Report No.  DC-2613     ACTION IN DOCKET CASE                 June 15, 1994

    AUTHORIZATION OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR HF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
                       IN AMATEUR SERVICE PROPOSED
                             (PR DOCKET 94-59)

     The Commission has proposed amending the amateur service
rules to authorize automatic control of stations transmitting a
digital emission on the High Frequency (HF) amateur service
bands.

     This action was requested in petitions filed by The American
Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL), and the American Digital Radio
Society, Inc. (ADRS)

     The propagation characteristics of the HF bands allow for
long distance communications. Amateur operators take advantage of
these characteristics to communicate with other amateur stations
all over the world.  Establishing and maintaining a HF
communications link, however, presents operating demands not
encountered on the Very High Frequency (VHF) and higher frequency
bands.  The variables affecting communications in the HF bands
are highly complex.  To maintain the communications link and
avoid causing interference to the communications of other amateur
stations, the control operator constantly monitors the activity
on the channel being used and adjusts the station's transmitting
parameters as needed.  Because the presence of the control
operator has been necessary for proper operation in these
systems, automatic control of an amateur station that is
transmitting on any HF band or on the 160 meter MF (medium
frequency) band has not been authorized.

     In 1986 the Commission authorized automatic control of
amateur stations transmitting digital communications on the VHF
and higher frequency bands and indicated it was interested in
authorizing automatic control of stations using the HF bands.






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     To determine solutions to the problem of avoiding
interference from automatically controlled HF digital stations
the ARRL conducted a successful feasibility project under special
temporary authority the Commission granted to 50 amateur
stations.  The ARRL's petition is based on the results of that
study.  The ADRS's petition contained an additional
recommendation from amateur operators who have been experimenting
for several decades with digital communications on the HF bands.

     The Commission said it was gratified by the cooperation and
dedication of organizations within the amateur service community
in determining the conditions necessary to allow automatic
control of stations transmitting data and RTTY (narrow-band
direct printing) emission types on the HF amateur service bands. 
It agreed with the petitioners that automatic control of amateur
stations in the HF bands can, with safeguards, make the
transmission of data and RTTY emission types practical and
effective.

     Therefore, the Commission proposed to authorize automatic
control for stations transmitting data and RTTY emission types on
one specific subband of each HF band where such emissions are
authorized.  It also proposed to authorize communications between
a locally or remotely controlled station and an automatically
controlled station on any frequency where data and RTTY emission
types are otherwise authorized.

     The Commission said that it firmly believes in the principle
that government should be responsive to user needs.  It noted
that the rules it proposed were the result of a successful
feasibility project planned and carried out within the amateur
service community and represent the recommendations of two
organizations dedicated to bringing the benefits to be derived
from the transmission of digital communications on the amateur
service HF bands to amateur operators in the United States and
elsewhere without causing unnecessary interference to other types
of communications.

     Action by the Commission June 13, 1994, by Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 94-171).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioners
Quello and Barrett, with Commissioners Ness and Chong not
participating.

                                  - FCC -    

     News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500.
     Private Radio Bureau contact: William T. Cross at (202) 632-
4964.