[CQ-Contest] How low will they go?

[Bill Tippett]

N4ZR wrote:

 >I was amazed just now to hear VY2** CQing on 7017.3.
Surely this is too low for SSB, even by recent standards.
I know it's a voluntary bandplan, but sheesh.

         Just a taste of things to come if the ARRL and FCC get
their way.  They like the way the rest of the world does it.

         What's the practical difference between a "bandplan"
and real regulation?  Let's look at 160 for an example:

IARU Region 1 (Europe, etc):

http://www.iaru.org/Chapter-5.1.pdf

All amateur signals:  1810 and up (common Reg 1 regulation).

SSB Bandplan:  1842 and up.

In fact, Europeans were on SSB all the way down to 1810.
They generally respected the regulated 1810 band edge but
I even heard one station below (and since he was fairly
rare other EU stations were answering).

         If you love deregulation, you'll also love it when
the NHTSA deregulates traffic rules and allows driving
on either side of the road.  :-)

                                         73,  Bill  W4ZV