Club Announcements

FCC Updates 60-Meter Amateur Allocation - Not Published On Federal Register Yet (Do Not Operate On New Frequencies Yet) 

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-60A1.pdf - ET Docket No. 23-120 

Hello everyone,

I wanted to pass along information regarding 60 meters. Please also see the link above to the FCC docket for the full information and details.  Operation on the new 5351.5–5366.5 kHz segment is not yet allowed until the rules are published in the Federal Register and the effective date passes.

The FCC is looking to update the U.S. amateur allocation on 60 meters by authorizing a 15 kHz segment from 5351.5 kHz to 5366.5 kHz. 

 "We continue to hold that opinion and thus allocate the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band to the amateur radio service by modifying footnote US23 and part 97 of the Commission’s rules. Additionally, we retain the existing four channels at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz that are outside of the new allocation for continued amateur use."

• FCC Document 

Operation in the new 60m segment would be permitted for General class licensees and above, and remains secondary to primary federal users. As always, we must not cause interference and must accept interference from primary users. The legacy channelized channels for 60m will remain the same and at the same power level. Many radios will likely require a firmware update to use these new frequencies. 

Power and bandwidth limits (important)

The new contiguous segment comes with a much lower power limit than the legacy 60m channels:

Maximum power: 15 watts EIRP (approximately 9 watts ERP)

Maximum occupied bandwidth: 2.8 kHz

Legacy 60m channels

The FCC has not eliminated the traditional channelized 60m frequencies. The following channels remain available under their existing rules:

5332 kHz

5348 kHz

5373 kHz

5405 kHz

On these discrete channels, the higher power limit (up to 100W ERP) and existing emission restrictions still apply. 

Youth on the Air (YOTA) Month – December:

Youth on the Air Month is currently active this December since starting on the 1st, and young operators across the United States and the rest of the world will be on the air throughout the entire month.  The purpose of YOTA Month is simple: Get youth on the air, encourage activity, and showcase amateur radio to the next generation.  

Club member KC3VPB will also be taking part in YOTA Month as one of the youth operators for the US side. Throughout December, operators rotate through scheduled operating slots and may use different 1x1 callsigns during their shifts.

Stations in many countries will use callsigns with the YOTA suffix, while U.S. and Canadian operators use event-specific calls. 

United States 1x1 calls that will be used

K8Y | K8O | K8T |K8A

Canada calls that will be used for the event

VE3YOUTH | VE2YOTA | VA7YOTA

Other countries' calls that will be used.

France – TM4YOTA , TM25 | Poland - 3Z0YOTA | United Kingdom - GB25YOTA

Hungary - HA6YOTA , HG0YOTA | Argentina - LT4YOTA

and may more participating stations and information can be found here:

events.ham-yota.com

Special Event Update: 

The K3A Allegheny Uprising Special Event station was a success. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the Fort Loudon Historical Society for hosting us and allowing us to participate in their event. 

We had a LOT OF FUN! A big thank you to Dwight/K3WVU and Caleb/KC3VPB for all their hard work in getting the club squared away and to operate and creating a really cool special events website. 

We had 2 stations set-up and we ran 20m and 15m. Also thank you to Eric/W1LDE, Bill/N3LJP, and Dwight/K3WVU for operating. 

The filters for 20m and 15m did their job and we had no interference. 

The Vice-President of the Ft Loudon Historical Society will be at the next meeting to talk about the Allegheny Uprising and the possibility of W3ACH putting on another Special Event Station in May 2026 for their Across the Centuries event.

Check the club resources directory on the Club's Google Drive under Ham Data Archive. More resources are being added on a regular basis. 

New material regarding the different digital modes and repeater networks used on VHF/UHF has been added. You can find them in the Free Radio Handbooks directory. A new free Antenna Handbook from 1932 has been added courtesy of BIll/N3LJP. The information is still valid today!