[Fourlanders] Are you within 200 KMs of Warner Robins?

[Bob Mantell]

Thanks Vic for the answer and cool history of the project .   .


73 de Bob,
 
 K4ESA EM74qc
 
Bob Mantell
k4esa at yahoo.com
 

--- On Wed, 1/27/10, Vic <wb4slm at cox.net> wrote:


From: Vic <wb4slm at cox.net>
Subject: Re: Are you within 200 KMs of Warner Robins?
To: "Bob Mantell" <k4esa at yahoo.com>, "Brian" <nx9o at arrl.net>, "Bob" <w4zst at windstream.net>, "Kevin King" <kc6ovd at comcast.net>, "Charles S. Osborne" <k4cso at charter.net>, "Les Rayburn" <les at highnoonfilm.com>, fourlanders at contesting.com
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 10:37 PM





This has been in effect Bob since 1985 -- I'm about 7 miles from Robins -- in fact most of the state is within a 125 mile radius of Robins -- the rule was put into effect when there was a Pave Paws OTHR or Over the Horizon Radar here at Robins -- it didn't last long as the Clinton Administration cancelled the program -- (does that surprise anyone) -- the radar operated in and around the 433 MHZ band with an ERP of several hundred megawatts of pulse power -- the radar had the ability to resolve a frontal area of less than 12 inches at 1200 nautical miles -- translated,  an incoming cruise missile -- the radar also had the ability to be frequency agile in the 70 cm band & was the first ground based system of it's kind to have an electronic steerable beam, meaning there was no mechanical sweep -- the three antennas were built into the building itself  and each panel was over 150 feet high and about 300 feet in length -- it was often said you could
 cook your hot dog about 1/2 mile in front of the beam - - although I never personally witness such :-))  ... to my knowledge there are only two operational radars in the country at this time, one near Beal Calipornia, and the other near Otis in Taxachusetts ..  within the last two years the ARRL has been involved in a settlement between the Air Force & FCC with repeater groups on both the right & left coasts who had to cease operations because of desensing the Pave Paws receivers at those locations -- 
 
As to your question regarding enforcement -- that's a loaded question -- the answer is, it's a law & we are supposed to be a nation of laws (unless you're a member of congress) -- remember 70 cm is a shared band -- meaning we don't own it -- yes it could be enforced -- will the rule be enforced ??   wouldn't hazard to guess, but I think the FCC is more interested in "fairness" at the present time -- if there were a complaint, it could come from the military if they have some interference issue -- I took no chances in 1985 due to my location to the Robins site  -- when the original FCC order was written I applied for and received permission to operate at a higher power level -- the request took 6 months to get through -- my letter of authorization states I can operate within a specified portion of the 432 band on a non interference basis until the FCC order expiration date, whenever that is -- 
 
While the Pave Paws radar system was operational here at Robins,  GAPTV had to move it's channel 15 tower near Cochran, GA as harmonic energy from the TV transmitter affected the radar receiver -- the cost to move the TV station was paid for by the U.S. Taxpayers (because it's PBS) .. also there were some issues with commercial two way radio repeaters and public service repeaters -- the cost of which to clean up or change frequencies was born by the user -- I operated 4 years with Pave Paws in my front yard until I moved to England in 1989 -- never had a problem with the Air Force -- I did have some receiver issues with the radar when it ran -- but most of the time it was in the passive mode -- 
 
So now you know -- cheers 
 
 





This may be old news to most of you, but I just ran across it. I this area enforced?
 
The latest (January 15, 2010) FCC frequency allocations can be down loaded here:

< http://www.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf >

Footnote US7 contains the restrictions on 70 cm operation:

US7    In the band 420-450 MHz and within the following areas, the peak envelope power output of a transmitter employed in the amateur service shall not exceed 50 watts, unless expressly authorized by the FCC after mutual agreement, on a case-by-case basis, between the District Director of the applicable field office and the military area frequency coordinator at the applicable military base. For areas (e) through (g), the appropriate military coordinator is located at Peterson AFB, CO.

(a) Arizona, Florida, and New Mexico.
(b) Within those portions of California and Nevada that are south of latitude 37? 10' N.
(c) Within that portion of Texas that is west of longitude 104? W.
(d) Within 322 km (200 miles) of Eglin AFB, FL (30? 30' N, 86? 30' W); Patrick AFB, FL(28? 21' N, 80? 43' W); and the Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu, CA (34? 09' N, 119? 11' W).
(e) Within 240 km (150 miles) of Beale AFB, CA (39? 08' N, 121? 26' W).
(f) Within 200 km (124 miles) of Goodfellow AFB, TX (31? 25' N, 100? 24' W) and Warner
Robins AFB, GA (32? 38' N, 83? 35' W).
(g) Within 160 km (100 miles) of Clear, AK (64? 17' N, 149? 10' W); Concrete, ND (48? 43' N,
97? 54' W); and Otis AFB, MA (41? 45' N, 70? 32' W).