Spec T Ru M Mon I Tor® Amateur, Shortwave, AM/FM/TV, Wifi, Scanning, Satellites, Vintage Radio and More Volume 7 Number 9 Table of Contents September 2020

T h e ® Spec Amateur, Shortwave, t AM/FM/TV, ru WiFi,m Scanning, Mon Satellites, Vintage i tor Radio and More Volume 7 Number 9 September 2020 HobbyPCB IQ32 80-10 Meter SDR Transceiver

Plus: Living with a He x B e a m Review: Ya e s u F TM30 0DR Usin g Ra di o in Ho m e Sc h o o l i n g T h e Fa d e d Gl o r y o f P r o f. F e s s e n d e n T h e Spec t ru m Mon i tor® Amateur, Shortwave, AM/FM/TV, WiFi, Scanning, Satellites, Vintage Radio and More Volume 7 Number 9 Table of Contents September 2020

Dear TSM 4

R F Current 6

TSM Reviews 9 The HobbyPCB IQ32 QRP SDR Transceiver By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL The HobbyPCB IQ32 low-power, software defined transceiver has been out for a few years but just recently grabbed Thomas’ attention for several reasons—it’s a “grassroots” or collaborative effort in transceiver design; it’s an all-in-one porta- ble transceiver that lends itself to his passion for Parks on the Air (POTA) operating; it’s quite capable and relatively inexpen- sive. He gives us his studied impressions.

Your Radio: A Homeschooling Resource 13 By Georg Wiessala Now at over 100 years old, radio continues to prove its worth in modern education. From his own experiences in using his trusted shortwave radio to teach at school and university and the current global lockdown and widespread social distancing efforts, Georg proposes parents and teachers can benefit from using radio as an added resource to limited in-school education in a number of subjects. He offers six scenarios for educators and teach-at-home parents that may prove useful as schools try to “return to normal” activities this fall.

100 Years of Radio Series 18 Reginald Fessenden: Sadly, Little more than a Blip on the Wireless Timeline By Richard Fisher KI6SN In his time, Professor Reginald Fessenden was a towering figure in the radio industry. The industrious academic turned litigious entrepreneur racked up a fortune from his patents and storied lawsuits against his competitors. But it was his achieve- ment on Christmas Eve 1906 that became the stuff of legend—credited by many with the first broadcast of voice and music over the air. But, for whatever reason, there appears to be little documented evidence of the broadcast. Richard travels through the fog of his legacy in search of the truth.

Living with a Hex Beam 22 By Robert Gulley K4PKM Many of us have coped with compromised antennas as we make do with the limited real estate at our command, none more so that Robert, whose 25 x 35-foot backyard presents some serious limitations. Because of additional difficulties in living in an historic neighborhood, he never dreamed an HF beam antenna would be in his future—until he met the Hex Beam.

TSM Reviews: 27 Yaesu FTM-300DR Transceiver By Cory GB Sickles, WA3UVV When Yaesu introduced its C4FM digital transceiver concept at Hamvention 2012, there was little to show other than a diminutive FT1DR portable, sitting under a Lucite cover. Today, Yaesu’s C4FM-based FTM-300DR bears some resemblance to its previous relatives, the FTM-100DR and FTM-400DR, it is chock-full of new firmware and features, which are not readi- ly apparent until you start exploring and using the radio. Cory takes us on a tour of the versatile transceiver.

2 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Scanning America 32 The World of Shortwave Listening 67 By Dan Veeneman By Jeff White, Chairman, HFCC Scanning California Wildfires Virtual Frequency Coordination for Shortwave Stations? Yes, Indeed! Federal Wavelengths 36 By Chris Parris The Shortwave Listener 72 Las Vegas Follow-up By Fred Waterer Radio Prague, WBCQ, WWCR, BBC Programming for Sep- Milcom 42 tember By Larry Van Horn N5FPW Military Monitoring 101 Amateur Radio Satellites 75 By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF Utility Planet 47 Amateur Radio Satellite Primer (Part VII): The Amazing By Hugh Stegman Story of AMSAT OSCAR-7 Chinese Fax is Back Adventures in Radio Restorations 78 Shortwave Utility Logs 50 By Rich Post KB8TAD By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman The Cheap Radio: Hallicrafters S-107

Digitally Speaking 52 Radio Horizons 83 By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV Channel Master TiVo EDGE for Cord-Cutting OTA-TV Signs of Life Households

Amateur Radio Insights 56 TSM Bookshelf 84 By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z Hams and Lightning Protection: A Shocking Failure? About Us 86

Radio 101 62 On the Cover: Colorful graphic display on the HobbyPCB By Ken Reitz KS4ZR IQ32 80-10-meter 5-watt SDR transceiver shown working International Media use FTA Satellite-TV to Influence Eu- the 80-meter band in PSK31 mode. The IQ32 screen is large rope, Africa, North and South America enough to be very functional sending/receiving PSK31 and CW in the field or shack without a connected PC. (K4SWL photo)

The Spectrum Monitor ® is published monthly by Ken Reitz KS4ZR at 1403 Holland Creek Road, Louisa, Virginia 23093. The entire contents of The Spectrum Monitor are copyright 2020 by Ken Reitz, Publisher. All rights reserved. The Spectrum Monitor is a registered trademark of the publisher. Copying or distribution of any part of this publication in any manner, electronic or paper, is prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher. Brief quotes used in reviews are permitted, provided that attribution is given. All subscriptions to The Spectrum Monitor begin with the January issue and end with the December issue (12 issues) and are $24 for one year, available from www.thespectrummonitor.com. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may receive a refund for the remaining issues on your subscription by contacting the pub- lisher: [email protected]. Your refund will be made in the manner in which the purchase was made. If you would like to write for The Spectrum Monitor please send an email to [email protected] and ask for our writer’s guidelines. The Spectrum Monitor makes every effort to ensure that the information it publishes is accurate. It cannot be held liable for the contents. The reader assumes all risk in performing modifications or construction projects published inThe Spectrum Monitor. Opinions and conclusions expressed in The Spectrum Monitor are not necessarily those of the publisher.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 3 Send your comments to [email protected] The Spectrum Monitor reserves the right to edit comments from readers for clarity and space availability. Dear TSM: Anonymous comments will not be published. Comments, Advice, Kudos and Questions from Readers

1934 Allied catalog. (Courtesy of Rich Post KB8TAD) “On the other hand, there have been plenty of ‘magic’ antennas over the years such as the ‘ground’ antennas sold in the 1920s and the roof mounted 10-inch ‘ball antenna’ (see 1934 Allied catalog picture above). You don’t suppose the lead-in might have some effect on its efficiency, do you? “However, the underground antenna consisting of a wire in a bamboo pipe buried 18 inches underground was indeed used successfully in emergency situations in Vietnam by Special Forces using the AN/GRC-109 in jungle encamp- ments according to my sources, but again we do not know the length of the lead in wire or its effect. https://people. ohio.edu/postr/bapix/GRC109.htm It’s definitely an inter- esting area for basic research with today’s more sophisticated measuring instruments.” – Rich Post KB8TAD July 1919 issue of Electrical Experimenter Science and Inven- tion magazine, a Hugo Gernsback publication, reports on the use Editor’s Note: In addition to being the columnist for of trees as antennas. (Courtesy: worldradiohistory.com) TSM’s Adventures in Radio Restoration, Rich is Assistant Dean Emeritus, Ohio University, and author of the third Gen. George Squier and the use of Trees as Antennas edition of “Chemistry; a Self-Teaching Guide” (Wiley & Sons, Publishers) by Post, Snyder and Houk, which is due “Interesting article about Major General George Squi- out this month. Rich notes, “The second edition, co-authored er (Ph D), Signal Corps chief and his tree antenna. [‘Using with the late Cliff Houk, titled ‘Chemistry; Concepts and Trees as Antennas,’ by John Piliounis SV1OCS, August 2020 Problems,’ copyright 1996, had the distinction of being the TSM] Yes, the ionic content of tree xylem sap (containing number one chemistry book for Amazon for most of June potassium, nitrate, and other ions) will indeed conduct elec- 2020.” tricity, and likely (and luckily) more so at 400 kHz than 60 Hz. Tree sap in the sunny part of the tree has much greater Kudos to K4SWL K+ ion concentration than the shaded part according to Ital- ian research into the laurel tree so I suspect the effect may “Just had to drop a note about Thomas Witherspoon vary during the day. K4SWL’s excellent review of the G90 [August 2020 TSM]. “I had chalked up the research mostly to early attempts He reviews things in such a thorough manner without in the 1910s to describe the nature and behavior of radio excessive technical language that anyone reading it will waves as well as the length and height of the lead in wire but understand and be able to make practical decisions from the noted that he did compare results from a dead tree with a live review. He comes across in such a comfortable manner, it’s tree so he did indeed check for that variable.

4 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Purple Power hand cleaner ($1.67 for a 14 ounce contain- Using a split piece of belt webbing for knob removal of friction-fit er), Rich Post’s secret to cleaning vintage radios. (Courtesy: knobs (from the November 2017 issue) on vintage radios, is just Walmart) another of the handy tools for the impoverished radio restorer from Rich Post (KB8TAD photo) almost like sitting across the table with him discussing the Incorrect Inmarsat Information radio. Everything that is important, and none of the fluff. Re- views like this are what make TSM such a valuable resource Re: “Maritime Monitoring” [TSM July 2020] to the radio community!” – Robert Gulley K4PKM “Inmarsat-C is definitely not being discontinued. The FCC is simply withdrawing itself as an ‘accounting authority Vintage Radio Cleaning Info Needed for international maritime mobile communications’ (acting as a billing agent). There is nothing new about the service or “I have enjoyed looking at Rich Post’s many boat the uses. Users were simply notified they could not use the anchor radios. I was interested in how he does such a great service after 4/22/2020 unless they contracted and reactivat- job of cleaning. He mentions ‘white waterless hand cleaner.’ ed their Inmarsat-C terminal with a new ‘Accounting Au- Does he have anything online that shows how he went about thority.’ I am a licensed GMDSS Operator/Maintainer and, this, and what type of cleaner he used?” – John R. while now retired, I maintain my familiarity with maritime regulations and operations.” – Dick Holbert K2HZ Rich Post KB8TAD Responds Filling in the Gaps “A good question, John! My current favorite is ‘Purple Power’ sold cheap at Walmart. (It’s not actually purple—it’s Over time it’s easy to accidentally delete issues of TSM white.) No scratchy pumice like some others. from your collection. And, sometimes when setting up a new https://www.walmart.com/ip/Purple-Power-Heavy-Duty- device you’ll realize some issues didn’t transfer or somehow Creme-Hand-Cleaner-14-oz/345407987. I use old tooth- disappeared. Whatever the reason, if you need replacements brushes with the bristles cut short and plastic scouring pads for issues you’ve already purchased, just send me an email and scrubbers, chopsticks and rags for tight places. The wa- and let me know which issues you need to download. I’ll terless hand cleaner does contain some water but most of the send the links to you directly. Also, it’s a good idea to main- ingredients are non-ionic and will not cause corrosion, unlike tain a list of the links sent each month, starting from when some other products, but it will certainly remove grease and you first subscribed, as a Word document that you can go dirt. It’s also obviously safe for skin.” back to later and use to download missing issues. Ken Reitz KS4ZR [Editor’s note: Rich regularly gives tips for the “im- Publisher/Managing Editor poverished radio experimenter” in his regular columns and [email protected] feature articles. Check out his column in the July 2020 issue, “Handy Homebrew Devices for Radio Restoration,” among many others for more tips. You can also check out Rich’s various restorations in photos on his Boat Anchor Pix website https://people.ohio. edu/postr/bapix.]

T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 5 RF Current is compiled and edited by Ken Reitz KS4ZR from various news sources and links supplied by TSM readers. If you find an interesting story pertaining to amateur, shortwave, scanning, broadcasting or satel- R F Cur r ent lites, send a link to editor@thespectrummo- News from the World of Communications nitor.com

Entrance to WHRI transmitting station in Cyprus Creek, South Carolina which, with FCC approval, could soon belong to Alan Weiner, co-owner and General Manager of WBCQ “The Planet” shortwave along with his wife Angela Weiner, Assistant Manager. (Photo courtesy of Allan Weiner)

WHRI Shortwave to be Purchased by Alan Weiner of Cypress Creek station is broadcasting on shortwave. WHRI WBCQ Shortwave for $1.25 Million utilizes two 500 kW-capable transmitters that are run at 250 kW daily. An additional transmitter runs at 100 kW. According to FCC documents, Alan Weiner, who Allan Weiner told TSM, “WHRI will be added to the owns shortwave broadcasting station WBCQ in Monticello, roster of Free Speech Radio WBCQ—beaming free, uncen- Maine, agreed on August 10, 2020 to purchase shortwave sored programming to the world as we have been doing for broadcast station WHRI in Cypress Creek, South Carolina, 22 years. We are the last truly freedom of speech, non-cor- for $1.25 million, pending FCC approval. An application for porate media left in the world, owned by real individuals consent to assignment was accepted for filing with the FCC in service to our Lord Father in Heaven and our beloved on August 13. WHRI has been part of Family Broadcasting listeners. The Shortwaves—still one transmitter to billions of Corp. of South Bend, Indiana. receivers—no Google, Facebook, NSA, etc., knowing you Included in the sale, according to the agreement, are are listening and mining data from you—still mass-commu- the real estate (over 300 acres) on which the transmitters and nicating to private ears. Wonderful!” antennas are situated, and some 17 antenna towers registered Program schedule and other information about WBCQ with the FCC in Furman, South Carolina, that comprise 12 can be found here: http://www.wbcq.com. antennas. Also included in the sale are five transmitters; three Caterpillar generators; one 10,000-gallon diesel fuel tank; Q2 2020 US Radio Industry takes another Hit various satellite dishes and receivers as well as one 2000 vin- tage Ford truck. According to a report issued August 12 by BIA Advi- According to the Family Broadcasting Corporation sory Services, a company that charts ad revenue across the website, WHRI began international broadcasting in 1985 media spectrum, total ad revenue for 2020 will be down from Noblesville, Indiana. Over the years it added stations 6.1 percent over 2019, representing a drop of more than $4 in Hawaii, Maine, South Carolina and Palau, in the west- billion, despite the fire hose of political ad spending expected ern Pacific. As of the time of the sales agreement only the this year. This affects local radio and television advertising

6 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Representing thousands of commercial and noncommercial radio stations across the US, iHeartRadio, Cumulus Media, Entercom and NPR have all been hit hard by the COVID-19 economic collapse of 2020. And, unlike Sirius/XM satellite or the record setting stock market indices, these media conglomerates have not fare well despite being in the middle of a four-year election cycle advertising bar- rage. (Logos courtesy of iHeartMedia, Cumulus Media, National Public Radio and Entercom) income at a time when Covid-19 ad spending had already casting, which helps fund many noncommercial US radio caused a sharp decline in such revenues. stations, is not faring any better. An article in the Washington Mark Fratrik, SVP and Chief Economist, BIA Advisory Post from July 21 notes, “a downturn in ‘underwriting’ – Services, said. “Right now, we believe a realistic view of the public broadcasting’s euphemism for advertising – prompted economy overall and the advertising marketplace is that after NPR to adopt a package of pay cuts, furloughs and other a dramatic decrease in the second-quarter and a bumpy start concessions in April.” NPR, according to the article, will to the third, the remainder of the year will turn positive but show a deficit of $10 million dollars at the end of this fiscal end up with an overall decline in local advertising for the year but notes, “The new year starting in October figures to year.” be even tougher. Without another round of givebacks, NPR The report notes, “Of the $209 million increase [in ad CEO John Lansing is projecting a deficit of $30 million to spending] the distributed share to different media include $43 million, by far the largest in NPR’s 50-year history.” $138 million to TV Over-the-Air, $40 million to cable-TV, More than 1,160 US public radio stations are funded in part $26 million to online/digital, and $5 million to radio Over- by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. the-Air.” Sirius/XM satellite radio has fared much better. Its stock The fact that online/digital ad buys are now more price at the crash was $7.34/share, bottoming out March 23 than five times the ad spending on OTA radio shows how at $4.52/share but since climbed back to $6.00/share as of little will filter down to individual radio stations. US radio August 17. companies have a mountain to climb in order to get back to Jim Meyer, Sirius/XM CEO, said in the company’s where they were in February when the economy collapsed. second quarter 2020 report, iHeartMedia, which owns more than 850 US radio stations “Despite the incredible economic stresses brought about has seen its stock drop from nearly $18/share February 13 by the COVID-19 pandemic, our self-pay net subscriber to $9/share as of August 17. Cumulus Media, which owns additions grew by nearly 200,000 over the first quarter of 428 US radio stations has seen its stock price decline from the year, and we reported improved churn of just 1.6% per $16.95/share at the start of 2020 to $5.61/share as of August month…Although advertising revenue fell 34% in the quar- 17. Townsquare Media, which owns 321 stations has seen ter, substantial expense savings in…other areas provided a its stock value drop from $10.29/share on February 18 to complete offset, and we generated over half a billion dol- $4.78/share on August 17. Entercom, which owns 235 radio lars of free cash flow. We are investing in our business, our stations saw its stock drop from $4.49/share on February 24 people, and external opportunities to position ourselves for to $1.65/share as of August 17. future growth.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered to The satellite radio company, which also owns Pandora almost 100 percent of the level it was at before the February streaming music service, has 30.3 million paying subscribers. crash. The NASDAQ over-the-counter market index is con- The ripple effect of stock price downturn and ad rev- siderably higher than at the February crash. Even the S&P enue decline has caused commercial and noncommercial 500 index is higher now than just before the February crash. stations across the US to slash spending on infrastructure, lay Compared to the leading market indicators, the commercial off or furlough staff and prioritize capital expenditures. But radio industry is in bad shape. so far, following the COVID-19 market collapse, the excite- But so is the public radio sector. National Public Radio ment generated by the recovery of the major market indices (NPR), the radio side of the Corporation for Public Broad- have passed the US radio industry by.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 7 funding made possible by a $1.38 million grant awarded through the Indiana governor’s emergency education relief program, under the Coronavirus Air, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). According to the announcement, “The datacasting initiative will be ramped up over the next two months. It is expected to be available for household use in early November.” According to SpectraRep, datacasting requires only an inexpensive tuner and TV antenna that allows students and teachers to access any type of instructional content and educational resources that would normally require direct access to the Internet. “All content sent through datacasting is encrypted and targeted to specific recipients to ensure National Broadband Map. US fixed broadband deployment map transmissions privacy and security for everyone involved.” shows where high-speed broadband falls down. The lighter the With the fall school term looming, many rural locations shade of blue, the slower the Internet access. The FCC consid- would not be able to wait for the availability of datacasting. ers 25/3Mbps as high-speed (25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps Instead, some localities found their own solutions. Accord- upload). The chart is based on data from June 2019, the latest ing to an article in the Roanoke Times, “nearly one in three public release. (Courtesy: FCC) residents of rural Virginia do not have access to high-speed Datacasting via OTA-TV in the Virtual Classroom Era Internet as defined by the FCC...Tens of thousands of urban residents don’t have high-speed broadband either, largely Several innovative ideas are being experimented with due to affordability.” in various parts of the US this fall as public schools wres- The article reports on one rural county that spent the tle with the issues of in-class learning during a pandemic. summer months, before school began, building 30 mobile One of the problems involves what the FCC refers to as the hotspots they call “Wireless on Wheels.” The weatherproof Digital Divide. In its report, the FCC notes, “In urban areas, devices feature solar panels, batteries, wireless routers and 97 percent of Americans have access to high-speed fixed ser- modems that fit on a typical small utility trailer that can be vice. In rural areas, that number falls to 65 percent. And on deployed at parking lots throughout the county as needed. Tribal lands, barely 60 percent have access. All told, nearly The WOW units provide a Wi-Fi signal to a radius of 200 30 million Americans cannot reap the benefits of the digital feet that can support five devices at once. Each unit is said to age.” cost under $3,000 including the solar panels, electronics and What the FCC fails to report is that while 97 percent in trailer. urban areas may have access to high-speed Internet service, You can locate your own county on the FCC’s interac- the expense of such a service puts it beyond the reach of tive Fixed Broadband Deployment map here: https://broad- many urban poor. The problem for rural poor is exacerbated bandmap.fcc.gov/# by the lack of any options. To combat this problem, the FCC launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which would use some $20 billion to expand broadband in unserved rural areas. But this plan was developed before the pandemic and there’s little time to wait for an expensive buildout of technology to reach those without access to high-speed Internet. Partnerships between datacasting technology groups and school systems are testing programs this fall to address the issue. One such program, announced August 24, involves Jennings County (Indiana) School Corporation (JCSC) and Indiana Public Broadcasting (IPBS). The two have entered into a partnership that will provide datacasting technology to roughly 1,200 students in Jennings County who have little or no access to reliable broadband. According to an announce- ment by SpectraRep, a datacasting solutions company, “Datacasting overcomes the unmet need for Internet access by sending computer-based files over a television broadcast signal.” PBS member station WTIU in Bloomington, Indi- ana, and SpectraRep, will carry out the implementation with T S M

8 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Colorful graphic display on the HobbyPCB IQ32 80-10 meter 5-watt SDR transceiver shown working the 80-meter band in PSK31 mode. The IQ32 screen is large enough to be very functional sending/receiving PSK31 and CW in the field or shack without a connect- ed PC. (K4SWL photo) TSM Reviews: The HobbyPCB IQ32 By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL

his summer, I’ve been exploring the world of general table. Noting this, I decided, at a later time, I would also find coverage QRP transceivers. I’ve been taking my Elec- an opportunity to check out the radio in more detail. Traft KX3 and KX2 into the field; I reviewed the CTX- A couple of months ago, I was working on my list of 10 earlier this year; and I’ve just finished a comprehensive General Coverage QRP Transceivers and asked for help review of the Xiegu G90. I also have a TX-500 and IC-705 filling in details of any radios I’d forgotten. A reader com- arriving in the near future. mented and reminded me that the IQ32 was, indeed, general Yes, I’ll admit, I’m a devotee of the “all-in-one” nature coverage. of the latest model portable QRP transceivers. At this point, I reached out to HobbyPCB and asked Most of the QRP transceivers now on the market are for a loaner unit to explore for a few weeks. The company products of large, popular ham radio manufacturers. Usual- very kindly sent one my way some weeks ago, and I’ve been ly, a company will come up with a product concept, follow testing it on the air ever since. through with their market research, then design, develop, and produce the radio. In fairness, that’s an over-simplifica- Form Factor tion of the process, but let’s just call it a “top down” design approach––meaning, the product idea is generated within the When I received the IQ32 package, I was surprised company, and is often based upon customer feedback. by how lightweight this transceiver is: a mere 1.5 lbs. (700 Not all ham radio products come about this way, grams) packs it all in one compact package. though. Some have more “grassroots” or collaborative ori- The chassis is made of aluminum and incredibly sturdy. gin. It even includes side panel extensions to protect the front faceplate and knobs. The HobbyPCB IQ32 The IQ32 sports a 3.2-inch color LCD touch-screen display large enough to contain all of the functions, a spec- I first noticed the HobbyPCB IQ32 transceiver at the trum display, and even an area for text––both transmitted and Dayton Hamvention a few years ago. I checked it out care- received in PSK31 and CW. The display is reminiscent of fully at their booth, and recall a crowd gathering around their the uBITX V6 I recently reviewed. It is recommended that

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 9 HobbyPCB-IQ32 - Back: The IQ32 sports folding legs that are HobbyPCB-IQ32 – Right Side: Power, Amp connection, Key- effective, but not as stable as similar rigs. (K4SWL photo) board, USB and the antenna re all connected on the right side of the IQ32. (K4SWL photo) the operator uses a blunt plastic stylus (or retracted ballpoint pen) for navigating the color screen, since several of the similar to the popular Softrock SDRs with some expansions menu settings, memories, and the like require some fairly and revisions. precise tapping. The graphic user interface (GUI) feels a bit “The STM32-SDR was designed to work with a sound- like what I’d expect to find on a piece of test equipment: a card-based SDR and [thus] eliminate the need for a PC and bit old school, but nonetheless quite functional. provide stand-alone operation. The main encoder and selector knobs are lightweight “Inside the IQ32 is a mostly stock RS-HFIQ (in fact, and made of some sort of plastic or nylon. They work quite we offered an upgrade kit so RS-HFIQ owners could go the well––but if I owned an IQ32, I believe one of the first IQ32 route) and a custom version of the STM-32 [...] specifi- things I’d do is replace those with a lightweight aluminum cally for the IQ32. equivalent. “The original development of the STM32 [began] a The IQ32, like the recently released Lab599 TCX-500, few years ago when PSK31 was the digital mode du jour lacks an internal speaker. However, my unit came with a and [the] PS2 keyboard roamed the land. The firmware team speaker microphone, which works fine. recently released the current FW, which greatly expanded The right-side panel of the IQ32 has a toggle power the CW modes and reworked the memory structure based on switch, power amplifier connection, power port (5mm X user input.” 2.1mm, positive tip), PS2 keyboard connector, USB Type A, And there you have it: even though this unique little and a BNC antenna port. The left side has a 3.5mm I/Q Out- rig has been around for a few years, I’m impressed that they put, 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm speaker/mic port, and a continue to refine it and upgrade the firmware. Indeed, if the 3.5mm CW key input. community of IQ32 users grow, they may be able to do even The IQ32 also has two legs that can be adjusted so that more. the radio will prop up at a comfortable angle for operation. The legs can be a bit finicky to adjust and keep in place, so I On the Air preferred using an angled radio support I use for my Elecraft KX3. To be clear, my intention here isn’t to conduct a com- parative review of the IQ32. I simply want to convey what A Collaboration I’ve learned in the process of playing with the rig and trying out some of its unique features. The IQ32 also feels like a project joint effort, bringing Immediately after unboxing the radio, I hooked it up to to mind the old chocolate-peanut butter cup commercial of my main skyloop antenna, plugged in the power supply that a bygone era: “My chocolate got mixed with your peanut accompanied the radio, then plugged in the handheld speaker butter!” And or, “My peanut butter got mixed with your mic. chocolate!” I discovered rather quickly that the IQ32 user interface Curious about this seeming blend of radio ideas, I takes a different approach than any other transceiver I’ve reached out to Jim Veach (WA2EUJ) at HobbyPCB for more ever tested. Instead of one main user interface window in information; he gave me a little history behind the IQ32. which you navigate modes, frequencies, and perhaps alter Jim writes: “The IQ32 is the fusion of two products: the spectrum and bandwidth settings, the IQ32 has a different HobbyPCB RS-HFIQ, and the STM32-SDR. The RS-HFIQ screen layout for each mode. It’s as if each mode––SSB, was designed to be a 80-10M, 5W soundcard-based SDR–– PSK31, CW, etc.––has its own “page.”

10 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 HobbyPCB-IQ32 – Left Side: The left side sports an IQ out port, HobbyPCB-IQ32 - 1: The IQ32 main settings screen. (K4SWL headphones, a speaker/mic, and CW key. (K4SWL photo) photo) Despite the very minimal controls, you can adjust many PSK31: One of the unique features of the IQ32 is its of the IQ32s settings, macros, and memories in a very gran- ability to natively encode and decode PSK31. This was the ular way via the settings pages using a stylus for fine control second mode I was eager to try. of the screen. On the flip side, during operation, it can be To use PSK31 on the IQ32, a PS2 keyboard (or USB frustrating when adjustments need to be made quickly be- keyboard with PS2 adapter) must be connected. I searched tween the AF Gain, RF Gain, CW Speed, and AGC, as they my shack in vain for a PS2 keyboard, but fortunately, my all use the same multi-function knob and switching between friend Vlado (N3CZ) came to the rescue and let me borrow them requires several screen taps––not as quick a process as one of his keyboards. one might prefer. Again, note: IQ32 beginners should certainly plan to Indeed, the IQ32 isn’t immediately as intuitive as most read the PSK31 section of the IQ32 manual prior to attempt- commercially marketed radios. But once you fully un- ing a PSK31 QSO. For starters, you’ll want to enter in your derstand the settings and modes pages, it becomes easy to personal information into the tags settings so that you can navigate. Note: I would advise any future owner of an IQ32 use your keyboard function keys to automatically send CQs to read the manual in advance. I did this, and it certainly and to answer calls. The manual will also walk you through helped. I should add here that the IQ32 manual is one of the any other necessary settings. most comprehensive I’ve read––especially considering its Once I had everything set up, I started calling CQ on collaborative roots. the 20-meter band; unfortunately, I had no luck snagging a station. This had less to do with the radio and much more Now, Let’s Talk Modes to do with the mode, which has, alas, fallen out of popu- larity since the advent of FT8. It’s a shame, really, because SSB: Since the IQ32 requires a PS2 keyboard for although PSK31 is a digital mode, it feels much more like a PSK31, and optionally for CW, I tried my hand at SSB first. proper QSO than FT8, in my opinion. While I have a lot of After learning how to switch modes and filter settings, respect for FT8, with PSK31, you can, as we hams say, “rag- I hopped on the air. Instead of calling CQ, I decided instead chew”––a much more personal interaction. to seek a park activator in the POTA program via the POTA And rag-chewing is exactly what I did. I contacted spots website. Within 10 minutes, I made contact with two a friend, we set a schedule for a PSK31 QSO, and it was, parks: one in Pennsylvania and one in Florida on the 40- and indeed, fun. The IQ32 has a screen with enough text space so 20-meter bands, respectively. While both parks gave me a that it’s easy to follow and to read. In fact, with this radio, I “5x9” report, I seriously doubt it was accurate based on their don’t feel like a computer is needed. own signal strength. (Some park activators, like contesters, With the keyboard attached, PSK31 just works...and only give 5x9 reports.) works quite well. I really like the way this feature has been Still, my success in contacting these two parks told implemented in the IQ32. me that the mic settings were probably suitable and that the CW: Truly, the IQ32 actually has a lot to offer the CW audio had enough punch on 5 watts to be heard. To confirm, operator. The IQ32 supports Iambic keyer modes A and B, I called CQ a few times and listened to my own signal at a with speeds up to 35 wpm. You can also adjust the weight KiwiSDR site in Maryland. The signal was about 5x5, but of the dits and dahs. The IQ32 doesn’t support full break-in the audio was clear, clean, and had excellent fidelity. QSK, however: there is a slight delay after sending before Over the past few weeks I’ve worked dozens of stations the relay puts the radio back into receive mode. At present, across North America with the IQ32. this delay is not manually adjustable but is, rather, based on

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 11 HobbyPCB-IQ32 - Keyboard PSK31 2 & HobbyPCB-IQ32 and HobbyPCB-IQ32 - Spectrum & HobbyPCB-IQ32 - Waterfall: PS2 Keyboard: With a PS2 keyboard connected, the IQ32 can The IQ32 has a functional waterfall and spectrum display. natively send PSK31 and CW. (K4SWL photo) (K4SWL photo) the selected keyer speed. sion a niche market for this unique rig. I’ve been very pleased using the IQ32 in CW mode For one, I think the IQ32 could satisfy those operators with my Begali paddles and Vibroplex single lever paddle. who desire a very clean and stable transmitter. The IQ32 Of course, another unique feature of this rig is that it sports a Class A 5-watt power amplifier with individual provides the operator with the means to use the PS2 key- low-pass filters for each band that exceed FCC requirements board to send CW, just as you can with the PSK31. At for spectral purity. It also has a Temperature-Compensated present, there is no CW decoder, but for those who feel their Crystal Oscillator (TXCO) for frequency stability––truly, fist isn’t quite up to par, you can surprise the operator on the this is not common in a radio of this price class. other end by sending perfectly formed and spaced CW by For another, the IQ32 could be used as a driver for a simply typing it on the keyboard. transverter when operating on VHF or UHF. Another of its Indeed, as a frequent Parks on The Air (POTA) field unique and useful features is that the user can set an offset activator, I rely very heavily on memory keyers to call CQ, to display the transverter output frequency rather than the send a park number, as well as give my thanks and 73s to IQ32-driven frequency. those who contact me. Using a pre-programmed message And, finally, let’s face it: I know of few other radi- means that I then have time to log a station while it sends, os that you can take to the field, hook up a keyboard, and and to ensure my code is cleaner when I send park num- natively send and decode PSK-31 transmissions. My KX2 bers––especially since I don’t exactly excel at sending can do this to a degree, but I have to input the text as CW, strings of numbers! and the number of characters in the display is quite limited. With the IQ32, I find I can program full CW messages The IQ32 is robust enough to permit you to carry on PSK-31 to play when I simply press one of the function keys on the rag-chews, if you wish. If this is your thing, you’ll definitely keyboard. This gives me much better flexibility and control want to play with this rig. than, say, the built-in memory keyer on my venerable Elec- Being able to send CW with a keyboard and pre-pro- raft KX2. grammed messages also means CW operators could make With the IQ32, a CW op would actually have the choice their workflow much more efficient in either the shack or the of never even touching a key, and just sending all messages field. with the keyboard. While I could never see myself doing In conclusion, I’ll admit that the IQ32 isn’t as intui- that (as I quite enjoy sending CW with a key), the flexibil- tive as other radios and that the ergonomics leave room for ity of pre-programming an array of CW memory messages improvement. But it’s still a cool little radio. If, after having and having them conveniently at hand is nonetheless quite read this tour of the IQ32, you feel like you’re in this radio’s appealing. niche market, then definitely reach out to HobbyPCB: I’ve As a CW operator, I’m quite pleased with the IQ32. My found their customer care and support to be absolutely only wish would be for a slightly shorter relay hang time for benchmark. use in contesting or on Field Day. All in all, I’ve had a lot of fun tinkering with this unique general coverage QRP transceiver; I expect others The IQ32 Niche like me will, too. Many thanks to HobbyPCB and the IQ32 crew for letting me take a deep dive into this very special lit- While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the IQ32 as a tle rig! Learn more at: https://www.hobbypcb.com/index. first transceiver to a newly minted ham, I can certainly envi- php/products/hf-radio/iq32-5w-hf-sdr-transceiver T S M

12 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Meet your professors. Studying the broad landscape provided by radio introduces students to a Who’s Who of science and technology. Left: William Morris (British arts and crafts movement). Center: Jagadish Chandra Bose (remote wireless signaling). Right: Samuel F. B. Morse (telegraph, Morse code, fine arts) (All photos in public domain viaWikimedia Commons) Your Radio: A Homeschooling Resource By Georg Wiessala (Editor, RadioUser magazine)

he idea of utilizing a radio, in particular an HF radio, Prominent Uses of Radio for teaching purposes is, of course, not new. When I researched this article, I found that many publications Pedagogic initiatives can make headlines when they T employ the good old wireless for education. What I am say- on this topic go back to the 1930s, and even further. You can see that, in the time of European Fascism, ing here for receivers equally applies to transceivers too, it and after World War Two, neutral and unbiased information goes without saying. would have been a rare and much sought-after commodity. Even a brief trawl of the recent academic and popular Is it so much different in our age of fake news? The radio literature yields numerous resources relating to, for example, has never been quite forgotten as an instrument of pedago- radio-schooling across the vast distances of the Australian gy. More often than not, case studies have been few and far Continent, in Canada, Africa or India. between, but they can be found, nevertheless. In many cases, The activities and regularly scheduled school con- teaching by radio has meshed in with other agendas, such as tacts of ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space political influencing, economics and development aid, reli- Station) continue to fascinate teenagers across the UK and gious proselytizing, language-learning and many more. elsewhere, drawing many of them into a future science edu- Nowadays, of course, ‘distance-learning’ using technol- cation—and the radio hobby. ogy, often means the World Wide Web. This, however, has More generally, what one might term ‘radio science’ serious drawbacks; it does not nearly reach where it needs to is a large and growing field, and it does not just comprise be; plus, it can be manipulated and even switched off at will education and one-air pedagogy. The general consensus is if national powers so desire. that this branch of knowledge owes its existence to Jagadish Radio in education, therefore, should assume a pivotal Chandra Bose (1858-1937). Bose, if you have not heard place on any syllabus. Much of it is less prone to propaganda the name, made progress in his research of remote wireless and hate than is the online world – although it seems we can signaling and was the first to use semiconductor junctions to never be entirely free of bias. detect radio signals. And, of course, the radio is ‘cookie-free.’ Nobody can I’d like to dedicate this article to him, and to the many easily see, and trace, what you hear and learn, how often you other radio pioneers whom we have already met in the pages do this and with whom you share your interest. of this magazine, and elsewhere.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 13 Publications to educate and inspire: Radio Art, a book about the art of radio manufacturing; Bulletin of the British Vintage Wireless Society; Space Weather Quarterly, from the International Journal of Research and Applications. (Courtesy: Greenwood Publishing Co.; BVWS; International Journal of Research and Applications) Curriculum Waves As I recall, not many had thought about HF radio be- fore. “Radio,” said one 20-year old self-assuredly, “surely is My prime concern this time is not ‘radio-history’; Scott obsolete,” and I explained patiently which modern technol- Caldwell and colleagues are looking after that particular area ogies are, in fact, unthinkable without radio. Moving swiftly very well indeed, in the pages of The Spectrum Monitor and on… RadioUser. By contrast, some of my students, to my surprise, were Here, I am interested in the place of radio, especially also licensed, active, radio amateurs, especially those on HF radio, on the curriculum, in the sense of what it is that their year abroad. It is maybe useful to stress that this is now we may learn from and with our radios. I am further inspired more than eight years ago; even at this distance, there were to write this—a necessarily very brief overview—because undoubtedly more shortwave radios and stations than there of three things: first, my own experience in using my trusted are now. Or at least different ones. shortwave radio to teach, at school and university; second, Therefore, it was relatively easy to set tasks, such as the current global lockdown situation, which has led to such comparing news reporting and propaganda coming from an increase in online learning (and radio-buying); and third, a range of international broadcasters, deconstructing the the persistent questions of non-radio-hobbyist friends, to the language used in radio, or linking radio to theory, or polit- tune of, “yes, but is there any serious stuff to be had from ical and social matters, such as development aid or views that hobby of yours?” about the European Union or United Nations. Not to speak The short answer to the third point is “yes, definitely,” of the language skills involved when broadcasts were not in of course, and, for the purposes of this article, I shall limit English, and when DSP and the emerging noise-suppression myself to four main branches of knowledge, which you can technology really came into its own. The emerging field of easily explore with radio. This division is, naturally, not computer-assisted (language) learning was a good comple- complete and quite arbitrary, in that it reflects my own back- ment to the radio, now as well as then. ground, in both teaching and radio: There were many other ways in which radio could be used in Humanities teaching, both in ‘live’ and recorded • News and Current Affairs formats. To be sure had I had the facilities afforded by the • Natural Sciences latest generation of Software-Defined Receivers (SDR) back • Politics, Economics and International Relations then—for example overnight-recording and selective play- • Literature, Art and Design back of whole chunks of frequencies—the mind boggles at what we could have done in our groups. A Broad Pedagogic Scope However, my AOR, and an assortment of robust Grun- dig Satellites (500, 650 ‘Europa’ and 700), did very well When I took my ‘heavy-metal’ AOR AR7300 HF indeed. I hope that the generations of students whom I made receiver into the classroom with me for the degree courses listen to them did pick up something about things like inter- I taught on European Studies and International Relations, it national power-play, human rights and clandestine stations, caused considerable consternation amongst the students at reliable and ‘fake’ news, political agendas and manipula- first. tions, minority voices, and ‘shop windows’ into countries.

14 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Science self-education through reading. (Courtesy: ARRL publications; TheInspireProjecte.org; PenguinRandomHouse.com/books) Bridges of Knowledge can you not learn from a radio?” The scope for education, demonstration and experimentation using an HF radio is My area of expertise at that time is largely in the Social virtually limitless. Sciences, and I used the radio as a teaching tool against that Tell your students about propagation, for example, and particular background. I am happy to think that my ex-stu- you will have opened the floodgates: the number of things to dents, both in the UK and further afield, enjoyed this meth- know here is exponentially larger than the few publications od, at least as a supplement to more ‘traditional’ lectures and available in this area to the non-academic radio enthusiast, seminars. although there are some excellent primers, both in print and I hope many of them remember the ‘Mad Professor’ online, from the ARRL, the RSGB, Springer Publishers and with his Magic Sound Box. But what can happen when we others. draw our circles wider, to look at other branches of knowl- Moreover, the study of ionospheric physics, propaga- edge? You could think of a history class on ‘radio-pioneers,’ tion and the Earth’s ionosphere and magnetosphere offers both male and female, as a kind of ‘learning bridge,’ which a rich field of activities. You can involve radios and anten- you can walk across to broaden your teaching scope. nas in your classes in order to make your students under- Pioneers, such as John Henry, Nicola Tesla or Heinrich stand ‘light,’ ‘particles,’ ‘waves’ (electrical and magnetic) Hertz were all of their time, and their experiments and dis- ‘charges,’ and much more besides. coveries often reflected the wider cultural, technical, ‘spiritu- Furthermore, your learners can employ radios to appre- al’ and social questions of the day. ciate ‘ground’ and ‘sky’ wave, to learn about ‘lines of sight,’ Editors like Laura Otis (2002) have shown (in her case ‘forces’ and ‘fields to comprehend refraction and dispersion, for the 19th Century) how ‘radio,’ ‘waves’ and ‘electricity,’ attenuation and absorption, and to understand so much more. for instance, have been strongly reflected (and refracted) in Quite a bit of this has been covered in TSM and RadioUser the best literature of the time. before, in columns and longer articles on propagation, anten- Otis’s research also demonstrates how the scientific nas and radio technology. writings of people like James Clerk Maxwell or Samuel F. B. Against this background, it is perhaps fair to say that Morse both added to, and contrasted with, those of authors we are now not just using the old AOR AR7300 any more, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling or Mary Shelley. at least not in the main; we are also availing ourselves of the More recently, radio analysts like Ivan Rhys-Morus, possibilities afforded by computers, soundcards, online- and have firmly embedded the discoveries of Nikola Tesla and SDR technology, such as receivers offered by SDRPlay, others in the discourses of the period, concerning the body, AirSpy, and so on. https://airspy.com https://www.sdrplay. life and, well, the afterlife too. com In fact, SDRs (Baron, 2017) have begun to open up the Radios and Science scope of subjects considerably; they link computer science, radio and electronics – and they appeal massively to the Not wanting to get carried away by all those fascinating younger generation (and many ‘oldies’ too). debates of the past, I’d like to bring us back to the present, Antennas too, are a large and inexhaustible topic – as however, and to the issue of what areas of education and large as the doorstopper-of-a-book I am now using as a knowledge radio can be used to illuminate. teaching reference myself, Rothammel’s Antenna Book. Therefore, let us (immodestly) follow Maxwell and https://rothammel.com/Rothammels-Antenna-Book. So, Einstein and construct a ‘thought-experiment’: it would be tell your learners – and let them gather experience about – fascinating to investigate what happens when we treat our such phenomena as polarization, techniques such as antenna HF receivers, transceivers, and associated gear, as ‘scientific modeling, and good practice in antenna installation and instruments,’ reflections of public opinion and objects of maintenance. ‘design’ and ‘desire.’ In fact, it may be better to ask, “what

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 15 Other Disciplines to say that this kind of radio-art would resonate very much in the USA of today. http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/bor- The idea of radios as scientific instruments has, of der_tuner__sintonizador_fronterizo.php course, spawned many independent fields of research. Me- In the world of sound-art, composers, such as Alvin trology and measurement are two such areas, the science of Lucier (b. 1931) have been using ‘natural radio’ in their ex- time-measurement, and investigating time signal stations is a perimental compositions—just listen to a sample of Lucier’s great way into this fascinating field. work Spherics: a sound installation and recordings of iono- Signals interpretation and analysis are other obvious spheric disturbances, for large-loop antennas, tape recorder candidates for the construction of lesson plans; you could and playback system. introduce people to this area by a variety of pathways, like You can also try VLF Aeriology by the Australian ‘spy numbers’ stations (maybe linked to the historical back- ‘cross-media artist’ Joyce Hinterding (b. 1958). ground of the Two World Wars or the Cold War) or utility www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUvMl_IxoQ monitoring, both of which have featured in RadioUser and www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zls3R3pMwk TSM. Or you may be fascinated by radio astronomy or sig- And last but not least, are Stephen P McGreevy’s nals from space – not just the ISS. recordings of whistlers, sferics, chorus and tweets etc., (The I admit that, where I have made occasional pre- Music of the Magnetosphere) not really works of natural sentations to local clubs, I have tended to ride my own ‘sound-art’? http://www.auroralchorus.com hobby-horse and attempted to stimulate interest in weath- There is so much more to explore in Radio Art, but this er-watching by radio or VLF studies; both of these areas are is as much time as I have for it in this article—and I am not very rich in what you might term ‘general-learning-poten- even beginning to go into the appearance of radios in film tial,’ and they can be illuminated with relatively simple, and and TV. Go, listen, view and enjoy! portable, means. The US NASA Inspire project is a great example of this. Aesthetics and Collectibles You may wish to focus on other areas, for which your HF radio or transceiver is essential. You could instruct When it comes to radios as art objects in themselves, people, for instance, about instrumentation and calibration, whether you are looking at a beautiful wooden cabinet vin- direction-finding and decoding. The sky is the limit. tage radio, a Bakelite beauty, an Eastern European transistor With the enclosed diagram and my case studies at the from the 1970s or the latest in cutting-edge Italian design end, I am aiming to propose a number of subjects and sce- – there is no doubt that you are looking at amazing objets narios, which, in my view, are lending themselves particu- d’art here, collectibles of the highest order, cherished and larly well to the use of radios as teaching tools. I feel certain maintained by many and often with immaculate attention to that you can think of many more that I am not listing here – detail. as always, contact me with your ideas and suggestions. It is, therefore, also possible to appreciate the artistic [email protected] value of radios, independently from their functional value. In this context, let us remember British textile designer, poet, Radios and Art novelist, translator, and socialist activist William Morris (1834-1899), who was associated with the British Arts and Last but by no means least, radios are also artworks Crafts Movement. and objects of desire for many of us. In terms of radios as It was he, who, memorably, coined the phrase, “Have works of art – both visual and auditory – just look at Babel, nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or by Cildo Meireles. Visit it, if you can – this is a cacophony believe to be beautiful.” in art, a true Tower of Babel. It does make you think about This could be my radio-philosophy too, I admit; whilst things like information-overload, for instance. I also like the function and specs are important to me and many other radio vintage aspect of the, increasingly modern, radios used in amateurs and enthusiasts. Nevertheless, form and style too this art installation. For certain, you can fill an entire art class can be seductive and give as much joy. https://www.vam. with this. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/meire- ac.uk/articles/introducing-william-morris les-babel-t14041 Add to that another dimension: The product design, The Longplayer Project is another, mind-blowing, art ‘feel’ and ‘look’ of radios has, at times, closely mirrored the initiative, although you do need an Internet radio for that. concerns and moods of the time in which they were made; A radio station that plays for 1,000 years – but who exactly first, radios were, essentially, furniture, in the early space is playing it? Humans or an algorithm? Are the machines age, they looked like little Sputniks. Today they have joined taking over at last? Radio meets art meets philosophy. You so many other objects in that they have been ‘virtualized,’ know you will want to write a lesson plan for this right now. looking like uninspiring little black boxes—the ‘downside’ https://longplayer.org of SDR receivers. Lastly, consider Border Tuner, Mexican-Canadian artist I think there is room for both in my shack; while I do Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s 2019 art installation. I’d venture

16 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 appreciate the advanced functionality of SDRs, I cannot no Wulff, A. (2019) Beginning Radio Communications do without the physical object, knobs-on and all, that is the (apress)). In Europe, RadioUser authors Mike Richards and radio. Nils Schiffhauer have gone down similar avenues, combin- ing radio and computers. There is also a significant com- Conclusion: Case Studies munity interested in building solar monitors with Very Low Frequency (VLF) technology, combining radio with radio Let’s finish with a few practical case-studies you can astronomy and geophysics. https://photobyte.org work with, I hope (see below). These are some very basic https://dk8ok.org scenarios you might wish to take as starting points for your radio-related classroom lesson, interactive presentation or (5) Look at Product Design: Show your students a range of home-schooling session with the kids. These suggestions cut radios from different eras and countries and let them guess across the artificial subject boundaries suggested by my four the decades and geographical origins of manufacture. Ask categories, above, and they overlap, addressing as many dif- how contemporary radio design reflects the ‘tastes’ of each ferent areas of the curriculum as possible. Who knows, may- decade and why. Why have some radios been made to look be you could even be inspired to use some of this to draw like other objects (rockets, buildings, spaceships, globes more youngsters into your club, radio charity or association. etc.)? And, let us know what your own experiences have been. (6) Select a range of exhibitions and installations involving Teaching Scenarios with Radio radios as the means of producing and showcasing Art and Culture. Why were radios chosen for the projects? What (1) Delve into Physics and utilize your radio to demonstrate kind of topics do the projects highlight? From here, look space-weather and EM wave propagation; investigate the at what people thought was worth preserving, and why; properties of our atmosphere and ionosphere. You may wish investigate the hundreds of radio museums across the world; to include the life and work of someone like Kristian Birke- pick a few and place them into their historical, cultural land and his Aurora-Expeditions. Make Lucy Jago’s book and political context. http://bdxc.org.uk/museums.html The Northern Lights required reading. Find out about the https://www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/articles/radio-pod- style of Birkeland’s and his contemporaries’ scientific writ- casting-news-resources ings to analyze the language and context of the time. Books (2) Allow your students to listen for a week to the short Barron, A. (2017) SDR: Software Defined Radio (RSGB) wave programmes of international broadcasters, from differ- Nichols, E.P. (2015) Propagation and Radio Science (ARRL) ent continents, especially News / Current Affairs schedules; Nichols, S. (2016) Radio Propagation Explained (RSGB) what are the similarities and differences in the reporting of Otis, L. (2002) Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Centu- events like the Coronavirus pandemic by, for example, Radio ry (OUP) Romania International, Radio China International, All India Poole, I. (2004) Radio Propagation. Principles and Practice Radio, The Voice of America and the BBC (or any other (RSGB) combination). What are the reasons for the divergences? Rhys Morus, I. (2011) Shocking Bodies […] (The History Press) What is ‘real’ and what is ‘fake’ news? How to distinguish? Richards, M. (2020) Raspberry pi Explained for Radio Ama- Use web-SDRs or Internet radio if you like, to collect more teurs (RSGB) material. Russo, L. (2018) Radio Wars. Broadcasting in the Cold War (Routledge) (3) Look at The Spectrum Monitor’s coverage in 2020 about Wulff, A. (2019) Beginning Radio Communications (a-press). History: 100 Years of Radio (e.g. Schneider, John W9FGH: ‘Radio Broadcasting’s First Years: What was it like?’ TSM, Websites: July 2020: 7), or Ken Reitz’s recent article on radio maga- INSPIRE Project (NASA): zines (RadioUser, July 2020: 34): From here, you can branch International Union of Radio Science (Union Radio-Scien- out to investigate the technical development of radio, the tifique Internationale, URSI):https://www.ursi.org/homep - lives of the first pioneers, and the social, economic and cul- age.php tural context, such as the “War of the Currents,” dramatized Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): in “The Last Days of Night.” https://www.ieee.org

(4) This is an obvious one, already widely practiced, during Journals: and outside of radio shows: build your own, Home-Brew Journal of Radio and Audio Media: https://www.tandfonline. gadgets and learn to code. US author Alex Wulff has recent- com/loi/hjrs20 ly written a great introduction to the ‘makers’ community’, using micro-computers like the Raspberry Pi and Ardui- T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 17 Believed to have been taken around the time of his historic AM voice broadcast, Fessenden appears to be hard at work on his concept of amplitude modulation. (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons) 100 Years of Radio Series Reginald Fessenden: Sadly, Little More Than a Blip on the Wireless Timeline By Richard Fisher KI6SN

o commemoration of the first 100 years of AM from his rich partners who had sold his patents out from broadcast radio would be complete without the under him to large American companies … American books NChristmas Eve 1906 story of Reginald Fessenden, that condescend to recognize Fessenden’s achievement the underappreciated Canadian-American credited with the describe him as the ‘American Marconi.’ Perhaps it is just as vision for, and invention of amplitude-modulated wireless. well he never had the chance to read that.” He was genuinely a titan of early radio. Famously, the story of Fessenden’s being the first Fessenden defined the electronic principles on which human voice ever heard over wireless is about the only thing ever-improving AM broadcast-band technology has been on which radio historians can agree. In the century-long built over the last century. Yet he is little more than a blip on debate are the circumstances surrounding his first ever voice- the timeline of wireless history. over-wireless broadcast, generally – or for some historians, “On that cold December night, Fessenden knew he had begrudgingly – accepted to have taken place the night of given the world one of the greatest Christmas presents it December 24, 1906. would ever receive,” it is noted in Canada’s The Radioscien- tist. (1) Quiet Genius at Work “Without wires across vast distances, he had transmitted human voices. The word was made known and Fessenden A brilliant inventor of all manner of devices – visible truly believed the world was now at his feet. bullets for machine guns for example – Fessenden is most “Instead, the rest of Fessenden’s life was a constant remembered today for his achievements in radio: wireless struggle for recognition for his inventions and compensation telephony, the radio compass, the first television set in North

18 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 improving on the Morse Telegraph System by developing a wireless version. The race was on and Fessenden was in it,” The Radioscientist noted.

A la A.G. Bell, Fessenden’s Discovery by Accident

Remarkably, Fessenden’s first experience of amplitude modulation came about quite by fluke. His assistant, Mr. Kitner, “jammed a Morse code key which howled over a re- ceiver and was transmitted to Fessenden in another room.”(1) Shades of Alexander Graham Bell, right? Fessenden concluded that if the howl could be carried, voices could too, and he decided that what was needed were very fast controlled waves of high frequency which would carry sounds. He envisioned that the fast frequency “could be broadcast with program information, and a receiver could iso- late the program information from the carrier and leave sound for his listeners.” Fessenden’s playing field would be below 500 “kilohertz.” That is a considerable amount of spectrum beneath today’s AM broadcast band (540 to 1710 kHz). After many failures, Fessenden ultimately triumphed.

The Suspense was Killing Them

A few days before the not-so-secret Christmas Eve event, Fessenden floated the rumor that something of great importance would he happening on the wireless at 9 p.m. December 24th. His signal would be sent from a transmitting tower at Brant Rock, along the Massachusetts coast. “It was a cylindrical tube, 400 feet high, guyed at every 100-foot level with an umbrella capacity at the top.” (2) Brant Rock is about This image on a penny postcard shows Reginald Fessenden’s 30 miles southeast of Boston. This circulating rumor of wire- mammoth antenna at Brant Rock along the Massachusetts Atlan- less mystery was to assure Fessenden would have a listening tic shoreline. (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons) audience for his transmission. America in 1919. The list runs quite long. Having Canadi- According to historian R.B. Sturtevant, the morsel of an-U.S. citizenship, most of Fessenden’s work in radio was mystery spread like wildfire among shipping interests up and done in the United States. down the U.S. eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean. (3) “Fessenden was neither a good businessman nor an Radio operators aboard Navy and United Fruit Co. ships accomplished promoter,” The Radioscientist noted. He was were among those speculating on what would be happening. born in 1866 near Sherbrooke, Quebec, and went on to “Are we going to war?” receive his education in CanadaAfter moving to the U.S., The United Fruit Co. had just put a high-power radio he was named chief chemist for Thomas Edison who was in station in Guatemala. “Must be something happening in the development stage of his electrical company. Fessenden South America, or perhaps something to do with the Panama would later work for George Westinghouse. Canal?” Impressed with Fessenden’s intelligence, Westinghouse Operators weren’t sure if the news would be coming in agreed to make “instruments and machines” for him when he American Morse or International code. It might even be via left the company to become head of the electrical engineer- the new Navy Morse. ing department of the University of Pennsylvania. “At the appointed hour,” Sturtevant wrote, “all stations “Fessenden in turn was to remain available to Westing- in the know had their best wireless operators on duty. house for research. It was an excellent deal for both and gave “Nine o’clock. Wireless rooms aboard ships and in shore Fessenden the chance to work on the theories of Henrich stations all across the north Atlantic and Caribbean stood by Hertz, of Karlsruhe, Germany, who had studied electro- in radio silence.” magnetic waves, and discovered they could travel through Out of the din came the call: “CQ, CQ, CQ,” in Amer- walls.” ican Morse, followed by brief silence. Then Fessenden’s Many of Fessenden’s contemporaries at the time “were voice. also frantically studying Hertz’s theories in the hope of The astonishment from across the region was palpable.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 19 For the first time in history, radio operators heard the human voice coming across the airwaves. In excitement they called to their captains and fellow crew members and shore-side colleagues to come to the radio room. They would hear Fessenden introducing himself, fol- lowed by a musical interlude. Amazing.

Fessenden’s Christmas Concert

In her 1940 book “Fessenden – Builder of Tomorrows,” Fessenden’s wife, Helen, included a first-hand account of the historic 1906 event, as well as that of a second performance on New Year’s Eve.(4) She quoted Reginald Fessenden’s recollection of the evening: “The program on Christmas Eve was as follows: first a Above is an ad that appeared in an early radio magazine. Fessen- short speech by me saying what we were going to do, then den was not just an inventor and college professor. His company, some phonograph music – the music on the phonograph National Electric Signalling Co., sold his patented Fessenden being Handel’s ‘Largo.’” Wireless Telegraph System and he was an aggressive defender of “Then came a violin solo by me, being a composition of his patent rights. In one case from 1913 the court granted him (Adolphe Adams’) ‘O, Holy Night,’ and ending up with the a $413,000 judgment (the equivalent of $10.9 million in today’s words ‘Adore and be still’ of which I sang one verse, in ad- money) against a group he claimed infringed on one of his pat- ents. But that judgement was later set aside by an appeals court. dition to playing on the violin, though the singing, of course, While early radio publications may not have reported on his 1906 was not very good. broadcasts, there are many articles that followed his in-court “Then came the Bible text, ‘Glory to God in the high- activities. (Courtesy: worldradiohistory.com) est and on earth peace to men of good will’ (Luke 2:14) and finally we wound up by wishing listeners a Merry Christmas “The events at Brant Rock, if they did occur, would and then by saying that we proposed to broadcast again New have been a milestone in the history of mankind,” O’Neal Year’s Eve. wrote. “In one evening, Fessenden apparently had staged the “The broadcast New Year’s Eve was the same as before first radio broadcast and had become the first radio announc- except that the music was changed, and I got someone else to er, scriptwriter, disk jockey, program director, staff musi- sing. I had not picked myself to do the singing on Christmas cian, studio engineer and chief engineer. It is a claim worth Eve. I could not get any of the others to either talk, sing or substantiating.” play and consequently had to do it myself.” (3) The first docu- O’Neal dug into newspapers in New York and Boston mented case of “mic freight.” published “during and after the last week of 1906. They So, there you have it. A remarkable event. End of story. yielded nothing.” But, no. Oh, t’were it as neat and tidy as that. Noted radio historian Susan Douglas, writing in her history of early radio, “Inventing American Broadcasting Let the Controversy Begin 1899-1922,” came to a similar conclusion. “There is no re- cord of Fessenden notifying the press, and the demonstration (6) Over the ensuing 114 years since this inaugural AM received no newspaper or magazine coverage … voice transmission, historians have hashed and rehashed “Many surprised shipboard operators wrote to the December 24, 1906. Many are comfortable with the facts inventor reporting that they had received the unprecedented as described in the Fessenden biography. Others dispute the transmission. Although the talking and singing were not very date and time of the momentous event. loud, and the voice reception was intermittent, Fessenden At least one historian believes it never happened in the had successfully demonstrated what would soon be called first place. James E. O’Neal, in prepared remarks in 2006, radio. The Christmas Eve program is still considered the first and after extensive research, questioned the validity of Fes- radio broad-cast in American history, and a truly dramatic senden’s claims of a Christmas Eve broadcast.(5) demonstration” of Fessenden’s inventions. O’Neal noticed a similarity in the mountains of written There could have been a good reason for the lack of accounts: “…the music selected, the scripture reading, the press coverage, but no one to date has come up with a reason first recorded case of ‘mic fright’ and the invitation to listen as to why. for another such broadcast a week later.” If Fessenden was for no lack of ego – which he was But in many cases, the recollections were not attributed most assuredly not – “where are the printed reports of the to anyone. Authors who did offer attribution cited the widow Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve broadcasts of 1906? Fessenden’s 1940 biography. Even lacking contemporary press reports, there must be

20 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 some corroborating evidence to back his story,” O’Neal The other knock against “Doc” is that he was broad- concluded. “This man is not likely to have hidden his ac- casting from a college radio station. One of the criteria for complishments under a bushel; nor did he do so with other AM broadcasting at the time was that it must be commercial. achievements.” In fact, Fessenden was not inducted into the Hair-splitting? Perhaps, but 1906 comes before 1909. No Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame until 1992. debate about that. “In 1924, Fessenden was asked by the editor of Radio Let’s just agree that Reginald Fessenden invented am- News magazine, Hugo Gernsback, to write an autobiograph- plitude modulation (AM) and Charles “Doc” Herrold invent- ical series of articles,” O’Neal wrote. “With the article, the ed AM broadcasting. Period. magazine published what we would call a box of bullet points. These numbered items list the inventions that Fessen- Nonetheless, a Giant in Radio History den felt were his most important. “The fifth bullet is the entry ‘Wavechute’ – what we From the beginning, shoddy documentation was to dog know today as a counterpoise or ground plane – and ‘broad- history’s recording of Fessenden’s AM broadcast achieve- casting of speech and music – 1907.’ ment. He was a large, imposing man whose brilliance in “Nowhere in this article or in the series of articles is invention would put more than 500 U.S. patents to his name. there any mention of Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve He was a proud man with an ego, but wasn’t concerned broadcasts.” Perhaps Fessenden gives the date as 1907 about having outside observers confirm what he did. because his broadcasting tests were not completed until then, There is no question that Fessenden remembered events O’Neal concluded. of that Christmas Eve in the way he described. But without So, it would be almost three decades later that the his- hard facts and other sources to underscore such recollections, toric transmission was first revealed in print in Gernsback’s there is risk of being saddled with the pejorative “history magazine. How strange. revisionist.” That is a bitter pill to swallow regarding a man who The Radio Log of Francis Hart contributed so much to the AM broadcast radio we enjoy today. Setting aside the ongoing squabbles, Fessenden’s In digging through radio logs of the time, O’Neal came achievements puts him as an equal to Marconi. Perhaps even across “a fascinating document at the Smithsonian Institu- greater. tion. This is a journal or logbook kept for nearly three years by a Francis Hart. It begins on Sept. 6, 1906; the last entry Sources: was made on Oct. 3, 1909. Though not a widely known source, it has been mentioned by Susan Douglas and other (1) “An Unsung Hero: Reginald Fessenden, the Ca- historians.” nadian Inventor of Radiotelephony,” The Radioscientist, Hart could read code and apparently had a lot of spare (https://tinyurl.com/yyywont2) time for wireless listening. “There’s no indication he owned a transmitter,” O’Neal wrote, “so he can’t really be called (2) “History of Canadian Broadcasting,” The Cana- a radio amateur … Today he would probably be termed an dian Communication Foundation. (https://tinyurl.com/ SWL, or shortwave listener,” even though all the Christmas- y2r4sv9b) time action took place below 500 kHz. Hart’s log never mentions Fessenden or his Decem- (3) “Reginald Fessenden’s Joyful Noise,” Popular Com- ber 1906 broadcasts. “… these events would have sparked munications, December 2011, p. 12. a tremendously large ‘buzz’ for days thereafter among the community of land and sea radio operators.” Surely, he (4) “Fessenden – Builder of Tomorrows”, by Helen M. would have noted this in his log. Fessenden; Coward-McCann, Inc., New York, 1940, p. 153

Reg vs. Doc (5) “Fessenden: World’s First Broadcaster?” by James E. O’Neal, RadioWorld, October 2006 (https://tinyurl.com/ In the end, and despite the ongoing debate over dates y28eg9he) and times, the arguments for and against the story of Regi- nald Fessenden’s titanic voice-over-airwaves achievements (6) “Inventing American Broadcasting – 1899 to 1922,” in part boil down to semantics. by Susan J. Douglas, 1987, The Johns Hopkins University For example, Charles “Doc” Herrold achieved a “first” Press (https://tinyurl.com/y97tsuaf) by regularly broadcasting AM entertainment programming beginning in 1909. Fessenden couldn’t argue with that. His transmissions weren’t regular, and it is debatable as to whether their con- tent was entertainment in a general sense. T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 21 Early Morning photo of my HexBeam complete with Moon and bird! (K4PKM photo) Living with a Hex Beam By Robert Gulley K4PKM

hen working with a very small lot (or “garden” as Enter the Hex Beam they say in England!) one can easily find it hard Wto get workable multiband antennas. The usual The Hex Beam, for lack of a better description, looks choices are a no-radial vertical, or a relatively short dipole like an upside-down umbrella on top of a mast, often con- such as a fan dipole or similar antenna. I have been faced nected to a rotor (more on that later). The antenna is a series with that quandary for some time, as I live in an historic of folded dipoles, and is designed to be a slightly directional district, meaning no antennas can show above my roofline, antenna, with a gain of about 2 to 2-1/2 dB over a standard let alone have an antenna in the front yard. My backyard dipole. (Amateur radio operators are typically more con- is approximately 25 x 35 feet with no trees or other natural cerned with dB gain because of transmit, but gain is recipro- supports. cal; it works on the receive side of things as well.) I have used at one time or another: a compromised In terms of placement and performance, it is a very G5RV (one-half going through my attic!); a Gap Titan Ver- forgiving antenna. I have what I affectionately refer to as a tical; a vertically-oriented, horizontally polarized 20-meter postage stamp lot, with no possibility to put up a real tower. Delta loop; a 10-40-meter fan dipole; a random long wire In fact, my antenna is barely 12 feet off the ground at the antenna, and probably some others I am forgetting. Oh yes, base of the antenna. I still get a near flat match without a tun- my current downspouts antenna for 40-160 meters (if you er. What was more amazing was the flat match I had when can’t go out, go up, right?!) testing the antenna after assembly at a mere three feet off the ground!

22 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Elements number 1, 2, 6 and 7 (in red) act as the driven ele- Rigid base with spreader mounts, coax cable opening/grommet, ments. 3, 4 and 5 in black. (Courtesy: Hex Beam) and mast mounting connections. (Courtesy: Hex Beam) Design is needed to allow the antenna to work properly.

The Hex Beam is a design similar to a Moxon antenna. The Beam Part of the Antenna The idea behind a Moxon is an almost closed loop antenna which has some gain but fits in a small space. The limitation For folks used to working with wire antennas such of a typical Moxon antenna is that it works on only one band as dipoles or vertical tube antennas, there are a few points (like most antennas they can be tuned to a harmonic of their to cover about directional, or beam, antennas. Beams are original band, but that is antenna theory for another day!). directional to one degree or another depending on design. There are multiband Moxon antennas, but they are limited by Antennas can have a very tight (or narrow) beam, while size/weight considerations to 2-3 bands. others are still directional, but their beam angle is broader. A Hex Beam is typically designed for 20-10 meters, A 14-element Yagi for 2 meters has a very narrow beam, with some adding 6-meters, and really large ones adding for example, while a 3-element Yagi for 20 meters is fairly 40-meters (ah, if only my lot would accommodate that!). The broad. Generally, this has to do with the number of directors principle behind a Hex Beam is a series of folded dipoles in front of the driven element, and the design of the reflector basically in the shape of a “W” allowing for a much small- behind the driven element—the element to which transmitted er diameter than the standard horizontal dipole for a given power is applied. band. A Hex beam is a broad beam antenna, with moderate Elements number 1, 2, 6 and 7 (in red) act as the driven gain over a standard dipole, or dBd. As an aside, beware elements, while 3, 4, and 5 (in black) act as the reflective of gain ratings published by manufacturers—not all “gain” elements for each respective band (see image above left). figures are the same! This requires just a bit of explanation. Thus, the antenna gets its gain, or directivity, much the same Gain is measured in decibels (dB) and is usually written as as a Yagi. dBi or dBd. dBi stands for decibels over an isotropic anten- The antenna elements of a Hex Beam are made of wires na, while dBd stands for decibels over a dipole. An isotropic rather than tubes, offering several benefits including less antenna is an imaginary point in space where signals radiate weight, lower wind resistance, and inexpensive replacement uniformly in all directions. No such antenna exists, but it is should this ever be needed. The spreaders are typically fiber- useful for having as a base theoretical starting point. glass but, if you’re homebrewing, bamboo or thin PVC pipe A more useful number is dBd as this refers to a stan- could be used, among other materials. dard ½-wavelength dipole, which is a real antenna. Dipoles The spreaders are held in place by tension cords applied have roughly 2 to 2-1/2 decibels stronger directivity than an at the center column, with the bottom end of the spreaders isotropic antenna. Thus, when you see a gain figure of 3 dBd held in the base (see photo above right). If making this part for an antenna, it exhibits roughly twice the directivity of a yourself, this is probably the most critical piece of the whole standard dipole. design, and often the one part purchased from a commercial As long as one understands the difference between dBi dealer to save time and frustration. The umbrella shape is and dBd there is no real problem determining the increase caused by the flexing of the spreader tips being connected by in directivity for an antenna, assuming the manufacturer rope to the center column. uses one of these standard measurements. Here is where the The coax connector is at the base. That, and a common caution comes in mentioned above. If the gain advertised choke balun, are all that is needed to keep common mode is written only as dB, you cannot know what the real num- current from travelling back down the feed line (transmit bers are! Decibels, being logarithmic, must be calculated only – not an issue if just using for receiving). No RF ground in relation to something else, e.g. dBi or dBd. To just write

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 23 “plus 10 dB means nothing at all! Sadly, some companies are intentionally misleading, hoping no one notices their inflated numbers without a proper reference. One more point along these lines. I intentionally try to refer not to “gain” but rather directivity when discussing antennas, even though this goes against typical convention. An antenna does not, strictly speaking, have gain (unless it is an “active” antenna, meaning there is some form of electrical boost coming from its design). Amplifiers have gain because of vacuum tubes or transistors. Antennas have directivity when they are designed to focus more of the signal recep- tion/transmission in one direction over another. Hex Beam antennas have a moderate directivity in- crease by design, close to double that of a standard dipole. When pointed east, for example, stations coming in from the east will be stronger than stations to the west or north. Because these are moderately wide beams, northeast and Hy-gain antenna rotator. (Courtesy: https://mfjenterprises.com/ collections/hy-gain/products/ar-500) southeast signals will be slightly stronger as well. In my particular location I live near a busy city cen- ter, and there is often a good deal of electrical noise which With shortwave stations, having the ability to point makes signals harder to hear. While the increase in directiv- the antenna in the appropriate direction (while reducing ity is nice, more important in my location is the beam’s less- unwanted signals and interference), may allow one to hear ening of noise from unwanted directions. This is sometimes lower powered stations one might otherwise miss. Make no referred to as front-to-back or front-to-side ratios of a beam’s mistake, these are not magical antennas in any sense of the performance. word. The combination of directivity in the desired direction, By lessening the impact of signals coming from un- and signal reduction coming in from unwanted directions, wanted directions I can hear more signals in the desired can make all the difference. direction. As we say in the amateur radio world, “you can’t We have all experienced strong and weak stations adja- work ‘em if you can’t hear ‘em!” cent to each other on a given band where the strong station overpowers the weaker one, even when they are far apart in Receive Only? physical distance. A directional antenna may provide enough separation in signal-to-noise ratio (front-to-back/front-to-side Admittedly, these antennas are primarily used by ama- ratio) to hear the weaker station. I find this one of the biggest teur radio operators who transmit with them and who often advantages for amateur or SWL. pursue DX (distance) stations. However, these antennas also make good directional shortwave listening (and utility, Rotators (and Alternatives) milcom etc.) antennas for the same reasons listed above. For example, I frequently listen to 11,175 USB for Air Force I confess to being very intimidated by the thought of Emergency Action Message (EAM) transmissions. While using a “professional” caliber rotator when I first started somewhat cryptic because many of the transmission are a investigating the Hex Beam antenna. (After all, a directional sequence of letters and numbers, I often hear radio checks, antenna should be rotated, right?!) The Hex Beam weighs in in the clear messages, and even occasional phone patches by at roughly 25 pounds, depending on design and manufactur- pilots be heard). ing materials, which is not all that heavy compared to beams With a little research or on-air listening one can often of other designs. trace where the signals originate and turn the beam toward Depending on where one lives and the expected their locations to increase signal strength. The same is true weather conditions, anything from a TV antenna rotator to for High Frequency Global Communications System (HF- a heavy-duty high load bearing rotator can be used. I can- GCS) transmissions. not give any real meaningful advice as to which rotator is On the commercial aircraft side of things, I often listen appropriate for any given setup, only to say you will want to to one or more of the High Frequency Data Link (HFDL) investigate typical wind conditions, snow/ice conditions, or Ground Stations in New York, Reykjavik (Iceland), or San any other contributing factors which might affect operations. Francisco. I currently show 16 different ground stations The same holds true for the mast material being used. around the world, with each ground station having anywhere My best advice is to overestimate your needs rather from 6 to 19 different listening frequencies. Simply point the than underestimate. My first construction involved a Rohn antenna to one of these ground stations and choose an appro- mast rated for 110 mph with an appropriate wind load for the priate frequency for the time of day and enjoy the traffic. weight involved (antenna and rotor), but ended up folding

24 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 in half like a straw when unusual wind conditions prevailed, • Can operate perfectly at a mere 5 feet or more off the which were in fact, well below the rated speed of the mast. ground This time I over-engineered the support system and all has • Handles full legal limit power for transmitting been well. If you have a radio club in your town you might want Cons: to get advice from some of the members if this is your first • Commercial units can be prohibitively expensive like foray into using rotors and support systems with any signifi- any multi-band beam cant weight. I would also suggest using a minimum of three • Likely to draw some attention if stealth is a requirement or more guy wires each at multiple heights to secure a mast • Not a narrow beam (see pro above) with a Hex Beam on top. Ask me how I have come to this As you can see, I believe the benefits of a Hex Beam far conclusion(!). outweigh any negatives. Each person’s needs are different, Now while all this might sound rather daunting, a and only they can decide if such an antenna is right for them. reminder is in order here: Hex Beams do not have to be high I do want to talk a bit about DIY options as an alternative off the ground to work well! This means lower antennas to commercial purchase, because cost is often the deciding can have less wind resistance and can be easier to support. factor in an antenna like this. This also means you may not need a rotor at all! Because the There are numerous companies (some listed below) weight of the Hex Beam is relatively low, one could easily which offer DIY kits or parts to build your own antenna. design a support system which allows for rotating the mast While I cannot specifically vouch for any of the DIY offer- by hand. This may or may not be practical for your particu- ings themselves, I can vouch for at least one of the hams lar needs. Here is what I mean. from whom I purchased my kit – NA4RR. They offer a com- I find in my amateur radio work I am often pointed plete package like the one I ordered (20 through 6 meters), toward western Europe at a bearing of roughly 47-degrees. as well as individual parts for those who want to build one Since the Hex Beam is a broad-beam antenna, this bearing themselves, presumably using a hybrid collection of home- covers a significant portion of western Europe without the brew and commercial parts. need of further rotation. If I did not have a rotor control unit There are other companies that offer similar packages in the shack, I could manually rotate the beam to this bearing and/or parts purchases, and I presume they are just as repu- and leave it there for the evening and work many stations. table. If you are looking to build your own antenna, I would A telescoping mast could allow one to raise and lower the highly recommend you study the design of the commercial antenna to assist in rotation. If wind is a concern, this might offerings for measurements, materials, and in particular, also be a good option, likewise for a more “stealth” opera- what manufacturers say about why they chose one material tion to hide the antenna during the day and lift it up by night. over another. This can be invaluable in your own choice of A telescoping mast might also allow for the use of a TV rota- design. tor whose weight is much less significant to raise and lower After this I would search out homebrew instructions than a full-sized amateur radio rotator. from reliable sources on the Internet to gain insights and tips from folks who have built their own. There may be design Pros, Cons, and Other Thoughts or building shortcuts which might be helpful, or even more importantly, pitfalls to avoid! I personally found the videos Having used a Hex Beam for several years I will offer on assembly useful at NA4RR’s site because sometimes my thoughts on the pros and cons of the antenna, as well written instructions do not have the same impact as seeing as discuss my thoughts on some of the various options for something done. YouTube videos are a likely good source as buying versus building the antenna. well for DIY or assembly instruction. Spend some time examining your space for possible Pros: locations and mounting options. Decide if a rotator is in the • Light weight – good center of gravity as beams go, and mix, and what type of rotator will be used. After my Rohn low wind resistance mast failure, I went with a couple of 10-foot sections of tow- • Good balance between directivity and signal rejection er given to me by a friend. The original plan was to get the • Easily repairable due to modular design antenna up about 20 feet or so, but the antenna works great • Space-saving design compared to comparable Yagi just atop one of the 10-foot sections, so I have left it there. antenna If using a rotator, one of the most difficult aspects of • Competitively priced, particularly for DIY assemble is making sure the mast is sitting squarely in the • Simple construction as a kit, still reasonably simple DIY rotator so that it turns evenly without inducing any awkward • No matching networks or expensive baluns needed for stress on the bearings. Depending on the support setup and proper operation rotator used, this may not be an issue. In my case, I tried • Reasonable support structure requirements to “get by” with some spare parts which were not quite a • Excellent near flat VSWR match on all bands under perfect fit, and the result was less than desirable operation, diverse conditions w/out tuner requiring me to do things over. Live and learn, as they say!

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 25 Price

Expect to pay somewhere between $550- $800 for a commercial antenna, and somewhere between $75-$500 for a rotator, for new equipment. I bought a used rotator from a friend for $50 as I recall, and hamfests or online sources are good places to check for used rotators. As for DIY antenna builds, there are so many variables it is hard to pin down a price, but I would estimate building your own might save you about $200 off the cost of new if using a machined/welded base plate and fiberglass materials. Beware of going too inexpensively for the base plate as it has the greatest stress points, and really determines the prop- er spacing and connections for the whole antenna. One might even be able to save a bit more by cutting costs in other places, but plan to spend at least $200 or more even with the least expensive designs. Where a Hex Beam Hexagonal beam in portable use. (Courtesy: NA4RR) can save you money is in the needed support structure and rotor needs due to its light weight and low height require- glass arms attached to a base. The arms form a hexagonal ments. shape hence the name “hexagonal beam.” When moving up to a beam which can also support 40 meters, the price of complete packages jumps significantly, Features: up to $1000-$1200 based on some of the resources listed be- Multi Bands low. However, in doing some research for this article, I have Low SWR discovered to my pleasant surprise, there is now a 40-meter No tuning required, just plug and play add-on for my antenna that only costs about $150, so I see Improved broad band response over original hex beam one of those in my future! design Admittedly, Hex Beams are not for everyone. Are there Performs well at lower heights better beams available? You bet. Are there more narrow Handles full legal limit of power beam antennas out there for greater reach? Definitely. But Small physical foot print if you have limited space like I do, an electrically noisy Light enough for a push-up mast environment like I do, then a Hex Beam might be just the Symmetrical shape withstands wind better answer. Truthfully, if I had a larger lot, I would still have a Hex Beam because of its ease of use, flat tuning, good wind Specifications: resistance, and ease of assembly/repair. Having used one for Gain Peak Approx 5.5 dBi several years, I am hooked on their design and capabilities. Front/Back Peak > 20dB Having one antenna that can operate smoothly and effortless- VSWR Less than 2:1 across nearly all bands ly from 20 meters up through 6 meters, and with directional Turn Radius 11 Ft reception on all bands for SWL, I am a believer. When I get Diameter of Beam 22 Feet the chance to add 40-meter capability I will gladly do so, and Height of Beam 36-inches from base to top of center post I look forward to the added capabilities this will offer for Weight 34-40 lbs. even more bandwidth on the radio spectrum! Wind Load Area: 4 sq ft Power Handles full legal limit SSB Resources and Related Information: MAX-GAIN Systems is one of the resources for pur- NA4RR - https://k4hex.com/ This is the website from chasing a Spreader Kit for homebuilding a Hex beam anten- where I ordered my complete kit and options, and then later na, along with other parts. https://mgs4u.com/?v=7516f- ordered some replacement parts due to storm damage. d43adaa RadioWavz Description (included here as typical of materials and specifications)https://www.radiowavz.com/ product/sentinel-hex-beam/69 The Sentinel Hex Beam is a directional antenna that provides great performance and reduced size. The G3TXQ broad-band hexagonal beam for 20,15,10,6 meters is con- structed of six fiberglass arms and insulated stranded copper wire. The supporting structure consists of six flexible fiber- T S M

26 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Yaesu’s newest System Fusion mobile transceiver is the FTM-300DR. As with many new offerings, the company is working day and night to keep up with demand. While some have thought it to be a replacement for the FTM-100 or FTM-400, it is neither, even though it extends some features of both. (Courtesy: Yaesu)

TSM Reviews: Yaesu FTM-300DR By Cory Sickles WA3UVV

hen Yaesu introduced its C4FM transceiver when someone bothered to look at the information released concept at Hamvention 2012, there was little to – quashed the rumors as they released a mobile radio with Wshow other than a diminutive FT1DR portable, some breakthrough design features and a repeater. The sitting under a Lucite cover. The appearance of the product repeater offered support for both analog and digital – some- raised more questions than it provided answers. Why a new thing eschewed by Icom’s D-STAR – and the mobile sported DV methodology, instead of following the de facto lead of a color touch screen display. D-STAR? Was a portable all there was to be? How about Recognizing that there were significant challenges a mobile or repeater? There were so many questions that I ahead in getting a new DV radio to gain wide acceptance, could fill the next three pages with them. in an era when “DV” was synonymous with “D-STAR,” In the absence of information, rumors abounded. Yae- needed to be addressed. Along with a more inclusive design, su’s C4FM format was just like P25 (it is not). This format Yaesu offered their first production repeater for a heavy dis- was just going to be temporary, until the company released count, under an upgrade program which proved to be more a DMR product line – after which the early model radios successful than originally envisioned. could be turned into DMR by virtue of a firmware change The early 2014 shipments of the DR-1X repeater and (no, wrong again). In short order, the ignorance of many – FTM-400DR mobile started an upswing in sales of each – desperately wanting to be noticed – abounded into all sorts along with the existing FT1DR. By September 2014, the of misinformation. HRI-200 networking interface was shipping and all was in In time, Yaesu answered most of the questions and – full swing.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 27 The FTM-300DR includes a new microphone, with a different enclosure style. One immediate improvement over previous models is that the PTT button does not have a “hair trigger.” Another is the inclusion of a [MUTE] button. The FTM-300DR control panel is smaller than previous models yet have plenty of controls and a bright color display that is easily read. It can be mounted remotely or attached to the radio body, for a one-piece solution. (WA3UVV photo) Since that time, a second mobile with more modest is much easier than the ’100 and ’400, where the slot is in features and congruent pricing – the FTM-100DR – was re- the radio body. As I have mine mounted under a seat, I can leased. It sold well and was the predominant choice when it attest for how much less effort it is to access this card from came to setting up a remote node for repeater or community the control head, than fishing around under a seat, especially linking to the WIRES-X network. when it comes time to (re)insert said card. The FT1DR gave way to the FT2DR and then the If you wish to use the provided SSM-85D DTMF FT3DR, which is the current advanced feature portable. For microphone, that one still connects to the radio body. Yaesu more basic needs, there is the FT-70DR. The DR-2X repeater offers the MEK-2 extension cable or you can make one of replaced the DR-1X, with advanced features and capabilities. your own, if desired. As a third alternative, you can use a In addition, there have been two versions of the popular FT- Bluetooth boom set, since a Bluetooth interface is included 991(A) HF / VHF / UHF transceiver. Also, in addition to the in the transceiver. FTM-100DR, the FTM-3200DR (VHF) and FTM-3207DR Previously, this was an option in the advanced feature (UHF) single-band mobiles, plus FTM-7250DR dual-band transceivers, requiring a customer install. One more option mobile were brought to market. that – with the FTM-300DR’s new technology – gets upgrad- With all of this growth, only the FTM-400XDR (an ed to additional functionality is the FVS-2 voice synthesizer. upgrade to the original) model has a direct connection to the While some of the new capabilities may seem like a minor full line radio rollout – over six years ago. When the FTM- update to the user experience, it is one element that can 300DR was announced, many felt that this was going to be a greatly enhance the ease of use of the radio if you are blind replacement for the ’400 (wrong). Then, when the ’100 was or sight impaired. discontinued, those same “all-knowing” folks said it was Depending on your perspective, the visual features going to be a replacement for that radio (still wrong). and control surfaces of certain modern transceivers can be The FTM-300DR bears some resemblance to both the a blessing or a curse. If you cannot make use of the visual ’100 and ’400 but is actually not a replacement for either. It information, then using it can prove to be quite a challenge. is its own thing. While it bears some necessary resemblance Hard controls, features with boundaries and audible cues – to its previous relatives, it is chock-full of new firmware properly configured – can make it possible for someone to and features, which are not readily apparent until you start find enjoyment in a new radio. Yaesu – as will all amateur exploring and using the radio. radio manufacturers – get suggestions as to enhancing their Looking at the front of the control panel, you notice radios for use by blind and sight impaired hams. I believe a highly readable color screen, four radial controls and 10 that Yaesu has taken many of those suggestions and found pushbuttons. This is double the number of the FTM-400, but ways to make the FTM-300DR easier to use in this direction, they are necessary since the FTM-300 does not make use as well. of a touch screen as a control surface. Looking closer at the In fact, greater ease of use is an underlying theme with control head, you will also notice a jack for the MH-85A11U this model. It is the first to offer the company’s E2O-II (Easy camera mike and micro SDRAM card, which has several to Operate - version II) enhancements. The newer technology uses. Some owners of previous System Fusion radios have involved in this transceiver also makes use of faster proces- wished they could plug a microphone into the control panel sors and more memory than what was available when the and now they can. In addition, access to the SDRAM card FTM-400DR.

28 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 The ports on the front panel of the FTM-300DR radio body will seem familiar to experienced hams. Note that the camera micro- phone and micro SDRAM card now plug into the control panel – instead of the radio body. (WA3UVV photo) If you take off the top cover, some of the extensive use of SMD parts will become immediately evident. While the radio includes The FTM-300DR can also act as a cross-band repeater. Bluetooth in the foundation, you can also add the FVS-2 voice It will accept either digital or analog in, while outputting an- synthesizer option. It fits on the connector in the upper right and alog only. This is a bit of a disappointment for folks like me can greatly enhance the user experience – especially for hams who would prefer digital all around, but I have to concede that are blind or sight impaired. (WA3UVV photo) that most will use the feature for analog service anyway. If you wish to engage or disengage cross-band repeat- Further proof of this is demonstrated in the 1104 mem- er mode, set your radio up with the frequencies and other ories offered. In each memory, you can store frequencies, particulars (tone squelch, input mode, etc.) and turn off the analog squelch type, DG-ID (Digital Group) power level, radio. Hold down the [GM] + [F / SETUP] + [DISP] keys, channel name (up to 16 alphanumeric characters) mode (an- while pressing the power key. When you are done with alog, Digital Normal, Voice Wide) and much, much more. In cross-band mode, simply turn the radio off and repeat the the ’100 and ’400 a number of those specifications are global above. This, by the way, is the same procedure that is used in that they are attributes that are specific to all memories, with the FTM-400DR. instead of being memory specific. Yaesu has released several If you want to record audio, then the FVS-2 once again firmware upgrades over the years to enhance and improve comes into play. This is also one of the reasons you will want the operation of the ’400, but there is only so much memory to have a micro SDRAM card inserted into the control head. available to the transceiver’s CPU (Central Processing Unit). The maximum supported capacity is 32 GB. However, even At some point, you simply run out of room. one as small as 8 or 4 GB will be useful and will offer more The FTM-300DR also operates in a somewhat “smart- capacity than you might imagine. er” fashion through many menu functions, as well as other Further, the card can store pictures, messages (System things. As an example, let us suppose that you have your Fusion and APRS), plus channel memory programming data radio’s VFO set for 5 kHz steps. That is fine for frequencies files. By virtue of it being able to be inserted into the control like 146.520, 147.000 or 147.525. But what if you want to head, it can help with another problem that a certain group enter 145.5625 MHz – the new standard simplex frequency of hams have. Those would be the ones with ham spouses or for System Fusion? other family members who are hams and also drive a family If you have an older model radio, then you have to go car. into the menus and change the stepping to 12.5 kHz, then When you set up a System Fusion radio, one of the get out of the menus and enter the frequency. If you want to things it needs is your callsign. Of course, if your ham change the frequency stepping back to 5 kHz, then it is back spouse wants to use the radio in your car - or vice versa – to the menus and so on. If you have an FTM-300DR, then you will end up talking on a radio with the wrong callsign you just enter the “1-4-5-5-6-2” part of the frequency and the being embedded in the DV data stream. radio completes the entry – making it 145.5625 MHz – with- Now, what if you could quickly pop out one card, pop out any further steps from you. Here again, greater ease of in another, turn on the radio and read the card? In just a few operation. seconds, it would be reprogrammed with a different callsign, In addition, you can quickly enter the numbers from the instead of the one that was in there. In a similar vein, dif- DTMF microphone or the menu, plus control head dials and ferent sets of memories, perhaps for a different area you are buttons. The best definition I ever heard for “ease of use” going to travel to, can be held on different cards. There are was being able to use different approaches to achieve the a number of possibilities – limited mostly by your imagina- same desired results. With this in mind, I firmly believe that tion. Yaesu has delivered with their EOS-II design philosophy.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 29 Use your FTM-300DR at the home shack with the Yaesu FP- 1023 13.8-volt, 23-amp switching power supply, currently $170 at Universal Radio. (Courtesy: Yaesu) available for voice operation. I have my mobile FTM-400DR radios configured this way and it works quite well. EOS-II also comes into play when working with the Yaesu MH-85A11U microphone with Snapshot Camera, plugs APRS feature set. Configuration and operation were made directly into the transceiver’s head. Current price at Universal easier with the new interface. The only areas where I felt Radio is $120. (Courtesy: Yaesu) the FTM-400DR had an edge over the FTM-300DR was If you do not care to program the radio by hand, pre- found in the touch screen of the former – allowing me to ferring software, you have choices. One is programming type messages, instead of selecting characters with the rotary software from RT Systems, Inc. (www.RTSystemsInc.com) and push button controls. The larger display on the ’400 is Their software is offered in two versions. One includes a advantageous, as well. programming cable, for a street price of $50. The other does When it comes to exploring the new radio’s WIRES-X not include a programming cable and has a street price of features, I like the ability to more easily search for rooms $25. If you use the micro SDRAM card to carry the pro- by name. There are also several shortcuts that allow you to gramming information from your computer to your radio, get to frequently used rooms. PDN (Personal Digital Node) then you will not need the cable. Another possibility for operation was designed into this radio from the start, instead programming software is the ADMS-12 package, which can of being attributed to a firmware update. With the optional be downloaded at no charge directly from the www.Yaesu. SCU-40 cable set, you can connect the radio to a USB port com web site. on a computer running Windows 10 or 7 and the WIRES-X The RT Systems version of programming software application software. typically has more features and ease of use that the ADMS WIRES-X remains a versatile and simple to implement offerings, but I will leave the decision up to you. In no case networking design. Setting up the FTM-300DR to function should you use Chirp – a public domain application. Chirp as a gateway node for the Keystone-Wide room (60328) took is also free but has a bad reputation when it comes to Yaesu only a few minutes. Compared to what I have gone through radios. Should you “brick” the radio with Chirp, abandon all with some other DV methodologies, this was a figurative expectation of Yaesu covering your actions as an “in warran- walk in the park. ty” repair. With previous transceivers, running WIRES-X meant Somehow, my collection of FT1DR portables has that the radio user did not have ready access to additional grown from one to five, over the years. More specifically, operations on the second VFO. With the FTM-200DR, there I own three black models and two gray. Part of that com- is no such limit. You can have a WIRES-X session running pulsion is that the FT1DR remains a solid performer, with on VFO A, while still tuning in a favorite repeater or simplex firmware updates that have added functions since the initial frequency on VFO B. This too is a very welcome improve- release. Another reason is the well thought out APRS (Auto- ment. matic Packet Reporting System) feature set. As to hardware, the FTM-300DR radio body is slightly You’ll find this feature set - plus some access improve- smaller than the ’100 and ’400. Also, the mounting bracket ments – in the FTM-300DR. With the dual VFO design, you is very different. There are no mounting holes on the sides can have one CFO dedicated to APRS, while the other is of the body. Rather, the radio body slides into its mounting

30 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 to similar items with the Motorola stamp on them. In a related note, I recently purchased a new speaker/ microphone for one of my System Fusion portables. The new SSM-17A also sports the “YAESU MUSEN” name. From the time that Yaesu introduced a full rollout of the System Fusion product line, they have listened to customer suggestions and considered the merit of each. They have also demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the System Fusion product line and to ways of incorporating new features and improvements. These efforts have increased the usefulness of older products. In addition, they have added new features and improved ways of doing things that enhance the user experience. The FTM-300DR is the latest example of this philos- ophy. The current street price of the FTM-300DR is $470, while the FTM-400DR can be found for $540. With the ’400, Yaesu FVS-2 Voice Guide unit for FTM-300DR, currently $30 at you do get a color touch screen. That may or may not be Universal Radio. (Courtesy: Yaesu) important to you. With the FTM-300DR, you still get a color bracket. The bracket is designed to be mounted on the largest display, but the controls are more traditional. side, again eschewing the ability to mount the bracket via its In addition, the ’300 offers the latest in ease of use and sides. advanced features. As time moves forward, it is sure to have While this is not an issue for most mobile and go-kit other enhancements added through firmware bumps well into mounting schemes but is an issue if the FTM-300DR owner the future. wants to use the SMB-201 cooling fan base. I use a different Whether you are searching for a solid dual band trans- cooling scheme for my FTM-400DR at home and for what I ceiver for analog, digital or APRS use – the FTM-300DR use for nodes. As I expect many owners of the FTM-300DR deserves serious consideration. If you are sight impaired, will want to use it as a node, I will expect that Yaesu will even more so. Having more and more features can many release a different cooling fan base that is customized for the times make a device more complex to use. Yaesu’s approach new radio. here prevents that from being the case. In some ways, I’ve I feel that the advantages of the new mounting scheme only scratched the surface of the ways you can interact with overshadow any disadvantages. Being able to slide the radio this model and its additional features that you should find to out of its mount allows for quick disconnect / reconnect be of interest. Add in the three-year warranty and I believe cycles, plus makes it easier to get the radio out of tightly you will agree that the FTM-300DR would be welcomed in packed go-kits. any ham shack or vehicle. Download the manual(s) and so With more intelligence being placed into the control some research on your own, then see if you are motivated to head than in previous designs, the use of an eight-pin remote become an owner. cable, instead of the previous four, is understandable. If you need a longer cable than what Yaesu provides with the radio, You can find out more about the FTM-300DR here: you can use a good quality flat cable and RJ-45 connectors to https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs/4300. roll your own. html The supplied SSM-85D microphone is also different than what has been supplied with previous models of both analog and digital yaesu radios for many years. This mi- crophone offers a 16 button DTMF keypad, plus four user selectable function keys. Along with the PTT and “up/down” keys, there is also a mute button. This is a handy feature, when you want to quickly silence the audio. One more aspect of the new microphone may not be as quickly noticed. Instead of being molded with “VERTEX STANDARD” on the back, the new microphone is stamped “YAESU MU- SEN”. The latter is the proper name of the company, but the VS logo shows up at certain points, even though that compa- ny was left behind when Yaesu was reacquired from Motoro- la. Although they held onto it, Motorola only did so in order to kill off the brand as it represented a lower cost alternative T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 31 S c a n n i ng A m e r i c a By Dan Veeneman [email protected] Scanning California Wildfires

California fire incidents as of August 26. (Courtesy: CALfire) Location of Santa Cruz County in California. (Courtesy of the author)

nce again, wildfires are burning in California. Santa Cruz County is located in central California on the Pacific coast, about 70 miles south of San Francisco. O The county covers about 600 square miles, including nearly Hi Dan, 450 square miles of land. About 270,000 people live in the I’m an avid reader of The Spectrum Monitor. My broth- county, with nearly a quarter of them in the county seat of er resides in Santa Cruz, California and is facing danger and Santa Cruz city. Nearly 20,000 students attend the University possible evacuation due to wildfires. Have you ever detailed of California, Santa Cruz and another 12,000 attend Cabrillo Santa Cruz county communications in TSM? If so, would you College in the town of Aptos. The county is home to the Big know what issue? I’m trying to research to see if fire depart- Basin Redwoods State Park, containing more than 10,000 ment communications are encrypted. I’m guessing the police acres of old growth forest. department is encrypted, but not sure about fire. I want to Since the middle of August, wildfires have consumed purchase a scanner and send it to him, but if everything is more than a million acres across Northern California after a encrypted, it’s a waste of funds. series of storms and thousands of lightning strikes sparked I’m looking at the Uniden BCD325P2 as a first choice, hundreds of fires in dry timber and grassland. with the BC125AT as the second choice. He’s relying on his The fires burning in the CZU August Lightning Com- phone apps, which I explained to him if the fires take out the plex cover nearly 80,000 acres in Santa Cruz and San Mateo cell towers and internet, he’s out of luck. Thanks, Scott Counties, much of it in old growth timber, and as of this

32 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 writing is only about 20 percent contained. Although more than 1,600 firefighters are working the burn, parts of the affected area are in rugged terrain with a lot of dry under- growth, fueling the fire and making suppression difficult. Evacuation orders are in place and at least five people have been reported missing. CZU is a designation used by the California Depart- ment of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) for the administrative division covering the three counties of Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo. Multiple fires within an area are grouped into a “complex” and managed as a unit, prioritizing resources to protect life and property. Santa Cruz County and city public safety operations are in the Very High Frequency (VHF) band in analog format without encryption, so monitoring those agencies don’t require anything special in a scanner. County Fire dispatch is on 154.3250 MHz and the CAL FIRE frequency for that area (San Mateo - Santa Cruz) is 151.3700 MHz, again in analog with no encryption. Unfortunately for remote listeners, the volunteer who was monitoring local radio traffic and putting it into audio via the Internet at: https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ (Courtesy: California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection) ctid/226 had to evacuate and apparently either electrical power or Internet service to his home was interrupted as 155.1600 Sheriff (Disaster 1) Scott feared, so it’s not currently online. 155.2200 Sheriff “Gold” (Disaster 2) CAL FIRE maintains incident information at https:// 155.2200 Santa Cruz City Lifeguards www.fire.ca.gov. 155.2350 Sheriff (Search and Rescue) 155.2650 Sheriff (Special Weapons and Tactics) Santa Cruz Frequencies 155.3100 County Jail (Security) 155.3850 County Emergency Medical Services Some Santa Cruz public safety frequencies are often 155.5050 University of California Santa Cruz Police referenced by a color which is noted inside quotation marks. (Dispatch) Frequency Description 155.5650 Sheriff “Blue” (Dispatch) 150.7750 County Fire “Silver” (Tactical) 155.6250 Capitola Police “Blue” (Dispatch) 151.0400 County Fire “Orange” (Tactical) 155.8800 Santa Cruz City Police (Secondary) 153.4100 Santa Cruz City Water Department 155.9400 Scotts Valley Police “Yellow” (Secondary) 153.9950 Capitola Police “Yellow” (Secondary) 156.0300 Sheriff “Orange” (Tactical) 154.0550 Sheriff “Black” (Common) 156.0900 Cabrillo College Security 154.0550 County Fire “Black” (Valley) 451.6750 Soquel High School 154.1000 Santa Cruz City Trash and Recycling 453.6000 Santa Cruz City Civic Auditorium 154.1300 University of California Santa Cruz Fire 461.2500 Soquel High School 154.1900 County Fire “Yellow” (Command) 461.8250 Santa Cruz City School Buses 154.3250 County Fire “Red” (Dispatch) 462.4875 University of California Santa Cruz Theater 154.3850 Sheriff “Silver” (North Coast) 463.8000 Soquel High School 154.4150 County Fire “Blue” (Coastal) 468.4875 University of California Santa Cruz Theater 154.4450 County Fire (East) 154.5550 Sheriff “Brown” (Detectives) For those listeners with a scanner capable of monitoring 154.7700 Santa Cruz City Police (Dispatch) Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), the Santa Cruz Metropolitan 154.8450 Watsonville Police “Blue” (Dispatch) Transit District operates a DMR system on the following fre- 154.9500 Sheriff “Red” (Mutual Aid) quencies: 453.4250, 453.9750, 460.1375 and 460.6375 MHz. 155.0100 Sheriff (Mobile Extenders) Four repeater sites in Santa Cruz, Davenport, Los Gatos and 155.0550 County Animal Control Twin Creeks provide coverage throughout the service area. 155.0700 Sheriff “Green” (Tactical) CAL FIRE operates on a number of frequencies across the 155.0850 Scotts Valley Police “Blue” (Dispatch) state. Ground and air operations in the CZU (Santa Cruz – 151.1000 County Roads San Mateo) area should be found on the following conven- 155.1450 Santa Cruz City Port District tional (non-trunked) analog frequencies.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 33 Frequency Description 151.1750 Ground Tactical Net 3 151.1900 Ground Tactical Net 4 151.2950 Air Tactics 5 151.3250 Ground Tactical Net 6 151.3700 Local CZU Fire Net 151.4000 Ground Tactical Net 10 159.3625 Air to Ground 3 Counties in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio covered by Motorola Solutions’ Critical Connect system. (Courtesy of the author) Broadcastify has a CZU Complex Fire feed at https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/33534 which in- cludes CAL Fire Command and Tactical, Santa Cruz County air ambulance helicopters and law enforcement. Fire and Sheriff, as well as air operations. It is online as of this writing. Frequency Description You can also remotely monitor adjacent San Mateo 156.0750 California On-Scene Emergency Coordina- County and CAL FIRE via https://www.broadcastify.com/ tion (CALCORD) listen/feed/473 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has California Fire Radio Networks established six “intersystem” channels to support interagen- cy fire operations. These channels are analog only. Digital The State of California operates several radio networks transmissions and the use of digital squelch is prohibited that support firefighting and related public safety activity. while CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch) of 156.7 The California Emergency Services Radio System (CESRS) Hz is used. is the radio network that the California Governor’s Office Frequency Description of Emergency Services (OES) uses for control and coor- 154.2800 VFIRE21 dination of mutual aid. It connects OES regions, field staff 154.2650 VFIRE22 and Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) via two-way 154.2950 VFIRE23 radios. CESRS is also used in direct mode (CESRSD) as the 154.2725 VFIRE24 “travel” channel for firefighting teams when transiting to and 154.2825 VFIRE25 from mutual aid incidents. 154.3025 VFIRE26

Frequency Description VFIRE21 is intended for field-to-dispatch communications 153.7550 CESRS Emergency Management (Repeaters as well as the initial channel for units arriving on-scene. and Direct) VFIRE22 and VFIRE23 are intended for on-scene and mo- bile use only. Except for VFIRE21, transmissions on all of The OES Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid Coordination these VFIRE channels are essentially limited to 10 Watts, so Network is a dedicated radio network supporting the Fire you would need to be relatively close to the action to moni- and Rescue Mutual Aid System. Known as “FIRE Net,” it tor them. provides a radio link between the 65 Fire Operational Area Mutual Aid Coordinators, the six Regional Mutual Aid Coor- Indiana and Michigan dinators, and the Fire and Rescue Branch Emergency Opera- tions Center in Sacramento. It also provides communication Mutual Aid is always an important resource for public between OES Fire and Rescue headquarters and the OES safety agencies. The ability to call for additional help and Fire field staff, whether enroute or on-scene at major emer- resources from adjacent jurisdictions enables these agencies gencies, as well as more than a hundred OES Engines and to handle larger and more complex incidents. support vehicles stationed in local fire departments around In August, Indiana and Michigan connected their state- the state. wide networks together, demonstrating the ability of users in each state to communicate directly with each other, support- Frequency Description ing cross-border mutual aid events. 154.1600 OES FIRE Net 1 Indiana and Michigan share a border about a hundred 154.2200 OES FIRE Net 2 miles long, running from Lake Michigan to the Ohio border. Incidents occurring near the border can be difficult for mutu- There is a California On-Scene Emergency Coordina- al aid operations because responders often lose radio connec- tion Channel (CALCORD) that is designated for communi- tion to their home network when they cross state lines. cation between firefighters and non-fire personnel, such as In addition to the cities and towns near the border, a sig-

34 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 P-25 Inter-Radio Frequency (RF) Subsystem Interface (ISSI) nificant amount of freight traffic passes through the area on Interstates I-90 and I-94 as well as multiple railways includ- ing CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. After nine months of effort, the Indiana Integrated Public-Safety Commission’s (IPSC) network was linked up with the Michigan Public Safety Communication System (MPSCS). Both of these statewide systems were originally purchased from Motorola Solutions, who used their Crit- ical Connect service to allow voice traffic to be directly exchanged between the two networks. Critical Connect is a cloud-based interconnection product that links Motorola ASTRO 25 systems together without requiring the customer to purchase traditional interconnection interface equipment. Radio technicians have been testing the connection for the last month and will soon begin field testing with first -re sponders. Cross-border operations should go live in October, so don’t be surprised if you hear Michigan units operating on Indiana repeaters, and vice versa.

ISSI

Project 25 (P25) standards include an Inter Radio Frequency (RF) Subsystem Interface (ISSI) that describes a way to connect one P25 system to another. An ISSI gateway establishes a point-to-point link between two P25 systems. However, because it is point-to-point, each system must have Motorola Solutions Critical Connect system. a separate ISSI for each interconnecting system. As shown in operate on a host network and still remain connected to their the diagram, three systems require three ISSIs and connect- home network without having to re-program radios or loan ing four systems to each other requires six ISSIs. Linking out equipment is a significant savings in time and effort. additional systems rapidly becomes prohibitive, in terms of Leaving such a connection operating continuously, the cost of the ISSI equipment as well as configuration and ongoing law enforcement events such as a car chase could be maintenance burdens. extended across state lines without any pre-planning or prior Motorola Solutions is marketing Critical Connect as a preparation. way to connect separate networks either just when needed or continuously. At first, Indiana and Michigan were considering the use of Critical Connect just for mutual aid in towns along the border, but later realized that the ability to support officers from another state could be helpful for large events, such as a national convention or extended emergency. These types of events often require the presence of trained first respond- ers from other states in order to support all of the associated activities and civilians. With the ability for responders to T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 35 F e de r a l Wav e l e ng t h s By Chris Parris [email protected] Las Vegas Follow-up

n last month’s Federal Wavelengths column, I detailed my time of being sequestered in Las Vegas during June Iand July while televising professional boxing. My time being isolated in our bubble came to an end towards the end of July, so now I am back at home in Oregon and awaiting my next assignment. As part of last month’s column, I passed along the federal frequency logs from my time in Las Vegas. After that was published, I ended up discovering some additional frequencies and information on the frequencies that I heard previously during my last month of monitoring. Rather than repost the entire list of frequencies, here are frequencies that I had not logged during June, or frequencies that I had logged but had little or no information on.

162.8500 N167 FBI, input to 167.3625 My radios as they were running from my hotel in Las Vegas. 162.9750 N167 FBI, input to 170.6250 (Photo by the author) 163.0000 N096 TSA @ McCarren Airport 163.1125 N169 ICE, input to 170.7875 NAT 166.3000 Bureau of Reclamation, TAC 3 repeater Lake Meade 163.1250 N4CE Bureau of Reclamation, 166.7250 146.2 pl National Interagency Fire Hoover Dam Center TAC-04 163.2125 N100 IRS TAC 166.7625 BLM Vegas District - Air/ 163.3375 N47C BLM LE Net input to Ground 23 [Primary] 173.6750 166.7875 N293 DoE WAPA Power distribu- 163.6500 N167 FBI, input to 170.6625 tion patrols 163.7000 N169 ICE NAT TAC 1 166.8000 USFS/BLM Air to Ground 163.7125 114.8 pl USFS Intra-Crew frequency 06 163.7250 N169 ICE NAT TAC direct 166.8875 N293 CBP AIR 7 163.8125 N167 FBI, input to 167.6625 167.1500 107.2 pl NPS LE Net - Boulder 163.8625 N167 FBI Beach input to 170.0600 163.8875 N167 FBI 167.2625 N167 FBI A-01 Mandalay Bay 163.9625 N167 FBI Repeater 163.9875 N167 FBI, input to 167.4375 167.3625 N167 FBI 164.4750 110.9 pl BLM, input to 173.0500 167.4375 N167 FBI A-08 Hayford repeater 167.5375 N167 FBI D-05/D-06 164.5000 123.0 pl USFS Humboldt-Toiyabe 167.6625 N167 FBI A-03 NF input to 172.2750 Potosi 167.6875 N167 FBI A-06 164.7000 N68F BLM, input to 170.6000 167.7125 N167 FBI Christmas Tree repeater 167.8875 NIFC A/G 48 165.7250 N293 US Marshals Service CSO 167.9000 NIFC A/G 38 1, input to 170.7500 168.2000 146.2 pl NIFC TAC-2 165.8250 N293 CBP Border Patrol TAC-4 168.4000 NIFC Command 4, input to for the SW Region 166.6125 166.2375 BLM, input to 173.8250 168.8375 N293 CBP AIR 1 Winnemuca District 168.5875 N169 ICE NAT TAC 2

36 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 168.6125 NIFC/USFS Travel Com- mon 1 168.6500 110.9 pl BLM Forest Service Flight Following 168.6750 US Forest Service Region 3 TAC 2 168.7750 131.8 pl BLM/USFS Region 4 Scene of Attack [SOA] 168.9625 N293 CBP AIR 2 169.2625 N293 CBP AIR 3 169.9125 N300 ICE Angel Peak Repeater 170.0500 CSQ Lake Mead NRA, Boulder Beach 170.1000 N300 ICE Red Mountain Repeater 170.4750 110.9 pl USFS Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest 170.6000 N68F BLM LE Net Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists and 170.6250 N167 FBI APHIS employees examine a salad belonging to an arriving in- 170.6625 N167 FBI ternational passenger. All agricultural products, including food, 170.7500 N293 US Marshals Serv. CSO-1 plants, and live animals, must be declared at the first port of entry 170.8000 N293 US Marshals Service into the U.S. (Courtesy: APHIS/USDA) 170.8750 N167 FBI to try. 171.4750 103.5 pl USFS Humboldt-Toiyabe APHIS originated as part of the US Department of National Forest Agriculture, with the duty of inspecting inbound plants and 172.2750 USFS Humboldt-Toiyabe animals to this country. They were often stationed at seaports National Forest or international airports and could be heard on a variety 172.6000 N064 Lake Meade National Rec- of frequencies. In 2003, many APHIS agricultural border reation Area inspectors were transferred to U.S. Customs and Border 172.7500 146.2 pl BLM TAC 3 Protection, a unit of the newly created U.S. Department of 172.8750 N293 FAA CH 5, 169.2750 input Homeland Security. Also, the USDA Plum Island Animal 172.9000 N196 TSA @ LAS airport Disease Research Center was transferred to DHS around the 173.0125 N650 BATFE TAC same time. You can find out more at this USDA web site: 173.0500 114.8 pl BLM Repeater https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/banner/aboutaphis 173.6250 79.7 pl BLM Hotshots TAC 4 Here are some frequencies that have been used by the 173.6750 N47C BLM Law Enforcement Net APHIS operations around the country. Most of the APHIS operations are at International airports and Ports of Entry Sometime soon, I will post a composite list of all my into the United Stated. See if any of them are being used in Las Vegas findings on my blog page,http://mt-fedfiles. your area: blogspot.com/ 163.1000 What’s APHIS? 164.1250 164.1500 After my release from the Las Vegas bubble, I have 164.3250 been spending some time while in my home area exploring 164.6250 various monitoring targets around town. I recently spot- 164.8000 ted the new offices of the Animal Plant Health Inspection 164.8250 Service (APHIS) near the Portland International Airport 164.9125 (PDX). They had apparently moved from one office complex 164.9375 to another. At their previous office location, I spotted a base 166.5625 station antenna on the roof of the office and some trucks with 166.6750 federal license plates, also sporting VHF radio antennas. 168.3500 At their new office location, I was not able to see any base 169.1500 station antenna yet, but there were several Department of 169.1750 Agriculture licensed vehicles parked outside, all with VHF 169.1875 antennas on their roofs. I’m still looking further into the US 169.8750 Department of Agriculture and APHIS for what frequencies

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 37 169.9500 all these agencies likely have in their radios. 169.9750 It’s a good idea to keep these frequencies in a scanner, 170.0000 as you never know who might be using these. They can be 170.4500 used in any mode, analog or digital, and might be using any 170.4750 digital format that an agency might have radios for. There is 170.5000 no standard configuration for CTCSS squelch tones or P-25 170.5250 NACs, so don’t program any in your radios. 171.4250 Here’s a list of nationwide, federal itinerant frequencies 171.4750 to keep an ear out for: 171.5000 171.5250 163.1000 171.5625 163.7125 171.5750 167.1375 171.7000 168.3500 411.2250 168.6125 411.2500 173.6250 411.2750 407.5250 411.3000 408.4000 411.3250 409.0500 411.5250 409.0750 412.4000 409.3375 413.2000 412.8250 414.6500 412.8375 415.2250 412.8500 415.2500 412.8625 415.2750 412.8750 415.3000 412.8875 415.3250 412.9000 415.4250 412.9125 415.4500 416.5250 415.5250 418.0500 418.0750 Federal Itinerant Frequencies 418.3375

After my list of frequencies from my Las Vegas trip ap- In addition to these itinerant frequencies, there are some peared in the July column, I had some inquiries from readers that have specific agency allocations and labels. There have asking about my listing of a “federal itinerant” frequency been several “common” channels that have been seen with and what it meant. many different PL tones or NACs being used. One in par- The dictionary definition of itinerant usually refers to a ticular is the “Federal Common” channel of 166.4625 MHz. traveler or someone who moves quite often. An itinerant fre- Many veteran scanner users will recall that this frequency quency is defined by the use of various common frequencies was known for many years as “Treasury Common” and was in all areas of the country and not restricted to one physical used quite often by the then U.S. Customs Patrol and other location or area. Most radio frequencies are licensed for use agencies of the Treasury Department. Once the Department in a specific geographic area or region for a specific user or of Homeland Security (DHS) was formed, it started being agency. There are a number of itinerant frequencies that are called “DHS Common” by many users, but the Treasury available for FCC licensed users who travel throughout the Department still called it “Treasury Common.” It now ap- country for their business. pears in so many different federal agency radios that it now Federal users, who are coordinated and licensed appears in radio channel lists as “Federal Common.” through the National Telecommunications and Information The frequency often has various PL tones or P-25 Administration (NTIA) also have access to a number of VHF NACs that show up, from N100, N167, etc. The “DHS and UHF itinerant frequencies. These frequencies are avail- Common” frequency now is 165.8375 MHz. There is also a able for use by any federal agency and are often used by dif- known “ICE Common” frequency of 168.3500 MHz. Sharp- ferent agencies to communicate with each other when they eyed readers will notice that this frequency is one of the have separate or dissimilar radio systems. For example, if the federal itinerant channels I listed above. FBI needs to coordinate with the Secret Service, or even the In addition to these itinerant and agency common US Forest Service, there are some common frequencies that frequencies, the National Telecommunications and Informa-

38 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 tion Administration (NTIA) has allocated a number of VHF and UHF channels for federal agency interoperability. This allows different federal agencies some additional common radio channels for large events or operations where the itin- erant channels would not be sufficient. Here are the current NTIA allocated Federal Interoper- ability frequencies. Some of these have been noted with two different channel names, so I have included both:

1FCAL-35 162.0875 1FCAL-36 162.2625 1FCAL-37 162.8375 1FCAL-38 163.2875 1FCAL-39 163.4250 1FCAL-40 164.7125 1FCAL-41 165.2500 1FCAL-42 165.9625 1FCAL-43 165.5750 1FCAL-35D 167.0875 LE-1 167.0875 1FLAW-36D 167.2500 LE-2/LE-6 167.2500 1FCAL-44 167.3250 1FLAW-37D 167.7500 LE-3/LE-7 167.7500 1FLAW-38D 168.1125 LE-4/LE-8 168.1125 1FLAW-39D 168.4625 The NIFOG is available for download and is an essential tool for LE-5/LE-9 168.4625 federal listeners as well as communications professionals. Photo 1FCAL-40D 169.5375 courtesy of DHS.gov (Courtesy: DHS) NC-1 169.5375 4FTAC-57 413.2125 1FTAC-41D 170.0125 IR-14 413.2125 IR-1/IR-6 170.0125 4FCAL-45D 414.0375 1FTAC-42D 170.4125 LE-B 414.0375 IR-2/IR-7 170.4125 4FLAW-49 414.0625 1FTAC-43D 170.6875 LE-13 414.0625 IR-3/IR-8 170.6875 4FLAW-50 414.3125 1FTAC-44D 173.0375 LE-14 414.3125 IR-4/IR-9 173.0375 4FLAW-51 414.3375 LE-15 414.3375 4FLAW-46D 409.9875 4FLAW-47 419.1875 LE-10/LE-16 409.9875 4FCAL-52 419.2375 4FLAW-47D 410.1875 4FTAC-53 419.4375 LE-11/LE-17 410.1875 4FLAW-48 419.6126 4FCAL-52D 410.2375 4FTAC-54 419.6375 IR-15 410.2375 4FTAC-55 419.8375 4FTAC-53D 410.4375 4FLAW-46 419.9875 IR-10/IR-16 410.4375 4FLAW-48D 410.6125 It’s always a good idea to keep these interoperability LE-12/LE-18 410.6125 frequencies in your active scan list. As federal agencies up- 4FTAC-54D 410.6375 grade to new radio gear, the new radio programming almost IR-11/IR-17 410.6375 always includes these channels. I can confirm that these 4FTAC-55D 410.8375 frequencies are available in radios belonging to the BATFE, IR-12/IR-18 410.8375 CBP Border Patrol, CBP Customs, Coast Guard, FBI, ICE 4FTAC-56 413.1875 and others. IR-13 413.1875

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 39 Programming Federal Interoperability Channels Direct/Simplex 173.0375 173.0375 IR-9 Interagency Con- One resource that all scanner listeners should be fa- voy, Direct/Simplex miliar with is the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, or “NIFOG.” The NIFOG is over 120 pages of infor- The first five channels in this group are shown as -re mation that is relevant to communications between federal peaters, with the second five as simplex or direct channels. and non-federal public safety and law enforcement agencies. Since the five simplex channels use the same frequency as It has been a major goal of many in the communications end the repeater outputs, you only need to program the first 5 of law enforcement and public safety to get all agencies to frequencies shown as “receive” to hear any activity on these be able to talk to each other in the event of a major disas- channels. However, I like to also program in the five repeater ter. The idea is to have frequencies set aside in every band input frequencies (the ones specified as transmit). This will for agencies to communicate with each other and to have a allow you to see if the users are nearby. common set of standards on frequency naming and usage. The NIFOG calls for the use of Carrier Squelch (CSQ) However, even with the NIFOG and other interoperability on the receive side of all these channels, and a CTCSS tone projects, there have been mixed results and variations noted of 167.9 on the transmit side. It is not necessary for you to on how some agencies are using these frequencies – more on program any squelch tones on any of these frequencies to that later. hear activity on them. It also means that if you are program- The NIFOG document is available from several sources ming these into a scanner with CTCSS capabilities, you on the Internet. I have a copy in my phone and my tablet for should just leave the PL tone set to none, or search. use in the field. I have also seen the NIFOG available as a Let’s take a look at a second set of Federal Interopera- mobile app from Apple. The most current version is version bility channels, this time these are specified as being APCO 1.6.1, and here is a link to get it straight from the Department P-25 digital: of Homeland Security: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/ files/publications/National%20Interoperability%20 VHF Law Enforcement (LE) Federal Interoperability Field%20Operations%20Guide%20v1%206%201.pdf Channels While I would expect the readers to download the Receive Transmit NIFOG document for themselves to get all the interest- 167.0875 167.0875 LE-A Calling, analog ing details, I wanted to review some of the specific VHF/ 167.0875 162.0875 LE-1 Tactical, analog UHF Federal Interoperability assignments and talk about 167.2500 162.2625 LE-2 Tactical the assigned PL tones & P25 NACs. There are a number of 167.7500 162.8375 LE-3 Tactical questions that keeps coming up from scanner users such as, 168.1125 163.2875 LE-4 Tactical “What is the best way to program these channels into their 168.4625 163.4250 LE-5 Tactical radios? What should I use for a squelch tone or NAC? Are 167.2500 167.2500 LE-6 Tactical, Direct/ these repeaters or simplex?” Simplex Here is the first group of Federal Interoperability 167.7500 167.7500 LE-7 Tactical, Direct/ channels. The frequencies listed are narrowband FM and are Simplex shown as they would be programmed in a subscriber radio or 168.1125 168.1125 LE-8 Tactical, Direct/ your scanner: Simplex 168.4625 168.4625 LE-9 Tactical, Direct/ VHF Incident Response (IR) Federal Interoperability Simplex Channels Receive Transmit In this case, the first channel is simplex, and the next 169.5375 164.7125 NC-1 Incident Calling five channels show that they are repeaters. The last four 170.0125 165.2500 IR-1 Incident Command channels are all simplex. The NIFOG specifies that these can 170.4125 165.9625 IR-2 Medical Evacuation be analog or digital. If analog, they call for a 167.9 PL on the Control transmit side only. If using APCO P-25 digital, they specify 170.6875 166.5750 IR-3 Logistics Control a P-25 NAC of N68F, also on the transmit side only. As with 173.0375 167.3250 IR-4 Interagency Convoy the previous set, you should probably program these without 169.5375 169.5375 IR-5 Incident Calling, a CTCSS tone or NAC on these to insure you don’t miss Direct/Simplex some activity. 170.0125 170.0125 IR-6 Incident Command, In addition to the groups of VHF channels I listed Direct/Simplex above, there are groups of UHF channels available for the 170.4125 170.4125 IR-7 Medical Evacuation same purpose of federal agency interoperability: Control, Direct/ Simplex UHF Incident Response (IR) Federal Interoperability 170.6875 170.6875 IR-8 Logistics Control, Channels

40 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 410.2375 419.2375 NC-2 Incident Calling 409.9875 409.9875 LE-16 Tactical, Direct/ 410.4375 419.4375 IR-10 Ad Hoc assignment Simplex 410.6375 419.6375 IR-11 Ad Hoc assignment 410.1875 410.1875 LE-17 Tactical, Direct/ 410.8375 419.8375 IR-12 SAR Incident Com- Simplex mand 410.6125 410.6125 LE-18 Tactical, Direct/ 413.1875 413.1875 IR-13 Ad Hoc assignment Simplex 413.2125 413.2125 IR-14 Interagency Convoy 410.2375 410.2375 IR-15 Direct/Simplex As with the VHF channels, these are assigned as both 410.4375 410.4375 IR-16 Ad Hoc assignment repeater pairs and simplex channels. All channels are sug- 410.6375 410.6375 IR-17 Ad Hoc assignment gested to be programmed with 167.9 PL if analog, and 410.8375 410.8375 IR-18 SAR Incident Com- N68F if P-25, but only on the transmit frequency. Receive is mand suggested to be carrier squelch. Notice I said, “suggested” – There have been multiple instances noted of federal agencies UHF Law Enforcement (LE) Federal Interoperability using these frequencies for tactical, simplex operations that Channels were not using the recommended P25 Interoperability NAC 414.0375 414.0375 LE-B Calling, analog of N68F. 409.9875 418.9875 LE-10 Tactical, analog That’s it for the September edition of Federal Wave- 410.1875 419.1875 LE-11 Tactical lengths, but I will be back next month with more federal 410.6125 419.6125 LE-12 Tactical monitoring tips and frequencies! 414.0625 414.0625 LE-13 Tactical, Direct/ Simplex 414.3125 414.3125 LE-14 Tactical, Direct/ Simplex 414.3375 414.3375 LE-15 Tactical, Direct/ Simplex T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 41 M i lCom By Larry Van Horn N5FPW [email protected] Military Monitoring 101

The new Blue Angel C-130J, nicknamed Fat Albert, arrives in early August at JB/NAS Fort Worth. (US Navy Photo) t is an age-old question that I have heard many times over dedicated HF radio, SDR or whatever, you need to establish the years as a columnist with Monitoring Times and TSM, “your” list of military radio frequencies. Do not expect that I“How do you get started monitoring military communi- someone is going to provide you with a complete definitive cations?” list of frequencies you will hear in your radio shack. Even if It is something that I have written about in various you get such a list how accurate is the information that has forms for almost 40 years, but I have never really addressed been given to you? I am a firm believer in the old adage – it in detail. Starting with this month’s column I will attempt “trust but verify.” to do that here in TSM. There are some websites on the Internet that may be a As a monitoring hobby, it is important to realize that good starting point in your online research on a site such as listening to the military is not easy. Getting the equipment Radio Reference, but even some lists on that site, especial- and antennas setup like you would to monitor public safety ly their nationwide military common list at https://www. comms is not the issue. There is a listening learning curve. radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=7734, leaves a lot to be Also, this radio hobby is not static like some other facets of desired. I am working on a more realistic and updated VHF/ radio listening and there will always be new things to learn UHF nationwide frequency list that will be presented in a and experience. If you like a challenge and are willing to do future TSM Milcom column. some digging, searching, scanning, and tuning of the radio The biggest issue I see with a lot of frequency lists on spectrum, then you will enjoy listening to the military action the Internet is they contain old and out of date frequency bands. information. To be honest there are some radio hobbyist that So, where do you start? The first rule in listening to mil- just never know when to get rid of an old frequency. If it had itary comms is to tune, scan, and search the radio frequencies been a frequency that was quite active in your local area and used for military communications and document any active now has gone silent, and been that way for quite some time, frequencies you hear. Whether you use a VHF/UHF scanner, it probably is no longer being used in your area.

42 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 with broadcasting), 12050-12100 (shared with broadcasting), 12100-12230, 13360-13570, 13570-13800 (shared with broadcasting), 13800-13870 (shared with broadcasting), 13870-14000, 14350-14990, 15600-15800 (shared with broadcasting),15800-16360, 17410-17480, 17480-17550 (shared with broadcasting), 18030-18068, 18168-18780, 18900-19020 (shared with broadcasting), 19020-19680, 19800-19990, 20010-21000, 21850-21870, 22855-23000, 23350-24890, 25010-25070, 25210-25550, 26175-28000.

● Aeronautical Bands – R Routed and OR Off Route: 2850-3025 (R), 3025-3155 (OR), 3400-3500 (R), 3800-3900 (OR – ITU Region 1), 3900-3950 (OR – ITU Region 1/3), NORAD aircraft and tankers can be heard throughout the HF/ 4650-4700 (R), 4700-4750 (OR), 5450-5480 (OR) 5480- VHF/UHF spectrum, especially when Combat Air Patrols are 5680 (R), 5680-5730 (OR), 6525-6685 (R), 6685-6765 (OR), required for Presidential visits. (USAF Photo) 8815-8965 (R), 8965-9040 (OR), 10005-10100 (R), 11175- 11275 (OR), 11275-11400 (R), 13200-13260 (OR), 13260- The Department of Defense (DoD) has made many 13380 (R), 15010-15100 (OR), 17900-17970 (R), 17970- changes, especially in the 138-144/148-150.8 and 225-400 18030 (OR), 21870-21924 (Aero Fixed), 21924-22000 (OR), MHz bands since 2004. I always get a chuckle when some- 23000-23200 (R), 23200-23350 (OR). one writes and says that “frequency XYZ has been quiet for a while. What is up with that?” Frequencies change, units In the VHF/UHF spectrum there are several bands that are assigned to bases change (added or decommissioned) and exclusively military and some that are shared. Table two bases even closeup. Be prepared for change and you should covers those frequencies. These frequency ranges are in do band scans on a regular basis, especially if you are in MHz and the mode/frequency spacing are as indicated in VHF/UHF range of any military base. each range. To get you started monitoring the military here are some frequency ranges in the HF/VHF/UHF spectrum that Table Two: VHF/UHF Military Frequency Ranges will get you in the ballpark so you can start compiling your “local” military frequency list. Frequency Range (MHz) Frequency channel/steps (Mode) In the HF spectrum, any frequency outside of the short- wave broadcast and amateur radio bands can support mili- 30.000-30.560 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) tary communications. On these shortwave frequencies you 32.000-33.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) will find a wide variety of modes being used by the military 34.000-35.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) including LSB/USB for voice traffic (clear/encrypted, also 36.000-37.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) known as red/black), automatic link establishment (ALE), 40.000-42.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) and a wide variety of NATO/DoD digital modes. These 46.600-47.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) are frequencies ranges that are the most dynamic. Military 49.600-50.000 10/15/25.0 kHz (FM/AM) operations on these frequencies can and do change literally minute by minute and these changes are usually propagation 30.000-87.975 25.0 kHz SINCGARS (Single Channel driven. There are no schedules here and a search and pounce Ground and Airborne Radio System) (FM / Encryption / technique on these frequencies will serve you well. Table Single channel / frequency hopping modes) One is our list of HF frequency range to explore for military comms (frequencies in kHz). 118.000-137.000 25.0 kHz (8.33 kHz in Europe) (AM) Civilian Aircraft Band Table One: HF Frequency Ranges (non-broadcast/ama- 138.000-144.000 12.5 kHz (AM/NBFM/Project 16/Project teur radio) 25 Phases I/II) DoD LMR Band 148.000-150.800 12.5 kHz (AM/NBFM/Project 16/Project ● Non-aeronautical frequency ranges: 1710-1800, 1850- 25 Phases I/II) DoD LMR Band 2000 (ITU Region 1), 2000-2065, 2194-2300, 2505-2850, 162.000-174.000 12.5 kHz (NBFM) Federal Government 3155-3200, 4438-4650, 4750-4995 (shared with broadcast- LMR band (shared with DoD) ing), 5060-5450, 5730-5900, 5900-5950 (shared with broad- 225.000-380.000 25.0 kHz (AM/NBFM/Digital Modes/En- casting), 6765-7000, 7400-7450 (shared with broadcasting), cryption) Military Aircraft Band 7450-8100, 8100-8195 (shared with maritime mobile), 380.000-400.000 12.5 kHz (AM/NBFM/Project 25 Phases I/ 9040-9400, 9400-9500 (shared with broadcasting), 9900- II) DoD LMR Band 9995, 10150-11175, 11400-11600, 11600-11650 (shared 406.100-420.000 12.5 kHz (NBFM/Project 16/Project 25

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 43 There are many more like this online so go to your favor- ite search engine and start building your milcom reference library. But key to understanding many of the brevity terms, codes and acronyms is to know who is using them—that is where call signs and frequencies enter the picture.

Monitoring Milcom Involves Multi-Faceted Platforms

Monitoring military aircraft is a multi-faceted but inte- grated hobby. You will soon discover that the more diverse your station is in its capabilities, the more you will intercept and understand. If you limit yourself to voice comms in a The USS Nimitz-USS Stennis, and USS Bonhomme Richard in small range of bands or frequencies, your picture of current the Gulf of Oman. Carrier and Amphib Strike Groups can be events and military operations will be limited. The more you heard on HF frequencies if you know where to listen. (US Navy add to your capability, the more you will hear. Photo) Several years ago, I added ADS-B capability to my lis- tening post. Having the ability to monitor these digital com- Phases I/II) Federal Government LMR band (shared with munications really stepped up my game, especially regarding DoD) call sign usage and assignments to various military units. Knowing who you are listening to will help you in identify- You need to learn to listen! ing and classifying the frequencies you are listening to. Another useful digital mode that will step up your HF My next rule that I have when monitoring military monitoring game is adding an ALE decoder. It will provide comms is to “listen.” No, I mean “really listen” to what is you an active picture of the various military stations using a coming out of that radio speaker for comprehension and HF radio frequency. understanding. Anyone can compile a list of active military At this point I should add the following caveat. Most of frequencies in their area but knowing that a frequency is what you or I will hear is communications associated with active is not be enough. By “really listening” your goal is to training and routine operations. If you are expecting to hear discover what those frequencies are being used for and who classified information/missions on a day to day basis, you is using them. That is why you must be a good listener and have a better chance of winning a lottery. The “good stuff” you will also need to be an educated one as well. as it is known will nearly always be encrypted using a vari- The military has a lingo all its own. In fact, each ety of methods, and much of it travels on military satellite military service and community have their own language circuits. Do not expect to hear plain voice comms like “we that they speak even on air. The shear variety of acronyms, are bombing the water tower in 15 minutes” unless it is an brevity codes, abbreviations and tac-speak usually intimi- exercise or training mission. dates many and they either get bored or move on to some I will have more specifics on all this in futureTSM other form of monitoring, they do not spend the time needed Milcom columns. But I want to leave you with two thoughts to sharpen their milcom listening craft. as you begin to search for military frequencies and call signs For instance, if you hear a Navy pilot mention the word that are active in your area. bingo, he is not playing the game of bingo in the cockpit One is the basic mantra of all the U.S. military services: with his shipmates. It means his fuel state is such that he “Our training focus is on our wartime mission. We train the needs to return to base or land. way we intend to fight.” Keep that thought in mind as you So, where does one go to learn the lingo? Over the monitor communications on your radios. The other piece of years I have built up a library of DoD reference publications advice that was passed along to me many years ago by a cou- from various service websites online that are in the public ple of older and much wiser military listeners was, “Monitor domain that aid me in understanding that “military lingo.” and document the routine communications you hear so you For instance, the DoD Joint Chiefs of Staff has a handy one can readily spot the unusual and out of the ordinary. Those you can download in the pdf format that makes searching are the comms that may indicate something is happening easy called the DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated in the real world, instead of just routine training/exercises Terms available at https://tinyurl.com/y3uve5w2. communications. Another reference I use frequently is a publication known as FM-101-5 Operations Terms and Graphics. You 2020 Air Show Updates can get this gem at https://tinyurl.com/y3535onh. I also find the Multiservice Brevity Codes particularly useful and The air show schedules for the two major flight demon- you can get your copy at https://tinyurl.com/y6ztjs93. stration teams are continuing to be refined as air show sites

44 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 US Coast Guard cutters. Boats and aircraft are commonly heard on military frequencies throughout the radio spectrum. (Photo by author) continue to cancel their dates in the wake of the Covid-19 NAS Oceana Air Show: NAS Oceana VA (KNTU) has been virus impact. canceled. The Navy-Blue Angels announced that they will resume an abbreviated air show schedule. As air shows they were Frequencies: due to perform at continue to cancel, the remaining show ATIS 317.600T dates continues to shrink. Here is the remainder of the BA ATCOM 6723 kHz 2020 schedule as of press time. Base Ops 284.900 Clearance Delivery 254.400 September 12·13 | Baltimore, Maryland | Maryland Fleet Departure Control 119.600/288.300 Week and Air Show Baltimore Ground Control 336.400 September 19·20 | NAS Oceana, Virginia | NAS Oceana Air Oceana Approach Control 119.600 123.900 266.800 Show 288.300 October 3·4 | NAS Point Mugu, California | Naval Base PMSV Metro 387.400 Ventura County Air Show Single Frequency Approach (SFA) 310.800 328.400 October 16·17 | NAS Pensacola, Florida | Blue Angels 352.100 346.400 348.750 352.100 363.100 Homecoming Air Show Tower 127.075/360.200 Trunk Radio System (System ID: 14c, P25 Phase I, Site Here are the frequencies that may be active during the Sep- 2-083) 386.0875 386.1250 386.2750 386.4250 386.5750 tember Blue Angel air shows. 386.7250 386.9375 Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show Baltimore: Baltimore MD, Website: https://www.visitmaryland.org/things-to- As I mentioned in my 2020 annual airshow guide do/fleet-week/ (http://www.teakpublishing.com), the 2020 Blue Angel air show season was going to be shorten anyway this year due Frequencies: to the unit transitioning to the F/A-18 Super Hornet. That is Martin State Airport (KMTN) why their season will end in October instead of November as Note: Detailed profile on Martin State is available on the Ra- it usually does. dioReference website at https://wiki.radioreference.com/ The new Blue Angel Fat Albert C-130J has now ar- index.php/MD_ANG_175th_Wing rived in the U.S. from the United Kingdom. After a series of maintenance Full Check Flights (FCF) over the UK in July, ACC A10 175 Wing Command Post 139.600 275.700 (Call the new Fat Albert arrived in the US in early August and was Sign: Raven Ops) undergoing post depot and 840 day engine inspections part ATIS/AWOS 124.925 of its scheduled maintenance at Joint Base/NAS Fort Worth Clearance Delivery 121.800 in the hangar of VMGR-234. The C-130J (construction num- Ground Control 121.800/253.400 ber 382-5483) carries a bureau number of 170000 and the Potomac Approach/Departure 119.000/282.275 hex code is AE6963. 119.700/290.475 121.800 The Air Force Thunderbirds have also released the Tower/CTAF 121.300/254.425 tentative schedule below that will run through the end of the UNICOM 122.950 year.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 45 MF (Mandatory Frequency Canada) 119.400 Radio 123.475 126.700 Sudbury Radio 119.400 Toronto Center 135.300 135.625 Tower 119.400 125.650

The Great Pacific Airshow: Huntington Beach CA, Website: https://pacificairshow.com/

Frequencies: Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos (KSLI) Airfield Ops/Advisory Service 126.200/237.200 Army National Guard AASF Ops 41.500 233.800 ATIS 118.875/379.975 USAF AMC C-17 aircraft are commonly heard on various HF- Ground Control 126.950/257.950 GCS voice/ALE frequencies. (USAF Photo) PMSV Metro 239.800 SoCal Approach/Departure Control 125.350/316.125 Tower 123.850/251.150 September 5-6: | Gardner, Kansas | KC Air Show 2020 US Army Ops 139.050 230.900 September 12-13 | London (Ontario), Canada | Airshow London The Air Force has also released the statement for all September 19-20 | Huntington Beach, California | Pacific their ACC Aerial Events demonstration teams regarding the Airshow rest of the 2020 season. October 10-11 | Edwards AFB, California | Aerospace Valley “The Air Force is committed to upholding the com- Air & Space Show plete trust and confidence of Americans and our community October 17-18 | Fort Worth, Texas | Bell Fort Worth Alliance engagement is the key to those connections. However, due Air Show to the uncertainty regarding COVID-19 and to protect our October 24-25 | Rome, Georgia | Wings Over North Georgia Airmen, their families and the communities that support us, October 31-November 1 | Orlando, Florida | Lockheed Mar- the Department of the Air Force is suspending all outreach tin Space & Air Show activities and support to community events through June November 7-8 | New Orleans, Louisiana | NAS JRB New 30. This includes, but is not limited to, on-base and civilian Orleans Air Show sponsored airshows. The Air Force will continuously evalu- November 14-15 | San Antonio, Texas | 2020 JBSA Air & ate the situation and provide updates as needed.” Space Show & Open House At this time, I have not seen any further updates from the ACC Aerial Event office since that June press release. Possible active frequencies for the September Gardner, I will continue to monitor the two teams’ websites for any Ontario, Canada, and Huntington Beach events: last-minute changes and any major updated will be posted on the Milcom Monitoring Post blog (address below). Kansas City Air Show 2020: New Century AirCenter (KIXD), New Century KS, Website: https://www.kcair- Milcom Monitoring Tip of the Month show.org/ In the world of military aircraft and warships, track call Frequencies: signs used by the aircraft serial/bureau number and warship Army Ops 46.900 347.500 hull number. In many cases you will see patterns develop ASOS 135.325 that will help you further identify other aircraft/warships Ground Control 124.300 from the same administrative unit. Kansas City Approach/Departure 118.900/294.700 Finally, if you are looking for the latest Milcom fre- Tower/CTAF 133.000 quencies, callsigns, and monitoring news be sure to check UNICOM 122.950 out my blog on the Internet: Milcom Monitoring Post at http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/. You can also follow me Airshow London: London International (CYXU), London on twitter: @MilcomMP for late-breaking military news ON, Canada, Website: https://airshowlondon.com/ items of interest to military air monitors. That will do it for this month. Until next time, 73 and good hunting. Frequencies: ATIS 127.800 Ground Control 121.900 T S M 46 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 U t i l i t y P l a n e t By Hugh Stegman [email protected] Chinese Fax is Back!

long time ago, in a country far away, the People’s Republic of AChina sent HF weather faxes from Beijing to the world. One station used the call sign of BAF plus num- bers that changed with each of the six frequencies. Another one showed in the listings, but never got reported much, if at all. It used the call sign of 3SD on another three frequencies. Today, both of these are only history. Meanwhile, in Taiwan ROC, BMF sent out its own weather faxes until late 2013. After that, it too went quiet forever. That was the end for Chinese radio fax… or was it? Well, as my title would suggest, the answer is no. This revelation came as I was poking around 8 MHz looking for those Chinese CCIR493-4 selcalls. These are relevant to the “Nine Dashes” controversy that we’ll get to later. A re- mote SDR in the Philippines had a very Typical weather fax from XSG. (Author) loud fax signal tuned in USB mode on came. The chart got to the part where it read, “National Meteorological Centre, 8300.1 kHz. Since this mode tunes fax CMA via Shanghai Coast Radio Station.” Oh, my. Could XSG be sending faxes 1.9 kHz low, the actual center of infor- now? mation is 8302 kHz. It sent a nice, clear Armed with that information, I took to Google. Sure enough, XSG really is chart at the usual 120 lines per minute sending faxes now, and it has been since June of 2017. It appears that everything with 576 for the Index of Cooperation is in English, usually the British version. The assigned channel center frequencies (IOC). This showed the track of tropical are 4170, 8302, 12382, and 16559 kHz. All four of these check out. Radios in USB storm Hagupit, plus its ominous fore- mode, as noted, will be tuned 1.9 kHz lower. The program begins at 0000 UTC cast cone. OK, now we know it’s in the with an accurate schedule. After this, large and well-designed charts are sent out West Pacific, but that’s a big area with a pretty much continuously until the end of the 48-hour surface forecast, which starts lot of possible sources. at 0820 UTC. Most of these are double charts, so do whatever is needed to make I tried to ID the transmission. It lots of room. was creeping onto the screen at this There may be a gap starting at 0230 UTC if no typhoons or similar tropical mode’s maddeningly slow pace, one features are present. Right now, as we’ve seen, it is definitely active, and the Trop- line at a time. A quick search of my ical Cyclone Forecast is currently being sent out at 0230, 0845, 1425, and 2025 computer turned up nothing. It was UTC. One listener has reported that no transmissions are made if there is nothing to time to bring up the latest version of report. Obviously, I’ve been unable to verify this. the “Worldwide Marine Radiofacsimile These sound like pretty decent transmitters, with solid and stable signals. Broadcast Schedules.” This is compiled At least on these KiwiSDRs, no slant correction is needed. It’s dead on. The only by the US National Weather Service, strangeness is with the startup. There’s the normal start tone, but after that it al- and everybody uses it. Oops, nothing in ternates black and white once per line. Decoding programs that sync on the usual there either. Finally, though, the answer

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 47 white pips won’t start. So far, the only work-around that I have found is to let the program run without sync. That puts the black bar and the edge of the chart somewhere in the middle, to be corrected by hand later. Every program has a different way of doing this. Some are more intuitive than others. I’ve been known to just save the off-center result XSG radiogram header from the 1940s. (Public domain) and load it into Photoshop. The proce- dure for fixing it is very clunky and not ing through under international high-seas treaties. It establishes the southernmost recommended, but it does work very point of China as an otherwise obscure shoal very close to Malaysia. This one is nicely. also claimed by the neighboring Brunei. XSG is a big station. It’s one of No one is quite sure of the origin of the dashes. They just appeared after several Chinese giants that were es- World War II, right before the Nationalist government was replaced by the People’s tablished in the era when these mari- Republic. Two of the eleven were deleted after Mao ceded the Gulf of Tonkin to time coastal stations were the primary Vietnam. The remaining nine still include a huge area, which is highly disputed by communication with vessels all over several countries. Along with Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia, we have the Philip- the planet. Other survivors are XSQ, pines and Taiwan ROC. Oil and mineral rights are at stake, as is access to a type of Guangzhou Radio; and XSV, Tianjin highly marketable sand. Don’t laugh. The sand is worth a lot of money. Radio. All three stations continue with Cartographers in the rest of the world generally leave the nine dashes off. A the full HF services that disappeared in court in the Hague has ruled the whole thing invalid under established international most other places after the space-based law. China considers this decision moot, and it continues to fortify many of the is- Global Maritime Distress and Safety lands in the sea. Since these “islands” are usually submerged or barely above water, System became compulsory for large this is no small feat. It’s one of the world’s biggest construction programs. It has vessels in 1999. They even list a time aroused considerable tension in the region. Military exercises and general saber-rat- tick for navigators, though I’ve never tling are common. heard it. Recently, the weekly MFSK text broadcast on Shortwave Radiogram included Most of what we hear will be Si- a news story about the Nine-Dash Line. I can’t remember the content, but it did get tor-A autotelex and Sitor-B text. There’s me interested to see whether Chinese construction ships in the Spratly Islands were the usual schedule of Maritime Safety still taking up a whole band between 7918 and 8085 kHz. In May of 2019, I put Information (MSI) and oceanic weather this in a column after detecting heavy activity on 23 different frequencies. Much of forecasts. A few of these text broadcasts this was related to the construction of a military base with a 10,000-foot airstrip. It use a clever system that codes Chinese was built on top of what had previously been a generally submerged feature with characters into 4-figure groups. These the rather fanciful name of Fiery Cross Reef. As we noted then, there was quite a are pairs of numbers that can be sent us- bit of additional construction, intended to turn other little rocks into big bases. ing the standard international character Last year, all of this work added up to a generally continuous whine on these set. This particular bulletin transmission frequencies. It’s a lot quieter now, but the activity is still there. The mode being is occasionally reported as a numbers used is the CCIR493-4 selective calling (selcall). It’s an international standard with station, but it isn’t. However, the XSV various implementations. One of these is a UN open standard, while another is the call sign does appear in some CW num- highly proprietary Codan 8580. Anyone who has listened to the maritime Digital bers broadcasts with Enigma’s designa- Selective Calling (DSC) mode knows the sound. The two FSK waveforms are very tor of M95. Their format, however, is similar, though the protocols aren’t. The most audible difference is that CCIR493-4 completely different. provides an occasional “revertive signal” from the other station to show successful reception. It’s two sets of three quick beeps, which sound like a rapid “Do-doo- The Nine-Dash Line deep, do-doo-deep.” It sounds kind of happy, like a cartoon sound. Selcalls, along with the two-tone “SELCAL” used in aviation, are very useful. At first, the name “Nine-Dash They allow one station to make a quick call to raise another one, even if their audio Line” might suggest yet another new is muted. However, the Chinese are doing something different. They continuously CW oddity. Well, it’s not. It’s what’s repeat the calls. It’s thought to be some kind of ship tracking system, perhaps using left of the original eleven little lines on GPS in some manner. As always, the people who know aren’t telling. most Chinese maps. These mark off CCIR493-4 is decoded by the expensive high-end packages, the often vi- that country’s claim to nearly all of the rus-ridden Sorcerer crack, or the rather strange little Rivet app for Java. I use Rivet. South China Sea. Supposedly, these are Its minimal user interface does not offer much information on whether anything’s broken up to show that the “border” happening. When the decode is successful, the call signs just appear from nowhere. thus created is still open to ships pass- On August 3rd, it found “10001” calling “0044.” This was on the dial/window

48 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 frequency of 8006 kHz USB. These do fit the convention used by the Chinese activity. Similar transmissions were heard on 8009, 8018, and 8024 kHz. The actual center of information is 1785 Hz higher. The full list of frequencies discov- ered last year goes like this: 7918, 7921, 7933, 7936, 8003, 8006, 8009, 8012, 8015, 8018, 8021, 8024, 8027, 8030, 8033, 8037, 8041, 8058, 8066, 8072, 8075, 8078, and 8085 kHz USB. Note the frequent 3-kHz spacing. Another 6780 kHz spectrum. (Author, from recording by Eddy Waters) Other listeners found similarly spaced CCIR493-4 in the 40-meter frequencies. After all, the lives and safety of personnel are involved. Various pro- amateur band, between 7106 and 7160. cedures exist for flight crews to write these up. If the oddity is allowed to continue Hams using this band on a primary or on this frequency, we’ll have further evidence that it’s only a local phenomenon, shared basis were not amused. All this caused by some common RF device. I’ve been poring through data on everything is really kind of a little thing, but it’s the from MRI machines to RFID tags, but so far, no joy. HF voice of a very large international In the spirit of the Nine-Dash Line, I’ve decided that this column’s new name crisis. Good hunting! for this strange thing is the “19-Dot Oddity.” My source also sent a very clear recording of what he hears on 6780, and it’s close to some of what I found in Fort The 19-Dot Oddity Collins. Again, we see two very closely spaced signals, slightly out of sync. The dots are fuzzy on spectrum plots. The dashes, though, look like straight CW. As long as we’re doing dots and The mystery continues. See you next month! dashes, it’s probably a good idea to report on the strange turn taken by the Resources: 6780 kHz CW oddity that we mentioned last month. This is the one that usually Nice collection of received XSG charts: sends sequences of 19 dots followed by https://goughlui.com/2019/03/07/radiofax-xsg-shanghai-china-national-meter- one dash, cycling through about three ological-centre-cma times per minute. Its frequency is right in the middle of an Industrial, Scientific, Good history of the Nine-Dash Line: and Medical (ISM) band. It never fades, https://time.com/4412191/nine-dash-line-9-south-china-sea or does anything else that would sug- gest any propagation mode beyond the “Official” map sent to UN by China: simplest line-of-sight radiation. People https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:China%27s_2009_nine-dash_line_map_sub- either hear it or they don’t. At the time, mission_to_the_UN.pdf I postulated that all this suggests the local presence of some kind of commer- cial device in worldwide use. A month later, we’re no closer to an answer. In fact, the plot thickens. I’ve had to stop calling it the “6780 kHz Oddity.” A very reliable source in Aus- tralia has found it on 11232 kHz. This is not in an ISM band, nor is it a harmon- ic. In fact, it is an important military aircraft frequency, in an internationally allocated “off route” aero mobile band. In North America, it’s used mostly by the Royal Canadian Air Force. “Trenton Military,” a ground station in Ontario, is often heard working aircraft in flight. Militaries are notoriously intol- erant of funny noises on their air band T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 49 Shor t wave Ut i l i t y Log s Recent Shortwave Utility Logs Compiled by Mike Chace-Ortiz

Frequency Time (kHz) Callsign (UTC) User, Location System Details 6707.40 ??? 0120 NATO MIL, ??? Link-11 CLEW, tfc (on USB) 6721.00 JNR*** 0119 USAF, Roosevelt Roads PR 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 6993.00 ??? 0114 ???, ??? Thales Systeme3000 HF modem, tfc (on USB) 7551.20 ??? 0100 NATO MIL, ??? 600bps/L STANAG4285 HF Modem, crypto tfc (on USB) 7711.60 NAU 0230 US Navy, Isabela PR 75bd/850 STANAG4481 FSK, sync, cont, ACF=0 8338.00 ??? 2140 Russian Navy, ??? AT3004D 12 tone HF modem, tfc with full carrier (on USB) 10304.00 ??? 2345 Russian Navy, ??? 75bd/250 FSK UNID system, sync, cont, ACF=0 10534.00 NSS 2355 US Navy, Davidsonville MD 75bd/850 STANAG4481 FSK, crypto tfc 10716.00 ??? 1822 Russian Navy, ??? AT3004D 12 tone HF modem, idle (on USB) 10760.00 ??? 0120 UK MIL DHFCS, ??? 600bps/L STANAG4285 HF modem, crypto (on USB) 10808.00 ??? 2127 Russian Navy, Moscow 75bd/250 FSK UNID system, sync, cont, ACF=0 11016.00 ??? 0100 US Navy, Jacksonville Link-11 SLEW, tfc (on USB) 11426.50 WQRA202 1138 US DHS, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “WQRA200” (on 12098.00 0601IACAP** 2000 US Civil Air Patrol, Iowa 125bd/1750USB) MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 12100.00 HRT**** 2025 US Air Force, Hurlburt Field FL 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 12251.00 AA1*** 2952 Israeli Air Force, Ben Gurion AFB 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 12654.00 TAH 2327 Istanbul Radio, Istanbul 100bd/170/E SITOR-B, navigation warnings in TT 12730.00 FUB 2330 French Navy, Paris 600bps/L STANAG4285 HF modem, crypto tfc (on USB) 13230.00 NAU 2000 US Navy, Isabela PR 50bd/850 STANAG4481 FSK, crypto tfc, ACF=0 13450.20 IBA 1100 Italian Navy, Naples 600bps/L STANAG4285 HF modem, crypto tfc (on USB) 14358.00 ??? 1342 Russian MFA, Moscow 200bd/1000 FSK UNID System, ACF tfc on “11166 80214 14444.00 ??? 1430 North Korean Embassy, Caracas 600bd/60082465…” FSK UNID ARQ System, tfc (on LSB) 14460.00 ??? 1336 North Korean Embassy, Havana 600bd/600 FSK UNID ARQ System, tfc QSX 14444LSB (on LSB) 14532.00 ??? 1151 Russian MIL, Novosibirsk 75bd/250 FSK UNID System, sync, cont, ACF=0 14580.20 ??? 1200 UK MIL DHFCS, St Eval 1200bps/L STANAG4285 HF Modem, crypto tfc (on USB) 14601.70 AQP 1810 Pakistani Navy, HQ Karachi PacTOR-II FEC HF modem, 5FGs offline crypto tfc 14654.00 225A1WFX** 1400 US MIL, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “4IDDIVWFX” (on 14654.00 456**** 1200 ???, ??? 125bd/1750USB) MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “714” (on USB) 14654.00 D45*** 1200 ???, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “D54” (on USB) 14690.00 CENTR2*** 1055 Romanian MFA, Bucharest 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “KOW” (on USB) 14690.00 KOW*** 1055 Romanian Embassy, Copenhagen 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “CENTR2” (on USB) 14735.00 ??? 0010 Chinese MIL, ??? MIL-188-110A 39 tone HF modem variant, tfc (on USB) 14735.00 ??? 1209 Chinese MIL, ??? USB, voice coordination after modem tfc 14736.50 MSD*** 0100 ???, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 14738.50 FL4JOC*** 0006 US National Guard, Florida MIL-188-110A/B HF modem, FS1052 tfc to “MD3JOC” (on USB) 14738.50 OH5JOC*** 0130 US Army National Guard, Ohio 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with "FL4JOC" (on USB) 14886.00 JXU 2145 Norwegian Navy, Bodo 600bps/L STANAG4285 HF modem, crypto tfc (on USB) 14889.00 ??? 1323 North Korean Embassy, Caracas 600bd/600 FSK UNID ARQ System, tfc (+1500Hz on LSB) 14892.00 852565*** 2319 UN MINUSCA, Bangui 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “827749” (on USB) 14900.00 MP2*** 1830 ???, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE LQA with “CAMP" (on USB) 14908.00 ??? 1200 Russian MIL, ??? 75bd/250 FSK UNID System, sync, cont, ACF=0 16011.00 MBZ7Y*** 0010 US FEMA DACN, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 16184.00 151862*** 1000 UN Mission in Afghanistan, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 17424.70 SSE 1340 Egyptian MFA, Cairo 100bd/170/I SITOR-A, in IRS mode 17492.60 61WAXDVA* 1340 US Dept Veteran’s Affairs, ??? 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE sounding (on USB) 18045.00 33313***** 1335 Egyptian Embassy, Luanda Codan 16 tone HF modem, tfc to "99904" (MFA Cairo) (on USB) 18397.00 UAL*** 1253 Russian Embassy, Havana 75bd/500 Baudot, 5FGs offline crypto

50 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Shor t wave Ut i l i t y Log s Recent Shortwave Utility Logs Compiled by Hugh Stegman

Frequency Callsign User, Location Time System Details

66.66 RBU Russian VNIIFTRI 2222 AM, standard time pips and digital code 77.50 DCF77 German PTB, Mainflingen 2125 AM/PSK, standard time and frequency 100.00 “8000” Russian Chakya, Bryansk 2152 Pulse, hyperbolic navigation chain, like Loran-C 2130.00 Unid Russian train dispatch 2243 G3E, various Russian voices and weird tones 2150.00 Unid Russian train dispatch 2206 G3E, voices and tones like 2130 4500.00 Whiskey Unknown US Military 1345 USB, live-fire training with Empire Main and Keystone 4625.00 Unid Russian Military (S28) 2203 R3E, new buzz sound, likely two transmitters 4724.00 Log Road USAF HFGCS 0415 USB, with 37-character EAM broadcast 5091.50 101ALE Unknown US Military 1507 ALE, calling 108ALE and 27BALE, also some voice 5455.00 VKS-737 Australian Outback/4WD net 2150 USB, Channel 1, chat and by for selcalls 5715.00 Unid South Korean Intelligence (V24) 1500 AM, K-pop song and message in Korean 5727.00 315 Russian Intelligence (E06) 2130 USB, callup “315 127 37,” and 5-figure-group message 5732.50 “99” Russian Air Defense 2049 CW, usual time stamped tracking strings, ?=missing, T=0 5735.00 VMW Australian BoM, Wiluna 2323 Fax (120/576), noisy wave chart in progress 6607.00 4XZ Israeli Navy, Haifa 2100 CW, usual “VVV DE 4XZ,” then into traffic list 6765.10 Bangkok Bangkok Meteo, Thailand 2130 USB, music and robot voices with weather in English and Thai 6767.00 Unid Russian Military 2051 CW, Cyrillic letters in groups and alone, possibly code training 6825.00 Unid French Army, Vernon (M51) 2137 CW, usual endless 24wpm 5-character groups 7060.00 Unid Various pirates 1600 LSB, QSY from usual 7055 for Russian-Ukrainian radio war 7461.40 Kingfish Lima US Air Force 1952 USB, exercise with Royal 90 (a C-17) 7819.60 Cutter 908 USCG Cutter Tahoma 1430 USB, calling Commcom, VA, also some secure voice 7850.00 CHU Canadian NRC, Ottawa, ON 2144 R3E, standard time pips, ASCII code, and voice ID 7880.00 DDK3 German DWD, Pinneberg 2138 FAX (120/576), spotless wind/wave chart for Europe 7892.00 329018 Turkish AFAD 2110 ALE, Disaster and Emergency Management, sounding 7920.00 Unid Unknown Govt./Military 0025 CW, many formatted 5LG messages, also 8250 & 8410 8006.00 10001 Chinese Military 0053 CCIR493-4, South China Sea ship tracking, many freqs 8022.00 VKS-737 Australian Outback/4WD net 2312 USB, Stawell Base, ended sked and listening on Ch. 2 8182.00 RDL Russian Military, Moscow 0111 FSK Morse (200 Hz), ID and long 5-figure-group messages 8302.00 XSG Shanghai Radio, China 2037 FAX (120/576), clear tropical cyclone chart 8414.50 256138000 Maltese bulker Pompano 2026 DSC, calling 477136900, Hong Kong bulker Fortune Sunny 8764.00 NMN USCG Commcom, VA 2235 USB, Iron Mike voice with Caribbean hurricane forecast 8831.00 Flightwatch NE Australia RDARA 2244 USB, echoey voice working several unknown flights 8843.00 Flightwatch NW Australia RDARA 2250 USB, working unknown flight 8992.00 Aerobatic USAF HFGCS 2016 USB, possible EAM or coded broadcast for "all stations" 9065.00 Unid Cuban Intelligence (HM01) 0800 AM, callup “01441 68532 35731 30038 48409 70208” and RDFT 9837.00 WGY904 US FEMA Region IV 1312 USB, control for test net, also ALE and chat 9996.00 RWM Russian VNIIFTRI, Moscow 2129 CW, standard time pips, then carrier only 10084.00 FBU702 French Bee A350 reg F-HREU 2111 HFDL, position for 05, Auckland, NZ ground station 10817.00 C1 Unknown US Military 1902 ALE, calling P1CMD1 11076.00 Unid Russian Intel/Diplo (F06) 0710 FSK, message in 5-figure groups, new frequency 12603.50 SVO Olympia Radio, Greece 2140 Sitor-B, long newscast in Greek 12788.00 NMG USCG, New Orleans, LA 2155 USB, Iron Mike voice with Atlantic wind/wave forecast 12984.00 917 Polish Intelligence (E11a) 1345 USB, callup “917/30” and 5-figure-group message in English 13089.00 NMN USCG Commcom, VA 2148 USB, Iron Mike voice with Atlantic weather forecast 13264.00 Shannon VolmetShannon Aeradio, Ireland 2130 USB, machine “female” with ID and aviation weather 14878.00 Unid Russian Intel/Diplo (F06a) 2115 FSK (200/10000), sent file 04426 16559.00 XSG Shanghai Radio, China 0235 FAX ( 120/576), clear tropical cyclone chart in progress 17919.00 “16” ARINC, Agana, Guam 0039 HFDL, working FX5154, FedEx B777 freighter reg N866FD 18516.00 Unid Russian Intel/Diplo (F06a) 2100 FSK (200/1000), sent file 04426 19466.00 Unid Russian Intel/Diplo (F06a) 1530 FSK (200/1000), sent file 04426 20146.00 123 Russian Intelligence (E07) 1100 USB, callup “123 603 98” and 5-figure-group message

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 51 Dig i ta l ly Spe a k i ng By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV [email protected] Signs of Life

Yaesu’s newest System Fusion mobile transceiver is the FTM- After a long wait, Icom’s IC-705 passed FCC testing on August 300DR. While some have thought it to be a replacement for the 6, 2020. Pre-orders initially consumed all of the stock that was FTM-100 or FTM-400, it is neither, even though it extends some being produced, but it is now possible to get one “off the shelf” at features of both. (Courtesy: Yaesu) your favorite ham radio dealer. (Courtesy: Universal Radio) n North America, amateur radio manufacturers look With this year’s discontinuation of a number of to Hamvention, held in Xenia, Ohio, to announce new D-STAR models, many have wondered again about Icom’s Iproducts or show off prototypes. This year, that event, as commitment to this product line. In what was probably with almost all amateur radio conventions, conferences and originally intended as a Ham Fair 2020 announcement, they hamfests, was canceled. In Europe, the largest such event recently announced the ID-52 portable, as a replacement for is held in Friedrichshafen, Germany. That convention was the discontinued ID-51 series. canceled, as well. Next on the calendar is Ham Fair, held in The first thing you will notice about the ID-52 is that Tokyo, Japan. It was scheduled to begin at the end of Octo- it sports a color display, much like Yaesu’s popular FT3 or ber, but also has been canceled. Kenwood’s tri-band TH-D74. The ID-52 includes features While each has become a virtual, online event as far found in the most recent “PLUS 2” iteration of the ID-51. as presentations go, the one-on-one interactions will have Although details are still preliminary, it is advertised as also to wait for another time. Leading up to Hamvention, Yaesu offering enhancements to certain ID-51 features such as: announced a new product, the FTM-300DR System Fusion • Simultaneous reception in V/V, U/U, V/U as well as DV/ mobile transceiver (reviewed elsewhere in this issue). They DV planned to feature it at the show. • Increased audio output of 700 mw, up from 400 mw Likewise, Icom was no doubt going to have a proto- • Air-band reception (AM) now includes 225-375 MHz type of their new IC-705 QRP / portable / multi band / multi- • The ability to receive, display and transmit pictures, as mode / D-STAR transceiver at their booth. While the IC-705 stored on a micro SD card, without the need for external has been shipping for a little over a month in Japan, it was hardware not until very recently, that the FCC approved the radio for • The inclusion of Bluetooth technology with data ex- sale in the United States. With stock at the ready, the compa- change capabilities ny immediately affixed the appropriate labels on the radios • Plus, you can charge the battery in the radio through a and sent shipments to dealers which, given the significant micro USB connector number of pre-orders, were sent to customers the same day You will also be able to use the new ID-52 as a POP as received from Icom. (Point of Presence) for Terminal Mode and Access Point The IC-705 was first shown at the Tokyo Ham Fair in Mode with D-STAR reflectors. If you are wondering about 2019. Along with Hamvention, the Japanese manufacturers the expanded (sometimes called the UHF) air-band recep- like to generate excitement for new products on “home turf” tion, it provides you with access to some military traffic. as Japanese hams represent a huge market, too. Unless you live near an Air Force Base or Naval Air

52 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 phic Systems 8813. We will have to wait for further details to emerge about the ST-995SDR, including questions about where the receiv- er performance will land on the famous Sherwood report and of course, price. Hopefully, Kenwood will let us know more, before the end of the year. Sometimes, new products are released with very little fanfare. This is especially true of accessories. Along with Icom’s BP-271 (1150 mAh) and BP-272 (1880 mAh) batter- ies for their D-STAR portables, the company is now market- ing the BP-307 (3150 mAh), which was presumably intend- ed primarily for the IC-705 due to its current demands. At a street price of $130, it will also find use as a replacement / upgrade battery for owners of the ID-31, ID-51 or ID-52. When one of my ID-31’s older BP-271 packs eventually stops holding a charge, I plan to replace it with a BP-307. Over time, I have tried third party replacement batteries for my portables, with mixed results. Sometimes I get years of service from one, but more often I do not. What I have found is that on average it is better to just buy a battery from the manufacturer, than to try to save a few dollars with an off-brand. Icom recently announced the ID-52—a replacement for the I recently wanted to get an extra speaker / microphone discontinued ID-51 series. The new model includes a trans-re- for one of my Yaesu portables. I was surprised to discover flective color screen and refinement of other ID-51 features. that the long-lived MH-34B4B had been discontinued and Icom has promised a September delivery schedule. (Courtesy: replaced with the SSM-17A. Universal Radio) Comparatively, the new speaker / microphone is slight- Base, you will not hear nearly as much traffic as you will on ly larger, with a longer cable and has a larger swivel mount the commercial (118-136 MHz) band. However, if you at- for the clip on the back. The new product has a nicer feel tend air shows, this portion of the spectrum will light up with in my hand—perhaps owing to the size increase. Also, the activity. Alternately, with a nice Yagi antenna tuned to 279 PTT button still has a familiar “click” to it, when pressed for MHz, you can also listen in to spacewalks, when astronauts transmitting. The street price is the same as its predecessor. are working outside of the International Space Station. Icom’s D-STAR repeater closeout appears to have end- In the release notes, there are references to APRS ed, but Yaesu’s System Fusion repeater discounts have been operation. I am not sure if that means a new level of support extended to the end of the year. We will soon be in the last for true APRS, or if it simply refers to D-PRS, where GPS quarter of this year, but there is still plenty of time to take information can be relayed into the APRS network, via the advantage of their offers for you or your club. Internet. The answer to this, as well as other questions, will Likewise, there is still time to work on projects that have to wait, but apparently not for long. Icom has projected you might have been putting off since COVID-19 started a September release date, so it is possible that you will see dominating the news. Repeater improvements, community / pricing and retail stock, not too long after you read this. gateway networking nodes, that mobile installation you have Even less information has accompanied an early release been putting off, new HF antenna, cabling upgrades—the picture of Kenwood’s ST-995SDR HF+ transceiver. From list is probably endless—are things that many of us have the looks of things, this is going to be an SDR (Software planned on doing but have not. Maybe now would be a Defined Radio) alternative to their top of the line TS-990S good time to earn yourself some feeling of accomplishment transceiver. The sheer number of controls is impressive, regarding “something,” before something else comes up and and this rig should grab the attention of many contesters. It gets in the way. is difficult to tell, from what is essentially a monochrome Many of you have followed a pet project of mine, the PR photo, but the radio has the look of chrome or brushed Keystone-West WIRES-X room (60328) that was launched aluminum front panel and cabinet. last year. The room was established by the Uniontown Ama- In an era where everything seems to be manufactured teur Radio Club W3PIE with the intention of creating a sort in either black or very dark gray, this is a welcome look—at of digital voice intercom in the WPA (Western Pennsylvania) least to me. It harkens back to the days when stereo systems ARRL section. and FM receivers sported a brushed aluminum face—often At its core, the room is a remote node with an FTM- with a woodgrain cabinet. This was a trend that even extend- 100DR transceiver, HRI-200 interface and Windows 10 com- ed to some early personal computers such as the Polymor- puter. Owing to an excellent relationship with our county’s

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 53 Kenwood’s tease of a new, high level HF+6 transceiver reveals an eye-catching design that causes me to reminisce about some home stereo equipment I owned in the seventies. The look is a welcome alternative to black or dark gray. (Courtesy: JVC Kenwood) Emergency Management Agency, the node station resides at that wanted to use it. their location. This gives us a better than average connection As such, she and Karl Pastorak WA3VXJ took on the to the Infobahn and backup power. The node can be managed mantle of the weekly net and it soon became a well-attended on site or remotely, through a free (for nonprofit organiza- gathering on Sunday evenings, at 20:00 local (EST / EDT) tions) version of Team Viewer. (www.TeamViewer.com) time. Funding for the node station came from a Local Giv- Key members of clubs in the EPA (Eastern Pennsylva- ing grant from our nearby Walmart, plus some individual nia) ARRL Section were also contacted, to let them know donations from club members. In advance of all of this, some what was going on in the Pittsburgh area, with the hopes key members of the neighboring clubs in our area had been that some similar interest and activities would rise up in the contacted with the idea floated to see how much interest Philadelphia area. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that did not there might be in establishing, using and growing such a happen. communications asset. While we do on occasion get connections from one or The initial response was sufficient enough that we two Philadelphia area repeaters, the Keystone-West Sunday decided to take the leap of faith and establish the room. We evening schedule conflicts with a net that overlaps the same ordered what we needed and configured the node—linking time frame in the Philadelphia area. In time, we may be able it to the Uniontown Amateur Radio Club’s UHF DR-2X to reach a compromise schedule that permits both to connect System Fusion repeater, which was then operating in AMS more regularly. (Automatic Mode Select) mode. Although plans have been made to further expand the Within just a few weeks, we had linked repeaters and number of repeaters and nodes connected to the room, a nodes from the Skyview Radio Society K3MJW, Steel City certain virus that you may have heard of has served to curtail Amateur Radio Club W3KWH and the Chestnut Ridge such activities. Thankfully, some chatter regarding all of this Amateur Radio Club W3CRC through a remote node estab- has recently re-emerged and it is hoped that chatter will be lished by Sam Sarraf KE3PO. This extended coverage of converted into action. Keystone-West into four counties. In time, other nodes and There are times when a single telephone call or email repeaters connected—some full time and some not. can be very significant. It may herald good or bad news, A few months later, we decided to reconfigure the thus taking plans in a new direction. About a month or so W3PIE UHF repeater to be digital only. Christine Rial ago, we received an email from Doug Lefever W3DL. Doug N3LRG contacted us to see if it was permissible to start a was interested in adding one of the Lebanon Valley Society weekly net. This gave me an opportunity to remind everyone of Radio Amateurs’ K3VL repeaters to Keystone-West. His involved that Keystone-West was not to be considered the concern was that Lebanon County is in the EPA section of property of the Uniontown Amateur Radio Club, but rather the state and he thought perhaps the room was limited to the the something that was “owned and operated” by any ham WPA section.

54 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 With that and no doubt hundreds of other considerations involved, the Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club (New Jersey) has decided to hold their annual hamfest, along with the Southern New Jersey ARRL Section Convention, on September 13. With the present limitations in place, they will be limited to no more than 500 attendees at a time for this outdoor event. The club (of which I am a life member) has consis- tently motivated some key members to create and grow what has become the largest hamfest in their area. As other clubs stopped hosting hamfests, most times due to a lack of volunteers and leadership, the hamfest team at the GCARC ( The expansion of the former Keystone-West WIRES-X room www.w2mmd.org ) has found the wherewithal to build upon deserved a new logo. Enthusiastic and active ham Christine Rial each year’s success. N3LRG stepped up and designed a new one, which appears on Because of my work schedule this year, I will not be the room’s Facebook page, as well as some associated web sites. in attendance. I wish I could be, to see friends I have known (Courtesy: N3LRG) for many years and see what irresistible bargains I can find. This was one of those reflective moments where you They also offer a roster of speakers and topics that are worth find you have an opportunity for growth, if only you can rec- a drive. If you live anywhere near Exit 2 of the New Jer- ognize it as such. Tony Alviar KA3VOR—Technical Sherpa sey Turnpike, this could be a good way to spend part of the and good friend—who had forwarded the email to me and day—with appropriate social distancing protocols, of course. I had a quick discussion about this. We both felt that we While you are there, have some delicious smoked barbecue should welcome the hams from Lebanon County and give for me. the room a more inclusive name. New products, progress and some calculated risk-taking Out of this, Keystone-West has been re-badged Key- are all signs of life within the amateur radio community. This stone-Wide. N3LRG made up a new logo for the room and I has been a year of disappointment, fear, uncertainly, loss finally got around to setting up a Facebook page for it, with and worry for some. For others, it has represented a time to the rather lengthy name, “Keystone Wide WIRES X Room meet challenges, try something new and explore different 60328 a Digital Intercom for PA Hams.” horizons. The manufacturers mentioned have also suffered Soon after, Doug had added the K3VL 447.925 MHz adversity but are showing signs of perseverance. Likewise, repeater to Keystone-Wide on a full-time basis. In addition, other organizations and individuals such as we are doing the another repeater was added to the room on a more transient same. basis. At present, we now have the potential to reach into Variations of the statement “It is better to light one can- parts of 10+ counties in Pennsylvania. We also get connec- dle than curse the darkness” have been attributed to many, tions just across the borders into Ohio and Maryland, when but the message is universal. It is better to do something, the net is held. Further we have had hams check in from as no matter how small, to address a problem, than simply far away as Australia. complain about it. Let us hope that we all find opportuni- While our net control operator used to solicit check-ins ties in the coming months to do just that. Work to progress using a “clock” based in Pittsburgh (North West, North East, and make a difference rather than just resigning yourself to South East, South West) the center of the clock has now been complaining. moved to State College (Home of Penn State University and the AccuWeather meteorological network). As the top three population centers (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia) of Pennsylvania are in the southern part of the common- wealth, most of the hams checking in are from the lower quadrants. We hope to gain some presence in the other two, in the not too distant future. If you have nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday evening—or any time for that matter—and would like to connect to Keystone-Wide, please do. As mentioned previously, this has certainly not been a good year for hamfests. Most have been canceled and those who did hold one ended up wishing they had not. As time has passed this year, some restrictions in various states have been relaxed. Predictably, a pent-up desire to attend a ham- fest has increased. T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 55 A m a t e u r R a d i o I n s ig h t s By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z [email protected] Hams and Lightning Protection: A Shocking Failure?

he other day, after mowing the Back 40 (the road-fac- ing 40 percent of my QTH’s one acre!), I was farting Taround on the computer in my basement office, which is adjacent to my basement shack. As I was browsing the Internet, every now and then I’d hear a faint “sizzle.” It was a definite “Zzzzttt,” but not too loud. I was concerned that the HVAC system or the fridge was somehow fritzing, but I wasn’t able to pinpoint the source until I turned out the lights. I learned this technique from an Old-Timer who was helping me with a similar sizzle in my 60-MHz analog oscilloscope. That off-brand beauty (analog oscilloscopes can’t really be too off-brand, as only a handful of companies manufactured them, but that’s a story for another day) was arcing somewhere inside the enclosure. It wasn’t bad enough to blow stuff up, but the trace on the screen would squiggle in sync with the sizzle, so I really wanted to fix it. I was super careful in powering the scope up with its protective enclosure removed. The high-voltage power supply that feeds the CRT weighs in at a few thousand volts, which can really get a guy’s attention! With the cover off I could hear the sizzle better than ever, but I couldn’t see it until I turned off the room lights, Need the world’s most affordable lightning detector? Install a waited a few minutes for my night vision to kick in, and then 40-meter dipole directly over your house, run a length of RG-58 carefully pressed the power button. coax from the feed point into your shack, and casually cut the coax in a carefree manner, leaving a bunch of shield strands What do you know? With my eyeballs set to “jungle splayed out in every direction. When lightning strikes nearby, cat,” the tiny sizzler could be heard and seen! I was expect- or when significant atmospheric charge has built up, the end of ing a major fault, but the cause of the entire mess was a the coax will light up like a tiny Jacob’s ladder, making a scary sharp corner on the edge of an adhesive foil shield! A tiny sizzling sound all the while. See text. (NT0Z photo) blue arc was jumping to ground from the sharp point of the RG-58 coax that loops through the floor joists overhead. foil. Directly above my house (a one-story rambler), a With the lights on I carefully pushed the foil back a 40-meter/7-MHz sloping dipole runs from the top of the for- millimeter or so with a handy piece of HDPE “cutting board mer TV tower on the west end to the chimney on the east end material,” blunting the sharp edge of the foil shield in the (not figuring elevation, that’s 65 feet). The RG-58 coax drops process. That was all it took. Mystery solved. No more straight down to the shingled roof, over the roof overhang, sizzle. onto the siding, down to the top of the basement block, and That trusty scope, with its hulking chassis, massive into the basement itself, through a tiny drilled hole. analog power supply, and antique cathode-ray tube, still sits The previous homeowner, also a ham, had installed the on the bench next to the tiny digital scope that once sought dipole and used it on 40 meters. Never having been a fan to replace it. The tiny scope is still intimidated—as it should of RG-58, I didn’t use the antenna, although I did cut about be!—but I digress. 30 feet from the basement feed line to wind a couple com- With the lights off, the source of my basement sizzler mon-mode, toroidal chokes, which are in constant use in my was similarly revealed to be the cut-off end of a length of

56 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 shack! 50 feet overhead, into my garage shack through a PVC pass- I’m sure this unused dipole has been screwing up the through. The balanced line tuner was on a shelf just over the patterns of my backyard inverted-L verticals, which are operating position. noticeably deaf in the direction of the sloping dipole, and my When I wasn’t using the rig, I’d disconnect the feeders, 100-foot open-wire doublet, which is just somewhat deaf all which had large banana plugs on the ends to facilitate this around... and store the end of the ladder line in a glass mason jar, just I wanted to remove it, but the tower, an ancient 40-foot like the Old-Timers suggested. stack of Rohn 25 sections bracketed onto the side of the Most of the time everything was fine. But during thun- garage, is pretty wiggly and probably isn’t safe for anyone to derstorms those feeders would sizzle with blue lightning— climb, let alone someone with my gravitational persuasion. just like the Jacob’s Ladder in every early horror movie— A fellow ham climbed the tower early on to install a and the effect was terrifying. Yes, the glass jar afforded some stand-off boom and a pulley so I can raise and lower the dou- measure of insulating protection, but it was apparent that se- blet as necessary, but we forgot to remove the rotator (which rious induced voltage would undoubtedly arc to other nearby is still up there, even though the control wires are long gone) objects that had a lower-resistance path to the earth, whether and the sloping dipole. radios, computers, house wiring, or me! Through the ladder I guess I could remove the end that’s attached to the line feeders, I had brought the lightning into my shack! chimney and cut the tower-attached leg as short as possible, During the worst incident, I was stuck inside my shack, clamping it to the tower until that tower is itself removed and all AC power disconnected (and actually out throughout the replaced. Now that I see that thought in print—I should do entire neighborhood), during a ferocious lightning storm that! AND a flash flood. Massive lightning bolts were striking in Back to the sizzler. The arc, now visible and audible in my vicinity and I was stuck, perched on top of a sturdy four- the darkened basement, would periodically bridge the gap legged metal shop stool with my feet drawn up because three between the center conductor of the cut-off RG-58 feed line inches of water was running across the floor of the garage/ and the cable’s outer shield. Admittedly, RG-58 is pretty shack, as the garage was now in the middle of a shallow, small, so the voltage required to spark across that gap is fast-flowing river! probably only in the low thousands. But it was still unnerv- Worse? My ladder-line feeders, dutifully in their mason ing. jar for safety, were arcing almost continuously, as if the ends There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Remember that I was of the wires were an arc welder that was stuck in the on posi- mowing the Back 40 only an hour earlier, and my Back 40 tion. I truly wondered whether I’d survive. is Big Sky country. The Front 40 is a deep, dark forest by And I didn’t have to be in an electrical storm to see comparison. sparks and arcs across the ends of the feeders. Large wire I grabbed my smart phone and displayed the real-time antennas are especially prone to picking up static electrical weather radar. Sure enough, there was a small thunderstorm charges that are transferred from wind and rain—flashy about 10 miles away, but it was inducing enough energy into storms aren’t required. As the antenna becomes more the sloping dipole to cause the periodic spark! charged than the trees and ground near it, for example, those You might wonder whether my other antennas might charges will want to equalize. be experiencing similarly induced high-voltage energy. Yes, The arcs across the feeders provide a visible indication they almost certainly were! But the cables weren’t arcing— that thousands of volts are jumping back and forth, but dead at least not visibly, which is a blessing and a curse, as these and damaged radio equipment may be another indicator. flashover events can effectively destroy your coax (and your Until I put two and two together, I just couldn’t figure out radios) without leaving telltale signs of destruction. why the front-end FET in my Alinco DX-70 transceiver kept Flashovers can cause pinholes to appear in your coax failing! Duh! (through the outer shield or between the center conductor and the shield, through the dielectric material). And, once Most Hams Are Skating on Thin Ice the path/pinhole is established, further flashovers are certain to follow because a lower-resistance point/path has been It’s easy to skate by without ever properly addressing established. static and lightning protection in the typical ham shack. Most The coax, by the way, is now probably junk...and of us, in fact, do it most of the time—me included. In any should be replaced if the cable in question is connected to an large group there are plenty of controversies, wives tales, antenna that gets used. rules of thumb, evidence-based practices, differing opinions, completely crazy practices, etc, when it comes to lightning Mason Jars May Help, But They Won’t Save You! protection—and some occasional bits of common ground and common sense. At a previous QTH I was using a 5-MHz horizontal Protection from lightning still falls into disputed territo- loop antenna fed with ladder line and a shack-mounted ry, with a select few hams taking all possible (and expensive) balanced line tuner. The ladder line ran from the feed point, precautions, the majority taking at least some precautions,

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 57 with the final group essentially taking no precautions at all. Many lightning bolts equalize charges between the When we were learning about amateur radio and study- clouds themselves and do not strike the earth. This cloud- ing diligently, we learned how to make all kinds of antennas, to-cloud lightning is visually spectacular but isn’t generally but only a few standard lightning safety and grounding plati- dangerous to hams. tudes—many of which were wrong or incomplete. Objects that stick up from the surface of the earth— Most of us also learned to confuse chassis grounds, trees, skyscrapers, towers (ham and broadcast), golfers AC electrical safety grounds, and RF grounds. Sometimes, with raised clubs, swimmers in the water or on the beach, any particular ground may actually serve all three purposes, etc—conduct local static electricity charges from the earth— but it’s more useful (and much safer) to remember that, in through themselves—which creates an ever-so-slightly short- general, these three grounds are not the same and do not per- er path between the charges in the clouds and the charges in form the same functions. I have covered these differences, the ground. And when the charges equalize through a light- particularly as they relate to good-performing RF grounds, in ning strike, the charge conductors that are sticking up higher previous columns. than their neighbors are much more likely to take a hit. There’s quite an education gap between those who real- Over the years, various ARRL technical publications ly know about electrical safety grounds and RF grounds and asserted that properly grounded towers and antenna systems those who know only vague and often-wrong generalities. tended to bleed static charges from the ground into the air, In general, hams with large antennas, tall towers, and and that the charge draining process, instead of encouraging well-stocked wallets tend to know a lot about these topics, lightning strikes, actually provided a “cone of protection” with many gaining expert knowledge the hard way! Big against such strikes. Some experts contend that this is com- antennas and tall towers come with commensurately big pletely false, but others do not, further highlighting the fact electrical safety risks. Hams with low backyard antennas that lightning and lightning protection still isn’t completely have less overall risk, but they suffer just as much when settled science. That’s why it’s best to fall back on proven, tragedy strikes. working safety techniques that have been pioneered by those I have been studying these important topics over the unfortunate test subjects who have gone before us! past several years, but I have yet to fully implement every- The physics of what gets hit and when, and even the thing I’ve learned. Still, progress is progress, and I will do physics-level properties of the various types of lightning, my best to steer you toward the best possible—practical—in- aren’t completely understood. But just as we don’t have to formation, because I have also learned that if something is know the physics of electricity at the sub-atomic level to turn too expensive or too difficult, it simply won’t get done. Prac- on a light switch, there are several common-sense things we tical steps that actually get implemented seem better than the can do to minimize the chances that lightning will ruin our best possible steps that don’t. ham radio day. Before we cover those, however, let’s look at some additional lightning tidbits and another educational Lightning Bolts lightning strike story. A typical lightning bolt (cloud to ground) is charged to As the earth rotates underneath its atmosphere, and a few million volts and transfers energy at 30,000 amps—30 because of the movement of clouds, air and water in relation kA! A typical strike transfers about 1 billion joules of total to the surface of the earth, static electric charges build up energy, but in a very short period of time—microseconds to between parts of the atmosphere and parts of the earth, espe- milliseconds. The most powerful bolts, however, although cially during thunder storms. somewhat rare, are much more powerful: 400 kA driven by When the charges are large enough to overcome the billions of volts. atmospheric resistance between the charged clouds and the According to the World Meteorological Organization oppositely charged ground, a lightning bolt(s) creates a con- (WMO), an extreme bolt lit the sky over Argentina on March ductive path(s) between the two charged areas and electrical 4, 2019, for a mind-boggling 16.73 seconds! That’s more current flows, equalizing the charges. This happens, on aver- than twice as long as the previous record-holder. age, 50 times each second worldwide. And the lightning bolt distance record was only recent- Some parts of the world see almost no lightning, while ly set, also in Argentina. On October 31, 2018, a lightning others, such as Texas and parts of Central Africa and South bolt traveled 709 kilometers (440.6 miles), end to end. The America, get five to 10 times the global average. previous record had been less than half that in the sky over Although according to NOAA, lightning kills an av- Oklahoma on June 20, 2007. erage of 30-40 people each year in the US, mostly men. At To get some perspective, consider that the breakdown press time there have been nine fatalities to date in 2020. voltage of dry air (which the air isn’t during a storm) is about Interestingly, positive and negative charges can build 30 kV per centimeter (30 MV per meter). Despite confound- up in the clouds or the ground. The charge profile isn’t fixed, ing factors such as moisture in the air and specific differenc- and lightning sometimes does shoot up from the ground to- es in air pressure, a 440-mile-long lightning bolt still requires ward the clouds, where a descending bolt rushes downward an unthinkably high voltage potential to cause it to fire! to meet it. When mega-bolts travel from cloud tops to ground, a

58 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 “bolt from the blue” can strike the trees or antennas in your Because the shack was in a basement that had been back yard from 20 miles away! You’re in complete sunshine, converted to living space in the 1970s, the cable runs were but that thunderstorm anvil cloud in the next county can still “buried” behind wall coverings and above glued-in-place ruin your day! ceiling tiles, etc, and were essentially inaccessible. These ca- Technically, the actual electricity in a lightning bolt bles were 1970s-era foam dielectric RG-8 types and were not doesn’t really have a temperature per se, but when it rips high-end cables that might have been available from Belden, through air and water vapor it can heat its immediate sur- Times Microwave, etc. roundings to as much as 50,000 °F—which is five times Needless to say, the stage is set for disaster. I’m not sin- hotter than the surface of the sun! No wonder many things— gling my friend out—many of us, myself included for years humans included—start on fire and/or explode when struck. at a time—have had similar setups. Lightning’s ultimate goal is to equalize charge poten- On the fateful night, storm approaching, the op dutiful- tials with the ground, but when lightning strikes the ground ly disconnected the coaxial antenna lead-in cables from his or is conducted into the ground, it can travel through the radios. But despite the worthwhile precaution, when light- ground for 100 feet or more. If you’re standing in the “blast ning struck nearby (or struck the loop), lots of bad things radius” you can contact the current stream, and it doesn’t happened. take much electricity to overwhelm the human electrical Both autocouplers were turned into smoldering lumps. system. In 1998, an entire African soccer team was killed by One segment of the square horizontal loop, made from a lightning bolt that struck the playing field. There have been 14-gauge copper-coated steel wire, melted into bits of slag other, similar incidents. and fell straight to the ground (while the other three seg- Lightning isn’t a pure direct current (DC). It’s a com- ments remained intact). A huge current pulse traveled down plex and ever-changing mishmash of DC, AC and RF, and the coax and the control wires into the shack (after running it’s actually quite difficult to standardize or even describe in through the basement, behind the walls and ceiling, etc). definitive terms. Of notable concern to hams is how lightning The coaxial cables were dutifully disconnected at the current flow seeks ground. Conductive objects—and let’s radios, but the current easily jumped between the coax and face it, at millions to billions of volts, everything is a con- the grounded transceivers, both of which also became DOA, ductor!—can’t be viewed as simple resistors. along with most other goodies in the shack. As lightning energy flows through trees, the ground, Even if the coaxial cables had been disconnected and people, cows, telephone and AC overhead wires, ham outside the house, curled up on the ground, the energy that towers, ham antennas, ground rods, coaxial cables, etc., this traveled through the autocoupler control lines would almost complex mix or pulsed DC, AC and RF acts funny and treats certainly have accomplished the same thing. conductors differently depending on impedances (what’s im- We discussed various aspects of the event, and I’m peding DC, what’s impeding AC and what’s impeding RF). summarizing them here because they may help us head off And each strike is different. our own, similar events. Wire Loop: Why did only one segment (out of four) An Educational Lightning Story of the horizontal loop, which was about 30 feet above the ground, “melt” and not the whole thing? That particular A friend’s lightning story could happen to any of us. He segment was probably closest to the lightning energy when had recently put up a large horizontal loop antenna and, as the strike occurred, and because that segment ran between I’m a known horizontal loop advocate and user, we had been two support insulators that each forced a 90-degree bend in e-mailing back and forth about various configuration and the wire, the energy jumped to an easier path to ground at the remote tuner details, etc. sharp corners. Essentially, he had two antennas (one loop and one Lightning—a complex mishmash of DC, AC and RF— vertical), each with its own autocoupler at its feed point. The wants to get to ground in the worst way but does not like to loop and the vertical were reasonably close to his wood- flow gracefully around sharp bends or sharp points. frame house, using support lines from the house, a fiberglass Some lightning-protection devices that are found pole, and some trees to keep everything shipshape. on cell towers in desert climates look like sea urchins! A bundle of coax and several control wires ran from They’re “spike balls” that are electrically connected to their each autocoupler back to separate transceivers in the op’s well-grounded towers. At night they sometimes glow with basement shack. Like many of us, the only electrical safety a blue light as tiny arcs of plasma flow from each spike into grounding—including lightning—was provided by a near- space, creating an eerie glow. by AC receptacle through its connection to the house’s AC Accumulated charges won’t jump into space from ground (which was a copper rod, bonded to the AC service rounded tower parts, but they readily jump from pointy box, but probably driven into the earth 60 years ago when things, including the sharp tips of Yagi antenna elements in the house was built. Connections to that ground rod, having extreme cases. The strike energy could have jumped to a been exposed to the outdoor elements for decades, are often more conductive path to ground when it hit the two sharp degraded. corners.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 59 Any 16-gauge wire becomes a fuse when subjected to wondering whether it succeeded as an insulator during the a few million volts at a few thousand amps, but because this strike. Yes and no. Thirty-three feet of fiberglass is a much wire had a steel core beneath a thin layer of copper, it simply better insulator than a few hundred feet of grounded antenna evaporated. wire positioned only a few feet away. But when exposed to Steel is quite resistive when compared to copper, and several million volts, 33 feet of wet fiberglass (with traces of when subjected to massive current, it can get hot enough to dirt and other contaminants on the surface) still looks like a evaporate! It’s exactly like arc welding, where you’re ap- conductor to lightning. plying a controlled plasma arc (lightning bolt) to two pieces Control Wires: As we have seen, we can disconnect of steel. Some of the steel at the joint simply evaporates into coaxial cables all day long, but if we have other conductors slag, liquid and gas. Antennas, too. that enter our otherwise protected spaces, it’s game over. Insulated Wire? My friend wanted to know whether in- Even if the strike hadn’t arced from the disconnected cable sulated wire would have prevented or minimized the damage ends, the autocoupler control lines (five per tuner) would from the strike. Nope. Insulated wire, say 14-gauge house almost certainly have conducted enough energy to destroy wire, is a fantastic insulator at 12 V, and is rated for 600 V, the shack goodies. where it’s also pretty darn good. But voltages of 1,000 to Replace the Coax? Absolutely! Most foam dielectric 10,000,000 volts cause the wire to flashover as if the insula- coax from the ‘70s was, well, pretty crappy even when it was tion wasn’t even there. new. And even if it hadn’t been subjected to a killer lightning That’s why antenna baluns built from the stuff are fine strike, the foamy stuff usually deteriorates with time, becom- at 100 W, probably fine at 500 W, but aren’t always fine at ing lossy and causing the center conductor to migrate toward 1,500 W, especially when feed point SWRs are high. Under the outer shield, potentially messing up the cable’s imped- these conditions the balun flashes over and becomes a fire ance and reducing the insulation’s breakdown strength. ball—and not in a good way! Need a monster balun? Use The fact that the cable is inaccessible means that it’s a beefy, Teflon-coated wire. real pain to replace but considering that it’s also impossible When subjected to lightning-grade voltage, the insu- to see whether the cable has partially melted or has been lation on insulated wires becomes invisible. The lightning “poked full of lightning holes along its length,” it’s grounds simply sees a juicy path to ground (the wire inside) and for definite replacement. A time-domain reflectometer (TDR) takes it until it can find a better path. When it encountered may indicate points along the cable that have suffered stress the loop’s sharp corners—perhaps a microsecond before the or shorted out, but coax that old simply must be replaced steel wire vaporized—it jumped to a better path. Lightning is after such an event. opportunistic. Insulated wire can be quite protective when it comes Make it Right to reducing or eliminating the electrical noise caused by the wire rubbing on leaves or tree branches. Ditto for rain This is an unfortunate situation all around, and none of noise and wind noise. Large wire antennas accumulate static us likely feels anything but sympathy for the folks who wind electricity charges when the wind rushes by the wire (like up on the wrong end of an electrical storm. But I hope this you petting your cat, but to a much smaller degree) or when tragedy prompts us—me included—to step our game. Many raindrops hit the wire (transferring some of their charge). of us have been lucky for too long, but there’s no guarantee Insulated wire can be quite helpful for these conditions, that our luck will hold out forever. but it’s not a given. Some common static electricity charges, Essentially, whatever detailed steps we take to accom- such as those you might encounter on a dry day when touch- modate our respective, distinctive, antenna installations, our ing a grounded doorknob or electrical chassis, have tiny main tasks include properly grounding and bonding every currents but pack upwards of 25 kV! That’s why they can kill wire that comes into our protected interior space (AC, cable your CMOS integrated circuits in the kit radio you’re build- TV, phone and DSL, ham coax and control cables—every- ing or potentially penetrate the insulation on an antenna wire. thing) and taking every opportunity to keep the lightning Remember: When exposed to millions of volts, almost energy outside the house and never inside. Once it’s inside everything is a pretty good conductor! the house, stuff is going to fry. Disconnected Cables: Disconnecting the coaxial cables From a broad perspective, every conductor that pene- from the radios certainly didn’t hurt anything, but when driv- trates the house perimeter needs to be properly bonded and en by such high voltages, lightning energy will simply jump grounded, and we should be able to disconnect them (all of from the disconnected cable ends to anything that looks like our ham cables, at least) outside the house. ground. In this case, the transceivers were plugged into the Remember: we want to keep the lightning outside the AC wall socket, which was the ground. Dark burn tracks house, because once it’s inside it’s game over. A lightning between the radios and the cable ends on the surface of the bolt that can jump three miles from a cloud to your house operating desk were telltale signs. can easily jump all though the inside of your house once it Fiberglass Pole: One corner of the loop was supported breaches the perimeter! by a 33-foot, heavy-duty fiberglass pole, and my friend was The details of exactly how t accomplish these tasks

60 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 where that’s necessary, but if you are, it’s necessary!

Resources

Commercial engineering firms and the military have lots of material on how to protect sensitive radio and elec- tronic systems from the ever-present hazards of lightning, but most of it is confusing and even contradictory for typical hams. As mentioned, this isn’t settled science, nor is it com- pletely settled practice, but the techniques available are cer- tainly better than doing nothing, and almost certainly better than what we’ve learned through the grapevine. One written-in-plain-English source of expert informa- tion is Ward Silver’s book, “Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur.” N0AX, himself a respected author, consult- ed with Jim Brown K9YC, an “expert’s expert” on ground- ing, bonding, noise and lightning protection, when writing the book. K9YC has written extensively on these subjects, and much of his work is freely available at http://audiosystems- group.com/publish.htm. For starters, try http://audiosyste- msgroup.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf. Polyphaser, a noted manufacturer of mil-spec ground- If you’re tired of reading overly-technical white papers or jar- ing, bonding and lightning-protection technology, has an gon-laden scholarly documents on the subject, Grounding and entire library of information at www.polyphaser.com/re- Bonding for the Radio Amateur, by Ward Silver N0AX translates sources/white-papers. the complex theory and practices surrounding grounding and In my experience, most homeowner’s insurance policies lightning protection into plain English, with action plans for average hams. The printed edition lists for $22.95 from the ARRL go to every possible length to exclude coverage for typi- or your favorite bookseller, while the Amazon Kindle edition costs cal amateur radio losses unless you pay for some seriously only $9.99. Just get one. expensive add-ons. And even then, staggering deductibles usually apply. For its members, the ARRL has a reasonably are varied, complex and often expensive. Towers need to be well-received insurance coverage for hams. It presently has a properly grounded. And no, a single ground rod from your reasonable $50 deductible, and coverage for radios, towers, local home store, even properly pounded into the ground at computers, test equipment, etc, costs about 1.4% per year. the tower base, won’t cut it. It will help, but it’s no panacea. That is, $5,000 in coverage costs $70 per year. $10,000 in Coaxial cables should be bonded to the tower at the top coverage costs $140 a year. And so on. of the tower, the bottom of the tower, and at a properly bond- The smallest deductible I can presently get for my ed and grounded lightning protection/disconnect box outside own homeowner’s insurance is $1,000! And I wouldn’t be your house, just where your cables transition from outside to surprised if my radios, test equipment and towers are specif- inside. ically excluded. Yes, I still need to shop around! For details In addition to proper bonding and grounding, each about the ARRL-sponsored plan, see https://arrlinsurance. cable and control line should have a lightning arrestor and com. the ability to be disconnected from the lines that run into the house. Pieces and Parts If you’re thinking that adds up to a lot of potentially expensive hardware and lots of engineering and installation In a future column I plan to cover lightning protection effort, you’re absolutely right! hardware and practical techniques in more detail. Until then, Commercial and amateur radio stations with proper, stay safe—and keep the lightning outside! robust grounding, bonding and lightning-protection systems can handle multiple strikes each year without death and destruction. The trick for the average ham is to find the happy me- dium that provides decent real-world protection without the extreme costs of setting up a system that can take lightning shots all day long with ease. Most of us aren’t in locations

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 61 Radio 101 By Ken Reitz KS4ZR [email protected] International Media use FTA Satellite-TV to Influence Europe, Africa, North and South America

(Left) TeleSUR news intro on its 24/7 Spanish language news channel, which broadcasts Free-to-Air across Latin America. (Right) The channel is funded by the Venezuelan government and pursues an anti-US stance. But TeleSUR’s influence, and the Venezuelan government’s message, covers not only Latin America but Europe, North Africa and the Mideast thanks to carriage on Eutelsat 113W, SES-6 and Hispasat 1E. (Footprint maps courtesy: TeleSUR) he Cold War of the 1950s through late 1980s saw the Today, the interests of those countries hoping to rise and fall of shortwave radio. It was a time many influence the populations of Africa as well as North and TTSM readers remember fondly—the heyday of tube- South America are better served concentrating on Internet fired shortwave radios still much-loved today; a pre-Internet availability for the ubiquitous smartphone and television front-row seat to foreign policy as spelled out by post-WWII programming that can show up on a number of platforms, Allies and the seemingly solid Iron Curtain countries. including Internet, cable-TV, satellite-TV and Over-the-Air As all TSM readers know, the landscape has greatly TV. changed. The premier league of shortwave broadcasters One of the reasons for the demise of shortwave has slowly dismantled their curtain antenna arrays, shut down been its various limitations compared to modern equiva- their 500 kW transmitters, let go staff and closed their offic- lents, not the least of which is that shortwave radio is sound es. Missing from today’s English language shortwave scene only. At a time when high-resolution small screens make are Deutsche Welle, Radio Canada International, Radio Mos- detailed imagery possible, it’s just not enough for modern cow, Radio Netherlands, and many more. Those big players news consumers to only listen. It’s the simple reason for the that do remain on the shortwaves, BBC and VoA, for exam- successful domination of TV on the global media scene. The ple, do so with a mere fraction of the airtime and frequencies ability to tell a story with imagery is powerful—but add the they had 30 years ago. possibility of a multi-language audio track and addition- This doesn’t mean that these countries gave up on al captioned languages and it’s a slam dunk for attracting trying to influence the rest of the world. It means that tech- viewers. And, if the content can be distributed more cheaply, nology passed shortwave by in favor of modern means of it’s another strike against the old mode. communications e.g. the Internet and television. Of course, And, finally, the decline of reliable radio propagation shortwave radios remain on standby in places where there makes a massive investment in shortwave an even harder are no Internet Service Providers or third-world Internet sell to cash-strapped national administrators worldwide. fragility gives way to breakdowns or government interfer- Sure, there are exceptions. China Radio International ence or when there is simply no other way to receive foreign (CRI) owns the shortwave bands. Unlimited government programming. funding for state of the art, high-powered transmitters and

62 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 China Global Television Network (CTGN) spends a fair amount On top of the many channels from China Global Television of time covering news and economics from the African perspec- Network, China also funds the 24/7 English news channels CNC tive in their program “Talk Africa.” France24, VoA, and RT also World. The channel uses the news resources of Xinhua, the offi- offer similar programs. (KS4ZR photo) cial news agency of China. (KS4ZR photo) antennas makes CRI the de facto boss on HF. Who wants to big presence of radio services from Beijing. On Intelsat 21, compete? No one. Or, at least those trying to sell a rejuvena- for example, there are some 20 radio stations offering news/ tion of the international shortwave broadcast cause find little talk, music and a combination of all three in many languag- appetite for such a sales pitch among stressed out budget es. planners. As if there wasn’t enough CGTN presence on satellite, Using the popular international broadcasting site short- the Chinese government also funds the broadcasts of CNC wave.info, I wanted to find out which services were sched- World English (China Xinhua News Network Corporation) uled to broadcast in English and at what frequencies so, in on Galaxy 19 (Ku-band). CNC is a 24-hour English TV the search fields, I put in CRI, in English, on the air now. It news network run by Xinhua News Agency targeting over- found 118 entries for CRI in English. BBC in English: 71 seas audiences. Xinhua is the official news service of China. entries; VoA: 39 entries; All India Radio: 29 entries; Ra- Founded in 2010, CNC explains what they are doing, “Em- dio Romania International 23 entries; Radio New Zealand ploying the business model of franchised dealership, CNC International 10 entries; NHK World Radio: 9 entries; Radio implants its programs into TV channels in different countries Havana Cuba: 9 entries; Voice of Turkey: 7 entries; Radio and regions, and reaches out across the world by establishing Exterior de España: 4 entries; Radio France International: 0 O&O (Owned and Operated) stations and enlarging broad- entries; Deutsche Welle: 0 entries, etc. OK, not all listings cast partnerships.” may have been on at the time, but there’s no doubt about the France 24 is the French government supported 24/7 dwindling numbers—you get the picture. news channels that’s offered in French, English and Spanish and is found on 51 satellites around the world, mostly en- The Players crypted. However, the channel does appear on five satellites in FTA DVB-S MPEG2 mode and on another 15 satellites in The easiest way to send video and audio programming DVB-S2 MPEG4 (the newer digital HD mode) also Free-to- around the world to the targeted audience is via satellite—in Air. In addition, Radio France International (RFI) is found in either C and/or Ku-band. Most government sponsored chan- many languages on Hispasat 30W-5. nels broadcast in English though special separate channels Russia Today (RT) is the Russian government-fund- for different languages are offered by countries with the ed all-news channel with a typical anti-US tone (shades of biggest budgets. Radio Moscow in the old shortwave days). RT is found on The greatest presence on the satellites over North and only seven satellites with three FTA channels, only one of South America is (to no one’s surprise) China, which offers which is in DVB-S MPEG2 mode. Programming is mostly its basic four-channel lineup (CCTV 4 America; CGTN, in English, but some satellites have separate RT channels for CGTN Documentary, CGTN Español), on at least four satel- Spanish language programming. lites that cover North and South America. Around the globe, NHK World Japan has a huge satellite presence around China Global Television Network (CGTN) can be seen on the world—seen on nearly 50 satellites, though most chan- 46 different satellites, but in most cases these channels are nels are encrypted. It does appear on five satellites in DVS-S encrypted, or part of a programming package sold by other MPEG2 mode. Programming tends to be more in the nature commercial entities. CGTN is found on 11 different satel- of travelogues and stories about the scenic beauties of Japan lites in Free-to-Air (FTA) DVB-S MPEG2 mode—the oldest though they do have serious global news coverage and some digital video broadcast mode that can be tuned in on any excellent documentaries. Programming is mostly in English 20-year-old MPEG2 satellite receiver. China also enjoys a but sometimes with Spanish subtitles.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 63 This is part of a list of 20 radio services from Beijing, China, VoA also offers aids to learning English on their channels. In found on Intelsat 21, which covers North and South America, addition to video English classes, VoA radio presents “news in identified only as sequential numbers on the Linkbox FTA re- special English,” a simpler, slower news presentation for those ceiver. Languages include Chinese, English, Spanish, Arabic and learning the English language. It’s the same program that has French with music ranging from Chinese pop to Arabic. (KS4ZR been aired on VoA shortwave for decades. (KS4ZR photo) photo)

Cuba’s main international FTA channel is Cubavisión SES-6 (C-band) International, intended for Latin American audiences and is US VoA Latin America entirely in Spanish. Look here for coverage of little-covered VoA-TV VoA Radio multiple services Central American countries and the Caribbean international Iran HispanTV baseball series in January. Venezuela TeleSUR Official US presence in FTA satellite programming is from Voice of America, which I’ve detailed in earlier col- Intelsat 14 (Ku-band) umns. China CRI multiple radio services Most channels are transmitted Free-to-Air, which sim- ply means that they are unencrypted and anyone with a sim- Intelsat 34 (C-band) ple Ku-band dish and receiver can tune in. C-band reception, Germany DW-TV (Español) as I’ve noted before, is harder because C-band dishes are DT Deutsch+ TV (German) larger, more expensive to buy (if you can find them), more England BBCWS multiple radio services expensive to ship and normally require more time and effort China CGTV 4 America to set up. Motorizing a 3-meter C-band dish takes a fairly CGTN expensive actuator motor whereas motorizing a 1-meter Ku- CGTN Documentary band dish takes a very small and less expensive motor. CGTN Español Below are the various countries using satellites to reach audiences in the Western Hemisphere (only non-subscrip- Intelsat 21 (C-band) tion, Free-to-Air video and radio services are listed). Satel- China CGTN Documentary lites are designated as C or Ku-band. CGTV 4 America CGTN Hispasat (Ku-band) CGTN Français Cuba Cubavisión International Chinese radio services Russia RT Español Iran HispanTV Spain RNE Radio Nacional Russia RT Español RNE Radio Clásica RT America (English) RNE Radio 3 France France 24 English RNE Radio Exterior France 24 Français RNE Radio 5 France 24 Español France RFI (Français) Japan NHK World Japan (Eng/Esp) RFI (Español) NHK World Japan Radio RFI (Portuguese) Korea Arirang (English and Español) RFI (Creole) Korea YTN (Korean-only) Radio France International DPRK Pyongyang (Korean-only) Venezuela TeleSUR

64 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 HispanTV, a Spanish language channel broadcast to Latin Amer- Deutsche Welle TV, state supported broadcasting at its best. DW- ica is produced by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), TV has separate channels for English, Spanish and German Iran’s state-controlled broadcaster. Here HispanTV reports on viewers, very similar to their former global shortwave program- the assassination of Iranian Major General Soleimani in Janu- ming. With long-form documentaries and thorough news report- ary of this year. (KS4ZR photo) ing, DW-TV shows how it should be done. (KS4ZR photo) Galaxy 3 (C-band) America and the world. But it’s not. The channel is actually China CCTV 4 America (English) produced by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), CGTN (English) Iran’s state-controlled broadcaster and the tone is primarily CGTN Français anti-US. CGTN Español Another player on the South American scene is Tele- CGTN Documentary SUR, a Spanish language news channel with all the produc- 20 Radio Services tion trappings of CNN. But, TeleSUR was founded in 2005 by the Venezuelan government of the late Hugo Chavez. Galaxy 19 (Ku-band) Aimed at South American audiences it presents a decidedly Iran Press TV (English) anti-US tone and is financed primarily by the government of HispanTV (Español) Venezuela. Russia RT America (English) The US makes use of only one satellite receivable on Sputnik Radio (Voice of Russia) the western side of the Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR) and China CNC News that’s via SES-6. There are basically three video channels and a number of audio channels in use most of the time. Pro- SES 3 (C-band) gramming is principally in English, Spanish and Persian. The Germany DW-TV (English) bulk of VoA programming is found on Intelsat 901 at 27.5 degrees west but is beamed to the eastern hemisphere and SES 3 (Ku) not receivable by dishes in the western hemisphere. Feeds Japan NHK World Japan here include VoA TV Africa, Alhurra TV, Alhurra TV Iraq, VoA-TV China, VoA-TV Europe, VoA-TV Indian Ocean, Galaxy 23 (C-band) VoA-TV Asia, VoA-TV Global, VoA-TV Persian. Audio Russia RT Español channels include VoA 1, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RT America VoA Global Live, Radio Sawa Sudan, Radio Sawa Gulf, Spain RNE Radio Nacional Radio Sawa Egypt, Radio Sawa Iraq, Radio Sawa Morocco, RNE Radio Clásica Radio Sawa North Africa and Radio Sawa Lebanon. RNE Radio 3 If you watch any of these FTA channels to any extent, Radio Exterior you’ll notice a special emphasis on reporting to and from RNE Radio 5 Africa—particularly from CGTN which covers the news and economics across the continent. These countries are smart to In addition to all of the above FTA-TV channels, China have presenters and reporters who are from Africa who know Global Television Network and Russia Today, have a pres- the various countries and cultures well and can give their ence on Dish Network, one of the two US pay-TV satellite presentation a certain credibility. services and are found on many cable-TV channel lineups. The advantages of all countries using the FTA digital Among the countries vying for Latin American audi- format is that they make it easy for distribution in the target- ence attention is HispanTV. At first glance it has the feel ed countries where broadcast channels may welcome free of CNN en Español—with slick graphics, sharp-dressed news sources. Indeed, many of these channels show up on presenters and correspondents checking in from around Latin US cable-TV channels and auxiliary PBS channels.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 65 Global Influencers

International broadcasting stalwarts take advantage of global satellite connections to produce and distribute news pro- grams in other languages aimed at FTA satellite-TV audiences in North and South America as well as Africa and the Mideast.

Russia Today en Español with a story about families in Madrid Russia Today in English: discussing the never-ending US/China losing everything in the wake of the crisis unleashed by the trade talks. COVID-19 virus.

France24 en Español here with a story celebrating 100 years of France24 in French; here explaining the influence of French radio in Argentina. France24 also has a fulltime English chan- culture across North America. nel.

NHK World often has stunning travelogs and cooking shows that Arirang: Mostly in Korean and English but often with subtitles in feature iconic places and foods of Japan. But, they also have various languages, here (what else?) a K-pop boy-band answers news, documentaries and even highlights of the latest sumo wres- fans’ questions from around the world via social media. It doesn’t tling tournaments. Getting the best of both media, NHK World take much to get them to get up and dance. (KS4ZR photos) radio is found on a subcarrier of this channel.

T S M

66 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 T h e Wor l d of Shor t wav e L i s t e n i ng By Jeff White , Chairman, HFCC info@wrmi.net Virtual Frequency Coordination for Shortwave Stations? Yes, Indeed!

n my last column I reported on the A20 frequency coor- dination conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Ia much-reduced group of international broadcasters gathered in February of this year to coordinate shortwave frequency schedules for the A20 season, which began on March 29. Only 30-some persons participated due to the coronavirus situation in Asia at the time. The next meeting of the HFCC (High Frequency Coor- dination Conference)—the B20 Conference—was scheduled to take place August 24-28 of this year in Sofia, Bulgaria. But due to the continuing coronavirus situation, the HFCC Steering Board decided that the only viable option was to cancel the meeting. This is the first time since the HFCC was formed in 1990 that a scheduled conference has been canceled. And it’s especially unfortunate because this would have been the association’s 30th anniversary conference. Interestingly, the first HFCC Conference was held in 1990 in Bulgaria, and this would have been the group’s third confer- Control room at WEWN shortwave, would-be site the 2020 annu- ence in Bulgaria and its second conference in Sofia. We hope al meeting of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcast- to have another conference in Bulgaria in the not-too-distant ers, NASB (Courtesy of WEWN) future. webpage, a private page for HFCC, ASBU (Arab States At the moment, the world is still in a sort of standstill Broadcasting Union) and ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting “wait-and-see” mode regarding the coronavirus situation. Union) members. Everyone was asked to fill out a confer- Citizens of many countries would not have been able to enter ence registration form so that all delegates would know the Bulgaria to attend a conference. Worldwide travel restric- primary point of contact for each station and that person’s tions in general would prevent many, if not most, shortwave e-mail address. frequency planners from attending a conference in person Since we were not meeting personally this time, we right now, no matter where it might be held. decided to extend the coordination period from one week to In view of this, the HFCC decided to do the next-best a more than one-month period from July 27 to August 28. thing—hold a “virtual” conference. It’s not nearly as ef- Links to individual collision lists for each station (i.e. lists of fective as an in-person meeting, but the hope was that the “collisions” between stations on the same frequency at the world’s HF radio stations would be able to coordinate virtu- same time to the same target areas) were sent by e-mail daily ally for the B20 season. during the coordination period. Then if one station needed to Organizers considered trying to do the opening and contact another one regarding a collision, they could send an closing plenary sessions by Zoom or some such service, e-mail to their primary contact person, and if need be, they but in the end, it was considered very complicated techni- could arrange a day and time with them to meet via Skype cally. And since the opening plenary is mostly discussion or WhatsApp or another similar service. Or they might be about events taking place during the conference week, there able to resolve the problem just using e-mail. Normally, this wouldn’t be much to discuss anyway. process happens in person at the HFCC conferences, which So, our meeting place became the B20 Conference is much more efficient.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 67 But providing that the coronavirus situation is more under control by February Sophisticated monitoring of next year, it has been confirmed that the next HFCC Conference will be in Tu- nisia at the beginning of February, hosted by the Arab States Broadcasting Union. with Icom receivers. And if all continues to go well, the folks at Reach Beyond Australia will be host- ing the B21 Conference on the Gold Coast of Australia at the end of August 2021, and a future meeting is even tentatively planned for Uzbekistan. The HFCC meets twice each year, prior to the start of the A and B (northern hemisphere summer and IC-R30 winter) broadcast seasons, in a different location each time. Tune in the world We are indeed living in unusual times, and HFCC members will have to where ever you go. The Icom IC- make the best of it until we can get back to normal, or the “new normal” as it will R30 covers 100 probably be. As shortwave broadcasters—international broadcasters—we have had kHz to 3304.999 to adapt to new conditions before, and I’m sure we can do so again. Meanwhile, MHz (less cellular). Reception everyone at the HFCC is celebrating a very happy 30th anniversary at home. modes include: FM, WFM, AM, Other Cancellations due to COVID-19 USB, LSB, CW, D-STAR®, APCO P25 Phase 1, As the coronavirus situation got worse in March of this year, it was an- NXDN®, dPMR® and nounced that the 2020 annual meeting of the National Association of Shortwave DCR (*SSB, CW and digital modes: 0.1 Broadcasters, NASB, had been canceled, or perhaps postponed. The meeting was MHz–1.3 GHz). It scheduled to take place May 14-15 at WEWN shortwave in Birmingham, Alabama. includes 2000 WEWN said it hoped it would be possible for them to host the meeting sometime memories, scan- later this year, but since the situation has not really improved, it looks likely that ning at 200 chan- nels/second, there will be no 2020 NASB meeting, and that next year’s meeting will be in Bir- NB, RF Gain, mingham in May. Stay tuned for updates on that; all shortwave listeners are invited voice synthe- to attend. sizer, built-in Bluetooth®, spectrum display and dual re- The NASB meeting was to have taken place at the WEWN transmitter site ceive including analog/analog and analog/ on a mountain near Birmingham, and a barbecue on the mountaintop as well. And digital. It even supports dual record. The there was an excursion planned to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in integrated GPS receiver displays your cur- rent position data, course, speed and alti- Hanceville, Alabama where Mother Angelica, the founder of the Eternal Word tude on the display. GPS data can also be Television Network, is buried. EWTN is the parent organization of WEWN short- saved in recorded audio files. R30 can list wave. If you want to see the details about the meeting, which should be similar to up to 50 stations within 99 miles from your current location (the position data of each next year’s NASB annual meeting, go to: www.shortwave.org, and click an Annual station must be preprogrammed in the Meeting. There you will eventually find updates on plans for NASB 2021. Memory channels). The USB port can In May of 2020, the European DX Council, the association of DX clubs charge the R30, perform data transfers including memory loading and support CI-V throughout Europe, announced that, due to the impact of Covid-19 around the remote control. The radio has a microSD world and the uncertainties that it would still cause in the coming months, the card port, microUSB port and is built to EDXC 2020 Conference would be canceled too. The meeting was to be held in robust IP57 standards. Optional CS-R30 Bucharest, Romania in September. The decision was made after consultations with software for Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. The R30 comes with SMA telescopic antenna, Radio Romania International. It was unclear what the European border situation BP-287 Li-ion battery pack, belt clip, hand would be in September and whether people from other countries that had failed strap, AC power adapter, BC-223 rapid- to contain the virus successfully would be able to leave their countries or enter charge drop-in tray and printed manual. Please visit: www.universal-radio.com Romania. for more info and pricing on this cool radio. The organizers, Chrissy Brand and Christian Ghibaudo, said that events such ICOM AMATEUR RADIO as conferences might not be permitted to take place in Romania (or elsewhere in Universal is Europe) due to physical distancing requirements, etc. They also considered that proud to offer many attractions and restaurants might be closed, and that EDXC club members the entire line of Icom might not want to attend a conference for fear of their health and that of others. amateur They said it would be much better to postpone the conference in Bucharest until equipment, September of next year in what will hopefully be a safer environment. including their ground - The EDXC Conference was originally scheduled to take place September breaking line of D-STAR digital transceivers. 10-14, 2020. On Friday, September 10t a visit to Radio Romania International was Visit www.universal-radio.com for details! planned, as well as a city tour of Bucharest by bus. Saturday would feature the Universal Radio annual EDXC Banquet in the Parliament Hotel. Sunday offered the possibility to 651-B Lakeview Plaza Blvd. visit Communist Bucharest historical sites. And an optional post-excursion would Worthington, OH 43085 ◆ Orders: 800 431-3939 have been on Monday, September 14 to Dracula’s Castle in Brasov! It sounds like a ◆ Info: 614 866-4267 lot of fun and great camaraderie with shortwave listeners from all over Europe and www.universal-radio.com

68 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 FT-991A

The Yaesu FT-991A does it all. HF to 70cm with 100W on HF/6m. Multimode including C4FM Digital, HF/6m tuner, stunning 3.5" color TFT touch panel with spectrum display. Enhancements in this new "A" version in- clude realtime spectrum scope and three year limited mfg. warranty. FT-891 eQSL for test transmission on July 25 of the first RAE Argentina to the World program- ming broadcast from LRA36 in Antarctica on 15476 kHz in USB. Don’t be surprised if there is another round of RAE transmissions from Antarctica on that frequency. So, keep an ear on that frequency. (Courtesy: RAE) beyond. All shortwave listeners and DXers are welcome next year. For updates on Looking for a truly compact 100 watt the meeting, keep an eye on www.edxc.org. HF +6m transceiver? Consider the new Yaesu FT-891. With 32 bit DSP, detachable Our friend Antonio Avelino, the director of the DX Club Sem Fronteiras in head, optional tuner, backlit keys, 99 memo- Brazil, informed us that the 4th National Meeting of DXers and Radio Listeners in ries, APF, auto notch, USB/CAT ports, and Brazil, which was scheduled for October 9th and 10th, 2020 in the city of Caruaru, more. Receive is 30 kHz - 56 MHz. Pernambuco State, has also been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Anto- FTM-400XDR nio tells us that the meeting will be rescheduled for October of 2021.

RAE Transmissions from Antarctica

On Saturday, July 25, RAE Argentina to the World carried out special test transmissions in English and Spanish from station LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcán- gel San Gabriel, the low-powered (less than 1000 watts) Radio Nacional station The Yaesu FTM-400XDR is as capable as in the Argentine Antarctic. LRA36 uses a small Collins transmitter and a rhombic it is attractive. Enjoy sophisticated 2 meter- 440 operation in FM or C4FM digital System antenna. Fusion modes. Features include: auto- RAE has an AM and shortwave transmission site just north of Buenos Aires, mode select, 3.5" TFT color display, band but the shortwave transmitters there have been off the air for a few years now, scope, altitude display, APRS, GPS, clock, lacking tubes and other maintenance. During that time, RAE has broadcast its daily V+U/V+V/U+U, 50/20/5W RF, microSD port, plus 108-470 & 800-999 MHz receive. programs in eight languages via WRMI in Okeechobee. But this test transmis- sion on July 25 marked, as far as we know, the first RAE Argentina to the World FT3DR programming being broadcast from LRA36 in Antarctica. The frequency for this The FT3DR 2meter/440 HT transmission was 15476 kHz in Upper Sideband mode. offers cutting edge features The special half-hour programs in English and Spanish were hosted by RAE including FM and C4FM digi- announcer Fernando Farías. They included some basic information about the two tal, built in GPS, Bluetooth®, band scope, color TFT stations and a piece of Argentine folk music by Mercedes Sosa that used to be the touch-screen, V+V/U+U/ theme for RAE’s weekly DX program “Actualidad DX” when it was hosted by V+U/U+V, voice record and famed Chilean DXer Gabriel Iván Barrera some years ago. The current DX host receive from 100 kHz to and RAE QSL Manager is Arnaldo Slaen. I had a chance to participate in one of his 999.999 MHz (less cellular). programs when I was in Buenos Aires last year. “Actualidad DX” is produced in Visit www.universal-radio.com for full Spanish, but it’s translated into the other seven languages that RAE broadcasts in, information and videos on these radios! and it can be heard in the Friday program each week in all eight languages. Universal Radio Don’t be surprised if there is another round of RAE transmissions from Ant- 651-B Lakeview Plaza Blvd. Worthington, OH 43085 arctica on that frequency. So, keep an ear on 15476 USB. ◆ Orders: 800 431-3939 And while we’re on the subject of RAE Argentina to the World, they have just ◆ Info: 614 866-4267 www.universal-radio.com

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 69 issued a new eQSL card to celebrate the 100th anniversary of radio broadcasting in Argentina this year (actually marked on August 27th). If you want a copy, send your report to: [email protected].

R.I.P. Shortwave Friends

This year we have lost a number of well-known short- wave listeners and broadcasters. In February of 2020 DXer Rex Gillett passed away in Australia. Fellow Australian Adrian Peterson, DX Editor of Adventist World Radio and editor-in-chief of AWR’s “Wavescan” program, commented: “There were many historic QSLs in Rex Gillett’s remarkable collection. I was saddened to learn that Rex had passed away at around 100 years old. However, I was very grateful for the fact that he was indeed a practicing Chris- tian. I knew him well from the WW2 era of DXing in South QSL from RAE celebrates 100 years of radio in Argentina. Australia. He, together with his wife Gwen, lived in the (Courtesy: RAE) same suburb of the city of Adelaide where I was employed as a management trainee in a large factory that was making Over in Europe, Risto Vahakainu, Board member of the American household products under license from the Unit- Finnish DX Association (FDXA), published an item on the ed States. This was just prior to my change of life direction European DX Council website May 4 about the passing of when I decided to seek an education in preparation for Chris- their Honorary President Jyrki K. Talvitie at the age of 78. tian ministry. “Jyrki was one of the founders of the Finnish DX As- “In those days, the South Australian Radio DX Club sociation in 1958,” said Risto, “and a long-time President of was meeting monthly on Saturday evenings in the studios the club. Over the years, he also carried out numerous other of the revived 5KA which had been installed in the Meth- duties in the club. Jyrki was Secretary General of the Euro- odist Mission building just around the corner from the GPO pean DX Council in 1969. He was appointed the first Honor- and the Town Hall in Adelaide’s one-mile main square grid. ary President of the FDXA in 2016. Four of Australia’s mediumwave stations had been silenced “Jyrki’s greatest interest in DXing and traveling was by government order early in the Pacific War as a security Latin America. Spanish was his home language for decades measure. 4AT was taken over by the ABC, 2HD went quiet, and he specialized in Mexico and Guatemala, but he had also 5KA and 5AU also went quiet. However, the licenses for travelled in many other parts of Central and South America.” 5KA and 5AU were taken over by another company and both Jyrki Talvitie had his own publishing company under the stations were reactivated before the Pacific war was over. name Tietoteos, and many of the books it published were Initially, the 5KA antenna was simply a thick wire running also written or compiled by him. Tietoteos distributed the up the church steeple, even before a tower was erected at the World Radio TV Handbook in Finland for decades and it same location.” also published several DX-related books like Henrik Kle- Adrian continued: “Back in those days, Rex Gillett was metz’ classic “Latin America by Radio.” recognized as a highly experienced and reliable DXer whose Europe also lost longtime DXer Tor-Henrik Ekblom information was quoted quite often in the South Australian May 27, 2020, at the age of 83. “Torre began DXing in Radio Call magazine, the Melbourne Listener In, and the 1952 in Helsinki and was one the founders of the first small Sydney based Radio and Hobbies, as well as in radio publi- DX clubs in Finland,” said Risto Vahakainu. “He lived and cations in nearby New Zealand. There were times when the worked over 40 years abroad, employed first by Finnair and American Radio News also published his information. He later by the Finnish Tourist Bureau and stationed in Copen- frequently alerted the international radio world about new hagen, Amsterdam and Stockholm. In the 1960s he lived in shortwave and mediumwave station news, and his infor- Copenhagen and was associated with the Danish Short Wave mation was also quite often inserted by Earn Suffolk into Club International. He was one of the voices in their popular the subsequent Radio Australia DX program, and Sweden DX-Window program transmitted via Radio Denmark on Calling DXers also quoted his information. Rex was known shortwave. He also worked for decades as an editor of the fondly and appreciated by Arthur Cushen in New Zealand, World Radio TV Handbook. and by many other giants in the international radio world. “Torre was one of the backbones of the European DX His remarkable QSL collection contained rare and priceless Council. He attended the founding meeting in Copenhagen QSL cards and letters that are valuable beauties in their own in 1967 and later several other EDXC meetings. His nu- right. His collection over the years was huge.” merous contacts were helpful when organizing the EDXC meetings in Finland. In 2007-2009 he was Assistant Secre-

70 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 tary General of the EDXC helping his good friend Secretary tional broadcasting scene was very nearly ‘encyclopedic.’” General Tibor Szilagyi.” Thomas continued: “It was among my favorite things After he retired, Torre and his wife Sinikka returned to do at the Fest...to page through albums of QSL cards with to Finland, spending summer holidays at their countryside Allan that he and other Fest attendees like Dan Robinson cottage where he could practice some good DXing. “Truly brought to share. Allan’s eyes would light up as he turned an international fellow,” remembers Risto. “We will always each page. Not only did he know each card and each broad- remember his positive attitude and great sense of humor.” caster, but, if you asked, he could take you on a deeper dive Allan Loudel’s Radio Knowledge was “Encyclopedic” into the nuanced history of each station. As our mutual friend The United States lost a great proponent of shortwave as Tracy Wood put it: ‘Allan was a giant...radio was his life and well. On July 7, I received a message from Tracy Wood in thankfully he shared his passion with us. Allan thankfully the Washington, DC, area with the sad and surprising news exploited his deep knowledge of shortwave news broadcasts of the passing of Delaware DXer Allan Loudell at the young to fill his Rolodex with hundreds of worldwide contacts for age of 64. I met Allan back in the 1970s when we both call-out interviews. Whether it was a Jerusalem Post writer worked as journalists at public radio stations in the midwest- or a radio news person at Deutsche Welle, Allan gave his ern US state of Illinois. It just so happened that we were both audience a true global perspective during his days at WILM shortwave listeners and DXers, and our friendship continued and WDEL.’” for all of those decades since then. On July 7, WDEL broadcast several news bulletins In the meantime, Allan had an illustrious career as a about Allan’s death. In subsequent days, I dug through the radio news broadcaster in the northeastern state of Delaware recordings I made at the 2019 Winter SWL Fest, and I was for more than 30 years. I last met Allan at the Winter SWL thrilled to find part of the Canadian International DX Club’s Fest in February of last year. Our mutual friend Thomas SWL trivia quiz in which Allan was one of the contestants, Witherspoon published an item in his swling.com blog short- squaring off against the Fest’s co-organizer Richard Cuff. ly after the news that Allan had passed away. Allan won a round of the quiz by answering a question about Thomas wrote that he also got to know Allan via the time signal station YVTO in Caracas, Venezuela, and another Winter SWL Fest. “Allan attended every year and was well- about the Voice of Free China in Taiwan. known for being not only wonderfully good-natured—the sort of guy who is liked by everyone—but also one of the most knowledgeable DXers on the planet. As a mutual friend recently noted, his knowledge of the domestic and interna- T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 71 T h e S h o r t wav e L i s t e n e r By Fred Waterer [email protected] Radio Prague, WBCQ, WWCR, BBC Programming for September

elcome to an early fall edition of The Shortwave Listener. This month we travel to Prague, London, WGermany, Maine and Nashville. The nights will soon start getting longer, so fire up that shortwave rig (and in some cases your computer/device) and settle in for some great listening. WRMI continues to broadcast programming from Ra- dio Prague each day. Radio Prague has always been a good station, even in the bad old days of the Cold War. After the Berlin Wall fell, the Czechoslovak Republic democratized and split into two countries, Slovakia and the Czech Repub- lic. Radio Prague can be heard in English at 1200 UTC on 9955 kHz Monday through Saturday. On Saturday and Sun- day, listen at 0300 UTC, also on 9955 kHz. Tuesdays only, listen at 2000 UTC on 15770 kHz. Radio Prague QSL, circa 1985 (Courtesy: the author’s collec- Every show starts with a brief bulletin of news from tion) the Czech Republic. On weekdays this is followed by “Showcase 292” will air with time donated by the Current Affairs - a magazine offering an in-depth coverage station on Radio Channel 292 from Rohrbach, Germany on of political, economic, social, cultural and sports events in September 7 from 2100 to 2200 UTC on 3955, 6070 and the Czech Republic. The rest of the show is reserved for 9670 kHz. This is Channel 292’s first collaborative simulcast the following regular features: On Mondays listeners can featuring five music and variety programs that appear on its hear “One on One,” an informal interview show, and “Sport weekly schedule: “Alt Universe Top 40” (rock), “Encore” News.” Tuesdays, one can hear “In Focus.” On Wednesdays (classical music), “From the Isle of Music” (Cuban mu- “Marketplace,” looks at Czech business and beyond. Thurs- sic), “Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot” (world and novelty music) days tune in for “Panorama,” the weekly arts and culture and the “Voice of the Report of the Week” (listener request program. Next up on Fridays is more “Business News” and music plus commentary). 3955 and 9670 kHz are both new “The Arts.” frequencies and listeners from beyond Europe are encour- Saturdays rotating features include “Czech Books,” aged to try them. A special eQSL will be available from the “Czech History,” “Czech Life,” “Mailbox,” “Magazine,” producer (details will be given during the broadcast). “My Prague,” “Letter from Prague,” and “Sound Czech.” WBCQ The Planet from Monticello, Maine, continues The week wraps up with “Sunday Music Show,” a its popular simulcast series with time donated by Allan and weekly half-hour music program featuring all manner of Angela Weiner with “WBCQ Works!” on September 7 from different styles and genres, from classical to alternative rock 10 pm to 11 pm EDT (0200-0300 UTC September 8) on to hip hop, each time with a different host. 5130, 6160 and 7490 kHz with five of its popular regular Next up, some upcoming program information from music offerings: “Area 51,” “beHAVior night,” the “Lost William “Uncle Bill” Tilford. There will be two special si- Discs Radio Show,” “Marion’s Attic” and “Uncle Bill’s mulcasts in September, one on WBCQ, one on Channel 292. Melting Pot.” In another recent broadcast, 6160 was heard Both WBCQ The Planet and Radio Channel 292 will be as far as Western Russia. This, too, will have a special eQSL presenting special simulcasts featuring multiple music and from the producer, details will be given during the broadcast. variety programs in September, both with time donated by Since it will be Labor Day in the US, at least some of the the stations:

72 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 WBCQ Special Broadcast for September ( Photo courtesy William Tilford) songs will be related to work or the lack of it. radio is not registered. I hope I don’t get in trouble.) Recently, in the pages of this column we looked at pro- The Catholic Traditional Movement, Inc., is dedicated gramming in the Esperanto language. Another fairly obscure to broadcasting “the familiar Latin words and organ music language heard on the shortwaves is Latin. For centuries Roman Catholics all over the world for centuries associated Latin tied a large chunk of the world together being both an with ‘Their’ Mass.” ecclesiastical language and a language of government and “Ask WWCR” can be heard on UTC Wednesdays at education. Latin hangs around in the background of most 1930 on 15825 kHz, on UTC Saturdays at 0300 on 4840 kHz European languages, most significantly in the Romance and at 0945 on UTC Sundays, also on 4840 kHz. languages, which trace their origins to Rome and Latin (RO- Ask WWCR is now in its 21st year, hosted by various MANce). Latin pops up in English in such words as quid pro members of the WWCR staff. The program is based pri- quo, postmortem, and bona fide. I could go on ad nauseum, marily on your questions. You can hear inside information but you get the idea. regarding the station’s operations, meet employees, and hear Latin is considered something of a dead language, to about other things at WWCR. It often veers into other topics, the best of my knowledge there are no native Latin speakers mostly about the world of shortwave radio. anywhere. Yet people in many fields continue to need, study Ask WWCR wants to hear from you. Letters can be and use it. sent to Ask WWCR, 1300 WWCR Ave., Nashville, TN So where can you hear Latin today? At one time one 37218 USA or via e-mail to AskWWCR@wwcr.com. (This could hear a brief weekly newscast in Latin via Radio e-mail address is used only for the show itself and not for Finland, before that station left shortwave. (There is a page general correspondence or business.) of audio files on the YLE Radio Finland website, none of The program is hosted by Brady Murray and Dr. Jerry which have been updated since June 2019, featuring these Plummer. I met the latter at the NASB Annual Meeting in Latin newscasts. Just Google Nuntii Latini Finland). WWCR Hamilton, ON a few years back, a really nice fellow! in Nashville, Tennessee, of all places, is home to a weekly BBC Radio 2 is one of my favorite BBC channels. This broadcast in Latin called the “Traditional Latin Catholic month there are a couple of notable programs, which will Mass.” It has been heard for many years on Sundays at 1600 have aired by the time you read this, but which should be UTC on 15825 kHz. available for on demand listening via the Radio 2 website. The program started out on one station in New Ro- chelle, New York in 1970. Over the next 20 years the pro- Trevor Nelson’s Rhythm Nation gram spread to other radio stations covering much of the United States. “Since the 90s, when the number of registered Radio 2 marks the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s shortwave receivers rose worldwide to 950 Million, the CTM iconic I Have A Dream speech, which he made on 28 Au- has redirected its radio Mass apostolate by broadcasting gust 1963 in Washington, DC, and was a defining moment every Sunday from one of the world’s most powerful short- of the Civil Rights Movement in America. For “I Have a wave stations, WWCR Nashville, Tennessee, reaching enthu- Dream Day,” the station will celebrate the incredible contri- siastically responding Catholics in some 125 countries.” (My bution that black artists have made to the world of music and

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 73 culture by playing 24 hours of some of the greatest music ever made by black artists, from the 1950s to the present day. There will be further specials hosted by guest presenters across the following days, including “Sounds of the 60s” with Martha Reeves, “Sounds of the 70s” with Nile Rodgers and “Sounds of the 90s” with Toni Braxton. Thursday 27 August 10.00pm-12.00am BBC Radio 2

Greg James Presents Bob Harris’s 50th Anniversary

Radio 2 celebrates a master craftsman who has estab- lished many unique achievements over 50 years on air, since Hancock Hancock’s Half Hour, a brilliant comedy from the his first ever BBC broadcast on Radio 1 on 19 August 1970. 1950s recreated on BBC Radio 4 Extra (Photo courtesy BBC) In this special show, Radio 1’s Breakfast Show presenter, Greg James, talks in depth to Bob about his life, influences Canada and become that country’s Finance Minister. Before and passions - and constant search for the next big thing. he was Governor of the Bank of England, he was Governor Greg grew up with Bob’s famous whispering voice of the Bank of Canada. Stay tuned. coming out of the radios at home, as his father Alan has been a fan ever since that first broadcast on Radio 1, through BBC Programming Notes for September his television career on The Old Grey Whistle Test, right through to Bob’s current work on Radio 2. They are firm The Empty Cases On 7 June 2020, protesters in Bristol friends through a love of cricket and music and have often rewrote the city’s history by pulling down a statue of 17th attended gigs together with their families. Century slave trader Edward Colston and dumping it in the Bob has always built his own personal, melodic and harbour. The damaged statue has since been retrieved and memorable playlists for his radio shows and is loved and there are plans to display it elsewhere, complete with the red respected by his colleagues, world famous musicians and a daubs of protesters’ paint, and Black Lives Matter placards. loyal audience. Above all, Bob retains a huge commitment The event has triggered a discussion among Britain’s to helping new musicians, from Emmylou Harris and Tom curators about what objects are acceptable for display in Petty in the 70s through to Steve Earle, Lady A, Carrie museums and galleries in 2020. Some museums have entire Underwood and Kacey Musgraves in more recent years and collections established on the wealth of the slave trade or today’s rising stars including The Shires, Ward Thomas, acts of colonial plunder, others have items that might now Kelsea Ballerini and Tenille Townes. be deemed racially or culturally insensitive. For some, it’s “The Country Show” with Bob Harris continues to be the context and settings of collections that reveal a distinctly the destination for people wanting to know what’s happening racist interpretation of history. As one museum curator has in the country music world, with sessions and plays for new put it: “In Britain, you’re never more than 150 miles from a artists like Ruthie Collins, Ingrid Andress (as featured on looted African object.” “New to 2” and the main Radio 2 playlist) and Willie Jones Gary Younge speaks to the curators as they currently (tipped as the next Little Nas X). review what’s on display in UK museums, and asks how The emerging artists Bob Harris continues to champion they’re rewriting the way we revere, remember and acknowl- on air and those big names still working, influencing and edge Britain’s historical moments. Thursday 27 August cutting through like Queen (who he gave their first on air 11.30am-12.00pm BBC Radio 4 exposure to) and David Bowie (he sang backing vocals on the Space Oddity album) will be reflected in the playlist of The Missing Hancocks Tony tells Andree how he got his this special program. Saturday 22 August 9.00pm-10.00pm war wound, which is a story you may find hard to believe... BBC Radio 2. Between 1954 and 1959, BBC Radio recorded 102 ep- Former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney isodes of Galton & Simpson’s comedy but 20 went missing will be the 2020 BBC Reith Lecturer. Carney will deliver from the BBC archives, and had not been heard since their three lectures in the autumn which will explore how the rela- original transmission… until these faithful re-imaginings. tionship between economic value and human values deter- After a highly acclaimed first series, another five of the mines our livelihoods, identities and futures. 20 were re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC The lectures will examine how market valuations are Radio Theatre. shaping the values of society, and in the process undercutting “How Hancock Won the War” was originally broadcast the social fabric necessary for markets. The dates and loca- on the BBC Light Program in February 1956. This re-cre- tions, not to mention the air dates, have not been determined. ation was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November Further complicating things: the hottest rumor in Ottawa as 2015. Ep 1/5 Thursday 27 August 7.00am-7.30am BBC this column was being written is that Carney may return to Radio 4 Extra. T S M

74 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 A m at eur R a dio Sat e l l i t es By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF [email protected] Amateur Radio Satellite Primer (Part VII): The Amazing Story of AMSAT-OSCAR 7 n previous columns, I’ve discussed how those interested in receiving (and if properly licensed) actually working Ithrough our growing fleet of amateur radio satellites could do so with just modest radio equipment. In this edition, I’ll turn the spotlight on one of our oldest satellites…one that’s been in orbit (and at least semi-operational) for over 35 years…and how, very much like the old Timex watch com- mercial…it has “taken a licking” and has “kept on ticking!”

AMSAT-OSCAR 7

AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) was launched November 15, 1974 by a Delta 2310 launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California, as a secondary payload along with ITOS-G (NOAA 4) and the Spanish INTASAT satellite. AO-7 was the second satellite in AMSAT’s so- called “Phase II” satellite series (Phase II-B). That is, unlike An artist’s conception of how AO-7 might appear on orbit. (Cour- their relatively short lifetime predecessor satellites that only tesy: AMSAT) carried beacon transmitters, AMSAT’s Phase II satellites SATELLITE Uplink (MHz) Downlink (MHz) Beacons (MHz) actually carried amateur radio RF transponders aboard. AO-7 145.850 - 145.950 29.400 - 29.500 29.502 When it was launched into a relatively circular, 1444 (Mode V/A) AO-7 432.125 - 432.175 145.975 - 145.925 145.975 by 1459 km, 101.7-degree inclination orbit, the octahedral- (Mode U/V) 435.100 ly shaped (360 mm high and 424 mm in diameter) satellite weighed in at about 65 pounds. The antenna array consisted AO-7 operating frequencies of a circularly polarized, canted turnstile VHF/UHF antenna Efficiency Linear Amplification by Parametric Synthesis) system along with an HF dipole. techniques…a technology that was painstakingly developed Similar to its immediate predecessor (AMSAT-OSCAR by Dr. Meinzer as part of his Ph.D. dissertation. HELAPS 6), AO-7 was built by a multi-national (German, Canadian, was very effectively used on a number of AMSAT’s subse- United States and Australian) team of radio amateurs under quent satellites including AO-10, AO-13 and AO-40. the direction of AMSAT-North America. It carried a non-in- verting Mode V/A (2-meter uplink and 10-meter downlink) The Lost is Found along with an inverting Mode U/V (70-cm uplink and 2-me- ter) downlink linear transponders. Telemetry beacons on 10 AO-7 was operational for nearly seven years until a and 2-meters as well as 70-cm rounded out the satellite’s supposed battery failure caused it to cease operation in mid- RF suite. Unfortunately, AO-7’s 2304.1 MHz experimental 1981. Then on June 21, 2002, Pat Gowen G3IOR (SK) stum- beacon was never activated due to international frequency bled onto something he noted as remarkable, when hunt- allocation issues. ing for what he called interlopers on our 2-meter amateur Four radio masts mounted at 90-degree intervals on the satellite band. During his search, he came across a beacon base and two experimental repeater systems provided store- sending slow, 8-10 wpm Morse code on 145.973 MHz that and-forward capability for Morse and Teletype messages as was also slowly drifting downward to 145.970 MHz before it orbited around the world. The Mode-B transponder was fading out completely. The beacon peaked at S9 and, at designed and built by Professor Dr. Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC and times, took on a rough quality…wobbling in frequency and Werner Haas DJ5KQ (SK). The Mode-B transponder was the then coming back strong and quite stable again. first such transponder using Dr. Meinzer’s “HELAPS” (High Being an avid amateur satellite operator from the

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 75 No ICs or surface mount technology here! All of Phase II- B’s (AO-7’s) electronic modules used hand-soldered and cir- AMSAT’s Phase II-B (AO-7) satellite was built (quite literally) cuit-board-mounted components. Once thermal and vibration in people’s garages and basements. Here, Dick Daniels W4PUJ testing was successfully completed, the circuit boards were then (SK), solders yet another component into one of the satellite’s covered with a thick, clear conformal coating to better keep electronic modules in the basement of his Virginia home. (Cour- everything in place during the rigors of launch. (Courtesy: AM- tesy: AMSAT) SAT) earliest OSCAR era, the beacon sounded VERY familiar to be drawing power from the highly efficient solar arrays. At him. Clearly, it was coming from none of the (then) current that point, AO-7 might have enough solar power to become a amateur satellite fleet. And because of the Doppler shift, the daytime-only satellite. signals were obviously coming from a satellite. But, which Indeed, this is precisely what has apparently happened one? It was later determined that what Pat had been listen- and what has (miraculously!) caused AO-7 to come back to ing to was none other than our old AO-7 that had somehow life after so many years of being dormant. The only down- come back to life! side to this now daytime-only satellite is that, every time Jan King W3GEY, the AMSAT-OSCAR-7 Project sunlight hits the spacecraft and it powers up after exiting an Manager, later noted that AO-7 had a very good set of solar eclipse, AO-7 comes up randomly in either Mode V/A (the panels and the first Battery Charge Regulator (BCR) AM- old Mode A) or Mode U/V (the old Mode B). SAT ever flew. It was also the first spacecraft AMSAT ever built that was capable of actually overcharging the battery. Current Status When the battery failed, the individual battery cells began to fail “short.” As expected, when one cell after another in the Subsequent analysis has revealed that, even after over battery failed, the decreasing voltage measured by telemetry 35 years in orbit (and with the notable exception of the now also began to drop. open battery) AO-7 remains in surprisingly good shape. However, what AO-7’s experimenters hadn’t counted For example, the Morse code telemetry encoder, voltage on was what would happen if any one of the failed cells reference circuitry and other onboard electronics are all still lost its short and became open. Then, the entire power bus providing useful data to AO-7’s ground handlers. would become unclamped from ground and all the space- What’s more, AO-7 is now one of only a small handful craft’s loads (including the transponders) would then only of all satellites from that era that are still operational. That’s Jan King W3GEY runs tests on one of AMSAT Phase-II-B’s Jan King W3GEY prepares the flight model of AMSAT’s Phase (AO-7’s) transponder modules. Note the clip lead and screwdriver II-B satellite (which later became AO-7 on orbit) for vibration “probe”! (Courtesy: AMSAT) testing at a NASA facility. (Courtesy: AMSAT)

76 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 The completed Phase II-B (AO-7) satellite (minus its solar panels) sits on its launcher carrying structure. (Courtesy: AMSAT) AMSAT’s Phase II-B satellite (which later became AMSAT-OSCAR 7 on orbit) Operating Tips is shown here on its upper stage launch stack. The primary payload is at the top Because of its relatively high center, and AO-7 is attached at the lower power (2-8 watt) downlink transmit- left. (Courtesy: AMSAT) ters, you should be able to hear very weak signals without needing a lot of quite a testimonial for a satellite that uplink power. Remember, this satellite was built (quite literally!) by a group of was never intended to be an FM bird as amateurs in their basements and garages FM signals gobble up huge amounts of and launched into Earth orbit over 35 downlink power! Indeed, I’ve success- years ago! fully worked through AO-7 with 5 watts or less to my eggbeaters. When and Where to Listen Unfortunately, AO-7’s mode B up- link is also in the middle of the informal Since it sprang back to life, AO-7 70-cm so-called weak-signal terrestrial has once again become a popular linear band, that was established after AO-7 (analog) satellite. Indeed, when AO-7 first went silent. Excessive uplink pow- is in full sunlight, it provides surpris- er may interfere with other services in ingly strong (albeit somewhat “chirpy”) that band and may be now considered downlink signals…even on my eggbeat- (by some) to be a spurious, out of band er antenna array! emission. However, it takes a bit of patience Also, if you hear your downlink to first determine which mode the signal start to rapidly change frequency satellite is in when it first pops over the (such as a warbling sound) this means horizon. I do this by first setting my you are putting WAY too much power downlink frequency in the middle of into the old bird! Reduce power and the either passband (at, say 29.450 MHz situation should correct itself. Remem- or 145.950 MHz) and then send a few ber, too, that, voice signals strain the widely-spaced (and very short!) CW power system on AO-7 the least. So, if “dits” while tuning across that mode’s AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) was successfully you are using CW, please be extra vig- downlink passband. Once I hear my launched November 15, 1974 by a Delta ilant about the amount of uplink power 2310 launcher from Vandenberg Air Force own “dits” coming back to me on the you are using. Hopefully, with some Base near Lompoc, California. (Courtesy: downlink, I immediately know which extra care, this old satellite will be with AMSAT) mode the satellite is in, and I then begin us for many more years to come. to look for a contact. T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 77 A dv e n t u r e s i n R a dio R e stor at ion By Rich Post KB8TAD [email protected] The Cheap Radio: Hallicrafters S-107

knew what I was getting into. I inquired about the Halli- crafters S-107 sitting on the table at a hamfest in No- I vember last year. The note on it said, “Wax dripped out bottom of transformer – Been hot – Tubes do not light up.” The power transformer had leaked its black waxy contents inside the radio. As a result, the price was really cheap. Alvin N, who had invited me to the hamfest was apparently selling this for the sponsoring club. He duly warned me about the radio’s condition. I said it would be fun to try to resurrect it. As a worst case, it could become a parts donor for another radio. The S-107 was primarily a mid-priced shortwave lis- tener’s radio. It covered the broadcast band, three shortwave bands from 2.5 MHz to 31 MHz and the 6-meter band from 48 to 54.5 MHz. The receiver had dual IF amplifiers and S-107 chassis as obtained. (KB8TAD photo) used eight tubes, thus a major cut above the low end Halli- was actually in very good condition, no shorts at all. Testing crafters such as the five tube S-38 series that were AC-DC. what was left of the burnt 5Y3GT revealed leakage between The additional tubes were for the 2nd IF stage, a separate RF the plates, but that could have been the after effect of the oscillator, and the BFO. The S-107 obviously was transform- extreme heating. However, with no obvious fault in the er operated. The dual IF stage would increase the sensitivity B+ distribution of the set, I concluded that the 5Y3GT had but, lacking an RF amplifier stage, selectivity might be limit- developed a plate-to-plate partial short which caused such ed. Offered from 1958 to 1962, the radio was a replacement overheating that it took out the power transformer primary as for the Hallicrafters S-53A with its nearly identical circuit. its “fuse,” a good thing as a fire might have resulted had the The 6-meter band was unusual for a set primarily intended transformer not burned out. for shortwave listeners, but that “magic” band could be quite active when the sunspot activity was just right. The set was Three Versions originally priced at $94.95 which was about $35 cheaper than the S-108, the Hallicrafters model which was the next Under the dust, the chassis was rubber stamped as step up and had that tuned RF amp stage. The S-107 price in “Mark 1,” labeling this set as the second of three versions of 1958 would equate to about $852 today. the S-107. Tubes in this Mark 1 version include a 6BA6 as There was a heavy layer of dust on the radio, but the mixer, two 6BA6 as IF amplifiers, 12AX7 as audio preamp under-chassis appearance was relatively clean, except of and BFO, 6AL5 as detector/ AGC, 6K6GT as audio output course for the area around the cooked power transformer and that 5Y3GT rectifier. The earlier version used an octal which had an open primary. I did a few preliminary checks 6H6 in place of the 7-pin miniature 6AL5 and an octal 6SC7 to see what might have caused the transformer to fry. The in place of the 9-pin miniature 12AX7. A later version, S-107 5Y3GT had over-heated to where it was thoroughly black- Mark II, substituted a miniature 7 pin 6AQ5 in place of the ened inside, and the glass envelope had cracked. A hard- octal 6K6GT. The oldest version and the Mark 1 version ened black coating was found on the top side of the chassis each had an RCA jack for phono input and used tip jacks for around the rectifier tube socket. The Bakelite of the rectifier headphone output. The Mark II version used that RCA jack tube base had overheated to the point that it was brittle. for audio output and replaced the tip jacks with a standard Testing the electrolytic capacitor, however, revealed that it

78 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 The defective power transformer. (KB8TAD photo) dead CB but did not have a tube rectifier filament winding. It could have been used had I modified the radio with solid state rectifiers. The fourth one turned out to be a Stancor PM-8403 which was one of the choices listed by Sams as a replacement for the one in the S-53A. The Thordarsons and the Stancor were all rated at 70 mA output for high voltage, 3 amperes for the 6.3 filament winding and the usual 2 amps at 5 volts for the rectifier. However, the B+ voltage from either Thordarson would have been somewhat higher, requir- ing an added resistor to make up the difference. The Stancor Hallicrafters S-107 ad in the Popular Electronics November 1959. (Author’s collection) with the same current ratings had a bit less B+ voltage, was a proper fit not only physically but also for electrical specifica- phone jack for headphones. tions and was likely an exact replacement selected according to the Sams criteria. An on-line search turned up a Stancor Locating a Replacement Transformer PC-8403 priced at $105 which was identical in lamination stack although mounted upright but could have been used if The relatively poor manual copy on BAMA was not the end bells were swapped with the one that had burned out. helpful in locating a replacement transformer with the excep- However, I’m glad to have saved a few transformers in the tion of the specifications stating that the power draw for the “boxe de junque”. radio was 50 watts. Knowing that the radio was a follow-on to the Hallicrafters S-53 and S-53A, I checked the online Fuse? manuals for that model. The Sams Photofact for the S-53A also showed the same power draw, no surprise since it had What could have saved the original transformer? Some- a similar complement of tubes. Hallicrafters part number thing as simple as a 1-amp fuse. Hallicrafters and many other for the S-53A power transformer was 52C164. The Sams radio manufacturers didn’t bother installing fuses in many of Photofact suggested replacement power transformers for their lower and mid-priced models and sometimes high end that model as a Stancor PM-8403, Merit P-2958, or Chicago as well. The UL label was prominently displayed on the back PH-50. of the cabinet, but the radio was part of an era that was a bit I measured the S-107 transformer dimensions. The lam- more cavalier in attitude toward safety. However, in resto- ination stack measured 2.5 by 3 inches and 1.25 inches tall. ration I often recommend adding an inline fuse as well as That length and width was a fairly standard measurement. other safety improvements. The transformer with its top and bottom end bells measured I removed the burned-out transformer. With it out of a total of 3 inches in height. The well-stocked “boxe de jun- circuit, I double checked to make sure that the heat of the que” had four possible transformers with the same dimen- rectifier had not damaged its octal socket. I thoroughly sions for length and width including two from Thordarson cleaned the socket and then tested for any high resistance that would have worked. Another had been rescued from a leakage between the socket terminals, finding none.

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 79 The fried 5Y3GT in its socket. KB8TAD photo) Dead power transformer (center) and two possible replacements with the same dimensions. (KB8TAD photo) Testing the Transformer bring the cleaner to the inside of the switches followed up by The Hallicrafters chassis openings allowed for either the same treatment to the IF gain control and its dual-action a two-bolt or four-bolt transformer. With identical dimen- switch, also found to be open, and the volume control. A sions, the Stancor was a simple drop-in replacement for the quick measurement for continuity afterwards showed all to Hallicrafters transformer. However, the color codes for the be in good order. leads were a bit confusing, likely due to aging color of its I next connected a shop speaker to the chassis speaker cloth-covered leads. The high voltage leads were easy to wires, getting a satisfying crackle from the speaker as my distinguish as they were all reddish in color and of course VOM on Rx1 touched the red and blue primary connections had the greatest resistance of any leads. A simple ohmmeter of the audio output transformer. check determined which of the three leads was the center tap. The primary leads were black as dictated by color-code First Power Up standards and confirmed by simple resistance measure- ment. However, the 5-volt secondary wires for rectifier With the preliminary cold checks completed, it was filament and the 6.3-volt secondary were the same color, an time to power the set, first without a rectifier to verify just off-yellow. Normally, yellow is the color code for the 5-volt the tube filaments. All the tubes warmed properly. I replaced secondary and green for the 6.3-volt filament. A simple re- one of the two pilot lights which had burned out. For the sistance check could not readily distinguish between the two, second power up, I inserted a replacement 5Y3GT. All the no surprise as both windings read very low ohms. I bolted B+ voltages checked out OK, but there was no sound. I the transformer in place and spliced the black wires to the connected a phono cable to the phono input jack to see if the primary leads I had cut from the dead transformer, adding audio stages were working. It barely produced a bit of hum heat shrink tubing. The secondary leads were carefully injected by my thumb on the other end of the phono cable separated. I then powered the transformer in place, using the with the volume all the way up. Checking the audio circuits Variac, and measured the voltage on the various secondaries. showed the proper voltages at the screen grid and plate of the The one filament pair measured at 5.5 volts confirming those 6K6GT audio output tube but not at the cathode. The input as the rectifier filament. The other measured 7 volts, typical grid circuit did not show any positive voltage, but I changed for an unloaded 6.3 volt secondary. I also measured the high the critical cap to that grid anyway with no improvement. voltage to center tap leads, which read about 280 volts at no At this point I began to suspect the tubes, especially since load. Without a load, the transformer took very little exci- several were the original tubes with the Hallicrafters logo tation current, confirming it to be in good condition. still on them after all the years. One of the 6BA6 tubes was I next connected all the secondaries in the radio to very weak as was the 6C4 oscillator. The 12AX7 was also complete the transformer installation. In checking the high somewhat weak. However, the 6K6GT audio output tube voltage center tap connection which goes to an unused was nearly flat. Substituting all those tubes from my spares terminal on the 5Y3GT socket, I noticed that the grounding finally brought in lots of stations on the broadcast band with was intermittent. That led to the standby/ receive switch plenty of sensitivity and volume. The set was alive again. that opens the center tap to ground connection, cutting high voltage on standby. So the next act was to place the radio Capacitors and Power Cord with its front panel facing up and applying some DeoxIT to each of the four bat-handle switches, letting gravity help I replaced all the critical high impedance circuit caps

80 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Closeup of the overheated 5Y3GT. (KB8TAD photo) this type of problem. To confuse matters, the 6-meter scale has a “set” mark right above the 70 on the bandspread scale. However, that “set” is the location for the main tuning indi- cator when the 6-meter band is used. All tuning for 6 meters is with the bandspread control. The scorched area around the 5Y3GT socket. (KB8TAD photo) My abbreviated manual, a user guide that accompanied the S-107, did not have the alignment instructions and, more and those that see high voltage only to find that the ones I importantly, the pictorial of the location for the various trim- replaced were surprisingly in excellent shape with no leak- mers. The Sams Photofact for the S-53A, however, provided age. Apparently, Cornell-Dubilier had changed the way they a nice surprise. All of the trimmers and all of the adjustments made these “Tiny Chief” capacitors which I suspected were appeared to be quite similar to that of the S-107. I printed out built to modern standards. My previous experience with Tiny the pictorial for the S-53A RF alignment points and found Chief capacitors was that they were all leaky. that indeed, all were identical to their chassis locations for The original power cord was replaced with a new three the S-107 and although the trimmers are on the bottom of the wire safety-grounded version and an inline fuse holder with S-107 chassis while the pictorial showed the trimmer adjust- a 1-amp fuse was installed. I did not want a repeat of the ments for the chassis top of the S-53A, all I had to do was earlier demise of the radio. The speaker which was mounted count the trimmers from the front panel back in each case. in the top of the cabinet needed its cone patched. I tried a It confirmed to me that Hallicrafters had simply taken all of trick I had read about on the net, using a spent dryer sheet the S-53A components and transplanted them to the S-107 as the thin material for making the patch. It worked very chassis, changing a few tubes to their smaller equivalents. well in patching the hole, which was toward the center of Having that information made the full RF alignment much the speaker cone, thankfully not in the ribbed outer rim. I easier. I am assuming that Hallicrafters printed a proper thoroughly cleaned the cabinet which was repainted as the service manual with the alignment instructions for the S-107, weather allowed. but I have not been able to locate one. As a tip for oscillator alignment, a frequency counter Alignment comes in handy and avoids the problem of alignment on an image which is easy to do at the highest frequencies on a The IF alignment did not appear to be that far off, but single conversion set. Tracking can also be checked easily I checked it anyway. It was set at about 458 kHz, easily by simply tuning across the dial and following the oscillator readjusted back to the proper 455 kHz. The standard broad- frequency via the counter. The oscillator frequency would cast band was also not that far off the tuning dial indication normally be the tuning frequency plus the intermediate fre- on the upper end of the band but definitely off on the lower quency (455 kHz). On some sets, for the highest frequency side. However, the dial accuracy was well off on shortwave. band the counter would show the tune frequency minus the Bands “B” and “C,” the most typical shortwave bands used IF. In the absence of instructions and if in doubt as to which for foreign broadcast, had apparently been roughly aligned is correct for the set, try it both ways and see which of the with the bandspread at the wrong position. With the band- two possible oscillator settings will track properly across the spread at full mesh, the dial indications were closer to the dial. ballpark although still off. The instructions for the set clearly state that the homing position for bandspread should be at The IF Sensitivity its least capacitance, in other words with the separate band- spread blades fully out of the combination Hallicrafters The sensitivity control varies the bias on the cathodes of tuning cap. At that setting, the bandspread dial pointer shows the two IF amplifier tubes and if turned all the way up causes an indication of 100 as confirmed by the user instructions. some distortion on stronger signals. The instructions for the When fully meshed, the pointer indication is at zero. That radio anticipate that and suggest simply reducing the sensi- seems counter intuitive which may explain why I often see tivity control setting to limit the distortion. While the set has

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 81 Left: S-107 chassis ready for its cabinet. Right: S-107 back to work (KB8TAD photos) an AGC line that feeds the grids of the IF tubes, the sensi- relaxed to an evening of doing something that I have enjoyed tivity control is used as a manual control for gain. Tuning since I was a teenager, listening to AM broadcast stations for single sideband, something that was never intended for from all across the eastern US and Canada in the evening the S-107 or its S-53A predecessor can be accomplished by at nearly every 10 kHz position; Toronto, Detroit, Boston, turning the volume control all the way up and controlling the New York, Atlanta, Chicago and of course, the more distant RF gain with the sensitivity control. An increase in BFO in- stations via shortwave. For that purpose, this radio, once jection would help in tuning SSB, but the set was capable of aligned and working as intended, is an excellent perform- it. However, since the set was primarily geared to the short- er. That enjoyment of listening to a radio performing at its wave listener, it accomplished that very well with plenty of maximum adds to the experience of resurrecting a 60 plus sensitivity for AM shortwave reception and an effective BFO year old radio from what could have been the metal recycler. for CW, working very well on the HF and broadcast bands. [email protected] After all the work was completed, the radio was per- forming as intended. The power transformer was indeed Resources: a good match since it stayed cool. In fact, it was running somewhat cooler than what I normally expect from a Halli- The S-107 (Mark II) owner’s manual can be found at this crafters power transformer. I suspect that the 70-mA rating site: of the high voltage side for the Stancor replacement was http://jptronics.org/Hallicrafters/manuals/halli.s-107.pdf conservative. In fact, Sams Photofact had shown a 50 Ma rating for the original Hallicrafters transformer. The 6.3 volts The S-53A information from Sams Photofact can be found AC on the filaments was achieved at a line voltage of 116.7, here: which would be its optimal input voltage. The next time I see http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/hallicra/s53a Alvin N at a hamfest, I will let him know that the radio that could have incinerated itself was working well again, this Hallicrafters advertised the S-107 in Popular Electron- time with that major improvement in safety that Hallicrafters ics, November 1959 by offering a 45 RPM disc recording of had left out, a fuse. “The Amazing World of Shortwave Listening” for 25 cents. At this point, I hooked the radio to my 80 meter dipole That recording can be heard on YouTube at antenna, tuning in to the hams on 80 and 40 meters, and then https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnFod6S_Xrg T S M S-53A power transformer info from Sams

82 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 R a dio Hor i zons Product Announcements of Interest to TSM Readers Channel Master Introduces TiVo Edge DVR- for Cord-Cutting OTA-TV Households

Since the introduction of HDMI connections in new model Over-the-Air (OTA) TV sets, which don’t allow recording off-air by traditional VCRs or DVRs, it’s been difficult for cord-cutting households to digitally watch and record OTA-TV broadcasts. Previously, Channel Master had manufactured a DVR/OTA-TV receiver (Channel Master Stream+) that was fraught with issues. To make a more useful product and address the issue of being able to record OTA-TV broadcasts, have a full-featured interactive chan- nel guide and be able to skip commercials, Channel Master teamed up with the company that invented digital cable-TV recording, TiVo, which first introduced hard-drive based digital recording in 1999. The outcome of the partnership between Channel Master and TiVo is called the TiVo EDGE for Antenna and Channel Master TiVo EDGE offers digital video recording, view- ing, commercial skip, interactive on-screen TV guide to Over-the- is designed to work with OTA-TV antennas for cord-cutting Air antenna households. It requires Internet access, a TiVo sub- households and is sold exclusively by Channel Master. scription and an OTA-TV antenna. An all-inclusive package that According to a press release from Channel Master from includes the TiVo EDGE, lifetime TiVo service, and a very small August 19, OTA-TV antenna is $350. (Courtesy: Channel Master/TiVo) “The TiVo EDGE for Antenna (500GB) is the newest DVR model from TiVo. Introduced in July of 2020, Channel and can be ordered by the year or by the month. The TiVo Master and TiVo have added HDR support and advanced EDGE for Antenna will not work without Internet access or performance over its predecessor, the discontinued TiVo Bolt a TiVo subscription or an OTA-TV antenna and reception of OTA DVR. all available OTA-TV networks will depend on the quality “The TiVo EDGE is the most advanced over-the-air an- of your antenna. The small antenna that comes with the TiVo tenna DVR on the market, featuring two tuners allowing you EDGE package will probably work best only in urban and to record up to two programs at once and includes 500GB suburban locations. Those in more rural locations will need a of storage built-in for up to 75 hours of HD recording. The substantially better antenna. DVR is easy to install and will work with any TV antenna. While the TiVo EDGE allows recording of OTA-TV This all-in-one device is easy to use and lets you enjoy live, and has the ability to stream TV video and music services, it recorded, and streaming TV in one powerful device. No does not allow you to record those services. more switching from one device to another when the TiVo To order or find out more go to:https://www.channel - EDGE has it all! When purchased directly through Channel master.com/TiVo_Edge_OTA_DVR_p/rd6f50ls.htm Master, at $350, this model does NOT require additional fees. An all-in subscription to TiVo service is included with this model (service for the life of device including ownership transfer).” It’s important to note that this device will not work without Internet access—which is how it produces the on- screen interactive TV guide. You can also buy just the device by itself for $199 but will still require Internet access and does not include a subscription, which is $6.99 per month T S M

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 83 T S M B o o k s h e l f Books of Interest to TSM Readers to Enhance your Radio Listening

84 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 T S M B o o k s h e l f Books of Interest to TSM Readers to Enhance your Radio Listening

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 85 A bou t Us The Spectrum Monitor Writers’ Group

The Spectrum Monitor is edited and published by Ken Reitz KS4ZR, former managing editor, features editor, columnist and feature writer for Monitoring Times. Former feature writer and columnist for Satellite Times, Satellite Entertainment Guide, Satellite Orbit, Dish Entertainment Guide, Direct Guide; contributing editor on personal electronics for Consumers Digest. Author of the Kindle e-books “How to Listen to the World” and “Profiles in Amateur Radio.” E-mail: editor@thespec- trummonitor.com The Spectrum Monitor Writers’ Group consists of former columnists, editors and writers for Monitoring Times and Popu- lar Communications magazines. Below, in alphabetical order, are the columnists, their amateur radio call signs, the name of their column in The Spectrum Monitor, a brief bio and their websites and contact information.

Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF, “Amateur Radio Satellites” Past president of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). Freelance writer and photographer on amateur space tele- communications since 1993. Columnist and feature writer for Monitoring Times, The Canadian Amateur and the AMSAT Journal. [email protected]

Kevin O’Hern Carey N2AFX, “The Longwave Zone” Reporting on radio’s lower extremes, where wavelengths can be measured in miles, and extending to the start of the AM broad- cast band. Since 1991, editor of “Below 500 kHz” column for Monitoring Times. Author of “Listening to Longwave” (http://www. universal-radio.com/catalog/books/0024u.html). This link also includes information for ordering his CD, “VLF RADIO!,” a nar- rated tour of the longwave band from 0 to 530 kHz, with actual recordings of longwave stations. E-mail: [email protected]

Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU “Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze” Author of the Monitoring Times “Digital Digest” column since 1997, which follows the habits o f embassies, aid organizations, intelligence and military HF users, the digital data systems they use, and how to decode, breakdown and identify their traffic.

Dan Farber AC0LW, “Antenna Connections” Monitoring Times antenna columnist 2009-2013. Building ham and SWL antennas for over 40 years.

Richard Fisher KI6SN A veteran journalist with a 35-year career in daily newspapers, and an amateur radio operator living in Riverside, California, Richard has been an editor and writer for Popular Communications, WorldRadio Online, and CQ Amateur Radio magazines. Among his previous responsibilities have been the monthly “Emergency Communications,” “Trail-Friendly Radio” and “Easy Does It” col- umns for CQ, and has written for several QRP publications, including QRP Quarterly and QRPp magazine. An avid homebrewer, he is a co-founder of The Adventure Radio Society. Write to him at [email protected].

Tomas Hood NW7US, “Radio Propagation” An Extra Class operator since 1990, Tomas enjoys CW and digital modes on all HF bands. He is a contributing editor to CQ Amateur Radio, the former Popular Communications and CQ VHF magazines, an ARRL publication on QRP communications, and Monitoring Times. He runs the Space Weather and RadioPropagation Center at http://SunSpotWatch.com. Web site: http://nw7us. us Twitter: https://twitter.com/NW7US.

Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z, “Amateur Radio Insight” Amateur radio operator since 1977 at age 15. Author of “Stealth Amateur Radio.” Former editor, “ARRL Handbook,” former QST magazine assistant managing editor, columnist and feature writer for several radio-related magazines, technical editor for “Ham Radio for Dummies,” wrote “On the Ham Bands” column and numerous feature articles for Monitoring Times since 2009. Web site: www.stealthamateur.com. E-mail: [email protected]

Joe Lynch N6CL, “VHF and Above” Currently Director of Religious Education for the Army at West Point, New York. He holds a Doctor of Ministry, Master of Divinity, an MBA and is an adjunct instructor for four colleges and universities and a retired United Methodist minister. He served as the editor of CQ VHF magazine for 12 years and the VHF editor for CQ magazine for 22 years. email: [email protected]

86 The Spectrum Monitor September 2020 Stan Nelson KB5VL, “Amateur Radio Astronomy” Amateur radio operator since 1960. Retired after 40-plus years involved in mobile communications/electronics/computers/ automation. Active in radio astronomy for over twenty years, specializing in meteor monitoring. He wrote the “Amateur Radio Astronomy” column for Monitoring Times since 2010. A member of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA). www. RoswellMeteor.com. E-mail: [email protected]

Chris Parris, “Federal Wavelengths” Broadcast television engineer, avid scanner and shortwave listener, freelance writer on federal radio communications since 2004, wrote the “Fed Files” column for Monitoring Times. http://thefedfiles.com http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com Twitter: @ TheFedFiles E-mail: [email protected]

Rich Post KB8TAD, “Adventures in Radio Restorations” As a teenager Rich Post repaired radios and TV sets. He passed the exam for a First Class FCC license when he was told he needed one to repair his CB. He later received his amateur radio license as KB8TAD. Rich now holds a University Emeritus title having retired from Ohio University as Assistant Dean and Director of the Instructional Media and Technology Services. One of his hobbies is collecting and restoring “boat anchors.” He maintains the web site Boat Anchor Pix at https://people.ohio.edu/postr/ bapix

Tony Roper, “Military Air and Naval Reception” A Civil Air Traffic Controller in the UK as well as previously being in ATC in the Royal Air Force, totaling 25 years experience. He has worked as a part-time aviation photographer/writer and has been published worldwide. He also provides photos and research for IHS Jane’s, principally Jane’s Fighting Ships. His photography website and blog is http://planesandstuff. wordpress.com

Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV, “Digitally Speaking” First licensed as a Novice over 40 years ago, he enjoys exploring various facets of amateur radio, from the latest state of the art technologies, to the elegant simplicity found with a one-tube transmitter and straight key. He has an extensive background with computers and likes to restore 8, 12 and 16-bit classics from the 1970s. He owns a television production company and creates series programming, as well as marketing and training videos. [email protected].

Hugh Stegman NV6H, “Utility Planet” Longtime DXer and writer on non-broadcast shortwave utility radio. Former “Utility World” columnist for Monitoring Times magazine for more than ten years. Web site: www.ominous-valve.com/uteworld.html Blog: http://mt-utility.blogspot.com /email: [email protected] Twitter: @UtilityPlanet

Larry Van Horn N5FPW, “MilCom” Retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer. 43-year licensed amateur Extra class ham. FormerMonitoring Times Assistant Editor, Staff Journalist, Columnist. Former Satellite Times Managing Editor. Former Grove Enterprises Technical Support Technician. President Teak Publishing and author of dozens of print/e-Book radio hobby publications. EmaiL [email protected].

Dan Veeneman, “Scanning America” Software developer and satellite communications engineer writing about scanners and public service radio reception for Monitoring Times for 17 years. Web site: www.signalharbor.com E-mail: [email protected]

Ron Walsh VE3GO, “Maritime Monitoring” Retired career teacher, former president of the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation (now the Radio Amateurs of Canada), retired ship’s officer, licensed captain, “Boats” columnist and maritime feature writer forMonitoring Times for eight years. Avid photographer of ships and race cars. E-mail: [email protected].

Fred Waterer, “The Shortwave Listener” Former “Programming Spotlight” columnist for Monitoring Times. Radio addict since 1969, freelance columnist since 1986. Fascinated by radio programming and history. E-mail: [email protected]

September 2020 The Spectrum Monitor 87