The ARRL Letter Vol. 12., No. 10 May 25, 1993 House joins Senate in resolution Amateurs called to letter-writing campaign On May 20 the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in the introduction of a resolution supporting Amateur Radio. H.J. Res. 199 was presented by Rep. Mike Kreidler (D- Wash.) and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) with 12 initial cosponsors. The House resolution is identical in language to the Senate resolution, S.J. Res. 90, detailed in our last issue. The ARRL Board of Directors, at their January, 1993 meeting, prepared the way for the resolutions with a motion by New England Division Director Bill Burden, WB1BRE: "61. "VOTED that our Washington team is authorized to seek formal recognition by the 103rd Congress of the role played by the Amateur Radio Service as a national resource in preparation for and relief from disasters, and for technical progress in electronics." Original co-sponsors of the House resolution were Reps. Thomas of Wyoming; Murtha of Pennsylvania; Mineta, Doolittle, and Gallegly of California; Deutsch and Peterson of Florida; Costello and Evans of Illinois; LaFalce of New York; Barcia of Michigan; and Frost and Coleman of Texas. Now the task is to line up many more cosponsors for both S.J. Res. 90 and H.J.Res.199, as quickly as possible. Mail from home is always important to Senators and Representatives, but never more so than when one is seeking passage of a Joint Resolution. The potential impact of this type of legislation has been diluted in the minds of some Members of Congress by a plethora of resolutions seeking declaration of something like "National Pickle Week." Any potential stigma can be erased by good letters from constituents in support of the resolution; they needn't be long. Reasons for support are contained in the bill itself, perhaps amplified with a personal emergency service episode or a technical contribution of the writer. Your Senators and Representatives are listed in the US Government section of the phone book; if you aren't sure which of several Representatives is yours, just call any of them armed with your zip code. The mailing address for Senators is The Hon. ___________, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510; and for Representatives, the Hon. __________, US House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515. Statement of Rep. Mike Kreidler Mr. KREIDLER. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing, along with my colleague, Representative Jim COOPER of Tennessee, a joint resolution to recognize the achievements of amateur radio operators and to declare that regulatory support for these radio operators should be national policy. This resolution is fully supported by the American Radio Relay League, the principal representative of amateur radio operators who provided invaluable assistance in the development of this joint resolution. I am introducing this resolution because I feel that the amateur radio service must be regognized for the important role it plays when disasters strike. Their role was brought to my attention in January of this year, when a severe windstorm struck western Washington causing damage to trees, buildings, and telephone lines, making public safety and other necessary communications nearly impossible. Fortunately, a group of radio amateurs stepped in to handle important messages for the authorities and public until communications were back to normal. This was not an isolated incident. In disasters like Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, Typhoon Iniki, the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the Mt. St. Helens eruption, ham operators have been there to help. Amateur radio operators have also provided an important service internationally, in the face of other types of disasters. I was pleased, although not surprised, to see that many recent reports from war-torn Bosnia have been transmitted by amateur radio operators. They have played a crucial role in keeping the lines of communications open -- literally -- for citizens of the former Yugoslavia. I have recently discovered that the help offered by amateur radio operators in these emergencies is not the walkie-talkie communications you may think of when you hear the term "ham" radio operators. In fact, the technologies they use are highly sophisticated. For example, they've been very active in the development and use of low earth orbit satellite technology. It is about time for the Congress to recognize these achievements. With about 600,000 licensed amateur radio operators licensed in the United States alone, I'm sure that every Member of the House has had similarly favorable experiences with the amateur community and will support this resolution. FCC outlines plan for clubs, military stations The ARRL has written to the FCC's Private Radio Bureau that it is "ready, willing and able to participate as the Club and Military Recreation Station Call Sign Administrator" and has requested that the Commission enter into an agreement with the League to that end. The League further reiterated reasons for its belief that the magnitude of the task justifies limiting the service to just one Administrator. This comes as the FCC has now amended its amateur service rules to provide for volunteer organizations to administer a system designed to provide special call signs to club and military recreation stations. This action was authorized by the Telecommunications Authorization Act of 1992 and will take effect July 19, 1993. Organizations selected for the new system will be known as "Club and Military Recreation Station Call Sign Administrators." An administrator must enter into a written agreement with the FCC and public notices will be issued listing the administrators. To be an administrator, the organization must exist for the purpose of furthering the amateur service. Its membership must include at least one percent of the amateur operators licensed by the FCC, and it must be capable of serving as an administrator in all places where the amateur service is regulated by the FCC. An administrator must agree to accept and process all properly-completed license application forms from the trustees of club stations and from the custodians of military recreation stations without regard to race, sex, religion, national origin or membership (or lack thereof) in any amateur service organization. The organization cannot charge a fee or accept any form of reimbursement for services provided as an administrator. Within 10 days of receiving an application, an administrator must provide the FCC's licensing facility at Gettysburg, Pa., with the actual license document, including the call sign. The document must be ready for endorsement and mailing. Each administrator will be assigned initially a block of call signs having a two-letter prefix from the NA-NZ "by three" series. An example of a block would be NA1AAA through NA0ZZZ. There are 26 possible blocks. The administrator must issue public announcements detailing the policies and procedures of its call sign system. Dates for accepting applications from potential administrators will be announced by FCC Public Notice. Court upholds FCC fines for indecency A federal court judge in Washington, D.C., has found for the Federal Communications Commission in a lawsuit in which the ARRL supported the FCC. The suit, brought by Action for Children's Television and 20 other broadcasting and public-interest organizations, challenged the FCC's monetary forfeiture procedures in indecency cases. The League's interest in the matter, the ARRL said in a friend-of- the-court brief, was to protect the interests of radio amateurs in effective FCC enforcement. On May 18, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted an FCC motion to deny the plaintiffs' request that all indecency forfeiture proceedings currently before the FCC be dismissed, and also granted a Commission motion to dismiss the major complainants in the lawsuit for "lack of standing." In addition, Judge Lamberth granted the FCC's motion to deny the two other major motions sought by the plaintiffs: 1. To find that the review procedures now used by the FCC cannot constitutionally be used to adjudicate alleged indecency violations under federal law; and 2. To enjoin the FCC from initiating or conducting forfeiture proceedings for alleged violations of federal law concerning indecency. Judge Landreth concluded that while indecent speech is fully protected by the First Amendment, broadcasters enjoy only limited First Amendment protection because they are a scarce public resource that the government requires be used in the public interest. The FCC definition of indecency has been upheld in the courts and serves only to channel such broadcasts to certain times of the day, not to ban them entirely. "This court will not construe the FCC forfeiture scheme as a system of censorship when that system only operates for two- thirds of the broadcasting day," Judge Landreth concluded. ARRL SUPPORTS CHANGES IN HF DIGITAL RULES The ARRL has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission on its petition to change the amateur rules regarding digital communications below 30 MHz. That petition, RM-8218, made on February 1, 1993, on recommendations of the League's Digital Committee, proposed specific HF subbands for automatically controlled data communications, including third-party messages. The League in its comments, filed May 17, recognized additional input from interested amateurs since the February 1 petition, but said that those comments went a step further than RM-8218 proposed. The League asked that its current petition be considered now, as originally presented, leaving further changes to be addressed later. Meanwhile, the ARRL Digital Committee has submitted a further report on the subject to the Board of Directors for consideration at their meeting in July. The committee's deliberations were reported in *The ARRL Letter* for April 13, 1993. The League's current petition was based on the experience of a group of amateurs using automatic control on HF under a Special Temporary Authorization originally granted in 1987, as well as on a survey of interested amateurs published in *QST* which produced more than 500 responses. One thing that survey indicated was significant opposition to allowing automatically controlled data stations *random* use of frequencies within the HF bands. A final extension of the ARRL's STA continues while RM-8218 is being considered. SM 'Spectrum auctions' portend little effect on amateurs The matter of possible "auctions" of radio spectrum has been in the news lately, as negotiations for the U.S. budget for Fiscal Year 1994 (which begins October 1, 1993) continue. This budget is, according to ARRL Washington Area Coordinator Perry Williams, W1UED, partially based on income arising from competitive bidding for spectrum assignments. To make this budget item work, Congress must approve a change in the Communications Act. "Congress makes the laws (Williams writes), setting a framework within which the Federal Communications Commission (and other Governmental agencies) must operate. Within that framework, the FCC may construct further regulations, following the scheme set down by the Congress in the Administrative Procedures Act. For communications, the main law is the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. "The House Energy and Commerce Committee has among its tasks the drafting of legislation affecting telecommunications. In this particular instance, the action is part of an overall Budget Reconciliation Act, a mammoth bill (not yet assigned an H.R. number) being worked on by most Congressional committees within their respective areas of expertise. "At some point, when each of the committees has completed its part, the reconciliation bill will come to the floor of the House for vote. "The Senate must also approve a reconciliation bill. If there are differences between House and Senate bills, a Committee of Conference will work them out. Both houses must concur in the final result which then goes to the President. If he signs the bill, it becomes a public law and is binding on the FCC and on you and me. "The 'auction' language does not seem to be a cause for alarm to the Amateur Radio Service. An important section of the legislation approved by the Commerce Committee reads: "'USES TO WHICH BIDDING MAY APPLY -- A use of the electromagnetic spectrum is described in this paragraph if the Commission determines that -- "'(A) the principal use of such spectrum will involve, or is reasonably likely to involve, the licensee receiving compensation from subscribers in return . . .' "This section would seem to rule out bidding for amateur frequencies, police and fire department frequencies, broadcast frequencies, and even for nationwide internal-use systems such as the one that the United Parcel Service (UPS) was contemplating for itself. "The proposed new personal communications services (PCS) and land-mobile systems of either a private or common carrier nature would apparently be subject to the proposed bidding process. "Another bill of interest is the Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1993 (ETTA). Under this bill, the Government would be required to turn over a total of 200 MHz of its frequencies below 6 GHz for the FCC to use in fostering new technology. Since amateurs derive 95% of their spectrum from sharing with Government stations, there is some potential danger to the Amateur Radio Service. "The Senate version of ETTA, S.335, contains language protecting the Amateur Radio Service from harm, but the House version, H.R.707, does not. Like the auction bill, ETTA has also been incorporated in the Commerce Committee's piece of the Budget Reconciliation Act. "Needless to say, the ARRL Washington team will be keeping a close watch on the whole process," Williams said. SM ELECTION RESULTS Ballots have been counted in Section Manager elections for New Hampshire, Northern New Jersey, San Joaquin Valley and Utah for terms of office beginning July 1, 1993. The results are as follows: New Hampshire: Rob Boyd, N1CIR, 257; Alan Shuman, N1FIK, 279. Shuman was declared elected. Northern New Jersey: Richard Moseson, NW2L, 882; Jack Wilk, N2DXP, 263. Moseson was declared elected. San Joaquin Valley: Mike Siegel, KI6PR, 360; James Wakefield, AH6CO, 223; Siegel was declared elected. Utah: Richard Fisher, NS7K, 234; Jerry Wellman, WB7ULH, 145; Fisher was declared elected. Four other Sections were not contested and the following were declared elected: Maryland/DC Section, William Howard, WB3V; Nevada, Joseph Lambert, W8IXD; Rhode Island, Rick Fairweather, K1KYI; West Texas, Milly Wise, W5OVH. FRENCH SATELLITE LAUNCHED BUT IT SUFFERS PROBLEMS The French ARSENE packet radio satellite was launched May 12 from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana and successfully placed in final orbit on May 17, but is not yet operational. The satellite's 2-meter downlink is not yet working and at presstime ground technicians continue efforts to isolate the problem. ARSENE's S-band downlink does work, but all amateurs are asked not to attempt to use the satellite until further notice. If the 2-meter downlink is not fixed, the satellite may still be usable in a manner similar to Oscar 13 Mode S (435 MHz up, 12.4 GHz down). ARSENE was designed to function as a packet relay, similar to a digipeater. More information is in February 1993 *QST*, page 97. FAKE SOS BRINGS SENTENCE, LOSS OF LICENSE FOR HAM A former Amateur Extra Class licensee has been sentenced for making fake distress transmissions on 14.313 MHz. Fifty-year-old Jorge Mestre, ex-NS3K, of Fairfax, Virginia, had pled guilty in February to knowingly and willfully communicating false distress signals on August 7, 1992. At that time he made a plea agreement to surrender his FCC amateur license, dispose of his Amateur Radio equipment within 60 days, and make immediate restitution of $50,000 to the U.S. Coast Guard. At sentencing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., Mestre was given one year probation on condition of his serving 60 days home confinement, ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, and to pay a $50 special assessment. Mestre could have received a fine of up to $250,000 and up to 6 years imprisonment. In April the ARRL Executive Committee, after consultation with local counsel, advised Mestre that the conduct which had resulted in his pleading guilty was "so egregious, and so contrary to the purposes of the ARRL, that it would appear to be in the best interests of the organization to terminate your membership." Mestre subsequently resigned his League membership. More information is in April, 1993 *QST*, page 79. FCC ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF CABLE SYSTEM TESTS The FCC has announced the results of a recent project to enforce its cable television leakage standards. In March 1993, the Commission's Enforcement Division focused on cable systems which could pose a danger to public service radio communications, such as aeronautical. According to the Commission, the March sweep included monitoring 321 cable TV systems, visiting eight systems to "discuss operator measurements," and the closing down of one system for violating the FCC's Cumulative Leakage Index (CLI) limit. This project was in addition to the FCC's ongoing monitoring by its field offices nationwide. In addition, the FCC sent letters to 1,550 cable TV operators, issued 112 complimentary letters to "clean" systems, and issued 73 violation letters. The effort was directed at all areas of the country, the Commission said. The system which was closed was found to have a small number of significant leaks, according to the FCC's Jeffrey Young. Most system violations of the CLI are due to the additive effect of a large number of small leaks, Young said. The FCC plans another monitoring project later this year, on a random basis, to gauge the effect of its enforcement and education efforts, Young said. ARRL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING HIGHLIGHTS Here are some highlights of the ARRL Executive Committee's May 8 meeting. The full minutes will appear in July *QST*. (10) Mr. Sumner presented an interim report of an ARRL Headquarters task force which is analyzing the results of a survey of radio amateurs in the U.S. conducted for ARRL late last year. The task force has been working for about two months, and has formed six working groups and two ad hoc groups to study various aspects of why radio amateurs do or do not become, or remain, members of ARRL. Several innovations and changes in membership benefits and services are under consideration. Once studies are complete, the task force recommendations that are within the purview of staff will be implemented and those with policy or budget implications will be presented to the Board for its consideration. (11.1) An FCC news release announcing action in PR Docket 92-154, bringing Novice examinations into the VEC program, was issued just prior to the meeting. After discussion, on motion of Mr. Harrison, it was voted that it shall be the policy of ARRL/VEC to waive examination fees for Elements 1A and 2. (11.3) With regard to PR Docket 93-85, control operator responsibility, after discussion, on motion of Mr. Mendelsohn, the Executive Committee directed that comments be filed supporting the easing of the rules that now hold each control operator in a message-forwarding system fully and equally responsible for message content, as well as the control operator of a repeater. The comments will propose that in the case of a message forwarding system, the responsibility of the "first forwarder" should be defined as establishing, with reasonable certainty, the identity of the originating amateur station; if such cannot be determined, the first forwarder would assume responsibility for the message content. The comments also will propose a modified definition for "repeater" which is to be developed by an informal working group consisting of Messrs. Mendelsohn, Imlay, Rinaldo, and Sumner. (11.6) PR Docket 93-61, expansion of automatic vehicle monitoring at 902-928 MHz, was discussed. On motion of Mr. Mendelsohn, the following resolution was adopted: "Whereas, the 902-928 MHz band represents a unique spectrum opportunity, and whereas, Amateur Radio continues to be in the forefront of technology, it is resolved that Counsel seek a primary allocation in the 902-928 MHz band and attempt to work out sharing arrangements elsewhere in the band as may be practicable." (11.13) Mr. Rinaldo presented a written report he had prepared with Senior Engineer Jon Bloom, KE3Z, on defining digital codes for HF amateur use. On motion of Mendelsohn, staff was directed to initiate discussions with the FCC seeking relief from existing restrictions on digital codes. BRIEFS * The next SAREX mission, STS-57, is scheduled for launch June 3 for a 7-day mission. The pilot is SAREX veteran Brian Duffy, N5WQW. The usual 2-meter voice and packet operations are planned; interested amateurs should check W1AW for the latest information. At presstime eight schools were scheduled to participate, in Arkansas, Illinois, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, South Carolina, and two in California. For more information contact the ARRL Educational Activities Department. * The Russian newspaper *Patriot* has published a new list of call sign prefixes for amateurs in countries of the former USSR. The following appeared in the April 22 column "On the Amateur Bands," by Boris Stepanov, UW3AX, who attributed the information to UA3AF: Armenia -- EK; Azerbaydzhan -- 4J; Belarus -- EU, EV, EW; Georgia -- 4L; Kazakhstan -- UN, UO, UP, UQ; Moldova -- ER; Kyrgyzstan -- EX; Russia -- R, UA to UI, 4K; Tadzhikistan -- EY; Turkmeniya -- EZ; Ukraine -- UJ to UM, UR to UZ, EM, EO. Uzbekistan was missing from the list. There was no indication of implementation dates nor what would be the status of current call signs that do not conform to this outline. (Thanks to Dexter Anderson, W4KM). * The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has activated a new HF beacon transmittter, in Sveio, Norway, as part of a world-wide HF field strength measurement campaign. The new beacon was provided by the Norwegian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Norwegian Telecom, and joins a similar beacon station on the air from Australia since 1990. LN2A operates 24 hours a day, 1 kW on CW to a 5-band trap vertical antenna. VK4IPS in Brisbane, Australia, also operates 24 hours a day, running 1 kW to an omni-directional spiral antenna. The schedule of frequencies in kHz for both is as follows: Time (min past hr) VK4IPS LN2A 00 20 40 5,470 14,405 04 24 44 7,870 20,945 08 28 48 10,407 5,470 12 32 52 14,405 7,870 16 36 56 20,945 10,407 * Clarification: In Letter No. 9 we reported that Bill Moore, KF5DL, was the only person to die in tornadoes that struck Tulsa, Oklahoma April 24. He was the only *Tulsa resident* to die in the storm; several highway commuters from other areas died on a nearby interstate highway. * Congratulations to ARRL Headquarters receptionist and switchboard operator Penny Harts, N1NAG, who has just celebrated her 25th anniversary on the staff. Penny's tenure is second only to Perry Williams, W1UED (who's nearing 40 years of service). * W1AW has an opening for a station operator. This is a great opportunity for a motivated young person to come to Connecticut to work and live. You need a General class or (preferably) higher amateur license, good people skills (W1AW gets *lots* of visitors), and familiarity with IBM compatible personal computers. Starting pay rate is $17,433-19,188 per year. If you are interested, contact Station Manager Jeff Bauer, WA1MBK. * Here are some recent DX operations for which DXCC approval has been granted: S21ZK (operations beginning 6 March, 1993); T53UN (20 March, 1992); 6O/G3KOX (14 December, 1992); T5/KF6BL (26 December, 1992); T55FO (6 January, 1993); T5CB (31 January, 1993); T5/K3OQF (21 February, 1993); YI9CW (July, 1992); 5X1A (4 March, 1993); 5X1B (12 March, 1993); 5X1C (29 April,1993); 5X1XT (26 April, 1993); 9G1AA (24 March, 1993); *eof