QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 14  ARLB014
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  May 25, 2011

To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB014 - ARLB014 Senate “Companion” Bill to HR 607 Avoids Impacting Amateur Spectrum

On Thursday, May 19, Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced S 1040 — The Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011 — in the Senate.  While it has a similar objective to HR 607 — introduced in February by Representative Peter King (R-NY-3) – this Senate bill, unlike HR 607, does not call for auctioning any portions of Amateur Radio spectrum. Both bills call for the allocation of the so-called “D block” of spectrum, 758-763 and 788-793 MHz, to facilitate the development of a public safety broadband network.

On learning in February that a Senate version of HR 607 was being drafted, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, met with staff members of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who were working on the bill to share the ARRL’s concerns with regard to HR 607. “They seemed very receptive to our argument and appreciative of the public service contributions of radio amateurs,” Sumner said. “It is gratifying to see that S 1040 avoids impacting our spectrum allocations.”

Sumner explained that while some media reports are referring to S 1040 as “the Senate version of HR 607,” it is important that radio amateurs not oppose S 1040: “There is no reason for us to do so. We support the creation of an interoperable broadband network for first responders. Other than to oppose any method that would impact amateur spectrum use, we do not support one method over another of achieving that objective. We only oppose one aspect of HR 607, not the entire bill.”

S 1040 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation, chaired by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Senator Rockefeller earlier introduced his own bill, S 28, to address the same general topic. Neither Senate bill would impact amateur spectrum.

NNNN
/EX

A reader recently e-mailed me about this item in Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1757, dated April 15 2011:

RESTRUCTURING: UKRAINIAN HAMS LOOSE FREQUENCIES ON HF AND UHF

Some restructuring news out of the Ukraine that’s bad news for ham radio operators in that nation. This, as the Ukrainian government has affirmed new rules for amateur radio operations that have resulted in spectrum losses on the High Frequency, UHF and microwave bands.

According to an e-mail from Alexander Doshchich, UY0LL, the spectrum withdrawn from access by Ukrainian hams includes 10.100 to 10.150 and 14.250 to 14.350 MHz on the HF bands. On UHF an above the losses include 1240 to 1300 MHz, 2300 to 2450 MHz, 5670 to 5850 MHz and numerous other spectrum slots right on up to 248 to 250 GHz. (UY0LL)

He wrote:

One concern is these bands are established by international agreements. For a single country to overrule them is their right in theory, but in practice it bodes poorly if future cooperative agreements are to carry any significance. If it becomes common to disregard the agreements, the whole process collapses into chaos.

The other concern is if they are denying these frequencies to hams, they evidently have some other purpose in mind. This suggests we may be open to new sources of interference to contend with, which undermines the use of these important HF frequencies for world wide communications.

The first step is just to confirm this is true so we aren’t just being stupid. And even if it is real, I don’t mean to be crying the sky is falling immediately. But if this is confirmed, it does seem to me to be an important challenge in maintaining long term viability of the amateur radio bands.

I have no way of determining the veracity of this report.ARN has been a reputable news source for a long time, however, so I wouldn’t question that.

As for interference to contend with, there is an “Intruder Watch.” In the U.S.—and probably for all of Region 2—the ARRL runs this service. In Region 1, there is a Region 1 Monitoring System. I presume there is also a Region 3 Intruder Watch, but didn’t Google them. If there is any interference, I’m guessing that they’ll catch the offenders.

I’m still at a loss for why the Ukrainians would restrict ham radio in this way. I’d guess some kind of military use for those frequencies, but that’s only a guess. Anyone else have ideas?

This is from Network World, and was posted to their website on March 25, 2011. I tend to think that this is more of a threat to ham radio than not. Mainly because so much of our VHF/UHF bands are so little used–at least on a regular basis. Click on the title to read the entire article….Dan

Microsoft scheme sniffs out unused wireless spectrum

By Tim Greene, Network World

Microsoft researchers have designed a scheme for measuring whether licensed radio frequencies are actually being used so unlicensed devices can use it, something that may become necessary as demand for wireless applications grows.

The architecture, called SpecNet, would sense and map where spectrum is being used and more particularly where it’s not — so-called white spaces, according to a paper being presented next week at the USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation in Cambridge, Mass.

If passed in its present form, HR607 would take away the 420-440 MHz segment of the 70 cm band from amateurs and reallocate it for other use. This move has generated quite a bit of publicity, though, and most people seem to be against this reallocation.

On the PR mailing list, there was a bit of good news. John, K7VE, posted this note from his representative, Jay Inslee:

March 30, 2011

Dear Mr. Hays:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 607, the Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011. I appreciate hearing from you.

Like you, I agree that amateur broadcasters should be equipped with the tools and spectrum to respond to emergencies. H.R. 607 allocates a segment of the 700 megahertz block of spectrum (“the D-Block”) for public safety use. The original version of this bill would reallocate and auction paired spectrum in the 420-440 megahertz and 450-470 megahertz bands, currently used by amateur radio operators for emergency communications. However, you may be happy to learn that the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Peter King, has announced that the bill will be amended to protect those frequencies for their current users. H.R. 607 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, on which I sit. Should the Committee consider the bill, I will be sure to keep your concerns in mind.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress

This morning, USA Today ran an article on HR 607. There’s nothing really new in this article, so if  you’ve been keeping up with this issue, there’s no need to read it, except maybe to read the comments. The comments are overwhelmingly in favor of no reallocating this band.

Perhaps at this point, we need to do more than simply mobilize hams. Anyone out there want to put up a Facebook page to mobilize the general public and help us kill this bill?

If you haven’t yet sent in your letter opposing this bill, DO SO NOW!