The 5 MHz amateur "Notice of variation" special licence band provides interest to the short wave listener from time to time; this on-going exercise is rumoured to be a long-standing experiment to test the suitability of this part of the spectrum for inter-UK emergency communications if (when?) the much predicted Islamic terrorist offensive kicks off in this country and the more usual telecommunications systems are knocked out. The clue that there is something more going on here other than the government being kind to the radio amateur fraternity may be deduced from the terms of operation, i.e channelised operation on specified spot frequencies and the use of upper sideband rather than lower which would be the usual convention for an amateur allocation in this part of the RF spectrum. These two requirements ensure communication compatibility with the military stations with the strange callsigns which join in with the QSOs quite frequently. Although the band is often devoid of any activity things are usually lively from 1230z onwards for an hour or two on Sundays when the Radio Society of Great Britain weekly news bulletin is broadcast by one or other of the amateur stations on 5403.5kHz under the callsign GB2RS and is, by the way, the most QRM free reception of this which also goes out on 80 metres, a much more crowded band. When the RSGB news has ended the reader reverts to his own callsign and invites reports from other stations, and the ensuing QSOs from all over the UK - including Scotland , the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and the far north of Scotland demonstrate that this band is indeed useful for reliable communication within the UK.
The anonymous provider of this information also asks a very pertinent and worrying question: On the subject of the forthcoming big event, is it true that local authorities in the cities have been told to look at open land outside the built -up areas and do an assessment as to its suitability - with regard to soil type, depth of water table and so on - for mass burials in case a terrorist onslaught leaves thousands of dead? - I heard the story on a radio phone-in some time ago. A bit worrying, that; reminds me of the news stories which used to appear from time to time when construction workers digging foundations for new buildings close to London would dig up large numbers of human skeletons which would be identified as the victims of the Great Plague of 1665 taken by the cartload well outside the city limits and put into mass graves.