ARRL Petitions FCC to add RTTY 3500-3650 KHZ

ARRL petition RM-11759 asks that 3500-3650 khz be made a RTTY/data sub band. If you enjoy operating 80M CW then this change would make operating CW very difficult as RTTY and CW don't mix well. During one of the many RTTY contests 80M CW operation would be near impossible. My club has a weekly net on 3545 that could go away. This doesnt seem to be well thought out.

The petition asks the FCC to make the following changes to the Part 97 Amateur Radio Service rules, with respect to 80/75 meters:

• Modify the RTTY/data subband, so that it extends from 3500 kHz to 3650 kHz.
  
  
• Here is the link http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2016-02-25

The FCC is requesting comments. Cheers! K6JJR

 

RTTY is allowed 3500-3600 today.

The only change from a CW op's perspective is that the RTTY guys would be less frequently inclined to drop below the JT65 watering hole due to the added space above.

 

I operate both modes and I would say there is not a problem until contest weekend. The real issue is the ARRL and FCC wanting to change things. Whatever your passion send comments to the ARRL. Some changes can be good and we live in a changing world, that is for sure.

 

As of today, the ARRL website shows RTTY starting at 3570.

This is the band plan as of today:
80 Meters (3.5-4.0 MHz)
3.590 RTTY/Data DX
3.570-3.600 RTTY/Data
3.790-3.800 DX window
3.845 SSTV
3.885 AM calling frequency

The change would make CW operations very very difficult. Ive been stepped on countless times on 40 meters by RTTY'ers
dont seem to listen or care much. My take is that CW operators are being squeezed out of the bands.

Negative. The RTTY sub band starts at 3570.

 

You might want to study Part 97 (specifically 97.301 and 97.307) and revisit the difference between regulation and bandplan.

97.307 says RTTY and data are authorized throughout the entire 80m band.
97.301 says the 80m band runs from 3500-3600.

(75m is 3600-4000, where phone and image are authorized)

The ARRL is proposing that the divide between 80m and 75m be bumped up to 3650.

The ARRL has proposed changes to their bandplan if the FCC approves the petition. The bandplan will still suggest that RTTY stay above 3570.

Today, it is perfectly legal for a RTTY op to call CQ at 3501. They just don't do that because it's bad manners / won't win them any friends / custom keeps RTTY up above 3580. There's no reason to believe that will change.

So...again, from a CW op's perspective, the only change is that RTTY and digital ops will have less of an incentive to drop down to find a clear frequency due to the additional spectrum they will have to play in.

The proposal is good for CW, good for RTTY/digital...and not so good for phone ops who make use of the usually wide open spaces of 3600-3700.

 

It would be nice if they petitioned for more bandspace rather than trying to shoehorn digimodes into the cw subbands. Even if the band or portion of the band was shared with other services like as unto 60m or whatever it's called. Who wants to see 20m extended to 14.4 like it was before ww2 or whenever it was?

 

The ARRL compatibility charts would encourage RTTY operations from 3500+. Right now the chart suggests 3570+. This would be a go-ahead to operate RTTY in

This change is

The change to the ARRL compatibility charts would encourage RTTY/Data operations from 3500+. From my experience CW and RTTY are *not* compatible. Not a great plan for CW operators.

 

No. Just....no.

Part 97 is the set of regulations FCC-governed hams must follow. The ARRL prints up a pretty color chart describing the frequencies and modes authorized in Part 97.

Separately, the ARRL has a set of band plans. It's a text list of frequency ranges where certain activities are suggested to be concentrated. Those band plans do not have the force of regulation; they simply represent suggestions from the League based mostly on the activities already occurring in those ranges. Despite some confusion suggesting differently, the band plans are NOT the pretty color chart.

If you want to know where you can legally transmit RTTY or phone, you go by Part 97. If you want to know what part of the band you should look first to find DX-working frequencies, you go by the ARRL band plans.

Today:

• Part 97 says RTTY/data is authorized from 3500-3600
• ARRL band plan suggests RTTY/data be limited to 3570-3600

If the petition passes:

• Part 97 will say that RTTY/data is authorized from 3500-3650
• ARRL band plan will suggest that RTTY/data be limited to 3570-3650

There is no attempt to chip away what frequencies are recommended for 80m CW. The only significant change is that the League is calling for some 75m phone space reserved for extras be switched to be data for everybody.

 

'JJR

You should be in favor of this rule change, if you're concerned about interference between CW and Data/Rtty modes.

As N1EN has pointed out (several times) what this does is make MORE space available. The Data/Rtty folks would be able to move UP the band, the result being less of them lower in the band where CW traditionally is the main mode.

The crowding between CW and RTTY/Data that exists now is the direct result of an unwanted, unilateral action FCC took in 2006, that reduced the upper limit of 80 meters from 3.700 all the way down to 3.600. This proceeding would restore the 80 meter band back up to 3.650.

 

I have considered that but you should realize the ARRL, and I am a member, would be encouraging RTTY/DATA use from 3.500 khz upward. Right now the "compatibility" chart shows RTTY from 3570 upwards, leaving 70 khz for CW operators clear for our activities.
Under the new plan CWops would have no clear spectrum to operate in. I think we deserve some frequencies without RTTY interference!