In una delle recenti serate tecniche effettuate in sezione, il nostro socio I0ZY Gianfranco, (nella foto insieme a K5UR presidente dell’ARRL), ci descrisse le caratteristiche e le prestazioni degli amplificatori lineari EXPERT da lui costruiti e commercializzati in tutto il mondo.
Parlando del modello 1.3 K (ultimo nato in casa SPE ) ci disse che aveva inoltrato alla FCC (Federal Communications Commission) la richiesta di modifica di una loro specifica, ormai anacronistica, che vietava di omologare amplificatori lineari con un guadagno maggiore di 15 dB. Tale richiesta è stata accolta e il modello 1.3 K ha ricevuto la completa omologazione.
In considerazione dello straordinario risultato raggiunto, l’ARRL ha ritenuto opportuno informare i suoi circa 850.000 iscritti inviando loro il seguente messaggio:
ARRL “Strongly Supports” Petition to Drop 15 dB Restriction for Amateur Amplifiers
In comments filed on May 26, the ARRL said it “strongly supports” a petition to the FCC seeking to eliminate an Amateur Service rule, spelled out in §97.317(a)(2), that amateur amplifiers not be able to boost the RF input signal by more than 15 dB. The Petition for Rule Making (RM-11767), was submitted in April on behalf of an amateur amplifier distributor, Expert Linears America LLC of Magnolia, Texas.
“The Petition proposes relief that is in the nature of eliminating unnecessary regulatory underbrush, and it continues an effort started by the Commission on its own motion in 2004…to do precisely that,” the ARRL said in its comments. “The rule proposed to be eliminated is outdated; it constituted overregulation when it was adopted long ago, and it now substantially limits the flexibility of Amateur Radio operators to experiment with the current generation of software-defined Amateur Radio equipment.”
The 15 dB provision came into the rules during an era when the FCC initiated various actions to rein in a major interference problem resulting from the use of illegal 11 meter amplifiers during the Citizens Band radio boom of the 1970s. “In its effort to address that problem, the Commission enacted a series of largely redundant and overlapping regulations that, in their overall effect, unnecessarily (and inappropriately) penalized the wholly innocent Amateur Radio operators,” the League asserted. “There was created a plethora of restrictions on manufacturers of external RF power amplifiers.”
The ARRL noted that while the FCC eliminated some of the unnecessary regulations in 2004, others remain, including the 15 dB gain restriction. The rules adopted in 1978 also called for type acceptance (certification) of manufactured RF power amplifiers operating below 144 MHz, including a 50 W minimum drive power requirement and a ban on amplifiers capable of operation between 24 and 35 MHz.
“Indeed, precisely the same rationale for elimination of the 50 W minimum drive power rule in 2006 applies to the elimination of the 15 dB gain rule for amateur amplifiers,” the ARRL said in its comments. “There is no continued justification for retaining the 15 dB gain limitation.”
Complimenti a I0ZY
IK0OTG Pietro
