FCC
Nixes Petition for U.S. 4-Meter Band
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| Areas with 4-meter band allocations are in red. Those with experimental privileges are in blue. |
Radio amateurs in Europe have long had access to a VHF band at 70 MHz - also known as 4 meters
- due to differences in VHF TV allocations there as opposed to the U.S. With
the migration of most U.S. TV stations to digital platforms and new
frequencies, amateur Glen Zook, K9STH, of Richardson, Texas, petitioned the FCC
for a new amateur allocation at 70.0-70.5 MHz (old TV channel 4 occupied 66-72
MHz).
After
some disagreements on when the petition was filed (Zook says he submitted it in
2010; the FCC says it didn't receive it until May, 2014, according to the ARRL
Letter), the FCC denied the petition, pointing out that Channel 4 still has
over 100 active TV stations or translators, and that it is possible - once
parts of the VHF TV spectrum are "repurposed" for broadband and
auctioned off - that remaining stations will be packed into less space, making
the frequencies even more crowded than in the past.
