Dumb. When you are in a horizontal industry you see the dynamics that play out in the near to mid future. Some of these have been articulated here. US hams WILL lose spectrum in the next 18 months.
Perhaps the most useful band from an educational standpoint is 10GHz. Both coaxial and waveguide techniques are practical at this frequency. Go lower and waveguide becomes impractical. Go higher and coax becomes difficult to use. Zack W1VT
Yeah, they get really bothered by hams interfering with billion dollar, high value, critical tracking systems. Go figure. The 433 Mhz frequency range is not exactly lightly used. It's used constantly and over great ranges and power output levels. It's just done in a way that you don't even know they are there. So they actually do share and you don't even know when it's happening. Ed
This is the extreme progressive thought process that gave us the movie "Idiocracy". It's an extension of the old joke that started with play money with Donald Trump on the bill. Funny how that joke turned out isn't it! Ed
Along with the "round-up" deportations, concentration camps and exterminations? You liberals don't even wait before the crying starts! Ed
Having amateur bands scattered throughout the spectrum is great for showing that in real life, things don't scale as easily as they do on the computer.
The FCC has already taken care of that Martin, due to their headline-grabbing BS cases and relentless overreach. "So when you're in enforcement, you're almost always working in a gray area." -Travis LeBlanc FCC Enforcement Chief http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-fccs-365-million-man/456489/ "Everybody sues us about everything." - Former FCC Chair, Tom Wheeler http://thehill.com/policy/technology/257781-fcc-everybody-sues-us-about-everything FCC Collects $0 on Millions in Fines http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/fcc-fine-enforcement-scrutiny-216121 http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/trailer/fcc-collects-dollar0-on-millions-in-fines/vp-BBnlueu New Prospective FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai "Last month, I told the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the FCC’s enforcement process had gone off the rails." "First, instead of applying the law to the facts, the Commission’s enforcement process has shifted to issuing headline-grabbing fines regardless of the law." "Second, the FCC’s current enforcement process sets the wrong priorities and is less productive than it used to be" "With visions of New York Times headlines dancing in its head, the FCC currently has little interest in doing bread-and-butter enforcement work." "This is powerful evidence of the FCC’s misguided enforcement priorities. Instead of going after companies for conduct that Americans actually complain about and that could actually violate our rules, we’re chasing press. Instead of setting the table with meat and potatoes, we’re foraging for truffles." "Third, the Enforcement Bureau is no longer accountable to FCC Commissioners. We have reached the point at which Commissioners themselves can’t oversee the enforcement process." "Another area where the Bureau is unaccountable involves consent decrees." "In other instances, I am concerned that consent decrees are being used to avoid judicial and Commission scrutiny of dubious cases. Most companies are risk-averse and will reluctantly sign on the dotted line if the alternative could be virtually limitless liability or if they are repeat players at the Commission. I therefore understand why some companies have entered into consent decrees and agreed to pay penalties in cases that appear to lack merit. But we should all acknowledge that those decisions come at a price. They make it more likely that in future investigations, the law and facts will be stretched even further in a quest for favorable media coverage." "These three issues—the quest for headlines, the wrong priorities, and the lack of accountability— are the main problems that I see currently plaguing the FCC’s enforcement process." "Currently, even as a Commissioner, it is extremely hard to track these cases and find out just how much money is actually being collected after the media headlines fade into the rear-view mirror. Recently, POLITICO published what can only be described as a less than flattering story with the headline “FCC proposes millions in fines, collects $0.” "I cannot help but observe that it is a good thing for the Enforcement Bureau that it cannot be fined for making misleading statements." "The bottom line is this: I sincerely hope that we can work together in a bipartisan manner to fix the problems plaguing the FCC’s enforcement process. But to do that, we have to recognize that the Enforcement Bureau’s purpose is not to pursue media coverage as vigorously as Roxie Hart from the musical Chicago. Nor is it to make policy on a whim. Rather, it is to firmly but fairly enforce rules that are already on the books. If we embrace once again the Bureau’s proper mission, we will go a long way towards promoting public confidence that the Commission is focused on the facts and laboring within the law." https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-336693A1.pdf https://www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/ajit-pai
I will be very leery of merging the FCC back into the Dept. of Commerce. Our position is very much like the designated wilderness areas, and you already see the chants of 'drill drill drill' in those (and the National Parks, too). All of our higher bands are shared with other services, and we could be kicked off all of them, from 420 MHz and up. The people who support the American Enterprise Institute - the organization that called for elimination of FCC in the document linked to previously - will be very happy to replace a few hundred thousand hams with millions and millions of paying mobile device users. Our new president has also published on his web site his plan to dismantle and NPR. Once again, eliminating "The Commons" in favor of unbridled corporate ownership is a key part of big plan. Our ham bands are absolutely "the commons". He may have good intentions, but those creating his policy for him certainly do not.
I think the new proposal mentions parting out the FCC to the NTIA and FTC. Getting rid of NPR is due to the fact that about half the country considers NPR to be infested with socialist radicals. The other thing is; why use taxpayers to fund a bunch radio stations unless you want to disseminate government propaganda? http://www.npr.org/tags/128700394/global-warming http://www.npr.org/tags/273076152/lgbtq-issues http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...fer-schools-guidance-on-transgender-bathrooms
...or just short on facts. I'm amazed how many "legislative experts" on NPR don't even understand the difference between the three branches of government. And I'm pretty sure none of them have heard of this docuement called the "constitution." Oh wow, I just ended up on a bunch of "lists" for saying "constitution." Dagnabbit, there I did it again.
So what going to change? Leadership is poor at all levels! I don't see anything changing except for the worse. Put the FCC under commerce dept, wait for the selling of Radio Licenses and Spectrum, kinda like a crackhead selling whatever to get a fix! Sorry, not seeing leadership in Congress or the agencies. The FCC hasn't been effective since the 1960's since the ownership rules on broadcast were relaxed and we became a Corpacracy! Waiting to see action, Think tank Dreams Papers just that, dreams and wishful thinking. What's lacking, "Common sense", we don't need policy wonk points, we need common sense. Terribly lacking on BOTH SIDES.
