[ADXA] VP2VI 60 Meter CW

Mon Apr 14 17:21:22 EDT 2025

My first 60m contact was 11/01/2018 and the last on 03/31/2020 for a total
of 351 contacts all on the same frequency (5.357 FT8).  Of those 111 are
"verified" and potentially DXCC qualified.  So if and when the time comes,
I will have another single band DXCC waiting in the wings.  I took down my
60m EFHW shortly after and left the band because of all the hoop-la
concerning the assigned frequencies and my interpretation of the rules.

I kinda read into the rules that only ONE QSO at a time can happen, and
that was obviously not what everybody was doing or understood.  So, I'm
probably wrong, but I decided to play it safe until sometime in the
future.

Now, have I been caught in the Canadian portion of 20m SSB?  Yes, once a
few years ago and I was called out by the Canadian operator calling CQ that
I was OOB by about 3Khz.  I quickly checked my VFO and sure enough, he was
right.  I listened for a while and he was just teasing the USA stations to
get them to operate OOB as I heard several more fall for his trickery and
be chastised during the contest.  A learning experience for sure, but I'm
sure that was my first and only mistake I EVER made on the air.  So, I
won't mention the time that my TX VFO didn't change and was still in the
middle of a RTTY contest when I made a quick change to FT8 to work that
rare station.  No wonder he didn't answer.  I caught that one.

What think ya?

73's
George - WB5JJJ
HoIP - 100105
Cell - 479.857.7737

On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM <w5zn at w5zn.org> wrote:

> I will add that some of those who are operating outside the US segment are
> doing so intentionally, others simply don’t know (but should!)
>
>
>
> The dangerous part about it since the primary user is the gov’t I can tell
> you they do, IN FACT, monitor the amateur usage and hearing USA stations
> outside our band segment will potentially hurt us because when the FCC
> finally does move to act on the WRC19 allocation they will take instruction
> from NTIA and if they complain about unauthorized amateur activity, well,
> we’re hosed and could very well lose access altogether. Remember, we’re
> secondary there so we operate at the discretion of the primary user!
>
>
>
> 73 Joel W5ZN
>
> www.w5zn.org
>
>
>
> *From:* adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On
> Behalf Of *w5znjoel at gmail.com
> *Sent:* Monday, April 14, 2025 3:39 PM
> *To:* rcurt at centurytel.net
> *Cc:* adxa at mailman.qth.net
> *Subject:* Re: [ADXA] VP2VI 60 Meter CW
>
>
>
> It is a bit confusing, Randy.
>
>
>
> The USA was the very first country to ever have a 5 MHz allocation for the
> amateur radio service. The ARRL worked very hard to make this happen back
> around 2001 to 2004. It was proposed as a secondary allocation to provide a
> “propagation bridge” between 80 and 40 meters for emergency communications
> efforts. The FCC was all on board but it took quite a bit of political
> maneuvering to get the by in from the NTIA (state dept and DoD) since they
> are the primary allocated service. We reached an agreement for five
> discreet fixed frequencies with a 100 W ERP power limit.
>
>
>
> The reason 60 meters is not accepted for DXCC credit is the original basis
> for the secondary allocation – emergency communications, not contesting or
> DX chasing! At that time, to allow such would have caused us to lose access
> to 5 MHz.
>
>
>
> After a while a few other countries thought our access to 5 MHz was was
> pretty slick so they petitioned their national regulator for a piece of the
> band, mirroring the USA frequencies. It became so popular a movement
> started within the ITU to allocate a slice of spectrum, not fixed
> frequencies, to the amateur service on a secondary basis. At WRC19 that
> became a reality, but not with a cost. It is a very narrow segment and a
> very low (almost QRP level) power restriction. By the way, the United
> States administration did NOT support this!! But the IARU had enough clot
> with other country administrations to push it through.
>
>
>
> Following the WRC19 allocation other countries petitioned their national
> regulator for access to the new spectrum and were granted. That is where
> the confusion on 60 meters began. Those countries could operate in the new
> segment but the USA’s regulator, the FCC, had not adopted the WRC19
> allocation so we were stuck. ARRL did their duty and petitioned the FCC for
> access to the new allocation and that is where the stalemate started. ARRL
> wanted access to the new allocation and to also retain access to the five
> fixed frequencies. FCC wanted to move amateur radio to the new allocation
> and drop the fix fixed frequencies (and the 100 W power level they had).
>
>
>
> That’s where we stand today, and when hams see hams in other countries
> operating in the new segment they don’t stop the confirm whether we have
> access or not.
>
>
>
> Hopefully something will happen at the FCC in the (near?) future!
>
>
>
> 73 Joel W5ZN
>
> www.w5zn.org
>
>
>
> *From:* adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On
> Behalf Of *Randell Curtis, W5ZJ via ADXA
> *Sent:* Monday, April 14, 2025 11:08 AM
> *To:* w5znjoel at gmail.com
> *Cc:* adxa at mailman.qth.net
> *Subject:* Re: [ADXA] VP2VI 60 Meter CW
>
>
>
> Thanks so much! I would have definitely been one of the illegal ones if I
> hadn’t had difficulty with the plug into the Icom. Sometimes the Good Lord
> takes care of the ignorant.
>
>
>
> Randy/W5ZJ
>
> On Mon, 14 Apr, 2025 at 10:08 AM, w5znjoel at gmail.com <w5znjoel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> To: adxa at mailman.qth.net
> Cc:
>
> Just a reminder to the ADXA folks about VP2VI and 60 meter CW. Last night
> when they were on CW, they were transmitting on a frequency NOT authorized
> for USA and lsning on a frequency NOT authorized in the USA to transmit on.
> There was a brief period where they did lsn on 5348 KHz where USA can
> transmit, but only for a very brief period.
>
>
>
> So, PLEASE do NOT transmit outside of the five discreet fixed frequencies
> authorized in the USA (like some USA stations were doing last night)! That
> is a clear FCC regulatory violation. Hopefully in the near future the FCC
> will authorize US hams access to the new 60 meter allocation authorized at
> WRC19, but the standoff now is the FCC wants to eliminate the five discreet
> channels to give us access to the 15 KHz or so bandwidth. The ARRL wants
> (and I fully support the ARRL position) is we should be granted access to
> the new allocation and retain the five discreet frequency channels.
>
>
>
> 73 Joel W5ZN
>
> www.w5zn.org
>
>
>
>
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