This ARRL June VHF Contest had a lot of activity in the scant spectrum of
50.080 to 50.100 MHz. Again,
the QRM was fierce. I know it's okay to spread out further down into the beacon
band, but nobody does it. It's like GARDOL. For those not old
enough to remember the TV commercials, GARDOL "presents an effective
invisible protective shield". I realize that nobody (including the FCC)
knew, back then, that having the beacons located there would have such
an adverse effect on future operating, but it did and does. And, it's
not just during contests that we experience the squeeze, but also during
intense band openings. And, it's not just the number of signals in that space,
but also the quality of some of them that causes others to want to distance
themselves from that stuff. You never know how many rigs are afflicted with
nasty key clicks and other noise that is so broadbanded that roofing filters
are useless across the whole 20 kilohertz gap until you are in the midst of
them. And I need not even try to convince those who live in close proximity to
a beacon and need to use their noise blankers.
I figure it will be like moving heaven and earth to affect a change in the
location of the beacon band, but we ought to try getting the ARRL to petition
the FCC to move it down band so as to allow more spectrum for CW
activity below the DX window.
Moving the beacons to a lower slot in the band would mean that some beacon
owners would have to "re-crystal" their transmitters. That would be the
only real disadvantage to the move, but I think that most beacon owners
would go along with the change while keeping their grumbling to a low
level. After all, it's a service they are providing, right?.
Having witnessed their past decisions regarding it, I know the FCC is likely
to not want to enhance anything related to CW operating. A second option might
be to get the FCC to remove the mandate for having untended
beacons in the 50.060 to 50.080 MHz slot, which would allow the beacons
to occupy spectrum closer to 50.000 MHz - spectrum that is utilized by a
few tended US beacons and beacons in Canada and other countries.
Just some thoughts...
73, Paul K7CW
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|