Red River Radio Amateurs

On January 3, 2019, K7UV started a discussion in the Amateur Radio sub-reddit about a report by K7RA—in the first ARRL Propagation Bulletin for 2020—about indications that Solar Cycle 25 has begun; good news for DXers and other Amateur Radio Operators who rely on the effects of sunspots for propagation.

Membership renewals for 2020 are now due.

Please see the 2020 Membership Renewal article for more information.

Developments that spelled the end of ham radio (as pronounced by pessimists of the time, limited mostly to the US):

The Doctor opens the Holiday Mailbag and answers listener questions in the final episode

• ARRL The Doctor is In podcast.

On December 17, 2019, the ARRL website reported in an article titled “FCC Formally Adopts Proposals to Remove Amateur 3-GHz Band, Invites Comments”:

At its December 12 meeting, the FCC formally adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in WT Docket 19-348 and invited comments on its plan to remove “existing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur allocations” in the 3.3 - 3.55 GHz band and relocate incumbent non-federal operations. The FCC said it’s seeking comment on appropriate “transition mechanisms” to make that happen. ARRL has indicated that it will file comments in opposition to the proposal.¹

This action by the FCC signals their intent to proceed with reallocation of frequency spectrum in compliance with the MOBILE NOW act which states “the Commission shall make available a total of at least 255 megahertz of Federal and non-Federal spectrum below the frequency of 6000 megahertz for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use”² and, in Sec. 5.3(a), specifically requires review of the 3.1–3.55 GHz band for reallocation.