[thomasjames]

This is outrageous.

The good news is that there is enough 2m equipment out there that there could actually be a feasible mass radio protest and intentionally render the band unusable. There is no way in hell the FCC or similar authorities abroad could ever actually track down all the equipment or have the manpower to deal with violations. They cannot even stop robocalls in the US.

[jlgaddis]

I certainly wouldn't encourage or participate in such a "protest" and I hope that no one I know would either.

It would be extemely detrimental if we lost the 2M band but this is not the right way to "protest" it.

Fortunately, I don't think this constitutes a real threat to the worldwide amateur 2M band. A "reassignment" of 144-146 MHz worldwide, as described here, is simply not going to happen -- not for this purpose, at least.

[ahje]

I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted. _IF_ they actually re-assign the frequency and use it for communicating with unmanned aircraft then disturbing the comms could have unintended consequences, and the response to such an incident would undoubtedly be just as disproportionate.

[jlgaddis]

Yep, I'm all for speaking out against and protesting things you don't agree with, but jamming the entire band after it has been reallocated and you are no longer permitted to use it -- breaking the law, in other words -- is not the solution and certainly wouldn't help your argument.

[faissaloo]

Any such unintended consequences would simply be their own fault, people did not agree they could use that wavelength.

[ahje]

Really? If international accord is reached and that band is re-assigned for other purposes, and HAM operators protest by screwing with un-mannen aircraft and something bad happens, do you seriously think "I never agreed to stop using this frequency" will be accepted as an excuse?

I'm not a HAM operator, but I agree that it does seem like a really bad idea to re-assign a band frequently used for stuff like emergency communications. Still, if someone caused a plane to fall down just to make a point then I would assign the blame to that person and not the operator of the plane.

[faissaloo]

The operator of the plane was unwise to use a band that is already in use, international accord does not dictate the reality of the situation.