There still has to be a "gentleman's agreement", or band plan, to separate phone and digital. Phone is in so much demand that allowing phone everywhere will result in phone operators just taking over the whole band. This was vetted thoroughly during the debates on ARRL's "regulation by bandwidth" petition, and it got nowhere! In addition, there can be as many as 50 PSK31 stations using the space needed by just one phone station, so those 50 PSK31 station can more easily share a fixed space (as is now done by gentleman's agreement) with other than to look for a space that might be taken by a phone station. If all emission types were eliminated, PSK31 stations would have a hard time finding any place at all to operate and other PSK31 stations would not know where to look for them if they did.

With the current regulations, phone stations (i.e. wide) stay in specified spaces and data stations (i.e. relatively more narrow - MT63-2000 excluded for example) share the rest of the band with CW and other data stations by gentleman's agreement. It is not perfect, or course, especially during contests when the space is not large enough to hold all operators wanting to use it, but it probably works better than no phone/data legal division at all, because, unfortunately, as was found out, not all operators are "gentlemen"!

There was an experiment in which rats were put into two cages. One had enough room and the other was overcrowded. It was not too long before some of the more powerful rats in the overcrowded cage ate the less powerful until there was no more overcrowding. This is similar to what would happen if phone stations could operate anywhere to avoid crowding. The same is true with powerful unattended digital stations, but the situation is even worse, since they cannot practically QSY.

73 - Skip KH6TY




W2XJ wrote:
True but I was thinking of wideband modes in phone segments. In narrowband segments CW is still an option as it can be decoded by many digi programs.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From: *KH6TY <kh...@comcast.net <kh...@comcast.net>>
*Reply-To: *<digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>>
*Date: *Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:01:57 -0500
*To: *<digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>>
*Subject: *Re: [digitalradio] 1976 FCC - Delete all Emission Types from Part 97

But under FCC regulations, phone and data must not operate in the same space, so how could phone be used? On the other hand, CW is allowed everywhere. Too bad it is no longer a requirement for a license, as it used to be universally understood by both phone and CW operators.
73 - Skip KH6TY



W2XJ wrote:

    But everybody has phone capability. That should be adequate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    *From: *Dave AA6YQ <aa...@ambersoft.com <aa...@ambersoft.com>>
     *Reply-To: *<digitalradio@yahoogroups.com
    <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>>
     *Date: *Mon, 8 Mar 2010 11:54:48 -0400
     *To: *<digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>>
     *Subject: *RE: [digitalradio] 1976 FCC - Delete all Emission
    Types from Part 97
Unless you can convince the transceiver manufacturers to include
    the capability in each unit, someone operating without a computer
    connected to his transceiver -- e.g. a phone operator -- will be
    unable to generate the "universal QRL" signal.
73, Dave, 8P9RY *From:* digitalradio@yahoogroups.com
    <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>
    [mailto:digitalradio@yahoogroups.com
    <mailto:digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>] *On Behalf Of *Warren Moxley
     *Sent:* Monday, March 08, 2010 11:36 AM
     *To:* digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>
     *Subject:* Re: [digitalradio] 1976 FCC - Delete all Emission
    Types from Part 97
Skip, "since there is no way to cross-communicate to resolve mutual
    interference."
This is a very interesting topic. I have been a software engineer
    for over 35 years and have heard there is "no way" a lot of times
    only to come up with a solution a few days later either by myself
    or others on my team.
It seems to me that the problem of cross-communication can be
    solved by using an already used technique via RSID. RSID is fast
    becoming a defacto standard. Maybe we can solve this by modifying
    the RSID protocol. Currently we are using it to just let others
    know what mode we are in. Maybe more information can be put in the
    the RSID packet, for example, Call sign and some reserved bits for
    the purpose of QSY. Like codes that mean, please QSY, this
    frequency is already in use and many other codes that can be
    expanded for this use.
Hey guys, come on, there are a lot of smart people and great
    problem solvers on this reflector who can expand this protocol or
    come up with a solution. Let's use our brains and solve this
    problem for the good of the hobby. I am ONLY making and example
    for the purpose of brain storming. RSID expansion may or may not
    be a good idea. Do not take my RSID packet expansion as what we
    should do but as a point of discussion on how to solve a problem.
    That's the real point here. Let's take my simplistic example as
    start and let's go from here. Let's not get bogged down on who is
    right and who is wrong, who has the better mode and it is just too
    hard of a problem to solve.
Warren - K5WGM --- On *Mon, 3/8/10, KH6TY /<kh...@comcast.net
    <kh...@comcast.net>>/* wrote:
     From: KH6TY <kh...@comcast.net <kh...@comcast.net>>
     Subject: Re: [digitalradio] 1976 FCC - Delete all Emission Types
    from Part 97
     To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <digitalradio@yahoogroups.com>
     Date: Monday, March 8, 2010, 8:14 AM      Trevor,
The problem with such a regulation is that, unless CW is required
    as a common mode, there is no way for a phone QSO, being able to
    request an interfering digital signal to QSY. Our frequencies are
    shared, and accidental transmission on existing QSO's in
    unavoidable, but the mitigation is the ability for the user of one
    mode to be able to communicate with the user of another mode. The
    problem already exists between digital operators, but the
    regulations were written long ago when essentially there was only
    phone and CW and everyone was required to know CW.
I don't know what the solution to the current problem is, but the
    problem with solely "regulation by bandwidth" is NOT a solution,
    especially between phone and digital, since there is no way to
    cross-communicate to resolve mutual interference. This is why the
    ARRL "regulation by bandwidth" petition to the FCC was withdrawn
    after already once being denied by the FCC. There have been
    arguments that bandwidth-only regulation works in other countries
    (perhaps with less ham population density), but it definitely will
    not work here. That is why legal separation between data and phone
    has been maintained at all costs, and data kept separate from
    phone. CW usage may be declining, and therefore using less space,
    leaving more for digital modes to use, but use of digital modes is
    still very small compared to CW and phone. Since it is possible to
    create a digital mode that is very spectrum inefficient for the
    benefit it brings, there will probably have to be a future
    restriction of digital mode bandwidths in proportion to the need
    and benefits of the mode. Digital modes will probably have to
    restricted by bandwidth in the future, but there still needs to be
    a "common language" for frequency use mitigation.
    73 - Skip KH6TY
Trevor . wrote: Following the recent discussions about the
    US license restrictions I was looking through the archive of QST
    mags at www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org>>
<http://www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org>> On April 22, 1976 the FCC introduced Docket 20777, the QST report
    (page June 1976) says
"Rather than further complicate the present rules," the
    Commission said, "with additional provisions to accomodate the
    petitioners' requests, we are herein proposing to delete all
    references to specific emission types in Part 97 of the Rules. "We
    propose, instead," the Commission continued, "to replace the
    present provisions with limitations on the permissible bandwidth
    which an amateur signal may occupy in the various amateur
    frequency bands. Within the authorised limitations any emission
    would be permitted."
It would seem that deletion of emission types from Part 97 is
    exactly what is needed now to permit experimentation. Perhaps the
    FCC should be asked to re-introduce Docket 20777
Trevor



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