[UK-CONTEST] RSGB Move & QSL

[Andrew]

gm4fam at tiscali.co.uk wrote:

> And yes, the subscription is at the upper end of the market compared 
> to other national societies - but in how many of those countries is the 
> transmitting licence free?  And how many of those amateurs in those 
> countries enjoy the extra bands that we do? 

Not a good question to ask Cris :)

Take the US and the ARRL and remember the ARRL subs are at the bottom of
the market range...
ARRL maintains an HQ building, just like the RSGB, in fact, they just
gave it a facelift.
Free licence just like the UK (and has been for a lot longer than the UK)

Let's look at the bands from MF up to 1GHz where the vast majority operate
160M, 5% wider, 1.8-2.0MHz and no 15dBW power limit for most of the band
80M, 66% wider, 3.5-4.0MHz
60M available to General and above without any special permits
40M, 50% wider, 7.0-7.3MHz
6M, 100% wider, 50-54MHz
2M, 100% wider, 144-148MHz
222MHz, a band not available in UK (219-220 + 222-225MHz)
70cm, 200% wider, 420-450MHz
902MHz, a band not available in UK (902-928MHz)
And of course, they have a 1500W power limit

On the downside, they don't have 4M and they are restricted to 200W on 30M.

The ARRL are also prepared to fight the FCC in court.  Recently the ARRL
took the FCC to court over various issues surrounding BPL (PLT).  Please
correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall the RSGB ever taking
Ofcom/RA etc to court over anything.

I'm not trying to be anti-RSGB, but hey, you did ask the question so
don't shoot the messenger :)

Andrew AC6WI (GI0NWG)