Help save CHU !!!

[WA3VJB]

Is nothing sacred? CHU never Qwermed anybody, runs good audio, and knows when to ID.
Mark posted this to the AM Reflector, having gotten a response to some issues regarding CHU.


Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:15:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark Foltarz
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] CHU has to move?

The response I received from Raymond Pelletier of the Institute for
National
Measurement Standards states just that. They have to either move,
redefine the
CHU service on 7335 or close up shop there.

The message follows :


This outreach is to collect information from users of CHU to help shape
recommendations concerning what should be done concerning changes to
CHU that
will have to be in place by April 2007.

 

In April 2007 the licence on 7.335 MHz will have to be modified to
reflect
changes on the status of the band allocation by the International
Telecommunications Union. This frequency has been changed from “fixed
service”
to “broadcast”. (The ITU decision does not affect the frequencies 3.33
MHz and
14.67 MHz.) Some alternatives are:

Re-licencing just might be possible, calling the 7.335 MHz a
“broadcast”. 
It is also possible to stop using that frequency (the most useful of
the three
we use). Stopping one signal is the easiest solution but could create
problems
for some clients who are counting on this particular signal.
Change the frequency from 7.335 MHz to a nearby fixed-service
frequency. It
would need some investment from our part in new hardware and in
manpower. It
could also create problems for clients, and likely not all radios will
be able
to tune to the new frequency.
 

To be seriously considered, any of the above alternatives will need to
have a
zero-based budgeting justification prepared, comparing it against the
least
expensive alternative of closing CHU entirely. CHU is entering a phase
where
major investment in new transmitters will be required if it is to be
kept
operating. In the absence of input from the CHU user community,
concerning the
importance of CHU’s contribution in the modern world, this last option
is an
inescapable recommendation.

 

The CHU code is also used as a radio clock, which can be used as a
reference
clock for an NTP time server. Software drivers have been written that
can
obtain the date and time from the code and that tune a digitally tuned
radio to
one of our 3 frequencies, to get the best signal. Users of this service
generally don’t listen to the audio broadcast. So we cannot gauge the
usage by
sending this announcement.

 

Please, if you know of anyone using CHU but not aware of the possible
changes
to its frequency usage, let them know and ask them to contact us. Also
if you
have an important use for CHU signals, please tell us how you use our
signals.

 

Be assured that we will try our best to maintain the CHU service as it
is,
keeping the three frequencies as they are.

 

Thank you for your support.
Raymond Pelletier
============================================
Frequency and Time
Institute for National Measurement Standards
National Research Council Canada
M-36, room 1026
1200 Montreal Road
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0R6
Tel: (613) 993-3430
Fax: (613) 952-1394
raymond.pelletier@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Government of Canada

[k4kyv]

I thought CHU was a broadcast station.  Don't see why they need to change anything.  Make CHU move to make room for political propaganda or a new bible beater?

[W1RKW]

CHU is a very exciting frequency.  When the ham bands are dead I usually tune into the weak signal of CHU on 7335 and fall asleep to it.  It will suck to have to reprogram my bed-side receiver to a new frequency. I don't remember how to do it.

[Bill, KD0HG]

I learned all the French I know from listening to CHU.
And they're only USB AM!

[The Slab Bacon]

CHU has been there as long as i can remember. Even when I was a very youn jn. I could always pick them up even with some of the junkiest p.o.s. receivers that I had as a kid. That definately SUCKS!!

However, could this be part of a bigger picture?? I seem to remember hearing something a while ago that the broadcashters were going to be leaving 40m and therefore leaving it clear for us to use at night?? Maybe that is why that part of the spectrum has been reallocated. Has anyone else heard anything to that effect??

                                                              The Slab Bacon

[k4kyv]

I think that's part of the plan, to legitimise existing broadcast activity above 7300, which is presently outside the international broadcasting allocation as agreed upon at WARC.   Presently, they're all technically outbanders, including WBCQ.

I don't comprehend what the problem is.  CHU is already on an even 5 kc/s "broadcast" channel.  Instead of preaching dull political propaganda about the latest 5-year plan, or fire and brimstone from the  likes of Bro Stair, they are actually providing a service by broadcasting something USEFUL.  Why don't they just declare themselves a BROADCAST station and keep on operating as they always have?

[WU2D]

You can turn CHU and the guitar call signal from Radio Deutsche Welle off because they are playing in my head pretty much permanently. This was caused by falling asleep as a lad with the headphones on listening to my Realistic DX-150.

Mike WU2D