SB QST @ ARL $ARLB004   
   ARLB004 ARRL Asks FCC to Allocate New 5 MHz Band, Retain Channels and Current   
   Power Limit   
      
   ZCZC AG04   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 4  ARLB004   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  January 13, 2017   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB004   
   ARLB004 ARRL Asks FCC to Allocate New 5 MHz Band, Retain Channels and Current   
   Power Limit   
      
   ARRL has asked the FCC to allocate a new, secondary contiguous band at 5 MHz   
   to the Amateur Service, while also retaining four of the current five 60-meter   
   channels and current operating rules, including the 100 W PEP effective   
   radiated power (ERP) limit. The federal government is the primary user of the   
   5 MHz spectrum. The proposed action would implement a portion of the Final   
   Acts of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that provided for a   
   secondary international allocation of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz to the Amateur   
   Service; that band includes 5,358.5 KHz, one of the existing 5 MHz channels in   
   the US.   
      
   "Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency and   
   disaster relief communications, and especially those between the United States   
   and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more flexibly and more capably   
   conduct those communications [and preparedness exercises], before the next   
   hurricane season in the summer of 2017," ARRL said in a January 12 Petition   
   for Rule Making. The FCC has not yet acted to implement other portions of the   
   WRC-15 Final Acts.   
      
   The Petition for Rule Making can be found on the web in PDF format at,   
   http://www.arrl.org/attachments/view/News/87580 .   
      
   The League said that 14 years of Amateur Radio experience using the five   
   discrete 5-MHz channels have shown that hams can get along well with primary   
   users at 5 MHz, while complying with the regulations established for their   
   use. "Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA is aware of a single reported   
   instance of interference to a federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5   
   MHz to date," ARRL said in its petition. NTIA - the National Tel   
   communications and Information Administration, which regulates federal   
   spectrum - initially proposed the five channels for Amateur Radio use. In   
   recent years, Amateur Radio has cooperated with federal users such as FEMA in   
   conducting communication interoperability exercises.   
      
   "While the Amateur Radio community is grateful to the Commission and to NTIA   
   for the accommodation over the past 14 years of some access to the 5-MHz band,   
   the five channels are, simply stated, completely inadequate to accommodate the   
   emergency preparedness needs of the Amateur Service in this HF frequency   
   range," ARRL said, adding that the five 2.8-kHz wide channels "have not   
   provided sufficient capacity to enable competent emergency preparedness and   
   disaster relief capability."   
      
   Access even to the tiny 15-kHz wide band adopted at WRC-15 would "radically   
   improve the current, very limited capacity of the Amateur Service in the   
   United States to address emergencies and disaster relief," ARRL said. "This is   
   most notably true in the Caribbean Basin, but the same effect will be realized   
   elsewhere as well, at all times of the day and night, and at all times of the   
   sunspot cycle."   
      
   In its Petition, ARRL also called upon the FCC to retain the same service   
   rules now governing the five channels for the new band. The WRC-15 Final Acts   
   stipulated a power limit of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP),   
   which the League said "completely defeats the entire premise for the   
   allocation in the first place."   
      
   "For precisely the same reasons that the Commission consented to a power   
   increase on the five channels as recently as 2011 [from 50 W PEP ERP to 100 W   
   PEP ERP], the Commission should permit a power level of 100 W PEP ERP,   
   assuming use of a 0 dBd gain antenna, in the contiguous 60-meter band," ARRL   
   said. "To impose the power limit adopted at WRC-15 for the contiguous band   
   would render the band unsuitable for emergency and public service   
   communications."   
      
   ARRL pointed out that the ITU Radio Regulations permit assignments that are at   
   variance with the International Table of Allocations, provided a   
   non-interference condition is attached, limiting the use of such an assignment   
   relative to stations operating in accordance with the Table.   
      
   The League asked that General class or higher licensees be permitted to use   
   the band. The FCC will not invite comments on the League's Petition until it   
   puts it on public notice and assigns a Rule Making (RM) number.   
      
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