[SFDXA] Australian Radio Amateurs Denied Access to 60 Meters

[Bill]

    Australian Radio Amateurs Denied Access to 60 Meters

12/09/2020

After considering several options for a 5 MHz amateur allocation, the 
Australian Communications and Media Authority (*ACMA* 
<https://www.acma.gov.au/>) has come down in favor of national 
government interests. Following a formal *consultation* 
<https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2020-05/possible-use-53515-53665-khz-band-amateur-service-consultation-132020> (a 
“proceeding” in FCC parlance), ACMA has decided not to permit ham 
operation on the 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz band. The 15 kHz-wide band was 
allocated to the amateur service on a secondary basis in 2017, but as 
ACMA explained, “unresolved sharing issues” prevented ham radio use of 
the band, operated on by more than 500 other licensed services (mostly 
land mobile and aeronautical services), as well as by the Australian 
military.

Options ranged from Australia-wide access to the whole band or part of 
the band, to a segmented or channelized amateur allocation, to no 
amateur access. ACMA decided that national defense and security use of 
the allocation were “of high importance” in determining maximum public 
benefit and decided on the last option.

“In balancing Defence’s existing use of the 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz band 
against the impacts of introducing use by the amateur service, the ACMA 
has decided not to support amateur use in the band,” the agency said. 
“Public and non-public submissions from the Department of Defence showed 
that expanding the use of the 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz band to potentially 
several thousand amateur operators could impact important 
radiocommunications operations. The ACMA recognizes the high level of 
interest shown by the amateur community in adding this band and 
understands there will be disappointment. However, we are confident the 
decision is appropriate and consistent with the objects of the 
Radiocommunications Act. In particular, this includes supporting defence 
and national interest objectives.”

Australia’s International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society, the 
Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), argued for amateur access to 
5351.5 – 5365 kHz as a compromise. A WIA survey showed most Australian 
radio amateurs preferred that choice. WIA noted that because the band 
was agreed upon at World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 on a shared 
secondary basis, as well as allowing low-power, such as 15 W EIRP 
(effective isotropic radiated power) operation, “amateur radio operators 
in over 80 countries around the world have been granted access to the 
band, including many of our near Pacific neighbors, New Zealand and 
Indonesia.”

“Australian amateur operators therefore have a strong desire to be able 
to commence communications on this band with these countries,” WIA 
concluded. Two spot 5 MHz frequencies are allocated to the Wireless 
Institute Civil Emergency Network (WICEN) “to provide emergency and 
safety communications.”

Radio amateurs in New Zealand lost access to 60 meters in late October. 
Use of this band by radio amateurs was provisional, allowing hams to use 
two frequencies in the band — 5353.0 kHz and 5362.0 kHz — as part of a 
trial.

In the US, ARRL proposed amateur access to the band in a 2017 */Petition 
for Rule Making/* 
<https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/101122964205072/Petition20Rule20520FINAL2012202017.pdf>, 
seeking a new, contiguous secondary band at 5 MHz to the Amateur Radio 
Service. ARRL also asked the Commission to retain shared access to four 
of the current five 60-meter channels (one would be within the new band) 
as well as the current operating rules, including the 100 W PEP (peak 
envelope power) effective radiated power (ERP) limit. The federal 
government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. So-called 
“interoperability” frequencies in the band have been shared by amateur 
and federal government entities such as Military Auxiliary Radio System 
(MARS) during exercises and actual emergencies.

*Information* <http://www.arrl.org/60-meter-faq> on US amateur access to 
60 meters is available on the ARRL website. — /Thanks to/ The 5 MHz 
Newsletter /Editor Paul Gaskell, G4MWO/

http://www.arrl.org/news/australian-radio-amateurs-denied-access-to-60-meters

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/sfdxa/attachments/20201211/4a6a9565/attachment-0001.html>