REC Networks has filed a Petition for Rulemaking, or in the alternate, Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the Federal Communications Commission to address the issue of smaller communities being denied their first broadcast station because of lack of availability caused by higher powered stations centered around larger urbanized areas.
Greetings from Riverton.
I have been reviewing the various articles, Facebook posts and yes, even QRZ.com for discussion on the 8-meter proposal. Now with that said, here's some answers to some questions, comments and concerns made in the various channels...
Today, the FCC has assigned a rulemaking (RM) number to a Petition for Rulemaking filed by REC Networks, through its founder, Michelle Bradley, KU3N as RM-11843.
Details are starting to come in about the next national EAS Test will be held on August 7 (backup, August 21) at 2:20PM EDT.
This test will be different than previous tests as IPAWS will not be used. The tests will originate from the Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations. This test will focus on over-the-air reception of alerts in the event that the internet is not available. This test will use the all-zeros (000000) FIPS code.
Michelle Bradley, KU3N on behalf of REC Networks has filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC to open an inquiry to request a new amateur radio allocation in the 8 meter band at 40.51 to 40.70 MHz.
This spectrum was recently awarded to amateurs in Ireland and several Region 1 nations currently have allocations or specially authorized beacons in this band.
See the REC filing on our filings page: https://recnet.com/filings
View the proposed bandplan for Ireland: https://www.irts.ie/dnloads/Irish_8m_5m_band_plans.pdf
Once an RM number is assigned (if they assign one), then comments will be accepted for 30 days.
This proposal will get pushback from the NTIA. I expect this, but if we can get an understanding on this band similar to like what we have on 60 meters, we have an opportunity for a new band for transatlantic digital modes between 10 and 6 meters.
Please show your support by using the Ko-Fi link at the bottom of the page. Thank you for supporting REC's efforts!
