Topband: Why no CW segment?

[Herb Schoenbohm]

Topband is so very different than the other bands in so many ways.  
Creating segments may not make things better.  Here are a few thoughts 
on this:

Bob, W0DX (VP2VI) was a former ARRL President and 160 was his favorite 
band.  Also his favorite frequency was 1.985
for a CW net he ran there for a decade.  One of the problems with 
segments is the spot frequency and restricted use on 160 in many parts 
of the world. This would create a problem especially during contests 
unless the stations under these rules cold be encouraged to operate 
split.  Those with only transceivers like the TS-830 and Drake TR-7 
would be out of luck unless they had a remote VFO or a second receiver.  
Additionally, it would cause problems if, for example, during a SSB 
contest and overseas transceive station was working in the CW portion. 

My point here is that a CW only segment imposed on US stations would not 
necessarily be popular in the remainder of the world unless it was a 
IARU sponsored decision.  The days when the USA can impose its radio 
recommendations on the rest of the world without an IARU accord are over.

The way things are now is not all that bad.  Sure there are problems but 
the contest sponsors can solve some of them by making it clear in the 
rules about frequency usage.  So far even the ARRL has not been willing 
to require the contest people to comply to the strict adherence of their 
favored band plan.  Leaving things the way they are sure beats starting 
a radio war where nobody wins.

Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ


>On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 21:08:42 -0400, Tom Rauch wrote:
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>>The bottom line is there is no CW segment because the FCC
>>listens to the ARRL. Someone at the top of the ARRL decided
>>we don't need 160 to be like all the other bands. Unless
>>that changes it is unlikely we will see any changes.
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