SB QST @ ARL $ARLB007
ARLB007 FCC issues 5-MHz Experimental License to ARRL

ZCZC AG07
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 7  ARLB007
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  January 23, 1999
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB007
ARLB007 FCC issues 5-MHz Experimental License to ARRL

The FCC has issued an Experimental Radio Service license to the ARRL
to permit two-way tests in the vicinity of 5 MHz, the most likely
site of the next amateur HF band. The license, bearing the call sign
WA2XSY, was issued January 8. A group of 15 current amateurs in
various parts of the US and the Caribbean will conduct experimental,
two-way RTTY and SSB transmissions within the band 5.100 to 5.450
MHz. To avoid interfering with existing services, the participants
will confine their operations to the least-populated 50-kHz segment.

''The idea is to show that an amateur allocation there will improve
our emergency communication capabilities by filling the gap between
the 3.5 and 7.0 MHz bands,'' said ARRL Executive Vice President David
Sumner, K1ZZ. Sumner pointed out that several of the participants
are phone net members in the Caribbean and Gulf area who frequently
handle hurricane-related traffic and now must alternate between 75
meters and 40 meters. Other participants are members of a nationwide
digital data-forwarding network.

The Experimental license is good for two years. Two studies by the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
include an allocation at 5 MHz among the future spectrum needs for
the Amateur Service. The subject is not likely to show up on the
agenda of a World Radiocommunication Conference for several years,
however.

Participants in the WA2XSY experiment may run up to 200 W effective
radiated power. Similar multiband trap dipoles capable of operation
on 80 and 40 meters as well as at 5 MHz will be employed at each
station location. Operation by participants will consist of short
transmissions to determine propagation characteristics.

Participating stations are located in New Hampshire, Tennessee,
Ohio, Florida, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Indiana, California, Utah,
New York, Texas, the US Virgin Islands, and Maryland.
NNNN
/EX