SB QST @ ARL $ARLB010 ARLB010 FCC Denies LA County 2.4 GHz Application, Cancels Experimental Grant to City ZCZC AG10 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 10 ARLB010 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT March 15, 2001 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB010 ARLB010 FCC Denies LA County 2.4 GHz Application, Cancels Experimental Grant to City Following objections from the ARRL, AMSAT and others, the FCC has turned down an application from Los Angeles County, California, for an experimental license permitting airborne microwave TV downlinks (TVDL) in the 2402-2448 MHz range. The FCC also canceled an experimental license grant to the City of Los Angeles to operate an identical TV downlink system in same band. Amateurs have a primary domestic allocation at 2402-2417 MHz and a secondary allocation in the rest of the affected band. ''Experimental licenses are not substitutes for regular radiocommunication service licenses,'' said Charles Iseman, deputy chief of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Division in the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology. OET issues all experimental licenses. The ARRL, AMSAT and the Amateur Television Network had asked the FCC to deny the County's application. ARRL members Art McBride, KC6UQH, and Thomas O'Hara, W6ORG, also filed informal objections. The League, AMSAT and ATN also had objected to the City's experimental grant. The FCC gave the City until December 1 to terminate its operation but reserved the right to accelerate the cancellation date if interference occurs. The LA County proposal, filed in August 1999, sought FCC authorization to develop a TVDL system on four 2.4 GHz channels for deployment aboard sheriff's and fire department airborne units. The FCC granted the City's WB2XEN experimental license based on a similar submittal. In protesting the County's plan, the ARRL called the application a ''foot in the door'' toward gaining a permanent berth in the 2.4 GHz band. The County and the City already are authorized to operate TVDL systems under Part 90 rules in the 2.450-2.483.5 GHz band, but both told the FCC that they had experienced coordination and interference problems and sought the experimental TVDL authorization as a result. In light of the denial and the cancellation, the FCC did not address potential interference issues raised by the objectors. NNNN /EX