http://www.iaru-regionii.org/Region_...ex__1_2008.pdf

This plan is supposed to go into effect Jan 1 2008. It's a voluntary
plan, not FCC regulations.

IMHO:

Good Things:

1) The general idea of sorting modes by bandwidth is a valid one.
Narrow and wide modes just don't mix well.

2) The plan puts 'robot' (unattended) stations in well-defined places,
rather than letting them wander all over the band.

3) There are centres of activity - watering holes - for various
activities, like image transmission. This does not mean they can't go
on other places, just that there's a defined place to meet.

Bad Things:

4) The plan almost completely bans AM voice! From 160 through 10
meters, AM is only allowed on 3600-3625 kHz, 3875-3900 kHz, and
29000-29300 kHz. On all but 10 metres, AM is an asterisk to the 2700
Hz bandwidth.

5) The plan does not agree with other, similar plans, such as the ARRL
bandplan. It seems to me that the IARU Region 2 bandplan and the
bandplan of the largest amateur radio organization in Region 2 should
at least agree.

---

The no-AM thing is a big one to me, even though I'm a CW operator. AM
is a perfectly legal mode on all US HF/MF amateur bands except 60 and
30 meters, yet the plan says that 'good amateur practice' is to not
use AM *anywhere* below 29 MHz except 50 kHz of 80/75 meters. And
that's regardless of propagation, number of hams on the band,
contests, etc.

This sort of thing sets a very bad precedent. It effectively makes the
use of a perfectly legal mode 'bad practice' on all but a small
percentage of the available-by-law spectrum, and on all but parts of
two bands.

Now some may say "it's just a voluntary bandplan, not a regulation".
And that's true, but it's not the whole story.

When interference problems between amateur operations have arisen that
do no involve clear Part 97 rules violations, FCC has usually ruled on
the side of the amateur operating in accordance with the voluntary
bandplan in effect at the time. The most-common example I know are
cases where an uncoordinated repeater and a coordinated one have
interference issues. AFAIK, the uncoordinated repeater always loses
because coordination is good amateur practice. But coordination is
really just a form of voluntary bandplan, since we amateurs administer
it, not the FCC.

It seems to me that under the IARU plan, if I were to operate AM on,
say, 40 metres, and an SSB station were to complain about interference
from me, I'd be on the defensive from the getgo because, by
definition, the SSB op is operating in accordance with the bandplan
and I'm not.

Most of all, if they can do it to AM, they can do it to other modes.
Once the precedent is set, it's just a matter of expanding it.

It seems really odd to me that while recent FCC rules changes widened
many of the phone bands, particularly on 80/75, this bandplan
drastically reduces and eliminates them for AM.

Again, IMHO, the IARU can do better.

73 de Jim, N2EY