XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated

EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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US radio amateurs lose 25% of the 3.5 GHz microwave band

Posted: 23 Jan 2022 08:33 AM PST https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/01/us-radio-amateurs-lose-25-of-35-ghz.html



Back in October 2020, I had a post about how the FCC were proposing that
radio amateurs in the USA would lose the 3.5 GHz (9cm) microwave band.
After some appeals and feedback, the FCC have now announced that US radio amateurs will only lose use of the spectrum from 3.450 to 3.500 GHz from
the 14th of April 2022.
This represents a loss of 25% of the entire band which stretches from 3.300
to 3.500 GHz at present. In essence, the band is being reduced from a width
of 200 MHz to 150 MHz.
The current band plan for the part of the spectrum that is being lost is
shown below...

The 50 MHz of spectrum that was lost was auctioned off by the US Government
for around $22 Billion for 5G services.
The future of the remaining 9cm band for amateur use is by no means
certain. In a news article, the ARRL said... "Secondary operations are permitted to continue indefinitely in the remainder of the band, 3.3 – 3.45 GHz, pending future FCC proceedings."
While this loss of spectrum may not matter to most, it does highlight the
value of the microwave spectrum in the low GHz range to commercial
companies and how there is a very real threat of losing many more parts of
the spectrum in future.

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ZP9HTL in Paraguay reports on 5000km TEP opening on 144 MHz to Puerto Rico
- Jan 2022

Posted: 22 Jan 2022 09:39 AM PST https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/01/zp9htl-in-paraguay-reports-on-5000km.html

Juan, ZP9HTL in Paraguay sent on some interesting information to me about
his experience with Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) on 144 MHz.
With TEP propagation, signals on the 144 MHz band usually cross the
Geomagnetic Equator close to 90 degrees i.e. a right angle. This means that openings tend to happen to the exact same area when the band is open.This
can be seen as the TEP pipeline from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba & the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. Likewise,
stations in the south of Brazil have a pipeline to Puerto Rico &
Guadeloupe.For ZP9HTL, his pipeline from Paraguay is to Puerto Rico where
he is often heard on SSB on 144.300 MHz.Video... The following clip was
sent to me by Juan.
It shows that what a TEP signal on SSB can sound like. Note the distortion
and the very rapid flutter.Remember, this is a signal on 144 MHz over a
5000km path!Antenna... On 144 MHz, Juan is using an 11-element LFA Yagi. DX-Cluster Spots... I have included below the DX Cluster spots for ZP9HTL
from the Caribbean. As you can see, they are all from Puerto Rico and they range from the start of the TEP season in September 2021 to now, mid
January 2022.It's interesting to see that the TEP openings happen at pretty much the same time i.e. 00:00 UTC which is about 8pm local time in the
evening for the stations concerned.From these spots, the earliest time is
23:45 UTC and the latest time is 00:39 UTC, a window of about one hour.DX-Spots...Spotter Freq. DX Time Info CountryWP4KJJ-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:54 21 Jan 22 59 Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:54 21 Jan 22 59 tnks tep qso Juan Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:06 14 Jan 22 59 tks qso Juan Paraguay
WP4G 144300 ZP9HTL 00:39 13 Jan 22 55 in FK68 Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:30 13 Jan 22 still 59 Paraguay
WP4KJJ-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:19 13 Jan 22 Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:10 13 Jan 22 5/2 swl Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:05 13 Jan 22 58 tks tep qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:07 29 Dec 21 5/4 tnx swl Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:01 29 Dec 21 tnks qso tep Paraguay
WP4I 144300 ZP9HTL 00:11 23 Dec 21 heard Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:10 23 Dec 21 57 tks tep qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:47 22 Dec 21 54 tnx tep Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:17 20 Dec 21 59+ tep qso Paraguay
WP4KJJ-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:46 19 Dec 21 5/9 Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:56 16 Dec 21 5/2 swl Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:55 16 Dec 21 tnx tep qso 57 Paraguay
WP4KJJ-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:53 16 Dec 21 59 Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:54 06 Dec 21 57 tnks qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:42 06 Dec 21 5/2 swl Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:54 05 Dec 21 59+ tnks tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:37 30 Nov 21 57 TEP qso Paraguay
WP4KJJ-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:09 30 Nov 21 55 Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:44 23 Nov 21 57 tnx tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:32 22 Nov 21 59 tnx qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:26 21 Nov 21 tnx tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:41 19 Nov 21 56 tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:29 18 Nov 21 58 tep qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:49 12 Nov 21 5/1 SWL Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:07 08 Nov 21 5/3 TNX Paraguay
WP3DN-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:51 07 Nov 21 55 TEP SWL Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:45 07 Nov 21 59 tep qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:40 07 Nov 21 5/6 SWL Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:33 05 Nov 21 56 tep qso Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:33 05 Nov 21 5/4 TNX Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:40 02 Nov 21 57 tep qso Paraguay
WP3DN-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:36 28 Oct 21 55 tep tnx Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:34 28 Oct 21 now 5/5 tep Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:25 28 Oct 21 5/2 tnx tep Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:16 28 Oct 21 5/3 tnx tep Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:07 28 Oct 21 tnks tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:31 21 Oct 21 ssb tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:40 19 Oct 21 53 tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 00:01 16 Oct 21 51 tep qso Paraguay
NP4BM-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:56 19 Sep 21 calling cq Caribe Paraguay
KP4EIT-@ 144300 ZP9HTL 23:55 19 Sep 21 5/2 swl Paraguay

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