication able to continue in this band. With this in mind, it makes sense for the amateur and marine factions to become partners in preserving the band against other interests.

Amateurs will get at most a secondary allocation at 600 meters. That means when special- event maritime transmissions are underway, amateurs will have to stay out of the way. As a practical matter, most of us will be trying to listen for the special-event transmissions instead of operating.

Once there is an amateur allocation at 600 meters, the ARRL, RSGB, WIA, and other national amateur organizations will police the band against interlopers and protect it against other would-be users. This will be to the advantage of both the maritime and amateur groups. The combined resources of the amateur organizations (ARRL, RSGB, WIA, RAC, etc.) far exceeds that of the maritime community (e.g., MRHS). Thus making an ally of the amateurs should give the maritime community clout that it would otherwise not have.

The presence of amateurs in this band will ensure that CW will be heard into the forseeable future. No other service will use CW. I doubt there will be a lot of commercial ham rigs capable of operating in this band, so I do not see it becoming crowded like some of the HF bands.

There will, of course, need be some sort of a band plan for amateur use. Exactly what will depend upon how much spectrum we could get. As a minimum, a band plan will need to provide for the possibility of marine operation at 500 kHz and to separate amateur beacons, CW, and digital transmissions. It may make sense to leave 499 - 501 for the historical maritime stations, or perhaps it could be also be used for amateur calling, emergency comms, and bulletins, much as its original use.

Amateur use of a small band like 600 meters will have to be limited to CW, PSK-31, and other narrowband modulations, which can easily be kept out of the way of maritime communications. However, it may be possible to arrange for some other types of transmissions on a special-event basis. For example, during annual "maritime or Fessenden days," MCW and AM could be allowed.

The most important reasons for amateurs to be able to use 600 meters is to provide reliable regional communications in an emergency. To this end, it should be able to arrange permission for "cross-service" communication with the historical maritime stations, resulting in a larger and more effective emergency-comms capability. This capability will be a much more important reason to retain a frequency allocation at 500 kHz than are either the occasional historical operations or ordinary amateur operations.

Future operations of maritime-historical-radio organizations such as MRHS requires a continuing source of new members, as there will be no more maritime radio officers trained in the use CW. Shared use of the 600-meter band with amateurs will be an effective way of interesting amateurs in maritime-radio history. These amateurs will help expand the historical organizations in the near future and ensure their continuance in the more distant future.

The maritime community may agree that amateurs would be better than the other would-be users, but prefer to wait until there is a real threat from one of the other would-be users. This is a risky approach. If we wait until some commercial or government entity develops an interest in this frequency band, it is going to be difficult or impossible to stop them.

We can work together to preserve this historic frequency band - or we can squabble among ourselves and loose it to another service that neither of us likes. My hope in writing this is that everyone involved can see the need for cooperation and the mutual benefit in sharing the band. When it comes time for the ARRL to file a petition for amateur access, my hope is that MRHS and others in the maritime faction will file supporting briefs so that together we can preserve this historic piece of the spectrum.

de W1FR

Tuesday, 28 June 2005 - I've been receiving quite a few emails wanting to know when the group member stations will begin transmissions. The simple answer is - not until we receive the license from the FCC. When will that be? Your guess is as good as mine. There are a lot of details that the FCC must consider carefully before making a decision of whether or not to grant the license. In the meantime, the group members will be making plans to get on the air at the earliest opportunity, whether it be with homebrew rigs or modified gear.

Please, let me point out once again that the fact the FCC has assigned the call letters WD2XSH to this application NOT mean that the actual license has been granted. It simply means that it is "in the pipeline," so to speak, for processing in the usual manner.

Other email messages have inquired as to what modes, frequencies and power levels we will be using. This information is all in the application, but it typical FCC-speak, so some of it is difficult to figure out. So, courtesy of Frederic Raab, W1FR, here's the scoop on what's what:

[Editor's note - 24 June 2005] The processing of a Part 5 application can require many months after filing the paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This lengthy process is required because the safe use of the radio frequency spectrum that is already licensed to government, military and various commercial and private interests must be carefully protected. It is almost certain that there will be some revisions and clarifications of the application paperwork before the license is granted. Because of these changes and revisions, the final grant of license will often contain substantial differences from the original application.

To clarify - the assignment of the call letters WD2XSH to this Part 5 application DOES NOT mean that the actual license is about to be granted. It may be as long as a year - or even longer - before the status of the application is finally decided, and the license to operate is either granted or denied. - W5JGV -

Wednesday, 22 June 2005 - Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission has issued the call letters WD2XSH for the 600 Meter Part 5 Experimental operations to be conducted by the ARRL 600 Meter Experimental Group. The actual grant of license will be done in the normal course of operations by the FCC.

In the meantime, it is reported that members of the Experimental Group are melting solder, tuning transmitters, stringing feedlines, and polishing their keys in eager anticipation of the issuance of the license itself, which will allow then to commence operations on 600 Meters.

All operations will necessarily adhere to the Part 5 rules and to the proposed plan of research specified in the license application. Results of the project will be forwarded to the Commission and posted on this web site. When transmissions actually commence, we will post a notice on this web page.

Reception reports of the transmissions made by Group participants are requested. You do not have to be a member of this group to send us a reception report. Please use the link at the left side of this web page to enter your reports.

Friday, 24 June 2005 - (Additional information from Walt Ireland, WB7CSL ARRL Technical Relations Office) - At any time during the processing of the Part 5 license application, any government agency that has reason to believe that the proposed 600 Meter transmissions might cause interference with their use of the radio spectrum may file an objection with the NITA and the FCC. Filing such an objection could delay or even prevent the license from being issued.

NTIA stands for National Information & Telecommunications Administration, and it works like an FCC for Government communication users. For example, the US Coast Guard would go to NTIA if it believed that any of the frequencies requested for the experimental license could cause them interference.

ARRL files request with the FCC for 600 Meter Experimental License

23 US Amateur operators selected for experimental project.

>> The following is from the ARRL web site <<

"NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 22, 2005--The ARRL has applied to the FCC for a Part 5 Experimental license on behalf of a group of radio amateurs interested in operating in the vicinity of 500 kHz. ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, announced the filing during a meeting of the ARRL Executive Committee April 9 in Denver. The experimental application was among several items the EC dealt with in addition to the previously reported recommendations to the ARRL Board of Directors regarding a planned regulation-by-bandwidth petition.

If granted, the two-year Part 5 license would permit experimentation and research between 495 and 510 kHz--just below the Standard AM Broadcast Band--at power levels of up to 20 W effective radiated power. Modes would be CW and PSK31. ARRL Member Fred Raab, W1FR, of Burlington, Vermont, would manage the project, which calls for 23 discrete fixed sites across the US. The license application requests authorization for experimental stations at Raab's QTH in Vermont as well as at sites in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia".

Additional information about Amateur Radio and Part 5 Experimental Operation may be found on my other web site at W5JGV.COM