WIA Technical Advisory Committee Consultations
About WIA-TAC Consultations
When the WIA identifies a problem that needs to be solved either with the band plan, or one of the technical policy or standards instruments that the committee is responsible for, the committee will first release the changes as a consultation, which amateur radio operators that reside in Australia can provide feedback on. These consultations provide a way for the WIA to obtain a wider viewpoint on a topic, which is important as the band plans and planning instruments only work effectively, if the users (ie all amateur radio operators) believe they add value and are therefore willing to follow them (given the voluntary nature of these standards).
Each consultation will have an opening date and a closing date and a contact email address that input can be submitted. Within 4 weeks of a closing date, the WIA will publish a followup paper communicating back a summary of the views received and the subsequent outcomes that will be implemented. In this way, you too can have your say on these important developments within the Amateur Service.
CONSULTATION 2023-1: Australian Band Plan Revision 50-52 MHz, 438 MHz and 3.4 GHz
From time to time, it is necessary to review the content of the Amateur Radio service band plans to ensure they remain relevant for the types of activities being undertaken. Recently, several changes to amateur radio service privileges on 50MHz and 3.6 GHz, as well as problems arising with the repeater channel allocations on 438 MHz has promoted a review of those bands.
The proposals described in this consultation paper are now open for comment by all amateur radio operators within Australia. You are invited to provide your feedback to the WIA Technical Advisory Committee via email at tac@wia.org.au . Your submissions must be received by January 12th 2024. The WIA TAC will then review the responses and make a final recommendation to the board for acceptance by the end of January.
RESPONSE: WIA Response to Consultation 2023-1
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. The WIA TAC is assessing the replies and intends to release a revision to the Australian Amateur Radio Band Plans as a result by the end of 2024 Q3.
CONSULTATION 2024-1: Australian Amateur Radio Repeater and Beacon Frequency Planning Rules and Process Changes
The WIA was first approached by the ACMA in 2022, to consider how improved transparency could be brought to Amateur repeater and beacon frequency selection processes. In addition, the ACMA wished to enable a pathway for obtaining an amateur spectrum repeater/beacon frequency assignment that did not require them to engage with the WIA.
To support this process, four new Radio Communications Licensing Instructions (RALI) have been drafted by the WIA that describe the new rules for how frequency selection should be undertaken within the amateur service for amateur (frequency assigned) repeater and beacon stations.
The consultation paper (see below) outlines the work that has been done and what the next steps are. It also describes the key issues the WIA is seeking feedback on from members and non-members who will be impacted by this change.
Also available for download are the four new DRAFT RALI instructions that describe how to select amateur assigned station frequencies. Please take some time to read both the consultation and the relevant RALI documents to gain a full understanding of what is being proposed.
HOW TO ENGAGE
If you wish to provide feedback on the technical content of the draft RALI documents describing how to coordinate amateur repeater and beacon station frequencies, please provide a response to the WIA Technical Advisory Committee via email at tac@wia.org.au .
Your submissions must be received by Friday 2nd August 2024.
CONSULTATION 2024-1 now closed
A big thank you to everyone who took the time to provide some feedback. A couple of issues have been noted and the committee will now consider what changes are necessary to address them.
We expect to have an outcomes paper available soon and will then subsequently publish the RALIs as official release versions.
CONSULTATION 2024-1: Outcomes Paper
The WIA has concluded the work on the technical standards for undertaking amateur repeater and beacon frequency planning and has now released it's outcomes paper. The final RALI documents will be published once signoff has been received from the ACMA. The new processes can then commence.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in this process.
A copy of the outcomes paper is available here: Link
CONSULTATION 2024-2: 40m Band Plan Harmonisation Challenges
The Amateur Service 7000-7200 kHz band is considered an example of one of the more dis-organised bands on a global basis. The main problems affecting basic band plan alignment can be summarised as:
1) inconsistent IARU member society band plans.
2) specific national regulatory conditions (e.g. the FCC in the USA)
3) legacy band plan allocations that haven’t been revised following the band expansion granted at WRC2003 (prior to which the 40m band was only 100 kHz wide)
In addition to these basic issues, the other more recent challenge has been the shift in general amateur radio activity towards wider use of data modes of communication. In particular, the explosion of data modes has also occurred on an ad hoc basis without following the global band plans. The most glaring example of this is the 7074 kHz WSJT data activity in what is spectrum currently set aside for voice communications in the IARU band plans.
It is through attempting to reduce the inconsistencies and making a concerted effort to deliver a harmonised global 40m band plan that many of the problems should be solved. At the same time, it is worth reconsidering the amount of spectrum allocated per activity to ensure that each mode has a fair share of the available spectrum based on current activity.
The WIA as part of it's involvement with IARU Region 3 is sponsoring a discussion on the future directions of the 40m band. It is now seeking feedback from members on a number of issues relating to the band to then use as input to the IARU Region 3 conference in October 2024.
The consultation paper is now available below and members and general amateur radio operators are both invited to respond via the tac@wia.org.au email address no later than the 6th of September with your feedback.
CONSULTATION 2024-2: 40m Band Plan Harmonisation - Round 1 Outcomes
This consultation closed on September 6th and has received well over 100 submissions from individuals and clubs from around the world.
The feedback that has been received has now been analysed and a summary of the initial findings has now been prepared. You can download this summary here: Link
Given the information provided to us by the community, the WIA is clear that there is little support for many of the original proposals raised for discussion in the first round. As a result, a new paper is being prepared, taking into account the views and information received. It is intended to have this new paper completed in the next 2-3 weeks in time for circulation prior to the IARU Region 3 Conference in November. We will be inviting the amateur community to again provide us with feedback on the round 2 paper once it is released.
Files For Download
Page Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 Sep 2024 at 21:50 hours by Tac
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