QRZ! Ham Radio 5/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 5.iso/files/arrl/hiram/ltr12n15.txt

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The ARRL Letter
Vol. 12, No. 15
August 11, 1993

League efforts protect amateurs in budget bill

     Several items of interest to radio amateurs are related to
the just-passed U.S. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (H.R.
2264), items shepherded through Washington by the ARRL's capitol
team.
     One draft version of the bill would have imposed an annual
regulatory fee on every licensed ham in the U.S. Through efforts
by the League's Washington representatives, the Act, *minus* the
fee for Amateurs, was reported out of the Budget Reconciliation
Conference Committee and passed by the House and Senate late last
week.
     In addition, the League also convinced the committee to
accept provisions in the Emerging Telecommunications Technology
Act requiring the "input" of Amateurs in future reallocation of
radio spectrum that might affect Amateurs.
     "This brings us a long way toward achieving all of our
legislative goals," ARRL President George Wilson III, W4OYI said.
"The regulatory fee issue alone is a big victory, since it would
have been an administrative nightmare and would have cost radio
amateurs millions of dollars a year. But most important, at a
time when ham radio is enjoying a resurgence among young people,
a fee might have been a roadblock to that first license."
     Wilson said that, unlike hams, broadcasters and others in
the communications industry will be subject to these new
regulatory fees.
     Amateurs also moved a step closer to being able to obtain
specific call signs. The budget bill includes an ARRL-endorsed
provision allowing the FCC to charge a special processing fee for
"Amateur vanity call signs."
     The conference also accepted, as proposed, language in the
Senate's Emerging Telecommunications Technology Act requiring the
Secretary of Commerce to seek to avoid excessive disruption of
existing use of shared Federal/Amateur Radio frequencies.
     "We've been fighting for this for more than a year," Wilson
says, "because it gives us more leverage as the government moves
toward the auction of frequencies for commercial development. Now
we have a stronger say in how those frequencies will be
selected."
     Wilson credits these successes to hams in key legislative
districts who wrote and called their Congressional delegations.
Wilson also applauded the efforts of Senators Ernest Hollings (D-
SC), Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ted Stevens (R-AK), and
Representatives John Dingell (D-MI) and Mike Kreidler (D-WA) for
helping ensure that the concerns of amateurs were heard.
     "In addition," Wilson says, "we're grateful for the hard
work of our Washington team of Perry Williams, John Chwat and
Chris Imlay. They orchestrated a program that
illustrates just how important it is that we continue to have a
strong League presence in Washington."

ARRL directors expand HF data proposal

     The ARRL has asked the FCC to expand on a proposed rules
change regarding data communications on the HF bands.
     In comments to the FCC filed July 30 responding to a
petition filed by the American Digital Radio Society (RM-8280),
the ARRL asked that amateur stations under automatic control be
allowed to operate outside the specific subbands proposed in an
earlier ARRL proposal, RM-8218.
     Under the new ARRL proposal, stations operating outside the
subbands would be subject to three limitations: they must not be
able to initiate transmissions; they must be able to respond only
to interrogation by stations operated under local or remote
control; and they must be limited to a bandwidth of 500 Hz.
     In RM-8218 the League had opposed automatic control on HF
bands except in specific subbands until a plan could be developed
to minimize interference to users of other modes.
     But the ARRL board of directors, at its July, 1993 meeting,
considered a report by its Committee on Amateur Radio Digital
Communications, which suggested a way that semi-automatically
controlled data communications could be accommodated outside of
the restricted subbands.  The board agreed with the committee's
recommendation.
     The League's original proposal was filed in February, 1993.
Comments from many amateurs and groups, which the League said
"aptly illustrate the difficulty in making provision for
automatic control of HF communications in the heavily occupied
high frequency bands," fell into several groups:
     * Opposition to the creation of band segments for
automatically controlled data stations where Baudot
communications currently take place;
     * Opposition to subbands which would intermix automatically
controlled, incompatible digital communications modes, leading to
interference;
     * Proponents of prohibiting modes which do not include error
correction or detection (such as Baudot);
     * Claims that the proposed subbands would not sufficiently
encourage development of digital message networks.
     In its reply comments to the FCC on RM-8218 the League said
that these comments all had some merit, but still suggested that
its subband proposal would be a good start, in part because
nothing would be taken away from present privileges and
operators. At that time the League said that "It does not appear
that sufficient safeguards against interference currently exist
to permit automatically controlled data stations to operate
outside limited subbands."
     All interested parties will have an opportunity to
comment if or when the FCC issues a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making.
     More information on RM-8218 is in August *QST*, page 73, and
more information on the board's deliberations will appear in
September *QST*.

League voices concern over call sign plan

     The ARRL in a news release this week said that "a three-year
effort to resume the issuance of amateur radio club and military
recreation station call signs may be in jeopardy."
     "This situation has tended to demoralize newer clubs," said
ARRL President George S. Wilson, W4OYI.  "They've have had no
opportunity to establish a permanent, on-the-air identity."
     No new club or military recreation station call signs have
been issued since 1977.
     The ARRL began its latest effort to persuade the FCC to
resume club licensing in 1990, when it offered to assume the
administrative burden of processing club applications at no cost
to either the applicants or the government. When it appeared that
the FCC needed special legislative authority to approve such a
plan, the League sought and obtained the necessary legislation.
     On July 26, 1993, when the FCC invited applications from
qualified organizations to serve as call sign administrators, the
ARRL submitted an application demonstrating its qualifications as
well as its ability and desire to implement the new program
immediately.
     `"Unfortunately," said David Sumner, ARRL Executive Vice
President, "applications from four other less qualified entities
have already delayed, and could even jeopardize, the program."
     To serve as call sign administrator, an organization must
demonstrate, among other things, that it is tax exempt under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exists
for the purpose of furthering the amateur service; that its
membership includes at least one percent of the amateur operators
licensed by the FCC (presently more than 614,000); that it will
accept and process applications without regard to race, sex,
religion, national origin or membership (or lack thereof) in any
amateur service organization; and that it will provide the FCC
with a plan for processing applications for modified or renewed
club licenses in the event the organization ceases to function as
an administrator.
     "The ARRL has demonstrated that it meets all of these
criteria," Sumner said. "Four other entities have filed
applications that appear to be defective in one or more
respects."
     On August 5 the ARRL filed its opposition to the requests of
the other four entities to serve as call sign administrators,
citing the shortcomings in their submissions and reminding the
Commission that there is no requirement
that more than one administrator be named -- nor any advantage to
be gained from doing so.
     "This has nothing to do with the merits of the other
organizations, particularly those who do good work in other
fields of amateur radio," Wilson said.  "It's simply that there
is no need for more than one club and military recreation call
sign administrator, and nothing but confusion to be gained from
having more than one.  It's not at all clear why these other
groups jumped on board at the last minute of a three-year effort.
     "The ARRL originated and developed the idea.  We guided it
through Congress. We're ready to make it work, and are uniquely
qualified to do so.
     "All we need is the go-ahead from the FCC.  The sooner we
can get it, the sooner clubs will be able to put new call signs
to good use."
     The other groups who have applied to be call sign
administrators are the W5YI-VEC Inc. Group, the National Amateur
Radio Association, the Quarter Century Wireless Association, and
the Southeastern Repeater Association.

SAREX FLIGHT STS-58 SLATED FOR SEPT. LAUNCH

     The third SAREX flight of 1993 is scheduled for lift-off
September 10 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia for a 13 day
mission. Crew members include Pilot Richard A. Searfoss, whose
amateur license is pending; Mission Specialist William S.
McArthur Jr., KC5ACR; and Payload Specialist Martin J. Fettman,
KC5AXA.
     Amateur Radio frequencies for the mission are: voice
downlink (Worldwide) 145.55 MHz; voice uplink 144.91, 144.93,
144.95, 144.97, 144.99 MHz; voice uplink (Europe only) +144.70,
144.75, 144.80 MHz; and packet uplink: 144.49 MHz.
     15 schools are scheduled to participate, in Arkansas, Texas,
Ohio, Missouri, Arizona, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Kentucky,
Colorado, North Carolina, Indiana, and France.
     Further information is available from the ARRL Educational
Activities Department, and updates will be available on W1AW as
the launch date nears.

LEAGUE CONTINUES CALL FOR CLEARER DEFINITION OF HAMS'
RESPONSIBILITY

     The ARRL has filed reply comments continuing in general to
support an FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making to define the
responsibility for the content of amateur messages relayed by
high speed networks, in PR Docket 93-85, but continuing to press
for better definition of critical terms.
     The League said that those parties who initially commented
on the NPRM generally agreed that
     (1) the originator and first store-and-forward station in a
data message network are properly accountable;
     (2) the originator of a message should in all cases be held
responsible for the content of a message, with the first store-
and-forward operator held responsible for either authentication
of the source of the message or the screening of its content; and
     (3)  that the definition of "repeater" in the NPRM is overly
confining.
     The League once again asked for the rules to include a
better definition of "first forwarder," and of "repeater."
     The League had on July 1 filed comments on the FCC's
proposal, which was in response to a number of petitions for rule
making to 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."

FCC EXTENDS COMMENT DATE IN RF EFFECTS PROPOSAL

     The FCC has extended until November 13 the comment date on a
proposal, in ET Docket 93-62, that would have the Commission
adopt new guidelines for evaluating the environmental effects of
radio frequency radiation.  The new guidelines would be those
already adopted by the American National Standards Institute and
the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
     The FCC said that a request for an extension of the deadline
made by the National Association of Broadcasters had been
supported by a number of other interested parties.  The NAB said
it asked for the extension in order to be able to complete a
study to develop non-measurement-based techniques for complying
with the FCC's proposed new RF exposure guidelines.
     The NAB said that its study would benefit both the FCC and
those whom the new guidelines would affect, by making it easier
to evaluate compliance with the new guidelines, which the NAB
said are significantly different from the old.
     The original comment deadline was August 13.

YOUNG AMATEUR HONORED FOR HURRICANE SERVICE

     15-year-old Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH, of Terrytown, Louisiana,
has been chosen for the 1993 *Westlink Report* "Young Ham of the
Year" award. Kevin was active in emergency communications in his
hometown last August after Hurricane Andrew swirled past the Gulf
Coast, spending more than a dozen hours providing voluntary
communications and other services at a Red Cross shelter. A story
about his activities during the storm is on page 26 of December
1992
*QST*.
     "I think it was thirteen or fourteen hours," Kevin said. "We
had damage to the building and I reported that to the Red Cross.
And the shelter director got sick, so I called for another
Shelter Director.
     "I was talking directly back to the Red Cross headquarters
on St. Charles Street in New Orleans, but I was not on the radio
all the time. They were short handed, so I was running around
doing other things."
     Kevin was scheduled to receive his award on August 14 at the
ARRL National Convention in Huntsville, Alabama. His father is
N5UGE; Mom is N5VEF.
       The Westlink Report Young Ham of the Year award program,
now entering its eighth consecutive year, is presented annually
to a licensed Radio Amateur 18 or younger who "has provided
outstanding service to the nation, his community or the
betterment of the state of the art in communications through
Amateur Radio.

Red Cross enlists hams in Illinois flood relief

*By Dick Frey, K4XU*

     The 1993 ARRL Field Day operation was more than just our
most successful ever. For members of the Western Illinois Amateur
Radio Club, it was a warm-up for providing communications during
the Great Flood of 1993.
     Operating ARRL Field Day from the the Quincy Mall, all of
our public relations leads worked out and we had good interest
from the local media, even though this was our third year at the
same location.
     But little did we suspect what was to begin the following
weekend. The Mississippi River passed critical flood stage on
July 3 and we were asked by the local Red Cross to provide
communications for flood-related mass care three days later. On
the 13th, the river crested at 32.12 feet, 15 feet above normal
flood stage, and three feet higher than the previous record.
     It was not until July 19 that we secured our disaster net
control on the 147.03 repeater and cleaned out our communications
center in the cafeteria of Quincy University, after two weeks of
operation at 10 to 20 hours per day.
     The WIARC, based in Quincy, Illinois, was in the center of
the flood area on the east side of the Mississippi. The last
major Mississippi River flood in this area was in 1973, and 20
years is too long in technology, personnel and memory to make
many comparisons, so we learned as we went along.
     But training does help: the club has several activities
during the year where members can practice communications skills.
We provide communications for two go-kart races, a 100 mile
bicycle run, a footrace, and of course we do ARRL Field Day.
     Thus, when the call came from the Red Cross to set up
communications for their support of the levee workers, we felt we
were ready, but it was still a learning experience for all
concerned. The Red Cross has rules, the FCC has rules; Mother
Nature does not.
     Our communications network was set up as the affected area
and number of people to be served grew. Providing food and water
to as many as 4,500 workers out on the levees was a big job.
Unlike most Amateur Radio operations, where the primary emphasis
is on health and welfare traffic, we were needed to provide
primarily tactical communications.
     The Red Cross people were learning as they went along, too;
just like the hams, theirs is a volunteer organization.
Flexibility and a need for good people skills were the two
biggest requirements for both groups.
     A person can stay up two days, maybe even three, but after
that if nobody else has been shown how to perform that person's
function, it is lost until someone *can* be trained. For example,
we had a food supply route handled by just one ham. When he
failed to show up one morning after a week on the job, nobody
else knew how to get to the places which he had served.
     We found silence is the best indication of a properly
functioning communications network. Less air time per message not
only gets the messages through faster but also saves batteries.
And pare down call sign use to the minimum required by law.
     When message handling, discourage direct third party traffic
as much as possible. Initially, some of the Red Cross volunteers
wanted to talk directly to their headquarters. This led to some
problems. After a demonstration, they were amazed at how a good
operator could condense five minutes of conversation describing
the required message into two or three short sentences of radio
traffic (just like a good editor -- ed).
     Maintain the chain of command. Know who is the boss, and
make no decisions beyond your own activity. We worked for the Red
Cross, and we made it clear to the operators in each location who
the local Red Cross boss was, and that he was to make all the
decisions regarding disposition of their resources. This was
especially true in the beginning, before we got used to the
activity and understood the mission and the Red Cross rules.
     Once we had been running for a few days and had gained
respect for each other's abilities, things ran very smoothly.
     There were several communications systems operating in our
area. Each levee district had VHF communications with or without
a repeater, and CB radios. The two county road crews had their
VHF repeaters, and the City of Quincy had a VHF repeater. The
National Guard had an array of HF and VHF gear, but no repeaters.
They had a Huey helicopter which spent a lot of its time in the
air keeping communications up to their units spread over 100
miles of river. There was
also the cellular phone network.
     Beware of duplicated communications! If you have been given
the responsibility to provide the feedback to the food center to
determine how many people need to be fed or what supplies they
need, make sure the messages are not being duplicated through
another route. It will destroy your credibility.
     A delicate subject -- nonperformance. We had some instances
during the effort in which some of our operators did not do the
job, were perceived as lazy prima donnas, fell asleep, or
wandered off when things got slow. The only way to handle this is
to react promptly, replace the operator as soon as possible, and
make amends. People get tired, the younger ones get bored, you
get cranky. It happens.
     The younger operators, the ones most in need of training,
are the highest risk. But they can also be the biggest reward.
There is no other school in which they can get experience like
this and it is generally well worth the risk.
     One problem we didn't anticipate was boredom, from long
periods when nothing happened. This was exacerbated by the fact
that as more levees failed, there were fewer people to feed. The
area behind the levees is farm land, some of the most productive
in the U.S., but with very few houses. Anyone whose house was
flooded out when the levees broke had already moved out. The job
started out big and tapered off as more levees failed.
     More than 35 operators participated in our operation.
Getting operators during the week was a problem. School teachers
and kids on summer vacation and retirees were the mainstay of the
operator corps during the week. If this had happened in April, we
would have been in serious trouble. The club-sponsored Novice
classes paid big dividends.
     Equipment really was the least of our troubles. The club's
repeater on 147.03 performed flawlessly. Due to terrain, not
everyone was able to hit the repeater all the time, and we could
have used a few more 5/8 wave magnetic mounts. Some batteries
failed and we often didn't have enough, but in general the gear
held up well. Those who could not help directly made generous
loans of their equipment: base rigs, power supplies, and
antennas.
     Personal vehicle use was kept to a minimum, partly because
of the use of Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) and
partly because the Red Cross wanted to keep the number of
vehicles on the limited roads in the area to a minimum. 5-watt
handhelds and mag mounts were used in them.
     When do you quit? We arbitrarily decided that when the
remaining locations we were serving had telephone connections to
the Red Cross center, it was time to go home. When we told the
Red Cross of our decision, their reaction was "we knew that, but
we wanted to let you tell us." That will go into the plan for
next time.
     We would not wish this experience on anyone, but it
was rewarding to participate. We were able to put together a
working communications system, on short notice, and staff it for
the duration in the best traditions of Amateur Radio.
     Mission accomplished.
     *(Dick Frey, K4XU, is a principal engineer for the Harris
Corporation Broadcast Equipment Division in Quincy, Illinois. He
formerly was chief engineer for both Ten-Tec, Inc. and for
Ehrhorn Technological Operations.)*

BRIEFS

     * The Northern California DX Foundation has established a
fund in memory of Jim Rafferty, N6RJ, who died in June at age 43.
     From now until December 1, 1993, the Foundation will accept
separate contributions in memory of Jim Rafferty.  These
contributions will be pooled with the rest of the Foundation's
resources, but those donating to the Rafferty fund will have
their call signs inscribed on a plaque, to be presented to Jim's
widow, Shirley Rafferty, and subsequently hung at the Anaheim,
California Ham Radio Outlet, where Jim was vice president.
     Contributions should be sent to the NCDXF, PO Box 2368,
Stanford, CA 94305, or to Bruce Butler, W6OSP, Treasurer, 4220
Chardonnay Ct., Napa CA 94558.

     * The FCC has fined William P. Irwin, K3CQR, $2,000.  The
Commission's Vero Beach, Florida office said Irwin, 51, of De
Bary, Florida, was found causing "willful and malicious
interference" on or near 14.313 MHz over a period of months.
     Irwin, a General class licensee, was issued a Notice of
Apparent Liability for $2,000.  He was found and identified by
the FCC on July 22, 1993, while he was operating from his
residence, the FCC said in a release.  The FCC inspected Irwin's
station the next day.  Irwin had identified himself on the air as
"Raincoat Charlie," and had vowed on the air that "the Commission
would never find him," the FCC said.
     Robert McKinney, Engineer-in-Charge at the FCC's Vero Beach
office, said "Some amateurs, it seems, have lost sight of the
concepts 'good amateur practice' and 'enhance international good
will' embodied in the purpose of the service.  Mr. Irwin's sole
purpose for being on the air appeared to many to be to harass and
ridicule other amateurs in a particularly vulgar way.
     "It is widely known, McKinney said, "that budget restraints
limit the Commission's enforcement efforts; but blatant, repeated
violations such as these will not be tolerated or go unpunished."
     McKinney also said, however, that "It should be pointed out
that a considerable number of concerned amateurs cooperated in
the investigation.  We appreciate the efforts of these amateurs
as a community willing to take responsibility for being self-
policing."

     * A correction to a brief in our last issue. The call sign
of Joseph F. Richard, one of four New Orleans-area amateurs who
received notices of violation from the FCC for malicious
interference on a 2-meter repeater, is N5JNX.

     * On July 12 the ARRL DX Advisory Committee voted against a
proposal to create new Honor Rolls based on specific bands and/or
modes. The DXAC said it was concerned about a "proliferation of
awards."

     * ARRL Arkansas Section Manager Bob Ideker, WB5VUH has
successfully lobbied the state's office of motor vehicles for a
new call sign license plate policy. Previously the special plates
were issued only once a year. batch-style; now new ham plates
will be issued monthly.

     * In June the FCC issued 5,978 new amateur licenses, the
largest monthly total in more than two years. Meanwhile, the
Gettysburg backlog remained virtually unchanged, as some 5,000
new amateur applications poured in (not to mention another 5,000
renewals and upgrades!).
     The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator administered 569
exam sessions in March, an all-time record; April's 501 sessions
was the second-highest. The usual summer slump pulled that down
to "only" 446 sessions in May.

     Jim Funk, N9JF, and daughter Melanie, N9IQV, operate from
the Adams County American Red Cross Chapter House in Quincy,
Illinois, during early-July flood relief efforts (Photo by Sandy
Martin, courtesy of the Quincy *Herald-Whig*).

Honored on monument

A worker engraves on a monument at ARRL headquarters the names of
three more radio amateurs who gave their lives during public
service activities. They are:
     Robert V. Allard, KA1SJE, who died August 18, 1991, during
the Ocean State (R.I.) Bike Trek; Herbert P. "Doc" Engelman,
KD4OZY, who was killed by lightning on September 2, 1992, while
doing communications duty in Florida following Hurricane Andrew;
and Shirley Emmerich, N9JKB, who died February 16, 1992, during a
search and rescue drill.
     Already honored on the monument were WD4DFK, W6TQF, W7KCM,
KA7AMF, K5YLU, and N5MOR (Photo by Kirk Kleinschmidt, NT0Z).

*eof