QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/files/arrl/hiram/ltr12n21.txt

Text File | 1994-11-27 | 25KB | 487 lines

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 12, No. 21
November 10, 1993

Executive Committee hears status report; numerous proposals await
action at FCC

On the burner:

*  Instant license
*  Wind profilers
*  219-220 MHz
*  Weak sig segment
*  902 MHz users
*  Club call signs
*  Quiet zone
*  Message content
*  Automatic control
*  Digital codes
*  RF exposure
*  PRB-1
*  VEC fees


     When the ARRL Executive Committee met on October 30 in
Memphis it heard a report from General Counsel Chris Imlay,
N3AKD, on the status of a number of proposals before the Federal
Communications Commission. 1993 has been an exceptionally busy
year for such proposals affecting amateurs, who now await the
outcome. Here's a rundown of just a portion of this lengthy
Executive Committee meeting:

*Wind profiler radars*

     ET Docket 93-59 is a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, issued
in April, 1993, to allocate 449 MHz for non-government wind
profiler radar systems; a Notice of Inquiry seeks comment as to
whether such systems should be accommodated at 915 MHz.
     Imlay told the Executive Committee that the ARRL "continues
to seek recognition of ongoing amateur requirements in any
implementation of wind profiler radar systems."

*Allocation at 219-220 MHz*

     ET Docket 93-40 is an FCC proposal, based on an ARRL
petition made in 1991, to allocate 219-220 MHz for limited
amateur operations on a secondary basis. Action on this proposal
is expected around March 1994, Imlay said.
     The League has told the FCC that the one MHz of spectrum is
urgently needed by amateurs for packet radio backbone networks
and other point-to-point communications, which are distressed
from the loss two years ago of 220-222 MHz. The Commission has
proposed measures to ensure that such amateur operations do not
cause interference to primary operations in and adjacent to the
219-220 MHz band.
     The 216-218 and 219-220 MHz bands currently are occupied on
a primary basis by the maritime mobile service for Automated
Maritime Telecommunications Systems (AMTS) and the 218-219 MHz
band is allocated on a primary basis to Interactive Video and
Data Services (IVDS).
     In 1991 the ARRL and Waterway Communication Systems
(Watercom, an AMTS service) had suggested mandatory coordination
of amateur operations, but the FCC said such an arrangement would
not be permissible under the Communications Act.
     Since then, the League has held detailed consultations with
Watercom and is confident as a result that amateur point-to-point
operations can be "engineered in" the 219-220 band without
harmful interference to AMTS operations.
     While the FCC has concluded that amateur access to the 216-
219 MHz range is not feasible because of potential interference
to other point-to-point services, and to TV channel 13, it does
support amateur use of 219-220, saying it believes amateurs have
the technical expertise to design their packet systems to operate
in the 219-220 MHz band without interference to other services.
     In reply comments to this NPRM filed in July, the League
said that it hoped that experience in the new 219-220 band,
should it be allocated to amateurs, might lead to the
consideration of additional frequency sharing by amateurs in the
remainder of the 216-220 MHz range in certain geographic areas,
depending on the development of IVDS and other advanced
television systems.
     The Executive Committee agreed to support an effort to plan
a high speed, nationwide digital communications network that
would use this band where it is available, and other connections
where it is not (e.g., in the area of the Mississippi River and
its tributaries).
     Because FCC action on the new band is expected next year,
amateur planning would have to begin immediately, so the EC
instructed President Wilson to appoint an ad hoc committee to
develop and recommend such a plan. The committee will be asked to
give an interim report to the Board at its January, 1994 meeting,
and a final report to the EC at its first meeting in 1994 (after
the board meeting).

*Threat to 902 MHz band*

     In May 1993, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
to allow the  expansion of automotive vehicle monitoring (AVM)
systems by creating a new location and monitoring service (LMS)
in the 902-928 MHz band. Amateurs currently share this band with
government radiolocation, fixed, mobile, and other services, and
the FCC said in making its proposal that AVMs could "lead to
rapid congestion of available spectrum."
     The FCC asked potential LMS users whether "they believe it
possible to establish reliable LMS systems considering the number
and diversity of other users of this band," and if not, it asked
for possible solutions "short of removing Part 15 users and
amateur operations from the band."
     In comments made in July the ARRL said more study was needed
to determine if the already-crowded 902-928 MHz band could
accommodate yet another service, namely AVM, when the Commission
already was proposing to add wind profiler radars there.
     Expansion of AVM/LMS in the band would "significantly
reduce" its utility for amateurs at a time when they are
increasingly looking to the band in the face of "intense growth"
of Amateur Radio licensees and the "concurrent saturation" of the
lower UHF and VHF amateur allocations," the League said in reply
comments made in July.
     General Counsel Imlay told the EC that this proposal had
"encountered opposition from a number of other sources in
addition to the ARRL."
     The ARRL plans to file a petition seeking a primary
allocation for the Amateur Service in a portion of the 902-MHz
band, as authorized by the board of directors.

*Club call sign program*

     Last July the FCC began accepting applications for "Club and
Military Recreation Station Call Sign Administrators," after a
change in Commission rules allowed it to use qualified volunteer
organizations as administrators of the new program.
     Several groups applied, including the ARRL. The League gave
the FCC several reasons why it felt only one administrator of the
program should be appointed, and why the ARRL was the logical
choice for the job. The League later said that the applications
of several groups were defective.
     Complaints -- "motions to strike" -- against the ARRL were
filed by the W5YI-VEC Inc. and the National Amateur Radio
Association. The League challenged those motions to strike, and
continued to urge the FCC to name an administrator for the
program.
     Meanwhile, the FCC's Order, enabling the acceptance of
applications and the program itself, was questioned in a petition
for reconsideration filed by David Popkin, W2CC. Popkin argued
that the Commission erred in not providing an opportunity for
public comment before amending its rules.
     The issue now has been further complicated by the
possibility that the FCC may soon be able to institute a "vanity
call sign" program, enabling the Commission to charge a fee for
the issuance of specific call signs -- which could include clubs
and military stations.
     Imlay told the EC that the Popkin petition will likely delay
implementation of the call sign administrator program for some
time.

*Puerto Rico "quiet zone"*

     In November 1992, Cornell University filed a Petition for
Rule Making that would create a radio "quiet zone" around its
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
     The ARRL opposed the petition, saying that the petition was
vague in a number of aspects; that no technical criteria were
proposed for the evaluation of possible interference to the
observatory by amateur repeaters, and that no basis for what
Cornell's petition called "appropriate action" was specified.
     The League also said that the Cornell petition failed to
address what degree of protection should be accorded, made no
distinction about what radio services might or might not be
potential sources of interference, and did not take into account
that planned upgrades to the antenna at Arecibo would tend to
*reduce* received interference.
     The League said that the nature of amateur repeater stations
made it highly unlikely that they would interfere with a
radiotelescope, at any rate, and suggested that Cornell work with
local repeater or frequency coordinators to obtain information
concerning amateur repeaters.
     Imlay reported to the Executive Committee that Cornell has
now filed reply comments to its own petition, suggesting that the
University has worked out an informal arrangement with Puerto
Rico amateurs. To date, the FCC has taken no action on the
Cornell petition.

*Message content responsibility*

     August 1 was the deadline for reply comments to an FCC NPRM
issued in March that would change the responsibility for the
content of amateur messages relayed by high-speed networks.
     The action, in PR Docket 93-85, came in response to a number
of petitions for rule making, and would establish "a compliance
policy for amateur stations participating in automatic message
forwarding systems, to hold the licensee of the station
originating a message and the licensee of the first forwarding
station primarily accountable for violative communications."
     The ARRL supported the proposal as an improvement on the
present situation, saying only that better definitions of "first
forwarder" and of "repeater station" were needed.
     No action has been taken on this proposal.

*HF automatic control*
     There also has been no FCC action with regard to petitions
concerning automatic control on HF, RM-8218 and RM-8280.

*RF exposure guidelines*

     Earlier this year the FCC proposed changing its guidelines
for evaluating environmental RF radiation, to reflect the
guidelines adopted in 1992 by the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers, Inc. (IEEE).
     The new ANSI guidelines were more specific about proximity
to RF fields and placed stricter limitations on automatic
exclusions for low-power devices, such as hand-held radios and
telephones, based on operating power.
     At its meeting the Executive Committee authorized General
Counsel Imlay to file comments in ET Docket 93-62, the FCC Notice
of Proposed Rule Making to implement the ANSI guidelines.
     The Executive Committee expressed concern over the lack of
specific text in the NPRM and guidelines for commenting on it.
The League will argue that while the subject deserves serious
attention, it has always been ARRL policy to urge "prudent
avoidance of prolonged exposure to unnecessarily high levels of
RF energy."
     The League will argue for a categorical exemption of amateur
stations.

*Licensing of foreigners*

     Imlay told the EC that an FCC proposal for the temporary
licensing of foreign radio amateurs on the basis of an
examination of their qualifications by Volunteer Examiners (PR
Docket 92-167), is still pending but is "expected to be dismissed
without action."
     The League had responded to this proposal by saying it
believed an "International Amateur Radio Permit," similar to that
already in effect in much of Europe, would be more desirable.
International Affairs Vice President Larry Price, W4RA, reported
to the EC that an initiative drafted for the International
Amateur Radio Union by ARRL staff is working its way through
CITEL, the organization of telecommunications administrations in
the western hemisphere; once adopted by CITEL it could be placed
on the agenda of a future World Radiocommunication Conference.

*More teeth to PRB-1*

     President Wilson, at the direction of the EC, appointed a
committee to examine how best to pursue an expansion and
clarification of PRB-1, the preemption of state and local
regulations by federal (FCC) law. First Vice President Rod
Stafford, KB6ZV, and Rocky Mountain Division Director Marshall
Quiat, AG0X, were named to the committee. Both are lawyers.

*Lifetime operator license*

     At its July 1993 meeting, the Board directed the General
Counsel to file a petition seeking a lifetime operator's license
for radio amateurs. Imlay said that filing will be made soon.

*Concerns about enforcement*

     Imlay said he will meet with FCC staff concerning
enforcement cases in the Amateur Service, to express the concerns
of amateur volunteers who play an active role in assisting the
FCC in locating offenders on the amateur bands.

*VEC fees*

     The ARRL has received an FCC request for financial details
of its VEC program, as have other VECs. Executive Vice President
David Sumner, K1ZZ, confirmed for the EC that the cost of
administration of the ARRL VEC program significantly exceeds the
amount of examination fees collected, and would still exceed the
fees collected even if fees were charged for examination elements
1(A) and 2 (Novice exam elements).
     This stems from a complaint filed with the FCC by the W5YI
Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), asking that the ARRL-VEC be
forced to change its policy and begin charging for administering
Novice class examinations. The W5YI-VEC argued that the issue is
one of "uniformity," claiming that ARRL benefits financially from
giving free exams.
     The League responded that "VECs have always had the latitude
to set their own fees. We see no compelling federal interest in
whether or not a class of nine year olds ought to be charged for
taking an entry-level exam."

*Shortage of call signs*

     Available preferred call signs for Amateur Extra Class
licensees ("Group A") have run out in Puerto Rico, Alaska, and
Hawaii, and such call signs are about to run out for Advanced
class ("Group B") in Hawaii.
     The EC authorized the General Counsel to present a proposal
to the FCC that would make more preferred call signs available in
these areas. The letter was sent November 4. In short, it suggest
making numerals other than "7" available for Alaska call signs,
the numeral 3 available for Puerto Rico ("3" was originally
allocated for Serrana Bank and Roncador Cay but is no longer
needed), and the numeral 7 for Hawaii (with a distinctive suffix
for Kure Island).

STATION LOCATION DROPPED FROM FCC LICENSE FORMS

     Effective November 15, 1993, the FCC will no longer require
that a station location be shown on amateur license applications,
nor on applications for reciprocal operating permits.
     The Commission, in an Order adopted September 24, said that
because portable and mobile equipment is now so often used by
amateurs, a station's location often changes, sometimes even
daily.
     The FCC also said that deleting the station location
requirement would expedite the processing of license
applications. They said that since this rule amendment is not
likely to be controversial and that it is a "nonsubstantive"
change in licensing procedures, no notice and comment period was
needed.
     The amended FCC Rule "Section 97.21 Mailing Address" will
be:
     "Each application for an amateur service license and each
application for a reciprocal permit for alien amateur licensee
must show a mailing address in an area where the amateur service
is regulated by the FCC. The mailing address must be one where
the licensee can receive mail delivery by the United States
Postal Service."

FCC OKs ANNUAL CHANGE IN ALLOWABLE TEST FEE

     The FCC has announced that effective January 1, 1994, the
maximum allowable reimbursement fee for an amateur operator
license examination will be $5.75, up from the current $5.60.
     As before, volunteer examiners and volunteer examiner
coordinators may charge examinees for out-of-pocket expenses
incurred in preparing, processing, administering, or coordinating
examinations for amateur operator licenses.  The amount of any
such reimbursement fee from any one examinee for any one
examination session, regardless of the number of elements
administered, must not exceed the maximum allowable fee.
     Where the VE and the VEC both wish to be reimbursed, they
jointly decide on a fair distribution of the fee.
     The ARRL VEC will begin charging $5.75 after the new FCC
allowable fee becomes effective.

REPEATER TRUSTEE FINED; AWAITS OUTCOME OF APPEAL

     The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to William
A. Krause, WA2HDE, the trustee of a 220 MHz repeater in New York
City.  The repeater was found to be transmitting for several days
in August on 243 MHz, a Federal Aviation Administration frequency
used for emergency locator transmitters.
     The FCC's NAL called the violation "willful and repeated."
Krause, an engineer, said that the repeater, a 10-year-old
commercial unit, developed a malfunction that caused it to emit a
very weak signal on 243 MHz when its transmitter was unkeyed.  He
said the repeater was checked out on a regular basis.
     The FCC said that the violation was "minimally occurring" on
three days, August 30, 31, and September 1, and that the FAA had
said the "unauthorized signal" also had occurred on August 26-29.
     The NAL was issued September 30; Krause responded on October
21, saying "I at no time willfully transmitted on any frequency
that I am not authorized for. I was shocked to hear that there
was any problem at all, much less one of such a nature."
     Krause told the FCC "I have always made measurements of the
transmitter in the transmitting mode and would never have found
this problem unless pointed out" (the spurious signals were
present only when the repeater was in *receive* mode -- ed).
     Krause pointed out that this was his first offense and asked
the FCC not to impose the fine.

SHUTTLE HAMS CONGRATULATE COUNTERPARTS ON THE GROUND

     SAREX space shuttle flight STS-58 landed November 1 after a
shuttle record-breaking 13 days in orbit. All 17 scheduled
contacts with schools -- via Amateur Radio -- were completed,
with 15 successful on the first try. ARRL Headquarters had
received 162 QSLs for the flight before it even landed!
     Near the end of the flight those hams tuning in to the
shuttle's robot packet beacon found the following message from
the crew:
     "W5RRR-1*>QST  We are in the middle of Flight Day 13.
Tomorrow we will begin preparation for deorbit, entry, and
landing.
     "To those of you who have attempted a QSO, the STS-58 crew
is eternally grateful. Congratulations to those who have
succeeded.  To those who were not successful, thanks for trying
and better luck during a future mission. The Shuttle Amateur
Radio Experiment is successful only due to your efforts.
     "... Flying in space is truly an honor and I am pleased and
proud that amateur radio is part of the human exploration of
space. 73, KC5ACR (Bill McArthur), KC5AXA (Martin Fettman),
KC5CKM (Richard Searfoss)."

DALLAS HAM PLEADS GUILTY TO INTERFERENCE CHARGES

     A Technician Class licensee has admitted to interfering with
a restaurant's wireless intercom.
     On October 27 Terry Van Sickle, WB5WXI, of Dallas, entered a
plea bargain in U.S. District Court in Dallas, saying that
between January, 1992 and at least August 22, 1993, he would
"broadcast his voice over the drive-thru speaker and interrupt
the customer's order and willfully interfere with the authorized
and licensed radio communications of the restaurant on its
assigned frequency."
     Van Sickle, 34 and a TV news photographer, admitted to at
times being "accompanied and aided by an acquaintance," who was
not identified in court papers and has not been charged.
     The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation on a complaint from a McDonald's eatery in suburban
Dallas. Van Sickle agreed to the surrender of evidence seized by
the FBI, which included radio equipment from his vehicle.
     Van Sickle is scheduled for sentencing January 12, and could
face a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

Temporary operating authority plan detailed

     The Executive Committee awaited the issuance by the FCC of a
Notice of Proposed Rule Making, to grant temporary operating
authority to unlicensed persons who pass the examination for a
new amateur operator license.
         A few days after the meeting, on November 4, the NPRM
surfaced -- PR 93-267.
     The temporary authorization would begin when the exam is
passed and an application for a license is filed, and last until
a full-term license is received from the FCC (but not more than
120 days), provided that the person is not a previous licensee
whose license was revoked or suspended for less than the balance
of the license term and is not subject to an active Amateur
Radio-related cease-and-desist order.
     The temporary authority would cease immediately if the
application is returned without action, and no temporary
authority would be granted if the operation of the station might
have a "significant environmental effect."
     Those operating under the proposed new rules would use call
signs determined by the initials of their name and by their
mailing address.  The prefix for each such call sign would be WZ
followed by a number indicating the appropriate Volunteer
Examiner Coordinator region, the person's initials, and a two-
letter indicator of the class of license being exercised. For
example, WZ12ABC/KT.
     The Commission said it believes this system would reduce the
approximately 11,000 inquiries it receives each year from amateur
license applicants about the status of their application.
     Imlay told the EC (before the NPRM) that it is not known how
the Commission proposes to minimize the obvious opportunities for
abuse of such a system. The NPRM when it appeared did not mention
this subject.
     The League is on record as preferring to see Commission
resources devoted to the implementation of electronic filing and
other measures to minimize the turnaround time for the processing
of applications.
     The comment deadline for this NPRM is January 10, 1994;
reply comment deadline is February 10, 1994.
     For the full text of this NPRM send an SASE to the
Regulatory Information Branch at ARRL Headquarters and ask for PR
Docket 93-267.  ARRL members are encouraged to express their
views on this proposal to their division director.
     More on this subject was in the last *The ARRL Letter*.

*10 years ago in *The ARRL Letter*

     The historic space shuttle flight of Owen Garriott, W5LFL,
topped the news as amateurs awaited the first ham radio from
space. STS-9's launch was delayed until November 28 and because
many of the times when Amateur Radio was scheduled coincided with
the shuttle's ham antenna's pointing away from the earth, there
was some trepidation that two-way contacts would be few.
     *The ARRL Letter* co-editors Pete O'Dell, KB1N, and Wayne
Yoshida, KH6WZ, announced they would be in Houston at the Johnson
Space Center during the flight to provide information for W1AW
bulletins.
     The *Letter* also reported on mop-up operations following
the U.S. invasion of Grenada, saying that a replacement for a
repeater on the island (destroyed during the military operation)
had been procured and sent through ARRL efforts. And Arizona
Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, mentioned Amateur Radio's role in
communications out of Grenada in the Senate.
     Sen. Goldwater also introduced legislation that would permit
recovery of out-of-pocket expenses by volunteer examiners; the VE
program was not yet in place, and ARRL representatives were
meeting with the FCC to iron out VE question pools and other
details.
     About the same time, the FCC announced its 1984 examination
schedule for amateurs. The *Letter* called the schedule "bad
news" for amateurs looking to upgrade; FCC field offices would
give exams only quarterly, and there would be no walk-ins or late
filers, the FCC requiring appointments be made a month before the
scheduled exam date.

*eof