[DX-CHAT] 40M Expansion

[John Warren]

I'll bet I'm not the only person thinking about how best to use the 
40M changes that will occur six years from now. Here's a suggestion 
to get the ball rolling - but no doubt there are angles I haven't 
thought of.

40M is a wonderful DX band, with outstanding propagation matched only 
by 20M, and not even by that band at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. 
But SSB DXers and contesters have always been hamstrung by the FCC 
keeping USA Lower 48 above 7150, and ITU keeping Region 1 below 7100. 
So we have to work split, irritating all the U.S.local ragchewers - 
especially during contests. (My XYL is tired of answering 
ill-tempered L/L calls).

The least efficiently used portion of the Region 2 amateur band is 
7100-7150, largely because of the high BC occupancy. It's also way 
under-utilized by Novice and Tech-Plus licensees, and those folks can 
now easily upgrade to 5wpm General and use the 7025+ segment. In 
preparation for 2009, I suggest the ARRL petitions the FCC to assign 
7100-7150 to the Stateside end of intercontinental SSB QSOs.

Not much would happen initially due to the BC QRM, but as that slowly 
goes away, and all those Novices and Tech-Plus of past years graduate 
to General, we could move down from among the ragchewers above 7150 
and have some clearer space, even though still operating split.

But in 2009 the rest of the world gets spectrum rights up to 7200, 
and at last we would have a true worldwide SSB DX window, 7100-7150, 
with no more split, and negligible QRM from other modes and local 
operations!

If you don't like that, how would you use the 2009 changes to arrange 
a 40M SSB DX/contest window?

John, NT5C.
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