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   PID: Synchronet 3.19c-Win32 master/d1dfc9c1b Dec  7 2022 MSC 1929   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 master/d1dfc9c1b Dec  7 2022 MSC 1929   
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   SB QST @ ARL $ARLB025   
   ARLB025 Rep. Lesko Introduces Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with   
   Bandwidth Limit   
      
   ZCZC AG25   
   QST de W1AW    
   ARRL Bulletin 25  ARLB025   
   From ARRL Headquarters    
   Newington CT  December 23, 2022   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB025   
   ARLB025 Rep. Lesko Introduces Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with   
   Bandwidth Limit   
      
   Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) introduced a bill in the U.S.   
   House of Representatives (H.R. 9664) on December 21, 2022, to   
   require that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replace the   
   current HF digital symbol rate limit with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit.   
      
   After being petitioned by ARRL, The National Association for Amateur   
   Radio, in 2013 (RM-11708) for the same relief, in 2016 the   
   Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (WT Docket No.   
   16-239) in which it agreed that the HF symbol rate limit was   
   outmoded, served no purpose, and hampered experimentation. But the   
   Commission questioned whether any bandwidth limit was needed in its   
   place. Most amateurs, including the ARRL, objected to there being no   
   signal bandwidth limit in the crowded HF bands given the possibility   
   that unreasonably wide bandwidth digital protocols could be   
   developed, and since 2016 there has been no further FCC action.   
      
   In conjunction with introducing the legislation, Congresswoman Lesko   
   stated that "With advances in our modern technology, increased   
   amounts of data can be put on the spectrum, so there is less of a   
   need for a regulatory limit on symbol rates. I am pleased to   
   introduce this important piece of legislation to update the FCC's   
   rules to support the critical role amateur radio operators play and   
   better reflect the capabilities of our modern radio technology."   
      
   ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, hailed introduction of the bill.   
   Roderick stated that "the FCC's delay in removing this outdated   
   restriction has been incomprehensible, given that the biggest effect   
   of the delay is to require totally inefficient spectrum use on the   
   already-crowded amateur HF bands. I hope that the Commission will   
   act to remove this harmful limitation without waiting for the bill   
   to be passed."   
      
   ARRL Legislative Committee Chairman John Robert Stratton, N5AUS,   
   added that "the symbol rate limit hampers experimentation and   
   development of more efficient HF data protocols by U.S. amateurs.   
   For all practical purposes the field has been ceded to amateurs   
   outside the U.S., where there is no comparable limit. Removing the   
   restriction not only will allow U.S. amateurs to use the most   
   efficient data protocol suitable for their purpose, but it also will   
   promote and incentivize U.S. amateurs to experiment with and develop   
   even more efficient protocols."   
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