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 Previous: QRP Community: QRP Contesting (Part 2 of 2) |  Next: Peggy Whitson Helps Netherlands' Scouts Celebrate Jamboree On The Air |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 23, 2002--FCC Special Counsel for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth has told five amateurs in Ohio and Michigan to disregard his earlier admonition to avoid lengthy QSOs on 146.52 MHz. That's the generally recognized national simplex calling frequency and endorsed by the ARRL's 2-meter band plan. Acknowledging that some confusion exists within the amateur community as to whether 146.52 is a national calling channel or just another simplex frequency, Hollingsworth decided to simply rescind the five advisory notices he'd sent October 15.
"We made an error in issuing that Advisory Notice, and you may disregard it," Hollingsworth wrote today in letters sent to each of the affected amateurs. Commenting to ARRL, Hollingsworth was blunt yet good-natured. "I goofed," he said. "If I were worried about making a fool of myself from time to time, I never would have become a lawyer in the first place."
Amateurs commenting to the FCC and on various newsgroups reportedly were bewildered by the FCC advisory notices. An ARRL error apparently contributed to the confusion. Hollingsworth did not find 146.52 MHz singled out as the national simplex calling frequency in his edition of The ARRL's FCC Rule Book (12th edition, 1st printing). The designation does appear in subsequent printings of the Rule Book, however, as well as in recent editions of The ARRL Operating Manual and The ARRL Repeater Directory 2002/2003.
Hollingsworth says that operation that does not comply with a generally accepted band plan such as ARRL's is not illegal. He points out, however, that band plans--to the extent that they're followed--do help to keep down friction among various users and make his job a lot easier. In this case, he said, it was unclear to him that everyone accepted the notion of 146.52 as the national simplex calling frequency.
"I don't consider it a big deal. I was just trying to raise awareness," he said, adding that the FCC has no intention of making band plan compliance mandatory.
Hollingsworth told ARRL this week that he had initially written four amateurs in Ohio and one in Michigan on the basis of complaints about lengthy contacts on 146.52 MHz in late September and early October. Those QSOs, he said, averaged 45 minutes and in some cases lasted up to an hour. Two of the amateurs who had received the October 15 advisories already have contacted Hollingsworth and agreed to cooperate with the original requests, now rescinded.
"In an ideal world, stations making initial contact on 146.52 MHz probably should move off to another accepted simplex channel to continue their conversation," Hollingsworth said.
Band plans are informal agreements that outline how various segments of the different bands should be used. Their primary goal is to minimize conflicts among users of different modes.
For some time now, several manufacturers of VHF and UHF transceivers have adopted certain band plan conventions and protocols, such as the 2-meter standard "split" of 600 kHz and the split direction (plus or minus), into their units as default values.
In addition to designating 146.52 MHz as the national simplex calling frequency, the ARRL band plan calls for 144.200 MHz as the national calling frequency on CW and SSB; digital simplex between 144.90 and 145.10 MHz; and FM voice simplex between 146.40 and 146.58 MHz and between 147.42 and 147.57 MHz. In some parts of the country, however, some of the frequencies within these ranges do serve as repeater inputs or outputs.
All ARRL band plans are
available on the ARRL Web site.
| Previous: QRP Community: QRP Contesting (Part 2 of 2) | Next: Peggy Whitson Helps Netherlands' Scouts Celebrate Jamboree On The Air |
