Sounds like you have no idea how many backhaul links were using 3Ghz. All those mountain top repeaters in different places dont just connect up by magic.
A number of the RMHam links I mentioned earlier had to be changed from 3 GHz to 5. This caused some issues because 5 doesn’t go as far for the same ERP.
The intrests in hamradio depends mostly on the age. And many old hams which grew up with the shortwave stays there. And they dont believe in digital radio, because that is no real radio communication. So they say with other words that DigitalAudioBroadcast is not really a radio, what is absolutly feeble-mindedness. There are more examples like this, but a discussion about is mostly fruitless. And some hams dont want to admit, that the modern digimodes on shortwave runs with the same equipment of the early 1990s. And that the hardware didnt change, only the modulation. Is that the step into the future?
I think again if you want to look at least, in the USA, what the Amateur service is for, you need look no further than Part 97: This is largely unquantifiable, especially in currency as is the results of a spectrum auction, but still has value. Has there been advancements to the radio art? Absolutely. In modulation, radio designs, and semiconductors, for example. Radios are much more agile and versatile than they have ever been. Does amateur radio have a role in advancing technical skills? Yes. Does it enhance international good will? Well, people seem to get along more or less on the amateur airwaves. However, the subjective nature of this basis and purpose makes it hard to justify in an age which only values the quantifiable economic benefits of any policy. When there is a fixed resource like radio spectrum, I think one can make a case that there is a benefit to making spectrum available to individual people for noncommercial purposes rather than government entities or licensed corporations. Because the utility of the radio spectrum can easily be ruined by malicious interference, having a legitimate way that individuals can acquire a license to use and experiment with radio spectrum prevents those who believe they are being denied access to a public resource from using it surreptitiously. This was one of the main reasons the amateur service was created in the first place. One of the main reasons why the amateur service exists is so that the public can nominally be a partner in the cooperation that maintains the utility of the airwaves. The utility of the airwaves is really only maintained through voluntary cooperation. Breakdown of this cooperation would be awful for everyone. It would be a similar situation if people thought they could dump their garbage or pollute the water with sewage. The amateur service exists to keep the public a partner in the process to maintain the usefulness of radio spectrum and to give individuals a stake in maintaining its integrity. This is the real function of the amateur service.
+10 thumbs up. Not everything has a value measured in dollars. Some spectrum must be reserved for the public good. That's why we have neighborhood parks, state parks, national parks. They are beautiful and don't have to justify themselves.
All what you wrote is right. Hamradio is for the population and for to interact national and international. But sometimes people dont remember what is was for. And sometimes I cant see a difference between 1970s and today by myself. Thats why hamradio becomes a lesser influence within the population. And for example SSTV was invented in the 1950s and DMR in the end of the 1960s. Many people say that is useless today. Of course it is not, because the dont see the further development. But when the people see just that what they saw in the past, it got a bitter taste for them. At next here in Germany many of the big antennas got away from the rooftops. And out of sight, so out of mind. Many people dont believe that hamradio exists anymore and ask sometimes "You do it still like in former times? Listening to that old crackling signals? Find another Hobby!" And that opinion of the crowd makes it much harder to make them see whats real.
Just a actual table of hamradio users here in Germany. Class E is General License and A the Extra. https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/Sh...atistiken/2020.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2
I would like to know how many of them used 3 GHz for backhaul in the US, yes. Not Canada. That is not the issue.
But the aperture is smaller so for a given size aperture the EIRP goes up. Why does the antenna have to get smaller?? Just use the same sized antenna...
Thanks for all of the discussion and comments regarding this topic. I looked up the QARC-23 agenda W6RZ mentioned. They have as an agenda item: "10-10.5 GHz - Agenda Item 1.2. 10-10.5 GHz provides valuable additional capacity in between mid-band and mmWave. This spectrum is being studied as a potential supplement to provide capacity in Region 2." The FCC seems to always make rules changes and frequency reassignments that result in increased commerce. I wonder how many people are now preparing to upgrade their cell phones to 5G? My carrier is threatening that I will lose coverage in February unless I upgrade to 5G Volte capable. We are going to lose the 10 GHz band unless we do something about it. Somehow we need to create enough activity on the microwave bands to at least retain a few 10s of MHz bandwidth. Getting on X-band today is still difficult. RFIC technology has advanced to the point where if there was an X-band compatible RFIC, perhaps we could promote a kit or low-cost transceiver that would gather interest. If we had some easy and low-cost way to get on X-band with narrowband modes like CW and SSB, activity could blossom. I think it would be great fun and most interesting to see what some of the digital modes like FT8 could do on X-band. Generating significant power on X-band with solid state devices is not too difficult. Does anyone know of any transceiver RFICs that are capable of supporting narrowband X-band? 73, Ed, KI6R, Tucson, AZ
