[SFDXA] ARLB021 FCC Speedily Dismisses Petitions to Alter Amateur Service Rules

[Bill]

> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB021
> ARLB021 FCC Speedily Dismisses Petitions to Alter Amateur Service
> Rules
> 
> ZCZC AG21
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 21  ARLB021
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  July 2, 2015
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB021
> ARLB021 FCC Speedily Dismisses Petitions to Alter Amateur Service
> Rules
> 
> Acting with near lightning speed, the FCC has dismissed two
> petitions for rule making calling for separate amendments to the
> Part 97 Amateur Service rules. Willison H. Gormly, WD0BCS, of Des
> Moines, New Mexico, filed both petitions on June 16, and the FCC
> turned them away on July 1. Gormly had requested that the FCC amend
> Part 97.301(e) of the rules by dividing it into separate
> sub-paragraphs for technician and Novice class privileges. He had
> also asked the FCC to amend Part 97.305(c) to authorize spread
> spectrum emissions in the 2 meter band.
> 
> "The rule changes you propose were previously rejected by the
> Commission," Scot Stone, deputy chief of the Mobility Division in
> the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, told Gormly in the FCC's
> dismissal letter. "Your petitions do not demonstrate or even suggest
> that any relevant circumstances have changed such as to merit
> reconsideration of these decisions."
> 
> The FCC noted that while Part 97.301(e) had been divided into two
> paragraphs in the past, these were consolidated when the Commission
> streamlined the rules in 1999. Gormly argued that the present
> configuration was confusing, but the FCC pointed out that Part
> 97.301 "has been in this arrangement for a number of years without
> any reported difficulty."
> 
> Regarding Gormly's second petition, the Commission noted that it had
> sought comment in 2004 as to whether it should expand the bands
> authorized for spread spectrum to permit such emissions on the 50
> MHz, 144 MHz, and 222 MHz bands. Agreeing with the majority of
> comments, the FCC subsequently determined that authorizing spread
> spectrum was not warranted on 6 meters and 2 meters, "because of
> concerns over the compatibility of spread spectrum emission types
> and other Amateur radio operations in those bands," the FCC
> explained in its denial letter.
> 
> The FCC had said it was concerned about raising the noise floor on
> the band, with potential adverse effects on so-called "weak signal"
> communications or "otherwise affecting experimentation." The
> Commission also had noted that both bands are heavily used for other
> types of communication.
> NNNN
> /EX