Here is what the league is proposing,,, A bit too little, in my opinion!
MHz
In comments filed on March 20 with the FCC on its own January Petition for Rule Making (RM-11785),
ARRL reiterated its case for a contiguous secondary 15-kHz wide,
60-meter band of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz in addition to the four existing
discrete 60-meter channels that fall outside the requested band, with a
permitted power level of 100 W EIRP and retention of current operating
rules. More than 5 dozen comments, all supporting the proposed
allocation, were filed on the League's petition. While some suggested
more spectrum or higher power, or a combination, ARRL said in its
comments that it does not at this time favor any changes in its initial
request for a new band. The League proposal would implement a portion of
the Final Acts of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015
(WRC-15) that provided for a secondary international amateur allocation
of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz at a maximum of 15 W EIRP.
"Each
component of this proposal is intended to maximize spectral efficiency
by permitting amateurs to operate throughout a band as conditions and
availability warrant; to give primary service operations certainty as to
where radio amateurs will be located within the broader fixed and
mobile service band between 5.250-5.450 MHz; and it protects those
primary users with the same successful interference avoidance techniques
and protocols that have been used for the past 15 years domestically,
with which radio amateurs have the technical training and experience to
comply," ARRL asserted in its comments.
The League
said the WRC-15 power limit of 15 W EIRP "would render the band
unsuitable for emergency communication, especially between the US
mainland and the Caribbean Basin during summer storms and hurricane
season, when atmospheric noise can be severe.
ARRL
said there were good reasons for hewing to the proposal it initially
crafted and filed with the FCC, most relating to the fact that the
spectrum is shared with federal government users, and radio amateurs
must avoid interfering with them. ARRL also pointed out that there is no
"European Model" for 5 MHz, noting that the vast majority of European
countries have held to the 15 kHz agreed to at WRC-15, and some even to
the 15 W EIPR power limit. The National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA),
which regulates government spectrum, would have to sign off on any
proposal, and, ARRL noted, it has twice expressed concern about a
contiguous allocation at 5 MHz and did not favor the plan agreed to at
WRC-15.
"While ARRL understands and agrees that
there is a long-term, justifiable need for an allocation at 5 MHz that
is larger than the 15 kHz made available at WRC-15, and there is a very
practical need for power in excess of the 100 W PEP requested in ARRL's Petition, there are practical considerations inherent in the ARRL Petition
that stem from an urgent and ongoing need to share the amateur
allocation compatibly with other, primary users," ARRL said. "The
Amateur Service must, of necessity, avoid interference to the primary
users of this band (which it has, to date) in order to be permitted to
operate there."
Citing
its decades-long effort to obtain operating privileges in the vicinity
of 5 MHz, ARRL said there's "not really much room for debate about the
size of the band and the power limit domestically at the present time,
given the allocation status of the band (domestically and
internationally) and the necessary interference protection requirements
for primary users."
"It is hoped that as regular
amateur operation in this contiguous band develops, with the operating
parameters recommended in ARRL's Petition," the ARRL comments
continued, "such operation will continue to demonstrate compatible
sharing with federal and other users and the operating parameters and
the band can be re-examined and adjusted equitably at a later time."
ARRL
said the most important thing is to have the FCC grant an allocation
before offering initiatives to alter the plan it proposed in January. It
urged the FCC to adopt the rule changes it proposed "at the earliest
possible time, if at all possible in advance of the 2017 hurricane
season."
