[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1350 - June 27, 2003

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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1350  - June 27, 2003


The following is a Q-S-T.  60 meters opens at midnight on July 3rd.  Are 
you ready?  Find out how to operate legally on the new frequencies on 
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1350 coming your way right now.
 
**

ON THE AIR: 60 METERS TO OPEN AT MIDNIGHT JULY 3RD


The new five-channel 60-meter amateur allocation becomes available to 
United States Amateur Radio operators on July 3 at 12:01AM your local 
time.  Newsline's David Black, KB4KCH takes a look at the new 
channelized ham radio spectrum with an eye on how to use legally it.

--

The new channels at 5 MHz are just that:  A set of specific frequencies  
U-S hams can use.  Not unlike the way hams operate FM on 2 meters and 
above, except that these are government mandated channels where-as those 
used by F-M'ers are by gentlemen's agreement.

What the 60 meter band is not is the traditional set of tunable  
frequencies starting at one point and continuing to another -- or the 
kind of operation that hams on the high frequency bands are so 
accustomed to using.  And it's pretty much assumed that changing the 
mindset of the ham community to accept strictly enforced channelized 
operation on H-F is going to be one of the hurdles to the success of 
this new allocation.

Also, the new spectrum is a secondary allocation of spot frequencies 
centered near 5 MHz.  The federal government is the primary user and no 
interference to those government users will be tolerated.  So before you 
tune a radio to one of the new frequencies and start calling C-Q, there 
are several things to keep in mind.

First and most important, ham radio is there only because the government 
relented and is permitting radio amateurs to have a few tiny slivers of 
spectrum.  But hams can have them only as long as the primary government 
users suffer zero interference.   In other words, the primary government 
users can cause as much interference to hams as they want and you as a 
ham have to accept it.  The FCC will not accept your complaints.

Second, as Newsline reads the rules, there is only one mode permitted.  
Upper Sideband voice with  a strict limitation of 2.8 kilohertz total 
bandwidth.  Not 3 Kilohertz or 3.1 kilohertz.  2.8 and that's it.  None 
of that Hi-Fi SSB that's been causing so much of a problem on other 
bands.   Go even a few hertz wider than 2.8 kilohertz of audio bandwidth 
and there is a better than even chance that you'll be hearing from the 
FCC.

As to the exact spot frequencies or channels that hams can use?  They 
are centered -- and centered is the key word -- they are centered on  
5.332,  5.348,  5.368,  5.373 and  5.405 kilohertz.  And the ARRL 
recommends that to be considered as being on channel, users of the 5 MHz 
band should set their transmitted carrier frequency 1.5 kilohertz lower 
than the channel-center frequency so as to remain within the actual 2.8 
kilohertz wide bandwidth.

But there is more.  A very strict power output limitation of 50 watts 
effective radiated.  This means the choice of an antenna is very 
important and also very limited.  The FCC rules say that for the purpose 
of computing effective radiated power,  the transmitter Peak Envelope 
Power will be multiplied by the antenna gain relative to a dipole or the 
equivalent calculation in decibels.  The rules also say that a half-wave 
dipole on the 5 MHz spot frequencies will be presumed to have 0 decibels 
of gain.  Because of this, the agency says that hams using other 
antennas must maintain records of  either manufacturer data on the 
antenna gain or calculations of the antenna gain with their station.  
Another way to put it is this.  There will be no California Kilowatts 
hogging the 60 meter band.  The 50 watt power limit with a 0 dB gain 
antenna will be the big equalizing factor in 5 MHz operations.

What kind of operation will develop on 5 MHz?  That's hard to say, but 
one guess would be probably very little in the way of traditional 
hamming.  The ARRL went after the 60 meters primarily based on a need 
for enhanced 24 hour a day long haul communications.  As it develops 
over the next several years, many expect those involved in international 
emergency work will become the primary users of the new 5 MHz 
channelized band.