Club News

The Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club Meeting will be on Friday October 9th at 7:00 pm - and will take place on Zoom.   An invitation will be sent to club member via their HamClubOnline account.  

Following a short business meeting there will be a presentation “Ham Radio Hearing Aids”. featuring an Audiology Researcher at Boys Town National Research Hospital. 

Topics to be covered include: the science of hearing, what causes general hearing loss, how can ham radio causes hearing loss, how is hearing loss determined an measured, how can hearing loss be mitigated in ham radio, the history and science of technology used to improve hearing, how does different hearing aid technology work or interface with ham radio, cochlear implants when all else fails, and what to do when you suspect an hearing loss in you or a family member.  

Boys Town is considered one of the leading experts both nationally and internationally on all aspects of hearing related research. 

The September Meeting of the Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club will be held via Zoom on September 11, 2020 @7:00 pm.

After our business meeting the program will be about Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) This program will be presented by Bob Frey, WA6EZV. Bob is an ARDF competitor who has participated in 18 US National ARDF Championships and 4 ARDF World competitions and is a 2 time US ARDF National Champion. He has also been Co-chair of three National Championships and serves on the ARRL ARDF Committee.

Bob will give us insights into this fun and challenging amateur radio activity. The AARC would like to invite everyone to attend the program, which will start about 7:30.

To receive the meeting invite, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will include you on the invitation to the Zoom meeting.

 Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed this week. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.

The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.”

The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its NPRM, the FCC proposed application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service that had been excluded by an earlier statute. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees.

Read more: FCC Proposes to Reinstate Amateur Radio Service Fees

We welcome our first two Aksarben ARC “PANDEMIC” members:

Robert Mitchell KE0ZUP and Thomas (Tom) Blocher KE0ULW

As we continue to learn how to conduct our socially distant meetings on Zoom and the repeater it was exciting to introduce these new members to the club.  We look forward to the day when we can welcome them in person and put a face to the voice we hear on the radio. 

Respectfully:

Brian Sohl KE0GKB

Aksarben ARC

Secretary

The Effects of COVID-19 on Worldwide Propagation
by Pat Connell W0OJU

On a typical Spring Sunday afternoon, I would be working on a project in the garage, in the basement, in the back yard, or at a friend’s house.  Anywhere but in the basement or in my radio room.

But this Sunday was different, it was March 29, 2020 the year of COVID-19.  Our president, governor, and numerous other brilliant scientists touted the way to defeat or “flatten the infection curve” was to practice “social distancing”.  But how does an extrovert like me practice social distancing.  Talk to my neighbor over the fence, or  call someone on the phone – not too interesting.  Go for a walk with the dog?  No, the dog will just want to chase the neighborhood birds and other wildlife. 

Thinking about what to do next, I found myself in the radio shack. Seeing the HF radio was on, I checked on 15 meters and found the WPX contest was on and could hear US states repeating calling CQ with no answers or at least I could not hear the foreign stations calling them on my simple dipole.

I went down to 21.074 mhz to see if FT8 was active and start seeing signal reports of S+5 -10!  What the heck, as I turned up the audio I could hear lots of audio signals and some really loud signals from all over North and South America.  I thought what the heck, I should check out 10 meters my favorite band.  (Did I ever tell you I had an 8 element 10 meter Yagi on an 48 foot boom when I was young and single? That is a story for another column.)

I could hear a faint signal down in the noise and then a string of W4, 5 and a W6 came across the WSJT program screen.  I worked a half dozen stations, and then started calling CQ, which in turn caused me to work stations after stations for the next two hours.  I worked W0-W9, KP4, KH6, and a slew of central and South Americans! 

I checked with PSKreporter and found that my signal was being heard in Italy, New Zealand, etc.  (By the way PSKreporter will be a topic for another column – but it is a very practical almost real time tool to check on both HF and VHF band conditions, and whom is hearing whom.)

This was not a onetime experience.  On March 31, ten meters was open late afternoon and early evening across the U.S. and all the ways to South American.  One Example was a J68 (St. Lucia island) who was a S9+ signal for over two hours!!

By now you are wondering, so how is COVID-19 improving propagation? My hypothesis is that there is an indirect impact.  My hypothesis is that there are more people listening out there as part of their social distancing.  The problem is if everybody is just listening and not calling CQ the band will appear to be dead.  So, let’s light up the ionosphere by listening and calling CQ – just don’t be surprised when someone answers! 

73’s and I would love to hear your experiences. – Pat W0OJU