Kuwait and Israel Joins 60m

A secondary allocation of 5.351.5 – 5.366.5 MHz was released to radio amateurs in Kuwait, where they will adhere to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) allocation, permitting a maximum power of 15 W EIRP. Indonesian and Greek hams recently gained access to the same allocation.

Meanwhile, Israel has extended authorization of 5 MHz amateur permits to the end of December and added a Channel 0 to the existing eight channels, where hams may run 100 W PEP on several modes, depending upon the channel.

Still under discussion is ham radio access to a 5 MHz secondary band in Australia, where the band is used by some emergency services and law enforcement. Nearly 80 countries offer some level of amateur access to the 5 MHz band.

In the US, ARRL petitioned the FCC shortly after WRC-15 to allocate a secondary 60-meter band and to permit 100 W PEP, as already authorized on the existing channels there.