Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, Editor of the Amateur Radio Newsline Report and Editor of the Looking West: The VHF FM and Repeater Column in WorldRadio magazine has proposed in his WorldRadio column that a new BOM, National Coordinators Meeting to be held.
The article can be found in the November 2008 issue of WorldRadio magazine or below. LOOKING WEST: THE VHF FM AND REPEATER COLUMN Edition 117 - November 2008 By Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF IS IT TIME FOR ANOTHER BOM? BOM? Oh, that means Big Old Meeting and maybe its time for another one. As longtime readers know, in October of 1995 most members of the nations volunteer ham radio repeater coordination community, along with the ARRL, the FCC, several then-emerging special interest groups (Packet and Fast Scan ATV) traveled to Charles, MO. The location, a suburb of St. Louis had been chosen because it was almost in the middle of the country and at that time was a hub for the late (though not lamented) Trans World Airlines. That translated into it being about the same travel time from either coast on an airline that served it nonstop from most major U.S. cities. A lot was accomplished in St. Charles that weekend. In this writers opinion one of the most important was the being the beginning of a real dialog between the coordination community, the FCC and the ARRL. This lead to the creation of the National Frequency Coordinators Council (http://www.arrl.org/nfcc/) which is an organization comprised of and representing the recognized amateur radio frequency coordinators of the United States and its possessions. The standard-bearer for all coordination efforts across the nation -- if you will. The other big accomplishment was one that eventually proved to be far more important than the formation of the NFCC. That being the trust now far more apparent in the coordination process that has developed in the overall national ham community following some rather detailed articles that appeared in here in Worldradio, as well as in CQ-VHF and the now departed 73 magazine. There was also the widely distributed video shot by Henry Ruh, KB9FO, (now AA9XW) that chronicled the entire two days. Fast forward 13+ years. Today, the coordination community is working on ways to accommodate narrowband digital modes. Not just D-Star, but other methods of digital voice and combined voice / data communication that have similar emissions characteristics. They have been doing so for a while now, and several plans have been provisionally adopted. But the problem is that no two plans are really alike. And as was the case back in the late 1960's, this in itself is leading to some fair amount of ridicule aimed at coordinators from within the general ham radio community. To this writer, it seems that the needs, wants and desires of the general ham radio populace is to have a single, unified national plan that every repeater -- analog or digital -- can adhere to. A plan to works with today's predominantly analog FM world while making way for any form of digital voice or combo voice and data circuits that we within the ham community might develop and introduce in the coming years. And, do it all of this under the watchful eye of the ham radio public. Coordinators: You have done it before. You proved in St. Charles, Missouri, that you can work in unison and under the eye of public scrutiny to solve problems placed before you. And in doing so you quite literally made ham radio history. Something to be very proud of. Now, the entire paradigm of ham radio utility communications on 50 MHz and the bands above is beginning its shift away from analog and over to the world of digital. While analog FM will be with us for years to come, as we progress in time there is going to be more and more of a demand placed on the collective coordination community by those wanting to convert to digital voice and those wanting to introduce it to a given geographic area. But the good thing is that there is still time to find a meeting room some place in middle-America to come together and come up with a plan that makes it easy for "Joe Digital Ham" to drive coast to coast and border to border and never have to stop to reprogram his/her radio because the bandplan has radically shifted at a state border. Coordinators, you are being handed the chance of a lifetime to do some significant good for all. As one who was there in St. Charles I can tell you that a lot of the misunderstanding of one another's motives disappears quickly once folks are in the same room, face to face, exchanging ideas. In my opinion, St. Charles was the turning point where -- after years of mistrust -- the nations ham community came to realize that coordinators were real people. That they were like themselves but dedicating their time and money to insure domestic tranquility on the VHF / UHF repeater subbands. And based on the success of the first, maybe another B-O-M to discuss the coming ham radio digital revolution might not be a bad idea. Your thoughts? ** ONE LAST THOUGHT FOR 2008 A Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a wonderful New Year to you all. See you again in January 2009. de Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
