used by the US, with 50 W maximum ERP, SSB only. (Source: St. Lucia National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, 'Technical Standards for Amateur Radio Service' document) Special Individual Permits Whilst not immediately in a position to sanction 60m Amateur operation as a whole, some countries may be prepared to consider special individual permits under certain conditions to gauge compatibility with the amateur service in their 5 MHz spectrum. One such country is Tajikistan, which has issued a permit to experienced operator Nodir, EY8MM to operate between 5260 and 5410 kHz with a power limit of 100 W. Previous recipients of Special Individual Permits include Fedor, UK9AA, who was issued one by Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan amateurs have now recently been allowed access to the WRC-15 60m Amateur Allocation (see Band entry) Occasional permissions Whilst most of the 60-meter operations listed in this article are either on a permanent secondary or experimental period basis, there are occasions when access is granted either on a one-off very limited time frame or for specific dates and times. Other authorized 5 MHz operations have been reported such as Ascension Island, Colombia, Fiji, Ghana, Kiribati and Russia. Some Amateur Radio DXpeditions have been permitted temporary access to 5 MHz. Emergencies only In certain countries, Amateur access to frequencies in 5 MHz is on an emergency or search & rescue basis only. In addition, Amateur call signs may not always be used, nor Amateur equipment. Currently these countries are :- Australia (ITU Region 3): It has been requested by the authorities to make clear that the 5 MHz frequencies used by WICEN (Wireless Institute of Australia Civil Emergency Network) are for emergencies and related exercises. It is NOT an amateur allocation. Non-amateur callsigns, AXF404, AXF405 and VXE580 are used together with ACMA (Australian Communications & Media Authority) type-approved radio equipment such as the commercial HF SSB transceivers (e.g., Codan or Barrett) normally used for outback communications in the VKS737 Australian HF network which serves remote travelers. VKE580 is also used by Amateur Radio New South Wales to relay the VK1WIA National and local VK2WI news, on Sundays at 10am local time. New Zealand (ITU Region 3): Two 5 MHz frequencies have been assigned for emergency use only. They are NOT Amateur frequencies and are available only for AREC operations (the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications section of the NZ National Amateur Radio Society NZART) courtesy of the NZ Defence Force.