SARL will not follow US band regulation method

At its recent meeting, the Council of the South African Radio League rejected a proposal to follow the American way of regulating band planning.

In the USA the FCC determines the various segments with some interaction from the ARRL.

In South Africa, the amateur radio bands are not sub-divided by the regulatory authority but by an IARU gentlemen's agreement.

South Africa follows the IARU band plan, which is considered at IARU Region 1 Conferences held every third year.

The system provides flexibility as it avoids that changes, if required, have to be made following the regulatory process, which is complex and takes a long time.

To enjoy the amateur radio allocation to the full, it is essential that radio amateurs follow the IARU band plan.
The band plan is available on http://www.sarl.org.za/hf_happenings.asp or simply go to www.sarl.org.za and click on the left hand side link called HF Happenings

The new USA arrangement goes into operation on 15 December 2006. It restricts USA amateurs to CW only in the segment 7 000 - 7 125 kHz which is a problem for stations outside the USA who are restricted to 7 000 - 7 100 kHz.

There are several other restrictions which DXers should take note of if they are looking to work the US. The USA bands can be downloaded from www.arrl.org.

Source: The South African Radio League

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