SB QST @ ARL $ARLB010
ARLB010 FCC Denies LA County 2.4 GHz Application, Cancels
Experimental Grant to City

ZCZC AG10
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 10  ARLB010
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  March 15, 2001
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB010
ARLB010 FCC Denies LA County 2.4 GHz Application, Cancels
Experimental Grant to City

Following objections from the ARRL, AMSAT and others, the FCC has
turned down an application from Los Angeles County, California, for
an experimental license permitting airborne microwave TV downlinks
(TVDL) in the 2402-2448 MHz range. The FCC also canceled an
experimental license grant to the City of Los Angeles to operate an
identical TV downlink system in same band.

Amateurs have a primary domestic allocation at 2402-2417 MHz and a
secondary allocation in the rest of the affected band.

''Experimental licenses are not substitutes for regular
radiocommunication service licenses,'' said Charles Iseman, deputy
chief of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Division in the FCC's
Office of Engineering and Technology. OET issues all experimental
licenses.

The ARRL, AMSAT and the Amateur Television Network had asked the FCC
to deny the County's application. ARRL members Art McBride, KC6UQH,
and Thomas O'Hara, W6ORG, also filed informal objections. The
League, AMSAT and ATN also had objected to the City's experimental
grant. The FCC gave the City until December 1 to terminate its
operation but reserved the right to accelerate the cancellation date
if interference occurs.

The LA County proposal, filed in August 1999, sought FCC
authorization to develop a TVDL system on four 2.4 GHz channels for
deployment aboard sheriff's and fire department airborne units. The
FCC granted the City's WB2XEN experimental license based on a
similar submittal.

In protesting the County's plan, the ARRL called the application a
''foot in the door'' toward gaining a permanent berth in the 2.4 GHz
band. The County and the City already are authorized to operate TVDL
systems under Part 90 rules in the 2.450-2.483.5 GHz band, but both
told the FCC that they had experienced coordination and interference
problems and sought the experimental TVDL authorization as a result.

In light of the denial and the cancellation, the FCC did not address
potential interference issues raised by the objectors.
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