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The RSGB IARU VHF/UHF/Microwaves discussion forum invites feedback on proposals to amend the bandplans.

Items being discussed are:
– Update to the 144MHz Satellite Allocation to formalise the shared use of 144.000-144.025 by linear amateur satellite transponders (Vienna follow on and already approved in Regions 2 and 3).

– Deletion of FAX frequencies

– IARU ATV Contests Rules/Date: This was also discussed at Vienna. The Dutch Society (Veron) is leading on an updated proposal to modernise the rules in liaison with ourselves and BATC. Our own interests are to introduce modern options for Remote Stations and Rover Stations to help boost activity. There is also a less-certain suggestion around moving its date from its current slot in September.

Join the discussion at
http://forums.thersgb.org/index.php?categories/iaru-matters.17/

When signing up to the discussion forum, the answer to the verification question “Who issues amateur radio licences in the UK?” is Ofcom.

Papers:

Fax http://forums.thersgb.org/index.php?attachments/c5-rsgb-fax-pdf.37/

144 MHz Satellite http://forums.thersgb.org/index.php?attachments/c5-rsgb-144-satellite-pdf.39/

RTTY http://forums.thersgb.org/index.php?attachments/c5-rsgb-rtty-pdf.38/

VHF Bandplan Updates http://forums.thersgb.org/index.php?attachments/c5-rsgb-vhf-band-plan-updates-pdf.40/

IARU 2014 consultation
http://rsgb.org/main/rsgb-consultations/active-consultations/iaru-2014-consultation/

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The proposal to sell-off spectrum at 2.3 and 3.4 GHz will impact both the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services.

The UK communications regulator Ofcom has published a consultation setting out proposals for addressing technical issues related to the forthcoming award of 190 MHz of spectrum at 2350-2390 MHz, 3410-3480 MHz and 3500-3580 MHz. It is expected that these frequencies will be used for 4G mobile services using Long-Term Evolution (LTE). Ofcom say In certain circumstances, LTE has the potential to cause interference to applications/devices using spectrum in adjacent frequency bands.

Ofcom has assessed the impact for both licensed and licence-exempt uses of the release and adjacent spectrum.

The Amateur Service is covered in section 9 page 73 and the Amateur-Satellite Service in section 12 page 87 (12.25-12.30) of the consultation document.

With regard to the Amateur-Satellite Service Ofcom refer to the ITU-R frequency filing database as a source of information. National administrations rather than individuals are responsible for submitting this information and it is suspected that not all administrations have been doing so which may lead to usage being understated.

Regarding the impact on 2400 MHz Ofcom say:

12.29 In our consultation on amateur usage we acknowledged that the 2400-2450 MHz band could experience an increase in background noise as a result of the release and set out advice for amateurs planning continued use of these bands.

12.30 We consider that there is no need for further detailed analysis of the impact of the release on the amateur satellite service as there is a 10 MHz separation between this use and release band and there should be no issue greater than the in-band ISM interference.

It is presumed that in 12.30 Ofcom are saying they expect the interference to 2400 MHz from the LTE release band will not exceed that of a WiFi router operating on the desired frequency. The weak signal segment 2400-2402 MHz is not used WiFi but will clearly suffer interference from the new LTE band.

Consultation document
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/pssr-2014/summary/pssr.pdf

The consultation closes on May 15 2014, you can respond online via the consultation page at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/pssr-2014/

Read the joint response to the Aug 9, 2013 Ofcom: Spectrum Sharing Consultation
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/12/ofcom-spectrum-sharing-consultation/

Jonathan McDowell – Image credit JSR

Jonathan’s Space Report (JSR) has been covering robotic and human spaceflight activity for 25 years.

In the latest issue UK born Jonathan McDowell writes:

The first issue of JSR was sent to an internal email distribution at my then and current place of work, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, on 1989 Jan 30, a quarter century ago. This was shortly after I had moved from the UK to the USA. As a teenager in England I had been lucky enough to attend meetings of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) and learn from experts such as Phillip Clark, Anthony Kenden, and Rex Hall, whose names will be familiar to readers of BIS magazines.

A family friend at the Royal Aircraft Establishment had put me on the distribution for the RAE Tables of Earth Satellites at age 15, and I spent my evenings with a pocket calculator plotting orbits of Soviet spy satellites instead of studying for my A Level exams. I nevertheless made it in to Cambridge, and emerged eight years later with a decent grounding in maths, astrophysics and computer science. This lets me combine public information on space missions with my own independent number-crunching of the orbital data, and I try and make sure that each issue of JSR includes at least some original material.

JSR began as a weekly report, but has become irregular and closer to monthly as my free time has shrunk. The distribution methods for JSR changed from email to ftp, Usenet, and then WWW; JSR now also has an associated social-media channel http://twitter.com/planet4589. But the JSR content remains as plain text (so that I can prepare it rapidly), and the focus remains unchanged: a concise summary of human and robotic extraterrestrial activity, aimed at a technically literate audience. My goal is to provide a journal of record for the space age, sufficiently objective and international in outlook that readers from all countries and of all political leanings can rely on it. I began it because I felt there was a need for such an information source. As the saying goes, if you want it done right…

Read the latest JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html

Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back

Free Subscription: http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr

Twitter: http://twitter.com/planet4589

British Interplanetary Society https://www.facebook.com/bis.space

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Founded in 1975 AMSAT-UK is a voluntary organisation that supports the design and building of equipment for amateur radio satellites.

AMSAT-UK initially produced a short bulletin called OSCAR News to give members advice on amateur satellite communications. Since those early days OSCAR News has grown in size and the print quality has improved beyond recognition. Today, OSCAR News is produced as a high-quality quarterly colour A4 magazine consisting of up to 40 pages of news, information and comment about amateur radio space communications.

The new lower-cost E-membership provides OSCAR News as a downloadable PDF file giving members the freedom to read it on their Tablets or Smartphones anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

An additional advantage is that the PDF should be available for download up to 2 weeks before the paper copy is posted.

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

The Membership year lasts for 12 months starting on January 1 each year.

If you join after July 31 of any particular year, then you will receive complimentary membership for the whole of the following year, i.e. join on November 12, 2013, and you have nothing more to pay until Dec 31, 2014.

Take out an Electronic membership here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html

E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News from http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on

A sample issue of OSCAR News can be downloaded here.

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The responses to Ofcom’s consultation on the 2300 and 3400 MHz bands are now available.

The joint RSGB, UK Microwave Group, AMSAT-UK and BATC response says:

Amateur radio has international secondary allocations in the 2300 and 3400 MHz bands, which are adversely affected by Public Sector Spectrum Release (PSSR). Whilst the detailed impact on amateur radio usage has been covered in an earlier Ofcom consultation, a continuing concern is to achieve a harmonised solution that gives both existing and new users a degree of certainty and consistency. This is particularly true for frequency segments that are key for long distance weak-signal amateur and amateur-satellite activity, such as 3400-3410 MHz.

In this respect the proposed 3.4 GHz Time Division Duplex(TDD) band plan (currently on CEPT consultation) is of serious concern as we discuss overleaf, and would welcome Ofcom taking a more pro-active stance to refine it.

Read the joint response at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/2.3-3.4-ghz/responses/RSGB.pdf

The other responses are at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/2.3-3.4-ghz/?showResponses=true

Ofcom 2300 and 3400 MHz consultation page
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/2.3-3.4-ghz/

Also see the Spectrum Sharing Consultation
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/12/ofcom-spectrum-sharing-consultation/

UNSA-SAT1 – The first 3.4 GHz CubeSat https://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/08/unsa-sat1-the-first-3-4-ghz-cubesat/