[RTTY] Fw: [illinoisdigitalham] ALE Sounding. What is it and how does it work?

Thu Jan 10 21:15:34 EST 2008

Hi All,

Although I have heard the term ALE mentioned in ham rqdio, I had no idea what it was.
One of the listed "calling frequencies" falls very close to our RTTY "RATTS NET" frequency
which we hold each week night.  This net has been active continuously since 1948 (we 
think)

Every now and then this strong, weird, digital, signal comes on and obliterates our 
transmissions.
Not often, but consistently.  We have not been able to figure out what it was.  I have a
strong idea it is one of these ALE calls.

The problem lies near 3.596 Mhz. (an ALE frequency)

73
de Jack / W7LD / "Lucky Dog"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George Henry" <ka3hsw at earthlink.net>
To: <rtty at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 8:08 AM
Subject: [RTTY] Fw: [illinoisdigitalham] ALE Sounding. What is it and how does it work?

>
> You guys will get a kick out of this...  I posted a message to the IllinoisDigitalHam 
> group at Yahoo groups calling the "soundings" by ALE (Automated Link Establishment) 
> stations illegal one-way transmissions, and this is the response from our good friend 
> Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA.  I think you'll all agree that it simply defies logic...
>
> Have a box of tissues handy - you'll be laughing 'til you cry!
>
>
> (BTW, I forwarded her explanation to Chuck Skolaut at the ARRL Regulatory Information 
> service for his opinion, so I can post an authoritative response to her BS)
>
>
> 73,
>
> George, KA3HSW
>
>
>
> -----Forwarded Message-----
>>From: expeditionradio <expeditionradio at yahoo.com>
>>Sent: Jan 8, 2008 5:34 PM
>>To: illinoisdigitalham at yahoogroups.com
>>Subject: [illinoisdigitalham] ALE Sounding. What is it and how does it work?
>>
>>Here is some info about ALE sounding and how it works.
>>
>>What is an ALE sounding?
>>In ham radio, ALE sounding is simply a station ID.
>>Only the callsign is sent, example "This is AA1BB".
>>Sounding is ALE jargon for "Station ID".
>>
>>What is the purpose of ALE sounding?
>>The ID is transmitted for the purpose of establishing
>>and maintaining communications with other stations
>>and to meet the station identification requirements
>>of ham radio rules and regulations. Sounding may
>>also be part of a selective calling process.
>>
>>How does ALE fit in the various ham radio rules?
>>How ALE sounding is applied to the different rules of
>>various countries depends upon that country. Under USA's
>>FCC rules, ALE sounding is a station ID and a communication.
>>
>>ALE sounding is not "beaconing".
>>ALE stations are not sending one-way transmissions like
>>a beacon does. All the ALE stations are transmitting and
>>receiving communications with all the other ALE stations
>>in communication with each other.
>>
>>What frequencies are soundings used by hams?
>>In ham-friendly ALE, part of the guidelines for
>>repetitive soundings is to transmit on "pilot channels".
>>Pilot channels are ALE jargon for a designated calling
>>frequency, usually only one channel per band. The pilot
>>channels are within a segment of the HF bands that are
>>designated for automatic operation by the national bandplans
>>or the IARU Region bandplans, depending upon which applies.
>>
>>Ham Radio ALE Pilot Channel Frequencies
>>
>>Freq kHz SSB INTERNATIONAL REGION - AREA
>>3596.0 USB NORTH AMERICA - SOUTH AMERICA
>>3617.0 USB EUROPE-AFRICA-RUSSIA-MIDEAST
>>3626.0 USB ASIA - AUS - NZ - PACIFIC
>>7040.5 USB EUROPE-AFRICA-RUSSIA-MIDEAST-S.AMERICA
>>7102.0 USB NORTH AMERICA - PACIFIC - ATLANTIC
>>7185.5 USB AUSTRALIA
>>10145.5 USB GLOBAL
>>14109.5 USB GLOBAL
>>18106.0 USB GLOBAL
>>18117.5 USB EUROPE-AFRICA-RUSSIA-MIDEAST
>>21096.0 USB GLOBAL
>>21116.0 USB EUROPE-AFRICA-RUSSIA-MIDEAST
>>24926.0 USB GLOBAL
>>28146.0 USB GLOBAL
>>28312.5 USB EUROPE-AFRICA-RUSSIA-MIDEAST
>>
>>Amateur Radio Global High Frequency Network (HFN)
>>The Amateur Radio Global ALE High Frequency Network
>>is a group of volunteer operators who have automatically
>>controlled data stations on the ALE Pilot Channels.
>>These are known as HFN Pilot Stations, and they provide
>>interconnect texting services and HF-to-HF Relay services.
>>The long term objective is to be interoperable with as
>>many different types of systems as possible. The primary
>>purpose of the HFN is to provide emergency and disaster
>>relief 24/7/365 communications. When not in use for the
>>primary purpose, hams may access any of the HFN stations
>>for normal use. Another secondary aspect of the
>>HFN stations is that they provide a continuous feed
>>to the internet, reporting all other ALE stations they
>>receive. This includes soundings and all other types of
>>ALE calls. These reports get logged into a permanent
>>database, and are visible on "ALE Channel ZERO".
>>http://hflink.net/qso
>>
>>Many other ham radio ALE operators are transmitting
>>soundings on the ALE pilot channels. The more operators
>>who are active on ALE, the better everyone is able
>>to connect with each other.
>>
>>The Ham Radio ALE Guidelines are included below in this
>>message. You can get more info about ALE and sounding
>>on the web at:
>>http://www.hflink.com/sounding/
>>
>>73---Bonnie KQ6XA
>>
>>HAM RADIO SOUNDING INFORMATION
>>
>>What is Sounding?
>>In Amateur Radio ALE, a sounding is simply a 10 second ALE
>>transmission of your callsign (station identification). A sounding is
>>different from a beacon because the ALE station uses 2 way
>>communications; and the ALE sounding transmission is part of a
>>selective calling process for calling and actively maintaining
>>communication with other stations in the global ham radio ALE net and
>>individually.
>>
>>Why are Soundings Used?
>>The reception and communication through soundings enables other ALE
>>stations to know which frequencies or bands your station is active on.
>>When you first turn on your transceiver, you can send some soundings
>>so that other stations will copy your transmissions, and then may
>>selectively call you on the best channel, using the minimum number of
>>call attempts. The scanning ALE receiver listens to the soundings of
>>other stations each time they are heard and stores them in memory with
>>channels and times.
>>
>>How Are Soundings Transmitted?
>>Soundings can be manually transmitted, or set by the operator to
>>transmit repetitive soundings every hour. Usually, if repetitive
>>soundings are set, when the ALE controller or radio is first turned on
>>then there is a delay of a few minutes before the first soundings are
>>transmitted.
>>
>>Ham-Friendly ALE Soundings
>>In the ham radio ALE network, there are Pilot Stations in different
>>areas of the world that send soundings 24/7. This system transmits
>>sounding only on the Pilot Channels in the automatic station
>>sub-bands, and this strategy forms part of the basis of ham-friendly ALE.
>>
>>ALE Sounding Guidelines for Amateur Radio
>>
>>1. As an Amateur Radio Operator, you are responsible for all
>>transmissions of your station.
>>
>>2. Before sending soundings, or any transmission, listen carefully  to
>>all your transmitting channels with your receiver. Avoid interference.
>>
>>3. Sounding is not CQ. If you want to call CQ, use the HFL or QRZ netcall.
>>
>>4. Manual or attended soundings may be transmitted on any ALE channel.
>>
>>5. For repetitive sounding, program your ALE to sound only on the
>>designated Pilot Channels marked PILOT in the Amateur Radio ALE
>>Channel List, for your IARU/ITU Region, and within your license. There
>>is one Pilot Channel per ham band in each Region.
>>
>>6. Program your ALE controller to use TWS Sound if possible. Using TWS
>>Sound increases the efficiency of ALE nets. Please DO NOT use This Is
>>Sound (TIS) on the ham bands.
>>
>>7. The optimum duration of a sounding transmission is approximately 10
>>to 15 seconds. Test and verify your sounding transmission duration
>>with your watch. A sounding transmission should NEVER be longer than
>>30 seconds!
>>
>>8. The optimum repetitive sounding on a channel is about once every 60
>>minutes. Please DO NOT sound repetitively on a channel more than 2
>>times per hour.
>>
>>9. The optimum scan rate is 1 or 2 channels per second. If you scan
>>more than 10 channels, use 2 channels per second.
>>
>>10. Check your transmitter operation and antenna system SWR regularly
>>on every channel in your scan group!
>>
>>11. Take care in programming your ALE controller (software) and
>>transceiver. Test it carefully and verify it for proper operation on a
>>dummy load before connecting your antenna.
>>
>>12.  Use the Polite or Voice Detect or Busy Detect feature of your ALE.
>>
>>
>>===END===
>>
>>
>>
>>
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