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60-METER OPERATION TO REQUIRE OPERATOR PRUDENCE, CAUTION
(From “THE ARRL LETTER” Vol. 22, No.21, 23 May 2003)
(See 60 Meters Part
2...Record Keeping Requirements)
(Post your experiences on
60 meters with me and read about my own experiences HERE.)
When the five channels of the new 60-meter amateur allocation become
available later this year, Amateur Radio operators will have to learn some
new operating habits and adopt some new on-the-air attitudes. The limited
spectrum and stringent bandwidth requirements will mean amateurs will have
to demonstrate their best behavior and operating skills if the Amateur
Service ever hopes to get an actual band segment at 60 meters.
"In terms of Amateur Radio spectrum, we usually say, 'Use it or lose
it,'"
said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. "The watchword for 60-meter operators
should be, 'Misuse it and lose it.'"
The channelized scheme--similar to the 5-MHz experimental operation under
way in the United Kingdom
http://www.rsgb-hfc.org.uk/5mhz.htm
unfamiliar technical compliance demands on US hams who have, until now,
not had to worry much about frequency stability or transmitted audio
bandwidth. The FCC has granted amateurs 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405
kHz--the last channel common to the UK experimental operation's band plan.
These are all "channel center frequencies," the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said in a March
13 letter to FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) Chief Edmond
J. Thomas. The NTIA, which administers federal government spectrum,
opposed allocation of an actual ham band citing the ongoing spectrum
requirements of federal licensees with homeland security responsibilities.
The channels will be available to General and higher class licensees.
The NTIA says that hams planning to operate on 60 meters "must assure that
their signal is transmitted on the channel center frequency." In general,
the NTIA has advised, users should set their carrier frequency 1.5 kHz
lower than the channel center frequency. According to the NTIA:
Channel Center
Amateur Tuning Frequency
5332
kHz
5330.5 kHz
5348
kHz
5346.5 kHz
5368
kHz
5366.5 kHz
5373
kHz
5371.5 kHz
5405 kHz (common US/UK) 5403.5 kHz
ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, says the assignment
of these channels implies that amateurs now must adhere to certain
frequency tolerances for their use. While the international Radio
Regulations don't list these for the Amateur Service, he notes, they do
stipulate tolerances on the order of 20 to 50 Hz for other services.
"We haven't been told anything specific about frequency tolerances for
these channels but would probably annoy federal regulators if we strayed
any more than 50 Hz from the assigned carrier frequencies," Rinaldo
cautioned.
Keeping one's audio within the 2.8-kHz wide channel to comply with the
2K8J3E emission specification is another important issue. ARRL Laboratory
Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, believes prudence calls for not having baseband
audio below 200 Hz nor greater than 2800 Hz--for a total bandwidth of 2.6
kHz. "That will probably keep us out of trouble," he said. Noting
that the
high-frequency response "can vary a lot from radio to radio,"
however,
Hare recommended that amateurs play it conservatively.
Additionally, the FCC has restricted operation to USB only, with a maximum
effective radiated power (ERP) of 50 W. The USB-only requirement stemmed
from NTIA interoperability concerns. The NTIA wanted to make sure that
federal users could copy and, if necessary, identify any amateur station
using one of the 60-meter channels. As a result, the 60-meter frequencies
will become the only ones available to the general amateur community that
do not permit CW operation.
For the sake of this particular grant, the FCC said it would consider a
half-wave dipole to have a gain of 0 dBd. In its letter to the FCC, the
NTIA stipulated that radiated power should not exceed "the equivalent of
50 W PEP transmitter output power into an antenna with a gain of 0 dBd."
"Although this is less spectrum than the American Radio Relay League
petition requested, this is the best we can do pending a definition of
Homeland Security HF requirements," concluded Fredrick R. Wentland in the
NTIA's letter to the FCC's OET.
Sumner has predicted that, over time, amateurs can and will "develop a
record of disciplined, responsible use of the five channels in the public
interest that will justify another look at these rather severe initial
restrictions."
Just when amateurs will get their first crack at 60 meters is not yet
clear. The changes to Part 97 go into effect 30 days after publication of
the Report and Order (R&O) in The Federal Register, which has not yet
happened. Publication could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few
months. ARRL will announce a specific date as soon as it's known.
The FCC Report and Order in ET Docket 02-98 is available on the FCC's Web
site <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-105A1.doc>.
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