Mark Miller wrote: > What my question > boils down to is generally, what is the accepted maximum bandwidth of > any signal in the Amateur HF bands, given the finite spectrum and > many interests? >
There's the billion [insert local currency here] question. Or actually two questions: what's the maximum, and what's appropriate? There seems to be an idea that there's a 'one size fits all' solution. That's probably the END of a (failed) search for a solution, rather than the beginning. Each of the bands has its unique characteristics which vary depending on time of day, time of the sunspot cycle, etc. The maximum needs to be set high enough to handle anything that is reasonably expected to be appropriate - much like the speed limit on the roads we use. But that doesn't mean that the maximum is appropriate all the time. Most states have a speed limit on the interstates... but if there's snow and slush on the road, anyone running maximum legal speed should be removed from the highway system. The speed limit signs on the interstates of any major city during rush hour certainly make travelling the roads *legal* at speeds much greater than the 0-5 MPH the traffic often allows. When the regulation by bandwidth issue came up in the U.S. it got combined with issues of automatic control All of the sudden, instead of the regulatory change being centered on "what should we allow as options?", it became focused on "what might some self-centered, egotistical bozo with a big amplifier, big antenna, and small brain do?"... and there went our regulatory flexibility. Somehow, if we're going to update our antique regulations, we're going to have to get past the idea that "legal" should be the most restrictive definition, thereby forcing things to work -- and replace it with the idea that "legal" should be the least restrictive definition which will allow things to work.
