At last night’s Skills Night, I was asked for a little more information on the plans to extend the 2m allocation for amateur radio use – possibly giving us access to 146-147MHz. As the official consultation is currently running, now seems a good time to take a look at the plans, and also to get comments from amateurs in Essex
The Consultation:
Ofcom has recently published a consultation on the VHF spectrum in the 143 to 169 MHz band, which has been returned for civil use. Here’s a quote from section 1.7 of the Ofcom consultation document:
“As demand for both operational and potential future services in the short to medium term is likely to be low we are also proposing to permit temporary access to 1 MHz of this spectrum (146 to 147 MHz) for Amateur Radio use, until such a time as it is needed by Business Radio or other services. Should additional spectrum be needed to meet operational requirements, we will remove the temporary allocation. Amateur Radio use of this frequency will be on a non-protection/ non-interference basis and will be subject to some geographical restrictions to ensure that there is no interference to neighbouring countries.
We propose that the authorisation will be implemented by an individual Notice of Variation (NoV) to the Amateur Radio licence.”
In summary, it’s proposed that 146-147MHz becomes available for our use,possibly as early as June 2014, subject to the consultation.
What you need to know
- This could only be a temporary allocation to us, until someone else wants it
- Like the 5MHz band, it’s likely that this part of the band would only be available to Full licence holders who apply for an NoV with Ofcom
- It may not be available in all parts of the UK – in places where it may interfere with other countries (could Essex be excluded?)
- Radios may need to be “chipped” to allow tuning to this part of the band, as transmitting on these frequencies is normally restricted
There’s also been some discussion of this new allocation being used for amateur purposes other than a rag-chew – in a talk at CARS in March, Murray G6JYB hinted that this new allocation would suit a different mode – possibly amateur radio TV?
Have your say
If you have an opinion on amateur radio use for 146-147MHz and want your views to he heard, you can submit your comments to Ofcom online: 143 to 169 MHz Consultation Response – You have until the 26 May 26, 2014 to respond.
Any comments? Please add them in the box below.
A pity you didn’t catch me on the night on this one.
DATV and indeed other digital innovation is the preference. The BATC has a specific forum on narrowband DATV which now gives you a little more on this.