From overthetop52 at yahoo.com  Sat Mar  1 11:58:06 2014
From: overthetop52 at yahoo.com (Pete Fierro)
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 08:58:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [RVRC] Quad copter
Message-ID: <1393693086.94371.YahooMailNeo@web120705.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>

???? Members

???? A while back,Myself&Gerry(N2GJ) participated in the boy scout merit badge program helping the scouts earn their merit badges at the NJ college of engineering in Ewing Twp.This youngster constructed this quad copter that's really outta sight.Here is a flight demonstration with camera onboard.See with full screen.


73
Pete
KD2ARB




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPmMfYkiLpg

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Sun Mar  2 16:37:26 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2014 16:37:26 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] NWS all-hazzards radio...
Message-ID: <C93CDA1956BB4243B2137250C527231A@marvbronsPC>

A very strange event, along with the temporary shut-down of the NWS all-hazards radio on 162.550 MHz, this afternoon at 4:15 p.m. l tried to tune in the station in Howell, NJ (Southard) on 162.450 MHz and it was off the air.....then I tried the Sussex County station on 162.500 and IT was off the air....

Then I tried southern NJ station on 162.575 and north eastern PA on 162.400........they were all off the air!!!  NO CARRIERS, NO AUDIO!!

Then, at 4:30 p.m. the north eastern PA station came up on 162.400 and the station on 162.475 came up (southern NJ)

But the others are still down!!!  With the impending storm coming up......it is a wonderment!!!???

73
Marv  k2vhw

P.S. keep your radio on 146.760 beginning this evening (Sunday p.m.) for Skywarn bulletins......it may be helpful!!!

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Sun Mar  2 16:45:09 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2014 16:45:09 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Typo-error in my last message ++
Message-ID: <58FC3AC4D74143EB93CA6E2FB8D4A888@marvbronsPC>

In my last message I accidently typed 162.575 for the southern New Jersey NWS weather radio but it is....162.475. covering Atlantic and Cape May Counties

As I monitor the Southard station frequency on 162.450, it pops in then out sporadically.  I now suspect it might be a VOX control feature when the program audio is absent and they may be programming updated information!!!  ?????

73,
Marv K2VHW

From salrahman101 at me.com  Sun Mar  2 22:09:39 2014
From: salrahman101 at me.com (Sohail Rahman)
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2014 22:09:39 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] NWS all-hazzards radio...
In-Reply-To: <C93CDA1956BB4243B2137250C527231A@marvbronsPC>
References: <C93CDA1956BB4243B2137250C527231A@marvbronsPC>
Message-ID: <FE5BCC23-1018-48A1-A628-496BE649DC4D@me.com>

I read that NOAA .550 in NYC has been shut down for some time due to it causing interference with another station.  Also that the station would be back up after this is corrected.   I also remember during one of the storms that NYC .550 was brought back up temporarily for a day. 
I am able to monitor surrounding stations. But it seems they are a lot weaker than normal today. 
Sal.  
KB2KDC.  



> On Mar 2, 2014, at 4:37 PM, Marvin Bronstein <marvbrons at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> A very strange event, along with the temporary shut-down of the NWS all-hazards radio on 162.550 MHz, this afternoon at 4:15 p.m. l tried to tune in the station in Howell, NJ (Southard) on 162.450 MHz and it was off the air.....then I tried the Sussex County station on 162.500 and IT was off the air....
> 
> Then I tried southern NJ station on 162.575 and north eastern PA on 162.400........they were all off the air!!!  NO CARRIERS, NO AUDIO!!
> 
> Then, at 4:30 p.m. the north eastern PA station came up on 162.400 and the station on 162.475 came up (southern NJ)
> 
> But the others are still down!!!  With the impending storm coming up......it is a wonderment!!!???
> 
> 73
> Marv  k2vhw
> 
> P.S. keep your radio on 146.760 beginning this evening (Sunday p.m.) for Skywarn bulletins......it may be helpful!!!
> ______________________________________________________________
> RVRC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:RVRC at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

From drumor at optonline.net  Tue Mar  4 20:45:21 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (drew Moore)
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 20:45:21 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Infoage Event, March 14th
Message-ID: <00d701cf3814$9237b720$b6a72560$@optonline.net>

 

 

Good Evening All,

 

            On Friday, March 14th the Antique Radio Museum will be hosting a
talk by Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT and Mike Littman from Princeton.  The talk will
be on Moon Bounce and Whispernet. For those who do not know Dr Taylor is the
author of the WSJT software use by many Hams worldwide. This is looking to
be a very interesting evening. Now for the bad news. We only have Ten seats
available. So if you want to attend please e-mail me directly at "
<mailto:n2lxm at juno.com> n2lxm at juno.com " . I will start a list for those who
wish to attend. The talk is set to start at 7:00pm in building 9032A.  We
have been asked to show up early, say 6:45 - 7:00 pm to do a meet and greet,
and get seated.  See you all at the meeting.

 

73's de: Jeff N2LXM







From jefflih at aol.com  Wed Mar  5 18:46:39 2014
From: jefflih at aol.com (jefflih at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 23:46:39 +0000
Subject: [RVRC] (no subject)
Message-ID: <mailman.164.1394063665.6847.rvrc@mailman.qth.net>


Net Night

Both ETS and RVRC operate scheduled nets

WHY?

There are several good reasons to run nets.

Probably the biggest is to maintain our communication skills,

We test our equipment, and our actual ability to communicate.

This enables us to JUMP IN during emergency situations. (public service)

Another reason is to help our newer hams enhance their skills.

When you run a net, it gets easier as you go along. Rudolpho N2HRJ

Is a classic example of this. He has gotten quite comfortable running

A net and really does a good job.

There are people out there that are not hams that listen is on their scanners.

We also learn from each other about new equipment and new techniques.

We all should at least make the effort to check in on net night.

Let?s try to ?grow? out hobby.

Don?t be chicken ? check in.

Best 73 de N2VHV  (Jeff)






Sent from Windows Mail

From jefflih at aol.com  Wed Mar  5 18:54:39 2014
From: jefflih at aol.com (jefflih at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 23:54:39 +0000
Subject: [RVRC] =?utf-8?q?Fw=3A_My_cell_number?=
Message-ID: <mailman.165.1394063709.6847.rvrc@mailman.qth.net>








Sent from Windows Mail





From: jefflih at aol.com
Sent: ?Tuesday?, ?March? ?4?, ?2014 ?7?:?29? ?PM
To: cwsaums at aol.com





Hi Craig, My cell number is 908 764 5427.

This also gives you my E-Mail address.

What ever you need from me - YOU GET.

Oh BTW here is the E-Mail I sent about Net Nights.





Net Night

Both ETS and RVRC operate scheduled nets

WHY?

There are several good reasons to run nets.

Probably the biggest is to maintain our communication skills,

We test our equipment, and our actual ability to communicate.

This enables us to JUMP IN during emergency situations. (public service)

Another reason is to help our newer hams enhance their skills.

When you run a net, it gets easier as you go along. Rudolpho N2HRJ

Is a classic example of this. He has gotten quite comfortable running

A net and really does a good job.

There are people out there that are not hams that listen is on their scanners.

We also learn from each other about new equipment and new techniques.

We all should at least make the effort to check in on net night.

Let?s try to ?grow? out hobby.

Don?t be chicken ? check in.

Best 73 de N2VHV  (Jeff)






Sent from Windows Mail

From jefflih at aol.com  Wed Mar  5 18:55:22 2014
From: jefflih at aol.com (jefflih at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 23:55:22 +0000
Subject: [RVRC] =?utf-8?q?NetNights?=
Message-ID: <mailman.166.1394063787.6847.rvrc@mailman.qth.net>


Net Night

Both ETS and RVRC operate scheduled nets

WHY?

There are several good reasons to run nets.

Probably the biggest is to maintain our communication skills,

We test our equipment, and our actual ability to communicate.

This enables us to JUMP IN during emergency situations. (public service)

Another reason is to help our newer hams enhance their skills.

When you run a net, it gets easier as you go along. Rudolpho N2HRJ

Is a classic example of this. He has gotten quite comfortable running

A net and really does a good job.

There are people out there that are not hams that listen is on their scanners.

We also learn from each other about new equipment and new techniques.

We all should at least make the effort to check in on net night.

Let?s try to ?grow? out hobby.

Don?t be chicken ? check in.

Best 73 de N2VHV  (Jeff)






Sent from Windows Mail

From radiomf at comcast.net  Thu Mar  6 09:25:21 2014
From: radiomf at comcast.net (Martin Friedman)
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 09:25:21 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Meeting announcement
Message-ID: <000001cf3947$e8321010$b8963030$@comcast.net>

This morning's  repeater announcement stating a  meeting cancellation is in
error. A holdover from last month. The tech committee is working to correct
the script.
73, Marty


From n2gj at amsat.org  Thu Mar  6 17:42:24 2014
From: n2gj at amsat.org (N2GJ_AMSAT)
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 17:42:24 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Fascinating article from this week's ARRL Letter (part 1)
Message-ID: <CAO2dfsrnz5zmZHNE1bqkPfHeB7P6rfO_ve0g65MFjOZ7bewiWQ@mail.gmail.com>

*Feature*: A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL

World War II began in September 1939 as a European war, just as World War I
had. Suddenly 121 of the 250 countries on the DXCC list were off the air.
At that point, the US was pursuing a course of neutrality, so American hams
were allowed to remain on the air. The ARRL soon issued its own code of
neutrality, which resulted in the federal government's appreciative support
of Amateur Radio.

Canada, along with Britain and most of the British Commonwealth,
immediately shut down ham radio, however. This created an odd situation:
The US (and the ARRL), following their policies of neutrality, had to treat
Canada as a belligerent; no mention of Canadian Amateur Radio appeared in
*QST* until May 1941, when *QST* began publishing the column "The Month in
Canada." It is noteworthy that, of the 3380 Canadian hams then licensed,
half were in uniform by 1941, some 900 as officers.

A 1940 QSL card from KC4USB in Antarctica. [Courtesy of the Tom Gentry,
W5RG, collection]

In those early war years, before the US entered the fray, some interesting
things happened. The state of the radio art had reached the point that
long-haul DX could be worked even with modest, low-cost stations. The Byrd
Antarctic expeditions put KC4USA, KC4USB, and KC4USC on the air.
Experimenters began to tinker with wideband FM at the upper end of 5 meters
(58.5 to 60 MHz). The FCC revamped its amateur exams, eliminating essay
questions (and the requirement that applicants draw schematic diagrams) and
replacing them with a multiple-choice test. Exams could then be graded
immediately at the examination point, sparing the applicant weeks of
anxiety.

At the 1940 meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors, George Bailey, W1KH,
was elected League president.

In June 1940, World War II hit American hams harder, when the federal
government prohibited US hams from contacting hams outside the country. The
FCC also prohibited all mobile and portable operation below 56 MHz, with
the notable exception of Field Day! At the League's request, this policy
was soon modified to allow Amateur Radio Emergency Corps drills during
daylight hours on weekends, and to allow true emergency communication at
any time.

To be continued next week.



Gerry Jurrens N2GJ
mailto:n2gj at amsat.org

From mpmski at verizon.net  Thu Mar  6 19:07:41 2014
From: mpmski at verizon.net (Mark)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:07:41 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Road Closure
Message-ID: <66EBDDA2-9957-4FB8-BE46-849C14ACFE80@verizon.net>

I just wanted to have this re-posted for all members/potential vistors of the club that may usually travel to the meeting via Manville. Meetings for the next several months, plan alternate route!!! 

Mark - K2MPM


Weston (Manville) Causeway Closure 3/2014 through 7/2014
On or about March 10, 2014 the New Jersey Department of Transportation will be conducting repairs of the bridge over the D&R canal on Weston Canal Road at the Weston (Manville) Causeway. The repairs will require a long term closure of the bridge. The anticipated completion date is July of this year.

The bridge will be completely closed to all traffic (including emergency vehicles) as soon as the project starts. A detour that has been approved by Somerset County will be posted.

The NJDOT point of contact for information regarding the project is:

Meredith Hammond
New Jersey Department of Transportation
Office of Community Relations
1035 Parkway Avenue, P.O. Box 600
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0600
Phone: 609.530.2110; Fax:609.530.2536
Meredith.Hammond at dot.state.nj.us
Sent from my iPhone

From overthetop52 at yahoo.com  Sun Mar  9 09:10:55 2014
From: overthetop52 at yahoo.com (overthetop52 at yahoo.com)
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2014 06:10:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [RVRC] Watch "Amazing Upward Lightning!" on YouTube
Message-ID: <1394370655.97449.YahooMailAndroidMobile@web120702.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>

????? Hello

?? Upward lightning?Amazing.So much for grounding!...Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDDfkKEa2ls&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android


From marvbrons at verizon.net  Sun Mar  9 13:40:48 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 13:40:48 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Watch "Amazing Upward Lightning!" on YouTube
In-Reply-To: <1394370655.97449.YahooMailAndroidMobile@web120702.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
References: <1394370655.97449.YahooMailAndroidMobile@web120702.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <17A6762363F74AD8B6CD14FFA75D32D5@marvbronsPC>

The ''secret'' to grounding is that the protection comes from the 
'distribution of current/charge'!!   That is, since lightning produces 
incredibly high currents and voltages, the principle is to distribute that 
'charge' over as large an area as possible in order to reduce damaging 
currents in any one direction.  Even though lightning currents will flow 
''upward'' or ''downward'' if those currents can be distributed over a very 
large area, the damage is significantly reduced!!!

73,
Marv, K2VHW
......................................
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <overthetop52 at yahoo.com>
To: "RVRC" <rvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 9:10 AM
Subject: [RVRC] Watch "Amazing Upward Lightning!" on YouTube


Hello

Upward lightning?Amazing.So much for grounding!...Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDDfkKEa2ls&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

______________________________________________________________
RVRC mailing list
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Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html



From drumor at optonline.net  Sun Mar  9 13:43:20 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (drew Moore)
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 13:43:20 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] FS ICOM IC-706MKllG
Message-ID: <006b01cf3bbf$11002c10$33008430$@optonline.net>

Members,

For Sale Icom IC-706MKllG HF/VHF/6 meters Transceiver

I'm selling my ICOM Unit that is in excellent condition.
http://www.rigpix.com/icom/ic706mkllg.htm The unit has never been in a
smoking environment, smoked or installed in a mobile. I purchased the unit
in 2007, and to date it has the following configuration:

UT-106 DSP
Separation Kit
Mobile bracket
HM-154T DTMF Microphone
LDG IT-100 Automatic Antenna Tuner
Fan Mod on RX
FL-100 500 Hz CW/RTTY -Narrow Filter
FL-223 SSB 1.9 kHz SSB Filter
Manual and Box
Asking price $800.00 Serious inquiries welcomed.
Drew Moore, W2OU
W2ou at arrl.net, 732-801-4654




From marvbrons at verizon.net  Mon Mar 10 13:13:20 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 13:13:20 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Weston Causeway closure.....
Message-ID: <F3AFFCE21FDF43F4A5E11FC894D9809E@marvbronsPC>

Detours start Wednesday around Weston Causeway construction in Franklin 

3/10/2014


Priority state DOT repairs to the Weston Causeway Bridge over the D&R Canal in Franklin will mean a big detour for many drivers lasting well into the summer. The state Department of Transportation will spend $1.7 million on a new span to replace the existing one, which has been deemed structurally-deficient. Since it's in a historic district, it must adhere to certain design standards; it'll be steel and timber, with a timber deck, and asphalt overlay. What it all means is a long detour for drivers, scheduled to start Wednesday. Posted signs will direct those who need to get between Franklin and Manville to take Schoolhouse Lane, Elizabeth Avenue, Amwell Road - Rt. 514 - and Millstone River Road.

From n2gj at amsat.org  Mon Mar 10 16:20:38 2014
From: n2gj at amsat.org (N2GJ_AMSAT)
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:20:38 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Happy Birthday to WB2BEW and K2NBC (KC2NBC) 3/11
Message-ID: <CAO2dfsrHVBX4o=CVnJNgCViBMSHv5Kr4wNeDx=jnrjpD+hfBPQ@mail.gmail.com>

All the best on your special day guys!  Hope all is well by you.  Best
wishes for the years ahead.

73

Gerry Jurrens N2GJ
mailto:n2gj at amsat.org

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Tue Mar 11 21:34:41 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:34:41 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Latest poop on KWO-35 NWS all-hazzards radio...
Message-ID: <7D58E5847D9B4EED940E9CB5FC6DD15D@marvbronsPC>

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY

504 PM EST FRI FEB 21 2014


...NOAA WEATHER RADIO NEW YORK CITY REMAINS OUT OF SERVICE...


THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER THAT SERVES THE NEW YORK CITY 

METROPOLITAN AREA CONTINUES TO CAUSE RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE ON 

THE U.S. COAST GUARD CHANNEL 16 TRANSMITTER FOR INTERNATIONAL 

DISTRESS...SAFETY AND RESCUE.


THE NEW YORK CITY NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITS ON A FREQUENCY OF 

162.55 MHZ WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO THE U.S. COAST GUARD CHANNEL 16 

BROADCAST FREQUENCY.


AFTER MANY MONTHS OF TROUBLESHOOTING...WE ARE UNABLE TO ISOLATE THE 

SOURCE OF THE INTERFERENCE PROBLEM. THEREFORE WE ARE PLANNING TO 

RELOCATE THE TRANSMITTER. RELOCATION WILL TAKE AT LEAST SIX MONTHS.


IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT DURING THIS TIME...NOAA WEATHER RADIO 

WILL BE TURNED ON TO BROADCAST LIFE SAVING WEATHER WATCHES 

AND WARNINGS. 


THIS INCLUDES WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR TORNADOES...FLASH FLOODS... 

AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS INCLUDING SPECIAL MARINE WARNINGS. 

THESE BROADCASTS WILL ENSURE DISSEMINATION THROUGH THE EMERGENCY 

ALERT SYSTEM...WHICH IS CARRIED BY THE BROADCAST MEDIA. 


WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES ON THE STATUS OF THE NEW YORK CITY NOAA 

WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER THROUGH PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS AS 

MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

From overthetop52 at yahoo.com  Wed Mar 12 06:03:40 2014
From: overthetop52 at yahoo.com (overthetop52 at yahoo.com)
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 03:03:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [RVRC] Amateur Radio Played Role in Missing Airliner Response
Message-ID: <1394618620.48171.YahooMailAndroidMobile@web120703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>

Hello

??? Once again..Ham radio to the rescue..73...Pete

http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-played-role-in-missing-airliner-response

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android


From drumor at optonline.net  Wed Mar 12 13:09:59 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (drew Moore)
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:09:59 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI
Message-ID: <007301cf3e15$e6627040$b32750c0$@optonline.net>

 

 

From: Don WILSON [mailto:k2dsv at msn.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 11:43 AM
Subject: FW: [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI

 


 

From: w2ay at atmc.net
To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:;>"@NONE
Subject: [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:31:49 -0400

 
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB2000142405270230443410457937899422418
8328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052
702304434104579378994224188328.html>
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304434104579378994224188
328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB200014240527
02304434104579378994224188328.html
That Doorbell Looks Innocent, But It May Be a Federal Offender

FCC Agents Track Rogue Radio Waves To Aquariums, Bulbs, Blankets; $16,000 
Fines

By Thomas Gryta
Wall Street Journal 12 March 2014


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304434104579378994224188
328?mg=reno64-wsj
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB2000142405270230443410457937899422418
8328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052
702304434104579378994224188328.html>
&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052702304434104579378
994224188328.html
_______________________________________________
RFI mailing list
RFI at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi 




From gar3j at earthlink.net  Wed Mar 12 13:25:38 2014
From: gar3j at earthlink.net (John Garmendi)
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:25:38 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI
In-Reply-To: <007301cf3e15$e6627040$b32750c0$@optonline.net>
References: <007301cf3e15$e6627040$b32750c0$@optonline.net>
Message-ID: <BA6087B293BE4C99BECE6D75DDDA1B29@OwnerPC>

Drew,

Those links didn't work for me.

Try here - http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304434104579378994224188328?mod=WSJ_TechWSJD_moreTopStories        

-----Original Message----- 
From: drew Moore 
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 1:09 PM 
To: RVRC 
Subject: [RVRC] [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI 





From: Don WILSON [mailto:k2dsv at msn.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 11:43 AM
Subject: FW: [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI






From: w2ay at atmc.net
To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:;>"@NONE
Subject: [RFI] Wall St.Journal Page One FCC Gets Serious on RFI
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:31:49 -0400


<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB2000142405270230443410457937899422418
8328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052
702304434104579378994224188328.html>
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304434104579378994224188
328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB200014240527
02304434104579378994224188328.html
That Doorbell Looks Innocent, But It May Be a Federal Offender

FCC Agents Track Rogue Radio Waves To Aquariums, Bulbs, Blankets; $16,000 
Fines

By Thomas Gryta
Wall Street Journal 12 March 2014


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304434104579378994224188
328?mg=reno64-wsj
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB2000142405270230443410457937899422418
8328?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052
702304434104579378994224188328.html>
&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB20001424052702304434104579378
994224188328.html
_______________________________________________
RFI mailing list
RFI at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi 



From marvbrons at verizon.net  Thu Mar 13 01:00:00 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 01:00:00 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Petition to FCC for Ham band 10 GHZ
Message-ID: <21A9D61C65764EB6B842F9C994E71C3E@marvbronsPC>

Earlier this week, the FCC requested comments on a Petition filed by
Mimosa Networks, Inc. in which Mimosa urged the FCC to initiate a
rule-making proceeding to make spectrum in the 10.0 - 10.5 GHz band
available for wireless broadband service.

The Petition, RM-11715, could effect Amateur Radio as we have do have
privileges in that band.

The issue will more than likely be discussed at the upcoming meeting of
the ARRL Executive Committee, of which I am a member. I am asking for
any feedback from those in the Hudson Division who use this spectrum
and are involved in microwave. I do need your input so that I may best
represent you.

Please read the Petition and email me any comments or thoughts you may
have as to the issue.

The Petition can be found at this link to the FCC website:

Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB Hudson Div. Director


http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017338776 (Petition)


http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=RM-11715 (Public comments)

From asajm at optimum.net  Thu Mar 13 21:03:24 2014
From: asajm at optimum.net (asajm at optimum.net)
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 01:03:24 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [RVRC] Tri Band Beam For Sale
Message-ID: <e539f2cb610.5322555c@optonline.net>

Anyone interested;  I have a KLM KT34 antenna for sale. It has 3 elements on 20 and 15 meters 
and 4 elements on 10 meters. The antenna is all in tact and right now it is about 3 feet suspended 
off the ground. I'll sell it to the first $100.00
 
I have 352 confirmed countries and most of them were contacts using this antenna.

                                   Call John  WA2F   908-722-9045

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Fri Mar 14 10:53:08 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 10:53:08 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Special event station, The American Legion ARC
Message-ID: <A2D9E878B0944A05B151174776D37B8C@marvbronsPC>

 
THE AMERICAN LEGION RADIO CLUB CELEBRATES
LEGION?s 95th BIRTHDAY TOMORROW

The American Legion Amateur Radio Club (TALARC) will operate special event station K9TAL tomorrow, Saturday, March 15, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (1300 to 2000 UTC) to commemorate the 95th anniversary of The American Legion, the nation?s largest wartime veterans service organization.

The primary frequency to look for K9TAL will be 14.275 MHz on 20 meters +/- 5 KHz; Channel 5 of the Crossroads Reflector on IRLP 9205 and locally on 146.46 MHz Simplex in Central Indiana.

A full-color certificate and QSL card will be sent upon receipt of a 9-by12-inch self-addressed stamped envelope to the American Legion National Headquarters, Attn: TALARC, 700 North Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
.
Details on-line at www.legion.org/hamradio.
We look forward to working you on the air TOMORROW.

73
TALARC

From hmlong at ix.netcom.com  Mon Mar 17 13:19:05 2014
From: hmlong at ix.netcom.com (HLong)
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:19:05 -0500
Subject: [RVRC] Possible Improvement In Auto Batteries
References: <006b01cf3bbf$11002c10$33008430$@optonline.net>
Message-ID: <00b601cf4205$6576d4f0$0201a8c0@AUDIO22>

For those that have interest in electric cars.  - The barrier for electric
cars is that battery technology has hit a "brick wall" for technological
improvement which is necessary for a battery operated car to go mainstream.
>From Electronic Design here is another research attempt to break that
technical barrier that you may find interesting...
73  Hank  N2MU    ...-.-    ..


http://powerelectronics.com/blog/lithium-sulfur-batteries-show-potential-extend-electric-vehicle-range?NL=ED-04&Issue=ED-04_20140317_ED-04_800&YM_RID=hm
long at ix.netcom.com&YM_MID=1455325&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1


From drumor at optonline.net  Tue Mar 18 05:14:48 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (E. Drew Moore)
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 05:14:48 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [RVRC] ARRL to FCC: "Grow Light" ballast causes harmful HF
	interference
Message-ID: <17baf5f8.3bd2b.144d478c4b3.Webtop.35@optonline.net>

http://nk7z.net/arrl-fcc-grow-light-ballast-causes-hf-interference/

73,
Drew, W2OU

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Sun Mar 23 21:15:25 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:15:25 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Why we have 'amateur radio' today...
Message-ID: <9CA08C3A05894598A537421EB46C9907@marvbronsPC>

As most of you RVRC members know, I am a staunch supporter of The ARRL.  For many very obvious reasons, primarily, because we owe the fact that we have this powerful 'voice' to support and advance amateur radio in Washington, D.C. and at The ITU in Geneva.

A short 'read' here will demonstrate that The ARRL is credited with saving amateur radio from total elimination in 1919!

Here is a short copy from the first QST MAGAZINE following WW I and the lifting of amateur radio prohibition.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April, 1919

"Letters received from all over the world indicate that a lot of fellows have only recently heard of the great Radio Bill that was introduced in Congress in December last, and which would have entirely eliminated Amateur Radio in the United States.
..............
The result was certainly typical of the way we A.R.R.L. people do things.  Washington was simply flooded with letters and telegrams of protest.

    The Board of Direction sent Mr. Maxim (Hiram Percy Maxim; ed) our President, down to Washington to appear at the hearing against the bill, and he with others did such a good job that the HOUSE COMMITTEE on MERCHANT MARINE and FISHERIES, declined to report the bill out of Committee.  In other words, the bill was absolutely killed. In our humble opinion one of the most serious of the fatal wounds given the bill was the public indignation administered by the attempt to eliminate amateur radio.

    We amateurs were able to establish the fact that we were one of the greatest assets the country possessed when the Great War broke out.  The Bill was primarily intended to make over to the Navy Department, the exclusive ownership and control of all radio in the United States, but the Board of Direction of our A.R.R.L. decided that this part of the bill was no concern of theirs, and therefore, they would make no comment upon it.  But the ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE THE AMATEUR was very positively a concern of theirs, and they went to it with a will.  It is thought by some, that the Bill would have gone through had it not been for the attempt to eliminate the amateur.

    The killing of the Bill leaves amateur radio under the old and very good law of 1913, and if the Navy Department relinquish their control with the passing of the state of war and the condition of ''public peril'', we shall go back to our old and much respected boss, the Department of Commerce.''

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I encourage all RVRC members who have not yet joined ARRL in support of our beloved hobby and endeavor to join ARRL. Currently there are major battles ensuing over RF interference issues and ''spectrum reassignments along with international negotiations for spectrum that need our support lest we lose it.
The ARRL also affords members much valued assistance in technical matters, operating matters, antenna restrictions, training and education among other valued benefits.

73,
Marv, K2VHW
........................................

From jepugh at gmail.com  Sun Mar 23 21:33:35 2014
From: jepugh at gmail.com (John Pugh)
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:33:35 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] FT-897D For Sale
References: <C187F868-11D9-4968-95B0-0E3ED0CB3D83@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <F9B5B371-8C65-49B4-819C-19C9C22F4E36@gmail.com>

> I'm posting this listing on behalf of Jamie N2VVL.  He is selling his Yaesu FT-897D - see this link for product detail:
> http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=0372FA803B7BBADBF3076C94ACA7A8C5&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
> Asking price $825.  Please contact Jamie directly at jkpugh at gmail.com
> ---
> John Pugh WJ3P
> Hopewell, NJ
> 


From marvbrons at verizon.net  Sun Mar 23 21:59:57 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:59:57 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Reminder ARRL Centennial Conv.
Message-ID: <5EEB9970AED84746952F4E7F3169A692@marvbronsPC>

As you know, the ARRL Centennial Convention is fast approaching. It?s
only a few short months until the July 17-19, 2014 celebration, and
hotel rooms are going FAST!!!!

As of today, both the Downtown Marriott and the Hampton Inn are SOLD
OUT! Right now, the best options are the Radisson, the Windsor
Marriott, and the Holiday Inn Express either Hartford or Newington. 
The Windsor Marriott will have a free shuttle between The Convention
Center and the hotel. It?s about a 15 minute ride.

Don?t get left out! Reserve your rooms today!

For more information on hotels for the Convention and links to them, go
to the website:

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/tab1.aspx?EventID=1248082

 - - - - - - - - - MORE - - - - - - - - - MORE - - - - - - - - 

"Centennial Station Giveaway?
Sponsored by ARRL and R&L Electronics

All paid ARRL National Centennial Convention registrants will be
entered in a $5,000 Grand Prize drawing (door prize). The winner will
receive a $5,000 prize voucher, redeemable for products sold by R&L
Electronics, Convention registrants do not need to
present in order to be included in the drawing. 

$2,500 Prize 
Sponsored by ARRL and FlexRadio Systems

All paid ARRL National Centennial Convention registrants will be
entered in a $2,500 Prize drawing (door prize). The winner will receive
a $2,500 prize voucher, redeemable for products sold by FlexRadio
Systems. Convention registrants do not need to
present in order to be included in the drawing.



From n2gj at amsat.org  Tue Mar 25 22:28:54 2014
From: n2gj at amsat.org (N2GJ_AMSAT)
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:28:54 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Happy Birthday, Scott W2SJW 3/26
Message-ID: <CAO2dfsp2wrAG-=TDatWfeJC7TwFY1nUZ_LweqGf5PLZZ3oZkKA@mail.gmail.com>

ARL FORTY SIX SCOTT X HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD X 73


Gerry Jurrens N2GJ
mailto:n2gj at amsat.org

From n2gj at amsat.org  Wed Mar 26 10:24:47 2014
From: n2gj at amsat.org (N2GJ_AMSAT)
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:24:47 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] HELP WANTED: 440 repeater ailing
Message-ID: <CAO2dfsqsieUkh84aPtUj6L=x2KXxpjvXuwWJdv4wyia=b5eJ2g@mail.gmail.com>

My friend Dr. Sutton Hamilton has a 25+ year old 440 repeater that was once
in service in PA. The transmitter and receiver work OK, according to him,
but the audio chain has issues.  He reports that periodic unplugging and
cleaning of interconnecting 25-pin cables has solved the problem in the
past. He would like some help and is willing to compensate the person who
assists him with this.

The original manufacturer wants a minimum of $350 plus shipping two ways
to/from MA.

I agreed to post this on my lists.  He can give you all the details,
including a link to the PDF version of the complete technical manual.

His email is ssutham at hotmail.com

Thanks and 73,

GJ

Gerry Jurrens N2GJ
mailto:n2gj at amsat.org

From drumor at optonline.net  Thu Mar 27 09:21:25 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (E. Drew Moore)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 09:21:25 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [RVRC] HF Link ALE Test
Message-ID: <4de6a7c5.46d5a.14503b3cb75.Webtop.44@optonline.net>



From: "John Garmendi" <gar3j at earthlink.net>
To: "ELDRED MOORE" <drumor at optonline.net>






Drew,


?


Can you please share with RVRC . Some members may find this of
interest.


?


73,


?


John N2DV


?


US Ham Operators and Government Test HF Radio
Communications

?

Disaster Communications
Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link Establishment

?

Washington, DC, and San
Francisco, CA ? 27 March 2014 - US Amateur Radio operators (ham? 
operators)
and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a nationwide test 
of their
capability to communicate with each other by shortwave radio, in case of 
an
emergency or disaster. They are participating in a 12-day joint 
readiness
exercise running from 27 March through 7 April, covering all areas of 
USA, using
a digital High Frequency (HF) radio system known as Automatic Link 
Establishment
(ALE). This High Frequency Interoperability Exercise 2014 (HFIE-2014) 
runs
concurrent with the federal National Exercise Program (NEP) 2014.


?

ALE is a
standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio service, ham 
and
government, to establish HF communications between their own stations. 
For the
first time, the government regulatory agencies (FCC and NTIA) have 
authorized
these stations to communicate with each other using ALE. HF radio 
enables long
distance communication independent of terrestrial communications 
infrastructure,
internet, or satellites.

?

To facilitate the
communication testing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
secured
temporary authority from the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 
Federal
Government radio stations and hams are allowed to communicate with each 
other
using ALE during the exercise. Under existing rules, hams have secondary 
access
to 5 HF radio channels on which Government stations are the primary 
users.


?

HF radios used by Federal
Government stations have the ALE capability built into the hardware. 
Amateur
Radio operators have implemented the same ALE protocols using their 
personal
computers with ham radio equipment and software. The Special Temporary 
Authority
allows for on-the-air testing of interoperability between the hardware 
and
software-generated ALE implementations.

?

Participation in the
interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-capable Federal Government 
radio
stations and to all ALE-capable US Amateur Radio stations. While five 
channels
are available if needed, the test plan calls for using only two of the 
channels
in order to minimize impact on other stations not participating in the 
exercise.
Specifics of the STA are as follows:

?

(1) Temporary modification
of the authority granted at NTIA Manual section 7.3.8(4), which 
authorizes
Federal Government stations to communicate with stations in the Radio 
Amateur
Civil Emergency Service, to allow communications with any Amateur Radio 
station
utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited to the five channels in 
the 5
MHz band which are available to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary 
basis,
for the period March 27th through April 7th 2014.

?

(2) Concurrent waiver by
the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4) which limits 
communications with
US Government stations to transmissions necessary to providing 
communications in
RACES, limited to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are 
available to the
Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th 
through
April 7th 2014.

?

The HFIE-2014 is a
semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated by the HFLINK 
organization
http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink.net

It is open to all
ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and operational guidelines for 
ham and
federal government stations are available at: http://hflink.net/hfie2014

?

National Exercise Program
(NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness exercise with activities
sponsored by government departments and agencies, designed to educate 
and
prepare the whole community for complex, large-scale disasters and 
emergencies.
As part of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), it enables a 
collaborative,
whole community approach to national preparedness that engages 
individuals,
families, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based
organizations and all levels of government.

?

Media and Technical
Contact: Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFIE-2014 Coordinator

Email: hfie2014 at hflink.net

Website: http://hflink.net



From drumor at optonline.net  Thu Mar 27 09:58:12 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (E. Drew Moore)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 09:58:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
Message-ID: <24edde28.46ec3.14503d578bf.Webtop.44@optonline.net>




?


HFIE-2014 Guidelines for US Amateur and
Government Stations Communicating with ALE on 5 MHz

About HFIE

High Frequency Interoperability Exercise (HFIE) is a readiness
exercise event to test radio stations and radio operator practice for HF
interoperability communications using Automatic Link Establishment 
(ALE). The
exercise prepares radio operators to more efficiently handle essential 
Emergency
Communications (EMCOMM) and respond to the needs of disaster relief.
Participating radio operators use this exercise to gain more experience 
in
setting up and operating stations, and to achieve technical proficiency 
in
communicating via HF radio using ALE. HFIE is a free and open 
semi-annual
exercise, coordinated by the HFLINK organization and the Global ALE High
Frequency Network (HFN). More information is available at:

http://hflink.com

http://hflink.net

?

HFIE-2014 Timeframe

HFIE-2014 Starts 2014 March 27 at 00:01 UTC and ends 2014 April 07 at
23:59 UTC.



Click here to
print or Download these guidelines as pdf

?

HFIE-2014 for US Amateur Radio Service and Federal Government
Stations

At
the request of FEMA, the FCC and NTIA have granted Special Temporary 
Authority
(STA) for US Amateur Radio Operators and US Federal Government stations 
to
communicate with each other for participation in the 12 days of 
HFIE-2014.
Informal guidelines are presented here for technical operations of HF 
radio
stations for participating US Amateur Radio Service and Government
entities.

?

Objectives

A
primary objective of the HFIE-2014 is to test HF two-way communication 
to meet
essential communication needs and to facilitate relief actions. Another
objective of HFIE-2014 is to test? the interoperability between
software-based ALE controllers using computer-interfaced HF radios (as 
commonly
implemented in the Amateur Radio community) with various types of
embedded-hardware ALE HF radios (commonly used by government and other
services). The exercise encourages and promotes a common denominator of 
standard
ALE techniques for maximum compatibility.



Interoperability Standards

Interoperability for communications in HFIE-2014 is facilitated by
the use of 2nd Generation
Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) as proscribed in the Federal 
Standard
FED-1045a or MIL STD 188-141b/c family of protocols and equipment 
standards. At
a minimum, ALE radio equipment used in the exercise should be capable of 
sending
and receiving ALE Individual Calls, ALE Sounding, and ALE Text messaging 
(AMD)
using the normal 2G ALE methods. The equipment may be normally set up 
for
automatic channel scanning, or manual operation may be selected for 
fixed
channel frequencies. Two shared channel frequencies will be used for 
HFIE-2014
out of the five channels approved for use by both Amateur and Federal 
Government
stations during the timeframe of this exercise. Channel information is 
provided
in Table 1.

?

Table 1. HFIE-2014 - HF Interoperability
Channels


HFIE-2014

ALE HF Interoperability Channels for US Amateur Radio and
       Federal Stations

?

Channel
       Designation

Channel
       Frequency

Type of
       Communication

Comments

Sounding

Gov

Sounding

Amateur

HFIE Primary

5357.0 kHz

USB

VOICE

or AMD
       Texting

Call using ALE and
       communicate on this channel.

Yes

Automatic

Manual or
       Non-Auto

NALE

HFIE Secondary

5371.5 kHz

USB

VOICE

or AMD
       Texting

Call using ALE and
       communicate on this channel if the other channel is busy, or to 
conduct
       extended testing.

Yes

Automatic

Manual or
       Non-Auto

NALE

Notes:

    1.  Channel Frequency is
         the carrier reference frequency for Upper Sideband suppressed 
carrier,
         commonly displayed on the front panel of the radio.


    2.  Emission type for
         ALE modem signal is 2K80J2D (or 2K00J2D).

    3.  The
         center-of-channel frequencies are 5358.5 and 5373 kHz. The USB 
offset is
         -1.5 kHz.


?

?

ALE Radio
Programming Information

Program your
controller to automatically allow and add any new ALE address it
receives.

If possible,
program the two channel frequencies in a separate ALE channel group, or 
as part
of your existing HFL NET group of channels.

You may program
the ALLCALL channel of this group to 5357.0 kHz USB, and you may set it 
to allow
sending ALLCALLS and receiving ALLCALLS.

Recommended
sounding interval is 60 minutes.

The recommended
scan rate is 2 channels per second.

Recommended ALE
call duration is 12 seconds minimum and 20 seconds maximum.

Use POLITE or
LBT (Listen Before Transmit) channel occupancy detection.

Linking
protection (LP) should not be used for HFIE-related communications. Use 
AL0
setting.



NET =
HFL

If you program
an additional ALE NET into your radio, the NET name is HFL. If you 
already have
the HFL NET programmed into your radio, you should add the 2 channels in 
Table
1, to your existing HFL NET. There is a total of 10 ?members? of the HFL 
NET,
and your ALE Self Address should be programmed in the first slot. Other 
net
member ALE Addresses should be programmed in the other 9
slots:

KQ6XA, N2CKH,
KB3JAJ, KJ4AYT, KE6IYC, W6HIQ, WB6MZS, WB4AKK, KG6VBX.

?

Basic Operating Procedures

The following procedures are suggested guidelines for
establishing links and exchanging communications between US Amateur 
Radio
Service stations and US Federal Government stations operating in the 
exercise.
Operators should operate within the approved guidelines and rules 
applicable to
their own agency or organization, and radio service.

?

    * For the
   purpose of this exercise, please send and respond only to 
communications which
   are initiated by an ALE call or an ALE text message.


?

    * Transmit ALE
   Soundings on the channels to actively encourage communication with 
your
   station. See Table 1 for details on sounding methods.


?

    * When
   responding to an ALE Call, you may reply either by voice or by 
texting AMD
   message. If responding by voice:


1.??? Respond to the ALE ADDRESS (call sign)
for a US station.

2.??? Identify and announce the ALE call sign
of the station you are responding to.

3.??? Announce your own station call sign
identification (or your ALE self address).

4.??? Exchange a message by voice. See example
messages below. Use phonetics if necessary.

?

    * If responding
   to or initiating an ALE link to call a station, you may transmit a 
message
   containing the following information:


1.??? The letters ?HFIE? (this helps others
identify your messages as part of HFIE).

2.??? Your call sign (call sign, designator, or
ALE self address).

3.??? Your operator name (or an operator
designator you are using for this event).

4.??? The abbreviation of your organization or
affiliation (Amateur default: HFLINK).

5.??? The abbreviation of the state your
station is located in.

6.??? Any other information you wish to convey,
such as a sequential message number, or other comments.

7.??? Here are four examples of typical format
AMD text messages:

HFIE WGY9999 MARK NV FEMA ACTIVE
NEXT 2 HOURS

HFIE WX3XYZ MIKE DC HFLINK
CONTACT 123 CONFIRMED

HFIE WB8XZZ JOE OH HFLINK MESSAGE
RECEIVED OK

HFIE KQ6XA BONNIE CA
HFLINK

?

?????????
When
your communication exchange with a station is complete, terminate the 
link using
the CLEAR
LINK command
or
END command of
your ALE.

?

How To
Determine Which Authorized US Stations May Communicate With Each
Other

For HFIE-2014, NTIA and FCC approved Special Temporary Authority
(STA) allowing US Amateur Radio stations and US Federal Government 
stations to
communicate with each other using ALE, on the authorized channel center
frequencies: 5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373, 5405 kHz. But, this exercise will 
focus
activity mainly upon only 2 of these available channels, as indicated in 
Table 1
of this document.

?

US
Government stations can recognize call signs of US Amateur Radio 
stations by
identifying the characters of the call sign (ALE Address). For Amateur 
Radio,
the call sign is usually the same as the ALE address. US call signs 
generally
begin with one of the following characters: K, N, W, or AA through AL. A 
single
numeral is either in the 2nd or
3rd position.

?

US
Amateur Radio operators can recognize US Government call signs and ALE 
addresses
by the following guidelines. Government stations, for their ALE address, 
may use
their call sign or an agency-issued identifier. Non-military Government 
call
signs may be 3 or 4 letters followed by 1 to 5 digits. MARS (Military 
Auxiliary
Radio System) call signs are 3 letters followed by one digit followed by 
1 to 3
letters. US Coast Guard Auxiliary call signs may be ?NF? or ?NM? 
followed by 3
digits followed by 2 letters. Maritime shore stations are 3 letters. 
Ship
stations are 4 letters. Some US Government stations use an ALE address 
with the
segments of their call sign reversed ? WGY900 could be 900WGY. Some 
government
stations use a three-character agency identifier followed by additional 
letters
or digits ? e.g. WGY900 might use FEM900 (FEM indicating
FEMA).

?

Reporting Format and Methods

Reports may be
submitted in one of the following ways:

    1.  Posting of a
   communication exchange text via the ALE Comm Center chat room of the 
Global
   ALE High Frequency Network? at http://hflink.net


o?? You may register at HFLINK.NET with your
call sign to show on the HF network map. Also please include your Grid 
Square
when registering. The map does not show or utilize exact coordinates, 
the Grid
Square is approximate.

    1.  An email
   report with a simple text log of communication exchanges and 
description of
   your station may be sent to hfie2014 at hflink.net


o?? Please include a description of your ALE
hardware (manufacturer, model, and ALE firmware version) or ALE software 
product
name and version number.

o?? Indicate what (if any) ALE
incompatibility or problem was experienced with which
stations.

    1.  Automatic
   logging to hflink.net via PCALE ALE controller and ALE^stat
   software.

    2.  Please use
   the following format in UTC time to report a communication
   exchange:


YOUR CALLSIGN

[OTHER CALLSIGN][03/27/2014][14:32][5.3 MHz][HFIE
MESSAGE OR COMMENTS]

?



Evaluation Criteria

After the end of the HFIE-2014, a database will be compiled
containing reports and comments from various stations and operators
participating in the exercise. HFLINK will facilitate an ongoing 
discussion via
internet forum to examine any issues or problems encountered, and to 
recommend
any necessary technical or operational improvements. A survey of 
participants
will be launched by HFLINK to evaluate the exercise based upon factors
recommended in the forum.





?




From: E. Drew Moore <mailto:drumor at optonline.net>


Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:24 AM


To: John Garmendi <mailto:gar3j at earthlink.net>


Subject: RE: HF Link ALE Test



?


Done.
Thanks.



On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 08:38 AM,
John Garmendi wrote:







Drew,


?


Can you please share with RVRC . Some members may find this of
   interest.


?


73,


?


John N2DV


?


US Ham Operators and Government Test HF Radio
   Communications

?

Disaster
   Communications Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link
   Establishment

?

Washington, DC, and San
   Francisco, CA ? 27 March 2014 - US Amateur Radio operators (ham?
   operators) and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a 
nationwide
   test of their capability to communicate with each other by shortwave 
radio, in
   case of an emergency or disaster. They are participating in a 12-day 
joint
   readiness exercise running from 27 March through 7 April, covering 
all areas
   of USA, using a digital High Frequency (HF) radio system known as 
Automatic
   Link Establishment (ALE). This High Frequency Interoperability 
Exercise 2014
   (HFIE-2014) runs concurrent with the federal National Exercise 
Program (NEP)
   2014.

?

ALE is a
   standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio service, 
ham and
   government, to establish HF communications between their own 
stations. For the
   first time, the government regulatory agencies (FCC and NTIA) have 
authorized
   these stations to communicate with each other using ALE. HF radio 
enables long
   distance communication independent of terrestrial communications
   infrastructure, internet, or satellites.

?

To facilitate the
   communication testing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
secured
   temporary authority from the National Telecommunications and 
Information
   Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC). Federal
   Government radio stations and hams are allowed to communicate with 
each other
   using ALE during the exercise. Under existing rules, hams have 
secondary
   access to 5 HF radio channels on which Government stations are the 
primary
   users.

?

HF radios used by
   Federal Government stations have the ALE capability built into the 
hardware.
   Amateur Radio operators have implemented the same ALE protocols using 
their
   personal computers with ham radio equipment and software. The Special
   Temporary Authority allows for on-the-air testing of interoperability 
between
   the hardware and software-generated ALE implementations.

?

Participation in the
   interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-capable Federal 
Government radio
   stations and to all ALE-capable US Amateur Radio stations. While five 
channels
   are available if needed, the test plan calls for using only two of 
the
   channels in order to minimize impact on other stations not 
participating in
   the exercise. Specifics of the STA are as follows:

?

(1) Temporary
   modification of the authority granted at NTIA Manual section 
7.3.8(4), which
   authorizes Federal Government stations to communicate with stations 
in the
   Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, to allow communications with 
any
   Amateur Radio station utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited 
to the
   five channels in the 5 MHz band which are available to the Amateur 
Radio
   Service on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th through April 
7th
   2014.

?

(2) Concurrent waiver by
   the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4) which limits 
communications with
   US Government stations to transmissions necessary to providing 
communications
   in RACES, limited to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are 
available
   to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period 
March 27th
   through April 7th 2014.

?

The HFIE-2014 is a
   semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated by the HFLINK
   organization http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High Frequency 
Network
   http://hflink.net

It is open to all
   ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and operational guidelines 
for ham
   and federal government stations are available at: 
http://hflink.net/hfie2014

?

National Exercise
   Program (NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness exercise with
   activities sponsored by government departments and agencies, designed 
to
   educate and prepare the whole community for complex, large-scale 
disasters and
   emergencies. As part of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), it 
enables a
   collaborative, whole community approach to national preparedness that 
engages
   individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit 
sectors,
   faith-based organizations and all levels of government.

?

Media and Technical
   Contact: Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFIE-2014 Coordinator

Email: hfie2014 at hflink.net

Website: http://hflink.net





From gar3j at earthlink.net  Thu Mar 27 15:43:52 2014
From: gar3j at earthlink.net (John Garmendi)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 15:43:52 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
In-Reply-To: <24edde28.46ec3.14503d578bf.Webtop.44@optonline.net>
References: <24edde28.46ec3.14503d578bf.Webtop.44@optonline.net>
Message-ID: <14349739E40A4E00AD488448E27FE585@OwnerPC>

some good full color HFLink Maps of last year?s test on QRZ 


http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?430456-US-Ham-Operators-and-Government-Test-HF-Radio-Communications


-----Original Message----- 
From: E. Drew Moore 
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:58 AM 
To: RVRC 
Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test 







HFIE-2014 Guidelines for US Amateur and
Government Stations Communicating with ALE on 5 MHz

About HFIE

High Frequency Interoperability Exercise (HFIE) is a readiness
exercise event to test radio stations and radio operator practice for HF
interoperability communications using Automatic Link Establishment 
(ALE). The
exercise prepares radio operators to more efficiently handle essential 
Emergency
Communications (EMCOMM) and respond to the needs of disaster relief.
Participating radio operators use this exercise to gain more experience 
in
setting up and operating stations, and to achieve technical proficiency 
in
communicating via HF radio using ALE. HFIE is a free and open 
semi-annual
exercise, coordinated by the HFLINK organization and the Global ALE High
Frequency Network (HFN). More information is available at:

http://hflink.com

http://hflink.net



HFIE-2014 Timeframe

HFIE-2014 Starts 2014 March 27 at 00:01 UTC and ends 2014 April 07 at
23:59 UTC.



Click here to
print or Download these guidelines as pdf



HFIE-2014 for US Amateur Radio Service and Federal Government
Stations

At
the request of FEMA, the FCC and NTIA have granted Special Temporary 
Authority
(STA) for US Amateur Radio Operators and US Federal Government stations 
to
communicate with each other for participation in the 12 days of 
HFIE-2014.
Informal guidelines are presented here for technical operations of HF 
radio
stations for participating US Amateur Radio Service and Government
entities.



Objectives

A
primary objective of the HFIE-2014 is to test HF two-way communication 
to meet
essential communication needs and to facilitate relief actions. Another
objective of HFIE-2014 is to test  the interoperability between
software-based ALE controllers using computer-interfaced HF radios (as 
commonly
implemented in the Amateur Radio community) with various types of
embedded-hardware ALE HF radios (commonly used by government and other
services). The exercise encourages and promotes a common denominator of 
standard
ALE techniques for maximum compatibility.



Interoperability Standards

Interoperability for communications in HFIE-2014 is facilitated by
the use of 2nd Generation
Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) as proscribed in the Federal 
Standard
FED-1045a or MIL STD 188-141b/c family of protocols and equipment 
standards. At
a minimum, ALE radio equipment used in the exercise should be capable of 
sending
and receiving ALE Individual Calls, ALE Sounding, and ALE Text messaging 
(AMD)
using the normal 2G ALE methods. The equipment may be normally set up 
for
automatic channel scanning, or manual operation may be selected for 
fixed
channel frequencies. Two shared channel frequencies will be used for 
HFIE-2014
out of the five channels approved for use by both Amateur and Federal 
Government
stations during the timeframe of this exercise. Channel information is 
provided
in Table 1.



Table 1. HFIE-2014 - HF Interoperability
Channels


HFIE-2014

ALE HF Interoperability Channels for US Amateur Radio and
       Federal Stations



Channel
       Designation

Channel
       Frequency

Type of
       Communication

Comments

Sounding

Gov

Sounding

Amateur

HFIE Primary

5357.0 kHz

USB

VOICE

or AMD
       Texting

Call using ALE and
       communicate on this channel.

Yes

Automatic

Manual or
       Non-Auto

NALE

HFIE Secondary

5371.5 kHz

USB

VOICE

or AMD
       Texting

Call using ALE and
       communicate on this channel if the other channel is busy, or to 
conduct
       extended testing.

Yes

Automatic

Manual or
       Non-Auto

NALE

Notes:

    1.  Channel Frequency is
         the carrier reference frequency for Upper Sideband suppressed 
carrier,
         commonly displayed on the front panel of the radio.


    2.  Emission type for
         ALE modem signal is 2K80J2D (or 2K00J2D).

    3.  The
         center-of-channel frequencies are 5358.5 and 5373 kHz. The USB 
offset is
         -1.5 kHz.






ALE Radio
Programming Information

Program your
controller to automatically allow and add any new ALE address it
receives.

If possible,
program the two channel frequencies in a separate ALE channel group, or 
as part
of your existing HFL NET group of channels.

You may program
the ALLCALL channel of this group to 5357.0 kHz USB, and you may set it 
to allow
sending ALLCALLS and receiving ALLCALLS.

Recommended
sounding interval is 60 minutes.

The recommended
scan rate is 2 channels per second.

Recommended ALE
call duration is 12 seconds minimum and 20 seconds maximum.

Use POLITE or
LBT (Listen Before Transmit) channel occupancy detection.

Linking
protection (LP) should not be used for HFIE-related communications. Use 
AL0
setting.



NET =
HFL

If you program
an additional ALE NET into your radio, the NET name is HFL. If you 
already have
the HFL NET programmed into your radio, you should add the 2 channels in 
Table
1, to your existing HFL NET. There is a total of 10 ?members? of the HFL 
NET,
and your ALE Self Address should be programmed in the first slot. Other 
net
member ALE Addresses should be programmed in the other 9
slots:

KQ6XA, N2CKH,
KB3JAJ, KJ4AYT, KE6IYC, W6HIQ, WB6MZS, WB4AKK, KG6VBX.



Basic Operating Procedures

The following procedures are suggested guidelines for
establishing links and exchanging communications between US Amateur 
Radio
Service stations and US Federal Government stations operating in the 
exercise.
Operators should operate within the approved guidelines and rules 
applicable to
their own agency or organization, and radio service.



    * For the
   purpose of this exercise, please send and respond only to 
communications which
   are initiated by an ALE call or an ALE text message.




    * Transmit ALE
   Soundings on the channels to actively encourage communication with 
your
   station. See Table 1 for details on sounding methods.




    * When
   responding to an ALE Call, you may reply either by voice or by 
texting AMD
   message. If responding by voice:


1.    Respond to the ALE ADDRESS (call sign)
for a US station.

2.    Identify and announce the ALE call sign
of the station you are responding to.

3.    Announce your own station call sign
identification (or your ALE self address).

4.    Exchange a message by voice. See example
messages below. Use phonetics if necessary.



    * If responding
   to or initiating an ALE link to call a station, you may transmit a 
message
   containing the following information:


1.    The letters ?HFIE? (this helps others
identify your messages as part of HFIE).

2.    Your call sign (call sign, designator, or
ALE self address).

3.    Your operator name (or an operator
designator you are using for this event).

4.    The abbreviation of your organization or
affiliation (Amateur default: HFLINK).

5.    The abbreviation of the state your
station is located in.

6.    Any other information you wish to convey,
such as a sequential message number, or other comments.

7.    Here are four examples of typical format
AMD text messages:

HFIE WGY9999 MARK NV FEMA ACTIVE
NEXT 2 HOURS

HFIE WX3XYZ MIKE DC HFLINK
CONTACT 123 CONFIRMED

HFIE WB8XZZ JOE OH HFLINK MESSAGE
RECEIVED OK

HFIE KQ6XA BONNIE CA
HFLINK



?        
When
your communication exchange with a station is complete, terminate the 
link using
the CLEAR
LINK command
or
END command of
your ALE.



How To
Determine Which Authorized US Stations May Communicate With Each
Other

For HFIE-2014, NTIA and FCC approved Special Temporary Authority
(STA) allowing US Amateur Radio stations and US Federal Government 
stations to
communicate with each other using ALE, on the authorized channel center
frequencies: 5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373, 5405 kHz. But, this exercise will 
focus
activity mainly upon only 2 of these available channels, as indicated in 
Table 1
of this document.



US
Government stations can recognize call signs of US Amateur Radio 
stations by
identifying the characters of the call sign (ALE Address). For Amateur 
Radio,
the call sign is usually the same as the ALE address. US call signs 
generally
begin with one of the following characters: K, N, W, or AA through AL. A 
single
numeral is either in the 2nd or
3rd position.



US
Amateur Radio operators can recognize US Government call signs and ALE 
addresses
by the following guidelines. Government stations, for their ALE address, 
may use
their call sign or an agency-issued identifier. Non-military Government 
call
signs may be 3 or 4 letters followed by 1 to 5 digits. MARS (Military 
Auxiliary
Radio System) call signs are 3 letters followed by one digit followed by 
1 to 3
letters. US Coast Guard Auxiliary call signs may be ?NF? or ?NM? 
followed by 3
digits followed by 2 letters. Maritime shore stations are 3 letters. 
Ship
stations are 4 letters. Some US Government stations use an ALE address 
with the
segments of their call sign reversed ? WGY900 could be 900WGY. Some 
government
stations use a three-character agency identifier followed by additional 
letters
or digits ? e.g. WGY900 might use FEM900 (FEM indicating
FEMA).



Reporting Format and Methods

Reports may be
submitted in one of the following ways:

    1.  Posting of a
   communication exchange text via the ALE Comm Center chat room of the 
Global
   ALE High Frequency Network  at http://hflink.net


o   You may register at HFLINK.NET with your
call sign to show on the HF network map. Also please include your Grid 
Square
when registering. The map does not show or utilize exact coordinates, 
the Grid
Square is approximate.

    1.  An email
   report with a simple text log of communication exchanges and 
description of
   your station may be sent to hfie2014 at hflink.net


o   Please include a description of your ALE
hardware (manufacturer, model, and ALE firmware version) or ALE software 
product
name and version number.

o   Indicate what (if any) ALE
incompatibility or problem was experienced with which
stations.

    1.  Automatic
   logging to hflink.net via PCALE ALE controller and ALE^stat
   software.

    2.  Please use
   the following format in UTC time to report a communication
   exchange:


YOUR CALLSIGN

[OTHER CALLSIGN][03/27/2014][14:32][5.3 MHz][HFIE
MESSAGE OR COMMENTS]





Evaluation Criteria

After the end of the HFIE-2014, a database will be compiled
containing reports and comments from various stations and operators
participating in the exercise. HFLINK will facilitate an ongoing 
discussion via
internet forum to examine any issues or problems encountered, and to 
recommend
any necessary technical or operational improvements. A survey of 
participants
will be launched by HFLINK to evaluate the exercise based upon factors
recommended in the forum.










From: E. Drew Moore <mailto:drumor at optonline.net>


Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:24 AM


To: John Garmendi <mailto:gar3j at earthlink.net>


Subject: RE: HF Link ALE Test






Done.
Thanks.



On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 08:38 AM,
John Garmendi wrote:







Drew,





Can you please share with RVRC . Some members may find this of
   interest.





73,





John N2DV





US Ham Operators and Government Test HF Radio
   Communications



Disaster
   Communications Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link
   Establishment



Washington, DC, and San
   Francisco, CA ? 27 March 2014 - US Amateur Radio operators (ham 
   operators) and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a 
nationwide
   test of their capability to communicate with each other by shortwave 
radio, in
   case of an emergency or disaster. They are participating in a 12-day 
joint
   readiness exercise running from 27 March through 7 April, covering 
all areas
   of USA, using a digital High Frequency (HF) radio system known as 
Automatic
   Link Establishment (ALE). This High Frequency Interoperability 
Exercise 2014
   (HFIE-2014) runs concurrent with the federal National Exercise 
Program (NEP)
   2014.



ALE is a
   standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio service, 
ham and
   government, to establish HF communications between their own 
stations. For the
   first time, the government regulatory agencies (FCC and NTIA) have 
authorized
   these stations to communicate with each other using ALE. HF radio 
enables long
   distance communication independent of terrestrial communications
   infrastructure, internet, or satellites.



To facilitate the
   communication testing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
secured
   temporary authority from the National Telecommunications and 
Information
   Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC). Federal
   Government radio stations and hams are allowed to communicate with 
each other
   using ALE during the exercise. Under existing rules, hams have 
secondary
   access to 5 HF radio channels on which Government stations are the 
primary
   users.



HF radios used by
   Federal Government stations have the ALE capability built into the 
hardware.
   Amateur Radio operators have implemented the same ALE protocols using 
their
   personal computers with ham radio equipment and software. The Special
   Temporary Authority allows for on-the-air testing of interoperability 
between
   the hardware and software-generated ALE implementations.



Participation in the
   interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-capable Federal 
Government radio
   stations and to all ALE-capable US Amateur Radio stations. While five 
channels
   are available if needed, the test plan calls for using only two of 
the
   channels in order to minimize impact on other stations not 
participating in
   the exercise. Specifics of the STA are as follows:



(1) Temporary
   modification of the authority granted at NTIA Manual section 
7.3.8(4), which
   authorizes Federal Government stations to communicate with stations 
in the
   Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, to allow communications with 
any
   Amateur Radio station utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited 
to the
   five channels in the 5 MHz band which are available to the Amateur 
Radio
   Service on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th through April 
7th
   2014.



(2) Concurrent waiver by
   the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4) which limits 
communications with
   US Government stations to transmissions necessary to providing 
communications
   in RACES, limited to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are 
available
   to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period 
March 27th
   through April 7th 2014.



The HFIE-2014 is a
   semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated by the HFLINK
   organization http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High Frequency 
Network
   http://hflink.net

It is open to all
   ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and operational guidelines 
for ham
   and federal government stations are available at: 
http://hflink.net/hfie2014



National Exercise
   Program (NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness exercise with
   activities sponsored by government departments and agencies, designed 
to
   educate and prepare the whole community for complex, large-scale 
disasters and
   emergencies. As part of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), it 
enables a
   collaborative, whole community approach to national preparedness that 
engages
   individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit 
sectors,
   faith-based organizations and all levels of government.



Media and Technical
   Contact: Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFIE-2014 Coordinator

Email: hfie2014 at hflink.net

Website: http://hflink.net




______________________________________________________________
RVRC mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
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Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

From marvbrons at verizon.net  Thu Mar 27 16:10:51 2014
From: marvbrons at verizon.net (Marvin Bronstein)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:10:51 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
In-Reply-To: <14349739E40A4E00AD488448E27FE585@OwnerPC>
References: <24edde28.46ec3.14503d578bf.Webtop.44@optonline.net>
	<14349739E40A4E00AD488448E27FE585@OwnerPC>
Message-ID: <DA102690EA3E4F62A8A53C63225C8359@marvbronsPC>

John,

Quite interesting 'maps'. It showed only 3 paths were achieved in the 1 ~ 4 
MHz band (N.A.) and all the rest between 7 ~ 29 MHz!!  None were completed 
in the 60 MHz band that is set for hams to participate in this upcoming ALE 
TEST!!!
I ''assume'' it's because last year there weren't any amateur radio 
authorizations!!!  This is probably (it appears) the first year hams have 
been given an ''STA'' to do this and only on the selected 2 channels of the 
60 meter band!!

I wish I knew more about ALE and had the software to participate.  It's one 
of the things we can get to do for our club effort at South Plainfield ARC!!
I'll look forward to the next ''semi-annual test''!

73,
Marv, k2vhw
..............................................................................
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Garmendi" <gar3j at earthlink.net>
To: "E. Drew Moore" <drumor at optonline.net>; "RVRC" <rvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test


> some good full color HFLink Maps of last year?s test on QRZ
>
>
> http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?430456-US-Ham-Operators-and-Government-Test-HF-Radio-Communications
>
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: E. Drew Moore
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:58 AM
> To: RVRC
> Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 Guidelines for US Amateur and
> Government Stations Communicating with ALE on 5 MHz
>
> About HFIE
>
> High Frequency Interoperability Exercise (HFIE) is a readiness
> exercise event to test radio stations and radio operator practice for HF
> interoperability communications using Automatic Link Establishment
> (ALE). The
> exercise prepares radio operators to more efficiently handle essential
> Emergency
> Communications (EMCOMM) and respond to the needs of disaster relief.
> Participating radio operators use this exercise to gain more experience
> in
> setting up and operating stations, and to achieve technical proficiency
> in
> communicating via HF radio using ALE. HFIE is a free and open
> semi-annual
> exercise, coordinated by the HFLINK organization and the Global ALE High
> Frequency Network (HFN). More information is available at:
>
> http://hflink.com
>
> http://hflink.net
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 Timeframe
>
> HFIE-2014 Starts 2014 March 27 at 00:01 UTC and ends 2014 April 07 at
> 23:59 UTC.
>
>
>
> Click here to
> print or Download these guidelines as pdf
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 for US Amateur Radio Service and Federal Government
> Stations
>
> At
> the request of FEMA, the FCC and NTIA have granted Special Temporary
> Authority
> (STA) for US Amateur Radio Operators and US Federal Government stations
> to
> communicate with each other for participation in the 12 days of
> HFIE-2014.
> Informal guidelines are presented here for technical operations of HF
> radio
> stations for participating US Amateur Radio Service and Government
> entities.
>
>
>
> Objectives
>
> A
> primary objective of the HFIE-2014 is to test HF two-way communication
> to meet
> essential communication needs and to facilitate relief actions. Another
> objective of HFIE-2014 is to test  the interoperability between
> software-based ALE controllers using computer-interfaced HF radios (as
> commonly
> implemented in the Amateur Radio community) with various types of
> embedded-hardware ALE HF radios (commonly used by government and other
> services). The exercise encourages and promotes a common denominator of
> standard
> ALE techniques for maximum compatibility.
>
>
>
> Interoperability Standards
>
> Interoperability for communications in HFIE-2014 is facilitated by
> the use of 2nd Generation
> Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) as proscribed in the Federal
> Standard
> FED-1045a or MIL STD 188-141b/c family of protocols and equipment
> standards. At
> a minimum, ALE radio equipment used in the exercise should be capable of
> sending
> and receiving ALE Individual Calls, ALE Sounding, and ALE Text messaging
> (AMD)
> using the normal 2G ALE methods. The equipment may be normally set up
> for
> automatic channel scanning, or manual operation may be selected for
> fixed
> channel frequencies. Two shared channel frequencies will be used for
> HFIE-2014
> out of the five channels approved for use by both Amateur and Federal
> Government
> stations during the timeframe of this exercise. Channel information is
> provided
> in Table 1.
>
>
>
> Table 1. HFIE-2014 - HF Interoperability
> Channels
>
>
> HFIE-2014
>
> ALE HF Interoperability Channels for US Amateur Radio and
>       Federal Stations
>
>
>
> Channel
>       Designation
>
> Channel
>       Frequency
>
> Type of
>       Communication
>
> Comments
>
> Sounding
>
> Gov
>
> Sounding
>
> Amateur
>
> HFIE Primary
>
> 5357.0 kHz
>
> USB
>
> VOICE
>
> or AMD
>       Texting
>
> Call using ALE and
>       communicate on this channel.
>
> Yes
>
> Automatic
>
> Manual or
>       Non-Auto
>
> NALE
>
> HFIE Secondary
>
> 5371.5 kHz
>
> USB
>
> VOICE
>
> or AMD
>       Texting
>
> Call using ALE and
>       communicate on this channel if the other channel is busy, or to
> conduct
>       extended testing.
>
> Yes
>
> Automatic
>
> Manual or
>       Non-Auto
>
> NALE
>
> Notes:
>
>    1.  Channel Frequency is
>         the carrier reference frequency for Upper Sideband suppressed
> carrier,
>         commonly displayed on the front panel of the radio.
>
>
>    2.  Emission type for
>         ALE modem signal is 2K80J2D (or 2K00J2D).
>
>    3.  The
>         center-of-channel frequencies are 5358.5 and 5373 kHz. The USB
> offset is
>         -1.5 kHz.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ALE Radio
> Programming Information
>
> Program your
> controller to automatically allow and add any new ALE address it
> receives.
>
> If possible,
> program the two channel frequencies in a separate ALE channel group, or
> as part
> of your existing HFL NET group of channels.
>
> You may program
> the ALLCALL channel of this group to 5357.0 kHz USB, and you may set it
> to allow
> sending ALLCALLS and receiving ALLCALLS.
>
> Recommended
> sounding interval is 60 minutes.
>
> The recommended
> scan rate is 2 channels per second.
>
> Recommended ALE
> call duration is 12 seconds minimum and 20 seconds maximum.
>
> Use POLITE or
> LBT (Listen Before Transmit) channel occupancy detection.
>
> Linking
> protection (LP) should not be used for HFIE-related communications. Use
> AL0
> setting.
>
>
>
> NET =
> HFL
>
> If you program
> an additional ALE NET into your radio, the NET name is HFL. If you
> already have
> the HFL NET programmed into your radio, you should add the 2 channels in
> Table
> 1, to your existing HFL NET. There is a total of 10 ?members? of the HFL
> NET,
> and your ALE Self Address should be programmed in the first slot. Other
> net
> member ALE Addresses should be programmed in the other 9
> slots:
>
> KQ6XA, N2CKH,
> KB3JAJ, KJ4AYT, KE6IYC, W6HIQ, WB6MZS, WB4AKK, KG6VBX.
>
>
>
> Basic Operating Procedures
>
> The following procedures are suggested guidelines for
> establishing links and exchanging communications between US Amateur
> Radio
> Service stations and US Federal Government stations operating in the
> exercise.
> Operators should operate within the approved guidelines and rules
> applicable to
> their own agency or organization, and radio service.
>
>
>
>    * For the
>   purpose of this exercise, please send and respond only to
> communications which
>   are initiated by an ALE call or an ALE text message.
>
>
>
>
>    * Transmit ALE
>   Soundings on the channels to actively encourage communication with
> your
>   station. See Table 1 for details on sounding methods.
>
>
>
>
>    * When
>   responding to an ALE Call, you may reply either by voice or by
> texting AMD
>   message. If responding by voice:
>
>
> 1.    Respond to the ALE ADDRESS (call sign)
> for a US station.
>
> 2.    Identify and announce the ALE call sign
> of the station you are responding to.
>
> 3.    Announce your own station call sign
> identification (or your ALE self address).
>
> 4.    Exchange a message by voice. See example
> messages below. Use phonetics if necessary.
>
>
>
>    * If responding
>   to or initiating an ALE link to call a station, you may transmit a
> message
>   containing the following information:
>
>
> 1.    The letters ?HFIE? (this helps others
> identify your messages as part of HFIE).
>
> 2.    Your call sign (call sign, designator, or
> ALE self address).
>
> 3.    Your operator name (or an operator
> designator you are using for this event).
>
> 4.    The abbreviation of your organization or
> affiliation (Amateur default: HFLINK).
>
> 5.    The abbreviation of the state your
> station is located in.
>
> 6.    Any other information you wish to convey,
> such as a sequential message number, or other comments.
>
> 7.    Here are four examples of typical format
> AMD text messages:
>
> HFIE WGY9999 MARK NV FEMA ACTIVE
> NEXT 2 HOURS
>
> HFIE WX3XYZ MIKE DC HFLINK
> CONTACT 123 CONFIRMED
>
> HFIE WB8XZZ JOE OH HFLINK MESSAGE
> RECEIVED OK
>
> HFIE KQ6XA BONNIE CA
> HFLINK
>
>
>
> ?
> When
> your communication exchange with a station is complete, terminate the
> link using
> the CLEAR
> LINK command
> or
> END command of
> your ALE.
>
>
>
> How To
> Determine Which Authorized US Stations May Communicate With Each
> Other
>
> For HFIE-2014, NTIA and FCC approved Special Temporary Authority
> (STA) allowing US Amateur Radio stations and US Federal Government
> stations to
> communicate with each other using ALE, on the authorized channel center
> frequencies: 5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373, 5405 kHz. But, this exercise will
> focus
> activity mainly upon only 2 of these available channels, as indicated in
> Table 1
> of this document.
>
>
>
> US
> Government stations can recognize call signs of US Amateur Radio
> stations by
> identifying the characters of the call sign (ALE Address). For Amateur
> Radio,
> the call sign is usually the same as the ALE address. US call signs
> generally
> begin with one of the following characters: K, N, W, or AA through AL. A
> single
> numeral is either in the 2nd or
> 3rd position.
>
>
>
> US
> Amateur Radio operators can recognize US Government call signs and ALE
> addresses
> by the following guidelines. Government stations, for their ALE address,
> may use
> their call sign or an agency-issued identifier. Non-military Government
> call
> signs may be 3 or 4 letters followed by 1 to 5 digits. MARS (Military
> Auxiliary
> Radio System) call signs are 3 letters followed by one digit followed by
> 1 to 3
> letters. US Coast Guard Auxiliary call signs may be ?NF? or ?NM?
> followed by 3
> digits followed by 2 letters. Maritime shore stations are 3 letters.
> Ship
> stations are 4 letters. Some US Government stations use an ALE address
> with the
> segments of their call sign reversed ? WGY900 could be 900WGY. Some
> government
> stations use a three-character agency identifier followed by additional
> letters
> or digits ? e.g. WGY900 might use FEM900 (FEM indicating
> FEMA).
>
>
>
> Reporting Format and Methods
>
> Reports may be
> submitted in one of the following ways:
>
>    1.  Posting of a
>   communication exchange text via the ALE Comm Center chat room of the
> Global
>   ALE High Frequency Network  at http://hflink.net
>
>
> o   You may register at HFLINK.NET with your
> call sign to show on the HF network map. Also please include your Grid
> Square
> when registering. The map does not show or utilize exact coordinates,
> the Grid
> Square is approximate.
>
>    1.  An email
>   report with a simple text log of communication exchanges and
> description of
>   your station may be sent to hfie2014 at hflink.net
>
>
> o   Please include a description of your ALE
> hardware (manufacturer, model, and ALE firmware version) or ALE software
> product
> name and version number.
>
> o   Indicate what (if any) ALE
> incompatibility or problem was experienced with which
> stations.
>
>    1.  Automatic
>   logging to hflink.net via PCALE ALE controller and ALE^stat
>   software.
>
>    2.  Please use
>   the following format in UTC time to report a communication
>   exchange:
>
>
> YOUR CALLSIGN
>
> [OTHER CALLSIGN][03/27/2014][14:32][5.3 MHz][HFIE
> MESSAGE OR COMMENTS]
>
>
>
>
>
> Evaluation Criteria
>
> After the end of the HFIE-2014, a database will be compiled
> containing reports and comments from various stations and operators
> participating in the exercise. HFLINK will facilitate an ongoing
> discussion via
> internet forum to examine any issues or problems encountered, and to
> recommend
> any necessary technical or operational improvements. A survey of
> participants
> will be launched by HFLINK to evaluate the exercise based upon factors
> recommended in the forum.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: E. Drew Moore <mailto:drumor at optonline.net>
>
>
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:24 AM
>
>
> To: John Garmendi <mailto:gar3j at earthlink.net>
>
>
> Subject: RE: HF Link ALE Test
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Done.
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 08:38 AM,
> John Garmendi wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Drew,
>
>
>
>
>
> Can you please share with RVRC . Some members may find this of
>   interest.
>
>
>
>
>
> 73,
>
>
>
>
>
> John N2DV
>
>
>
>
>
> US Ham Operators and Government Test HF Radio
>   Communications
>
>
>
> Disaster
>   Communications Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link
>   Establishment
>
>
>
> Washington, DC, and San
>   Francisco, CA ? 27 March 2014 - US Amateur Radio operators (ham
>   operators) and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a
> nationwide
>   test of their capability to communicate with each other by shortwave
> radio, in
>   case of an emergency or disaster. They are participating in a 12-day
> joint
>   readiness exercise running from 27 March through 7 April, covering
> all areas
>   of USA, using a digital High Frequency (HF) radio system known as
> Automatic
>   Link Establishment (ALE). This High Frequency Interoperability
> Exercise 2014
>   (HFIE-2014) runs concurrent with the federal National Exercise
> Program (NEP)
>   2014.
>
>
>
> ALE is a
>   standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio service,
> ham and
>   government, to establish HF communications between their own
> stations. For the
>   first time, the government regulatory agencies (FCC and NTIA) have
> authorized
>   these stations to communicate with each other using ALE. HF radio
> enables long
>   distance communication independent of terrestrial communications
>   infrastructure, internet, or satellites.
>
>
>
> To facilitate the
>   communication testing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
> secured
>   temporary authority from the National Telecommunications and
> Information
>   Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission
> (FCC). Federal
>   Government radio stations and hams are allowed to communicate with
> each other
>   using ALE during the exercise. Under existing rules, hams have
> secondary
>   access to 5 HF radio channels on which Government stations are the
> primary
>   users.
>
>
>
> HF radios used by
>   Federal Government stations have the ALE capability built into the
> hardware.
>   Amateur Radio operators have implemented the same ALE protocols using
> their
>   personal computers with ham radio equipment and software. The Special
>   Temporary Authority allows for on-the-air testing of interoperability
> between
>   the hardware and software-generated ALE implementations.
>
>
>
> Participation in the
>   interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-capable Federal
> Government radio
>   stations and to all ALE-capable US Amateur Radio stations. While five
> channels
>   are available if needed, the test plan calls for using only two of
> the
>   channels in order to minimize impact on other stations not
> participating in
>   the exercise. Specifics of the STA are as follows:
>
>
>
> (1) Temporary
>   modification of the authority granted at NTIA Manual section
> 7.3.8(4), which
>   authorizes Federal Government stations to communicate with stations
> in the
>   Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, to allow communications with
> any
>   Amateur Radio station utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited
> to the
>   five channels in the 5 MHz band which are available to the Amateur
> Radio
>   Service on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th through April
> 7th
>   2014.
>
>
>
> (2) Concurrent waiver by
>   the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4) which limits
> communications with
>   US Government stations to transmissions necessary to providing
> communications
>   in RACES, limited to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are
> available
>   to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period
> March 27th
>   through April 7th 2014.
>
>
>
> The HFIE-2014 is a
>   semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated by the HFLINK
>   organization http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High Frequency
> Network
>   http://hflink.net
>
> It is open to all
>   ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and operational guidelines
> for ham
>   and federal government stations are available at:
> http://hflink.net/hfie2014
>
>
>
> National Exercise
>   Program (NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness exercise with
>   activities sponsored by government departments and agencies, designed
> to
>   educate and prepare the whole community for complex, large-scale
> disasters and
>   emergencies. As part of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), it
> enables a
>   collaborative, whole community approach to national preparedness that
> engages
>   individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit
> sectors,
>   faith-based organizations and all levels of government.
>
>
>
> Media and Technical
>   Contact: Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFIE-2014 Coordinator
>
> Email: hfie2014 at hflink.net
>
> Website: http://hflink.net
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> RVRC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:RVRC at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> ______________________________________________________________
> RVRC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:RVRC at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html 



From scott at w2sjw.com  Thu Mar 27 21:34:06 2014
From: scott at w2sjw.com (Scott Wilson)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 21:34:06 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Connect Systems CS700 DMR Demo
Message-ID: <000001cf4a25$cf6e4730$6e4ad590$@w2sjw.com>

Guys,

 

                Those that are friends with me on Facebook have seen
recently that I joined the rapidly growing list of people that are using DMR
digital on the amateur bands. DMR was first known here in the US as
Motorola's MotoTRBO, but it's an international standard created by the ETSI
in Europe. 

 

                The cost of even second-hand Motorola equipment made it a
difficult mode to break into, and some of the other brands aren't that cheap
either (namely Hytera, etc.). Late last fall, Connect Systems out of
California began selling the HT shown here in my video for the unbelievable
price of $180. Motorola gear goes brand-new for about $800-$1000, and the
Hytera models go for $600-$800.

 

                There is currently an application in to MetroCor requesting
coordination for a UHF pair in Martinsville, so those that live in the RVRC
footprint area might have a local machine in the not-to-distant future! This
mode is TDMA, which means the repeater can have two simultaneous QSO's going
on at the same time (almost identical to the format used in the new P25
Phase-II trunking).

 

                There is a Wednesday-night tech net hosted by one of the
groups that is a part of the world-wide link, and I recorded a few minutes
for those that want to see how the unit performs:

 

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUhUaYm3e5ANg71IM03jx87Q
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUhUaYm3e5ANg71IM03jx87Q&feature=player_
detailpage&v=pNqnm57Patk> &feature=player_detailpage&v=pNqnm57Patk

 

                If anyone is interested in learning more, take a look at the
website of the largest club in the US - they basically got this whole mode
going for hams: www.dmr-marc.net <http://www.dmr-marc.net> .

 

73

Scott, W2SJW 


From gar3j at earthlink.net  Fri Mar 28 06:47:57 2014
From: gar3j at earthlink.net (John Garmendi)
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 06:47:57 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
In-Reply-To: <DA102690EA3E4F62A8A53C63225C8359@marvbronsPC>
References: <24edde28.46ec3.14503d578bf.Webtop.44@optonline.net>
	<14349739E40A4E00AD488448E27FE585@OwnerPC>
	<DA102690EA3E4F62A8A53C63225C8359@marvbronsPC>
Message-ID: <FAF6367B3C5C4981902EC82E3BD4783A@OwnerPC>

Marv,

I am just learning about HF Link and ALE myself, so I can't comment 
intelligently. I can tell you that there's a Yahoo group that I joined 
earlier this year that brought this exercise to my attention, and the 
http://hflink.net website is informative.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Marvin Bronstein
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 4:10 PM
To: John Garmendi ; E. Drew Moore ; RVRC
Subject: Re: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test

John,

Quite interesting 'maps'. It showed only 3 paths were achieved in the 1 ~ 4
MHz band (N.A.) and all the rest between 7 ~ 29 MHz!!  None were completed
in the 60 MHz band that is set for hams to participate in this upcoming ALE
TEST!!!
I ''assume'' it's because last year there weren't any amateur radio
authorizations!!!  This is probably (it appears) the first year hams have
been given an ''STA'' to do this and only on the selected 2 channels of the
60 meter band!!

I wish I knew more about ALE and had the software to participate.  It's one
of the things we can get to do for our club effort at South Plainfield ARC!!
I'll look forward to the next ''semi-annual test''!

73,
Marv, k2vhw
..............................................................................
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Garmendi" <gar3j at earthlink.net>
To: "E. Drew Moore" <drumor at optonline.net>; "RVRC" <rvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test


> some good full color HFLink Maps of last year?s test on QRZ
>
>
> http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?430456-US-Ham-Operators-and-Government-Test-HF-Radio-Communications
>
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: E. Drew Moore
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:58 AM
> To: RVRC
> Subject: [RVRC] More Info: HF Link ALE Test
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 Guidelines for US Amateur and
> Government Stations Communicating with ALE on 5 MHz
>
> About HFIE
>
> High Frequency Interoperability Exercise (HFIE) is a readiness
> exercise event to test radio stations and radio operator practice for HF
> interoperability communications using Automatic Link Establishment
> (ALE). The
> exercise prepares radio operators to more efficiently handle essential
> Emergency
> Communications (EMCOMM) and respond to the needs of disaster relief.
> Participating radio operators use this exercise to gain more experience
> in
> setting up and operating stations, and to achieve technical proficiency
> in
> communicating via HF radio using ALE. HFIE is a free and open
> semi-annual
> exercise, coordinated by the HFLINK organization and the Global ALE High
> Frequency Network (HFN). More information is available at:
>
> http://hflink.com
>
> http://hflink.net
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 Timeframe
>
> HFIE-2014 Starts 2014 March 27 at 00:01 UTC and ends 2014 April 07 at
> 23:59 UTC.
>
>
>
> Click here to
> print or Download these guidelines as pdf
>
>
>
> HFIE-2014 for US Amateur Radio Service and Federal Government
> Stations
>
> At
> the request of FEMA, the FCC and NTIA have granted Special Temporary
> Authority
> (STA) for US Amateur Radio Operators and US Federal Government stations
> to
> communicate with each other for participation in the 12 days of
> HFIE-2014.
> Informal guidelines are presented here for technical operations of HF
> radio
> stations for participating US Amateur Radio Service and Government
> entities.
>
>
>
> Objectives
>
> A
> primary objective of the HFIE-2014 is to test HF two-way communication
> to meet
> essential communication needs and to facilitate relief actions. Another
> objective of HFIE-2014 is to test  the interoperability between
> software-based ALE controllers using computer-interfaced HF radios (as
> commonly
> implemented in the Amateur Radio community) with various types of
> embedded-hardware ALE HF radios (commonly used by government and other
> services). The exercise encourages and promotes a common denominator of
> standard
> ALE techniques for maximum compatibility.
>
>
>
> Interoperability Standards
>
> Interoperability for communications in HFIE-2014 is facilitated by
> the use of 2nd Generation
> Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) as proscribed in the Federal
> Standard
> FED-1045a or MIL STD 188-141b/c family of protocols and equipment
> standards. At
> a minimum, ALE radio equipment used in the exercise should be capable of
> sending
> and receiving ALE Individual Calls, ALE Sounding, and ALE Text messaging
> (AMD)
> using the normal 2G ALE methods. The equipment may be normally set up
> for
> automatic channel scanning, or manual operation may be selected for
> fixed
> channel frequencies. Two shared channel frequencies will be used for
> HFIE-2014
> out of the five channels approved for use by both Amateur and Federal
> Government
> stations during the timeframe of this exercise. Channel information is
> provided
> in Table 1.
>
>
>
> Table 1. HFIE-2014 - HF Interoperability
> Channels
>
>
> HFIE-2014
>
> ALE HF Interoperability Channels for US Amateur Radio and
>       Federal Stations
>
>
>
> Channel
>       Designation
>
> Channel
>       Frequency
>
> Type of
>       Communication
>
> Comments
>
> Sounding
>
> Gov
>
> Sounding
>
> Amateur
>
> HFIE Primary
>
> 5357.0 kHz
>
> USB
>
> VOICE
>
> or AMD
>       Texting
>
> Call using ALE and
>       communicate on this channel.
>
> Yes
>
> Automatic
>
> Manual or
>       Non-Auto
>
> NALE
>
> HFIE Secondary
>
> 5371.5 kHz
>
> USB
>
> VOICE
>
> or AMD
>       Texting
>
> Call using ALE and
>       communicate on this channel if the other channel is busy, or to
> conduct
>       extended testing.
>
> Yes
>
> Automatic
>
> Manual or
>       Non-Auto
>
> NALE
>
> Notes:
>
>    1.  Channel Frequency is
>         the carrier reference frequency for Upper Sideband suppressed
> carrier,
>         commonly displayed on the front panel of the radio.
>
>
>    2.  Emission type for
>         ALE modem signal is 2K80J2D (or 2K00J2D).
>
>    3.  The
>         center-of-channel frequencies are 5358.5 and 5373 kHz. The USB
> offset is
>         -1.5 kHz.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ALE Radio
> Programming Information
>
> Program your
> controller to automatically allow and add any new ALE address it
> receives.
>
> If possible,
> program the two channel frequencies in a separate ALE channel group, or
> as part
> of your existing HFL NET group of channels.
>
> You may program
> the ALLCALL channel of this group to 5357.0 kHz USB, and you may set it
> to allow
> sending ALLCALLS and receiving ALLCALLS.
>
> Recommended
> sounding interval is 60 minutes.
>
> The recommended
> scan rate is 2 channels per second.
>
> Recommended ALE
> call duration is 12 seconds minimum and 20 seconds maximum.
>
> Use POLITE or
> LBT (Listen Before Transmit) channel occupancy detection.
>
> Linking
> protection (LP) should not be used for HFIE-related communications. Use
> AL0
> setting.
>
>
>
> NET =
> HFL
>
> If you program
> an additional ALE NET into your radio, the NET name is HFL. If you
> already have
> the HFL NET programmed into your radio, you should add the 2 channels in
> Table
> 1, to your existing HFL NET. There is a total of 10 ?members? of the HFL
> NET,
> and your ALE Self Address should be programmed in the first slot. Other
> net
> member ALE Addresses should be programmed in the other 9
> slots:
>
> KQ6XA, N2CKH,
> KB3JAJ, KJ4AYT, KE6IYC, W6HIQ, WB6MZS, WB4AKK, KG6VBX.
>
>
>
> Basic Operating Procedures
>
> The following procedures are suggested guidelines for
> establishing links and exchanging communications between US Amateur
> Radio
> Service stations and US Federal Government stations operating in the
> exercise.
> Operators should operate within the approved guidelines and rules
> applicable to
> their own agency or organization, and radio service.
>
>
>
>    * For the
>   purpose of this exercise, please send and respond only to
> communications which
>   are initiated by an ALE call or an ALE text message.
>
>
>
>
>    * Transmit ALE
>   Soundings on the channels to actively encourage communication with
> your
>   station. See Table 1 for details on sounding methods.
>
>
>
>
>    * When
>   responding to an ALE Call, you may reply either by voice or by
> texting AMD
>   message. If responding by voice:
>
>
> 1.    Respond to the ALE ADDRESS (call sign)
> for a US station.
>
> 2.    Identify and announce the ALE call sign
> of the station you are responding to.
>
> 3.    Announce your own station call sign
> identification (or your ALE self address).
>
> 4.    Exchange a message by voice. See example
> messages below. Use phonetics if necessary.
>
>
>
>    * If responding
>   to or initiating an ALE link to call a station, you may transmit a
> message
>   containing the following information:
>
>
> 1.    The letters ?HFIE? (this helps others
> identify your messages as part of HFIE).
>
> 2.    Your call sign (call sign, designator, or
> ALE self address).
>
> 3.    Your operator name (or an operator
> designator you are using for this event).
>
> 4.    The abbreviation of your organization or
> affiliation (Amateur default: HFLINK).
>
> 5.    The abbreviation of the state your
> station is located in.
>
> 6.    Any other information you wish to convey,
> such as a sequential message number, or other comments.
>
> 7.    Here are four examples of typical format
> AMD text messages:
>
> HFIE WGY9999 MARK NV FEMA ACTIVE
> NEXT 2 HOURS
>
> HFIE WX3XYZ MIKE DC HFLINK
> CONTACT 123 CONFIRMED
>
> HFIE WB8XZZ JOE OH HFLINK MESSAGE
> RECEIVED OK
>
> HFIE KQ6XA BONNIE CA
> HFLINK
>
>
>
> ?
> When
> your communication exchange with a station is complete, terminate the
> link using
> the CLEAR
> LINK command
> or
> END command of
> your ALE.
>
>
>
> How To
> Determine Which Authorized US Stations May Communicate With Each
> Other
>
> For HFIE-2014, NTIA and FCC approved Special Temporary Authority
> (STA) allowing US Amateur Radio stations and US Federal Government
> stations to
> communicate with each other using ALE, on the authorized channel center
> frequencies: 5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373, 5405 kHz. But, this exercise will
> focus
> activity mainly upon only 2 of these available channels, as indicated in
> Table 1
> of this document.
>
>
>
> US
> Government stations can recognize call signs of US Amateur Radio
> stations by
> identifying the characters of the call sign (ALE Address). For Amateur
> Radio,
> the call sign is usually the same as the ALE address. US call signs
> generally
> begin with one of the following characters: K, N, W, or AA through AL. A
> single
> numeral is either in the 2nd or
> 3rd position.
>
>
>
> US
> Amateur Radio operators can recognize US Government call signs and ALE
> addresses
> by the following guidelines. Government stations, for their ALE address,
> may use
> their call sign or an agency-issued identifier. Non-military Government
> call
> signs may be 3 or 4 letters followed by 1 to 5 digits. MARS (Military
> Auxiliary
> Radio System) call signs are 3 letters followed by one digit followed by
> 1 to 3
> letters. US Coast Guard Auxiliary call signs may be ?NF? or ?NM?
> followed by 3
> digits followed by 2 letters. Maritime shore stations are 3 letters.
> Ship
> stations are 4 letters. Some US Government stations use an ALE address
> with the
> segments of their call sign reversed ? WGY900 could be 900WGY. Some
> government
> stations use a three-character agency identifier followed by additional
> letters
> or digits ? e.g. WGY900 might use FEM900 (FEM indicating
> FEMA).
>
>
>
> Reporting Format and Methods
>
> Reports may be
> submitted in one of the following ways:
>
>    1.  Posting of a
>   communication exchange text via the ALE Comm Center chat room of the
> Global
>   ALE High Frequency Network  at http://hflink.net
>
>
> o   You may register at HFLINK.NET with your
> call sign to show on the HF network map. Also please include your Grid
> Square
> when registering. The map does not show or utilize exact coordinates,
> the Grid
> Square is approximate.
>
>    1.  An email
>   report with a simple text log of communication exchanges and
> description of
>   your station may be sent to hfie2014 at hflink.net
>
>
> o   Please include a description of your ALE
> hardware (manufacturer, model, and ALE firmware version) or ALE software
> product
> name and version number.
>
> o   Indicate what (if any) ALE
> incompatibility or problem was experienced with which
> stations.
>
>    1.  Automatic
>   logging to hflink.net via PCALE ALE controller and ALE^stat
>   software.
>
>    2.  Please use
>   the following format in UTC time to report a communication
>   exchange:
>
>
> YOUR CALLSIGN
>
> [OTHER CALLSIGN][03/27/2014][14:32][5.3 MHz][HFIE
> MESSAGE OR COMMENTS]
>
>
>
>
>
> Evaluation Criteria
>
> After the end of the HFIE-2014, a database will be compiled
> containing reports and comments from various stations and operators
> participating in the exercise. HFLINK will facilitate an ongoing
> discussion via
> internet forum to examine any issues or problems encountered, and to
> recommend
> any necessary technical or operational improvements. A survey of
> participants
> will be launched by HFLINK to evaluate the exercise based upon factors
> recommended in the forum.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: E. Drew Moore <mailto:drumor at optonline.net>
>
>
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:24 AM
>
>
> To: John Garmendi <mailto:gar3j at earthlink.net>
>
>
> Subject: RE: HF Link ALE Test
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Done.
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 08:38 AM,
> John Garmendi wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Drew,
>
>
>
>
>
> Can you please share with RVRC . Some members may find this of
>   interest.
>
>
>
>
>
> 73,
>
>
>
>
>
> John N2DV
>
>
>
>
>
> US Ham Operators and Government Test HF Radio
>   Communications
>
>
>
> Disaster
>   Communications Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link
>   Establishment
>
>
>
> Washington, DC, and San
>   Francisco, CA ? 27 March 2014 - US Amateur Radio operators (ham
>   operators) and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a
> nationwide
>   test of their capability to communicate with each other by shortwave
> radio, in
>   case of an emergency or disaster. They are participating in a 12-day
> joint
>   readiness exercise running from 27 March through 7 April, covering
> all areas
>   of USA, using a digital High Frequency (HF) radio system known as
> Automatic
>   Link Establishment (ALE). This High Frequency Interoperability
> Exercise 2014
>   (HFIE-2014) runs concurrent with the federal National Exercise
> Program (NEP)
>   2014.
>
>
>
> ALE is a
>   standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio service,
> ham and
>   government, to establish HF communications between their own
> stations. For the
>   first time, the government regulatory agencies (FCC and NTIA) have
> authorized
>   these stations to communicate with each other using ALE. HF radio
> enables long
>   distance communication independent of terrestrial communications
>   infrastructure, internet, or satellites.
>
>
>
> To facilitate the
>   communication testing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
> secured
>   temporary authority from the National Telecommunications and
> Information
>   Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission
> (FCC). Federal
>   Government radio stations and hams are allowed to communicate with
> each other
>   using ALE during the exercise. Under existing rules, hams have
> secondary
>   access to 5 HF radio channels on which Government stations are the
> primary
>   users.
>
>
>
> HF radios used by
>   Federal Government stations have the ALE capability built into the
> hardware.
>   Amateur Radio operators have implemented the same ALE protocols using
> their
>   personal computers with ham radio equipment and software. The Special
>   Temporary Authority allows for on-the-air testing of interoperability
> between
>   the hardware and software-generated ALE implementations.
>
>
>
> Participation in the
>   interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-capable Federal
> Government radio
>   stations and to all ALE-capable US Amateur Radio stations. While five
> channels
>   are available if needed, the test plan calls for using only two of
> the
>   channels in order to minimize impact on other stations not
> participating in
>   the exercise. Specifics of the STA are as follows:
>
>
>
> (1) Temporary
>   modification of the authority granted at NTIA Manual section
> 7.3.8(4), which
>   authorizes Federal Government stations to communicate with stations
> in the
>   Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, to allow communications with
> any
>   Amateur Radio station utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited
> to the
>   five channels in the 5 MHz band which are available to the Amateur
> Radio
>   Service on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th through April
> 7th
>   2014.
>
>
>
> (2) Concurrent waiver by
>   the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4) which limits
> communications with
>   US Government stations to transmissions necessary to providing
> communications
>   in RACES, limited to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are
> available
>   to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period
> March 27th
>   through April 7th 2014.
>
>
>
> The HFIE-2014 is a
>   semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated by the HFLINK
>   organization http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High Frequency
> Network
>   http://hflink.net
>
> It is open to all
>   ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and operational guidelines
> for ham
>   and federal government stations are available at:
> http://hflink.net/hfie2014
>
>
>
> National Exercise
>   Program (NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness exercise with
>   activities sponsored by government departments and agencies, designed
> to
>   educate and prepare the whole community for complex, large-scale
> disasters and
>   emergencies. As part of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), it
> enables a
>   collaborative, whole community approach to national preparedness that
> engages
>   individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit
> sectors,
>   faith-based organizations and all levels of government.
>
>
>
> Media and Technical
>   Contact: Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA, HFIE-2014 Coordinator
>
> Email: hfie2014 at hflink.net
>
> Website: http://hflink.net
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> RVRC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:RVRC at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> ______________________________________________________________
> RVRC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/rvrc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:RVRC at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html


From asajm at optimum.net  Sun Mar 30 11:38:46 2014
From: asajm at optimum.net (asajm at optimum.net)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:38:46 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [RVRC] Ham Radio Operator
Message-ID: <e62ea01ea43e.53383a86@optonline.net>

World Famous Ham Radio Operator.
I have 3 certificates signed by JY1      John....WA2F

http://users.skynet.be/on1cau/k_hussein.htm

From drumor at optonline.net  Sun Mar 30 14:53:10 2014
From: drumor at optonline.net (drew Moore)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 14:53:10 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Ham Radio Video
In-Reply-To: <e7ce8368bd58.5338385c@optonline.net>
References: <e7ce8368bd58.5338385c@optonline.net>
Message-ID: <003b01cf4c49$4ca132b0$e5e39810$@optonline.net>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnynwMAw03k 

 


 Go to this web site and scroll down to where you see the spot to 
click on for the Video just above the map.
 John....WA2F
 
http://www.hamradioworks.com/ 

 


 


From jepugh at gmail.com  Mon Mar 31 19:43:40 2014
From: jepugh at gmail.com (John Pugh)
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:43:40 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Fwd: [Dsrc] FT-897D For Sale
References: <CACL24TOPdAQ2espeLMAi5GtWARfGZ4kfpNnxCtx0pxMNpk+ONA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <15E40156-5353-42CA-956A-1039A18A742A@gmail.com>

> After doing a bit of checking around, a price of $775 seems more fair for a used FT-897D these days.  Condition is 9/10.  Includes MH-31 handheld mic, DC power cable, and original manual.  Email if interested.
> 
> jamie N2VVL 
   jkpugh at gmail.com
> 
> 
> On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 9:33 PM, John Pugh <jepugh at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm posting this listing on behalf of Jamie N2VVL.  He is selling his Yaesu FT-897D - see this link for product detail:
>> http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=0372FA803B7BBADBF3076C94ACA7A8C5&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
>> Asking price $825.  Please contact Jamie directly at jkpugh at gmail.com
>> ---
>> John Pugh WJ3P
>> Hopewell, NJ
>> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Dsrc mailing list - David Sarnoff Radio Club -
> Dsrc at lists.epiphanydesign.net
> http://lists.epiphanydesign.net/listinfo.cgi/dsrc-epiphanydesign.net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Dsrc mailing list - David Sarnoff Radio Club -
> Dsrc at lists.epiphanydesign.net
> http://lists.epiphanydesign.net/listinfo.cgi/dsrc-epiphanydesign.net


From scott at w2sjw.com  Mon Mar 31 20:10:10 2014
From: scott at w2sjw.com (Scott Wilson)
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:10:10 -0400
Subject: [RVRC] Dunellen's Radio Problems
Message-ID: <000001cf4d3e$bf22e540$3d68afc0$@w2sjw.com>

Guys,

 

                I know it's been quite a while since the spirited weekend
discussion about helping Dunellen out with their radio problems. I stayed
far away from that set of exchanges, because I staunchly refuse to assist
anyone that uses a radio system that encrypts every transmission from every
user.

 

                Dunellen is now in the process of switching over to Somerset
County's trunk system (seeing that they already have the right radios). It
appears that they are going to be in the clear, as numerous people have
heard the county OEM radio techs testing 3 talkgroups for them today.

 

                If you live in the area & have a digital scanner, have a
listen!

 

73

Scott


