SB QST @ ARL $ARLB007   
   ARLB007 FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Petition That Seeks 80/75 Meter   
   Adjustments   
      
   ZCZC AG07   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 7  ARLB007   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  February 23, 2016   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB007   
   ARLB007 FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Petition That Seeks 80/75 Meter   
   Adjustments   
      
   The FCC has put the ARRL's January Petition for Rule Making (RM 11759 - found   
   on the web at, http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001374190 ) on   
   public notice and invited interested parties to comment on what the League has   
   called "minimal but necessary changes" to 80 and 75 meters. The ARRL   
   petitioned the FCC to fix a "shortfall in available RTTY/data spectrum" that   
   the Commission created when it reapportioned 80 and 75 meters 10 years ago.   
      
   The League's petition asked the FCC to shift the boundary between the 80 meter   
   RTTY/data subband and the 75 meter phone/image subband from 3600 kHz to 3650   
   kHz. The proposed change received strong   
   support from ARRL members, and the ARRL Board of Directors adopted it as   
   policy at its July 2015 meeting. At that time the Board also agreed to seek   
   RTTY and data privileges for Novice and Technician licensees within their   
   current 15 meter CW subband, and to do the same on 80 meters, depending on the   
   outcome of the 80/75 meter subband revision.   
      
   The petition asks the FCC to make the following changes to the Part 97 Amateur   
   Radio Service rules, with respect to 80/75 meters:   
      
   * Modify the RTTY/data subband, so that it extends from 3500 kHz to 3650 kHz.   
      
   * Modify the phone/image subband, so that it extends from 3650 kHz to 4000 kHz.   
      
   * Make 3600-3650 kHz available for General and Advanced Class licensees, as   
   was the case prior to 2006.   
      
   * Make 3600-3650 kHz available to Novice and Technician licensees for   
   telegraphy - consistent with existing rules permitting Novices and Technicians   
   to operate CW in the 80, 40, and 15 meter General and Advanced RTTY/data   
   subbands.   
      
   * Modify the rules governing automatically controlled digital stations (ACDS),   
   to shift the ACDS segment from 3585-3600 kHz to 3600-3615 kHz, consistent with   
   the IARU Region 1 and 2 band plans.   
      
   According to the ARRL, the FCC R&O in Docket 04-140 released in 2006 departed   
   substantially and without justification from the rules proposed in the FCC's   
   so-called "Omnibus" Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), with respect to 75   
   and 80 meters. Among other actions, the resulting changes expanded voice   
   privileges on additional frequencies in various bands, including 75 meters.   
   The FCC shifted the phone/image subband from 3750-4000 kHz to 3600-4000 kHz,   
   trimming the 80 meter RTTY/data subband from 3500-3750 kHz to 3500-3600 kHz   
   and substantially changing "the entire dynamic of this band," the League said.   
      
   Although the Omnibus R&O had indicated that incumbent licensees would not lose   
   any operating privileges, some clearly did, the ARRL has pointed out. The most   
   substantial adverse effect of the "unexpected and vast expansion" of the 75   
   meter phone/image subband, the League said, was the elimination of access to   
   3620-3635 kHz by ACDS.   
      
   The Omnibus R&O rule changes limited 80 meters to 3500-3600 kHz, and no longer   
   authorized RTTY and data emissions above 3600 kHz. That the Omnibus R&O did   
   not modify Part 97.221 of the rules to provide for ACDS "was clearly an   
   oversight by the Commission."   
      
   After the FCC denied a subsequent ARRL Petition for Reconsideration, the   
   Commission replaced the inadvertently deleted 3620-3635 kHz ACDS segment with   
   3585-3600 kHz.   
      
   "Far from fixing the problem created by the error in the Omnibus R&O, the   
   moving of the inadvertently deleted digital subband downward in frequency   
   below 3600 kHz made the situation in the 80 meter RTTY/data subband even worse   
   than it was," the ARRL said. The result has been a shortfall in available   
   RTTY/data spectrum at 80 meters.   
      
   "ARRL has analyzed the regulatory limitations as part of a comprehensive   
   effort to make more efficient the use of those HF allocations, especially with   
   respect to encouraging further experimentation and proficiency in narrowband   
   digital communications technologies," the League said in concluding its   
   Petition. "The recommendations for modified band plans developed by ARRL   
   necessitate the few, but important regulatory changes proposed."   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   Always Mount a Scratch Monkey   
      
   ... We now return to our regularly scheduled flame-throwing.   
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