ARRL President Rod Stafford, W6ROD, has appointed Michael N. Raisbeck, K1TWF, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, as New England Division Vice Director. The appointment is effective immediately. Raisbeck will complete the term of former Vice Director Don Haney, W9WW (ex-KA1T), who resigned when he moved out of the division earlier this year. The term expires Jan 1, 99.
Raisbeck is vice president of Ready-to-Run Software Inc., with duties in corporate management and as general counsel. His wife, Susan, is WN1V. Raisbeck graduated from Northeastern University in 1976 with a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, from Suffolk University Law School in 1981 with a JD (cum laude), and from the University of Massachusetts in 1989 with a masters in engineering management.
Raisbeck is fluent in Italian and has a working knowledge of Spanish. Members may contact him at 85 High St., Chelmsford, MA 01824; e-mail k1twf@arrl.org.
NNNN
The FCC has proposed allocating 5.850 to 5.925 GHz for use by intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The Amateur Service has a secondary allocation at 5.650 to 5.925 GHz with government radar systems and non-government fixed satellite service uplinks. Under the proposal, dedicated short range communications (DSRC) highway safety systems would share the band as coprimary users.
The FCC seeks comments on the need for nationwide operational standards and channelization and on the potential for DSRC ops to share with other services.
The June 11 NPRM was in response to a rulemaking petition from ITS America requesting the allocation on a coprimary basis. Proponents said the band is optimal for DSRC on the basis of propagation, consistency with international allocations, and compatibility with existing users.
In its comments, the ARRL questioned whether the 5.9 GHz band was appropriate for DSRC and urged the FCC to look into frequencies above 40 GHz, where DSRC systems could avoid interference from other users. The League said the ITS proposal and the FCC decision to deploy unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices in the band could render 175 MHz of spectrum in the 5.8 GHz range significantly less useful to hams.
3M, a DSRC proponent, argued that hams could be displaced from the band because they already have plenty of spectrum between 50 MHz and 50 GHz and make only light use of 5.9 GHz. 3M suggested a powerful amateur station could "swamp out" DSRC services.
The FCC said interference problems that might crop up could be resolved by changing the frequency of the amateur operation, by power reduction, or by using directional antennas.
Possible ITS applications include what’s known as automated roadside safety inspection. This would permit transmission of vehicle safety and other data between roadside inspection stations and commercial trucks moving at highway speeds, the FCC said. Another potential application, incident management operations, would use roadway sensors and DSRC-equipped vehicles to more quickly detect traffic congestion and dispatch any emergency personnel or take other action. Other emerging DSRC applications include traffic control and en- route driver information systems.
ITS DSRC transmissions would be "narrowly focused and rapidly dissipating signals," according to ITS America. The FCC proposes a maximum of 30 W EIRP for DSRC systems.
Comments on ET Docket 98-95 are due 75 days after publication in the Federal Register. The complete NPRM is available on the FCC Web site at http://www.fcc.gov.
NNNN
The vanity call sign application fee will drop to $13 effective September 14, 1998, according to Terry Johnson in the FCC’s Office of Managing Director. The new fee will be for the ten-year term, payable at the time of application for a new, renewed, or reinstated license. The current vanity call sign application fee is $50. Earlier this year, the FCC had proposed dropping the fee to $12.90. The actual fee was "rounded up," Johnson said.
The FCC says it has no plans to refund the difference between the current fee and the new fee for applicants who submit applications before the new fee schedule goes into effect in September.
The FCC released its revised schedule of regulatory fees for all services for fiscal year 1998 this week, and it’s soon expected to be available on the FCC’s Web site. The Commission is required to collect almost $163 million during FY 1998.
The FCC calculated the new fee based on an expected 10,000 applicants during FY 1998.
NNNN
Don’t forget the Nashua Area Radio Club’s CW net. It’s Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM (local) at 28.150 MHz on your HF dial. Improve your code speed or help other improve theirs. Bob, KD1AW is NCS.
NNNN