[amsat-bb] FCC Rules Amateur Satellite Service is NOT Primary at 2400 MHz

[JoAnne Maenpaa <wb9jej@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This might be old news to some but I just came across it ...

In the Report and Order, available on the FCC's Web site,
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-105A1.doc
they say the Amateur Satellite Service will not be granted
Primary status at 2400-2402 MHz:


44.	Our analysis regarding an amateur-satellite 
service allocation at 2400-2402 MHz differs from the 
case of terrestrial use in this band.  The amateur-
satellite service currently operates on a NIB to 
other services under international footnote 5.282, 
not on a secondary basis as some parties suggest.

This means that these operations are on an equal footing 
with Part 15 devices.  As both the amateur and unlicensed 
proponents recognize, the sensitivity of amateur satellite 
receivers makes them more vulnerable to aggregate 
interference from other users in this band.  The 2400-
2402 MHz band is heavily used by both Part 15 and Part 
18 devices, and, unlike terrestrial amateur operations, 
amateur satellite receivers are at greater risk from 
aggregate interference.  

We thus conclude that an allocation for the amateur-
satellite service would be impractical and difficult 
to implement, given the protection status afforded 
ISM devices and the large number of Part 15 devices 
that operate in the band. Further, maintaining NIB 
status for the amateur-satellite service in this 2 
megahertz band is consistent with the NIB status 
that an amateur satellite system would operate under 
from 2400-2450 MHz, so amateur satellite use of this 
band is not prejudiced by our decision.  Because we 
are maintaining NIB status for the amateur-satellite 
service, we will not place any restrictions on these 
operations (e.g., downlink only operation as some 
parties suggest).
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