FCC RETURNS 11 METER BAND TO THE AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE
Effective April 1, 2023, the FCC will return frequencies assigned to the Citizens Band Radio Service (CB) to the Amateur Radio Service. Formerly known as the 11 meter amateur radio band, it had been re-assigned on September 11, 1958 for CB use.
¡°After much consideration, the FCC realized their 1958 decision to strip these frequencies from the Amateur Radio Service was an egregious act,¡± said a spokesperson. ¡°Since the telecommunications companies didn¡¯t want to purchase these frequencies, the FCC decided, in a reparations gesture, to
return them to the amateur radio community.¡± The spokesperson added that current CB Radio Service users may continue to use the band and will not need to obtain amateur radio licenses.
Due to congressional budget cuts, the FCC abandoned enforcement of the Citizens Band Radio Service regulations years ago. ¡°Because of this financial shortfall, we also almost ran out of ink for the rubber stamps we use to approve all the telcom companies¡¯ demands,¡± the spokesperson stated. ¡°On top of that, the General Services Administration repossessed most of our official government vehicles so the ones we have left are used for broadcast band enforcement. The U.S Attorney¡¯s Office won¡¯t take our phone calls when our Enforcement Bureau tries to present criminal cases against rogue CBers. We would take their CB license away but they would just keep operating. There was no correlation between having a CB radio license and obeying the CB radio rules and regulations,¡± they claimed. ¡°As a result, CB radio licenses were not issued nor renewed effective April 28, 1983.¡±
The National Amateur Radio Confederation (NARC) released a statement praising the FCC¡¯s decision. ¡°We are pleased the FCC has decided to correct the error they made over 60 years ago by returning the 11 meter band to the Amateur Radio Service. NARC is all about diversity and inclusion. We welcome the opportunity for amateur radio operators to return to frequencies unjustly taken from them long ago. We hope the CB community welcomes the amateur radio operators back to 11 meters. Maybe the CBers will become interested in obtaining amateur radio licenses so NARC can sell more license testing books and materials. Furthermore, the FCC might be able to finally enforce the rules and regulations with the new license fee money they collect.¡±
The reaction from the CBer side was not enthusiastic. The Big Linear CB Radio Club was upset. ¡°This is the FCC¡¯s flavor of ¡®cancel culture,¡¯¡± Big Linear wrote on their Faceworld page. ¡°CBers don¡¯t need a bunch of ¡®by the book¡¯ operators who will say things like ¡®You¡¯re off frequency¡¯ or ¡®Your signal¡¯s too wide¡¯ or ¡®You¡¯re over-modulating¡¯ or ¡®Don¡¯t use cuss words.¡¯ CB is all about freedom. Right now, many of our members are bumpin¡¯ 5 kilowatts on channel 6 and working towards 10. We don¡¯t need fools complaining about our signals. If y¡¯all don¡¯t like it, change the channel and get a better radio. We don¡¯t want the channels jammed up with FT8 and other digital signals. We talk worldwide on our radios but we don¡¯t play video games on them. Ditto with that ¡®Morsey¡¯ code...dot dot dit dit, dot dot dash...damned if we know.¡±nial. Thank you. - Submitted by: Matthew G. Vurek, N4DLA
Larry Macionski