[South Florida DX Association] ARLB045 7 MHz realignment compromise makes radio history

[Bill Marx]

> ZCZC AG45
> QST de W1AW
> ARRL Bulletin 45  ARLB045
> From ARRL Headquarters
> Newington CT  July 11, 2003
> To all radio amateurs
>
> SB QST ARL ARLB045
> ARLB045 7 MHz realignment compromise makes radio history
>
> In an 11th-hour compromise, delegates to World Radiocommunication
> Conference 2003 (WRC-03) agreed to move broadcasters out of 7100 to
> 7200 kHz in Regions 1 and 3 to make room for the Amateur Service.
> The expanded worldwide allocation at 40 meters goes into effect on
> March 29, 2009. Amateurs in the US and the rest of Region 2 will
> continue to enjoy the 7000 to 7300 kHz band they now have, but with
> greatly reduced broadcasting interference.
>
> The compromise marked the first time in the history of
> internationally coordinated radio spectrum allocation that an HF
> broadcasting band was shifted to accommodate the needs of another
> service. The compromise cuts in half the incompatibility between
> amateur and broadcasting use of the 7 MHz band and doubles the
> 40-meter spectrum available to amateurs in Regions 1 and 3.
>
> While the result falls short of the IARU's goal of a 300-kHz
> worldwide exclusive band for amateurs, the cooperation of
> broadcasters, opposing delegates and many others was required to
> make a positive step for ham radio. Spectrum between 4 and 10 MHz is
> on the agenda for WRC-07, but further changes to 7000-7200 kHz will
> not be considered.
>
> The conference also dropped the international Morse code
> requirement, leaving individual countries to decide if they want to
> retain a code proficiency requirement, and adopted a number of
> improvements to the other international regulations for the amateur
> service. The delegates also agreed to allowed a secondary allocation
> for satellite borne synthetic aperture radars at 70 cm and made
> amateur call sign assignment more flexible.
> NNNN
> /EX
>