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 Previous: Surfin': Building a Better Antenna Farm | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif "Ham Radio Package Survives Launch Disaster; "Rocket Boys" Regroup"){kind=small} Next: Ham Radio Package Survives Launch Disaster; "Rocket Boys" Regroup |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 14, 2002--In a classic good news-bad news scenario, the FCC has dismissed an ARRL petition that sought primary status for amateurs at 2300-2305 MHz. At the same time, the Commission turned down petitions from AeroAstro and MicroTrax--commercial interests that had hoped to share the spectrum with Amateur Radio. The action, taken October 9, essentially maintains the status quo on the band.
"That the commercial petitions were dismissed is, of course, good news," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "We had argued for that outcome." In comments filed on the AeroAstro and MicroTrax proceedings last year, the League had called on the FCC to put an end to "commercial encroachments" on Amateur Service allocations in the 2.3 and 2.4 GHz bands.
Sumner called the outcome of the League's petition, RM-10165, "mildly disappointing" because, as he explained, a status upgrade "would provide some measure of protection against future commercial proposals." Sumner viewed as positive the fact that the FCC did not altogether rule out a future status upgrade, but he cautioned that the band "is still vulnerable."
In turning down the ARRL's petition, the FCC said that since it was also dismissing the MicroTrax and AeroAstro petitions for access to 2300-2305 MHz, "amateur operators' weak-signal communications in the 2300-2305 MHz band will be protected if the amateur allocation remains secondary." The FCC said the band "will remain in the Commission's reserve, and the status quo in the band will be maintained until the Commission reevaluates the spectrum status for the Amateur Service that may be appropriate."
The FCC turned down the MicroTrax and AeroAstro applications in part because appropriate spectrum already was available elsewhere and neither company had demonstrated a need for an additional allocation. MicroTrax had proposed to establish a Personal Location and Monitoring Service (PLMS) at 2300-2305 MHz under FCC Part 27 rules. Its system, MicroTrax said, would be useful for locating missing children, Alzheimer's patients or pets, and to monitor people on house arrest.
The AeroAstro petition went further, proposing to share the band on a co-primary basis with the Amateur Service subject to technical and service rules. AeroAstro wanted to establish its Satellite Enabled Notification System (SENS) under the FCC's Miscellaneous Wireless Communication Service rules. A messaging service, SENS would permit users to transmit short messages in real time via both satellites and ground stations. The 2300-2305 MHz band would have been used for SENS uplink channels.
AeroAstro also had called on the FCC to impose technical limits on amateur operation, which the ARRL in its comments had characterized as "Draconian" and "totally unacceptable." Among other things, AeroAstro wanted the FCC to limit amateurs to 100 W output and to antennas with a beamwidth no greater than 5 degrees for "narrowbeam" operation such as Earth-Moon-Earth communication. For other operation, AeroAstro wanted the FCC to limit amateurs to 25 W EIRP (equivalent isotropically radiated power). ARRL interference studies predicted "intolerable" interference, especially to weak signals in the band, if the FCC had adopted the AeroAstro petition.
The FCC also expressed concerns that NASA's Deep Space Network would not be protected by the modified out-of-band limits AeroAstro had proposed.
Internationally, the 2300-2305 MHz band is allocated to Fixed and Mobile services on a primary basis and to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis in all three International Telecommunication Union regions. The Radiolocation Service has a secondary allocation in the band in Region 1, and a primary allocation in Regions 2 and 3.
A copy of the Order is available on the FCC Web site.
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