Following the World Radio Conference in 2012, the frequency band 472 kHz to 479 kHz (630 Metres) will formally be available to radio amateurs in many countries from January 1, 2013.
The latest announcement comes from the Australian Communications and Media Authority that Advanced Licence holders generally get access to the band on a secondary basis.
As a result of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at WRC12, the radiated power by amateur service stations is 1w pX EIRP, however due to their distance from some countries administrations including Australian, can use up to 5w pX EIRP with a maximum bandwidth of 2.1 kHz.
Although available on a secondary basis to radio amateurs in all ITU regions, as a compromise many countries are not going to allow any amateur service access to the band.
Within Australia there are exclusion zones at the Exmouth and Timor regions, where amateur radio use is not permitted due to the existence of aeronautical non-directional beacons used for local navigation at airports.
The ITU case included that ground wave propagation in the under-used spectrum results in reliable communication over medium and large ranges, and is not dependent upon the ionosphere. It makes an ideal spot for radio amateurs to study anomalous propagation.
The new medium frequency allocation takes formal effect in Australia on January 1, 2013, although several countries have already allocated it domestically.
As a prelude to a secondary allocation at WRC12, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, United Kingdom plus parts of Europe, the USA and some others allowed temporary use or experimental operations on nearby frequencies.
WRC12 also re-allocated the original 500 kHz frequency, at the bottom edge of the AM broadcasting band which used previously as an international CW distress frequency, back to exclusive maritime mobile use for new navigation systems.
Jim Linton VK3PC
