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LICENCE CONDITION CHANGES ANALYSIS - Digital Modes for Foundation Licence!
Date :
28 /
09 /
2019
Author :
WIA Board
THE NEWS
The WIA was advised by ACMA on 21 September that changes have been made to the Amateur Licence Conditions (LCD) as set out in its "Omnibus Amendment Instrument 2019", Number 1, which came into immediate effect on that date.
The major highlights are Foundation Licence conditions now allowing all digital modes (current and future) and transmitter (or transceiver) construction. This includes internet linking, automatic operation (e.g. WSPR) and remote operation.
There are also minor changes for the Standard, such as ATV / DTV (for allowable bands) and Advanced Licence classes.
SUMMARY
The WIA is pleased to see the significant changes to the Foundation Licence class to modernise its appeal and relevance today.
All in all, a great result for the entry-level licence. Go get digital!
The relaxation of emission and bandwidth restrictions are also welcomed for all licence classes.
These changes, albeit limited todate, are the culmination of persistent work by the WIA with the regulator in various consultations that started in 2014. We also acknowledge the many submissions made by individual amateurs and also various amateur radio clubs. During that time, the WIA has initiated multiple member surveys, the last in 2018 and actively sought feedback from its members.
The last WIA consultation submission to the ACMA was a joint submission in conjunction with ALARA, ARNSW and ARVIC and had the direct support of many of the WIA Affiliated clubs.
There is more work to do to maintain the current momentum, especially with the 5 MHz band access and potentially a high power endorsement approach for Advanced licences to overcome potential EME and EMI concerns by the ACMA.
WHAT HAS CHANGED?
1) All restrictions on emission modes have been removed for all licensees
2) Restrictions on permitted transmission bandwidths have been removed for all licensees across all bands allowed for each licence class, with the exception of the 2200 metre and 630 metre bands, which only Advanced licensees can use;
3) Restrictions to the 3.X GHz band, which affect only Advanced licencees.
4) ALL license classes now have the same spectral power density limits of 1 watt per 100 KHz for wide bandwidth transmissions. The definition of wide bandwidth is band specific. This covers, for example, ATV / DTV and Spread Spectrum modes.
WHAT HASN’T CHANGED?
1) No changes to power limits for all licence classes
2) No band changes (except for 3.XGHz band restrictions)
3) No access to the ITU approved 5 MHz band - remains work-in-progress in he FYSO (Five Year Spectrum Outlook) with a discussion paper to be released in the near future by the ACMA
4) Three tier licence structure (Foundation, Standard and Advanced) retained
BACKGROUND
Please refer to the ACMA documentation at the following URLs for more detail:
ACMA Explanatory Document (this is almost in plain English!) : *
Link
LCD documents on the ACMA’s website:*
Link
Official ACMA notification to the WIA (21 September, 2019):
" The Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Amateur Licence) Omnibus Amendment Instrument 2019 (No.1) (Amendment Instrument) was made by the ACMA on 12 September 2019. The changes to amateur licence conditions introduced by the Amendment Instrument commenced on 21 September 2019.Compilation of the amended Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Amateur Licence) Determination 2015 and the Radiocommunications (Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia) Class Licence 2015 will be available on the Federal> Register shortly. *
Note: The LCD still appears as draft (as of the date of this article). It is, however, now in force as of the date it was added to the Federal Register.
See below - APPENDIX 1 (2019 LCD Partial Extract)
Related Files
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