Cuba’s Ministry of Communications (ACS) recently granted radio amateurs on the island nation a 12 kHz wide band at 5 MHz, — 5418 to 5430 kHz — rather than the channelized system other countries have had to use to avoid interference to primary users. Now the ham who provided the initial information, Pavel Milanes Costa, CO7WT, said the ACS clarified at an FRC (Federación de Radioaficionados de Cuba) gathering that hams in Cuba may not make contacts with hams outside of Cuba on the new band.

“The ACS made it clear, the band is for emergencies and experimentation [within] the national territory, and only with Cuban hams,” Milanes Costa said. “No contact is allowed with other countries until further notice.”

Cuban licensees must obtain an update in order to use the new band. The ACS said it has not yet developed the procedures to handle updates, and “it will take a while,” Milanes Costa said. — Pavel Milanes Costa, CO7WT; Southgate ARC