Experimental Licensees Moving Low-Frequency Agenda Forward
With no Amateur Radio low-frequency allocation in North America, stations operating under FCC Part 5
Experimental licenses
https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/els/index.cfm
in the US or under special
experimental authorizations in Canada nonetheless continue to research the nether regions of the radio
spectrum. By and large, LF experimentation is occurring in the vicinity of 136 kHz -- typically 135.7
to 137.8 kHz -- where amateur allocations already exist elsewhere in the world. The FCC rejected the
ARRL's 1998 petition for LF allocations already exist elsewhere in the world. The FCC rejected the
utilities objected that ham radio transmissions might interfere with power line carrier (PLC) signals used
to control the power grid.
"Most of the new LF activity of Part 5 licensees has been in the shared 137 kHz amateur allocation
available in some parts of the world," says low-frequency experimenter Laurence Howell, KL1X/5.
"Although not in the Amateur Radio Service, these Part 5 experimental stations continue to add to our
knowledge on propagation and engineering." The holder of Part 5 Experimental license WD2XDW,
Howell -- who's also GM4DMA -- previously operated LF from Alaska. He's since relocated to Oklahoma,
and has now resumed his LF work on 137.7752 and 137.7756 kHz. Already he's reporting some spectacular success,
despite antenna limitations. On October 28, New Zealand LFer Mike McAlevey, ZL4OL, copied WD2XDW's 137 kHz carrier
"bursts" over a path of more than 13,000 km (8000 miles).
Howell believes the reception probably marked the first transpacific reception of a US-generated signal.
"The land mass between Oklahoma and the ocean was considered to be a large obstacle to long-range
communications," Howell remarked, "but obviously not." The next day, Jim Moritz, M0BMU, copied the LF
signals of three North American stations in the vicinity of 137 kHz (137.777 kHz) -- including Howell's WD2XDW and
WD2XES, operated by John Andrews, W1TAG, in Massachusetts -- using Argo software, which can detect
signals not otherwise readable. The third station, Joe Craig, VO1NA's signals serve as a bellwether of LF
transatlantic propagation. LF signals of European amateurs likewise are heard in North America.
On November 12, Andrews and another LF experimenter in Massachusetts completed the first two-way
data exchange between Part 5 Experimental license stations on 137 kHz. Andrews worked Warren Ziegler, K2ORS,
operating as WD2XGJ in Wayland, using conventional CW. The stations are about 25 miles apart, and both used
loop antennas for transmitting. Jay Rusgrove, W1VD, some 100 to the south in Connecticut, monitored and recorded
the QSO. In British Columbia, Lorne Tilley, VE7TIL, and Steve McDonald, VE7SL, have been heard throughout
North American on LF. Howell says both are starting a formal study of variances in groundwave propagation.
Howell says the disturbed solar conditions earlier this month wiped out long-haul paths through or close to the
auroral oval during nighttime hours -- especially at higher latitudes. He notes, however, that daytime signals
over paths of between 1000 and 1500 km (620 and 930 miles) showed increased signal strengths during the disturbances.
Howell has more LF information on his website
http://myweb.cableone.net/flow .
FCC acts on long-distance cordles telephone complaint
The FCC in November responded to a complaint from the Holmesburg (Pennsylvania) Amateur Radio Club about
interference on 2 meters from a high-powered cordless telephone. FCC Special Counsel Riley
Hollings worth forwarded information from the club to the FCC Philadelphia District Office on November 22.
The club claimed that the cordless telephone system was causing interference on its repeater's 146.080
MHz input frequency. On November 27, an agent from the Philadelphia District Office investigated the
complaint and determined that a resident of Glassboro, New Jersey, was operating a "Senao High Quality
Cordless Telephone," model SN-358. The base unit appeared to operate on 146.080 MHz, while the handset appeared to
operate on 228.960 MHz (specifications listed on Senao's website indicate the model SN-358 operates on
268 MHz and the base on 394 MHz). During an on-site inspection, the telephone's owner voluntarily surrendered
the unit to the FCC agent. The telephone owner asserted that he'd purchased the system, which reportedly did not
display a FCC certification notice, from an eBay advertiser. The FCC's Philadelphia District Office is
investigating the matter further.
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