[CW] FCC Actions - OOOOPS?

[Donald Chester]

>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.

Why not get rid of that overly-complex matrix of emission mode/licence class 
subbands altogether?  Incentive licensing has obviously been a dismal 
failure in terms of its intended purpose, to reverse the trend in which 
amateur radio was moving away from technical skills and towards appliance 
operating.

I have Extra class licence since 1963 and work both phone and cw, but I 
would be happy to see all the operator class subbands disappear, and maybe 
keep an appropriate amount of spectrum for narrowband modes if even that is 
deemed necessary.

Many nights I have tuned across 80 m and heard zero activity between 3600 
and 3700, even when condx were good and the phone bands completely occupied. 
  10-15 years ago, the "cw" bands were filled with signals from one end to 
the other.

The rules change was prompted by all that unused spectrum.  Counting the 
number of cw and digital signals on the air at any one given time, except 
during contests, all the digital and narrowband modes can easily fit into 
3500-3600 without congestion, even when all those digital signals are on the 
air.  If our narrowband modes use 300-500~ of bandwidth, and we use 
receivers with appropriate bandwidth filters, we don't need 1.5 kHz of 
spacing between narrowband signals.

We could easily live with 3500-3600 kHz digital/cw, and 3600-4000 all modes 
including phone and other wider band emissions, open to General thru Extra.  
Let the coded Techs and Novics have cw privileges 3500-3600.

But actually the whole thing is a moot point.  With the dumbed-down code 
requirements and published "question pools" there is no reason for anyone 
who wants full privileges to not have Extra class.

Don k4kyv