472-479 kHz Amateur Allocation Passes WRC-12

ARRL:

Amateur Radio Gets Secondary MF Allocation at WRC-12

02/14/2012

It’s official -- delegates attending the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) have approved a new 7-kilohertz-wide secondary allocation between 472-479 kHz for the Amateur Radio Service. Agenda Item 1.23 had both its first and second readings in Plenary Session on Tuesday, February 14; to become part of the ITU’s Radio Regulations, each Agenda Item must be read twice in Plenary Session. While the Final Acts will be signed on Friday, February 17 at the close of the Conference, the new allocation will not take effect until it is entered into the Radio Regulations. No date has been set for this, but it is unlikely to be earlier than January 1, 2013. In any case, no amateur can use the band until his or her national regulations are revised to implement the allocation.

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Agenda Item 1.23 originally called for a 15-kilohertz-wide spectrum in parts of the band 415-526.5 kHz, taking into account the need to protect existing services. But according to ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, this was in conflict with the Maritime Mobile Service. WRC-12 delegates approved Agenda Item 1.10, which called for a worldwide exclusive allocation to the Maritime Mobile Service of 495-505 kHz. Discussion of this allocation to Maritime Mobile "has been in the works throughout the conference preparation (i.e. since 2008)," Sumner explained, "and was the reason why the MF amateur allocation could not be made in this band as some amateurs had hoped. That’s why we had to look elsewhere and is what put us in conflict with aeronautical radionavigation."

600-Meter Amateur Passes Committee, Goes to WRC-12 Plenary

ARRL:

On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 7 (Geneva time), Committee 4 of the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) approved Option 1 to satisfy Agenda Item 1.23, with minor editorial amendments to the text received from Working Group 4C. Option 1 calls for a worldwide secondary allocation to the Amateur Service at 472-479 kHz, with a power limit of 1 W EIRP, with a provision for administrations to permit up to 5 W EIRP for stations located more than 800 km from certain countries that wish to protect their aeronautical radionavigation service (non-directional beacons) from any possible interference. Option 2 was NOC (no change to the current rules).

In keeping with the rules of the Conference, Committee decisions must be read twice in Plenary session; the decision of the Conference is not final until after second reading in Plenary. According to ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, quite a few additional administrations -- mainly in the former Soviet Union and Arab states -- will be adding their country names to the Footnotes prior to consideration in Plenary.

(ITU footnotes number in the hundreds.  They are a means of achieving consensus on international radio regulations by allowing exceptions for countries with concerns which would otherwise force them to vote against an agenda item in Plenary Session.)

IARU Region 1 Passes New 40 Meter Bandplan

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) concluded its meeting in November with an agreement on a new voluntary band plan for the expanded 40 meter amateur band.

IARU regions coincide with those of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Region 1 is Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and all of Russia east to its Bering Strait border with (gasp) the United States. Region 2 is North and South America, plus Greenland. Region 3 is Asia (minus Asiatic Russia), the Central and South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand. Antarctica and the Arctic are split up accordingly, as the lines run clear to the poles.

On March 29, 2009, an ITU agreement will kick in, expanding 40 meters in Region 1 from 7000-7100 kHz to 7000-7200. AM broadcasters in Region 1 will no longer be coordinated in this part of the "41 meter band," though it is not known whether all will actually move anytime soon. Furthermore, broadcasters in Region 3 will not have to move unless interference from legally operating amateurs becomes a problem.

The major change for hams is to move most voice operation above 7100 kHz, somewhat more in harmony with the United States rules. Night time 40 meter users in the US will hopefully not be required as often to work crossband or cross-mode to contact voice DX stations. However many countries don't have required band segments by mode, and band plans are voluntary in such cases.

Here's the band plan:

7.000-7.025 CW, contest preferred (existing prime DX-chasing segment worldwide)
7.025-7.040 CW QRP, Center of Activity 7030
7.040-7.047 Narrow band digital (PSK31, etc)
7.047-7.050 Narrow band digital, auto allowed
7.050-7.053 All digital, auto allowed
7.053-7.060 All digital
7.060-7.100 All modes, 7070 digital voice, 7090 SSB QRP
7.100-7.130 All modes, Region 1 Center of Activity 7110
7.130-7.200 All modes, SSB contest preferred, SSTV 7165
7.175-7.200 All modes, priority for intercontinental