[VHFcontesting] We're about to lose 3456 MHz band entirely

[John Geiger]

Hi Wayne (and list members),

Thanks for letting us know about this.  What can we do to stop it?

73 John W5TD

On Sun, Nov 24, 2019 at 10:08 PM Wayne Overbeck via VHFcontesting <
vhfcontesting at contesting.com> wrote:

> A proposal that is on the agenda for the FCC's Dec. 12 meeting would
> remove amateur radio from the 9 cm. band entirely.  As mandated by Congress
> in the MOBILE NOW Act, the FCC is proposing to entirely eliminate our
> allocation in the 3.3-3.55 GHz band as part of a plan to make much more
> spectrum available for 5G mobile phone systems.
>
> The Notice of Proposed Rule Making is WT Docket 19-348.
>
> If enacted as proposed, this would be catastrophic for the weak signal
> community that is now on 3456 MHz.  I alone have nearly $10,000 worth of
> equipment for 3456 MHz--with receipts to prove it.  That includes
> transverters, amplifiers and antennas.  Each transverter cost me between
> $500 and $800 (U.S.) and I have seventeen (17) 3456 transverters
> manufactured by either DB6NT or DEMI.
>
> Where was ARRL when the "MOBILE NOW" Act was approved?   Why haven't we
> heard a lot more about this before now?  I've searched ARRL.org and can't
> find any reference to "MOBILE NOW" there.  I just bought another 3456
> transverter after the MOBILE NOW Act was signed into law (after being
> amended into another bill).  I wish I'd known that we're about to lose this
> band before spending still more money on equipment for 3456.
>
> I know about this now only because of Brennan Price's message on the "My
> ARRL Voice" section of Facebook.  In a comment on Brennan's posting, ARRL
> Director Ria Jairam confirmed that this docket does indeed propose to
> remove our 9 cm. allocation entirely.
>
> It sounds as if the sky is falling.  Can someone tell me that the sky
> ISN'T falling?
>
> -Wayne Overbeck, N6NB
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