[Wswss] [220SMA] General Meeting / Band Plan Revision

[Rick]

This may be something of interest to many members, so I am passing this 
announcement along.  Anyone interested in the proposed revision to the Band 
Plan may wish to attend the meeting this Saturday.

73 de Rick KD6ODU
WSWSS #141   DM03

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As indicated in earlier message distributions, this coming Saturday,
April 15, is the 2nd Quarter General Meeting.  It will be in Long
Beach and everyone is encouraged to attend.  Details are on the
Association Web Site.  http://www.220sma.org

One of the items of business at this meeting is the initial public
presentation of a proposed revision to the 220SMA Band Plan.  The
Band Plan has not been formally reviewed and revised for over a
decade, and this is the beginning of that process.

Officially, the 222 MHz Coordination Board is responsible for
reviewing the Band Plan and making recommendations for changes, but
lacking any strong pressure the Board has not seen fit to press for
any revisions.  Recognizing that a formal review was overdue, last
year President Howard Brown, KG6GI, invited members and other users
of the Band to participate on a Committee to discuss how the Band
Plan could be improved to meet current needs.  George Kreider, KN6LA,
was selected to Chair the Committee.  Although a sincere attempt was
made to solicit participation from all of the user groups on 222 MHz,
only a limited number of individuals offered any comments.  Other
than the work that had been done by the Coordination Board, Bob
Dengler, NO6B, was the only one to actually make any concrete
suggestions.  Bob also subsequently volunteered to perform some
automated monitoring of the Band to identify usage patterns and
frequency loading.

The 222 MHz Coordination Board held a special meeting earlier this
month to hear the results of Bob's efforts and consider the various
issues that have been discussed in recent years.  The result of this
meeting is a draft proposal for revisions to the approved Band
Plan.  An outline of the usage assignment changes recommended by the
Board has been prepared as a Web Page and is available as a link on
the Association Home Page.  The following direct link is also available.

http://www.220sma.org/bandplan_proposal_060406.htm

If you have comments or suggestions, the General Meeting will be an
excellent opportunity for you to make your ideas known.  It is
anticipated that this proposal will be finalized later this year and
presented for adoption as a formal revision.

Look for forward to seeing all of you on Saturday.

73,

- JimF  K6IYK

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James T. Fortney
Jim at Fortney.com
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