Alan,

I just read through the ARRL claim that you provided a link to. Here is a re-paste of the link again for posterity: http://www.arrl.org/news/npstc-says-hr-607-needs-to-be-amended

I also read the NPSTCs letter to ARRL, found here: http://www.arrl.org/files/media/News/NPSTC_letter_to%20ARRL_RE-legislation_H...

Being a skeptic, I went off and perused the bill, which can be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr607ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr607ih.pdf

Here is one snippet from the bill, where they refer to this part of the spectrum: """"" (1) REQUIRE MIGRATION BY PUBLIC SAFETY ENTITIES.—Not later than 8 years after the date of enactment of the Act, each public safety entities shall end their use of radio spectrum above 420 megahertz and below 512 megahertz and begin to use alternative radio spectrum licensed to public safety services in the 700 megahertz and 800 mega- hertz bands.""" """""

The section above does not appear to pose any threat to regular amateur use. Now, moving forward a few lines in the doc, you will stumble upon this: """"" (d) RECOVERED PUBLIC SAFETY SPECTRUM.— (1) AUCTION.—Not later than 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the paired electro- magnetic spectrum bands of 420–440 megahertz and 450–470 megahertz recovered as a result of the re- port and order required under subsection (c) shall be auctioned off by the Federal Communications Com- mission through a system of competitive bidding meeting the requirements of section 309 of the Com- munications Act of 1934. """""

So the question is: what part of 420-440 can be 'recovered as a result of the report'? The paragraph above references a report required by subsection (c). This section occurred right before subsection (d), pasted above. Here is what subsection (c) had to say:

""""" (c) MIGRATION PLAN DEVELOPED BY FCC AND 16 DHS. (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Com- munications Commission, in consultation with the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, and Federal, State and local public safety agencies, shall issue a report, detailing the plan for public safety entities to end their use of radio spectrum above 170 mega- hertz and below 512 megahertz and move all use to the radio spectrum licensed to public safety services, in the 700 megahertz and 800 megahertz bands. """""

I figured i'd drop this here to give others a quick-look into what is going on (or at least snippets of it) I am a reasonably new Ham and am pleased to see this type of activism. Thumbs up to those that have their eye on these types of issues.

I had never heard of the NPSTC before, until I read the letter to ARRL. So I learned at least one new thing today!

Thanks BB, Joseph Armbruster

On Mar 16, 2011, at 12:20 PM, wa4hfn@comcast.net wrote:

This works I just sent my letter . Recommend everyone join in WA4HFN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan P. Biddle" APBIDDLE@UNITED.NET To: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11:07:13 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Contact your representatives now to oppose HR 607 threat to 70 cm operations

To our US members,

This information has been disseminated by the ARRL, AMSAT, and other amateur related news services, but I will recap it here. A bill, HR 607, has been introduced with the aim of expanding Public Service communications. However, this bill uniquely proposes to transfer the 420-440 MHz band away from its current users. Considering that most amateur satellites use these frequencies, this would effectively end our operations if implemented. We are working with the ARRL to make this issue public, and to urge our members to contact their representatives.

For more details on the threat, and on how to respond effectively, see:

WWW.ARRL.ORG

There is currently a brief video near the top of the page on HR 607.

http://www.arrl.org/regulatory-advocacy

The regulatory link has multiple articles, updated as needed.

WWW.AMSAT.ORG

Currently toward the bottom of the page is a review of the situation from AMSAT's perspective, and a letter representing our unique concerns.

http://www.kd4pyr.net/hamletter.htm

This site will take your call, and generate a letter to your representative with your name and address in PDF format.

Alan WA4SCA AMSAT Corporate Secretary

---

Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb