FCC Grants Limited Use of Amateur Bands to AST Spacemobile

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The Federal Communications Commission approved limited use of amateur frequencies for 20 satellites to be deployed by a Texas broadband company.

The FCC's Space Bureau said in a statement that it was giving permission to AST SpaceMobile to use frequencies between 430 and 440 MHz on an emergency basis only, The regulator said its move was in direct response to overwhelming concerns raised by amateur radio operators.

Citing potential interference among their issues, member societies of the International Amateur Radio Union, AMSAT, the ARRL and individual amateurs worldwide also argued that alternate UHF allocations exist for the satellites' telemetry, tracking and command functions. More than 2,500 comments were submitted to the FCC .

The FCC's action gives use of the amateur frequencies to the satellites for no more than a 24-hour period. The amateur radio 70cm band is used by hams worldwide for such applications as mobile FM voice, analogue and digital TV, digital data transmission, amateur radio satellites and weak-signal communications on SSB and CW.

AST SpaceMobile ultimately plans a full constellation of 248 satellites for broadband service from space.

A Lightweight M17 Hotspot

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Until now, CC1200 Hat users had to operate their M17 digital data/voice hotspot using the rpi-interface software on the command line, for example. To change this, Jim N1ADJ and I have spent the last few days developing a lightweight M17 hotspot based on the CC1200 and a Raspberry Pi. The heart of the hotspot is Jim’s m17-gateway, which he has now brought to a stable release. In the meantime, I have completely rebuilt the rpi-dashboard, started by Wojciech SP5WWP, and adapted it to Jim’s m17-gateway.

The following things can now be done via this dashboard:

  • Monitor incoming and outgoing calls

  • Read text messages

  • Edit the configuration of the dashboard

  • Edit the configuration of the m17-gateway and thus

  • Changing the reflector

  • Changing the module

  • Changing the hotspot frequency

  • and much more

  • Updating the M17 hosts file

  • Starting/stopping the m17-gateway

  • It offers all the essential functions you need for daily use while more features are already planned. Jim is also developing his m17-gateway further, whereby we both involve each other, as gateway and dashboard go hand in hand.

It is not a ready-to-use, downloadable Raspberry Pi image, but we provide an installation script, which I have already presented here. In the meantime, this has been adapted so that it no longer installs the rpi-interface but the m17-gateway.

If there are any problems with the installation or if you have any other questions, you can find us on the M17 Discord Server.

More Information - https://rz01.org/cc1200-m17-hotspot/?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

India, Sweden Introduce New Callsign Suffixes, Prefixes

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In India, newly licensed amateur stations have been assigned new suffixes since the 25th of June. Although the existing, older callsigns have not changed, new General Grade licenses, which are assigned a VU2 prefix, now get a combination of numbers and letters, creating callsigns such as VU22DX or VU29AR. Likewise, Restricted Grade licenses, which are assigned a VU3 prefix, receive suffixes of two numbers and three letters, creating callsigns such as VU33ABS.

“These new prefixes are a practical measure to accommodate the increasing number of amateur radio enthusiasts in India by expanding the available callsign combinations while still adhering to the country’s internationally allocated prefix block.”
— Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, assistant director of the National Institute of Amateur Radio

Meanwhile, in Sweden, amateurs who have received the new entry-level class certificate are identifying themselves with the country's new callsign prefix, "SH." These amateurs can be heard on 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 and 2 metres, where they are permitted to use a maximum of 25 watts of power.