HAM RADIO REStrucTURING

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

So is the front of the bus on 3885 or 3725 kHz?

[Herb K2VH]

Quote from Steve - WB3HUZ:
__________________________________________
|"So is the front of the bus on 3885 or 3725 kHz? "|

Guess I mis-spoke, Steve.  I thought my point would be understood.  I probably should have said "Ride in the front of the bus, the middle of the bus, the left side of the bus, the right side of the bus, or the back of the bus if you like.  Also stand or sit, depending on how you feel.  In other words, ride wherever you like.  It's your right.

OK?
vH

[K1MVP]

Quote from Steve - WB3HUZ:
__________________________________________
|"So is the front of the bus on 3885 or 3725 kHz? "|

Guess I mis-spoke, Steve.  I thought my point would be understood.  I probably should have said "Ride in the front of the bus, the middle of the bus, the left side of the bus, the right side of the bus, or the back of the bus if you like.  Also stand or sit, depending on how you feel.  In other words, ride wherever you like.  It's your right.

OK?
vH

Hi Herb,
Ok now that your point has been "made".--as far as riding anywhere on the bus
that one wants,--sounds great, in theory, BUT that would be ok if that lower,or
back of the bus were empty,--but as I recall the back of the bus has been inhabited
for years now by Canadians,(SSB,ers and a few am`ers) used to having all that room back there,-- now what remains to be seen,-- is will they relish the fact that we might be
grabbing "thier seats"?
                                           73, Rene, K1MVP

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Hi Herb,
Ok now that your point has been "made".--as far as riding anywhere on the bus
that one wants,--sounds great, in theory, BUT that would be ok if that lower,or
back of the bus were empty,--but as I recall the back of the bus has been inhabited
for years now by Canadians,(SSB,ers and a few am`ers) used to having all that room back there,-- now what remains to be seen,-- is will they relish the fact that we might be
grabbing "thier seats"?
                                           73, Rene, K1MVP

If nobody is sitting in the seat, it's up for grabs. Probably sitting under the bus is not a good idea.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Screw the bus. They are stinky and slow. I'll ride in my limo.

[K1MVP]

If nobody is sitting in the seat, it's up for grabs. Probably sitting under the bus is not a good idea.

Yep,
I just had a "flashback" of bus`es I used to see while stationed in Panama headed
for the local beach`es on any given weekend.
These bus`es were loaded to the "limits" with the" locals", sitting, standing and hanging
out of the windows, and barely "chugging" along about ready to blow the engine.
What a site to behold.
                                          73, K1MVP
 

[Ed-VA3ES]

Some Canadian AM'ers are now suggesting that if 3725 gets too congested with Americans, they'll just move down to 3525 or so.   I'm suggesting that we make a  new wide window from 3675 to 3750, for AM calling.   It  will all depend on how this new US bandplan evolves.

[K1MVP]

Some Canadian AM'ers are now suggesting that if 3725 gets too congested with Americans, they'll just move down to 3525 or so.   I'm suggesting that we make a  new wide window from 3675 to 3750, for AM calling.   It  will all depend on how this new US bandplan evolves.

Move down to 3525,--ohh, that WILL be interesting,--right smack in the middle where
most serious CW ops work,--"fix" one problem, and create 3 more.
I can just see qrp cw or medium power cw, now becoming QRO cw with this scenario
taking place.
                                    73, K1MVP

Some how the "back of the bus" is really going to get crowded

[k4kyv]

Some Canadian AM'ers are now suggesting that if 3725 gets too congested with Americans, they'll just move down to 3525 or so.   I'm suggesting that we make a  new wide window from 3675 to 3750, for AM calling.   It  will all depend on how this new US bandplan evolves.

There should be plenty of room for all between 3600 and 3700.  The present US Extra class band is 3750-3775 and except during slopbucket contests, it is  rarely congested even on weekend nights when the QRN is gone and condx are good.  When this segment is moved and expanded to 100 kc/s total width, there will be plenty of open space available.  This segment may become even more "underutilised" than it already is, unless we see a spike of ugrades to Extra. The Canadian AM group can move there, without fear of US AM'ers crowding them off the frequency, if indeed that's what they are afraid of. 

Moving below 3600 into the cw portion of the band will generate hostility towards AM throughout N. America, and likely generate a renewed effort to get rid of AM in both  countries.

Although this phone band expansion will be a great improvement over what we have at present, I still would have preferred total elimination of subbands on all bands, for both mode and licence class, as now exists on 160m and on the rest of the bands throughout the world except in USA.

[wa2zdy]

This segment may become even more "underutilised" than it already is, unless we see a spike of ugrades to Extra. The Canadian AM group can move there, without fear of US AM'ers crowding them off the frequency, if indeed that's what they are afraid of. 

Moving below 3600 into the cw portion of the band will generate hostility towards AM throughout N. America, and likely generate a renewed effort to get rid of AM in both  countries.

Although this phone band expansion will be a great improvement over what we have at present, I still would have preferred total elimination of subbands on all bands, for both mode and licence class, as now exists on 160m and on the rest of the bands throughout the world except in USA.

There's already been a spike in the upgrades to Extra.  Hell, they just about give them away in cereal boxes now.  Guys who've been NCTs a month now upgrade to Extra then go on qrz.com to ask how to make a dipole.  (I guess I shouldn't badmouth that one though.  Most hams BUY their dipoles.)

Don, I don't think you mean it to be a contradiction, but first you acknowledge correctly the down side of AM, or slopbucket for that matter, going below 3600.  Then you say you wish segregation by mode had been eliminated.

CW will get through.  That's one of CW's strong points.  Narrow bandwidth and an appropriate filter will do the job.  I worry though about the war that would start.  If segregation by mode were eliminated I see the slopbucketeers, especially those escapees from 75, attempting to colonise the CW band right to the bottom.  Fortunately nearly all of the AM crowd are older fellows who would hopefully know what a mess would be created.  And as you said, AMers moving down that far into the low end would indeed throw fuel on the "get rid of AM" fire.  Phone ops on either side of our northern border will simply be bad for ham radio in general.

I have said before that as an approrpriate trade I'd support disallowing CW in the "phone" band.  CW belongs up there no more than phone belongs in the CW end.  That it works on 160 is no surprise.  The investment mostly in space for a decent antenna as well as the skill needed to get out of one's own back yard  keeps 160 in the hands of the better and more experienced hams.  I don't see the civility of 160 being duplicated on 80 only because 80 (more 75) has been shown already to be inhabited largely by morons.  A listen to 3885 when the slopbucketeers are feeling their oates is proof enough of that.

[WA3VJB]

I went back and looked up the names of people I thought I recognized in the footnotes, and it turns out we have about a dozen AMers contributing to the FCC's decison to expand the phone bands, as cited in the agengy's footnotes in the Report and Order. The common interest makes us the most distinctive group of individuals to file official Comments.

For those who don't usually take part in the FCC's proceedings, I hope this helps convince you that if you have something worthwhile to say, it can actually make a difference in a rulemaking outcome.

Thanks for playing a role, gentlemen.

STEVE JOACHIM KL7OF
BILL KLERONOMOS  KD0HG
DALE GAGNON, KW1I
DAVE HUMBERTSON W3NP
JOHN FITZSIMMONS W3JN
DON CHESTER K4KYV
MIKE WINGFIELD W8MW
PAUL COURSON WA3VJB
JIM WILHITE W5JO
PAUL GOODMAN K2ORC
TONY CYPERT  W5OD

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