[RTTY] RM-11708, the "other side"

[Michael Rapp]

Hi all,

Many amateur radio operators in my area, 0-20 miles from the Gulf of
Mexico, are heavily involved in emergency communications.  Indeed, my local
club and the Communications Unit Leader of our local RACES/ARES group also
seem to fully support it.

I thought I would detail their reasons if it would be helpful to counter
them in your own filings:

"The ability for Hams to be able to use Pactor IV greatly benefits
emergency communications using Amateur Radio.  It allows Hams to send email
and other data via radio very quickly.  This is critical when the internet
and/or other communications fail.  Currently Pactor IV can not be used on
Amateur radio frequencies."

The reasons being forwarded around also include the Winlink Development
Team's position:

"Time is running out for comments supporting RM-11708 to the FCC, which
would remove the symbol rate limitation from FCC rules, and allow hams to
use Pactor 4 modems in the USA. If the proposed rule change fails this
time, it will be years before we have another chance. It is very easy to
submit a comment. Please do. You don't have to say much other than you
think it's a good idea, and that you support it.

Here are the relevant points:
1. The proposed change does not alter the bandwidth limits or the
frequencies available for digital use, so no new frequency space is being
used. It has no negative impact on the Ham spectrum.
2. The use of Pactor 4 simply makes the use of existing bandwidth more
efficient, so additional traffic can be passed without allocating new
frequencies.
3. The further development of even faster protocols in the same bandwidth
limitations depends on the success of this rulemaking. "

So it seems, at least in my area, the use of Pactor 4 is the overriding
concern for those in support of RM-11708.

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/*/-=[Michael / KT5MR]-=/*/