One of the HF surface wave radar sites in Newfoundland now being used for defense and nondefense-related research and development. [Defence Research Establishment Ottawa photo]
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One of the HF surface wave radar sites in Newfoundland now being used for defense and nondefense-related research and development. [Defence Research Establishment Ottawa photo] |
"The HF buzz saw is dead; long live the HF buzz saw!" That might be the cry from the crowd these days as various buzzing intruders have been showing up with some regularity on HF. Sometimes, though, it's hard to distinguish one intruder from the other on the basis of anecdotal reports from amateurs.
Recent reports of the so-called 125-Hz "buzz saw" intruder on the 80-meter band are a case in point. The intruder--heard primarily in the US northeast--had plagued amateurs as well as an aeronautical weather station just below 80. In the wake of protests from amateurs and coordination between the ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada, the transmissions--determined to come from two HF surface wave radar facilities in Newfoundland--moved off the amateur band. The signal has not been heard on 80 meters since early October.
IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator Martin Potter, VE3OAT, credited ARRL and RAC assistance in getting the HFSWR systems moved off the amateur bands. The HF surface wave radar sites in Newfoundland are a joint project of Canada's Department of National Defence and Canadian industry. Canadian officials see the technology as playing a role in maintaining Canada's territorial sovereignty as well as for search-and-rescue operations and to assist in combating illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
Responding to the initial "buzz saw" reports, amateurs in the US and elsewhere alerted the ARRL Monitoring System to a plethora of signals they claimed were the now-infamous intruder. It's now clear, however, that a similar mystery visitor on 40 meters is not coming from the Newfoundland HFSWR facilities. "Although a number of additional reports of buzz-like interference were received from the western USA and elsewhere, none could be confirmed as due to the same signal," Potter said. The signal has been widely reported in Region 1.
ARRL member Dave Bowker, K1FK, in extreme northern Maine was the first to report--and graph--both the "original" 80-meter buzz saw as well as the more-recent 40-meter signal. "Although it sounds similar, it has three distinctly different characteristics," he said. The signal's sidebands extend 7 kHz either side and "it is a frequency hopper, moving randomly in time and frequency steps."
Steve Yates, AA5TB, in Fort Worth, Texas, also has monitored, graphed and recorded the 40-meter signal, and his observations are consistent with Bowker's. "The transmissions would jump frequencies every few minutes but not at regular intervals," he says. He reports measuring the different transmission center frequencies at about 7020, 7040, 7050, 7070, 7080 and 7090 kHz, and believes the signals came from the same transmitter. Yates has posted information about this and other intruders at http://home.swbell.net/aa5tb/.
The IARU Region 2 Monitoring System now refers to the 40-meter intruder as an "unusual jammer," but concedes, "If the signal is truly a jammer, it is not clear who or what the target is." Potter says the signal is modulated by strong harmonics of 50 Hz and 100 Hz and seems to be associated with a "wobble" or "bubble" jammer on the same frequencies.
Another "buzzer" on 3795 kHz has been reported to the ARRL Monitoring System from hams in various parts of the US including Rich Chatelain, K7ZV, in California, and Bill Avery, K6GNX, in Nevada. Both agree that the signal appears to be coming from somewhere along the Utah-Nevada border. "It transmits for 80 seconds every five minutes. It is approximately 20 kHz wide," Avery said.
Potter says the 3795 kHz signal is worthy of further investigation.
Additional reports and observations are welcome to ARRL Monitoring System Administrator Tom Hogerty, KC1J, thogerty@arrl.org.
A Mississippi ham arrested for interfering with his neighbors' telephones is awaiting a decision on his request to throw out the complaint on the grounds that the state court has no jurisdiction in the matter. ARRL member Bennie Stewart, KJ6TY, of Meridian, was arrested and charged September 10 after a neighbor filed a complaint with the Lauderdale County Justice Court.
Stewart, a ham for 12 years, appeared in court October 26. He says his attorney, Felecia Perkins, filed a request to dismiss the complaint, brought under a Mississippi law that makes it illegal to "intentionally obstruct, injure, break or destroy, or in any manner interrupt any telegraph or telephone line or communication thereon between any two points." Stewart maintains that only the FCC has jurisdiction, and his station is operating properly.
The ARRL has provided legal defense assistance to Stewart's attorney. The case has been continued while the court mulls its decision. If convicted, Stewart faces a fine of up to $500, six months in jail, or both.
"It should have never gotten to this point in the first place," Stewart said, adding that he's tried to work with his neighbors regarding telephone interference ever since the first complaints arose three or four years ago. "I put myself on a schedule," he said, explaining that he operates on 40, 20, and 10 meters only on weekday mornings. He says he never operates on weekends, only runs 100 W, and no longer owns a linear amplifier.
"The problem is not here," he says of his station.
A retired professional photographer, the 60-year-old Stewart is confined to a wheelchair. He described his arrest--which he says took place in front of his three-year-old granddaughter--as "humiliating."
Stewart says he expects the court to rule on the case very soon.
There's additional progress to report on the vanity call sign front. The FCC reported November 5 that it had processed vanity call sign applications received through September 7.
"Slowly but surely," says the ULS Task Force.
It appears from FCC records that 1528 vanity applications were filed between August 16--the first day of Universal Licensing System Amateur Service deployment--and October 29. The FCC granted 524 vanity call signs since it resumed vanity processing in mid-September.
The FCC also says it's eyeing possible improvements to the Universal Licensing System. The ULS Task Force says it agrees that Microsoft Internet Explorer must be fully supported by the ULS, and the system will be modified to support it in early 2000. Right now, the ULS supports only the latest versions of Netscape.
The FCC has given the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau authority to make ULS electronic filing available via the Internet provided "security concerns can be overcome." While no formal determination has been made to go with Internet or Web access instead of a dial-up connection, the WTB reportedly is taking steps to make online filing available and could do so as early as the first quarter of next year.
The ULS Task Force also says it's looking into more beta testing of ULS software prior to public release. --FCC
Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, of Sarasota, Florida, has been appointed to serve as the first Section Manager for the new West Central Florida Section. In consultation with Southeastern Division Director Frank Butler, W4RH, and the West Central Florida Section Committee, ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, named Armbrust to serve a nearly one-year term. He'll assume office when the new section becomes effective January 15, 2000, and his term will run until January 1, 2001.
West Central Florida Section Committee Chairman Paul Toth, K2SEC, was pleased with Armbrust's selection. "I am confident Dave will be an effective Section Manger," he said. "He has my full support!"
For his part, Armbrust, 43, was champing at the bit. "Watch for great things from the West Central Florida Section," he told Palm and Toth this week. "We intend to make it a model section."
Armbrust said the new section, approved by the ARRL Board last month after a lopsided vote by the affected counties earlier this year, already enjoys a strong sense of unity. "We are all looking forward to making this section second to none," he said. The West Central Florida section consists of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties.
Armbrust is available via e-mail at ae4mr@arrl.net or by telephone at 941-923-1688. His address is 1641 Baywinds Ln, Sarasota, FL 34231-3040. The West Central Florida Section Committee's Web site is at http://www.qsl.net/wcfla.
CQ VHF magazine will end publication at year's end and be merged into an expanded CQ magazine. That announcement came this week from CQ Publisher Richard Ross, K2MGA. The merger takes effect with the January 2000 issue.
CQ says factors in the decision included its own survey results showing that a majority of CQ VHF readers also are active on HF; the inclusion of one or more VHF/UHF bands in many new HF radios; and the forthcoming FCC restructuring decision that is widely expected to make broad HF privileges more easily accessible to current Technician and Tech Plus class hams.
"The line between HF and VHF has been forever blurred, if not erased," said Rich Moseson, W2VU, who edits both magazines. "Clearly, the time for a separate VHF magazine is past."
A reader survey--conducted in the August 1999 issue of CQ VHF and published on page 32 of the November issue--revealed that 62% of CQ VHF readers have at least some HF operating privileges, and that of that group, more than two-thirds--69%--are active on both HF and VHF. In addition, 46% said HF operating is an important part of their overall ham operating,
Starting in January 2000, CQ will be expanded by 32 pages to accommodate increased VHF coverage. Current CQ VHF subscribers will have their subscriptions transferred to CQ, while those who subscribe to both magazines will have their CQ subscriptions extended by the number of remaining issues. Additional details will be published in the December issues of CQ VHF and CQ.
CQ and CQ VHF magazines are published by CQ Communications Inc of Hicksville, New York, which also publishes CQ Contest, Communications Quarterly, Popular Communications and Electronic Servicing & Technology magazines. For more information, contact Rich Moseson, W2VU, or Richard Ross, K2MGA, 516-681-2922.--CQ Publications news release
Propagation purveyor Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average solar flux was down, and sunspot numbers were up this past week. This is because solar flux peaked at 197.3 on October 27, and the high sunspot values were on October 26, 28 and 29, when they were 200, 214 and 217. Since the reporting week for this bulletin began on October 28, this made for some funny averages.
At least over the past week geomagnetic disturbances had died down. Planetary K indices over the past few days have often been one or two, and even zero on November 3.
Solar flux should rise over the next few days, with the Friday through Sunday values at 150, 155 and 165. Planetary A indices for those days are predicted to be 7, 7 and 15, and the mid-latitude, or Fredericksburg A indices are predicted to be 5, 10 and 15. So for the ARRL CW Sweepstakes this weekend conditions could start to get a little rough on Sunday. Geomagnetic indices may remain high through the week, and solar flux may peak on the following weekend around 190 or 200. Another peak in solar flux may return around November 23 or 24.
Sunspot numbers for October 28 through November 3 were 196, 214, 217, 194, 178, 124 and 117 with a mean of 177.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 183.9, 179.6, 169.4, 160.4, 150.6, 142.8 and 143.1, with a mean of 161.4. The estimated planetary A indices were 16, 10, 7, 10, 10, 6 and 5, with a mean of 9.1.
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.
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