Breaker! Breaker! FCC on deck to approve 11-meter FM CB   
   Fri, 07/16/2021 - 02:00   
      
   Michelle Bradley, CBT, KU3N.   
   July 15, 2021   
      
   Normally, three weeks prior to the monthly open meeting of the Federal   
   Communications Commission, the agency releases drafts of the items   
   they will be voting on in the meeting.  These "circulation drafts" are   
   not the exact wording of the final decisions, but they are a good   
   sneak preview of what is to come.   
      
   The FCC is planning to vote on granting three Petitions for   
   Reconsideration in the Part 95 Personal Radio Services in WT Docket   
   10-119.  According to the circulation draft, the Commission intends to   
   grant reconsideration to Motorola, who had proposed that GMRS and FRS   
   units be permitted to send automatic data transmission of location   
   information as well as the ability to send short text messages as well   
   as a request by medical device maker Medtronic to fix some rules   
   language as it applies to MedRadio service, an ultra-low power radio   
   service for the transmission of non-voice data for the purpose of   
   facilitating diagnostic and/or therapeutic functions involving   
   implanted and body-worn medical devices.   
      
   But the most interesting of these petitions was the one by Cobra that   
   originally asked the FCC to permit FM emmissions in the 27 MHz   
   Citizens Band.  Frequency modulation has been used for decades on 11   
   meters in many parts of Europe.  The FCC originally rejected the idea   
   of FM CB because it would "change the fundamental nature" of the radio   
   service, but now, they have taken a new postion that FM CB would not   
   change the nature of the service.and would "improve the customer   
   experience".   
      
   Under the proposed revised rules, FM mode, like AM, will be limited to   
   4 watts.  Radios will be limited to a +/- 2 kHz deviation, which   
   matches the European Telecommunications Standard.  There will be no   
   expansion to the 40 channels in the service and there will be no   
   restrictions on which of the 40 channels FM operation can take place.   
   In order to assure maintain service compatibility, the FCC will   
   require that any CB radio marketed in the United States with FM mode   
   must also have AM.   
      
   This news comes at a time when conditions on the 10 meter Amateur   
   Radio Service band have been improving.  This will also improve the   
   ability to "shoot skip" in the 11 meter Citizens Band.  FM operations   
   in the 10 meter Amateur Radio Service band are mainly conducted on the   
   spectrum between 29.5~29.7 MHz.  Unlike CB, Amateur Radio is permitted   
   to operate repeaters on 10 meter FM.   
      
   Also, in order to be "legal", all FM CB radios must be FCC certified   
   and have an FCC ID number.  This does not mean that radios that have   
   been previously (illegally) imported into the United States are legal.   
   In addition, uncertified transceivers for the Amateur Radio Service   
   are not legal on the Part 95 CB frequencies.   
      
   The FCC's Open Meeting will be on Tuesday, August 5, 2021 and will be   
   streamed live on the FCC's YouTube Channel and at FCC.gov/live.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)