Steven if you want to respond to my comments do so here, I will not be replying to your long winded emails. You asked for information, here it is specifically the draft 5 year outlook on ACMA's website which outlines how its going to further approach this issue. Biggest hurdle is DEFENCE rejected the plan 2 years ago. But acma will look at again in early 2020 and open it again for discussion. Can you see now how rasa is just tilting at windmills and out for publicity rather than contributing anything meaningful to the discussion?
ITU is not "America", it is the International Telecommunications Union. Australia is party to it. Click here to see the ACMA register of Radiocommunications Licences 5350 kHz to 5370 kHz in Australia. https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/assignm...UBMIT=submit&pSORT_BY=frequency&pSORT_DIR=asc (The listing may not include governmental licences.) Note that WIA already has a registered commercial HF channel at 5355.0 kHz USB (5356.5 kHz center) with callsign AXF405. This channel is entirely within the ITU 60 metre Amateur Radio Service. It is shared with many other emergency services. Click here: https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/assignment_search.lookup?pEFL_ID=769097 If the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) is no longer using its old 5360.0 kHz USB channel, then that might possibly be the best chance for an opening for an Amateur Radio Service secondary channel allocation in Australia. There is a channel above at 5364.0 kHz USB with many emergency services on it.
So, if the only factor is the ACMA registered licences, it is really a matter of whether RFDS MEEKATHARRA remote transmitter site could be persuaded to give up 5360.0 kHz USB/LSB/AM. That would create a 6 kHz gap. If RFDS would agree to give it up, then an Amateur Radio Service (secondary non-interference basis) has a chance to fit 2 Upper Sideband 2.8 kHz channels that are fully within the ITU 60 metre band: 5358.0 kHz USB 5361.0 kHz USB See ACMA Register at 5 MHz, where the possible 6 kHz gap is marked below: However, if mil has an unlisted channel there (not listed in the ACMA) then it looks more difficult. But, if ACMA is genuinely concerned about ham radio splatter causing adjacent channel interference, it could allocate 1 channel at 5359.5 kHz USB. That would leave some breathing space between it and the emergency services.
It is not a simple matter of having the RFDS transmitter change frequencies, there are probably at a guess 100o's of mobiles and base radios in remote communities and stations that connect to it. This is also the primary frequency of all RFDS radio operations in Western Australia. Its users include police and ambulance, 4WDers, cattle stations, mines, caravaners and the like. That one transmitter services millions of square kilometres of Western Australia. An area as big as California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Oragon, Nevada, Utah and Idaho combine. Who s paying for all those radios to be either replaced or reprogrammed? What suitable spectrum will they be moved to? Don't think you fully appreciate the scale of what the Royal Flying Doctor represents to outback Australia or the scope of its services. See: http://www.swld.com.au/pages/aus_rfds.htm
As I stated earlier, a proposal on these matters has been put forward - and on paper - that covers everything that naysayers and knockers bring up. Rather than conjecture, bullying and trolling (mentioning RASA always brings up trolls), ask RASA for their document. Ask the WIA for their documents (if they exist). Compare. See which ones are genuine, professional and evidence-based. Comment not here as this divides - but comment professionally, with evidence and most importantly with careful respect to The Regulator (at lais@acma.gov.au ). That is an address to the front-end to the ACMA's "contact centre" that handles AR's interests. If you do not ask ... you do not get. If you do not have a good reputation with Government (i.e Canberra) then you have no chance of being listened to. Trolling, bullying, harassment and infighting just ensure that we get put into a corner and ignored. Quite a lot of this is seen already here in these postings. That is what I am trying to knock heads together about. I am trying to END the bullying (through isolation and harassment) and trolling. I am trying to get Amateurs back on Radio and off De-Facebook ! Differentiation and competition is good and healthy and is at the heart of democracy. Doesn't having a single organisation stink of totalitarianism - control concepts centric to works from Marx, Engels, Mao and surprisingly to the other extreme Mein Kampf ? [ Yes I have read such works and find concepts from these authors/documents to be completely vile from an ethical academic and personal perspective]. Competition "keeps the buggers honest" as SK Australian Politician Don Chipp used to say.
What is even more dumb is speaking without understanding the situation. The ACMA have put 60m back on the agenda in the draft 5 year outlook and they will open it for discussion in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this financial year. So some time early in 2020. Until then, all stunts are meaningless because they just are not listening. That, and we just do not know what the terms of reference will be.
I have to laugh at your reaction, carefully read your response, its a personal attack upon my comments. My point is that RASA that consists of two individuals that used to be on the board of the WIA are intent in the destruction of the WIA, an institution that represented AR since the 20's. The fact you chose to sit on the fence without taking a position other than belittling me, speaks volumes, thus I dismiss your rant for what it is.. As the other poster mentioned, RASA is just posturing, like a rooster during mating season, has no real representation and the 60 meters band is just a tool for them to in a deceiving way attack the WIA, but I guess you are too busy with self interest to note this.
It is probably a little misleading to infer that there are 530 registered ACMA licences in Australia within the ITU 60 metre ham band (5351.5 kHz to 5366.5 kHz). Almost all of these 510 registered licences are on the single channel 5365.0 kHz USB (5366.5 center) and consist of a single organisation entity with many stations: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. This is obviously a very important and widely-utilised emergency channel in the Queensland region. So, it is rather unlikely that 5365.0 kHz USB (5366.5 center) would be made available for hams in Australia, even on a non-interference basis Secondary allocation. But, that still leaves open the possibility that Australian hams could obtain a "Secondary non-interference basis" allocation for at least one channel (or perhaps a sliver) somewhere between 5351.0 kHz and 5365.0 kHz. A close look at the ACMA Register of Radiocommunications Licences between 5351.0 kHz USB and 5362 kHz USB reveals the following short list, and 3 gaps where there are no ACMA licences registered: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frequency USB [assigned bandwidth] Licence Entity -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5351.0 kHz USB [5351.0-5354.0] Lloyd Helicopters Queensland and Australian Federal Police Woomera 5354.0 kHz to 5355.0 kHz (a 1 kHz vacant gap, unknown) 5355.0 kHz USB [5355.0-5358.0] WIA/WICEN and Ambulance Service of NSW 5358.0 kHz to 5360.0 kHz (a 2 kHz vacant gap, unknown) 5360.0 kHz USB [5360.0-5363.0] Royal Flying Doctor Service remote Meekatharra Western Australia 5363.0 kHz to 5365.0 kHz (a 2 kHz vacant gap, unknown) 5365.0 kHz USB [5365.0-5368.0] Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, etc Note: The 2 kHz gaps above and below the 5360.0 kHz USB (RFD) channel may be considered a buffer zone, or perhaps a legacy of 30 to 50 years ago when this was originally a 10 kHz wide AM channel. There are other ACMA channel frequencies in the 5 MHz spectrum (outside the ITU 60 metre band) that should be looked at. Careful research and assigned bandwidth spectrum mapping could reveal open gaps, in the same way that the above list has shown some gaps. There are countries where Amateur Radio has only 1 or 2 of their domestic 5 MHz assigned channels that coincide entirely or partially within the international ITU 60 metre band. UK, New Zealand, USA, and several other examples. Some others countries have domestic 5 MHz assigned channels which don't coincide at all with the international ITU 60 metre band. So, Australian hams should not give up hope that there is an eventual solution for a few channels on 5 MHz.
Of course there is a solution, its waiting till ACMA reopen discussions and consults with stakeholders as outlined in the draft 5 year outlook. Nothing is going to happen until then, no matter how many stunts rasa pulls. This is not a it will be fixed tomorrow thing, this will take time, and with acma this might be a couple of years yet. And the end result might be just like last time, the Military says no.
In January 2017, ACMA added Amateur Radio Service to the Australia Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan 2017, page 35 (Australian Table of Allocations). Click here to download the document. Part 2 - Table of Frequency Band Allocations. In the Australian Table of Allocations column, it shows 5351.5 to 5366.5 allocated to Amateur. So, at least there has been some ACMA spectrum management planning activity for 60 metre Amateur, although as of 2019, it has not gone into effect yet for Australian ham operators.
Here are the ACMA Registration channel licences, with the assigned bandwidths listed in a spectrum map. 5245 kHz to 5458 kHz. It appears that there are many possibly open channels. Data source: ACMA public website. Spectrum map image source: KQ6XA. Continued in next post.
Continued. Here are the ACMA Registration channel licences, with the assigned bandwidths listed in a spectrum map. 5245 kHz to 5458 kHz. Note: Not shown on this spectrum map is the Defence (Jindalee) allocation at 5325.0 kHz to 5425 kHz (5375 kHz centre, 100 kHz bandwidth). Data source: ACMA public website. Spectrum map image source: KQ6XA. continued next post.
Continued. Here are the ACMA Registration channel licences, with the assigned bandwidths listed in a spectrum map. 5245 kHz to 5458 kHz. Note: Not shown on this spectrum map is the Defence (Jindalee) allocation at 5325.0 kHz to 5425 kHz (5375 kHz centre, 100 kHz bandwidth). Data source: ACMA public website. Spectrum map image source: KQ6XA.
