SB QST @ ARL $ARLB019   
   ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction for   
   Amateur Amplifiers   
      
   ZCZC AG19   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 19  ARLB019   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  May 26, 2016   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB019   
   ARLB019 ARRL "Strongly Supports" Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction for   
   Amateur Amplifiers   
      
   In comments filed on May 26, the ARRL said it "strongly supports" a petition   
   to the FCC seeking to eliminate an Amateur Service rule, spelled out in Part   
   97.317(a)(2), that amateur amplifiers not be able to boost the RF input signal   
   by more than 15 dB. The Petition for Rule Making (RM-11767), was submitted in   
   April on behalf of an amateur amplifier distributor, Expert Linears America   
   LLC of Magnolia, Texas.   
      
   ARRL's comments can be found on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/   
   ews/arrl-strongly-supports-petition-to-drop-15-db-restriction-fo   
   -amateur-amplifiers .  RM-11767 can be found on the web at, http   
   //apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001536394 .   
      
   "The Petition proposes relief that is in the nature of eliminating unnecessary   
   regulatory underbrush, and it continues an effort started by the Commission on   
   its own motion in 2004...to do precisely that," the ARRL said in its comments.   
   "The rule proposed to be eliminated is outdated; it constituted overregulation   
   when it was adopted long ago, and it now substantially limits the flexibility   
   of Amateur Radio operators to experiment with the current generation of   
   software-defined Amateur Radio equipment."   
      
   The 15 dB provision came into the rules during an era when the FCC initiated   
   various actions to rein in a major interference problem resulting from the use   
   of illegal 11 meter amplifiers during the Citizens Band radio boom of the   
   1970s. "In its effort to address that problem, the Commission enacted a series   
   of largely redundant and overlapping regulations that, in their overall   
   effect, unnecessarily (and inappropriately) penalized the wholly innocent   
   Amateur Radio operators," the League asserted. "There was created a plethora   
   of restrictions on manufacturers of external RF power   
   amplifiers."   
      
   The ARRL noted that while the FCC eliminated some of the unnecessary   
   regulations in 2004, others remain, including the 15 dB gain restriction. The   
   rules adopted in 1978 also called for type acceptance (certification) of   
   manufactured RF power amplifiers operating below 144 MHz, including a 50 W   
   minimum drive power requirement and a ban on amplifiers capable of operation   
   between 24 and 35 MHz.   
      
   "Indeed, precisely the same rationale for elimination of the 50 W minimum   
   drive power rule in 2006 applies to the elimination of the 15 dB gain rule for   
   amateur amplifiers," the ARRL said in its comments. "There is no continued   
   justification for retaining the 15 dB gain limitation."   
      
   The League agreed with the petitioner that a current generation of low-power   
   Amateur Radio transceivers, including software-defined designs, cannot drive   
   an amplifier to full legal power given the 15 dB limitation. "It should not be   
   necessary to configure an Amateur Radio station to include an additional   
   amplifier stage in order to make use of current SDR technology in the Amateur   
   Service," the ARRL said.   
      
   NNNN   
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