[HCDX]: 5 MHz EXPERIMENTAL OPERATION CONTINUES

[HaraldKuhl@xxxxxxx]

The following has been taken from

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 19, No. 11
March 17, 2000

(Quote) 5 MHz EXPERIMENTAL OPERATION CONTINUES

Participants in the WA2XSY experimental operation on 5 MHz have established
beachheads on the most likely site of the next amateur HF band. The FCC
issued the Experimental license for the 5 MHz tests to the ARRL in January
1999.

One goal for the project is to demonstrate that an amateur allocation at 5
MHz would improve emergency communication capabilities by filling the gap
between 80 and 40 meters. Several WA2XSY participants are phone net members
in the Caribbean and Gulf area who frequently handle hurricane-related
traffic and now must alternate between those two bands. Other participants
are members of a nationwide digital data-forwarding network.

Strict operating schedules have not yet been established but may be
announced if monitoring reports are solicited as a part of the experiment.
Recent tests among the 15 participating stations--WA2XSY-1 through
WA2XSY-15--have involved contacts and roundtables on CW and PACTOR. Activity
has centered on two frequencies, a primary and an alternate, between 5100
and 5150 kHz. To avoid interfering with existing services, the participants
are confining their operations to a less-populated 50-kHz segment.

Geographically, the participating stations range from the West Coast to the
Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, New England, the South, and the Caribbean.
Participants in the WA2XSY experiment may run up to 200 W ERP. They're using
trap dipoles capable of operation on 80 and 40 meters as well as at 5 MHz.
Operations consist of short transmissions to determine propagation
characteristics. Signals on experimental evening schedules reportedly have
ranged from S5 to S9. Although the current solar cycle is near its peak, the
activity adds little to 5 MHz. 

An amateur allocation in the vicinity of 5 MHz has long been an objective of
the International Amateur Radio Union. The IARU's Administrative Council has
approved a long-term goal of "a narrow allocation, even on a shared basis in
the vicinity of 5 MHz." The League's experimental license is considered one
step in documenting the Amateur Service requirement.

Even if the experiment demonstrates the desirability of an amateur
allocation in the vicinity of 5 MHz, it is likely to take several more years
to win an allocation even on a domestic basis. Securing an international
allocation will be more difficult and will take even longer. The subject of
a 5 MHz Amateur Radio allocation is not likely to show up on the agenda of a
World Radiocommunication Conference for several years, however.

The 5 MHz tests have attracted the attention of the Radio Society of Great
Britain, which has inquired concerning the US experiments. The RSGB HF
Committee also has been considering 5 MHz and may participate in the US
tests if it can get operating authority in the UK (Unquote)

Not the best news for tropical bands DXers.

vy73
Harald
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