[W3GV] ARRL Bulletin 22

[ucdavid at aol.com]

QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 22  ARLB022From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT  August 30, 2021To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB022ARLB022 FCC Grants Temporary Waiver to Permit Higher Symbol RateData Transmissions for Hurricane Ida Traffic The FCC has granted an ARRL emergency request for a temporary waiverintended to facilitate relief communications in the wake ofHurricane Ida. The waiver was orally granted on Saturday, August 28,and immediately permitted amateur data transmissions related toHurricane Ida traffic to employ a higher symbol rate for datatransmissions than the current limit of 300 baud. ARRL pointed out in its request that Amateur Radio Emergency Service(ARES) members are working with federal, state, and local emergencymanagement officials to assist with disaster relief. Many use radiomodems and personal computers capable of using digital protocols andmodes that would permit faster messaging rates than normallypermitted under the FCC's rules.  ARRL pointed out that higher datarates can be critical to timely transmission of reliefcommunications, such as lists of needed and distributed supplies. In 2016, in response to an ARRL petition for rulemaking, the FCCproposed to remove the symbol rate limitations, which it tentativelyconcluded had become unnecessary due to advances in modulationtechniques and no longer served a useful purpose. That proceeding,WT Docket 16-239, is still pending. ARRL sought the waiver for radioamateurs directly involved with hurricane relief on HF usinghigh-speed data transmissions, and the FCC orally granted theemergency temporary waiver for traffic related to Hurricane Ida. Thetemporary waiver is good until a written decision is made on ARRL'srequest that would cover the remainder of the hurricane season. Pursuant to ARRL's request and similar to written waivers granted bythe FCC in earlier years, to qualify, a protocol or mode exceedingthe 300 baud symbol rate limit must (1) be publicly documented, (2)use no more bandwidth than the currently permissible slowerprotocols (generally accepted to be the bandwidth of an SSB signal,or 2.8 kHz), and (3) be used solely for communications related toHurricane Ida. ARRL is hopeful that the FCC will grant a longer-termwaiver this week to enable planning and communications for anyadditional hurricanes this season.NNNN/EX