How will the phone band expansion affect ham radio?

[k4kyv]

After hearing dire predictions about how the new phone band expansion will lead to chaos and the end of ham radio as we know it, I decided to give a listen tonight while there was a cw contest going on.  That would serve as an indicator of what a 100kHz wide 80m cw band might be like when cw activity is near maximum, as during a contest.

I scanned the band and listened several times throughout the evening.  Each time, I found the band packed with cw signals, starting right at 3500 and running all the way up to about 3560.  There was no noticeable difference in signal density between the extra-class segment and the rest of the band above 3525.  The activity appeared to  begin to roll off near 3560, with very little cw activity above 3580.  A substantial number of rtty and other digital signals could have easily fit into the space between 3580 and 3600, although I heard none there, and heard only two above 3600.  Others could have intermingled with cw without much of a problem, between 3560 and 3580.

So, if tonight's cw contest activity was any indicator, there should be plenty of room for CW to continue to thrive on 80m, while allowing RTTY, PSK31 and other digital  modes to operate without difficulty, all within the 100 kHz the FCC has decided to retain as restricted territory where phone and other wideband modes will not be allowed.

[KF1Z]

Well, I think for the most part, you're right.

Especially since CW is allowed anywhere your licensed for ... all the way to the top of the band...
So, CW ops have plenty of room.....  sure, not exclusive space, but lots of choice.

The one bugger is RTTY contests.... they really spread out during a contest.....at least 100kc worth.


Do I think the phone band expansion will have a HUGE effect on ham radio?   No.

I think dropping CW altogether will have the bigger impact....

Lots of people p*ss and moan about the code.....so when it's dropped, there may be a bit of an influx of new hams.
Which may be part of the reasoning of making the phone band changes the way the fcc did.

[Jim, W5JO]

Don, did you notice the two guys at about 3.501?  Out here in Oklahoma I saw the same thing you did.

As for the RTTY contests, finally the CW ops will have the same problem phone ops have when there is a phone contest.  Operators moving on top of each other.

[K1JJ]

The volume of CW activity on the low end of 80M will depend much on the particular corntest. The last one you heard was the Sweepstakes which has less frantic DXing activity. This contest is more stateside and many of the big contesters don't participate.

I heard the WPX? CQ Whirlwide recently and the CW portion was very active all the way up to 3675. It was jammed, in fact.

So bottom line, I believe we will have some conflicts above 3600 when the most popular CW DX contests run, but it's nothing different than on phone up the band when they run. It will just mean operating phone above ~ 3700 during the CW contest weekends.   

T

[KB2WIG]

The CW is a lot less disturbing than the sniviling, angry ducks......  Maybee its 'caus yer used to hearing  a few stations when opperating CW and have the ability to filter out what you dont want to hear.....      klc

[k4kyv]

But I feel that contesting is not the normal activity for any band.  If the band plan works fine 350 days or nights out of the year, it should not be condemned it because of the havoc raised by a few contesters maybe 15 nights out of a year.

Some people want large chunks of the band set aside in reserve, just to accomodate a few contests, each of which runs one or two days a year, while leaving those frequencies unused the rest of the time.

That's pretty much the way it is now, and explains why a certain segment of the ham community is so dead set against this phone band expansion.

Maybe this will serve a useful purpose in the long run by raising the anti-contesting sentiment amongst the usually apathetic, greater ham community.

[ve6pg]

...DON....I'M NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT I CAN TELL YOU, THAT QUITE A FEW AMERICAN OPS ON AM HAVE SAID "HELLO", TO OUR GROUP ON 3725AM...NO CALL SIGNS USED, BUT WE ALL KNOW WHO THEY ARE, AND I GUESS THE BOYS ARE CHECKING THINGS OUT, FREQ, SWR, ETC...TIM...SK..

[k4kyv]

Will there be a a big influx of new hams when the code requirement is dropped?  Maybe, but I'm not sure about how "big" it will be. 

I'm not sure how big the influx will be, but I suspect it will be smaller than its advocates hope for.  Every single act of dumbing down to generate such an influx has failed.   "Novice Enhancement,"  no-code Tech, the universal 5 wpm code test, each generated a small initial influx that quickly fizzled.  I suspect no-code everything will end up the same.

What worries me is that most of them will memorize their way to a ticket and then use the easiest method to get on the air -- SSB and ricebox.    That will impact AM more than CW as AM'er share the same band space as SSB.

As they start bitching about QRM and bandwidth, and  calling on the FCC to ban AM to make room for more appliance operators.

[Jim, W5JO]

    That could be accomplished without the CW test requirement if the FCC would NOT publish the question pools.

Boy do I just wish.  However; they release it because of a Freedom of Information Act request back right after that act was passed.  Someone sued the FAA (I believe) over this very issue and won.  So all Federal Agencies that had tests  published their questions to avoid a lawsuit.  What rot!

But that is no worse then the old mills that sent people to take the test then debriefed them as the finished to get a question list.  There were more than one that did it that way, one of the most (in)famous in Dallas, TX.

[KB2WIG]

  "  That could be accomplished without the CW test requirement if the FCC would NOT publish the question pools.

Boy do I just wish.  However; they release it because of a Freedom of Information Act request back right after that act was passed.  Someone sued the FAA (I believe) over this very issue and won.  So all Federal Agencies that had tests  published their questions to avoid a lawsuit.  What rot!"


Why not just put in a few hundred answers for  anything doing with reactance, resistance, Q, time constant.... and throw in a few "guess from the following  5 answers".   In defense of the test as it stands, having people memorize operating procedures might not be a bad idea.  My bigest rant is  Ohms Law is not required.....    klc

[W3LSN]

I don’t think there will be any great change to ham radio as we know it, but this latest rulemaking is about to cause some short-term chaos in CW operating activities on 80-meters. There are many nets and traffic handing groups that will need to relocate, and inevitable conflicts that will erupt as CW ops and data stations each stake their claims to a reduced amount of turf.  

I have mixed emotions since I’m mainly active on 80 CW at the moment, but building an AM rig. 80 has always been my favorite CW band since it guarantees propagation of a few hundred miles at any given time of the day and there was always room to spread out to avoid QRM. Most of my activity occurs in the old Novice CW subband which has consistent CW activity. I’ve generally found the higher part of 80 CW to be a friendlier place to operate with more people willing to tolerate slow CW and ragchew free from the QRM of the low end.

Despite the largest cluster of activity being below 3.58 MHZ, I’ve always been able to raise someone on the higher part of the CW subband. I usually hear several CW and data stations spread out over the whole band up to 3.7 MHz interspersed with foreign SSB activity. I’m certainly not looking forward to 80 becoming more like 40-meters with its crowded conditions. I personally think that expanding phone down to 3.7 MHz for Generals and above would have been a better move. I believe the ARRL proposed this, but of course the FCC went several steps further.

I’m not sure how the new situation will develop, but I'm certain some people will stay put on CW in the new phone band out of habit or necessity. CW activity will soldier on despite the short term problems, but I’ll mourn the loss of elbow room.

73, Jim
WA2AJM

[k4kyv]

I don’t think there will be any great change to ham radio as we know it, but this latest rulemaking is about to cause some short-term chaos in CW operating activities on 80-meters. There are many nets and traffic handing groups that will need to relocate, and inevitable conflicts that will erupt as CW ops and data stations each stake their claims to a reduced amount of turf. 

I’m certainly not looking forward to 80 becoming more like 40-meters with its crowded conditions. I personally think that expanding phone down to 3.7 MHz for Generals and above would have been a better move.

I’m not sure how the new situation will develop, but I'm certain some people will stay put on CW in the new phone band out of habit or necessity. CW activity will soldier on despite the short term problems, but I’ll mourn the loss of elbow room.

If the FCC would abandon the licence class subbands, and with all the new phone spectrum that will open, ease up on the prohibition of digital modes where phone is permitted, this would not become a problem.  Above 3600, digital and cw signals would intermingle with phone, wherever there is room ot operate, just as it does on 160 now, which has no subbands at all.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I guess we'll see how it all plays out after the FCC corrects (again) the Report and Order. They're removing the 500 Hz limitation for one the digital emissions (J2D).

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

wasn't too bad because after you passed the FAA written you had to pass an FAA oral exam followed by the FAA flight exam.

And now you've gotten to the crux of the issue, skills testing. You had to display some competence and skill - actually DO something - not just memorize.

There are no such "checks" with the FCC written.

And therein lies the problem.

Thanks for sharing a great example of how testing should be done.