[Fists] re arrl's bandplan proposals

[Mike D.]

> I ve been a little busy lately to follow this but does anyone know if
> the ARRL has filled petitions with the FCC yet for their marvelous band
> plan, and more importantly has the FCC opened this for comments yet. I
> hope all you cw lovers out there will take the time to let the FCC know
> how you feel about this, It only takes a few minutes.
> ken w8ob #7242
> --
> SUPPORT RADIO-TELEGRAPH THE VOICE OF THE PROFESSIONAL RADIO OP.



==>ARRL ASKS FCC TO ELIMINATE, "REFARM" NOVICE CW BANDS

The ARRL has asked the FCC to eliminate the 80, 40 and 15-meter
Novice/Technician Plus CW subbands as such and reuse that spectrum in part
to expand the phone allocations on 80 and 40 meters. In a Petition for Rule
Making filed March 22, the League requests that the FCC revise its Amateur
Service rules in accordance with the modified Novice band "refarming" scheme
the ARRL Board of Directors okayed in January. The Petition has not yet been
put on public notice for comment.

"The opportunity to eliminate the Novice and Technician-Plus telegraphy
subbands and the reapportionment of those inefficiently deployed segments
will allow alleviation of significant, sometimes critical, overcrowding in
the popular Amateur HF allocations," the ARRL said in its Petition.

The ARRL also cited "substantial advancements in the use of digital
techniques" in the HF bands--such as PSK31--to bolster its assertion that a
refarming plan for the underutilized Novice HF subbands "cannot wait longer
and must proceed now." The refarming plan adopted was based on the
recommendations of the ARRL Novice Spectrum Study Committee following a
survey of the amateur community last year. Under the proposal, no operator
class would lose privileges, and most would gain.

If the FCC approves the plan, current Novice and Technician Plus (ie,
Technician with Element 1 credit) licensees would be permitted to operate on
the 80, 40, 15 and 10-meter General-class CW allocations at up to 200-W
output. For General and higher class operators, the ARRL wants the FCC to
implement changes in the 80, 40 and 15-meter "phone" bands.

On 80 meters (3500-4000 kHz), phone privileges would begin at 3725 kHz for
Extra, at 3750 kHz for Advanced and at 3800 kHz for General--another 25 kHz
for Extra and Advanced operators and another 50 kHz for Generals. On 40
meters (7000-7300 kHz), phone privileges would begin at 7125 kHz for
Advanced and Extra and at 7175 kHz for General--25 kHz more for Extra and
Advanced operators and another 50 kHz for Generals. On 15 meters
(21,000-21,450 kHz), phone privileges would begin at 21,200 kHz for Extra,
at 21,225 kHz for Advanced and at 21,275 kHz for General--no change for
Extra and Advanced but 25 kHz more for General. On 10 meters, the ARRL has
recommended no changes other than to accommodate CW, RTTY and data by Novice
and Tech Plus licensees at 28.0 to 28.3 MHz.

The ARRL suggested that its proposed configurations strike the right balance
between the need for additional phone spectrum and the important goal of
encouraging further development of narrowband data modes in the CW segments.

The ARRL's "omnibus" petition also asks the FCC to permit amateurs to use
spread spectrum on the 222-225 MHz band; expand the pool of special event
call signs beyond the 1x1 format to include identifiers for US territories
and possessions that do not provide for mailing addresses; clarify its rules
to indicate that modulated CW (MCW) is permitted for repeater station
identification; and to incorporate into its rules a 1990 FCC waiver
authorizing amateurs in certain areas of Colorado and Wyoming to operate on
certain segments of the 33-cm band. The League invited the FCC to
consolidate its omnibus petition with other pending Amateur Radio-related
petitions now before the FCC.

A copy of the ARRL's complete Petition for Rulemaking is available on the
ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/refarm/>.


73 de Mike, N9BOR
FISTS MAC SMC ZUT
http://www.qsl.net/n9bor
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di dah dit - The only Roger Beep you'll ever need.
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