The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) -- which regulates federal government spectrum usage and advises the president on telecommunications matters -- has proposed establishing oceanographic radar allocations at several HF frequency segments, including the 60-meter amateur band and immediately adjacent to the 20-meter ham band. According to the ARRL, the recommendation to propose these allocations at next year's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) came as a surprise to those members of a U.S. WRC working group set up by the FCC - including an ARRL representative - that had proposed different sets of frequencies and concluded that sharing between these radars and amateurs would be difficult at best. Apparently, there has not yet been an explanation of why NTIA made these specific proposals or why it disregarded the working group's advice. More to come on this one…
