Thursday, April 26, 2012

OFCOM; Amateur Radio Restrictions for 2012 Olympics

2012 Olympics: UK Regulator OFCOM Announces
Amateur Radio Restrictions. 

Details of amateur band frequency restrictions during the
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have now been
released by U-K Telecommunications regulator Ofcom.  The
greatest impact to ham radio appears to be satellite and
other operations in the 436 to 437 Mhz segment of 70
centimeters.

--

Parts of the 70, 13 and 9 centimeter amateur bands in the
United Kingdom will face restrictions between June 28th and
September 23rd.  This, due to need for spectrum during the
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The restrictions only apply in geographically limited areas,
with 70cm being particularly affected around London and
Weymouth.  Also hard hit by the restrictions will be ham
radio satellite operations.

According to a notice on the AMSAT-UK web site the Amateur-
satellite Service allocation in the 435 to 438 MHz range
will be restricted to 436.25 to 437.25 MHz.  This is based
on an understanding that the equipment being used for
Olympics communications in the 430 MHz band will include
handheld FM rigs at the hotels, the routes to the venues and
at the venues themselves.

The U-K communications regulator Ofcom say the use of radio
by amateurs in the designated areas could cause interference
to various communications at the games.  Also, it is
possible that higher power transmissions from outside these
areas could cause interference as well.  Consequently, to
avoid the risk of interference, Ofcom has requested that
United Kingdom amateurs do not operate within the frequency
ranges it has outlined. This says AMSAT-UK means that the
spectrum identified by Ofcom should be avoided for a
considerable distance outside the designated Olympic
communications zones.

AMSAT-UK notes that a well equipped station on a good site
75 km or more from the edge of an Olympics communications
zone could still put a fairly decent signal into that area.

ARNewslineT did a bit of research and found that the closest
heavily populated mainland European city to London appears
to be Calais, France.  This is mainly over water path only
about 93 airline miles or 149 kilometers away from the
closest Olympic venue.

That said, Ofcom has so far not asked the French or any
other European telecommunications administrations to
restrict their nations Amateur Service allocations during
the Olympic and Paralympic games.


More on this is on-line at www.uk.amsat.org/6574 and
RSGB.org/olympics. (GB2RS, AMSAT-UK, ARNewslineT)
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Counter Added January 1, 2011

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HOW TO READ PROPAGATION NUMBERS

The A index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 1 to 6 is BEST
  • 7 to 9 is OK
  • 11 or more is BAD

Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Ap" if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) ('A' referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

SFI index [ HIGH is GOOD ]

  • 70 NOT GOOD
  • 80 GOOD
  • 90 BETTER
  • 100+ BEST

The measure of total radio emissions from the sun at 10.7cm (2800 MHz), on a scale of 60 (no sunspots) to 300, generally corresponding to the sunspot level, but being too low in energy to cause ionization, not related to the ionization level of the Ionosphere.

Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 0 or 1 is BEST
  • 2 is OK
  • 3 or more is BAD
  • 5 is VERY VERY BAD

The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Kp" if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

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