Here's a reminder of how long this took: When Bob KD4EBM alerted me to the ARRL announcement that 15 kHz of the 60 meter band had been "liberated," I turned to my blog and found articles talking about this possible change way back in 2017. Oh well, better late than never.
Here is the ARRL announcement:
Here are a couple of references from the SolderSmoke blog and one from the BITX Hacks blog in which Don ND6T shifts the BITX40 module's bandpass filter to 60 meters.
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2017/03/channelized-bitx-60-with-five-channels.html
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2017/03/bitx-sixty-with-three-short-videos.html
https://bitxhacks.blogspot.com/2017/02/cap-stack-hack-putting-bitx40-on-60.html
I reached into my junk box this morning and found the digital VFO I was using way back in 2017. I may turn to Don again for help in getting the VFO segment to work.
I got a chuckle about the FCC power limit: 9.15 watts ERP. Wow, such precision! Can you imagine the FCC breaking down a radio amateurs shack door after, perhaps, measuring 9.16 watts ERP? BUSTED!
SWL here. The 60 m SWL band has become too noisy in my city. Thank you Tilman
ReplyDeleteI experimented with 60M some about 7 years ago,
ReplyDeletebut it has the same problem as the great majority of
the ham bands. Only a few people use the band
for a very small portion of the day, whether
due to propagation or lack of interest.
Now 20M CW and SSB POTA, that's fun! --Walter KA4KXX
Walter: I heard that 60 meters was just not that popular because the 100 watt limit prevented hams from using their kW amplifiers on those frequencies. That -- if true -- is just sad. Not having an antenna for 60 (and not knowing how to build a dipole or a tuner) may also have contributed to lack of use. I can understand the reluctance to go along with the channel-izaton, so the ability to use a VFO across at lease 15 kHz might make it more attractive. In any case I will prepare to use an AD9850 VFO for the 15 kHz segment, with the pictured Si5351/Arduino box available for the channels. I did have some nice QSOs on 60 meters, especially with the "Bull and Moose" net. 73 Bill N2CQR
DeleteBill: There is a Kiwi SDR in Lorton, VA (WF4V) that apparently receives on 60M so let us know the day, time, and frequency of the Bull and Moose net so we can listen in. --Walter KA4KXX
ReplyDeleteIt was a long time ago Walter. Maybe they are on the internet?
DeleteCorrection: "Moose and Squirrel" net. Here is the info I have as of October 2018: Channel 3 might be getting a bit more digital use, but a very interesting group called the "Moose and Squirrel Net" meets there at noon (east coast time) on Saturday on SSB phone. This group is kind of a spill-over from the Old Military Radio Net that meets early on Saturday morning on 3895 kHz AM. Because many of the old military radios can't tune on half kHz increments, the "Moose and Squirrel" group used channel 3 which is the only U.S. 60 meter channel on a whole integer kHz frequency (5357.0 kHz). Moose and Squirrel takes it name from the old Boris and Natasha Cold War cartoons that many of us watched as kids. Natasha Fatale and Boris Badinov. Cold War era military radios, get it? Good stuff. Many of the guys on the M&S net commented on how nice the uBITX sounded. I was running it through my .1kW CCI EB63A amplifier.
DeleteSee also: https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2024/03/24/the-moose-and-squirrel-net/ and https://www.mrca.ar88.net/Old%20Pages/Net/MandS.html
DeleteMany of the hams listed are still active (I hear them on the Old Military Radio Net) and they might have info on the Moose and Squirrel Group.
Okay, great! I think this is the best way to get people to try a new band. I will listen for the net when I have a chance. Of course modifying Soldersmoke DC receivers to also cover 60M would be fairly easy; just switch in extra VFO and bandpass filter capacitance. --Walter KA4KXX
Delete