ARRL Sept 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

The Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program is a joint initiative between the ARRL and FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service. This is the VM Program report for September 2021.

Technician operators in Mansfield, Ohio; Avon Park, Florida, and Pulaski, Tennessee, received Advisory Notices after making numerous FT8 contacts on 20 meters. Technician licensees do not have operating privileges on 20 meters.

A Volunteer Monitor in Mission Viejo, California, received a Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard Certificate of Appreciation for his efforts in locating a defective transmitter on Marine Radio Channel 16 that was blocking emergency communications on that channel.

A former licensee in Durham, North Carolina, received an Advisory Notice for operating under a call sign and license cancelled by the FCC.

An operator in White Pine, Tennessee, received an Advisory Notice regarding operation on 7.137 MHz, a frequency not authorized under his General class licensee.

Operators in Swannanoa, North Carolina, and New Albany, Indiana, received Good Operator Notices for exemplary operation during 2021 and for regularly assisting other operators with transmitter adjustments and amateur radio procedures.

The VM Program made one recommendation to the FCC for case closure.

VM Program statistics for August showed 2,008 hours on HF frequencies and 2,642 hours on VHF frequencies and above, for a total of 4,650 hours.

Radio France International Splatter “Untenable”

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) August newsletter reports that Radio France International was active daily between 2100 and 2200 UTC on 7205 kHz. The report says splattering appeared “massively” down to 7186 kHz, which IARUMS called “an untenable condition.”

IARUMS said that the “especially well-known intruders” included Voice of Broad Masses (VOBM) on 7140 and 7180 kHz from Eritrea. “From time to time, China Radio International was heard on 14,000 kHz (and intermodulation of 13,855 kHz and 13,710 kHz).”

The usual players among the over-the-horizon radar (OTH-R) systems were active almost daily. These included the Russian “Contayner” system, the British “Pluto” from Cyprus, and the “Foghorn” OTH-R from China.

Intruders monitored in Region 1 may be causing problems elsewhere in the world.