Chapter 3 Rules and Regulations Regulatory Bodies Unlike VHF and UHF signals, HF signals can easily travel across international boundaries. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is responsible for international radio regulations The world is divided into 3 ITU regions. The United States is in region 2.

Within the US, the FCC sets the rules by for all communications services. Part 97 are the rules concerning amateur radio. See amateur-radiohttp:// amateur-radio The amateur radio service is a self- policing service. –The ARRL runs the Official Observer program. –The Amateur Auxiliary is a volunteer service to monitor amateur frequencies for violations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has jurisdiction concerning amateur antenna structures. –You must contact the FAA if you want to install a 200’ tower or higher. –Additional restrictions apply if your station is located within 4 miles of a public use airport or heliport.

Amateur Licensing Amateur license exams are administered by Volunteer Exam Coordinators (VEC). License exams are given by volunteer examiners (VE) who are accredited by a VEC organization. Technician class licenses can not be a VE.

VE License ClassAllowed Exams GeneralTechnician (Element 2) AdvancedGeneral (Element 3) Element 2 ExtraExtra (Element 4) Elements 3 and 2

At least three VE’s with the required license class must be present to give an exam. The VE’s grade the exams and submit the paperwork. When you pass an exam you receive a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE). The CSCE is good for 1 year and can be presented at another examination session as proof of competion. The CSCE is only needed until your new license arrives.

If you already have a callsign, you may begin using your upgraded privileges. Append a /AG (slash AG) to your callsign. If you don’t have a callsign, you must wait until your license arrives. You may talk with stations in any language, but you must give your callsign in English – English language alphabet or phonetics.

Control Operator Privileges Know the frequency allocations. When General class licensees have only partial access for a mode within a band, the access is at the top of the band where that mode is permitted. –For example, on 40 Meters Extras can use phone from to MHz, while Generals can use phone from to MHz. –General class licensees have all amateur privileges on 160, 60, 30, 17, 12, and 10 meters. The only HF frequencies where repeaters are allowed is in the 10 meter band, 29.5 – 29.7 MHz.

On the 60, and 30 meter bands amateurs are a secondary service, which means that amateur operators must not interfere with the primary service. For all other HF bands, amateur radio is the primary service. The Citizens Radio Service (11 meters) does not share any frequencies with amateurs.

Beacons are stations that transmit a signal for the purpose of determining propagation conditions. –General class licensees can operate a beacon station. The beacon power must be less than 100 W PEP FCC sets the allowed frequency ranges (§97.203) Only one beacon in the same band from a single location. Repeater frequency coordination is performed by volunteers and helps to minimize interference. –The FCC supports repeater coordination. It is considered “good amateur practice.”

Amateur radio operators are required to mitigate interference when: –Operating within 1 mile of an FCC monitoring station. –Operating as a secondary service in a band. –Transmitting spread spectrum communications. Third Party Traffic –Third party traffic is basically any message forwarded by an amateur station on behalf of a non-ham. –Allowing a non-ham to speak into a microphone (or connected via a phone patch) is third party traffic. –Third party traffic can never be exchanged on behalf of an amateur whose license has been revoked or suspended.

Third party is permitted within the US. US amateur radio operators may only pass third party traffic with hams in other countries with which the US has a third party agreement. –See agreementshttp:// agreements Prohibited Communications –Music (even in the background while you talk!), except when it is an incidental part of a space craft retransmission. –Encryption, except when used to control a space craft or radio-controlled model aircraft.

Satellites have an uplink and downlink frequency on two different bands. Cross band repeaters also have input and output frequencies on two different bands. If the uplink or input is a VHF or UHF band and the output or downlink is in the 10 meter band, a Technician can still operate through the satellite or repeater if the control operator of the repeater (or satellite) is a General class or higher licensee.

Amateur communications can not be used for business purposes. –Swap nets or the announcement of equipment for sale is allowed as long as it is not done regularly. Technical Rules and Standards Amateurs are expected to follow “good engineering and good amateur practice” in all areas not addressed by part 97. The FCC determines what is good engineering and good amateur practice.

General, Advanced, and Extra licenses are allowed to transmit 1500 W PEP –Power is restricted to 200 W PEP on the 30 meter band. –Power is restricted to 50 W ERP (effective radiated power) on the 60 meter band with a maximum bandwidth of 2.8 KHz. NOTE: These rules are for the test. Rules for the 60 meter band will change in March ERP power is determined by multiplying your transmitter power by your antenna gain. –Technicians and Novices are limited to 200 W PEP in the HF bands where they have allocations. General, Advanced, and Extras are not limited to 200W PEP in these band segments.

Digital transmissions are characterized by their symbol rate (baud) and bandwidth. Limitations depend on the band. Maximum Symbol Rates and Bandwidth BandSymbol Rate (baud) Bandwidth (kHz) 160 – 12 m m m, 2 m19.6k m, 70 cm56k cm and upNo limit