“Spectrum (It’s the frequency crunch for real)” will be the Sunday Seminar topic at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) September 16-18 in St Petersburg, Florida. Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, and Bob McGwier, N4HY, will moderate the tutorial.

“The Amateur Radio spectrum above 450 MHz is facing serious threats. The demand for useful spectrum is large and growing,” an abstract for the presentation asserts. “We will explain why this spectrum is in demand and what you need to know and do in order to defend it.”

The presentation will offer a practical understanding of digital communication, software-defined radio, codecs, protocols, and cognitive radio. Thompson heads the AMSAT Ground Terminal Team, a component of the so-called “five and dime (5 GHz and 10 GHz) Phase 4B geosynchronous satellite project. McGwier is chief scientist at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech.

The Saturday night banquet speaker will be ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX. His topic will be “New Frontiers in Wireless: Challenges to and Opportunities for Amateur Radio.”