NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 17, 2004--The FCC says pending changes in the 40-meter
amateur band as a result of World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
(WRC-03) will improve spectrum efficiency. The Commission's remark came in a
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in ET Docket 04-139, which seeks
public comments on proposed rule changes to complete domestic implementation
of various WRC-03 allocation decisions. The NPRM primarily affects Parts 2,
25 and 73 of the FCC's rules.

"We anticipate that administrations in Regions 1 and 3 will in the near
future authorize phone emissions in the segment 7150-7200 kHz," the FCC
predicted in the NPRM, "and we note the ARRL has requested that the
frequency segment for phone emissions be expanded to 7125-7300 kHz." The FCC
said authorizing phone in the 7150-7200 kHz segment of the band would permit
same-frequency US-to-DX contacts, resulting in increased spectrum
efficiency. Amateurs in the Region 1 countries of Norway, Croatia and San
Marino already have been granted access to 7100 to 7200 kHz on a secondary,
non-interference basis.

Under the present regime, most amateur stations in Regions 1 and 3 use
7075-7100 kHz for phone. Since the US phone band is 7150 to 7300 kHz, this
means most US-to-DX operation requires "split" operation. The band 7000-7300
kHz is allocated to the Amateur Service on a primary, exclusive basis in
Region 2, but that is not the case in much of the rest of the world.

Effective next January 1, WRC-03 allocated the band 7100-7200 kHz to the
Amateur Service in Regions 1 and 3 on a co-primary basis with broadcasting.
After March 29, 2009, 7100-7200 kHz will be allocated to the Amateur Service
on an exclusive basis throughout the world, except in some Region 1 and
Region 3 countries.

"As such, Amateur Service use of this 100 kilohertz will be on a de facto
secondary basis in Regions 1 and 3 until the broadcasting service vacates
the band 7100-7200 kHz at the conclusion of Schedule B in 2009," the FCC
noted. "This means that amateur stations in Regions 1 and 3 will shortly be
permitted to transmit in the band 7100-7200 kHz, if they can find a
frequency that is not being used by an international broadcast station."

The FCC said it doesn't think it needs to update its Part 97 Amateur Service
rules until administrations in Regions 1 and 3 implement changes to allow
amateurs to transmit in the 7100-7200 kHz segment.

"As a practical matter, we do not believe that the Amateur Service can make
use of the band 7100-7200 kHz in Regions 1 and 3 in advance of HF
broadcasting stations vacating the band because of the great power disparity
between amateur stations and international broadcast stations," the FCC
concluded.

The NPRM also addresses the deployment of Earth Exploration Satellite
Service-Active (EESS-Active) spacecraft in the 70-cm band. The FCC said it
"tentatively" finds that any secondary EESS-Active allocation at 432-438 MHz
should be limited to federal government use. The Commission said operation
in that allocation "should not cause harmful interference to, nor claim
protection from, any other services allocated in the band in the United
States, including the Amateur-Satellite service."

Prior to WRC-03, representatives of the ARRL and other International Amateur
Radio Union member-societies worked to develop a deployment approach that
severely restricts satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operations on
EESS-Active satellites. As a result WRC-03 incorporated into the
international Radio Regulations a table of geographical, time and
power-level constraints with which SARs must comply. By and large, SARs may
not operate over North and Central America, Europe and many countries in the
Middle East and Asia. Typical duty cycles will be from 10 to 15 percent.
Among other applications, SARs are used for remote sensing, for mapping
tropical forests and for detecting Arctic ice floes and ocean surface
activity. An SAR-carrying satellite is not expected to launch much before
2010.

The Commission has proposed adoption of a new US Table of Allocations
footnote that would permit NASA to perform limited pre-operational testing
of its systems within line-of-sight of its US control stations, "provided
that it does not cause harmful interference to the Radiolocation, Amateur,
and Amateur-Satellite services in the United States."

Comments in the proceeding are due July 16, with reply by August 2.
Interested parties may view the entire NPRM, file comments and view comments
filed in ET Docket 04-139 via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System
(ECFS).

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/18/100/?nc=1