1 Amateur Radio in the Model City Gregory Lapin, N9GL ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio
Radio Amateurs: Ready to Serve Radio amateurs are found everywhere. Radio amateurs understand the technical basis of radio. Radio amateurs have practical experience in dealing with: Different signal strengths Interference Antennas Propagation Radio amateurs have a strong tradition of public service. Radio amateurs have a long history of volunteerism. 2
Radio Amateurs are Everywhere FCC Database contains 726,000 licensed amateurs Large Cities New York (pop 8.4M, density 27k):3624 licensed amateurs Los Angeles (pop 3.9M, density 8k):2395 licensed amateurs Chicago (pop 2.7M, density 12k):1511 licensed amateurs Houston (pop 2.2M, density 3k):3965 licensed amateurs Philadelphia (pop 1.6M, density 11k): 903 licensed amateurs Phoenix (pop 1.5M, density 3k):2581 licensed amateurs Medium Sized Cities Denver (pop 649k, density 4k):1046 licensed amateurs Washington (pop 646k, density 10k): 496 licensed amateurs Boston (pop 646k, density 13k): 250 licensed amateurs Albuquerque (pop 556k, density 3k):2213 licensed amateurs 3
Amateur Frequency Allocations VHF and higher GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz Above 300 GHz 4 MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz
Why Radio Amateurs? The amateur radio service uses frequency bands that are widely dispersed throughout the spectrum. There is a good chance that radio amateurs in a Model City are already using frequencies that are reasonably close to those that will be used for testing communications. Radio amateurs have a long history of performing public service without remuneration. Much of the communication used by radio amateurs is based on receiving weak signals, which would be sensitive to interference from nearby frequency bands. Any test plan for new forms of communications in a Model City should make use of volunteer radio amateurs to help ascertain the compatibility of the new communications with existing services. 5