Hotspot Coordination

blog/_posts/2023-01-25-hotspots-in-the-bandplan.md

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+---
+title: Hotspots In The Bandplan
+layout: post
+date: 2023-01-25 05:42:40
+tags: Blog
+excerpt_separator: <!--more-->
+---
+
+I'm getting ready to put my MMDVM hotspot back online after a few months. Having not have to set one up from scratch
+in a couple years, I forgot where I used to keep them. When I consulted my local bandplan, I found a surprise.
+
+<!--more-->
+
+Finding a place to use your hotspot used to be a matter of just sticking it somewhere in the simplex and hope it
+didn't interfere with anyone. A lot of people had a nasty habit of slapping them in wrong sections, like in
+EME/weak-signal sections; which angered people who did EME. Another valid option was to stick it in Auxiliary/repeater
+links, provided there wasn't anything actually working there. Technically, the band-plans aren't specified in Part 97
+and aren't law; but for the most part we all abide by it. When I got my hotspot, I ran it up in the sections my local
+bandplan said was for auxiliary/repeater links. This was based on research I did years prior on doing an FM Echolink
+node, which seemed to allude such a device would be an auxiliary station. When I had my full-duplex spot, I ran it
+on what the local coordinator [TMARC](http://www.tmarc.org) called a "Shared Non-Protected Pair". 
+
+That was back in June of 2020, so I hadn't been to their page in quite some time. Not remembering the local band-plan
+I hopped over to their website to get a bit of a refresher. I was shocked to find out that a month later, in July of
+2020; they adopted suggested segments for hotspots on 2m and 70cm. In the case of 70cm they carved out two segments:
+
+- 438.0125 - 438.2875
+	- Indoor antenna, power <100mw
+- 439.800 - 440.000
+	- Outdoor antenna, power > 100mw
+
+Both cover hotspots/radio-over-IP nodes with the latter listing cross-band and other things that can't be coordinated.
+
+While it's probably not that big of a deal in the large scheme of things; it's nice to know they've done something. If
+you run a hotspot, you might want to check your repeater coordinator to see if they've got a recommended spot to run.