The sound of moving furniture, books, and equipment punctuated the holiday season at League headquarters as two ARRL departments prepared to merge into one entity. Effective January 4, the Field Services and Educational Activities departments consolidated to become the Field and Educational Services Department. ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, explained that the new department brings together staff members with similar missions and functions— primarily supporting ARRL volunteers who, in turn, support ARRL objectives and promote ham radio on a local and regional level. Working within a single department, Sumner said, HQ staffers could more easily share expertise, ideas, and resources. The move also was designed to reduce expenses in the face of a decline in both ARRL membership and overall Amateur Radio licensing & activity over the past year or so. "The primary reason is efficiency," Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, explained in a letter to ARRL section managers. Palm will continue as the main contact person for section managers. He will focus on representing the League to the outside agencies it serves and on promoting and supporting the field organization.
Former Educational Activities Department Manager Rosalie White, WA1STO, has assumed the title of Educational Services Manager. She will oversee day-to-day operation of the combined department and will continue as the primary staff contact for Amateur Radio in space issues. "We expect the greater efficiency of the combined departments to benefit our members by putting related resources in the same place," White said of the move.
To accommodate the change, employees from the former Educational Activities Department moved into quarters adjacent to the former Field Services Department, trading places with the ARRL Book Team headed by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE. Now that the two departments are in the same location, staff members have begun to settle in and work as a team. Telephone and e-mail for staff members remain the same.
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The FCC has issued strong warnings to two amateurs in Indiana and a third in New York who are on the Commission’s top ten list of alleged major amateur offenders. The FCC’s amateur enforcement point man, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, says the warning letters sent earlier this month are the last step before the FCC initiates formal enforcement proceedings. One case primarily involved malicious interference on VHF repeaters, while the other two involved interference to an HF net.
“We have been cutting bait a while, now it’s time for us to fish,” said Hollingsworth, the legal advisor for enforcement within the FCC’s Compliance and Information Bureau.
The FCC did not make the names or call signs public, but Hollingsworth said all those who received the letters were put on the FCC’s Alert List with FCC field offices. “The Alert List is the FCC equivalent of an all-points bulletin,” Hollingsworth explained. He said Field Office monitors would be making a special effort to listen for further violations by Alert List stations .
Since taking over Amateur Radio enforcement within the CIB last fall, Hollingsworth says he’s sent out dozens of warning letters of a much milder nature. “Now, we’re distilling that activity to the worst offenders,” he said, adding similar actions were imminent in other major cases.
The letters sent out January 7 and 8 spell out the agency’s expectations in no uncertain terms. In the case of the alleged HF offenders, Hollingsworth’s letters state that the Commission “has additional evidence that you have been deliberately and maliciously interfering with the operations of other licensed amateurs,” primarily a 75- meter net. Both hams—whose cases are related—already had received official Notices of Violation last fall for similar conduct, and the FCC had imposed restricted operating hours on one of them. But the FCC says that the troublesome behavior has continued.
Hollingsworth said the alleged illegal activities not only put the hams’ licenses in jeopardy but open them up to possible fines and even put transmitting equipment at risk of seizure. He said he also has cautioned the controllers of the net involved to not engage hecklers or those attempting to harass or interfere, nor to call up the net on a busy frequency. “One thing these nets have to understand is that the nets don’t own the frequency,” he said.
The case of the alleged VHF offender had a similar pattern. The amateur license of the ham in question already had been suspended at one point, but violations are said to have continued, even during the suspension period. Beyond amateur violations, Hollingsworth said that the FCC’s evidence indicated the amateur had threatened FCC employees and others. He told the ARRL that additional warning letters went out to eight other individuals whom he described as “cohorts” to the alleged prime VHF offender.
Hollingsworth requested that all of the amateurs involved contact him immediately to discuss the allegations.
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The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska, will conduct a second HAARP Listening Test in mid-March, seeking reports from hams and SWLs in Alaska and in the "Lower 48." Exact times and dates are not known at this time, but will be announced as soon as they are available. Transmissions will be on or near 3.4 MHz and 6.99 MHz. HAARP will send a CW message and request signal strength reports. QSLs will be available only for reports mailed to HAARP, PO Box 271, Gakona, AK 99586.—HAARP
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The Wireless Privacy Enhancement Act of 1999, HR514, has been introduced by Rep Heather Wilson of New Mexico. The measure is aimed at amending the Communications Act of 1934 "to strengthen and clarify prohibitions on electronic eavesdropping, and for other purposes."
"HR514 is identical to the amended version of HR2369 that passed the House on a 414- to-1 vote during the last session," said ARRL Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA. The Senate did not act on that measure.
The original bill, HR2369, would have banned most types of scanners and scanner listening, however, the bill’s sponsor, Rep Billy Tauzin, worked with the ARRL and representatives of manufacturers, public service organizations, and scanner enthusiasts to redraft the bill top to bottom.
HR514 forbids manufacturing or modifying scanners to receive cellular, PCS, or "protected" paging service frequencies. The bill also forbids receiving, divulging, publicizing, or utilizing such communication. The measure is part of a package of legislation introduced early in the session in the expectation that it will pass quickly and help restore Congressional momentum. Mansfield says, however, that Senate prospects for HR514 remain murky.
While Amateur Radio appears to be unaffected by the new bill, the League is on record as opposing the expansion of prohibitions on radio monitoring beyond those that now exist to protect the privacy of services that interface with wireline nets.
HR514 has been referred to the Commerce Committee. The bipartisan list of co- sponsors of HR514 includes Reps Tauzin (LA), Markey(MA), Oxley(OH), Eshoo and Rogan(CA), Deal(GA), Wynn(MD), Cubin (WY), Luther(MN), Sawyer and Gillmor (OH), and Pickering(MS). A copy of the bill is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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