60-Meter Operation to Require Operator Prudence, Caution

NEWINGTON, CT, May 23, 2003--When the five channels of the new 60-meter amateur allocation become available later this year, Amateur Radio operators will have to learn some new operating habits and adopt some new on-the-air attitudes. The FCC earlier this month granted hams secondary access on USB only to five discrete 2.8-kHz-wide channels in the vicinity of 5 MHz instead of the 150-kHz band ARRL had requested. The limited spectrum and more stringent operating requirements will mean amateurs will have to demonstrate their best behavior and operating skills if the Amateur Service ever hopes to get an actual band segment at 60 meters.

"In terms of Amateur Radio spectrum, we usually say, 'Use it or lose it,'" said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. "The watchword for 60-meter operators should be, 'Misuse it and lose it.'"

The FCC grant followed a lengthy period of experimental operation on 5 MHz under a Part 5 license to ARRL, WA2XSY, now expired. Just when amateurs will get their first crack at 60 meters is not yet clear. The FCC stipulated that the changes to Part 97 it outlined in its Report and Order (R&O) in the proceeding (ET Docket 02-98) will go into effect 30 days after publication of the R&O in The Federal Register, which has not yet happened. Estimates are that publication could take anywhere from a few weeks to a month or more from the R&O's release date. ARRL will announce a specific date as soon as it's known.

The channelized scheme--similar to the 5-MHz experimental operation under way in the United Kingdom--puts unfamiliar technical demands on US hams who, until now, have not had to worry that much about frequency stability or transmitted audio bandwidth. The FCC has granted amateurs 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz--the last channel common to the UK amateur experimental band plan. These are all "channel center frequencies," the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said in a March 13 letter to FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Edmond J. Thomas. The NTIA administers federal government spectrum. The format was the result of a compromise with government users--the band's primary occupants--who raised eleventh-hour concerns last fall. Those concerns led the NTIA to oppose allocation of an actual ham band citing the ongoing spectrum requirements of federal government licensees having homeland security responsibilities. The channels will be available to General and higher class licensees.

The NTIA says that hams planning to operate on 60 meters "must assure that their signal is transmitted on the channel center frequency." In general, the NTIA advised in its letter to the OET, users should set their carrier frequency 1.5 kHz lower than the channel center frequency. According to the NTIA:

Channel Center	Amateur Tuning Frequency
5332 kHz	5330.5 kHz
5348 kHz	5346.5 kHz
5368 kHz	5366.5 kHz
5373 kHz	5371.5 kHz
5405 kHz (common US/UK)	5403.5 kHz

ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, says the assignment of these channels implies that amateurs now must adhere to certain frequency tolerances for their use. While the international Radio Regulations don't list these for the Amateur Service, he notes, they do stipulate tolerances on the order of 20 to 50 Hz for other services.

"We haven't been told anything specific about frequency tolerances for these channels but would probably annoy federal regulators if we strayed any more than 50 Hz from the assigned carrier frequencies," Rinaldo cautioned. "Amateurs with transmitters having digital readouts should check their equipment manuals to see how to get on frequency. Those with analog dials could have problems."

Keeping one's audio within the 2.8-kHz wide channel to comply with the 2K8J3E emission specification is another important issue. ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, believes prudence calls for a warning not to have the lower baseband audio bandwidth below 200 Hz nor greater than 2800 Hz--for a total bandwidth of 2.6 kHz. "That will probably keep us out of trouble," he said.

Noting that the high-frequency response "can vary a lot from radio to radio," however, Hare recommended that amateurs play it conservatively. He suggested operators use all means available to minimize audio bandwidth on the 60-meter channels while still maintaining communications-quality intelligibility. Many modern transceivers already permit operators to tailor their transmitted audio response and to even shift carrier frequency. But, Hare notes, some transmitters that the Lab has looked at have been capable of bandwidths of 3.0 kHz or greater.

"In the rest of our spectrum, our bandwidth is limited by 'good engineering practice,'" Hare said. "On these channels, it is limited by regulation. Our willingness to adhere to the channel-bandwidth constraints will be an important factor in our use of this band--now and in the future."

Additionally, the FCC has restricted operation to USB only, with a maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of 50 W. The USB-only requirement stemmed from NTIA interoperability concerns. The NTIA wanted to make sure that federal government users could copy and, if necessary, identify any amateur station using one of the 60-meter channels. As a result, the 60-meter frequencies will become the only ones available to the general amateur community that do not permit CW operation.

For the sake of this particular grant, the FCC said it would consider a half-wave dipole to have a gain of 0 dBd. In its letter to the FCC, the NTIA stipulated that radiated power should not exceed "the equivalent of 50 W PEP transmitter output power into an antenna with a gain of 0 dBd."

"Although this is less spectrum than the American Radio Relay League petition requested, this is the best we can do pending a definition of Homeland Security HF requirements," concluded Fredrick R. Wentland in the NTIA's letter to the FCC's OET.

Sumner has predicted that, over time, amateurs can and will "develop a record of disciplined, responsible use of the five channels in the public interest that will justify another look at these rather severe initial restrictions."

The FCC Report and Order in ET Docket 02-98 is available on the FCC's Web site.

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