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A Lesson for WIARiley Hollingsworth, a spokesperson for the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said that "he'd prefer that the amateur community come up (with) a way to accommodate [amateur radio] experimentation, because a government solution will be worse than the problem." The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) should take note. It should assume the lead role allowing new technologies such as Winlink in Australia. The report on Mr. Hollingsworth presentation is reproduced below. The highlight the sentences that are of particular relevance to Australia these have been bolded put in italics. QUOTE: Controversy Surrounds New Technology, Experimentation
The use of new technology and on-the-air experimentation also sometimes brings controversy to the amateur bands, Hollingsworth said, and may prompt an occasion for the FCC to revisit its current Part 97 Amateur Service rules. Hollingsworth pointed to Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP) applications such as EchoLink and IRLP as an example. While some have questioned their legality--or even whether they constitute Amateur Radio--his opinion was that these were helping to rejuvenate interest in Amateur Radio and even helping to bring some people back into the hobby. Another issue is the use of so-called "enhanced SSB," where experimenters have been attempting to achieve full-carrier AM-like high-fidelity audio in that mode. Hollingsworth said the presence of the enhanced SSB experimenters has led to complaints to the FCC--as many as 20 per week--that these signals are taking up excessive bandwidth. Hollingsworth told his Richmond audience that deliberately operating a wideband mode in a crowded spectrum is "shortsighted and rude," may be ignoring the "minimum bandwidth necessary" rule. If its use isn't accompanied by courtesy and common sense, he said, it will lead to pressure on the FCC to revise the Amateur Service rules. The FCC defines bandwidth as "the width of a frequency band outside of which the mean power of the transmitted signal is attenuated at least 25 dB below the mean power of the transmitted signal within the band." The "Emission Standards" section of Part 97--specifically §97.307(a) and (b)--requires amateur transmissions to not occupy "more bandwidth than necessary for the information rate and emission type being transmitted, in accordance with good amateur practice" and to "not cause splatter" on adjacent frequencies.
Hollingsworth said the bandwidth of a given signal is not easily determined by the average amateur transceiver--even one equipped with a band scope of some sort. He pointed out that the problems with apparent splatter can be aggravated by the use of a noise blanker on the receiving end. Hollingsworth said he'd like to see the amateur
community deal with the issue intelligently and on its own. "Just
because it sounds wide doesn't mean it is wide," he said. He said
he'd prefer that the amateur community come up (with) a way to accommodate such
experimentation, because "a government solution will be worse than the
problem.
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