SAGAMORE — The Air Force wants to clear the air.
Military officials asked the Federal Communications Commission to make
ham radio operators eliminate radio frequency interference with the PAVE
PAWS radar station, or shut down.
The alleged interference comes from 15 area repeaters — devices that
relay a weak amateur radio signal so it has more power and reach. They
share the 420-to-450-megahertz frequency with the satellite- and
missile-tracking military radar.
The amateur radio operators, led by the American Radio Relay League,
said they'll gladly get out of the radar's way. But the Air Force's
request has left them perplexed.
For security reasons, the military won't tell them what is causing the
interference, how to fix it or why, after 28 years of co-existing on the
same frequency, there is only recently static in the air.
"It is a little bit like being in a crowded room and you want to hear
one person speak and you ask everyone else to be quiet," said Geoffrey
Way, president of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association, which has
about 150 members. "That would be the ideal answer as far as the
Department of Defense is concerned. If you create total silence locally,
it is easier to hear the echoes from far away."
Ham radio operators are part geeks-with-gadgets, part emergency
responders. They set up home radio stations to bounce signals on earth
or into space. They chat with buddies across the globe — and they're
certified by the FCC to do so.
In crises, when other communications break down, they step up, said
Frank O'Laughlin, district emergency coordinator for the Cape Cod
Amateur Radio Emergency Service.
Ham radio operators have helped during Hurricane Bob and the 2005
blizzard by communicating with the National Weather Service and
providing assistance at shelters.
In those situations, the repeaters are crucial. They can pick up weak
signals from low-power radios and send them off to far places.
"It's the kind of frequency that the average guy without a lot of money
can get on and use," said Ralph Swenson of Falmouth, trustee of two Cape
repeaters.
But hams aren't the only ones using the frequency. They're merely
"secondary users," or band squatters who use it only if they won't
bother the primary user, PAVE PAWS.
PAVE PAWS, located in Sagamore, has scanned the eastern skies for
satellites and missiles since 1979. It's one of three such systems that
provide complete radar coverage of the United States.
The system, like any kind of radar, sends waves into the sky, where they
bounce off objects and send the radio waves echoing back to the system.
It's somewhere in that process that an Air Force engineer team found
interference in the 420-to-450 megahertz frequency last year, leading to
the recent request to the FCC to make the hams tone it down.
Lt. Col. Christopher Gentry, commander of the 6th Space Warning Squadron
that runs the radar, said nothing has changed in the radar operations.
But he said clearing the airwaves is a way to make sure PAVE PAWS
maintains peek performance.
The Air Force engineers pinpointed 15 repeaters, including three on the
Cape and others as far away as Rhode Island and Boston. At the
California PAVE PAWS, they targeted more than 100, according to the
American Radio Relay League.
The national organization for ham radio operators helped negotiate a
deal with the military that includes dropping the power of the repeaters
or lowering their height. But they are at a loss to figure out exactly
how to fix the interference problem.
"We say, 'Well, what kind of interference are you getting?' And they
say, 'It is classified.' It's just difficult to get to the root of the
problem if we can't be told exactly what it is," O'Laughlin said. "It
may turn out that maybe they won't want us on the band anymore."
The Cape repeaters have already dropped their power down to 5 watts, but
that is not without consequences.
"There is no question the reduction of that (power) would seriously
hamper the repeaters ability almost to the point where it may be
questionable whether it is even worth keeping them on the air,"
O'Laughlin said.
This summer, the Air Force engineers will test whether the amateur
operators' efforts have worked. Gentry said they'd rather work with them
then evict them from the frequency. "Yes, we could go back and tell them
to cease and desist. If we can come up with other mitigation techniques,
that is where we want to be," Gentry said. "We don't want to shut anyone
down if we don't have to."
Amanda Lehmert can be reached at .

I wonder if PAVE PAWS has anything to do with the buzzing we all hear on 440.
I tend to think it's something local because I've heard it in the repeater
and then heard it on my radio. It happens once every 8 seconds and the pulse
rate sometimes changes. The rotation also can change it's period from the "normal"
eight seconds. We do have Westinghouse in town...

I AmnotGeorgeBush wrote:

...

Oh NO!

Wait till the free band crowd gets a hold of this, the military will
only wish it kept its' mouth shut!

Crowded? Huh, just exactly how many is that?

JS

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:17:00 -0700, John Smith I
wrote:

I AmnotGeorgeBush wrote:

...

Oh NO!

Wait till the free band crowd gets a hold of this, the military will
only wish it kept its' mouth shut!

Crowded? Huh, just exactly how many is that?

JS
ouch that is a wicked thought

"one useless man is disgrace 2 become a law firm 3 or more become a
congress"
adams

woger you are a Congress all in your own head

http://kb9rqz.bravejournal.com/

G

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com


Did not know that 440 mhz radar was still used, sounds like old WWII
technology. But why now is the interference just showing up. I drought that
the repeaters is causing the problem. Must be the damn UFOs.

From: (Scott*in*Baltimore)
I wonder if PAVE PAWS has anything to do

with the buzzing we all hear on 440. I tend to

think it's something local because I've heard it

in the repeater and then heard it on my radio.

It happens once every 8 seconds and the

pulse rate sometimes changes. The rotation

also can change it's period from the "normal"

eight seconds. We do have Westinghouse in

town...


Those kind of signals make me curious. In all these years I can only
remember one that we were specifically unable to track and it was right
after a hurricane blew through the area in 2004.

From: (John*Smith*I)
...
Oh NO!

Wait till the free band crowd gets a hold of this,


Freebanders are't interested in those freqs for the most part. You can
find us hovering below the 10 meter band or way down low.


the military will only wish it kept its' mouth

shut!

Nah, the hammies losing their frequencies are impotent, but of course
I'm preaching to the expereinced choir.

Crowded? Huh, just exactly how many is that?
JS


Perhaps you ought ask the person who wrote the piece or the one she
quoted. Try not to menstruate over the messengers in life, you'll be
happier and healthier.