[Wswss] Fw: The ARRL Letter, Vol 24, No 45

[Ralph Bergman]

* Revised restrictions on 70 cm bear repeating: In 2004, a revised
Footnote
US7 in Part 2.106 of the Code of Federal Regulations went into effect,
further expanding the 50 W maximum output power restriction in place for
the
420-450 MHz band in the US Southwest. (The applicable Part 97 Amateur
Service rule is §97.303, which incorporates §2.106 by reference.) "In
talking to people at hamfests and other Amateur Radio meetings, I've
found
that very few people are aware of this rule," says Bill Kauffman, W5YEJ,
of
the New Mexico Frequency Coordinating Committee. While the previous
version
of §2.106(a), essentially covered the White Sands Missile Range area of
New
Mexico, language effective as of January 2004 expanded it to include all
of
New Mexico and Texas lying west of 104° W. The 70 cm band is a shared
allocation in the US, and federal government users are primary. Amateur
Radio, as a secondary occupant, may not cause interference to primary
government stations and must tolerate any interference from government
stations. The 50 W restriction continues to apply to all of Arizona and
Florida as well as parts of several other states, including California,
Nevada, Massachusetts, Alaska, North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia and South
Carolina. Exceptions to the power limit must be expressly authorized by
the
FCC after mutual agreement, on a case-by-case basis, between the FCC
District Director in the applicable district and the Military Area
Frequency
Coordinator at the applicable military base.