08/29/2021

The FCC has granted an ARRL emergency request for a temporary waiver intended
to facilitate relief communications in the wake of Hurricane Ida. The waiver
was orally granted on Saturday, August 28, and immediately permitted amateur
data transmissions related to Hurricane Ida traffic to employ a higher symbol
rate for data transmissions than the current limit of 300 baud. 

ARRL pointed out in its request that Amateur Radio Emergency Service¿ (ARES¿)
members are working with federal, state, and local emergency management
officials to assist with disaster relief. Many use radio modems and personal
computers capable of using digital protocols and modes that would permit faster
messaging rates than normally permitted under the FCC's rules.  ARRL pointed
out that higher data rates can be critical to timely transmission of relief
communications, such as lists of needed and distributed supplies.

In 2016, in response to an ARRL petition for rulemaking, the FCC proposed to
remove the symbol rate limitations, which it tentatively concluded had become
unnecessary due to advances in modulation techniques and no longer served a
useful purpose. That proceeding, WT Docket 16-239, is still pending. ARRL
sought the waiver for radio amateurs directly involved with hurricane relief on
HF using high-speed data transmissions, and the FCC orally granted the
emergency temporary waiver for traffic related to Hurricane Ida. The temporary
waiver is good until a written decision is made on ARRL's request that would
cover the remainder of the hurricane season.

Pursuant to ARRL's request and similar to written waivers granted by the FCC in
earlier years, to qualify, a protocol or mode exceeding the 300 baud symbol
rate limit must (1) be publicly documented, (2) use no more bandwidth than the
currently permissible slower protocols (generally accepted to be the bandwidth
of an SSB signal, or 2.8 kHz), and (3) be used solely for communications
related to Hurricane Ida. ARRL is hopeful that the FCC will grant a longer-term
waiver this week to enable planning and communications for any additional
hurricanes this season.

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