I posted this message earlier on the Digitalradio Yahoo Groups forum. I see
there's been a lot of good comments circulating and this is helping to educate
operators regarding the beacon system. Here's some of my additional thoughts on
this topic.
REPOST:
Although I admire and support the concept, deployment, and technical
achievement of the NCDXA International Beacon System, I view this system as a
"secondary user" of the amateur radio spectrum with all the rights and
privileges of a secondary user.
Certainly the goal of avoiding interference to this resource is admirable, but
a defacto "no interference" policy will be a futile exercise. Publishing a
partial list of operators who have strayed onto 14.100 mHz does nothing to
reduce interference.
However, if no interference is a desired goal, a new STA license should be
submitted with a request for clear channels of operation, maybe a kHz or so
*outside* the amateur radio bands.
According to the NCDXF/IARU website, the beacon system was originally deployed
in 1979. During the past 25 years, hardware and beacon monitoring software have
been developed, marketed and sold. The value to the international radio
community regarding this radio propagation system could be leveraged to
petition the FCC for a new STA.
Or maybe it's time for this technology to migrate from "amateur" status to full
blown "commercial" status, just like many other developments in the past. The
most recent example that comes to my mind is the development of the
PacketCluster system. It was originally conceived and developed by Dick Newell
- AK1A to help DXers monitor DX station activities. Dick developed this system
with assistance from many amateur radio operators. Several years later the
product was taken to the commercial market as Cerulean Technologies. In 2000
this company was purchased by Aether Systems for $150 million. Today, the
mobile communication systems used by hundreds of police and emergency services
companies are the result of one amateur radio product being taken to the
commercial marketplace.
Like I said, maybe it's time for the beacon system to move to the next level
too.
73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
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