SEMO Amateur Radio Club
P. O. Box 98
Jackson. Mo 63755
February, 2006
Meetings:
The Southeast Missouri Amateur Radio Club, WØQMF, meets the first Monday of every month at 7:00 PM (Ragchew starts around 6:30 PM) Meetings are in the Emergency Preparedness County Office Building, On the Courthouse Square in Jackson, Mo
Next Meeting Date
The next business meeting will be held February 6, 2006 at 7:00 PM in the basement of the Cape Girardeau County Office Building.
ARRL Volunteer Examinations
ARRL VE testing sessions are held after each monthly meeting for those interested in obtaining or upgrading an Amateur Radio License.
The fee for testing is $14.00 for all test elements.
Willie Sandin, NØMGJ President sandineng@charter.net
John Frye, WJØU 1st VP jgfrye@showme.net
Ernie Chiles, WØRMS 1st VP chiles@showme.net
Martha Vandivort, NØXBW Secretary marthav1@isp.com
Irma Frye, NØJPJ Treasurer jgfrye@showme.net
Joe Lorberg, WAØZNI Trustee lorbergco@sbcglobal.net
February Events
Lawrence County ARC Winterfest Feb 11, 2006 Walnut Ridge, Ar http://www.cwrnet.com/lcarc
School Club Roundup February 13 - 17, 2006 http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/scr.pdf
Super Computer Sale February 17 - 19, 2006 Gateway Convention Center Collinsville, Il http://www.gatewaycenter.com/events/R0603001.html
ARRL International DX Contest (CW) February 18 - 19, 2006 http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/intldx.html
March Events
ARRL International DX Contest (Phone) March 4 - 5 http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/intldx.html
WVARA Hamfest March 11, 2006 Terre Haute, Indiana http://www.w9uuu.org/hamfest2006.pdf
Area Nets
3905 Net Sunday, 9:30 AM 3.905 MHz
SEMO Net Daily, 7:00 PM 146.685 MHz (PL 100.0 Hz)
SEMO 440 Net Daily, 6:30 PM 444.2 MHz


These are all of the area nets that I am SURE about. If there are others (and I know that there are) please let me know at newsletter.semoarc@sbcglobal.net and I will include it. All I am worried about is that it is a regularly scheduled (daily, weekly, monthly) net accessible to the local area hams. Along the same lines, I have been considering an "Elmers Net" on the 146.82 machine. The format would be Q&A with a net control and the answers provided by anyone listening who knows the answer. It would be a weekly net. The questions would pertain to things that are pertinent to Ham Radio. My questions are:
1. Is it needed?
2. Would there be participants?
3. What level of "structure" to keep down pandemonium?
4. What night of the week (and time)?
I would like to see it operate along the lines of some of the HF nets. By this I mean (among other things) a primary and secondary net control (and not the same ones every week), some kind of structure to the check-ins (don't talk when you feel the urge, but ask permission or wait to be asked). There are other things that should be addressed and I feel that the most productive time will probably be at the February meeting during New Business.
The Phantom Operator:
In 1975 a strange signal was received by Ham radio Operators all over the world. It was sent via CW but no one could make any sense out of it. It was perhaps a foreign language. The signal continued to show up and baffled many Ham Operators. The strange thing was that the signal was always precisely at 1510. The Operator, by now was called The Phantom. And only on Thursdays did the Phantom strike. The location in question was about 75 miles East of Sumas, Washington. It was hard to get a bearing because the Phantom was on the air only about 15-30 seconds. Years passed by and the Phantom did his job. Yes, folks, 1510 on Thursday. Then in 2003 and the Phantom still going strong, Boy Scouts found a lone Cabin in the Cascade wilderness. To their amazement they found inside the Cabin the left over remains of a diseased Radio Operator. There was not much left of the poor soul. Rodents and other wild animals had carried most of it away. The Scouts also discovered an array of wires strong out all over the place. They found about 50 Deep cycle Marine Batteries, Solar panels, Wind Energizers etc. All used to charge the batteries that were alive and still doing their job, even after 28 years. The Old Ham who ran the place was wise enough to use sealed batteries. The Scouts discovered in the Cabin the remains of a right skeleton hand that was resting on an old Telegraph key. The radio covered with years of dust and moss covered was still running. Suddenly without warning the hand started to vibrate. It was Thursday 1510 hours! Strange rhythmic sounds came from the old Key. After 20 seconds it stopped. Upon investigation they found out that on the other side of the mountain a Rock quarry Company blasting the mountainside precisely at 1510 on Thursday. The shockwaves was what the hand made vibrate! We then knew that we had found the Phantom. The only other items to identify the poor dedicated Ham was a call sign hardly readable due to moisture damage and mice that had chewed on the wooden sign that was nailed to the wall of the Cabin. We could see the first letter, a "W". The second was harder, could be a 1 or a 7, but the rest was gone. Who knows who he was and why he was there is anybodies guess. We sent the hand, the key, and what was left of the call sign to the Smithsonian Institute, but due to the high cost in operating our Government the display promised is still on hold. All this good news from my desk to yours and it shows that one can still be on the air after becoming a SK!
73
by KB7LYM
Bubba and Earl, two really dumb redneck Hams from Kentucky, were in a local Wal-Mart store looking for Ham gear. Upon not finding any, they decided to look around a bit. They stumbled upon a weekly charity raffle. They bought five tickets each at a dollar a pop. The following week, when the raffle was drawn, each learned that he had won a prize. Earl won 1st place, a year's supply of gourmet spaghetti sauce and extra-long spaghetti. Bubba won 6th prize, a toilet brush. About a week or so had passed and the men met back at Wal-Mart, again, looking for Ham Radio goodies. Bubba asked Earl how he liked his prize, to which Earl replied, "Great, I love spaghetti, but is sure is hard to solder and keep up in the air!" Earl asked Bubba, "How about you? How's the toilet brush?" "Not so good," replied Bubba. "I reckon I'm gonna go back to paper."
SEMOARC Minutes
January 2, 2006
 Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Willie Sandin
Minutes from the December Meeting were read by Treasurer Irma Frye. Minutes were approved as read.
Treasurer Report - Irma Frye - Balance of $762.12 with 6 members paying dues at the December meeting not added in yet.
Old Business.
146.685 Repeater -As if a broken record, the repeater is still operating on the lower antenna. The KZIM engineer has been extremely busy with the expansion of thier production facilities and has not been available to go to the tower site to let us in to install the Multi-coupler. President Sandin apologized for the situation.
By-Law Committee - No report yet.
Ham of the Year - The 2005 Ham of the Year was awarded his plaque at the January Meeting due to his inability to attend the Christmas party. The 2005 Ham of the Year was John Clark, W0AVQ.
Christmas Party Report - The 2005 Christmas party has 10 attendees. Bingo was played, all ate, and had a good time.
Website - A poll was taken of the members of their preference of to www.semoarc.org or www.w0qmf.org. No clear decision was made.
New Business -
Collinsville Hamfest The annual winterfest is to be held in Collinsville, IL on Saturday January 28th, 2006.
BNC Connectors Dave, KC0LIW, has acquired left over BNC connectors of various types that his employer was disposing of. Members are to contact Dave.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:17 PM to Program and Social Hour.
Program - Alligator Hunting - Video tape from John Frye.
Respectfully Submitted,
President Willie Sandin.
Planned ARRL Petition to the FCC to Regulate Subbands by Bandwidth
August 10, 2004
 Later this year, the ARRL plans to file a petition with the FCC seeking the regulation of amateur subbands by bandwidth rather than by mode of emission.
The principle of the petition was adopted by the ARRL Board of Directors in July 2002. The motion adopted at that time (Minute 64) reads: "At the next practical opportunity the ARRL shall petition the FCC to revise Part 97 to regulate subbands by signal bandwidth instead of by mode."
The main objective is to make appropriate provision for digital modes in the HF amateur bands, while preserving amateurs' prerogatives to use the traditional modes.
Before the petition was drafted, expert advice was sought from the amateur HF digital community. An ARRL Ad Hoc HF Digital Committee was formed. The committee submitted its report several months prior to the July 2003 meeting of the ARRL Board. Staff also provided an interim report at that time. A draft petition was reviewed by the Board at its January 2004 meeting. Additional review was conducted by the ARRL Executive Committee at its March 2004 meeting, and a final review by Board members was accomplished by electronic mail in late July.
In March the Executive Committee decided that a synopsis and explanation of the petition should be made available to ARRL members before it is filed with the FCC to give members and others who may be interested an opportunity to understand what is being proposed, and why.
Here are some points about the ARRL proposals that may be worth emphasizing:
* Double-sideband AM operation is preserved unchanged, but without opening the phone bands to digital and other modes of the same bandwidth.
* At the present time, RTTY and data emissions are permitted by FCC rule throughout the HF "CW subbands." It is only through compliance with "gentlemen's agreements" that RTTY and data signals are not heard in the parts of the band that are generally used for CW. The proposed rules would limit bandwidth in these "CW subbands" to 200 Hz.
* Bandwidth in the existing "RTTY/data subbands" would be limited by rule to either 500 Hz or 3 kHz. In the following subbands where 3 kHz would be permitted, phone emissions would specifically not be permitted: 3650-3725, 7100-7125, 14100-14150, and 21150-21200 kHz. The reason for this is to encourage the development of higher-speed data communications in these subbands by preventing them from becoming de facto "expanded phone bands." The prior ARRL proposal to expand some HF phone bands is included in the separate FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making, WT Docket No. 04-140, and is taken into account in these new proposals.
* Amateurs would not be required to be able to measure the bandwidth of their signals. The proposed bandwidths are more than sufficient for "clean" signals using the traditional HF modes. We have had regulation by bandwidth for certain data operations for many years without fomenting great debate over whether or not a particular signal was legal. Measurement would only arise as a potential problem for those who try to push the edge of the envelope.
* Bandwidth limits would be eliminated in the 222-225 MHz band; the only bandwidth limitation would be that the signal must be confined within the band.
Please read the synopsis of the petition, below, as well as the exact rules changes that will be proposed. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to bandwidth@arrl.org. ARRL staff will do its best to answer your questions. Comments will be forwarded to your ARRL division director. Members are also welcome, as always, to comment directly to their own director using the email address listed on page 15 of any recent issue of QST.
73,
David Sumner, K1ZZ
Chief Executive Officer, ARRL
For the ARRL Board of Directors
To see the full proposal go to http://www.arrl.org/announce/bandwidth.html The following information is to give you some idea of the bandwidth requirements for various modes
200 Hz is intended to be the narrowest bandwidth to permit Morse telegraphy at all speeds that human operators can decode. The necessary bandwidth depends on speed and whether the circuit is fading or non-fading. An analysis by ARRL in the 1980s showed that 150 Hz is adequate and is based on rise and fall times of 5 ms. A bandwidth of 200 Hz will permit data modes such as PSK31 as well.
500 Hz is meant to provide for RTTY and data modes, and possibly new image modes, but the bandwidth is not adequate for conventional telephony. This is not, however, to exclude experimentation with highly compressed or synthesized telephony designed to fit in a 500-Hz bandwidth at sacrifice of natural sounding voice.
2.8 kHz is required by NTIA for Amateur use only on the 60-meter channels.
3 kHz would accommodate SSB and digital telephony, image, high-speed data and multi-media (that is, a combination of these modes). However, 3 kHz is not wide enough for DSB-AM or independent sideband (ISB), so a separate sub-paragraph are proposed, as below.
6 kHz bandwidth is reasonable bandwidth for Independent Sideband (ISB), as this would be two, 3-kHz upper and lower sidebands.
9 kHz: The emission designator 6K00A3E is commonly seen but not many DSB-AM transmitters have --26 dB bandwidths of 6 kHz or less. Some of the DSB-AM transmitters use high-level modulation with L-C roll-off and their --26 dB bandwidths exceed 6 kHz. There are also some converted broadcast transmitters that exceed 6-kHz bandwidth. ARRL is suggesting a 9 kHz --26 dB bandwidth as a reasonable compromise that most transmitters will meet.
16 kHz also is a reasonable compromise bandwidth to permit analog FM voice, data, digital voice and multimedia in the 29.0-29.7 MHz segment.
100 kHz is presently permitted (for RTTY and data) in bands above 420 MHz. It is reasonable to extend this maximum bandwidth starting at 50 MHz (avoiding 50-50.3 MHz and 144-144.3 MHz), so as to allow both digital multimedia and high-speed meteor scatter (burst) communications.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. The rules are fine just the way they are. Why can't you just leave them alone?
In reality, they're not. The present rules were written long before most of the current digital modes were even thought of. Applying them to present and future digital emissions is like applying rules written for the horse and buggy to an Interstate highway.
With even more digitally based modes on the horizon, major crashes are going to happen. The recommended band plan will keep order, while still allowing radio amateurs to continue implementing new technologies.
2. I'm a CW operator. Why should I care about making the rules better for digital?
Regulating by bandwidth gives CW and other narrowband operators more protection than they now have. As the rules now stand, there is nothing to prevent digital modes from expanding all the way down to the very bottom of the "CW bands."
3. You're proposing to mix digital e-mail systems with SSB phone!
Not necessarily. The proposal doesn't force any changes in amateur operating patterns at all. It simply shifts responsibility for these sorts of issues from the FCC--where they are seldom dealt with at all, and then only with great reluctance--to the amateur community itself. This approach keeps hams in the driver's seat, regulating ourselves as to where digital and analog emissions will work best within our bands.
4. But band planning doesn't work very well!
It may not work perfectly, but amateurs generally do abide by band plans, and band plans do offer much more flexibility to meet changing requirements than FCC rules do. Most of the world's radio amateurs are governed by voluntary band plans. Why should amateurs in the US be any less capable of doing so? Just as PSK31 and similar modes have centered by consensus in one area to the benefit of all, voluntary agreements will work well with other modes too.
5. Isn't this just caving in to the Winlink crowd?
What we're asking the FCC to do is to rewrite the rules so they will still work five or ten years from now. The trend toward more digital operation is unmistakable, but exactly what amateurs will want to do on the air five or ten years from now is anyone's guess. The debate over Winlink made it abundantly clear that it's wrong to ask the FCC to resolve such issues for the amateur community. If we don't do it ourselves and leave it up to the FCC to impose rules, we might not like them, and we'll have to live with them for a very long time.
Have a question we didn't answer or a comment you'd like to make? Please e-mail them to ARRL Headquarters bandwidth@arrl.org.
6. Why perpetuate HF packet by allowing automatic control? HF packet is hopelessly obsolete.
One of the guiding principles behind the Executive Committee's recommendations is that amateurs should not lose any privileges they are now using. That includes HF packet. A few of the automatic control subbands are proposed for deletion because they can't easily be accommodated in our narrowest and most popular bands. Otherwise, HF automatic control--a privilege that was not added to the rules until 1995--should be retained. If amateurs stop using HF packet, fine. But they shouldn't be forced to stop, nor should we ignore the possibility that a newer, better way may come along of time-shifting some amateur traffic into the hours when the bands are relatively quiet.
7. What about AM?
The recommendations include a special exception for AM and for ISB to continue within bandwidths of 9 kHz and 6 kHz respectively. (In ISB, or independent sideband, each sideband of a double-sideband signal carries information or data independent of the other.)
Wavelength Frequencies authorized Maximum bandwidth Standards See .97.307(f) paragraph:
160 m Entire band 3 kHz (1)(2)
80 m 3.50-3.58 MHz 200 Hz (3)
80m 3.58-3.65 MHz 500 Hz (3)
-do- 3.65-3.725 MHz 3 kHz (3) (4)
75 m 3.725-4.00 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
60 m 5.1675 MHz 2.8 kHz See .97.401(c)
-do- 5.332, 5.348, 5.368, 5.373 and 5.405 MHz 2.8 kHz See .97.301(s)
40 m 7.00-7.035 MHz 200 Hz (3)
-do- 7.035-7.075 MHz 500 Hz (3)
-do- 7.075-7.10 MHz 500 Hz (3) (6)
-do- 7.10-7.125 MHz 3 kHz (3) (4)
-do- 7.125-7.30 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
30 m 10.10-10.12 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 10.12-10.15 MHz 500 Hz
20 m 14.00-14.065 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 14.065- 14.10 MHz 500 Hz
-do- 14.10-14.15 MHz 3 kHz (4)
-do- 14.15-14.35 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
17 m 18.068-18.10 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 18.10-18.11 MHz 500 Hz
-do- 18.11-18.168 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
15 m 21.00-21.08 MHz 200 Hz (3)
-do- 21.08-21.15 MHz 500 Hz (3)
-do- 21.15-21.20 MHz 3 kHz (3) (4)
-do- 21.20-21.45 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
12 m 24.89-24.92 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 24.92-24.93 MHz 500 Hz
-do- 24.93-24.99 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
10 m 28.00-28.05 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 28.05-28.3 MHz 500 Hz
-do- 28.3-28.5 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2) (5)
-do- 28.5-29.0 MHz 3 kHz (1) (2)
-do- 29.0-29.7 MHz 16 kHz
6 m 50.0-50.1 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 50.1-50.3 MHz 3 kHz
-do- 50.3-54 MHz 100 kHz
2 m 144.0-144.1 MHz 200 Hz
-do- 144.1-144.3 MHz 3 kHz
-do- 144.3-148.0 MHz 100 kHz
1.25 m 219-220 MHz 100 kHz
-do- 222-225 MHz - (7)

Section 97.307(f) is amended to read as follows:
. 97.307 Emission standards.
(f) The following standards and limitations apply to transmissions on the frequencies specified in . 97.305(e) of this Part.
(1) The 3 kHz maximum bandwidth does not apply to double-sideband amplitude-modulated phone A3E emissions which are limited to --26 dB bandwidths of 9 kHz.
(2) Independent sideband transmissions are limited to a total --26 dB bandwidth of 6 kHz.
(3) A station having a control operator holding a Novice or Technician Class operator license may only transmit a CW emission using the international Morse code.
(4) Phone emissions are not permitted.
(5) A station having a control operator holding a Novice Class operator license may only transmit a CW emission using the international Morse code, data or phone emissions J3E and R3E.
(6) Phone and image emissions with a maximum bandwidth of 3 kHz may be transmitted only by stations located in ITU Regions 1 and 3, and by stations located within ITU Region 2 that are west of 130 West longitude or south of 20 North latitude.
(7) No specific bandwidth limitations apply except that the entire --40 dB bandwidth must be within the allocated band to meet the requirements of .97.307(d).
(8) through (13) Deleted.