| |
AE5ME > ARL 02.04.16 16:16l 40 Lines 5139 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : JLE3MYJ4OU39
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter April 1 Part 1 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160402/1357Z 34691@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
•ARRL Asks FCC to Restore Balance of Modes on 80 and 75 Meters
•"ARRL The Doctor is In" -- the Podcast -- Debuts on April 7
•ARRL to Review, Evaluate, and Explore Possible Improvements for OO Program
•National Parks on the Air Update
•Major DXpeditions Cooperating to Minimize Conflicts
•ARRL Okays P5/3Z9DX North Korea Operation for DXCC
•Kingman Reef (KH5) Deleted from DXCC List
•"Discover the HF Experience" Aims to Dazzle Technicians, Newcomers
•ISS Expedition 47/48 Crew Increment Includes Two Radio Amateurs
•"Elmer" Inspiration, Elmer "Bud" Frohardt Jr, W9DY, SK
•Comedian, Actor, TV Writer and Personality Garry Shandling, ex-KD6OY, SK
•In Brief...
•The K7RA Solar Update
•This Week in Radiosport
•Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events
ARRL Asks FCC to Restore Balance of Modes on 80 and 75 Meters
In comments filed on March 23 on its Petition for Rule Making (RM 11759) seeking changes to 80 and 75 meters, the ARRL has told the FCC that its primary objective is to "rebalance" the bands by correcting a 10-year-old FCC error.
"ARRL's proposal is not fairly viewed as a proposal to take anything away from anyone," the League's comments assured. "It is more properly viewed as the effectuation of a fair, equitable, and efficient 'band plan' looking forward for the foreseeable future that balances everyone's needs, and which remedies a plainly unfair plan, imprudently created in the 2006 Report and Order in WT Docket 04-140."
Prompting the League's assurances were comments filed on the ARRL's Petition by a number of Amateur Extra class licensees, who felt that refarming 3600 to 3650 kHz for data modes could prove to be a disincentive to General licensees to upgrade. Others commenters saw it as an unfair spectrum grab. The ARRL noted that prior to 2006, the band was evenly divided between RTTY/data and phone/image subbands, with the RTTY/data subband extending from 3500 to 3750 kHz, and the phone/image subband extending from 3750 to 4000 kHz. The 2006 FCC Report and Order "substantially altered" what the League called "this even division of emission types."
In outlining the history of the proceeding, the ARRL pointed out that the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rule Making in Docket 01-140 would have shifted the line between the 80 meter RTTY/data subband and the 75 meter phone/image subband from 3750 kHz to 3725 kHz, pursuant to a 2002 ARRL Petition for Rule Making, RM-10413. This would change the ratio of spectrum between phone/image and RTTY/data segments on 75/80 meters from 50/50 to 55/45, and it is what the FCC proposed in its NPRM.
In its Report and Order in Docket 04-140, however, the FCC made "a very substantial and unjustifiable departure" from what it had proposed in its NPRM, the ARRL recounted. The Commission expanded the phone/image subband at 75 meters to 3600-4000 kHz, and it reduced the 80 meter RTTY/data subband to 3500-3600 kHz, eliminating RTTY operation above 3600 kHz and changing "the entire dynamic of this band," the League said.
The FCC had said in its proposal that no licensees would lose operating privileges. Nonetheless, the FCC's phone band expansion reduced by 100 kHz the spectrum between 3500 and 4000 kHz that was previously available to General class licensees, while Advanced licensees lost 75 kHz. In an apparent FCC oversight, the Report and Order completely eliminated access by automatically controlled digital stations (ACDS) to 3620 to 3635 kHz. A subsequent FCC Report and order and Order on Reconsideration only made the situation worse by replacing the deleted ACDS segment with 3585-3600 kHz. That resulted in "a shortfall in available RTTY/data spectrum on 80 meters," the ARRL said, adding that its current Petition "simply restores that which was disruputed in 2006 in error." Read more.
"ARRL The Doctor is In" -- the Podcast -- Debuts on April 7
The popular QST "The Doctor is In" column soon will also be available as a podcast! "ARRL The Doctor is In" will debut on Thursday, April 7, and subsequent new episodes will be posted every other Thursday. The podcast will feature QST columnist and technical whiz Joel Hallas, W1ZR, with QST Editor in Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, serving as the host. Each 20-minute program will be available from Apple iTunes and Stitcher -- the two largest podcast distribution platforms (search for "ARRL The Doctor is In") -- and episodes will be archived on the ARRL website. DX Engineering is the sponsor of the "ARRL The Doctor is In" podcast.
"When the ARRL presented us with this unique opportunity, it was an easy decision to make," said DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR. "DX Engineering is one of the most prominent businesses supporting the ham radio community, so it just makes sense to be part of the 'ARRL The Doctor is In' podcast."
The new, twice-monthly podcast will cover a broad range of technical topics of interest to all amateurs -- everything from antennas to zener diodes and beyond. We invite listeners to send us their own questions for the show. Your question could be answered in a future podcast.
"ARRL The Doctor is In" arrives on Thursday, April 7!
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
