QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/files/arrl/hiram/ltr13n1.txt

Text File | 1994-11-27 | 21KB | 398 lines

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 13, No. 1
January 10, 1994

Lifetime operator license sought

     The ARRL on January 6, 1994, petitioned the FCC to make
Amateur Radio operator licenses valid for a lifetime.
     The League said in its petition that there is nothing in the
Communications Act of 1934 that would prevent such a license term
for amateurs, and that a lifetime operator's license would allow
inactive amateurs to return to the Service at the same class of
license without the necessity for retesting.
     The League believes that the number of amateurs who would
benefit from such a lifetime license would be "relatively
substantial."
     The League said that under the current 10-year license term,
with a two-year grace period, it already is possible for
relatively inactive amateurs to remain licensed for long periods
of inactivity. There is no practical difference, the League said,
between such a person and one who allows his or her license to
expire and later wants to again become involved in Amateur Radio.
     This proposal would apply only to operator licenses; station
licenses would still, by law, be limited to 10-year terms. A
person with a lifetime operator license but no station license
would not be permitted to operate a station of his own (but would
be permitted to operate from the station of another amateur).
     The League said that nothing in this proposal should have
any effect on the call sign issuance program either as it
currently exists or as proposed (the "vanity" call sign program).
     The League also said it was not proposing to make this rule
change retroactive at this time, but, rather, to extend currently
held operator licenses from 10 years to lifetime.

Call sign committee named, input sought on FCC proposal

     In response to an FCC proposal to create a "vanity" call
sign program for radio amateurs, ARRL President George Wilson,
W4OYI, has appointed an ad-hoc committee to develop a recommended
position for the entire board to consider. Members of the
committee are Directors Steve Mendelsohn, WA2DHF (chairman);
Frank Butler, W4RH; Tom Comstock, N5TC; John Kanode, N4MM; and
Brad Wyatt, K6WR.
     On December 28, 1993, the FCC released its Notice of
Proposed Rule Making, in PR Docket 93-305, to permit amateurs to
choose a "vanity" call sign. Individuals as well as trustees of
club stations would be eligible to request an available call sign
from the block assigned to their license class or a lower license
class.
     A fee would be required. The Communications Act specifies a
fee of $7 per year for amateur service "vanity" call signs, and
allows the Commission to require payment of small fees in advance
for a number of years not to exceed the relevant license term, so
an initial cost of $70 is possible. Fee issues would be resolved
under a separate FCC rule making proceeding, and a "vanity" call
sign system would not be started until then, the FCC said.
     The applicant would provide a list of up to 10 total call
signs desired. The FCC would assign the first available requested
call sign from the applicant's list, and if none of the desired
call signs was available, the applicant's current call sign would
be reassigned.
     Call signs of lapsed or deceased licensees would not be
available for reassignment for two years, but a call sign given
up under the vanity call sign program would be available for
reassignment immediately.
     The FCC said that even with its new automated licensing
process it did not expect to be able to offer amateurs on-line
access in order to check for call sign availability, and asked
for comments on how such a service could be provided. The FCC
said its eventual goal is to accept license applications
electronically.
     A possible catch is that no one can estimate the number of
US amateurs, out of a pool of more than 600,000 of Technician
class and above, who will want to apply for a new call sign.
     February QST covers this subject and alerts ARRL members
that since the timetable is short, the ad-hoc committee needs
their input quickly. February QST also reprints the FCC's NPRM in
its entirety. It also is available on the ARRL BBS (203-666-
0578).
     The comment deadline for this NPRM is March 7, 1994.  Reply
comment deadline is April 7, 1994.

League backs electronic license filing; cites snags in "instant
license" plan

     The ARRL has filed comments opposing an FCC proposal to
grant immediate on-the-air privileges to amateur examinees before
a license is issued by the Commission, prefering the early
implementation of electronic filing as a better way to address
the problem of excessive delays.
     The League said it stood by its comments already made, on a
petition for rule making that resulted in the FCC's proposal, in
PR Docket 93-267.  The ARRL told the FCC that its Notice of
Proposed Rule Making, issued November 4, did not seem to consider
the League's comments made last summer.
     At that time, the ARRL said in response to a petition by the
Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society-VEC that such a system was
both unlawful and would be detrimental to enforcement.  The
League said  that the FCC had, as recently as 1987, denied such a
concept and that the absence of an up-to-date database of such
temporary call signs would make both self-regulation by amateurs
themselves and rules enforcement by the Commission more
difficult.
     The League now has added that suggestions in the NPRM that
precedents for such a plan exist in other services are incorrect;
has reiterated its opinion that such a plan is inconsistent with
the international radio regulations; and has emphasized that
electronic filing of applications with the FCC would accomplish
the same goal, that of reducing the wait to get on the air, while
maintaining total FCC oversight of licensing.
     The reply comment date for this proposal is February 10,
1994.

New Jersey seeks to regulate RF sources; ARRL to represent
amateurs at hearing

     Several ARRL officials will represent amateurs at a New
Jersey public hearing on the subject of regulation of radio
frequency radiation sources.
        In late December the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection and Energy (DEPE) issued a proposal to
register and assess fees for sources of nonionizing radio
frequency radiation. Although Amateur Radio stations are exempted
from the proposal, the possibility of future regulation was left
open.
        In 1984, New Jersey adopted rules intended to protect the
public from exposure to nonionizing radiation from RF sources
from 300 kHz to 100 GHz. The guidelines were based on standards
then set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
standards which recently have been tightened.
        In its new proposal, the NJ DEPE said that its 1984 rules
(NJAC 7:28-42) have not been actively pursued for lack of funds,
and that the DEPE has turned down requests for inspections from
the general public, local governments, and schools.
        The new rule (NJAC 7:28-48), if adopted, would permit the
state DEPE to pay for services it provides through fees assessed
for RF sources ranging from communications (such as satellite
earth stations), navigation, and radar sources to commercial
microwave heaters, sealers, and industrial ovens.
        The New Jersey proposal said "A group of sources for
which fees will not be assessed under the proposed rules at this
time is amateur radio antennas. Although the Department is aware
that some amateur radio antennas may expose members of the
general public to levels of radio frequency radiation in excess
of the limits specified in NJAC 7:28-42 [the 1984 rule], there is
not enough information currently available to predict accurately
the intensity and the pattern of radiation emitted by these
sources.
        "The Department welcomes comments concerning the
regulation of amateur radio antennas. At some point in the
future, the Department may study the feasibility of requiring the
registration of amateur radio sources."
        A public hearing on the proposal was scheduled for
January 11, 1994, and written comments also were invited, through
January 20, 1994.
        ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, N3AKD, said "This goes
beyond simply allowing states to establish their own standards
for RF exposure, which up to now the FCC has permitted.
        "This is a registration and fee schedule, and that
amounts to a state licensing and taxation program.
        "Section 301 of the Communications Act assigns the FCC
exclusive jurisdiction in the licensing of radio transmitters;
that leaves no room by law for a state licensing program of
amateurs," Imlay said.
        "What New Jersey state regulators are proposing," said
ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, "is nothing
less than state licensing of RF emitters for which federal
licenses already are required.
        "Put succinctly, they can't do that," Sumner said.

LLOYD COLVIN, W6KG, DIES; DXer VISITED 223 COUNTRIES

     Lloyd Colvin, W6KG, died December 14, 1993, in Istanbul,
Turkey. He was 78 years old, born April 24, 1915, in Spokane,
Washington. His wife of 55 years and DXpedition partner Iris
Colvin, W6QL, survives him.
     At the time of his death both Lloyd and Iris had received
permission to operate from Turkey. Lloyd did not operate but Iris
did, briefly, as TA1/W6QL. Lloyd suffered an apparent stroke, was
hospitalized, and died shortly thereafter.
     Lloyd Colvin was first licensed in 1929 and his early
interest in radio led to an Army career in the Signal Corps. He
served 30 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1961.
     In the 1950s and '60s he was a general contractor and
president of Drake builders, building houses, apartments and
hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area.
     In 1965 the Colvins began traveling the world, and in the
nearly three decades that followed they visited 223 countries,
operating from more than half of them. Their reputations as
ambassadors preceded them, enabling them to obtain permission to
operate when most others couldn't (although a few stone walls
stood, in countries such as Burma and Bhutan).
        The ARRL Board of Directors recognized the Colvins'
contributions to international good will by naming them Amateur
Radio Ambassadors of the Decade 1980-90.
     The Colvins' last major trip was to Southeast Asia in 1992.
     Over the years the Colvins made more than a million contacts
and had more than half a million QSLs on file.
     Lloyd Colvin was an ARRL Charter Life Member (as is Iris), a
life member of the Northern California DX Club, and an honorary
member of countless DX clubs and groups.
     W6KG had been an ARRL member continuously since 1930 and was
an ardent League supporter.
        The ARRL Board of Directors recognized the Colvins'
contributions to enhancing international goodwill by naming them
Amateur Radio Ambassadors of the Decade 1980-1990.
     In addition to his wife Iris, Lloyd Colvin leaves a
daughter, Joy Gilcrease, and two granddaughters, Justine and
Vanessa Gilcrease.
     There was no public service, and his remains were to be
scattered at sea.

CALL SIGN ADMINISTRATOR PLAN LAID TO REST

     The FCC on December 29, 1993, withdrew an order issued in
May 1993 establishing a club and military recreation station call
sign administrator program.
     The FCC said that its newly proposed vanity call sign
program, in PR Docket 93-305, and to be administered by the
Commission itself, would make the administrator plan unnecessary.
     The FCC said that while its administrator plan would have
allowed clubs and military club stations to obtain call signs
"without an undue burden on the Commission... A new automated
licensing system is being activated that will enable the
Commission to perform with minimal additional burden the function
that administrators in the private sector were going to provide
without reimbursement."
     The FCC also said that a Petition for Reconsideration of the
administrator program, filed in June 1993 by David Popkin, W2CC,
had merit. Popkin said that contrary to the FCC's Order,
establishing a call sign administrator program in the amateur
service is controversial, and should have been subject to a
notice and comment rule making proceeding. The FCC granted
Popkin's petition.
     The FCC said it would return applications to be call sign
program administrators to the parties concerned, without action.

BOARD NAMES QST COVER PLAQUE WINNERS

     * Here are the 1993 QST Cover Plaque winners as selected by
the ARRL Board of Directors:
     January: "Slow Scan TV: It Isn't Expensive Anymore" by John
Langner, WB2OSZ.
     February: "W1AW at the Flick of a Switch" by Lee Richey,
WA3FIY.
     March: "Automatic RF Power Control for AMTOR Operation" by
Carl Gregory, K8CG.
     April: "An Introduction to Amateur Television -- Part I" by
Ralph Taggart, WB8DQT.
     May: "A Disguised Flagpole Antenna" by Albert Parker, N4AQ.
     June:  "Roving for VHF Gold in the Colorado Rockies" by Paul
Nerger, KF9EY.
     July: "10,500 Miles of Mobile CW -- On a Motorcycle" by Al
Brogdon, K3KMO.
     August: "The Effects of Continuous Conductive Guy Wires on
Antenna Performance" by Lew Gordon, K4VX.
     September: "The Joy of Building" by Jeff Gold, AC4HF.
     October: "Schematics at Your Fingertips" by Ken Schofield,
W1RIL.
     November: "An Accurate Dip Meter Using the MFJ-249 SWR
Analyzer" by David Barton, AF6S.
     December: "An Automated Mobile Radio-Direction-Finding
System" by Robert H. Flanagan, KA1RBH, and Louis A. Calabrese,
N1LZD.

BRIEFS

     * February 1 is the opening date for enhanced privileges for
Novice class licensees on the 222 MHz band, as well as the day a
weak-signal segment goes into effect at the bottom of 222 MHz
(222.0 to 222.15 MHz). Details were on page 83 of January QST.
     * Still one more reminder: Check your amateur license!
Renewals begin again this year after a 5-year hiatus. FCC Form
610s are available for an SASE from ARRL HQ. Do you know someone
who lost his valued call sign for failing to renew his license?
     * The next space shuttle SAREX flight, STS-60, is now
scheduled for launch February 3, 1994. Commander Charles Bolden
and Mission Specialist Ronald Sega passed amateur exams in
November and at presstime awaited their licenses. They will be
joined on the flight by Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, a veteran of the
Russian space station MIR. For more information on SAREX, send an
SASE to the ARRL Educational Activities Department and ask for
the 1994 SAREX Bulletin.
     * Congress is back in session and your support is needed to
give Amateur Radio national policy status. Please write to your
US representative and senators to ask their support for The
Amateur Radio Service Joint Resolution; details are in January
QST, page 54.
     At year's end, 23 US senators were cosponsors of S.J. Res.
90, and 133 representatives had signed on as cosponsors of the
companion H.J. Res. 199. New since the list in January QST were:
     Reps. Vic Fazio (D-CA); Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY); Norman
Sisisky (D-VA); Bill Brewster (D-OK); Al Swift (D-WA); John Lewis
(D-GA); Mike Synar (D-OK); Jay Dickey (R-AR); and Glen Browder
(D-AL).
     Also, Senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD) has been added to the
January QST list.
     * Know a bright, young (under 21) amateur with leadership
qualities?  Nominate him or her for the 1993 Hiram Percy Maxim
Award, which carries a $1000 prize. Nominations are made through
your ARRL Section Manager and are due by March 31, 1994. Last
year's winner was 17-year-old Chris Anziano, KD1OX, of Bethel,
Connecticut, who is now a high school senior, plans a career in
chemical engineering, and awaits word on his applications to
several universities.
     * Richard S. O'Brien, NJ2J, has won an Emmy Award.  O'Brien,
now retired from CBS Television as its director of engineering,
received the third Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award
for his pioneering work in the design of television studios over
a 40-year career. The award was presented in September.

10 Years Ago in The ARRL Letter

     Times change. 10 years ago an "obituary" for a no-code
amateur license was written when the FCC abandoned two
alternative proposals for such a license (PR Docket 83-28). An
outpouring of opposition to either plan from ARRL members led the
ARRL board of directors to reflect that sentiment.
     ARRL President Carl Smith, W0BWJ, thanked the Commission for
"putting the no-code issue to rest once and for all."
     The FCC began promoting a code-free license for 50 MHz and
above in the mid-1970s, culminating in a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making in January 1983.
     An ARRL study committee immediately went to work, in order
to report to the board of directors before their October meeting.
But an ARRL request to the FCC for an 18-month extension was
denied, so the board was forced to act when they met in April,
based on the overwhelmingly negative (to a code-free license of
any kind) input from ARRL members.
     At the end of 1983 the FCC changed its mind, rejecting the
idea of a no-code amateur license, attributing the decision in
large part to the outpouring of comments from amateurs.
     In late 1988 the issue surfaced again, and the board voted
to propose a codeless entry-level amateur license. In February,
1991, the code-free Technician class license became a reality.
     Also in early 1984 the FCC released its Report and Order
amending its domestic Table of Frequency Allocations to comply
with results of the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference.
These changes set the stage for new  US amateur bands at 17 and
12 meters to open as soon as transfer of fixed service
assignments was completed; the 30 meter band had been open to
amateurs on a secondary basis since 1982.
     The FCC began issuing 10-year amateur licenses in early
1984; the first of those are just now expiring.

Profile: Dakota Division Director Tod Olson, K0TO

     He's baaaaaaaack!
     Tod Olson is a new ARRL director but not a new new director.
Tod served as Dakota Division director from 1982 to 1986 and has
just been elected for another term of office.
     Tod's one of several DXers and contest operators to be
elected this past November, most of them sporting "vanity call
signs" from the 1976-78 era (when Tod gave up W0IYP). His
favorite activities have always been Field Day and the November
Sweepstakes. In 1972 he was a founder of the National  Contest
Journal, now published by ARRL.
     Tod, just turned 61 years old, retired from General Mills in
1991, and now serves in consulting capacities for a couple of
businesses. For 11 years he was with Control Data Corp., dealing
with product and business planning.
     Tod Olson has lived in Long Lake, Minnesota, for 28 years;
in 1993 he was elected its mayor.
     His service to ARRL has been extensive; in addition to his
two terms as a director, he was Minnesota section manager in
1974-75, Dakota Division vice director from 1976 to 1982, and
International Affairs Vice President from 1986 to 1990.
     Welcome back, Tod. The way Connecticut's weather is shaping
up you should feel right at home here for the board meeting later
this month! -- K1TN.

ARRL's newest publication: The DXCC Yearbook

     It's out ... almost. The 1993 DXCC Yearbook.
     Active DXCC participants (how many? About 7500) will receive
their free copy of this new publication in a few weeks. Among
other good news, the Annual List therein is in a typesize big
enough that we aging DXers can read it!
     This was our first shot at a separate publication containing
the Annual List, the objective being to free up QST pages for
material of wider appeal, while providing DXCC'ers with
additional useful material.
     And, as DXCC Specialist Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, points out in
his introduction to the Yearbook, because the publication of the
Annual List in QST coincided with many DXer's "upgrades" (to the
Honor Roll, Top of the Honor Roll, and so on), they were not
getting the recognition they would have got in QST at other times
of the year.
     We are sure that DXers will let us know what they like, and
don't like, about this first Yearbook, and the second may look
different.
     Incidentally, staff contributors to the Yearbook included
K5FUV (former editor, QRZ DX); K1TN (former editor, The DX
Bulletin and Honor Roll member); and KR1S (author, The DXCC
Companion).

*eof