It will be neat to see what becomes available to get on the new bands when
they open up.  I'm thinking about going the route of monoband transceivers
to get on the band rather than replacing my present equipment.  We'll have
to see what I am running by the time these bands open, assuming that the
allocation changes go through.  I could see a lot of merit to traffic nets
moving to this range once most people have something up and running on the
band.

73, de Lou K2LKK

At 11:57 PM 5/10/02 -0700, you wrote:
>ARLB028 FCC proposes two new amateur bands!
>
>ZCZC AG28
>QST de W1AW
>ARRL Bulletin 28  ARLB028
> From ARRL Headquarters
>Newington CT  May 10, 2002
>To all radio amateurs
>
>SB QST ARL ARLB028
>ARLB028 FCC proposes two new amateur bands!
>
>Good news for ham radio this week! FCC has proposed going along with
>ARRL's request for a new domestic (US-only), secondary HF allocation
>at 5.25 to 5.4 MHz. The FCC also is ready to permit operation on a
>136-kHz ''sliver band'' in the low-frequency (LF) region. And, in
>response to a third ARRL request, the FCC has proposed elevating
>Amateur Radio to primary status at 2400 to 2402 MHz.
>
>''I'm just as tickled as I can be,'' ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP,
>said upon hearing the news. ''This is a classic example of our ARRL
>at work.''
>
>The FCC voted unanimously May 2 to adopt the Notice of Proposed
>Rulemaking in ET Docket 02-98. The Commission released a Public
>Notice May 9, and the NPRM is expected to be released soon. A
>comment deadline will be announced as soon as it's available.
>
>The FCC said the new 5-MHz band would help amateurs ''better match
>their choice of frequency to existing propagation conditions.'' The
>band, if approved, would be the first new amateur HF allocation
>since World Administrative Radio Conference 1979 gave amateurs 30,
>17 and 12 meters--the so-called ''WARC Bands.'' Assuming the 5-MHz
>band eventually is authorized, it could be a few years before it
>actually becomes available.
>
>The League said its successful WA2XSY experiments demonstrated that
>amateurs can coexist with current users and that the band is very
>suitable for US-to-Caribbean paths. In comparisons with 80 and 40
>meters, the WA2XSY operation also showed the 60-meter band to be the
>most reliable of the three. The ARRL also argued that a new 150-kHz
>allocation at 5 MHz could relieve periodic overcrowding on 80 and
>40.
>
>If allocated to amateurs on a secondary basis, hams would have to
>avoid interfering with--and accept interference from--current
>occupants of the spectrum, as they already do on 30 meters. The band
>5.250 to 5.450 MHz now is allocated to Fixed and Mobile services on
>a co-primary basis in all three ITU regions.
>
>The ARRL asked the FCC for two LF allocations in October 1998--135.7
>to 137.8 kHz and 160 to 190 kHz. The FCC said its action on one part
>of that LF request proposes changes that would enhance the ability
>of amateur radio operators to conduct technical experiments,
>including propagation and antenna design experiments, in the 'low
>frequency' (LF) range of the radio spectrum.''
>
>Several countries in Europe and elsewhere already have 136-kHz
>amateur allocations. The first amateur transatlantic contact on the
>band was recorded in February 2001.
>
>Hams would be secondary to the Fixed and Maritime Mobile services in
>the 136-kHz allocation. The League said its engineering surveys
>suggest that hams could operate without causing problems to power
>line carrier (PLC) systems already active in that vicinity or to
>government assignments. Unallocated Part 15 PLC systems are used by
>electric utilities to send control signals, data and voice.
>
>The FCC said its proposal to upgrade the Amateur Service allocation
>at 2400 to 2402 MHz to primary ''seeks to protect current amateur use
>of this band.'' Hams have shared their other 2.4 GHz spectrum on a
>secondary basis with government users.
>
>Amateurs already are primary at 2390 to 2400 and from 2402 to 2417
>MHz. The ARRL has said primary status in the intervening spectrum
>slice was needed ''to provide some assurances of future occupancy of
>the band segments for the next generation of amateur satellites.''
>
>The ARRL has expressed its belief that hams can continue to
>accommodate Part 15 and Part 18 devices at 2.4 GHz.
>NNNN
>/EX

Louis (Kim) Kline, A.R.S.  K2LKK
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work Tel.  (585) 697-5753