[TenTec] wide SSB issue

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

I was very surprised that the FCC would take anything approximating an 
official action on this issue.  I believe it is a personality driven 
conflict without factual basis.  Riley Hollingsworth has had an 
overwhelmingly positive influence over the past few years, however there 
have been one or two times when he hasn't done his homework.  I think this 
is one of those times.  I have listened to the guys on 14.178 quite often.   
They usually have big signals with outstanding audio.  They are doing an 
excellent job of combining the best advantages of both SSB suppressed 
carrier and DSB carrier AM into a sideband signal.  I have tuned up and down 
during their transmissions and never heard them outside of an ~3khz 
bandwidth.  I have never heard any evidence to support a 6 khz allegation.  
What I have heard are gentlemen who are extremely interested in tx audio, 
and have the money to build elaborate stations to support this interest.  
they sound fantastic, they have big signals, they know it, and they may get 
a little egotistical about it.  That isn't against the law, but they are 
apparently resented, and it seems a few guys with an agenda have managed to 
convince the FCC that they are a problem.  If bandwidth is going to get 
enforced, the FCC would do everyone a big favor by going after the highly 
compressed over driven stations often heard in contests, that really are at 
least 6 khz wide and are almost unintelligible.  Further, it is interesting 
that the people with objections (and who are they anyway? It seems only fair 
that the accused should be told who their accusers are.) are not concerned 
with DSB carrier AM on 40, which is a genuinely wide mode (relatively 
speaking) on the same amount of space for Americans as 20 m.  As the ham 
population ages, the hand wringing seems to increase.

Rob Atkinson
K5UJ
k5uj at hotmail.com




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