New Band Plan for Region 2

A new Band Plan for Region 2 was approved in October 14, 2016 during the XIX IARU Region 2 General Assembly in Viña del Mar, Chile and is now published on the IARU Region 2 website in English and Spanish versions.

The HF/VHF Committees were composed by 15 delegates to discuss 6 documents and annexes covering several proposals sent by ARRL, LABRE, RAC and informative documents from IARU Region 1 and the IARU Satellite Advisory Committee.

Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT (ARRL) was the Chairman and Flávio Archangelo, PY2ZX (LABRE) was the Secretary of the HF/VHF Committees.

Members of the HF/VHF Committees. Standing, from left to right: Cesar Brousek OA4CLU, Carlos Rodriguez CX7CO, Shizuo Endo JE1MUI, Don Beattie G3BJ, Christian Buenger DL6KAC, Ronald Tsoi-a-Fatt 9Y4RX, Ole Garpestad LA2RR, Jonathan Siverling WB3ERA, Gopal Mandhavan VU2GMN. Seated, from left to right: Paulo Hernandes PT2NP, Flavio Archangelo PY2ZX, Brian Mileshosky N5ZGT, Glenn MacDonell VE3XRA. Not in the photo: Rick Roderick K5UR and Orlando Perez PT2OP

The changes aimed the harmonization with Regions 1 and 3, recognizance of some band occupations in Region 2 and the contextualization of the satellite segments to encourage the use of new technologies in space communications.

– Introduction of the 60 m with sub-bands, footnotes and definitions harmonized with Region 1;
– The inclusion of ACDS in 2200 m, restriction of bandwidth in 630 m, harmonization of the 160 m and 80 m, especially on digital sub-bands;
–  Recognitions of the calling frequency 144.3 MHz in 2 m and AM practice in 15 m;
– Editorial changes in the footnotes related to ACDS, additional footnotes related to AM and editorial changes in some of the footnotes, modes and bandwidths of satellites sub-bands.

The Band Plan does not have an enforcement power per se but serves as a guide to the Member Societies. According the IARU Region 2 Band Plan “it is suggested that Member Societies, in coordination with the authorities, incorporate it [the Band Plan] in their regulations and promote widely with their amateur radio communities”.

Band Plan in Spanish

Band Plan in English

In the Main Picture:

Members of the HF/VHF Committees. Standing, from left to right: Cesar Brousek OA4CLU, Carlos Rodriguez CX7CO, Shizuo Endo JE1MUI, Don Beattie G3BJ, Christian Buenger DL6KAC, Ronald Tsoi-a-Fatt 9Y4RX, Ole Garpestad LA2RR, Jonathan Siverling WB3ERA, Gopal Mandhavan VU2GMN. Seated, from left to right: Paulo Hernandes PT2NP, Flavio Archangelo PY2ZX, Brian Mileshosky N5ZGT, Glenn MacDonell VE3XRA. Not in the photo: Rick Roderick K5UR and Orlando Perez PT2OP

INTRODUCTION

The IARU Region 2 has established this band plan as the way to better organize the use of our bands efficiently. To the extent possible, this band plan is harmonized with those of the other regions. It is suggested that Member Societies, in coordination with the authorities, incorporate it in their regulations and promote it widely with their radio amateur communities.

DEFINITIONS ACDS: Automatic Controlled Data Stations, including Store and Forward stations (not Digital Voice Repeaters and Internet Voice Gateways). In the case of digital beacons, it’s recommended to insert CW on the usual schedule for non-machine recognition and use narrow BW as possible.

ACDS are allowed only when directly specified on the segment (except those on board satellites and spacecraft – able to transmit on specified satellites segments – and onboard near space stations – see “NSS”). Unattended operations are restricted in HF (see “Unmanned/unattended transmitting stations”).

AM: DSB AM phone is allowed with maximum of 6 kHz BW. The AM signal can be placed when: a) the segment is permitted for “all modes” with sufficient bandwidth; b) the BW field is marked with “(*)”, allowing AM with maximum 6 kHz BW as an exception.