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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "ARISS "Contingency Network" Impresses NASA"){kind=small} Previous: ARISS "Contingency Network" Impresses NASA | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif ""It Seems to Us . . ." Not Your Grandfather's Amateur Radio"){kind=small} Next: "It Seems to Us . . ." Not Your Grandfather's Amateur Radio |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 31, 2006 -- The ARRL wants the FCC to throw its support behind a Draft Proposal seeking to have World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07) delegates consider a worldwide, secondary Amateur Radio allocation from 5260 kHz to 5410 kHz. The ARRL included the request in comments it filed October 27 in IB Docket 04-286, "Recommendations approved by the Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference." WRC-07 Agenda Item 1.13 will review allocations to all services between 4 and 10 MHz. The League told the FCC that a contiguous band of frequencies in the range of 5 MHz is an important goal of the amateur community -- domestically and internationally.
"The principal reason for this priority is as stated in the Draft Proposal: there are times when the propagation at 5 MHz bridges a significant gap between the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) when the MUF is below 7 MHz, but the Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF) is above the next lower Amateur Radio allocation at around 3.8 MHz," the League pointed out. "For reliable communications, an Amateur allocation in the vicinity of 5 MHz is the solution."
Originating with ARRL, the Draft Proposal from Informal Working Group 4 (IWG-4) follows up on disaster relief-related changes to Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations made at WRC-03.
"The amateur services provide emergency communications on a local, national and international basis as an adjunct to normal communications, and in many cases provide the first information about disasters and serve as the only communications link when communications infrastructures are destroyed," the IWG-4 Draft Proposal background information notes.
Several countries -- including the US, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway and the UK -- already have permitted Amateur Radio operation on spectrum between 5250 and 5450 kHz, the ARRL said, citing the Draft Proposal. "It notes that there is a successful history of amateur secondary use of bands in which incumbent primary users are present," the ARRL said, mentioning 30 meters as one example. The ARRL said the five 60-meter channels have been in regular use by US radio amateurs since 2003 "without any instances of interference reported by primary users."
The League took issue with remarks contained in the ITU Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) draft report with respect to Agenda Item 1.13 that suggest otherwise. Among "disadvantages," the Draft CPM Report asserts, an allocation such as the League suggests "would increase congestion and potential interference to fixed and mobile services at 5 MHz." It argues that compatibility between amateur and fixed service systems in the vicinity of 5 MHz "has not been shown" and a decision to create an Amateur Service allocation there "could seriously affect reliable 24 hours [sic] communication capabilities of the fixed and mobile services." The Draft CPM Report also takes note of the advantages to the Amateur Service of such an allocation.
The proposed allocation is "well within the scope of existing resolutions from WRC-03," the League said. It reiterated that amateur use of the five current 60-meter channels "has not resulted in any apparent compromise in the use of the band" on the part of primary Fixed and Mobile services. "To the contrary, that use has demonstrated compatibility with primary users over a reasonable period of time," the ARRL said.
The ARRL's request in its IB Docket 04-286 comments is unrelated to the League's October 11 Petition for Rule Making (PRM), in which the ARRL asked the FCC to expand operating privileges on 60 meters and to swap one existing channel for a new one.
While the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has indicated it's okay with the ARRL's October 10 petition request, it also said it could not support a request for a 50 kHz-wide domestic secondary allocation. The NTIA oversees spectrum allocated to federal government users, which includes the present 60 meter allocation.
The FCC is but one of the federal agencies that provide input toward positions the US delegation will take on various WRC-07 issues. Should WRC-07 delegates eventually consider and agree to the international allocation at 5 MHz that ARRL proposes, it still would be up to the FCC -- in conjunction with the NTIA -- whether to authorize such a band for US radio amateurs.
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