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I would like to inform you, that all Georgian Amateurstations stopping works with all Russian Amateur Radiostations and also, we would like to advise you and all Radioamateurs Societies, memebers and notmembers of the IARU, (plus all other clubs too) do same. Reason - Russian occupation in Georgia.

Bill Moore, NC1L reports that at the July 2008 ARRL Board of Directors Meeting, the following was decided:

"The Board also acted on the Programs and Services Committee report, voting to eliminate Rule 5 from Section III of the DXCC Rules. The Committee realized that while publishing log data can have a detrimental effect on operating awards, it was not possible to control such actions and the rule cannot be enforced. As part of an effort to maintain the integrity of operating awards programs, the Board called on staff to create resources and guidelines for QSLing and for QSL managers. These guidelines will help people who QSL to understand the "best practices" and help to support the work of the QSL manager so that access to log data won't degrade Amateur Radio's long tradition of the "honor system."

The rule reads:

5. The presentation in any public forum of logs or other representations of station operation showing details of station activity or other information from which all essential QSO elements (time, date, band, mode and callsign) for individual contacts can be derived creates a question as to the integrity of the claimed QSOs with that station during the period encompassed by the log. Presentation of such information in any public forum by the station operator, operators or associated parties is not allowed and may be considered sufficient reason to deny ARRL award credit for contacts with any station for which such presentations have been made. Persistent violation of this provision may result in disqualification from the DXCC program.

"This rule cannot be enforced. In its place staff will create resources and guidelines for QSLing and for QSL managers in order to maintain the integrity of operating awards programs."

Hello to you all,
I would like to make an invitation for a special event that will be held at the Radio Telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico commemorating the 45 years of operations of the biggest radio telescope in the world. We, the hams, who work their will organize with the ham community, and will transmitt on Hf and digital modes, We will be live on the webcam also. This will take place on November 16, 2008 from 12:00 to 20:OO UTC. Hope to here from you on HF.
73`s KP4LCL

The dates for the next Stew Perry contest, and the associated warmup event have been established.

Contest period: 1500Z December 27th to 1500Z December 28th, 2007. Operate for a maximum of 14 hours. Off times are 30 minutes minimum and a maximum of four off periods are permitted.

A separate warm-up even will be held on October 18th/19th with the same time period and entry categories.

Complete rules can be found here:

http://web.jzap.com/k7rat/ stew.rules.txt

The results for the last running will be available in a few weeks.

In papers submitted to the upcoming IARU Region I Conference three member societies made recommendations regarding the 40m band plan after the remaining broadcastig stations will have left 7100-7200 kHz.

REF, DARC and RSGB intend to fob telegraphists off with 0 (zero!), +5 and +10 kHz respectively, representing 0 (zero!), 2.5% and 5% of the new 40m band. In other words, concerning the additional 100 kHz range: "SSB takes it all".

The complete range ~7050-7200 kHz shall become the new SSB allocation. Compared currently 7043-7100 kHz this represents a growth of about 160% (one-hundred-sixty percent)!

The additional 100 kHz allocation offers a unique opportunity to pacify "border conflicts" between e.g. simultaneous (QRP) CW and RTTY activities. The recommendations submitted now pass up this unique chance and cause new conflicts.

The above extremely SSB-sided redistribution is based on alleged observations of daily use. Thus an proportional extension of all subbands -in a way obvious and just- is argued to be inappropriate.

Above "observations" are opposed by automated professional daily spectrum usage assessments, the latter of which show no decline of CW activity on the hf bands. Further all major DX-peditions, also the all-time record VP6DX endeavour, log at least as many CW contacts as phone ones, not to mention E4/OM2DX with 66% CW.

Primarily the new 40m bandplan has to regulate the peaks of traffic e.g. on a weekend during sunspot maximum by allocating adequate slices of the "new cake" to all modes. Without fobbing off CW (and digimodes) with nothing or almost nothing.

BC stations not leaving 7100-7200 kHz immediately after their allocation expires are quoted as a further reason for disproportional "extensions".

This may come to pass thus, and with proportional extensions (say 7000-7070 CW; 7070-7100 digimode; 7100-7200 SSB) it indeed wouldn't be fair to simply shift the phone subband upwards into a range possibly still used for some time by broadcasters.

But the telegraphists are willing to bear this impairment in full proportion. First and foremost CW is suited to assist the evacuation of BC stations, with digimodes certainly not far behind.

So instead of a direct proportional expansion of suballocations the operating modes need proportional expansions in the upper half of the enlarged 40m band. Either with the same subband positions as in the lower 100 kHz (e.g. CW I = 7000-7035; Digi I = 7035-7045; SSB I = 7045- 7100 kHz. CW II = 7100-7135 etc.). Or, maybe even better, in a mirrored allocation (Digi II = 7155-7165; CW II = 7165-7200), thus yielding a continuous SSB segment from 7045-7155 kHz.

Recommendations CT08_C4_10 & Co. need to be withdrawn in any case.

To this end I ask all telegraphy operators to

- write or talk to the persons in their national amateur radio society in charge of band plans;

- write or talk to managers of their national amateur radio telegraphy clubs (FISTS, UFT, AGCW, HSC, etc.) inquiring how they advocated the concerns of their members in this matter and how they intend to do so in the near(!) future;

- use connections to foreign radio telegraphy clubs to warn them of the imminent threat to the 40m CW suballocation;

- bravely, self-confidently and frequently use CW between 7100 and 7200kHz, which, before noon, can be an almost interference free pleasure.

CW lives and demands its fair share of the "cake", which some obviously begrudge us. So we need to fight for it.

73/2 es cu in the new 40m-band

"Hal", Hartmut Weber, DJ7ST

Bill - K4CIA, QSL manager for Paul Bailey - VS6DO, reports that Paul became a silent key on 22 June 2008.


In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Paul made a lot of people happy on 160 meters. Paul originally operated from the waterfront in Hong Kong, later moving a little higher in elevation, where he "borrowed" precious real estate from other apartment buildings. This was, of course, for his Top Band inverted Vee.

Sad to see another legend pass on! RIP, Paul.