SB QST @ ARL $ARLB015   
   ARLB015 FCC Invites Comments on Petition to Eliminate 15 dB Gain Limit on   
   Amateur Amplifiers   
      
   ZCZC AG15   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 15  ARLB015   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  April 28, 2016   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB015   
   ARLB015 FCC Invites Comments on Petition to Eliminate 15 dB Gain Limit on   
   Amateur Amplifiers   
      
   The FCC has put on public notice and invited comments on a Petition for Rule   
   Making (RM-11767), filed on behalf of an amateur amplifier distributor, which   
   seeks to revise the Amateur Service rules   
   regarding maximum permissible amplifier gain. Expert Linears America LLC of   
   Magnolia, Texas, which distributes linears manufactured by SPE in Italy, wants   
   the FCC to eliminate the 15 dB gain limitation on amateur amplifiers, spelled   
   out in Part 97.317(a)(2). Expert asserts that there should be no gain   
   limitation at all on amplifiers sold or used in the Amateur Service.   
      
   RM-11767 can be found on the web at, http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/co   
   ment/view?id=60001536394 .   
      
   "There is no technical or regulatory reason [that] an amplifier capable of   
   being driven to full legal output by even a fraction of a watt should not be   
   available to Amateur Radio operators in the   
   United States," Expert said in its Petition.   
      
   Expert maintains that the 15 dB gain limitation is an unneeded holdover from   
   the days when amplifiers were less efficient and the FCC was attempting to   
   rein in the use of Amateur Service amplifiers by Citizens Band operators.   
   While the FCC proposed in its 2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order in   
   WT Docket 04-140 to delete the requirement that amplifiers be designed to use   
   a minimum of 50 W of drive power and subsequently did so, it did not further   
   discuss the 15 dB amplification limit in the subsequent Report and Order in   
   the docket.   
      
   The R&O is in PDF format at, https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/a   
   tachmatch/FCC-06-149A1.pdf .   
      
   "Although no party advocated retention of the 15 dB limit, it remains in place   
   today," Expert pointed out in its filing. "In the intervening years,   
   advancements in Amateur Radio transmitter technology have led to the   
   availability of highly compact, sophisticated low-power transmitters that   
   require more than 15 dB of amplification to achieve maximum legal power   
   output. Therefore, Expert seeks to remove the 15 dB limit from Part 97.317 so   
   that Amateur Radio manufacturers and distributors will not be forced to   
   needlessly cripple their amplifiers for sale in the United States."   
      
   Expert pointed to its Model 1.3K FA amplifier as an example of a linear   
   "inherently capable of considerably more than 15 dB of amplification," which   
   would make it a suitable match for low-power transceivers now on the market   
   having output power on the order of 10 W.   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   Always Mount a Scratch Monkey   
      
   ... Did Dubya have to get a background check before he got Saddam's gun?   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)