8m CEPT band?

Belgium and Eire have amateur allocations at 8m. Luxembourg may have one soon. South Africa has one.  I am unsure about Slovenia and Croatia.

In many countries we have the stupid situation where radio amateurs have to apply for, and pay, to do research and experimentation at 8m. 

The RSGB seems dead set against even a tiny allocation by NoV at 8m as does the FCC in the USA. 

Much like 6m was in the 1980s, I hope that national authorities see sense and allow radio amateurs to apply for 8m permits. What would be good is if CEPT allowed national authorities to permit amateurs access.

I am pretty sure OFCOM in the UK is parroting the RSGB line. 

Personally, I think radio amateurs could really contribute to radio science at 8m. We are not asking for much. Even an allocation just 5kHz wide only, digital only, low power, limited times, by application only, would be a start.

8m CEPT allocation proposal

As I could not immediately see on the RSGB website to whom it should be sent , I sent my 8m CEPT proposal to the RSGB General Manager with a request that it is forwarded to the right people.  Apparently these are the VHF Manager and the Spectrum Forum Chair.

I hope my request is looked at favourably as there is a great deal of propagation research that could be done by radio amateurs at 8m. There are countries within CEPT that have already granted amateurs access to this spectrum. Just 5 kHz within the 8m ISM band with very limited modes and power, by application, no interference, should encourage experimentation and avoid "chatting".

Maybe others would care to support this?

I am mindful that the real purpose of our hobby is self-training and research.

CEPT 8m amateur allocation?

Before I start, there are no plans for this. 

However, the band is now available to radio amateurs in at least 2 CEPT countries and in many CEPT nations some are experimenting on 8m with special permits. 

From figures provided to me by an amateur in Belgium, radio amateurs would produce less interference than ISM users between 40.66-40.70MHz.  It would be great if CEPT allowed radio amateurs access to the band.

These are my proposals for an 8m amateur band:

• 40.675-40.685 MHz (just 10 kHz wide in total, in the ISM band. A minimum would be 40.680-40.683 MHz)
• Secondary
• Only available by application (NoV or equivalent)
• 5W maximum
• Narrow digital only (modes like FT8, WSPR and CW), no phone
• Strictly no interference
• Only available to full licencees

My assumption is CEPT is more likely to be receptive if we ask for the minimum.

Almost all the activity on 8m is propagation research. Such a small CEPT amateur allocation could really advance radio propagation science.

Please approach your national society and licencing authority for an 8m amateur band.

See https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/sm/R-REC-SM.1056-1-200704-I!!PDF-E.pdf .

Austria gets 60m and 630m

Southgate News reports that Austrian amateurs will have access to these bands.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/december/austria-receives-60m-and-630m-christmas-present.htm#.X-RRHNGTLrc

CEPT position at WRC 2023

Although several years off, CEPT has agreed on the items to be on the agenda of WRC-23 according to Southgate News. It seems likely that bands under threat may be safer.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/cept-cpg-decides-position-on-144-50-and-1240-1300-mhz.htm

Could we lose 2m?

France has proposed the re-allocation of the 144-146MHz band to aeronautical mobile.

In the distant past I seem to recall having to avoid certain spot frequencies in the EU 2m band, presumably as this band must have, at one time, been shared with aeronautical mobile services. If my memory is correct, this was a long time ago, possibly in the 1960s.

I suspect this would be discussed at WRC-2023 and implementation, if approved, could take a few years. In the end, I can see this becoming a shared band perhaps. With the low band occupancy, I cannot imagine much risk of interference. I guess they could make the higher band exclusive (145-146MHz) and the lower part shared (144-145MHz).

See http://www.arrl.org/news/no-strong-opposition-to-144-146-mhz-reallocation-proposal-at-cept-meeting

Bigger 6m in CEPT countries?

Apparently CEPT is discussing 6m as part of the agenda of its meeting this month in Tallinn. I cannot imagine this will be a high priority, but it would be good if CEPT had a common (and favourable) view on the 6m amateur band before WRC-19 next year.

It would also be good if all CEPT nations allocated the 4m band. The number of countries on 4m has increased in recent years.

Region 1 IARU Conference near Munich

Southgate News reports on the IARU Region 1 Conference in Germany next month. I hope they discuss a 4m allocation in Region 1 . At one time there was talk of CEPT countries recommending a 4m allocation, although I cannot remember what became of this.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/august/24th-iaru-region-1-general-conference.htm#.WaMOk7pFzmI

CEPT

Southgate News has an interesting piece linking to the CEPT pages about amateur radio.

See http://www.cept.org/ecc/topics/radio-amateurs/ .

4m band across Europe?

This article appeared on the 70MHz website last week. It may mean 4m becomes a common European amaallocation in the near future?  At the very least it makes it easier for individual countries to allocate 4m to radio amateurs.

"A new revised edition of ERC Report 25 - the European Common Allocation Table - has been published. The revision was approved at the WGFM#83 meeting and takes into account the latest Decisions made at the ECC#40 (30 June - 3 July 2015).

The new ECA inter alia includes a secondary allocation to the amateur service in the band 69.9 - 70.5 MHz.

However everyone should be aware that implementing the ECA is not mandatory on CEPT administrations."

A reminder of the current 4m allocations is available at http://www.70mhz.org/index.php?categoryid=2&p2_articleid=316 .