[Elecraft] K3/KPA500/KX3 630 meters

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Back in the 90's I was a member of an Amateur group (600 Meter Research
Group) who independently won transmitting licenses for specific 600 meter
frequencies before the ARRL effort was launched. Our main point of research
was to see if a typical urban lot antenna could provide communications over
a useful distance for close in emergency work using CW.

After all, there are documented cases of an old lifeboat (Gibson Girl) radio
being heard half-way around the world using a relatively short balloon
antenna. Of course that was in a life boat with a salt water "ground". 

It seemed an interesting challenge. The fact that the odds of success were
very slim based on known theory never dampened the spirit of the Hams
involved. Calculations are fine, but without physical experiments they are
just theories, as any scientist knows and Marconi demonstrated. At least we
were having fun and adding to our personal knowledge of the challenges,
which we believed is what Amateur Radio is all about.  

Unfortunately the US Coast Guard ordered the FCC to rescind the licenses and
shut down the effort only a few weeks later based on their "ownership" of
the 600 meter frequencies for military use. I've not seen anything published
about a similar effort by the Hams working under the ARRL licenses, so we
never learned that it was impossible, sigh :-)


73, Ron AC7AC



-----Original Message-----

Sure, I can see the EMCOMM shack on the belt types with their mobile "high
efficiency" 630 meter antennas now!  Anyone calculate the battery
requirements for 5W ERP with even a 16' whip?

200 miles will not even cover Florida from Tallahassee to Miami ...
I can't imagine a use for 630 meters other than as a curiosity.  It is a
shame that ARRL and IARU wasted all of the political capital on
630 meters rather than securing an worldwide exclusive 50 - 100 KHz wide
allocation somewhere useful like 60 meters.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV