11m CB Give Back...The Conclusion

George/AB0PO writes...


"Hello Everyone,


This is the follow up and conclusion to my article on the 11m band "give back" proposal. In case you missed out on what all the hub-bub is about, I wrote an article earlier in which I offered the idea that the 11m CB band should be given back to the ham operators. My basis for this was the recent creation by the FCC of the new MURS VHF CB band (see www.arrl.org). I have to admit, the response to this issue has created quite a stir among the CB and Amateur Radio circles. Well, maybe it is time to put all this discussion to rest.




For those of you who sent me articles by emails, both for and against the issue, I thank you. Let me for the sake of discussion and finality, clarify some of the issues that have been the root of all the dicussions. First, I was not referring to the so-called "freeband" when I introduced the original article on this website.


The CB band occupies the radio spectrum from 26.965 Mhz to 27.405 Mhz, operation outside of these band edges is ILLEGAL. And, I might add, any hams operating on the CB or "freeband" is also ILLEGAL.
So, what I was talking about in the previous article was the band spectrum which is the LEGAL CB band, channels 1-40, including AM and SSB. It seems like the old saying of "the more a story gets told, the more it changes" is holding true for this subject.


What I suggested
originally was the creation of a LOW POWER (only 10 watts RF output),
CW (Morse Code), and Data (PACTOR, AMTOR, RTTY, and Packet) band on the current CB band spectrum, this is not to suggest any infringement into the bands between 12m and CB, or between CB and 10m, those bands are already allocated to other radio services, and although not widely believed in the CB and Amateur Radio communities, THEY ARE MONITORED BY THE FCC for violators. So, maybe we can reach a compromise, how about leaving 27.175 Mhz to 27.405 Mhz for CB, and making a new Technician band out of 26.970 to 27.170 Mhz?


I believe that the CB band needs to be cleaned up since it is grossly abused and rules are so routinely ignored. I for one think that the creation of a ham sub-band MIGHT just scare enough CB operators into abiding by the rules, then again it could backfire and cause even more incroachment by cb operators into our 10m band. Do I have all the answers? Of course not, this is a HOT issue that has it's supporters and dissenters, and like any controversial issue, it will take compromise to resolve.


Thanks again for the emails, and thanks for reading.


Happy Holidays,

George/AB0PO"