On July 28, the FCC approved a modification that expands the ARRL's 500 kHz experimental license WD2XSH. According to Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, the expansion allows for more frequencies, more stations and portable operations.

"We can now operate between 495-510 kHz," Raab said. "We were previously limited to 505-510 kHz. We will not be using 500 kHz itself so as to ensure that there is no conflict with the heritage stations on that frequency. The expansion also gives us the opportunity to expand the number of participating stations. We can now have 42 stations, where before we were limited to 23."

Raab said that the expansion will now let participants operate within 50 km of their designated stations. This was not allowed under the previous terms of the experimental license. "Some stations have reduced operating bands to ensure that they do not interfere with nearby non-directional beacons (NDB).

The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology granted the WD2XSH experimental license to the ARRL in September 2006. Find out more information on the ARRL's 500 kHz Experiment in the July/August 2007 issue of QEX.