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From the That Took A Long Time department, the FCC granted a waiver requested by the ARRL that clarifies the rules concerning the use of TDMA (i.e., MOTOTRBO or DMR) on the ham bands. I posted on this topic way back in March 2011, so refer to that article for the background. Update: ARRL article posted here.

I was surprised to find that the FCC quoted my comments that I filed on this proceeding:

Some commenters state the proposed rule change “removes an ambiguity in Part 97 concerning the use of single slot TDMA technology” and it “enable[s] and encourage[s] the adoption of spectrally efficient narrowband technology.”  Comments of Robert Witte at 1.

OK, fine, it was buried in the footnotes but I appreciate the mention. I can now die in peace knowing that my name is in the FCC record and not associated with a rules violation

Thanks to Jeff K0RM, for pointing this out.

73, Bob K0NR

Here’s another update of interesting important stuff spewing forth from the internet.

The Noise Blankers continue to run amuck on these interwebz, with cutting edge reporting like this: Amateur Radio Club Indicted on Ferritte Trafficking Charges, Special Event Station to Mark Departure of Mother-In-Law, and Man Claims CQ Contest Victory Despite No Contacts. In a related matter, still no word on the status of the Lost Island DX Society (LIDS).

The FISTS CW Club has a web page that measures your callsign weight. The basic idea is that shorter is better, so plug your callsign in and the ham with the lowest score wins! Mine weighs 52, what’s yours?

The ARRL Field Day information is available for download. The logo looks pretty good this year!

Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) is on the way out.

Lots of new content on HamRadioSchool.com.  Stu W0STU has been discussing the Technician License Question of the Week and I contributed some Shack Talk articles.

And remember, everything on the internet is true because the government is watching it.

73, Bob K0NR

The ARRL web site reported on this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture from the FCC. That’s government talk for “we are fining you.”

In case you are wondering how you can get fined by the FCC, here’s the sequence of events that resulted in a $10,000 fine for this person:

• Get a Technician License and then let it expire.
• Repeatedly transmit on 14.312 MHz, interfering with licensed radio amateurs.
• Have FCC agents track the signal to your house
• When the FCC agents enter your house to inspect your radio station, leave the transmitter sitting on 14.311 MHz.
• Tell the FCC agents that you will remove the microphone from the transmitter and only use it as a receiver.

Hmmm, why does 14.312 MHz sound like a familiar frequency?

73, Bob K0NR

A few weeks ago, I was at my day job working diligently on something. I popped up the SotaWatch web site to see of anyone was out activating SOTA summits. Sure enough, Steve (AKA Goathiker, AKA WG0AT) was headed up Mt Herman for the day. (I have recently declared Mt Herman to be the Most Radioactive Summit in Colorado…at least for amateur radio.)

When I had a few minutes break, I went out to my amateur-radio equipped SUV in the parking lot to call Steve on 146.52 MHz. Steve came back to my call and we made a quick contact and he was in the log. Even though he was an easy line-of-sight path away, I had trouble copying him. Opening the squelch revealed that I had a large noisy signal sitting on 146.52 MHz. I didn’t think too much of it and assumed it was coming from the vast array of electronic equipment inside the building.

As I left work that day, I tuned to 146.52 MHz to see how quickly the interference disappeared as I drove away. I was surprised to find that the interference did not go away, it was covering a wide area. On my commute home, the noise was remarkably constant. This interference seems to follow me everywhere! Eventually, it sunk in that the interference was coming from my own vehicle. Huh, I didn’t have that problem before.

When I arrived home, I turned off the ignition and the noise was still there. I started disconnecting everything in sight, trying to make the noise disappear. Finally, I unplugged the cute little USB charger/adapter that was inserted into the cigarette lighter socket. Bingo, the interference disappeared. It seems that this little adapter has a switching circuit in it that is generating a large amount of hash. I have not investigated it fully, but it trashes out a substantial portion of the 2 Meter ham band.

It used to be my favorite adapter. Buyer beware.

73, Bob K0NR

I am always on the lookout for great ham radio information on the internet. I haven’t found any lately but I did come across The Noise Blankers radio group web site. It was difficult to tell if these guys are really serious or not but they do have an Official FCC Club Callsign (KF5TQF) so they must be legit. Who I am to disagree with this endorsement from the Federal Government?

The mission statement of the club is:

1. Do radio stuff.
2. Have fun doing it.
3. Show people just how fun it is.

This mission statement is very much in harmony with The Universal Purpose of Amateur Radio, so that is a good sign!

I see that the club has posted cutting-edge reports about a West Virginia ham who bought his wife an Alpha amp for Valentines Day,  a Michigan man that declared himself to be a new DXCC entity and the problem causing the Logbook of The World backup. Check their website frequently for more exciting ham radio news.

I have been unable to confirm the rumor that this group is a renegade element of the Lost Island DX Society (LIDS), still presumed to be missing somewhere in the Chihuahuan Desert.

73, Bob K0NR

The Committee to Preserve Golf November Tango is pleased to announce the availability of the new GNT Polo Shirt. The origins of the GNT frequency traces back to the incident when three ham radio operators found themselves stranded on the shore of Lake Michigan, calling out in desperation for Gin and Tonic. You may recall the unfortunate circumstances that caused confusion about the correct Golf November Tango calling frequency.

Fortunately, this has all been cleared up and The Committee has authorized the sale of the Golf November Tango shirt, with the official GNT frequency embroidered on it. (It seems that the group is really bad at documenting things, so they figured that if they all had a shirt with the frequency written on it, it could only help. See the logo shown to the left.)

These awesome polo shirts are available online in both mens and womens sizes at the Ham Radio Techwear store. The committee apologizes that these shirts are a little late for Christmas presents, but there is always next year.

Remember, when all else fails, make a call on the GNT Frequency.

73, Bob K0NR

Last week, I had lunch with an old friend, Bdale Garbee (KB0G). Bdale and I had both worked at HP for a number of years and we have been involved in some common ham radio clubs and activities. I followed the test and measurement path with Agilent Technologies when that company was formed, while Bdale stayed with the HP computer business. He is a recognized industry expert in Unix, Linux and all things open source. It is always cool to catch up with him and find out what he has been doing. He recently took early retirement from HP…I am not sure what “retirement” means for Bdale but its not playing shuffleboard at the retirement home!

Coincidentally, a few days later, I came across this video from HamRadioNow of Bdale talking at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference. In this talk, Bdale discusses the general theme of making stuff and the satisfaction that is derived from that activity. It is about an hour long so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a seat.

By the way, check out the other HamRadioNow videos, especially the videos of the DCC technical talks. Good stuff!

73, Bob K0NR