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AE5ME > ARL 26.03.16 07:46l 44 Lines 5975 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter March 24 Part 1 of 4
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Sent: 160326/0414Z 34225@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
ARRL HF Band Planning Committee Seeks Suggestions on IARU Region 2 HF Band Plan
•SBE Urges FCC to Improve Medium-Wave Noise Environment
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•ARRL Introduces Three New E-Books
•National Parks on the Air Update
•Hamvention Announces 2016 Award Winners
•UC Berkeley Trains, Tests Hundreds of New Hams
•Fox-1C and Fox-1D Satellites Ready for Payload Integration
•"Amateur Radio Roundtable" Connects Live with Heard Island DXpedition
•Kosovo Activity in CQ WPX SSB Will Help to Train Young Hams
•In Brief...
•The K7RA Solar Update
•Just Ahead in Radiosport
•Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events
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ARRL Headquarters to be Closed on Friday, March 25: ARRL Headquarters will be closed on Good Friday, March 25. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions and no ARRL Audio News on that day. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Monday, March 28, at 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday!
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ARRL HF Band Planning Committee Seeks Suggestions on IARU Region 2 HF Band Plan
The ARRL Board of Directors' HF Band Planning Committee is inviting input from the US Amateur Radio community regarding possible changes to the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 Band Plan. That band plan and other significant Amateur Radio spectrum issues will be high on the agenda at this fall's IARU Region 2 General Assembly in Chile. Leading up to that gathering, the ARRL and other IARU member societies in the Americas will be seeking comments and suggestions regarding the Region 2 HF Band Plan. The HF Band Planning Committee will review the current plan, consider comments from the US Amateur Radio community, and recommend any changes to the ARRL Board for submission to IARU Region 2.
"The ARRL HF Band Planning Committee wants to stress that the IARU Region 2 Band Plan is a voluntary guideline and does not supersede FCC regulations related to spectrum usage," Committee Chairman and ARRL Second Vice President Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, noted. He also pointed out two other issues for radio amateurs to consider.
Most Region 2 countries outside the US do not have the sort of detailed subband regulations contained in the FCC's Part 97. For radio amateurs in these countries, the Region 2 Band Plan may serve as the only source of guidance on spectrum usage.
The designation of a calling frequency or band segment for a particular purpose or mode in any IARU band plan does not convey any special rights or exclusivity of use. On the other hand, the absence of a calling frequency or band segment associated with a particular purpose or mode should not suggest that these have been overlooked or are viewed negatively.
The Committee is urging US radio amateurs who are considering suggesting revisions to the IARU Region 2 Band Plan first to study the existing IARU Region 2 Band Plan. They then should formulate a clear statement of any proposed changes, including a brief explanation of why each particular change would benefit all IARU Region 2 spectrum users. Participants should include name and call sign. Submit input via e-mail by June 1, 2016. Messages will be automatically acknowledged.
The 19th IARU Region 2 General Assembly will take place in mid-October in Viña del Mar, Chile. Held every 3 years, the Region 2 Conference is attended by delegations from IARU member societies in throughout the Americas.
SBE Urges FCC to Improve Medium-Wave Noise Environment
The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has told the FCC that the regulatory agency needs to take another tack in its efforts to tackle AM broadcast band revitalization. If the FCC takes the SBE's advice, the result could be less noise in the MF and HF Amateur Radio bands. In comments the SBE filed in response to an FCC Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (MB 13-249) proposing ways to enhance the viability of the AM broadcast service, the SBE said the Commission must "commit to a regulatory plan which, over time, will reduce the levels of man-made noise in the MF bands, and more broadly in the bands below 30 MHz." In comments it filed earlier in the proceeding, the SBE pointed out that "AM radio in particular is susceptible to interference from electronic devices of all types," and that ambient noise on the AM band is only bound to get worse with further proliferation of noise-generating electronic devices, including certain lighting devices regulated under FCC Part 15 and Part 18 rules.
"[T]he only source of regulatory reform that has a meaningful chance to positively affect the noise floor over time are regulations that create obligations on manufacturers and importers and dealers, prior to the point that the consumer or user of the device or system comes into possession of it, and before it is deployed," the SBE said. The SBE said that while the FCC has strongly supported unlicensed low-power RF devices over the years, it "apparently does not have a clear understanding of the aggregate effects" of these devices on the MF noise environment. In addition, the power grid has expanded, imposing its own family of electrical noises on the radio spectrum.
"Much unintentional interference is local in nature, but the cumulative impact can be extensive," the SBE told the FCC. "The Commission does not now have, and has never had, a complete understanding of ambient RF noise levels and trends over time."
The SBE urged the FCC to better enforce some existing regulations and develop new ones to address ambient noise in the existing AM band. "It is obvious that any interference management plan...has to be based on rules which limit RF noise before it becomes an issue, not post hoc, and those rules have to be enforced," the SBE said. Read more.
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