ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio® welcomes news of a scheduled vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to consider removing symbol rate restrictions that restrict digital modes, foster inefficient spectrum use, and dampen incentives for innovation.
In the draft Commission decision, the FCC would replace the current HF restrictions with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit. The Commission also announced that it will consider a Further Notice in which it will propose eliminating similar restrictions where they apply in other bands and consider relying on signal bandwidth limits. If both actions are adopted by the Commission, there will be a period for public comment on the Further Notice issues.
In announcing the proposed Commission actions, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that “We’re bolstering amateur radio. We will vote on a proposal to incentivize innovation and experimentation in the amateur radio bands by removing outdated restrictions and providing licensees with the flexibility to use modern digital emissions.”
ARRL requested and strongly supports replacing the symbol rate limits on the HF bands with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit. ARRL also supports eliminating the symbol rate limits in favor of the already-existing bandwidth limits where they apply on the VHF and UHF bands and eliminating the similar limits 2200 and 630-meter bands.
ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, said the changes will result in a tremendous time savings during disasters, when every second counts. “We will be very pleased to have the FCC remove the restrictions on symbol rate for the amateur bands. This will eliminate the need for temporary waivers during an event and provide the ability to train and exercise using the higher symbol rate, allowing increased data capability to our served agencies and partners.”
Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) introduced The Amateur Radio Communications Improvement Act (H.R. 3241) on May 11, 2023, to require that the FCC eliminate the obsolete HF digital symbol rate limit with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit.
The Congresswoman subsequently addressed the issue with Chairwoman Rosenworcel in a Congressional oversight hearing. The changes are supported by many state emergency management officials.
WSJT-X version 2.4.0 has introduced a new digital protocol called Q65, which is designed for “minimal two-way QSOs over especially difficult propagation paths,” the Quick Start Guide says.
“On paths with Doppler spread more than a few hertz, the weak-signal performance of Q65 is the best among all WSJT-X modes. Q65 is particularly effective for tropospheric scatter, ionospheric scatter, and EME on VHF and higher bands, as well as other types of fast-fading signals.”
The new protocol uses 65-tone frequency-shift keying and builds on the demonstrated weak-signal strengths of QRA64, introduced in 2016. User messages and sequencing are identical to those in FT4, FT8, FST4, and MSK144. Q65 employs a “unique tone” to sync time and frequency. “As with JT65, this ‘sync tone’ is readily visible on the waterfall spectral display,” the Guide said. “Unlike JT65, synchronization and decoding are effective even when meteor pings or other short signal enhancements are present.
Transmit/receive sequence lengths of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 300 seconds are available. According to the Guide, “Q65 will enable stations with a modest Yagi and 100 W or more and to work one another on 6 meters at distances up to ~1600 kilometers at most times, in dead band conditions.”
The following are the different digital modes being used the the Durham Region area. Some of the repeaters are in multi-mode, where different modes are available in addition to regular FM voice.
DMR – Digital Mobile Radio
DMR, or Digital Mobile Radio, is explained in more detail, via my scanner DMR page, but a more simplistic explanation follows:
Tier I
DMR Tier I products are for license-free use in the 446 MHz band in the European Union.
This part of the standard provides for consumer applications and low-power commercial applications, using a maximum of 0.5 watt RF power. With a limited number of channels and no use of repeaters, no use of telephone interconnects, fixed/integrated antennas, and a talk timer of 180 seconds, Tier I DMR devices are best suited for personal use, recreation, small retail and other settings that do not require wide area coverage or advanced features.
Tier II
DMR Tier II covers licensed conventional radio systems, mobiles and hand portables operating in PMR frequency bands from 66-960MHz. The ETSI DMR Tier II standard is targeted at those users who need spectral efficiency, advanced voice features and integrated IP data services in licensed bands for high-power communications. ETSI DMR Tier II specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5 kHz channels.
DMR Tier II is based on the following ETSI standards.
ETSI TS 102 361-1 Air interface
ETSI TS 102 361-2 Voice and generic services and facilities
ETSI TS 102 361-3 Data protocol
Tier III
DMR Tier III covers trunking operation in frequency bands 66-960MHz. The Tier III standard specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5kHz channels. Tier III supports voice and short messaging handling similar to MPT 1327 with built-in 128 character status messaging and short messaging with up to 288 bits of data in a variety of formats. It also supports packet data service in a variety of formats, including support for IPv4 and IPv6.
Talk Groups
Talk Groups (TG) are a way for groups of users to share a time slot, without distracting and disrupting other users of the time slot. It should be noted that only one Talk Group can be using a time slot at a time. If your radio is not programmed to listen to a Talk Group, you will not hear that Talk Group’s traffic.
The DMR-MARC Mototrbo™ network supports a number of Talk Groups on TS1 including World Wide (TG1, PTT), North America (TG3), and World Wide English (TG13). TS2 is for local, state, and regional Talk Groups. The DCI/TRBO network uses TG3163 for North America and TG3161 for World Wide, and TG3 for World Wide English on TS2.
The DMR standard also supports private calls (one-to-one), encryption, and data. Private calls are not allowed by most of the amateur networks and many consider private calls not amateur friendly; private calls tie up a large number of repeater time slots across the network. Encryption is not legal on amateur radio in the USA but is allowed in Canada! Data and text messaging is supported on some networks.
For simplex traffic, the accepted standard in the amateur community is to use TG99 on TS1 with CC1.
DMR Repeaters
The following DMR repeaters are available in the Durham Region area:
VA3XPR – Toronto – 442.3375 – CC1 (Disabled due to jamming)
The following are the different digital modes being used the the Durham Region area. Some of the repeaters are in multi-mode, where different modes are available in addition to regular FM voice.
DMR – Digital Mobile Radio
DMR, or Digital Mobile Radio, is explained in more detail, via my scanner DMR page, but a more simplistic explanation follows:
Tier I
DMR Tier I products are for license-free use in the 446 MHz band in the European Union.
This part of the standard provides for consumer applications and low-power commercial applications, using a maximum of 0.5 watt RF power. With a limited number of channels and no use of repeaters, no use of telephone interconnects, fixed/integrated antennas, and a talk timer of 180 seconds, Tier I DMR devices are best suited for personal use, recreation, small retail and other settings that do not require wide area coverage or advanced features.
Tier II
DMR Tier II covers licensed conventional radio systems, mobiles and hand portables operating in PMR frequency bands from 66-960MHz. The ETSI DMR Tier II standard is targeted at those users who need spectral efficiency, advanced voice features and integrated IP data services in licensed bands for high-power communications. ETSI DMR Tier II specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5 kHz channels.
DMR Tier II is based on the following ETSI standards.
ETSI TS 102 361-1 Air interface
ETSI TS 102 361-2 Voice and generic services and facilities
ETSI TS 102 361-3 Data protocol
Tier III
DMR Tier III covers trunking operation in frequency bands 66-960MHz. The Tier III standard specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5kHz channels. Tier III supports voice and short messaging handling similar to MPT 1327 with built-in 128 character status messaging and short messaging with up to 288 bits of data in a variety of formats. It also supports packet data service in a variety of formats, including support for IPv4 and IPv6.
Talk Groups
Talk Groups (TG) are a way for groups of users to share a time slot, without distracting and disrupting other users of the time slot. It should be noted that only one Talk Group can be using a time slot at a time. If your radio is not programmed to listen to a Talk Group, you will not hear that Talk Group’s traffic.
The DMR-MARC Mototrbo™ network supports a number of Talk Groups on TS1 including World Wide (TG1, PTT), North America (TG3), and World Wide English (TG13). TS2 is for local, state, and regional Talk Groups. The DCI/TRBO network uses TG3163 for North America and TG3161 for World Wide, and TG3 for World Wide English on TS2.
The DMR standard also supports private calls (one-to-one), encryption, and data. Private calls are not allowed by most of the amateur networks and many consider private calls not amateur friendly; private calls tie up a large number of repeater time slots across the network. Encryption is not legal on amateur radio in the USA but is allowed in Canada! Data and text messaging is supported on some networks.
For simplex traffic, the accepted standard in the amateur community is to use TG99 on TS1 with CC1.
DMR Repeaters
The following DMR repeaters are available in the Durham Region area:
VA3XPR – Toronto – 442.3375 – CC1 (Disabled due to jamming)
TalkGroups
1 = World Wide
2 = Local 1
3 = North America
8 = Golden Horseshoe Area
9 = Local 2
13 = WW English
113 = UAE 1
123 = UAE 2
302 = Canada
310 = TAC310
3023 = Ontario
3022 = Quebec
3024 = Manitoba
3026 = Alberta
3029 = New Brunswick
3027 = British Columbia
9998 = Parrot
9999 = Audio Test
Presently, all Toronto area DMR-MARC repeaters have been disabled due to jamming/interference.
NXDN – Next Generation Digital Narrowband
The NXDN (Next Generation Digital Narrowband) common air interface protocol, which was developed jointly by ICOM and Kenwood, uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), employing a 4-level FSK modulation scheme. These companies and others together form the NXDN Forum.
Kenwood’s brand for NXDN equipment is “NEXEDGE”, while Icom’s brand for NXDN equipment is “IDAS”, or Icom Digital Advanced System. For a more detailed information via my scanner NXDN page.
NXDN Repeaters
The following NXDN repeaters are available in the Durham Region area:
TalkGroups
1 = World Wide
2 = Local 1
3 = North America
8 = Golden Horseshoe Area
9 = Local 2
13 = WW English
113 = UAE 1
123 = UAE 2
302 = Canada
310 = TAC310
3023 = Ontario
3022 = Quebec
3024 = Manitoba
3026 = Alberta
3029 = New Brunswick
3027 = British Columbia
9998 = Parrot
9999 = Audio Test
Presently, all Toronto area DMR-MARC repeaters have been disabled due to jamming/interference.
NXDN – Next Generation Digital Narrowband
The NXDN (Next Generation Digital Narrowband) common air interface protocol, which was developed jointly by ICOM and Kenwood, uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), employing a 4-level FSK modulation scheme. These companies and others together form the NXDN Forum.
Kenwood’s brand for NXDN equipment is “NEXEDGE”, while Icom’s brand for NXDN equipment is “IDAS”, or Icom Digital Advanced System. For a more detailed information via my scanner NXDN page.
NXDN Repeaters
The following NXDN repeaters are available in the Durham Region area:
