January 03, 2021

FCC Sets Amateur License Fee at $35

January 03, 2021/ Colin Butler

In Report and Order FCC 20-184, the FCC has set the amateur radio licensing fee at $35. It includes quite a bit of commentary on how it decided on that amount. In the R&O they noted, “We agree with commenters asserting this fee is too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these applications and therefore adopt a reduced amount of $35 fee for all personal license application fees.”

January 03, 2021

3200km opening on 144 MHz in Australia

January 03, 2021/ Colin Butler

With the Summer Sporadic-E season now in full swing in the southern hemisphere, many radio amateurs there have been making contacts on the VHF bands. During one such opening on the 15th of December 2020, there was one very unusual WSPR report on 144 MHz which spanned 3200kms across the Australian continent.

During an extensive Sporadic-E opening, WSPR signals from John VK2IJM and David VK2DVM in Sydney were heard by Peter VK6KXW near Perth in Western Australia. The distance was an impressive 3200 kms.

The normal maximum distance for one-hop Sporadic-E is usually in the region of 2300 kms. It is thought that on this occasion, two Sporadic-E hops may have been responsible. While this is pretty common on say the 50 MHz / 6-metre band, it's very unusual for it to happen at 144 MHz.