He frames it as an early Christmas present, and then argues with himself. Uncle Sam does not hand things out. This time, part of 60 meters came back to amateurs, plus other pieces in the same FCC order. The tip was Thomas K4SSW. The site he names is qrpers.com.
The new segment is 5351.5 through 5366.5 kHz, in addition to the 60-meter channels that were already there. General class. He says you already needed a General to operate in that part of the band. The power cap is 9.15 watts ERP. He calls that a QRP allocation. Phone, CW, RTTY, digital. The bandwidth stays at or under 2.8 kHz.
The Commission adopted the item in September. Then the government was gone for a couple of months. The release was yesterday.
He scrolls the rest because the order is not only 60 meters. Search-and-rescue satellites receive at 406 to 406.1 MHz, and the footnotes he reads are about keeping new fixed and mobile assignments out of the adjacent 100 kHz, 405.9 to 406 and 406.1 to 406.2, so the protection band does not get bled on. Space research, space to space, 410 to 420 MHz, non-federal, orbiting crewed vehicles, and they have to meet a power-flux-density limit at the ground. Global flight tracking is in the order. He wants to know whether ADS-B operators have to change anything. A revision he reads as footnote US2248 tells federal systems to use spread spectrum for terrestrial communications, navigation, and identification from 960 to 1215 MHz, and it says harmful interference is not to come from aeronautical mobile, aeronautical radionavigation, or military identification. A secondary non-federal earth-to-space idea is deferred.
Earth-exploration satellites pick up federal use, with non-federal on a secondary basis, in slices he reads in the 9 GHz range, and a military slice just above that. The 18, 28, and 29 GHz revisions take primary status off incumbent fixed stations. He will read that part again after he stops recording. A radionavigation-satellite deletion is in the same scroll, with the spectrum headed to the amateur service on a secondary basis. The numbers move while the captions try to keep up, so the edges are in the PDF, not in this summary. They decline to add a new paragraph on certain deep-space research allocations. A typo in the U.S. table gets fixed. The word was balon. It is supposed to be balloon.
The 60-meter decision, when he lands on the actual section, repeats the 9.15 watt ERP limit and the 2.8 kHz maximum bandwidth, and it centers the existing channels on five frequencies. Two of those readings are muddy enough to leave out. What he wanted, and did not get, is the whole band and 100 watts ERP across it. If 60 meters is your band, he wants that in the comments. The PDF link is in the description.
70 Centimeters and the Rest
The 420 to 450 MHz piece is a footnote, not a new allocation. US270. The NTIA asked them to update the coordination and contact information for the areas where an amateur station on that band is generally held to 50 watts peak envelope power, and to fix the cross-reference. No comments came in. They did what the NTIA asked.
Broadcasting is deleted from the 700 MHz band. He is not surprised, given what broadcast television has been through. Footnote NG155 goes with it. The frequencies it pointed at are not authorized in part 80, so the footnote does not do anything under the current rules.
A lot of the order is satellites, flight tracking, and microwave services. He says he will actually read it after the video, because some of it touches radio work that is not ham radio, and he wants comments on what other people are doing with spectrum. Not every paragraph applies to amateurs. The gain he cares about is more room on 60 meters. They could have taken more away. The rest, as he describes it, is how the item gets through a congressional review and becomes a final rule.
He asks what else people want opened back up, what other rule changes they want, and whether anyone watching has filed a petition. The license backlog gets a jab. If the FCC had time to release this, maybe the license pile is moving. He wants to know who got stuck in it.
Transcript
He calls it an early Christmas gift and then says Uncle Sam does not give things away. Amateurs got part of 60 meters back, and the order has more in it. Thomas K4SSW flagged it. The site is qrpers.com. The new chunk is 5351.5 through 5366.5 kHz, beyond the existing channels. General class, which he says you already needed there. 9.15 watts ERP. He calls it QRP. Phone, CW, RTTY, digital, no wider than 2.8 kHz.
Adopted in September. The government was out for a couple of months. Released yesterday. Search-and-rescue satellite receivers, 406 to 406.1 MHz, and new fixed and mobile assignments kept off the adjacent slices he reads as 405.9 to 406 and 406.1 to 406.2. Space-to-space, 410 to 420 MHz, non-federal, crewed vehicles in orbit, power-flux limit at the ground. Flight tracking. He wonders about ADS-B. A footnote he reads as US2248: federal spread spectrum from 960 to 1215 MHz for terrestrial communications, navigation, and identification, and harmful interference is not supposed to come from aeronautical mobile, aeronautical radionavigation, or military identification. Secondary non-federal earth-to-space is deferred.
Earth-exploration satellites, federal and secondary non-federal, in the 9 GHz slices he reads, plus a military slice above that. Revisions at 18, 28, and 29 GHz. Incumbent fixed stations lose primary status. He will reread it. A radionavigation-satellite deletion, with more to amateurs on a secondary basis. The edges are messy on the way by, so they stay in the PDF. They decline a new deep-space research paragraph. A typo: balon becomes balloon.
The 60-meter section repeats 9.15 watts ERP and 2.8 kHz, and centers on five existing channels. He would rather have the whole band and 100 watts. Comments if you use 60 meters. The PDF is linked in the description. He skips satellite text most hams will not care about and says commercial crews are why space-to-space needs room.
On 420 to 450 MHz, footnote US270. The NTIA asked for updated coordination and contact information where amateur power is generally limited to 50 watts PEP, and a cleaned-up cross-reference. No comments. They adopted it. Broadcasting leaves the 700 MHz band. Footnote NG155 is deleted because the frequencies it named are not authorized in part 80. Not every ruling is for hams. They gained 60-meter room. The procedure section is Congress and a final rule. He asks what else should be opened, what else should change, and who has filed a rulemaking proposal. He jokes that the license backlog must be clearing, and asks who it hit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can use the new 60-meter segment, and at what power?
General class, which he says was already the requirement for that part of the band. 5351.5 through 5366.5 kHz. 9.15 watts ERP. Bandwidth no wider than 2.8 kHz. Phone, CW, RTTY, or digital. The order was adopted in September and sat until the government came back. It was released the day before he filmed.
What changed on 70 centimeters?
Not a new band. Footnote US270, coordination and contact information, for places where an amateur station on 420 to 450 MHz is generally limited to 50 watts peak envelope power. The NTIA asked. There were no comments. The FCC adopted the recommendation and cleaned up the cross-reference.
What else did he bother to read out loud?
Satellite and microwave items he says most hams will skip, and he will read the PDF properly after the video. Earth-exploration satellites, revisions up in the 18, 28, and 29 GHz range where grandfathered fixed stations lose primary status, and a deletion of a radionavigation-satellite allocation with more spectrum to amateurs on a secondary basis. The exact edges on that deletion move around while he scrolls, so they are not pinned here. He also notes the license backlog and asks whether people were stuck in it. Comments he wants: do you use 60 meters, what else should be opened, and has anyone filed a rulemaking proposal.