Broadcasters moving away from the 7MHz amateur allocation

Sunday 29 March will go into the records as a landmark date for the amateur radio service in the greater part of the world.

Following on from the decision made during the World Radio Conference in 2003, the amateur service becomes the primary user in the HF segment between 7100 and 7200kHz in ITU and IARU Regions 1 and 3.

In layman’s terms, this represents everywhere except the Americas, who have always enjoyed this segment as part of the 7 to 7.3MHz allocation in Region 2.

Although this date also coincides with the start of the HF broadcasting schedule, it would be naïve to think the segment might be completely clear of broadcasting stations on the start date, however a number of international broadcasters have already moved nearer to 7.5MHz.
In addition, a large number of countries have reserved their position in respect to fixed service stations by way of footnotes to the relevant Radio Regulation. It is not anticipated that these stations will cause any major problems.

While in the UK we have been fortunate in having special permission to use this part of the band since the 31 October 2004, the recommended IARU Region 1 40m band plan from 29 March can be found in the February RadCom or on the internet at www.rsgb.org/spectrumforum/bandplans

Source: GB2RS News