To: Federal Communications Commission From William Springer, ILEAS Communications Liaison RE: STA for Airborne Repeater Operation in Illinois ILEAS is participating in an Illinois National Guard state-wide earthquake communications exercise in Illinois on June 5-6, 2023. One of the objectives of this exercise is to validate and train on various methods of long-range radio communications that do not use existing infrastructure-based systems, such as the Starcom21 statewide radio system, cellular, etc. One method that can fill this need is the use of airborne repeaters aboard Civil Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft. We believe that this is a very effective way to quickly provide wide-area radio communications to a wide area during a disaster, such as an earthquake, that degraded or destroyed all other communications infrastructure. We believe that this will be an important part of any disaster communications, as there are approximately 60,000 radios in the state that could potentially make use of this. However, CAP normally uses Federal frequencies for airborne repeaters that civilian agencies aren’t allowed use. ILEAS is requesting a STA to operate a portable 700 MHz repeater from a CAP aircraft during the exercise. This will allow us to train on the use of airborne repeaters, especially with our partners in the Illinois National Guard. The technical operations parameters that we are requesting are: Frequency: 7MOB59 770.89375 / 800.89375 MHz Power: 10 W EIRP Maximum Operational Area: The counties of Bond, Christian, Clinton, Cook, DuPage, Franklin, Grundy, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Logan, Marshall, Montgomery, Perry, Sangamon, Tazwell, Washington, Will, Williamson, and Woodford in Illinois. Maximum Altitude: 5,000 ft. Authorization Period: June 1-15, 2023 Past testing has shown reliable communications out to about 60 miles, with a 70 mile radius possible in the right conditions. We will primarily be operating on June 5-6. 2023, we are requesting the longer time period to allow for short periods of additional testing, or any weather delays. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, William Springer
waspringer@ileas.org 630-386-6038
