5 MHz authorization - CT

Thats life, in a nutshell :smile:

Jonathan

HI Guru

The EA frequencies are the ones approved on WRC-2015. At CT we are still waiting for Jan 1th 2017 to implement WRC decisionsā€¦

For sure! Let make a schedule to do so.

I will give another try in my next activation (CU/SM-???). Hopefully those gentlemenā€™s wouldnā€™t be chatting in that frequency that timeā€¦

73 de Pedro

Hopefully, from Jan 2017 all countries will adhere to ITU recomended frequencies and we all will be able to work in pretty much the same range of frequencies.
In the mean time, we will have to let otherā€™s know which are the frequencies allowed for each countries and schedule different split operations with different hams.
Letā€™s seeā€¦ It may be fun and the pile-up smaller :wink:

Pedro, let us know when (date/time) you will be activating on 60m and which will be your TX frequency, so, in case Iā€™ll be available to try chasing you, Iā€™ll tell you my TX frequency for you to set the due split.
I have never ever transmitted on 60m so far, but I have a multiband dipole antenna which, in theory, will work fine on such band. I may give it a try tonightā€¦

Best 73 de Guru

I cannot join you in that hope, it would mean countries with much wider allocations and much higher power levels suddenly crowding into a small band with low power, it would destroy the wider use that 5 megs is seeing at the moment. What I hope is that national administrations will keep their current permissions and add to them the few crumbs that fell to us from the ITU table!

Brian

I will do it. Due to weight my next activation will be with the MTR-3b. So, no 60m. But will have other opportunities in the near future.

TNX es 73

Hi Brian

Hope that time will give you reason.

15 KHz is a small bandwith for a bunch of alligators (no ears and big mouth) to share with some SOTA QRP stations!

I can say that I found an alligator on CT/BL-003 last wednesday. He was bathing in some radiofrequency between 7029 and 7031.5ā€¦ :crocodile: .

73
Pedro

Forgive me for being cynical Guru but I fail to appreciate the overall benefits of 60m being open to all the ITU regions. Since the Netherlands has had access we now have an issue where we are still channel allocated and they are not, or have different allocations and hence some channels become unusable due to spreading.

That being said, some UK amateurs rag chewing on x.403 or x.3985 isnā€™t helping the situation either. I am also curious at the reasoning behind Irelandā€™s different channel allocations to the UK. Interesting to see what will happen with 5 MHz, I just hope it wonā€™t turn into the dark side of 80m where some characters spend their lives xray-ing dogs :-1:

Jonathan

Actually we are only partially channelised:
Lower limit kHz Upper limit kHz Guidelines on current usage
5258.5 5264.0 CW activity, 5262kHz QRP. 5258.5kHz international use
5276.0 5284.0 5278.5kHz international use. EMCOMM Centre of Activity
5288.5 5292.0 Beacons 5290kHz. WSPR
5298.0 5307.0 All modes. USB frequency 5298.5kHz, 5301kHz, 5304kHz
5313.0 5323.0 All modes. AM 5317kHz. USB frequency 5320kHz
5333.0 5338.0 USB frequency 5335kHz
5354.0 5358.0 USB frequency 5354kHz
5362.0 5374.5 Digital modes activity. USB frequency 5371.5kHz international use
5378.0 5382.0 USB frequency 5379kHz
5395.0 5401.5 USB frequency 5395kHz and 5398.5kHz
5403.5 5406.5 USB frequency 5403.5kHz international use

Some of our slices are big enough for three or four SSB channels. I agree that we get some QRM from stations near to our channels but I expect that will settle down in time.

Brian

PS Iā€™m curious about how other Brits cope with our fractured coverage, do people put the LF end of each slice in the memory, or put each practicable SSB channel in the memory, or put it all in the memory in 1 kHz steps?

I have partially programmed the KX3 to do this, useful. Most of the frequency memory is allocated to 60m though !

Jonathan

In the shack I refer to the UK 60m Band Utilization Chart from Feb 2014 when /P for my rare SOTA activationā€™s I had been sticking to the old FL, FE and FM designated channels.

Until 5 minutes ago I only had the original FA,FC,FC,FK,FL,FE and FM channels in the memories on my FT-950, but I have just re-done the memories to include all the SSB and AM slots shown in that chart. (Iā€™ll have to re-program the FT-817 now too).

Well, I have to agree with you on the concern with openning the really narrow 15 KHz window of the 60m band to the whole ham radio community, as it will surely make it impracticable. Just chaosā€¦ even if the 15 watts max are always respected.
On the other hand I personally see little interest on having different frequencies authorised for different countries, as the fun thing to me is exploring propagation conditions and finding out how far my signal travels depending on the different variables like time, date/season, used antenna, etc.
If I call CQ and I can only expect an answer from some known colleagues on some previously scheduled frequencies, having to switch to RX on other different frequency if I want to try QSO with other country, etc is not exactly what Iā€™d most enjoy, particularly when on a hilltop.
This will force us to have a cheat sheet with all the different authorised frequencies in each country.
Quite confusing indeed.
Perhaps there wonā€™t be too many hams active on 60m and given the power restriction to just 15 watts, the signals shouldnā€™t reach too far (I guess) so there might not be so much QRM.
The problem is when some hams use higher powers.
In 2014 and 2015 until the new resolution was published we were allowed 100 watts on some channels, but it has been cut down to just 15 W now following ITU recommendations.
I think this is much better for such a narrow freq. window.
Just in case someone wish to try, not right now but in a few minutes, Iā€™m going to 5.354.0 and will CQ on CW, as, according to Brian information, I see this is the only common frequency for EA and UK hams.
Best 73 de Guru

P.D. Iā€™ve been CQing on 5.354 CW for a while with 10 watts. A station from Croatia finally called me back and we completed what itā€™s been my first ever QSO on 60m.

Excellent! Unfortunately I donā€™t do CW.

Brian

Guru, I did listen but nothing heard on that QRG (other than a lot of noise!).
It was however sometime after you posted the message, so not sure whether you were still active.
Happy to give the CW a go another time.
73
Pete

Great! Unfortunately I was heading to Rotterdam (where I am now). So, I hope we would have another go in the future.

73

I successfully chased 98 activations on 5 megs last year, using 5 watts from an FT817 and a G5RV doublet. I have worked several EU countries outside the UK and a few years ago managed (but only just!) to work across the Atlantic. I find that 5 megs is very kind to QRP, but it is very much a matter of the time of day. From mid morning to mid afternoon I find the band reliable out to perhaps 700km, outside that interval you start to lose the closer stations as the band goes ā€œlongā€ and about 0200 - 0300 it is often (but not always!) open for intercontinental distances but with no propagation for shorter distances. In many ways it is very kind to QRP and great for SOTA.

Brian

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I better shut my mouth , the xyl is italianā€¦