flybymike wrote:
Theoretically you may only continue to use 25Khz on exempted frequencies
Do you mean from a legal point of view?
AIUI my 8.33 khz radio works(bandwidth wise) the same as my 25khz when a 25 khz freq is selected.(an 8.33 radio is just a 25khz radio plus the ability to work on 8.33 khz freqs with a narrower bandwith on those freqs)
The stuff from the CAA about not using 25khz kit on 25khz freqs appears to have no logic if the specs are examined, indeed we have had 8.33 khz spacing for several years now with no apparent problems.
See the table in this article and the para above it:
http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/2013/Magazine/May/radio.pdf
flybymike wrote:
Theoretically you may only continue to use 25Khz on exempted frequencies. I have no idea how this might be policed however.
Yes and no…
You may continue to use 25 kHz radios on 25 kHz channels. (I very deliberately did not write “frequencies”.) However most 25 kHz channels will be converted to 8.33 kHz channels with the same frequency — but the channel number will be different. E.g. a 119.200 channel will most likely be changed into the 119.205 channel. They both have the same frequency, but you can’t tune 119.205 on a 25 kHz radio so you will automatically be unable to use it. (You can, of course, cheat and exploit the fact that the frequency is still 119.200 MHz and tune that channel instead. That is not permitted.)
The exemption you mention is that the some 25 kHz channels do not need to be changed into 8.33 channels — it is not an exemption on the use of the radio.
just landed at TOCNA LKTC and it is only 123,410 8.33 spacing
A question? After 1 January 2018, is (for example) East Midlands Tower which is on 124.000 Mhz suddenly going to publish their frequency as a “fake news” frequency/channel of 124.005 which is as we all know complete rubbish as they will still be on 124.000 Mhz! Ditto is every frequency across Europe is going to “change”?
As the transmit deviation on my old radio clearly won’t interfere with the adjacent (& probably unused) frequencies then, if I feel a bit naughty, I can either call them on my old radio on 124.000 Mhz or on my new Trig on the new “channel” . Nobody will ever know either way.
In fact, I think on the Trig radio you can change channel spacing by a quick push on the frequency selector knob so if I really wanted to stick two fingers up to the Bureaucrats who brought in this fiasco I could leave my Trig on 25 Khz spacing 99% of the time (unless a real 8.33 frequency was assigned).
It would save lots of twiddling! What do people think – be naughty or tow the line?
Not all frequencies are going to change on that date but over time, more and more will.
As of January 1st, 2018, all aircraft with VHF are legally required to have 8.33kHz spacing. This means that from this day on, ground stations that deal with VFR traffic can switch to a 8.33kHz frequency. Before that, only IFR ground stations were able to make the switch. Before that, only upper airspace ground stations.
Get used to 8.33kHz…
Yes but if say East Midlands does not change to “channel” 124.005 then surely some Aircraft radios will retain a wider transmit deviation (frequency spread when modulated).
I thought it was the .005 suffix which programmed some radios to narrow the transmit deviation slightly? If there is a mix of frequencies it proves you can still use older radios for the old 25 Khz frequencies as the newer radios with 8.33 spacing will be putting exactly the same output/deviation when set to 124.000 Mhz?
I believe the UK was the country where ground stations pay a heftly yearly frequency allocation fee which is significantly higher for 25kHz than a 8.33kHz frequency.
As long as 124.000MHz is allocated to a station, the adjacent 8.33kHz channels are unavailable in the area.
there is and there will ever be a mix of 25 and 8.33 frequencies. Moving given station from 124.000 (25) into 124.005 (8.33) is creating a space for more stations in that given region. Yes, your old radio when tuned to 124.000 (as you can´t dial in 124.005) will somehow work but you´ll be interfering with the new stations to be established around.
if you have a new radio – dialing in 124.000 will select 124.000 as 25khz, if you dial 124.005 you are on 124.000 with 8.33 – so as narrow freq band. This is the trick. You as a pilot do not have to think (actually, you are not allowed to think) – just dial what chart/controlled says.
In the UK, particularly GA airfields, I suspect many will go 8.33 right away since Ofcom implemented punitive charging for airband licensing, and triply punitive charging for 25kHz spaced frequency allocations. Going 8.33 will save thousands of pounds per year per frequency. Many smaller airfields have or will stop having A/G radio and simply will rely on safetycom.
