>From The ARRL Letter, Vol 21, No 19: ==>FCC PROPOSES TWO NEW AMATEUR BANDS!
Great news for ham radio this week! The FCC has proposed going along with ARRL's request for a new domestic (US-only), secondary HF allocation at 5.25 to 5.4 MHz. The FCC also is ready to permit operation on a 136-kHz "sliver band" in the low-frequency (LF) region. And, in response to a third ARRL request, the FCC has proposed elevating Amateur Radio to primary status at 2400 to 2402 MHz. "I'm just as tickled as I can be," ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said upon hearing the news. "This is a classic example of our ARRL at work." The FCC voted unanimously May 2 to adopt the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in ET Docket 02-98. The Commission released a Public Notice May 9, and the NPRM is expected to be released soon. A comment deadline will be announced as soon as it's available. The FCC said the new 5-MHz band would help amateurs "better match their choice of frequency to existing propagation conditions." The band, if approved, would be the first new amateur HF allocation since World Administrative Radio Conference 1979 gave amateurs 30, 17 and 12 meters--the so-called "WARC Bands." Assuming the 5-MHz band eventually is authorized, it could be a few years before it actually becomes available. The League said its successful WA2XSY experiments demonstrated that amateurs can coexist with current users and that the band is very suitable for US-to-Caribbean paths. In comparisons with 80 and 40 meters, the WA2XSY operation also showed the 60-meter band to be the most reliable of the three. The ARRL also argued that a new 150-kHz allocation at 5 MHz could relieve periodic overcrowding on 80 and 40. If allocated to amateurs on a secondary basis, hams would have to avoid interfering with--and accept interference from--current occupants of the spectrum, as they already do on 30 meters. The band 5.250 to 5.450 MHz now is allocated to Fixed and Mobile services on a co-primary basis in all three ITU regions. The ARRL asked the FCC for two LF allocations in October 1998--135.7 to 137.8 kHz and 160 to 190 kHz. The FCC said its action on one part of that LF request "proposes changes that would enhance the ability of amateur radio operators to conduct technical experiments, including propagation and antenna design experiments, in the 'low frequency' (LF) range of the radio spectrum." Several countries in Europe and elsewhere already have 136-kHz amateur allocations. The first amateur transatlantic contact on the band was recorded in February 2001. Hams would be secondary to the Fixed and Maritime Mobile services in the 136-kHz allocation. The League said its engineering surveys suggest that hams could operate without causing problems to power line carrier (PLC) systems already active in that vicinity or to government assignments. Unallocated Part 15 PLC systems are used by electric utilities to send control signals, data and voice. The FCC said its proposal to upgrade the Amateur Service allocation at 2400 to 2402 MHz to primary "seeks to protect current amateur use of this band." Hams have shared their other 2.4 GHz spectrum on a secondary basis with government users. Amateurs already are primary at 2390 to 2400 and from 2402 to 2417 MHz. The ARRL has said primary status in the intervening spectrum slice was needed "to provide some assurances of future occupancy of the band segments for the next generation of amateur satellites." The ARRL has expressed its belief that hams can continue to accommodate Part 15 and Part 18 devices at 2.4 GHz. ARRL's Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, was among those welcoming the good news from the FCC. "This a wonderful example of the work ARRL conducts in Washington on matters important to the Amateur Radio community," Hobart said. "Thanks to the 10,000 hams who contributed so generously to the 2002 Defense of Frequencies Fund. The success of that campaign helps to make decisions like this possible." 73 de N3NTJ Matt -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Roger Cooke Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 3:25 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DX-NEWS] New bands??? Hi. I have seen several references to "New bands" in some of the messages, especially relating to the 10 meter QRM, but have not seen the proposed bands themselves. As I am not a member of ARLL (I was for a number of years but it got too expensive in the UK), could somebody clue me as to the proposal please? Incidentally, if you guys in the USA think you have it rough on ten from the Chicken Brains on the low end, you should come over to Eu and hear what we have to put up with. Ten meters is crammed with FM QRM from Eastern Europe, South America, the Far East, not to mention the AM CB-ers from the USA. The Russian Duma have decreed that ten meters is OPEN HOUSE to anybody that wishes to use it. Quite how they can take this unilateral decision is beyond me, but we now have parrot repeaters (single channel FM commercials) on several frequencies. We have great fun testing our FM on these, and cause much tearing out of hair from some of the taxi firms etc that are pirating our band. It really is great fun!! RTTY is very successful too, so the MORE contests that are ten meter exclusive, the better! Please move all your VHF/UFH nets onto ten and fight fire with fire! 73 de Roger G3LDI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] g3ldi@gb7ldi.#35.gbr.eu --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). 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