[CW] FCC Actions - OOOOPS?

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/14/06 8:52:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
k4kyv at hotmail.com writes:


> >For *phone* operation, you're correct.  The Generals finally got back what
> >they lost way back then.  About time.
> >
> >But we weren't talking about phone.
> >
> >We were talking about the 150kHz of CW/rtty/data space that they lose if
> >this R&O stands as written.
> 
> If the Generals had USED that 150kHz of CW/rtty/data space they wouldn't 
> have lost it.

I disagree. FCC went far beyond what was requested by ARRL.

  The change came about because the phone bands would become 
> 
> congested to the hilt while cw activity was 99% clustered into about a 20 
> kHz segment somewhere near the bottom end of the band, and the rest of the 
> non-voice portion remained virtually empty, except for maybe a few RTTY and 
> other digital signals here and there.

My experience on 80 CW is somewhat different.

However, that's not really the point.

> 
> Generals gained far more than they lost because they rarely if ever used 
> that CW/rtty/data space anyway.

I don't buy that argument at all.

Generals gained 50 kHz of 'phone but lost 150 kHz of cw/rtty (1:3)
Advanceds gained 75 kHz of 'phone but lost 100 kHz of cw/rtty (3:4)
Extras gained 150 kHz of 'phone but lost 150 kHz of cw/rtty (1:1)

Do you see the disparity? Why should it exist? 

Why can't the low end of 75 be moved 50 kHz instead of 150 kHz, and the lower 
limit of each 'phone subband moved 50 kHz? Then, each license class would 
gain as many kHz of 'phone as they lose CW/rtty. 1:1 ratio for everyone. 

If you don't think 50 kHz is enough, make it 75 kHz. The point is that the 
most populous license class on the band *loses* the most total kHz! The ratio is 
3 kHz lost for each 1 kHz gained - why?

How much will 3600-3700 be used when it is Extra-only? 

---

One more question:

Why isn't rtty/data allowed in the 'phone bands? Or rather, why should that 
restriction remain, particularly on a band that will be 4:1 phone/narrow modes? 
How are those modes any different from SSTV or CW in terms of compatibility?

73 de Jim, N2EY