[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1314 - October 18, 2002

[ham-news-admin at mailman.qth.net]

The following is a Q-S-T. 

The FCC tells ham radio its not going to have to share 2300 Mhz.  This 
story is first on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1314 coming your 
way right now.
 
**

SPECTRUM ISSUES:  FCC SAYS NO TO 2300 MHZ SHARING

First the bad news.  The FCC has dismissed an ARRL petition that sought 
primary status for amateurs in the 2300 to 2305 MHz.  Now the good news.  
The Commission has also turned down a paior of petitions from commercial 
interests that had hoped to share the spectrum with Amateur Radio.  
Amateur Radio Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH has more: 

--
It's not just ARRL that the FCC turns down.  The Commission also 
dismissed petitions from MicroTrax and AeroAstro--both groups had sought 
access to 2300 to 2305 MHz.  The FCC says it's denying the two 
commercial applications in part because appropriate spectrum is already 
available elsewhere.  And, according to the Commission, neither company 
had demonstrated a need for additional spectrum.

By way of background, an ARRL bulletin says that MicroTrax had wanted to 
establish a Personal Location and Monitoring Service between 2300 and 
2305 MHz.   The petition by AeroAstro asked to share the band on a co-
primary basis with Amateur Radio.  AeroAstro wanted to launch its 
Satellite Enabled Notification System messaging service.

But the Commission says AeroAstro's request did not go far enough in 
protecting other serevices.  The agency was particularly concerned that 
NASA's Deep Space Network would not be protected by the modified out-of-
band limits AeroAstro had proposed.

The FCC says that -- at least for now -- amateur weak-signal 
communications in the 2300 to 2305 MHz band will be protected if the 
amateur allocation remains as secondary.  The Commission says band will 
remain in its spectrum reserve.  The status quo will be maintained, 
then, until the FCC re-evaluates the status of the frequencies in 
relation to the Amateur Service at some point in the future.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm David Black, KB4KCH.
--

The 2300 to 2305 MHz band is allocated to Fixed and Mobile services on a 
primary basis and to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis in all 
three International Telecommunication Union regions. The Radiolocation 
Service has a secondary allocation in the band in Region 1, and a 
primary allocation in Regions 2 and 3.  (ARRL)

**

RESTRUCTURING:  NETHERLANDS MAY SAY GOODBYE TO MORSE TESTS

Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, with some late breaking news.  It comes from 
the Netherlands where the Morse code could soon be going away.  RSGB 
News reader Jeramy Boot, G4NJG, has the details:

--
The Netherlands is set to abandon the Morse code test next year.  Rob 
van den Ent, PE9PE, reports that the Netherlands' national amateur radio 
convention took place the 12th and 13th of October. He says that the 
Dutch radio regulatory authority used the occasion to announce that if, 
as expected, Morse code is lifted as a mandatory requirement for an HF 
licence at nextyear's World Radio Conference, the authority would 
immediately eliminate the Morse code test in the Netherlands. At the 
same time, current VHF licensees would get direct access to the HF bands 
without further examinations.  

--
More on this story in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports.  (GB2RS)

**

RADIO REGULATIONS:  BIG CHANGE AT THE  ITU RADIOCOMUNICATION BUREAU

Ham radio has lost an significant post in the area of setting world 
radio policy.  This, as a non radio amateur is selected to head up an 
important aspect of the International Telecommunications Union. From 
Brisbane Australia, Q-News Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has the details:

--
Valery Timofeev has been elected director of the International  
Telecommunication Union -- ITU -- Radiocommunication Bureau. Timofeev, 
who is  Russia's deputy minister for communications and informatization, 
has extensive experience in radio frequency spectrum management at both 
the national and international levels.

Timofeev's election does mean for the first time in at least three 
decades, an non-Amateur Radio licensee will head the ITU 
Radiocommunication Bureau.  The election took place during the 6th ITU 
Plenipotentiary Conference now under way in Marrakesh, Morocco. The 
meeting concludes October 18th.