O.k this is fake news to get you attention but thinking about the extremely low use of VHF/UHF would it really make any difference if 70CM was given over to commercial use ? Would it have any affect on you ?
Have you considered installing a useful addition to the ham shack called an aerial?
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Have a tune around 70cm FM tomorrow night after 7pm BST, and 70cm SSB after 8pm. Feel free to answer the calls and make 100+ 70cm QSOs in a single evening.
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Complete nonsense.
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Not a valid topic for here Brad, IMO. Maybe one for the qrz.com forums.
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Coincidentally, a bunch of us are off to do a sevenish hills 70cm at 7pm summer sillyness event this evening around the Lothians.
Andy
MM7MOX
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The only 70cms activity I hear from home is one of the HUBNET repeaters despite being able to hear 4 other repeaters I have never heard them in use. I always put out CQs on 70cm and the other day someone came back to me ( my first ever answer to a CQ call from home in 30+ years) I nearly fell off my chair ! He was about 30 miles away. I recently participated in the 435 alive event from high ground and there was quite a few people about with my best contact at 78 miles whilst I was running 1 watt into the handhelds own antenna this was fantastic but since then you would think I had no antenna at all (MM0FMF) even though I have been to the same hill ( Titterstone Clee ,I live nearby) with a better antenna. That said 2 meters is not much better but I do occasionally get a contact from a CQ Call from home. I find this quite frustrating rather than the pleasure it should be.I am considering going HF but as I didn’t enjoy HF after passing the Morse test to get the M0 I’m not sure I would now !
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Use it or lose it! I’m surprised by how many people say they don’t have a suitable antenna, but there are plenty og dual-band antennas ay the home QTH of many hams. Then there is this: No Interference? AST SpaceMobile Defends Use of Ham Radio Spectrum
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Wow I hadn’t heard of this at all !
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I’ll have a listen about for this , is it one of the RSGB Contest nights ? I ask as I’m in North devon at the moment but could try other events !
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AST Spacemobile have a design office in Edinburgh, I know someone who works for them.
You can write to Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile at the following address and politely tell him to keep out of our bands.
Mr Abel Antonio Avellan
Space Park Leicester, Room 1.10, 92 Corporation Road, Leicester, England, LE4 5SP
Or a director in Edinburgh
Vikram Raval
9-10, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH2 2AF
Of course if AST Spacemobile are stupid enough to use the amateur satellite band then they cannot claim protection from any amateur satellite uplink activity that happens on the frequency they are using and blocks / affects their satellites.
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Bearing in mind that Ham Radio is a secondary user on the band, I’m surprised the MoD hasn’t kicked off particularly because of interference to RAF Fylingdales. I think a letter to our MPs may highlight a threat to National Security, and be more appropriate. I find it funny at time when commercial concerns like SKY TV are moving from Satellite broadcasting to land-based fibre, that there are companies willing to invest in risky satellites
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Sky’s move is simply to leverage the significant roll-out in high speed broadband. Why spend money leasing expensive DTH bandwidth on satellites and have to manage the uplink etc. when FTTH will be ubiquitous. (Well not for everyone still for some years). And there is a risk that your geostationary satellite with its 15 year lifespan could fail catastrophically without warning leaving you somewhere up that well known creek “sans pagaie”. Moving to land based broadband where possible is a wise business move as you don’t have to fit dishes on homes but you can roll out a combined broadband / TV deal with a simple box that needs less installation effort.
AST’s product is direct-to-handset satellite linking. i.e. you take your 5G phone to a not-spot for ground based coverage and the handset switches to a satellite link. There wont be oodles of bandwidth so the service will be limited in speed/time if it’s included in a service plan or if you want fast anywhere access you will pay.
Interesting first reading of the article is they are asking the US FCC for permission to use 430-440MHz outside of the USA. i.e. ask the FCC to grant permission for them to use the frequencies where the FCC don’t regulate, outside of the US. Except the FCC cannot grant that… the FCC have to put it to the ITU which coordinates satellite frequency allocations worldwide. The ITU has a 2024-2027 mission statement available at ITU Strategic Plan 2024-2027 which states
"ITU’s work under spectrum use for space and terrestrial services is expected to
deliver the following outcomes:
- Radio-frequency spectrum and orbit resources are used efficiently, economically,
rationally and equitably. - Avoidance of causing harmful interference. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<!!!
- Enhanced application of ITU-R recommendations, including those dealing with
propagation modelling, used for efficient spectrum management, as well as for
sharing and compatibility."
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He’s used the “Off-topic” category. I think it’s a relevant discussion in SOTA anyway.
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Yeah. Not keen on the clickbait title though. Not factual or accurate. Hence, a good topic for a bunfight somewhere else…
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It did grab you attention though ! My main thought was due to lack of activity generally on the band how many Hams would notice or care if it went ? It’s a bit like the stories of all the villagers who moan about the local pub closing for you to find out the last time they went in was a year ago and they had brought a pint ! I think people using it for SOTA is a slightly different thing as quite often it is prearranged and posted on here for people to chase. The amount of times I have made a general call on a repeater (2 meters ) and then someone pops up calling their mate for me to find out one of them has just sent a text to the other telling them to come on the repeater.I think people as a general rule just don’t wish to talk to someone they don’t know ,a sign of the general culture in towns and cities,
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I think that’s a little unfair. Many, maybe most, people in towns and cities are surrounded by other buildings close by. No point in having a good UHF antenna if you have no take-off and can contact only the same old 2 or 3 local amateurs. It’s one of the reasons many of us do SOTA activating.
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A bit like my situation out in the sticks on 2 meters although there are a few more than 2 or 3 people to talk to there are only few who will answer a CQ call or make one and sometimes you just don’t click ( both ways) with some of them which reduces it even further.
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I welcome anything like VHF/UHF contests that increase the activity on those bands. But sadly, in the scheme of things they make little difference to the average utilisation year in, year out. The same for the GHz bands.
With commercial pressure to gain more access to the UHF/SHF spectrum, I feel it’s is inevitably that radio licensing authorities around the world will allow many of those amateur bands to be given up in part or whole to organisations who will pay handsomely for the resource.
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I’m going to use this topic to promote the 433Alive activity day on Sunday August 24th.
Main activity centering around 12:00 BST to 3pm BST and on FM, but weather permitting I should have the beam up on beautiful Billinge and willing to try some SSB (would need arranging to change rig to the 817 and antenna polarisation) at some point in the afternoon.
Its call CQ on 433.500 then move to clear frequency rather than net style operations. On the last one I had 20 something in the log with just a j-pole (the wind was too strong for the beam).
Well worth a go.
Ian
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