Having failed to convince the FCC to allow ARRL/Winlink email robots to operate anywhere in the phone bands, the ARRL is trying again, through a special meeting with the FCC, to modify Part 97.221 to allow them to cover the RTTY/Data/CW bands anywhere at will, which will cause serious harm to RTTY and CW contesting, DXing, and ragchewing. You only need ask a PSK31 operator, and some CW operators, what it is like to have an automatic Pactor station suddenly pop up on the frequency in use and completely destroy the QSO.
In case you do not know it, ARRL has officially adopted Winlink 2000 as "their" nationwide messaging system, so Winlink and ARRL can now be considered to be essentially one and the same.
The current Part 97.221 reads as follows:
97.221 Automatically controlled digital station.
(a) This rule section does not apply to an auxiliary station, a beacon station, a repeater station, an earth station, a space station, or a space telecommand station.
(b) A station may be automatically controlled while transmitting a RTTY or data emission on the 6 m or shorter wavelength bands, and on the 28.120-28.189 MHz, 24.925-24.930 MHz, 21.090-21.100 MHz, 18.105- 18.110 MHz, 14.0950-14.0995 MHz, 14.1005-14.112 MHz, 10.140-10.150 MHz, 7.100-7.105 MHz, or 3.585-3.600 MHz segments.
(c) A station may be automatically controlled while transmitting a RTTY or data emission on any other frequency authorized for such emission types provided that:
(1) The station is responding to interrogation by a station under local or remote control; and
(2) No transmission from the automatically controlled station occupies a bandwidth of more than 500 Hz.
ARRL has petitioned the FCC to change Part 97.221 as follows:
97.221 Automatically controlled stations transmitting RTTY or data emissions.
"*****
"( c ) A station transmitting a RTTY or data emission may be automatically controlled on any other frequency authorized for such emissions provided that the station is responding to interrogation by a station under local or remote control.
"( 1 ) (Deleted)
"( 2 ) (Deleted)"
What does this mean to you?
It means that Winlink Email robots, already widely hated for randomly destroying CW and PSK31 QSO's with 500 Hz-wide signals, would be allowed to destroy as many as six (6) RTTY QSO's, twenty (20) CW QSO's or the entire PSK31 activity segment of the band with a single wideband Pactor-III signal, killing your chance to complete that rare DX or contest exchange just so the less-then-one-percent of U.S. hams that use Winlink will never have to wait for a clear frequency within the current subbands.
What can you do about this?
You can file a comment on RM-11306 with the FCC by clicking on this link, filling out the comment form, and telling the FCC you do not agree with allowing automatic operations of any kind to operate outside the current subbands:
Here is an example of how to fill out the form: Be sure to type RM-11306 in all caps, and also fill in your state and zip code..
