RADIO D.A.R.C. to broadcast out of England from January 2025

For almost 10 years, RADIO D.A.R.C. have used the ORS transmitter in Moosbrunn near Vienna for its short wave broadcasts on Sunday mornings.

This will now stop at the end of the year as the station will be shut down. All attempts to save the site have failed, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation wants to finally and completely give up the "short wave" business segment, which allegedly no longer fits into its business model, by December 31, 2024.

The situation is somewhat different in Woofferton, England, around 50 km westsouthwest of Birmingham. The BBC broadcasting complex that exists there is operated by the subsidiary company ENCOMPASS MEDIA and has a total of 10 transmitters and just as many antennas.

RADIO D.A.R.C. announces that effective January 01, 2025, a new broadcast contract has been agreed with the Woofferton short wave station. Contract negotiations were successful and the D.A.R.C. General Council approved the agreement and the budget on the 16th November 2024.

Radio D.A.R.C’s program will be heard from England for the first time on Sunday, January 5, 2025, on the frequency of 9670 kHz (one of the previously used frequencies of ORS). 125 kW transmission power will be used into a 4 over 4 curtain antenna facing 105 degrees towards Germany. The ERP of this configuration is almost 4 million watts.

The familiar transmission on 6070 kHz in the 49m band will continue to be present as the Radio D.A.R.C.program will be transmitted again with 10 kW transmission power from "Channel292" near Ingolstadt in Bavaria (Channel-292 is owned and operated by Ham radio operator Rainer Ebling, DB8QC). The continuation of the national society’s radio program on shortwave is thus secured for the time being.

Radio D.A.R.C. thank the employees of ORS GmbH & CO KG, in particular Ernst Vranka OE3EVA, for the many years of very benevolent and active support. We wish them all the best for their impending retirement.

Changes Underway in ARRL's Vec Program

If you're a Volunteer Examiner for any level of the US amateur radio licenses, you can expect to be affected by this update.

Some changes are coming to the ARRL's VEC program that will affect exam teams in the US. According to an ARRL representative, the VEC department is phasing out the supply of field-stocked printed exams and encouraging VEs to download and print-out their own from online sources such as Exam Tools. The ARRL will continue to supply other exam-related forms such as the FCC Form 605 or the CSCE and session reports. The ARRL is also encouraging VE teams to explore electronic, online testing whether in person or remotely.

More Information - https://www.arrl.org/volunteer-examiners

A Big Brother-Ish Use Of The 5.9 Ghz Band?

The FCC has intensified its focus on the 5.9 GHz band where new rules are being finalized for the use of cellular delivery of communications to and from cars and trucks on the road.

Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, scored a big gain in late November as the FCC voted on a proposal enabling the use of "cellular vehicle-to-everything" or C-V2X, on the 5.9 GHz band.

“...accelerate the automotive industry and state and federal government plans for transitioning from dated technology to the more advanced C-V2X automobile safety technology.”

— FCC Press Statement

This would establish new rules for the use of ITS within 30 MHz of that spectrum. The system is already in use by many automakers, sending and receiving messages over existing 5G cellular networks with alerts about traffic issues, weather conditions, road hazards or speeding cars. The FCC measure also sets out the technical parameters for the use of C-V2X, including power and emission limits. The system permits vehicles to communicate with roadside infrastructure and the cellphones of pedestrians, cyclists and road workers, enabling safety communications even when there are no line-of-sight warnings.