
SB QST @ ARL $ARLB051
ARLB051 New FCC NPRM
 
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ARRL Bulletin 51  ARLB051
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  June 15, 1994
To all radio amateurs 
 
SB QST ARL ARLB051
ARLB051 New FCC NPRM
 
New FCC NPRM
 
FCC proposes automatic control for amateur HF digital
communications.  
 
In a notice of proposed rule making in PR Docket 94-59, adopted on
June 13, 1994, the FCC has proposed amending the Amateur Service
rules to authorize automatic control of stations transmitting a
digital signal on the HF bands.  The action had been requested in
petitions filed by the ARRL and the American Digital Radio Society
(ADRS).
 
In 1986, the FCC authorized automatic control of amateur stations
transmitting digital communications on the VHF and higher frequency
bands, and indicated that it was interested in authorizing such
automatic control on the HF bands.
 
To determine solutions to the problem of interference from
automatically controlled HF digital stations, the ARRL conducted a
feasibility project under special temporary authority granted by the
FCC to 50 amateur stations.  The ARRL petition was based on the
results of that study.
 
The FCC said that it was gratified by the cooperation and dedication
of amateur organizations in determining the conditions necessary to
allow automatic control of stations transmitting data and RTTY
emission types on the HF bands.  It agreed with the two petitioners
that automatic control of amateur stations in the HF bands can, with
safeguards, make the transmission of data and RTTY emission types
both practical and effective.
 
Therefore, the FCC proposed to authorize automatic control for
stations transmitting data and RTTY emission types on one specific
subband of each HF band where such emissions are authorized.  It
also proposed to authorize communication between a locally or
remotely controlled station and an automatically controlled station
on any frequency where data and RTTY emission types are otherwise
authorized.
 
The text of the NPRM has not yet been released, and the comment
deadline is unknown at this time.
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