[Elecraft] ESSB- What About Pactor III?

[R. Kevin Stover]

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Julian G4ILO wrote:

> Many digimode enthusiasts do get annoyed about PACTOR robot stations.
> But mostly the digital modes each keep to different areas of the
> digital sub-band and there is not very much conflict - unless you're
> using some new mode somebody has just written a program for, in which
> case you aren't welcome anywhere. :) Excepting contests, there is not
> usually any trouble finding a clear frequency to operate on in the
> digital sub-bands. The number of phone users is probably orders of
> magnitude greater than the number of data users so the potential for
> trouble if a new wider band sort of phone catches on is far greater.

This is true now.

The ARRL's petition to our FCC to regulate the HF bands by bandwidth
instead of mode would have cut those wide band PactorIII alligators
loose on all of SSB portions of the HF bands. Thankfully the yelling and
gnashing of teeth was loud enough to give the boys in Newington pause
for thought. The comments against were running at about 85% against on
the FCC's ECFS comment system. They withdrew the petition.

Even within the data sub bands PactorIII is proving to be a QRM
generator of biblical proportion. It's nothing to have your ongoing
PSK/RTTY/Packet QSO killed by one of these QRM bots. All in the name of
doing something on HF, passing email, that is better done at VHF and
above for emergency communications, or by other commercial services such
as Sail Mail on HF for "yachtsmen" and RVers. The internet's already
been done, cheaper, better, faster than amateur radio will ever be able
to do it.

- --
R. Kevin Stover, ACØH
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