"35. Allocation. For the reasons stated below, we modify footnote US23 and part 97 of the Commission’s rules to implement the new international allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz, retain the existing four channels at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz that are outside of the new allocation, and do not restrict the existing secondary allocation for the existing four channels to disaster response operations." ... "38. Channelization and Permitted Uses. Consistent with our proposal in the WRC-15 Notice, we do not require the use of channelization or sub-bands in the new internationally harmonized amateur allocation." ... "40. Due to the limited contiguous allocation of 15 kilohertz, we recognize that amateur radio operators will need flexibility to utilize the new allocation. Thus, we do not require the use of channelization or sub-bands in the new allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz. We also carry forward the requirement of section 97.303(h) of the Commission’s rules, currently applicable to the discrete channels at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz, which stipulates that amateur operators shall ensure that emission bandwidth not exceed 2.8 kilohertz, which we also agree will preserve access to the limited spectrum in this secondary allocation." ... "41. Station Class. We limit use of the existing amateur allocations at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz and the new amateur allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz to amateur radio operators holding a General Class license or higher." ... "43. Power. For the reasons stated below, we do not allow the amateur community to utilize the new international allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz at the requested 100 W ERP limit and adopt NTIA’s proposal to limit usage of this band to 15 W EIRP, or 9.15 W ERP. Operating on a secondary basis, the amateur community must protect Federal operations in this band, and we do not believe that the increased potential for harmful interference at this power limit has been fully considered at this time. Amateur access to the four discrete channels at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz will however, continue at the same 100 W ERP limit."
cool. a quasi-QRP band. I thought this was funny. .138 Regarding other technical proposals for the band, another commenter argues against the use of continuous wave (CW)139 transmissions, stating that they are obsolete and have not been used for primary communications in other radio services for years. No code!!!! 140 On the other hand, another commenter argues that the new 15 kilohertz band should not be channelized and should be restricted to narrow modes only, such as CW and digital, with no phone mode allowed on the new band. No phone!!!! LoL
A bit confusing. Does this mean that four of the five existing CW channels were retained along with four of the five existing sideband channels?
That's the way I would read it. And channel 3 is swapped out for a contiguous band but with the power level reduced. Cw is permitted in the 15 KHz spread, though at low power. It's nice to have the 15 KHz spread, but I've found it challenging to complete many contacts on 60 meters generally. It's not widely used, at least in my area. I mostly stick to 5332 KHz cw. It will affect the digimode users that have mostly used channel 3. If they want to be non-quasi QRP, they will likely want to standardize on one of the other four channels. The general practice the ARRL recommended for the 5 channel band was for USB users to begin on channel 5 and tune down to locate the first clear channel, and cw/data users to begin on channel 1 and tune up to locate the first clear channel. In practice, I hear most digimode activity on channel 3, which kind of makes sense (1,2 mostly code, 3 mostly digital, 4,5 mostly USB). This ruling will probably cause alterations to the League's guidelines.
In my opinion this is about as good of an outcome as I could have expected. We still have four frequencies at up to 100 watts, and a small slice with some agility just at a lower power. Should be fun as I've heard stations from other countries outside of our US channelized frequencies in what will be our new allocation.
Thirty days after publication in the Federal Register, the timing of which is unknown and unknowable until it is actually published.
Interesting. Some current Yaesu rigs come pre-channelized for 60m and don't allow any tuning (even RIT) on that band and channels. The FTdx101 rigs are like that. A MARS mod would fix that, but I wonder what Yaesu's official response will be.
This took a very long time Now it's very imperative that the ARRL steps up today, and outline some best management practices, a code of ethics for operations on 60 meters in the United States. This needs to be done ASAP before the 30-day implementation ends. 73 from, Steve https://www.k0uo.com/k0uo "Rhombic Antenna Farm & test range" Miles of Wire In the Air and On the Air Daily.
My guess would be that digimode activity will migrate to channel 2. Channel 4 is already pretty widely used for USB, and Channel 5 is considered the DX channel. The League had recommended only PSK-31, PACTOR, or RTTY digimodes in the 5 channel allocation, but I think there has been FT-8 activity despite it not necessarily being legal. Not sure if the WSJT modes would become legal in the 15 KHz band.
