[SFDXA] ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction for Amateur Amplifiers

[William Marx]

ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction for Amateur Amplifiers
> 
> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB019
> ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction
> for Amateur Amplifiers
> 
> ZCZC AG19
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 19  ARLB019
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  May 26, 2016
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB019
> ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction
> for Amateur Amplifiers
> 
> In comments filed on May 26, the ARRL said it "strongly supports" a
> petition to the FCC seeking to eliminate an Amateur Service rule,
> spelled out in Part 97.317(a)(2), that amateur amplifiers not be
> able to boost the RF input signal by more than 15 dB. The Petition
> for Rule Making (RM-11767), was submitted in April on behalf of an
> amateur amplifier distributor, Expert Linears America LLC of
> Magnolia, Texas.
> 
> ARRL's comments can be found on the web at,
> http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-strongly-supports-petition-to-drop-15-db-restriction-for-amateur-amplifiers
> .  RM-11767 can be found on the web at,
> http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001536394 .
> 
> "The Petition proposes relief that is in the nature of eliminating
> unnecessary regulatory underbrush, and it continues an effort
> started by the Commission on its own motion in 2004...to do
> precisely that," the ARRL said in its comments. "The rule proposed
> to be eliminated is outdated; it constituted overregulation when it
> was adopted long ago, and it now substantially limits the
> flexibility of Amateur Radio operators to experiment with the
> current generation of software-defined Amateur Radio equipment."
> 
> The 15 dB provision came into the rules during an era when the FCC
> initiated various actions to rein in a major interference problem
> resulting from the use of illegal 11 meter amplifiers during the
> Citizens Band radio boom of the 1970s. "In its effort to address
> that problem, the Commission enacted a series of largely redundant
> and overlapping regulations that, in their overall effect,
> unnecessarily (and inappropriately) penalized the wholly innocent
> Amateur Radio operators," the League asserted. "There was created a
> plethora of restrictions on manufacturers of external RF power
> amplifiers."
> 
> The ARRL noted that while the FCC eliminated some of the unnecessary
> regulations in 2004, others remain, including the 15 dB gain
> restriction. The rules adopted in 1978 also called for type
> acceptance (certification) of manufactured RF power amplifiers
> operating below 144 MHz, including a 50 W minimum drive power
> requirement and a ban on amplifiers capable of operation between 24
> and 35 MHz.
> 
> "Indeed, precisely the same rationale for elimination of the 50 W
> minimum drive power rule in 2006 applies to the elimination of the
> 15 dB gain rule for amateur amplifiers," the ARRL said in its
> comments. "There is no continued justification for retaining the 15
> dB gain limitation."
> 
> The League agreed with the petitioner that a current generation of
> low-power Amateur Radio transceivers, including software-defined
> designs, cannot drive an amplifier to full legal power given the 15
> dB limitation. "It should not be necessary to configure an Amateur
> Radio station to include an additional amplifier stage in order to
> make use of current SDR technology in the Amateur Service," the ARRL
> said.
> NNNN
> /EX